Chapter 405: If Law Is Not Strict, It Cannot Inspire Trust; If Law Is Not Trusted, It Cannot Govern

Those who had served as county magistrates could clearly feel Hai Rui's ability—he was truly formidable; Wang Qian's little tricks mostly served only to uncover clues, while it was always Hai Rui who actually caught the corrupt officials.

The basic social structure of the Great Ming existed in a state of stable chaos—more plainly put, it was big villains controlling small villains.

After passing the imperial examination, one would constantly shuttle about in the capital until finally securing patronage under someone's name, obtaining an official post from the Ministry of Personnel, and being dispatched to some locale as county magistrate; the first thing to do upon appointment was not to immediately assume office, but to recruit private secretaries and personal retainers.

Without private secretaries and personal retainers, one could not take a single step.

Upon arriving at the locality, one would realize that governing a county was by no means easy.

A county's official staff consisted only of the magistrate, with only seven individuals receiving state salaries: besides the magistrate, these were the assistant magistrate, the registrar, the patrol captain, the tax commissioner, the education officer, and the station master; none of these would ever stand in unity with the magistrate, for all of them were locals.

Local clerks varied by region in manners and etiquette, but regardless, they formed an unbreakable bloc of shared interests.

A county Southern Yamen was never merely seven people—it included the Three Bureaus and Six Departments, and in some places, the number of Southern Yamen runners reached thousands; all were locals, and like a fine-toothed comb, they were a mix of good and evil, hardly virtuous, many of whom were bandits themselves.

The magistrate was a dragon crossing the river, while everyone else was a local snake.

Under such conditions, arresting criminals was like a joke; coerced confessions were commonplace; the summer and autumn taxes were collected like rural raids; armed resistance to taxation was frequent, even erupting into rebellions that stormed prefectures and counties; and figures like litigation brokers, agents, and compradors were mostly mouthpieces maintained by powerful gentry.

Private secretaries were needed because the magistrates' staff were unreliable; personal retainers were needed because the Southern Yamen runners were unreliable.

When appointed to a county, the first challenge was paying the salaries of thousands of subordinates; for example, the Lin Zi County Southern Yamen had four thousand runners and two hundred clerks in the Three Bureaus and Six Departments, requiring over one hundred thousand shi of grain annually just for salaries.

The magistrate would be puzzled: the Three Bureaus and Six Departments had only a scattered dozen men on duty, so why pay so many? Indeed, only a dozen clerks actually worked, yet over two hundred received salaries; those who did nothing still collected pay, with absurd excuses—illness, studying abroad, filial duty at a sickbed—this was the norm; embezzlement through ghost payrolls was not confined to the military.

When the magistrate prepared to ruthlessly purge these corrupt freeloaders, everyone would advise against it: listen, and you remain magistrate; ignore, and you become nothing.

Hai Rui was famed for his integrity; as Provincial Governor of Yingtian, he had neither private secretaries nor personal retainers; upon arriving in Yingtian Prefecture, he promoted benefits and eliminated harms, repaired waterworks, overhauled the Wujiang River, cut postal redundancies, revoked privileged horse passes, conducted land surveys, and exposed Xu Xu Jie's corruption and land consolidation—all achieved solely through moral rectitude, which was impossible.

Thus, Hai Rui was immensely capable; the slender threads of evidence Wang Qian uncovered remained mere clues in others' hands, but in Hai Rui's, they became stone tablets of corruption lining the Kuailebei outside Chaoyang Gate.

This was why the Sichuanese aristocratic clans lowered their guard toward Wang Qian; these local snakes had been snakes for so long that whoever came to their territory—be it dragon or tiger—must coil or lie down!

So what if Wang Qian was Zhang Zhang Juzheng's disciple? Even the Sichuan Provincial Governor Luo Yao, who was not only a disciple but also a fellow townsman, had to collude with them upon entering Sichuan.

Wang Qian's flamboyant behavior along the way convinced the clans he was one of them, for he behaved in every way like one of them.

The Emperor had issued an edict ordering Wang Qian to investigate; how he replied was merely his word; most importantly, this was a golden opportunity for the Jin Party to expand its influence in Sichuan; though the Jin Party and Zhang Party were not mortal enemies, they constantly clashed, and Wang Qian, as Wang Wang Chonggu's only son, must seize this chance.

For the powerful clans, bluntly speaking, even the Sichuan Regional Commander Liu Zhang Xian was one of them; Liu Zhang Xian had fraudulently registered in Sichuan to take the military examination, earned military merit there to become a deputy battalion commander, left Sichuan to suppress Japanese pirates, and upon returning, settled back in Sichuan.

From every perspective, the clans could confidently shout: Advantage is ours!

Upon arriving in the locality, Wang Qian had a furious quarrel with Provincial Governor Wang Wang Tingzhan, then immediately hosted lavish banquets, inviting all the powerful clans to revel; naturally, everyone responded enthusiastically—you, Wang Wang Tingzhan, were single-mindedly enforcing the court's harsh policies, hoping for greater imperial support, yet the support arrived in the form of a pampered nobleman; these clans came to Huayang Academy to feast, not out of loyalty, but to watch Wang Wang Tingzhan's humiliation.

The Land of Abundance, with its thousand li of fertile fields, rich soil, prosperous people, and abundant reserves.

But upon entering Chengdu, Wang Qian saw nothing but bleached bones along the roads; local magnates had forcibly levied taxes and extorted the people, whose lives hung between starvation and death; all the people he saw were half-naked and starving; the thousand li of fertile land were indeed fertile—but overgrown with weeds, fields abandoned, famine laid bare before him.

Having left the capital, the land of virtue, Wang Qian faced human misery for the first time.

Wang Qian knew the term "road corpse"—a person fainting from hunger, collapsing mid-walk, never rising again; after entering Sichuan, he witnessed this several times firsthand.

He finally fully understood why His Majesty had unreservedly supported Zhang Zhang Juzheng.

Land survey and land restitution—only four characters, yet they were the sole lifeline for the people and the only chance for the Great Ming to survive and grow strong.

The reasons for abandoned farmland were complex: land consolidation, oppressive taxes, tax evasion through fictitious registrations, Cengcengtan Sect, the people's unbearable suffering, and the Great Ming's precarious state.

After entering Sichuan through Bai Bai Pass, Wang Qian encountered a village called Shenghua; not a single man remained—only women and children; after careful inquiry, he learned from the Tiqi battalion commander that the county Southern Yamen, under the guise of conscripting labor, had gathered able-bodied men to farm for the clans; all male laborers had fled into the mountains and become bandits.

On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, Emperor Wanli Eighth Year, Mid-Wang Qiujie, the bright moon hung high; Chengdu, the largest metropolis in the southwest, was filled with peace and prosperity; silver moonlight bathed the orderly streets, shops lined the avenues, carriages and horses flowed ceaselessly toward Huayang Academy.

Wang Qian stood atop the academy's high pavilion, watching carriage after carriage enter the grounds, and smiled warmly.

"That's Yang Yang Ningren of the Xin Du Yang clan?" Wang Qian gazed at a figure; the Yang family's carriage had arrived, and Yang Yang Ningren himself had come, with great pomp.

Captain Zhao nodded: "Yes. The Xin Du Yang clan owns four mansions in Chengdu; the largest, on the north side of Zhengfu Street inside Chen Qingyuan Gate, spans about forty mu, with layered towers and pavilions rising half into the sky; the mansion houses two hundred thirty-four courtesans, each adorned in embroidered silks, singing and dancing through the night; their beauty is exquisite, their grace fluid, their skirts brushing together; the woman beside Yang Yang Ningren is the mansion's leading courtesan, named Luo Luo Xiangxian."

The Xin Du Yang clan owned seventeen shops in Chengdu, stocking every exotic product, three wine houses—the largest in Sichuan and the hub of Sichuan's finest liquor—and two hundred personal retainers, all household servants; in the city, the Taihe Society, a gang with over three thousand members, and nearly a thousand Southern Yamen clerks—all were Yang clan henchmen.

Didn't the Shu Prince's court intervene? The princely restrictions forbade even leaving the palace without imperial permission, and such requests were often ignored.

Wang Qian sized up the leading courtesan Luo Luo Xiangxian and shook his head—nothing special; the Yongsheng Wool Factory had a beautiful woman named Liu Liu Qiuniang, once the top courtesan of Yanxing Pavilion before the factory flourished; her beauty made Wang Qian want to stare longer, but he never did, for she belonged to His Majesty; everyone in the factory knew this.

Anyone Feng Bao placed in the factory, whether connected or not, was treated as if connected.

In Wang Qian's eyes, Luo Luo Xiangxian was beautiful, but far less so than Liu Liu Qiuniang when she was at Yanxing Pavilion, and even less so than now; since becoming a weaver, Liu Liu Qiuniang no longer wore makeup, shed her courtesan's taint, gained an ethereal air, and carried scholarly grace; as a teacher in the women's weaving school of the factory, she exuded quiet dignity.

This Luo Luo Xiangxian was too steeped in courtesan taint.

The curtain rose; all seated, the stage lit brightly, several beauties sat upon it, each holding an instrument; the lead woman held an erhu—a Jiangnan master, borrowed from the Sun family of Songjiang.

In the night, the ancient stage seemed dusted with moonlit silver, solemn and mysterious.

The master adjusted posture, gently drew the bow across the strings; the melodious music flowed like a gentle stream, slowly spreading through the night; the opening notes were like a breeze brushing willows, tinged with sorrow; then the melody surged like a storm, like iron horses and icy rivers entering dreams, as if telling a tale.

The lyrics were "From the March," the tune "Flowers Bloom, Moon Full," one of the musical compositions by Zhu Zhu Zaiyu, Director of the Imperial Academy of Natural Philosophy and Prince De; one of the designated Mid-Wang Qiujie pieces; the empire's peace and prosperity depended on the sacrifice of border soldiers; war stayed distant from the heartland because it occurred at the frontier; "From the March" and "Flowers Bloom, Moon Full" were now inextricably linked.

Zhu Zhu Zaiyu's musical talent was unparalleled; yet his greatest regret, as His Majesty's uncle, was failing to cultivate His Majesty's musical sensibility—His Majesty remained utterly uninterested.

The piece evoked frontier cities, fortified passes, armored soldiers with cold armor and hot resolve, night scouts on watchtowers, horsemen galloping across grasslands, and coastal patrol officers cutting through ocean waves; when it ended, applause rose in waves.

The stage lights dimmed, then brightened again, revealing twelve foreign beauties, hands on hips, heads high, necks elongated, dressed in daring attire, poised to perform; this was another act borrowed from the Sun family's pleasure barge; as lively music played, dazzling white legs flashed on stage, their trained expressions shifting with every movement, hips swaying, full of allure, exquisite and seductive.

Anyone who saw this was instantly bewitched.

Even Wang Qian, accustomed to luxury, was awestruck by this performance of foreign beauties; Sichuan's customs were traditionally insular, its music and dance conservative; such a spectacle was unseen.

Luo Luo Xiangxian clenched her fists; these foreign beauties were too scandalous! Even more so than her! Eighty percent of men preferred this; the other twenty percent pretended otherwise.

"Are they moving?" Wang Qian gripped his wine cup; the Tiqi had prepared everything; the moment his cup fell, bloodshed would follow.

As agreed, when all gathered, Regional Commander Liu Zhang Xian, acting on the Emperor's envoy's orders, would purge the retainers and gangs in Chengdu; the more lively the Huayang Academy, the more chaotic Chengdu would become.

Wang Qian was not worried about Wang Wang Tingzhan; since he began denouncing Luo Yao, he had already chosen his side—no retreat left.

But Liu Zhang Xian had more options; he was a local, could ambush five hundred axe-men, smash the cup as signal, kill everyone here, and the clans' power would still linger in the city; without controlling the prefectural seat, nothing else mattered; Liu Zhang Xian could simply do nothing and gain greater profit; along the way, Wang Qian had watched his convoy of firearms, constantly fearing Liu Zhang Xian might choose wrong.

Who was stronger, Liu Zhang Xian or Qi Qi Jiguang? No answer existed, for they were comrades-in-arms, not enemies.

Liu Zhang Xian's fearsome reputation made this the perfect moment to become a regional warlord; yet His Majesty placed extraordinary trust in Liu Zhang Xian and his son.

Zhu Zhu Yijun knew Liu Zhang Xian had fought for the Great Ming his entire life, and his son Liu Ding died heroically at the Battle of Sarhū, never becoming a traitor like Hong Hong Chengchou; Zhu Zhu Yijun knew this; Wang Qian did not, hence his suspicion.

If Liu Zhang Xian had already colluded with the clans, Wang Qian's actions would be extremely dangerous; the prey in today's trap would not be the clans, but Wang Qian himself.

"They've moved." Wang Qian saw several spots in western Chengdu launch one after another signal arrows; the arrows pierced the clouds with shrill whistles, exploding in midair like brilliant stars.

This was the signal: Regional Commander Liu Zhang Xian had led troops to raid a gang stronghold.

Cut their wings, sever their tongues, then chop off their heads.

Liu Zhang Xian had made his choice; the executioner was his son Liu Ding—or rather, he had already chosen long ago, when leaving Sichuan to suppress Japanese pirates, seeing the Great Ming's decline; he refused to become a traitor to the Ming; when passing Hunan, Liu Ding had once punched Magistrate Zhan Shu of Ma Hu for extortion.

Today's decision was the culmination of all past choices.

Wang Qian turned his wine cup, waited until the stage lights went dark, drained the cup, and smashed it on the ground, shouting: "By His Majesty's edict, I am overseeing the Dengtou case! Today, I arrest traitors! Those who resist, execute without mercy!"

"Kill!"

Wang Qian's cup shattered; crossbows appeared atop the academy walls; Tiqi entered the courtyard; four sets of mother cannons were dragged to the entrance, aimed at the bewildered clans; the Tiqi raised their flintlock muskets, clearly ready to fire at any resistance.

"Magistrate Wang, is there a misunderstanding? All here are our Great Ming gentry, entrusted with governing the land—why such armed confrontation?" Yang Yang Ningren gripped Luo Luo Xiangxian's thigh so tightly her face turned white from pain.

Wang Qian ignored Yang Yang Ningren entirely, shouting to Captain Zhao: "Arrest them!"

"Everyone, drop your weapons, place your hands behind your heads, and lie face-down on the ground! I will count to ten; those still standing will be charged with treason!" Captain Zhao raised his left hand: "Ten… nine…"

"Bold!" Captain Zhao's pistol suddenly aimed at a retainer; the brute had suddenly lunged at the Tiqi; the captain pulled the trigger; the spring steel drove the flint against the flintstone, sparks flew, igniting the priming powder in the pan.

Bang!

A gunshot echoed, smoke spread; the granular black powder in the barrel exploded violently; the lead bullet, under pressure and explosion, spun rapidly along the rifling grooves, striking the brute's abdomen; blood sprayed, screams erupted.

Chaos erupted; every clan member had brought retainers—loyal men with countless murders; now they fought desperately, armed, charging the Tiqi lines; smoke filled the air, the crack of gunpowder and cries of battle rose in waves.

Twenty minutes later, no one remained standing; Captain Zhao hadn't even reached three; the scent of blood lingered in the academy; those courtesans screaming and clutching their heads would never forget this scene.

"I originally planned to dig a pit under the academy and blow the entire place—and all these clans—sky-high." Wang Qian, thoroughly satisfied, looked around, pleased.

"What made you abandon that idea?" Wang Wang Tingzhan asked curiously.

Wang Qian replied firmly: "Poverty."

"Oh?"

"The entire venue covered less than two mu; to blow it sky-high, we'd need at least five thousand jin of gunpowder; one liang of gunpowder cost six fen two li of silver—so to explode this two-mu area, we'd need fifty thousand taels of silver." Wang Qian was indeed wealthy, but fifty thousand taels were still too expensive—nearly one-tenth the cost of the late Emperor's mausoleum.

Gunpowder was expensive to produce, expensive to transport, and even more expensive to store.

"Indeed very expensive," Wang Wang Tingzhan affirmed immediately upon hearing the number.

The arrest at Huayang Academy went smoothly; Liu Zhang Xian and Liu Ding's operations were equally successful; several gangs in Chengdu were wiped out; thanks to Wang Qian's continuous shipments of firearms, the weapons' value was fully demonstrated in Liu Zhang Xian's hands.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng once taught Zhu Zhu Yijun a principle: Do not employ those you doubt; once employed, do not doubt them.

If you doubt someone, do not appoint them—it benefits both sovereign and minister; for example, former Minister of Justice Wang Wang Zhihao, Zhang Zhang Juzheng never wanted his son-in-law back at court, for Zhang suspected him—even as a relative.

To employ without doubt means: once appointed, trust fully; if problems arise, deal with them afterward—accept the consequences; every choice in life carries its price.

To employ while doubting damages both sovereign and minister's dignity; the emperor lacks trust, the minister lacks effort; to appoint while still doubting guarantees failure.

Zhu Zhu Yijun trusted Liu Zhang Xian utterly; if Liu Zhang Xian had chosen otherwise, Zhu Zhu Yijun could only accept the loss, pacify Jin Party leader Wang Wang Chonggu, and mobilize troops for Sichuan!

Fortunately, that outcome did not occur.

Wang Qian's first strike shook Sichuan three times; within three short months, the Xin Du Yang clan and its henchmen were utterly eradicated.

Deputy Regional Commander Liu Ding, with two thousand troops, garrisoned Bozhou to prevent Bozhou Yang from inciting the Sheng Miao tribes to rebel and bolster Xin Du Yang's power; Liu Ding's two thousand troops stood like a sword at Bozhou Yang's throat, forcing them to remain still; yet Liu Ding could do no more.

The tribal chieftains of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Guizhou watched each other, forming mutual flanks; if Liu Ding attacked now, he would provoke rebellion; beyond the border, the Dongyu Wang Mang Yang Yinglong was dying; once Mang Yang Yinglong died, the Jingwai Sheng Miao would be leaderless, and when the interior tribes could no longer coordinate with the Dongyu, then strike.

The tribal chieftains' reaction was peculiar: Han infighting? None of our concern. To make them understand "when the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold," Wang Hua's continued promotion was needed.

Wang Qian's first campaign in Sichuan, an ambush, was brilliantly executed; the Dengtou case was fully exposed, implicating both coerced and willing Ming officials—provincial administrators, surveillance commissioners, several prefects and their staff; the entire Sichuan region was thrown into turmoil.

Before receiving Wang Qian's memorial, the court had already made one round of appointments to fill Sichuan's bureaucratic vacancies; after receiving it, they made another.

In the Great Ming, three men waited for one post; if you won't do it, someone else will.

Wang Qian's reputation was utterly ruined, foul beyond words; on the Mid-Wang Qiujie, a day of reunion and harmony, Wang Qian had pulled off this act—utterly devoid of propriety, shame, or virtue; his name was dirtier than Yan Yan Shifan's!

Wang Wang Chonggu was a villain; his son was a villain too!

A flood of memorials poured into the Grand Secretariat, all denouncing Wang Qian—and by extension, Wang Wang Chonggu.

"Surprising—Wang Wang Cifu didn't exploit this to expand his power," Zhu Zhu Yijun marked an X, indicating he had read but ignored it, and said to Feng Bao with a sigh.

Wang Wang Chonggu's choice was intriguing—he chose to blend in with the Sichuan aristocratic clans, literally blending in.

This choice was somewhat unexpected, yet perfectly logical; the Jin Party's territory was already large enough, and expanding further would leave no room for the Emperor or the court. Wang Qian did not pick and choose among the clans to cultivate his own faction—he was quite skilled at such things. A playboy who couldn't groom lackeys wasn't worthy of the title.

Wang Qian's decision to sweep them all up was clearly pre-arranged by Wang Wang Chonggu before his departure.

"Minister Wang has a spirit of deference. I'm not speaking on Wang's behalf, but over these years, Wang's service to the court has been evident to all." Feng Bao rarely spoke well of any minister; those unaware might think he'd taken bribes from Wang Wang Chonggu, for Feng Bao had once viciously denounced Wang Wang Chonggu, Yang Bo, Ge Ge Shouli, and other Jin Party members.

Feng Bao had not taken any silver from Wang Wang Chonggu. The Emperor's gifts were more than sufficient. The Emperor despised traitors most of all—he had no desire to end up like Chen Hong, preserved as a specimen in the Dissection Courtyard.

Feng Bao spoke well of Wang Wang Chonggu from the standpoint of Great Ming. The Emperor's remarks were a dangerous signal.

The Emperor's mind is inscrutable; serving the sovereign is like serving a tiger. The ministers alone can directly threaten the Emperor.

"You're right," Zhu Zhu Yijun agreed wholeheartedly. Wang Wang Chonggu's choice in the Sichuan weight-scale scandal had added another thick layer of imperial favor to the Wang family.

"Wang Qian's method is clever, but it can only be used once—next time, no one will be fooled. And only he himself can use it." Zhu Zhu Yijun sighed with regret, gaining a deeper understanding of Wang Qian's arrogance and insolence.

"Promote Master Wang. Upon returning to the capital, appoint him as Assistant Censor-in-Chief." Zhu Zhu Yijun promoted Wang Qian, keeping him within the Censorate, advancing him three ranks to the rank of Zheng-4.

This post was actually quite low. Yan Yan Shifan began as Junior Director of the Bureau of Imperial Treasures; Xu Xu Jie's son began as Junior Director of the Bureau of Imperial Treasures, Zheng-5. Wang Qian had been merely a Zheng-7 Censor in the Censorate. The sons of Zhang Zhang Juzheng began as Zheng-5 Doctors of Natural Philosophy.

Wang Qian had earned merit before Zhu Zhu Yijun, assisting Hai Rui in investigating corrupt officials, and had performed this mission admirably—so promotion was natural.

After reviewing most of the memorials, Zhu Zhu Yijun tossed all those accusing Wang Qian into the trash. He turned to Feng Bao and said: "Issue an edict to the Duke of Ying, the Duke of Cheng, and the Duke of Ding. Tomorrow, during the suburban sacrifice to Yongling, inform Emperor Shizong of the arrest of the new Du Yang clan."

In the Daoist's lingering resentment, there was certainly the fact that Yang Yang Tinghe and Yang Shen had died peacefully. Back then, the young Daoist had spared them, only to invite endless imitators who trampled on the Emperor to build their reputations—this happened frequently during the Emperor Jiajing reign.

The new Du Yang clan's sudden calamity—claiming no personal grudge would be false.

"Remove Luo Yao from office, strip him of his title and scholarly status, and ban him from ever serving again. The Master's disciples must be treated with special leniency—what do you think, Feng Bao?" Zhu Zhu Yijun hesitated, holding the memorial. This was not the first time he had privately pardoned Zhang Zhang Juzheng's disciples; he had also pardoned Gao Qi when the latter caused trouble in the Yingfu Prefecture.

Feng Bao considered, then warned: "Your Majesty, the Master's decree specified exile to Yunnan. If laws are not strictly enforced, they lose credibility; if laws lack credibility, governance fails. Since the Great Ming Code has now been finalized, we must act according to law. To favor private sentiment over public duty risks losing the people's trust and unsettling the realm. Luo Yao, as Left Censor-in-Chief and Provincial Governor of Sichuan, colluded with local aristocrats. If we pardon him lightly, it will invite public criticism."

"Your Majesty, Gao Qi's case was not a matter of criminal justice."

Gao Qi's offense was incomparable to Luo Yao's. In essence, Gao Qi directly offended the Emperor himself; since the Emperor, as the aggrieved party, chose to overlook it, others had no right to pursue it—that was private. But Luo Yao enabled and concealed corruption, worsening Sichuan's situation—that was public.

Therefore, under Great Ming law, exile to Yunnan was already lenient treatment.

"Then, as the Master advises, exile him to Yunnan." Zhu Zhu Yijun ultimately chose exile—it was a matter of public duty.

Once the rules are broken, they are broken completely.

"When will Xu Wei arrive in the capital?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked about Xu Wei, the Governor-General of Nagasaki, who had returned for his official report.

(End of Chapter)