Chapter 19: See You Tomorrow! The Clever People of the Great Ming

"Excellent! This is exactly what We want!"

Beside the imperial desk, several enormous screens had been set up at some point, partitioning the vast space into separate areas.

At the top of each screen, in clear regular script, were written: the Grand Secretariat, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel… even the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Court of Judicial Review, and other office names, encompassing nearly the entire central government apparatus.

Below the department names, a few palm-sized booklets were sparsely affixed.

Zhou Yu stood at Zhu Youjian's side, her bright eyes full of curiosity.

She watched Zhu Youjian walk to the Ministry of War screen, reach up, and take down the booklet at the very top.

Unable to resist, she drew a little closer. On the booklet's cover were written three characters: "Cui Chengxiu."

Zhu Youjian opened the booklet, and Zhou Yu looked on as well. Inside, in tiny regular script, it was recorded with perfect clarity:

"Cui Chengxiu, native of Jizhou, Shuntian Prefecture, directly governed."

"In the forty-first year of Wanli, passed the guichou-cycle presented scholar examination, ranked one hundred thirty-fifth of the third class."

"Thereafter assigned to the Censorate…"

"In the ninth month of the fourth year of Tianqi, the then-Left Censor-in-Chief Gao Panlong impeached him for corruption. The Minister of Personnel Zhao Nanxing proposed demotion and exile."

"Chengxiu, in great desperation, went by night to the traitor Wei's residence, kowtowed, and begged to become his adopted son."

"In the first month of the fifth year of Tianqi, the traitor Wei issued a direct palace edict declaring Chengxiu had been falsely accused, and restored him to his office."

Stroke by stroke, from his official postings and career history, to the faction he had attached himself to, to the major events of his life — everything was written out with complete clarity and exhaustive detail.

"Very well done." Zhu Youjian turned and patted the shoulder of the newly appointed seal-holder of the Directorate of Ceremonial, Gao Shiming, in approval.

Gao Shiming hurriedly bowed. "All is due to Your Majesty's far-sighted vision. This slave merely carried out the decree."

He continued his praise: "In the late Wanli Emperor's time, Zhang Taiyue presented fifteen panels of official personnel screens."

"Yet those contained only native place and examination background, lacking the meticulous detail of Your Majesty's, which even records career history and major events."

"In this way, it is like reading the lines on one's palm. The civil and military officials of the entire court, the worthy and the unworthy, their entanglements of interest — all lie within a square inch."

Zhu Youjian was utterly indifferent to this flattery. His gaze swept across the rows of screens. "Continue in this manner going forward."

"First, fill in the information for all capital officials of the fourth rank and above, the Supervising Secretaries of the various circuits, and the governors-general and governors of the Two Capitals and Thirteen Provinces. For those below, we will proceed more slowly."

"Also, prepare some red and green cloth strips. We will have use for them later."

Though puzzled, Gao Shiming immediately nodded and assented: "This slave obeys the decree."

Zhou Yu could finally contain her curiosity no longer and asked softly, "Your Majesty, what are the cloth strips to be used for?"

At her words, a smile appeared on Zhu Youjian's face.

"There are too many officials. We fear We may not remember them all. Later, if someone errs, a green strip will be pasted on his booklet."

"If someone renders meritorious service, a red strip will be pasted on."

"Those with a streak of bright red will be sent soaring to the heavens. Those with a streak of green…"

At this point, Zhu Youjian, recalling his previous life, ground his teeth and spoke from the heart — will be delisted and removed from the market!

He let his words trail off vaguely at that point.

His tone shifted, and his eyes held a gentle, warm smile. "Speaking of which, We happen to have an important matter to entrust to Our beloved consort."

Zhou Yu's heart tightened at these words. She quickly composed herself and looked earnestly at Zhu Youjian.

These past few days, she had watched with her own eyes as her husband maneuvered with ease amid laughter and conversation, turning his hand to force the overweeningly arrogant Nine Thousand Years, Wei Zhongxian, to hang himself.

Then he had grasped the hearts of men, forcibly molding several individuals of different stances into a single working team.

The brilliance of his methods had dazzled her; in her heart, she was already filled with admiration.

Now that her husband had a task to entrust to her, she felt both nervous and excited, secretly cheering herself on: A-Yu, you can definitely do this!

"Your Majesty, please speak. Your subject consort will exert her utmost!"

Zhu Youjian smiled faintly.

"Of the guards currently on duty in the hall, half are old hands from the palace and half are banner lieutenants transferred from the Prince Xin Residence yesterday. We have them paired up, two to a shift."

"But We are still not entirely at ease. We need Our beloved consort to screen them thoroughly for Us, and be certain to investigate every man's background, origins, and personal connections."

"Then, for those personnel confirmed to be beyond reproach, have their families brought to live together on an imperial estate in the capital region, allotted farmland, to set their hearts at ease."

He turned his head to Gao Shiming and said, "You will arrange this imperial estate. Make absolutely certain that none of those filthy wretches commit further acts of corruption and cruelty, undermining Our sincere goodwill."

Gao Shiming felt a chill in his heart and immediately responded, "This slave understands."

Zhu Youjian turned back, his gaze settling on Zhou Yu. "After the palace guard screening is complete, the Directorate of Imperial Meals, the Imperial Pharmacy, the imperial attendants, the time-announcing attendants… all personnel in these critical posts must be dealt with in the same manner, one by one."

He deliberately lowered his voice, his expression turning grave. "This vital task concerns Our very lives and yours. Beloved consort… can you shoulder it?"

Zhou Yu, awed by his imposing manner, was so nervous her heart felt ready to leap from her throat. Without thinking, she cried out loudly, "I… This Palace can certainly shoulder it!"

Only after shouting did she realize her voice had cracked. Her cheeks instantly flushed bright red.

Zhu Youjian burst into hearty laughter at her adorable display, and the tense atmosphere in the hall immediately relaxed.

He said to Gao Shiming, "Our beloved consort has not previously managed affairs. Companion, you must assist her more, but you absolutely must not do everything for her. Do you understand?"

Gao Shiming bowed with a smile. "This slave understands."

Just then, Gao Shiming hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, since early this morning, over a dozen routine memorials have entered the palace. The Directorate of Ceremonial has sorted them. Would you… care to review them now?"

As soon as Zhou Yu heard it was a matter of state governance, she hastily composed her small face into a serious expression, imitating the virtuous empress she imagined, and curtsied. "The inner palace must not interfere in governance. Your subject consort takes her leave."

She had just turned to go when Zhu Youjian caught her by the wrist.

"Beloved consort, stay. These are matters you will have to learn sooner or later."

Zhu Youjian's laughter made Zhou Yu's face flush even redder. Somewhat sheepishly, she returned to stand at his side.

"Bring them forward," Zhu Youjian said to Gao Shiming.

Quickly, Gao Shiming and several eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial presented a stack of routine memorials.

"Your Majesty, the first category is impeachment memorials, nine in total," Gao Shiming reported.

"Who are they impeaching?"

"The Minister of Personnel, Zhou Yingqiu, has four memorials against him; the Minister of Justice, Xue Zhen, three; the Minister of War, Cui Chengxiu… nine in total."

Zhu Youjian nodded, his face expressionless. "Hold them all at court and issue no reply."

Yet inwardly, he found it all rather absurd.

He had never imagined that, after setting his heart on being a savior, the very first batch of official business he would handle as Emperor would be papering over cracks, playing the old game of "hold at court and issue no reply."

Gao Shiming showed no surprise whatsoever and raised another memorial. "Your Majesty, this is a routine memorial from the Governor of Shaanxi, Hu Tingyan. It concerns… arrears of pay among the border troops in Shaanxi."

The moment the words "arrears of pay" were spoken, the smile vanished from Zhu Youjian's face, and his scalp prickled.

He reached out, took the routine memorial, and scanned it rapidly.

The words on the memorial were shocking:

In the Lingong region, military pay had been in arrears for five or six years, the sum exceeding two hundred thousand taels.

At the Jinglu border fort, pay had also been in arrears for two to three years.

The central-government silver for Guyuan Garrison had been in arrears from the forty-seventh year of Wanli through the sixth year of Tianqi, totaling over one hundred fifty-nine thousand taels.

At first, the soldiers had merely pawned their clothes and sold their bows and arrows to survive; now, it had progressed to selling their children and their wives.

At first, they had only begged in the streets; now, some had already deserted their posts and fled.

At first, they had only dared to murmur in private; now, they dared to gather openly and clamor in public.

…At the end of the memorial, Hu Tingyan was practically pleading in blood and tears, begging the court to swiftly disburse the back pay in order to stabilize the perilous situation.

Zhu Youjian did a quick mental calculation: twenty plus fifteen-point-nine… that made a shortfall of three hundred fifty-nine thousand taels.

He thought again of the privy purse he had just gotten his hands on… one million four hundred thirty thousand taels.

He let out a long, deep sigh.

Only at this moment did the putrid stench unique to a dynasty's final years truly, so viscerally, wash over him.

"Send it to the Grand Secretaries for draft rescripts," he shook his head, his voice somewhat dry.

"Convey my verbal edict: arrange the disbursement of pay as quickly as possible. At the very least… send a batch down first to steady the troops' morale."

"Yes." Gao Shiming acknowledged and presented yet another memorial.

"Your Majesty, the Governor of Shandong, Li Jingbai, reports that since the sixth month, Shandong has been battered by continuous torrential rain. Floods have spread, submerging crops, destroying houses, and drowning countless commoners."

Zhu Youjian was somewhat stunned.

He knew that Shaanxi was about to suffer successive years of severe drought, but he had never imagined that Shandong this year was actually experiencing catastrophic flooding!

He had only crossed over a few days ago and had been busy assembling his first governing team, knowing absolutely nothing about the disaster relief measures of this era.

Should he directly distribute money and grain? Or would simply remitting taxes suffice? And how could such measures be implemented without being stripped away layer by layer by the officials below?

Countless questions surged into his mind, yet he had not a single answer.

"This item… also send it for draft rescripts, but there is no need to issue an edict for now."

"The last urgent matter," Gao Shiming's voice grew increasingly cautious.

"The Minister of Revenue and Superintendent of Liaodong Levies, Huang Yuntai, reports that the matter of horse fodder at Shanhai Pass has always been handled by summoning merchants in the Yongping and Jizhou areas to purchase it, a process in which the transshipment breeds abuses."

"He suggests that it would be better to deliver the silver for the summoned purchases directly to Shanhai Pass and procure the fodder locally, in order to save wasteful expenditure."

Zhu Youjian frowned, sensing that the logic of this proposal was somewhat off.

He carefully ran the process through his mind and quickly spotted the problem.

The essence of the issue was that horse fodder, as a material, needed to be physically moved from its production areas in Jizhou and Yongping to its point of consumption at Shanhai Pass.

Huang Yuntai's method merely delivered the "silver for buying horse fodder" to Shanhai Pass, without solving the transport problem of the horse fodder itself.

Shanhai Pass did not locally produce that much horse fodder!

Could this method be nothing more than a convenience for embezzlement?

One had to realize that once the silver reached those military bosses in Liaodong, whether they bought horse fodder or not, and how much they bought — who on the outside could say for sure?

Unsure in his own mind, he decided to remain impassive and first see what the newly appointed Grand Secretaries were made of.

"Understood. Send it along with the others for draft rescripts."

Gao Shiming subsequently reported on some minor matters — honoring exemplary widows, official seals for the Ministry of Revenue, and the like. Zhu Youjian merely listened casually, his thoughts long since elsewhere.

After the eunuchs had all withdrawn, he walked slowly to the "Great Ming Unified Map" hanging in the hall, with Zhou Yu following quietly behind him.

His finger moved slowly across the enormous map, hovering between Shaanxi and Liaodong, feeling only a dense fog before his eyes, a thousand tangled threads with no idea where to begin.

Finally, as if bearing the weight of a thousand jun, his finger landed heavily on the position of Beijing.

"No matter." He turned around, the confusion gone from his eyes, replaced only by the fighting spirit forged through a hundred tempers in his previous life.

"Tomorrow, let me see for myself just what caliber of men these brightest minds of the Great Ming truly are!"