The Ming Dynasty: Starting with Emperor Chongzhen's crackdown on factionalism

On the 18th day of the third month of the third year of Chongzhen's reign, at the beginning of the Shen hour.

The air inside the Qianqing Palace seemed to freeze.

Zhu Youjian sat behind his desk, his fingers tapping the tabletop unconsciously.

The rapid knocking echoed in the empty hall, revealing an barely suppressed anxiety.

Minister of War Liang Tingdong knelt before the imperial desk, his forehead pressed against the cold floor tiles.

He was from Beizhili (northern Hebei), and became a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 47th year of the Wanli reign. He served as a county magistrate, censor, and governor, and just took office as Minister of War last December.

Less than 100 days after taking office, he encountered a series of crises, including the invasion of the Later Jin, the Yuan case, and the spread of bandits, and his hair had turned mostly white.

"Liang Tingdong." Zhu Youjian's voice broke the silence.

"Your subject is here."

"Bandits from Shaanxi have invaded Shanxi, capturing Jizhou and Xiangning in succession. Why has your Ministry of War only reported this now?"

Liang Tingdong raised his head, his face pale.

"Your Majesty, the Governor-General of the Three Border Regions of Shaanxi, Yang He, sent an urgent report yesterday at noon. It was an 800-li express courier service, and three horses died on the way. It only arrived at the Ministry of War at 9:00 AM today. Upon receiving it, I dared not delay and immediately presented it to the Directorate of Ceremonial."

"Yang He?" Zhu Youjian frowned. "Last year, he submitted a memorial proposing to pacify the bandits and appease the people. I approved it. What has been the result of this pacification? The more we pacify them, the more bandits there are, and they've all fled to Shanxi!"

Liang Tingdong lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to speak.

Zhu Youjian stood up and paced back and forth in front of his desk. His boots clattered heavily on the gold bricks.

How many troops are currently stationed in Shanxi?

"Your Majesty, the Shanxi garrison has a nominal strength of 73,000 men, but the actual number is approximately 40,000."

Liang Tingdong's voice grew softer and softer.

"Among them, about 30,000 were stationed in key places such as Taiyuan, Datong, and Xuanfu, but less than 10,000 were mobile enough to suppress bandits."

"Less than ten thousand?" Zhu Youjian turned around abruptly. "The bandit leaders Wang Jiayin and Shen Yikui claim to have a hundred thousand! Even if they're bluffing, they must have at least thirty to fifty thousand! How can we fight ten thousand?"

"Your Majesty, the border troops from Xuanfu and Datong can be dispatched to Shanxi to assist in the suppression."

"Border troops?" Zhu Youjian sneered. "Where were the border troops in Xuanfu and Datong when the Later Jin invaded last October? Jizhou was in dire straits, yet they remained inactive! Now that they're being ordered to suppress the rebels, will they even go?"

Liang Tingdong was speechless.

Zhu Youjian walked to the front of the palace wall and stared at the huge "Map of the Nine Border Regions" on the wall.

The Shanxi region is covered by a dense array of mountain and river symbols, with Jizhou and Xiangning being just two inconspicuous little dots.

But these two small spots have now become the anthills that caused the dam to collapse.

"The Jianzhou in Liaodong is eyeing us covetously, and bandits from Shaanxi have infiltrated Shanxi."

Zhu Youjian's voice was full of exhaustion.

"I have been on the throne for three years, rising at the crack of dawn every day to review memorials until late at night, practicing frugality, and severely punishing corruption. Yet why is the empire becoming more chaotic with each passing year?"

Liang Tingdong didn't dare to reply.

The only sound inside the hall was the crackling of the candlelight.

After a long silence, Zhu Youjian finally spoke slowly: "Draft an imperial edict."

"First, I order Geng Ruqi, the governor of Shanxi, to defend the city at all costs and not to lose another city. If any city is lost again, I will punish him severely."

"Secondly, order Zhang Zongheng, the Governor-General of Xuanfu and Datong, to immediately dispatch 5,000 elite troops from Xuanfu and Datong to Shanxi to assist in the suppression. Tell him that if he continues to shirk and delay, I will replace him."

"Third, order Yang He, the Governor-General of Shaanxi's Three Border Regions, to annihilate the remaining bandits within one month. If he allows the bandits to flee eastward again, he will lose his position as Governor-General."

Liang Tingdong wrote down every word, but secretly smiled bitterly to himself.

Strict defense?

Shanxi is short of soldiers and the city has been in disrepair for years. How can it be defended?

Should we redeploy border troops to assist in the suppression?

Will the generals in Xuanfu and Datong listen to this?

When the Jizhou garrison was in dire need last year, the imperial court issued repeated orders, but they still did not move their troops.

A deadline to eliminate the bandits?

If Yang He had that ability, the bandits would have been wiped out long ago.

But he couldn't say these things.

To say it would undermine morale and shirk responsibility.

In the Chongzhen era, the most important thing for an official, especially the Minister of War, was not military prowess, but eloquence.

Say what the emperor wants to hear, and report the good news the emperor wants to see.

"And there's still the grain and provisions." Zhu Youjian sat back down at his desk and rubbed his aching temples.

"Suppressing bandits requires provisions and pay, the border troops require provisions and pay, and Liaodong also needs provisions and pay. How much more can the Ministry of Revenue squeeze out?"

Liang Tingdong forced a smile and said, "Minister Bi said yesterday that the treasury has less than 500,000 taels of silver left. Liaodong is three months behind on pay, Xuanda is two months behind, and Shaanxi is four months behind. If we are to allocate more funds for the suppression campaign, I'm afraid..."

"What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to impose additional taxes."

"Additional taxes?" Zhu Youjian's eyes widened suddenly. "Last year, additional taxes were levied on Liaodong, and this year, additional taxes are levied on suppressing rebellions. How are the people supposed to survive?"

"Your Majesty, without additional taxes, the army will have no means of paying its soldiers. Without pay, the soldiers will not fight bravely, and the suppression of the bandits will be nothing but empty talk."

Zhu Youjian remained silent.

He recalled his ambitions at the beginning of his reign, when Wei Zhongxian had just fallen from power.

We must rectify official corruption, appease the people, and revitalize the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, he thought that as long as he was diligent in his duties, severely punished corruption, and appointed capable people, everything would be fine.

But three years have passed.

Liaodong was not yet pacified, bandits were rising up everywhere, the national treasury was empty, and the court was still arguing fiercely about whether Yuan Chonghuan was loyal or treacherous.

This is the Ming Dynasty under his rule.

This is the result of his tireless work day and night.

A deep sense of powerlessness spread from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

"An additional levy..." Zhu Youjian murmured, "How much?"

"The Ministry of Revenue initially proposed adding one cent of silver per mu."

"One point?" Zhu Youjian calculated.

"The country has approximately 700 million mu of farmland. Adding one fen (a unit of land measurement) would amount to seven million taels (a unit of weight). Can the people... afford that?"

Liang Tingdong lowered his head: "Your subject does not know."

He certainly knew he couldn't afford it.

Why are there bandits in Shaanxi?

The consecutive years of severe drought were one reason, and the additional tax levied on Liaodong was another.

People will only rise up in rebellion when they can no longer survive.

Adding more funds to suppress the bandits now will only force out more bandits.

But he couldn't say those words.

They said they were opposing the court's decisions and sympathizing with the rebels.

Zhu Youjian looked at Liang Tingdong's lowered head and suddenly understood something.

This Minister of War, like the other ministers in the court, spoke in grand and eloquent words and reported embellished figures.

They wouldn't tell him how many people would be driven to rebellion by the increased taxes on suppressing the rebellion.

They wouldn't tell him that the border troops had been in arrears with their pay for months and could mutini at any moment.

They wouldn't tell him whether the cities in Shanxi could be defended or not.

They would only say: Your Majesty is wise, we obey your decree.

"You may leave." Zhu Youjian waved his hand, his voice full of weariness.

Liang Tingdong felt as if he had been granted a pardon, kowtowed, and withdrew.

Zhu Youjian was left alone in the Qianqing Palace again.

He sat behind his desk, looking at the mountain of memorials, and suddenly felt that it was all absurd.

What's the point of reviewing these memorials every day, summoning these ministers every day, and making these decisions every day?

Liaodong remains in a state of decay, bandits continue to run rampant, and the national treasury remains empty.

He was like a blind man groping in the dark, finding only false and embellished information.

Chen Zhiyuan.

The name suddenly popped into his mind.

That seventh-rank editor said on the platform: "If those in power only read memorials and listen to reports in the deep palace, what they see will always be what others want them to see."

At the time, he found those words offensive and thought the man was arrogant.

But now...

Zhu Youjian closed his eyes.

If Chen Zhiyuan is right, if the memorials he saw and the reports he heard were really what others wanted him to see, then what exactly has he been busy with for the past three years?

How many of the memorials he reviewed were true?

How many of the decisions he made were correct?