Chapter 273: Change

"Regional Commander, the Prefect of Qiongzhou has surrendered." Zhang Bingwen delivered a military dispatch.

"Surrendered?"

Zhao Han was rather surprised.

They hadn't even boarded ships to land yet, and the highest official on Hainan Island had actually offered up his city and surrendered outright.

He opened the dispatch and read it, then immediately broke into a helpless laugh.

The Prefect of Qiongzhou, Jiang Yiming, was only a xiucai by background; he had purchased the tribute-student route into the Imperial Academy, then spent more money to secure an actual substantive post. Even in a place as remote as Qiongzhou Prefecture, a xiucai rising to prefect was already the absolute limit — he could never hope for another promotion in this lifetime.

Moreover, Jiang Yiming was a native of Quanzhou in Guangxi, a place right up against Huguang.

If he did not surrender, Jiang Yiming had no hope of promotion, and his home region was very likely to be attacked. The man was exceedingly shrewd: he took the initiative to write to Zhang Tieniu and, working from within and without, handed over the prefectural seat of Qiongzhou.

Now Zhang Tieniu had crossed the sea to campaign and had already seized the three cities of Qiongzhou, Chengmai, and Ding'an.

Lingao County submitted upon hearing the news.

Setting down the dispatch, Zhao Han said to Zhang Bingwen, "Send orders to the County Magistrate of Nanhai, the County Magistrate of Panyu, the County Magistrate of Xiangshan, the Propaganda Department, and the peasant associations. If the three counties lack enough land to distribute, all surplus population is to be relocated to Qiongzhou Island. Have them arrange the migration at once and detach officials to go to Qiongzhou Prefecture to distribute land."

Zhang Bingwen sat down at once and called Hu Mengtai over as well. After the two men finished drafting the official documents, Zhao Han inspected them, signed, affixed his seal, and sent them out.

The coastal population of Guangzhou was too large and the land insufficient for distribution; a batch had to be moved away, or else smuggling would be impossible to suppress.

It was just the right moment to send them to develop Hainan Island — killing two birds with one stone.

Ah, another migration to manage, and the grain shipped from Jiangxi was already more than half consumed.

Silver was no longer in short supply: the four great customs posts of Guangdong provided enormous tax revenue every month. But even with money, one could not buy grain. Guangdong had suffered major disasters for three years running and warfare for three years running; even the landlords' stored grain was already scant.

After thinking it over, Zhao Han added to Zhang Bingwen, "Send orders to Zhang Tieniu: in Qiongzhou Prefecture, any hereditary military officer whose landholdings exceed one hundred mu is to have his entire property confiscated! The land is to be distributed to military households and commoners, and the grain is to be supplied to the migrants. They must hold out until the migrants reap their harvest next year."

There were quite a few guard battalions on Hainan Island. Apart from dealing with the Li people in the mountains, they had hardly fought any wars in over two hundred years.

Who knew how much land these hereditary military officers had seized, how many people they had concealed.

Once all the various orders had been dispatched, Zhao Han said to Zhang Bingwen, "I shall return to Ji'an in a few days. You will stay behind and serve as Prefect of Qiongzhou."

"Does this count as banishment and exile?" Having followed Zhao Han for the better part of a year, Zhang Bingwen now had the standing to crack a joke.

Zhao Han said with complete sincerity, "You have worked hard. Henceforth, your chief tasks shall be settling refugees, opening up wasteland, and civilizing the Li people."

From the start of the uprising until now, apart from officials in newly created institutions, Zhang Bingwen was the third person to receive an extraordinary promotion.

The newly created institutions had no choice in the matter — the navy, for instance: Gu Jianshan had taken command of the navy from the very beginning and needed to train it up from nothing. Song Yingxing, Tian Younian, and others all fell into this category.

The first to receive an extraordinary promotion was Liu Huan, the Ming Prefect of Ganzhou. Due to the complex situation in southern Jiangxi, he was directly appointed Vice Prefect of Ganzhou Prefecture after surrendering.

The second was Deng Yuntong, a Guangzhou xiucai who came to offer his allegiance and was directly promoted to Director of the Guangdong Maritime Trade Office.

The third was Zhang Bingwen. The Right Provincial Administration Commissioner of Jiangxi had surrendered, served as Zhao Han's secretary for only a few months, and was now being transferred to serve as Prefect of Qiongzhou.

The current Ming Prefect of Qiongzhou was a man of mere xiucai background — from that one could well imagine it was no desirable posting.

It amounted to banishment.

Zhang Bingwen cupped his hands and said, "I shall exert myself to the utmost."

Zhao Han smiled. "If you handle matters well, in three years I shall promote you to Right Provincial Administration Commissioner of Guangdong."

Zhang Bingwen was instantly filled with drive. He was already fifty-three this year; if he really had to slowly work his way up from county magistrate, he would probably die of old age by the time he reached prefect.

…

Zhao Han truly meant it when he said he would leave. He had come to Guangzhou with three objectives: first, to meet Zheng Zhilong; second, to meet the Portuguese; third, to overawe the Guangzhou merchants.

The business was done — why stay any longer?

Zhao Han needed to hurry back to Ji'an to carry out a series of administrative adjustments.

The Ming Provincial Administration Commissions would be changed to provinces, establishing Jiangxi Province, Hunan Province, and Guangdong Province.

Following the old Ming system, each province would have a Provincial Administration Commission, a Provincial Surveillance Commission, and a Provincial Military Commission — the separation of administrative, judicial, and military powers.

The Provincial Military Commissions would remain vacant for the time being. Their related functions and authority would belong to the Military Affairs Department and the Army Council; only after the south was unified, at the earliest, would the provincial military commissions be set up.

Jiangxi Province: Left Provincial Administration Commissioner Ouyang Zheng, Right Provincial Administration Commissioner Huo Tao.

Guangdong Province: Left Provincial Administration Commissioner Liu Ziren, Right Provincial Administration Commissioner Liu Mai.

Hunan Province: Left Provincial Administration Commissioner Yuan Yunlong, Right Provincial Administration Commissioner Wan Hongsheng.

This was an enormous change. Previously, all affairs across Jiangxi had been handled in practice by the Regional Command headquarters; now provincial-level organs were finally being established.

Unlike the Ming system, Zhao Han's provincial officials would not include Left and Right Administration Vice Commissioners or Left and Right Administration Consultants. Instead, he would establish a Personnel Selection Office, a Propaganda Office, a Finance Office, an Industry and Commerce Office, and so on, with office chiefs specifically responsible for affairs in their respective domains.

A great number of officials were about to be promoted!

Arrangements for coastal trade would be handled by the Guangdong Industry and Commerce Office. The licensed-firm system for monopoly trade would be fully rolled out — to put it plainly, a "company system." Henceforth, anyone wishing to open a workshop or engage in trade and commerce would have to obtain a firm license issued by the Industry and Commerce Office.

Learning that Zhao Han was leaving, the Guangzhou merchants all came to see him off.

Watching the fleet of boats recede into the distance, the wealthy merchant Guan Jialun sighed, "This King Yan Zhao has finally gone."

"King Yan Zhao may be gone, but the Black-Clad Guard is still here," Huang Xuanshen said, shaking his head.

Feng Yucheng said, "From now on, let's just do honest business."

Not doing honest business was no longer an option anyway. These wealthy merchants had engaged in smuggling because Europeans could not come directly to Guangzhou to trade. That gave them a loophole to exploit: they secretly hired fishermen to transport goods from Guangzhou to Macao, using this method to bypass the Maritime Trade Office and smuggle.

Now it was all perfectly convenient: merchants from every country could come to Guangzhou to trade.

Moreover, cargo transport on the West River was opened up. Large quantities of goods from Jiangxi, Huguang, and Guangxi could be shipped directly to Macao via the West River.

In a word, the maritime ban was completely lifted, and legitimate sea merchants no longer needed to source goods through smuggling.

As for those fishermen who had previously engaged in smuggling, they had all now been allotted land and could farm while continuing to fish. Those who did not receive land were either recruited by the navy or would be resettled to Qiongzhou.

The merchants were divided between joy and worry.

The worry was losing their monopoly over the export trade.

The joy was that henceforth they could do business without paying bribes, and they need not fear officials extorting or obstructing them. If any official dared to act out of line, they could go straight to the Anti-Corruption Department and report him.

This time, Zhao Han had put two families to death — one surnamed Xie, the other surnamed Xu. All the males of the main lineage were seized; they were either beheaded or sent to the mines, and the women were forcibly assigned to soldiers who had no wives.

It had started with bribing officials, and then a whole heap of foul deeds came to light.

Take the Xu family, for instance — they were involved in human trafficking!

Just as Zhao Han's fleet vanished from sight, a group of bailiffs suddenly appeared, escorting over sixty people to the dock.

The wealthy merchant Deng Yunqiu was shaking with terror. "Whose family is getting wiped out this time?"

"Let's go take a look."

This time it was only ordinary bailiffs, not the grim reapers from the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

An official proclaimed: "These sixty-two are all kidnappers — luring away law-abiding folk, abducting and extorting, murdering and sinking bodies in the river. Every kidnapper from Nanhai and Panyu counties is here; Xiangshan County also arrested over thirty. Henceforth, if anyone has a lead on kidnappers, come report it to the authorities. Do not fear retaliation from those villains!"

"Carry out the sentence!"

Shua shua shua shua!

In groups of ten, they were lined up and beheaded. One head after another dropped to the ground.

"Good!"

"Well done!"

The dock erupted in thunderous cheers. Everyone loathed these kidnappers. Whether in the countryside or the city, men and women kept vanishing, and it was all laid at the feet of these wretches.

"Carry out the sentence!"

Shua shua shua shua!

Blade after blade flashed down. The crowd of onlookers swelled larger and larger. This stretch of the dock had become an execution ground; every few days, another batch was put to death.

To prevent plague, after the killings they not only swept the ground but also spread quicklime to disinfect it.

"Long live Heavenly King Zhao!"

"Long live Heavenly King Zhao!"

Someone — no one knew who — shouted it first, and then countless commoners took up the cry.

First they killed the thugs and gangsters, then the corrupt officials, then the kidnappers and murderers, and they executed a batch of profiteering merchants as well. At the same time, they freed household slaves, abolished the debased registers, gave household registration to drifters, and distributed land to peasants and military households.

With this whole series of measures, Zhao Han had completely won the hearts of the people of Guangzhou.

The drifters and small peddlers, especially — after the maritime ban was lifted, the number of ships in Guangzhou multiplied and trade grew more prosperous. Life for drifters and small peddlers got better and better; even a man carrying a shoulder pole to sell wonton noodles on the dock could make a decent living.

As they shouted, someone suddenly knelt down facing the distance — the direction Zhao Han's boat had taken when he departed.

Seeing more and more commoners kneeling, the merchants grew terrified and one after another climbed into their sedan chairs to return home.

Some merchants, though, seized the chance to make money, sending their shop hands to the dock to sell books.

"The Great Unity Collection, The Great Unity Collection! Only five mace of silver a copy."

"Illustrated color-print edition of Biographies of the Great Unity Heroines, four taels of silver per set. The print run is small — buy quickly, first come first served!"

"Great Unity Opera Collection, with musical scores included — one tael of silver per set!"

"The novel A Journey through the Great Unity, two taels of silver per set!"

"…"

Power always brings cultural fashion in its wake, especially with Wu Bing's A Journey through the Great Unity. A diary-style novel recording the real lives of people from every trade in Jiangxi, it filled the common folk of Guangdong with boundless longing.

The novel was also interwoven with many bizarre cases and twisting love stories.

Stories of commoners winning lawsuits against officials, of young gentlemen from old families marrying reformed courtesans, of household slaves who became officials and then married their former masters' daughters. These tales spread far and wide, told and retold with relish on the streets of Guangzhou; even illiterate folk had heard them from storytellers.

At this very moment, in a certain Guangzhou teahouse, a storyteller was narrating a tale, holding a copy of A Journey through the Great Unity in his hands: "We speak now of Tangshui Village in Jishui County, Ji'an Prefecture, Jiangxi. There was a household slave called Liu Cong. Liu Cong was handsome and tall, and he could read and write. When the family tutor gave lessons to the young master, Liu Cong would often steal away to listen. In this household there was a young lady, the third daughter, blessed with a beauty that could topple kingdoms…"

The story of a household slave marrying a young lady held the tea-drinkers utterly spellbound — though a few scholars cried out that it was absurd.

Guangzhou's social structure was in the midst of violent transformation.

A month and a half after Zhao Han left Guangzhou, a merchant ship suddenly fled to Macao: "The red-haired barbarians are here! The red-haired barbarians are here!"

The Dutch had finally appeared — not only the Dutch from Taiwan, but also Dutchmen who had come from Batavia (Jakarta, Indonesia).

(Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.)

(End of chapter)