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

The wind on the platform suddenly stopped.

Zhu Youjian stood before the throne, his gaze slowly sweeping from Cheng Jiming's face to Zhou Yanru, and then to Qian Shisheng and He Wuzhou.

Everyone he saw instinctively lowered their eyes.

"I ask you, what should we do?"

Zhu Youjian's voice wasn't loud, but it was so oppressive it made it hard to breathe.

Cheng Jiming remained silent for a moment, then took a step forward.

"Your Majesty, this old minister believes that this matter should be handled in two steps."

Zhu Youjian looked at him.

"Which two steps?"

"The first step is to verify. Although the figures Chen Qianxian just listed came from the archives of various departments, they were ultimately only the result of his own verification."

"According to the laws of the imperial court, a case can only be decided after a joint trial by the three judicial departments."

"I suggest that a joint investigation team composed of the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Court of Judicial Review be formed to review each of the matters investigated by Vice Minister Chen. If they are true, then proceed to the second step."

Cheng Jiming paused for a moment.

"The second step is to take action. After verification, those who should be executed will be executed, those who should be dismissed will be dismissed, and those who should be pursued will be pursued. A group of corrupt officials will be executed, and a group of their assets will be confiscated to deter others and set an example for others."

After he finished speaking, he bowed slightly and returned to his original position.

Zhu Youjian remained silent.

Zhou Yanru could tell that the emperor was not satisfied with this answer.

He thought for a moment, then took a step forward.

"Your Majesty, I believe the Grand Secretary's words are absolutely correct. Killing is the quickest way. These people embezzled military funds, filled empty quotas, and exploited soldiers. According to the Great Ming Code, they should all be executed. Killing a batch will shock the court and the public, and no one will dare to do it again."

He spoke fluently, as if he had prepared it in advance.

Qian Shisheng nodded in agreement.

"What Grand Secretary Zhou said is true. Throughout history, rectifying official corruption has always boiled down to two words: investigation and execution. Once the investigation is thorough and all officials are executed, the government will naturally be clean and efficient."

Zhu Youjian suddenly spoke.

"Have you killed them all?"

He looked at Qian Shisheng.

"Grand Secretary Qian, tell me, what constitutes 'killing them all'? How many are considered 'killing them all'?"

Qian Shisheng was taken aback.

Zhu Youjian did not wait for his reply and turned to Cheng Jiming.

"Mr. Cheng, you say those who deserve to die should be killed. I ask you, how long is this list of those 'deserving to die'? From the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Revenue, from the Grand Canal transport officials to the prefectural and county officials, from generals to guerrilla commanders, how many of these people truly deserve to die?"

Cheng Jiming did not answer immediately.

Zhu Youjian calculated it for him.

"Chen Zhiyuan just said that the average vacancy rate in each of the nine border garrisons is 23%. How many generals are siphoning off vacancies with that 23%? Every level of a garrison—general, deputy general, brigadier general, guerrilla commander, garrison commander, and battalion commander—is involved. How many military officers across all nine border garrisons must have been executed?"

He paused.

"Three to four tenths of the grain is intercepted during the transshipment process. How many civil officials among the officials in charge of the grain transport, the prefectures and counties along the route, and the escorting officials should be executed?"

He looked at Cheng Jiming.

"Mr. Cheng, calculate for me, after killing all these people, how many generals will be left in the Nine Garrisons? How many physicians will be left in the Six Ministries?"

Cheng Jiming lowered his head and remained silent.

Zhou Yanru's expression changed.

He suddenly understood why the emperor was dissatisfied with this answer.

It's not that killing is wrong, it's that there aren't enough people to kill.

If we were to investigate each and every article of the Ming Dynasty Code, from the first year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign to the present, every single person who handled military funds would have been wiped out unscathed.

Ministry of War, Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Works, Grain Transport, Prefectures and Counties, Border Towns...

From top to bottom, there are tens of thousands of people.

Can we kill them all?

They can't kill them all.

If we can't kill them all, we can't kill them like this.

Once Zhou Yanru understood this, sweat began to bead on his back.

Cheng Jiming naturally figured it out as well.

He raised his head and looked at Zhu Youjian.

"Your Majesty is wise. I failed to consider this matter thoroughly."

Zhu Youjian did not respond to that sentence.

He walked to the imperial desk, picked up the price list that Chen Zhiyuan had just used, looked at it for a while, and then put it down.

"Killing is not unacceptable." He said in a low voice, his back to the assembled officials.

"But what happens after the killing? Won't the new recruits follow the old rules?"

These words were like a needle, piercing the ears of everyone present.

Cheng Jiming was stunned.

Zhou Yanru was stunned.

Qian Shisheng and He Wuzhou were both stunned.

They glanced at each other and saw the same confusion in each other's eyes.

What did the emperor mean by that?

Newcomers will naturally follow the original rules.

This is an ironclad rule in officialdom; who doesn't know it?

But why did the emperor ask this?

Does he think that by killing someone and replacing them with a new person, he can change the rules?

That's impossible.

Cheng Jiming wanted to explain, but didn't know where to begin.

Zhou Yanru's mind works fast, but he was stuck at this moment.

Killing is the fastest way; this is a consensus between the government and the public.

If a problem arises, kill a bunch of people, and the matter is over.

It's acceptable to everyone, from top to bottom.

But now the emperor is not satisfied with this method.

What does he want?

Zhou Yanru asked tentatively.

"Your Majesty means... not to kill?"

Zhu Youjian turned around.

"Kill. Kill those who deserve to die. But that's not what I'm talking about."

He walked back to the throne and sat down.

"I ask you, should this matter be made known to the court and the public?"

Cheng Jiming was stunned again.

Zhou Yanru blurted it out.

"Your Majesty, how can this be?"

Zhu Youjian looked at him.

"Why not?"

Zhou Yanru realized he had lost his composure and quickly bowed.

"Your Majesty, I misspoke. What I meant was... if this matter were to become known to the court and the public, it might cause unrest."

Zhu Youjian stared at him.

"What kind of turmoil?"

Zhou Yanru opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know how to answer.

What kind of turmoil?

Isn't it obvious?

The imperial court's military funds were embezzled, amounting to 680,000 taels. Border soldiers fought on empty stomachs, while the money all went into the pockets of officials and generals.

If this gets out, what will the people think?

What do scholars think?

What do the soldiers on the frontier think?

The common people would say that the imperial court is a bunch of parasites.

Scholars might wonder, is there any hope left for the Ming Dynasty?

Needless to say, the soldiers on the border were already in arrears with their pay, and it would be strange if they didn't rebel when they found out that the higher-ups had deducted so much.

But can these words be said in front of the emperor?

Zhou Yanru was stuck there, unable to move forward or backward.

He Wuzhou came to his rescue.

"Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Zhou means that if this matter becomes known to the court and the public, it may damage the prestige of the court."

"The common people are ignorant and may not understand the reasons behind it; they will only think that the court is corrupt and incompetent."

"The soldiers on the frontier are already suffering. If they know that their pay has been cut so severely, they will inevitably feel resentful, and there is even a risk of mutiny."

He spoke slowly, carefully considering each word.

After listening, Zhu Youjian looked at Chen Zhiyuan.

"Chen Zhiyuan, you speak."

Chen Zhiyuan took a step forward.

"I believe that what Grand Secretary He said is indeed reasonable. Making this matter public does carry risks. However, I also believe that these risks can be managed."

Zhou Yanru asked.

"How do you control it?"

Chen Zhiyuan looked at him.

"If you do these three things well—the way you disclose information, the scope of disclosure, and what to do after disclosure—you can control the risks."

Zhou Yanru frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Chen Zhiyuan did not answer him directly, but turned to Zhu Youjian.

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to ask, what is Your Majesty's purpose in making this matter public?"

Zhu Youjian looked at him but did not answer.

Chen Zhiyuan waited for a while, and seeing that the emperor did not speak, he continued to speak.

"Your Majesty's intention is not to vent your anger or show weakness, but to put this matter in the open so that everyone knows that the court is going to rectify military spending, investigate thoroughly, and change the rules."

He paused.

"If that's the purpose, then going public is necessary."

"Because it's not public, it will always be in the shadows. They investigate in the shadows, kill in the shadows, and replace people in the shadows."

"After the first batch was replaced, the new ones were still the same as before."

"Because the rules haven't changed, the oversight hasn't changed, and the interests haven't changed."

Cheng Jiming couldn't hold back any longer.

"Vice-Host Chen, I understand what you're saying. But have you considered the risks of going public? What if there's a mutiny on the front lines? Who will take responsibility?"

Chen Zhiyuan looked at him.

"Grand Secretary Cheng, why did the border troops mutini?"