The great purge initiated by the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard was the opportunity Emperor Chenghua had been waiting for.
“We cannot succeed in reform with the current system and personnel.”
“That is correct.”
“We need a great purge. Just like how the Original Emperor purged the elder ministers before beginning his reforms.”
At Emperor Chenghua’s words, the members of the Hidden Dragon Society and Wang Chong wore serious expressions.
“Much blood will flow.”
The scale of great purges carried out in China’s successive dynasties was fundamentally different from those in Joseon.
Except for the Giyou Rebellion which attempted to overturn everything except the king, the great purges in Joseon involved at most a hundred people who were either killed or exiled. However, in Ming’s case, the baseline was in the tens of thousands.
This was why the Hidden Dragon Society members and Wang Chong had such serious expressions.
However, Emperor Chenghua appeared unconcerned.
“I’m prepared for this. Blood flows with reform. We cannot fear that blood. Remember that even the sagacious Original Emperor decisively shed blood when necessary.”
Confirming that Emperor Chenghua’s resolve was firm, the Hidden Dragon Society members and Wang Chong bowed their heads and answered:
“We will make thorough preparations to meet Your Majesty’s expectations.”
After finishing the meeting, Wang Chong let out a long sigh.
“Haah~. This is why rumors spread calling him the ‘Joseon Emperor’ or ‘Goryeo Emperor’… If only he had modeled himself after Emperor Hongwu or Emperor Yongle…”
Emperor Chenghua’s way of thinking and judgment criteria were all in the Empire’s style. No, except for what he wore, everything from what he ate to what he drank was in the Empire’s style.
Moreover, the monarch Emperor Chenghua considered his role model was the Empire’s Original Emperor, Sejong.
However, Wang Chong could understand Emperor Chenghua’s behavior.
“He lived in the Empire since he was a nursing infant… And the Empire’s Original Emperor truly was a sage ruler. And he was someone who raised up the Empire in circumstances similar to now.”
***
With Emperor Chenghua’s resolve thus firm, Wang Chong and the Hidden Dragon Society secretly began preparations.
The Eastern Depot secretly investigated which ministers had committed corruption and the political leanings of those with strong connections.
It wasn’t just the ministers.
They more meticulously monitored every move of the imperial family members residing in the provinces.
The Hidden Dragon Society didn’t remain idle either.
The society’s members carefully examined administrative documents coming from all across Ming.
In this process, what they focused on most were the household registries and tax administration.
It was an enormous undertaking to check all documents submitted from the counties, the smallest administrative units. The Hidden Dragon Society members meticulously compared population sizes with records of tax revenues and expenditures for each district to determine whether there was corruption.
If there was even the slightest irregularity, they separately recorded the problematic local officials and reported to Emperor Chenghua.
Conversely, if there were honest and capable local officials, they also selected them separately and reported to Emperor Chenghua.
“Well done. I’m sorry, but please work a bit harder. This death list must be properly prepared for reform to succeed.”
“We will do our utmost.”
***
While preparations were proceeding steadily like this, a major incident erupted over ‘the qualities of the empress and princes.’
Following the greatly angered Emperor Chenghua’s orders, starting with the ministers who had made those statements, anyone even slightly connected was arrested and imprisoned.
“Though their words were somewhat harsh, isn’t Your Majesty being too excessive?”
While some ministers worried that Emperor Chenghua was making too big a deal of things, many other ministers shook their heads.
“To touch the dragon’s reverse scale when there was nothing else to touch…”
“At times like this, it’s best to keep quiet and just watch carefully.”
As many ministers expected, mentioning the empress and princes was touching Emperor Chenghua’s reverse scale.
He had already taken concubines and would continue to do so. With many beautiful women around, no one could guarantee that Emperor Chenghua would continue to favor only the current empress.
“Why step forward when you could just wait for the right time like Jiang Taigong!”
They criticized the ministers who had caused this incident and were now imprisoned.
Those with deeper thoughts looked at the military with worried eyes.
“The army needs to stay quiet…”
However, Ming’s imperial guards weren’t moving.
***
The area Emperor Chenghua paid attention to first and most while struggling daily to reform Ming’s internal affairs was the military.
“The defeat in the last war and the difficulties still faced at the borders mean there are problems with the military!”
Following this conclusion, Emperor Chenghua began massive cuts to the military.
First, he thoroughly reorganized the military registers managed by the Ministry of War.
Next, he inspected units scattered throughout the country to identify corruption.
Whenever corruption was discovered, such as falsifying records to show more soldiers than actually existed to embezzle budgets, the commanders received harsh punishment and had their assets confiscated.
It wasn’t just punishment. Opportunities also increased for those who entered the military with dreams of success.
Military officers who entered service gathered periodically each year in Nanjing to compete in martial arts and discuss military strategy.
Those who achieved good results in these events, which Emperor Chenghua personally observed, could immediately rise to success.
This wasn’t all.
“We are safe because of those who guard the Great Wall and desert fortresses. I do not forget your efforts.”
Saying this, Emperor Chenghua personally looked after the situation of armies guarding the border regions.
With Emperor Chenghua’s personal attention, the border forces’ strength became very substantial. And the imperial guards began showing absolute loyalty to Emperor Chenghua.
Though the military was absolutely loyal to Emperor Chenghua, they had complaints.
“I wish we could grow a bit bigger…”
This was dissatisfaction about Emperor Chenghua reducing the military’s size.
Emperor Chenghua’s military reduction was due to unavoidable reasons.
Ming’s economy had suffered deep wounds from the defeat in the Liaodong battle and the subsequent rebellion in Jiangnan.
Though the previous Emperor Jingtai had worked hard to recover, they suffered another major blow with the defeat in the Yellow Sea naval battle.
Therefore, Emperor Chenghua had reduced the military’s size.
“For now, we focus only on defense! There’s no need to grow larger than necessary! However, we will properly secure the forces needed for defense!”
Following Emperor Chenghua’s decision, the imperial army reduced its size. However, it wasn’t unconditional reduction but rather a reduction with selection and concentration based on rational judgment.
First, they disbanded units organized for large-scale expeditions.
Instead, as mentioned above, they strengthened the forces of units defending the borders.
The navy was the same.
They reduced the number of large ships built for battles with the Empire and instead mass-supplied medium and small warships with adequate firepower and excellent mobility.
Their mission was to patrol Ming’s major ports, coastal areas, and shipping routes to prevent pirate activities.
“The people’s well-being and maintaining stable trade routes are the highest priority!”
Following Emperor Chenghua’s orders, the Ming navy’s basic strategy itself had changed.
Though there was slight dissatisfaction with the reduced military size, loyalty to Emperor Chenghua remained firm.
This was because opportunities for advancement had increased, rewards and punishments became certain, and there were no supply problems.
***
Having secured the military’s loyalty, Emperor Chenghua continued the bloody purge.
In the process of purging those who questioned the princes’ qualities, he bundled together and purged the gentry who were dissatisfied with him.
It wasn’t just intellectuals.
Among imperial family members residing in the provinces, he sought out and purged those with high succession rankings or those who harbored resentment against him.
It was an era of great purges called the ‘Age of Blood and Terror.’
However, the people’s reaction was surprisingly calm.
This was because since Zhu Yuanzhang founded Ming—no, even in previous dynasties—bloodbaths to strengthen royal power had happened more than once or twice.
Even after Ming’s founding, Zhu Yuanzhang had carried out large-scale purges, and Emperor Yongle had conducted purges.
Even Emperor Xuande, who opened the peaceful era called the ‘Reign of Ren and Xuan,’ had purged disobedient gentry and merchant groups.
Because of this, large-scale purges weren’t unfamiliar to Ming’s people. As long as they weren’t personally affected, it didn’t matter much.
Moreover, like the military, the people also supported Emperor Chenghua.
This was different from calling him the ‘Joseon Emperor’ or ‘Goryeo Emperor.’
The reason Ming’s people supported Emperor Chenghua was that he also paid attention to stabilizing people’s livelihoods.
***
Emperor Chenghua did his utmost to stabilize the people’s lives.
First, he re-examined tax administration to prevent unfair taxation and plugged tax leaks.
In this process, officials who committed corruption lost their heads, and their assets were confiscated and returned to the national treasury.
After checking the amount of wealth confiscated into the treasury, Emperor Chenghua gathered the ministers and scolded them:
“How exactly have you been doing your jobs! Look at the corrupt officials’ wealth returned to the treasury! It equals two years of our Ming’s budget! While those corrupt officials were eating away at the people and country like that, what were you doing!”
“Please punish our incompetence!”
“Shut up with your lip service and do your jobs properly! Otherwise, I’ll punish you as you wish!”
Whether Emperor Chenghua’s threats worked, the ministers and officials began properly managing tax administration, and the people’s burden greatly decreased.
This alone greatly increased popular support, but Emperor Chenghua didn’t stop there.
“Create an ‘Intellectual Property Management Office’!”
“Pardon?”
Seeing the ministers’ blank expressions, Emperor Chenghua continued:
“Not all of our Ming’s people are farmers who only farm, are they? There are fishermen, and many merchants and craftsmen. Aren’t there?”
“That is correct.”
“But look at the craftsmen and merchants. They pour their hearts into creating new objects and products, but they suffer losses because of those who secretly copy them. How can we overlook this?”
At Emperor Chenghua’s words, the ministers nodded.
Chinese imitation and counterfeiting had a deep and famous history.
Even in the old Song Dynasty era, they were famous for forging and selling antiques from the Han or Tang Dynasty periods, and even now, problems commonly arose from selling fake medicines or food.
However, while nodding, the ministers wore troubled expressions.
“Your Majesty, we are also well aware of that problem… but it’s a practice that has continued for such a long time…”
“So will you just sit on your hands?”
“However, it’s such a difficult matter…”
“So you’re saying we should just sit on our hands!”
As Emperor Chenghua’s voice rose again, the Grand Secretary hurriedly answered:
“N-no! We will contemplate an answer as quickly as possible and report back!”
Thus began something that would give Emperor Chenghua headaches throughout his reign.
The so-called ‘War on Counterfeits’ had begun.
***