Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 15 Short of money? Then let's shut down the post stations!
The morning assembly began.

The first voices to emerge were those of censors advising Zhu Youjian to be more diligent and not to spend his days indulging in the inner court and neglecting state affairs.

Then another official stepped forward and said that they had heard that His Majesty was training the inner court in martial arts.

However, such behavior is "a waste of money and grain, and only causes trouble." We hope that Your Majesty will stop this action that is detrimental to the people as soon as possible.

After a group of officials had already launched their attacks, Grand Secretary Huang Lijie finally stood up solemnly and, from the perspective that everything was for the good of the Ming Dynasty, advised the emperor to quickly disband the inner court.

Zhu Youjian didn't even raise an eyelid at the memorials and sharp words submitted by these people.

Those who offered advice seemed to be merely testing the waters.

Seeing that the emperor ignored them, the topic was then changed.

Next.

It is a series of reports on disasters in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

The drought in Shaanxi requires the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds for disaster relief. This proposal was raised during the last morning court session, and we hope Your Majesty will make a decision as soon as possible. Every day that is delayed will mean another day of suffering for the people of Shaanxi.

The official who reported on the disaster was from Shaanxi province.

When he stepped forward to present his memorial, he was so moved that he burst into tears, as if seeing his fellow villagers suffer was more painful than seeing his own parents die.

Zhu Youjian glanced at the man and memorized his name, intending to deal with him once he finished his current tasks.

If even one-tenth of the disaster relief funds issued by the imperial court actually reached the people, how could there be any starvation?

Next came the Liaodong campaign.

In some areas, soldiers have been owed wages for months, and if this continues, it may lead to mutiny.

Then came the incursions of Japanese pirates in the Jiangnan region.
All the memorials ultimately point to one issue—money.

Zhu Youjian remained seated on the dragon throne, his face expressionless.

No funding requests from any official were granted; the attitude remained one of "to be discussed later."

The money obtained from confiscating one house will eventually just end up in another.

He himself had to handle the relief efforts personally.

At this moment, Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Revenue, stepped forward with a solemn expression.

Even if the emperor did grant those funding requests, where would he get the money to allocate the funds?

After stepping out of the queue, he faced the group of officials and said loudly, "The Ministry of Revenue is currently in debt of several million taels of silver. The Ministry of Revenue is truly powerless to fulfill the requests for funding submitted by you all."

"However, disaster relief is the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Revenue cannot and should not shirk its duties. Therefore, it can only prioritize dealing with the most urgent matters in the memorials submitted by you all."

"In my opinion, the most urgent issue is the drought in northern Shaanxi. I have heard that the Yan'an and Xi'an prefectures in Shaanxi have not seen a drop of water since last year."

“There are already cases of people selling their children. If this continues, it may lead to a popular uprising.”

“The Ministry of Revenue can squeeze out 150,000 taels of silver, and then the Ministry of Revenue will appoint an official, the Censorate will appoint an imperial censor, and the inner court will appoint a eunuch.”

"With the supervision of the three parties, special personnel will be sent to Shaanxi to purchase grain for disaster relief. This may effectively curb the corruption of disaster relief funds."

"But this approach is ultimately just a drop in the ocean. If the drought problem in Shaanxi cannot be solved, the Ministry of Revenue will not be able to keep squeezing out funds to allocate for disaster relief."

Upon hearing this, the official from Shaanxi immediately turned pale.

Damn it! Are you accusing me of embezzlement?!

Guo Yunhou ignored the man and instead bowed to the Emperor.

Listening to the disaster relief suggestions, Zhu Youjian glanced at Guo Yunhou again; he had already reviewed Guo's resume recently.

This person rose through the ranks of local officials, and was generally an official who, while making money, also did some practical work.

Zhu Youjian clearly understood that idealized governments and officials only existed in ideals. Moreover, in a comparative analysis, such officials would still be considered usable in today's court.

However, its use will only be available in the near future.

In the current situation.

No amount of appeasement can save the people or the Ming Dynasty.

A strong remedy is needed in Shaanxi.

So Zhu Youjian calmly said, "Let's discuss it again."

Seeing that the Emperor had spoken and that the matter would be discussed again, Guo Yunhou did not feel disappointed.

Now he also knows that the emperor is not really ignoring state affairs, but is just keeping them hidden.

Perhaps the emperor will go back and think about it for a few days, and then agree to his proposal.

After Zhu Youjian said he would discuss it again, the officials began to discuss it.

That's how it is in the imperial court.

There was struggle, compromise, nonsense, honest advice, private matters, and naturally, national affairs as well.

Some say that the governor of Shaanxi is incompetent and should be replaced with a more capable one.

Some say this is divine punishment, and the emperor needs to pray for relief from the drought in Shaanxi.

Just as everyone was discussing it.

A brilliant censor from the Ministry of War stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, I have a plan that, if implemented properly, can replenish the national treasury and significantly alleviate the Ministry of Revenue's financial deficit."

Then, this person spoke eloquently in the imperial court:

"Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty's post station system costs more than two million taels of silver every year. However, there are too many redundant staff in the post stations, and many rogue soldiers and scoundrels rely on the post stations."

"Furthermore, because of these people, urgent reports from the border are often delayed. If half of the ruffians and hooligans in the post stations could be removed, the efficiency of delivering documents would be greatly improved."

"Then, by reducing the number of horses and inns in the post stations in proportion, we can save our Great Ming Dynasty millions of taels of silver every year."

"This will surely alleviate the financial crisis!"

Zhu Youjian: ?
How dare you make such a suggestion? Don't you want your entire family to die?
Or are you an undercover agent sent by the Jurchens?
No wonder Zhu Youjian reacted so strongly.

In Zhu Youjian's view, the disaster situation in Shaanxi was not too difficult to resolve once he had the time to deal with it.

But if the post station workers are really dismissed...

In the domestic situation at the end of a dynasty, it is highly likely to trigger a series of chain reactions, thereby directly shaking the foundation of the country.

Zhu Youjian glanced at the Ministry of War official who had stepped forward to make the suggestion.

Many officials in the court looked at him as if he were a fool.

However, some officials seemed to agree with the proposal, even nodding and stroking their beards.

Zhu Youjian wrote down the names of the officials who expressed their agreement and nodded in satisfaction.

From this perspective, today's proposal is not entirely without merit.

At least it provides a list, so we can just kill people based on it after a while, which saves us some trouble.

Those who are useless and harmful to the empire cannot live.

　Guo Yunhou was born in Cao County, Heze, Shandong (formerly Caozhou in the Ming Dynasty). He had experience in flood control and disaster relief, including opening granaries to distribute grain to aid victims.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)