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

Chapter 90: They're only good at internal strife and fighting amongst themselves; how could they possibly have the guts to suppress bandits?!
"Grand Secretary Bi, I have observed that the annual grain transport quota was originally four million shi, but now it has only reached two million shi. What is the reason for this? Didn't I instruct you to collect less silver and less grain, and collect more grain?" Zhu Youjian frowned and questioned.

"Your Majesty, last year's grain tribute was collected in full, totaling six million shi, far exceeding the quota. However, since last year, less than half of the grain has reached the capital. I have sent a letter to the various departments in charge of the grain transport, and the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner Cui Wensheng reported that the difficulty in transporting grain is due to the siltation of the waterways, and that the Ministry of Works has not repaired the waterways for many years."

“Bi Ziyan! You are clearly slandering my Ministry of Works! In the past few years, we have been busy building the city walls and fortresses in Liaodong. Last year, we had to build the mausoleum of the late emperor. Whether it is money, grain or manpower, where would my Ministry of Works have any surplus?”
We toil day and night, serving Your Majesty with utmost loyalty, while you lie around in the Ministry of Revenue doing nothing but accounting. Even if you make the most elaborate calculations, do you think the court's funds will magically increase?

"I beg Your Majesty to uphold justice for me! I will absolutely not accept such slander from Bi Ziyan!" Minister of Works Xue Fengxiang shouted, jumping up and down.

"Minister Bi is the Grand Secretary of our Great Ming Dynasty, Minister Xue. You should be more polite and respect others. How can you address him by his first name so readily?" Zhu Youjian said in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty and beg for your punishment." Xue Fengxiang immediately yielded.

"His behavior in court was unbecoming; he shall be fined one month's salary." Zhu Youjian did not let him off the hook.

Xue Fengxiang's expression turned somewhat ugly. He thought to himself that His Majesty was too biased. However, this small amount of salary was nothing to him, since he didn't live off the salary.

Bi Ziyan glanced at Xue Fengxiang sideways, but did not argue with him. Instead, he continued, "Cui Wensheng mentioned that due to the long delay in the grain's journey, and the sudden heavy snowfall in the south last year, the grain was not stored properly and many of it sprouted and became moldy. He suggested that these spoiled grains be sold locally at a discounted price, and the proceeds converted into silver before being transported to the capital."

He remained silent for a moment, then resolutely said, "Your Majesty, I believe that Cui Wensheng's claim of grain damage is untrue and is merely a pretext to embezzle the imperial grain! I humbly request Your Majesty to send officials to thoroughly investigate this matter and punish Cui Wensheng and the officials of the grain transport department according to the law!"

"Whoosh!" The moment Bi Ziyan finished speaking, the court officials erupted in uproar. This concerned the livelihoods of millions of laborers! The Ming Dynasty was currently under immense pressure due to wars in both the north and south; did Bi Ziyan intend to cause a conflict in the middle?!
The grain transported by the canal is less now, but at least there's still some; if the canal workers rebel and block the transport, there won't be a single grain left! Without the grain transported by the canal, Beijing won't be able to feed its nearly one million inhabitants! People will starve to death!
Even Zhu Xieyuan thought Bi Ziyan's remarks were absurd. He quietly tugged at Bi Ziyan's sleeve, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Works' treasury is currently well-stocked, and there are no major construction projects recently. The Ministry of Works may be ordered to send people to dredge the waterways."

Furthermore, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner Cui Wensheng's incompetence resulted in the loss of nearly one million shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain for the imperial court, and he should be dismissed and investigated. However, the problems with the Grand Canal transport system are long-standing, and eliminating these problems requires careful planning and should not be rushed.

“These are wise words from an experienced ruler, and I wholeheartedly agree,” Li Guozhuo stepped forward and said.

"We, your humble servants, agree with Grand Secretary Zhu's words. We urge Your Majesty to reconsider!" the ministers said.

However, to everyone's utter astonishment, Bi Ziyan bowed to Zhu Xieyuan and then said to the emperor, "Maohe's words are very reasonable; it is truly my oversight. Your Majesty should implement his advice." Zhu Youjian's expression became quite interesting. Good heavens, you've really mastered the "demolition effect"! The officials also slowly came to their senses. For a moment, the court fell silent, and everyone looked at each other, thinking, "Isn't Bi Ziyan supposed to be a gentleman? How could he start playing such a scheme? How cunning!"

Realizing what was happening, Xue Fengxiang quickly said, "Grand Secretary Zhu's words are somewhat inappropriate! How can you say that the Ministry of Works has money and time? At present, the Beijing Garrison is in need of reorganization, Shanxi is still in the midst of military operations, and the southeast is about to see renewed warfare. The Ministry of Works' firearms orders are already booked until the year after next!"

"Our forging of firearms, charging you only a small fee for labor and materials, is essentially a loss-making business! Where would the Ministry of Works get the surplus funds? Only a few hundred thousand taels of silver, and even that's not sure if it's enough! The canal repair project is feasible; it's originally an internal task of the Ministry of Works, but it requires funds allocated from the Taicang granary!"

Bi Ziyan looked at Xue Fengxiang with disgust. This was what he had said before: each of the six ministries had its own slush fund, yet they liked to shirk responsibility when it came to matters of national importance.

He could no longer contain himself and said, "Minister Xue, you just said that due to the construction of cities and imperial tombs in Liaodong, we are short of financial, material and human resources, and therefore unable to dredge the waterways."

However, I have personally witnessed you withdrawing large sums of money from Taicang every year for river dredging. I now specifically ask you, where exactly did that money go? Has it been misappropriated by you, or perhaps divided among yourselves?!

That damned Bi Ziyan is bringing up old scores again! Xue Fengxiang's face turned extremely ugly, but he still said, "Although the Ministry of Works has not dredged the Grand Canal, we will still make a point of constructing some smaller waterways and farmland irrigation projects. Moreover, all matters of our Ministry of Works are carried out in accordance with regulations, and our accounts are clearly recorded. We have nothing to fear even if there is an audit! If Grand Secretary Bi has the ability, just come and check!"

As he watched the argument begin below, a word suddenly popped into Zhu Youjian's mind: "Maritime transport!"

During the Tianqi era, maritime transport in the Bohai Bay was extremely prosperous. At that time, military supplies for Liaodong were all transported by sea. Sun Chengzong's three-pronged strategy and plan to recover Liaodong were all based on maritime transport. Unfortunately, all of this was destroyed by a great fire on Juehua Island during the Battle of Ningyuan.

Ming Dynasty merchant ships sailed to Southeast Asia, passing through the Strait of Malacca to reach India, the Middle East, and Africa; they also crossed the ocean eastward to Japan, their footprints spanning East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and Africa. Technically speaking, transporting grain by sea was absolutely feasible. However, those skilled in technology are not necessarily adept at political maneuvering, and the difficulties of maritime transport did not stem from the ocean itself!

Of course, the Ming Dynasty's navy was now in a sorry state, with only the Dengzhou-Laizhou fleet remaining as a significant force. However, if the government was incompetent, they could simply turn to pirates! One tael of silver in the south was equivalent to four shi of grain, which would become two taels of silver in the north and four taels of silver at the Nine Border Garrisons. It was a high-volume commodity with short voyages, offering substantial and guaranteed profits; Zhu Youjian (Emperor Zhu Youjian) simply couldn't believe he wouldn't be tempted.

Zhu Youjian's eyes darted around, and he came up with a wicked idea: this matter should not be brought up by the court, but should be made into a condition for granting amnesty to Zheng Zhilong, so that he could propose it, and then the officials in charge of negotiations could argue their case and reluctantly agree.

When that time comes, those people who make a living from the grain transport will cause trouble for Zheng Zhilong, or even kill him. That would be a double blessing, perfect! However, Zhu Youjian didn't think the people in the Ming court had that kind of ability. They were only good at internal strife and infighting; how could they possibly be capable of suppressing bandits?!
(End of this chapter)