Chapter 28: Work-Relief Projects and Strategic Foresight

The voice of the Chongzhen Emperor echoed throughout the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The gathered officials were stunned by his words. If the vast array of ministers in the Cabinet and the Nine Ministries could find no solution, what could this young Emperor possibly do?

"May it please Your Majesty to instruct us!" Shi Fenglai, snapping out of his daze, immediately bowed.

"First, regarding the deployment of troops, as Minister Shi suggested, we shall draw three thousand elite soldiers from each of the major border garrisons. With tens of thousands stationed at these outposts, a mere three thousand is a negligible subtraction. Furthermore, we shall dispatch three thousand elites from the Divine Engine Division of the Capital Garrison. If fifteen thousand elite troops, supported by the suppression of firearms, cannot subdue a few thousand refugees, then those border garrisons might as well be disbanded."

"Cui Chengxiu, this matter is entrusted to you!"

Once the Minister of War, Cui Chengxiu, had accepted the decree, Chongzhen continued: "The second issue is where to source the grain. First, open the official granaries; whatever is available must be used. Second, the imperial court will provide funds to purchase grain from the local gentry. Third, we shall mobilize grain from regions like Jiangnan. For the purchase and transport, let us initially aim for one million shi."

"Minister Guo, authorize the withdrawal of five hundred thousand taels from the state treasury, and I shall provide another five hundred thousand from my private purse, totaling one million taels."

Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Revenue, frowned slightly but eventually consented. Although the date for distributing annual stipends to the nine great border armies was approaching, given the massive arrears already owed, a short delay mattered little.

The officials were somewhat surprised. The private treasury was the Emperor’s personal wealth; matters of state were usually funded solely by the state treasury. When Chongzhen had first ascended the throne, his private treasury held only about one hundred thousand taels, making such a gesture impossible. However, over the past half-month, after confiscating the assets of Chen Derun and Lady Ke, he had secured over 1.3 million taels. Subsequently, Zhou Kui had produced over five hundred thousand. Under the threat of having their entire families executed, the gentry who had bribed Zhou Kui had also surrendered nearly one million taels. More surprisingly, the relatives of Noble Consort Tian and Noble Consort Yuan, upon hearing of Zhou Kui’s fate, had voluntarily surrendered over five hundred thousand taels. With the total reaching nearly 3.5 million taels, he could afford to be generous.

"Your Majesty, the disaster in Shaanxi is so severe that local grain prices will surely remain exorbitant—perhaps two or even three times the usual rate. This..."

"Minister Guo, I have already made arrangements for that." Chongzhen then looked at Wang Cheng'an: "Wang Cheng'an, summon the duty-officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

A moment later, a middle-aged man in a flying-fish robe entered the hall: "Wu Mengming, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, awaits your orders, Your Majesty!"

"Wu Mengming, take a thousand-man unit of the Guard and head immediately to various parts of Shaanxi. Work with local officials to assess the disaster and identify the grain hidden in the homes of the local gentry. Send these reports back to the court via six-hundred-li express, and simultaneously deliver them to the Imperial Commissioner sent to Xi'an Prefecture."

"Second, inform the local grain merchants that prices must not exceed the cost price by more than ten percent. Any who ignore this warning and persist in their ways will have their assets confiscated. I will not tolerate those who seek to profit from national tragedy. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Revenue shall each send a Vice Minister, along with several secretaries and department heads, to accompany you. Any action taken against a merchant must be agreed upon by all three ministries."

"I obey the decree!"

In troubled times, one must use severe measures. If not controlled, the meager savings of the common people would be drained dry by unscrupulous merchants, yet they would still fail to secure enough food—that is the most hateful part. More importantly, once grain prices reach a certain point, it leads to market chaos, and the resentment against the wealthy easily triggers civil uprisings.

"Minister Guo, with these arrangements, will we be able to secure one million shi of grain?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Following the Minister of Revenue, the other officials joined in the chorus of praise. With such a powerful deterrent, the merchants would never dare to raise prices.

In truth, Chongzhen had another plan: to secretly manipulate the grain market by colluding with merchants to artificially inflate prices. This would tempt merchants from neighboring provinces and even Jiangnan, seeing the exorbitant profits, to proactively transport grain to Shaanxi. Once the grain supply in Shaanxi reached a sufficient level, the court would immediately open the granaries for relief and issue a ban. By the time spring planting began, the merchants' hoarded grain would have to be sold at a loss, or it would simply rot in their hands.

Regardless of how much was in the warehouses, as long as grain was constantly being shipped from the south, the crisis could be managed. The supply convoys would not necessarily all contain grain; one only needed to overturn a cart of grain at the right moment for the merchants to see. However, this strategy would require two or three months to take effect. He could not estimate how many would starve or be forced into rebellion in that time, and his heart would not allow it.

"Let us discuss whether this is enough. According to the calculations of the Duke of Cheng, we need one hundred and eighty thousand shi of grain per month. Moreover, the state of affairs next year is unpredictable. One million shi will only last six months. Therefore, I believe we should relocate a portion of the population."

"Relocate?"

All the ministers were bewildered. Guo Yunhou stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I believe this is unwise. Population movement is a grave matter. From Shaanxi to the south is thousands of miles; it would consume vast amounts of silver. That money would be better spent on disaster relief."

"Your Majesty, Minister Guo is correct. Even if the people were willing to move, the costs of food, water, housing, and land allocation along the way would be a massive undertaking."

"Your Majesty, winter has arrived. It is freezing, and relocation would lead to the deaths of many. Please, think twice."

"Enough!" Chongzhen silenced the ministers who were preparing to offer further remonstrance. "Who said I was moving them to the south?"

"We shall relocate a portion of the disaster victims to Dingbian in Shaanxi, Dingxi in Gansu, Guyuan in Ningxia, and Luliang in Shanxi—these four areas."

The ministers were stunned again. Historically, most relocations were directed toward the south. But the four places the Emperor mentioned were at most a thousand li from the hardest-hit areas like Baishui. At a normal walking pace, the people could arrive in half a month. The problem was that these nearby areas were likely suffering from the disaster as well; what was the point of moving them there?

Chongzhen walked down from the dais and continued: "For the relocated people, we shall adopt a 'work-for-relief' policy to open up large tracts of land for cultivation."

"Those remaining in their ancestral homes must also be organized. Every five or six li, near the farmland, we shall construct... reservoirs."

"Third, if there are still excess disaster victims, they shall be tasked with road construction, repairing the imperial highways from Shaanxi to Beijing or to the south."

As Chongzhen finished, he stood before the gates of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. He stepped out and looked toward Shaanxi, his expression heavy. He remembered that since the first year of Chongzhen, the skies over Shaanxi had been blood-red. Five years of famine, followed by six years of flooding, then locusts and famine in the seventh year, drought in the west in the ninth month of the eighth year, and floods that swallowed homes in Lueyang. Ninth year: drought and locusts. Tenth year: total crop failure. Eleventh year: locusts blotting out the sun... Thirteenth year: great drought... Fourteenth year: drought.

The natural disasters had never ceased; the people of Shaanxi suffered too much. If possible, he truly wished to move all the people of Shaanxi, but he could not, and he dared not—to do so would be to abandon the province entirely. Thus, he had to take this opportunity to plan ahead; perhaps there was a turning point.

The ministers could not see the Emperor’s face, but Wang Cheng'an, following behind, saw the weight of the world upon him and sighed inwardly. His Majesty bore too much.

After a long silence, Chongzhen returned to the hall and, seeing the confusion on the faces of his ministers, asked, "Well? Did none of you understand what I just said?"