Di Ming

Chapter 456 "Why don't you sell my child and me to Zhu Yin for a reward!"

Emperor Wanli then said, "Qi Jiguang is indeed a famous general. In the more than two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, he has been unparalleled. I have not underestimated him. However, for a general... unwavering loyalty is the most important thing. Without loyalty, even if Bai Qi were to be resurrected or Han Xin were to be reincarnated, they should never be given important positions!"

"But Qi Jiguang lacks loyalty, which is a disadvantage. The Qi family can be used, but we must be wary of using them!"

He tapped Gao Cai's hat with his opium pipe and said, "Tell the Empress and the Crown Prince that it is my decree: Qi Jiguang is to be used, but we must be wary of him. Issue a secret edict to the supervising eunuch Yin Yuanlu, instructing him to keep a close eye on Qi Jiguang in Nanjing and check his military power."

Gao Cai kowtowed and said, "This servant obeys the decree!"

"I have more instructions!" Wanli said before he finished speaking, "Transfer Qi Jiguang's eldest son to the Governor's Office and his second son to the Beijing Garrison. Under no circumstances should they be in the Southern Expeditionary Army."

Gao Cai said again, "Yes, Your Majesty! This servant will convey my grandfather's instructions to Your Majesty and the young master word for word."

Emperor Wanli took a leisurely sip of the ginseng, squinted his eyes in bliss, yawned, and tears streamed down his face.

The perceptive Gao Cai quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe the emperor's face, and then, while tucking the handkerchief in, began to massage the emperor's shoulders.

Wanli then asked, "Qiu Chengyun from Sichuan, Liu Cheng from Southern Zhili, Cao Jin from Zhejiang, Li Feng from Guangdong, Pan Xiang from Jiangxi, Chen Feng from Huguang, Yang Rong from Yunnan... these eunuchs on official missions have not sent any memorials to the Western Garden for a long time. What's going on?"

Gao Cai thought to himself, "What happened? They've all been executed by Zhu Yin. All the gold and silver have gone to that traitor Zhu Yin."

But how could he dare tell the truth? Following his previous agreement with Consort Zheng and the others, he lied, saying:

"Reporting to Grandfather, they have already submitted their memorials, but they are just routine greetings. Her Majesty was afraid of disturbing Grandfather's rest and recuperation, so she did not send Qiu Chengyun's memorials to the West Garden. Anyway, there is nothing important."

Emperor Wanli was fooled by Gao Cai, and nodded in satisfaction. Then he changed the subject again:

"The traitor Zhu Yin is besieged in an isolated city, and Qi Jiguang's army has already crossed the river to surround it. The rebellious son Chang Luo won't be able to cause trouble for long either. Jiangnan is no longer a concern. But what about Commander Zhu Xin in the west? Yang Hao suffered a major defeat and lost many soldiers and generals, which will surely boost the prestige of the Qing rebels. Is there any news from the west recently? Where has Li Rusong advanced to?"

In fact, the news from the west was still very bad for the Northern Dynasty.

After Yang Hao's crushing defeat, Li Rusong took over the command of the Northwest Army. However, the Western Army he inherited was a crippled force whose backbone had been broken by the Western Ming. Although it still numbered 50,000, its morale had been completely eroded.

Emperor Wanli, disregarding the loss of popular support, imposed additional taxes on the Western Army, and the 100,000 elite troops he had painstakingly trained over three years were almost completely destroyed by the incompetent Yang Hao.

Li Rusong finally managed to stabilize the situation and hold off the Western Ming army at Jiayuguan, thus securing the Hexi Corridor.

Li Rusong had actually done a very good job; he was leading a severely weakened and defeated army.

However, in recent years, Zhu Shuaixin has won many battles and used the method of enfeoffment to annex the entire Western Regions, control more than three million people, and has hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, including Han, Mongol, Qiang and other ethnic groups. There are seventy or eighty thousand cavalry alone, making him a powerful country.

If the Western Ming Dynasty had not been tied down by the Khanate of Brahma in the west, Zhu Yuanzhang would have already invaded Gansu and swept through Guanzhong.

It was no small feat for Li Rusong to hold Jiayuguan with only tens of thousands of remaining soldiers.

However, this was not the result Emperor Wanli wanted!
Gao Cai could only lie and say, "Reporting to Grandpa, Li Rusong has already left the pass and defeated tens of thousands of rebels. It is said that he has reached Hami. The Qing rebels are retreating one after another, and may have retreated to Liucheng or even Turpan. But they are just a rabbit's tail and won't last long."

Wanli smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "Li Rusong is indeed a famous general; he fought well. Tell him that as long as he destroys the Qing rebels, he will be granted the title of Earl, making the Li family a family with two Earls. What an honor that would be!"

At this point, the emperor was even happier and said with a smile, "In the south we have Qi Jiguang, and in the west we have Li Rusong. The two great generals of our dynasty are fighting in the south and west. The traitor Yin and the rebel Qing are about to be overthrown. This year, I can finally have a peaceful year."

At this point, Wanli's smile suddenly vanished. "Tell Li Rusong that after defeating the Qing bandits, he must not linger in the Western Regions, must not antagonize the Semu people in the west, and must immediately retreat back to Jiayuguan."

Gao Cai said with an air of seriousness and as if possessed, "Don't want the Western Regions? Such a vast territory, it's a pity."

“It’s not a pity.” Wanli’s expression turned slightly cold. “The Western Regions are too far away, there are too many tribes, and they are all the territory of the Semu people. The court is too far away to govern them, and it would be difficult to manage them. It would also cost money and grain to station troops. It’s better to abandon them to avoid causing more trouble and repeated border conflicts. Tell Li Rusong that he went to the Western Regions to quell the rebellion, not to restore the Western Regions.”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Gao Cai understood the Emperor's meaning: the Western Regions could not be recovered. Even if Zhu Shuaixin was defeated, they had to retreat to Jiayuguan.

Wanli added, "Furthermore, tell the Governor of Yunnan and the Duke of Qian that when negotiating the border with the Burmese, they must not provoke conflict. As long as the Burmese do not launch a large-scale invasion, appeasement should be the priority, and it is not advisable to resort to force lightly. Taking a step back opens up a world of possibilities. Those remote and uncivilized lands were not originally Han territory; what harm is there in giving them an inch? Consider it a gift from the Celestial Empire to the Burmese barbarians..."

"Send another decree to the Governor of Sichuan, instructing him to pacify the Tibetans. Send another decree to Nurhaci and Buzhai, instructing them to oversee the Mongol Khanate..."

Emperor Wanli issued a series of imperial edicts in one go, and Gao Cai accepted them one by one, keeping them firmly in mind, for fear of missing one.

At this point, Wanli suddenly remembered his own money and asked, "Move the accounts of the imperial treasury to the Western Garden. I want to check the accounts."

Upon hearing the words "inspect the accounts," Gao Cai's heart skipped a beat. She forced a smile and said, "This servant obeys the order and will go and fetch the latest account books immediately."

Emperor Wanli laughed and said, "If we calculate it, the imperial treasury should have reached sixteen million?"

Gao Cai's eyelids twitched, and he forced a smile, saying, "Grandpa is wise, almost right, almost right!"

Wanli took a puff of his opium, waved his chubby hand, and said, "Go and move the account books!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Gao Cai accepted the decree with a forced smile, but as soon as he turned to leave, his respectful smile turned bitter.

Grandpa wants to see the account books, what should we do!

Gao Cai hurriedly ran back to the Forbidden City and complained to Consort Zheng, "Your Majesty, my grandfather was in such a good mood that he wanted to look at the accounts of the imperial treasury. If he finds out that the money is missing, he's afraid he'll skin me alive!"

"What's the panic! Show some backbone!" Consort Zheng snapped. "The money isn't for you to use, it's for the court!"

Zhang Jing, who was standing by his side, said, "Your Majesty, the imperial treasury only lent eight million taels of silver to the national treasury. Although the imperial treasury only has seven million taels left, the accounts are fine. It's just that there is an outstanding debt. The imperial treasury accounts actually still show fifteen million taels."

"In my humble opinion, even if an account book is forged, it does not constitute deceiving the emperor."

"No!" Consort Zheng said, "It wasn't eight million taels lent to the national treasury, it was nine million taels! Don't forget, the imperial treasury's income in recent months was about one million taels, which should have been deposited into the Imperial Treasury, but it ended up going to the Ministry of Revenue as well. Grand Secretary Wang, isn't that right?"

Wang Xijue nodded and said, "Your Majesty has a good memory. That's right. In the middle of this month, the Ministry of Revenue received 1.08 million taels of silver from the Imperial Treasury. This amount should also be included. Therefore, the national treasury owes a total of 9.08 million taels of silver from the Imperial Treasury, not 8 million."

He was speechless. He thought he could fool her, but the Imperial Concubine was just as shrewd and calculating when it came to money as the Emperor, and he couldn't hide it from her at all.

Zhang Jing glanced at Wang Xijue, also feeling somewhat helpless.

The cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs conspired to intercept funds sent to the imperial treasury for state use; this was originally a plan between the two. However, the Empress was shrewd and saw through it immediately.

However, given the current urgency, why differentiate between the imperial treasury and the national treasury? Shouldn't it all be the court's money?

Consort Zheng said, "I have already prepared the account books. I know the Emperor will definitely look at them. The blame for embezzling the imperial treasury will be borne by me and the Crown Prince Regent. Even if the Emperor finds out that the imperial treasury lent more than nine million taels to the national treasury, the blame will not fall on you. In any case, I, a woman, will bear the responsibility. But I have only one request: to work together wholeheartedly to do a good job! And to quell the Nanjing puppet regime as soon as possible!"

"For example, the emperor's brother-in-law received five million taels of silver to train new soldiers, and I heard that he did a good job, so the money was not wasted."

"The imperial treasury should be used, but it must be used in the right places and spent effectively. Even if silver is thrown into water, it will still make a sound. The court cannot borrow so much silver from the emperor only to see nothing in return."

When Gao Cai heard that the account book for deceiving the emperor was ready, he breathed a sigh of relief and then recited the emperor's instructions one by one.

Everyone looked bitter upon hearing the imperial edict.

The emperor thought Zhu Yin was trapped in a predicament, but little did he know that Zhu Yin had already occupied the entire south. Qi Jiguang had not yet crossed the river.

The emperor thought Li Rusong had won a great victory and pursued the rebels to Hami, but he did not know that Li Rusong was just holding Jiayuguan.

The only useful part of the imperial edict was to send Qi Jiguang's son to the capital and to have the supervising eunuch Yin Yuanlu keep a close watch on Qi Jiguang.

But the most urgent task is still to secure funds and supplies.

Consort Zheng suddenly said, "Grand Secretary Zhang!"

Zhang Wei stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your subject is here!"

Consort Zheng leaned forward slightly. "You said last time that you could raise military funds from the salt merchants, saying they have plenty of money. Is that really something you can do?"

At this point, the somewhat tired woman's eyes suddenly brightened.

Zhang Wei said, "The court has lost the south, and the national treasury's revenue has plummeted by 70%. Even if we increase the taxes from the north, it won't solve the national expenses. The only solution now is to have the salt merchants and wealthy businessmen make donations. This isn't killing the goose that lays the golden eggs; it's telling them that they should also contribute to the court!"

"Now is the best time to force them to donate. Otherwise, if the situation does not improve in the future, it will be too late even if you force them to donate."

Zhang Wei, a southerner, had always disliked the northern salt merchants, so he had no qualms about coming up with this idea. Wang Xijue, also a southerner, immediately nodded and said, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, what Grand Secretary Zhang said is a good idea. Who in the world doesn't know that the northern salt merchants are incredibly wealthy? They control 70% of the Ming Dynasty's salt. Yet the salt tax collected by the court is very low, not even a fraction of what they earn. For so many years they've made a fortune every day; it's time they gave back to the court."

He could tell that the Imperial Concubine was inclined to target the salt merchants. This idea was actually something he and Zhang Wei had discussed together.

“Absolutely not!” Shen Li, a cabinet minister from the north, immediately objected. “Your Majesty, Your Highness! The wealthy in the north are not limited to salt merchants. There are also Shanxi merchants, Qin merchants, and those relatives of the emperor, nobles, and princes… whose family doesn’t have mountains of gold and silver? If we touch the salt merchants, everyone else will be hesitant and afraid of following in their footsteps. In that case, the court will only lose the support of the people and push them to a false dynasty.”

Zhang Jing, also a northerner, usually received many bribes from salt and Shanxi merchants. At this time, he also expressed his support for Shen Li, saying, "What Minister Shen said is true. Right now, the people's hearts are more important than money! If we lose money, there are other ways. But if we lose the people's hearts, then the situation is hopeless."

"Your Majesty may not know, but these salt merchants are not just simple businessmen. Many scholars in the north are sponsored by them. Many officials have connections with the salt merchants. If the court forces them to make donations, it will really push them to the Nanjing puppet regime."

Consort Zheng frowned. "What will the court do when it's short of money? The imperial treasury only has a little over seven million taels left, and the national treasury only has a little over one million taels left, totaling only nine million. How long can that last? At most, by the end of next year, the national treasury and the imperial treasury will be completely depleted! What will we do then? Wait to die?"

Wang Xijue said, "How about... those who pledge donations are rewarded with official titles and ranks? A donation of ten thousand taels will earn a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a donation of thirty thousand taels will earn a commander..."

Consort Zheng was truly torn, wanting the silver reward for the salt but also fearing the loss of popular support.

Just then, Gao Huai entered the hall and reported, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Brother-in-law, Mr. Zheng, requests an audience. He wishes to pay his respects to Your Majesty alone."

Upon hearing that her younger brother had returned to the capital, Consort Zheng immediately perked up and said to everyone, "You Grand Secretaries, please return to the Wenyuan Pavilion first. Zhang Jing, please also return to the Directorate of Ceremonial. Go out and tell all the officials that the Emperor is well and the Crown Prince is also well."

"Yes!" Wang Xijue and the others accepted the order and left Wenhua Hall together.

After they left, Consort Zheng immediately summoned her "younger brother" Zheng Guowang into the palace.

Zheng Guowang, dressed in a red official robe and possessing an elegant and refined appearance, entered the Wenhua Hall, bowed, and said:
"Your Majesty, I, Zheng Guowang, Imperial Commissioner and Minister of War, concurrently serving as the Governor-General of Military Training in Five Provinces, pay my respects to Her Highness the Regent Imperial Noble Consort and His Highness the Crown Prince Regent..."

"Get up quickly!" Consort Zheng smiled and stepped forward to help her "younger brother" up. She said with a kind and gentle expression, "We are siblings, why do you have to be so formal? You are not an outsider, there is no need to be so serious."

Zheng Guowang, still with a solemn expression, said, "The state has its own system of rites and ceremonies. How dare I abandon them for personal reasons? I should naturally follow the rules and regulations."

Consort Zheng said with a touch of heartache, "My brother has lost weight and gotten darker. Training the troops must be very hard for him."

"Your Highness, pour your uncle a cup of tea. He has worked tirelessly through wind and rain for your country, and you must not forget him."

"Yes!" Crown Prince Zhu Changxun stood up and personally poured tea for Zheng Guowang. Zheng Guowang repeatedly said he dared not accept such praise.

She had a beautiful face that resembled Consort Zheng. She was a bit tanned and had lost a lot of weight. She looked very capable and had a good complexion.

"Don't worry, sister, I'm used to it and I'm not afraid of hardship."

Consort Zheng asked with concern, "How is the training of the Loyal and Brave Battalion going?"

Zheng Guowang put down his teacup, stroked his neatly applied mustache, and bowed slightly as he replied:
"With money, things are much easier. With five million taels of the imperial treasury in hand, I am invincible. The army pays two taels and provides two liters of rations per day. Sure enough, we recruited 100,000 young men in just two months. They are all carefully selected soldiers. Our northern youths are suitable for military service, and we have no shortage of good soldiers."

"Your Majesty, I use the training methods of Qi Jiguang and Zhu Yin. We train hard every day while we are well-fed. Although it is very expensive, it is very effective. We can train an elite army in a year."

Although Zheng Guowang was a woman, she learned a lot from Zhu Yin and Qi Jiguang. She was also very perceptive and had a knack for training and commanding troops. She already showed the potential to become a famous general.

Consort Zheng's phoenix eyes narrowed. "Two taels a month? Isn't that too high for a soldier's pay? Border troops only get one tael and fifty cents. Your soldiers are paid the same monthly salary as Qi Jiguang's army!"

Zheng Guowang shook his head, "There's nothing we can do about it. Sister, the soldiers I recruited were selected from the top ten applicants, even more rigorously than those recruited by the border army and the western army. Zhu Yin's recruits only received one or two taels of silver per month in their first year, but I doubled that! Only in this way can the number of soldiers I recruit surpass Zhu Yin's! I learned this trick from Qi Jiguang and Zhu Yin, and since I learned it, I should be even more ruthless!"

"With generous pay and ample rations, I can train them relentlessly, making them fight to the death. As long as we train this elite army of 100,000, the court will have no shortage of funds!"

Consort Zheng frowned deeply. "Training troops like this is far too expensive! This is 100,000 men, not just 10,000 or 2,000! If you do it this way, the annual salary for the Loyal and Brave Battalion alone will cost two to three million taels of silver! How can we afford that? What about the warhorses? What about the weapons? How long can the five million taels I gave you last?"

"Guowang, even if you sell your sister, you still can't support this army of 100,000."

Zheng Guowang smiled slightly, "Sister, the reason I personally returned to the capital and entered the palace this time is to ask you for money. I need to make the best armor, buy the best warhorses, and supervise the Ministry of Works to make excellent firearms and weapons. We can't cut corners. I'm afraid the money won't be enough. I need another three million taels!"

Consort Zheng stared blankly at her "younger brother's" face, which looked so much like her own, and suddenly her nose tingled and tears streamed down her face.

"You're bullying me too! All you do is ask me for money! I gave you five million in the imperial treasury before, five million! And now, only three months later, you're asking for another three million!"

"Why don't you just sell us, mother and son! Sell us to Zhu Yin for a reward, wouldn't that be more peaceful!"

When the Crown Prince Zhu Changxun, who was in charge of the country, heard his uncle mention silver, and three million taels at that, he was immediately displeased.

“Sister,” Zheng Guowang said helplessly, “No one in the court understands Zhu Yin better than me. He is a formidable enemy, and even if I use all my strength, I will hardly be his match.”

“Your Majesty, I originally thought that Zhu Yin would cut off the grain transport and was worried about food shortages in the north. But... he didn't! Sister, this alone is enough to prove how capable this man is.”

"This man is a descendant of Jianwen. If he succeeds, how will we survive? How can we not go all out to deal with such a peerless hero?"

"Right now, silver isn't important, food isn't important, what's most important is the army!"

At this point, her eyes turned cold. "As long as you have troops, you can rob when you run out of money and supplies. You make your fortune through war! That's what you learned from Zhu Yin!"

"Whom to rob? Rob the wealthy, the princes, the salt merchants, and the Shanxi merchants! As long as we have troops, they can only give us silver and grain! As long as we don't impose taxes on the poor, but only on the rich, the country won't be in chaos! This is what Zhu Yin told me back then!"

"But if we don't have reliable and capable soldiers, we won't be able to control those rich people and collect their money and grain!"

"Sister, give me another three million taels of silver. Once I've trained the Loyal and Brave Battalion, I won't take a single tael of silver from the court; in fact, I'll repay it with ten million taels! Sister, do you believe me?"

Consort Zheng hesitated for a moment, then finally gritted her teeth and said, "Fine! I'll give you another three million taels of imperial treasury, but this is the last time. From now on, you'll have to rely on yourself! The remaining money should be used to pay the military salaries of the Nine Garrisons!"

"Excellent!" Zheng Guowang was overjoyed. "Your subject will certainly train an army of 100,000 fierce warriors for my elder sister and the Crown Prince!"

Zheng Guowang was well aware that the north actually had money and provisions, but these were not in the hands of the imperial court. If the north truly could not be self-sufficient in money and provisions, why did the Mongol Yuan dynasty persist for more than a decade during the great chaos at the end of the Yuan dynasty?
Why did the Jin Dynasty persist for over a hundred years?
The claim that the North couldn't be self-sufficient in terms of money and grain was merely a pretext used by the imperial court to increase taxes on the South. If the North truly couldn't be self-sufficient with so much land, wouldn't it be absurd to think of establishing its own independent state?

However, although the north had enough money and grain to be self-sufficient, most of the money and grain were in the hands of princes, powerful clans, nobles, and relatives of the emperor.

The people are truly poor!
To get wealthy and powerful families to pay taxes, the knife must be sharp enough, and the handle must be firmly held!

Consort Zheng agreed to give him money, and Zheng Guowang was not in the mood to stay any longer. He immediately asked to take his leave of the capital and return to Luoyang to train troops.

Indeed, in order to recruit new soldiers from the five provinces, she set up her headquarters in Luoyang, the most suitable location, which was more conducive to recruiting the brave and skilled young men from Qin and Jin.

Seeing that her "younger brother" was about to leave, Consort Zheng quickly gave him some instructions:
“Guowang, although you are busy with national affairs, don’t forget your family. You are almost thirty years old, and you have a wife and concubines, but you have not had any children. What’s going on? Tell your elder sister the truth, are you sick?”

“Sister, you’re overthinking it.” Zheng Guowang’s face turned red and his heart raced. “What illness could I possibly have? The fortune teller said that I just have no luck with children.”

Consort Zheng stared intently at Zheng Guowang with her phoenix eyes, her gaze filled with inquiry and doubt, which made Consort Zheng feel uneasy.

"Sister, don't look at me like that." Zheng Guowang felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. "Your subject has important matters to attend to, so I will take my leave of the palace first."

Consort Zheng also realized that she had overthought things, and that her previous guess was too absurd. She nodded and smiled, "Alright, then you can go back first."

Zheng Guowang stood up, but before he could leave the hall, Gao Huai entered with an unyielding expression, holding a memorial, and knelt down, saying:
"Your Majesty! Young Master! The King of Goryeo's memorial has arrived. The lord of the Eastern Front is extremely rude! Please, Your Majesty and Young Master, calm your anger!"

"What?" Consort Zheng's face darkened. "Bring it here!"

When she took a look at the memorial from the King of Goryeo, her face immediately turned ashen.

"Refuse to lend? This means you're rejecting my Great Ming Dynasty?"

It turns out that when the King of Goryeo received the imperial edict from the Ming Dynasty requesting a grain loan, he made up a whole bunch of excuses and ultimately refused to lend the grain!
Moreover, the King of Goryeo's tone was no longer respectful. He was clearly aware of the division between the North and South of the Ming Dynasty, which emboldened him.

Consort Zheng was so angry that her hairpins trembled. "Didn't Goryeo have a bumper harvest? How could they be short of grain! A few years ago, the Great Ming Dynasty gave them more than a million shi of grain! Now we only asked them to borrow half a million shi, and they didn't have a single shi!"

"This is really unreasonable!"

"They were almost wiped out by Japanese pirates before, and it was the Ming Dynasty that saved them! Now they have no gratitude whatsoever, and instead they want to kick them when they're down! They are utterly despicable!"

"The Koreans are truly ungrateful wretches! They could never be tamed, not even in a hundred years!"

Consort Zheng was furious and threw the King of Goryeo's memorial to the ground!
(End of this chapter)