Chapter 29: Truth Comes Out After Drinking
Chapter 29: Truth Comes Out After Drinking
“So, your Regional Military Commander Liu Kongyin was arrested by the court for hesitating and delaying the march because his soldiers refused to go to Liaodong and caused trouble. You are escorting his trusted aide to submit a plea in his defense.”
Yang Xin said.
They were now at a well-known entertainment establishment in the western courtyard of the famed Imperial Music Bureau.
But they were mainly drinking.
After all, it was just noon. What other interests could there be at this time? Besides, this was a proper entertainment venue, government-run by the Imperial Music Bureau. It was nothing more than finding some women to play music, sing songs, and keep them company while drinking. They were all civilized people and wouldn’t do anything else. Still, Cao Wenzhao and the others felt incredibly honored. Poor soldiers like them had no money for such high-class entertainment. A single visit here would cost at least one or two years of their army pay, assuming they even received their pay.
Because of this, they quickly opened their hearts to Yang Xin.
“It’s not that the brothers were afraid. We soldiers are meant to go to battlefields. Fighting isn’t scary; soldiers are meant to fight. Even dying on the battlefield is something we can’t complain about. But going to the battlefield shouldn’t mean we ignore our families at home! We can’t die on the battlefield only for our wives and children to starve afterward!”
Cao Wenzhao said.
“Are you Garrison Soldiers or Mercenaries?”
Yang Xin asked curiously.
“What Garrison Soldiers can still fight? They’ve almost all run away. The Nine Garrisons have been entirely Mercenaries since Emperor Shizong’s time. Garrison Soldiers just farm and hand over grain to supply the army. Those who fight are all Mercenaries. Speaking of which, their pay isn’t low. When recruited, they get a Settlement Allowance of three taels, two taels for marching provisions, and a monthly pay of one and a half taels. But that one and a half taels includes the silver equivalent of five dou of rice. All in all, it’s eighteen taels of pay a year.”
Chen Yujie beside him said.
“Young Master Chen, have another drink!”
A pretty woman beside him held up a wine cup and brought it to Chen Yujie’s lips, saying in a sweet, coquettish voice.
Chen Yujie smiled, grasped her delicate hand, and downed it in one go. The pretty woman immediately planted a shy kiss on his cheek. Young Master Chen laughed heartily. He was probably used to such places, an absolute regular. His claim of never having been here before was clearly a lie told with his eyes wide open.
“That’s not a small amount!”
Yang Xin said, pushing away the hand of the young beauty beside him.
Eighteen taels of army pay wasn’t low. According to Capital City rice prices, it was enough to feed a family of five.
“It’s only a lot if they actually get it into their hands. Who doesn’t skim something off from top to bottom? This silver comes from the Ministry of Revenue, passes through the Ministry of War to the hands of the grand coordinators and inspectors, then from them to the Regional Military Commander and various officers. Each layer takes a cut. By the time it reaches them, probably less than thirty percent remains. Otherwise, who would everyone above be feeding off? Every year, the military pay for the Nine Garrisons is a fat piece of meat, feeding everyone from top to bottom. For example, when Liu Kongyin sent people to the palace to pull strings this time, the silver definitely had to be deducted from the soldiers’ pay. He certainly wouldn’t pay it himself.
And this trouble at Xuanzhen was actually because that two taels for marching provisions was completely skimmed off. The soldiers were unhappy, and finally, the grand coordinator had to give each an extra two taels of ‘horse price silver’ to calm things down. The first batch of troops from Xuanzhen already reached Liaodong this month. They set out in April. It’s just that the situation in Liaodong is tense, and the court wants them to send more troops. But the grand coordinator doesn’t want to send any more. Xuanfu also needs to guard against the Mongolians.”
Chen Yujie said, his speech slightly slurred with drink.
“Well, there should still be six or seven taels left. That’s still seven or eight dan of rice!”
Yang Xin said.
“Brother Yang, when I set out, the rice price in Xuanzhen was already approaching four taels.”
Cao Wenzhao said with a bitter smile.
“Huh?!”
Yang Xin was stunned.
“We admit the army pay isn’t low. The pay set by the court is enough for us to support our families, even for our wives and children to eat their fill. Even if only a small portion of this pay reaches our hands, we could barely endure it. But the pay stays the same, while the rice price keeps rising day by day. We get our pay and have to buy rice from merchants. But after the salt law changed, the Merchant Military Colonies in the Nine Garrisons were completely abandoned. Military Households everywhere have fled almost completely. Locally produced grain is simply not enough; they must rely on grain merchants transporting from inside the passes.
Then the grain price depends on heaven.
In a good year, when the Nine Garrisons produce a lot of grain locally, the price falls, and we can barely support our families. In a disaster year, when local production in the Nine Garrisons is insufficient, the grain price soars.
We have to go hungry.”
Cao Wenzhao said.
“So, the key issue is still insufficient grain production in the Nine Garrisons.”
Yang Xin said.
Cao Wenzhao nodded.
“Then why doesn’t the court try to increase grain production in the Nine Garrisons?”
Yang Xin said.
“The lands in the Nine Garrisons are poor, dry, and lack water. They can’t grow rice. At best, they can grow drought-resistant crops like wheat and millet, but their yields are too low; they don’t produce much.”
Cao Wenzhao said.
“That’s all excuses! The Nine Garrisons aren’t incapable of producing grain!”
Chen Yujie said drunkenly.
After saying this, he picked up his wine cup himself and drained it. Then, swaying his head, he looked at Yang Xin with bleary, drunken eyes…
“The Nine Garrisons aren’t incapable of producing grain.
Datong, Xuanfu, Liaodong—which of these places can’t produce grain?
Take Liaodong as an example. Do you know what the grain price in Liaodong was during the Kaizhong period?
One qian. One qian of silver for one dan of rice. The court set the conversion rate for tax silver at four dan of rice per tael. But now in Liaodong, where it has risen to four taels per dan, one qian of silver per dan of rice is even lower than the court’s tax silver rate.
And this is the grain-deficient Nine Garrisons?
If they couldn’t produce grain, could it be as low as one qian per dan?
This was the Liaodong rice price in the fifth year of Emperor Zhengtong’s reign. It’s all verifiable. Is this ‘incapable of producing grain’? Liaodong has been a prosperous area since the Han dynasty. Goguryeo, the Khitans—all built their states based in Liaodong. Even outside the Liaodong Frontier Wall, the Bohai Kingdom once flourished. If they couldn’t produce grain, would they eat dirt?
But why has it now become ‘incapable of producing grain’?
If their grain was sufficient, how could the grain price rise? Who do you think is behind those grain merchants? I said before, the annual military pay for the Nine Garrisons is a fat piece of meat, the biggest piece in the Great Ming, over ten million taels a year. It’s not just those I mentioned earlier skimming from it; all the other High-ranking Officials and nobles get their share too. They aren’t involved in military affairs; they can’t directly embezzle army pay. But they can get their share through trade like grain and salt prices. The rice price is also one of the most important means. High rice prices mean big profits. Even in good years, they have to keep rice prices high. They simply sell the grain from the Nine Garrisons to the Mongolians, and even to the Jiannu. Don’t think those merchants wouldn’t collude with the enemy. The Shanxi Merchants made their fortune by colluding with the enemy. They secretly sell grain to the enemy, so grain becomes insufficient, and the rice price rises again. Those who eat from this bowl can make big money again.
Let’s be honest.
The court spends a lot of silver on the Nine Garrisons every year. The soldiers’ pay in the Nine Garrisons actually isn’t low. The Great Ming Dynasty’s system is actually good. The Emperor wouldn’t want the Nine Garrisons to rot; this Jiangshan belongs to the Emperor. But…”
Chen Yujie leaned on Yang Xin’s shoulder, spraying alcohol fumes and giggling foolishly.
He was clearly drunk. Otherwise, he wouldn’t say such things. Clearly, if one wanted to pry information from him in the future, getting him drunk would be the best method. This kind of usually serious person often goes to the other extreme once drunk.
“It’s just that the whole middle section is rotten! From the court to the local level, from civil officials to military officers, from nobles to the Gentry—all completely rotten!”
He patted Yang Xin’s shoulder, swaying and waving his other hand.
“Then how to solve it?”
Yang Xin asked, his expression unchanged.
Cao Wenzhao looked slightly embarrassed. Clearly, this man was not just a fierce general.
“Solve it? It can’t be solved!
Even if there were a way, it couldn’t be done. In our Great Ming, many things aren’t something you can just do because you want to and know how. Take growing rice in Tianjin as an example. Rice can be grown there, and it has been grown successfully. According to estimates, just cultivating the wasteland around the Tianjin area could make the capital not need grain transport from Jiangnan. But it can’t be cultivated because the Gentry of Northern Zhili all oppose it. They fear that once this happens, if Tianjin’s output isn’t enough, they will be taxed more to make up the shortfall. They all oppose it together, so ultimately, even Your Majesty is helpless.
It’s the same with the Nine Garrisons.
It’s useless no matter how much the court increases the soldiers’ pay!
It’s not about the silver at all. One and a half taels a month can’t even buy five dou of rice in Xuanfu. Will increasing it to three taels make one dan of rice affordable? Wishful thinking. If your army pay is increased to three taels a month, I can guarantee that the rice price will double the next day. Maybe you won’t even be able to buy five dou. In the 38th year of Emperor Jiajing’s reign, the highest rice price in Liaodong was eight taels per dan. Do you think four taels in Xuanfu is a lot?
You simply don’t understand what the Nine Garrisons are.
Are they the Great Ming’s shield, the Great Wall for defending against enemies?
No. The Nine Garrisons are just the money box for the entire court’s officials and the rich merchants. The Emperor fills this box with taxes collected from the whole country. They take from it and stuff it into their own pockets. The little dregs left are just enough to keep the box from breaking.
Can the court really not defeat the Jiannu?
What a joke. Qi Wuyi’s military tactics are there. The Qi Family Army isn’t completely dead yet. Plenty of those old soldiers who followed Qi Wuyi are still alive. They just need to follow the tactics. The official quota for the Nine Garrisons is 860,000, the actual number is 590,000. 590,000 Qi Family Army soldiers—crushing the Jiannu would be like squashing an ant!
But if the Jiannu are destroyed, this money box is gone too!
The High-ranking Officials of the court aren’t stupid. The Jiannu are nothing. They all know very well that the Jiannu are just a minor skin disease. But with this minor disease, the Emperor keeps pouring silver into Liaodong, into this money box, for all those feeding off it to reach in and take. Without the Jiannu, there’s no money box. Without the money box, where else would they get silver? So the Jiannu won’t be exterminated. They might even be allowed to grow stronger. The number of government troops in Liaodong will have to increase. The military funds invested there will have to increase. They might even tax the people more for it, making this money bag bigger and bigger, bigger and bigger… Bang! It bursts!”
Chen Yujie suddenly threw his head back, facing the sky, and spread his arms wide…
“I think he’s drunk!”
Yang Xin said with a serious face.
“I also think Young Master Chen has had too much to drink. He’s talking nonsense!”
Cao Wenzhao said with deep agreement.
Yang Xin quickly pulled out Chen Yujie’s wallet, took out a Silver Note from it, and directly stuffed it into the bosom of the pretty woman beside them. The latter gave a little scream, then immediately beamed with delight.