Chapter 1297: Emperor Liu's Little Notebook

Relying on the Nanle dock, with approval from the Hebei Circuit and the imperial court, a town had been established here—a typical commercial town, thriving on convenient transportation and increasingly prosperous water transport.

By now, the registered population of Nanle Town was close to seven thousand people—a number that rivaled some county seats and far surpassed those remote lower-tier counties. Even within Daming Prefecture, it ranked as the foremost town.

Being in the midst of war and serving as a transport hub, it attracted a great influx of merchants and common folk, spawning a new wave of commercial prosperity. The town's inns, hostels, teahouses, and taverns were nearly full every single day.

In such an atmosphere, everyone carried high enthusiasm, caught up in a bustle of constant activity. The busiest of all were the constables maintaining order and the tax collectors levying duties—virtually every cart and every boat of goods that docked or entered the town brought the government no small amount of tax revenue.

If one looked only at the sights and appearance of this small town, one would inevitably get the illusion that the Great Han was so prosperous and flourishing, the nation at peace and the people secure—otherwise, how could there be such a scene of goods converging from all directions and wealth gathering like clouds?

However, Emperor Liu knew full well in his heart that prosperity catalyzed by war contained bubbles; it was not the norm. Squeezing out the water was what was most real. Moreover, the Great Han remained an agricultural empire—the living conditions of the lowliest peasants were what truly reflected the nation's most genuine state.

After inspecting the dock and learning about the military supply transport situation, Emperor Liu had a meal in the town, sampling the locally famous sesame flatbreads and roast chicken, before departing back to the prefectural seat.

A government highway had been built directly from Nanle Town to the prefectural seat—a third-class "provincial road" by Great Han standards, not as finely constructed as the direct roads built under the Ministry of Works, but equally smooth and broad, made primarily of gravel and loess, with extensive use of lime-mortar techniques.

The imperial carriage traveled along this highway with barely any jolting. There were many carts, horses, and pedestrians on the road, but upon seeing this broad, ornate carriage escorted by a large contingent of black-armored knights, they all gave way from afar. Those with knowledge and experience recognized the fluttering dragon banner and could not help but sigh, wondering which member of the imperial clan was out on a journey.

Inside the imperial carriage, Emperor Liu sat leaning back against the side of the compartment, holding a memorial in his hand. The pleasant autumn light filtered through the swaying curtains from time to time, casting its glow upon his utterly bored face.

Duke of Qin, Liu Xu, sat with utmost deference. Emperor Liu glanced at him from the corner of his eye, set down the memorial, and said, "Do you think I've been unfair to that Tao Yan?"

Startled by these words, Liu Xu tensed up and hastily denied: "Your son would not dare! That man's audience before Your Majesty was utterly disgraceful—he didn't know what he was doing!"

Emperor Liu smiled and said, "Do you know how many registered residents are under Daming Prefecture's jurisdiction?"

Liu Xu clasped his hands: "Your son does not know the exact figure either, but vaguely recalls it to be around four hundred sixty-some thousand people!"

"Yet a prefect who has served for nearly three years can't even report an approximate number!" Emperor Liu said flatly.

Liu Xu said, "Father, your son feels that Tao Yan governed Daming for three years with no major incidents and no major faults; the people's livelihood has been fairly stable. Though he has no outstanding achievements, he has more than sufficed in maintaining the status quo. This time accompanying Your Majesty, perhaps he was overawed by your heavenly majesty and lost his composure! To strip him of his office outright—isn't that punishment a bit too harsh?"

Glancing at Liu Xu, Emperor Liu said, "Do you think I stripped him of his office merely because of his performance today?"

"Could there be other hidden circumstances?" Liu Xu was taken aback.

Emperor Liu sat up, rummaged through the several piles of memorials set beside him, pulled one out, and tossed it to Liu Xu: "Take a look!"

"Yes!" Liu Xu received it, quickly opened it, and buried his head in reading. Soon, his expression darkened.

This memorial came from the Wude Office, concerning some of Tao Yan's conduct during his tenure as prefect of Daming. Indeed, lowly and foolish practices like indulging his family, committing wrongdoing, abusing power and perverting the law, and harming the innocent—Tao Yan had not committed any of these.

However, Tao Yan served as prefect quite leisurely. He delegated most affairs to his subordinate officials, playing the role of a hands-off boss—when the mood struck him, he'd look into matters; when he lacked interest, he'd drink and make merry. The song-and-dance peace of Daming Prefecture began with him as prefect.

"This is lazy governance! This is negligent governance!" Liu Xu's expression turned unpleasant, and the hand holding the memorial had nowhere to rest—and to think he'd been speaking up for Tao Yan.

"If you say this man is foolish, I think he's not foolish at all! He keeps a low profile in conduct and in governance alike. The key point is that his evaluations over the past two years both came back as 'middling'—as you said, neither fault nor outstanding merit..." Emperor Liu said.

Liu Xu furrowed his brow and said, "Your meaning is that someone in the Ministry of Personnel's inspections also showed favoritism and shielded him?"

Emperor Liu did not take up that thread, and continued: "His household has thirty-seven members in total, yet every day they consume ten chickens, twenty fish, two sheep, and a cartload of vegetables... Heh, on his meager salary alone—even with some family property—how could he possibly sustain such enormous expenditure?"

Hearing these words from Emperor Liu, Liu Xu could not help but smile bitterly and let out a sigh, then kowtowed and pleaded: "It is your son who has dim vision and shallow understanding—seeing only the surface, unaware of the sordidness beneath!"

Emperor Liu raised his hand, stretched his shoulders, then lay back down and said languidly: "Back then, Tao Gu swallowed his old pride and pulled strings to secure the Daming prefect position for his son—did he ever imagine his son would repay his expectations in this way?

You all think he didn't abandon his post to escort the coffin home because the northern expedition kept him too busy to get away, so he stayed on with tears in his eyes? From what I know, this man simply couldn't bear to part with the prefect's official cap. Why is he so nervous and at a loss? Because a guilty conscience betrays him. Had I not come on this inspection tour, perhaps this man would have continued his wanton idleness..."

"Such a disloyal and unfilial man, a fame-mongering fraud—stripping him of office is letting him off easy; his title should be stripped as well!" Liu Xu said with some agitation.

Tao Yan had inherited his father's title of Marquis of Xinping, and was now a second-rank marquis.

"And a thorough investigation should be conducted!" Liu Xu glanced cautiously at Emperor Liu, then added in a cold voice.

"Let this man and this matter be set aside for now—someone will handle it. Tao Gu doesn't have only this one son!" Emperor Liu said flatly. In truth, the reason he had not taken severe measures directly against Tao Yan, merely sending him back to his hometown for the time being, was that Emperor Liu was showing some consideration for old ties—after all, Tao Gu had died not long ago. Additionally, transferring the title would also allow the rank to be reduced, saving the court some salary and grain rations each year.

Because of the generous treatment of the nobility, combined with the great number of dukes and marquises in the state—even with restrictions on privileges—over time, Emperor Liu began to feel that the money and grain distributed to nobles and ministers each year was too much, placing no small burden on the state's finances...

Therefore, in recent years, whenever nobles or meritorious officials broke the law or committed crimes and were caught red-handed by Emperor Liu, they were dealt with severely and harshly—light punishments meant demotion or rank reduction, heavy ones meant stripping of titles or execution. This had made quite a few people tremble with fear and instinctively restrain their own behavior.

The circumstances of Tao Yan's offense could not be considered serious, but once it caught Emperor Liu's eye and a justification was found, the handling naturally became simple.

"Daming Prefecture is the foremost seat of Hebei—it still needs a capable official of outstanding talent and worldly savvy to govern it!" Emperor Liu muttered, then said: "Draft an edict for me! Transfer Lü Duan, Prefectural Administrator of Puzhou, to take up the post of Prefect of Daming!"

"Yes!"

"I'll sleep a bit!" Stretching lazily, Emperor Liu yawned, then curled down, rested his head on an imperial pillow, and closed his eyes.

Seeing this, Liu Xu took his leave on his own initiative. But before leaving, he returned the Wude Office report to its original place, fetched a blanket to cover Emperor Liu, and only then quietly withdrew from the imperial carriage.

What a considerate son!

Emperor Liu seemed to notice nothing—soon, faint snoring sounds arose. Inside the imperial carriage, the only companions left with Emperor Liu were those several piles of mysterious-looking memorials.

These were all secret memorials from the Wude Office and the Censorate, concerning the governance performance of the circuit, prefecture, and county officials at the destinations of this inspection tour, as well as local customs and conditions of the people in various places.

It could be said that even before arriving, Emperor Liu already had a rough impression of the situation in each place in his heart.

When it came to the circumstances of officials both internal and external, Emperor Liu had always kept a little notebook recording them. That Tao Yan was rather unlucky—he went on the black list; Lü Duan, on the other hand, went on the red list.