Chapter 562: Memorials Pour In One After Another

At dawn, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, the palace maids within the Han palace rose one after another, washed and dressed, and took up their posts to attend to the noble personages within the palace city. Compared to the early years of Qianyou, over the past two years the Han palace had gained considerably more vitality, with palace maids and eunuchs being continuously replenished. The cold palaces and abandoned halls in between had also been filled in and staffed for upkeep.

By now, aside from the imperial army guards, all the palace personnel combined had surpassed six hundred people—more than double the number in the early years of Qianyou. And of these, the beauties, musicians, painters, and the like presented to the Great Han by the Southern Tang, Wuyue, and Jingnan alone numbered over a hundred.

This in fact ran contrary to Liu Chengyou's advocacy of "frugality," but according to court ceremonial regulations, the various bureaus and offices within the palace also needed personnel to fill them and people to keep them running. In the early days of the state, all manner of affairs were not yet complete, and Liu Chengyou's simplicity had its reasoning.

Of course, it could not be denied that the Emperor had developed a bit more inclination toward enjoyment, but it was of no great consequence, and he did not wallow in it. Perhaps in a few more years, after achieving his great enterprise, it could not be said whether the Emperor might change again.

Just recently, on account of the growing number of palace women, Liu Chengyou had ordered that palace maids of marriageable age be released from the palace, and that meritorious unmarried officers be selected from the imperial army to be granted wives. This move once again reaped a wave of military loyalty for Liu Chengyou.

Last night he had after all drunk some wine, and coupled with having caroused with Empress Fu, the elder Lady Fu, until quite late, the great Han Emperor had, for once, lingered in bed. However, as the sky grew ever brighter, Liu Chengyou finally rose from the fragrant bed with tremendous willpower.

While he was washing up, Empress Fu also got up and personally attended to him, wearing a thin gauze robe that fully displayed her young matronly charm, her face flushed red, a pretty appearance of one thoroughly nourished.

She personally handed the wet towel to Liu Chengyou, and seeing his poor complexion, could not help chiding: "In the future, Second Son should not drink so much wine again; excess harms the body. Second Son bears the weight of family and state—you must put your imperial person first!"

Liu Chengyou wiped his face and tossed the towel into the washbasin, splashing up droplets of water. Hearing her admonition, he turned his head to look at the Empress—between her dignified grace, there was a hint of allure—and noting the crimson on her jade cheeks, Liu Chengyou muttered inwardly: she tells me to take care of my health, yet why did she demand so much last night...

But in words he yielded, saying: "I was happy last night; in the future I certainly will not do so."

"I'm heading back to Chongzheng Hall now. Go pay respects to the Empress Dowager on my behalf, and bring Liu Yang along." After adjusting his dragon robe, Liu Chengyou said, preparing to leave.

"At least have breakfast first!" Empress Fu said.

"No need. Having idled away more than half an hour, I fear another pile of memorials will have accumulated on the imperial desk..." Liu Chengyou took a deep breath and muttered.

In the side hall of Chongzheng Hall, several more talented young gentlemen had been added, styled "Chongzheng Gentlemen." These men were all capable and talented individuals selected from among the younger generations of court officials and meritorious ministers, serving before the imperial presence. As Liu Chengyou continued to centralize power and government affairs grew daily more numerous, he alone truly could not oversee everything, so these young men ordinarily assisted with state affairs. Though theirs was only organizational work, and their positions were humble, their prospects were vast.

Li Fang headed them with the title of Academician of Chongzheng Hall. When Liu Chengyou returned to the government hall, the Chongzheng Gentlemen had all already reported for duty. He directly summoned Li Fang: "What urgent matters are there? I'll approve them first!"

Li Fang held an entire stack of memorials and pulled out several individually, briefly summarizing for Liu Chengyou: "The Fiscal Commissioner of the Southwest, Yan Jinqing, reports on the tax and corvée situation of the various garrisons in Guanzhong, requesting that Your Majesty appoint more officials to fill the various garrisons, so as to thoroughly integrate Guanzhong's finances;

The Army Supervisor of the Southwest, Xiang Xun, memorializes on the reorganization plan for the Fengxiang armies; the Bureau of Military Affairs has already issued its comments, requesting Your Majesty's ratification;

The Chief Commander of Hedong, Wang Yanchao, submits a report on the establishment of the command office and the progress of reorganizing the troops under the office's jurisdiction;

The Administration Commissioner of Huai East, Wang Pu, petitions to dismiss ten county magistrates under his jurisdiction, on charges of neglecting government affairs, embezzling public funds, colluding with local lawbreakers, and so forth, and additionally recommends officials to replace them;

Furthermore, the Military Governor of Baoda, Yao Yuanfu, memorializes requesting to resign his post as Military Governor."

The earlier items had drawn Liu Chengyou's attention, but it was the last one that concerned him most. Only one night had passed, and already someone was requesting resignation.

According to Liu Chengyou's thinking, at last night's banquet his words had been fairly blunt, but after all, this was about relinquishing power—especially for a military governor like Shi Kuangyi who had held a single garrison for over a decade, making the decision to let go was never easy. Surely he would need to hesitate for two or three days, weigh the situation, and only then steel himself to make the wise choice.

Yet unexpectedly, this morning, before he had even fully shaken off his drowsiness, the first resignation memorial had already been submitted—and it was Yao Yuanfu.

While enjoying the breakfast prepared by the Imperial Kitchen, he read through Yao Yuanfu's resignation memorial. Several hundred words in length, it was evidently written in Yao Yuanfu's own hand—not particularly handsome penmanship, and containing a few wrong characters. But the wording was plain and honest, speaking straight from the heart.

He briefly mentioned his merits, expressed his resignation, and described the hardships of administrative affairs, but still indicated to the Emperor that he had fought wars his entire life, and though advanced in years, if the Emperor had use for him, he was still willing to lead troops in battle. He also appended a word of apology, saying that at last night's imperial banquet he had been carried away, lost decorum before the sovereign, and violated ceremonial propriety, begging the Emperor's forgiveness. Additionally, he had five sons who, though not accomplished, possessed some rough courage and could serve as vanguard soldiers, rendering service to the state.

After reading Yao Yuanfu's resignation memorial, Liu Chengyou smiled, slurped down the last mouthful of noodles, and licked the bowl. Truly, a man who lives long becomes a wily old fox—this Yao Yuanfu, though straightforward, was also candid; when he made his request, he did not mince words.

However, Liu Chengyou was quite satisfied and felt no displeasure, precisely because of his candor. After a moment's consideration, Liu Chengyou gave his instructions: "Issue the edict: relieve Yao Yuanfu of his post as Military Governor of Baoda, enfeoff him as Duke of Fen, grant him a fief of one thousand households, with three hundred households in actual substance, and additionally confer upon him the title of Director of the Chancellery. Hmm... appoint the Duke of Fen as Chief Commander of the Capital District, grant his wife an honorary title, and have the Ministry of War assign his sons to posts according to their abilities."

Only after disposing of Yao Yuanfu's request did Liu Chengyou free up his hands to review the other memorials. Those submitted by Yan Jinqing, Xiang Xun, and Wang Yanchao presented no problems, and he quickly issued his approvals and dispatched them to the relevant offices.

As for Huai East, in the months since the army had returned, Wang Pu had taken over governance and made no small stir. With his rigid temperament and fierce methods, he could be said to have cut a wide swath in Yangzhou. He had dismissed many officials and executed many people, and now this memorial dismissed another ten county magistrates—and not all of them were former Southern Tang officials. Still, after slight hesitation, Liu Chengyou approved with vermilion endorsement. He had great trust in Wang Pu's talent and character.

As if by prior arrangement, after the edict of favor and reward for Yao Yuanfu was issued, resignation memorials from Shi Kuangyi and Zhao Hui came one after another. For Shi Kuangyi, in light of his many years guarding Jingyuan, Liu Chengyou enfeoffed him as Duke of Jing, with rewards like Yao Yuanfu's, except that due to his illness, he was ordered to go to Luoyang to recuperate.

As for Zhao Hui, he was made Duke of Shan, and temporarily remained in the Eastern Capital, both to recuperate and to serve as an available advisor. Following these three, An Shenqi, Zhang Yanwei, Liu Chongjin, and Wang Jing successively submitted memorials requesting resignation.

An Shenqi went without saying—after Guo Wei went south to take over Xiangzhou, he had led his entire family to the capital, and Liu Chengyou, regarding him as a senior statesman of the state, re-enfeoffed him as Commandery Prince of Chenliu; Zhang Yanwei became Duke of Ding, Liu Chongjin became Commandery Duke of the South Seas, and Wang Jing became Commandery Duke of Bohai...

In this way, the Great Han dynasty had gained several more garrisons that required reorganization and reform.

In fact, for these military governors who came to the capital, Liu Chengyou's removal of their posts and power was genuine, and though accomplished through a policy of redemption and purchase, he had no intention of letting them run loose in the provinces to seize land and enjoy themselves—they were either kept in Luoyang or retained in the Eastern Capital.

Moreover, what he wanted was the administrative, financial, and military authority of the provincial garrisons, but he did not intend to discard these old marshals entirely. Men like them had rich experience in leading troops and were advanced in years; having relinquished power, they could still shine for the Great Han in different positions. Throughout the realm there remained an acute shortage of military and administrative talent, and Liu Chengyou would not waste it. Like Yao Yuanfu, who was unwilling to hang up his armor, Liu Chengyou still gave him the opportunity.

It was merely a change of position—no longer like the previous transfers of garrison, where military and political authority was concentrated entirely in one person. As for the employment of these men, Liu Chengyou would still need further consideration; there were plenty of places for them to contribute.

Toward these provincial military governors, especially those who submitted willingly, Liu Chengyou harbored no objections. Relieving them of their posts with generous rewards was merely the means; reforming the system, reclaiming authority, and balancing military and civil power was the goal.