Chapter 910: Old Zhu Is Foolish

Everyone silently looked at Yu Qian—didn't they all know this?

But reputation cannot be accumulated in a single day, and monetary policy clearly cannot continue like this.

Even greater issuance of treasure notes would not only overwhelm the common people, but even officials would find it unbearable.

With treasure notes continuously depreciating, paying salaries in them would leave lower-ranking officials unable to even support their families.

If salaries are insufficient to feed a household, who knows what these officials might do?

In the end, it's the ordinary people who will suffer the most.

Chen Xun sighed: "If only the state treasury were full."

Yu Qian: "Didn't Japan return thirty-five thousand taels of silver last year?"

Chen Xun: "That money was all spent on spring planting and irrigation system repairs."

Every year, the imperial court prepares a batch of new seeds, distributes them free to each county, and the counties then pass them on to farmers for cultivation.

Pan Yun: "Aside from the evil path of raising taxes, Minister Chen, think of other ways to earn money."

Chen Xun frowned: "Every possible method has been tried. Last year saw frequent warfare, with expenditures far exceeding revenue. The imperial clan and officials have all had their salaries withheld, receiving only a single payment during the New Year—now the state treasury still owes money."

Pan Yun said pointedly: "Cutting expenses and increasing revenue are both indispensable."

Cutting expenses—officials' salaries clearly can't be cut—then it must be…

Chen Xun glanced quickly at Pan Yun, his heart stirred, but he dared not speak up.

To reduce the imperial clan's expenditures—that would be asking for death.

The regional princes would tear him apart.

Though most princes rarely interfere in politics, they still wield considerable influence; and with the precedent of the Jianwen Emperor, since Emperor Yongle, though occasional warnings have been issued, none dared go too far.

Pan Yun wasn't asking the Emperor to reduce the princedoms.

But the imperial clan's expenditures were indeed a major problem—Pan Yun asked Chen Xun to report the figures.

Chen Xun said: "Take Shanxi as an example: Prince Qingcheng has ninety-four children, one hundred sixty-three grandchildren—all receiving imperial stipends. For every wedding, funeral, or marriage, the court must grant additional favors, all drawn from their fiefs. This is only direct bloodline; there are two prior generations still alive, all dependent on stipends. Last year alone, the stipends for this branch of Prince Jin Gong consumed forty percent of Fenyang's tax revenue. After two more generations, with sons fathering sons and sons fathering grandsons, Fenyang's tax revenue won't even cover expenses—it'll have to be drawn from the state treasury."

And Prince Qingcheng is only the third generation of Prince Jin Gong—he already has great-grandchildren. Just imagining his one hundred sixty-three grandchildren, all marrying, their great-grandchildren…

He hadn't realized it before, but once he calculated, Chen Xun went blind with shock.

Why had he never thought of this before?

He looked at Pan Yun in panic.

Pan Yun said calmly: "Sons beget grandsons, grandsons beget sons—ah, it won't take two generations before Fenyang's tax revenue can no longer sustain the imperial clan, and funds must be drawn from the state treasury. Prince Qingcheng won't be the only case. Clearly, everyone's nightlife is very simple."

The Emperor: …

Empress Wang: …

Chen Xun's gaze flickered involuntarily, but Yu Qian maintained a solemn expression: "This is indeed unexpected, but we cannot stop reproduction, nor can we withhold imperial stipends."

Zhu Yuanzhang, to prevent the imperial clan from causing unrest, meddling in politics, and undermining the direct line's rule, implemented extremely strict safeguards.

He forbade imperial clan members from taking the imperial examinations, from engaging in commerce, and from leaving their fiefs without permission.

No departure from the fief without summons—a curse, meaning imperial clan members spent their entire lives confined to one place, farming.

Oh, these were the collateral branches after three generations; the direct imperial line still enjoyed great wealth and numerous privileges.

But the other descendants, constantly being separated off, received only partial landholdings.

Perhaps to compensate them, Zhu Yuanzhang established generous imperial stipends for imperial clan descendants, with no generational limit.

That is, as long as the Great Ming endures—whether after ten generations or twenty—if his name appears on the Zhu family genealogy, if he is truly an imperial clansman, he receives his stipend.

The stipend was enough to support oneself and a small family.

Thus, imperial clan members grew lazy; many, despite owning land, refused to farm, spending their days idly, waiting for their stipends.

But this was now; in two more generations, by the mid-Ming period, the state treasury would gradually become unable to bear such expenditures.

Then, they would treat imperial clan members as they now treated officials—delaying payment whenever possible, and when forced to pay, handing out a wad of depreciated treasure notes.

At that time, the lower-tier imperial clan members, having lost all means of survival, would sink into destitution.

The Great Ming even saw cases where lower-tier imperial clan members starved to death, unable to afford even a coffin for burial.

Since this point has been raised, why not reform now? After all, it's not yet too late.

Acting now would allow reform while also deploying talents trained in the imperial clan academy.

But we must still discuss how to prevent these people from seizing power and profit.

Indeed, as soon as Pan Yun raised the issue, not only did the Emperor resist, but Chen Xun also strongly opposed.

Pan Yun smiled and asked: "This is merely this Daoist's idea—whether it's feasible, how to implement it, that's the Emperor's and the court's decision. Having finished discussing expense cuts, let's talk revenue."

Pan Yun said: "If private trade flourishes, commercial taxes will bring in substantial income. The maritime ban has been lifted for half a year; in another half year, Your Majesty can examine customs duties. Also, Your Majesty possesses numerous imperial estates and shops—if managed well, why should the inner treasury rely on the state treasury? If the Emperor is wealthy, the realm is wealthy."

Yu Qian glanced quickly at Pan Yun, then bowed his head in flattery: "The State Preceptor speaks wisely—when the Emperor is wealthy, the realm is wealthy."

The Emperor understood: they were telling him to replace the officials managing his private affairs, to earn more money.

Yu Qian reminded him: "Yet, Your Majesty already possesses the wealth of the realm; your actions must not compete with the people for profit—this is also the ancestral decree of the Great Ancestor."

This was indeed the Great Ancestor's ancestral decree.

Zhu Yuanzhang was a contradiction.

Many of his policies suppressed the imperial clan and nobility from competing with the people for profit, yet he simultaneously enacted policies that stifled the people's economic development.

He was an emperor with a simplistic vision of universal harmony, yet deeply affectionate toward his own descendants.

He used his own life as a peasant as the benchmark, believing farmers, merchants, and officials alike needed only enough to eat and drink; thus, he rigidly set behavioral standards, adjusting his own grain rations slightly upward for everyone.

He wanted everyone to remain within this box, so that after paying taxes, the people's remaining grain and money would barely suffice for subsistence;

Officials' salaries would barely exceed subsistence;

And his descendants? They must not disturb the Emperor or oppress the people, but they could always eat well, with the entire nation feeding the imperial clan, for a thousand generations.

But Old Zhu was foolish.

These people aren't cloth dolls—how could every one of them walk the path he set for them?

He thought that strict laws and harsh punishments could intimidate everyone, keep them all confined within the box, and that the world could keep running this way forever.

He didn't know that desire drives humanity ever forward, and restraining desire drives the whole of society forward.

While he was still alive, the box he'd drawn could no longer hold people in.

Let alone now?