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

Chapter 57 No matter how difficult the road ahead, someone always has to forge a path.
Due to the unfavorable harvest, the morning court session in the first year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign was scheduled to resume on the third day of the first lunar month. Apart from the grand court assembly, the officials only had two days of rest, but they would also have a three-day holiday on the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

The next morning, Zhu Youjian awoke from his slumber and went to court as usual.

Li Qiuniang was truly a fool. She frantically tried to help the emperor dress, but faced with the intricate design of the dragon robe, she panicked, failing even to grasp the most basic order of dressing, let alone the small accessories. She was so anxious she burst into tears. Zhu Youjian, however, did not blame her. Instead, he summoned his personal attendant, Wang Chengen, to help her dress.

"If you are tired, rest a while. If you can't stand it, have someone take you around to familiarize yourself with the palace. You are currently without rank or title, and are the daughter of a disgraced official. I cannot give you a high status; at most, I can bestow upon you the title of 'Talented Lady'."

You may visit the other concubines; they are all kind and gentle people and surely will not mistreat you. If you are indeed bullied, do not suffer in silence; speak to me, and I will seek justice for you after discerning the truth. However, do not be too restrained; my harem does not have many rules, and I will not arbitrarily punish anyone. Mistakes will not result in death by beating; at most, one will be banished from the palace.”

Zhu Youjian made a small joke and continued, "You don't need to be obsequious to them, nor can you take advantage of your new status to bully the palace maids and eunuchs. Later, you can follow Eunuch Xu to choose your personal palace maid and eunuch."

Li Qiuniang nodded repeatedly, her gaze towards the emperor tender and gentle. She had truly escaped a desperate situation this time, and besides, the emperor was so good-natured; what could she possibly be dissatisfied with?

Even before she was arrested and sent to the brothel, she was just a lowly maidservant in the Li family. Apart from not having to use her beauty to entertain people, she would have suffered a lot of bullying at home. After she came of age, she would have been casually betrothed by her father to some lower-ranking official for political purposes.

Zhu Youjian couldn't stand her gaze any longer. He felt that if he stayed any longer, he would lose control and continue his debauchery, only to be criticized by Wanwan again and disappoint her. After all, Wanwan still had some standards and didn't want to be with a muddle-headed man.

Xu Yingyuan, also known as Eunuch Xu, was originally a spy planted by Wei Zhongxian in the Prince Xin's residence. Before he was castrated, he addressed Wei Zhongxian as a brother and treated him as such. Then, the two brothers killed each other and entered the palace together. However, after entering the Prince Xin's residence, Xu Yingyuan betrayed Wei Zhongxian and became a confidant of Zhu Youjian during his time as a prince.

In short, the relationships between the eunuchs in the palace were quite complicated and dramatic. Zhu Youjian felt that Wei Zhongxian was too scheming and not as useful as Wang Chengen, so he put him in charge of the Directorate of Palace Attendants, responsible for arranging work for low-ranking eunuchs; as for Wei Zhongxian and Wang Chengen, they were mostly kept by his side and interfered more in the affairs of the outer court.

The original design of the twelve directorates of the inner court each overseeing various affairs was excellent, but gradually, the phenomenon of power monopoly or administrative monopoly became unavoidable. In officialdom, the winner takes all, and it eventually devolves into a one-man show, where the other eunuchs of the twelve directorates are all at the mercy of the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

This phenomenon was also reflected in the imperial court: Zhu Yuanzhang went to great lengths to abolish the prime minister system, which had lasted for more than two thousand years, but in the end, a de facto prime minister, namely the chief cabinet secretary, would inexplicably emerge again.

The very existence of the emperor is a unique manifestation of the phenomenon of "one official's absolute power eroding the power of his peers." No matter how rational the system is designed, as long as there are people, it will eventually degenerate into chaos, losing all checks and balances.

The same title carries different weight in different periods. During the Tang Dynasty, a "Cairen" (才人) was responsible for managing documents, while in the Ming Dynasty, a "Cairen" was a concubine of relatively low status. Li Qiuniang would be assigned to a secluded courtyard in the palace, and might have to live with others thereafter.

The allocation of housing is currently under the jurisdiction of Empress Yi'an. In theory, the Empress has absolute authority over all female beings within the palace, and even the Emperor cannot interfere. The Empress also controls the inner court's finances and resource allocation through the Shanggong Bureau.

Managing accounts is no easy task. It requires not only mathematical skills but, more importantly, a strong and authoritative personality. The Emperor's sister-in-law, Zhang Yan, was perfectly suited to this role, being gentle on the outside but firm on the inside. Zhou Shi, a mere seventeen-year-old girl, was naive and soft-hearted, which is why Zhu Youjian didn't want her to manage the harem. This wasn't due to any personal disagreement with her; Zhu Youjian actually quite liked this wife.

However, recently Zhang Yan has been consciously bringing Zhou Shi around, perhaps because she also feels that her control over the harem is illegitimate and she wants to step down. Passing through the Qianqing Gate and arriving at the outer court, the court officials waited outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony until the emperor entered. If Zhu Youjian (Emperor Zhu Youjian) was unwilling to attend court one day, a eunuch would come to inform the officials to enter the hall as usual for the meeting, presided over by the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, while the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs observed coldly. Important memorials were quickly transmitted to the inner court through the "court dispatch" for the emperor to handle.

At the first morning court session of the year, the reform minister Bi Ziyan gave Zhu Youjian a small shock. It was clear that he had been preparing this move for a long time.

His fiscal reforms were carried out cautiously. In terms of power and prestige, he was far inferior to Zhang Juzheng. Fortunately, the emperor trusted him and was benevolent. Although he appeared weak, he was actually quite capable, which gave Bi Ziyan some comfort. At least he could focus on his reforms without worrying about suffering the same fate as Zhang Juzheng, who was purged after his death and his entire family was implicated.

Even with the emperor's support and the backing of some ambitious officials, his fiscal reforms still faced significant difficulties. In truth, Zhang Juzheng's reforms were no easy feat either.

The course of Heaven is constant; it does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie. Going against the tide of history is a path of no return, but so what? No matter how difficult the road may be, someone will always have to forge a way out, simply by devoting themselves to the cause until their dying breath; simply by following one another, passing the torch from one generation to the next.

Your subject, Bi Ziyan, respectfully reports to Your Majesty:

The current national treasury is in such dire straits because of the laxity in tax collection and financial management. The imperial treasury of our Great Ming Dynasty is the emperor's private treasury, the six ministries each have their own granaries, and the twelve directorates of the inner court are separate from the court, establishing their own tax categories and arbitrarily levying exorbitant taxes. These layers upon layers of levies all weigh heavily on the common people, not only making the people burdened but also leading to tax officials engaging in corruption and mutual embezzlement.

Eight or nine out of ten of the collected revenues ended up in embezzled pockets, with only one or two out of ten reaching the public treasury. Each of the six ministries harbored its own private coffers, and when faced with matters of vital importance to the nation, they shirked responsibility, were stingy, and refused to contribute funds. As a result, the annual silver surplus of the imperial granary amounted to only a little over four million taels, a mere one or two-tenths of what it was during the Wanli era! If this continues, the nation will cease to exist, and its collapse will be imminent!

Your Majesty, I earnestly request that Your Majesty exercise absolute power and transfer all the finances of the Imperial Treasury, the Six Ministries' granaries, and the various Imperial Household Departments to the Imperial Granary for unified allocation. Furthermore, it is imperative to thoroughly reform long-standing abuses, reorganize the tax system, abolish all miscellaneous taxes and exorbitant levies, and clarify the main tax categories.

Your Majesty has consolidated the tax categories into ten items:

The taxes were as follows: first, land tax; second, salt tax; third, customs duty; fourth, commercial tax; fifth, corvée labor tax converted into silver; sixth, mining tax; seventh, maritime trade tax; eighth, fines for embezzlement; ninth, local tribute; and tenth, horse administration tax.

In this way, the national treasury can be enriched to supply the border defenses, and the people's hardships can be alleviated to strengthen the foundation of the nation.

I humbly beseech Your Majesty to prioritize the well-being of the nation and set an example for the world; I further urge all officials and colleagues to set aside personal concerns and unite in the face of this national crisis. If we continue to cling to old ways and remain indifferent, I fear that the 260-year-old foundation of our Great Ming Dynasty will be destroyed by today's inaction! I risk my life to speak frankly and humbly request Your Majesty's decision.

Bi Ziyan stepped forward, standing alone on the imperial path amidst the civil and military officials. His expression was solemn, as if facing death without fear; the resounding boom of the bells seemed to still echo in the palace rafters. From the emperor down to the officials, everyone was stunned by his words. The court was deathly silent, but this was merely the calm before the storm!

Brothers, I'm back to my old self! Charge, Mambo!!!


(End of this chapter)