Chapter 87: The Ming Civil and Military Nobility Eagerly Donate Money

The Emperor did not wish to continue that topic in depth, and Xue Guoguan knew better than to press further.

He could only forcibly suppress the raging waves in his heart and pull his thoughts back to the matter of road-building.

Since the Emperor was unwilling to provide funds, only one path remained.

This was a proposal he had prepared long ago, but one he was reluctant to voice lightly unless there was truly no alternative.

He gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, "In reply to Your Majesty, this matter... in fact, there are long-established precedents to follow."

"Oh?" Zhu Youjian raised an eyebrow.

Xue Guoguan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this matter can follow the old precedents of the Three Great Campaigns of the Wanli era, requesting the noble houses and the hundred officials in the capital to donate a portion of their salaries to assist the works. In this way, although we may not be able to raise the full four hundred thousand taels, it should be sufficient, I believe, to first build a Chaoyang Gate Avenue."

At these words, Zhu Youjian nearly burst out laughing on the spot.

What?

Get the noble houses and the hundred officials to donate money?

Are you joking with His Majesty?

Do you think I am that Chongzhen who, twelve years from now, waited for the noble houses and officials to send money, waited until his eyes strained with longing, and only got his son's death from illness?

I am the Yongchang Emperor!

He instinctively wanted to open his mouth and refute this absurd proposal, but the words reached his lips and he forcibly swallowed them back down.

Some memories belonging to the original "Zhu Youjian" within this body had been activated.

A moment later, the look of mockery on his face gradually froze.

Because he discovered with a shock that in the first month of this very year, he, the former Prince Xin Zhu Youjian, had just donated six thousand three hundred taels of silver for the Three Great Works!

Furthermore, the first member of the Ming imperial clan to attain the jinshi degree had likewise donated silver to assist the works, and the rest of the capital's noble houses, the inner and outer hundred officials, the regional princes, and so on, had all donated without exception.

Zhu Youjian's face was filled with disbelief, and he asked in a tone that bordered on the absurd, "Minister Xue, this matter... can it truly be done?"

Seeing the Emperor react so strangely, Xue Guoguan was instead somewhat puzzled.

"Your Majesty, why could it not be done? In the times of the Shenmiao and Sumiao Emperors, when the Three Great Halls were being built, it was standard practice for the noble houses and hundred officials to donate salaries and materials."

"Not only in the capital, but the regional princes, noble houses, and civil officials in the provinces would also open their purses to help."

He seemed to think the Emperor was skeptical, and added, "Of course, for this road-building in the capital, asking the regional princes and provincial officials to donate would indeed be contrary to reason."

"But to ask only the noble houses and hundred officials in the capital to contribute funds is absolutely without issue."

"There are even precedents of those from wealthy families donating tens of thousands in gold."

"Tens of thousands in gold?!" Zhu Youjian was truly shocked this time. "Who was it? So utterly... devoted to the affairs of state!?"

A look of reminiscence and emotion appeared on Xue Guoguan's face.

"Such a sum is indeed rare. However, this incident happened to occur in the year this subject passed the metropolitan examination, and therefore I remember it with particular clarity."

As he recalled, he said, "That person was Master Wu Jiong of Songjiang Prefecture in the Southern Metropolitan Region."

"In the forty-seventh year of Wanli, the Liaodong campaign met with defeat. The Battle of Sarhu shook the entire realm."

"Master Wu, troubled by the nation's affairs, thereupon donated twenty thousand in gold to aid the border payroll, and further stated clearly that he did not wish to seek office through this. His lofty virtue and integrity were extolled throughout the land."

Zhu Youjian fell silent.

In his heart, waves surged even more violently than before.

In the forty-seventh year of Wanli, someone was willing to donate twenty thousand in gold just to aid the payroll.

Yet why, a mere twenty-some years later, by the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, had all the noble houses and civil officials of the Great Ming become so miserly they would not part with a single feather, watching with cold eyes as he hanged himself on Coal Hill?

What exactly had happened in those seventeen years?

But regardless, he should be able to gather a batch of silver through this method now, right?

No... this matter cannot be done this way.

At the very least, it cannot be done entirely according to Xue Guoguan's method.

Zhu Youjian pondered for a moment, still feeling that this method was not quite right. Even if it could be used, it should not be used in this way.

"Minister Xue, the matter of donations is feasible. But the approach must be altered."

He spoke slowly, his mind already made up.

"First, I cannot issue this silver under the name of the privy purse, but I can donate thirty thousand taels under the name of 'Grain-Silver from the Two Palaces' Military Farmlands,' to set an example."

"The grain-silver from the Two Palaces' military farmland is drawn from the imperial estates. In the past, it has often been used for building bridges and roads and for relieving disaster victims. Using it now in the capital for these road works is not inappropriate."

"Second, regarding the matter of the noble houses donating silver, I will personally seek out the Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, to discuss it, and have him take the lead in handling it."

"Third, the civil officials' silver donations cannot be treated uniformly. Otherwise, for the corrupt, it will be a drop in the bucket, doing no harm; while the honest and upright will be ruined by it. That is not the way I care for my subjects."

He turned his head and instructed Gao Shiming, who had been standing in attendance nearby, "Companion Gao, tomorrow, have Wang Tiqian enter the palace to see me. The matter of the civil officials' silver donations, I will entrust to him to handle."

Having done all this, he turned back to face Xue Guoguan, reached out, and patted him on the shoulder.

"As for the matter of funds, although I cannot provide the full amount under the name of the privy purse, I will personally take the lead in resolving matters for you one by one."

"And what you must do is to carry out this task for me solidly and clearly!"

He paused, and in those young eyes burned a blazing fire.

"As I said just now, I will give you all the support you need!"

"Minister Xue, do not disappoint me!"

In that moment, Xue Guoguan felt an indescribable warmth surge through his entire body.

He had, in fact, already prepared himself to face the entire court head-on, and had not expected the greatest pressure to be lifted all at once.

How could he ever repay such recognition and favor!

The last trace of doubt and reservation in his heart vanished completely in that instant. All that remained was the resolve and emotion of a man willing to die for the one who truly knows him.

He stepped back, and with the utmost solemnity, performed a grand prostration before Zhu Youjian.

"This subject will never fail the trust Your Majesty has placed in him!"

Zhu Youjian watched Xue Guoguan's upright, vigorous figure, brimming with boundless drive, slowly disappear beyond the palace gates, and a satisfied smile spread across his face.

When today's audience began, he had thought it was simply a matter of money.

He had not expected it to branch into the matter of "governance abuses," and then further into the business of "donating salaries."

Yet the outcome was excellent — not only had he seized upon a small loose thread of reform.

Later, he could extend this thread toward practical achievements, toward local governance — the pace, fast or slow, would be entirely at his discretion.

And it had also given him a piece of good news — were the ennobled and martial elites of the Great Ming, at this juncture in time, perhaps not so rotten after all?

Yet for some reason, he could not shake the feeling that today's somewhat chaotic audience carried a strange familiarity.

He sat back down on the dragon throne behind the imperial desk, picked up the now-lukewarm tea, and racked his brains.

Where had he seen this before…

A thought, like a lightning bolt splitting the dark night, without the slightest warning, suddenly slashed into his mind!

It couldn't be you?!

That same ill-fated Chief Grand Secretary in the histories, who with just such soaring spirit proposed to the Chongzhen Emperor a levy of donations from the capital's ennobled and official ranks to raise military funds — and who, in the end, for this very matter, had his head cut off by Chongzhen?!

Could it be… could it be that that absurd Chief Grand Secretary was you, Xue Guoguan?!!!

There is far too much historical material on donations for me to paste it all. I am attaching two images — they show the number of search results for "donating salaries" and "donating silver" in the Wanli and Tianqi Veritable Records.

During this period, this practice was indeed very prevalent; there were even local offices that donated an entire year's salary at once. (I dare not imagine how fiercely they must have plundered afterward to make up for it.)