Chapter 281: Strategic Direction of the Great Ming's Four Barbarians Policy

The Great Ming has stood for over two hundred years since its founding.

The ancestral institutions that have been altered are truly too many to count.

Yet those that have been thoroughly and completely changed are in truth very few.

The military guard system was partially converted to a recruited-soldier system, but in places that are not strategic hubs, the guard system is still used.

In-kind tax collection was partially converted to silver commutation, but the crucial tribute grain is still collected in kind.

Corvée labor levied by household was partially converted to a silver-equalized levy, yet heavy corvée, urgent corvée, and ad hoc corvée still require conscripting laborers.

From top to bottom, the Great Ming has spent two hundred years displaying, with utter vividness, its adherence to the ancestral institutions and its compromises with reality.

But this old, vast empire — vast as it is, old as it is — has some things that are, after all, difficult to shake, and that almost no one dares to shake.

That thing is the single word: "Rites."

After the grand court assembly came the imperial birthday banquet, likewise an extremely strict, rigidly choreographed group performance.

Every official and envoy attending the banquet had to enter in formation, just as they would for court, find the seat that the Court of Imperial Entertainments had labeled with their name in advance, and sit down in strict accordance with the rules. To say nothing of anything else, the arrangement of these seats and the meticulous distinctions of rank and precedence alone happen to be illustrated by two stories that confirm just how unshakable "Rites" are.

In the fourth year of Chenghua, Secretariat Drafter Li Yingzhen, a juren by qualification, happily attended the celebratory banquet after the sacrifices.

He discovered that his seat was actually placed behind those of the Supervising Secretaries and the Censors.

What was even more outrageous was that the food and banquet spread the Court of Imperial Entertainments provided for the Secretariat Drafters was actually inferior to that of the Supervising Secretaries and Censors!

Is this reasonable?

It is perfectly reasonable!

The Supervising Secretaries, the Censors, and the Secretariat Drafters are all of the seventh rank, but when it comes to power, influence, and status, the gap between them might just happen to be seven ranks as well...

Is it not only right and proper that you be placed behind them?

Li Yingzhen, however, was proud and aloof by nature and had never been able to stomach such insulting treatment.

He directly submitted a memorial and let loose!

Does this accord with the Rites?!

Look at me! Does this accord with the Rites?!

We are all officials of the principal seventh rank — on what grounds are the Supervising Secretaries and Censors treated as nobler than the Secretariat Drafters?

The Ministry of Rites, with its several dozen mouths, simply did not dare to state plainly the logic of rank and precedence behind this.

Since they dared not say it, they could only admit fault.

After this battle, the Secretariat Drafters were finally able to sit at the same table and eat with the Supervising Secretaries.

(Note: Li Yingzhen was the father-in-law of Zhu Zhishan.)

It did not happen only once.

By the sixteenth year of Wanli, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, a third-rank official, was also enraged.

At the Banquet of Imperial Grace held for the newly admitted jinshi, he discovered that he was actually seated below the Hanlin Readers-in-Waiting, who were of the sixth rank.

I am third rank, he is sixth rank — on what grounds? Does this accord with the Rites?!

The Ministry of Rites was once again at a complete loss.

They could not very well say outright:

Those Hanlin men are close attendants of the Son of Heaven, following the pure-stream path, and may well enter the Grand Secretariat and become Chief Grand Secretary someday.

You, a third-rank official who manages the kitchens — though your rank is high, you are in truth nothing more than a head cook. How could you compare with them?

There are some things that everyone knows perfectly well in their hearts, but simply cannot be spoken aloud.

Just like the signboard of the Duke for Perpetuating Sageliness — even though what lies beneath is already rotten beyond all doubt, it must still be hung up.

The Ministry of Rites had no choice but to continue playing the paperhanger.

They placed the Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments as the first seat of the left file, and the Hanlin Readers as the first seat of the right file.

Confucius said: "Rites, rites — does it mean merely jade and silk? Music, music — does it mean merely bells and drums?"

How could these rituals and ceremonies be merely the surface matters of seating order and banquet spreads?

Behind the rituals, what Confucius cared about was benevolence; what the officials care about is power and position; what the various barbarians care about is, I fear, profit.

Each cares about something different, but one thing alone is certain — no one cares about the Rites themselves.

Had it been otherwise, how could the golden hall have descended into utter chaos when the late Taichang Emperor held his first audience at the palace gate?

After thirty years of Wanli's neglect of governance, the hundred officials of the Great Ming had actually cast those glorious court rituals to the farthest edge of the heavens!

In that case, this Great Ming diplomatic system, built upon "ritual and law" and maintained for over two hundred years —

what sort of wretched state is it in now? What are the Great Ming's emperor and court officials insisting upon, and what are they papering over?

The day after the imperial birthday banquet, in Wuying Hall.

Having endured the most disastrous birthday of his two lives combined, Zhu Youjian at last reopened the scrolls.

"The meeting begins!"

Seated behind the imperial desk, Zhu Youjian struck it with the wooden mallet in his hand and formally declared the start of —

the seventh, and final, "Great Ming Four Barbarians Strategy Conference."

The core participants were all the members of the Committee — the body that, under the Yongchang Emperor, now bore collective responsibility for approving the new policy plans.

Beyond these, there were several related groups of officials.

First, the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs, headed by Wang Xianggan, with Hong Chengchou as deputy;

Second, the officials of the Ministry of War, headed by Huo Weihua.

Third, the Liaodong Payroll Audit Team — a complex group that included many nobles, civil officials, censors, Embroidered Uniform Guard officers, and Eastern Depot runners, headed by Yuan Jixian of the Secretariat.

Fourth, the civil and military officers of every rank about to depart for their posts in Liaodong — civil officials managing funds, provisions, and military equipment, as well as military officers of every level who had been selected, headed respectively by Yuan Chonghuan and Ma Shilong.

Fifth, the Northern Metropolitan Area New Policy Team, headed by Qi Xinxiao.

In rank and scale, this conference had been the second largest since Zhu Youjian ascended the throne.

As for the number-one topic, that was the "Great Ming Fiscal and Tax Reform Symposium," which had been debated across thirteen sessions and was still mired in wrangling.

From his seat, Hong Chengchou adjusted his robes and cap, glanced first at Wang Xiangqian, and only after seeing him nod slightly did he rise and step out of the ranks.

After Wang Xiangqian entered the capital, Zhu Youjian had one in-depth conversation with him and then settled the charter for the Court of Frontier Affairs.

Wang Xiangqian set the broad strategy; Hong Chengchou managed the detailed work.

Moreover, Wang Xiangqian had the Emperor's special approval: he reported for duty each day at the hour of the Horse and left at the hour of the Rooster, and he had twenty days of leave each month, to be taken whenever he pleased.

After all, this living fossil of Mongol affairs possessed far too sharp an eye and commanded immense prestige among the Mongol tribes — Zhu Youjian was genuinely worried the pace of the New Policies might work him to death.

Wang Xiangqian was, after all, a figure from the same era as Altan Khan.

And the current Prince of Shunyi, Boshetu, was merely Altan Khan's great-great-grandson...

Hong Chengchou walked to a massive screen on the right side of the great hall and stood still.

"Gentlemen, this briefing will be presented primarily by the Court of Frontier Affairs."

"This briefing also constitutes the final, definitive report on the Great Ming's strategy for the four barbarians."

"The fundamental strategy set forth herein, barring a momentous upheaval, shall be absolutely unshakeable before the fifth year of Yongchang."

"The short-term strategy, meanwhile, shall be pegged to the second year of Yongchang, adjusted annually according to shifts in the current situation."

Having said this, he paused deliberately and swept his gaze across the faces of everyone seated.

Sure enough, all of them straightened in their seats, their expressions solemn.

And indeed, how could they not be solemn?

Today's meeting was not merely the final report on the four-barbarian strategy; it was the first time in Great Ming history that a "strategic keynote" was being set. Those four words carried immense weight.

The term had been a concept personally introduced by Zhu Youjian at the "Symposium on the Gains and Losses of Factional Strife and Policy Shifts Throughout Chinese History." As one of the rising stars of the New Policies, Hong Chengchou was naturally qualified to sit in and had the privilege of witnessing the entire process.

He remembered it with perfect clarity: the discussion that day had begun with the factional strife of the Song dynasty and continued all the way up to the factional strife of the current dynasty's Tianqi era.

Many former members of the eunuch faction and the Donglin Faction had even been called up by name by the Emperor to present their accounts — a truly awkward spectacle.

After each person had offered their analysis and even declared their stance, the young Emperor, seated above, spoke in a tone that was flat yet every word cut to the bone:

"The essence of factional strife is a struggle for power, a struggle for the right to set the discourse."

"This is a fundamental truth that has never changed across thousands of years."

"In such a struggle, all questions of right and wrong cease to matter, and all moral standards become mere weapons of attack."

"When the political winds are favorable, cutting short the mourning period to remain in office is hailed as bearing disgrace for the nation's sake; when the winds shift, the very same act becomes a betrayal of filial duty, a failure to be a proper son."

"The matter itself has not changed, yet viewed from different angles, it yields entirely different outcomes."

"If this is so for a single matter, what then of national strategy?"

"One faction takes the stage, and no matter what strategy the other faction advocated, it must all be thoroughly demolished."

"So it was in the Song, so it was in the Tang, and has our own dynasty been any different?"

"Indeed, the closer a dynasty draws to its end, the more savage the factional strife becomes..."

"On this point, we shall not delve deeper today. I ask each of you ministers to go back and ponder carefully: why does this intensify as a dynasty nears its end? And how can factional strife be prevented from arising within the New Policies, and how should we respond to attacks on the New Policies from factions outside them? When the time comes, I shall seek your instruction on these matters." After leaving his ministers with this headache-inducing assignment, Zhu Youjian continued to lay out his views.

"As for today, let us set factional strife aside for the moment and first discuss the matter of adhering to national strategy, of setting a strategic keynote for the nation."

This was the first time the phrase "strategic keynote" had appeared in the Great Ming's field of vision. It quickly spread, by word of mouth from those attending the meeting, throughout the official circles of the capital, and became the most talked-about New Policies term of that twelfth month. "What is meant by a strategic keynote?"

"It is designed both to counter factional strife and to address the turnover of principal officials in each ministry."

"In essence, it is to prevent policy from following the man, and policy from following the faction."

"When a man is transferred, when factional strife erupts, policy falls with the man and shifts with the man."

"The Great Ming can no longer go on like this. The Great Ming must absolutely not repeat the disastrous path of the Song!"

"Henceforth, fundamental strategies shall be set as firmly as the ancestral laws, regarded as principles not to be lightly altered."

The Yongchang Emperor at that point shifted his tone and added:

"Yet since ancient times, there has never been a law immutable for all ages. Therefore, a fundamental strategy shall be set for a term of only five years."

"Once the keynote is set, within those five years, unless the situation undergoes drastic change, it shall not be altered."

"Such a keynote shall not be submitted in the name of any particular faction, nor in the name of any particular official, but only as the consensus of the committee or even the entire New Policies body." "Once the keynote is set, regardless of whether the principal official rises or falls, regardless of factional disputes and slanders, and even... regardless of whether the Emperor himself is replaced!"

"It shall not be lightly changed! To do otherwise would be to defy the common will, to defy all under Heaven!"

Even though everyone knew that the linchpin of the New Policies was this young Son of Heaven himself,

and that should the Son of Heaven be replaced, the New Policies would in all likelihood die a quiet death,

this declaration of resolve, and the many subsequent efforts to advance the strategic-keynote concept, still gave the assembled ministers a second reassurance pill. As for what the first reassurance pill was?

That pill was still in the Empress's belly and had yet to be born.

Hong Chengchou paused for a moment, then continued:

"And the fundamental strategy of the Great Ming toward the four barbarians, when all is said and done, comes down to just eight characters."

"Seek truth from facts, and extend the transformative influence of the sovereign."

The moment the words left his mouth, a low murmur rippled through the hall.

Many officials hurriedly opened their notebooks and solemnly recorded those eight characters.

Although this conference had already convened seven times, and the number of smaller meetings was beyond counting, those who had truly heard all eight characters were few. This was a hallmark of the Yongchang New Policies — the snowballing conference.

Starting from one person, one department, it continuously pulled in more people and refined itself, until at last, some projects required the involvement of nearly half the court. Thus, the full picture of any plan was known only to the lead department; everyone else had to wait until the final briefing and policy-setting meeting to learn it. Ignoring the murmuring, Hong Chengchou continued:

"What is meant by 'seek truth from facts'? It means disregarding the ancestral laws, disregarding past precedents, and basing strategy and its implementation solely on present realities." With that, he turned and gestured.

Two junior eunuchs stepped forward and, with a single motion, swept the red silk from the screen.

An enormous chart was revealed to the assembled crowd.

"This chart was compiled by the Protocol Department of the Court of Frontier Affairs, drawn from the Veritable Records, listing all tributary missions from various foreign barbarians since the Hongwu reign."

"Honorable ministers, please examine it first."

(Attached image: the numbers represent the count of tributary missions from that country during that reign era. The second row provides a rough correspondence between ancient and modern country names — not entirely precise. Also, this table does not include every country; many in the northwest, for instance, are omitted. Hong Chengchou's chart would be broader.) Everyone's gaze turned in unison toward the chart.

After just a few glances, the great hall erupted.

A clamor broke out.

The data on this chart was simply too ugly.

Ugly enough to shatter many officials' traditional understanding of the "Celestial Dynasty."

It laid bare the decay of the Great Ming's tributary system for all to see.

"How can this be? This is absurdly exaggerated!"

"Why does it fall off a cliff right after the Hongzhi reign?"

"The northwest frontier hasn't broken off, and the south is still all right, but the maritime kingdoms of the Southern Ocean... they've all stopped?"

In the crowd, Liu Kongjing of the Policy Group in the Secretariat stared fixedly at that chart, trembling with agitation.

It was the trembling of a man who has spotted his prey.

"It's the maritime ban!"

He couldn't help shouting it out, his voice piercingly harsh in the noisy hall.

Everyone looked over; even he himself was startled.

Liu Kongjing hurriedly returned to a normal voice, but the urgency in his tone was impossible to conceal:

"It's the maritime ban! After the Jiajing reign, it was a ban in name only — in truth, there was no ban at all."

"These southern barbarians came to pay tribute solely for the profit of trade. Now that private merchants can smuggle, why would they travel a thousand li to offer tribute? Naturally, they simply stopped coming!"

The commotion here drew Zhu Youjian's gaze as well.

This man Liu Kongjing was far too interesting.

He was a native of Jianning Prefecture deep in the interior of Fujian, his family in the book-selling trade — in truth, he had absolutely nothing to do with maritime affairs. And sure enough, plenty of Fujianese never once laid eyes on the sea in their entire lives...

But when the new policies first began, he had no strong opinion either way, and drawing on his own experience, he submitted a memorial titled "An Examination and Defense of Maritime Transport."

As a result, on the day of the Grand Assembly in the tenth month, the Emperor personally invited him to join the New Policy Secretariat...

From that moment on, the man became obsessed, directly treating "opening the seas" and "maritime transport" as his life's work.

Consequently, at every slightest opportunity, he would agitate and advocate for maritime transport.

Yet although the Yongchang Emperor was certain to open the seas,

before the situation stabilized and the new policies began to bear fruit, he had no intention of launching the matter immediately, and merely had him gather data and formulate more policy proposals. For this reason, Liu sought out every person truly expert in maritime affairs, even "forming a faction" around it, creating an "Open-the-Seas Party" that gathered periodically to debate.

Among its members, the most prominent was Ni Yuanlu; below him the composition was more complex, with people from every region, but the most active were from the Southern Metropolitan Area. After all, the Southern Metropolitan Area shipped four million dan of tribute grain each year, yet when the transport surcharges and levies were added in, the actual collection was likely two or three times that amount. Switching from canal to sea transport naturally served the interests of the Southern Metropolitan Area.

Where there was an "Open-the-Seas Party," there was naturally a "Ban-the-Seas Party."

It was just that opening the seas was still only at the discussion stage, so the ban-the-seas faction could find no point of attack and could only choke on their frustration.

After all, you can never attack a political opinion that has yet to be published.

What was even more interesting... the most active people in the Ban-the-Seas Party were also from the Southern Metropolitan Area!

Zhu Youjian swept his gaze over that fervent face and could not help a faint smile, but he still turned his eyes toward Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou had not noticed the Emperor's gaze; he merely nodded slightly and said:

"This matter does indeed concern maritime affairs, but what Secretary Liu has said captures only half the truth."

"Through successive discussions in our council, we have essentially reached a conclusion on this phenomenon."

He raised two fingers.

"The tribute of the various barbarians is, first, for profit, and second, under the compulsion of awe."

"As for the barbarians of the Southern Ocean — profit they can obtain on their own from the maritime merchants, and the Great Ming's awe has long ceased to reach them. Naturally, they gradually stopped offering tribute."

Hong Chengchou's gaze turned stern.

"To seek truth from facts means precisely this: to examine the various barbarians with clarity and rigor."

"Of their tribute, how many parts are genuine submission to the Kingly Transforming Influence? How many parts are for the profit of trade? And how many parts are out of awe of the state's might?"

"Each of these must be itemized and listed plainly; no muddling through is permitted."

"Only after we have, by seeking truth from facts, clearly distinguished the closeness or distance of each kingdom, and are no longer deluded by the pretty vision of 'ten thousand kingdoms coming to court' — "

"only then can we classify them by category and gradually extend the Kingly Transforming Influence, turning kingdoms drawn by profit and kingdoms drawn by awe step by step into kingdoms transformed by the Kingly Way, like Joseon." A smile lingered on Zhu Youjian's face, but in his heart there was a trace of regret.

Bold as Hong Chengchou's words were, they were still not his innermost true thoughts.

What he truly wanted to do was throw every kingdom onto the scales and weigh them.

What tributary vassal? What father-and-son kingdoms?

Enough of those empty fictions.

What have you contributed to the Great Ming?

Is it silver? Grain? Ships? Soldiers? Or perhaps beautiful women?

Ask yourselves properly: have you truly earned that title of king bestowed upon you by your Great Ming father!

But Zhu Youjian knew that the time was not yet right.

For now, this was still an age ruled by "ritual"; the hour when "profit" could make its grand entrance had not yet come.

He had privately sounded out several trusted confidants, and even the most fanatical, least scrupulous secretaries felt this idea was too "naked," too "disgraceful to refined men," all too likely to provoke "a colossal uproar" and "unforeseeable calamity."

Zhu Youjian was, after all, not a man of this age, and could not fully grasp their way of thinking.

But he was cautious by nature, and was willing to adjust his pace according to the judgment of these loyal ministers.

Thus, for the time being, he could only compromise.

Using the gleaming skin of "extending the Kingly Transforming Influence" to wrap the coldly calculating heart within.

As for what this "Kingly Transforming Influence" really meant... that would depend on the actual methods employed.

Hong Chengchou's voice continued to resonate through the hall:

"And the work of the Court of Colonial Affairs for the next five years is set precisely according to this fundamental strategy."

"Among these, the work for the first year of the Yongchang era shall be weighted according to the present situation, where northern affairs take precedence."

"For the various Mongol tribes, and for the Jurchen, the civilizing education shall be carried out first."

"As for the likes of Japan, Ryukyu, the various barbarians of the northwest, the southwestern tusi, the various barbarians of the southeast, and even the barbarians of the Far West — for all these, we shall first conduct only factual investigation and survey, and make no major moves."

"Now then, let the directors of each bureau of the Court of Colonial Affairs present their finalized strategies in turn."

With that, Hong Chengchou cupped his hands in salute and returned to his seat.