Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 51 Xiao Zhu and Lao Guo
A new screen has been brought in, with a huge white paper plaque pasted on it.

Zhu Youjian picked up the vermilion brush and personally wrote down two current debt items:

"The mausoleum of the late emperor, one million taels."

"The amount of unpaid military pay in the nine border regions is 9.68 million taels."

He paused here and turned to look at Guo Yunhou.

"Minister Guo, what is the situation regarding the Liaodong military pay? Should it be included in the discussion?"

Guo Yunhou replied:
"Your Majesty, the Liaodong military expenditure is set at 5.2 million taels."

"Since the She-An Rebellion, the Liaodong military supplies from Huguang, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places have no longer been sent to the capital's granary, but have been allocated locally for the purpose of suppressing the rebellion."

He paused, his voice lowering slightly:

"The remaining provinces totaled 3.64 million taels, but only 2.5 million taels were actually delivered to Taicang this year."

Zhu Youjian frowned slightly.

He remembered his gold and silver, one million taels of which he eventually received 800,000 taels of gold and silver!
"Are there outstanding debts in every province?"

Guo Yunhou glanced subtly at Lai Zongdao, the Minister of Rites, and Shi Fenglai, the only two high-ranking officials from Zhejiang present in the hall today.

He gritted his teeth, ultimately daring not and unwilling to deceive the emperor, and spoke truthfully: "Your Majesty, Zhejiang has the most arrears, followed by Jiangxi and Shaanxi."

Zhejiang, Jiangxi... these two places again! The provinces produce many Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), and with the central government as their backing, the locals naturally become bolder.

But why is it that Southern Zhili didn't owe anything this time?

Zhu Youjian's mind raced, but he couldn't figure out the details for the time being. He decided to ask Gao Shiming after court.

On the surface, this problem is about the arrears of money and grain, but if you dig deeper, it will involve the number of candidates for the imperial examination, the economic proportion of each province, the various political factions in the court, local governance, and the landlord class.

This is not something he can uncover with his current authority and power; he can only put it aside for now.

Zhu Youjian pretended to be nonchalant and asked, "How much of this year's Liaodong military pay is still owed?"

“Your Majesty need not worry,” Guo Yunhou replied. “The Liaodong military pay has been the nation’s top priority in recent years, and this year’s Liaodong military pay has already been fully paid to Liaodong.”

Zhu Youjian secretly breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying:
"Okay, let's tackle them one by one, starting with the easy ones and moving on to the difficult ones."

His gaze turned to Xue Fengxiang, the Minister of Works.

"Minister Xue, how long will it take to complete the construction of the late Emperor's mausoleum?"

Xue Fengxiang's heart skipped a beat. He had a vague idea of ​​the emperor's thinking, but he couldn't refuse to answer the emperor's question.

He stepped forward, bowing, his voice hoarse: "Your Majesty, if we want... to achieve perfection, it will probably take more than five years."

"More than five years?" Zhu Youjian nodded. "Then it's impossible for this million taels of silver to be used up in the first year, right?"

“Yes…” Xue Fengxiang’s forehead was already sweating.

Upon hearing this answer, Zhu Youjian frowned, his face full of confusion.

"Then why did you demand one million taels at once?"

"Although I am young, I believe that even if a landlord's hired laborers were harvesting wheat, they would usually be paid daily, right?"

"The mighty Ministry of Works of the Ming Dynasty, does it really intend to settle accounts only once every five years?"

Xue Fengxiang blushed deeply at these words, and was filled with regret.

"Your Majesty, I am foolish and ignorant, but it is indeed as Your Majesty says."

“The construction of the mausoleum requires the preparation of timber and bricks, so the first year will cost more, but not to the extent of a million.”

"After I go down there, I will discuss it with my colleagues and will definitely report an accurate number."

Zhu Youjian nodded and asked, "Besides installment payments, are there any other methods?"

Xue Fengxiang's mind raced, but he couldn't come up with a solution in a short time.

In the autumn hall, although there was a cool breeze, he felt as if he were in a steamer, sweating profusely.

Zhu Youjian looked at his wretched state, sighed softly, and then spoke to remind him.

"Has Minister Xue forgotten the shrines built by the traitor Wei all over the country?"

"I have heard that the ancestral halls in various places are luxurious and magnificent, costing no less than ten thousand taels of silver." "I will allocate these living ancestral halls to you. You shall send people to investigate whether there are enough materials available in each ancestral hall. If there are not enough materials, you may sell them for silver."

"We'll report the accounts later, and then discuss how much is still owed."

Xue Fengxiang was speechless and simply agreed.

After a brief reassurance, Zhu Youjian turned his attention back to the main topic of the day—the old taxes on the nine border regions.

The 9.68 million taels of silver, written in vermilion ink, were as red as blood, like a hideous wound.

This is the real, fatal problem...

According to modern thinking, what kind of ridiculous mausoleum costs 100 million taels of silver!

A century later, he was cremated, and his ashes were scattered into the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers—clean, hygienic, and dignified!
Unfortunately, he had just ascended the throne, his power was not yet fully developed, and his foundation was unstable.

They had no choice but to obediently pay for the mausoleum's repair; otherwise, they would be labeled as unfilial and immediately be drowned in the spittle of those civil officials.

At that time, even these eunuchs will resentfully consider themselves upright officials and take pride in being flogged in court.

Such an opportunity to make a name for oneself in history without having to do anything is not something that comes easily.

But the arrears of wages in the nine border regions are different.

If this problem cannot be solved, and next year the Guanzhong Plain is hit by a severe drought... then a single spark could truly start a prairie fire.

He took a deep breath and looked at Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Revenue, again.

"The old military pay for the nine border regions is in huge arrears. My dear minister... do you have any good solutions for me?"

Guo Yunhou cupped his hands in greeting, his old face wrinkled like a bitter gourd.

"I do have some methods for patching things up, but I dare not call them any good strategies, much less methods for governing the country."

Zhu Youjian remained noncommittal, simply watching him quietly, waiting for him to continue.

"Firstly, it is the method of 'returning the new to delay the old'," Guo Yunhou said. "The military pay of the nine border garrisons is roughly divided into two parts: one half is 'civilian transport' which is raised and transported by the local people, and the other half is 'capital transport' allocated by the capital."

"The payment for the supplies transported to the capital has been delayed for years, which has become the norm. But this does not mean that the soldiers in the border towns will not receive a single penny."

"Only with the money and rations from the civil movement, the soldiers could barely make ends meet, but life was... quite difficult."

"Therefore, the general practice is that as long as the court can pay the old salary for the capital transport for half a year, no, even three or four months, the resentment of the border troops can be alleviated to some extent, and the morale of the troops can be stabilized to a minimum."

He paused here, a hint of helplessness in his voice.

"So in fact, most of these 9.68 million taels are... old debts accumulated over the years."

"To put it bluntly, after all these years, it's just a debt... a debt."

He mumbled the last few words, his voice barely audible, his old face flushed red.

and many more!

Zhu Youjian suddenly remembered something...

The memorial submitted by Hu Tingyan, the governor of Shaanxi, the night before the first court assembly!

The above all states that various places in Shaanxi have been in arrears with military pay for two or three years, or even five or six years.

As a result, he became stressed as soon as he saw that it was Shaanxi.

Little did they know that these were all fictitious numbers, old debts from years past!

The next day, he took the question book and threw a tantrum at the court assembly.

They even went so far as to ask why there were no prior predictions or comprehensive statistics...

As a result, Guo Yunhou sorted out the Beijing border silver regulations in just three days, which shows that he had already planned these things out in advance.

Didn't these people look at him like he was an idiot back then?
Damn it, I've been in this world for less than a week and I'm already dead on the spot...

Zhu Youjian stood there blankly, his face unconsciously turning red, his toes digging hard into the ground inside his boots.

For a moment, both Xiao Zhu and Lao Guo blushed, creating a rather amusing scene.

(End of this chapter)