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

At this time, Chen Zhiyuan had already taken the files back to the Censorate.

Chen Zhiyuan nodded, signaling Zhao Delu and the two captains to begin moving the items.

He first pulled out a volume of military archives.

In April of the first year of the Chongzhen reign, Yuan Chonghuan was reinstated as Minister of War and concurrently Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, and was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Ji-Liao region.

That month, the Ministry of War approved the troop quotas for various towns in Liaodong: Ningyuan, Jinzhou, Shanhaiguan, Jizhou, Changping, Baoding, etc. The report stated that "the quota is set at 84,000 combat troops, with auxiliary troops, garrison troops, and miscellaneous service troops counted separately."

Chen Zhiyuan turned to the next page, which was a copy of the document from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Revenue requesting funds.

"The annual salary for Liaodong Garrison is calculated based on the quota of 84,000 soldiers, with each soldier receiving 1.5 taels of silver per month, totaling 1,512,000 taels of silver per year. Rice and beans are calculated separately in exchange for silver."

He closed the booklet, walked to the middle shelf, and pulled out the Ministry of Revenue's Treasury Disbursement Book from the same period.

The Ministry of Revenue's records, however, contained a different set of figures.

In May of the first year of the Chongzhen reign, the Ministry of Revenue was ordered to allocate military funds to Liaodong: the first batch consisted of 400,000 taels of silver and 150,000 shi of rice and beans.

The annotation reads: "The national treasury is empty; allocate 40% first, and the remainder will be used later."

In June, the second batch consisted of 250,000 taels of silver and 80,000 shi of rice and beans.

In July, the third batch: 200,000 taels of silver and 50,000 shi of rice and beans.

Chen Zhiyuan quickly calculated in his mind: In three months, the total amount is 850,000 taels of silver and 280,000 shi of rice and beans.

It is less than 60% of the 1.51 million taels of silver allocated by the Ministry of War.

And this is based on the "quota" of 84,000 soldiers. If we consider the actual number of soldiers...

He turned to the shelf on the right and found a report from the Liaodong Governor's Office from the same period.

In July of the first year of the Chongzhen reign, Bi Zisu, the governor of Liaodong, submitted a memorial to the emperor.

"The actual number of troops in each town is as follows: Ningyuan and Jinzhou have about 32,000 soldiers, Shanhaiguan has 18,000, and Jizhou, Changping, Baoding and other places have a total of 21,000, for a total of more than 71,000. However, food and pay have been lacking for a long time, the soldiers are hungry and exhausted, and desertion is increasing daily."

Chen Zhiyuan stared at the number "71,000".

The Ministry of War verified 84,000, while Liaodong reported 71,000.

He continued flipping through the pages.

In August, Yuan Chonghuan submitted his first report after taking office.

"Upon investigation of the various garrisons in Liaodong, the troop rosters are found to be severely inflated. Ningyuan's roster lists 12,000, but the actual number is no more than 8,000; Jinzhou's roster lists 9,000, but the actual number is more than 5,000... I have already sent a document to each garrison to strictly verify the troop numbers and ensure the actual need for funds."

In early September, Yuan Chonghuan submitted another memorial.

"After verification, there are 48,000 combat soldiers and 22,000 auxiliary soldiers and laborers in Liaodong, totaling 70,000. Please allocate funds according to the actual number."

Chen Zhiyuan's finger stopped on the words "48,000 soldiers".

The Ministry of War estimated the number of troops at 84,000, but Liaodong initially reported 71,000. Yuan Chonghuan then determined the number to be 48,000.

Only four months have passed.

He put down this file and then pulled out the archive from the second year of the Chongzhen reign—that is, last year.

Last January, the Ministry of War re-approved the number of troops in Liaodong.

"The Ji-Liao Commander-in-Chief Yuan Chonghuan reports that there are 48,000 combat troops and 22,000 auxiliary troops, totaling 70,000. The headquarters has verified this and there are no discrepancies. Please allocate funds according to this number."

It appears that the Ministry of War adopted the figures verified by Yuan Chonghuan.

But when Chen Zhiyuan turned to the Ministry of Revenue's disbursement records, his brows furrowed.

In the first month of the second year of the Chongzhen reign, the Ministry of Revenue allocated 300,000 taels of silver for military supplies to Liaodong.

February: 250,000 taels.

March: 200,000 taels.

Each batch had annotations: "The treasury is short of funds, so allocate a portion first" and "The grain transport has not yet arrived, so rice and beans will be temporarily suspended."

He accumulated it rapidly.

From January to June last year, the Ministry of Revenue actually allocated 1.2 million taels of silver and 400,000 shi of rice and beans to Liaodong.

If we calculate based on the 70,000 soldiers verified by Yuan Chonghuan, with each soldier receiving an annual salary of 18 taels of silver, the annual salary would be 1.26 million taels of silver—which seems about right.

But this is an "annual salary".

In reality, of these 70,000 men, 48,000 were combat soldiers and 22,000 were auxiliary soldiers. Combat soldiers received a monthly salary of 1.5 taels of silver, while auxiliary soldiers received only 8 taels.

Chen Zhiyuan picked up paper and pen and began to calculate:

The army numbered 48,000, with a monthly salary of 72,000 taels and an annual salary of 864,000 taels.

The auxiliary troops number 22,000, with a monthly salary of 17,600 taels and an annual salary of 211,200 taels.

The total is 1,075,200 taels.

The Ministry of Revenue allocated 1.2 million taels of silver in six months, which should have been enough, or even slightly more.

But what about the reports from Liaodong?

He found the memorial from Liaodong dated June of the second year of the Chongzhen reign.

Yuan Chonghuan submitted a memorial stating: "The various garrisons have been in arrears with their pay for more than half a year. Soldiers are selling their wives and children, and desertions are rampant. I request that the pay be issued as soon as possible to stabilize the morale of the troops."

Chen Zhiyuan stared at the line of text, his heart taut with each passing moment.

On paper, the money was disbursed, and the amount matched.

But the frontline staff said they were owed six months' salary.

Where did the money go?

The archives of the Grand Canal Transport Office were even more disorganized.

The transfer slips, handover documents, and loss reports filled half a room.

Chen Zhiyuan flipped directly to the second year of Chongzhen's reign.

In the first month of the year, thirty grain transport boats, carrying 50,000 shi of rice and beans, set off from Tongzhou toward Shanhaiguan.

Annotation: "Encountering winds en route, eight hundred bushels of grain were lost."

In February, twenty-five grain transport ships carried 150,000 taels of silver and 30,000 shi of rice and beans.

Annotation: "The river channel is silted up, causing a five-day delay."

In March, forty cargo ships...

He looked through them one by one.

Each shipment has records of "losses," "delays," and "sinkings." The amounts are small, tens or hundreds of shi each time, but what about when they accumulate?

Chen Zhiyuan began to accumulate.

From January to June of the second year of the Chongzhen reign, the records of "losses en route" kept by the Grand Canal Transport Office showed: a total of 6,800 shi of rice and beans, and no silver.

During the same period, the Ministry of Revenue allocated a total of 400,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice and beans.

Six thousand eight hundred shi, accounting for about one and a half percent.

It looks normal; in fact, you could say the loss rate is very low.

But Chen Zhiyuan knew that this was not the whole story.

He continued flipping through the documents and found the handover documents between the Grand Canal Administration and the local prefectures and counties.

When each batch of grain and provisions arrives at a location, local state and county officials will issue a receipt.

In addition to the quantity, the receipt also included a line of small print listing deductions such as "color discount," "fee," and "warehouse waste."

For example, on February 15th of the second year of the Chongzhen reign, a batch of 100,000 taels of silver for military service arrived in Jizhou.

The receipt issued by the prefect of Jizhou stated...

"Actual revenue was 98,000 taels of silver. After deductions, 1,000 taels of silver were deducted for the exchange rate, 500 taels for transportation costs, and 500 taels for warehouse expenses."

Chen Zhiyuan's pupils contracted.

"Discount" refers to the loss calculated based on the purity of silver, "transportation cost" refers to transportation costs, and "warehouse loss" refers to losses incurred during warehouse storage—all of these sound reasonable.

But what about the proportion?

Two thousand taels are deducted from one hundred thousand taels, which is two percent.

He quickly flipped through the other receipts.

In March, 200,000 taels of silver for military service arrived at Shanhaiguan. After deducting 2,000 taels for "discounted goods", 1,000 taels for "transportation costs", and 800 taels for "warehouse losses", the total amount was reduced.

In April, 150,000 taels of silver arrived in Ningyuan. After deducting 1,500 taels for "discount," 800 taels for "transportation costs," and 500 taels for "warehouse losses," the total amount was reduced.

Two to three percent is deducted from every transaction.

Individually, they may not seem like much, but what do they add up to?

Chen Zhiyuan took the abacus.

In the first half of the second year of the Chongzhen reign, the Ministry of Revenue allocated 1.2 million taels of silver for military supplies to Liaodong. However, after deducting an average of 2.5%, only 1.17 million taels actually reached Liaodong.

Thirty thousand taels were missing.

And this is only the deduction at the state and county level.

What about the "losses" of the canal transport office itself? What about the "hard-earned money" of the escorting officials?

What about the "defense assistance fee" for local garrisons?

He couldn't find those records.