Chapter 154: Volume Three: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander — Chapter 149: A Ferment of Talk

Volume Three: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander — Chapter 149: A Ferment of Talk

Regarding the problem raised by Company Commander Tian Changguo, Wang Dou understood it clearly. Throughout the Great Ming, the funds, grain, and silver for the daily operations of each department, county, guard, and battalion came from the retained and surplus portions left over after the annual forwarding of tax grain.

After the tax grain from each locality was collected and the quota for the imperial treasury was fulfilled, the remainder was left for local discretionary use — this was the retained portion.

The surplus portion, moreover, was a private treasury independently controlled by local departments, counties, guards, and battalions. It generally came from surcharges on the retained land tax. Some black-hearted local offices imposed surcharges reaching four or five dou per shi. In addition, there were various over-collected fines and confiscations, commercial taxes, corvée surplus silver, as well as fees from newly appointed clerks, salt certificate fees, fishing net levies, and the like — all of these were also sources of surplus revenue.

Expenditures from the retained and surplus portions were generally for local administrative costs, as well as for disaster relief, construction, water conservancy, and other public works. By the late Ming, these funds were generally used by local officials for banquets and gift-giving, or by officers and officials to support their families and line their own pockets from the surplus, and in many places they were also used to make up shortfalls in the regular tax quotas.

The retained and surplus portions were the private treasuries of every local government office, guard, and battalion. Their primary source was the tax grain levied on soldiers and civilians. In order to maximize the retained and surplus portions, in addition to the regular taxes, there were all sorts of miscellaneous customary fees.

By this stage in the development of Ming officialdom, every guard, battalion, department, and county first collected the customary fees from soldiers and civilians, filling their own private treasuries first, and only then collected the regular taxes. It did not matter if the regular tax quotas could not be met; the various customary fees were the first to be pocketed. Layer upon layer of surcharges were added, from the superior officials down to the clerks below, and further down to the village and tithing chiefs at every level — none were exempt from this practice.

Wang Dou’s decision not to collect tax grain next year would bring real benefits to the military households and commoners, but for one year, the officials at every level in the prefectural city would lose their opportunities for graft, and they would likely hate Wang Dou to the bone. As for how Wang Dou would meet the imperial court’s tax grain quota next year, many might not even consider it. Presumably they would assume Wang Dou intended to get by through arrears. The tax grain in Baoan Prefecture was in arrears year after year, never meeting the full amount, and the officials and clerks had long grown accustomed to it.

Cutting off a man’s source of wealth is like killing his parents. By doing this, Wang Dou would offend a great many people. Moreover, there were indeed some military clerks in the prefectural city who lived in hardship, relying on the guard and battalion to issue grain to survive. If no tax grain was collected next year, how could the prefectural city come up with the normal monthly salaries and rations for some of its clerks?

Tian Changguo believed that Wang Dou was young and did not understand the unwritten rules of officialdom. He intended to attach himself to Wang Dou to secure a bright future for himself, so how could he bear to watch Wang Dou plunge into an abyss of eternal doom? He therefore immediately spoke up to warn him.

Yang Zhichang, seated below, sneered inwardly. He thought to himself that this Wang Dou was, after all, a rash fool — to actually come up with such a suicidal course of action. He said nothing, but his face appeared utterly moved by Wang Dou’s noble sentiment of serving the country and the people, even to the point of tears welling in his eyes.

Wang Dou smiled faintly. “Old Tian, please sit.”

Tian Changguo sat down. Wang Dou said, “Your concerns are not without reason. Many soldiers and clerks in the prefectural city depend on the grain and funds allocated to them to make a living. This official will find a way to resolve this. Not only that, but starting next year, this official will also raise the monthly salaries and grain allowances of all clerks in the prefectural city, increasing their monthly grain ration to one shi, so that they may properly support their parents, wives, and children.”

Throughout the Great Ming, the monthly salary of clerks in various places was only three to five dou, even for the highest-ranking head clerks. Wang Dou’s increase of the monthly grain ration to one shi would be enough to feed their entire families.

Hearing Wang Dou’s words, Tian Changguo and the others were even more astonished. Seeing Wang Dou brimming with confidence, it seemed his mind was already made up. But where would he get the silver?

Yang Zhichang was also shocked and uncertain. He would wait and see how Wang Dou could conjure up funds and grain out of thin air. Yet, recalling how Wang Dou had quietly trained a thousand-man strong army at Shunxiang Fort, he faintly sensed in his heart that Wang Dou might actually have a way.

Garrison Commander Shi Min of Zhang Family Fort gaped for a long while before finally asking, “May I venture to ask, my lord, if the prefectural city does not collect garrison grain next year, what about the rations and pay for the soldiers of our various forts…?”

Wang Dou said, “Rest assured. When the time comes, I will verify the troop rosters of each fort. No soldier in any fort will be shorted on rations or clothing.”

Shi Min sat back down, relieved.

Wang Dou then turned to the Judicial Commissioner Chi Dacheng and said, “Starting next year, this official will exempt the military households of the prefectural city from tax grain levies. When you make your inspection tours of the various areas, if anyone dares to defy my decree and privately collect garrison grain, you are to arrest and interrogate them without fail. No matter who they are, I, Wang Dou, will surely execute them!”

His voice was stern, and everyone present held their breath, not daring to make a sound. Judicial Commissioner Chi Dacheng rose solemnly to his feet, cupped his hands, and accepted the order.

With his rigid demeanor, no one doubted for a moment that he would bend the law for personal gain.

…

The matters of the prefectural city and the various forts were thus settled for the time being. Wang Dou focused his primary attention on Shunxiang Fort.

He said to Garrison Commander Lin Daofu of Shunxiang Fort, “Officer Lin, starting next year, our prefectural city will begin large-scale land reclamation and farming. This will require a great number of irrigation wells and waterwheels. You must prepare for the forging of the relevant tools.”

Lin Daofu said, “My lord, rest assured. As long as the funds, grain, and materials keep pace, your subordinate will certainly handle all matters properly and thoroughly.”

Wang Dou smiled faintly. “Officer Lin, I have no doubt of your ability. Have the head artisan Li Maosen come to the prefectural city. For any usable craftsmen, feel free to select and take them with you.”

He pondered for a moment and then said, “Not only that, but in the future, Shunxiang Fort will also establish a firearms factory, a gunpowder factory, a clothing and bedding factory, a woodworking factory, a logging camp, a stoneworks, a coal yard, an ironworks, and even brick kilns, lime kilns, and other workshops. You must be prepared.”

Wang Dou estimated that once his reserves of funds and grain were sufficient, he would begin large-scale troop training. Training troops required large quantities of iron, armor, military uniforms, firearms, cannons, and other supplies, so the daily stockpiling of materials could not be relaxed. Regarding iron, according to data from later-era Zhuolu County, Baoan Prefecture had iron ore reserves of nearly three billion tons within its borders, though most were concentrated in what would later be Taipingbao Township, Dahenan Township, Fanshan Town, and other areas. Wang Dou estimated that many of the easily mined iron deposits had already been seized by various powerful local magnates.

That was not important. What mattered was that these places were far from Shunxiang Fort or the prefectural city, in remote locations, making extraction difficult. He already had a high-quality hematite mine at Huiyao Fort, which would be enough for his use for decades or even a century. There was no need to seize those other mineral deposits; it would be better to simply develop the iron mine at Huiyao Fort properly.

Lin Daofu listened until his blood boiled with excitement. He declared loudly, “My lord, rest assured, your subordinate will not permit the slightest error.”

Listening to the exchange between Wang Dou and Lin Daofu, Company Commander Tian Changguo and the others stared blankly. Wang Dou wanted to undertake so many things — where would he get the strength for it? Yang Zhichang, the Garrison Commander of the Five Forts, was also shocked and uncertain, his gaze shifting from time to time to Lin Daofu, then back to Wang Dou.

Wang Dou said, “All these factories and workshops will be set up near Shunxiang Fort in the future, and the ironworks as well. By the way, organize some manpower to repair that road from Shunxiang Fort to Huiyao Fort.”

Lin Daofu again loudly accepted the order.

…

Within just a few days after the military conference of the various fort officers, the news that Wang Dou was opening up wasteland, distributing land, and even exempting the military households of the prefectural city from next year’s tax grain spread like wildfire inside and outside the city.

Wang Dou had eradicated the mutinous troops of the prefectural city with thunderous force, establishing unprecedented prestige in Baoan Prefecture. Now he was distributing fields and land and exempting tax grain. The first reaction of the military households and commoners in the prefectural city upon hearing this was disbelief. In truth, the Chinese common people’s desire for land was boundless. The reason no one was willing to reclaim wasteland was that the subsequent tax grain burden was extremely heavy, making land reclamation a losing proposition. As the saying goes, there are people who will do a beheading business, but no one will do a money-losing deal.

If the Garrison Commander truly could guarantee that after the land was distributed, the first year would be tax-free, the second year would levy one dou, the third year two dou, and that this would remain unchanged thereafter, then volunteers would flock like clouds. The only question was whether the Garrison Commander was merely making empty promises.

Of course, based on the experience of Shunxiang Fort, many people affirmed that what the Garrison Commander said must be true.

Amidst a hubbub of discussion, on the sixteenth day of the eleventh month of the ninth year of Chongzhen, the Garrison Commander’s residence posted a proclamation confirming that everyone’s speculation was correct. Every military household in Baoan Prefecture, with four to seven members per household, could reclaim fifty mu of wasteland. After registration and entry into the records, the government would help them construct irrigation wells and waterwheels and provide them with plow oxen and farming tools. Furthermore, next year’s garrison grain levy for the military households of the prefectural city was exempted. Refugees and commoners from outside Baoan Prefecture who were willing to join the military households of Baoan Prefecture would enjoy the same treatment.

For a time, the entire prefectural city was in an uproar. The military households rejoiced. The news even spread quickly to the Baoan Guard city. Garrison Commander Li Yi and Acting Garrison Commander Xu Zucheng were both greatly alarmed upon hearing it and hastily summoned Wang Dou to question him. Wang Dou assured them repeatedly that next year’s garrison field grain quota for Baoan Prefecture would be paid in full by him without the slightest arrears.

Only after repeated explanations did the two men set their minds at ease, though they still could not fathom what Wang Dou would use to pay it when the time came.

On the seventeenth, Wang Dou began operations. During the mutiny, over five thousand mu of land belonging to the mutinous officers and soldiers had been confiscated in the prefectural city. Wang Dou distributed twenty mu each to the families of the commoners who had been victimized during the mutiny. The families of the executed mutineers also each received twenty mu of land.

After the mutiny, the families of those mutinous soldiers had all been living in fear and trembling in the prefectural city. They never imagined that the Garrison Commander would actually distribute land to them, and that most of it was even good, fertile land. They were overwhelmed with gratitude, weeping tears of thankfulness. For days on end, large numbers of mutineer dependents came to the front of the Garrison Commander’s residence to kowtow and express their thanks to Wang Dou.

Wang Dou came out and comforted them with gentle words, saying that on the day he executed the mutineers, he had declared that their crimes would not extend to their wives and daughters. As long as they henceforth lived by their proper callings and did no evil, he would still regard them as subjects under his governance and treat them equally. These words made the mutineers’ dependents weep even more profusely.

The families of the victimized commoners who had received land also came in large numbers to kowtow and thank Wang Dou, and Wang Dou likewise comforted them with gentle words.

With this precedent before them, who could still doubt? For a time, the military households of the prefectural city poured forth in all directions. Even the bitter cold could not dampen their enthusiasm for opening up wasteland. Day after day, the area inside and outside the prefectural city bustled with activity. Even many military households from the surrounding military forts and guard battalions secretly rushed over to register in the military household rolls of Baoan Prefecture, just so they too could receive land to pass down to their families and make a living. Refugees rushing in were even more numerous.

At the same time, Li Maosen arrived in Baoan Prefecture and swept away all of the more than one hundred military artisan households of Baoan Prefecture, taking them to Shunxiang Fort to begin work on a large scale, manufacturing waterwheels and other items.

Unlike in Baoan Prefecture, working in Shunxiang Fort provided a basic monthly grain ration, and for every waterwheel produced, there were corresponding rewards. Although the weather was freezing cold, these artisans from Baoan Prefecture radiated tremendous enthusiasm for their work, which could be described as both fast and excellent.

Only the clerks of Baoan Prefecture had mixed feelings. Wang Dou had exempted next year’s garrison grain levy for the military households. The military households were cheering and leaping with joy, but the clerks would lose many opportunities for graft next year. With Wang Dou’s tiger-like authority before them, how could they dare express any discontent? Moreover, Wang Dou had also promised to increase their monthly salaries. As long as they kept to their duties and worked diligently, they could support their families. What choice should each of them make…?

…

Because Wang Dou’s opening of wasteland, distribution of land, and exemption of garrison grain applied only to the military households of the prefectural city, many civilian households in the city grew emotionally unsettled. Many were already calculating whether they should register as military households so that they too could receive fields and land.

In response to this situation, on the twentieth day of the eleventh month, Li Zhenping, the Department Magistrate of Baoan Prefecture, invited Garrison Commander Wang Dou to a discussion.