Chapter 768: Special Inspector

Old White Ox: Almost three million characters now — should be able to finish next month. After that, I'll set off on my long-awaited plan to travel all across the country.

……

He sneered: "From what Old Tian knows, extravagant merchants and wealthy households are hardly unique to our Xuanfu Garrison. Everywhere in the Great Ming, those with money — who doesn't live in the utmost splendor? Especially those salt merchants: a single meal costs tens of thousands of cash, a banquet spreads across hundreds of tables with dozens of courses. Their pomp even outdoes princes and marquises. Compared to them, our Xuanfu Garrison falls far short!"

He glared at Li Banghua and said loudly: "Besides, this is money the merchants and factory owners earned lawfully — why shouldn't they enjoy it? Lord Li is nitpicking, fixating solely on the flaws of our Xuanfu Garrison. What place could possibly be without flaws? Even if some people go a bit too far, it doesn't affect the bigger picture. The spirit of our Xuanfu Garrison ranks first in the Great Ming!"

"Well said!"

Zhang Gui couldn't help cheering, thinking Old Tian's tongue was getting sharper and sharper — his words were both reasonable and well-founded.

Zhong Zhengxian and the others also nodded, quite displeased with Li Banghua's insistence on seizing upon Xuanfu Garrison's petty shortcomings.

"At the dawn of any rising power, who doesn't enjoy good governance and a harmonious populace?"

Li Banghua said coldly, looking at Tian Changguo: "In the early dynasty, there was peace and joy. Under the Zhenguan Reign, lost articles stayed untouched on the road, and doors went unbolted at night. Under the Wen-Jing Reign, the realm was harmonious — especially state expenditure was measured, and neither nobles nor officials were permitted extravagance and luxury. In every dynasty's early period, in terms of good governance and harmony, none fell short of today's Xuanfu Garrison!"

He continued: "This humble official does not deny that everywhere in the Great Ming, the poor lack even a sliver of standing room while the rich own fields stretching across the horizon and live in wasteful excess. But that is the result of several centuries of accumulated rot. Dare I ask Lord Tian: Xuanfu Garrison has only been developing for a few years — or does Lord Tian believe that extreme extravagance and luxury are a good thing?"

Tian Changguo was momentarily tongue-tied.

Li Banghua went on coldly: "The vile conduct and debased nature of merchants — all they chase is the stench of profit, twisting the human heart. This is a condition that, in past dynasties, only appeared after a hundred years — yet it has already emerged in Xuanfu Garrison! If it develops for a few more decades, what will it become? This humble official shudders at the very thought!"

For a moment, Wang Dou's hand gripping the tea cup even trembled. He rose from his seat and began pacing slowly.

Li Banghua bowed toward Wang Dou's back and said: "This humble official does not deny the Grand Protector's achievements. Nor does he deny the achievements of all my colleagues here, and still less does he deny that the majority of the common people in Xuan Garrison remain simple, honest, and good-natured. But what cause is there for complacency? After all, how many years has Xuanfu Garrison been developing?"

He said loudly: "It is said that without far-reaching foresight, one is bound to have immediate worries. Those who govern must plan deeply and look far ahead with broad vision — not endlessly sing praises and tolerate no outsider pointing out flaws! The abuses in Baoanzhou and other places genuinely exist. Why must you gentlemen evade them and refuse to face them squarely?"

Tian Changguo glared hatefully at Li Banghua. The development of Baoanzhou was one of his proudest political achievements. He had endured every hardship to attract merchants and investment, yet in Li Banghua's mouth it was dismissed as worthless — worse, described as a place of filth and twisted hearts. Truly detestable!

He suddenly bellowed: "Dare I ask Lord Banghua — is feeding the common people more important, or is the trifling filth you speak of more important?"

He said loudly: "Out there, people are eating people, with nothing at all to eat — that is precisely why refugees keep fleeing to our Xuanfu Garrison. Only because factory owners set up workshops everywhere can they recruit workers, give them a mouthful of food, and let them support their entire families, old and young! Not to say that Old Tian hasn't seen the filth you mention — but even if there is a little, compared to the great matter of feeding people, which is more important? Or would you rather shut down the factories and workshops and let the refugees go back to eating people?"

Zhang Gui also stepped forward and said coldly: "Indeed. The local people themselves don't mind, yet you, Lord Banghua, come here to alarm and frighten with sensational talk. What is your intent? Do you wish to undermine the excellent overall situation of Xuanfu Garrison's vigorous development? Or is it that a little coal dust and lime appearing by the mountains and rivers has spoiled your lordship's mood for reciting poetry and painting?"

As Minister of Civil Affairs, Zhang Gui certainly could not allow Li Banghua to dismiss his painstaking efforts like this — and he believed what Li Banghua said was nothing but alarmist sensationalism, grandstanding to attract attention!

What was there to make a fuss about over a trifling bit of filth? Compared to the tangible benefits — employment, tax revenue, and the like — these minor problems were utterly unworthy of mention.

He further believed that the garrison's factories and workshops not only must not be reduced, but must be increased — the more the better, ideally spread across the entire Xuanfu Garrison and the entire Anbei Protectorate, just as the Grand General had said: let the power of industry permeate the whole Great Ming.

He added: "As for some factory and workshop owners living in luxury — that is a good thing! It guides commoners to consume and increases employment! Take Baoanzhou: the various factory and workshop owners are now the main purchasers of cigarettes — how many opportunities does this provide the common people? From planting to curing tobacco, how many hands are needed, how many people can be fed? Over in Baoanzhou they are big meat eaters, big egg eaters — that is why the various livestock farms can survive, and how many more people can they feed? If you have money and don't spend it, would you rather be like the old Shanxi moneybags who cast all their silver into winter-melon shapes and leave them to molder in the cellar before they're satisfied?"

Zhang Gui's exterior was rough, but his mind was meticulous. A series of barbed thrusts, he kept stabbing them at Li Banghua.

Zhu Zhifeng could not bear to watch any longer and stepped forward to lend support. Each side clung to its own arguments, the debate growing heated.

Wang Dou stood with hands clasped behind his back, watching the swirling snow outside. For a moment his mind drifted. This debate had come sooner than expected — perhaps because of the Confucian society, scholar-officials who embraced the idea of "unity of heaven and man" were more sensitive and quicker to foresee the problems that would arise.

In Western society, by contrast, it was not until many years after the Industrial Revolution that anyone became aware of such matters. At that time, the number of chimneys and the quantity of factories and mines were seen as symbols of strength — who would have been conscious of possible pollution problems?

Even in the China of later ages, because Confucianism no longer existed and there was no philosophy of environmental protection, an equally devastating price was paid.

Wang Dou had come from July 28, 2015, in the later age to July 28 of the seventh year of Chongzhen. In the blink of an eye, many years had passed. Yet the shocking and horrifying scenes of that later age — he still could not forget them. Not only were the green hills and clear waters gone, but the terrifying haze shrouded every city across the nation. That was the price paid for industrial development.

Xuanfu Garrison was only just beginning. In the future, large-scale coal mining, iron mining, textiles, and other industries would be even greater sources of environmental pollution. What awaited everyone ahead, he feared, was unprecedented bewilderment and helplessness.

That was the external pollution. But the pollution of the human heart, in a commercial and capitalist society, grew even worse. Money was enough to drive people mad, to transform a simple and honest person beyond recognition, until they no longer knew themselves.

Although some things were unavoidable as society developed, the whole populace chasing profit and going mad for money was not a good thing.

Because when money is placed first, it is hard to avoid losing faith. The spirit grows empty. The inner self loses restraint, and in the end, conduct becomes unbridled. No matter how strict the laws, people only think of exploiting loopholes rather than obeying them. However abundant the material life, it remains gold and jade on the outside, but rotten cotton within.

Especially for a very long time to come, Xuanfu Garrison — and later the entire Great Ming — would be in the primitive stage of capital accumulation. Wang Dou himself might not be able to bear witnessing all the madness that would ensue.

But since he came from the future, many detours could still be avoided. Since Heaven had given him the chance to return to the Great Ming, he would do his best to make things a little better.

Li Banghua and Zhang Gui each clung to their own arguments, each speaking their own reasoning. Though both had points right and wrong, the relationship between environment and development could not be ignored. Acting early was better than acting late.

Moreover, a culture of luxury had indeed appeared in Xuanfu Garrison now, much of it irrational consumption. While appropriate consumption was quite necessary — it could strengthen domestic demand, and only comparison provided motivation, which could also stimulate people's drive to strive —

Yet there had to be a limit; it had to be appropriate. Otherwise, what others saw in their eyes would not be striving, but envy and resentment — and that was not conducive to uniting people's hearts.

Nor could it be denied that some newly wealthy households in Xuanfu Garrison had indeed grown dizzy with success. After all, just a few years ago they were impoverished military households. Now that they had money, for a time they simply didn't know how to spend it, turning to ostentation and rivalry, becoming thoroughgoing nouveau riche.

It takes three generations to produce true nobility. Material things are easy to catch up with, but the spirit is far harder. The various airs put on by the nouveau riche were inevitably repulsive and could very easily corrupt social mores, multiplying opportunistic climbers rather than solid, dependable people.

Wang Dou believed he had been effective in education for the new era. The youths emerging from the academies were all upright in character, excellent in both morals and scholarship. Even if there were minor problems, a little supplementation would fix them. But as for their fathers' and elder brothers' generation…

As Wang Dou was pondering, he heard Li Banghua say that many mine owners and factory owners, in order to cut costs, ruthlessly squeezed their workers, even abducting and defrauding those on temporary residence permits. They were Han people too — was it right that just because they were not locals, they deserved to be exploited, even worked to death?

Wang Dou's heart jolted. A series of capitalist evils he knew of surged into his mind. Had Xuanfu Garrison already begun this?

Then he heard Zhang Gui say angrily: "Working in factories and mines — how can it not be tiring? Compared to the rest of the Great Ming, they at least have a chance to support their families. Look at the people outside Xuan Garrison — what kind of lives do they live? … Besides, plain steamed buns don't fall from the sky. If you don't want to endure hardship and don't want to work, then don't come to Xuanfu Garrison. There are plenty of people scrambling to take their jobs…"

Tian Changguo also snorted coldly: "The laws of Xuan Garrison are still very strict. Those who violate the laws will all be punished… Although some factory owners are well-meaning, thinking that if wages are too high, it reduces the opportunity value of hiring and leaves other refugees entering the garrison with no food… But laws are laws. Our Commerce Bureau here catches one and punishes one, never lenient, so that factory owners dare not disregard the Grand General's authority. On the whole, the flaws do not obscure the virtues… What is Lord Banghua's intention, bringing such trifling matters before the Grand General?"

"Enough!"

Wang Dou waved his hand, stopping everyone's quarreling. He gazed at the snow falling thick as hemp outside and said quietly: "I remember when we first established Jingbian Fort, Wang Mou already had this thought — to ensure that every single person under my governance had food to eat and clothes to wear! Now the goal is even clearer: I, Wang Dou, not only want the people under my governance to eat their fill and live good lives, but I also want them to live with dignity!"

He turned around, paced the hall with hands behind his back, and swept his gaze over everyone: "I established the tiered household registration system so that order prevails within my jurisdiction — running water never stagnates, a door-hinge never gets worm-eaten — so that it has its own forward-driving force. But that does not mean a higher registration tier can bully a lower one, nor that Han registration is nobler than temporary residence registration. Under the law, all are treated equally. In dignity, all are regarded the same. If someone with Han registration does wrong, they will likewise be demoted to barbarian registration. Those with temporary or barbarian registration who have a heart for assimilation will eventually become Han registration!"

He said flatly: "This is a ladder where the capable rise and the inferior fall — a respect for ability and wealth, but not a symbol of status. To hear that there are factory and workshop owners bullying workers grieves me deeply. Although outside Xuan Garrison there are multitudes of commoners who cannot survive, that is no excuse for factory owners to exploit their workers. Once they enter Xuan Garrison, no matter what registration they obtain, they are all subjects under my, Wang Dou's, governance. Even those with temporary residence registration — we cannot let them, just to feed their families, just for a job that puts food on the table, grovel and live like dogs!"

Ye Xizhi, Fu Mingqi, Zhong Rong, and the others seated in the hall were all moved. The Grand General's words — this was a heart of great compassion and great mercy, of great benevolence and great righteousness.

Li Banghua and Zhu Zhifeng also felt waves surging in their chests. They had never imagined Wang Dou would speak such words. That Xuanfu Garrison could reach this point was truly inevitable.

Zhang Gui and Tian Changguo fell silent in shame.

Wang Dou finally looked at Li Banghua: "Lord Banghua, you once served as Left Chief Censor of the Chief Surveillance Bureau and are highly skilled in oversight. I hereby appoint you as Special Inspector, to tour and examine conditions and abuses. Wherever in the Protectorate's factories, workshops, and other establishments there are those who defy the law — mistreating workers, skimming wages, relying on power to coerce, or failing to discharge waste and prevent pollution according to the law — you may investigate them all. Examine and verify the facts. Punish those who should be punished. Rectify those who should be rectified…"

It was not that industrial pollution did not exist before entering the modern age. In fact, even now, though the coal mines, iron mines, textiles, and other industries across the Great Ming were not large in scale, the first signs of pollution had already appeared.

During the Ming and Qing periods, because so much coal was burned, air pollution had already appeared in some cities, even producing haze. Some coal and iron mines were shrouded year-round in smoke and dust, discharging large amounts of harmful gases and particulates that floated in the atmosphere.

During the Guangxu years, Retainer experienced continuous salty rain that yellowed and wilted the plants, while Shanghai saw persistent brine rain and black snow, leading to annual outbreaks of throat epidemics — precisely because the sky above Shanghai was perpetually wreathed in coal smoke.

Many people living in Shanghai also had both nostrils stuffed with black coal dust all day long. If the doors of their homes were left wide open, in no time at all a thin layer of coal dust would settle on the tables and couches. That was why so many people at the time suffered from lung diseases.

In the Great Ming, where mining and industry flourished, villages and towns near coal and iron mines could not escape coal-smoke pollution either. The fly-ash ponds and iron-slag heaps that appeared on mining sites likewise polluted the nearby mountains and waters.

Wang Dou was always hesitating over whether to develop industry on a large scale in the future. After all, Britain's lesson was profoundly sobering. During the Industrial Revolution, dense forests of chimneys stood everywhere; the entire country, as far as the eye could see, was a dusty gray, shrouded in air thick with suspended harmful particles. No one knew how many people died of lung disease each year.

London was then called the Fog Capital, but it should really have been called the Haze Capital — precisely because the sulfur compounds produced by burning coal made the atmospheric pollution extremely severe. In London especially, the dense chimneys were both strength and the god of death.

Moreover, the textile industry at this time did not appear to be the major polluter it would become in later ages; most dyes used were also natural, and the harm would be less than that of synthetic dyes — yet the problem of waste water and effluent discharge still existed.

Because textile production required printing, dyeing, bleaching, and scouring, passing through multiple processes such as silk boiling, mineral dyeing, bleaching and scouring, and residual liquid discharge, many harmful substances emerged. In particular, certain processes caused lead deposits; once introduced into drinking water, the heavy metals in the water would cause severe harm to the human body.

Therefore, for polluting trades such as dye workshops, successive Chinese dynasties had special anti-pollution measures. For example, in the Song Dynasty, the pollution control measure for the inner dyeing court was to divide the watercourse into "scouring pools," and then have these scouring pools directly intersect with the river channel, so that the swift current would immediately wash away the residual liquid.

Building dye workshops where the water flow was gentle was also prohibited by the regulations of Xuanfu Garrison; however, there were always merchants who exploited loopholes. These workshops all fell among the targets to be rectified.

"...You may select officials and establish a bureau, reporting directly to the Marquis!"

Everyone was startled. Zhang Gui and Tian Chang exchanged a glance. With one sentence from the Grand General, a portion of the Ministry of Civil Affairs' authority drained away. This Li Banghua was truly detestable.

Yet on second thought, this was also for the best.

The matter Li Banghua wanted to undertake was purely a thankless task; when the time came, not only would he offend a great many people, he would also earn the same infamy as Du Xun, while the matters they themselves handled were of the upright and honorable side — very good.

In that instant, Li Banghua was also taken aback. He could imagine that, were he to accept this post, just as when he had reorganized the Capital Training Corps back then, countless attacks and slanders would come his way, and his own end would not be a good one.

Yet a true man does some things and refrains from others; though they be a multitude, I shall go forth. What of it if he accepted this duty? He also wanted to see how great Wang Dou's support for him would be — whether it would be like the Chongzhen Emperor back then, who, unable to withstand the pressure, dismissed him from office.

He straightened his expression, cupped his hands, and said in a clear voice: "This subordinate accepts the order and will not fail the Grand Protector's high expectations!"

Wang Dou nodded and said: "Lord Banghua, act boldly. This Marquis supports you!"

He clasped his hands behind his back again and paced slowly within the hall: "It is said: cultivate oneself, regulate the family, govern the state, and bring peace to all under heaven. It is also said that when food and clothing are sufficient, one recognizes honor and disgrace; when granaries are full, one knows propriety. Now, some people in Xuanfu Garrison have full granaries yet do not know propriety. Therefore, this Marquis wishes to establish a Confucian academy, specifically to teach the way of self-cultivation to those factory owners and mine owners who have grown wealthy..."

He looked toward Li Banghua: "This Marquis shall personally serve as the Chancellor, with you, Lord Banghua, serving as Professor, responsible for the specific affairs!"

It cannot be denied that Confucianism has an immense civilizing utility in personal cultivation and in the relationships between people.

After those wealthy households and gentry from outside joined the ranks of taxpayers, their personal cultivation was indeed higher than that of the locals. In the places where they gathered, neighborly relations were also relatively harmonious. After they integrated into the environment, they would even take the initiative, willingly and voluntarily, to maintain order and civilize hearts and minds.

This was a mountain of gold left by the ancestors — how could Wang Dou let it slip away? Therefore, establishing a Confucian academy specifically to teach people self-cultivation and tempering of character had become a matter of extreme urgency. Li Banghua had come at just the right moment; he was precisely the right candidate.

These orthodox scholar-officials of theirs, when there was no conflict of interest between family and state, often possessed personal integrity that commanded admiration.

Hearing yet another appointment, Li Banghua trembled, and his heart grew even warmer. The Grand Protector still inclined toward civilizing transformation. He adjusted his attire and cap, and solemnly performed a salute to Wang Dou, saying: "This subordinate accepts the order and will not fail the Marquis's expectations!"

Wang Dou said: "Mm, Lord Li, just act boldly. This Marquis supports you!"

Very quickly, Li Banghua, his heart full of fervent zeal, went to work. Zhu Zhifeng, Yanqing Department Magistrate Wu Zhi, and Eastern Route Military Garrison Commander Ma Guoxi were all gathered under his command, and he began his work with thunderous efficiency. Yet very soon, just like Du Xun, he was cursed viciously by people both inside and outside the garrison.

He was even reviled as a "treacherous" minister, and those gentry who had once flattered him all turned against him one by one. (To be continued...)

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