Transmigrating to the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty: Becoming a Great Emperor Through Idlene

At the same time, at Wenyuan Pavilion.

Grand Secretary Wen Tiren sat in the main seat, his face extremely grim. He had been sitting there for four hours, watching the group of well-dressed courtiers bickering like vendors in a market, and he was truly speechless.

"We need at least 10,000 more troops! Without soldiers, how can we stop the Jurchens?" Minister of War Zhang Fengyi slammed his fist on the table, his spittle almost landing on the face of Minister of Revenue Hou Xun across from him.

"Soldiers? You make it sound so easy!" Hou Xun sneered. "Each soldier's annual salary is eighteen taels of silver, so ten thousand soldiers would be eighteen thousand taels! That's just the peacetime pay; it'll double in wartime! And then there's the mobilization allowance, resettlement allowance, bonuses... Minister Zhang, tell me, where does this money come from? Is it being squeezed from the teeth of your Ministry of War?"

"You!" Zhang Fengyi's beard trembled with rage. "Hou Ziyuan (Hou Xun's courtesy name), are you going to sit idly by and watch the capital fall?!"

"I didn't say that." Hou Xun calmly picked up his teacup. "But that's all the money we have. The imperial treasury only has 80,000 taels of silver left, and the back pay for the nine border regions has accumulated to 2.3 million taels. Minister Zhang wants to send more troops, fine, no problem. First, make up for the back pay. Only when the soldiers are well-fed will they have the strength to fight."

Minister of Works Liu Zunxian coughed and interjected, "Gentlemen, the Jurchen invasion has reportedly reached Sanhe, less than a hundred li from the capital. Our primary task now is to mobilize the capital's garrison to deploy defenses, not to settle scores here..."

"The Beijing Garrison?" Zhang Fengyi exclaimed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "Minister Liu, go and take a look at the Beijing Garrison. Out of its 100,000-strong force, there are actually less than 40,000. Of those 40,000, how many can draw a bow? How many can don armor? Sending the Beijing Garrison out of the city? That's suicide!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Liu Zunxian was also angry.

The entire Wenyuan Pavilion was in an uproar, a complete uproar. Wen Tiren observed coldly, quickly forming a plan in his mind.

Everyone has their own plans.

Why did Zhang Fengyi desperately want to increase the number of troops?

Because the Ministry of War was in charge of distributing military salaries, for every additional soldier, the Ministry could collect an extra 1/2 of the "fire loss" (a tax levied on military personnel). Even if only half a percent was levied on 10,000 soldiers, that would amount to 9,000 taels a year. After the war, should these soldiers be laid off or retained? If they were laid off, the severance pay would be another source of profit.

Why was Hou Xun so concerned about money?

Because the Ministry of Revenue was in charge of the imperial treasury and also managed local taxes, Hou Xun had many more options for managing the money stored in the treasury.

Lending money to earn interest, misappropriating funds for working capital, and even... quietly covering their own deficits.

Last year, Henan was hit by severe floods. The imperial court allocated 200,000 taels of silver for disaster relief, but only a little over 100,000 taels actually reached the disaster victims. Where did the rest go?

Hou Xun himself knew this best.

Why did Liu Zunxian mention the Beijing Garrison? Because the Ministry of Works was responsible for manufacturing military equipment and repairing city walls. After the Beijing Garrison left the city, they had to build camps and manufacture weapons, and these tasks ultimately fell to the Ministry of Works.

A knife costs three taels, but you can report it for five taels. A cannon costs two hundred taels, but you can report it for three hundred taels.

There were also Minister of Personnel Min Hongxue, Minister of Rites Huang Ruliang, Minister of Justice Hu Yingtai... Each of them seemed to be concerned about the country and its people, but in fact they were all scheming how to gain benefits without losing anything in this crisis.

That's enough.

Wen Tiren finally spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but the Second Grand Secretary and the six ministers all fell silent and stared at him.

"After arguing for four hours, has it done anything?" Wen Tiren slowly stood up from his seat and walked to the huge map of Beizhili in the corner: "The Jurchens have breached Xifengkou, plundered Zunhua, and are now stationed at Sanhe. If they advance one more step, they will reach Tongzhou. Once Tongzhou falls, the grain transport will be interrupted, and the capital will run out of grain. If they advance any further, they will reach Beijing."

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present: "When the time comes, are you prepared to die for your country, or are you prepared to... follow the example of the Jingkang Incident in the Northern Song Dynasty?"

That was a very harsh statement. Everyone's expression changed.

"Your Excellency is overthinking this..." Min Hongxue forced a smile and said, "The Jurchens are merely plundering; they'll withdraw once they've taken their fill..."

"Is that so?" Wen Tiren sneered. "Minister Min is so confident? What if the Jurchens don't retreat? What if they really want to experience the taste of conquering Beijing? At that time, we will all be subjects of a fallen nation. I don't need to tell you the fate of subjects of a fallen nation, do I?"

Ministers of a fallen state

These four words were like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone's head.

When the Northern Song Dynasty fell, what became of the officials in Bianliang (Kaifeng)? The women were forced into prostitution, and the men were enslaved and forced into labor. Those with backbone committed suicide to die for their country, while those without backbone... suffered a fate worse than death.

"Then... what does the Grand Secretary suggest we do?" Hou Xun's voice softened.

Wen Tiren returned to the main seat, picked up a cup of tea that had cooled down, and took a sip.

"It's very simple. Just pool your money, your manpower, and your food."

"How do we collect the money?"

"First, the Beijing garrison must leave the city," Wen Tiren said to Zhang Fengyi. "Those who can fight, take them out; those who can't, stay in the city to defend it. Each person will receive five taels of silver for departure. I know the Beijing garrison is seriously embezzling funds, so this time we'll distribute the funds according to the actual number of personnel. Anyone who has embezzled funds must return the money to make up the difference."

Zhang Fengyi's face grew paler and paler.

"Second, transfer troops from Shanxi and Xuanda." Wen Tiren added, "Not too many, just three thousand elite troops from each garrison. But there's a condition: whoever's troops arrive first will receive double the mobilization allowance. Those who arrive even a fraction late will not only receive nothing, but will also be held responsible for delaying military operations."

This is forcing the border general to fight desperately.

"Third, money." Wen Tiren looked at Hou Xun: "Take out all 80,000 taels from the Imperial Treasury, but that's not enough. Borrow from wealthy households in the capital. Issue 'Pacifying the Barbarians Bonds' in the name of the court, with an annual interest rate of 3%, to be repaid within three years. Those who borrow more will be given priority to repay after the war." "Who won't lend..." He paused, "We'll calculate it slowly during the post-war settlement."

Hou Xun's forehead was sweating. This was getting serious.

"And one more thing," Wen Tiren said, glancing around at everyone present, "all of you here are important officials of the court. In this time of national crisis, you must set an example. I, Wen Tiren, will donate five thousand taels first. And you all?"

A dead silence.

Five thousand taels! Wen Tiren's annual salary was only a little over a thousand taels. Where did this five thousand taels come from? It's self-evident. But what about the others if he donates like this? Donating too little would seem disloyal, donating too much… it hurts!

"I...I'll donate three thousand taels," Zhang Fengyi said through gritted teeth.

"I'll donate two thousand taels," Hou Xun's voice was squeezed out through clenched teeth.

"I will donate 1,500 taels..."

"I'll donate one thousand taels..."

After one round of donations, a total of 38,000 taels were raised. Adding the 80,000 taels from the Imperial Treasury, that makes 118,000 taels. Still not enough.

"Not enough." Wen Tiren shook his head and said, "At least 300,000 taels of silver. Deployment silver, reward silver, pension silver, grain and fodder procurement... 300,000 taels is the minimum standard."

"Then...where will the rest come from?" Liu Zunxian asked.

After a moment of silence, Wen Tiren slowly said, "Squeeze it out from the construction of the three main halls."

Everyone was stunned.

"Prime Minister, that's a project personally approved by His Majesty..." Min Hongxue whispered a reminder.

"I know," Wen Tiren said expressionlessly, "but the project can be done slowly, it can be stopped, and we can even do part of it first. We can transfer 200,000 taels from the 800,000 li fund for emergency use. We can finish the rest after we defeat the Jurchens."

"What about His Majesty...?"

"I'll go and tell them," Wen Tiren said, standing up. "Now, everyone go and do your business. Minister Zhang, go to the Beijing Garrison to muster your troops immediately. Minister Hou, please prepare for the issuance of bonds. Minister Liu, please go and inventory the armory and bring out all the usable weapons. Three days. I'm only giving you three days. After three days, I want to see the Beijing Garrison leave the city, I want to see the first batch of reinforcements on their way, and I want to see the grain supplies begin to be transported."

His voice was calm, but it carried an undeniable sense of authority.

"Also, anyone who leaks even a fraction of what was agreed upon today, anyone who outwardly complies but inwardly defies it..." Wen Tiren paused, "then don't blame me, Wen Tiren, for being ruthless."

The Wenyuan Pavilion was completely silent.

This prime minister, known for his "profound and penetrating insight," finally demonstrated the responsibility expected of a prime minister at this moment.

However, he also had his own plans behind this. If he could win this time, Wen Tiren could become a hero who turned the tide, and his position would be more secure. If he failed... but he had done his best, and history would record that he "devoted himself to the utmost".

"Go ahead, everyone." Wen Tiren waved his hand.

Everyone bowed and withdrew.

After leaving the Wenyuan Pavilion, Hou Xun quietly called Zhang Fengyi aside.

"Brother Zhang, is the departure allowance... really distributed according to the actual number of people?"

Zhang Fengyi smiled wryly: "Since the Premier Wen has said so, do you dare to disobey? Let's plug this hole first, and the rest... can be moved from other projects."

"Move it? Where to?" Hou Xun lowered his voice and said, "Each department has its own budget..."

"Then let's figure something out." Zhang Fengyi gritted his teeth and said, "If all else fails, we'll owe the soldiers for now, and make up for it after the 'Pacifying the Barbarians Debt' is issued."

The two exchanged a glance, and both saw a hint of helplessness in each other's eyes.

This was the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty; everyone was scheming, and everyone was robbing Peter to pay Paul.

If Emperor Chongzhen hadn't let things slide, leaving these ministers in a position with no way out, even when the country was on the verge of collapse and extinction, cooperation would have been rare.

Although, this cooperation is still rife with deceit and treachery.