Chapter 4: First, Buy a Round of Popular Support

Overnight, the Chongzhen Emperor practically worried his youthful hair white — a pity, then, that the sun still rose the next day just the same.

After a whole night of thought, the Chongzhen Emperor finally decided he had to sort out his priorities.

To deal with Delivery Bro Li and the Jianzhou barbarians, he first needed a reliable army — political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, after all.

And to have a reliable army, he first needed popular support and silver.

Silver was not something he could solve overnight, but neither was it too great a worry — had he not kept Wei Zhongxian around precisely to be the scapegoat and to rake in the silver?

As for popular support, to put it plainly, it was what the textbook I Want to Be Emperor — which the Chongzhen Emperor had studied back at the Transmigrator Training Base before crossing over — called one's base.

And what was an emperor's base?

Eunuchs were out of the question. Eunuchs were mere house slaves — fine for taking the blame and raking in silver, but using them as your base was pure bullshit. The Tianqi Emperor had stumbled and fallen on exactly that.

The merit-nobility and imperial in-laws were out of the question too.

His Majesty Yang the Second had taught us through personal experience — his own cousin snatched his realm — that the merit-nobility could not be relied on, not unless sows climbed trees.

The civil officials and grand ministers?

The original Chongzhen Emperor of normal history had used that old crooked-neck tree on Coal Hill to prove that civil officials and grand ministers, when they screwed you over, were even worse than the merit-nobility.

That left only the common people.

The problem was, the common people of the Great Ming were divided into many categories — scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants, and soldiers.

And apart from the scholars, the rest were hereditary, passed down through the generations — meaning a craftsman's sons and grandsons would all be craftsmen, a soldier's sons and grandsons would all be soldiers, and the same went for merchants.

On top of that, there were ethnic divisions.

Though by the Chongzhen Emperor's time there was basically no distinction left — thanks to the intermarriage prohibition among the various peoples decreed by Zhu Yuanzhang, most ethnic groups had already become Han.

Only one group was excluded from that prohibition.

In short, trying to build a base was a colossal headache.

But the peasantry was always the largest base by numbers — that much was beyond question.

Which meant that if the Chongzhen Emperor wanted to build himself a base, the most reliable and most crucial move was to win over the peasants, and along the way, eliminate the disobedient ministers and the Eight Great Locust Merchants.

Only by doing so could he successfully buy the Great Ming more time — as for how much more, that was up to Heaven.

The next day at court, once he had arrived at the great hall and the thunderous cries of "Long live Your Majesty" from the assembled officials had subsided, Wang Cheng'en, standing to the side, stretched his throat and shouted: "Those with memorials, present them early; those without, the court is dismissed—"

Seeing that none of the officials had stepped forward with any memorials to disgust him, the Chongzhen Emperor said to Wang Cheng'en beside him: "Wang Cheng'en, proclaim the edict."

Wang Cheng'en bowed and said, "Yes!" He cast a glance down at the assembled officials and immediately unfurled the imperial edict, reading aloud:

"The Emperor, who by the Mandate of Heaven reigns, decrees: We, in Our youth, have inherited this vast enterprise.

We revere only the merits of Our ancestors and the virtue of Our forebears, and We submit reverently to the statutes and canons; yet the governance of officials and the hardships of the people require suitable reform.

We are young, and know not the subtle arts by which the sage-kings of high antiquity ruled the world. Yet We have heard it said: when the sage-kings of old ruled the world, they did not increase the levies upon the people, and yet all within the seas prospered in abundance.

Though We are not astute, Our heart yearns toward this. It is hereby decreed: from this day forth, for all offices and yamen under Heaven, for the entire span of the Ming dynasty, the land tax shall never be increased!"

The moment Wang Cheng'en's voice fell, every "righteous gentleman" in the court was utterly dumbfounded.

Never increase the land tax! Benevolent governance!

Which of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors had ever proposed it? Who in the Spring and Autumn or Warring States periods had ever shouted it?

This was a true benevolent sovereign!

The Donglin grandees in the court felt that this was the benevolent sovereign they had always envisioned — if only he would never collect any taxes at all, it would be perfect!

All those years of instructing the Chongzhen Emperor had not been in vain!

One had to admit, this move that Old Kang the Pockmarked had played was still quite effective at bluffing people — countless later generations, after all, had believed it was Old Kang the Pockmarked's benevolent governance.

But in truth, it was a completely bullshit false premise.

Because in China, shui (taxes) and fu (levies) had always been separate things.

Shui was used for national defense expenditures, yamen operating costs, and various local affairs and canal excavation and repairs, and so on.

Fu, on the other hand, was used to build the emperor's palaces and temples, and for his food, drink, and amusements.

To put it plainly, shui went into the state treasury, while fu went into the emperor's privy purse — this stuff did not pass through the state treasury at all, but was the emperor's own to spend as he pleased.

With this one edict from the Chongzhen Emperor, in practical terms, it had virtually no impact on the operations of the ministers and local yamen!

This was precisely the confidence behind the later Qing dynasty's ability to shout "never increase the land tax."

Otherwise, let them try shouting "never increase the shui" and see what happened — would those Shanxi merchants, landlords, and local strongmen not rise up and tear those million-odd Eight Banners troops to shreds!

Now, everything was settled. Whether they were Donglin Faction or the eunuch faction, or any of those other messy cliques like the Chu Faction or the Zhe Faction, they all had to acknowledge that the Chongzhen Emperor's edict was an unadulterated act of benevolent governance.

Anyway, what did it matter to us if the emperor's own money was reduced? The whole realm is yours — if you spend a little less, then spend a little less.

And so the entire assembly of officials in the great hall, led by Chief Grand Secretary Huang Liji, roared in acclamation: "Your Majesty's benevolence and virtue blanket all living beings!

We beg that this edict be promulgated and proclaimed across the realm, so that all under Heaven may clearly know Your Majesty's benevolent and people-loving intent!"

The Chongzhen Emperor sneered inwardly, then looked down at the officials below and continued: "This edict shall be openly issued throughout the realm.

Order the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot to dispatch men to read it aloud to the common people, so that the common people may all know of this matter, and to prevent petty clerks below from further harming the people.

Should anyone manipulate the process for their own ends, the common people may carry the Grand Pronouncements and come to the capital to lodge accusations. The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot are ordered to dispatch men to escort them — there must be no error."

Having played this move, the Chongzhen Emperor could finally breathe a long sigh of relief in his heart. After all, with this edict as a foundation, those small yeoman farmers and middling landlords would come to regard him, the Chongzhen Emperor, as their own father!

No — as a father even dearer than their own father!

As for the common people at the very bottom, they would probably be desperate to set up spirit tablets for him and bow in worship day and night.

And at the same time, that disgusting business of commendation — surrendering one's land to the powerful to evade taxes — would lessen somewhat too, wouldn't it?

And with the people's hearts in hand, even if the "righteous gentlemen" in the court collectively rebelled, he was confident that as long as the Chongzhen Emperor could walk out of the palace and into the streets, the common people would immediately, with boundless gratitude, carry him right back onto the imperial throne.

This move, the Chongzhen Emperor had learned from the old Liu family hooligans of the Han dynasty, and from Liu De, who had transmigrated over to become emperor.

Emperor Wen of Han was forever exempting land taxes on a whim, and that old hooligan Liu Bang back in the day had played this move even more slickly — not only exempting taxes from time to time, but also handing out rewards from time to time, telling everyone: stick with me, the boss, and there are benefits!

That way, he built his own base.

Now that Chongzhen had played the same move, he feared that the common people of the entire Great Ming would all become Chongzhen's base. With such a mighty backing, the Chongzhen Emperor declared: anyone who opposes Us is mere trash...

As for not having much money on hand right now, the Chongzhen Emperor noted that the late Tianqi Emperor had still left a bit of a family fortune. And not only that — once he had some time and had confiscated the property of a batch of ministers, he would have a windfall.

He estimated he could get a few million taels without much trouble.

Also, the city management yamen of later ages was a fine institution — the Great Ming ought to learn from it. Both the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot had plenty of military supernumeraries under them.

So-called military supernumeraries were basically equivalent to temporary hires and ruffians. Not using these people to form a city management yamen would be an absolute waste!

And then, all of them would be sent into the streets to collect protection money for Us! Especially from the pleasure houses and wine shops — they must be squeezed heavily.

As for whatever backing these people had — with the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot in Our hands, did We need to care about such trash? Whoever dared to jump out, We would have the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot investigate them!

Guaranteed, every investigation would hit its mark! After the investigation, confiscate their property — wouldn't the money come rolling in?

Even if it wasn't enough, weren't there still the Eight Great Locust Merchants? Those families were stupendously rich!

If the Shanxi merchants weren't enough, then add the Zhejiang merchants, the Anhui merchants, the Fujian merchants, the Shandong merchants, the capital merchants, and so on — that should be enough, right?

What were mercantile magnates? Mercantile magnates had no country — these fellows would even sell you the very rope used to hang them. For profit, what wouldn't they dare to do?

So weren't these mercantile magnates just pigs raised by the state? Once the pigs were fat, if you didn't slaughter them and drain their blood, were you waiting for them to sell out the Great Ming along with the Eight Great Locust Merchants?

Chongzhen was having a grand old time stirring things up, but when the ministers below heard this, their joy evaporated — the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, those two pestilential institutions, you still aren't going to abolish them?

Keeping them around to stir up trouble and harm people, is that it?

Yet although the ministers in the court were disgruntled at heart, no one jumped out to say anything. After all, Wei Zhongxian had not yet fallen from power, and the court was full of old foxes, all waiting for someone else to stick their neck out first.

But they all just looked at one another — nobody was a fool — and in the end not a single person stepped forward to object.

The assembled officials were all deeply unsettled. Damn it all, Your Majesty, you've only been on the throne for a single day — how can you seem like a completely different person?

Where is the Prince of Xin of your old princely residence, the one who trusted us upright gentlemen so completely and loathed Wei Zhongxian and his eunuch faction so fiercely? How could you change the moment you ascended the throne?

After all, before the enthronement yesterday, everything was still perfectly fine, wasn't it? And now, judging by your tone, you don't even intend to abolish the Depot and the Guard, do you?

Paying no heed to whatever was going through the minds of the officials below, the Chongzhen Emperor was feeling absolutely, ridiculously pleased with himself.

To the Chongzhen Emperor, the Depot and the Guard were an extra pair of eyes and the knife in his hand — neither could be casually discarded.

Historically, the original Chongzhen had let himself be sweet-talked by the upright gentlemen of the Donglin Faction into abolishing the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and everyone knows what the consequences were.

When the national calamity of the Jiashen year struck, only a single eunuch, Wang Cheng'en, remained at his side. Those who fought and died for Chongzhen were all eunuchs; only a handful of scholars gave their lives for the nation.

Aside from a few officials and ennobled nobles who, seeing no way out, followed him in death, the vast majority of the nobles and high officials let the Chongzhen Emperor ring the Jingyang Bell until it cracked, yet not one of them entered the palace!

But now things are different. With his own major power base in sight, all he needs to do is sharpen his eyes, hone his blade to a fine edge, and then the only thing left is to get the army under control!

(End of chapter)