Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 444 Liao Yi
This problem was solved temporarily, but the real problem was not solved.

Now they could barely collect 200,000 taels to Liaodong, which was still far from what Yuan Chonghuan asked for. Emperor Chongzhen didn't want to use his own private money to make up for it, but what if he didn't have silver? He was an emperor, not a god, and he couldn't turn silver into something!

The post stations had been closed down, but the effect was completely different from what Emperor Chongzhen had expected. The money saved was lost in a muddle, and Emperor Chongzhen felt very upset.

There was nothing else to lay off, so could they lay off the government officials? This was simply impossible.

The post stations are corporate organizations, while the officials are civil servants. There is no problem in cutting the corporate organizations, but if the civil servant organizations were cut, Emperor Chongzhen would be offending all the scholars and officials in the world. He might not understand other things, but how could he not understand this principle?
Besides, this method would never be passed even if it was proposed, let alone implemented. The civil and military officials in the court would definitely oppose it fiercely, as it would directly affect their foundation.

So Emperor Chongzhen no longer had the possibility to withdraw the tax, but what should he do to make up for the shortage of silver? At this time, someone suggested that if it really didn't work, he should increase taxes. Since there was a shortage of money for the Liaodong war, in order to solve the problem of Liaodong military expenses, he could impose a "Liaoxiang" tax on the people and let the local governments and the people share the burden. Anyway, the Ming Dynasty had a vast territory and a large population, with tens of millions of people across the country. Collecting one tael from each person would bring in tens of millions of yuan, which would not only solve the Liaodong military expenses but also fill the financial shortage of the Ministry of Revenue, killing two birds with one stone.

As soon as this suggestion was put forward, some people expressed opposition. Opponents said that increasing taxes should be done with caution. The people have a hard life. Natural disasters are frequent in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, and there are signs of rebellion in some places. Once these taxes are increased, it will increase their burden again, which is not a good idea.

However, the opposing opinions were quickly suppressed, and the majority of people expressed their agreement, and suggested that increasing the Liao salary was the best way to solve the current financial problems. Although this approach would have some impact on the people, compared with the overall situation, such an impact was still bearable.

First, let the people suffer, and let them and the court work together to tighten their belts and live a hard life. Didn't Yuan Chonghuan promise to pacify Liaodong in five years? As long as the Liaodong issue is resolved within five years, at most the people will suffer for five years.

Five years later, when the Liaodong war is settled and the world is at peace, the Liao tribute can be stopped, and the people can live a good life. The court does this for the world, for the Ming Dynasty. The people are the people of the Ming Dynasty, so isn't this a small contribution?
These words immediately touched the heart of Emperor Chongzhen, who nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Since ascending the throne, Emperor Chongzhen has always held himself to the standards of a ruler who would restore the country, and he worked extremely hard every day. Not to mention that he had to stay up late every day to read memorials and talk with ministers on state affairs until the middle of the night, he was also extremely strict with himself in his daily life. He was extremely frugal in his life, constantly reducing the expenses of the harem in order to reduce the expenses of the palace.

His imperial meals were very simple, with only two or three dishes each time, no different from those of ordinary people. Even when his clothes were torn, he was reluctant to make new ones, and asked his queen in the harem to help him mend them with needle and thread. It was unprecedented for an emperor to reach this level.

Emperor Chongzhen felt that since he, as the emperor, could endure such hardships, it was only natural for the common people, as his subjects, to share the same hardships with him. Let the common people suffer and work together to endure a few days of hardship for the future revival of the Ming Dynasty! At one time, Emperor Chongzhen made a decision, followed the advice and levied Liao taxes.

In fact, the so-called Liao salary had existed as early as the Tianqi period, but at that time the collection of Liao salary was entrusted to Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian and Emperor Tianqi knew very well that the huge military expenditure in Liaodong could not be supported by relying on taxes from the court, and they had to find ways to get money from other places.

However, the Liao salary at that time was completely different from the Liao salary now. Wei Zhongxian's Liao salary was just a name, but in fact the target of collection was not ordinary people. Wei Zhongxian knew that the common people had a hard life and it was difficult to squeeze out any money. Instead of focusing his energy on the common people, it would be better to focus on the gentry and businessmen.

This was also the main reason why Wei Zhongxian's eunuch party was attacked by the Donglin Party and other parties. By increasing taxes on gentry and wealthy merchants in Jiangnan and other places, and adding a series of foreign trade measures, Wei Zhongxian got more than 4 million taels of silver for Emperor Tianqi in a year, and a total of 17.2 million taels in four years. This money not only solved the military expenditure problem in Liaodong, but also met the financial expenditure of Northern Zhili and other places.

After Wei Zhongxian's downfall, everything he had done before was liquidated, and the targeted increase in taxes became one of Wei Zhongxian's original sins.

But now, after discussions among the cabinet, Emperor Chongzhen actually picked up what Wei Zhongxian did back then and continued to collect Liao taxes. However, this time, the target of collection was shifted from local gentry and wealthy merchants to ordinary people. Could it be that the officials did not know the difference? Of course not.

Being able to reach such a high level of officialdom, how could they not understand the difference? But the problem is that the butt determines the head. As agents of the gentry and wealthy merchants, they naturally cannot attack these targets like Wei Zhongxian did back then. This is equivalent to damaging their own interests and digging up their own foundations! Finding a suitable reason to transfer the target and burden to ordinary people is the most appropriate.

As for how the common people would react? How could they care so much? In the eyes of these people, the common people in the world are nothing more than grass, their lives are worthless, just like leeks, they will grow again after being cut. What does life and death have to do with them?
After the meeting of Emperor Chongzhen, the Ministry of Revenue finally allocated 200,000 taels of silver a few days later. At this time, Emperor Chongzhen considered it again and again, and reluctantly took out another 100,000 taels of silver from his own treasury, and sent 300,000 taels to Liaodong. While sending the silver, Emperor Chongzhen also sent a message to Yuan Chonghuan, saying that he would find a way to allocate the subsequent silver as soon as possible. Although the 300,000 taels of silver was not enough for his request, it was not too little after all. He asked Yuan Chonghuan to put state affairs first and appease the military and political affairs of Liaodong first. He believed that Yuan Chonghuan could definitely do this with his ability.

Yuan Chonghuan in Liaodong was extremely worried when he received the letter from Emperor Chongzhen and the 300,000 taels of silver (actually a little over 200,000 taels, the rest was lost according to the rules).

The amount of wages owed to Yuan Chonghuan plus the subsequent wages that should be paid was not a small amount. At best, this amount was enough to pay for two and a half months of wages.

Faced with this situation, Yuan Chonghuan was helpless. He could only back-pay two months' wages and tell the soldiers that subsequent military wages from the court would be delivered in succession. Now these were just preliminary, so everyone could rest assured that as long as he was owed wages, there would be no problem.

Although it was a drop in the bucket, it was real money after all. After receiving the two months' worth of silver owed, the soldiers who had previously doubted Yuan Chonghuan finally felt relieved. Everyone felt that Lord Yuan was responsible and would pay the silver as he said. So wasn't the silver coming?
Although the silver is not enough, it also gives everyone hope, right? Besides, Lord Yuan always keeps his word and his words are ironclad. If you don't trust the court, how can you not trust Lord Yuan who loves his soldiers like his own sons?

It was late at night, and the lights were still on in Yuan Chonghuan's mansion in Ningyuan. In his study, Yuan Chonghuan put down the pen in his hand and rubbed his sore wrist.

A newly written memorial was placed on the table, the ink on it had not yet dried. Yuan Chonghuan stood up and walked a few steps in the room, his brows furrowed and his expression stern.

It has been nearly a month since he returned to Liaodong. During this period, Yuan Chonghuan has only done one thing, which is to solve the problem of mutiny in the Liaodong army and the subsequent handling.

Several junior officers who instigated the mutiny had all been executed, and Yuan Chonghuan suppressed the incident with thunderous means. After pacifying the soldiers, Yuan Chonghuan took action against the Liaodong army. Since he left Liaodong last year due to illness and returned this time, Yuan Chonghuan found that his control over the Liaodong army was not as handy as before. Except for Wu Xiang and the Zu brothers in Shanhai Valley, the rest of the Liaodong army had more or less made some unusual moves.

Yuan Chonghuan was a man with a strong desire for control. When he was the military governor, he suppressed the general Man Gui and eventually forced Man Gui to transfer from Ningyuan to Xuanda. After Man Gui left, Yuan Chonghuan used means and interests to tie his Liaodong troops together, thus forming a group headed by him, and he, Yuan Chonghuan, was the core of this group.

When he came back this time, Yuan Chonghuan clearly felt that the other Liaodong generals were no longer obedient to him as before, and seemed to have their own plans. This made Yuan Chonghuan very unhappy and made him wary.

As the commander-in-chief of Ji-Liao, Yuan Chonghuan was in charge of both military and political affairs in Liaodong, and would never allow such a situation to happen. So after dealing with the mutiny, Yuan Chonghuan decisively arrested Wu Guoqi.

Wu Guoqi was the commander of his lieutenant general Peng Zhangu. He learned from Zu Dale that after he left Liaodong, senior military officers such as Peng Zhangu secretly colluded with each other and formed a small group outside of their original interest group, leaving him behind, and showed signs of becoming independent.

The reason why the mutiny broke out so easily this time, apart from the unpaid wages, was that these senior military officers turned a blind eye and even secretly pushed it. The suicide of Governor Bi Zisu, apart from the indignation, was also due to their coercion. In this matter, Wu Guoqi was their chief military advisor and did a lot of things in private.

After capturing Wu Guoqi, Yuan Chonghuan used the imperial sword to execute him without saying a word, using the bloody head to intimidate everyone. Then, Yuan Chonghuan punished Peng Zhangu, Wang Jiaji, the commander of the left chariot camp, Zuo Liangyu, the commander of the right chariot camp, and Li Guofu, the assistant secretary of the Wenbiao camp. Yang Zhengchao and Zhang Sishun were spared from death and made meritorious contributions. In addition, the prosecutor Su Hanchun and the judge Zhang Shirong, who were known for their greed and cruelty, were demoted.

After this series of combined punches, everyone immediately put away their own little thoughts, obeyed Yuan Chonghuan's orders and dared not to play tricks again. Only then did Yuan Chonghuan completely take back all military and political power.

(End of this chapter)