Chapter 283: Short-Arm Jurisdiction, Arm-and-Finger Interdependence (7000 characters

The moment the two eunuchs turned the screen to the next page, the Wenhua Hall — which had still been buzzing with hushed murmurs — fell abruptly silent for an instant.

——《The Great Ming Table of Stipend Amounts for the Various Mongol Tribes》.

Immediately after, a wave of barely suppressed commotion rippled through the assembled officials.

Many officials craned their necks, brows tightly furrowed, as if they were staring at a forged account book.

For no other reason than that the figures before them differed so vastly from the "million-tael stipends" and "fierce Chahar" impressions they had always heard.

Li Yukui stood beside the screen and raised the wooden pointer in his hand.

"Gentlemen, please look. What this table presents is the actual disbursement of stipend amounts to each tribe at present."

"The Ordos tribe in the west trades and receives stipends at the Ningxia and Yansui garrisons, amounting to thirty-six thousand taels of silver per annum."

"The Yongshao tribe trades at the Gansu Garrison, amounting to twenty thousand taels of silver per annum."

"The Tumed tribe, adjacent to the Kharchin tribe, trades at the three garrisons of Datong, Xuanfu, and Shanxi, amounting to four hundred thirteen thousand taels of silver per annum." "The Duoyan Guard trades at the Ji Garrison, amounting to fifty thousand taels of silver per annum."

At this point, Li Yukui's wrist paused slightly, and he pointed to the most critical entry.

"The Chahar tribe originally traded at Guangning. However, now that Guangning is lost, their trade has been relocated to the Liao Garrison, amounting to one hundred thousand taels of silver per annum."

"The above tribes combined total six hundred nineteen thousand taels of silver per annum."

(Attached figure: a portion of this money comes from various local revenues, and a portion comes from the horse-price silver of the Court of the Imperial Stud.)

As soon as he finished speaking, some officials in the hall could no longer restrain themselves.

One official raised his hand almost the instant Li Yukui's voice fell.

Li Yukui was not surprised. He extended a hand in invitation: "Vice Minister Zhang, please ask your question."

The Vice Minister surnamed Zhang rose to his feet. He first made a slight bow with clasped hands in Zhu Youjian's direction, then furrowed his brow and asked:

"Bureau Director Li, is the figure for Chahar here not incorrect? Although I am not in the Ministry of War, I too have heard that this tribe is unruly, and that the court, to placate them, spends stipends of hundreds of thousands, even rumors of as much as a million. Why is it a mere one hundred thousand here?"

This question voiced the doubts of many present who were unfamiliar with frontier affairs.

Li Yukui nodded, his face showing not the slightest fluster at being challenged.

He walked to an official's desk, apologized, borrowed a writing brush, dipped it in ink, and then returned to the screen.

"In the past, the official dispatches of various governors and supreme commanders tended to contain many exaggerations and ambiguities."

"They would casually speak of hundreds of thousands or millions to inflate the scale of the situation, either to claim credit and seek rewards, or to describe the urgency of the circumstances."

"This is especially true when pressing for unpaid wages and provisions. It is a case of no exaggeration, perhaps no allocation of funds."

"Therefore, in matters involving money and grain, they often did not seek detail, providing only a total sum without any itemized report."

Having said this, Li Yukui suddenly realized this was an opportunity.

He turned around with extreme stiffness and saluted Zhu Youjian with clasped hands:

"It is largely thanks to Your Majesty's implementation of the practical-document reform, with your perceptive insight into the finest details, that such a culture of exaggeration has been slightly cleansed. Whenever this subject reflects on this, he feels the radiance of sagely illumination, under which nothing can hide."

Zhu Youjian sat on the imperial throne, watching Li Yukui's utterly clumsy performance expressionlessly, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

This fellow — he has professional competence, but his bootlicking skills are an absolute negative score.

It was obvious he had forced himself to make a statement at this "critical juncture," and the result was as stiff as reciting from a script.

"Enough. Speak of the matter at hand." Zhu Youjian raised his hand lightly.

Li Yukui gave an awkward smile, seeming to sense that this flattery had perhaps missed the mark, and hurriedly turned back to continue.

"Today I shall offer a brief clarification here, in the hope that such falsified matters will not occur again hereafter."

He picked up the brush and quickly drew a simple table on the paper, speaking as he wrote.

"The tribes of the Left Wing, in fact, originally had no annual stipends."

"This policy was originally intended to differentiate the Left and Right Wings, and to sever the connection between east and west. That is, a policy of suppressing the Left Wing and supporting the Right Wing."

"But this policy, after being implemented for many years, has long since existed in name only. Yet not a single official reported this, merely following routine and temporizing, unwilling to stir up trouble."

"During the Wanli era, Chahar had marriage ties with Kharchin. Therefore, if they needed to trade, they could borrow Zhangjiakou and trade under Kharchin's name." "This is also why the Xuanfu stipend silver was so much greater than that of Datong and Shanxi."

"Within that sum were not only the stipends for the Kha tribe, but in fact also the stipends for the Cha tribe."

"However, after the calamity in Liaodong, the situation became entirely different."

"The Jianzhou barbarians came with ferocious momentum, and our side had no choice but to win over the Left Wing tribes."

"During the Taichang era, it was first proposed to grant an additional forty thousand taels of stipend silver, requiring them to raise troops and assist in battle. Later, this was further increased to one hundred thousand taels of reward silver, with a promise that they could follow the precedent of the Prince of Shunyi, be enfeoffed as kings and promoted in rank, and have annual frontier trade market stipends."

Li Yukui paused, his voice deepening a few degrees:

"However, in the second month of the first year of Tianqi, Liao and Shen fell in succession. Guangning became like a city hanging upside down, in imminent peril."

"The central government was terrified, fearing that Jianzhou, Chahar, and the various Duoyan houses, seeing our Great Ming's decline, would thus ally and advance together, breaching the border at every pass." "And even, through marriage ties, draw in the Tumed tribe to rebel together as well."

"At that time, the most critical matter was to separate the Mongol tribes of the Liao Garrison and make them resist Jianzhou."

"Thus, this million-tael reward was established."

Li Yukui raised his brush and began filling in the data on the table.

"Of this, one hundred thousand silver was back-payment for the Left Wing's unclaimed stipends from the previous year after the upheaval in Liaodong, to be given only once."

"Another one hundred thousand silver was for the Kharchin tribe to raise troops and assist in battle, to be given only once."

"Another one hundred thousand silver was for the Chahar tribe to raise troops and assist in battle, to be given only once."

"Another one hundred thousand silver was food and reward silver for the various Khalkha tribes, to be given only once."

"Another sixty-five thousand silver was the expense for three thousand troops of the Duoyan Guard garrisoned at Ningyuan, to be given only while garrisoned."

"Another three hundred sixty thousand silver was the expense for twenty thousand troops of Kharchin and Chahar garrisoned at Guangning, to be given only while garrisoned."

Having written the last stroke, Li Yukui put away his brush:

"The above items total eight hundred twenty-five thousand taels of silver."

"This stipend expenditure was half for obtaining troops to assist in battle, and half for sowing discord between the Mongols and Jianzhou."

"But in less than a year, Guangning fell. The garrison expenses therefore ceased to exist."

"After that, with the successive victories at Ningyuan and Ning-Jin, the situation shifted somewhat, and the silver for the Doyan garrison was gone as well."

"Thus, as things stand now, although Chahar has annexed the Inner Khalkha tribe, they receive only a fixed annual sum of a hundred thousand taels." Li Yukui, as if feeling this was still insufficient, added another remark:

"However, since the Tiger Chieftain took power, the Chahar tribe has aggressively pursued annexation, and friction with the Right Wing tribes has grown daily."

"When they go east to trade at the Ningyuan frontier market, they are raided by the Doyan Guard; when they go west to Zhangjiakou, they are raided by the Kharchin tribe."

"This is one of the reasons they have proposed moving west to attack the Right Wing."

That Vice Minister Zhang listened, utterly dumbfounded. Only after a long pause did he nod, his doubts completely dispelled, and he sat down with a cupped-hand salute.

Upon the imperial throne, Zhu Youjian sighed quietly in his heart.

A reward pool of a million taels — on the books, the accounting was perfectly clear. But in reality?

Was it ever truly paid out in full?

When Li Yukui was sorting through the materials, he had found this summary buried in old papers and thought to search for more detailed records. After all, under the new style of governance, such vague figures of "a hundred thousand taels here, a hundred thousand taels there" would never pass the scrutiny of the Yongchang Emperor. Yet when the Ministry of War was called in to consult, no account books could be found. A dispatch was sent to Sun Chengzong's office, and after a thorough search, the reply came back that there were no account books either. In those chaotic times of war, who knows how many people had their hands in the till.

A considerable portion of those eight hundred thousand-odd taels of silver had likely been transformed into title deeds for grand mansions in the capital, or into painted pleasure boats on the Qinhuai River.

Now that this report had reached his desk, what else could he do?

The Feast of the Tangled Tassels lay in the past; he could only choose to forgive for now.

Zhu Youjian cast an unobtrusive glance at Yuan Jixian, the head of the Pay Audit Group, who sat in his place with a stern expression, writing furiously.

Next year, it would be time to see the power of the Pay Audit Group.

Money, that thing, follows the law of conservation of energy — it does not simply vanish; it only gathers around certain people.

Auditing pay, auditing pay — how can you audit pay without killing people!

Li Yukui, seeing that no one had further questions, then continued:

"Among the rewards listed above, the Tumed receive the most, while the other tribes receive far less. This is because the Tumed tribe is, among all the barbarians, the most docile." "But why is it that the other tribes are fierce and unruly, while the Tumed alone are docile?"

"The other tribes follow the water and grass as nomads. If we strike, they retreat; when we retreat, they advance. Burning the grasslands and raiding their camps year after year cannot truly guarantee their destruction." "The Tumed, however, have built a city at Fengzhou, where they dwell and farm, having cultivated the land for decades, with an annual harvest of several hundred thousand shi."

"If we strike them every year at the autumn harvest, they have nowhere to hide and no way to flee — their soft spot is truly in our hands."

"Thus, the Tumed are not docile by nature; they are docile because they have no choice."

"If they wished to act with ferocity, they would have to abandon the many Buddhist temples and farmlands of Qingcheng and return, like the other tribes, to a life of following water and grass." "But human nature clings to pleasure and ease. The Han are like this — how could the barbarians be any different?"

"Coupled with the prestige of our great victory at Qingcheng and the internal discord between the Prince of Shunyi and Sunang Taiji within the Tumed, they are precisely the target we can best manipulate." At this point, Li Yukui finally revealed the dagger behind his smile and laid out the long-prepared strategy in full.

"Therefore, only by understanding all the circumstances above can we arrive at the present strategy."

"The Mongol Bureau, after joint discussion with the various departments, has settled on the following strategy, consisting of five points in total."

He raised his first finger.

"First: the redefinition of titles and investitures."

"Among the Mongol tribes, taking the Tumed as an example, there exist various ranks of investiture, with a total of one thousand and sixteen positions still on record."

"These include fifteen Dragon-Tiger Generals, five Commissioners-in-Chief, twenty-three Guard Commanders, sixty-six full and vice Chiliarchs, and nine hundred and six Centurions." "However, among these, there is widespread abuse and fraudulent collection of rewards. Some have died without their titles being revoked; some have died and been supplanted by impostors; there are even cases of tribes being annexed and their seals seized." "All of this must be re-examined and rectified one by one."

"New registers shall be compiled under the name of each tribe. Small tribes shall be granted Centurion; medium tribes, Chiliarch; large tribes, the ranks of General and Commissioner-in-Chief." "To demonstrate the Great Ming's benevolent regard, for this round of investiture, the original amounts of pacification rewards shall remain unchanged and will only be redistributed according to the new quotas."

"We shall begin with the Tumed, then extend it to the Kharchin, and then to the Doyan Guard."

At this point, he swept his wooden staff through the air with a decisive flourish and declared emphatically:

"We must ensure that the bestowal of grace and rank issues from the Great Ming, and does not become a currency circulated and annexed among the Mongols themselves!"

"Only when the titles and rewards have been clarified can the subsequent policies be discussed."

"Otherwise, today someone claims a dozen Centurions that in reality represent a tribe of thousands; tomorrow someone claims a Chiliarch that in reality represents a tribe of a few hundred. If the true state of affairs is unclear, how can we intervene in the internal matters of the Mongols?"

Next, he raised his second finger.

"Second: the conscription of troops and establishment of a new army."

"The many titles and investitures mentioned above are a chaotic mess. But after a preliminary sorting, the larger tribes actually number no more than seventy."

"We shall require these seventy Chiliarchs each to furnish thirty warriors, for a total of two thousand one hundred men. Each man shall bring his own bow and arrows and be provided with two fine horses, to form the Mongol Harmonization Camp."

"The meaning of 'Harmonization' is to put an end to feuds among the various tribes and to suppress annexation and murderous raids."

"Should there be another incident like the Tiger Chieftain's westward migration, the Great Ming shall take these two thousand one hundred troops as the vanguard and join battle alongside the Right Wing."

"As for their station, they shall be garrisoned at the Ji Garrison, under the command of Man Gui, Regional Commander of the Ji Garrison."

Hearing his own name, Man Gui hurriedly rose, offered a respectful cupped-hand salute to all around him, and then sat back down.

Li Yukui continued:

"For monthly pay, we shall follow the old precedent of Liaodong: each soldier shall receive one and a half taels of silver per month, for a total annual sum of thirty-seven thousand eight hundred taels."

"Of this expenditure, half shall be paid directly to the various tribal chieftains as support for the warriors' families; the other half shall be distributed directly within the camp to cover the daily provisions and purchases of the warriors."

These words were spoken with some subtlety, but who in this great hall was not shrewd?

Almost instantly, knowing smiles of mutual understanding appeared unbidden on the faces of many officials.

Harmonization?

In truth, it was probably just like the Capital Camps Demonstration Battalion and the Liaodong Demonstration Battalion — this was clearly yet another "Mongol Demonstration Battalion." Only the object of the demonstration was the Mongol tribes themselves.

As for the monthly pay, that was even more ruthless.

On one hand, it served as a bargaining chip in response to the preceding matter of redefining titles, making the benefits of the new investiture abundantly clear — only the obedient would get paid.

The total pacification reward silver for the three garrisons of Datong, Shanxi, and Xuanfu combined was only eighty-eight thousand taels. This sum of over thirty-seven thousand taels was no small figure.

(Note: To prevent careless readers from misunderstanding, pacification reward silver is money given freely, akin to a stipend. Horse-price silver is money used to buy horses. They are not the same.)

On the other hand, if the military officers of the Great Ming were greedy, were the chieftains any less so?

That half of the wages given to the chieftains — called a family support allowance — how much of it would truly reach the soldiers' families?

And the half paid directly into the soldiers' hands would be enough to give these Mongol warriors a taste of real benefit.

A monthly income of 1.5 taels was decent even within the Great Ming, let alone for these Mongols.

Once they grew accustomed to this monthly pay, what would they think when they returned home about the other half of their wages that had been lost?

And could the Mongols, like the hereditary military households of the Great Ming, remain loyal to their chieftains after having their monthly pay skimmed?

Of course, the premise is that the Ming officers on this side must not do the skimming — otherwise a stratagem to sow discord might well turn into a stratagem to wound ourselves.

This, perhaps, was also the intent behind deliberately assigning Man Gui, who has some Mongol background, to lead the troops. Seeing the knowing smiles on everyone's faces, Li Yukui understood they had all grasped the point, and without pausing, he continued:

"Third: adopt Han names and learn the Han language."

"This measure will be applied only within the Mongol Reconciliation Camp, and only after three months of concentrated training, once the soldiers' pay has been issued in full."

"After all, with Han and Mongols mixed together, the language barrier is no small matter."

"Any brave warrior willing to adopt a Han name shall receive a one-time payment of five mace of silver."

"Any brave warrior who can master the Han language shall further receive a one-time payment of one tael of silver."

"In the future, should any chieftain wish to adopt a Han name, a modest reward may also be given — but that is a matter for later, and we shall set it aside for now."

"As for this expenditure, it need not come from the annual military funds of the Ji Garrison; it will be disbursed separately from the horse-price silver administered by the Court of Colonial Affairs, to manifest the civilizing influence of the throne." The assembled officials in the hall nodded one after another.

This move cost very little — in total, it amounted to no more than one extra month's pay.

In truth, it was also a venomous stratagem.

This approach was entirely different from the surrendered-barbarian camps that the border garrisons had habitually used in the past.

In the old surrendered-barbarian camps, Mongol warriors either came over of their own accord, or were scattered remnants who surrendered after their tribes were annexed — their origins were almost always the various tribes beyond the passes.

This not only made their origins uneven, but also left them lacking normal ties to their original tribes.

But this "Reconciliation Camp" would be composed of warriors formally and openly selected by each tribe.

Once they learned the Han language and took Han names, they would no longer be merely two thousand cavalrymen, but two thousand "guides" who understood the grasslands inside and out. This was about making the use of surrendered barbarians regularized and systematized.

Li Yukui pressed on:

"Fourth: define the law."

"Should disputes arise among the various tribes, they may bring their cases to the three offices that the Court of Colonial Affairs will station in Datong, Xuanfu, and the Ji Garrison."

"Acts such as plundering other tribes, illicitly using another tribe's fallow pasture in violation of Mongol ordinances, or crossing the border to raid and pillage, or unfair trading in violation of Great Ming law — all may be uniformly mediated, with penalties defined such as admonition, reduction of rewards, or forfeiture of rewards."

"For those who refuse to mend their ways despite repeated admonition, or who even resist with defiance, the various tribes shall be called upon to jointly chastise them!"

He paused, then added:

"However, on this item, the Mongol Department cannot yet determine when to begin."

"The specific execution will depend on the state of the Reconciliation Camp, the disposition of friend and foe, the Mongol reaction, and other factors; it is not strictly bound to be completed within the first year of Yongchang." Zhu Youjian, listening, laughed inwardly.

Here he was, an emperor who within the Ming domain refused to act as referee, choosing instead to step onto the field himself to carry out reforms.

Yet abroad, the Great Ming had unexpectedly become the referee, poised to uphold justice for the Mongol tribes.

This feeling of "long-arm jurisdiction" was not unpleasant.

No — the Tumed tribe was still too close; at present, it could probably only count as "short-arm jurisdiction."

Li Yukui announced the final item:

"Fifth: adjust the frontier trade markets."

"Heretofore, trade between the Great Ming and the various tribes has been divided into official markets and private markets."

"In the official markets, there is a fixed annual quota; the court provides the trading capital and commissions officials to travel to Jiangnan and Huguang to purchase cloth, iron pots, and the like, which are then traded with the chieftains for horses. In the private markets, the court provides no trading capital, but permits the Han and Mongol peoples to trade freely among themselves, levying only a percentage tax."

"To take Xuanfu as an example: the official market quota is thirty-six thousand horses per annum, with a payment of one hundred eighty-five thousand taels of silver. As for the private markets, the annual number of cattle, horses, and sheep traded is several times that of the official market."

"In the first year of Yongchang, the most significant adjustment to the existing frontier trade will lie primarily in the categories of goods purchased."

"On the basis of the original official market, we shall add the purchase of draft oxen, with a combined increase of twenty thousand head across the three garrisons!"

"And in the private markets, the percentage tax on cattle will be suspended, to encourage the herders to sell more cattle."

"This matter, though the policy is set by the Court of Colonial Affairs, is to be directed by the New Governance Fiscal and Tax Reform Division of the Ministry of Revenue, under Minister Bi."

No sooner had the words fallen than Bi Ziyan rose to his feet and declared in a clear voice:

"Allow me to say a few more words on this item."

"Following joint deliberations between the Beizhili New Governance Policy Group and the Ministry of Revenue,"

"in the first year of Yongchang, as each county undertakes reform, the originally stipulated taxes and levies will be forwarded to the higher authorities as usual, but the portion of increased revenue will for now be retained entirely at the local level, to fund the reform of the clerical staff, the development of water conservancy, the purchase of draft oxen and iron tools, and the like."

"The silver for the additional oxen purchases that Bureau Director Li has mentioned will be drawn from this very portion."

"The New Governance Fiscal and Tax Reform Division will coordinate with each county, with each reporting its own sum, to make a unified purchase."

"This item is still under discussion in its particulars and has not yet been formally reported; I must ask everyone here to refrain from disclosing it for the time being."

With that, he clasped his hands in salute to all around and resumed his seat.

Most of the current New Governance projects followed this sort of structure.

One lead department was responsible for overall coordination, policy-setting, and resource allocation.

But the specific tasks and policies were sometimes carried out within that department, and sometimes in other departments.

This was also why, earlier, whenever Li Yukui touched on a related matter, the corresponding person would rise and clasp his hands.

Li Yukui continued:

"The use of horses among the Mongols is for war and herding, and for making mare's milk; in our dynasty, their greatest uses are for the postal relay stations and the military."

"The use of cattle among the Mongols is for moving camp and migrating; in our dynasty, it is for tilling the fields."

"For our dynasty, cattle are more useful than horses, but for the Mongols, horses are more useful than cattle."

"At present, however, the postal stations are exhausted and the military garrisons are riddled with corruption; horses are dying off in great numbers. For this reason, we cannot immediately slash the horse quota."

"As reform advances in the future, the horse quota will certainly have to be cut, while cattle, on the contrary, will be gradually increased."

"In this way, using the method of market quotas to gradually nudge the Mongol tribes toward replacing horses with cattle — this may be considered a latter-day application of Guan Zhong's stratagem of buying silk and deer."

After delivering this final remark, he concluded:

"The above — bestowing rewards, drawing off troops, civilizing influence, law, and frontier trade — these five items constitute the entire program that the Mongol Department will carry out in the coming year."

Zhu Youjian nodded, and the wooden mallet in his hand gave a light rap upon the imperial desk.

"Very well. Bureau Director Li has finished his presentation."

"This plan touches on foreign vassals, and according to the 'Great Ming Official Document Confidentiality Regulations' discussed and passed earlier, there will be no public posting stage at the Gate of Receiving Heaven. If any of you ministers have questions, ask them now."

A moment passed after Zhu Youjian's words fell.

With a rustling swoosh, a dozen or more hands shot up, vying to be first. An official in a blue robe moved fastest and seized the first chance to speak.

He adjusted his robes and cap, rose, clasped his hands in salute, and sank his breath to the dantian:

"This subject is Bureau Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, Xiao—Yi—Shi—Wei!"

He enunciated as clearly as possible, deliberately drawing out each syllable of his office and name without a trace of self-consciousness.

Only after confirming that the Emperor's gaze was fixed upon him did he open his mouth to ask:

"The various matters Bureau Director Li has set forth are all quite seasoned."

"But on all these points — what if the Mongol tribes respond with empty gestures?"

"For instance, if asked to select warriors, they send only the old and feeble, only scrawny horses; or if the cattle quota is altered, they drive horses here and demand to buy them back."

"Does the Mongol Bureau have a contingency plan?"

This was the angle Xiao Shiwei had carefully chosen after listening intently to the entire briefing.

First: do not lightly reject the fundamental strategy.

After all, anything that reached the stage of a briefing before the throne had surely been settled only after a group of people held a dozen or more meetings, and His Majesty basically found no major problems with it. Unless there was an extremely glaring error, or one's own thinking was genuinely superior, do not lightly reject it.

Otherwise, one would only embarrass oneself, appearing to lack a sense of the big picture and to be exceedingly foolish.

Second: demonstrate one's own ability. But if one cannot demonstrate ability, then demonstrate one's character!

Pressing a question about a highly probable implementation detail was precisely this kind of "negation without negating."

It showcased one's thorough consideration without offending either the Emperor or one's colleagues.

Faced with this child's-play question, Li Yukui smiled faintly, clearly long prepared:

"The Mongol Bureau has also discussed this matter. One need only find the first person who complies with this initiative and set them up as a benchmark. Then it is simply a matter of..." This, that... After he rattled off his answer in a few brisk strokes, still more questions awaited him.

"Among the thirty-six clans of the Duoyan, the tribe of Subudi now faintly shows signs of becoming the leading tribe of the allied clans. Should we suppress him?"

—This appeared to be asking a question, but was in fact displaying one's own knowledge of the Mongols.

"Bureau Director Li, do you think enfeoffing the Kharchin as a prince, and even more of the great tribes as princes, employing a strategy akin to the Five Chanyus policy of the Western Han, would be a better approach?" This was showing off one's own arts of vertical-and-horizontal alliance.

"Bureau Director Li, regulating the power of each tribe is extremely important. If we prop up someone who appears loyal and submissive, only to let them grow too powerful, that would be disastrous. After all, the matter of Nurhaci is right before our eyes."

This one was an idiot, had chosen the wrong angle, and spoken a line of pure drivel.

One by one, the officials rose in turn.

Some were genuinely pondering the plan, some were seizing the chance to show themselves off, and some revealed their foolishness on the spot — it was a mixed bag.

Li Yukui met soldiers with generals, and flooded earth with water.

Standing before the screen, though his eloquence could not be called glib, he prevailed by the sheer weight of detailed data and tight logic. Without missing one, without a single error, he supplied an answer to every question.

Finally, when the last question had been answered, everyone settled back into their original seats.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian nodded. He picked up the gavel, paused it in the air for a moment, then brought it down with a heavy strike.

"Very good. The Mongol strategy briefing for the first year of Yongchang is concluded."

"If this strategy can be brought to fruition, the credit belongs to Minister Li, and to all the officials of the Court of Colonial Affairs."

Zhu Youjian swept his gaze across the hall, his voice turning grave and low:

"If this strategy cannot be brought to fruition, Minister Li shall bear half the responsibility. The other half shall be borne jointly by Zhen and the seventy-four ministers in this hall."

"Are there any objections?"

A chill ran through everyone's hearts. In strict accordance with procedure, they raised their hands.

Seventy-four right hands stood erect in Wuying Hall, like a silent oath.

Zhu Youjian nodded, took up the gavel, and struck it forcefully three times.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

"Good. The Mongol Bureau's briefing is hereby finalized!"

He paused, looked at Li Yukui, and offered his assessment:

"Minister Li, Zhen has observed your every action in this undertaking."

"The conditions of the barbarians on every frontier are all held within your mind, as clear as reading the lines on your own palm. Zhen is most satisfied."

"However, the details are still somewhat lacking and require improvement."

"Zhen hopes that a year from now, your grasp of the finer points of Mongol affairs will be more concrete and more profound."

"It would be best to find a safe time and travel to Mongol territory to see it for yourself."

"After all, seeing is believing. Sitting within the capital's halls, it is impossible to handle Mongol affairs well."

"Do your work well. Zhen looks forward to your performance next year."

Li Yukui straightened his robes and cap, then slowly performed the full grand prostration, his voice trembling:

"This subject reverently obeys the sacred edict and shall never disappoint Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youjian nodded, deeply satisfied in his heart.

Having been Emperor for several months, it was only now that he finally felt a hint of what it had been like leading a team in a major corporation in the later age.

Namely — outstanding talent was everywhere!

Take this Li Yukui, for example. With so many strokes in his name, yet Zhu Youjian had no impression of him whatsoever from the later age; he was utterly a nameless extra among nameless extras. But when it came to doing the work, if not a genius, he could at least score an eighty out of a hundred.

With a solid year of practical tempering, why would a ninety or even a perfect score be impossible?

Generals are forged from piles of corpses. Grand Chancellors... perhaps one could also try forging them from piles of workload!

That was more like it. They were, after all, the elite civil-service scholars who had crossed a single-plank bridge amid a thousand troops and ten thousand horses, selected by the imperial examinations — how could they lack ability?

The Zhu Youjian of today was no longer comparable to the man of two months ago.

Back then, he had to personally lead the meetings, make every arrangement, talk until his mouth went dry, and even compete with his ministers in acting skills.

But now, he just picks up a little wooden mallet and taps the table, and that's it.

Hahahahaha! Now this is what it feels like to be the Emperor!

Zhu Youjian was in an extremely good mood. He waved Li Yukui to his feet, then looked to the next man.

"Come, let's continue. Next — the Jurchen Bureau, step forward."

Monthly votes are really important at the start of the month, begging for some — let's climb up together from 79th place!