Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

A few days later, the capital city was bathed in sunshine under a cloudless sky.

The cold wind and frost swept across the golden glazed tiles, bringing a chill.

Inside the Wuying Hall, the burning stove emitted a touch of warmth.

Zhu Jian sat quietly in the main seat, his gaze sweeping over the audience. The military and political ministers of the Military and Political Bureau, Sun Chengzong, Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangshan, and Li Banghua, were all present.

These were the wartime cabinets established by Zhu Jian, which would later become central government orders. Under these cabinets, the pressure of factional strife was greatly reduced.

The main reason was that the Crown Prince's trip south to pay homage to his ancestors took many ministers with him, temporarily freeing up power in the court.

"By my grace, show these confessions and correspondence to the officials!"

Wang Chengen quickly delivered the confessions and some substantial letters obtained from the Eastern Depot's interrogation to the group and distributed them.

Zhu Jian gave a wry smile: "Look, the Ming Dynasty not only needs to support its own people, but also the Eastern barbarians..."

The group quickly flipped through the letters and confessions, their expressions changing slightly, but it wasn't unexpected. They had all heard about Tong Qing's affairs over the years, but everyone had just turned a blind eye.

Lu Xiang-sheng stepped forward, his eyes filled with determination: "Your Majesty, I believe we must resolutely resist the Qing. These Eastern barbarians have never given up their desire to destroy our Great Ming!"

Lu Xiang-sheng was a person who advocated resolutely resisting the Qing Dynasty, but the Minister of War, Yang Si-chang, advocated peace, so he and the favored minister Yang Si-chang were always at odds.

Now that Yang Sichang has joined the cabinet, he is in Nanjing preparing for the Crown Prince's ancestral worship ceremony and will not be able to return in the short term.

Because Zhu Jian would keep the Empress and Crown Prince in Nanjing, there wouldn't be any problems in the short term, but there would be problems in the long term. It's possible that court officials would conspire to have the Empress and Crown Prince oversee the country from Nanjing...

Of course, if the Empress and the Crown Prince insist on vying for power with him, Zhu Jian wouldn't mind deposing them... Since ancient times, imperial power has always been solitary... In this respect, Zhu Jian has already made preparations...

"I agree with what Lord Lu said!" Sun Chengzong supported Lu Xiang-sheng's resistance against the Qing.

"We second that!" Sun Chuanting and Li Banghua said in unison.

Zhu Jian turned to look at Hong Chengchou, who was standing silently beside him, and asked, "Chengchou, what about you?"

Hong Chengchou pondered for a moment: "I believe that the priority at present should be the interior, defending but not launching an offensive!"

Hong Chengchou believed that given the current financial and food situation, the chances of winning an offensive against Liaodong were too slim, and that it was necessary to conserve and build up military strength.

"Does Lord Hong want to negotiate peace?" Lu Xiang-sheng asked.

"No, it's not about negotiating peace, but about resisting the Qing gradually, slowly, and in an organized manner! Not about achieving victory overnight!"

"Isn't that still just negotiating peace?"

Hong Chengchou shook his head: "Not launching an offensive against Liaodong does not mean we need to negotiate peace!"

"I suggest we just wait it out. As long as we completely cut off the Qing army's supplies and reduce the conditions for peasant uprisings, no one can outlast the imperial court!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jian clapped his hands sharply: "Chengchou's words of wisdom are invaluable! Today, the Jurchens, originally from the Eastern Hu beyond the Great Wall, have stolen our Liaodong and are a serious threat. However, we cannot act rashly, relying solely on fervent zeal to launch an offensive!"

"Now we should continue training new soldiers, reduce the burden on the people, decrease the number of peasant armies, and weather the natural disaster!"

Zhu Jian discovered that Hong Chengchou's talent was indeed exceptional; otherwise, Huang Taiji would not have personally persuaded him to surrender, despite his imperial status.

Aside from the method of sourcing provisions, these remarks can basically be defined as a five-year national policy.

"Lord Hong is absolutely right, but he has overlooked an important condition—rations and pay!" Sun Chengzong added from the side.

He then glanced at Zhu Jian and said meaningfully, "If we could raise funds from wealthy households, we could alleviate the urgent need for military funds!"

"What wealthy household?" Prosecutor Zhu knew the answer in his heart, but pretended to be confused.

Sun Chengzong looked around, and after a moment, sighed: "There are many princes under the Taizu Emperor, noble families in the capital with their lineages spanning centuries, and gentry in Jiangnan with vast tracts of land—all of these can be donated!"

Sun Chengzong felt that this had touched the emperor's sore spot. Emperor Chongzhen valued the matter of the non-hereditary succession very much and no one wanted to mention it. But there was no other way today. This was the only way to quickly accumulate some money for military affairs. Otherwise, the only option would be to increase taxes, which would be like drinking poison to quench thirst and would have no chance of winning.

The others also looked at Zhu Jian, observing his attitude towards the three forces, especially the vassal king!

Zhu Jian pondered for a moment, then remained silent, pointing to the hands of the men. "The confiscation of their property is worth nearly eight million taels of silver, of which five million taels can be directly distributed as military pay!"

Among the confiscated property were many antiques, real estate, and land deeds, which could not be directly used to pay military pay but could only be converted into silver. The remaining gold, silver, cloth, grain, and salt could be distributed directly.

Everyone looked into their hands and found the records of the raid.

"Your Majesty, these five million taels can be used for military expenses!" Lu Xiang-sheng's face lit up with joy.

Zhu Jian nodded: "First, pay the existing troops stationed near the capital 1.5 taels of silver per month for each soldier, for three months initially. Then, settle the outstanding pay according to the previous pay amounts!"

After saying this, he sighed deeply: "For the soldiers who died in the Battle of Shuntian Prefecture, if their families can be found, let's give each family two shi of grain as compensation..."

Upon hearing this, the others also sighed. Nowadays, it is difficult to guarantee the wages of the living, let alone the soldiers who died in battle. Now that the court has given two shi of grain, it can be considered an explanation.

Moreover, with frequent natural disasters and a high rate of population movement, finding family members is extremely difficult...

After a moment, Li Banghua stepped forward and said, "I just did the calculations. With 70,000 troops, three months' worth of military pay amounting to 400,000 taels, plus the repayment of all previous arrears and the compensation of two shi of rice per family for each fallen soldier, it would only amount to one million taels!"

Li Banghua's question was about what to do with the remaining money.

Zhu Jian thought for a moment: "Send 200,000 taels to Zheng Chongjian's more than 20,000 soldiers at Tongguan. The rest will take about 300,000 taels after the soldiers in Xuanfu, Datong, and the three towns of Shanxi have their debts settled and their pay is issued!"

He then said, extremely reluctantly, "Send another 1.5 million to Liaodong!"

The Guan-Ning-Jin defense line is a money-devouring beast, requiring huge sums of silver to maintain every year, but Prosecutor Zhu currently has no solution and can only continue to drag it out...

"Give the Eastern Depot another 100,000 taels, the Embroidered Uniform Guard another 100,000 taels, and the remaining 1.8 million taels to Sun Chuanting to build up military equipment and train new recruits!"

"Should the Southern army also receive some of its pay?" Sun Chengzong asked.

"The Southern army will continue to receive its pay according to the previous tax distribution model used by the governors and viceroys of various regions..." Inspector Zhu didn't want to distribute military pay to the Southern army according to his established model, because those weren't his central army, or rather, not yet...

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. The South is prosperous, so it would be best to collect taxes and distribute them locally!" Lu Xiang-sheng agreed.

In his view, now that the military pay of the northern army has been resolved in a short period of time, it will no longer crowd out the taxes of the south. As a result, the southern garrison will certainly have more resources. Although it may not be enough, it will at least not be as urgent as before.

"Banghua, find a few people among those remaining in the capital to dispose of the antiques, paintings, and real estate, or sell them at market prices to nobles in the capital. You can ask for silver, gold, cloth, grain, or land deeds in exchange!"

"The confiscated land deeds will be allocated to the imperial estates to provide resettlement for displaced people to cultivate the land!"

"As you command!"

Prosecutor Zhu then waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave; spending money is an art in itself...

Sun Chuanting currently has 1.8 million taels of silver, which is estimated to be enough to train 100,000 elite troops within three months. After Li Banghua finishes dealing with the antiques, paintings, and real estate, he will have about 2 million taels. Three months later, when the military pay is issued again, it can support the military expenses of 170,000 troops for five months...