Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 5 Zhu Youjian: I am weak, pitiful, and helpless, squeak squeak squeak
"They've ruined the imperial treasury like this, and these bastards still have the nerve to ask me for money?! The imperial court still owes me the Golden Flower Silver!"

Although Zhu Youjian's heart was filled with filth, and he always mentioned the female elders in his family, wishing he could drag out the old Minister of Revenue and beat him up, he still had to maintain a civilized and polite demeanor on the surface.

After all, he didn't actually have the right to curse his mother; only the emperor who was executed had the right to curse his mother.

Liu Bang could urinate into the hats of Confucian scholars while cursing them, and Zhu Yuanzhang could wipe out the entire Ming Dynasty bureaucracy while remaining unmoved, but he couldn't.

Zhu Youjian didn't want to play power games with his ministers, so he went straight to the point: "Minister Guo, my palace has no money either. Don't keep staring at my private treasury. My private treasury only has 400,000 taels of silver on paper, and there are more than 30,000 palace maids and eunuchs. They don't even have enough to eat. What do you expect me to do?"
"If you don't believe me, your Ministry of Revenue can send someone to the palace to audit the accounts. If there's an extra tael, I'll let you take it all; if it's not enough, you can make up the difference from the national treasury. How about that?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me! I dare not!"

Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Revenue, immediately knelt down. Not content with just kneeling, he cried out, "Your Majesty has been kind enough to entrust me with the important responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue. However, I am of limited talent and learning, and have made many mistakes in tax allocation and financial planning. I am ashamed of my inability to do my job and earnestly request that another capable person be chosen. I wish to resign and return to my hometown."

"No," Chongzhen said coldly.

Guo Yunhou is indeed not doing a good job as Minister of Revenue, and he will be replaced sooner or later, but not now. The most important thing right now is to maintain stability and pursue a smooth transition of power.

The world is not at peace, and the Wild Boars are about to invade again. The central government of the Ming Dynasty is already rotten enough. It's best not to make any more trouble, or it will fall apart.

Moreover, he was all too familiar with the tactics of these civil officials. If he said he was resigning, but actually agreed, a whole bunch of people would probably jump out to advise him against it.

"Your Majesty, your humble servant, Wang Jiazhen, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, hereby reports:"

I observe that the current state of the nation is truly difficult.

I have heard that since the Wanli era, the court has repeatedly selected eunuchs to serve as servants in various government offices, resulting in the bloated structure of the twenty-four government offices and an increasing number of redundant staff.

Emperor Taizu Gao once erected an iron plaque at the palace gate, strictly ordering that "inner officials must not interfere in political affairs." Now, however, eunuchs are in charge of military power, manage the treasury, and preside over ceremonies, making them no different from the officials of the outer court. This is a violation of the laws of our ancestors.

According to ancestral rules, eunuchs were originally household servants of the imperial family, whose only duty was to attend to the emperor's daily needs.

In the past, Wang Zhen misled Emperor Yingzong into personally leading an expedition, which led to the Tumu Crisis; Liu Jin seized power and caused chaos in the country.

Today, we see the wronged souls filling the alleys in the prison of the Northern Garrison Command and the thugs of the Eastern Depot running rampant in the streets. Is this the original intention of the Taizu Emperor in enacting the law?
Furthermore, the Imperial Guards such as the Jingjun and the Tengxiang Four Guards were originally the emperor's elite personal guards, but now they are mostly led by eunuchs, wasting millions of taels of silver from the national treasury.

However, the current clean army consists of people who were either exiled for crimes or castrated themselves to gain entry. Their backgrounds are mixed, their training is lax, and they are not capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities in either combat or defense.

Your Majesty, I humbly request:
Thinking of the hardships endured by their ancestors in establishing the dynasty, he ordered the Directorate of Ceremonial to investigate redundant staff in various government offices and dismiss idle eunuchs.
The second option was to select sons of civil and military meritorious officials to take command of the Imperial Guard, restoring the old system established by Emperor Taizu that "inner court officials are not allowed to command troops."

This would save on waste and restore military might, a blessing for the nation and its people!
Your Majesty, I am filled with fear and trepidation. I humbly beseech Your Majesty's judgment.

Swish!
As Wang Jiazhen, the Vice Minister of Revenue, gradually revealed his purpose, Wei Zhongxian, who had been standing respectfully beside the emperor and had recently become more low-key and less talkative, cast a sharp glance at him.

Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Revenue, stared in disbelief at his junior colleague, clearly unaware that his deputy would pull such a stunt.

Good heavens, someone's definitely up to something today. Zhu Youjian finally understood: Wang Jiazhen was trying to climb to power by stepping on his former superior and Wei Zhongxian. Although he didn't mention Wei Zhongxian once, every word he uttered was a veiled insult to him.

The court was shaken, and everyone's attention was drawn to him. Even the younger officials clenched their fists nervously. The decisive battle against the eunuch faction had begun!

Wei Zhongxian had no choice but to step forward. He knelt down in front of Zhu Youjian with a thud, and before he could speak, tears streamed down his face.

He choked up as he said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me! What Wang Jiazhen said is truly a pedantic view!"
The founding emperor established these rules because the country was newly established, a situation unlike the present one. Now, the empire is in turmoil, beset by both border troubles and internal strife. Without ministers to share the burden, how can Your Majesty's urgent needs be met?
The disasters caused by Wang Zhen and Liu Jin in the past were due to their personal wickedness and treachery. How can we emulate them and throw the baby out with the bathwater?
Our dynasty has twenty-four government offices, each with its own duties. The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs approves imperial edicts on behalf of Your Majesty, thus sharing Your Majesty's burdens.

The Northern Garrison Command's trials and the Eastern Depot's inspections were all aimed at eliminating rebels and punishing corruption.

If you claim that wronged souls fill the alleys, I ask Wang Jiazhen, have you seen any concrete evidence? This is nothing but baseless speculation and an attempt to slander an inner court official!

As for the Jingjun and Tengxiang Four Guards, I have painstakingly reorganized them and trained them day and night. The eunuchs are loyal and devoted, free from the burdens of wives and children, and wholeheartedly serve Your Majesty. Moreover, there are many capable and skilled warriors among them. If the sons of meritorious officials were to lead them, I fear they would become arrogant, extravagant, and negligent, thus jeopardizing important military and national affairs! Furthermore, the waste of money and provisions is due to the frequent wars, and has nothing to do with the eunuchs.
Wang Jiazhen, as the Vice Minister of Revenue, instead of considering how to increase revenue and reduce expenditure to raise military funds, is spouting empty rhetoric about ancestral rules and slandering court officials. His intentions are truly sinister! We urge Your Majesty to investigate clearly and not be misled by his false words!

A collective gasp filled the air. No wonder the powerful eunuch, who had previously held immense influence and suffocated everyone, possessed such sharp wit; his words were in no way inferior to those of the civil officials. Ever since Emperor Xuanzong (Zhu Zhanji) made eunuchs literate, their fighting spirit had skyrocketed; at least in terms of verbal sparring, they were no longer afraid of these refined scholars.

The ministers' gazes shifted between Wei Zhongxian and Wang Jiazhen before finally returning to the emperor.

For some reason, Zhu Youjian felt a secret pleasure watching the people below engage in verbal sparring.

The outcome of a debate doesn't actually depend on the contestants; whoever the referee decides to win wins. And the emperor is the referee of the court; what he holds in his hands is something called power.

Wei Zhongxian remained prostrate, not rising, and was very nervous. Although the emperor had been treating him well recently, who knew if it was just an act?

This situation presents both a crisis and an opportunity for him. He can use Zhu Youjian's decision to gauge the emperor's attitude and decide whether to remain in court, retire gracefully, or even fight to the death.

Zhu Youjian looked down and waited for a while, but no one else joined the battle. The four Grand Secretaries all kept their eyes down, choosing to protect themselves and refraining from offering their opinions, which he found somewhat regrettable.

Actually, there was a group of people below who were also confused. They were the Donglin Party members who opposed the eunuch party every day.

The term "Donglin Party" might be a bit abstract, but it becomes clearer if we put it another way: they were the bureaucratic landlord class in Jiangnan, with bureaucrats in power and landlords in retirement.

Donglin Academy was located in Wuxi County, Changzhou Prefecture, Jiangsu Province. Three hundred and eighty years later, a local gentry from the same area established a lakeside university, though it's unclear what his intentions were.

They did want to take advantage of the new emperor's ascension to overthrow Wei Zhongxian, but this Vice Minister of Revenue was not one of their men; Wang Jiazhen was nothing more than a barbarian from Beizhili.

"Vice Minister Wang, is it your turn to speak?" Zhu Youjian's words stunned the assembled officials. "Minister Lai, how is someone like him usually dealt with?"

“Your Majesty, Wang Xuanzhuan had no urgent military matters to report. He submitted his memorial without prior notice, which constitutes a breach of court etiquette. According to the law, he can be punished with a salary reduction, caning, demotion, or dismissal,” said Lai Zongdao, Minister of Rites, in an official capacity.

Okay, Zhu Youjian has learned something new today. He now knows that Lai Zongdao is not familiar with Wang Jiazhen, and that Wang Jiazhen is not very familiar with the others either.

If a troublesome person appears in the central government, the probability that he is an idiot is small, and the probability that he is a capable minister is large.

So this guy genuinely disliked Wei Zhongxian, not because of factional strife. Therefore, Zhu Youjian didn't intend to deal with him.

So Zhu Youjian raised it high and lowered it gently, saying, "Since that's the case, then let's deduct three days' salary."

"A three-day salary deduction?!"

Everyone's expressions became quite interesting. Who ever thought of a three-day salary deduction? It should be at least half a month's salary! Everyone was truly baffled by the emperor's actions.

At first, they thought the emperor was going to take sides with Wei Zhongxian, and that Wang Xuanzhuan was doomed. But this is what happened?!
Wang Jiazhen was also somewhat bewildered. He had come prepared to be questioned, but he wasn't completely reckless. His former superior was Sun Chengzong, who had been the tutor of two emperors and had taught the brothers Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao. Although Sun Chengzong had resigned to take responsibility, it didn't mean he had no influence over the court. He felt that even if he were imprisoned, his former superior would get him out of jail.

After settling things off with Wang Jiazhen, Zhu Youjian then began to appease Wei Zhongxian.

He didn't offer a lengthy explanation or quote extensively from classical texts; he simply stated a very basic principle: "The number of eunuchs is excessive, and in the future, recruitment should be reduced. However, the current palace attendants have already been castrated and have entered the inner palace, seeking only basic necessities like food and clothing. They have relinquished their responsibility to have heirs and entered the inner court in disgrace. If we were to hastily dismiss them, wouldn't that be unfair?"

Those who are expelled are physically disabled and filthy, making it difficult for them to be accepted in the marketplace and subjected to contempt, making it hard for them to make a living. Those who are retained will also feel insecure in the face of this situation, like birds startled by a bow, feeling sorry for the dead. How can they be expected to do their jobs wholeheartedly?

Therefore, even if the public opinion is reasonable, this policy is difficult to implement immediately.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Wei Zhongxian shouted. The other eunuchs in the court were also slightly moved when they heard the emperor's words, and some even secretly wiped away tears.

Even the ministers who were usually very hostile to the eunuchs fell silent. They had to admit that what the emperor said made sense, and that the emperor was indeed a benevolent ruler. What minister wouldn't like such a monarch?

In truth, Zhu Youjian didn't really sympathize with the eunuchs. While the eunuchs were pitiful, they were also ruthless when it came to evil. Everything he did was just to allow himself to sleep peacefully. As Liu Bei said, "Your punishments and killings are excessive, and you whip strong soldiers every day while keeping them by your side. This is a path to disaster." Zhu Youjian didn't want to have his head cut off and end up with an old servant.

Alas, he was just a weak, pitiful, and helpless little emperor, still a few months away from turning eighteen.

(End of this chapter)