Chapter 47: Who Is Yang Jingchen? (Begging for Monthly Tickets!)

Zhu Youjian's voice echoed through the empty Wuying Hall.

"Which of you can share the Great Ming's burdens?"

The grand secretaries and senior ministers nearly all kept their heads lowered, silent.

Who would dare step forward?

The matter of commuting horse fodder to silver might seem small, but in truth the waters ran very deep.

If you speak of horse fodder, can you avoid speaking of the maladministration?

If you endorse commutation to silver, what happens when that silver goes to Liaodong?

Liaodong is an even greater danger — have Wang Zhichen and Gao Di not spoken of Liaodong's affairs? And what came of it?

Point out a problem, and you become responsible for solving it.

In the present climate, if you try to solve a problem, you become the problem.

Problems are hard to solve — but is the man who creates problems so hard to solve?

His Majesty is truly a young sovereign, shallow in experience; he speaks only of getting things done, yet does not understand how difficult it is to get things done in this Great Ming.

Huang Liji sat still as an old monk in meditation; Shi Fenglai fixed his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart; only Li Guopu, the "Great Ming Wei Zheng," was itching to speak.

But before Li Guopu could open his mouth to take up the thread, a voice rang out abruptly.

"This subject is willing to share Your Majesty's burdens!"

The voice was resonant, extraordinarily resolute, ringing with conviction!

In an instant, every gaze shot toward the source of the voice.

How could it be him!

Yang Jingchen, a jinshi of the forty-first year of Wanli, now in charge of Hanlin Academy affairs and concurrently acting head of the Ministry of Personnel as its Left Vice Minister.

A man of pure and prestigious background, with eunuch-faction ties, present at today's council only because his superior was absent.

What gave him the right to take up that thread?

Zhu Youjian did not let the moment go cold.

A genial smile on his face, he clapped his hands in admiration: "When I was at the Prince Xin Residence, I often heard that Minister Yang was devoted to the public good and the state, bold in shouldering tasks — seeing it today, his reputation is truly well-deserved!"

— This was a lie.

Yang Jingchen? Never even heard of him…

He had only stolen a glance at the name placard on the table and learned the man's office and name.

But that did not matter; right now, even if Hong Taiji himself had stood before him and taken up those words, he would have given him every courtesy.

Yet those offhand words, falling on Yang Jingchen's ears, were nothing less than celestial music.

He felt a surge of hot blood rush from his chest straight to the crown of his head; his entire frame trembled faintly with agitation.

But he forcefully suppressed the wild joy within, cupped his hands unhurriedly, though his eyes blazed with startling brightness.

"Your Majesty overpraises me; this subject is ashamed and unworthy."

"As the saying goes, if you do not know the source, you cannot set the stream aright."

"Today this subject is willing to dissect for Your Majesty these abuses of horse fodder!"

The smile on Zhu Youjian's face receded; he extended a hand in invitation. "My minister, speak in full detail."

Yang Jingchen began slowly.

"May it please Your Majesty, at the dynasty's founding, the sources of horse fodder for the Nine Frontiers were no more than three: corvée levies, military farmland, and autumn green grass."

"Let us first address corvée levies."

"One bundle of fodder, if commuted to silver, is in truth no more than a few fen."

"But if delivered in kind, with fifty bundles making one cartload, the daily cost is five qian; calculated over twenty days, the expense soars to a full ten taels!"

"Because of this maladministration, most horse fodder is now paid in commuted silver; collection in kind accounts for only a small portion."

Zhu Youjian's expression gradually turned grave.

He had been leaning back against his chair, but now, without realizing it, he sat up straight, his body inclining slightly forward.

Who was this Yang Jingchen he had never heard of? Could he truly have substance?

Seeing this, Yang Jingchen grew even steadier within and continued:

"Next, let us discuss fodder collection from military farmland."

"In truth, this item may be passed over briefly. The guard stations are now in decay, military farmland lies abandoned, and even the grain-silver from military farmland cannot be collected in full — how much less horse fodder?"

"Third, the autumn green grass precedent is even more a dead letter."

"Grasslands grow only in the summer and autumn seasons."

"Thus in the past, each frontier garrison would always dispatch troops to cut grass in autumn when it grew thick, to store against the needs of spring and winter."

"But given the present state of readiness and fighting strength at the frontier passes, how would the officers and men dare venture far from the pass walls?"

"More often than not, they merely cut the grasslands nearby, then hurriedly withdraw, shutting the passes and defending in isolation."

"The fodder thus obtained is a mere drop in the bucket — utterly useless!"

Zhu Youjian listened with ever deeper attention; he could not help but ask: "So it was precisely because all three paths were blocked that the practice of summoning merchants to purchase supplies arose — is that correct?"

Yang Jingchen bowed. "Your Majesty is sagely wise!"

"It was precisely because the three sources — tax levies, military farmland, and autumn green grass — dwindled day by day, while frontier affairs grew ever more urgent and troop and horse numbers increased, that, as one fell and the other rose, the shortfall in horse fodder grew ever more enormous."

"Thus, from the Chenghua reign onward, summoning merchants to purchase supplies gradually became the main practice."

At this point he drew a deep breath.

"This humble subject now begs leave to lay before Your Majesty a full indictment of the four great abuses of this purchase system!"

At this, Zhu Youjian slowly rose from his seat, faced Yang Jingchen, and cupped his hands with solemn formality.

"I entreat you, Master, to dispel my confusion!"

That scene sent a jolt through the heart of every minister in the hall.

The Son of Heaven had risen from his seat, cupped his hands to ask for counsel, and called him "Master"!

What extraordinary courtesy!

Yang Jingchen was so overcome with emotion he could scarcely contain it; he felt the very blood in his veins burning.

He drew another deep breath, forcibly suppressed his churning feelings, and with every ounce of strength he possessed kept his voice steady.

"First: the current market price is unfair, and merchants chase profit!"

"When the government summons merchants to purchase, a fixed price must be set."

"The setting of this fixed price has been subject to repeated changes. In the past, it was set once a year, or twice a year."

"By the fifth year of Tianqi, Supervising Secretary Huo Weihua, arguing that 'prices rise and fall with the times and have no fixed principle,' memorialized that the price be set four times a year."

"But even at four times a year, a discrepancy with the market price is still unavoidable!"

"At those times, the fixed price may be too high, or too low."

"When it is high, merchants rush in on the news, scrambling to sell, until they jam the doorways and their carts and horses clog the roads, and trampling incidents are common!"

"When it is low, you could catch sparrows at the gate; the halls are desolate, and no one comes to inquire!"

"This is the first abuse!"

Yang Jingchen's voice echoed through the hall.

"When summoning merchants to purchase fails, it then turns into conscripting merchants!"

"The second abuse: the policy is unjust — the rich evade it, the poor must serve!"

"What is called conscripting merchants means the local authorities designate a number of wealthy households, forcibly assign them quotas, restrict them to the fixed price, and compel them to deliver!"

"However, in this matter of conscripting merchants, the petty clerks manipulate it at will, and abuses have long since proliferated!"

"The great merchants and rich traders, clad in furs and brocades, spend their days at the market gates. Behind them all stand powerful patrons; the clerks dare not question them, and the runners cannot lay a hand on them!"

"Those who actually enter official service and bear the corvée are all common peddlers and impoverished wretches, drifting and vulnerable households! These people had little to begin with; once conscripted, every one of them is ruined!"

"And so, those who serve are ruined and their families destroyed, yet the horse fodder at the frontier garrisons still cannot be supplied!"

Zhu Youjian clapped his hands in admiration, already unable to wait: "Continue!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Yang Jingchen's voice had also grown somewhat rapid from agitation.

"The third abuse: deliberation misses the season, and fodder is purchased at double the price!"

"The quota for horse fodder is never a fixed number. The frontier garrisons must first report the current year's shortfall; only after the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War have reviewed and discussed it is the conscripted purchase amount finally decided."

"Yet, with bureaucratic wrangling and documents shuttling back and forth, by the time the amount is finally settled, the proper season has often long since passed!"

"In the eighth month, the price of fodder is no more than one fen of silver per bundle. But by the tenth or eleventh month, when the weather is cold and the grass withered, the price will skyrocket to four or even seven fen!"

"This going out and coming in represents a difference of several times over! The national treasury is drained to no purpose, and the root of it lies precisely here!"

"Is there more?"

Zhu Youjian could no longer stand still. He descended the imperial steps, step by step, walking toward Yang Jingchen.

Watching the Son of Heaven in his dragon robes approach him, Yang Jingchen's heart and mind surged, and his speech grew even faster!

"There is! The fourth abuse, and the greatest of them all!"

"Official predation and popular flight — the very foundations are shaken!"

"All the various abuses described above are already shocking to behold, yet the corruption of officials, manipulating things at every level, only adds frost to snow!"

"They will often set a high price to report to the court, while the price actually paid to the common households is a low one — or even… not a single coin is given!"

"And so, whenever a common household faces conscripted purchase, there is not one that does not ruin itself utterly, seeking to bribe its way out."

"Those with the slightest connections simply flee with their persons and become refugees."

"Only those middling households with nowhere to flee are forced to serve, yet after a year of bitter toil, in the end they still cannot escape the outcome of bankruptcy!"

Just as Yang Jingchen spoke these last words, Zhu Youjian's footsteps came to a halt directly before him.

The entire great hall was dead silent.

"Bravo!"

Zhu Youjian exclaimed in admiration and firmly grasped both of Yang Jingchen's hands.

"We have long dwelt deep within the palace, isolated and ill-informed, and never knew that Master possessed such loyalty and such great talent!"

"It is Our fault, Our fault indeed! We nearly let Ourself miss you, Master!"

Yang Jingchen, with both hands gripped by the Son of Heaven, was utterly stunned.

He felt only a tremendous warm current surge through his entire body; his eyes grew hot, and he nearly shed tears.

He wanted to pull free, yet dared not use force, and could only hold his hands up limply, letting the Emperor grasp them.

"Your Majesty… this subject… this subject is unworthy…"

Zhu Youjian paid no heed. He held Yang Jingchen's hands tightly and asked with earnest urgency:

"For such abusive governance, does Master have a solution?"

"Can it truly be, as that Huang Yuntai said, that we simply commute the horse fodder into silver and be done with it?"

Hearing this, Yang Jingchen instead shook his head.

"As Your Majesty has said, horse fodder must, in the end, be transported cart by cart from within the passes to beyond the passes."

"If we merely turn the fodder into silver on the account books, what use is that? It is nothing but deceiving ourselves."

At this point, Yang Jingchen hesitated a moment, and in the end swallowed back the matter of the abuses in Liaodong.

A keen light flashed in Zhu Youjian's eyes: "Then what is Master's opinion?"

Yang Jingchen drew a deep breath. He did not answer, but instead bowed deeply.

"This subject, currently overseeing the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel on a provisional basis, presumes to recommend a man to Your Majesty! He can surely purge these abuses!"

"A jinshi of the second year of Tianqi, currently serving as Prefect of Daming Prefecture, Vice Surveillance Commissioner of the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commission, and Superintendent of the Linqing Granary."

"—Lu Xiangsheng!"