Chapter 428

On the day the two of them set out, a heavy snow fell over Dengzhou, and everyone on the road was hurrying along. The overland routes to Dengzhou were difficult; most large merchants relied on the waterways. Those who traveled overland to Dengzhou were mostly traders from Zhaoyuan, Yexian, Pingdu, Qingzhoufu, and other places. Usually, after the first heavy snowfall, everyday commercial activity would come to a halt, followed by a whole winter of waiting.

This time they planned to make a detour to inspect the border area between Pingdu Department and Qingzhoufu, in preparation for operating in Qingzhoufu. The plains of Qingzhou had fertile land, and the mountains could effectively shield Denglai. Once Qingzhou was secured, the strategic situation of Denglai would improve further.

By the morning of the second day they reached Zhaoyuan, and along the way they visited the Linglong Gold Mine in Zhaoyuan. Huang Anshou was now the mine's general manager. He worked contentedly in Zhaoyuan; he also held a small stake in the Four Seas Trading Company. The mine paid him a wage, and with troops from the First Battalion and the tunbao nearby on ordinary days, there were no bandits or locals coming to cause trouble.

This gold mine's output this year had reached twelve thousand taels, making it the largest in Zhaoyuan and Yexian. This year the total output of the mining complex would reach over thirty thousand taels. After deducting costs and the shares given to various local officials, the profit was twenty thousand taels. They did not plan to convert this gold into silver; later they would mint gold coins directly, which could earn them several extra tenths in seigniorage. Liu Minyou hoped that Zhaoyuan would primarily become a minting site in the future, and he had the former copper coin workshop moved here as well, to be managed together by Huang Anshou.

That afternoon Chen Xin inspected the First Battalion troops stationed in Zhaoyuan. Lu Chuanzong accompanied Chen Xin. Lu Chuanzong himself had not been able to participate in the Lushun campaign, but some companies from his unit had taken part. Following routine, Chen Xin spot-checked some squads according to the day's training plan. Regarding the army's condition, it was difficult for the lower ranks to deceive him, because the Dengzhou Garrison had been built from scratch by his own hands.

Chen Xin was basically satisfied with the results of the inspection; daily training showed no signs of slackening. Lu Chuanzong, having been unable to go to Lushun, was somewhat disgruntled. Even Zheng Sanhu, the most junior in seniority, had gone. The men of the Third Battalion had all been tempered by experience, and many among them had rendered meritorious service. If the army were expanded in the future, those with battle honors would naturally be promoted first. The number of officers hailing from the Third Battalion would increase, and correspondingly, Zheng Sanhu's influence within the army would rise. This was the latent impact of military merit within the armed forces.

"My lord, your subordinate wishes to request that you send your subordinate to Henan, or Jinzhou would also do." Lu Chuanzong followed behind Chen Xin and said in a low voice, "The First Battalion had some men drawn off to the Fifth Battalion, and afterward they have not seen battle. They ought to be transferred to gain some experience as well."

Chen Xin nodded and said offhandedly, "Arrangements will always be made. Zhaoyuan is a place of lofty mountains and precipitous ridges, yet it happens to produce gold, so it must have some troops to garrison it. Mount Shimen and Laiyang are also extremely important, which is why I arranged a full Company Commander headquarters to guard these several locations. The First Battalion's designation ranks first in my Dengzhou Garrison. This officer holds it in high regard. This time the Second and Third Battalions did go, but not all of them went. After the new year they will also be rotated back. It was long ago decided that each unit would take turns campaigning in Liaodong. When the time comes, the First Battalion will be arranged to go over."

Only then did Lu Chuanzong cheer up a little. Competition within the Dengzhou Garrison was fierce. In terms of learning ability, Lu Chuanzong could not compare to people like Zhu Guobin and Zhu Daichun; even Dai Zhenggang was somewhat stronger than him. Without battle honors to serve as his foundation, his standing in the army would sooner or later seriously decline.

He pursed his lips and said to Chen Xin again, "Your subordinate has heard that all the musketeers in the Third Battalion are being re-equipped with bayonet guns. I wonder when the First Battalion might also exchange some."

Chen Xin tilted his head to glance at him and said with a smile, "Your news is quite well-informed, knowing that the Third Battalion is being re-equipped in Liaodong. All combat troops will switch to bayonet flintlocks in the future. This is a plan made by the Bureau of Military Affairs. This officer is not too clear on how they will arrange it; you can go ask Li Donghua. But it won't be too fast, because recently another battalion unit is to be established, entirely equipped with bayonet flintlocks. The other battalions may all have to wait a while."

"A new battalion unit?" Lu Chuanzong asked in surprise.

"Let's go look at your armaments maintenance." Chen Xin did not explain, but pointed to the armory ahead and led the way over. Lu Chuanzong knew Chen Xin's temperament, so he could only bury his question in his heart and hurry after him from behind.

They arrived at Yexian the next day. Ever since Zhu Wannian had left, the gentry of Laizhoufu had quieted down considerably. The Bureau of Land Reclamation and the Intelligence Bureau jointly struck at those who stubbornly resisted. The newly arrived Prefect of Laizhou was an amiable old man who beamed with smiles every day. He accepted the gentry's money as usual, but when it came to dealing with the Dengzhou Garrison, he would never follow through.

The Bureau of Foreign Affairs had also dealt with this prefect, and ceremonial gifts had been sent. The report to Chen Xin stated that this prefect was a wily old fox who would never do anything that offended anyone. The Laizhou gentry had asked for his help several times; he took the silver but in the end did nothing at all. Later, those gentry no longer sought him out.

Chen Xin naturally welcomed this kind of prefect the most. The local officials in present-day Pingdu Department, Changyixian, and other places all dared not offend the Dengzhou Garrison. With the prefect also being an amiable old man, the Dengzhou Garrison's absorption of the Laizhoufu countryside was no longer a problem. As long as they did not touch the interests within Yexian city, everyone could coexist peacefully.

Chen Xin had not notified the Laizhou Prefect that he would be passing through. He inspected a tunbao in Yexian and conveniently ate lunch at this tunbao. The meal was corn.

The land in Yexian was also relatively barren, with many mountainous areas. The Agricultural Research Institute promoted corn cultivation here. Newly reclaimed land along the mountain edges was exempt from grain taxes, and the tunbao households could take it to sell themselves, to encourage their enthusiasm for opening up wasteland. Corn was an important supplement to Dengzhou's agriculture. Although corn yields in the Ming Dynasty were not high, only a little over a hundred jin per mu, it did not need to occupy good farmland; land at the mountain edges and halfway up the mountains could also be used. Its uses were extremely broad: people could eat it, it could serve as feed for livestock and poultry, and it could also be used to brew alcohol.

The tunbao head had originally wanted to prepare some other dishes, but neither Chen Xin nor Liu Minyou were particular. Wu Youdao and the others accompanying them had no choice but to eat corn along with them. The corn at this time was full of sweetness, and Chen Xin and the others quickly filled their stomachs.

The tunbao system was very mature in Denglai. Those tunbao heads were all Zongjia drawn from the original tunbao, so they were experienced hands. At the Zongjia level, there was a monthly income of five qian. Though not much, they could hope for promotion upward. The tunbao head was the lowest-ranking official in the Dengzhou Garrison. The next step up was to become a Zhushi in one of the various civil affairs bureaus. The standard for promotion was the completion of performance evaluations from each bureau, which covered a wide range of categories, including schools, tax grain, reserve troops, water conservancy, road corvée labor, fire prevention and theft prevention, and so on.

Outsiders always paid attention to the Dengzhou Garrison's reserve troops, but no one noticed that the Zongjia and tunbao heads received wage income—including Li Yongfang. In truth, this was the administrative foundation of Dengzhou.

Chen Xin's inspection was a mere formality; they gave it a cursory glance. In the afternoon they continued their journey. After passing Yexian was Pingdu Department. Tunbao stood thickly there, and they could find lodging for the night everywhere.

After emerging from the Yexian tunbao, Chen Xin chuckled and asked Liu Minyou, "Last time you said the Inspectorate had received many complaints against tunbao heads. Have they been dealt with?"

Liu Minyou shrugged his shoulders. "Not finished dealing with them. Three have been dismissed, and several more are under investigation. All involve embezzlement of supplies, accepting requests for land allocation, and the like. Whatever needs to be dealt with will be dealt with."

Chen Xin shook his head and said, "Having the tunbao head control production supplies inherently creates room for rent-seeking. In the past, supplies within the tunbao were not abundant. Now some tunbao have become prosperous, and things like shops are also very valuable. The tunbao head's opportunities to get money have multiplied. These are the ones with complaints; who knows how many more there are without complaints."

"As a grassroots administrative level, having the power to allocate supplies is improper to begin with. The tunbao is merely a system we secretly developed under the guard battalion framework, carrying some remnants of the guard battalion system. The tunbao head's power indeed needs to be reduced. At the very least, the three items of plow oxen, seed distribution, and shops must be eliminated."

Chen Xin turned his head to look at him. "Civil affairs still needs further adjustment?"

"It truly does. I already have a preliminary plan. For now, the tunbao can only continue as it is; otherwise we have no foundation for governance. The main problem now is that the Denglai territory is far larger than Wendeng. Now we also have Liaonan and Qingzhoufu. Previously, the various bureaus issued orders directly to the tunbao, and the tunbao carried them out. The last adjustment only defined the functions of each bureau, but the method did not change. The result of the vast territory is that the bureaus' response speed is very slow. There is also someone like Mo Huaiwen—the Director of the Bureau of Land Reclamation is stationed in Pingdu Department to oversee civil affairs. Pingdu's processing speed is very fast, but places like Laiyang, Ninghaizhou, and Wendeng are even slower. Therefore, establishing chief civil affairs officers in each locality to oversee civil affairs is necessary. Some matters within their jurisdiction can then be handled locally."

Chen Xin laughed heartily. "Then we'll be appointing County Magistrates and Department Magistrates. Let's just call them Civil Affairs Officers. If you want to do this, it's best to try it out on a pilot basis first. There will be too many matters in between that will cause wrangling."

In Pingdu Department, the two met again with Mo Huaiwen. They first briefed him on the matter of Chen Yijing, and had Mo Huaiwen reassure the civil affairs officials in Pingdu, making it clear that this matter would not be blown out of proportion, so that the personnel of each bureau could focus on their work with peace of mind.

Mo Huaiwen had little interaction with Chen Yijing, but he had always been very familiar with Xu Yuanhua. Xu Yuanhua had previously been Mo Huaiwen's strongest competitor. This time, such a huge blunder had occurred under his watch; he had not been able to join the factory inspection and had been detained at the Intelligence Bureau to assist in the investigation. His future prospects were now hard to say.

Liu Minyou also spoke with Mo Huaiwen about the matter of local civil affairs officers. Mo Huaiwen had always held two posts concurrently and was effectively the Civil Affairs Officer of Pingdu Department. If they were to be separated now, he could no longer hold both. So he found it somewhat difficult to choose. The local post had a certain degree of autonomy, but its hierarchical level would be somewhat lower than the Bureau of Land Reclamation. In his heart, Mo Huaiwen was more inclined to become a Civil Affairs Officer.

Wu Youdao, on the other hand, had always been in the Civil Affairs Department. He naturally hoped the bureaus would have greater power. So when these two discussed it, they would argue over even the smallest point. Liu Minyou, Wu Youdao, and Mo Huaiwen talked for an entire hour without sorting out a clear outline.

Chen Xin grew impatient listening. He slapped the table and said to the three of them, "Mo Huaiwen, don't you beat around the bush. The division between the bureaus and the localities is a matter of time. Not to mention Qingzhou and Wendeng, Liaonan also needs to carry out land reclamation. You, a Director of the Bureau of Land Reclamation, are far away in Pingdu. To establish a single tunbao, it still has to be sent to Pingdu for approval. How many days does that take going back and forth? Are you reluctant to part with the post of Director of the Bureau of Land Reclamation?"

Seeing Chen Xin lose his temper, Mo Huaiwen hurriedly said, "Your subordinate did not mean that..."

"That is exactly what you meant. Wu Youdao, don't you shrink your head back. You've talked for an hour and haven't settled anything. According to the ways of the Great Ming, there are some differences between the localities and the Six Ministries. A Provincial Governor is of the third rank, while a Minister is just a bit higher. The localities have greater power and manage more actual affairs below. Our territory isn't large either; we can divide it into at most five civil affairs districts. Our Civil Affairs Officers will be of the same rank as Bureau Directors. When Civil Affairs Officers deal with the bureaus, they won't be a head shorter. Now, having you discuss this with Lord Liu is only to define the powers of the local Civil Affairs Officers, so they can handle some ordinary matters nearby without having to report everything to the bureaus. But it's also not like those local officials of the imperial court, where one person manages all affairs. Under the Civil Affairs Officer, some agencies corresponding to each bureau will also be established. The Civil Affairs Officer can also have deputies, each in charge of a separate area. Whoever's area of responsibility has a problem, that person is held accountable, not just the Civil Affairs Officer alone."

Mo Huaiwen quickly said, "If the agencies under the Civil Affairs Officer correspond to the bureaus, do they take orders from the Civil Affairs Officer or from the bureaus? Who decides personnel matters? And what about their expenses? Previously, the Bureau of Finance distributed funds to each bureau, which then allocated them down to the tunbao or workshops. In the future, for local agencies, will the Bureau of Finance control the silver, or will the Civil Affairs Officer control the silver..."

Chen Xin stood up and interrupted, "The local subordinate agencies will be managed by both the Civil Affairs Officer and the bureaus. The most critical things are nothing more than affairs, silver, personnel, and assets. As for who manages how much, it can be divided according to shares. You can discuss those specific matters slowly. But there is one rule: the localities must have flexibility, and the bureaus must also have authority. You will discuss it based on this principle. Wu Youdao, you stay here and discuss it thoroughly with Mo Huaiwen. This officer and Lord Liu are going to inspect the cotton spinning. When we return, I want to see your proposal."

Mo Huaiwen and Wu Youdao exchanged a glance and bowed helplessly. "Your subordinates obey your command." (To be continued...)