Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 198 Despair is the underlying tone of the late Ming Dynasty

"His Majesty intends to take action against Grand Secretary Shi?!" Tang Yu was shocked.

Generally speaking, the chief minister is a fixed candidate, while the deputy chief minister is not explicitly designated. He is simply the most senior member of the cabinet, excluding the chief minister, who is honored as the deputy chief minister.

During Huang Lijie's tenure as Grand Secretary, Shi Laifeng was the Second Grand Secretary; however, after the change of Grand Secretary and the entry of Zhu Xieyuan into the cabinet, the positions of Grand Secretary and Second Grand Secretary were filled by these two, and Shi Laifeng was marginalized. By the time the cabinet underwent a major reshuffle during the Tianqi era, only he and Li Guozhu remained.

There were several reasons why they were kept in the cabinet: both were quite capable and not considered old for the cabinet. During Zhu Youjian's reign, the cabinet had already been demoted in power; although it retained its honor, it was stripped of most of its authority.

During periods when the emperor was lazy in governing, the cabinet became the governing body, and its ministers wielded immense power. When the emperor handled state affairs himself, the cabinet resumed its original function of providing advice, similar to the imperial scholars of the Han and Tang dynasties. In fact, the cabinet was originally just a group of imperial scholars.

One of the common methods of checks and balances in the Ming Dynasty was the rule of the lower over the upper. However, after a period of time, it was easy for power to get out of control. After all, those who govern have more power than those who are governed. Just like the cruel officials in the Han Dynasty and the Wu Zhou period, they could make kings and generals tremble with fear, and also gave rise to all kinds of chaos.

In fact, Zhu Youjian did not intend to replace Shi Laifeng. What he said earlier was just empty talk and did not spread. Even if it did spread, it didn't matter. He could just take it as a warning to Shi Laifeng. Perhaps it was a sense of shared fate that made him feel threatened.

This fellow actually dared to reach out to the Emperor's Imperial Guard! It was only because Tang Yu was both rough and shrewd that he didn't agree to Shi Laifeng's marriage proposal. You must understand, this was a huge temptation for military generals. Even though the Emperor showed his appreciation for military officers, he still couldn't change the ingrained tendency in the Ming Dynasty's officialdom to value civil officials over military ones.

Just when Zhu Youjian thought that Tang Yu was quite politically astute, his next words made Zhu Youjian lose his composure.

He said hesitantly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. My wife passed away early, and I have raised these two children single-handedly for the past ten years. I really can't bear to part with them. My daughter has a fiery temper, and even if I forced her, I was afraid she would offend Your Majesty and the ladies of the palace."

Therefore, Your Majesty's favor is too much for me to accept rashly; I must consult my daughter's opinion before giving a reply.

"Wow, so you're a doting father too!" Zhu Youjian's eyes widened in surprise, and Sun Shiwan couldn't help but glance at Tang Yu.

At this moment, just like at that time, but Tang Yu's actions are even more commendable. Her father, Sun Chuanting, is just like that; he is stubborn and once he makes up his mind, nothing can stop him, and sometimes he doesn't even give face to the emperor.
But Tang Yu is different. He may have been suppressed for too long, so even now that he has risen to prominence, he remains humble and is somewhat afraid of the emperor. Yet he still mustered the courage to rack his brains to find excuses to refuse the emperor, which is really not easy for him.

Zhu Youjian wasn't angry; he was just saying it casually. He wasn't lacking in beautiful women, and he even worried about being too busy to handle them all. His concern was that he didn't want Shi Laifeng to make a move on his personal guards. Well, although the Embroidered Uniform Guard had become more like a civil service, with its various levels of command filled with the sons of civil officials, it didn't prevent the Embroidered Uniform Guard from still being nominally the emperor's personal army.

Shi Laifeng's motives may not necessarily be to infiltrate the emperor's inner circle, but may also be to make arrangements in advance so that he can live a comfortable retirement life. But no matter whether he is acting out of good intentions, malice, or instinct, this matter must be thwarted!
This is how the emperor was gradually sidelined. Civil and military officials formed factions and associations, intermarried, and created intricate networks of relationships based on teacher-student relationships and social standing. Meanwhile, the emperor married commoners generation after generation. Although he lost his maternal relatives, he also lost his kinship and blood ties with the court officials.

A father's loyalty doesn't guarantee his son's, and a relationship between ruler and subject maintained out of a sense of righteousness isn't always reliable. The nine powerful princes established by Zhu Yuanzhang were dismantled by the combined efforts of Zhu Yunwen and his nephew Zhu Di, leaving the emperor without any powerful relatives in command of the army. Of course, upon closer examination, no one can be truly trusted. Ideally, the emperor himself should be a capable military leader; if not, he must rely on the methods of his two relatives to achieve his rule, including but not limited to righteousness and tactics like winning one faction over another.

With the children's affairs settled, let's get back to business. Zhu Youjian instructed, "Go to the Southern Garrison Command and find a few craftsmen who know about firearms. Go and check the quality and price of the firearms sold in Zheng Zhilong's shop."

If the goods are of good quality and inexpensive, we can have the Ministry of War purchase some from him; if they don't cooperate, we can shut down the shop. Don't be afraid of offending Zheng Zhilong; he won't hold a grudge over such a small matter.”

"Your Majesty, I obey!" Tang Yu replied hastily, satisfied. He had reported this matter to the emperor simply to obtain permission. Little did he know how the emperor viewed Zheng Zhilong; he wasn't cowardly, but rather measured and refrained from recklessness.

Being the emperor's henchman wasn't something to be taken lightly. He possessed some family secrets, having learned the art of cunning from his ancestor, Tang He. From the day he joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he warned himself that he must never follow in Ji Gang's footsteps. Although he had raised elephants for over a decade, he couldn't emulate Ji Gang's arrogance and domineering nature.

The Ministry of Revenue completed the redemption of the first batch of military merit vouchers in just three days, and only then did everyone fully believe that the imperial court would not renege on its promise this time.

This also made the second batch of military merit coupons, redeemed at the end of the year, even more sought after. The profit wasn't huge, but it was a sure-fire way to make money; don't underestimate the allure of the phrase "sure-fire profit." These days, saving still costs money, and even silver stored in a cellar could be eaten by termites.

This year's summer harvest inevitably suffered from a reduction in yield. Not only did Beizhili (northern Hebei) not collect much tax, but the imperial court also had to subsidize it for disaster relief. The first batch of sweet potatoes promoted by Xu Guangqi has been harvested. Actually, it's a bit rushed to harvest them now, as the sweet potatoes haven't reached their maximum size yet. However, the people need these sweet potatoes as a supplement to their staple food.

Sweet potato cultivation in the north is still not going smoothly. The sweet potatoes are generally small, with coarse fibers, thick skin, and a slightly bitter taste. Generally speaking, people tend to subconsciously categorize unfamiliar and bitter foods as poisonous.

In Beizhili, the yield of sweet potatoes was three to four shi per mu, or three to four hundred jin. In Guanzhong, the yield of sweet potatoes being promoted and tested was even lower, at only about two hundred jin per mu. The yield of sweet potatoes in both places did not significantly differ from that of traditional grains, and Xu Guangqi's expectation of several thousand jin per mu was not realized.

However, the people in the Guanzhong area were more enthusiastic about planting sweet potatoes. Although the yield was impressive, it was a life-saving food that grew when the seedlings and wheat seedlings had withered and died. In addition, planting sweet potatoes required relatively little labor and did not require the hard work of planting rice and wheat.

During years of famine, people were so hungry that they didn't even have the strength to farm.

They didn't starve to death all at once. Knowing they didn't have enough food, they divided their food and ate only a little each day, mixing it with grass roots, tree bark, and anything else that seemed edible. They were in a state of hunger every day, and a faint sense of despair lingered around them.

(End of this chapter)