Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 277 Kindness and Love
As the weather warmed up, the number of stoves burning in the main hall decreased significantly compared to the harsh winter. But as the sun set and the temperature dropped sharply, the stove in the south study seemed a little insufficient.

Under the command of Shi Fuming, the eunuch in charge of the Qianqing Palace, the eunuchs carried two newly lit stoves into the hall. Their movement was quite noisy, but it did not affect the conversation between the Foreign Minister and the Internal Affairs Minister.

Before it began, the inner court's layoffs were a matter of strict secrecy. But when the various violent institutions within the inner court were officially launched under the command and coordination of the Imperial Household Department, it was no longer a mysterious topic of conversation, but rather a naked act of cruelty.

Ding! As the charcoal stove fell to the ground, the clock in the main hall struck the exact time of the afternoon. Then, a distant but even more powerful sound spread from the north.

It was already 3:00 PM, but the emperor showed no sign of leaving the hall. Wang An glanced at the emperor and saw that his master was observing the Prime Minister's expression with great interest. He did not ask the question he asked almost every evening.

Wang An struggled to describe the look the emperor gave Fang Congzhe. It was filled with intense concentration and devotion. Sometimes, Wang An could keenly sense that the emperor was looking at him with the same gaze. This didn't please Wang An; on the contrary, it made him uneasy.

Arguably, Wang An was more frightened by the Emperor's gaze than by the Crown Prince's previous hysteria in Ciqing Palace. This was because the Emperor's absorbed gaze didn't resemble the concentration on a person, but rather the admiration of a fine artifact or the perusal of a profound yet deeply illuminating commentary on the classics. Lately, these glances had become less frequent, like a great scholar thoroughly absorbing a difficult book.

"Shi Fuming." The emperor's voice brought Wang An's confused thoughts back to reality, interrupted the conversation in the hall, and focused all attention on the chief eunuch who was about to leave the hall.

"I'm here." Shi Fuming trotted back and lowered his head to wait for orders.

Zhu Changluo put aside the instinctive curiosity of researchers seeking primary sources and transformed his identity from a historical researcher to a witness of history.

"Go and serve the meal." Zhu Changluo waved his hand.

"Yes." Shi Fuming accepted the order and left. When he was about to leave, he heard the emperor say:

"Mr. Fang, how about having dinner with me?" Shi Fuming knew that an extra set of bowls and chopsticks would be needed for this meal.

Fang Congzhe's eyes immediately flashed with emotion, and his solemn face turned rosy. He stood up, walked to the emperor, knelt down, lifted his robe, and kowtowed in gratitude. "Your Majesty, I kowtow to thank you for your grace!"

Dining with the emperor was one of the highest honors a courtier could receive. It was perhaps second only to being entrusted with the care of an orphan and having the emperor visit one day. The mere mention of it would instantly spark envy, even sour criticism, and be something one could boast about for a lifetime. According to Fang Congzhe, no one had dined with Emperor Taichang since August of the previous year. Of course, the grand banquet at Wenhua Hall didn't count. Twelve important court officials simply happened to dine in the same room with the emperor, a meal not much different from a state banquet on a major holiday.

"Get up and finish what you need to say," Zhu Changluo said. "Don't leave this issue until dinner or tomorrow."

"Yes." Fang Congzhe kowtowed again before standing up and sitting down again.

Fang Congzhe looked at Liu Ruoyu, who sat across the table from him, and continued, "Liu Bingbi, your plan to lay off 37,000 craftsmen and eunuchs all at once is far too radical."

"I don't think it's radical. Before the layoffs began, the Imperial Household Department conducted a detailed investigation. We have a rough idea of ​​how many people will be laid off. Take the Guanglu Temple, for example. During the Jialong and Longqing reigns, the number of cooks listed in the Guanglu Temple was only three to four thousand. But now, according to the Imperial Household Department's calculations, the number of cooks listed in the Guanglu Temple is actually more than the combined number of cooks in the two capitals of the north and south during the Yongle reign. Cough!" After talking for a long time, Liu Ruoyu's throat became dry. He coughed lightly, then drank a sip of boiled water to moisten his throat, and then continued:

"Serious cases require drastic measures. This reduction will save over 400,000 taels of silver annually. It will also save the outer court the trouble of borrowing money from everywhere."

Saving money in the inner court did indeed save the outer court time. While the inner court would directly collect grain and food from the Shanglin Garden, these were minor expenses. Expenses for the imperial city and the palace were primarily financed by the Ministry of Revenue. If fixed income from gold and silver fell short of meeting palace expenses, or if the emperor desired additional spending for various reasons, the decree would be sent to the Ministry of Revenue, which would then issue it to the local authorities for implementation. If matters became contentious, the cabinet would still be responsible for the heavy lifting.

"Okay, I didn't express myself properly." Fang Congzhe's brows furrowed again. "I'm not saying we shouldn't use strong medicine. But finishing this medicine in ten days is really too hasty."

"Your Majesty." Fang Congzhe straightened up, facing the emperor. "Large-scale layoffs in the inner court precedents the Jiajing reign. Back then, tens of thousands of people were laid off in a short period of time. These laid-off eunuchs and craftsmen became unemployed, causing severe damage to public security in the capital, with thefts occurring almost daily. This time, even more personnel are being laid off than during the Jiajing reign, and over a shorter period."

"Prime Minister Fang!" Liu Ruoyu interrupted Fang Congzhe's ramblings unceremoniously. "I've also checked the records of the Jiajing reign. Grants were minimal back then, but the Emperor, with his divine grace, allocated hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for resettlement expenses. The per capita amount is much higher than the severance pay given to soldiers after the Korean War." Liu Ruoyu then briefly reviewed the details of the resettlement allowances with Fang Congzhe.

"That's different," Fang Congzhe said. "After losing your job, you'll have no income and will eventually run out of money. In the end, you'll all become bandits, or even become bandits. Then the court will have to spend money and grain to recruit soldiers to suppress them."

Fang Congzhe's concerns were not unfounded. Back then, Emperor Jiajing, building on the team he had brought from Anlu, launched a drastic overhaul of various redundant and redundant systems that had accumulated over a century. While these reforms significantly reduced the country's financial burden, they created a significant number of unemployed and propertyless vagrants. Unemployed people banded together to become bandits, severely destabilizing public security in the capital and surrounding areas. Yang Tinghe's cabinet's solution to this problem was simple and drastic: they recruited a battalion of cavalry patrolmen and launched a large-scale crackdown within and outside the capital. The living were a problem, but the dead were not.

Fang Congzhe continued, "You just mentioned the Korean War. But the newly recruited soldiers for this campaign were mostly from local farming families in Ji and Liao. After the army was disbanded, they could return to their hometowns to farm. But nearly 40,000 artisans and eunuchs from the palace left at once. With so many people wanting to rent land, they couldn't find a place. After leaving the palace, where would they make a living?"

"So what Prime Minister Fang means is that there's no need to cut back?" Liu Ruoyu's tone turned cold. He had to protect his achievements.

"It's not that there is no need to lay off people, but there is no need to do it so quickly. Slow work makes perfect. So many people can be laid off over a few years, three or five years. As long as we block the loopholes and stop recruiting until the excess staff are reduced to the plan, the number of people receiving food and salaries will naturally decrease. In this way, the pressure will be gradually released, and there will be no major chaos." Fang Congzhe understood from Liu Ruoyu's tone that he seemed to have offended the new secretary who was in charge of layoffs, but he still had to say it.

"It can't be done." Wang An looked at Fang Congzhe, then casually glanced at Liu Ruoyu. "The news has been leaked, and things have begun. If we keep those people who have been ordered to leave the palace in the imperial city, who knows what kind of chaos they'll cause. We have to cut them off, and we can't stop! Whatever chaos is happening elsewhere can't spread to the palace."

"The palace isn't asking them to leave the house empty-handed." Wei Chao chimed in. "Lord Fang said things can be resolved with time. The money the palace has distributed will last at least a year or two, so isn't that just a delay?"

"When we were in Hongde Hall, you said that the inner court was responsible for the most expenses in the country." Wang An's tone was calm and steady. "Now the inner court has already started to lay off staff. Why haven't you made any moves in the outer court?" The topic was about to be twisted, but Fang Congzhe couldn't come up with a single word to defend himself.

Boom! Suddenly, the emperor's fist slammed down on the imperial desk.

"Mencius said," Zhu Changluo stood up and stood beside the imperial desk, hands on his hips. "The way of the people is that those with stable property have stable hearts, while those without stable property have no stable hearts. If one has no stable hearts, he will indulge in extravagance and do whatever he wants. When he is found guilty, he is punished and deceives the people. How can a benevolent ruler in power deceive the people? Therefore, a wise ruler must be respectful, frugal, and courteous, and must have rules for his people."

"Lord Fang has no selfish motives. What he wants to say is nothing more than the teachings of a saint." Zhu Changluo pointed at Wang An, who immediately put away his aggressive attitude and showed an apologetic expression.

Then, Zhu Changluo turned to look at Wei Chao. "Is silver a permanent property?"

"At least I won't be a proletarian." Wei Chao lowered his head.

"That's the proletariat," Zhu Changluo said. "Those eunuchs who have served for a long time and are old can rely on their savings and severance pay from the palace to support themselves for the rest of their lives. But what will those young eunuchs and craftsmen with families eat after they have eaten up all the money?" Zhu Changluo paused, then emphasized, "Nothing to eat!"

"If they don't have food, they'll rebel against me!" Zhu Changluo continued. "I'm sitting in the Southern Study. As long as they can't break into the Forbidden City, I can't hear or see them. But I can imagine and feel the kindness and love of others." At this point, Zhu Changluo changed the subject.

"Wei Chao was right. The silver distributed by the palace was indeed used to help dismissed officials tide over this period of hardship. Before the silver ran out, those dismissed could find their own property and make a living. And the place I have prepared for them to survive is in Tianjin."

"Tianjin not only needs to build a port, but also establish some factories to produce rare items for foreigners. These people who left the palace, after all, serve the royal family. As long as the factories are established, they will always find a job there to make a living. With a job, they will not become refugees, and they will not rebel against the court."

"By then, there will be no more trouble, whether in the palace or anywhere else." Zhu Changluo withdrew his gaze from Wei Chao and looked at Fang Congzhe: "Prime Minister, what do you think of my idea?"

"Wonderful." Fang Congzhe actually forgot to praise the emperor.

"On behalf of all the reformed officials, I would like to thank the emperor for his virtue!" Wang An knelt on the ground.

"Severe illnesses require strong medicine. When I was ill, Court Envoy Liu first used rhubarb to reduce internal heat, then used tonics to nourish the body." Zhu Changluo smiled at Liu Ruoyu again. "That's how it should be done. That's how it should be cleaned up. Only when the palace is clean and stable can I free up my hands to clean up the filth outside. Wang An."

"I'm here." Wang An looked up quickly.

"Let them serve the meal." Zhu Changluo ordered.

"Yes."

Zhu Changluo walked to his usual dining table and sat down, waving to Congzhe. "Come, sit down."

"Yes!" Fang Congzhe came back to his senses, trotted to the empty chair opposite the emperor and sat down obediently.

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While they were talking, the ladies-in-waiting of the Imperial Food Bureau and the chief eunuch of the Imperial Kitchen were already waiting outside by the stove cart, so as soon as the order to serve dinner was given, dinner was served.

Afterwards, Wang An dismissed them and personally served the emperor dinner. The other two pens were not so fortunate. They could only diligently review the remaining memorials at their respective positions.

"Has the person in the Imperial Food Bureau changed?" Although he couldn't remember the name, Zhu Changluo still had some impression of the old female official. Now, a young but not particularly beautiful female official had replaced her, and Zhu Changluo recognized her immediately.

"Nothing can be hidden from the master's discerning eyes," Wang An replied as he added more rice to the emperor's plate. "Except for Shi Fuming, the eunuchs and court ladies serving close attendants have all been replaced. After a rigorous investigation by the Western Depot, none of these replacements have any connection to those dismissed this time."

Shi Fuming was the eunuch in charge of the Ciqing Palace, succeeding Li Jian. After the emperor moved to the Qianqing Palace, he took over the responsibility of managing all matters within the palace, and also oversaw the compilation of the internal daily records. This meant that the old man recorded every day where the emperor went and which concubines he slept with.

"Very good." Zhu Changluo nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "Give the Prime Minister a bowl as well."

"Yes." Wang An was not a rebellious person and did not mind serving Fang Congzhe at dinner. But Fang Congzhe refused. "I dare not trouble you to serve me. I'll do it myself."

It was natural for the emperor to treat eunuchs like slaves. But for cabinet ministers to do the same was courting death. Xia Yan, the first prime minister to be executed in Ming Dynasty history, was doing so because he followed Emperor Jiajing's example and treated eunuchs as mere slaves, allowing Yan Song to exploit his weakness.

Even if the ministers after that didn't closely align themselves with the eunuchs around the emperor like Zhang Juzheng did, they would still try to maintain relatively good relations with them. After all, among the eunuchs close to the emperor, it had been a long time since there had been a "rebellious eunuch" like Liu Jin, who relied on the emperor's favor to act recklessly, forcing the ministers to oppose him.

(End of this chapter)