Chapter 288: Stalling Tactic, Borrowed Authority, and Tailoring Treatment to the Person (Chapter 47~)

The real substance always comes after the "but."

Hong Chengchou shifted his tone, his expression turning troubled:

"But what Supervising Secretary Liu may not know is that our Court of Colonial Affairs just reported to His Majesty yesterday and settled on next year's strategy."

"The details of this strategy are top secret; I cannot disclose them fully."

"But the crux of it is indeed to first stabilize the various barbarian peoples and avoid stirring up trouble."

"If we were to launch a grand, high-profile reform of the barbarian post stations next year and restrict their privileges, I fear it would provoke discontent among the tribes and jeopardize overall stability."

Hong Chengchou looked at Liu Mao and said with earnest gravity:

"It is not that I am unwilling to reform, but in all matters one must weigh the urgent against the less urgent and keep the larger picture in mind, is that not so?"

"I believe this matter still requires further deliberation. Let us take it slowly, and by no means act with undue haste."

He had expected Liu Mao to be disappointed, perhaps even to argue back.

To his surprise, upon hearing this, Liu Mao not only showed no urgency but nodded repeatedly, laughing:

"Exactly so, exactly so! It must be taken slowly!"

"Self-cultivation, family regulation, state governance, world peace — these things inherently demand gradual, step-by-step progress."

Liu Mao leaned in closer, his eyes glinting with hopeful light:

"But might I ask, Assistant Minister Hong, when do you think we could begin to set our hands to this reform?"

Hong Chengchou was taken aback.

This old man — so easy to deal with?

A thought turned in his mind: since he was going to push it off, he might as well push it far off.

"In my view…" Hong Chengchou stroked his chin and boldly set a comfortably distant date. "It would have to wait until the second or third year of Yongchang, roughly. By then…"

"Good! It's settled!"

Before Hong Chengchou could get out the second half of his sentence — "we'll see how things stand by then" — Liu Mao slapped his thigh with a crack and cut him off decisively:

"The second year of Yongchang it is!"

"Assistant Minister Hong is indeed loyal to the state and benevolent in governance, loving the people! On behalf of the ten-thousand-odd corvée laborers at the stations of the Northern Metropolitan Region, this humble official thanks you, Sir Hong!"

With that, Liu Mao rose to his feet and bowed deeply to Hong Chengchou.

"Ah? Supervising Secretary Liu, this… that's not…"

Flustered by this sudden grand gesture, Hong Chengchou hastily sidestepped to evade it.

Yet before he could open his mouth to clarify — first, that it was the second or third year of Yongchang, not the second year of Yongchang —

He saw that Liu Mao had already straightened up, and with a smile, was cupping his hands in salute while sidling toward the door.

Reaching the door, he pushed it open — and slipped away in a flash!

That's right — he ran!

Hong Chengchou hurried after him, stepping out to see the old man lifting the hem of his official robe, walking fast at first, and very soon breaking into a headlong dash.

His hands and feet moved with an agility that belied his age.

Leaving Hong Chengchou standing alone in the doorway, utterly baffled.

"What… what sort of performance was that?"

He thought it over for a long while but still could not figure out what he had said wrong just now.

Even if he had carelessly committed to the second year of Yongchang, so what?

That was still a whole year away!

By the time you get to the second year of Yongchang to do this, who knows what the New Policies will have turned into — what meaning could this promise possibly hold for you?

Hong Chengchou shook his head, genuinely unable to make sense of it, and simply let the matter drop. This meeting had been expected to be a half-shichen tug-of-war; instead, it was wrapped up in less than a quarter of a shichen.

Unexpectedly, it had yielded a rare stretch of free time.

Hong Chengchou returned to his room and let out a long breath of relief.

The meeting room was fully stocked with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

He simply drew a small personal notebook from his sleeve and spread it open on the table.

This was his "New Policies Schedule Book."

He picked up his brush, ground the ink, and began crossing out and correcting entries.

「Discuss the Wu barbarian market matter with Li Shiqi of the Tax Office」

He drew a heavy horizontal line through this entry and scrawled a wild, unrestrained "Done" beside it.

「Discuss the barbarian post station matter with Supervising Secretary Liu Mao of the Office of Scrutiny for War」

This entry was also crossed out, with the annotation: "Second year of Yongchang."

Below that stretched a dense, dizzying list of subsequent appointments:

「Discuss the translation of Western books with Xiong Mingyu of the Academy of Sciences — 26th, shen hour sharp, West Meeting Room 029」

「Interview remaining candidates for Bureau Director of the Translation Office (five persons) — 27th, chen hour sharp, North Meeting Room 032」

「Discuss the connection between opening the seas and the barbarian peoples with Liu Kongjing of the Policy Group — 27th, shen hour sharp, East Meeting Room 056」

Hong Chengchou swept his eyes rapidly over the remaining schedule, and his taut nerves finally relaxed a little.

The meetings over these few days numbered around a dozen or so.

But most were relatively simple, unlike today's two sessions, which touched on the interests of the Court of Colonial Affairs.

The majority were merely for synchronizing plans and reporting progress.

As long as they did not affect the core objectives and core interests of each ministry, such meetings were usually easy to conduct — everyone was willing to compromise and accommodate. It was not like matters such as commercial taxes or post stations, which were "benefiting oneself at another's expense" and required one party's interests to suffer; those were hard to handle.

As for the sheer number of meetings, Hong Chengchou did not take it to heart.

The department was newly founded, with a thousand threads to grasp and personnel not yet fully in place — so many meetings were only to be expected.

Once I get through this stretch, it shouldn't be nearly so busy.

As for the promise he had inadvertently made to Liu Mao — to carry out the barbarian tribute reform in the second year of Yongchang — Hong Chengchou was not particularly concerned about that either.

He himself had come from a poor family.

His mother had raised him through hardship and sacrifice, selling dried bean curd to support them.

How could there not be, in his heart, even the slightest aspiration to reform the realm and ease the people's burdens?

It was simply that the first year of Yongchang was far too critical for him.

He truly did not wish to take even the smallest risk. He only wanted to produce results in the small patch of ground already under his feet and secure his position first. Once the second year of Yongchang arrived, and the Mongol and Jurchen offices had shown some initial progress, and the personnel of the Court of Colonial Affairs were fully in place —

then, naturally, he would take the initiative to manage the affairs of the remaining barbarian tribes as well.

After all, the matter of lightening the burden on the people of the Great Ming by civilizing the various barbarians — if packaged a little, would that not also count as an achievement in office? And if any barbarian tribe proved dissatisfied, that would simply become the focus of the next phase of work.

Hong Chengchou finished reviewing his schedule, closed the ledger, and glanced at a table clock sitting on his desk.

Both the hour hand and the minute hand were near the "three." That meant…

Hong Chengchou did a quick conversion of the time indicated by this new-style water clock and soon reached a conclusion.

It was the first quarter of the hour of the Monkey.

That meant there was still plenty of time before the next meeting began.

He could use this time to make a trip to the Ministry of Personnel.

Although the Bureau Directors for the Mongol, Jurchen, and Administration sections had now been decided, and the Bureau Director for the Translation section was currently being interviewed —

the posts below Bureau Director — Bureau Secretaries, ambassadors, and even the various clerks — still had large numbers of vacancies. The last time he had gone to press the Minister of Personnel, Yang Jingchen, the man had been utterly swamped, and while his mouth had readily agreed — "Yes, yes, yes, right away" — in the end, all he had sent back was a list of ten candidates for the Translation Bureau Director position.

As for the rest of the low-ranking officials and minor functionaries, there was not even a shadow of them!

The result was that their Court of Colonial Affairs, a newly established office equal in rank to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and the Court of the Imperial Stud, now had only a bare handful of people. Everyone was so frantically busy they barely touched the ground, each wishing they could split themselves in two.

This was outrageous!

Today he absolutely had to go and press them again! If they still refused to deliver, he would simply plant himself in the Ministry of Personnel and refuse to leave!

Having made up his mind, Hong Chengchou rose, straightened his robes and cap, pushed open the door, and followed the Thousand-Step Corridor toward the Ministry of Personnel compound.

It was just past noon, the busiest time along the Thousand-Step Corridor.

Officials hurried busily through the corridor, streaming in and out of the various meeting rooms like bees.

Some walked in small groups, chatting and laughing; some walked alone, faces cold and silent; and from some rooms, just as from his own a moment ago, came the faint sound of fists pounding tables and men cursing.

Hong Chengchou had long since grown inured to such sights.

But as he walked, a vague sense that something was off kept nagging at him.

The strange smile on that old man Liu Mao's face kept flickering before his eyes.

The moment he stepped through the gate of the Ministry of Personnel compound, he saw at a glance Liu Mao emerging from the Bureau of Evaluations, his face wreathed in smiles.

"Supervising Secretary Liu, what brings you here?"

Liu Mao turned, saw him, and his face instantly filled with embarrassment.

"Ah? Oh… well, that, that matter we discussed earlier about officials misusing the post stations — there were a few loose ends we hadn't cleared up, and I happened to be passing by, so I came to discuss them further." "Assistant Administrator Hong, you go ahead with your business — I have matters to attend to, I must be off…"

With that, he cupped his hands in salute while backing away several steps, then turned and hurried off in a flustered escape.

Hong Chengchou stood still for a moment, his eyes narrowing, until he finally understood exactly what had happened.

That Liu Mao! That old fox!

So he had not, in fact, already reached an agreement with the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War before coming to him!

He had clearly used matters that the two ministries had not yet settled to bluff him, tricked him into the "second year of Yongchang" commitment, and then turned around and used his words to pressure the Ministry of Personnel!

"Look here — the Court of Colonial Affairs controls the overall strategy for the four barbarian quarters, and they've already agreed outright! How can your Ministry of Personnel keep dragging its feet? At the very least, you have to give some indication of your stance, don't you?"

Hong Chengchou could even guess that Liu Mao had probably not even mentioned "the second year of Yongchang," but had simply said that the Court of Colonial Affairs had agreed.

He had been played!

Hong Chengchou shook his head helplessly, yet in his heart he felt little resentment — rather, a touch of admiration.

This was simply the reality for a low-priority new policy project.

Liu Mao's project to overhaul the post stations, though it had received approval from the Yongchang Emperor, was clearly ranked very low in priority.

No special policies had been granted, no formal title conferred, no personnel assigned, no rewards or punishments authorized.

The current status of the entire undertaking was even still "Post Station Reform Project — Preparation," rather than "Post Station Reform Project — Implementation." No wonder he had run into one wall after another among the various ministries.

And no wonder that a man of his rank, a Supervising Secretary of the Office of Scrutiny for War, had to humble himself so.

"Nourish the heart's forbearance, nourish the heart's forbearance."

That self-chosen courtesy name of Liu Mao's truly befitted his words and deeds.

Hong Chengchou sighed to himself for a moment, but had no intention of exposing the ruse.

He shook his head and turned toward the duty office of the Minister of Personnel, Yang Jingchen.

The moment he entered, he saw Yang Jingchen buried in a mountain of documents.

Hong Chengchou hastily put on a radiant smile and stepped forward to bow.

"Grand Minister of Personnel, it has been many days since we last met. This humble official presents his respects…"

Yang Jingchen raised his head, swept a glance at him, and directly raised a hand to cut him off.

"Assistant Administrator Hong, I know why you have come." "For all matters concerning the selection of officials for the Court of Colonial Affairs, go next door to the Bureau of Appointments and seek out Bureau Secretary Yao. He will handle this matter directly with you from now on." "In the future, do not bring such trivial affairs to me again…"

He seemed about to say "to bother me," but after glancing at Hong Chengchou's smiling face, he forcibly swallowed those two words and amended: "Do not come looking for me again! I am busy! Extremely, extremely busy! Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Hong Chengchou was overjoyed! He felt not the slightest resentment at the brusque words.

As long as there was someone to take up the matter, that was all that mattered!

Under the new policies, having someone assigned to a matter meant it would inevitably move forward — the only question was whether quickly or slowly.

He bowed deeply and said in a ringing voice:

"Many thanks for your help! This humble official takes his leave!"

Watching Hong Chengchou's receding figure, Yang Jingchen gave a faint sigh.

"People... people... Now, whenever anyone in this new administration sees me, the Minister of Personnel, the first words out of their mouths are always demanding more people!"

Yang Jingchen rubbed his swollen brow, feeling a throbbing ache pulse through his temples.

Clearing out entrenched abuses requires capable clerks; implementing the new policies requires able officials and stalwart officers; even the old policy performance reviews now demand men of practical statecraft.

Their mothers!

This old man is the Minister of Personnel, not some Nüwa kneading clay to fashion human beings!

Even cabbages in the field need spring to grow and summer to mature — how can I conjure up so many talents out of thin air for them?

But no matter how much he cursed inwardly, the work still had to advance.

The matter of selecting officials for the Court of Colonial Affairs had suddenly shot up in priority, and there was a reason behind it.

At yesterday's imperial council, the strategy for the four border regions was formally set, and everyone in attendance was a heavyweight of the central government.

This could practically be counted as the first-tier grand project since the Yongchang New Policies began, following the capital, Northern Zhili, Ji-Liao, and fiscal-taxation reforms.

Word had even reached his ears — after the council dispersed, His Majesty deliberately kept a few key figures behind for a smaller meeting in a side hall.

Yang Jingchen of course had no idea what was discussed in that small meeting, but the winds of officialdom are never read with the eyes — they are scented with the nose. Since sweet dew had already been sprinkled upon the little plant that was the Court of Colonial Affairs,

the great tree of the Ministry of Personnel naturally had to move with the current, stretching out its branches and shifting its leaves — providing support while also sharing in the benefits of the matter. As for the other projects...

for the time being, he could only offer every form of support except actual support.

This was not Yang Jingchen deliberately stalling or throwing his official weight around.

It was simply that the Ministry of Personnel was already running at full capacity!

Yang Jingchen drew a deep breath and let his gaze settle once more upon the many documents on his desk.

Preliminary Review of the First-Phase County Magistrate Selection and Examination Work (Northern Zhili).

This document ran to over ten thousand characters.

It had been jointly produced by the Ministry of Personnel, the Directorate of Ceremonial, the Northern Zhili New Policies Group, and several other government offices.

Every problem and every suggested improvement within it was solid substance — not a trace of padding or concealment dared slip in.

This was not to say that these old bureaucratic foxes had suddenly changed their nature, transforming overnight into honest and trustworthy sages and gentlemen.

It was because the caliber of this reporting was simply far too high!

Compared to the "Capital Road Repair Project Review Meeting" five days earlier, this "Northern Zhili County Magistrate Selection Review" had been elevated yet another level. The Yongchang Emperor had personally designated it.

The Six Ministries, the Nine Chief Ministers, the Censorate, the Court of Judicial Review, and even the commanders of the Capital Camps and the Twenty-Four Offices of the Inner Palace — all officials of Principal Fourth Rank and above were required to attend as observers! The location, moreover, was set directly at Wenhua Hall!

Under such a suffocatingly terrifying caliber of scrutiny, who would dare to fudge things?

Who would dare to play clever tricks at a juncture like this?

Yang Jingchen picked up his brush and once more began reviewing line by line.

The overall content of the report was settled; what he was revising now was primarily a matter of wording.

In particular, passages that piled up ornate rhetoric or placed excessive emphasis on parallel structure and antithesis had to be altered, one by one, into phrasing more suited to the new policies' documentary style.

Only when this review report was finally proofed without error did he let out a long breath, summon a clerk, and instruct him to send it to the Bureau Director below for a clean fair copy with corrections. And yet...

if it were only this one review matter, how could Yang Jingchen possibly be called busy?

The first year of Yongchang still had four days before it arrived, but certain matters of the second year of Yongchang had already begun to unfold.