Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 50: The Debt Restructuring of the Ming Dynasty Begins! (Please read on today and tomorrow~ Don't wait a couple of days to read it.)

Yang Jingchen was so excited in his seat that he was somewhat lost in thought, but let's leave that aside for now.

Here, Grand Secretary Huang Lijie and Minister of Revenue Guo Yunhou had walked together to the huge screen.

"Your Majesty's method... is indeed clear and straightforward."

Huang Lijie looked at the data on the screen that had been copied into the table using Suzhou numerals and exclaimed in admiration.

Guo Yunhou also cupped his hands in agreement, but his mind was elsewhere, and his brows were furrowed into a deep frown.

Zhu Youjian also came over and looked at the numbers on the screen.

The slight relief that Lu Xiang-sheng's unexpected joy had brought was now completely gone.

He extended his finger, not touching the complicated details, but pointing directly to the summary data written in vermilion ink at the bottom of the table.

"So, from the end of the Wanli era to the present, the total amount of unpaid taxes in the nine border regions is... 9,687,423 taels?"

Some ministers were sitting in the distance, but they were old and had poor eyesight, so they could not see clearly.

Upon hearing this number, everyone gasped in shock.

"Come and take a look, everyone."

Zhu Youjian said it in a calm tone.

As a result, the area in front of the screen, which was originally quite spacious, was instantly filled with people.

Guo Yunhou stepped forward and bowed deeply to Zhu Youjian, his tone filled with desolation and helplessness.

"Your Majesty... that's the situation."

He looked up, and this Minister of Revenue, who was in charge of the Ming Dynasty's purse strings, looked like a frail old man.

“At the beginning of the Tianqi reign, the annual revenue of Taicang was 7.55 million taels. However… however, today, only 3.3 million taels remain.”

"The Liaodong military pay was 5.2 million, the military pay for the nine border regions was 3.28 million... the annual quota totaled 8.48 million."

Even disregarding the historical arrears in military pay for the nine border regions, the expenditures still exceed the revenues, resulting in an annual deficit of over five million.

At this point, Guo Yunhou's voice was already choked with emotion.

"Those who spend money are increasing day by day, while those who generate wealth have no way to do so! Your Majesty, I have tried every possible means, but in the end... in the end, I have no solution!"

Only then did Zhu Youjian truly look at the Minister of Revenue seriously.

His hair was already gray, his eyes were red and swollen, and there were two dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for dozens of days and nights.

He seemed to have been completely drained of his energy and spirit, clearly showing signs of decay and impending death.

Zhu Youjian suddenly realized why the Ministry of Revenue only had a handful of people on the list of eunuchs that Wei, Wang, and Tian had put together.

Such a mess is not something that opportunistic people would want to get involved in.

Everyone remained silent, even Li Guopu had a furrowed brow.

Everyone knew that the Ming Dynasty's finances and taxes were collapsing, but never before had this disastrous scene been laid bare before everyone, especially the emperor, as clearly as it is today.

Who can patch this enormous hole? And who dares to patch it?
The atmosphere in the entire hall was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

However, Zhu Youjian was not discouraged.

Transmigrating to the Chongzhen era is a perfect start, but a perfect start is only comparable to other emperors who lost their kingdoms (Yang Guang and Zhao Ji, please don't try to piggyback on this, thank you).

By 1627, the Ming Dynasty was already showing signs of collapse and national ruin.

The people on the wrecked ship were clueless, and most of them thought it could be repaired.

Little did they know that the real storm had already begun to roar over Guanzhong.

Zhu Youjian was about to speak a few words to boost morale before slowly making plans.

After much hesitation, Xue Fengxiang, the Minister of Works, finally stepped forward with a heavy heart.

"His Majesty……"

"Now that the late emperor has passed away, if we want to repair the mausoleum, according to regulations, it would require one million taels of silver, which, according to old practice, should be allocated from the imperial treasury."

He really didn't dare not speak up.

This is something that should have been reported today. If we don't report it now, and His Majesty issues an edict to use all the imperial treasury to fill the holes in the nine border regions, then the Ministry of Works will be in a real predicament.

If something goes wrong with the late emperor's mausoleum, Xue Fengxiang's reputation in history will be repeatedly tormented by future generations!

Even Zhu Youjian felt he was about to lose his composure.

Goodness, they're all really good at "finishing off" their opponents.

He quickly calculated the meager savings he had.

The imperial treasury still had 1.43 million taels remaining.

The property of Wei Zhongxian, Madam Ke, and other members of the rebel faction was confiscated, totaling 1.06 million taels.

In addition to the 50,000 taels that Wang Tiqian voluntarily surrendered, and the 70,000 taels from Tian Ergeng's side...

All told, the total is now 2.61 million taels.

well.

Zhu Youjian's lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. Let alone filling this hole of tens of millions, even plugging a quarter of the leak would be a stretch.

He exhaled softly, then asked in a calm tone:
"So what is the current annual revenue of each granary? And how much silver is in reserve?"

Guo Yunhou cupped his hands in greeting and replied, "As mentioned before, Taicang has an annual revenue of 33 million taels, and currently has approximately 330 taels of silver in storage."

Huo Weihua, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, followed closely behind, saying, "The Ministry of War's annual revenue from its treasury exceeds 80 taels, and currently holds 16.7 taels of silver."

Minister of Works Xue Fengxiang replied, "The annual income of the Ministry of Works' Shenjie Treasury is 80 taels, and currently there are about 10 taels of silver in storage."

Zhu Youjian felt completely overwhelmed.

Zhu Yuanzhang's ingenious design had a truly disastrous consequence.

Of a country's cash revenue, 100 million is with the emperor, 80 is with the Ministry of War, 80 is with the Ministry of Works, and the rest of the money and grain are with the Ministry of Revenue.

Even if all the revenue from the outer court is added together with his own private treasury revenue, it is only a little over six million, which is still short of the annual quota of more than eight million.

Zhu Youjian sighed inwardly.

He turned away from the unsettling screen and instead focused his gaze on the nearly collapsing Guo Yunhou.

"I only knew that the affairs of the country were difficult, but I never thought that they had reached such a point."

His voice was gentle, carrying a hint of apology and a touch of admiration.

"It is truly remarkable that you, my dear minister, were able to raise funds from various sources and manage to maintain the situation under such circumstances."

He paused, then turned to Gao Shiming, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial who was standing beside him, and instructed him: "Add a red line to Minister Guo's name."

Guo Yunhou suddenly raised his head, a hint of surprise and emotion flashing in his cloudy eyes.

When he received this task three days ago, he had already made preparations.

The petition to retire was in his sleeve, but Zhang Ruitu's fate was so terrible that he dared not take it out now.

Throughout history, those who expose problems have always been more hateful than those who create them.

But I never expected that he would receive such leniency today.

Zhu Youjian ignored his astonishment, simply patted Guo Yunhou's shoulder gently, and said in a mild tone:

"I see that you look haggard and your mind is elsewhere. I suppose you have been overworked with state affairs. However, although state affairs are important, you must also take care of your health."

Zhu Youjian paused for a moment, then spoke solemnly.

"My dear minister, please take good care of yourself and eat more every day. The Ming Dynasty cannot do without you, and neither can I."

Guo Yunhou's lips trembled. He paused for a moment, then bowed deeply, his voice hoarse but firm: "Your Majesty's grace is boundless, I—dare not die for it!"

Zhu Youjian did not help him up, but quietly accepted his bow.

In fact, he didn't know if Guo Yunhou was sincere.

But it doesn't matter. As I said before, even if you play a saint your whole life, it's still the same.

The emperor's favor is like a knife; it cannot be obtained without paying a price.

After a short performance, Zhu Youjian slowly turned around, faced the assembled officials with their varied expressions, and said loudly:

"My esteemed subjects—"

"Given the state of the nation's affairs, despondency is futile!"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers felt a chill run down their spines and instinctively straightened their backs.

The young emperor looked at each of the ministers one by one before turning his gaze to Gao Shiming.

"Gao Shiming, bring over another new screen."

"Today, I want to see how my ministers govern the world!"

　In this chapter
　　The data on unpaid wages in the nine border regions is referenced from the doctoral dissertation "Wartime Financial Operations of the Ministry of Revenue in the Late Ming Dynasty: Focusing on the Changes of the Year of Jisi", by Zeng Meifang.

　　The original data for this paper comes from the "Memorials on Revenue and Expenditure" by Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue during the Chongzhen era.

　　-
　　For reference regarding troop numbers, the report by Li Ruhua, Minister of Revenue, dated July 29th of the 48th year of the Wanli reign, is recorded in the Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty.

　　Because another set of data from the Tianqi era is not much different from this one, but it is not as complete, I will use this one.

　　-
　　Note that the old military pay for the nine border regions did not include Liaodong; Liaodong was referred to as the "new military pay".

　　-
　　It is important to note that the old military pay for the Nine Garrisons did not rely entirely on funds allocated from the Taicang granary, but also on civilian funds, namely, money and grain allocated from the local area, Sichuan, Henan, and Huguang.

　　That's why there's the strange phenomenon of having 60 troops but only needing a little over 300 million taels of silver.

　　-
　　Note that the nine border garrisons numbered 60, with approximately 20 warhorses, but I couldn't find this exact figure. It's likely included in the troop numbers; generally, the cost of one cavalryman is three times that of an infantryman (this isn't exact, just for reference).
　　-
　　Guo Yunhou was quite capable.

　　In the middle of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, he requested the establishment of an accounting bureau to investigate the amount of taxes and military personnel throughout the country.

　　He was later demoted because of the eunuch faction, but I have reason to believe that Bi Ziyan's subsequent "Memorials on the Expenditure" was a continuation of his work.

　　-
　　Some people may not know what "Memorials on the Expenditure" is.

　　It can be considered almost identical to the "Wanli Accounting Records," but it was completed during the turbulent and chaotic Chongzhen era. It was a remarkable work in sorting out part of the imperial finances and taxes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)