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

Chapter 604: With the Help
After a while, the eunuch brought ginseng soup. Xue Guoguan took it and thanked the emperor, then sat there thinking hard.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to his mind, and Xue Guoguan finally came up with an idea.

"His Majesty!"

"What? Lord Xue has a solution?"

"Your Majesty, I have come up with an idea, but I don't know if it is feasible."

"No problem, just speak frankly."

Xue Guoguan responded and then said, "Your Majesty has worked really hard for our Ming Dynasty over the years. Since Emperor Taizu founded the country, Your Majesty has worked day and night for several years. I have read the history books and found that no emperor has been as diligent as Your Majesty. I did not expect this, and I am really..."

"Alright, alright, no need to say more, just get to the point!" Emperor Chongzhen didn't want to listen to these meaningless words, so he waved his hand to interrupt.

Xue Guoguan quickly said yes and brought the topic back to the topic. He told Emperor Chongzhen that the finances were tight now and in order to keep the court going, Emperor Chongzhen had used money from the inner treasury to fill the finances many times, amounting to millions. If Emperor Chongzhen had not been so selfless, the court would have collapsed due to lack of money.

Since the emperor can do this, why can't the ministers do it? Although the Ming Dynasty is named Zhu, it is also the world of the Ming people! You can't let the emperor alone pay for the money and work when you encounter difficulties? Can't others share the joys and sorrows with the emperor?
As soon as these words came out, they instantly touched the heart of Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen showed an expression of true recognition, and a bit of appreciation. Xue Guoguan was right! It is indeed like this. Although the world belongs to his Zhu family, it is also everyone's world. If the Ming Dynasty is gone, how can those ministers and nobles have wealth and status again? In this case, why does he, the emperor, have to bear everything? As a minister, shouldn't he share the worries of the king?

Xue Guoguan continued to say that it was fine for ordinary officials, after all, they had studied hard for decades to become officials, and the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were not high, and officials did not have much money or property, so although they had the will, they did not have the power.

But the nobles were different. Which noble of the Ming Dynasty was not wealthy? Especially those nobles and meritorious officials who had been passed down from generation to generation since the reigns of Taizu and Chengzu, who not only had titles, but also had a lot of property and land.

In addition, the same is true for the nobles and relatives of the emperor. These nobles and relatives of the emperor are rich and powerful, and they all share the same fate with the country. They have all these because the Ming Dynasty is still there. If the Ming Dynasty is gone, how can they enjoy these? Compared with ordinary ministers, they should relieve the worries of the king and share the joys and sorrows! The court is in financial difficulties now, and even the emperor has taken out his private money? Why can't these nobles and relatives of the emperor do the same?
If they also helped the emperor and took out a part of their family wealth, the amount would not be much for the Ming Dynasty's nobles and relatives, with each family contributing tens of thousands of taels of silver or even more. All added up would be millions or even tens of millions of silver. With so much money in hand, would the financial issue still be a problem?

As Xue Guoguan said this, Emperor Chongzhen's eyes suddenly lit up and he became excited.

Xue Guoguan was right. The Ming dynasty had many nobles, relatives and relatives by marriage, and most of them were rich and powerful, at least for several generations. The rewards from successive emperors, plus their titles, lands, shops, etc., it was not an exaggeration to describe them as extremely wealthy.

Considering the number of these people, if one family can donate tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, they can easily get millions or even tens of millions of taels of silver. With this money in hand, the current financial problems will be immediately solved.

However, Emperor Chongzhen also thought of a problem, that is, what if he asked these people for silver and they refused? After all, silver is a good thing, and no one would give it out easily. Moreover, asking them to donate silver in the name of the court is like digging other people's meat.

"It's that simple." Xue Guoguan said, "I don't mean to donate, but to let them borrow!"

"With the help?"

"Yes! It is borrowing. These silvers are borrowed in the name of the court and guaranteed by the Ministry of Revenue. It is useless to keep the silver in their treasury. Borrowing from the court does not mean not returning it. When the court overcomes the difficulties, it can be returned naturally. It would be more appropriate if some interest is added when guaranteeing by the Ministry of Revenue." "Yes, yes, yes! Borrowing! Borrowing!" Emperor Chongzhen laughed. This borrowing is well said! The Ministry of Revenue asked him for silver many times. Isn't it in the name of "borrowing" to let him take silver out from the inner treasury? Since he, the emperor, can lend it to the court, why can't these nobles and relatives? Moreover, with the Ministry of Revenue coming forward, he avoids the trouble of coming forward as the emperor. At least on the surface, it looks more formal and easier for people to take over.

As for whether the Ministry of Revenue would return the money after borrowing it? Emperor Chongzhen did not consider it at all. This was a problem of the Ministry of Revenue, and even more so a problem of the cabinet. What did it have to do with him as the emperor? He just needed a solution to the problem now, and he would talk about it later. Even if the Ministry of Revenue defaulted on the debt, he could not blame himself as the emperor.

After understanding all this, Emperor Chongzhen was in a good mood and praised Xue Guoguan. Xue Guoguan said with fear and trepidation that this was what he should do as a minister.

Satisfied, he let Xue Guoguan leave. After Xue Guoguan left, Emperor Chongzhen began to think about who to ask for money.

There were many nobles, relatives and relatives of the emperor in the Ming Dynasty, and even more royal family members. These people were all rich, and they never lacked money, not to mention the wealth at home. They lived a very comfortable life. But it was not easy to get money from them, even in the name of borrowing. These people valued money as their life, and in their eyes, money was more important than anything else.

At the beginning, Emperor Chongzhen wanted to get some silver from the princes of various places. From the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the present, the princes of various places have experienced more than ten generations of inheritance, including those who have been stripped of their titles and newly conferred titles. Adding together, there are 34 public princes. In terms of quantity, this is actually not a lot, but there are more than 80 county kings. If the middle-level royal family members such as generals are added, the number is more than 6,000. If the middle and lower-level royal family members are included, the number is even more frightening, reaching about 16,000 on the list.

If so many royal family members could give some silver to the court, the total amount would be astronomical. However, Emperor Chongzhen had concerns about taking action against royal family members. It was not that he did not want to ask his own people for silver, but that he really could not bring himself to ask for it. On the one hand, royal family members were the foundation of the Ming Dynasty and they were his own people of the Zhu family. Many of them had high seniority. Although he was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he was just a junior among the royal family members.

Moreover, once this was done, the royal family would certainly raise objections, and the reason for the objection was very simple, that is, you can get the silver, but what about the salaries owed to the royal family by the court? Since the Jiajing period, the royal family's salaries have never been paid. When it came to the Wanli period, the royal family's salaries were reduced again and again. After Chongzhen ascended the throne, the royal family had not been paid for several years due to financial problems. All the money and grain were owed.

You don't even pay them wages, yet you plan to ask them for money? Isn't this asking for trouble? The royal families in various places will definitely make a scene, and Emperor Chongzhen doesn't want to be involved in this trouble.

The idea of ​​the royal family could not be used for the time being, so Emperor Chongzhen could only turn his attention to the nobles and relatives of the emperor. Like the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, these people also lived and died with the country and also had huge wealth.

But asking directly would not work, he had to find a breakthrough. After all, he was asking them to borrow money. If he was rejected or pushed back as soon as he asked, Emperor Chongzhen would lose face.

After much thought, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly thought of a breakthrough point, which was the Li family of Marquis of Wuqing. The Li family of Marquis of Wuqing were the noble relatives of the Ming Dynasty and also the in-laws. The first generation Marquis of Wuqing, Li Wei, was the father of Empress Dowager Li, the biological mother of Emperor Wanli, and the great-grandfather of Emperor Chongzhen. Now the title of Marquis of Wuqing has been passed down to the fourth generation. The current Marquis of Wuqing is Li Guorui, who is the cousin of Emperor Chongzhen in terms of relatives.

Because of Empress Dowager Li, the Wuqinghou Li family had a high status in the Ming Dynasty and rich property. In addition, Emperor Chongzhen had a good relationship with the Li family. He felt that it should not be difficult to open a gap from Li Guorui. As long as Li Guorui cooperated with him and gave some silver to the court, then once he had one, he would have two. Naturally, other nobles and relatives, including foreign relatives, would not be a problem, and this matter would be done.

Thinking of this, the more Emperor Chongzhen thought about this method, the better it seemed. He summoned Li Guorui to the palace that afternoon and directly made this request to him. Li Guorui, who had originally entered the palace excitedly, thought that the emperor was looking for him for some good thing. However, when he heard that Emperor Chongzhen actually wanted to "borrow" money from him, Li Guorui was dumbfounded and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Li Guorui, who was caught off guard, did not want to lend money to the court. As the number one noble relative, how could he not know the current situation of the court? The entire Ming Dynasty's finances were facing collapse. Taxes could not be collected, and there were rebellions everywhere in the provinces. Liaodong was still fighting with the Jiannu. The court was already unable to make ends meet. Even the emperor had to take money out of the inner treasury to maintain operations.

Li Guorui is not without money. He has silver. But he knows what this so-called borrowing is. Once the silver is lent out, it will be gone forever. The Ministry of Revenue can't even pay back the emperor's silver, so how can it pay back his silver?

The Wuqing Marquis's Mansion had been passed down for four generations, and the accumulated silver was earned by these generations with great effort. How could Li Guorui be willing to hand over the silver? However, he did not dare to refute the emperor's words directly. He had no choice but to agree vaguely, saying that he did not manage the family and did not know how much silver there was in the mansion. He would ask the housekeeper to check the accounts after returning to give a specific answer. Seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen did not force him, but only said that he hoped that Wuqing Marquis, as a representative of the honorary relatives, could set an example and share the joys and sorrows with the Ming Dynasty. As long as he lent the silver to the court, he would not treat Li Guorui unfairly, and told him to rest assured that the silver was just a loan, and he would return it to him in the future when the court situation improved.

(End of this chapter)