Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 160 I Don't Like It
Once the three judicial departments issued their orders, even the most foolish official understood them.

New policies! Only new policies!
The wind direction couldn't be clearer now.

The era of Wei Zhongxian was followed by the New Policies era!

However, it remains unclear whether this new policy was led by the Donglin Party or the old eunuch faction.

At that moment, another coughing sound rang out.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a burly figure stepping out from the ranks of the military officials.

It is Tian Ergeng, the Left Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!
The ministers were startled once again.

The first batch of reports from Shuntian Prefecture was already outrageous enough, so why is it the Embroidered Uniform Guard next? What about the Ministry of Personnel? What about the Ministry of Rites?

What does the new policy have to do with the Embroidered Uniform Guard?
Tian Ergeng walked to the center of the hall, lifted the hem of his flying fish robe, and knelt down steadily, his movements meticulous.

"Your subject, Tian Ergeng, Left Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, reports on the disbandment of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

His voice was loud and clear, with a pure accent:
"During Wei Zhongxian's reign of terror, he indiscriminately bestowed rewards and honors, resulting in a chaotic and mixed workforce within the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Even worse, some impersonated others, received salaries without working, and corruption was rampant."

"The number of positions has increased dramatically from 17,760 during the Wanli era to 36,360, almost doubling!"

"Your Majesty's wisdom is profound. Since I received the imperial decree to investigate on September 15th, I have already dismissed 8,120 people who had fraudulently obtained or received excessive rewards within the past 15 days."

"Currently, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is conducting a new selection process, with the capable promoted, the mediocre demoted, and the incompetent eliminated. In the meantime, another 2,073 unqualified individuals have been dismissed."

"I anticipate that the reorganization of the entire Imperial Guard will be completed before November 15th, at which time the number of Imperial Guard personnel will remain at around 15,000."

"This alone can save the national treasury nearly 260,000 shi of rice every year!"

As soon as Tian Ergeng finished speaking, silence fell over the Huangji Gate.

Two hundred and sixty thousand bushels a year is a small matter.

What truly shocked them was the emperor's ruthlessness.

What is the Jinyiwei?
That's the emperor's sword!

Now the emperor himself has issued an order, extending the new policies to his own blade.

This is a stance, an unquestionable stance.

Minister of Works Xue Fengxiang stood in the ranks of civil officials, his brows furrowed.

Since ascending the throne, he had been repeatedly thwarted by His Majesty, first by the million taels spent on the imperial mausoleum, and then by the 1.2 million taels of silver spent on the craftsmen for the three main halls. He was already feeling extremely uneasy.

Even after he donated five thousand taels of silver to repair the road, it did not lessen his unease in the slightest.

Upon hearing Tian Ergeng's report, he was first taken aback, then a strange light flashed in his eyes.

He seems to have... grasped something.

Not only him, but also the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the Minister of the Imperial Seal behind him all showed thoughtful expressions.

Wei Zhongxian did more than just plant people in the Embroidered Uniform Guard...

On his throne, Zhu Youjian calmly observed all of this.

He took in the expressions of Xue Fengxiang and the others, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Tian Ergeng is loyal to the country and deserves to be rewarded."

He said, "Record this as an additional red mark. After the purge is completed, I will bestow further rewards upon you."

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your great kindness!" Tian Ergeng kowtowed heavily and exhaled softly.

He knew that this pledge of allegiance to the new emperor had been fulfilled.

However, before the officials could recover from the implications of the Embroidered Uniform Guard incident, another light cough rang out.

This time, the sound came from the other side.

Everyone looked on in astonishment, only to find it was a line of eunuchs beside the emperor.
Cao Huachun, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial!
This time, the reaction from the entire court was even stronger than before!
Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard was the emperor's henchman, it was still considered part of the outer court.

Is it now that even the inner court is about to be targeted?

Cao Huachun walked into the hall, knelt down, and spoke in a clear voice:

“This servant, Cao Huachun, requests permission to petition the palace eunuchs to be abolished.”

"Since receiving the imperial decree on September 11, I have worked with various departments and offices to dismiss 2,877 redundant eunuchs from the palace. Currently, there are 16,772 registered eunuchs remaining in the palace."

"We will conduct another round of clearing out people every month, with more than 900 people cleared out each time."

"It is estimated that by the end of the first year of Yongchang, the number of palace eunuchs will drop to 13,974."

"At that time, it will save the imperial treasury 27,000 shi of rice and 34,000 taels of silver for boots every year. It will also save the Guanglu Temple various food and material expenses, equivalent to about 13,000 taels of silver."

The commotion among the courtiers grew even greater.

The emperor is... even killing himself?

Throughout history, there have only been emperors who complained about the lack of manpower in the palace, never emperors who took the initiative to dismiss eunuchs.
"Abolishing the eunuchs is truly a good policy!" an official couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice. "In this way, the unhealthy trend of people castrating themselves to seek wealth and status may be curbed."

But where there's a will, there's a way, and someone immediately countered: "This is certainly a good thing, but didn't His Majesty just say that the country is overcrowded and people are fighting over land? From this perspective, self-castration doesn't seem like a bad thing."

Various discussions were buzzing around, but no one could explain it clearly.

Zhu Youjian ignored these discussions and only praised Cao Huachun, saying, "He is loyal and dedicated, so he is hereby promoted."

Cao Huachun stepped down, and another eunuch with a writing brush stepped forward from the queue.

"This servant, Zheng Zhihui, reports on the inventory of the ten warehouses and the budget for expenses."

After kneeling down, Zheng Zhihui unfolded the memorial in his hand and began to read it aloud in a serious and methodical manner.

"Upon investigation, it was found that the palace's ten warehouses were deeply rife with corruption, with many supplies not being accounted for and being severely wasted."

"We, your servants, have been ordered to conduct a thorough investigation and have finalized the budget for all items in the palace for the first year of Yongchang."

"Among them, the annual quota for beeswax is 40,000 catties, broad white cotton cloth is 120,000 bolts, and leather..."

Zheng Zhihui recited for a full quarter of an hour, while the eunuch next to him, who was responsible for flipping the screen, was too busy to keep up with his speed.

On the screen, rows of numbers and charts clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of the ten warehouse material reorganization.

After a long while, Zheng Zhihui finally stopped. He swallowed and concluded in a slightly hoarse voice:
"Based on this estimate, after converting all the useless and surplus materials stored in the ten warehouses in Beijing into silver, we can now collect about 370,000 taels of silver, and the annual revenue can increase by about 230,000 taels of silver each year thereafter!"

Everyone couldn't help but look at Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Revenue.

The surplus materials in the imperial treasury were sold at a discounted price to offset border expenses and alleviate national expenditures. Successive Ministers of Revenue submitted countless memorials on this matter.

However, neither the Wanli Emperor nor the recently deceased Tianqi Emperor paid any attention to this.

Numerous memorials had been submitted previously, but all had been withheld or denied. Unexpectedly, this new emperor was willing to take the plunge himself!

At this moment, many officials felt a strange emotion welling up inside them.

Zhu Youjian nodded, his gaze sweeping over Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Revenue.

"The silver equivalent of the supplies from the ten warehouses will all be deposited into the Imperial Treasury, which I intend to use for other purposes."

Upon hearing this, Guo Yunhou's heart sank slightly.

He was also hoping that this money could fill the gap in the border defense funds.

However, this moment of disappointment was fleeting. He immediately rallied.

This new ruler is so wise and decisive; he is by no means a miser.

What difference does it make whether he puts the silver in the Imperial Treasury or in the Ministry of Revenue?
Having figured this out, Guo Yunhou's mood brightened, and he began to consider where the deficit could be covered by this sum of money.

On the throne, Zhu Youjian turned his gaze to Zheng Zhihui, his tone softening somewhat.

“You have made mistakes in the past, and I should have investigated them. But considering that you have worked diligently and effectively this time, your merits and demerits will be offset.”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhihui felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and his whole body went limp.

He slammed his head heavily against the cold gold bricks, sobbing uncontrollably: "This servant...this servant is guilty! This servant has failed His Majesty's grace! This servant will serve you like a slave from now on, even unto death!"

Was there a previous mistake?

A hint of doubt flashed through the ministers' minds: what wrong could offset the merits and demerits of clearing out the ten treasuries?
Before everyone could figure it out, another light cough rang out.

Liu Ruoyu, the chief scribe of the Directorate of Ceremonial, stepped forward last.

He walked into the hall, knelt down, and gave a concise and to-the-point report without uttering a single superfluous word.

"This servant is ordered to supervise the inner palace and, within ten days, thoroughly investigate corruption within the palace, communication between the inside and outside, and the leakage of palace secrets."

"A total of 27 corrupt officials at various levels were found, and 5,123 taels of silver were recovered."

"In addition, ninety-three people were found to have colluded with insiders and outsiders to leak palace secrets..."

At this point, he paused.

All the commotion and discussion in front of the Huangji Gate ceased.

All eyes were fixed on Liu Ruoyu.

Liu Ruoyu raised his head, his gaze calm, and uttered the last three words.

"They have all been killed."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes instinctively turned to the figures at the very front.

The eunuch's embezzlement was a minor matter, and the five thousand taels of silver recovered was even less significant.

Colluding with both insiders and outsiders...

Apart from the Grand Secretaries, Ministers, and nobles standing at the very front.

Among all the civil and military officials in the court, who has the qualifications, the courage, and the ability to secretly collude with the eunuchs and spy on the emperor?

Those nobles and ministers who were usually high and mighty and lived in luxury now felt like they had thorns in their backs under the watchful eyes of countless people.

In the midst of this deathly silence, Zhu Youjian, sitting on the throne, finally made a move.

He stood up, his gaze slowly sweeping over the ministers and nobles in the front row.

When he passed by Marquis Gongshun, Wu Ruyin, his gaze even paused for a moment, and he smiled at him.

With just one glance, Wu Ruyin, the hereditary marquis, turned deathly pale and his legs trembled.

Zhu Youjian finally spoke; his voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"The mind of the emperor is unfathomable, so it is not incomprehensible that his ministers would want to spy on him."

He paused, his tone calm and even.

"But...I don't like it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Ruyin could no longer hold on and was the first to kneel down, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"I dare not! I am guilty!"

His breakdown quickly triggered a chain reaction.

One by one, the nobles and ministers in the front row knelt down.

"I dare not!"

"Your Majesty, calm down."

Immediately afterwards, the officials behind them had no choice but to kneel down as well, forming a dense, dark mass.

"Your Majesty, calm down..."

The entire area in front of the Imperial Gate was filled with a dense mass of people kneeling down.

Zhu Youjian shook his head at the ministers and stepped down from his throne.

He walked up to the assembled officials and looked at them.

"The way rulers and ministers interact throughout history is always said to be Confucian sage rulers, and when they meet, they are either Yao and Shun or Yu and Tang."

His tone carried a hint of sarcasm.

"But in reality, they all use the tactics of Shen Buhai and Han Fei, which emphasize that the ruler's heart is unfathomable, so that the ministers cannot see through it."

"But I do not wish for this."

He waved his hand.

"Be flat."

The officials hesitated for a moment before standing up one after another, but still dared not raise their heads.

The Duke of Dingguo looked down at his boots, and a wave of unease and fear washed over him.

—He deliberately cut off his spies in the palace, but what if those in the palace couldn't withstand the torture and made false accusations?

If this matter goes wrong, it could become a major case that implicates countless people.

How could this new ruler be so unwise?!

(End of this chapter)