Chapter 384: Controversy

The speaker was Shi Bangyao, Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

This renowned minister had been dispatched by Zhu Youjian to Henan Province after the Xinyang Prefecture incident broke out, tasked specifically with overseeing local officials' relocation and settlement of disaster victims—a mission that kept him away for nearly a year, and he only returned to the capital at the end of the tenth year of Chongzhen.

"Minister Shi, whatever suggestions you have, speak freely!"

"Your Majesty, I believe that while the Chief Grand Secretary's several measures are workable, speaking from my own office's perspective, if officials continue to use travel permits to lodge at post stations, enjoying state funds for private benefit, and with personal connections still at play, there will still be many instances of fraudulent use—this is truly only treating the symptoms! Therefore, I suggest we directly abolish travel permits and instead issue stipends according to official rank, to prevent others from abusing permits to reap unearned benefits. This is my humble opinion, and I beg Your Majesty to consider it!"

Shi Bangyao's proposal came from the perspective of his own professional experience.

He knew the atmosphere of the Great Ming officialdom all too well—Wen Tiren's proposal to inspect travel permits seemed reasonable on the surface, but in fact still left plenty of loopholes to exploit.

The web of personal connections in officialdom was the greatest obstacle.

A low-ranking station master without any official grade could hardly resist someone who barged in under the banner of some high official.

Under intimidation from certain people, ninety-nine out of a hundred station masters would choose to turn a blind eye—after all, it wasn't their own money being spent, so why offend someone with power and influence?

And if one wanted to prevent this kind of wasteful expenditure of public funds, the Censorate's oversight would be indispensable.

But that task was far too difficult—with the Censorate's current strength, it simply could not be done.

The number of post stations in the Great Ming was simply too great—nearly two thousand stations spread across more than a dozen provinces. How many censors would be needed, how much time would it take, to supervise them all?

But the flaws in the system could not simply be ignored, and after pondering for a long while, Shi Bangyao finally hit upon this solution.

Shi Bangyao's proposal made Zhu Youjian's eyes light up—this suggestion had something of the later-age flavor of converting hidden subsidies into open ones. If it could be smoothly implemented, the post stations' commercial character would be strengthened, and management would have fewer troubles and loopholes.

But doing it now would likely face resistance from the entire body of officials.

Nearly all officials believed that the post stations belonged to the court, that staying there for free was a matter of official prestige and dignity—why should they have to spend their own money to serve the court?

Even with subsidies it wouldn't do—word getting out would be a loss of face, and their face was the court's face; if they lost face, it was the same as the court losing face.

It wasn't a question of money, it was face, understand? Face was greater than heaven.

So, although Shi Bangyao's suggestion was good, it could not be implemented for the time being.

Sure enough, before Zhu Youjian could tactfully express his own view, voices of opposition had already risen in the hall, with reasoning exactly matching what he had anticipated.

"Your Majesty, I do not concur with Censor-in-Chief Shi's proposal!"

The one speaking in opposition was Yang Sichang, Minister of War.

"The regulation of post stations receiving court officials has existed for a long time—it is precisely this practice that distinguishes officials from ordinary people. All officials under heaven serve the court, and the post stations are state property—how can there be talk of the court demanding payment from officials? If this measure were implemented, word spreading out would invite the world's ridicule and would wound the dignity of all officials under heaven—it is utterly inadvisable!"

Yang Sichang shook his head as he spoke, his expression one of considerable displeasure.

"I second the Minister of War's words! Even in times of past hardship this was never done; now that the court's finances are greatly comfortable and will only grow more abundant in the future, how can we under such circumstances enact such an unrighteous measure? Censor-in-Chief Shi is mistaken!"

Hou Xun also stepped forward to express his opposition, and his reasoning was even more thorough.

When the court was poor, it never did such a thing—so why, now that there was money, did it start counting pennies?

"I concur with the Minister's argument. The Chief Grand Secretary's proposal is already extremely workable, and I believe officials across the realm will comply accordingly, but Censor-in-Chief Shi's suggestion goes too far! I second the Chief Grand Secretary's proposal, and beg Your Majesty to deliberate carefully!"

Fan Jingwen, who rarely voiced opinions, also stepped forward, unequivocally siding with Yang Sichang and Hou Xun.

Among the remaining senior ministers, Wen Tiren was already displeased with Shi Bangyao for opposing him; though he did not explicitly support Yang Sichang, his silence was already the clearest form of expression.

As for Sun Chuanting and Chen Qiyu, though both felt somewhat dissatisfied with Shi Bangyao's proposal, having participated in court deliberations too few times, they did not wish to make enemies right off the bat, and so both tacitly chose to remain uncommitted.

The two Junior Stewards of the Court of Agriculture, Yan Junshan and Song Yingxing, being of too low rank and attending their first deliberation, dared not express any stance at all.

"Hmph! The postal relay system consumes a massive amount of state funds every year, and a considerable portion of that is spent by officials themselves. If my proposal were adopted, we could save a great deal of silver annually! Though the state's finances are now somewhat comfortable, how many starving people still await the court's money and grain for resettlement? If we can save one tael, the people will have one tael more to spare. We who daily live in silks and fine foods—must we truly snatch food from the mouths of the common folk?"

Shi Bangyao glared at Yang Sichang and fired off his questions in succession.

"Censor-in-Chief Shi goes too far! The court has its own dedicated funds for settling disaster victims—where is this talk of snatching food from their mouths? If we followed your reasoning, then we should all live exactly as commoners do? What I said just now was speaking to the matter at hand—the Censor-in-Chief should not be so quick to pin charges!"

Facing Shi Bangyao's interrogation, Yang Sichang rebutted without the slightest sign of weakness.

"Enough, enough! Let none of you argue further! Minister Shi's words come from wholehearted devotion to the state, and what the rest of you have said also carries some reason—let the matter end here! Now let us turn to the proper business! Minister Yan, Minister Song, what proposals or observations do the two of you have to offer?"

Zhu Youjian waved his hand to halt the argument, then called upon the two men from the Court of Agriculture who were attending a deliberation for the first time.

"Your Majesty, what we two have to report concerns the affairs of our court, and it bears some connection to the resettlement of disaster victims as well. We beg Your Majesty's leave to speak!"

Upon hearing the Emperor call their names, Yan Junshan and Song Yingxing, who had sat in silence the entire time, hastily rose. After exchanging a glance, Yan Junshan bowed and began his report.

"Your Majesty, after the Chief Grand Secretary repeatedly brought up Your Majesty's emphasis on agriculture, I, along with Junior Steward Song and Steward Wen, reviewed the relevant books and documents of all previous dynasties, and after several rounds of discussion and consultation with the Grand Minister of Agriculture, we have decided to designate the Jingxiang region as the foundation base for our dynasty's grain production, to be developed in full. In this way, the region will become another key point for settling disaster victims—disaster victims from Henan Province can migrate to this area at close range, which will also greatly reduce various costs to the court. We have made rough calculations: the unreclaimed land in Jingxiang amounts to several hundred thousand qing, and its agricultural and aquatic output would be sufficient to support several million or even more disaster victims in settling there. We humbly request Your Majesty's decision, that our court may send personnel to Jingxiang to guide farmers in intensive cultivation, and once success is achieved, the practice can be promoted comprehensively!"

There is a widely known saying in later ages: "When Huguang ripens, all under heaven is fed"—but that phrase only appeared in the mid-to-late Qing dynasty.

Though the Lianghu region had been developed since the Qin and Han dynasties, by now Huguang Province had already become the Great Ming's main grain-producing region, with its rice forming a major component of the tribute grain.

But up to the present, because the population explosion of a hundred-plus years later had not yet occurred, the Jingxiang region still had vast tracts of farmland that had not been developed.

After reviewing a large quantity of archives and comparing them with Huguang's current population figures, Yan Junshan and the others finally reached the conclusion of comprehensively developing the waterway-dense Jingxiang region.

"Excellent! Though the Court of Agriculture was only recently reestablished, it has shown such farsighted vision in overall planning—truly worthy of praise! You may submit this matter as a routine memorial, and once the Directorate of Ceremonial issues its red endorsement, it can be implemented! I trust you will devote yourselves to the task, work steadily and diligently, and when success is achieved, I will certainly not stint on rewards and promotions! Return to your seats!"

Yan Junshan's proposal put Zhu Youjian in excellent spirits.

The Court of Agriculture's work efficiency earned his genuine admiration.

To think of piloting farmland yield increases in the capital region within such a short time, and then immediately proposing the comprehensive development of Jingxiang—and both measures were targeted and purposeful, not merely bids for his attention. Even just for this attitude of practical dedication, they deserved hearty praise.

The rapid development of overseas trade in the late Ming directly drove the swift rise of handicraft industries in the Jiangnan region.

Every day, vast quantities of silk, tea, porcelain, raw silk, cotton cloth, and other products were loaded onto ships and sent to the various countries of the Eastern and Western Oceans, bringing back in return enormous amounts of silver and other goods and materials the Great Ming needed.

But this great boom in commerce and handicrafts also caused the cultivated acreage of Jiangnan's main grain-producing regions to shrink rapidly.

Driven by enormous profits, gentry and great households alike, as well as common folk, all rushed to convert their fine farmland into mulberry fields in exchange for higher returns.

Where once "Suzhou and Songjiang ripened, all under heaven was fed," now Suzhou and Songjiang themselves had to be sustained by grain from Huguang.

The great development of Jingxiang was precisely an effective complement to the growth of the commodity economy.

It seemed the intensity and speed of migration from Henan into Huguang needed to be increased.

Huguang did not lack grain, and it bordered Henan—migrating at close range would save the authorities considerable cost.

At present, Henan's disaster victims were indeed migrating toward the Huguang area, but they had not penetrated deep into the Jingxiang region, only settling in the relatively water-abundant zones along the two provinces' border.

"Issue edicts to the Governor of Henan and the Governor of Huguang, ordering them to arrange for relevant personnel to coordinate, prepare vacant lands, and expand the number and speed of migrants as quickly as possible! Minister Wen, the Health Bureau is to organize multiple medical teams carrying sufficient medicines, dispatched separately to Henan and Huguang, to handle epidemic prevention and disease control—the necessary expenses are to be drawn from the Taicang treasury! As for the settlement of disaster victims, I will also allocate silver from the privy purse to the two provinces' authorities!"

Wen Tiren rose, clasped his hands, and accepted the decree, all the while calculating in his mind where it would be most fitting to send Wen Kan to earn merit.

Better to keep it in the capital region.

The development of Jingxiang hasn't even begun yet; by the time everything is fully prepared, at least several months will have passed.

The current season is just right for spring plowing. The capital region is close to the Emperor and within his own sphere of control—if any need arises, he can lend a hand in a short time.

By the time the Bureau of Agriculture and Sericulture succeeds in its trial planting in the capital region, the Jingxiang matters will have just gotten underway. Then Wen Kan can be sent to get involved there, striving to earn merit on both fronts.

Just as Zhu Youjian and his chief ministers were deliberating on affairs of state, at the Tianjin Guard wharf, two hundred li southeast of the capital, more than a dozen great ships of several thousand liao burden each slowly cast off from the dock one after another, then headed south along the coastline.

This was the fleet led by Zheng Zhifeng and Fang Yizhi, dispatched on a mission to the Western Seas. Several of the ships carried two hundred selected orphans, along with four hundred Embroidered Uniform Guard officers as escorts; the remaining vessels were laden with various supplies to sustain the several hundred people along the journey.

Zheng Zhifeng's fleet would sail all the way south, then stop at Hangzhou and Fuzhou to rendezvous with the large commercial fleets waiting there, forming a massive armada before setting out together for the Western Seas.

After more than half a year of planning and preparation, this fleet—the largest of the Great Ming since Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Seas—laden with a dazzling array of goods and books, and carrying Zhu Youjian's hopes, finally set sail.

If all goes smoothly, when they return several years hence, they will bring advanced technology and ideas back to the Great Ming, while also spreading the brilliance of Han civilization to every place they pass, letting those ignorant peoples know that in this world there exists a nation as powerful, prosperous, wise, and civilized as the Great Ming.