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

Chapter 326 You're right, I won't listen, I won't listen, you're just a turtle chanting scriptures!

On the 25th day of the tenth month of the fifth year of Chongzhen's reign, Zhu Youjian struggled to get up from his boudoir. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but for the past six months, he hadn't even brought a maidservant with him to serve him. He hadn't even met Xia Yuhe by the Daming Lake, because he was afraid of being strangled by a maidservant. He spent all his time with a bunch of rough men. There were only a few hundred mares in the military camp, which made him feel really stifled!
At 9:00 AM, Wang Chengen urged from outside the gate, saying that the ministers had been waiting for quite some time and asked the emperor whether he should hold court as scheduled or cancel it. Zhu Youjian, of course, didn't want to go to work; nobody wanted to go to work. He had entered the city at the last minute the previous evening to avoid the ministers' relentless questioning, but he could only hide for a while, not forever.

His absence for almost a year caused unrest in the court. Those who had the opportunity to submit memorials to him, no matter what they originally discussed, would inevitably end up saying, "Your Majesty, please come back soon! If you don't come back soon, the court will explode, the Ming Dynasty will be finished, and your Zhu family's ancestral graves will be dug up!"

Zhu Youjian instructed Wang Chengen to tell the officials not to wait idly, but to enter the hall first, discuss matters first, argue if necessary, and ask Zhu Xieyuan any questions, since the old man would be with them the whole time. They could wait until he finished washing up before going to the hall to make a decision. Wang Chengen said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Zhu has been besieged by the officials and is waiting for Your Majesty to come to his rescue!"

"Oh?! Is that so? What are they all talking about?" Zhu Youjian asked with a hint of schadenfreude.

The Left Censor-in-Chief angrily denounced Grand Secretary Zhu for using His Majesty as bait to lure the enemy deep into his territory, accusing him of being disloyal and disregarding His Majesty's safety, only concerned with his own military achievements. He clamored to gather the censors and officials of the Censorate to impeach him. However, the ministers were more concerned about whether His Majesty should move the capital south. His Majesty's prophecy had begun to come true, and the ministers were now somewhat uncertain.

"Bullshit prophecy, this is fucking science!"

After donning his formal attire and crown, Zhu Youjian pushed open the door and was surprised to see a miniature version of himself. Little Zhu Ciyan was dressed in a four-clawed python robe, his hair tied up and adorned with hairpins, looking every bit the little adult. Upon seeing Zhu Youjian, his eyes lit up, and he sweetly called out, "Father Emperor!" But Zhu Youjian couldn't help but frown.

Looking back, Sun Shixiu avoided eye contact; Sun Shiwan was calm and composed, she must be the mastermind; Zhou Shi really spoiled him, why is she blushing like a teapot bubble!

"Smack!" Zhu Youjian reached out and scooped up his only son, kissed him, and said, "Go play, I'll play with you after court!"

Huh?! Zhu Ciyan's small eyes held a great deal of doubt. It was clearly his aunt who sent him here.

"Go on, go on." Zhu Youjian put Zhu Ciyan down and gently kicked his bottom. The little princess was sweet and soft, while his son was agile and hard to hold; the four- or five-year-old was much heavier than expected. Zhu Youjian had killed several generals in the Han camp with his spear last night, and his back and knees were sore; he had almost strained his back.

Zhu Ciyan looked back at the moon, confirmed it with his eyes, said "Goodbye, Father Emperor", then cried out "Woof woof woof", opened his arms and ran away in a flash!

Zhu Youjian smiled, rose, and walked towards the Qianqing Gate, forgetting to call someone along. Sun Shiwan lowered her brows and eyes, her thoughts unknown.

It was early winter again, and once again, the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The grand hall, constructed of cedar wood, sat atop a high platform, overlooking a young man as he slowly approached. A buzzing sound filled the hall; it was unclear whether the official in charge of ceremonies was asleep.

"The Emperor has arrived!" The eunuch's shrill shout rang out, and the noise in the hall came to an abrupt halt.

Zhu Youjian ascended the steps one by one, his footsteps echoing alone in the vast space. Reaching the palace gate, he looked in from the outside, a rather novel perspective for him.

The first thing that catches the eye is a group of young men in their thirties and forties dressed in cyan and blue official robes. The group in crimson robes can only be seen from dozens of meters away. In the past, when Zhu Youjian went to court, this group of people were just background figures. Zhu Youjian sat high in the temple, and he could not even see their faces clearly. They usually just listened and had no right to speak.

Zhu Youjian nodded at these familiar yet unfamiliar faces, then stepped over the incredibly high threshold of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which was over two feet high.

"Kneel!" shouted the ninth-rank official of the Court of State Ceremonial in a strange tone.

With a whoosh, even officials of the second rank, from the outside in, now had to obey the orders of a lowly ninth-rank official. Zhu Youjian withdrew his gaze from the assembled officials, put his hands behind his back, and strode quickly toward the dragon throne in the center of the hall. He walked so fast that he stirred up a gust of wind along the way.

The emperor's aura is something invisible and intangible, but it is very real. The ministers noticed that the emperor seemed to have changed after returning from his southern tour.

"His Majesty just nodded to me, didn't he!" The official in charge of the ceremony inexplicably experienced a mental climax, and he excitedly shouted, "Hooray!"

Upon hearing this, all the officials knelt on the ground, shouting, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Zhu Youjian sat upright on the dragon throne, calmly accepting the homage of the officials. After the officials shouted and bowed three times, they exclaimed, "Prosper!" All the officials stood up in unison. The civil officials steadied their court hats, the military officials adjusted their armor, and everyone stood solemnly. The master of ceremonies took out a small notebook, looked up and down, and began to write and draw.

"The civil official reports!" Mingzan continued his steady performance.

"Your subject, Bi Ziyan, has a matter to report!"

"It may be played," Zhu Youjian replied.

"Your Majesty, there was a black frost at the end of October. The capital is bitterly cold, and many poor people are freezing to death. The Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture requests that rice be distributed from the imperial granary for relief!"

"How much grain does Taicang have left?!"

"Two million shi of rice aged for three years, four million shi of rice aged for two years, eight million shi of last year's rice were not touched and were put into storage. This year's new rice was only three million shi due to the flooding of the Yellow River and the interruption of grain transport. The total amount of rice in Taicang is eighteen million shi, and there are also nine million shi of wheat, millet, sorghum and other grains!"

"Where's the silver?!" Zhu Youjian asked.

"This year's military pay for the nine border regions and the arrears of salaries for all officials have been settled, and there are still 39 million taels of silver remaining in the Taicang granary!" Bi Ziyan said with his back straight.

"Damn it, what are you so proud of? I risked my life to get this money back!" Zhu Youjian thought to himself.

"How much grain does the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture need?!" "Thirty thousand shi of rice to open a porridge shop, and fifty thousand taels of silver to buy winter clothes."

"Granted!" Zhu Youjian was somewhat speechless. He had thought it would be a small amount, but it turned out to be just a tiny exorbitant demand. "This year, Henan suffered from floods, so the price of cotton-padded clothing has gone up quite a bit, hasn't it?!"

"Yes, this year the price of cotton in Henan has risen from 20 wen per catty to 30 wen per catty, and each bolt of Kaifeng cloth costs about two taels of silver, which is double the price of last year. The cotton cloth in various prefectures and counties in Henan is in short supply, and the imperial court can only purchase cotton from Yanzhou and Suning."

The purchase of winter coats for the border troops costs three taels of silver per coat. I have consulted with the Ministry of War and decided to postpone the distribution of winter clothing this year, waiting until cotton prices drop next year.

When was the last time winter clothes were distributed?

"Your Majesty, it was the winter of the second year of Chongzhen's reign."

"Why delay? The Emperor Taizu decreed that the border troops should be provided with winter fur coats, summer linen, and rations according to the annual quota, and none of them should be lacking. Before the first frost of each year, winter clothing must be distributed to the border soldiers to ensure that they can keep warm in time."

Anyone who delays delivery will be punished without mercy, regardless of whether they are the Ministry of Revenue official in charge of logistics or the border garrison grain officer! Old Bi, you're knowingly breaking the law!

Bi Ziyan said with some helplessness, "Your Majesty, if we want to replenish more than 500,000 sets of winter clothes for the nine border regions, it will cost two million taels of silver. Moreover, such a large quantity is difficult to gather in a short period of time. Cotton is in short supply and there is no market for it."

"Your Majesty, why not convert the winter clothes into silver and let the border soldiers buy them themselves?" Yang Sichang interjected.

Zhu Youjian frowned slightly and said, "Then let's first issue winter clothing to the two towns of Liaodong and Jizhou, and allocate two taels of silver to each soldier in the other border regions to help them get through the winter."

“Yes!” Bi Ziyan bowed.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Yang Sichang praised.

Zhu Youjian glanced sideways, displeased. This old fellow was far too eager to advance! Judging from his fawning manner, Zhu Youjian even suspected that the "four cardinal and six intermediate" bandit suppression strategy he proposed was plagiarized from someone else.

In comparison, Zhu Youjian preferred Lu Xiang-sheng, and naturally had a negative view of Yang Si-chang, who had caused Lu Xiang-sheng's death.

In just a few words, a million taels of silver were spent. Maintaining an army is really too expensive!
"Your Majesty, should we allocate funds to dredge the waterways?!" Xue Fengxiang, the Minister of Works, who had finally crawled back from Liaodong, asked weakly, as he was terrified of being tortured.

The Minister of Works was banished to Liaodong for two years and refused to return, even when he prayed for his remains to be taken away. The emperor refused to grant his request and instead threatened him: "Do you want to come back or do you want the lives of your entire family?"

"How much do you want?!"

"Your Majesty, the section of the Grand Canal from Shawan in Shandong to Zhangqiu has been blocked for a long time. The root cause of the blockage is that the main channel of the Yellow River breaches its banks northward from the Yuanwu and Yangwu areas in Henan."

The floodwaters flowed through Caozhou and Puyang, directly into the Shawan Canal, causing the widest breach in that section to reach over ninety zhang (approximately 33 meters). The floodwaters overflowed into the sea, and the canals were packed together on the banks, making passage impossible. This was a major hazard to the north-south canal transport and urgently needed repair.

To repair this breach, it is necessary to first conscript laborers. The project mainly involves rammed earth dike construction, supplemented by piles and timber for foundation reinforcement. The required materials include earthwork and timber, and additional expenses such as food for the laborers must be paid. Based on the cost of eighty taels of silver per zhang of dike, sealing the breach of more than ninety zhang would require seven thousand taels of silver.

Next, the river channel from Shawan to Zhangqiu was dredged. This section was about fifty li long. Due to the long-term siltation of the Yellow River, the silt was one to three zhang deep. It was necessary to organize laborers to dredge the silt and to requisition boats to transport the sand. According to the standard of six thousand to eight thousand taels of silver per li, the dredging of fifty li would cost a total of three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand taels of silver.

If the stagnant cargo boats in the river need to be cleared, an additional 20,000 to 30,000 taels of silver will be required. In addition, the 'sluice gates' and 'water tanks' along the river that were damaged by the disaster also need to be repaired at the same time. The required silver, including the purchase of sluice gate stones and the wages of the craftsmen, is about 30,000 to 50,000 taels.

The total cost of a single emergency repair of this section of the river would be between 300,000 and 500,000 taels of silver. To achieve long-term stability, further reinforcement of the riverbanks and the construction of additional flood control dikes would require an additional 200,000 to 300,000 taels of silver, bringing the total cost to over 800,000 taels of silver.

See, that's what you call professional! Xue Fengxiang rambled on and on, and no one else could get a word in edgewise.

This is why Zhu Youjian, despite discovering the young man's embezzlement, did not send his henchmen to execute him. In the current court, there are many empty talkers, few doers, and even fewer professionals. Even the abstract Western learning master Sun Yuanhua was used by Zhu Youjian as a talent; he even had to keep an eye on him while he was tasked with building firearms, to prevent the fellow from acting on his own and creating something outrageous.

Another 800,000 taels, almost more expensive than the grain transported by the imperial court! It's not that we can't afford to repair it, it's just that it's not cost-effective!
Moreover, the Yellow River is so turbulent; who knows when it might suddenly cause a gust of wind to damage the canal?! But if it's not repaired, the capital's food security cannot be guaranteed. Sea transport is seasonal; during the months when typhoons blow, all ships along the southeast coast have to be grounded, and venturing out to sea would really mean sinking!
Therefore, the best solution is actually to flee, move the capital to Nanjing, and resolve the dilemma.

“It’s already October. By the time you finish repairing the canal, who knows when it will be finished? The river will be frozen over by then. What good will it do then?!” Zhu Youjian said. “Send the grain that hasn’t arrived this year to Henan to stabilize grain prices. After converting it into silver, transport it to the capital.”

"Your Majesty, autumn and winter are the right seasons to repair the waterways. If we don't repair them this year, the grain tribute will probably still not be able to be delivered next year."

Zhu Youjian flicked the back of his hand forward and said, "Understood, next."

"Sigh!" Xue Fengxiang sighed and returned to the queue.

(End of this chapter)