Chongzhen Chat Group

Originally, Emperor Chongzhen thought that it would be easy to pay as much as the salary was in short supply. Unexpectedly, it was Bi Ziyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Shen Yongmao, the Minister of the Ministry of War, who finally made him realize that the matter here was very complicated.

At the beginning of the matter, the Minister of the Ministry of War used Maoshangben to impeach the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Bi Zi, for severely deducting military pay and not repaying the arrears according to the book. When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was furious. Such a thing was not a big deal, and he immediately sent an order to the Minister of Household Affairs to see him.

Bi Ziyan had actually been mentally prepared for a long time. When he saw Emperor Chongzhen, he immediately impeached the Minister of the Ministry of War and said: "Your Majesty, the military records kept by the Ministry of War were verified during the Tianqi period. Nowadays, wars are frequent and there are many casualties among soldiers. If The military pay was reissued according to the military yellow roll, and I impeached the Minister of the Ministry of War for the purpose of eating up the pay!"

"Your Majesty, I am also impeaching the Minister of Household Affairs for deducting military pay!" Shen Yongmao also followed suit, tit for tat, and did not give in at all.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he knew that he wanted to be simple. He didn't come to a conclusion right away. He just frowned and thought for a while, then said to Shen Yongmao: "Shen Qing, what Bi Qing said makes sense. Of course, I don't believe that Shen Qing will take advantage of free money. Can you explain the reason?"

There is definitely a case of free money. Emperor Chongzhen also knew this, but he really didn't believe it. If the Minister of the Ministry of War dared to come openly to take free money, he would be too bold.

After hearing this, Shen Yongmao bowed gratefully, then straightened up and said: "Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty is vast and has millions of soldiers. It is impossible to make the military yellow list the same as the actual situation. Things. Historically, the evidence has been based on military yellow rolls. Now if there is another nationwide verification of the Qing army, after the numbers are reported, I estimate that the Ministry of Household Affairs will have no money left!"

After he finished speaking, he felt a little puzzled. Ordinarily, the Bi Ziyan he knew would not be so uncooperative before. The imperial court said they wanted to pay them, so the Ministry of War just went to collect them. I just don’t know why Bi Ziyan is so fussy this time.

Emperor Chongzhen understood what he meant and felt a little speechless. The purpose of this application was to see that the Ministry of Accounts had money now, so I quickly asked for it because I was afraid that I would not be able to get the money in the future.

Thinking of this, he looked at Bi Ziyan, not yet thinking of what to say. But he was misunderstood by Bi Ziyan, who immediately said seriously: "Your Majesty, this reason is very ridiculous! I am in charge of the household department, so I should also be responsible for the national treasury and fulfill my responsibilities for Your Majesty!"

Others may not be able to understand his persistence, but in fact he is fed up with the lack of money in the Ministry of Revenue. Think about it, this person asks him for money, but he has no money; the other person asks him for money, and he has no money; he wants to do this thing, but has no money, and he wants to do that thing, and still has no money.

After becoming the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the lack of money even became his nightmare. His brother Bi Zisu, the governor of Liaodong, finally lost his life because of lack of money. If anyone in the Ming Dynasty was most afraid of hearing the word money, I'm afraid it wasn't the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but the Minister of Household Affairs.

Now, the Ministry of Finance finally has money. Bi Ziyan was afraid of poverty, so he naturally cherished the money he had now. Anyone who wants to take money from him must weigh it carefully.

If it were before, the Ministry of Revenue would have no money anyway, and your Ministry of War would come over with an official document saying how much wages were still owed. His attitude is, do whatever you want, I have no money anyway. But things are different now. When you send a piece of official paper, he will know that he will spend a lot of money here, so he will not do it.

After hearing Bi Ziyan's answer, Emperor Chongzhen felt that he was reasonable and nodded, then looked at the Minister of War.

When Shen Yongmao saw it, it seemed that the emperor had been persuaded by the Minister of Household Affairs, so he became anxious and said quickly: "Your Majesty, if the Qing army at this time involves the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the local officials and guards at all levels, don't say it will cost How long does it take to get a result? Even if the military yellow roll is finally submitted to the Qing army, it may not be conclusive! Anyway, it is not accurate either early or late. It is better to repay part of the arrears first! "

He knew that the emperor was very concerned about the issue of arrears of wages. At the court meeting at the end of last year, he even emphasized the dangers of arrears of wages. In addition, I was afraid that the household department’s money would run out, so my words sounded a bit like a rogue!

Emperor Chongzhen was a little confused after hearing this. After all, Emperor Chongzhen in this life suddenly became emperor from a vassal, so it was naturally impossible for him to understand the military system of the Qing army, and it was even less possible for him in later generations to know. Therefore, he didn't understand how many twists and turns there were in it?

If he didn't understand the situation, he wouldn't be able to make a correct decision. In desperation, he had to ask the two ministers to go back and wait until he made up his homework.

It took Emperor Chongzhen a whole day to finally understand the inside story. Speaking of which, this is another fault left by the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

It's a bit long to say, but the short story is that Zhu Yuanzhang learned from the Tang Dynasty that the government soldiers recruited too many soldiers and were exploited by the generals, resulting in armed separatism and a threat to the central government. He followed the Yuan Dynasty and implemented hereditary military households to avoid the worry of feudal separatism.

But after this, hereditary military households began to flee from the beginning of the founding of the country. There are four main reasons for this.

First, it is well known that military households have a low status, which is mainly reflected in the fact that military households must have more than five members to be appointed as officials. However, even if a household only has two children, as long as it is literate, it can make a fortune; in addition, personal freedom is also restricted. They are not allowed to live in a house, marry into a wife at will, learn to sing, play chess, or do business, and they are not allowed to do anything casually. Marriage and so on. If you commit a crime, it is an extra level of crime compared to a civilian household.

Second, military households have heavy taxes and additional burdens. Each military household must have one person as a regular soldier, and another person to follow as a remnant soldier, which is the kind that will be used as a subordinate. If the regular soldiers are gone, they will be replaced. In addition, another successor must be prepared, who will also serve as a daily supply for the regular soldiers and as a substitute. This means that at least three strong men in a family are disabled.

Although military households had preferential exemptions in terms of taxes and service, the only ones that were really exempted were some "miscellaneous service". For example, lijia, juncu, and other official servants cannot be reduced or exempted, and they must also bear the same servitude as the civilian servants.

Third, the basic living conditions of Zhengjun and Yuding cannot be guaranteed. Although the main army and Yu Ding were in the camp, they only had six measures of food per month. However, the wife and children needed to make ends meet, and the monthly rations were often withheld by military officers, withheld due to arrears, or paid at a discounted rate, which was often not enough to support them.

Fourth, sergeants were not allowed to join the army in their native places, but were sent to the north and south to prepare for the hardships of acclimatization and many deaths.

With such a hard thing, escape is inevitable, which is why the Ming army can never be full. It can be said that the matter of free money happened naturally.

Of course, during the Zhu Yuanzhang era, they had already recognized this situation and taken measures. This was the Qing army.