Chapter 11: The Song of Righteous Energy and Floating and Sinking

  Chongzhen 1st year, February 6th.

  Taihe Gate

  Just after the court session, Yang Reform took out the Song Dynasty Wen Tianxiang's "Zheng Qi Ge" and said to the ministers below: "My dear colleagues, I have read this 'Zheng Qi Ge', it is written with a heroic spirit, passionate and stirring, which exactly matches my heart. Therefore, I decide to let you all take a look, and recite it together, so that we can experience the patriotic feelings of this prime minister together."

  After finishing speaking, the little eunuchs handed out a copy to each of the officials in the grand hall.

  The ministers looked at each other, not knowing what the emperor was going to sell this time. They had no choice but to pick up that "Zheng Qi Song" and stand up. As for these ministers, they didn't know about Wen Tianxiang's estimate, nor did those who hadn't read his "Zheng Qi Song". Some people, because of their focused reading, actually shook their heads and recited it loudly in the great hall.

  Yang Reform saw that the ministers had also read for a while. He suddenly spoke out and interrupted, "Have all of you gentlemen finished reading?"

  All the ministers replied: We have read it.

  "Hmm, very good. I think the patriotic premier's sentiments are indeed admirable. I have decided to recite this patriotic premier's poem together with all of you, firstly to pay tribute to him and secondly to increase the majestic and righteous energy between our chests and bellies. What do you all think?"

  Before the officials could regain their composure, Yang Reform waved his hand. A eunuch stepped forward and shouted in a high-pitched voice: "Gentlemen, are you ready? Please follow me to read."

  "Heaven and earth have the orthodox qi." The eunuch's voice was loud and high, but somehow carried a strange flavor, which made the majestic orthodox qi of "The Orthodox Qi Song" change a bit.

  "Heaven... earth... has %... righteous energy..." The crowd of officials was still in a daze for the time being. The recitation was stuttering and sparse.

  Yang Reform shouted loudly: "Louder, haven't you eaten yet? 'Zheng Qi Song' is such a magnificent and stirring song with a heroic spirit, but you guys recite it like this, really... start again."

  The eunuch leading the singing looked at Yang Reform for a moment, then started again: "Heaven and earth have orthodox qi..."

  This time, the officials below understood the trick and also followed loudly reciting: "Heaven and earth have a righteous energy..."

  Eunuch's voice: "Miscellaneous and flowing forms..."

  The voices of many ministers: "Miscellaneous and flowing forms..."

  "Below is the River of Stars, above are the Sun and Moon..."

  "Below is the River of Stars, above are the Sun and Moon..."

  ……

  A majestic and stirring "Ode to the Righteous Spirit" came to an end, Yang Reform applauded and said: "Good poem, it's really a good poem."

  "Clap, clap, clap, clap..." The sound of Yang Reform's applause echoed in the empty and spacious hall. The various ministers had just finished reciting the poem and were still immersed in the shock it brought. For a moment, they forgot themselves. Hearing the emperor applauding alone, a group of ministers hastily responded, clapping their hands together.

  The sound of "pa pa pa pa......" echoed throughout the entire hall.

  Yang's reform mood is very comfortable. Seeing the Ming Dynasty scholars and elites performing a poetry recital, he thought it was very interesting and decided to keep this project going for a long time.

  "My dear ministers, I think that often reciting this kind of poetry can help to enhance one's noble and upright spirit, and improve one's personal character and moral integrity. Therefore, I have decided that from now on, we will also regularly recite this kind of poetry to improve the overall quality and moral cultivation of our rulers and ministers."

  Many officials finally understood the emperor's meaning, that is, to recite poems every day from now on! Although there was no precedent for this, it didn't seem like a bad thing either. After all, poetry is also a good thing to cultivate one's moral character. Anyway, the emperors of this Ming Dynasty were all strange in their own ways - some didn't attend court, some became great generals, and some even did carpentry work. So, it was easy to understand why such things happened, and many officials thought that this emperor was indeed eccentric.

  The next agenda item gave Yang a headache.

  The first one is about the dismissal of Wang Zhiyuan, the governor of Liaodong. This Yang reform still has some impression, but this Wang Zhiyuan is not a good thing. He was dismissed and that's it, but his successor was Yuan Chonghuan! This is a big problem.

  Removing Wang Zhi's minister, almost no one came out to oppose it, and it was passed smoothly, allowing Yuan Chonghuan to take the stage. Many people supported him, and if the emperor nodded, there would be no problem. The problem is that once Yuan Chonghuan takes office, he will have to do what history has done: first, kill Mao Wenzhen; second, the Later Jin's wild boar skin will probably enter the pass; and third, there are also problems such as military changes. More or less related to Yuan Chonghuan's ascension is his famous "Five Years of Pacifying Liaodong".

  Yang was greatly troubled by this problem, and after some thought, he made a decision: "Summon Yuan Chonghuan back to the capital. I have something to ask him. Let's leave it at that for now. Next topic."

  All the ministers saw the emperor sitting alone on the dragon chair with a frown for a long time, and finally made such a decision, which was somewhat strange.

  The next topic was about the ban on sea travel, and the smuggling of people to the sea by Yang Reform. The emperor directly drew a big red "X" on this memorial, and all the officials who saw it also took a deep breath, rarely seeing an emperor behave like this. This memorial really got under the emperor's skin, or perhaps the emperor had a screw loose.

  The next thing is about the military salary. The report came that Shaanxi has not paid military salaries for several years. If it's not paid again, I'm afraid there will be a rebellion.

  Yang's head ached severely; he had just taken office for a short time, and the military expenses were already going to be opened.

  Headache returned to Headache and asked: "Everyone dear, how much should this military salary be issued?"

  "The Minister of War spoke first, saying: 'To report to Your Majesty, the military expenses for Shaanxi have been in arrears for many years, totaling over 800,000 taels. Urgent supplementation is needed; otherwise, as time goes on, the soldiers will inevitably mutiny.'"

  The Minister of Revenue immediately came forward and said: "I report to Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has no silver, only 70,000 to 80,000 taels of loose silver are left. How can we provide military salaries for Shaanxi? Please forgive me."

  "I beg Your Majesty to issue funds from the inner treasury to support military expenses. If not, the soldiers will mutiny and things will become even more difficult." A certain Yang, a minister unfamiliar with reform, stepped forward and said this.

  "I also request Your Majesty to issue an imperial decree..." Another minister also said so.

  "I also request..."

  "Your humble servant..."

  Recently, Yang's reforms have given a very good impression to the many officials. He is warm and elegant, never gets angry, and does not arbitrarily punish people. As a result, the officials' courage has gradually grown, and the early morning court sessions, which were previously subdued due to the influence of the Wei case, have also become increasingly lively.

  Yang has also searched Baidu for some of the history of these years and knows that this year is a year of mutiny, a high incidence of riots. If military rations are issued to Shaanxi this time, what about Shanxi? What about Jilin, Liaoning, and the outside of the pass? Including many guest armies? Will they be issued or not? When they hear that Shaanxi has been issued military rations, won't they make trouble?

  It's better to pay off all the back wages at once, rather than dragging it out and risking another mutiny this year. Yang made up his mind and asked, "How much in total has been owed to the troops on all sides over the years, including those from outside the passes?"

  The Minister of War immediately came out and memorialized: "I beg to report to Your Majesty that the accumulated unpaid wages for the frontier armies over the years amount to 30 or 40 million taels."

  "Three to four hundred million taels?" Yang Reform was somewhat prepared, but still shocked! The finances of the Ming dynasty were really rotten to the core. Alas! Those landlords, officials, and merchants had accumulated so much wealth, yet they were unwilling to pay a bit more in taxes, resorting to all sorts of tax evasion and smuggling, leaving the Ming dynasty without enough money to pay even the most basic military salaries. Later, when the wild boar skin entered the Central Plains, it transformed into the ruling class. The wealth of these landlords, officials, scholars, and merchants probably all fell into someone else's hands, and they themselves became slaves to others. Thinking about this made Yang Reform so angry that he couldn't catch his breath.

  Yang Reform sat on the dragon chair for half a day, then said: "The back pay of each side will be paid in full at once, and the remaining half will be paid next year when the situation is better. The money... I'll take care of it." Yang Reform was still depressed, not even one cent had been earned, yet nearly two million taels were spent like this. With only expenses but no income, it's really not a good thing. It's better to hurry up and get some money, otherwise the front line will have no military pay, even if there is no riot or complaint about the pay, I estimate that there won't be much thought of fighting either, and the combat effectiveness will probably drop to the level of peasants. Fighting with Houjin would be a tragedy.

  Yang Reform from the 21st century thought of a good word to express his current situation - Salary Slave.

  In the 21st century, there are house slaves, worrying about mortgage payments every month, and card slaves, rushing around every day to pay off credit card bills. In this 17th-century Great Ming Dynasty, even the great emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty has become a salary slave, constantly worried about military salaries.

  The ministers who had been kneeling on the ground heard that the emperor was taking out silver to make up for the military salary, and they all knelt down and shouted "wise and bright".

  Yang's reform is really frustrating, and thinking about the silver, it's likely that there will be embezzlement, corruption, and interception, and maybe only 10% to 20% of it will actually reach the soldiers' hands. It's a good thing if even that much gets through. My heart is almost going crazy. Fighting requires those soldiers to risk their lives, can you still expect this group of corrupt officials to fight against the enemy?

  Yang's reform determination knocks down these corrupt officials.

  Yang reformed pressed his hand down, and the eunuch beside him immediately understood, shouting in a sharp voice: "Silence, silence!"

  The great hall immediately fell silent.

  Yang Reform swept his gaze across the grand hall of ministers and said, "I heard some words a few days ago, I'm very interested in these words. I don't know if you gentlemen have any interest in studying them with me."

  All the ministers heard that the emperor wanted to study poetry, thinking that the emperor had gone mad and asked them to read what kind of poem. Although poetry is a good thing, it's not our duty as officials to read poetry all day long. Which courtiers are always dealing with poetry? It's time to educate the emperor.

  "Who can give me an explanation of this term 'piao mei'?" Yang's voice was loud, and the entire grand hall heard it clearly.

  Furious! Shocked! Unbelievable! Absurd! Shameful!

  A minor official standing in the back row probably didn't quite understand. He jumped out and said, "I beg to report to Your Majesty, 'piao mo' refers to a boat sailing on the sea, it's inevitable that it will be damaged by wind and waves, and some will sink, so there is the saying 'piao mo'."

  "Hmm, how many points did you usually get?" Yang Gaizhi continued to ask.

  "Reporting to Your Majesty, generally speaking, about 30% are lost..." As soon as he finished speaking, this "small official" came to his senses. What kind of discussion was this? It was clear that the emperor was blaming everyone for losing his things and scolding them. He himself had rashly jumped out, really not knowing how to write the word "death". His face suddenly turned pale.

  "Three tenths, very good. In other words, the 20 million taels of silver that I have, you are prepared to let me lose 6 million taels?"

  "We dare not..." a group of ministers said in unison, all of them frightened out of their wits.