In Emperor Chongzhen's eyes, there were no truly virtuous ministers.
When they were capable, he used them; when they were not, he dismissed them.
What constituted a virtuous minister?
Simply doing one's job well only earned a passing grade.
In the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, a minister who could raise money was a virtuous minister.
But to Emperor Chongzhen, that only made someone half a virtuous minister.
Only those who could raise money without extorting it from the people could be considered truly virtuous ministers.
Some might argue that currency reform was simply extracting money from the hands of the common people, that it was nothing less than extortion.
But the problem was... how much money did the common people actually have?
Most of their meager savings consisted of copper coins, with very little silver.
The vast majority of the silver was hidden away in the cellars of the gentry, landlords, and merchants.
Currency reform had two main objectives:
First, to calculate the total monetary volume, and second, to bleed the gentry, landlords, and merchants.
On the eighth day of the sixth lunar month in the twenty-fifth year of Chongzhen, a morning court session was held.
Officials from the Court of State Ceremonial stepped forward first, reporting to Emperor Chongzhen on the officials who had come to the Capital to express their gratitude and those requesting favors upon departure.
As usual, Emperor Chongzhen chose to grant no audiences.
Chapter 1185