Chapter 153: Spending Money Like Water, Opening the Sea and Martial Arts

The first year-end work summary meeting of the ruling team of the Ming Dynasty was held in Wenhua Hall to summarize the achievements of the year and deploy the work of various ministries and agencies in the next year.

But the Minister of Works Zhu Heng did not play by the rules.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he came to ask for money at the fair.

That would be fine, but you still want to take away 1.8 million taels!
Zhu Yijun also understood why this guy started to get restless after Wang Guoguang reported the income of Taicang warehouse.

Maybe the number you want depends on the situation!
If the national treasury receives 1.98 million, they will want 1.8 million. If the treasury receives 3 million, they will probably want more than 2 million!

No wonder Wang Guoguang started to pour cold water on others after he finished his report, saying that everything was hard here and difficult there. He really is very experienced!
No one present would agree with the number Zhu Heng reported.

Zhu Yijun would not be the bad guy either. There would always be someone who would "speak up for justice" and make Zhu Heng give up.

But, he was surprised.

The first person to speak was Zhang Juzheng.

The Prime Minister showed no emotion, and turned to look at Zhu Heng: "One million and eight hundred thousand? The Ministry of Industry has so much silver in its inventory?"

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but laugh, the old man was a bit mean.

There is no fixed ratio for the annual revenue of the four treasuries, but it is roughly the same every year. "Taicang's annual revenue is used as the standard, Jishen is one-fourth, Taipu is one-tenth, and Guanglu is one-tenth of it."

The Jishen Treasury only received 1.5 million taels this year.

But it was a lot of money, not to mention that "the total amount of money used for the construction of Zhaoling was 399,320 taels of silver from the Jieshen Treasury."

A total of 720,000 taels were allocated for the construction and maintenance of the Yellow River, the Grand Canal, and the water channels alone. The imperial court, which did not treat the people like pigs and dogs, was not stingy in water conservancy construction. Even when Chongzhen was about to lose his country, he was still allocating funds to the Ministry of Works to build water conservancy projects.

Add to that the project of rebuilding the Ciqing Palace and the sea vessel development project conspired with the Grain Transport Office, the income and expenditure were barely balanced for the whole year.

So even though it didn’t make any money, how much silver was on deposit in Jieshenku itself?

In the 30th year of Wanli in history, Grand Secretary Zhu Gengyan recalled the first year and said - "In the first year, the Jieshen treasury still had more than 1.1 million gold, but now it is gone without a penny left."

He only has 1.1 million taels in his pocket now, but he asks for a big project worth 1.8 million taels. It is obvious that he is asking the Ministry of Revenue for money.

Zhang Juzheng's words obviously meant that he did not want the Taicang warehouse to take out one-third of its inventory at once.

Zhu Heng couldn't help feeling a little annoyed when he heard this.

He knew that the Prime Minister had opinions about him. Last month, after Wang Zhigao left, when Zhang Juzheng recommended Zhang Han to the emperor, he made a series of sharp criticisms of the ministers.

The daily notes are written in black and white, such as "Ge Shouli is indeed a gentleman, but he is getting old," or "He has some derogatory words about Zhu Heng."

This incident made Zhu Heng angry for a while, but he didn't expect that Zhang Juzheng would not even support his century-long plan today. He was simply not a human being!
He ignored Zhang Juzheng, bowed to Wang Guoguang, and met the emperor's gaze earnestly, trying to explain: "Your Majesty, I am not acting for the department's own selfish interests."

"The Ministry of Industry has already discussed this matter. This 1.8 million taels cannot be reduced any further."

"Coastal routes are very different from overseas voyages. In provinces like Guangdong and Fujian, as long as they set up a customs office and a port, they will have a lot of opportunities."

“For ports such as the Bohai Sea and the East China Sea, hydrology needs to be considered.”

"For example, several ports along the Bohai Sea."

"The Yellow River has changed over the past thousand years. Although it now flows into the sea from Sisi and Huai, it first flowed into the sea from Lijin and Binzhou, and then from Tianjin. It has not been managed for many years, and this section of the coast is almost entirely silted. If you don't dig three feet deep and salvage the silt within a radius of more than ten miles near several ports, you will inevitably run aground before entering the port."

"Another example is the Daming Sea (East China Sea), which is intertwined with many water systems such as the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal. Foreign objects enter the sea and the waves hit each other, resulting in the accumulation of layers of embankments, debris, sunken ships, and reefs. The route surveyed now is the old route of the former Song Dynasty. Although there are some relics left, the new things that have been created over the past few hundred years still need to be surveyed and cleaned up one by one."

"The section of the sea transport to Beijing uses the old road from the fifth year of Yongle, which has been abandoned for more than a hundred years. The section from Gukou to Baihe River must be dredged again."

"In addition, ports in Dengzhou, Jiaozhou, Huai'an, Chongming and other places need to be repaired and reused, and the geography and hydrology need to be adjusted."

"The labor for dredging the river and clearing the seabed, the materials for digging the harbor and restoring the old port, all cost a lot of money. I cannot open up sea transportation without spending any money."

"Your Majesty, please give me a clear warning!"

Zhu Heng made an impassioned and logical speech in the Wenhua Hall, but the emperor and his ministers looked at each other in bewilderment.

This is the end of the conversation.

How can laymen judge such professional statements? How can they respond?

Even though Zhu Yijun had just made up his mind to politely reject Zhu Heng, he still felt it difficult to say it now.

He didn't know much about hydrology and had never worked in water conservancy, but he felt that what Zhu Heng said seemed to make some sense.

Especially when asking people to do a big project without paying them, it is definitely not okay. You can't just ignore the process and only care about the results.

But... one million and eight hundred thousand is indeed a bit too much.

The Ministry of Revenue can indeed take it out, but when have you ever seen the national treasury being emptied year after year without any inventory left?
While Zhu Yijun was thinking, Wang Chonggu, who was in charge of Gao Yi, suddenly said, "It is not necessary to conscript laborers for labor."

Wang Chonggu looked calm and confident, "For example, the 100 li north of Jiaozhou and south of Yangjiaquan I just mentioned... There happens to be a Shandong army stationed in the Jiaozhou area. If we combine it with the thousands of troops from the nearby camp, we can dredge this section."

"The same can be done in the water sections of Dengzhou, Huai'an, Tianjin Wei Inland River, etc., which can save a lot of labor costs."

It is very common for security forces to carry out engineering projects.

The Dashiwo project of Zhaoling was carried out by the Shenjiying, one of the three major camps of the Beijing Camp.

Although rewards had to be given out, that was overtime pay in addition to military pay, and was definitely cheaper than conscripting laborers - to ensure that the laborers did not starve to death after so many layers of deductions, the cost was really high.

Of course, the only drawback is that it is somewhat sensitive. After all, if the project is large, it is easy to mobilize tens of thousands of troops in the heart of the area.

Therefore, large projects outside the province would not be easily carried out in this way. For example, the Dashiwo project used the Shenjiying, which was led by nobles, with the father-in-law of the emperor as assistant and assistant ministers as supervisor. All parties worked together.

Fortunately, the emperor on the steps was very reasonable and nodded in agreement without hesitation: "Mr. Zhu, if this is the case, how much can be saved?"

Everyone felt relieved and looked at Zhu Heng at the same time.

Zhu Heng did not reply immediately, but started to think seriously.

A long time passed.

He slowly said, "Even so, it still takes 1.4 million taels."

Wang Chonggu frowned when he heard this.

It's so expensive? How about we not ship by sea?
After hesitating for a moment, he finally didn't say it out loud because of the emperor's thoughts.

Wang Guoguang from the Ministry of Revenue lowered his head and counted on his fingers, pretending not to hear anything. He had no intention of responding and was obviously unwilling to pay the money.

The ministers had different expressions.

At this time, the emperor on the steps finally spoke.

Zhu Yijun cast a consulting look at Zhu Heng: "Mr. Zhu, how about dividing the project into two phases and completing them one after the other?"

Zhu Heng was stunned when he heard this.

In two phases...

He hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, it is possible. Let's open the ports of Tianjin, Jiaozhou and Dengkou first, and then dredge the areas of Huai'an and Chongming after completion."

"But...it may take another half a year for the ship to pass through."

As financial pressure eases, the project progress will naturally slow down.

Zhu Yijun had no choice but to compromise - there was no point in rushing the construction schedule when the funds were not enough to pay the full amount.

"Two and a half years is fine." Zhu Yijun waved his hand.

Zhu Heng secretly complained that the emperor had been in a hurry before, but now that he saw how much it would cost, he was no longer in a hurry.

He is also an inhuman being.

Zhu Yijun had no idea that Zhu Heng was criticizing him, and he just turned his attention back to Wang Guoguang: "Grand Tutor, for the first phase of the project, how about allocating 200,000 taels from the Taicang Warehouse?"

When Wang Guoguang heard this number, he finally reacted.

He stood up and saluted the emperor: "I obey your order!"

Zhu Heng hesitated to speak.

At this time, Zhu Yijun looked at Zhu Heng again and said, "Mr. Zhu, for the remaining 500,000 taels, how about the Ministry of Works' treasury paying 300,000 taels and my own treasury paying 200,000 taels?"

As soon as the words came out.

Zhu Heng showed a look of joy, and the other twelve ministers in the hall were all stunned.

kindness?
Did you hear wrongly?

Just as everyone was astonished, the newly appointed Director of the Household Department, Chen Wude, suddenly, without any warning, lay on the long table and sobbed.

I don’t know what Chen Wude is doing.

Everyone looked at the sound.

Chen Wude wiped his tears, stood up, knelt and apologized: "I have behaved inappropriately in front of your majesty, please punish me, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun asked curiously, "Why are you like this?"

This guy had previously impeached Zhang Juzheng, saying that his radical governance was detrimental to the country's foundation.

The purpose of calling us to a meeting today may be to educate us on our thoughts.

As a result, they started crying for no apparent reason. It’s really hard to figure out what’s going on in the minds of these old Confucian scholars.

Chen Wude choked up and replied, "Your Majesty, please excuse me. I was thinking of the late emperor..."

"In May of the fourth year of Longqing, the late emperor urged the purchase of gold and treasures for the annual quota. I and the Ministry of Revenue requested to stop it, but it was not approved."

"At that time, the treasury was empty, the people were in poverty, the treasury was not enough to cover the annual expenditure, the annual tax in the border areas was not paid at a certain time, the capital was suffering from famine, and the officials in charge of budgeting were worried day and night, but they had no plan to come up with."

"I was so bold as to disregard the etiquette of a minister and the hierarchy of superiors and subordinates that I wrote a memorial to criticize the emperor, saying that the late emperor was content with pleasure, had no regard for the country, enriched his own pockets, harmed the country and deceived the public, and the late emperor was magnanimous and only demoted me."

"Now that I have risen again, I have just witnessed what Your Majesty has done. Recalling all the things that happened, I can't help but feel sad and shed tears."

After these words were spoken, the ministers could not help but recall the days when the national treasury was empty and the late emperor had to ask for money.

He glanced at the person on the throne again without leaving a trace.

I had a lot of thoughts at once.

Seeing Chen Wude like this, Zhu Yijun naturally would not blame him.

He motioned for this virtuous man to return to his seat, and lightly pressed his hand: "Let's get on with business."

"Mr. Zhu, now that the treasury has been paid, let alone the necessary matters such as the eunuchs supervising the construction, there are also all the files on routes, geography, hydrology, engineering, etc., along with the engravings, which must all be filed with the inner court, the National History Museum, and the Cabinet." The information for such a large-scale project must be filed with multiple parties.

Why was it possible to build Zheng He's treasure ship during the Yongle period, but it is so difficult to go out to sea now?
It’s because the engineering data are not preserved and are often burned and hidden.

You mentioned the Wenyuan Pavilion seal, the golden statue in the Youguo Hall, and the pearl robe of the emperor. The theft of these things is a common occurrence. No one knows what the scientific research materials were stolen for, so much so that even archaeological research is difficult now.

Zhu Heng was happy to see this happen. Not to mention that the emperor offered 200,000 yuan, even if the emperor didn't pay a penny, he had no reason to refuse such a thing.

He patted his chest and said, "I will send it to the three parties without missing a word."

Zhu Yijun nodded and brought up another matter: "How is the progress of shipbuilding now?"

Zhu Yijun didn't pay much attention to shipbuilding this year. After all, the progress would definitely not be fast.

Seagoing ships are different from grain ships.

The peak of Ming Dynasty shipbuilding was in the early years of the Yongle reign, with the highest annual output reaching 249 coastal seagoing vessels, and Zheng He's treasure ship was the pinnacle of the industry.

After that, it was just stop and start, start and stop.

In the 12th year of Yongle's reign, there was a proposal to stop sea transportation, but it was not approved. In the 19th year, there was another proposal and there were secret cuts.

In the first year of the Zhengtong reign, "all construction was stopped" until a few years later when Emperor Yingzong took power and construction resumed.

Of course, there was no way they could go to the open seas, so they could only travel along the coastal waters. Several shipyards were rebuilt again, and "in the seventh year of Zhengtong, Nanjing was ordered to build 350 foreign-capable ships." It took three years, but at least they were built.

But things got worse around the time of the Tumu Incident. First, sea shipping was stopped, and then production was reduced, with "only 18 ships left." Sea shipping was in name only.

In the 16th year of Hongzhi, the number was reduced by four more. In the 4th year of Zhengde, all previous ships were scrapped. In the 5th year, it was planned to build them again, but it was cancelled soon after in the 3rd year of Jiajing.

By the time the sea was reopened in the fifth year of the Longqing reign, it had actually been closed for a hundred years, and the only thing they could do was to "spend 15,000 taels of silver from the Shenku and 15,000 taels of silver from the Huaiyang commercial tax" and to "hire sturdy seagoing ships" from the people.

Therefore, the sea-going vessels used from the fifth year of the Longqing reign to the trial operation this year were all ships plundered from the public, which were then "repaired and improved to load grain."

As for the government-built shipping vessels? Isn't this still archaeological research?

Even though they knew the situation was so difficult, the censors still impeached that "the ships at sea were not stable and often capsized" - it was not because of the poor technology, but because the sea transportation itself was not good.

In fact, last year Wang Zongmu was reported by the censors for impeaching the capsizing of the ship. Historically, Emperor Wanli was unable to stop it and once again "stopped sea transportation and stopped building ships."

The resistance is evident.

Zhu Heng pondered for a moment and replied, "Your Majesty, the model ship for coastal transport has been made and is being prepared. It has now been sent to the Qingjiang Shipyard and Yizhen Shipyard under the Canal Transport Office. It should be put into production in the next two years."

"According to the old rules, Qingjiang will give 250 taels of silver for each fish, and Yizhen will give 290 taels of silver for each fish. It is estimated that 140 fish will be produced first."

"As for ocean-going vessels, the manufacturing process is complex and the craftsmanship is sophisticated. Uh... it will take some time to study. The Ministry of Industry invested 60,000 taels last year and this year, but there is still no effect."

This guy really can't stop talking about money.

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but complain in his heart.

He then fell into deep thought again. The progress of this ocean-going treasure ship was a bit slow.

But it makes sense.

Although both coastal and seagoing ships are sea-going vessels, coastal sea-going ships are always based in the mainland. Fortunately, they are safe and have the advantage of frequent port calls. The ship is about 82 feet long, the cost of trial and error is low, and archaeological scientific research can be done quickly.

Ocean-going ships are different. They have to withstand storms, refuel with supplies, and carry weapons. If they are small, they will not be able to cross the ocean.

Almost all of them are more than ten zhang in length - leaving aside Zheng He's treasure ship for which there is no technical data, the largest sea vessel for which there is currently technical data is the "Enfeoffment Boat", which is fifteen zhang (about 47 meters) long, twenty-six zhang wide, and one zhang three chi deep, with twenty-three cabins, five large masts erected in front and back, seventy-two zhang long, and six feet five inches in circumference.

The ship is twice as big, so the difficulty of manufacturing it is naturally not at the same level. Even the wood is not easy to choose.

But the situation is the situation, and the mood is the mood - a group of nobles and royal relatives are still waiting for the treasure ship to go out to sea for trade.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a long time without saying anything.

A group of ministers also remained silent. The ocean-going treasure ship was a project strongly promoted by the emperor, and the enthusiasm of various ministries was actually not very high.

After a while, Zhu Yijun looked at Zhu Heng and asked, "How long will it take to build the ocean-going treasure ship?"

Zhu Heng quickly replied: "There are still some old craftsmen in the old factory of Longjiangguan in Nanjing. There are also files of the canonized ships during the Jiajing period. There will definitely be results in three to five years!"

The Longjiang Shipyard was once glorious. Most of the ships in Zheng He's fleet came from here. The craftsmen in the factory had passed down their skills from generation to generation and their craftsmanship was of very high standard.

Unfortunately, it gradually declined afterwards, and only dozens of the 400 craftsmen are left now, otherwise it would not be called the old factory.

Zhu Yijun nodded, and stopped asking questions, only instructed: "As I just said, the drawings and case files should all be archived in three ways."

Zhu Heng quickly agreed.

As soon as Zhu Heng stepped down, Minister of War Shi Maohua felt the emperor's gaze on him.

He knew in his heart that the matter of using military force against Duoyan Wei after the New Year would be discussed.

In his mind, he repeatedly recalled the case files compiled by the Ministry of War, carefully considered his words, and prepared himself mentally for the emperor's questions.

as predicted.

The emperor's voice sounded slowly: "Lord Wang, has the Ministry of War drafted the rules for sending troops to Doyanwei?"

Wang Chonggu immediately followed up: "I was just about to discuss this matter with Your Majesty!"

After saying this, he thoughtfully presented the emperor with a map so that the emperor, who had never left his house, could make some clear judgments.

Shi Maohua, who was sitting below Wang Chonggu, opened his mouth but no sound came out.

He glanced back and forth at the emperor who was asking questions eagerly and Wang Chonggu who looked excited. Finally, he turned his neck awkwardly and quietly closed his mouth.

This is the result of having a lower status in the party, lower prestige in the department, and lower official rank.

Shi Maohua silently gave up the qualification to make a duet to Wang Chonggu.

Wang Chonggu was too far forward to notice Shi Maohua's movements. He was concentrating on replying to the emperor: "Your Majesty, according to the estimate of Prince Shunyi, and with the memorials of Liu Yingjie and Qi Jiguang as confirmation, the population of the Doyan Guard and the guards should be 60,000, including 11,000 young and strong men, and about 4,000 cavalry."

Zhu Yijun resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Wang Chonggu.

Last time, this fellow said that his army was less than 30,000, including 4,000 young and strong men and 1,000 cavalry.

Wang Chonggu continued, "According to the plan made in the last court meeting, the purpose is to kill the culprit Dong Huli. The Ministry of War has a rough plan..."

"We will send out 23,000 troops, including 10,000 cavalry and 13,000 infantry."

After hearing this, Zhu Yijun frowned.

How come only more than 20,000 were sent? The annual military pay for Jizhen was 426,871 taels, 8 coins and 2 fen, but they were not short of soldiers.

According to his cautious idea of ​​building a strong camp and fighting a stupid battle, he would have to send at least 100,000 troops to push forward.

Otherwise, what if the car overturns?
What to save when you want to win?

Fortunately, the emperor was not the only one who was ignorant of war.

Gao Yi, the first on the right, questioned reservedly, "Are you underestimating the Tatars, Lord Wang? Twenty-three thousand might not be a safe number, right? Didn't they say that the Duoyanwei tribe has sixty thousand?"

Wang Chonggu bowed to Gao Yi who was sitting next to him, then looked around at everyone and patiently explained: "Right Prime Minister, please be at ease. It is precisely because of careful consideration that we have made such a plan."

"You must know that Duoyan Guard is not just Duoyan Guard."

"It is controlled by the tribes on the left wing. The Tuotuohai tribe of the Chahar tribe has 5,000 cavalrymen, who are nomadic and monitor the Duoyan Guard day and night."

"The Doyan Guards have also formed an alliance with the Right Wing tribes and have an ambiguous relationship with the Kharachin tribe. Qingba Duer Taiji is Changang's father-in-law, with tens of thousands of cavalrymen, and he and the Left Wing are mutually restrained. He may not sit idly by and watch our dynasty do whatever it wants."

"If we advance slowly for the sake of safety, by the time the left and right wings react, they will certainly tie down our army, which will not only take a long time, but may also trigger a war!"

"Therefore, the three main points of this battle are fast! Quick! Speed!"

"We should focus on the elite troops and quickly defeat the Duoyan Guards and kill the bandit leader without alerting the left and right wings."

"Especially in battles outside the Great Wall, not sieges. As long as the cavalry can crush the enemy, the number of young and strong infantrymen is secondary."

Seeing that the emperor was skeptical, Wang Chonggu added, "It's not just the Ministry of War. This is also the consensus of the Governor-General of the Beijing Camp, Gu Huan, the Governor-General of Ji and Liao, Liu Yingjie, and the Left Governor-General Qi Jiguang."

After saying that, he presented the emperor with the three people's reply regarding this matter - this is the advantage of the emperor guarding the national border. Jizhen is 200 miles away from the capital, and if there is any problem, it can be returned in three or four days.

Zhu Yijun symbolically flipped through the letters from the two people behind him and nodded to Wang Chonggu. He said very straightforwardly, "Now, how much military pay does the Ministry of War estimate it will need this time?"

When the cavalry marched, they had to be paid as soon as they started. "For those dispatched beyond 100 miles, all food and fodder will be paid; for those dispatched within 50 miles, according to the original order, whether they were stationed day and night to fight against the enemy, they would be paid separately."

Although firearms and weapons are stored in the warehouse, the money must be calculated. Especially for consumables such as gunpowder, it is not surprising to spend 100,000 taels.

If a war breaks out, more rewards will be given: "For fighting, rewards will be given in the form of banknotes, pepper, sumac, copper coins, silver, clothes, etc."

If you win the battle, you will be paid according to your military merits.

This is also the reason why national wars cannot be fought easily and only small-scale wars can be fought.

If an army of several hundred thousand were to fight for seven or eight months, that would amount to tens of millions of taels of silver.

Wang Chonggu had already prepared a plan, and he immediately said, "Your Majesty, before we set out, we will advance you food, clothing, weapons, and rewards, which will be converted into 230,000 taels of silver."

"After the war, we will discuss rewards and pensions, and estimate... another 250,000 taels!"

Four hundred and eighty thousand taels...

By doing some projects and fighting some small battles, more than a million dollars was spent in a blink of an eye.

Zhu Yijun couldn't help feeling a little distressed as the money hadn't even warmed up yet.

He sighed in his heart, looked at Wang Chonggu, and said after a moment's silence: "My Lord, I will not be partial to one over the other. The rewards and pensions for the soldiers in this battle will be paid from the treasury."

It’s about two hundred thousand taels.

But money is meant to be spent.

The emperor has at least 1.2 million taels of pocket money a year. Why not spend it? Could he take some away with him?
Wang Chonggu immediately stood up and bowed deeply: "Your Majesty is benevolent!"

Zhu Yijun shook his head: "But I have said before that this money must be taken by Qi Jiguang. Since it is money from my private treasury, I will hand it over to the border general in person."

　There is another chapter later.

　　I wanted to post a map, but the clear map is too large to be inserted.

　　Let's talk about the size of Zheng He's ship. It is an old habit of scholars to exaggerate. The size is often "sixty zhang long and twenty zhang wide", the range is often "within fifty miles, every shot can hit the target", and the power is often "within ten miles, all plants, humans and animals will be killed". These are simply unbelievable. The 44 zhang length of Zheng He's treasure ship is definitely not credible. According to reliable data from "East and West Ocean Research" and "Longjiang Shipyard Records", Zheng He's treasure ship should be 22 zhang, or 70 meters. This research result is similar to "New Research on the Size of Zheng He's Treasure Ship", but neither of them is a decisive case, so it is not mentioned in the article.

　　Similar to this is the case of the burning of the Zheng He treasure ship documents. It is said that Liu Daxia did it, but there is no definite evidence. This statement first came from the book "Shu Yu Zhou Zi Lu" written by Yan Congjian. Later, "Ke Zuo Yu Yu" written by Gu Qiyuan claimed that "it was written casually and there was no order", so it is unreliable. The specific source of the initial statement has not been found, and it is even likely that it came from the archives of the Yongle expedition to Annan hidden by Liu Daxia. So the article only says that it was lost, and it is not clear how it was lost and who did it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)