The right to speak in the Ming Dynasty was not in the hands of the emperor himself.

Look at Zhu Youxiao's own father, Emperor Taichang, who reigned for 38 days and did three things:

He abolished the mining tax and immediately after ascending the throne, he ordered the dismissal of mining supervisors and tax collectors across the country and stopped any form of mining activities.

To provide supplies for border defense, after he ascended the throne, he used the name of the emperor's will to issue one million taels of silver from the imperial treasury to reward the border defense soldiers. He allocated two million taels of silver from the imperial treasury and gave them to Xiong Tingbi, the governor of Liaodong, and the nine border governors, asking them to reward the soldiers. He also allocated five thousand taels of silver for transportation costs to be spent along the way.

The third thing is to fill official vacancies.

First, he ordered the Right Vice Minister of Rites and the Vice Minister of Personnel of Nanjing to be the Minister of Rites and Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet; then, he promoted He Zongyan and four others to the Minister of Rites and Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet; he appointed Ye Xianggao, a former assistant minister who had retired from office, and agreed to employ all 33 people who were convicted for "submitting a memorial" to establish a crown prince and 11 people who were convicted for mining taxes, etc.

Recall officials who were dismissed during the Wanli period for submitting memorials to express their opinions, such as Yuan Keli, Zou Yuanbiao, Wang Dewan and other Donglin Party officials.

These three things touted an emperor who reigned for 38 days as a wise ruler, and 38 days as the Taichang Restoration. How shameless were these people who flattered him so desperately?

Look at these three things. The first one is the abolition of the mining tax. Those people must have jumped for joy. Taking out two million taels of silver from the inner treasury may not necessarily reach the hands of the soldiers, but the officials who handled it will make a fortune. Naturally, they will be happier to get this windfall. The last one is the promotion. All those who were dismissed will be recruited. They will be so happy that they will fly. Wouldn't you praise such an emperor?

Zhu Youxiao knew that he could not do this. There was no other way. He could no longer be called a wise ruler, so he decided to become a foolish ruler.

Isn’t it better to be a tyrant?

Looking back at history, there were countless eunuchs who monopolized power throughout the Ming Dynasty: Wang Zhi, Liu Jin, Wei Zhongxian, etc. However, no matter how arrogant and domineering they were and how they persecuted their opponents, they were very loyal to their master, the emperor.

Of course, political struggles are inherently cruel. This has nothing to do with eunuchs. If they aren't eunuchs, does that mean they are less cruel? Would they not kill people?

Overemphasizing the status of eunuchs is nothing more than trying to say that eunuchs are castrated and they are not worthy. Instead of attacking the policies, they directly attack their personalities. In Zhu Youxiao's view, this is not only very uncultured, but also a very low-brow method. In Zhu Youxiao's view, the things the Donglin Party did were not noble at all.

He breathed a sigh of relief, suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his mind. Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but sigh. Although the Ming Dynasty had not yet experienced the scourge of Wei Zhongxian, it was already riddled with holes.

"I hope Liaodong can be stabilized!" Zhu Youxiao finally set his sights on Liaodong. If Liaodong could not be stabilized, it would be a big trouble. "I hope Xiong Tingbi can make it in time."

If Liaodong continued to follow the old path as in history, first losing Liaoyang, then Shenyang, and finally Guangning, then it would be difficult for the Later Jin not to become powerful. To the east, they could attack Korea for logistics, to the west, they could attack Mongolia and subjugate the Mongolian tribes, while extending the front line. How could they fight along such a long front from east to west?

It would be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to defend such a long border, let alone attack, so Liaodong cannot be lost.

If Shenyang and Liaoyang were still there, Nurhaci would never have dared to advance westward or eastward, because if he did, his retreat would be cut off. Therefore, Nurhaci could only fight the Ming army in Liaodong. Even after Shenyang and Liaoyang were lost, Mao Wenlong, the general of the Dongjiang River, still had his eyes on Liaoyang and Shenyang.

Mao Wenlong had many problems. Although the situation in Dongjiang River where he occupied was sufficient to contain the Later Jin, he himself had limited strategy and the amount of military pay wasted every year was incalculable. He was only concerned with recruiting merchants and selling banned goods. In name, he was aiding Korea, but in fact he was just leaving the border without permission. When there was no military action, he sold ginseng and cloth. When there was a war, he was rarely used.

Zhu Youxiao understood this point very well, because Mao Wenlong had a difficult life. The production in Pi Island was limited. How could he get the money to support the army if he didn't do some business?

As for the accusation that Mao Wenlong embezzled military pay, demanding 200,000 in pay for an army of tens of thousands, was this Mao Wenlong's fault? He paid for 200,000 men, and was lucky to have only a few tens of thousands left in his hands. He might even have nothing left. The money was allocated from the Ministry of Revenue, but 30% of it disappeared before it even left the capital. This was a complete waste.

How much was left in Liaodong after they had gone through so many trials and tribulations? Mao Wenlong was blamed for this, but who took the money? Anyway, Mao Wenlong embezzled the money.

There's a joke from later generations: a bank was robbed, and the robbers took away three million, but when it came time to report the losses, they claimed three hundred million, all due to the robbers. The robbers were left with no tears, and the same thing happened to Mao Wenlong. Forget Mao Wenlong, what about Qi Jiguang? Zhang Juzheng supported Qi Jiguang, but he still couldn't stop the corruption. Qi Jiguang, with tens of thousands of people, was still paid by a staff of 200,000.

This kind of thing was quite normal in the late Ming Dynasty. Hundreds of thousands of people suffered heavy losses. In fact, were there really that many people? This does not include those who were not paid for their work or those who were short of money.

Zhu Youxiao sighed softly. If Liaoyang and Shenyang survived, he could breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, Pi Island still needed to be captured. Then, the army could sail up the Yalu River and directly harass the Later Jin's hinterland and rear, forcing them to hesitate to attack Shenyang and Liaoyang with all their might. However, the leader of the army needed to be carefully chosen.

If Liaodong cannot be stabilized, then he can only find another way, but Zhu Youxiao will never waver between fighting and defending, and Zhu Youxiao is more inclined to defend for ten or eight years, and then he will be able to do some things.

Zhu Youxiao reached out to pick up the book on the table and flipped through it for a while, but found that he still couldn't concentrate on it. His mind was all on Liaodong.

Zhu Youxiao was now thinking about what he could do, placing all his hopes on Xiong Tingbi. But what if it was too late? Could he do anything himself?

But now he is in the capital, and he can't come up with any good solution after thinking about it.

Sending troops over there is definitely not an option. In this era, mobilizing troops is not an easy task. It requires money and food, and requires arrangements. Moreover, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.

Send some money over? That doesn't seem appropriate either. It takes time to deliver the money, and by the time the money is delivered, the benefits will be gone.

How about sending a few more capable people? But where can we find them right now? The situation in Liaodong is very complicated, and sending a new person might not be a good idea.

After much deliberation, Zhu Youxiao still couldn't think of a suitable candidate. In the end, he could only sigh dejectedly. Even as a tyrant, he felt powerless.