The matter of whether there was Dao or not was not something Li Shan could decide, nor was it something Wan Yan Agu Tai could decide. Even the Emperor of Great Ming, Zhu Jinsong, had no say in it.
History books decided such matters.
"Veritable Records of the Holy Emperors, Various Fiefs," Holy Emperor Year Eight, Second Month: Li Shan of Joseon rebelled. The Emperor, deeply concerned for the Joseon populace, ordered the Left Army Command to quell the rebellion. In the Fourth Month, the Li clan's rebellion was pacified, and Joseon was removed as a kingdom. Wan Yan Agu Tai, Commander of the Solun Camp, captured the rebel Li. The Emperor ordered Li's execution, stating, "I do not resent your rebellion, only your cruelty to the common people. Let him be buried simply, without the rites of a feudal lord." Dongzi said: "To attack the un-Dao with Dao, this is natural law." Truly, these words are profound.
With Li Shan’s execution and his body fed to the dogs, Li Xun led a contingent of Joseon people loyal to Great Ming to the riverbank, requesting incorporation. The pace of establishing the Joseon Administrative Division of Great Ming suddenly accelerated.
First, the Korean language and script, promoted since the era of King Sejong of Joseon, were completely abolished. Then, Korean books were collected and burned. Following this, people were relocated; large numbers were moved into the Joseon Administrative Division, and Joseon people were dispersed to various territories of Great Ming.
Essentially, it was a replication of Zhu Yuanzhang's approach to Dali, further refined and improved.
Of course, for Zhu Jinsong and the many high officials in the Great Ming court, the Joseon Administrative Division was a minor issue. The real problem was the treasury of Great Ming.
Liu Huaiwen simply couldn't comprehend how the treasury could be so depleted that even rats starved.
With prices in Great Ming not soaring, worker expenditures remaining at normal levels, and the spring tax of Holy Emperor Year Eight exceeding the autumn tax of Holy Emperor Year Seven, the treasury was once again empty.
After building just a modest amount of railways, roads, and bridges, establishing a few community schools, and fighting a couple of battles, half of Heshen’s fortune, a staggering forty million taels of silver, had vanished?
Liu Huaiwen was furious.
"Forty million taels of silver! Not four million, not even forty thousand!"
Liu Huaiwen, with a torrent of tears and snot, wailed to Zhu Jinsong: "Forty million taels of silver, and it hasn't even lasted two years! I, the Minister of Revenue, can no longer serve, nor do I have the face to continue."
Song Yucheng, the Minister of Works, also wore a grim expression and complained to Zhu Jinsong about the treasury's stinginess: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Works has planned the railways to be built next year and the year after. The railways in Nurgan Province and Us-Tsang Pacification Commission are nearing completion, but the treasury refuses to allocate funds. The Ministry of Works is in a difficult position."
Meng Fanzhi, the Minister of Rites, also looked displeased: "Your Majesty, while community schools have indeed been built, with an average of two to three schools per township, we are still far from the original plan of one school per village."
"Furthermore, there is only one county school in each county. For such a vast area and population, what is one county school? The Ministry of Rites planned for one county school in each township and one prefectural school in each prefecture, but the Ministry of Revenue has not provided the funds."
Liu Huaiwen immediately retorted: "You two old fools! What did you say when I extorted... I mean, requested forty million taels of silver from His Majesty back then?"
"You, Old Man Song, said that ten million taels of silver would be enough to double the number of railways and roads, connecting the entire Great Ming into a network. And now? You've woven the net, but with only a few lines, is this net sturdy?"
"And you, Old Man Meng, you said that ten million taels of silver would allow Great Ming to have a million more community schools. And now? Community schools have increased, but you're telling me we need to build county schools! Do I look like silver to you, you scoundrel!"
Regarding Liu Huaiwen's scolding of the Ministries of Works and Rites, Zeng Cheng, the Grand Chancellor of Great Ming, and the other Grand Academicians stood by as if they heard nothing, with their eyes on their noses and their noses on their eyes, appearing as if they were cultivating immortality.
After berating the Ministries of Works and Rites, Liu Huaiwen continued to lament to Zhu Jinsong: "Of the forty million taels of silver, ten million went to the Ministry of Rites, one hundred and fifty million went to the Ministry of Works, the Royal Academy took another fifty million, and Your Majesty keeps going to war. Now the treasury is so empty that rats run through it!"
Zhu Jinsong let out a scoff and looked at Liu Huaiwen: "How about this, I'll allocate another ten million taels from the imperial treasury to the national treasury. How does that sound?"
Liu Huaiwen immediately stopped crying and said with blinking eyes: "Good, good, I knew Your Majesty wouldn't bear to see the treasury empty."
Zhu Jinsong slammed the table and roared: "I will bear it! Uncle Huaiwen, just because your treasury is empty, does that mean my imperial treasury has money?"
"We must be reasonable, right? We agreed to split eighty million taels equally, and I have allocated forty million taels to your treasury as agreed. But you can't keep staring at my imperial treasury!"
"Besides, that was forty million taels. At the end of last year, the treasury still had over thirty million taels. How did all that thirty million vanish in just a few months?"
"Such an outrageous matter, don't say I won't believe it. Even Qian Long, that old dog, wouldn't believe it, would he?"
Liu Huaiwen chuckled sheepishly and said no more. Song Yucheng and Meng Fanzhi, like the other Grand Academicians, began to lower their heads and cultivate immortality.
Zhu Jinsong was almost amused to tears by these people.
No money in the treasury?
If you looked at the accounts, there was indeed no silver left in the treasury, because the remaining thirty million taels had been converted into budgets for infrastructure projects such as railways, roads, bridges, canals, and community schools.
However, this budget was for the next five years!
How long had it been since they received Heshen’s fortune? A little over a year at most. The actual amount spent was around ten million taels. The treasury should still have at least thirty million taels!
Moreover, there were hundreds of millions of taels in taxes collected annually, and this money was also stored in the treasury!
Zhu Jinsong was almost choking with anger—these people, especially Liu Huaiwen, couldn't stand to see any money in the imperial treasury. As soon as there was a surplus in the imperial treasury, they wanted to transfer it to the national treasury!
In this regard, Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of Great Ming, was far inferior to Qian Long, that old dog.
Qian Long tried to turn the treasury's silver into his own personal wealth, with Heshen striving for this very purpose. Zhu Jinsong, on the other hand, had a group of high officials constantly eyeing the imperial treasury, all wanting to turn the imperial treasury's money into the national treasury's.
Growing increasingly angry, Zhu Jinsong slumped back into his chair and snorted: "In any case, the imperial treasury is also empty. The remaining funds must be kept as working capital, so it's absolutely impossible to give them to your treasury."
Seeing that no money could be obtained from Zhu Jinsong, Liu Huaiwen no longer brought up the matter and instead changed the topic to the granaries: "Your Majesty, the harvest season is only a few months away this year. The granaries across the land will be able to replace a batch of old grain."
Zhu Jinsong did not mind Liu Huaiwen's abrupt change of topic and merely snorted before asking: "And then? Uncle Huaiwen, how do you intend to deal with this stored grain?"
Liu Huaiwen blinked his eyes and said: "This replaced stored grain, I believe, can be used for brewing wine. The residue from brewing can then be made into animal feed. Selling the wine to those European barbarians and selling the feed at a low price to the people of Great Ming is much better than selling it at a low price."
Speaking of which, Liu Huaiwen couldn't help but curl his lips: "Indeed, grain stored for one or two years in the granaries is not as tasty as new grain. Plus, with the cattle and sheep transported at low prices from the grasslands, and the chickens and ducks raised by the common people also increasing, the consumption of grain has naturally decreased."
This was truly unprecedented.
From the time Zhu Jinsong raised his banner in rebellion until now, Great Ming had been implementing a strategy of "having grain in hand, the heart is not panicked." The grain in the granaries across the land, except in times of disaster, only went in and never out. In short, the standard was that even if the land yielded nothing for a whole year, not a single person would starve.
This standard had been discussed by the dignitaries in the Great Ming court. If the grain in each of the more than twenty administrative divisions of Great Ming could guarantee the needs of the local populace for a year, then as long as there wasn't a disaster covering the entire Great Ming for several consecutive years, the empire would be as stable as iron, and no more instances of cannibalism would occur.
However, none of these dignitaries had ever imagined that there would come a day when there would be too much grain to eat.
Zeng Cheng's heart stirred, and he looked at Ke Zhiming: "May I ask Commander Ke, are the grain prices in the civilian sector still stable?"
Ke Zhiming nodded and replied: "Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the grain prices have basically remained at two or three copper coins per jin, with no significant fluctuations."
Zeng Cheng was greatly alarmed, and after confirming with Ke Zhiming that it was the price of rice, his expression turned somewhat grim.
Zhu Jinsong, noticing Zeng Cheng's unusual behavior, couldn't help but ask: "What is it?"
Zeng Cheng deliberated before replying: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe either Commander Ke's intelligence is inaccurate, or there is already a problem in the civilian sector!"
"In Qian Long's twenty-eighth year, the grain price was fourteen copper coins per jin. In Qian Long's forty-ninth year, it was seventeen to eighteen copper coins per jin. Only during the ten years of Kangxi and the Yongzheng era was the grain price ever below ten copper coins."
"According to Commander Ke, the current grain price in our Great Ming is only two to three copper coins per jin. With such cheap grain, I fear for the livelihood of the common people..."
Zhu Jinsong was also startled and stood up abruptly from his chair, pacing: "That shouldn't be. Although Great Ming produces grain, this grain price...?"
Zhu Jinsong then turned his gaze to Ke Zhiming: "What about the civilian sector? How is the people's life?"