Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

"How much silver is left in my private treasury?"

"Your Majesty, a total of two million seven hundred thousand taels of silver."

Hearing the specific number, Zhu You樘 clenched his fists.

It turned out that not only was the national treasury empty, but even the emperor's private treasury had little money.

Zhu You樘 said expressionlessly, "Withdraw one million taels of silver from the private treasury and issue it as rewards to the soldiers of the陷阵营 (Xiàn Zhèn Yíng, 'Camp of Breaking Through the Enemy Lines')."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wang Zhi accepted the order.

Then Zhu You樘 turned around and looked at the civil and military officials on the city wall.

"Collect the heads of Ma Wensheng and Qiu Yue, and send them to the Nine Border Garrisons as a warning to others!"

"Xu Pu, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, the four of you will return to the cabinet with me to discuss matters."

"As for the others, all of you go and clean up the battlefield for me!"

After saying that, Zhu You樘 walked straight down the city wall.

The remaining civil and military officials looked at each other, not understanding what Zhu You樘 meant by cleaning up the battlefield.

Liu Jian was first stunned, then shocked, and quickly caught up with Zhu You樘's pace.

"Your Majesty, what about Wang Shu? He is also a Grand Secretary of the cabinet!"

"Not anymore. I will not allow him to enter the cabinet."

Zhu You樘 felt annoyed when he remembered that Wang Shu dared to question his orders on his first day in court.

Zhu You樘 would never allow such a disobedient troublemaker to join the cabinet.

Liu Jian was shocked and looked at a loss.

Zhu You樘 glanced at him: "What? Does Grand Secretary Liu have any objections?"

Liu Jian stopped, his face pale: "I dare not!"

Zhu You樘 didn't stop, walked straight down the city wall, got on the imperial carriage, and returned to the palace.

Huai En, Wang Zhi, and Mou Bin accompanied him.

"Wang Zhi, go and summon Gao Shun to the palace to discuss matters, and arrange for the 陷阵营 (Xiàn Zhèn Yíng) to set up camp and rest near the capital."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Mou Bin, let the Embroidered Uniform Guards supervise the officials and make sure they clean up the battlefield properly. They are not allowed to return to the palace until it is clean."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wang Zhi and Mou Bin left to carry out their orders, leaving only Huai En by Zhu You樘's side.

Zhu You樘 frowned, thinking about how to quickly get some silver back for the Great Ming.

Killing people is easy, collecting silver is difficult.

...

On the city wall.

Liu Jian stayed where he was, and Xu Pu, Wang Shu, Xie Qian, and Li Dongyang walked over.

"Xi Xian, what's going on with His Majesty?" Xu Pu asked first.

Liu Jian looked at Wang Shu, smiled bitterly, and said apologetically: "Minister Wang, His Majesty... will not allow you to enter the cabinet."

"Ah?"

"How could this be?"

"This..."

The other three looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

Only Wang Shu remained calm, as if this matter had little impact on him.

"It doesn't matter. The Minister of Personnel is originally a high-ranking official, in charge of the promotion and assessment of all officials. Even if His Majesty does not allow me to enter the cabinet, I can still shine and contribute to the Great Ming Dynasty."

Xu Pu nodded, his tone a little colder: "In that case, Minister Wang, by His Majesty's order, we must excuse ourselves."

"Please." Wang Shu cupped his hands.

Xu Pu, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian returned the salute and walked down the city wall together.

Liu Jian still felt a little regret in his heart. The loss of an experienced veteran like Wang Shu was a great loss to the cabinet.

Just after the four Grand Secretaries left, a large number of Embroidered Uniform Guards climbed onto the city wall, scaring the civil and military officials.

Mou Bin walked onto the city wall, scanned the ministers, and said loudly: "Gentlemen, His Majesty has ordered you to go down the city and clean up the battlefield."

"You will not be allowed to go home until it is cleaned up."

The officials could hardly believe their ears!

Since they wore this official uniform, when had they ever done cleaning work?

"What?! There's such a thing!"

"What does His Majesty mean?!"

"This... this... this is outrageous, outrageous!"

"..."

The officials naturally had a million reasons to be unwilling, but after seeing the fierce-looking Embroidered Uniform Guards beside them, they did not dare to resist.

In the end, under the supervision of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the officials reluctantly walked down the city wall and headed towards the battlefield outside the city.

Before they even got close to the battlefield, the stench made many ministers unable to bear it and they began to vomit.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards thoughtfully brought them cleaning tools.

The civil and military officials endured their nausea and began to clean up the battlefield under the supervision of the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

The battlefield was full of fragmented limbs, not even a complete corpse.

They could only clean up the large pieces of limbs first, and then sweep up the small pieces of flesh.

Moreover, they were very familiar with the limbs on the ground.

This is Minister Ma's head, this is Grand Secretary Wan's leg, this is Minister Ye's hand...

The officials were pale, trembling all over, some vomiting, some fainting, and the scene was in chaos.

...

Forbidden City.

Wenyuan Pavilion.

Zhu You樘 walked in first and sat on the dragon throne.

Immediately, a small eunuch from the Shangshan Supervisor brought snacks and tea.

Zhu You樘 picked up the teacup and took a sip.

Before long, a small eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial came in to report.

"Your Majesty, Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet Xu Pu, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian request an audience."

"Summon them."

"Yes."

Soon, the four of Xu Pu walked into the Qianqing Palace and knelt down to salute: "Your ministers Xu Pu, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian, pay respects to Your Majesty!"

"You may rise."

Zhu You樘 took out a memorial, which contained some of his thoughts on currency reform over the past few days.

"The reason I have invited you to the cabinet today is to discuss the issue of currency reform."

"In short, I want to promote a new Great Ming Treasure Note to become the legal currency of the Great Ming."

Hearing this, the expressions of the four of Xu Pu changed drastically, and they knelt down in front of Zhu You樘, trying to stop him.

"Your Majesty! This is not acceptable! Now people have problems even eating, and we must not plunder the people's wealth again!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, in recent years, the Great Ming has suffered continuous natural and man-made disasters, and it is not easy for the people to support themselves. We must not compete with the people for profit!"

"Your Majesty..."

"Enough! All of you shut up for me!"

"When did I say that I wanted to plunder the people's wealth or compete with the people for profit?"

Zhu You樘 was furious and slammed his palm on the table, which made the four Grand Secretaries shut their mouths.

"Don't try to persuade me anymore!"

"What I want to do, I must do!"

In feudal dynasties, every reform is inevitably opposed by a large number of officials, and Zhu You樘 is tired of this routine.

Xu Pu and Liu Jian opened their mouths several times, but finally closed them helplessly.

The Great Ming has promoted the Great Ming Treasure Note several times. Which time was it not because the internal treasury was in urgent need, and used to plunder the wealth of the people?

The Taizu Emperor was like this, and the Taizong Emperor was also like this.

They only cared about printing treasure notes, but did not recycle them. The people were forced to exchange silver and grain for treasure notes, but in the end, the treasure notes could not be exchanged back for silver and grain.

The treasure notes depreciated rapidly, and the wealth of the Great Ming people all turned into bubbles.

The Great Ming Treasure Note issued during the Hongwu period had already depreciated to one-thousandth of its original value by the Hongzhi period.

The Great Ming Treasure Note with a value of one string is now only worth one copper coin.

Now that the internal treasury is also short of silver, Zhu You樘 wants to re-promote the Great Ming Treasure Note.

What is this if not plundering the people's wealth and competing with the people for profit?

Zhu You樘 was too lazy to explain and handed the memorial he had written to Xu Pu and the others.

"You few, first take a look at the reform plan I wrote, and then discuss its feasibility."

"If it is feasible, immediately draft a practical plan for me!"

Xu Pu reluctantly took the memorial: "Yes, Your Majesty."