The Ming Dynasty: Starting with Emperor Chongzhen's crackdown on factionalism

When Chen Zhiyuan entered the Qianqing Palace, he saw Zhu Youjian sitting behind his desk, his face gloomy and his eyes bloodshot.

He bowed, rose, and stood with his hands at his sides.

Zhu Youjian neither offered him a seat nor served him tea. He simply stared at him for the duration of half a cup of tea.

The hall was silent except for the crackling of the candlelight.

"I have read your memorial."

Zhu Youjian finally spoke, his voice as cold as ice.

"Your Majesty, I am filled with trepidation."

"Fearful?" Zhu Youjian sneered.

"When I read your memorials, were you not filled with apprehension? 'Supporting corrupt officials, enriching clerks, filling private pockets, but not supporting soldiers'—how satisfying to say that!"

Chen Zhiyuan remained silent.

"Tell me," Zhu Youjian leaned forward, "are these numbers all true?"

"Your Majesty, it is all true. I have checked the records of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Grand Canal Administration, local prefectures and counties, and various towns one by one. The figures are exactly as they appear."

"What about the soldier's complaint and letters? Are those also genuine?"

"I retrieved the original documents from the old archives of the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate. If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may send someone to verify them."

Zhu Youjian stared at him.

"You mean, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Grand Canal Administration, local prefectures and counties, and the generals of various garrisons—everyone was falsifying accounts? Everyone was embezzling?"

"Not everyone," Chen Zhiyuan said.

"But that's how the system works; those who aren't greedy will find it hard to survive."

"System?" Zhu Youjian repeated the word.

"You're saying this is a system?"

"Yes." Chen Zhiyuan raised his head.

"Your Majesty, please see: the Ministry of War verifies the fictitious quotas, the Ministry of Revenue allocates funds according to the fictitious quotas, the grain transport operates according to the fictitious quotas, local governments receive funds according to the fictitious quotas, and the various garrisons distribute funds according to the fictitious quotas."

"The links are interconnected, and each link offers a profit."

"If even one link in the chain is not false, the entire chain breaks, and everyone suffers."

Therefore, no one dared to be dishonest.

Zhu Youjian remained silent.

He understood.

This is not a problem involving one or two people; it is a systemic problem.

In this system, honest officials are outcasts, obstacles, and will be ostracized and eliminated.

Therefore, everyone is greedy, and has no choice but to be greedy.

"Every year I increase the tax on Liaodong, causing immense suffering to the people and leading to widespread banditry."

Zhu Youjian's voice sounded tired.

"So all that money, instead of reaching the border or supporting the army, ended up in the pockets of these corrupt officials?"

"Most of them are," Chen Zhiyuan said.

"My rough estimate is that in the second year of the Chongzhen reign, less than 70% of the military expenditure in Liaodong was actually paid to the soldiers. The rest was all deducted at each level."

"Seventy percent..." Zhu Youjian murmured.

"I thought it was because we didn't have enough money, but it turns out we didn't use it properly."

He suddenly flew into a rage, grabbed the inkstone from the imperial desk, and smashed it to the ground.

"Bastards! Traitors! They all deserve to die!"

Chen Zhiyuan lowered his head and remained silent.

After Zhu Youjian finished venting his anger and sat back on the dragon throne, panting heavily, he slowly spoke.

"Your Majesty, killing is easy, but reforming the system is difficult."

"Hmm?" Zhu Youjian looked at him.

"Kill a few corrupt officials, and new people will come in and repeat the same mistakes. Because the rules haven't changed, and the interests haven't changed," Chen Zhiyuan said.

"To truly solve this problem, we must change the rules."

"How should we change it?" Zhu Youjian asked.

"Your memorial proposes establishing a new system, with each step interconnected and mutually reinforcing. How exactly should this be done?"

Chen Zhiyuan took a deep breath.

He knew that the most crucial moment had arrived.

"Your Majesty, the current military expenditure system, though seemingly rigorous, is actually riddled with loopholes."

"The current system is as follows: border towns report troop numbers, the Ministry of War verifies them, the Ministry of Revenue allocates funds, the grain transport is used for transportation, local areas receive the troops, each town distributes the troops, and the soldiers receive their actual pay."

"Where does the problem lie? It lies in the fact that each link in the chain operates independently. The Ministry of War approves the troop quotas, but doesn't care how much the Ministry of Revenue allocates."

"The Ministry of Revenue allocates funds without caring about how the grain is transported; the grain is transported without caring how the local areas collect the revenue... and so on."

"Each department only needs to manage its own section, and as long as the accounts balance out, that's fine."

"As for whether the whole chain is working or whether the money has reached the sergeant, nobody cares and nobody can care."

Zhu Youjian nodded.

"Go on."

"Therefore, if we want to make changes, we need to connect these links."

"The number of troops approved by the Ministry of War must correspond to the number allocated by the Ministry of Revenue; the allocation by the Ministry of Revenue must correspond to the number transported by the Grand Canal."

"The transport of grain must correspond to the number of grain received at the local level... Each link is crucial; if one part doesn't match, the entire chain will break down."

"That's not enough," Chen Zhiyuan continued, "We also need to enable the soldiers to speak."

"What do you mean?"

"Under the current system, soldiers are at the very bottom, with nowhere to seek redress for their grievances or to express their suffering," Chen Zhiyuan said.

"When the general withheld soldiers' pay, the soldiers dared not speak out because it was useless to do so—their superiors were in cahoots."

"Therefore, we need to establish a channel so that soldiers can directly complain to the Ministry of War and the Censorate."

"The complaint can be delivered directly without going through the general."

Zhu Youjian frowned.

"Won't this...lead to soldiers making false accusations and disrupting morale?"

"Then investigate," Chen Zhiyuan said. "If there are any false accusations, punish them severely. But if the allegations are verified, severely punish the person who withheld the funds. In this way, soldiers will dare to speak out, and generals will not dare to act recklessly."

Zhu Youjian pondered for a moment and nodded.

"That makes some sense. But it's not enough. You're just plugging the leak; you're not addressing the root cause."

"Your Majesty is wise," Chen Zhiyuan bowed. "This is only a temporary solution. To address the root cause, we must change things at their source."

"What is the root cause?"

"Budget system".

"Budget system?" Zhu Youjian had never heard of this term before.

"It's about settling accounts in advance," Chen Zhiyuan explained.

"The current practice is: the border towns ask for money, the Ministry of War verifies it, and the Ministry of Revenue finds the money. The Ministry of Revenue often doesn't have the money, so it increases the tax or delays payment."

The result was that the border towns were starving, the Ministry of Revenue was in a state of chaos, and the people were suffering terribly.

"If we change the approach: at the beginning of each year, the Ministry of Revenue calculates how much can be collected and how much can be spent this year based on last year's tax revenue."

"Then the Ministry of War allocates military funds to each border town based on this total amount. The border towns then allocate troop numbers, provisions, and weapons based on the allocated funds."

Zhu Youjian listened very attentively.

"You mean...living within your means?"

"Exactly," Chen Zhiyuan said. "We should only do what we can afford. We can't demand unlimited amounts of money, nor can we impose unlimited taxes."

"But..." Zhu Youjian hesitated, "The situation at the border is urgent. How can we limit military spending? What if the Later Jin launches a major offensive and we need to increase troops and pay them?"

"Then let's set aside an 'emergency fund'." Chen Zhiyuan had already made preparations. "Every year in the budget, we'll set aside a portion of the money specifically for emergencies. It won't be used in normal times, but it can be used when needed."

"What if even the emergency funds aren't enough?"

"Then cut other expenses," Chen Zhiyuan said.

"Your Majesty, the country's money is limited. If we spend more here, we have to spend less there."

"The problem now is that military spending is like a bottomless pit; no matter how much money is spent, it can never be filled. Why can't it be filled? Because there are too many loopholes, and the money isn't being used effectively."

"If a budget system is implemented, we can clearly see: how much military spending is actually needed? What is essential? What is superfluous? Where is the money going?"

Zhu Youjian's eyes lit up.

He had never heard of this idea before.

The Ming Dynasty's finances were always a matter of treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.

The border is in dire need of attention, so additional taxes are levied on Liaodong troops.

With bandits rising up everywhere, additional taxes were levied to suppress them.

There was a shortage of funds for training troops, so additional training expenses were levied.

With each increase in taxes, the people became unbearably burdened, leading to uprisings. Suppressing the bandits then required even more money... a vicious cycle with no solution.

If we could truly plan ahead and live within our means, perhaps...

"How exactly do we do it?"

Zhu Youjian leaned forward slightly.