The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 331 Temporarily Burdening Our People for a Year

Negotiate peace?

Yang Sichang, as expected of Zhu Youjian's most favored minister, dared to bring up such a treasonous topic to his face.

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen broke out in a cold sweat and dared not even breathe, cautiously observing the emperor's expression.

As expected, upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian immediately frowned and showed an expression of extreme disgust.

Putting aside the issue of increasing the military expenditure, the very word "peace talks" reminded him of the Grand Coordinator Yuan, who was known for "pacifying Liaodong in five years."

Yuan Chonghuan was once deeply favored by Zhu Youjian, who even tolerated the execution of Mao Wenlong without question.

In the end, he was still sliced ​​into three thousand pieces, one of the charges being "unauthorized peace negotiations and relying solely on deception and concealment."

Yang Sichang did not "unilaterally advocate peace negotiations," but how could such a thing be presented in front of Emperor Chongzhen?

As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I was ordained by Heaven to rule over all nations, yet now I must take the initiative to negotiate with the rebels and the Jurchens.

If this gets out, how will Zhu Youjian save face?

In the meticulous writing of history, wouldn't I be portrayed as a foolish and cowardly ruler?
He simply couldn't bring himself to do it.

Yang Sichang was very good at reading people's expressions. When he saw that the emperor was silent and looked unhappy, he immediately guessed what was bothering him.

So he kowtowed deeply, and tearfully pleaded:

"His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, I know this action is detrimental to the imperial authority, but it is merely a temporary measure aimed at securing a precious opportunity for our Great Ming to quell the rebellion and quell the disaster!"

"In the past, Emperor Wu attacked the Xiongnu in the north. Although Wei Qing and Huo Qubing's achievements were unparalleled in ancient and modern times, he also sent envoys to make peace with the Xiongnu in the early days to accumulate national strength."

"Only after the plot at Mayi did they launch a large-scale military campaign and finally achieve the victory at Langjuxu!"

"For example, Emperor Taizong of Tang, despite his extraordinary talent and martial prowess, once made an alliance with the Turkic Khaganate Jieli at the Wei River Bridge, exchanging gold and silk for temporary peace on the border."

"Only after the national treasury is full and the army is strong will we wipe out the Turks in one fell swoop and honor the Heavenly Khan!"

"All of these things are clearly recorded in history, which not only does not diminish his brilliance, but also allows us to glimpse the strategies and adaptability of his great ruler."

"Your Majesty, only by enduring temporary humiliation can you achieve lasting success!"

As Zhu Youjian listened to these familiar historical events, his tense expression gradually eased.

He was well-versed in history and naturally knew that what Yang Sichang said was true.

Leaving aside the fact that Emperor Wu of Han was burdensome to the people and wasteful of resources, Emperor Taizong, who ushered in the Zhenguan era of prosperity, was indeed a wise and outstanding figure whom he admired.

Even a powerful ruler like Emperor Taizong had his moments of forbearance and compromise, so why not emulate him a little...

Zhu Youjian sighed deeply. Although that was true, openly negotiating peace was ultimately a great disgrace, and he couldn't bear to lose face like that.

Seeing that the emperor was interested, Yang Sichang immediately pressed his advantage, saying:
"Your Majesty, this matter concerns the fate of the nation, so it must not be publicized."

"Your Majesty's suggestion is to secretly send trusted and capable individuals to make private contact with Sichuan and Liaodong, feigning cooperation."

"Once the bandits in the Central Plains are pacified, our Great Ming will have no more worries about the rear. At that time, whether to fight or make peace, the initiative will be entirely in Your Majesty's hands."

"This matter is only between Your Majesty and a few of us; outsiders are not allowed to hear about it, and it will absolutely not damage Your Majesty's reputation."

Yang Sichang's words truly resonated with Zhu Youjian.

As long as there is no public negotiation or written agreement, a private expedient seems... not unacceptable.

Zhu Youjian pondered for a long time, and finally nodded almost imperceptibly:

"Alas, in urgent situations, we must act expediently and follow what Minister Yang has said."

"However... this matter is of great importance, and not a single word should be leaked, let alone mentioned to the censors."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Sichang was overjoyed, for the most difficult hurdle had finally been overcome.

Zhu Youjian then asked:
"In that case, how exactly should this peace negotiation be handled?"

Who should we talk to first?

Yang Sichang, already confident, immediately looked up and replied:
"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, we need to distinguish between genuine and fake peace negotiations."

"The advance envoy secretly went to Sichuan to contact Jiang Han, feigning to negotiate peace."

"As long as that Jiang fellow does not send troops to attack Huguang, the imperial court is willing to pay tribute."

"We will then decide whether to negotiate peace with the Later Jin dynasty, depending on the situation."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian's face was filled with astonishment:
"What do you mean?"

Why must there be a distinction between genuine and fake peace negotiations?

"Your Majesty is wise,"

Yang Sichang quickly explained,

"Although the Eastern barbarians are incredibly fierce, they are, after all, located in Liaodong, and are guarded by Zu Dashou and his elite Guan Ning troops."

"In addition, with Lu Xiang-sheng serving as governor of Xuanfu and Datong, the defense line has become even more solid, and the Eastern barbarians will find it difficult to break through in the short term."

"Therefore, the matter of Liaodong can be put on hold for now."

"But Sichuan is different!"

“The Jiang rebels have seized control of the southwest, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the most important financial and tax areas of the Ming Dynasty are all under their military might.”

"If they take advantage of the fact that we are busy suppressing the bandits in the Central Plains and then march eastward and down the Yangtze River, then the regions of Huguang and Southern Zhili will be in danger!"

"At that time, not only will the bandits be difficult to suppress, but the government troops may also be attacked from both sides!"

"This is one of them."

Yang Sichang paused, observed the emperor's expression, and continued:

"Secondly, the Jurchens are not of our race, while the bandits are our own people."

"The Jurchen rebellion is an external threat, but when unruly people rebel and even dare to usurp the title of king, dividing up territory, this is an internal strife that shakes the very foundation of the nation!"

"We must suppress this with all our might to serve as a warning to others, otherwise more troublemakers will follow suit, and the country will never have peace!"

This argument about the distinction between insiders and outsiders, and between foreigners and innocents, deeply moved Zhu Youjian.

In his view, the barbarians beyond the Great Wall were merely after wealth and people, but the rebels within the country, especially those who dared to call themselves kings and emperors, were the most direct challenge to imperial power.

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, signaling Yang Sichang to get up from the ground and reply.

"What Minister Yang said was absolutely right!"

"So, when you say that you must first pacify the internal before resisting external aggression, does that 'internal' also include Sichuan?"

Yang Sichang nodded and answered decisively:
"Of course!"

"I have also investigated that bandit surnamed Jiang in detail."

"His ability to rise from a lowly bannerman to a powerful force that controls two provinces and usurps the title of king demonstrates his extraordinary cunning and methods."

"Therefore, we must not allow him to conquer Yunnan and completely integrate the three southwestern provinces!"

"The imperial court must govern Sichuan, either by imposing heavy blockades to prevent its northward and eastward expansion."

"Or we can launch a massive offensive and wipe out the southwest in one fell swoop!"

"In my humble opinion, we should first appease Jiang Han through peace negotiations, and then concentrate our efforts on annihilating the bandits in the Central Plains."

"Then mobilize the entire army and take advantage of the situation to encircle Sichuan."

"At that time, the government troops can launch a three-pronged encirclement from Huguang, Hanzhong, and Yunnan to completely annihilate them!"

"Once we eliminate these two major threats from the mainland, pacifying Liaodong will be a piece of cake."

"Therefore, the primary task at present is to first engage in feigned talks with Sichuan to lull that petty thief surnamed Jiang into a false sense of security, thereby buying time for the suppression of the rebellion in the Central Plains."

Upon hearing this, Chongzhen suddenly realized:

"I see. As expected of Minister Yang, he is mature and capable of governing the country."

But he immediately changed the subject.
"But Jiang is exceptionally cunning and probably not so easy to fool."

"What if he finds out, or he makes unreasonable demands?"

Yang Sichang smiled calmly, looking as if he had everything under control:

"Your Majesty, feigning compliance and haggling are the norm in peace negotiations."

"In addition, Sichuan is mountainous and far away, and communication is inconvenient. The negotiations can be carried out slowly, and as long as it can be dragged out for a while, it will be a good time."

"If we can make good use of this time to quickly wipe out the bandits in the Central Plains, then there will be no need to negotiate peace anymore."

"At that time, the royal army will march westward, and the heavenly troops will punish the rebels!"

To avoid the risks of fighting on multiple fronts, Yang Sichang went to great lengths.

He carefully studied all the battles fought by the Shaanxi peasant army. Since they could feign surrender, it was only natural for him to feign peace as well.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian's spirits lifted, and he leaned forward, asking with concern:
"If Jiang Han agrees to a truce, how long will it take for Yang Qing to completely wipe out the bandits in the Central Plains?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Sichang suddenly straightened his back and gave an answer that shocked everyone:

"Half a year!"

"Your Majesty, just give me six months, and I will surely wipe out all the villains in the Central Plains!"

Zhu Youjian was both surprised and delighted, and could hardly believe his ears.

"Half a year?"

"So fast? What brilliant plan do you have, my esteemed minister?" Yang Sichang's eyes gleamed as he analyzed:
"Your Majesty, this is the second matter I wish to present, and it is also the core strategy for suppressing the rebels."

"I call it—four cardinal directions and six intermediate directions, a net spread on all ten sides!"

"As far as I know, the bandits rely heavily on horses. Today they are in Henan, and tomorrow they can enter Huguang."

"The government troops pursued and chased after them, but were often exhausted and unable to annihilate their main force."

"In addition, the powers and responsibilities of governors and viceroys varied in different regions, and they were self-reliant in their own territories. When it came to the matter of suppressing bandits across provinces, most of them adopted a 'not my problem' attitude."

"Especially in the border areas of multiple provinces, local officials only care about driving the bandits out of their own jurisdiction and think that everything will be fine, which leads to the bandits growing stronger."

As he spoke, he bowed slightly to apologize, and then gestured to the eunuch beside him to spread out the map.

He pointed to the map and explained carefully.

"Your Majesty, please take a look. I intend to use Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Jiangbei as the four fronts."

"These four locations are the main battlefields for suppressing bandits, and each is responsible for different tasks of suppression and defense, and will take the initiative to attack."

"Then, with Yansui, Shanxi, Shandong, Yingtian, Jiangxi, and Guangxi as the outer edges, they will be responsible for assisting in defense, intercepting bandits, and supporting friendly forces."

"Thus, the four cardinal directions are in charge of the battle, while the six corners assist in the defense, forming a tight net!"

"Furthermore, strict orders should be issued to the provincial governors, and even the viceroys and prime ministers, so that they would not dare to shirk their responsibilities or delay, and allow the thieves to come and go."

"With a net spread across ten sides, the bandits will have nowhere to escape and will have no choice but to surrender obediently!"

It can be said that Yang Sichang's strategic vision does sound very grand and meticulous.

But the only downside is that it's expensive, very expensive.

To set up this unprecedentedly large net, we must have sufficient food before we can have enough soldiers.

In Yang Sichang's plan, to activate this network, he would need to recruit 120,000 new soldiers, seven infantry and three cavalry.

The force consisted of 84,000 infantry and 36,000 cavalry.

An infantryman receives five cents a day, which amounts to eighteen taels of silver a year. In total, the annual pay is one million five hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver.

Each cavalryman, along with his fodder, receives a daily allowance of one qian of silver, totaling thirty-six taels of silver per year. In total, the annual allowance is one million two hundred and ninety-six thousand taels of silver.

The two combined require an additional 2.88 million taels of silver in military pay annually!

Yang Sichang also specifically emphasized:

This huge sum of money must be strictly allocated to the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, and the provincial governors, with vertical management in place, and no one should shirk responsibility or confuse the funds.

Only in this way can we ensure that the money and supplies are used effectively to support and train the troops, rather than falling into the hands of corrupt officials.

Judging from Yang Sichang's plan, he had indeed thought about this problem seriously, with precise calculations and a striving for perfection in his solution.

But here's the question: where did this huge sum of over two million taels of silver come from?

Yang Sichang himself certainly didn't have any money, and Chongzhen's private treasury probably didn't have much either. Expecting donations from princes and ministers was even more difficult than climbing to heaven.

Ultimately, the only solution is to collect taxes from ordinary people.

Since the "Liaodong tax" has already been levied, it would be reasonable to levy an additional "suppression tax," right?

However, Emperor Chongzhen hesitated on this matter.

He was not unaware of the people's suffering; in order to quell the peasant uprising in the Northwest, he had repeatedly ordered additional troops to be deployed.

As the imperial court dispatched more and more troops, the common people's term for the bandits quietly changed from "thieves and bandits" to "righteous army and heavenly soldiers."

This change made Zhu Youjian feel deeply uneasy.

After much hesitation, he decided to submit the matter of imposing additional taxes to the court for discussion, allowing officials to express their opinions in the hope of finding a more prudent solution.

As expected, almost no one in the court, from top to bottom, agreed to the pay raise.

Among them, the opinions of the newly appointed Shaanxi Governor Sun Chuanting were the most vehement and the most reasonable.

In his memorial to the throne, Sun Chuanting pointed out with great distress that more than ten years had passed since the suppression of the bandits began, but the bandits' power had only grown stronger with each attempt.

What is the root cause?
The problem lies in the relentless imposition of taxes, which drives the people to join the bandits.

In Shaanxi and other places, nine out of ten houses were already empty. The survivors were either dead or had fled, and had no choice but to seek refuge with bandits.

With people's minds in turmoil, the most important thing is to strengthen the foundation and allow people to recuperate.

Only by reducing taxes and corvée labor can the people see a glimmer of hope and avoid rushing to join the bandits.

Moreover, the troops in the major military towns are now depleted, and even Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, has few soldiers at his disposal.

Therefore, he had to start from scratch, drawing troops from the Imperial Guard to supplement and train a new army.

If the additional levies are used to train the troops, and if the military pay cannot be maintained in the long term, wouldn't these soldiers then turn to bandits again?

Moreover, training troops is not something that can be accomplished in a day, while money is spent like water.

Who can guarantee that throwing away loads of silver will necessarily build a strong army and completely wipe out the bandits in the Central Plains and even Sichuan?
Sun Chuanting's memorial was earnest and to the point, undoubtedly the most powerful rebuttal to Yang Sichang.

Zhu Youjian was well aware that since the additional levy on Liaodong, the lives of ordinary people had become increasingly worse.

He's just heartless, not really stupid.

If all the taxpayers are dead, who will pay taxes?
Sun Chuanting's method is better, as it allows for sustainable exploitation.

Yang Sichang was well prepared for the opposition from the court.

He claimed that Sun Chuanting and others were out of touch with reality and only knew how to engage in empty talk that harmed the country.

That's utter nonsense. Who said that additional taxes must be borne entirely by ordinary people?

How can the wealth of the world be in the hands of ordinary people?

Those wealthy gentry and merchants who occupy local areas and live in luxury every day, shouldn't they share the emperor's worries and contribute to the country?

Therefore, Yang Sichang also proposed his own set of solutions, namely "grain, overflow land, case studies, and postal relay".

The so-called "taxation based on land area" meant that additional money and grain were levied according to the area of ​​the land, and this was the main expense.
"Over-land" refers to the practice of levying additional taxes on any land exceeding the original quota.

An example is that places such as Imperial Academy student positions were sold to wealthy households in order to raise funds and provisions;
The term "postal relay" refers to the abolition of post stations in various places, with the saved funds being used for military training.

According to Yang Sichang's estimate, by using these methods in parallel, they could raise nearly two million taels of silver, which would barely cover the increased military expenditure.

At the same time, in order to expand the tax base and increase revenue, he also changed the "payment based on grain" policy implemented by Lu Xiang-sheng.

Lu Xiang-sheng's original proposal was to implement a progressive tax system based on the amount of land paid, with wealthy households paying more and poor households paying less or nothing.

However, Yang Sichang felt that this method was too complicated, and that wealthy landowners could still evade taxes through various means, so he changed the tax law back to its original state.

To simplify and improve efficiency, he swiftly changed the tax law back to its original state, uniformly levying taxes per mu (a Chinese unit of land area).

Whether you are a wealthy gentry or a poor peasant, everyone pays taxes to the imperial court according to the amount of land they own!
At first glance, Yang Sichang's considerations seem to have no major problems.

After all, there are always ways to circumvent policies; if policies are not effectively implemented, wealthy landowners and gentry will always find loopholes to exploit.

However, he did not expect that in the past, wealthy gentry and landlords might have had to put on an act and cover up their true intentions.

But after the tax law was changed back, they didn't even need to put on a show anymore; they simply dumped all the taxes on small farmers.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard Yang Sichang’s plan, he vaguely felt that something was wrong. Sun Chuanting’s warning was still ringing in his ears, but the prospect of pacifying the rebels in six months was too tempting.

Just as he was weighing the pros and cons, Yang Sichang stepped forward again and delivered the final blow.

"His Majesty!"

"These unruly people refuse to be peaceful starving corpses, instead they act like mantises struggling to fly!"

"They have courted their own demise, so why should the court show them excessive pity? In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken!"

"I am willing to stake my life on this: if Your Majesty approves my plan, I will be able to completely eliminate the bandits in the Central Plains within three months!"

"Once the situation in the Central Plains is resolved, it will only take half a year to pacify Sichuan and recover the lost territories in the southwest!"

"If the plan fails, I am willing to accept execution by axe!"

Yang Sichang was a man of talent, integrity, and loyalty; he truly had a heart that wanted to save the Ming Dynasty from collapse.

In his early years as a local official, he even appeared before the people as an upright and just official, doing many good deeds such as tax exemptions, rent reductions, and punishing corrupt officials.

However, once he entered the center of power, he forgot all about disaster relief and public safety.

When it comes to consolidating imperial power, everything else has to take a backseat!

At this point, it is necessary for the people of the world to "understand" the court's predicament.

What makes him so hateful is that he has the audacity to weep when he sees the common people suffering, yet he is never stingy in reducing taxes.

On the one hand, they pretend to give some money for disaster relief, while on the other hand, they levy millions of dollars in taxes.

Ultimately, it was nothing more than loyalty to the emperor and the maintenance of the interests of the imperial class, disregarding the lives of ordinary people.

As the saying goes, "Those who are not family will not enter the same door."

No wonder Zhu Youjian favored and trusted Yang Sichang so much, and even lamented, "I regret not employing you sooner!"

Upon hearing the slogan "Suppress the rebels in March, recover the territory in June," Zhu Youjian finally couldn't sit still any longer.

In order to realize the great cause of national rejuvenation as soon as possible, we can only make the people suffer a little more.

As for the infamy, I will bear it all!
Thus, disregarding the strong opposition from the court officials, he resolutely issued the edict:

“The bandits are spreading and the people are suffering. We cannot quell them without gathering troops, and we cannot pay the soldiers without increasing taxes.”

"We must heed the court's advice and temporarily burden our people for a year to eliminate this major threat."

(End of this chapter)