Travel back in time and become Chongzhen, watch me turn the tide

The excitement caused by the military parade into the city had not yet subsided, and the sudden appearance of a court newspaper caused an uproar among the crowd, becoming the focus of everyone's attention and triggering heated discussions.

This publication, Jinling Evening News, was fully sponsored by the Fushe Society. Its content was rich and diverse, encompassing a vast array of topics, a treasure trove of knowledge and information. It not only published publicly available official documents such as government decrees and bulletins, but more importantly, it also included numerous news stories and opinions from various sectors, serving as a chronicle of the times, capturing the myriad aspects of the world. Furthermore, it also included literary works such as novels, poetry, and essays, as well as insightful commentary from prominent figures and scholars, creating a cultural feast that satisfied the diverse needs of its readers.

The newspaper boasted a stellar editorial team, including the four leading figures of the Fushe Society. Hou Fangyu, Fang Yizhi, Chen Zhenhui, and Mao Pijiang all published their latest works there. Hou Fangyu's commentary on the use of the word "people" during the city entry ceremony was particularly evocative, like a boulder dropped into a calm lake, stirring up a thousand waves and sparking widespread debate about the profound meaning of the word.

"...What are the people? 'Shuowen Jiezi' says: 'Man is the most precious of all the natures of heaven and earth; people are the multitude.' The people Your Majesty refers to, I believe, do not simply refer to the common people, but rather to the scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans... All those who support and uphold the Ming Dynasty are considered the people; all those who are hostile to and seek to undermine the Ming Dynasty are enemies of the people..."

In fact, this explanation was not Hou Fangyu's own unique insight, but came from Chongzhen's careful answers to his questions and resolution of his doubts.

For someone from later generations, "people" is a very familiar and commonly used word, but in the Ming Dynasty, people felt deeply unfamiliar and confused about it.

This "novice writer" of later generations blurted out this word on a whim, but he never expected that his impulsive action would require a detailed explanation and clarification. This required a lot of thought and effort from Chongzhen, who already had a limited understanding of this familiar yet unfamiliar term. After some in-depth explanation, he reluctantly gave Hou Fangyu a relatively clear explanation to dispel everyone's confusion.

However, it is foreseeable that as this word gradually becomes widely known, there will surely be more learned and knowledgeable people who will conduct in-depth analysis, discussion and understanding of it, and explore its deeper connotations and meanings.

Of course, people were even more curious and concerned about why the emperor coined this term and even shouted out the shocking slogan "Long live the people" himself. This slogan would certainly make the common people at the bottom of society ecstatic and cheer, but what would those high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen think?

If everyone knew that this was just a random remark by that "novice writer", I really don't know how they would react and comment on this matter...

Another surprising aspect of the Jinling Evening News was that it even published some business announcements, what later generations called advertisements. This unprecedented novelty, like a shining commercial star, instantly attracted the attention of many businesses, who followed suit, creating a new trend in commercial advertising.

The Jinling Evening News was priced at thirty copper coins per copy, with monthly subscriptions costing half a tael of silver, and annual subscriptions offering a further discount of four taels. Upon its release, the newspaper became a hot commodity, instantly sold out. Sales skyrocketed, with the initial print run of 100 copies quickly increasing to 500. Even so, demand still outstripped supply, making it a highly sought-after item.

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After going through numerous hardships and finally getting back to the throne as he wished, Emperor Chongzhen was delighted to launch his grand plans and display his great talents. However, he was shocked to find that what he took over was a mess with holes in every side, like a broken ship about to collapse in the strong wind and huge waves, facing many difficult problems and severe challenges.

The Southern Ming dynasty held a vast territory south of the Huai River. Before the fall of the northern capital, the imperial court annually plundered vast quantities of grain, silver, cloth, and other valuables from Jiangnan to cover the enormous expenses of the Beijing court, the numerous government offices, and the nine frontier regions. Logically, with the successive fall of various northern regions to the Dashun and Qing dynasties, the Southern Ming dynasty should have been financially more than adequate, and the burden on the people should have been reduced, rather than increased.

However, the reality is very different from the ideal.

While the Hongguang regime was ineffective and unsuccessful in military matters, its military expenditures were surging like a wild horse, running amok. This court, established just over two months ago, was already facing an extremely dire financial situation, a precarious situation, like a building on the verge of collapse. The military's demands for salaries were staggering, like a bottomless black hole, while fiscal revenues fell far short of meeting this enormous demand. The gap between revenue and expenditure was yawning, an insurmountable chasm. This undoubtedly posed a grave threat and challenge to the stability and normal operation of the regime, like a bombshell ready to explode at any moment, a cause for deep worry.

Before Chongzhen took over the court, Zuo Liangyu's troops and the four towns in northern Jiang frequently requested the court to allocate food and money on the grounds of lack of military pay. However, the officials in charge of military affairs had no opinions and only knew how to condone and accommodate them. They did not seriously check whether there were any cases of false claims or false claims, resulting in the court's financial resources being wasted, like a trickle of water that continued to flow away without producing the expected benefits.

Prior to the Southern Ming court, Zuo Liangyu's army numbered over 50,000 men, requiring a staggering 1.08 million taels of silver in pay. The four Jiangbei garrisons each had 30,000 men, requiring a total of 2.4 million taels of silver. The military camp in the capital boasted 60,000 men, requiring a further 1.2 million taels of silver. Furthermore, eight other garrisons—the Governor-General of Jiangnan, the Pacifier, the Governor of Wuhu, the Civil and Military Commanders of Jiang, Zheng Hongkui, Zheng Cai, Huang Binqing, Huang Fei, and Bu Congshan—had a total of 120,000 men, requiring an estimated 2.4 million taels of silver in pay. Adding up all these various military expenditures, the total cost was over 7 million taels of silver, not even including the salaries required for the governors, provincial governors, and generals in Sichuan, Hubei, Shandong, and Henan.

However, after a thorough and detailed calculation, the Minister of Revenue discovered that the projected annual revenue was only six million taels of silver, including all other revenue sources, including customs taxes. Beyond the seven million taels of silver in military expenditures, the ever-increasing costs of official salaries and various state affairs piled up like a mountain. And the projected six million taels of silver didn't even factor in the revenue losses caused by natural disasters like floods and droughts. The state's granaries had no reserves, and the inner treasury had long since dried up. There was no money left to distribute, like an empty purse, a despairing prospect.

The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue jointly submitted a petition advising: "After calculating all the military funds and grain in the country, the total shortage is over 2.25 million taels of silver, while the Ministry of Revenue currently has only a little over 1,000 taels of silver in its treasury."

However, Chongzhen had already been fully prepared for this situation; otherwise, he wouldn't have decisively taken action against the salt merchants in Yangzhou. He now held nearly 20 million taels of silver, his most powerful trump card. Even without other sources of revenue, he could easily rely on these funds to tide over the current difficult situation.

Therefore, the first decree issued by Chongzhen was: for the areas that had been occupied by the Qing army or the Shun army, such as Shandong, Nanzhili, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi, taxes and grain would be exempted for five years; for the areas currently controlled by the Southern Ming court, taxes and grain would be levied at half the rate, and all other taxes would be exempted; and for those areas that had suffered disasters, taxes would be reduced or exempted according to old rules.

The announcement of this decree caused an uproar throughout the court, like a huge rock dropped into a calm lake, sending ripples surging upwards. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue submitted a flurry of earnest and eloquent memorials, even the ever-loyal Shi Kefa submitting a memorial stating, "The country is half ruined, and the annual tax revenue is only a little over 4.5 million. Given the heavy military expenses in the future, taxes cannot be easily waived."

Chongzhen kept all the memorials that came in like snowflakes and did not send any of them out, like a silent mountain, unmoved.

As for Shi Kefa, Chongzhen said earnestly: "Xianzhi, what I lack at this moment is not money and food, but the people's hearts..."

Regarding the tax reduction and exemption, Chongzhen even asked Hou Fangyu to publish a large page in the Jinling Evening News, and asked him to take the lead in in-depth discussions to make sure that all the people are clearly aware of the matter, just like ringing a bell to spread the gospel, so that the people can hear this good news and feel the care and grace of the court.