Chapter 167: 165: Joy Upon Joy

On the third day after Zhao Han entered Linjiang Prefecture, Li Zheng arrived with an old clerk. "Commander, we've caught someone trying to burn down the county yamen's revenue office!"

"Commander, spare my life! Commander, spare my life!"

The old clerk knelt on the ground, wailing and sobbing, his face a mess of tears and snot, the stench of urine even rising from his crotch.

Zhao Han looked at him with disgust. "With guts like yours, you dared to torch the county yamen? What were you trying to burn?"

Li Zheng said angrily, "Commander, after just two strokes of the plank, this man confessed — he wanted to burn Qingjiang County's land-tax registers."

Zhao Han understood instantly. "Which family are you from? How much land did you spread?"

The old clerk dared not answer, only knelt there trembling uncontrollably.

Zhao Han gave a cold laugh. "Find out which family he belongs to. After the public trial, execute all the clan elders. Send the children to the relief homes, consign the able-bodied men to the iron mines, and assign the young women as wives to unmarried soldiers!"

The old clerk suddenly collapsed, so terrified he passed out on the spot.

Among the tricks great landlords use to evade taxes, fraudulent surrender and false registration are not the most revolting — land-spreading is what people truly loathe with a visceral hatred!

What they call land-spreading works like this: the title deeds remain in the landlord's hands, and the landlord still recruits tenant farmers to work the land. But in the government's tax registers, the land is recorded under other peasants' names. Many small landlords and freeholding farmers — sometimes even tenant farmers — inexplicably find themselves saddled with vast tracts of land, inexplicably forced to pay enormous land taxes, and they have no idea who is ruining them.

In modern times, that Principal Chiang was once the victim of a great landlord's land-spreading. He went and beat the man up, only to be arrested and forced to pay compensation. Because of that incident, he resolved to study in Japan, determined to rise in the world and never be bullied again.

This old clerk before him wanted to burn the official documents so his own family would not be investigated when the land was redistributed.

Incidentally, the elimination of land-spreading is also one of the reasons small landlords and freeholding farmers are willing to pledge loyalty to Zhao Han.

The small-landlord class in particular — after land redistribution, the acreage they hold may shrink. But the land taxes they must pay drop sharply as well, because they are no longer being ruined by someone's land-spreading, which they could never make sense of before.

Clerks, the propaganda corps, and peasant association cadres were arriving one after another; Linjiang's prefectural seat was temporarily under Zhao Han's military administration.

After dealing with this old clerk, Zhao Han continued his personal inspection of the city — he made a point of patrolling several streets every day.

Today he was making the rounds in the western part of the city. As he walked, Zhao Han frowned. "Why are there so many temples and shrines here too? Investigate the whole city at once — find out exactly how many temples and shrines there are!"

Half a day later, Zhao Han received the full details: there were eleven temples and shrines within the city walls.

This was simply absurd. Though Linjiang's prefectural seat had high walls and deep moats, its area was not very large — yet it contained eleven temples and shrines inside the city, with still more outside the walls!

The only explanation was that Linjiang Prefecture's commerce was too prosperous. Countless merchants, with more money than they knew what to do with — or perhaps after committing every evil deed and seeking consolation — had thrown money at monks and Daoists, supporting them in droves. Many of these urban temples and shrines had no temple lands at all and lived entirely on the incense offerings of the faithful.

They extended the investigation beyond the walls. Inside and outside the city combined, Buddhist temples and Daoist shrines totaled eighteen!

After carefully studying the details of these temples and shrines, Zhao Han immediately issued an order: "All Buddhist and Daoist clergy without ordination certificates are to be forcibly returned to lay life. Within and without the city, only one Buddhist temple and one Daoist shrine shall remain. The Buddhist temple kept shall be Guanghan Temple; the Daoist shrine kept shall be the City God Shrine. Monks and Daoists who hold ordination certificates are to be gathered at these two sites to practice. The remaining temples and shrines — do not demolish them. Merely destroy the statues of gods and Buddhas, clear out the buildings to serve as large communal compounds, and distribute them to the city's vagrant population as housing!"

With that single order, utter chaos erupted.

A full thousand illegal monks and Daoists were rooted out and forced to return to lay life, while those with ordination certificates — legitimate ordained clergy — numbered a mere thirty-odd.

All the wealth and goods in these temples and shrines were also seized by Zhao Han, amounting to over eight thousand taels of silver!

"Commander, there is a venerable master outside requesting an audience."

"Arrest him at once and thoroughly investigate his crimes. Even if he himself has broken no law, if the monks under him have been practicing usury or the like, send him straight to the iron mines to dig ore!"

Outside the prefectural yamen, the highly esteemed Master Suzhen had intended to rely on his reputation and, with a glib three-inch tongue, persuade Zhao Han to show reverence to the gods and Buddhas and refrain from such sordid acts of slandering the Buddha and destroying the gods.

And then…

"Let go of me! Let go of me! This is an outrage!" Master Suzhen flailed in panic as a gang of coarse soldiers dragged him off to the jail.

Several more days passed, and the results of the interrogation were laid before Zhao Han.

Master Suzhen was indeed a man of both virtue and accomplishment — not only profound in the Dharma, he had also donated money to build bridges and pave roads, and was renowned throughout Linjiang Prefecture.

However, the Yuanmiao Shrine where he served as abbot derived its main income from usury and collecting land rents; the incense offerings donated by the faithful came only second. This temple, it turned out, held several thousand mu of farmland on the city outskirts — how it had amassed all that was anyone's guess!

"No need to send him to the mines. Let him reflect on his errors before the Buddha," Zhao Han said. "Since he is a monk of great virtue, his mastery of the Dharma must be profound — going ten days or half a month without food should be no problem. If he can survive ten days without eating, then let him become the abbot of Guanghan Temple."

This Master Suzhen still refused to give up, clamoring to see Zhao Han just once. After repeated petitions, he finally got his wish.

Zhao Han, working on documents, gave a cold laugh. "What more do you have to say?"

Master Suzhen straightened the collar the soldiers had knocked askew, then suddenly pressed his palms together in salute. With an air of solemn majesty, he intoned, "Amitabha. Yesterday, this humble monk entered samadhi and received a message from the Bodhisattva: Heavenly King Zhao is none other than the Arhat Who Subdues the Dragon, reborn into this world…"

"Get out!"

Zhao Han flew into a towering rage. "This monk deceives the public with wicked talk! No need to starve him — drag him out and behead him on the spot as a warning to all!"

"Heavenly King! Heavenly King…"

Master Suzhen's mind went blank with shock. As he was hauled away, he shouted, "The Heavenly King truly is an arhat reborn — this humble monk can bear witness! Heavenly King, hear this humble monk out…"

There were many devotees of Buddhism and Daoism in the city, but faced with Zhao Han's tyrannical act, none dared step forward to speak on the monk's behalf.

After this monk was beheaded, the officials finally arrived.

With three counties now expanded to eight, the administrative system had to be adjusted accordingly.

Zuo Xiaoliang was promoted to Prefect of Ji'an, with jurisdiction over the four counties of Luling, Jishui, Xiajiang, and Anfu.

Ouyang Zheng was promoted to Prefect of Linjiang, with jurisdiction over the four counties of Qingjiang, Xingan, Xinyu, and Fenyi.

This administrative division differed somewhat from the Great Ming's, purely because Zhao Han's territory was not contiguous; adjustments could be made later based on actual circumstances.

Liu Ziren, who had come from Yanshan, was promoted to County Magistrate of Xiajiang, and Fei Yuanjian was promoted to County Magistrate of Xingan. Both were old friends of Zhao Han. Though they had risen swiftly through the ranks, they had started as civil clerks and worked their way up. Moreover, the two counties under their jurisdiction were both impoverished backwaters, so the promotions were not excessively outrageous.

Of the two scholars who had been the first to surrender when Jishui's county seat was attacked — Yang Zhong, who had cursed Zhao Han, was made County Magistrate of Xinyu; Guo Shunyu, who had voluntarily donated his land, was made Transport Commissioner.

Guo Shunyu had not only voluntarily donated his land but had also contributed two merchant vessels.

Now that their territory had expanded, many supplies needed to be moved around, and Guo Shunyu's post as Transport Commissioner was richly lucrative — it remained to be seen whether he could keep himself in check.

The rapid promotions of Yang Zhong and Guo Shunyu made the gentry quite envious. These were no mere town-chief posts — in their eyes, these were true officials. We all joined the rebels together back then; if I had only worked hard, I could have risen too. Ah, how they regretted it now!

"Our respects to the Commander!"

Ouyang Zheng led a group of officials in paying their respects. Beside him stood Qingjiang County Magistrate Yuan Yunlong — the very juren who had married his niece to Fei Ruhe.

On this trip back, Fei Ruhe would be getting married as well.

Zhao Han asked, "How go matters in the three counties of Ji'an?"

Ouyang Zheng replied, "I am not clear on the other two counties, but in Jishui, during the period when the Commander was locked in a standoff with the government troops, some of the gentry grew restive and even conspired in secret. Had the Commander been defeated, these people would very likely have revolted at once! However, once word of the government troops' crushing defeat came back, these same gentry all swore loyalty again, sending out every literate man in their households, hoping to secure some post in the newly conquered territories."

"Ha, they certainly know how to read the wind," Zhao Han said, anger turning to laughter.

Ouyang Zheng continued, "Mr. Pang's view is this: now that we hold eight counties and have added two new prefectural yamens and a transport bureau, we need a large number of civil clerks to fill the ranks. The literate men from those gentry families can serve as candidates for clerks — promote them slowly if they perform well, dismiss them at once if they do not."

"That works," Zhao Han said. "Linjiang Prefecture is extremely important. I'll leave two thousand regular troops garrisoned here, and some of the naval forces as well. A portion of Linjiang's tax revenue will be used directly for military expenses — it need not be transported to the Regional Commander's headquarters. We'll just handle the paperwork transfer."

The procedural formalities still had to be complete; local finances could not simply be left to feed the troops. But the grain and silver did not need to be carted back and forth — running through the relevant documents once would suffice.

After chatting a while, Zhao Han turned to Yuan Yunlong and said, "Magistrate Yuan, I have long admired your virtue and wisdom, and today I finally see it with my own eyes."

"I have only done what my duties require," Yuan Yunlong replied. "Everything rests on the Regional Commander's nurturing support." He understood this very clearly. Although he worked diligently, his administrative achievements and seniority fell short of many older officials. The reason he had been swiftly promoted to Magistrate of Qingjiang was precisely his juren degree — Zhao Han was holding him up as a model and an example.

Zhao Han smiled. "Only doing one's duty, and doing it well — that is no easy thing. Bao Zheng of the Song dynasty, whose name has come down fragrant through a thousand ages — he simply did his duty. When Bao Zheng served as a local chief official, he was a conscientious father-and-mother magistrate. When Bao Zheng served as a fiscal transport official, he conscientiously transported grain, silver, and tax goods. When Bao Zheng served as a censor, he was stern and impartial, unafraid of offending the powerful. The most remarkable thing about Bao Zheng was that he could do his duty well and absolutely never meddled in other affairs!"

Yuan Yunlong said quickly, "I shall engrave this teaching on my heart."

That Lord Bao the Blue-Sky of the Song dynasty truly did only his duty — he simply handled his own affairs well. He would absolutely never, as a county magistrate, submit a memorial urging the Emperor to carry out reforms, because that was not his concern.

Thus, although Bao Zheng offended countless powerful figures, that happened when he served as a censor — it was his official responsibility, and no one could find fault with him for it. Before he became a censor, Bao Zheng never offended a single powerful person.

In speaking these words, Zhao Han was also admonishing Yuan Yunlong not to do anything beyond his own duties. Because Yuan Yunlong's niece was about to marry Fei Ruhe!

That evening, Ouyang Zheng delivered a letter. "Regional Commander, this came from the lady. She asked me to place it in your hands personally."

Zhao Han opened the letter and read it — at once his face lit up with delight.

Fei Rulan was pregnant. Shortly after Zhao Han had set out on campaign, the physician had already confirmed the joyful pulse. Afraid of affecting Zhao Han's conduct of the war, Fei Rulan had kept it secret all along; even Pang Chunlai, Li Banghua, and the others knew nothing of it.

I'm going to be a father?

Zhao Han found it wondrously strange. He had not even been married before he transmigrated; across two lifetimes combined, this was the first time he was about to become a father.

(End of chapter)