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

The Imperial Guards' arrest operation began quickly.

Luo Yangxing personally led a group of people to surround Fan Yongdou's residence in the western part of the capital.

Fan Yongdou was still asleep when the gate of the Fan family's house was kicked open.

He was in the capital discussing an important business deal.

He was dragged off the bed by two captains, pinned to the ground, and shackled without uttering a single word.

At the same time, the residences of Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa were also surrounded by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

At daybreak, the mansions of all eight Shanxi merchants in the capital were confiscated.

The scene of the raid was very large.

The Imperial Guards carried out boxes of things—gold, silver, silk, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings—filling the courtyard.

The yamen runners of Shuntian Prefecture maintained order at the entrance, and the crowd of onlookers stretched for half a street.

Luo Yangxing personally oversaw the registration process.

Every item had to be recorded, specifying what it was, how many there were, and which room it came from.

The clerks were bent over their desks, their pens never stopping, turning the pages of the booklets one by one.

When they raided Fan Yongdou's house, a captain carried out five boxes from a hidden compartment in the wall of a secret room.

Open it, and you'll find nothing but ledgers.

Luo Yangxing flipped through a few pages, his expression changing.

He had these account books packed separately, sealed, and personally escorted back to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

That afternoon, the preliminary inventory results of the confiscated property were delivered to the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youjian sat behind his desk, and Wang Chengen read the booklet to him.

The confiscated items from Fan Yongdou's home included 230,000 taels of silver, 4,000 taels of gold, 3,000 bolts of silk, antiques and paintings worth approximately 50,000 taels of silver, and land and house deeds worth approximately 80,000 taels of silver.

The total amount is approximately 400,000 taels.

The Wang Dengku family's property was searched and found to contain 180,000 taels of silver, 2,000 taels of gold, 2,000 bolts of silk, antiques and paintings worth approximately 30,000 taels of silver, and land and house deeds worth approximately 50,000 taels of silver.

The total amount is approximately 280,000 taels.

The remaining six households each had varying amounts of silver and valuables confiscated.

The eight properties together amounted to approximately 1.2 million taels of silver, 12,000 taels of gold, and other valuables worth approximately 300,000 taels of silver.

The total amount is approximately 1.5 million taels.

Zhu Youjian listened without saying a word.

One million five hundred thousand taels.

That's enough to pay the soldiers in the nine border regions for three months.

He recalled Chen Zhiyuan using Beijing's prices to calculate costs on the platform.

Six hundred and eighty thousand taels of silver can buy fifty-six hundred thousand bushels of rice, enough to feed one hundred thousand soldiers for a year.

This 1.5 million taels is enough to buy 1.2 million shi of rice, enough to feed 200,000 soldiers for a year.

Over the years, Shanxi merchants donated this money to the Later Jin dynasty.

Zhu Youjian's hand rested on the imperial desk, his knuckles turning white.

He asked, "What about those account books?"

Wang Chengen said, "The Assistant Commissioner Luo has brought it over and is under the supervision of the Directorate of Ceremonial. He said that the account books contain details of his dealings with officials in the court, involving quite a few people."

Zhu Youjian remained silent for a while.

"Have him organize it. Make a copy of the list; I want to see it."

"Yes."

Zhu Youjian stood up and walked to the window.

He didn't think much of confiscating the homes of Shanxi merchants.

These people deserve to die, to be killed, and to have their property confiscated.

One and a half million taels of silver is better spent to relieve the urgent needs of Dengzhou and Laizhou and to pay the border troops than to leave them to their own devices.

But he knew this was just the beginning.

The names in the ledgers are the real problem.

Three days later, Chen Zhiyuan submitted the official memorial regarding the military expenditure plan.

The memorial was very thick, more than forty pages long.

He spent three days and three nights writing, sorting out all the military expenditure accounts for the four garrisons of Liaodong, Jizhou, Xuanda, and Denglai from the first year of Chongzhen's reign to the second year.

The number of soldiers, allocations, actual revenue, and deficits for each town are clearly listed.

The destination of every single difference was recorded, including those that could be found and those that could not be found, which were marked "no record available".

The comparison between the soldiers' actual pay and the pay recorded in the books is evidenced by forty-seven letters from the soldiers' families.

Finally, the conclusion.

First, Yuan Chonghuan did not collude with the enemy.

In the Battle of Guangqumen, he personally braved arrows and stones, sustaining several wounds, to repel the Later Jin and protect the capital.

A traitor would not do that.

Secondly, while Yuan Chonghuan's execution of Mao Wenlong was procedurally flawed, Mao Wenlong's false reporting of troop numbers, misappropriation of rations and pay, and his arrogance and disloyalty warranted execution according to the law.

Yuan Chonghuan wielded the imperial sword, acting expediently and reporting back only afterward. Although he acted arbitrarily, it was not considered treason.

Article 3: During Yuan Chonghuan's tenure as military governor in Liaodong, there was a military expenditure shortfall of 680,000 taels of silver and a rice and bean shortfall of 160,000 shi of grain.

Where did this money and grain go? Whether Yuan Chonghuan himself knew about it or was involved? The existing evidence cannot prove this.

However, as the military governor of Jiliao, he was responsible for the management of military expenditures.

Article 4. In October of the second year of Chongzhen's reign, the Later Jin broke through the pass and entered the pass. Yuan Chonghuan rushed to the aid of the capital and defeated the enemy army in the Battle of Guangqumen.

However, Jizhou was poorly defended, allowing the Later Jin to advance unimpeded. As the commander-in-chief of Jizhou and Liaodong, Yuan Chonghuan bore an unshirkable responsibility.

Article 5. Yuan Chonghuan's younger brother, Yuan Chongyu, operated a salt business in Yangzhou and had dealings with Shanxi merchants.

In September of the second year of the Chongzhen reign, Yuan Chongyu was last seen in Yangzhou, after which he disappeared without a trace.

According to investigations, Yuan Chongyu's business had business dealings with Fan Yongdou, involving salt permits, grain, and other items.

Whether Yuan Chonghuan used his power to benefit his brother cannot be proven by existing evidence, but the suspicion of collusion between officials and businessmen cannot be cleared.

Chen Zhiyuan wrote at the end of his memorial.

"My investigation into the military expenditure case reveals that the corruption of collusion between officials and businessmen is widespread throughout the court and among the general public."

"Merchants use profit to curry favor with officials, and officials use their power for personal gain, with each level of the bureaucracy exploiting the system."

"The leakage of military funds is not limited to one town; the corruption is not limited to one person."

"If this problem isn't addressed at its root, today we'll confiscate the property of eight Shanxi merchants, tomorrow we'll confiscate ten, a hundred. We can't kill them all, we can't finish confiscating them all. Only reform can solve this fundamental problem."

He submitted the budget charter as an appendix.

After reading the memorial, Zhu Youjian remained silent for a long time.

He sent the memorial to the cabinet for discussion by the six ministries and nine ministers.

The imperial court was in an uproar.

On the first day, the Office of Transmission received twenty-three impeachment memorials.

The next day, forty-seven copies.

On the third day, seventy-three portions were produced.

The impeachment charges were varied and numerous.

Some people say that Chen Zhiyuan "exonerated Yuan Chonghuan, reversed the truth, and confused right and wrong."

Some say he "used the guise of investigating cases to engage in factional strife, attack dissidents, and fabricate charges."

Some say he "slandered the court, defamed officials, and tarnished the reputation of scholars by using the phrase 'collusion between officials and merchants'."

Some people say that "his report on the difference in military expenses was unsubstantiated and purely speculative."

Some say that his "budget regulations disrupt ancestral laws and bring disaster to the country and its people."

The most scathing memorial was written by Li Shiqi, a censor in the Ministry of Justice.

"Chen Zhiyuan used the Yuan Chonghuan case to implicate military expenditures and officials and businessmen. His intention was not Yuan Chonghuan, but to use this case to tarnish our court. How insidious are the four words 'collusion between officials and businessmen'!"

"Officials in our dynasty receive meager salaries. Who among them has no relatives? Who among them has no fellow villagers? Who among them has no old friends from the same year?"

"According to Chen Zhiyuan, anyone who associates with merchants is considered to be in cahoots, and anyone who seeks personal gain for their relatives is considered to be corrupt. With such harsh judgments, who can remain untainted?"

Li Shiqi's words resonated with many people.

Officials in the Ming Dynasty did indeed receive meager salaries.

A first-rank official's annual salary was 1,000 shi of rice, which amounted to only a few hundred taels of silver.

In the capital, renting a decent house costs over a hundred taels of silver, hiring a few servants costs several dozen taels, and clothing, food, socializing, and other necessities all cost money.

Without greed and embezzlement, one simply cannot make a living.

So everyone has a source.

Respect for ice and charcoal, customary festival gifts, filial piety from students and old friends, and assistance from relatives and friends.

On the surface, this money wasn't embezzled, but everyone knows what really happened.

Chen Zhiyuan said that collusion between officials and businessmen also includes these kinds of things.

But which family doesn't have these kinds of problems?

Li Shiqi himself, and his younger brother, ran a silk shop in Nanjing and had dealings with several salt merchants.

During festivals, the younger brother would send some money, saying it was to "show respect to his elder brother."

Li Shiqi accepted the money and used it to bribe his superiors and subordinates to maintain a respectable image.

Nine out of ten officials in the court have done this kind of thing.

Chen Zhiyuan has now broken through this barrier.

What should we do next?

Should we stop accepting them? How will we survive?

Should we stop sending gifts? How will we handle the social obligations?

How can anyone live like this?