Chapter 1298: The Current State of the Wude Office

The seat of Daming Prefecture was named Yuancheng. Its historical depth was not as profound as those famous historical cities, but over the past century or so, it had risen rapidly in earnest—its population, land, transportation, and produce all could be called abundant and flourishing.

More than twenty years ago, due to the Khitan invasion from the south and the rebellion of Du Chongwei, Yuancheng suffered severe devastation from the flames of war. It lay dormant for several years before gradually recovering—population grew steadily, farmland was developed to maturity, and produce remained plentiful.

But after more than twenty years of stable development, looking back at Yuancheng now, it had long since recovered its vitality and achieved a prosperity greater than that of any era in its past.

Counting both permanent and transient residents, within and outside Yuancheng alone, the population remained steady at around three hundred thousand year-round. And Yuancheng was one of the few cities of the Great Han that, by imperial decree, had been expanded and rebuilt—one of the "new cities" that drew attention both within and beyond the realm.

The outer city wall measured 42 li in circumference, considerably larger than even Youzhou to the north. The city's layout followed the style of the Eastern Capital, bearing the strong personal stamp of Imperial Uncle Murong. When it was first being built, Murong Yanchao had even suggested constructing a detached palace in the inner city for Emperor Liu's convenience during imperial tours—a suggestion naturally rejected by Emperor Liu. But this did nothing to diminish the grandeur and magnificence of the new Yuancheng.

The inner city housed the government office district, where the Hebei Circuit, Daming Prefecture, and various subordinate agencies of the central ministries were all concentrated—including the Wude Office. However, seemingly in keeping with the low-key style of their chief, Commissioner of the Wude Office Li Chongju, the Hebei Wude Office headquarters was tucked away in a corner, unassuming and inconspicuous. Yet no one dared underestimate this agency with its myriad eyes and ears.

By now, the Great Han's overt special organizations numbered three: the Palace City Office, the Wude Office, and the Military Intelligence Office. Of these, the Military Intelligence Office had a stronger professional character and leaned on the Bureau of Military Affairs as its backing tree. The Wude Office, under Li Chongju's leadership, had gradually washed away some of its early stigma and become something people grew accustomed to and accepted.

This was partly due to Li Chongju's discipline and restraint, and partly because others had no choice—Emperor Liu had certain scales on his dragon that could not be touched when it came to the allocation of power, and the Wude Office was among them. Back then, chancellors including Fan Zhi, Li Tao, and Dou Yi had all argued with Emperor Liu over the Wude Office's status and authority, and all had been ruthlessly rejected and suppressed.

On the other hand, over the past decade or more, the Palace City Office had stepped forward to draw the hatred. With eunuchs, spies, surveillance, and such attributes stacked together, how could it not incur resentment?

But being low-key did not mean weakness, and no one dared look down on them. On the contrary, after more than twenty years of development, the Wude Office's authority had long since, quietly, sunk deep into people's hearts.

To say nothing else—the authority to arrest and interrogate officials below the sixth rank was enough to fill the vast majority of Great Han officials with awe and dread. Under Li Chongju's management, the Wude Office had lost some of the brutality of the Wang Jingchong era and the mystery of the Li Shaoyou era, but gained more rationality and perfected many of its regulations.

And the Wude Office prison remained a fearsome and perilous place dreaded by officials. The Wude Battalion, which had already expanded to over ten thousand men, was distributed across all circuits of the realm. Whenever Wude Battalion riders went out, officials always trembled with fear.

Although the Palace City Office had initially been established and developed with the "help" of the Wude Office, when it came to armed forces like the Wude Battalion, Zhang Dejun had petitioned Emperor Liu many times—and to this day, permission had never been granted.

By the eighth year of Kaibao, the Wude Office had become a behemoth. Li Chongju's rank as Commissioner of the Wude Office was not particularly high—only the lower grade of the third rank—but his authority, in some respects, was not inferior to that of the chancellors, especially in the eyes of mid- and low-ranking officials.

Now, looking across the entire realm, there was not a single circuit or prefecture without Wude Office subordinate personnel stationed within it. Counting all its subordinate staff—the various grades of directors, personal officers, and intelligence officers, plus the lower-level auxiliary clerks, agents, and spies—the total number had reached nearly thirty thousand. Though scattered across the land and not particularly conspicuous, if this figure were made public, it would surely stir up a storm of discussion.

Of course, of these thirty thousand, the number who were officially registered officials on the imperial payroll, drawing government salaries, was considerably smaller. Even so, supporting so many people placed no small burden on the treasury.

After all, getting the national treasury to allocate a large sum of money and grain every year to support the Wude Office was no easy task. Emperor Liu's transfers from his private coffers to support the Wude Office financially had continued until the fifteenth year of Qianyou, when they finally ceased—this came only after the Wude Office's secret public assets had matured.

Over the past decade, the Wude Office's work had focused on the southern and northern fronts. The southern side had seen the fastest expansion of personnel, because the unification was recent and much needed the Wude Office's covert surveillance and intelligence-gathering to provide Emperor Liu with truthful, effective information and reports, safeguarding the pacification of the south.

As for the north, Li Chongju, who well understood Emperor Liu's grand ambition to campaign northward, dared not relax in the slightest. He had poured enormous financial resources into espionage operations within Liao, and had also lost no small number of capable agents and spies.

Once the court formally launched the northern campaign, Li Chongju's work focus shifted entirely to affairs concerning Liao and the northern tribes. However, the results during this period had not been entirely satisfactory to Emperor Liu—much intelligence could not be delivered in a timely manner. When Emperor Liu was dissatisfied, Li Chongju's pressure was considerable.

On this imperial tour, Li Chongju had accompanied the entourage. As the big boss of the Wude Office, upon arriving at Daming, he naturally had to inspect the work at the Hebei Wude Office headquarters.

Perhaps due to the nature of the work, the Hebei Circuit's Wude Office headquarters was likewise steeped in a cold, gloomy atmosphere—the entire compound was done in shades of gray and black.

Li Chongju's arrival did not add much liveliness, only bringing heavy pressure. The main hall featured the standard Wude Office arrangement: a dog-head desk, claw-and-fang chairs, and a wall painting of eagles and vultures as backdrop.

Li Chongju sat upright in the seat of honor. A dozen or more staff officers stood in the hall—his accompanying subordinates, plus the Hebei director and his underlings. The scene was very solemn, all attention fixed on Li Chongju as they quietly waited for the big man to speak.

Due to his low-key nature, Li Chongju rarely threw his weight around. But this time, he uncharacteristically kept his subordinates waiting for quite a while. Finally, he spoke: "I won't hide it from you—His Majesty is not satisfied with the Wude Office's recent performance!"

At these words, everyone's expression changed, and most bowed their heads even lower. Casually picking up a document from the desk and glancing through it, Li Chongju addressed the Hebei director directly: "As for what problems you yourselves have, I'm not interested for now, nor do I have the energy to intervene. But as for self-inspection and self-correction, I hope you can give me satisfactory results!"

The Hebei director was a middle-aged man with thick, bushy hair and a rough, coarse face—hard to imagine this was someone in charge of intelligence management. But at this moment, facing Li Chongju's words, he was filled with fear and trepidation, with no other thoughts at all. He only replied with firm resolve: "Yes! Your subordinate understands!"

Li Chongju paid his pledge no mind at all, his expression cold, continuing in a tone that was not exactly harsh: "For the staff and officers of the Hebei circuit's subordinate offices, there are two matters from here on! First, His Majesty is on tour, and Hebei is the primary region under inspection—we need to see the most truthful conditions of officials, the military, and the four classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

Second, the northern campaign is in full swing, and Hebei is the most important logistics support for the eastern route army. Matters involving the military require especially strengthened surveillance. It's been this long, with such a massive mobilization of officials, soldiers, and civilians—and yet not a single case of embezzlement, not a single incident of abuse against the people has surfaced. His Majesty doesn't believe it. Do you believe it?"

"It was your subordinates' negligence—please forgive us, Commissioner!" The Hebei director's forehead, already beaded with fine sweat, was now dripping with perspiration.

"You may withdraw!" Li Chongju's reaction remained cold as he dismissed the Hebei subordinates, then looked at the director: "I'll borrow your main hall for now!"

"That's only proper! Make yourself at home!" the director hastened to say, even wishing Li Chongju would make more demands.

To his eager attentiveness, Li Chongju gave no indication of approval or disapproval. After a moment's deliberation, he looked at one of the accompanying staff officers and said in a low voice: "Report on the latest developments in the north!"