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

Chapter 283 September 9th, Frosty Rabbit and Chrysanthemum Wine

In August and September, good news kept coming from Liaodong. During this period, Zhu Youjian walked with a spring in his step! Moreover, the summer taxes and autumn grains had all been stored in the granary. Now was the time when the court was at its most financially powerful. The great victory in Liaodong came at the perfect time. The court had the financial resources to reward the people immediately, without having to issue IOUs like it did two years ago.

The court was at its weakest at the beginning of each year, when the people were facing a food shortage, and the court was no exception. Every year in March or April, Zhu Youjian would become murderous, seeing everyone as a corrupt official, wishing he could drag them away, chop them into mincemeat, and then send troops to confiscate their property to supplement the national treasury.

On September 9th, the autumn sky was clear and the wildflowers were in full bloom. Zhu Youjian, with his family and the elderly, climbed to the top of Jingshan Mountain and held a picnic to "eat frost-welcoming rabbit and drink chrysanthemum wine".

Meanwhile, Yuan Keli, the Liaodong military commissioner, was present. He was wearing a ceremonial robe embroidered with chrysanthemums, with chrysanthemum vases placed beside him as decoration. He sat in the second seat below the emperor, even the newly appointed Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong was ranked after him. However, the old man was not happy and had a sullen face.

He said, "Emperor, don't you have any sense of your own prestige? Are you afraid that he will follow Sima Yi's example and usurp the throne?! None of his sons and nephews are capable; they can't even pass the imperial examinations and can only stay at home and wait to die. At most, they can get an official position through their father's influence after his death."

Emperor, don't you have any sense of your own age? You're only twenty! He's practically dead, all he wants is a posthumous reputation. Can't you just let him die in office?!

Zhu Youjian pointed to his own nose, looking utterly shocked, and asked, "Me?! I have prestige?!"

The emperor's reaction stunned the old man. After a long pause, he finally managed to utter, "Your Majesty, please do not belittle yourself or use inappropriate analogies."

Zhu Youjian was furious: "Don't take advantage of me just because I'm not well-educated. You're trying to take advantage of me, aren't you!"
Back when Zhuge Liang launched his Northern Expeditions, he overworked himself to the point of vomiting blood and dying, almost destroying the foundation of the Shu Han dynasty. You old fool, are you trying to imitate Zhuge Liang by keeping his death a secret?!

Besides, Zhuge Liang desperately sought a successor but couldn't find one. I'm letting Lu Xiang succeed you, following the established practices. Am I treating you unfairly?!

As people age, they inevitably lament the passing of time and sometimes act with even greater urgency than when they were younger, which is often when trouble arises. Zhu Youjian brought the old man back precisely to protect his posthumous reputation.

The idea of ​​achieving victory in one battle is too dangerous. Although Yuan Keli has not yet done so, he is already showing this tendency. Zhu Youjian felt that he had been led astray by the old man. He remembered that when he asked the old man to manage Liaodong, he asked him not to seek merit but to avoid mistakes, as long as he maintained the original front line. But the old man took over Liaonan in the blink of an eye.

Zhu Youjian suspected that the so-called conservatives were all fake. No matter who he sent to the position of Liaodong Military Commissioner, they would never only think about defending the country, but would definitely be thinking about how to recover Liaodong day and night.

The current problem in Liaodong is that the battle lines have been stretched too far. With the return of Guangning, Liaonan, and parts of Korea, the Ming Dynasty no longer has enough troops to defend these areas. If troops are insufficient, the solution is either to reinforce the army or to build fortifications; either approach requires a massive influx of resources.

The situation in Liaodong is indeed very promising, but military spending is at risk of spiraling out of control, and the financial magnate Bi Ziyan has already sounded the alarm. Just like when Sun Chengzong formed the Guan Ning Army and used fortified tactics to advance step by step in western Liaoning, the economy couldn't keep up.

In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, the military expenditure in Liaodong was six million taels of silver. By the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign, it had soared to twelve million taels of silver, more than doubling.

Although the imperial court's fiscal revenue has improved somewhat, it cannot sustain such spending. Currently, the imperial court's annual income is only 18 million taels of silver, plus 20 million shi of grain.

Of course, Zhu Youjian also had a little bit of private money, but he couldn't always rely on the imperial treasury to supplement the family income, or they wouldn't be able to make ends meet!

The original plan was for southern Liaoning to achieve basic self-sufficiency this year, at least for the people, excluding the army, to no longer need the court's relief. However, the sudden war disrupted all of this.

Huang Taiji's army of over 100,000 was terrifying. The Ming army was small and could only rely on cities and passes to defend themselves, while they could not control the open fields.

Huang Taiji deliberately chose to launch the attack when the grain was about to ripen, so that the people of Liaonan would not be able to take all the grain with them when they evacuated. Meanwhile, the million people who took refuge on the western front and in Lushun, south of Nanguan, were consuming the Ming army's grain reserves at an alarming rate.

Meanwhile, the Jurchens could directly harvest the rice that was just beginning to ripen, using it to feed their horses. Given this disparity, if Huang Taiji hadn't died, the outcome of this war of attrition might have been uncertain.

Even now that the Jurchens have withdrawn their troops, the survival pressure in Liaonan remains immense, and they can only rely on the imperial court for financial support. Asking the court to pay for the army is one thing, but asking it to pay for the people's livelihood is tantamount to defying the heavens! Moreover, if the Jurchens can come once, they can come again.

You, Yuan Keli, confidently declared that Liaonan could achieve self-sufficiency, with a million people capable of supporting an army of 100,000. What a catchy slogan! But where are those 100,000 troops now? Have we achieved self-sufficiency?! Anyone can boast; we can even brag about pacifying Liaonan in five years!

Zhu Youjian wanted the old man to live a few more years. Other officials already disliked Yuan Keli; they envied him for his merits and resented him even more for not sharing the large sums of money he received. Therefore, removing Yuan Keli from office was actually what everyone wanted.

Lu Xiang-sheng was no less capable. He was probably only a 70% fighter. He came from a respectable family and had a comfortable life. He underestimated the wickedness of people and the low character of his colleagues. He was naive and easily tricked. But when it came to farming, he was a professional!

In some ways, he is very similar to Yuan Keli. Liaodong is not lacking in war gods, but it needs an operational expert!

In the second year of Chongzhen's reign, he prepared his own provisions and brought 10,000 troops to the capital to defend the emperor, which amazed everyone. Now, sending him to Liaodong would allow him to take advantage of the 10,000 elite troops from Hebei, which would fill the troop shortage in Liaodong. It was a win-win situation!
Yuan Keli acted as he pleased and spoke very rudely, and Zhu Youjian spoke even more rudely. This is how you should deal with such old-fashioned guys!

"Why are they all drinking chrysanthemum wine, while this old minister is drinking chrysanthemum tea?!" Yuan Keli cried out in grief and indignation.

"The imperial physician says you are not fit to drink alcohol right now!" Zhu Youjian said calmly.

"Then why do you stew your rabbit meat with Sichuan peppercorns and roast it with ground pepper, while mine only has soy sauce?!"

"The imperial physician says you cannot eat meat!" "Outrageous! Which imperial physician said that? Does Your Majesty dare to summon him to confront me face to face!"

"Have I told you enough? I'm going to make you eat a carrot and drink a jar of fresh milk every day. You know, every medicine has some toxicity. You're taking medicine every day in Liaodong. It'll kill you!"

"Is Your Majesty treating me like a rabbit? I can't eat this anymore, farewell!"

Bang! Zhu Youjian slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Outrageous! This Hongmen Banquet is not a place you can come and go as you please! Guards, capture this scoundrel for me!"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, General Yuan is drunk!" Zhu Xieyuan said, clinging to Yuan Keli's leg.

"I'm not drunk! I haven't even had any alcohol to drink, how could I be drunk?!" Yuan Keli struggled fiercely.

"Oh, Liqing, stop fooling around, sit down and let's talk!" Sun Chengzong said, getting up and putting his arm around Yuan Keli's shoulder.

"Brother Yuan, I'll secretly switch your wine jug with you later!" Xu Guangqi whispered from behind the crowd.

Zhu Youjian looked at Xu Guangqi in disbelief. "Have you considered my hearing? Don't you know you're hard of hearing, so you speak loudly?!"

Yuan Keli eventually got drunk. With tears streaming down his face, he lamented his unfulfilled ambitions and his dwindling days. Why wouldn't the setting sun hold him back?
He had served four dynasties and finally encountered such a wise ruler. They should have written a beautiful story of harmonious relationship between the ruler and his ministers, jointly creating a prosperous era of the Ming Dynasty and witnessing the Ming Dynasty's dominance over the four barbarian tribes and the tribute from all nations. But he was afraid that he would not live to see that day!

Yuan Keli's words moved the group of old men present, who embraced each other and wept, sang while clapping their chopsticks, and acted in a carefree manner.

Zhu Youjian rarely drank alcohol; even if he did, it was only a small, sweet, low-alcohol beverage. He wasn't drunk, but these old men were all heavy drinkers—how could they possibly get drunk?!

Zhu Youjian drank the remaining wine in his cup in one gulp, spat out a few small wild chrysanthemums, and then silently left the stage, leaving the place to these grandfather-generation old ministers.

Zhu Youjian, carrying a rabbit leg, went to another gathering, where his concubines and children also climbed to admire the chrysanthemums. Meanwhile, the scene here was peaceful and serene. Sun Shiwan squatted on the mountaintop, looking at the White Pole Guard camp at the foot of the mountain, sketching on the ground with a twig.

She may never have had the opportunity to lead troops into battle, but studying military strategy had become her hobby. Her research was not entirely useless; it could effectively compensate for Zhu Youjian's lack of military knowledge.

After all, Zhu Youjian couldn't summon Zhu Xieyuan for every military matter, and Zhu Xieyuan was already old. Even if he was in excellent health and lived to be a hundred, he still wouldn't be able to accompany Zhu Youjian for his entire life.

Because Zhu Youjian was so young, so young that people wanted to drug him, set him on fire, or kick him into the water!
Upon seeing Zhu Youjian arrive, Zhang Yan's somewhat melancholy face immediately lit up with joy. She instinctively stood up, but before she was fully upright, several bright eyes turned to her. Ultimately, Zhang Yan couldn't withstand the immense pressure and slowly sat back down in her seat.

In a public place, Zhu Youjian found it somewhat amusing that his sister-in-law was tense and pretending not to notice his arrival. He stepped forward and bowed to Zhang Yan, who quickly rose to return the bow.

The Ming Dynasty respected filial piety, so it was only right for Zhu Youjian to pay respects to his sister-in-law. However, he was the emperor, and Zhang Yan was a subject, so Zhang Yan also had to pay respects to him. This was a matter of each person having their own duties.

The other Consorts, including Consort Shen, Consort Hong, and Consort Yuan, were unaware of Zhang Yan's inner struggle and only thought that Empress Yi'an was quite aloof. They dared not act like her, so they all curtsied and bowed to Zhu Youjian, each displaying their own unique charm and beauty, their chatter giving Zhu Youjian a headache!

Zhu Youjian regretted coming over, thinking that the old men were more interesting. Zhu Youjian told everyone to dispense with formalities, and went straight to the three little ones who were playing house. He carried one on his back and held one in each hand, then abandoned the women and headed straight for the area where the White-Spear Soldiers and palace maids lived halfway up the mountain.

As a leader, how can you miss the crucial part of extending greetings and regards during holidays?!
A few years later, the three little ones reached the age to start school, and Zhu Youjian planned to let them attend the school with the children of the White Guard.

For princes and princesses, it's more important to teach them common sense than to teach them knowledge from books. At least they shouldn't be like those who say "Why don't they eat meat porridge?" or foolishly believe that a single egg costs twelve taels of silver when people below them are asking for it.

The Ming Dynasty only had eighteen statutory holidays, excluding the Double Ninth Festival, so today's morning court session proceeded as normal. In the afternoon, Zhu Youjian managed to steal a moment of leisure to gather a few high-ranking officials. However, these old men, as department heads, still had a conscience; when they slipped away, they allowed all the officials, big and small, in their departments to leave early.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhu Youjian, as usual, sent mooncakes, and on the Double Ninth Festival, he gave them a pair of rabbits. Rabbits weren't valuable, and they needed to be cooked with plenty of seasonings, otherwise they wouldn't taste good. Ordinary people didn't really care for eating them; only the people of Sichuan loved them.

Zhu Youjian happened to have a large group of Sichuanese under his command, and his eating habits were somewhat distorted by them. The rabbit was raised by the White-Handed Guards, who built pigsties, sheepfolds, stables, and cattle sheds at the Jingshan camp. There was also a little genius who had the sudden inspiration to build a chicken coop to raise rabbits.

As a result, the rabbit gave birth to one, and then one gave birth to two. The rabbit was producing offspring at great speed, and he soon ran out of places to keep them. So he gave the baby rabbits away, and soon after, raising rabbits became popular throughout the White Guard.

At first, they tried to reduce the rabbit population by diluting the rabbits, alleviating the rabbit plague. However, this appeasement policy only resulted in even more severe punishment. Two years later, rabbits were rampant in Jingshan Park, almost completely devouring the mountain. Have you ever seen a rabbit standing half a person's height?!

At this point, the soldiers realized they had made a mistake. They blamed each other but couldn't prove who had first released the rabbit. Someone said, "Maybe there were rabbits on the mountain to begin with?" His companion retorted, "Then why weren't there rabbits swarming before!"

Seeing that this wouldn't do, Ma Xianglin decided to turn a bad situation into a good one, saying that the rabbits at Jingshan were plentiful and inviting the emperor to go hunting. After the hunt, a full rabbit feast naturally followed. Ma Xianglin served the emperor preserved rabbits, and Zhu Youjian, looking at the walls of Ma Xianglin's room covered with preserved rabbits, fell into deep thought…

(End of this chapter)