Chapter 41: A Moment of Silent Mourning
Chapter 41: A Moment of Silent Mourning
“I will see you amidst thorns and troubles!”
This shout made Sun Chuanting and Chen Yujie behind him both change their expressions…
“Brother Yang, are you just trying to scare us?”
Sun Chuanting said.
“Just trying to scare you? War requires money. To get money, taxes must be raised. Since the gentry cannot be taxed and may even evade taxes, then who should be taxed? Wealthy merchants like him? His uncle is a Junior Advisor of the Left. He is a Government Student. His family’s connections through marriage are all powerful local strongmen. Taxing them would likely be very difficult too. Just the accusation of ‘contending with the people for profit’ would be enough to give the Emperor a headache. Moreover, these wealthy people all have connections in the official circles. What is the Donglin Faction? Aren’t they supported by them? What is the essence of court factional strife? Isn’t it the struggle between the two major groups of landlords and merchants? Why do the Mining Supervisors and Tax Supervisors stir such public resentment? Who are the ‘people’ in that resentment? Could it be commoners like me, who have no land and no business? I have nothing on me worth their targeting.
He is the one who is ‘the people’!”
Yang Xin pointed at Chen Yujie and said.
The latter waved his Folding Fan with an awkward expression.
“Landlord gentry cannot be moved. Industrial and commercial gentry are also not easy to provoke. So, who is easy to bully in the end? The farmers who scratch a living from the soil!”
Yang Xin said.
Sun Chuanting seemed thoughtful.
“But if farmers were really that easy to bully, wouldn’t Taizu, our founding emperor, have been a farmer?”
Yang Xin said.
“I already understand what you mean, Brother Yang. You believe the Great Ming is not fair. The gentry control the land but do not pay taxes. Merchants control wealth but also do not pay taxes. In the end, only the poorest farmers pay taxes. This is indeed unfair. But court officials are all colluded with the gentry and merchants. This unfairness cannot be changed. And the Jiannu threat will inevitably force the court to increase taxes.
In fact, they already have increased them.
Last year, the Liao Province Military Tax was added, three and a half li per mu of land.
You believe this unfairness will eventually destroy the Great Ming, making it repeat the fate of past dynasties.
But in reality, this has not changed the era of Great Ming prosperity. Grain prices in the Capital City have risen slightly, yet still haven’t exceeded one tael per dan. The famine in Shandong has also passed. Grain Tribute Boats on the Grand Canal still come one after another, fully loaded with grain. And the Jiannu are merely a skin rash of an illness. Although Yang Gao’s misjudgment caused defeat in Liaodong, what more can the Jiannu do? Can they seize Shenyang, or even Liaoyang? What the Great Ming lost was merely the insignificant Fushun Pass. The Jiannu have merely opened a breach in the Liaodong Frontier Wall. Shenyang city still stands tall. Military Commissioner Xiong is about to go to Liaodong. Elite soldiers and fierce generals from various regions are also reinforcing Liaodong. The Jiannu have at most tens of thousands of troops. How can they withstand the full force of the Great Ming? Once Liaodong is pacified, even the Liao Province Military Tax will be abolished.
The people may not live in great wealth, but their food and clothing are still secure!
So, why should things be changed?
People always have distinctions between rich and poor, noble and humble. Instead of getting entangled with fairness, it’s better to strive upwards to make oneself superior.
I, Sun, can succeed through studying. Brother Chen can get rich through business. So why must others demand equality with us? Then what is the point of our hard work studying and doing business? Since you, Brother Yang, want fairness, letting us, the ‘successful people’ as you call them, be the same as commoners—is that fair to us? As for the gentry not paying taxes being wrong, they control the localities for the court. Without the gentry, would a single County Magistrate manage a hundred li of land? The local peace of the Great Ming relies on them. Merchants indeed try every way not to pay taxes, but seeking profit is their nature. All that’s needed is for the court to manage them properly.
But neither the gentry nor the merchants have harmed the Great Ming’s prosperity.
The people can still stay warm and fed. No sign of catastrophic collapse is seen. The Jiannu border trouble is not enough to let barbarian dust stain the Central Plains again. So why should there be ‘I will see you amidst thorns and troubles’?”
Sun Chuanting said.
Right at that moment, cries and shouts arose from outside.
The three of them hurriedly stood up and moved to the window to look out. They saw countless people, dragging their families along, pouring in through the city gate with cries and shouts. The vast majority of them had nothing in their hands. Many didn’t even have proper clothes. Like a tsunami washing garbage into a coastal commercial district, they instantly ruined the city’s bustling prosperity. And most looked like they had been starving for a long time. Seeing people, they cried and knelt down, begging for alms…
“What happened?”
Sun Chuanting shouted down to a waiter who had stepped outside.
“Customers, a flood has broken out outside the city!”
The waiter said.
He subconsciously turned his head…
“You forgot there are also natural disasters!”
Yang Xin said beside him, sounding like a prophet.
Sun Chuanting finally left in a hurry.
“This is the ruling class!”
Yang Xin said with emotion.
Sun Chuanting was a smart official. He knew to protect the interests of his own class. He wouldn’t act like Hai Gangfeng. Moreover, he was a standard northern official, protecting the interests of the landed gentry. If absolutely forced, he would first target the industrial and commercial gentry. But making him truly protect the interests of the bottom-level commoners—this he could not do. At most, he would try to get rid of the Liao Province Military Tax for the common people. He wouldn’t do more than that.
He knew that doing more would bring no good result for himself.
But this didn’t mean he didn’t understand. In the original history, facing the final rotten situation in Guanzhong, he finally couldn’t bear it and took action against the gentry.
But by then, it was already useless.
And he was precisely because of this schemed to death by the gentry.
“Your thoughts are getting more and more dangerous!”
Chen Yujie said from the side.
“I say what I think. Our Great Ming doesn’t go so far as to punish people for their words. Besides, that man isn’t the type who likes to inform. I actually think he’s quite good. Knowing I’m just a Commoner, he still continued to drink with me, called me brother, and discussed things. He isn’t that kind of pedantic Confucian scholar. Before my neighbor knew I had connections with the Fang family, he wouldn’t even give me face when I invited him for a drink. He was just a failed Provincial Graduate, yet his attitude was even more arrogant than this new Jinshi. Sun Chuantian is a lot like you in this regard; both are gentlemen. For instance, me talking about you like this, and you still haven’t severed ties with me!”
Yang Xin, who was observing a three-second moment of silent mourning for Sun Chuanting, said.
“So you know these things too!”
Chen Yujie said plaintively.
“Also, was it you who did something to Young Master Wang?”
He immediately followed up.
“No. If you don’t believe me, go back and ask Xiaocao. I was sleeping at home all last night!”
Yang Xin flatly denied.
This sort of thing absolutely could not be admitted.
“I still believe you. You couldn’t do something like this alone, unless you partnered with Cao Wenzhao. But last night Cao Wenzhao was by Xiong Tingbi’s side. I stayed there overnight too because it was too late. As for your ‘Strategy to Pacify Liaodong,’ according to Xiong Tingbi, aside from the idea of setting fire to the mountains being quite novel, the other points were either clichés or impossible to implement. Cracking down on smuggling is essential, but mass migration is a major issue he has no authority to decide, and it’s also very hard to carry out. The gentry within the passes won’t agree. It’s difficult no matter where they go. Installing Li Zong as the king of Joseon—this is even less something he can decide, though he quite agrees with the idea. The current Joseon king is two-faced and indeed not trustworthy. As for building a city at Haishenwei, that also needs investigation first.
Pacifying the Wild Jurchens also has merit.
In short, he will draft another memorial to report parts of the content to His Majesty.
There’s probably still some hope.
But he did show interest in recruiting me. I know a bit about building fortresses and casting Cannons. He wants me to go with him to Liaodong to advise on military affairs. I’m thinking about whether to go or not.”
Chen Yujie said.
“Then you should go!”
Yang Xin said.
“But my uncle is preparing to submit a memorial, advising His Majesty to train a New Army, and to purchase Cannons from Macau and hire cannoneers to arm this New Army. He plans to train twenty thousand elite troops, entirely following Western methods, even hiring a group of officers from Macau.”
Chen Yujie said.
“Isn’t the military art of Qi Jiguang enough for the Great Ming?”
Yang Xin said.
“But taking the strong points of others to make up for our shortcomings is always good.”
Chen Yujie said.
“But is your uncle’s word effective? His idea is good, but his word doesn’t carry weight! Even if His Majesty truly ordered him to train the New Army, do you think he could succeed? Whose rice bowls would this move of his break? Buying weapons from Europeans in Macau—what will the corrupt officials in the Ministry of Works do? If all the money goes to you, how can the northern officials bear it? They have no connections in Macau either; they can’t compete even if they want to. At that time, they only need to cut off your uncle’s military pay, and your uncle will have to give up! Following him is useless. He’ll be taken down by others within days!”
Yang Xin said.
Xu Guangqi, full of passion, trained troops in Tongzhou. Then the Ministry of War gave him no pay and no weapons. Moreover, they only selected seven thousand old, weak, sick, or disabled Military Households for him, with only about two thousand capable of wielding weapons. A bunch of Censors in court also denounced him.
Furious, he had no choice but to resign in disgrace again.
Of course, such matters weren’t that pure either.
Because purchasing European Cannons could fatten the compradors. Later, the Great Ming court’s Cannons bought from Macau had prices inflated several times over. But this couldn’t be used to blame Xu Guangqi and others. After all, they were also part of the Great Ming officialdom, so they had to follow the rules. They still had to give gifts to a bunch of people inside and outside the palace! They couldn’t possibly pay out of their own pockets, right?
“But what can I do in Liaodong?”
Chen Yujie was somewhat hesitant.
“What position did Xiong Tingbi offer you?”
Yang Xin asked.
“He said he could manage to get me a position as a Court of Imperial Sacrifices Academician, seventh rank. But it’s not certain. He could only say he’d try his best, after all, I’m not even a Provincial Scholar.”
Chen Yujie said.
“There you go. Your uncle is only sixth rank. You’re only one rank lower than him, what more do you want? Xiong Tingbi is extremely popular and trusted now. All court officials, even the Emperor, have high hopes for him, waiting for him to turn the tide in Liaodong and save the Great Ming from crisis. If he says he’ll get you a Court of Imperial Sacrifices Academician position, there’s definitely no problem. Suddenly you’ll be at the same rank as Sun Chuanting. After going to Liaodong, don’t worry about anything else at first. Just urge Xiong Tingbi to burn the mountains. It’s summer now. You’ll arrive there around autumn. And the Jiannu can’t take Shenyang in a short time. At most, they’ll bypass Shenyang and capture Kaiyuan and Tieling. As long as Shenyang isn’t lost, they’ll remain blocked in the mountains and forests. Then comes the northwest wind. Pick a windy day and start a big fire around Fushun Pass. If the fire doesn’t reach Hetu Ala, I’ll perform eating bugs on the spot!”
Yang Xin said excitedly.
Starting a forest fire in Fushun, with no control at all… if it didn’t burn to Xinbin, he really would perform eating bugs on the spot…
Fried mountain scorpions are also delicious food.