Chapter 159: The Storm of the New Policy

This latest method of submitting memorials was novel, but road-building had, after all, already been reported in the Great Ming Times.

The assembled officials showed little interest in it, and were far more absorbed in the debate over the red-ink and green-ink annotations.

Those who, like Hou Xun, had a vague sense that something was amiss were rarer still.

But when the next man to present a memorial stepped out from the ranks, every official's gaze was instantly drawn to him.

—Why is it an official from Shuntian Prefecture again?

A few scattered murmurs rippled through the crowd, tinged with a faint, barely perceptible irritation and wariness.

Li Shiqi, former Bureau Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue and now Assistant Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture — a man once utterly obscure in the official circles of the capital — had now become the focus of the entire assembly.

His face flushed, he strode straight through the long ranks of civil officials without the slightest hesitation or timidity, came before the vermilion steps, lifted his robes, and knelt.

"Your subject, Li Shiqi, Assistant Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, petitions to report on the matter of the Nine Gates commercial tax!"

His voice was resonant, ringing with force.

Upon the throne, Zhu Youjian's gaze was as calm as still water.

"Present your memorial."

Li Shiqi did not follow custom and hand his memorial to an official of the Court of State Ceremonial; instead, he chose to speak himself.

He drew a deep breath and declared in a loud voice:

"Since the tenth day of the ninth month, when your subject was assigned to investigate the Nine Gates commercial tax, I have examined the account books, visited the merchants, and, with the Eastern Depot Commissioner-in-Chief Wang Tiqian personally conducting the interrogations, have now obtained the full details of the corruption within!"

"The eighteen former commissioners and vice commissioners of the Nine Gates — every last one of them corrupt!"

"The total amount embezzled over the years has been found to be seventy thousand taels of gold! The thirty-odd petty clerks beneath them embezzled over twenty thousand taels over the years! A grand total of over ninety thousand taels!"

A stir immediately ran through the great hall, and the whispered murmurs grew louder.

Ninety thousand taels — that was indeed a great sum.

After all, in past years, the total annual revenue from the Nine Gates commercial tax had at most been about that much.

But what concerned most people was not the sum itself, but the man, Li Shiqi!

—In barely more than a month since taking office, over forty clerks had all been thrown into the Eastern Depot's prison, and in the end, two of them had died there from mistreatment.

The resulting storm of impeachment memorials had poured into the palace, only to be held back, every single one, without response.

This man's methods were ruthless, and the new sovereign's partiality toward them… it truly made one's heart quail!

Li Shiqi paid no heed to the crowd's shock; his voice, trembling slightly with agitation, grew even more impassioned.

"After the commercial tax investigation, from the twenty-sixth to the thirtieth of the ninth month — a mere five days — the tax silver collected at the Nine Gates already amounted to over two thousand two hundred taels!"

"Extrapolating from this, the annual tax revenue may well reach one hundred fifty thousand taels! Compared to the eighty or ninety thousand of previous years, that is nearly double!"

"On these grounds, your subject hereby impeaches Chen Binsheng, Bureau Secretary of the Shandong Bureau in the Ministry of Revenue and formerly in charge of the Chongwen Gate commercial tax! He tolerated corruption, falsified accounts, and deceived his sovereign!"

As his words fell, the entire square before the Gate of Imperial Supremacy fell utterly silent.

Many gazes instinctively turned toward Guo Yunhou, Minister of Revenue, who stood in the front rank.

Guo Yunhou's aged face flushed crimson; his lips quivered slightly, but he could not utter a single word.

He could feel the stares coming at him from all directions, like red-hot steel needles, pricking him until his whole body was in torment.

The Ministry of Revenue's face had been utterly lost today.

A moment later, from the rear of the ranks, a figure in a blue official robe hurriedly stepped out — it was none other than Chen Binsheng, Bureau Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue.

His mind raced, and his heart seethed with both fury and indignation: 'This is outrageous! Li Shiqi, do you truly have no regard for even a shred of our former camaraderie? You are a loyal minister — and am I not a loyal minister as well?!'

He felt profoundly wronged; he himself had a statecraft memorial in the works, only still in the stage of gathering data.

He had never expected to suddenly become the target of the opening salvo of this new policy.

All these thoughts passed in an instant.

Chen Binsheng came before the throne, fell to his knees, and kowtowed heavily, saying, "Your subject is guilty!"

But he did not submit; instead, he continued to speak:

"Your Majesty, permit me to explain! I… I am indeed guilty! I am guilty of negligent oversight!"

"The abuses at the Chongwen Gate customs post — it is not that your subject was unaware of them! From the day I took over this duty, I have pondered day and night how to eliminate entrenched abuses and open up revenue sources for the state."

"I did reorganize the accounts and severely punish the clerks, and the tax revenues did once show some recovery."

"Yet… yet I never imagined that the accumulated abuses had already penetrated to the marrow, so deeply entangled as this!"

"Those clerks, outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, deceived their superiors and hid the truth from those below; the cunning of their methods and the viciousness of their intent far exceeded anything your subject could have imagined!"

"I believed I was acting by the court's laws and treating them with the way of a gentleman; I never expected it would be like playing a lute to an ox, nursing an ulcer into a mortal threat!"

At this point, he shifted his tone, and actually cupped his hands in salute toward Li Shiqi, saying in a voice laden with complex emotion:

"Your subject's crime lies in failing to be a clear-sighted official, in erring on the side of leniency, in lacking sufficiently thunderous methods! I was unable, as Assistant Prefect Li has done, to call upon the Depot and the Guard, to dig deep and investigate thoroughly, and to catch these great rats all in one net!"

"I have betrayed His Majesty's sacred trust, and am too ashamed to face Your Majesty, still less to face my colleagues in the Ministry of Revenue! I beg Your Majesty to pronounce punishment!"

He kowtowed once more and remained prostrate, not rising.

This defense, improvised on the spot, could be called a feat of quick wit.

Chen Binsheng had adroitly transformed his offense from "corruption" and "deceiving the sovereign" into "incompetence" and "overly gentle methods."

Even more shrewdly, he had vaguely pointed out the difference between them.

—I, Chen Binsheng, am a civil official like all of you, who acts by the rules; it is forgivable that I could not outfight those slippery clerks.

—He, Li Shiqi, is a ruthless official who wields the Eastern Depot; he does not play by the rules. He may have uncovered the money, but are you not afraid of a man like that?

If you are afraid, then, gentlemen, please, you must save me!!

Chen Binsheng's defense concluded, and Li Shiqi, surprisingly, said nothing further, merely remaining kneeling where he was, awaiting the Emperor's decree.

Today's small offensive had come at Xue Guoguan's instigation.

And Xue Guoguan's instigation, in all likelihood, had come at the instigation of this new sovereign.

What, exactly, did His Majesty intend to do?

The wind in the sky grew sharper, snapping the banners with a hunting crack.

No one in the Imperial Ultimate Gate plaza spoke.

Everyone held their breath, awaiting the Emperor's judgment.

Zhu Youjian sat expressionless upon the throne, but secretly he was observing every face and every movement with care.

He waited a while longer.

Still no one stepped forward to speak for this clearly and utterly innocent young Student Chen.

This was the best scenario he had envisioned.

When he tossed out this stone to test the waters, he had mapped out many possible scenarios.

First: the entire court erupts, seizing this incident to attack the Depot and Guard together, dragging the new policies into the fray along the way.

This was the worst case, but nearly impossible — after all, the eunuch faction's reign had only just ended.

His takeover of the Depot and Guard through Wang Tiqian and Tian Ergeng had cost very little.

Besides, this was no Great Rites Controversy! No succession struggle!

It was merely moving against a lowly, ninth-grade petty clerk!

Without a moral banner to rally around, on what grounds could these civil officials unite as one?

Had it truly happened, it would instead prove that every aspect of his rule since ascending the throne — bestowing favor, building unity, raising the standard, intelligence — was fundamentally flawed.

Second: half the court, or even a minority, steps forward.

That too would be easy enough to resolve. What Wei Zhongxian could do, why could his Yongchang Emperor not do?

Even if the Yongchang Emperor was too embarrassed to act personally, why could Wang Tiqian not act?

Still…

If he could avoid such harsh severity, he would much rather avoid it.

The present situation was just right.

The contrast between new policies and old policies now had its first ironclad precedent, tried and passed in open court.

And going forward, such ironclad precedents would only multiply, increasingly fueling the implementation of the new policies.

As for young Student Chen…

At last, Zhu Youjian spoke.

His voice remained even, betraying neither pleasure nor anger.

"Li Shiqi has shown courage in his duties, investigating long-standing abuses at the nine gates, recovering vast sums for the state treasury, and clarifying the tax system. His achievements are outstanding."

"Let the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Ministry of Personnel jointly record this in the files, with a red commendation added."

This was a reward.

The assembled officials' hearts rose to their throats. After reward, punishment was sure to follow.

Many now looked at Chen Binsheng with eyes full of pity.

No matter how quick your wits, when the Emperor wants you to be the chicken killed to warn the monkeys, how can you escape?

Zhu Youjian's gaze slowly shifted to Chen Binsheng, kneeling on the ground.

"As for the matter of Chen Binsheng…"

He paused. That brief pause made Chen Binsheng's heart nearly leap out of his chest.

"When We first ascended the throne, We held a 'Feast with Hat-Strings Torn' in the hall with all the ministers. Minister Chen, were you present that day?"

Chen Binsheng froze at these words, then understood in a flash. He nodded frantically, his voice hoarse: "I was… this subject was present!"

"Mm." Zhu Youjian nodded, and his tone suddenly turned gentle.

"The matter of the Chongwen Gate customs revenue, after all, occurred before Our accession. We have said that all past affairs are to be set aside — and so they shall be."

He swept his gaze around the hall, his eyes passing over face after face, each with its own expression.

"The Analects say, 'What is past is beyond reproof, but what is to come can still be pursued.' Let bygones be bygones. What We wish to see is how you, my ministers, conduct yourselves henceforth."

At these words, the entire assembly let out a breath of relief.

The anticipated thunderous wrath had not come; in its place was a forgiveness as gentle as a spring breeze.

The hearts of most officials settled slightly once more.

The new sovereign is benevolent and forgiving!

The Emperor was using Chen Binsheng's case to reaffirm his promise to everyone!

And yet… "what is past is beyond reproof" is followed by "what is to come can still be pursued."

How, exactly, was this "pursuit" to be carried out going forward?

The Ming's official salaries are truly the thinnest of any dynasty — without reaching out one's hand, how can a man feed his entire family?

And surely routine customary fees cannot be lumped together with outright graft and bribery?

Many such unutterable, cunning calculations spread through the hearts of the civil and military officials.

"The matter Minister Li impeached upon — let it not recur, and let it not be raised again." Zhu Youjian said finally. "Minister Chen, you may withdraw."

As if granted a great amnesty, Chen Binsheng retreated backward into the ranks, his whole body drenched as though fished out of water.

He had already made up his mind: he would stay up all night if he must, and get that statecraft treatise finished!

Between those who backed the new policies and those who did not, the Emperor's favoritism was laid out as plain as meat on a chopping board, unmistakably clear!

Li Shiqi, however, remained kneeling where he was. From his sleeve he drew out yet another memorial and raised it high above his head.

"This subject further petitions for the second phase of the capital's new policies: the investigation of all residential taxes in the capital and related matters!"

The atmosphere, which had only just eased, was instantly yanked back into tension by this move.

Zhu Youjian nodded, expressionless.

"Speak."

A crisp whip-crack sounded, and the junior eunuchs stepped forward again, tearing the sheets of paper from one of the screens.

Minister of Revenue Guo Yunhou paid no attention to Li Shiqi's renewed report; his entire mind was seized by the new content on that screen.

Capital New Governance, Phase Two — Residential Tax Rectification

Scope of rectification: official hostel taxes, warehouse taxes, market stall and shop-front transit levies, landing taxes, brokerage taxes, deed taxes, wine and vinegar taxes, slaughter taxes, pawnshop apportioned taxes, and so forth…

Rectification timeline: complete the sealing and inventory of old accounts before the fifteenth day of the tenth month; complete personnel replacement and clearance by the first day of the twelfth month; complete all tax inspections by the first day of the first month of the first year of the Yongchang era.

Support required: the minor clerks are wily and treacherous; continued support from the Superintendent of the Eastern Depot is still needed.

At the very bottom of the screen, there was also a line of small, eye-catching characters.

(Before the first day of the eleventh month, complete the "Memorial on the Reorganization of Capital Residential Taxes," and on that basis resubmit a detailed plan.)

Guo Yunhou's expression was complicated.

Li Shiqi — a jinshi of the second year of Tianqi, first appointed as an Usher, later a Bureau Secretary in the Ministry of Revenue.

During the first wave of the statecraft-document fever, on the strength of a single "Discourse on the Commercial Taxes of the Nine Gates," he had been directly transferred by His Majesty via a direct palace edict, laterally moved to Assistant Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, with exclusive charge of this matter.

And yet, when he was in the Ministry of Revenue, had he not also blended his light with the dust?

But now he was actually so cleanly decisive, so irresistibly forceful.

A wave of helplessness surged up in Guo Yunhou's heart.

With the Emperor's unreserved support, with the Eastern Depot's thunderbolt methods — getting things done was simply far too comfortable.

Over the jurisdiction of the Nine Gates commercial taxes, he had several times submitted memorials arguing strenuously; the result in every case was that they were all retained in the palace and left unreleased.

The memorials from court nobles and remonstrance officials impeaching Li Shiqi for persecuting officials and employing excessively harsh methods had piled up like mountains; the result was likewise that they all sank like stones in the sea — every request denied.

The Imperial Son-in-law Marquis, who managed the Imperial Clan Court, had even been stripped of half a year's stipend over this.

The Emperor's rescript at the time had been caustic to the extreme —

Do not imagine We are unaware of the thoughts in your belly. With the realm in such a state, you still have the leisure to fret over your piddling scraps?!

Submit another memorial, and you can roll off to Hainan to gaze at the sea together with Cui Chengxiu!

Thinking to this point, Guo Yunhou let out a long sigh.

Your Majesty, ah, Your Majesty — do you still recall that you once promised to add more hands to the Ministry of Revenue?

The account books for the civilian-transport silver from every region are about to reach the capital.

It is not that the Ministry of Revenue is unwilling to share Your Majesty's burdens; it is that the shortage of hands is simply far too great…

And then there was his own painstakingly written "Ten Stratagems for Fiscal Management." Last time, His Majesty had said his understanding of the various grandees at court was still too shallow, and set it aside for the time being.

But judging from His Majesty's recent chain of measures, where was the slightest sign of "shallow understanding"?

This "Ten Stratagems for Fiscal Management" — surely it would not continue to be set aside?

Or could it be… that it too must be recast in the mold of a "statecraft document" before it can catch His Majesty's discerning eye?

Guo Yunhou's brows furrowed deeply; countless thoughts tangled and crisscrossed in his mind, a chaotic knot.

Li Shiqi's report was only a beginning.

Next, Vice Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture Zhang Zibing stepped out from the ranks to report on the resettlement of famine refugees in the capital.

"…One thousand eight hundred and thirteen famine refugees have been settled in succession, all incorporated into the road-repair works, assessed by merit and converted to silver by merit points; government granaries have also been opened to sell grain at fair prices."

"A review of past numbers of vagrants in the capital indicates that by the opening of spring next year, the capital's famine refugees may reach five thousand persons, all of whom may then be resettled by this method."

"All expenses herein — rations, heating, and the like for the various famine refugees — are charged against the capital road-repair funds. Shuntian Prefecture has allocated only one hundred and twenty-seven taels of silver to erect two mat-sheds each at Guang'an Gate and Chaoyang Gate; beyond this, there has been no other expenditure."

He then reported on the matter of the capital population census under the second phase of the New Governance.

"…A census of the capital's households, registering them in ledgers, and strictly enforcing the baojia system."

"Personnel from outside the city entering the city must obtain a 'Temporary Residence Permit,' to be canceled every three months and verified upon entry and exit of the city."

"We request that His Majesty dispatch the Five Wards Troops and Horses Office and the Western Judicial Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to cooperate, and issue orders to the noble houses in the capital to proactively report the members of their households."

Zhu Youjian's voice was resolute and decisive: "All requests granted!"

After that, Shuntian Judge Wang Zhaodui stepped out from the ranks to report on the investigation of the minor clerks in the capital.

"…Across the three jurisdictions of Shuntian Prefecture, Wanping, and Daxing, the three shifts and six offices have a total of four hundred and thirteen minor clerks. To date, thirty-two with clear records of misconduct have been investigated and dismissed, and over four thousand five hundred taels of embezzled and penalty silver have been recovered."

"However, the accumulated abuses of the minor clerks run too deep, their roots intertwined. This subject humbly requests permission to establish the 'Shuntian Prefecture Minor Clerk Selection Examination,' with the Ministry of Personnel dispatching personnel to support it. Any person in the capital of unblemished background and with a basic command of letters may sit the examination!"

"Approved!" Zhu Youjian once again granted his assent. "The Ministry of Personnel is to dispatch Yang Jingchen to coordinate! This matter may be published in the Great Ming Times and widely proclaimed!"

The officials of Shuntian Prefecture stepped out from the ranks one after another, reporting item after item.

The atmosphere before the Gate of Supreme Polarity had utterly transformed.

The commotion among the assembled ministers grew louder and louder, surging wave upon wave like a rising tide.

The nobles and high ministers standing in the front ranks remained relatively composed, though the glances they exchanged betrayed some inner alarm.

But no one stepped out from the ranks; no one raised an objection.

Everyone merely watched as the officials of the Shuntian Prefecture faction completed, one by one, their summaries of the first phase of the New Governance and their plans for the second phase.

Farther back in the officials' ranks, with no one to keep order, the formation grew even more disordered.

Many officials of lower rank, almost without realizing it, had even drifted somewhat out of their assigned files and gathered in clusters before the screens, discussing in low voices.

"So… what exactly is going on here? Wasn't this supposed to be an inquiry for the whole realm? How has it all become the Capital New Governance?"

"Perhaps… they are starting with the capital first? After all, the ground beneath the Son of Heaven's feet is indeed the most critical priority."

"To resolve the struggle between men and land, governance must ultimately be extended across the whole realm. These capital matters are no more than a drizzle."

An elderly official, looking at the clauses on the screen concerning the investigation of minor clerks, shook his head and said:

"For them to conduct affairs in such a manner is, I fear, far too harsh. I have heard that many minor clerks have been tortured to death in the Eastern Depot's prison."

A younger official nearby, hearing this, gave a cold snort.

"When laws are enforced, the state is well governed; when laws are relaxed, the state falls into chaos. Have you not read what Wang Fu said in the Han dynasty?"

He shot the elderly official a sidelong glance and said in a deep voice: "The Sage Son of Heaven is rectifying the civil service — with laws to abide by and evidence to examine. The laws are here, and actions are taken according to the law. What talk is there of harshness? Those who died were nothing but parasites!"

The elderly official, rebuked by his words, narrowed his eyes but did not retort.

"Today it is the clerks…" From somewhere in the crowd, a voice said quietly, "Tomorrow… who can say…"

These words struck right at the heart of the matter, and at once the crowd that had been clamoring moments before fell much quieter.

The assembled officials looked at one another, a trace of deep-hidden anxiety showing in their eyes.

Yet on a few faces, there flickered a faint, barely concealed excitement.

The sky seemed to darken a few shades further.

Black storm clouds pressed down heavily, as if weighing upon every heart.