Chapter 297: Receipt

"The Nanjing Inner Garrison Eunuch Liang has lent grain, fodder, weapons, and equipment. The Anqing righteous merchant Liu Ruogu, zealous for the nation's cause, has pledged five thousand taels of silver to support the Jiangnan Army's northward rally to the king expedition. The officials and people of Jiangnan are of one mind…"

A sinister voice cut in, "Stop reading."

In an official hall on the east side of the Nanjing Inner Garrison Office, Zhou Renzai waved his sleeve at Guo Zuoshan before him. Guo Zuoshan immediately shut his mouth and put down the Jiangnan Times special edition in his hand.

Zhou Renzai was around forty years old, holding the official post of Junior Supervisor in the Inner Garrison Office. He was the trusted confidant of Eunuch Zhang Yingqian, ranking among the top five power-holders in the Inner Garrison Office, a figure of some standing in Nanjing. Although Guo Zuoshan's face was dark with anger, Zhou Renzai lay back in his chair with narrowed eyes, still looking utterly unruffled.

His fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of the grand tutor's chair. "You've heard about what Old Liang said in the hall that day?"

"I have. This matter of Bai Shun Tang…"

"In recent days, do not mention Bai Shun Tang to me again." Zhou Renzai wore a faint, ambiguous smile. "This Mobile Corps Commander Pang has an expert advising him from behind."

"That expert is none other than Old Ruan the Bearded. This humble one heard that two days before the hall meeting, he came to the office several times, each time seeing only Old Liang. One might say this was precisely the scheme he was working on."

"Though Old Liang is acquainted with him, it's no profound friendship. That Ruan Dacheng could bring the matter to success — that is his own ability." Zhou Renzai still kept his eyes closed. "Since Old Liang has spoken publicly, if you still try to push back and seize Bai Shun Tang, then you won't be making trouble for Commander Pang, but for Old Liang."

Guo Zuoshan lowered his head. "Your child understands. I have already informed the other families — the Bai Shun Tang matter is set aside for now."

"It's one thing to say Old Ruan the Bearded handled this beautifully, but this Jiangnan Times — I have read it before. Current affairs essays, news, tales of gods and spirits, strange stories of the marketplace — it was all just for amusement. Yet this time they actually went so far as to issue a special edition, turning a gambling den boss like Liu Ruogu into a righteous merchant donating to the rally to the king cause. Now there is not a soul in all Nanjing who doesn't know." Zhou Renzai opened his eyes at this point and looked at the small stack of newspapers on the desk. "Heh, I never imagined this Commander Pang could actually pull something like this."

Guo Zuoshan said indignantly, "In the past, the front-page news has often trumpeted this Commander Pang as well. At the battle of Chuzhou, he charged in and out of hundreds of thousands of Roving Thieves — it's no different from a tale of gods and spirits. Yet those foolish peasants and ignorant women still believe it."

"If they didn't believe it, why would we call them foolish peasants and ignorant women? Changshan Zhao Zilong also charged in and out — are there not even more people who believe that?"

Zhou Renzai sighed and stood up. Guo Zuoshan hurriedly reached out to support him. Zhou Renzai's legs were somewhat unsteady; after rising, he stood for a moment before reaching out to take the newspaper Guo Zuoshan had tucked under his arm. Reading as he walked, he said, "There are some things that, when they first appear, you don't take them seriously. They indeed seem of no great consequence. Yet somehow, for someone else, it's a fine business. This newspaper is exactly that. In Nanjing, many people can read. The country gentry and scholars read this paper. In wineshops and teahouses, hiring a storyteller to read the paper aloud can draw in customers. Print a name in it, and within days the whole city knows it — and even calls him a righteous merchant. Hmph, a righteous merchant who runs a gambling den."

He turned his head to look at Guo Zuoshan. "Right now, there is a general officer on a rally to the king mission and a righteous merchant on a rally to the king mission. If you go seize his property at this moment and your name gets printed too, it will likewise be known throughout the city. Who could protect you then?"

Guo Zuoshan lowered his head to receive the lesson, knowing that Bai Shun Tang was beyond his grasp. But among all the gambling dens in Nanjing, Bai Shun Tang was the most prominent. With its array of exotic and novel games, business was booming — several thousand taels of silver in profit a month. Failing to seize it was truly disheartening.

After thinking it over, he still said angrily, "Not getting it is nothing. Your child is simply unable to swallow the insult. Anqing clearly knew it was Sworn Son who wanted Bai Shun Tang. It's just one property. Instead of coming to Sworn Son to negotiate, he went straight to Old Liang's side — clearly he doesn't hold Sworn Son in any regard at all."

Zhou Renzai chuckled darkly and took two steps. "That's why I say Old Ruan the Bearded handled it beautifully. The profit here can be sought elsewhere. You, in the future, must learn a thing or two from Old Ruan the Bearded. A few properties are nothing — there are plenty of fine spots in Nanjing. Even speaking of Bai Shun Tang…"

He stopped walking. "It doesn't belong to Liu Ruogu. It relies on that Commander Pang. He fights the Roving Thieves in Jiangbei, and now he must go on this rally to the king mission. Are the Tartars so easy to fight? A general who never leaves the front dies in battle. When he dies one day, Bai Shun Tang will still be yours."

"Then let him be smug for a little while longer."

"Smug? Leading grunts to fight the Tartars is no fine assignment." Zhou Renzai coughed twice, then laughed. "He can't be smug right now."

…

On the chaotic Puzikou docks, countless porters sweated like rain, hauling all manner of supplies from the moored Grain Transport Ships.

Pang Yu wore a short-sleeved training tunic and fanned himself vigorously with a folding fan as he ducked into a shop. Once the sunlight was blocked by the eaves, Pang Yu felt slightly better. He gulped down a drink of water, caught his breath, and entered the building — only to find it even hotter inside than out. Today was the final day of the five-day deadline set by Liang Hongtai. The handover point was right here on the docks, with inspection and receipt happening simultaneously.

"Mr. Ma, this grain is what it is. We're all Advisors here — no one can fool anyone. Among all the granaries in Nanjing, this is considered good. Who doesn't have some old grain? Who doesn't have some moldy rice? Even in a commoner's household, you'd throw out quite a bit without noticing, let alone with so many granaries…"

"Brother Qin, wait a moment. Let me speak with Mr. Ma. This Gunpowder cannot be treated like grain. If it's left on the dock and explodes, who can bear the responsibility? Over time, it might get damp or something — that won't be my fault for delivery and transport. You must take receipt of the Gunpowder quickly so I can go back and report. In this sweltering heat, who can stand it…"

"Why should your Gunpowder be handed over first? Gunpowder is tricky to store separately — is my silver easy to store? If it's lost, is that on you or me? Mr. Ma, just say the word. This silver is this fineness — are you taking receipt or not? If not, that's your problem. I've delivered it according to the count…"

The shop was packed with people. The various Nanjing government offices delivering goods were in an uproar. True to companycratic habit, many had waited until the very last day of the deadline to show up, making Mr. Ma, the receiving party, a bottleneck. Thus, after the brief efficiency forced by Old Liang's pressure, things had once again reverted to the customary rhythm of the companycratic system.

Several long tables were set up in the middle of the shop, where the Account Office clerks were busy. Mr. Ma, surrounded by the crowd, was drenched in sweat from both the heat and the stress.

"Mr. Qin, don't talk to me about old grain. Half of yours is moldy rice. Whatever state the granaries are in is their own business. We are not commoners paying grain tax today. The Grand Coordinator Yamen is borrowing from the Nanjing offices. When I repay you in the future, should I repay you with moldy rice too?"

"Whatever you repay is fine. Let's just settle the matter at hand first."

Mr. Ma shook his hand before his face like a rattle-drum. "That won't do. When it comes time to repay the grain, someone else will come and say, 'I know nothing of any moldy rice.' If you insist on delivering it, then today I, Ma, will write down clearly: sixty percent moldy rice. We'll both sign and seal it. And Mr. He, don't be so impatient about delivering your Gunpowder. What's the story with these jars filled with stones? Shall I write that down too? Don't rush — one at a time. How many mouths do you think I have…"

The room was in a clamorous uproar. Both sides of the transaction were old hands of the government offices — not at all like peasants delivering grain, who could be so easily intimidated and deceived. The two sides were evenly matched, clashing fiercely. Mr. Ma's brain was running at full speed, processing multiple streams of information simultaneously, engaging in a war of words with multiple opponents. The various delivering parties were also jostling chaotically among themselves, making the process even less efficient.

Watching the intense scene inside, Pang Yu had initially been quite interested, ready to enjoy the spectacle for a while. But the space was too cramped. He and Pang Ding stood awkwardly by the doorway, and there was a constant stream of petty officials inspecting goods on the dock coming in and out to report. They all mistook Pang Yu in his short sleeves for a dock porter and never failed to bark at him as they passed. Watching the spectacle proved rather inconvenient for the two of them, so after a while they withdrew again.

On the dock, there were a small number of soldiers also wearing short white tunics. The advance party of the Anqing Garrison Battalion had just arrived that afternoon. The first group consisted of the Central Army's strategic advisors and logistics personnel, led by Yang Xueshi. After receiving them, Pang Yu had briefed them on the encampment plan to prepare logistics for the follow-up troops.

Puzikou was a place where they had fought before. The Fierce Tiger Bridge and Silver Ingot Bridge, sites of fierce battle then, had been somewhat restored, but there were still many vacant rooms around. Setting up camp for the Garrison Battalion was not difficult. Compared to the campsite, the weather in Nanjing worried Pang Yu far more.

Rainfall across the entire Yangtze River basin had dropped sharply this year. Anqing had been spared the flooding of the previous year, but there had been an entire month without rain. Shi Kefa was deeply troubled, worrying about tax revenue while preparing against bandits. According to the reports Pang Yu had received from various places, grain prices in northern Huguang had reached two taels and three or four qian per shi. Although supplemented by grain from the south and Jiangxi, overall grain prices had risen markedly. In places like Huizhou, speculation in the grain market had emerged, with prices hitting two taels and six or seven qian. The situation in the middle and upper reaches was transmitting downstream. The regions under Yingtian's jurisdiction relied heavily on upstream grain supplies — this was one of the factors causing Zhang Guowei's anxiety. But Pang Yu had his own anxieties. Although he had resolved the Nanjing property issue, the journey of the rally to the king expedition ahead would not be easy. It was still hard to say whether this deal had been a gain.

Pang Ding leaned in and said, "Young Master, Mr. Ma's attendant just told me that the borrowed Rations and Pay, weapons, and equipment received from Nanjing so far amount to seventeen Grain Transport Ships of grain — about four hundred thousand jin. Thirty percent is old grain, and another thirty percent is moldy and rotten. A thousand jin of Gunpowder, roughly half unusable. The rest — uniforms, Firearms, swords, and spears — are mostly worthless."

"Has the Grand Coordinator Yamen signed for all of it?"

"They're still arguing. The Shangyuan County reserve granary was the first to deliver and has been quarreling with Mr. Ma for three days. The Court of the Imperial Stud and the Ministry of Revenue started yesterday and today and still haven't settled."

Pang Yu nodded, inwardly feeling relieved. Initially, he had wanted to receive the goods himself, which would allow him to control the power of distributing supplies. But the Grand Coordinator Yamen had not agreed. Pang Yu also lacked manpower in Nanjing and had not pushed hard for it. Now, the receipt of supplies was all being handled by the Grand Coordinator's office staff. Technically, these were loans from the various Nanjing ministries to the Yingtian Grand Coordinator, so in theory they should inspect and accept them, after which the Grand Coordinator Yamen would allocate them down to the rally to the king army. This way, although they might suffer some losses in the distribution of supplies, the entity responsible for repayment later would be the Grand Coordinator Yamen, which had nothing to do with Pang Yu.

Looking at the situation today, these Nanjing people had all delivered on time, but not a single item's quality could be guaranteed. Inventorying the supplies required a large number of skilled hands, as well as experience in battling wits with government offices — something Pang Yu's subordinates simply could not do. The long journey ahead to the Capital, dealing with local government offices everywhere, would be a headache.

"How much silver is there?"

"About twenty-one thousand taels. Only half of it is Official Silver, with a silver content of about seventy percent. The rest is loose silver. Without enough hands to count it, it's probably only fifty percent silver."

"It seems eunuchs are the real officials. Lord Zhang has been pressing the Ten Prefectures for relief, and to this day we've only received seven thousand taels (Note 1)." With a snap, Pang Yu closed his fan. "The Jiangnan Ten Prefectures, the wealthiest in our Ming Dynasty, have produced less silver than two months' profit from Nanjing's Bai Shun Tang. Even counting the Nanjing loans, that averages just five taels per man for four thousand soldiers. Expecting men to sell their lives for that — tell me, how are soldiers supposed to fight?"

Pang Ding sighed along with him. "Xu Strengthening has also crossed the river. He's waiting to fight over the Rations and Pay."

Pang Yu thought for a moment, then said, "The troop count we reported is two thousand seven hundred. We'll fight based on that. Xu Strengthening only has six hundred. He wants to count them all as Household Retainers…"

Just as he reached this point, Pang Yu suddenly stopped talking. Xu Strengthening had just appeared on the west side of the dock. He was riding a horse and even holding an umbrella, yet he was still sweating so much he looked drenched in oil.

He hurried over from the west side, looking around anxiously the whole way. Spotting Pang Yu, he spurred his horse over. The moment he dismounted, he pulled Pang Yu away to a spot far from the handover point.

Pang Yu assumed he wanted to discuss the division of Rations and Pay. Since it was clearly established that Pang Yu would lead this expedition and Xu Strengthening was only contributing troops, Xu had no worries about the campaign itself — at most, it was just about splitting some money and supplies. Pang Yu was mentally preparing his phrasing when he heard Xu Strengthening, his face grim, speak in a low voice.

"Gao Bazi has been arrested!"

…

Note 1: See Zhang Guowei's "Draft Memorials on Pacifying Wu." For the rally to the king expedition, the Ten Prefectures were pressed to provide relief funds. In the end, a total of twelve thousand nine hundred taels was received.