Chapter 286: Square Peg, Round Hole — Utterly Incompatible (49 names ~)

By sheer coincidence, the last five members of the Ji-Liao New Governance team just happened to make up a "circus troupe."

Two apes, one horse, one deer — plus one human, Man Gui.

Once the troupe received its orders, they split up to notify their subordinates, packed up, and rode out of the capital that very afternoon.

Racing east alongside them were the advance-printed and cart-loaded copies of the *Great Ming Times — New Year Special Edition*.

This issue carried extraordinary weight.

The front-page headline was the Yongchang Emperor's New Year address — "With Each Passing Day, Time Waits for No Man."

Immediately following was a newly added statute in the Penal Code: the "Prohibition on Private Trade with Jianzhou."

And *Loyalty Recorded on the Liaodong Seas*, which had stopped updating for over a month and left readers in agonizing suspense, finally released its newest chapter.

Online (newspaper) public-opinion buildup; offline, armored cavalry striking out.

Policy, resources, talent, strategy.

This combination attack flowed like clouds and water, carrying a suffocating pressure that, with the rumble of hoofbeats, rolled straight toward that bitter-cold land beyond the passes.

As for the phrase "combination attack"… no need to explain it further.

Only those who truly understood the New Governance could grasp how deep the craft behind it ran.

The Ji-Liao "circus troupe" was off to its stage.

But the officials remaining in the capital were nowhere near getting any rest.

If the old Ming bureaucracy was a pool of stagnant water, then now it was a cauldron of boiling oil.

Under the New Governance system, aligning across departments, setting targets and assessments, investigating and reviewing… all sorts of unheard-of new terms and new methods poured out in an endless stream. Officials' workloads were no longer measured by the "day," but by the "two-hour period," even by the "quarter-hour."

Under this intense pressure, everyone was forced to evolve at breakneck speed.

Even Ni Yuanlu, who used to say "All my life I have never loved office, nor delighted in dwelling inside the cage of powerful men," now walked with a gust of wind at his back, talking of nothing but pulling meetings and aligning.

Imperceptibly, the entire capital bureaucracy was being forcibly molded into the shape the Yongchang Emperor desired.

The most visible change took place at the Thousand-Pace Corridor.

This spot lies between the Gate of Accepting Heaven and the Great Ming Gate.

(Note: that is the area of the Monument to the People's Heroes and Tiananmen Square; the Gate of Accepting Heaven is Tiananmen. So the public notices for the New Governance strategy were, in effect, posted on the walls of Tiananmen.)

On its east and west sides stood 110 corridor rooms each, plus 34 north-facing court rooms near the Gate of Accepting Heaven, totaling 288 rooms. In the past, officials were forbidden from crossing the central imperial way.

The eastern corridor rooms had a somewhat broader range of uses.

The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War would select generals and officials there, in processes called the "monthly selection" and the "official lot-drawing."

During the spring and autumn provincial examinations, the Ministry of Rites used the space to review examination papers, a process called "scrutiny and verification."

The western side belonged to the Ministry of Justice. Every autumn, capital cases reported from the provinces for execution were tried there by the Three Judicial Offices jointly, known as the "autumn assizes." The Emperor's decrees were also sent from the Gate of Accepting Heaven to the Gate of Everlasting Peace on the Right, where those sentenced to death were proclaimed for "formal execution" — hence the Gate of Everlasting Peace on the Right was also called the "Tiger Gate."

These two areas used to be as distinct as the Jing and Wei rivers, each minding its own business; apart from official proceedings, they were usually deserted.

But now, they had become the most bustling, clamorous, and gunpowder-charged spot in the entire capital bureaucracy.

As the winds of the New Governance rose and the concepts, methods, and demands brought by the Yongchang Emperor were gradually rolled out, collaboration between departments became unprecedentedly frequent.

"Meeting rooms" became an absolute necessity overnight.

At first, they simply cleared out a row of empty north-facing rooms and hung signs like "North 001" and "North 002." Within half a month, it wasn't enough.

The Yongchang Emperor gave a sweeping wave of his hand and simply cleared out a section of the west-facing court rooms as well, and specially permitted officials to cut straight across the imperial way for meetings, no longer required to detour around the Gate of Accepting Heaven.

But this was still a drop in the bucket. With the eruption of the "Northern Zhili County Magistrate Examination and Interview Month" at year's end, and with every New Governance project moving from top-level design down to implementation, the matters requiring discussion, haggling, and final decisions multiplied geometrically.

Even the New Governance cadastral survey in a single place like Leting generated an explosive workload — how could the capital, of all places, have only those few briefing sessions? The officials' ever-growing demand for meetings versus the severe shortage of meeting rooms had, astonishingly, become the principal contradiction of the New Governance at that stage.

The Ministry of Works was already arranging expansions, but distant water could not quench a nearby thirst.

The New Governance Committee, driven to distraction by the clamor, finally kicked the ball to the Directorate of Ceremonial, which set up a dedicated "Meeting Affairs Management Group" that imposed a strict "reservation system" on the hundred-plus vacated meeting rooms and handled paper, ink, tea, cleaning, and other such matters.

Who wanted a meeting room?

Either shuttle back and forth, hunting for an empty, unoccupied room.

Or go to Meeting Room North 001, find the meeting-affairs eunuch, and register a reservation!

Thousand-Pace Corridor, West Meeting Room 007.

Hong Chengchou, Assistant Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs, sat there with a face like thunder, staring fixedly at the man across from him.

Sitting opposite him was the principal administrator of the Capital Tax Office, Li Shiqi, Vice Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

"Impossible! This is non-negotiable!"

Li Shiqi shook his head coldly, rejecting the proposal Hong Chengchou had just made.

He said, in a tone that cut through iron:

"Within the capital, no one is exempt from paying commercial taxes!"

"Palace eunuchs are not exempt; the ennobled are not exempt; the kin and disciples of great ministers are not exempt; and so it is for everyone under Heaven."

"Even the people of the Duke for Perpetuating Sage's household must pay taxes according to the statutes, must they not?"

"What? When it comes to these barbarians, the rule is suddenly supposed to change?"

He gave a cold laugh, offering no face whatsoever.

"Assistant Minister Hong, do you too wish to be impeached by me for 'greed and base compromise,' the way the Duke for Perpetuating Sage was?"

Hearing himself compared to that dog-fart Duke for Perpetuating Sage,

Hong Chengchou felt a rush of wicked fire shoot straight to the crown of his head.

He had been grinding away at this man for a full two quarter-hours! His lips were nearly worn through!

This Li Shiqi was nothing but a stinking, rock-hard stone in a latrine pit!

Hong Chengchou drew a deep breath and forcibly shoved down the urge to flip the table.

He knew that losing his temper now would do no good.

The Court of Colonial Affairs was a newly established department, and so was the Tax Office.

We are all disciples of the Son of Heaven, all cadres of the new policies.

He, Hong Chengchou, is of the upper fourth rank, while Li Shiqi is merely a lower fifth-rank Metropolitan Prefecture Vice Prefect just promoted from Assistant Prefect.

By all reason, a single rank higher crushes a man to death.

But the reality is, one is the "God of Wealth" responsible for raising funds for the state treasury; the other is a "gold-devouring beast" who only spends money and brings in no revenue. One is a veteran who joined at the very start of the new policies, a ruthless operator who, in just over a month, dug out more than a hundred thousand taels of silver from the Nine Gates commercial taxes.

The other has only just set up his framework, is still sorting out the tangled mess of the frontier, and has yet to deliver any dazzling results — a newcomer.

Can the weight of these two men's words possibly be the same?

Hong Chengchou lifted his teacup and took a sip of tea long gone cold, concealing the fury in his eyes, and strove to make his voice sound calm and even: "Vice Prefect Li, we are both carrying out the new policies. Why make things so intractable? How about this — you and I each take a step back."

"I have no objection to taxing the Wuyi Market. The appointment of the tax overseer shall be made by your Tax Office, and the tax silver shall all go to you."

"However!" Hong Chengchou's tone hardened. "Not this time! The Court of Frontier Affairs' strategy was reported and approved yesterday. You were not present at the meeting, so all you know are those eight words: 'Seek truth from facts, extend the royal civilization.'"

"But I can tell you plainly, the focal points are precisely to stabilize the various tribes for now, and to concentrate solely on the Mongols and the Jurchen."

"If at this moment, for the sake of such paltry profit, we abruptly impose tax law without prior notice, and should it provoke unrest and ruin the court's grand strategy of pacification — who can bear that responsibility?"

"How about collecting the tax next year? If next year I still make excuses and obstruct, then I shall simply take off this official's hat of mine and present it to Vice Prefect Li!"

By the end of his speech, Hong Chengchou could not hold back his anger after all, and his words grew barbed.

Li Shiqi, however, was not buying any of it.

Bear responsibility? That is your Court of Frontier Affairs' responsibility — it is not my Tax Office's responsibility!

The Tax Office's greatest responsibility right now is to collect the money!

During the tax strategy briefing, His Majesty stated clearly that the Tax Office has an opportunity for "rank elevation."

That is, to be elevated from a "fifth-rank office" to a "fourth-rank office," on par with the civil affairs division under the Metropolitan Prefecture.

When that time comes, he, a fifth-rank "Vice Prefect," can follow his office and directly become a fourth-rank "Prefectural Deputy"!

But the prerequisite for all this is that he, Li Shiqi, must, before this year's end, thoroughly run through this entire tax procedure in the capital and produce dazzling results. He must prove that this set of methods is effective and can be extended to other cities across the realm.

— At the very least, it must be extended to the great commercial cities of Nanjing, Linqing, and Guangzhou!

Therefore, the Wuyi Market, specially established for tributary foreign vassals to sell their goods, must be taken over by him! And must be taxed!

Otherwise, knowing the nature of those merchants, a whole crowd of them will probably directly conduct transactions under the name of foreign vassals.

Is this about collecting taxes? This is about collecting his own official's hat!

Before the new policies, he was merely a sixth-rank Bureau Secretary in the Ministry of Revenue.

Now, in just half a year, he has risen to fifth-rank Vice Prefect, and a year later he has the chance to rise to fourth-rank Prefectural Deputy.

An opportunity that comes once in a thousand years — let alone Hong Chengchou, even if Xue Guoguan, the Governor of the Metropolitan Prefecture, came in person!

... Well, that might actually be negotiable.

But a mere Hong Chengchou, a mere Court of Frontier Affairs — not worthy!

Li Shiqi straightened his posture and spoke out in rebuttal:

"Sir Hong, your words are mistaken."

"The commercial tax has not yet been reformed; it remains one part in thirty. How much can those barbarians' local goods be worth? How much tax silver can be collected from them? If they make a ruckus in the capital — humph, it would be nothing more than a bit of barking. Do you think they would dare go back and raise troops in rebellion over this pittance? Lend them ten times the nerve!"

"Can it be that the Court of Frontier Affairs cannot even settle a matter as trivial as this?"

Li Shiqi pressed his advantage aggressively and continued his attack:

"Have you forgotten His Majesty's words? In all matters, one must see clearly where the fundamental pros and cons lie."

"Collecting taxes directly brings only the minor drawback of some verbal disputes. But if we leave this loophole open, what is damaged is the very integrity of the new policies! The reform of taxation values above all credibility and strictness! It tolerates not the slightest ambiguity or compromise!"

"The ancients said: 'Law is established above; custom is formed below.' If, for the sake of petty grievances among barbarians, we damage the great credibility of the central authority, that is truly forsaking the root to chase the branch!"

Li Shiqi fixed his gaze on Hong Chengchou and, dispensing with official titles altogether, directly addressed him by his courtesy name:

"Hong Hengjiu, you have served in the provinces and come up through the ranks as a capable official. Do you not understand this principle even better than I?"

"Have not the affairs of the realm, in times past, all been ruined by this very 'compromise'?"

"Yield a step today, yield a step tomorrow, and retreating to the very end, it is utter ruin beyond redemption! Retreating to the very end, nothing at all can be accomplished! On the matter of taxing the Wuyi Market, with me, there is no room for negotiation!"

"You—!"

The fury in Hong Chengchou's heart could no longer be suppressed. He slammed the table with a bang, sending the teacup lid clattering noisily.

"This is simply beyond reason!" Hong Chengchou rose abruptly to his feet and pointed at Li Shiqi. "Talking to a stubborn mule like you is like playing a lute to a cow! Fine! Fine! Since you refuse to see reason, I shall go find your Governor Xue tomorrow! I refuse to believe that in the entire Metropolitan Prefecture there is not a single person who can talk sense!"

Faced with the enraged Hong Chengchou, Li Shiqi was not only unafraid but let out a cold laugh and slowly rose to his feet.

"If you wish to seek out Sir Xue, by all means go. But I will lay my words down right here — the personnel are already prepared."

"The moment New Year's Day is past, the Tax Office's tax overseers will immediately enter the Wuyi Market!"

"I shall be curious to see, when the time comes, whether you stand on the side of the barbarians, or on the side of Great Ming!"

With that, he flicked his sleeve, turned, and walked to the door. After pushing it open, he halted his steps, turned his head, and threw back a final hard remark:

"I was indeed not present at the Court of Frontier Affairs' strategy briefing, nor do I wish to pry into such top-secret intelligence. I shall act as though I never heard what you just said. But my Tax Office's fundamental strategy — that is no secret at all."

"It was likewise reported and approved in the open court, and it is likewise an unshakeable state policy!"

"'All that is taxable must be taxed; every hand that passes must be clean!' — eight words as well, and nothing more!"

"No matter who comes to plead, do not think they can force me to bow my head and back down!"

With that, he flung the door shut with force, closing it with a heavy slam.

Hong Chengchou stood where he was, his chest heaving violently.

Only after a long while did he sit back down in his chair in a fury and pound the table fiercely!

"Damn!"

Over these past two months, he had spent at least thirty percent of his time suffering this kind of squeezed-from-both-sides frustration.

Li Shiqi's words sounded noble, his attitude loftily assumed.

But did he, Hong Hengjiu, not see through it clearly?

It all came down to the fact that his own words simply weren't hard enough!

In the affairs of this world, how many things are truly black and white?

Especially in these gray zones where different departments have to collaborate.

Who does a little more, who does a little less, who steps back, who steps forward — where is there any absolute rule? In the end, doesn't it all come down to the toughness of the chief official behind them? And who is the chief official of Shuntian Prefecture? Xue Guoguan, a man at the height of his power, a favorite before His Majesty's eyes, the vanguard of the New Policies!

And his own direct superior? That is Wang Xianggan, the Minister-in-Chief of the Court of Colonial Affairs.

It is true that the venerable Wang is a man of lofty virtue and high prestige, but after all, he is advanced in years, old and declining.

Whenever they run into this kind of head-on clash, it is always he, Hong Chengchou, who ends up on the losing side.

The New Policies and the old policies are indeed divided by a clear line.

But what about between one New Policy and another?

Are there not higher and lower grades among them?

Hong Chengchou let out a long sigh and leaned back against his chair.

Go see Xue Guoguan?

He was only talking.

What the superior favors, the subordinates will outdo one another to provide.

That insufferable attitude of Li Shiqi's — where did it come from if not molded directly in Xue Guoguan's own image?

That man Xue Guoguan has his mind set on becoming Chief Grand Secretary, and on these New Policies in the capital, he is more radical than anyone.

Going to him would be nothing but inviting humiliation.

As things stood now, he could only rely on himself.