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

At dusk, the Chu King's Mansion in Wuchang was brightly lit.

Zhu Dadian, the governor of Huguang, led his accountants to calculate the money and grain overnight.

The more he calculated, the more alarmed he became. The wealth of the princes was enormous. If this wealth had been taken from the people and used for the people, how could the court be in such dire straits today?

He then sighed softly and muttered to himself, "If His Majesty had not taken such swift and decisive action today, and had allowed the vassal kings to squander their wealth, the collapse of the empire would not have been far off!"

Zhu Dadian led the accountants to calculate until dawn before they finished. Looking at the bill in his hand, Zhu Dadian's throat bobbed.

The land, gold, silver, cloth, and other materials of the Chu Prince's Mansion were worth six million taels of silver! This does not include the assets of the other princes of the Chu vassal state; all of them together amounted to nearly eight million taels of silver.

Zhu Dadian, holding the accounts, did not dare to delay and quickly walked to the governor's office where Zhu Jiansuo was temporarily staying.

Approaching Zhu Jian, he said urgently, "Your Majesty, all the items are worth nearly eight million taels of silver!"

"How much land?"

"1.4 million mu!"

Zhu Jian nodded slightly. These lands alone cost over a million taels of silver. Currently, land prices in Huguang are cheaper than near Nanjing, less than one tael of silver per mu. However, they are still more expensive than farmland in Shanxi and Shaanxi, where there has been a major disaster, leaving most of the land barren and only about 30% of the yield of a good year, hence the low prices.

Zhu Jian thought for a moment: "The Chu vassal state, Xiangyang Prefecture, the Prince of Fu, and some of my imperial estates—there are approximately three million mu of land in Huguang now! You will recruit displaced people to cultivate them, with a 20% rent!"

"For the garrisons, wasteland reclamation, and newly reclaimed land, you should recruit refugees and organize able-bodied men into an agricultural reclamation army according to the military system. They will not be equipped or paid, and will not go to the battlefield. The land ownership will belong to the Agricultural Reclamation Department of the Military Administration Bureau. The farmers will receive 60% of the output, and the Agricultural Reclamation Department of the Military Administration Bureau will receive 40%!"

Zhu Jian planned to re-establish military settlements according to the garrison system, which could also be called production corps. However, the garrison soldiers needed to go to the battlefield, while these agricultural reclamation soldiers did not go to the battlefield, but only reclaimed land and cultivated it!

The Ming Dynasty's garrison system had fallen into disuse since the reign of Emperor Yingzong. These soldiers became the private tenants of the garrison officers, while the Zhujian system did not have officers; everyone was a manager, directly under the unified command of the Military and Political Bureau, used for stockpiling land and grain. This great natural disaster would not be over for several more years, so as long as they had land and grain, they would not panic.

Zhu Dadian was taken aback upon hearing this. After a moment's thought, he cupped his hands and said, "As you command!"

Zhu Dadian thought Zhu Jian's plan was very effective. Although the current refugees were caused by natural disasters, they were also caused by human factors. Some landowners hoarded grain, waiting for the price to rise. Once the emperor controlled the grain production of these lands, he could put it on the market, thereby squeezing out the landowners' hoarded grain. When the price stopped rising, these landowners would also gradually sell their grain, allowing stable grain prices to reappear in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Jian, however, didn't think that far ahead. He planned to nationalize some of the farmland to produce grain for the military, ensuring his troops were well-fed and clothed. Zhu Jian intended to lead his well-paid and well-supplied Ming army to twist off the heads of those wild boars and hang them on the city walls of Liaodong as lanterns...

"Your Majesty, during this confiscation of property, a large amount of silver and gold fragments were found. Should all of these be recast into official silver?"

Zhu Dadian wanted to take advantage of the emperor's presence to recast all the broken silver coins, thus fixing the problem of excessive silver consumption and preventing it from being embezzled by corrupt officials, which would lead to the loss of national finances. Now, every penny of silver had to be spent wisely.

After listening, Prosecutor Zhu asked, "You mean the issue of fire loss, right?"

Zhu Dadian nodded and cupped his hands, saying, "Your Majesty is wise. The problem of fire tax is far too serious now. Although the silver surcharge has been completely abolished for the time being, I fear it will be even worse in three years!"

Now that taxes are exempted, people no longer have to pay taxes in silver, and local officials have lost a lot of income. They may exploit the people even more severely in three years. Therefore, Zhu Dadian wants to fix the issue of tax surcharges and implement it according to the same standard in all places in the future. He had originally proposed this to the court, but it was rejected by the cabinet. Now that the emperor is here, he can remove the mountain of tax surcharges for the people.

Zhu Jian nodded slightly: "You don't need to worry about this matter. I'm aware of the fire loss issue, but this silver needs to be recast!"

"However, instead of casting official ingots, they will all be cast into silver coins, one tael each, according to the purity of official ingots. They will be made in the style of copper coins, without a hole in the center, with 'One Tael' written on the obverse and 'Great Ming Wuchang Mint' on the reverse!"

Zhu Dadian asked in confusion, "The Wuchang Mint?"

"Abolish the Huguang Baoquan Mint, and place all its artisans under your command. You will then oversee the Wuchang Mint, and a General Mint will be established under the Military and Political Bureau!"

Zhu Jian now intends to gradually reclaim all power, starting in Huguang, preparing to abolish the minting rights and financial control of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Dadian suddenly understood. He instantly realized that the emperor wanted to reclaim all the treasury and control the source of revenue. He firmly replied, "Your subject will certainly not fail in his mission!"

"However, currency is of great importance. I humbly request Your Majesty to reside in Wuchang for two days to mint the first silver coin for Your Majesty's perusal!"

Zhu Jian nodded slightly: "Go and do it! I'll stay in Wuchang for two more days!"

"As you command!"

Having said this, Zhu Dadian immediately went to arrange the matter. This was of paramount importance at the moment. Once the emperor was determined, the problem of coinage losses would be easily solved, because the losses from coinage were collected by the mint. By simply changing the copper coin molds, they could mint a large quantity of silver coins, just like copper coins…

Two days later, in the early morning.

Holding two silver coins and filled with excitement, Zhu Dadian hurried to the governor's office.

"Your subject Zhu Dadian pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

"No need for formalities. Have you gotten the silver coins out?"

"I had two coins handcrafted by artisans. Please take a look, Your Majesty!" Zhu Dadian said, then held up the two identical silver coins in his hand to Zhu Jian.

Zhu Jian picked up the two silver coins, examined them, weighed them in his hand, and nodded: "Made them according to these specifications, with the correct weight and color. Make new coin molds!"

Zhu Jian was very satisfied with the production of the two silver coins.

"Although it's only an ounce, ordinary people might still cut it open when they use it!" Zhu Dadian said with a hint of regret.

"I don't care how the people use them. I plan to stop minting official ingots from now on and convert everything to silver coins. You will first mint 200,000 silver coins, record the total loss in production, and report back to me in detail!"

"Gold is being recast into gold bars, one bar for every ten vehicles!"

"As you command!" Zhu Dadian replied firmly.

Zhu Jian felt that the so-called "fire loss remittance" system was too time-consuming and labor-intensive. He suggested a more direct approach: using a semi-gold and silver standard coinage system to centralize the fire loss payment at the mint, thus skipping this step entirely.

Zhu Jian felt that the gentry liked to hoard silver, so he abolished all broken silver and silver ingots. In the future, taxes, state-run salt, iron and grain would all be paid in silver coins. After a period of time, the design of the silver coins would be updated, creating a first, second and third generation. It would be impossible for them not to circulate.

Although it couldn't be eradicated, it at least slowed down the rate of hoarding and allowed the Ming Dynasty to regain some monetary power. Zhang Juzheng's "One Whip Law," which mandated that all taxes and corvée labor be paid in silver, lacked an effective mechanism for the circulation and redemption of silver, effectively stripping the court of its monetary power. How could that be acceptable? Without central government regulation of finances, how could the Ming Dynasty not be short of money?

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