Chapter 114: The Hidden Dragon Does Not Act — The Yang Is Still Below

On the tenth day of the ninth month, at the hour of the snake, one double-hour before the second Daily Lecture.

Zhu Youjian broke with precedent today and did not first deal with the mountain of accumulated memorials.

Instead, he skimmed through the booklets submitted by the Hanlin Academy one by one.

They fell essentially into three broad categories — the School of Principle, the School of Mind, and attempts at reconciliation — nothing particularly outstanding.

Only two booklets were of any real interest, showing some originality.

Zhu Youjian gently closed one of them.

On the title page were written three characters — Qi Xinxiao.

Zhu Youjian tapped a fingertip on the cover, then looked up at Gao Shiming. "Has Minister Qi fully recovered? Will he be attending today's Daily Lecture?"

Gao Shiming bowed and replied, "In reply to Your Majesty, Wang Zuoyuan has already reported back. Junior Compiler Qi broke into two days of heavy sweating after taking the medicine, and his wind-cold has cleared completely. However… this slave fears there may still be lingering pestilential qi about his person, which could endanger the imperial person, and therefore has not yet permitted him to enter the palace today."

He paused, then lowered his voice further, carrying a note of earnestness. "Your Majesty, though talent is hard to come by, the dragon body is worth ten thousand in gold and is ultimately the foundation of the realm."

The words were beyond reproach — the safest expression of a subject's loyalty.

Zhu Youjian's brow furrowed slightly as he fell into a moment of hesitation.

He had already made arrangements for Qi Xinxiao's future assignment, and so he still hoped that this impoverished Hanlin scholar could take part in the grand performance he had been planning for so long.

After all, this great drama was one he would stage only once.

But Gao Shiming's concern was not entirely without reason.

A moment later, he suddenly broke into a smile, the hesitation swept clean away.

"This is not so difficult after all."

Zhu Youjian casually took up paper and brush and swiftly sketched a few simple lines on the blank sheet.

A shape — utterly commonplace in a later age — appeared on the paper.

He handed the paper to Gao Shiming.

"Have the Needlework Bureau use fine soft cloth, with several layers of cotton gauze sandwiched inside, and make one to this pattern at once. Have him wear it over his mouth, nose, and ears."

Having said this, Zhu Youjian even raised a hand and gestured in front of his own face to demonstrate.

Gao Shiming took the paper, looked at the strange design on it, and more or less grasped its purpose.

But could such a thing actually work? And how well could it work?

Yet the Emperor's command was one he could only obey.

Gao Shiming bowed to receive the order, turned, and instructed the junior eunuch outside the door to carry it out at once.

But in his heart, he had already made up his mind.

Even wearing this bizarre contraption, that Qi Xinxiao would have to be placed in the most inconspicuous corner of Wenhua Hall, as far from His Majesty's dragon throne as possible.

After dealing with the Hanlin Academy essays, Zhu Youjian hurriedly went through and approved the various memorials.

Among them were several policy papers on the capital's new regulations, which had reached him only after heavy revisions.

The items, the data, the plans — every aspect had been done solidly and thoroughly.

"Draft an edict." Zhu Youjian spoke evenly.

"Promote the former Secretariat Drafter Wang Zhaodui to be Judge of Shuntian Prefecture, with the concurrent title of Censor of the Yunnan Circuit, charged specifically with the rectification of subofficial personnel within Shuntian Prefecture and Wan and Daxing counties."

"Promote the former Ministry of Revenue Bureau Secretary Li Shiqi to be Assistant Prefect of Shuntian, charged specifically with the rectification of commercial taxes at the Nine Gates."

These were two of the four winners.

Zhu Youjian's gaze shifted to Wang Tiqian, the Director of the Eastern Depot, who stood in attendance on the other side.

"In these two matters, the Eastern Depot is to lend its full support."

"The backgrounds of the capital's petty clerks, their usual methods of graft, the extent of their family assets — investigate all of it thoroughly, and send a copy to the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture simultaneously."

Zhu Youjian paused, then added:

"The tricks these clerks play — you are to compile them together with the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture, and also write them up as a statecraft document to be submitted to us for review."

Wang Tiqian felt a weight lift from his heart. He had been standing in Qianqing Palace for days now, and at last he had work to do.

If there was work, then he could stay alive.

He prostrated himself directly. "This slave obeys the decree!"

Zhu Youjian nodded, then picked up the two remaining winning policy essays. He pondered for a moment, and in the end still shook his head.

"Companion Gao, the two matters of banditry and gambling — continue collecting and refining policy essays on them going forward, but set them aside for now. They will not be included in the first phase of the capital's new policies."

— The first phase of the capital's new policies.

Both Gao Shiming and Wang Tiqian caught that phrase and instantly grasped its implication, but neither asked further.

Why set these two matters aside?

Zhu Youjian had his own answer in his heart.

It was not that the two statecraft papers on banditry and gambling were poorly written.

On the contrary, they were written far too well.

So well that even he, a transmigrator, felt a chill.

The second function of the statecraft document was demonstrated with utter clarity at this moment.

It was not merely a planning proposal to raise the odds of success; it was an incomparably real, incomparably thorough channel for gathering information.

Anyone who wished to rise above the crowd in this wave of new-dynasty benevolent governance had to make their desk work solid and substantial, laying everything they knew and had investigated before the Emperor without the slightest reservation.

Take the matter of banditry first.

That memorial on the capital's bandits listed in exhaustive detail the various origins of the criminals.

Idle, good-for-nothing young toughs and troublemakers, refugees who had fled famine and drifted here — these were all within expectations.

Difficult to handle, but not impossible to handle.

More troublesome still were those bandits who mingled among the wandering monks.

Inside were all manner of monks and Daoist priests, both legal and illegal.

The legal ones were those who had bought a ordination certificate for five taels of silver.

The illegal ones were those who could not afford a certificate or who forged one.

Yet none of these were the most troublesome.

The most headache-inducing source of banditry was the guard forces around the capital region.

Around the capital region, there were seventy-eight guard stations and the troops of the Three Great Camps.

Originally a protective screen for the capital, they had now become a sink of hidden filth.

The memorial phrased it obliquely, yet still pointed it out plainly — "Enter the ranks and they are soldiers; leave the ranks and they are bandits. The officers even tacitly permit it, and this has become the norm."

What looked like a banditry problem, when examined more deeply, entangled a whole mess of issues — the local baojia system, the capital camps and guard stations, the monk ordination policy, and more.

As for the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Five Wards Troops and Horses Offices, and the Patrol and Arrest Camps that were actually responsible for catching bandits, their rot was utterly ordinary and entirely unsurprising.

As for the matter of gambling, it was even more putrid.

With banditry, one could still say it was a failure of inspection and lax enforcement of the law, but at least a basic order still existed.

Gambling, on the other hand, was simply a tacit understanding between high and low, a flood disaster run rampant.

From civil officials and the ennobled nobility, down to peddlers and porters, and out to frontier soldiers, there was no one who did not gamble, no place where gambling did not occur.

Leaf cards, horse-racing dice, lake-tour cards, combination-tally cards, cuju kickball, cockfighting, cricket fighting, and so on — the variety was endless.

The Great Ming Code stipulated, "All who gamble for goods or money shall receive eighty strokes of the heavy rod." This law was too harsh and had long become dead text.

The revised Regulations for the Adjudication of Penal Cases stipulated, "All who open gambling dens shall wear the cangue for two months; all who participate in gambling shall wear the cangue for one month." By now this too was nearly unenforced.

Zhu Youjian gently closed the memorial, a sigh in his heart.

Yet whom could he, Zhu Youjian, blame?

This laxity of the gambling prohibition had been created, every fucking bit of it, by his own imperial ancestors.

The Good Grandson-Heir loved cricket fighting; General Zhu Shou loved cockfighting and cuju; the Wanli shut-in simply invented bean-leaf cards himself.

Come to think of it, the Jiajing Emperor was a bit better in this regard — because he wanted to become an immortal, he kept himself pure and had no taste for gambling.

I give up. A whole flock of divine immortal ancestors.

Zhu Youjian shook his head and pulled himself back from his roast of his birth family.

In launching his new policies for the capital, his true objectives were only two: to assemble a team, and to stir up a tide.

All that talk about seizing the moment before the Donglin faction arrived to accomplish something — that was merely a smokescreen spoken for the ears of these eunuch-faction men.

— He was the dignified Emperor of the Great Ming. If cuju could be played, if cockfighting could be played, could he truly not protect a few ministers if he set his mind to it?

Why would he need some concrete achievement to safeguard the eunuch-faction men!

In history, the Chongzhen Emperor's national fortunes failed again and again, yet did he not still hold absolute power of life and death, his authority utterly imposing?

The Tianqi Emperor could prop up Wei Zhongxian; he himself could naturally prop up a Gao Zhongxian or a Wang Zhongxian — he simply disdained to walk such a profoundly inefficient path.

Therefore, the new policies could be few in number, but they had to be executed steadily, executed beautifully, executed at the critical points!

One lash of the whip down, and a bloody welt must appear — clean and sharp, never sloppy or muddled.

This was the same principle as waging war: first accumulate small victories, then plan for a great victory.

As he was now, his wings were not yet full, his foundation not yet firm — he was still far from the moment when he could launch a decisive battle.

As for when his wings would be full…

Zhu Youjian gathered his thoughts, raised his head, and asked, "How is Grand Secretary Sun's side progressing?"

Gao Shiming immediately replied, "To answer Your Majesty, all of Grand Secretary Sun's affairs are being approved at once by both the Grand Secretariat and the Directorate of Ceremonial. The Ministry of War is also cooperating fully."

"The transfer orders for personnel and troops have been sent out by express courier. The required padded boots, iron armor, weapons, and so forth have also begun shipment. Grand Secretary Sun left the capital yesterday; he plans to first assemble the troops at Tongzhou."

Zhu Youjian nodded, but his fingers tapped lightly upon those two memorials on banditry and gambling.

Toward the integrity of officials in this dynasty's twilight, he truly could not place his trust.

He turned his head, his gaze like lightning, and looked straight at Wang Tiqian.

"Have the men of the Eastern Depot keep a tight watch for me! Other matters, I can set aside for now."

"But if anyone dares to tamper with Grand Secretary Sun's military supplies or pay and provisions, no matter who it is, seize them directly! After seizure, send them directly to the Three Judicial Offices for an expedited joint trial. Everything swift, everything severe!"

"You must absolutely catch a few examples to kill the chicken and warn the monkeys!"

Wang Tiqian's heart surged with excitement! He knocked his head to the floor and accepted the order: "This slave obeys the decree!"

This job was on a whole different level again!

Yet Wang Tiqian still felt a bit of regret — this job required handing the seized men over to the Three Judicial Offices for processing; ultimately it was not direct enough.

But no matter — take it slowly. In the entire Great Ming, there had never been an emperor who could resist the temptation of the Eastern Depot being as responsive as his own arm and fingers.

Zhu Youjian silently calculated in his mind for another moment, confirming that nothing had been overlooked for the present.

Finally, he stood up and stretched, his entire body's joints emitting a series of faint cracking sounds.

The days of continuous planning and reviewing had left him feeling a trace of fatigue.

But even more, there was an excitement, like that of being about to step onto a battlefield.

"Enough. Grand Secretary Sun is at the front doing the work for me; I cannot sit idle either."

"Escort the imperial carriage to Wenhua Hall."

— At last, it's my turn again!