Chapter 746

Early March in the twenty-third year of the Chongzhen reign. Officials recommended by the Minister of Revenue, Xie Sanbin, had arrived throughout Jiangnan and begun implementing the new policies. Far away in the Capital, Emperor Chongzhen knew nothing of the countermeasures being planned by Xie Sanbin and the Donglin Faction; even if he had known, he could only wait. He had to wait until they made a mistake and evidence was secured before he could strike. In truth, Chongzhen had long realized that the currency reform was a dead end. It was precisely because it was a dead end that he had established it as state policy. The Imperial Court would profit from the reform, and the gentry would want to seize a share of the spoils. But the profits were limited—not enough for everyone to have a piece. Therefore, someone would inevitably target the common people. When the people were pushed to the brink, civil unrest would erupt. Once the unrest was suppressed, the entire Jiangnan bureaucracy would be implicated, creating an opportunity for a complete reshuffling. Chongzhen intended to use the chaos of the unrest and the subsequent purge to overhaul the Jiangnan administration and forcefully push through the currency reform.