Chapter 318: New Policies, Phase Two — 001

In Liaodong on New Year's Day, darkness still fell fast.

After the pay-inspection team had briefly sorted the dossiers and held a short discussion, by the time they re-entered the main hall, candles already had to be lit for illumination.

Inside the main hall, candle flames flickered and wavered.

Twenty-some Ji-Liao officers sat each in his place, backs ramrod straight, yet unable to conceal the unease in their expressions.

This time, no one whispered to his neighbor the way they had when the session first began.

Though every man's heart felt as if clawed by a cat's paw, desperate to know exactly what answers the others had handed in —

Had they chosen full confession, or only partial confession?

And what outcome could such confessions buy?

The results were about to be announced, yet none of them could suppress the anxiety in their hearts.

The hall was so quiet that only the sound of breathing — some coarse, some fine — could be heard.

At the presiding desk, the members of the pay-inspection team had already sorted each set of answers into categories.

For each question, a stack of answer sheets; on the desk they formed three stacks of uneven height.

Yuan Jixian sat upright in the main seat, his gaze slowly sweeping across the three stacks of dossiers, and broke the silence:

"Gentlemen, have you heard of the Banquet of the Torn Tassels that His Majesty held upon his enthronement last year?"

At these words, the officers first stared blankly, then all at once hurriedly answered yes — and on more than a few faces, a trace of hope even rose unbidden. If this round of answering questions truly turned out to be like the Banquet of the Torn Tassels, then no outcome could be better.

Some officers who had been overly candid now let out a long breath of relief in their hearts.

Yuan Jixian nodded and said with a smile:

"Of these three questions, the first asked about each gentleman's graft and corrupt practices."

"But in this matter, His Majesty wished you to answer facing yourselves — not to use it to pursue past transgressions."

As his words fell, he raised his right hand and gave a light wave.

"Wang Jinshi..."

Wang Shide, standing to one side, understood at once. He fetched a brass brazier from behind him and set it before the dais, then turned and picked up the topmost dossier from the first stack on the desk.

He glanced down at the cover and read aloud:

"Regional Commander You Shilu..."

With that, Wang Shide took out a fire striker, blew the fuse alight, and — before the eyes of all present — directly set flame to this dossier, the one over which You Shilu had agonized for hours and into which he had poured the most effort: his record of crimes.

Flames roared up and devoured the paper.

In a matter of moments, that thin dossier had turned into a few scraps of black ash at the bottom of the brass basin.

At this, everyone in the hall understood perfectly.

They truly meant to let bygones be bygones!

This public burning of the answer sheets was far more than merely setting a few sheets of paper alight — it represented the reigning Son of Heaven's attitude toward the past offenses of the veteran Ji-Liao officers: raised high and brought down gently.

Wang Shide's face was expressionless; his hands did not pause as he tossed dossier after dossier into the brazier, calling out each name in turn.

"Regional Commander Du Wenhuan..."

"Regional Commander Hou Shilu..."

"Vice Regional Commander Wang Mumin..."

"Regional Commander Zhu..."

With every name called and every dossier burned, an exceedingly faint exhalation sounded somewhere in the hall.

By the time the burning was done, a thick layer of paper ash had accumulated in the brazier, and the taut cheeks of some officers finally relaxed — a few could not even suppress the hint of a smile.

Yet, at the very instant the last dossier turned to ash,

the smile at the corner of Yuan Jixian's mouth abruptly vanished, and a cold, hard voice rang out sharply through the great hall:

"However—"

Those two words were bitten off with immense weight, instantly dropping the just-warming air of the hall to the freezing point.

"When this official earlier read aloud His Majesty's verbal edict, it was also stated: there are some who ignore the nation's declining circumstances, and still less can feel the resolve of the court's new policies. At this moment when all men are rousing themselves, they still draw their squeeze on pay, still take their money, still dance their dances, still sing their songs!"

Yuan Jixian slammed the armrest with his palm, leaned forward, and swept his gaze like a blade's edge across the assembled officers below.

"Such conduct is either folly or disloyalty."

"How can a foolish man be entrusted with command of troops? And what face has a disloyal man to stand amid this tide of new policies, still vainly hoping to escape punishment by luck? If such persons are not severely punished, how can the righteous indignation of the remaining loyal and steadfast officers be quelled?!"

With the words driven to this point, the dagger was bared.

Yuan Jixian gave no one time to react; on the spot, he directly called out a name:

"Regional Commander Zhao Tianlu! Since the Yongchang New Policies began, he has still not stayed his hand!"

"Skimming from military pay, the worst of all the armies! Others skim four mace, or perhaps reduced it to three mace, or to two mace."

"He alone, on the pretext of needing to bribe superior officers, added numerous additional charges — document fees, red-envelope money, festival-gift money, and the like."

"Calculated carefully, per man per month, he skims no less than six mace!"

"Seize him in this hall!"

No sooner had the words fallen than a tremendous "Bang—" sounded outside the door; the originally tightly shut wooden doors were violently slammed open.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard riders, who had long been waiting outside, burst into the hall like vicious hounds, bringing the chill wind from outside with them.

Zhao Tianlu was sitting in the third chair on the left. Hearing his own name called, his whole body felt as if struck by lightning. But before he could open his mouth to utter half a word of defense, two riders had already closed in before him.

No superfluous words, still less half a pleasantry.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard on the left seized the front of Zhao Tianlu's official robe with one grip — the force was shockingly great — and with sheer strength hauled him up from the armchair, then brutally flung him forward!

Zhao Tianlu stumbled, lost his balance, and crashed heavily to the floor; his forehead accidentally knocked against the floor tiles, and blood immediately streamed down. Before he could even cry out, the rider on the right had already drawn the chain from his waist and, with a flick of the wrist —

"Clash—" — the ice-cold iron chain coiled around Zhao Tianlu's neck like a venomous snake, yanked downward, and strangled his windpipe tight. At the same moment, the man on the left planted a foot on Zhao Tianlu's back; his two hands, large as palm-leaf fans, were like iron pincers as they seized both arms and wrenched them violently backward. "Crack—"

A crisp, tooth-aching snap came from the joints; Zhao Tianlu's arms were twisted backward into a hideously contorted angle.

"Ah—"

Zhao Tianlu was in such pain that stars swam before his eyes, his face ashen as paper.

He strained to open his mouth wide, but could only manage a faint, rasping "heh-heh," like a dead snake pinned beneath the heel at its vital spot.

The two Embroidered Uniform Guards gave him not a moment to catch his breath. Seizing him by the arms, one on each side, they hauled him toward the door with great swinging strides, like dragging a dead dog.

The whole sequence was fluid and unhesitating, utterly without courtesy — one might even say brutal to the extreme.

In the blink of an eye, a dignified Regional Commander of the Great Ming vanished into the twilight beyond the door.

Inside the hall, a deathly silence fell.

The remaining officers, watching this scene helplessly, were terrified out of their wits by this sudden turn of face.

In every man's heart, tempestuous waves surged; awe and dread took hold.

It was not because a colleague had been seized right there in the hall...

What threw them all into panic was this: seizure was one thing, but the Embroidered Uniform Guard's attitude was far too vicious!

In the past, even when a Governor-General or Governor impeached and ordered the arrest of a high-ranking general of Regional Commander rank for questioning, the soldiers sent to carry it out were mostly polite and courteous — at worst, they would invite the man into a sedan chair.

After all, who could say whether a general who held such heavy military power might one day be restored to office?

Consider this: Zu Dashou had originally been sentenced to imprisonment pending execution, yet here he was today, hadn't he soared upward on the strength of his military merits at Ningjin?

In officialdom, leave a thread of face, and it will be easier to meet again — that is the sound principle.

Yet these horsemen from the capital, in their conduct, were even more overbearing, even more merciless, than when Wei Zhongxian held power in the Tianqi era! Unless... this was meant to tell everyone: a man whose name was called was already a dead man!

Yuan Jixian did not so much as blink. He continued to call out names.

"Vice Regional Commander Wang Yinghui! Since the Yongchang New Policies began, you still have not reined in your hand!"

"Drawing pay from phantom soldiers might be overlooked — but you actually extended the phantom rolls to your own household retainers!"

"Your command is allotted fifty household retainers. An actual inspection found only fifteen. The pay and provisions for the other thirty-five all went into your private purse!"

"With conduct like this, can the court still count on you to lead troops into battle?"

"The failure of the Liao campaign is the failure brought about by scum like you, who have no thought for family or country!"

"Guards, seize him!"

"Regional Commander Sun Jian! Since the Yongchang New Policies began, you still have not reined in your hand!"

"This year's pacification silver for the various Mongol tribes — the cloth goods and other items to be procured were all swapped for shoddy substitutes, too rotten to use!"

"As if that were not enough, when the autumn taxes came due, you colluded with Yongping merchants to buy back these same rags from the Mongol tribes at low prices, then passed them off as tax payments submitted to the court!"

"This back-and-forth manipulation treats the fat and marrow of the people as your own private purse."

"While undermining the great policy of pacifying the barbarians and drawing them to civilization, you have further disrupted the reform and New Policies of the Northern Metropolitan Region! Most detestable of all!"

"Vice Regional Commander Li Chengxian..."

Like King Yama calling the roll, Yuan Jixian read out name after name.

The hall instantly fell into chaos. One officer after another was seized and led out by the horsemen. Those who remained could no longer sit still; they rose to their feet one after another, not daring even to breathe loudly. This was precisely the point.

Joining the National Army in the forty-ninth year, versus joining in the twelfth year — could the treatment possibly be the same?

When the Yongchang Emperor first ascended the throne, he wanted a feast of the severed tassels.

Now that he had held power for four months, if he still needed to hold a feast of the severed tassels, wouldn't those four months have been wasted?

Moreover, if one wished to unite hearts and minds and strengthen the political distinction of the New Policies officials, then the disparity in treatment absolutely had to be made conspicuous.

In the past, this disparity lay in the New Policies officials' conspicuous speed of promotion and the Emperor's favor.

Now, gradually beginning to select targets for attack was also a viable means of preserving this group's cohesion.

After reeling off five names in one breath, Yuan Jixian paused and swept his gaze over the assembled officers.

Only when he confirmed that they were all stricken with alarm did he nod inwardly.

Good. As long as they could sense that something was amiss, that would suffice.

When military officers committed offenses, the matter was, truth be told, both strict and not strict.

It was strict in that every incoming Governor-General or Governor would impeach a great number of people.

Either it was genuine anti-corruption, or it was a means of consolidating authority.

But these past impeachments, let alone costing the officers their lives or fortunes, often could not even wound the roots of their official careers or prospects. Take Sun Jian as an example.

In the last years of the Wanli era, when he was Assistant Regional Commander in Shaanxi, he was dismissed from office and investigated on account of Mongol raiders invading Gaobu to plunder — yet he was still allowed to atone by meritorious service. By the first year of Tianqi, when he was Vice Regional Commander, he was again convicted for fleeing at Guangning — yet still he atoned by meritorious service.

By the last years of Tianqi, Liang Menghuan, acting on stern imperial orders to investigate the falsification of troop numbers and joint embezzlement at the passes, uncovered this man's phantom soldiers once more. The result... once again, atonement by meritorious service!

All along the way, convicted; all along the way, meritorious — and in the end, he had risen to the high post of Regional Commander!

To quote the Minister of War, Huo Weihua:

"With troubles on every side, the code for employing the disgraced has nothing more lenient than atonement by meritorious service — and the path of opportunism has nothing more abused than atonement by meritorious service!" Five officers had been hauled out, and the great hall was now considerably emptier.

Yuan Jixian looked around at those who remained and spoke with a smile:

"Gentlemen, you may set your hearts at ease. Those who can remain in this room are all men who, in these past months, understood when to pull back their hand and step back."

"This roster is specifically drawn up for the unwise and the disloyal. Above the rank of Vice Regional Commander, there are only these five."

These words, once spoken, did nothing to ease the atmosphere in the hall; instead, the silence grew even heavier.

This was plainly a drumbeat with a message, words with words behind them!

This roster... didn't that imply there would be a next roster?

And if there were only five above Vice Regional Commander, didn't that mean that below Vice Regional Commander, there were more than five?

The officers lowered their heads and stared at the floor, intently studying the grain of the flagstones, none daring to be the first to speak.

Yuan Jixian paid no heed to their expressions. Pointing to a second stack of dossiers on the desk, he said:

"This second item is to inquire who among your subordinates is the most corrupt, and who the most despicable."

"In this matter, the Pay-Audit Group will take the list of the corrupt and despicable produced by Supreme Commander Sun, along with the list of the corrupt and despicable secretly investigated by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and place the three together for cross-comparison."

"If the names you submit differ too greatly from the rosters provided by Supreme Commander Sun and the Embroidered Uniform Guard…"

Yuan Jixian smiled faintly, letting the suspense build before he spoke again, his voice soft.

"It will not necessarily mean arrest and punishment."

"After all, no one can see into another's heart; a commander may occasionally fail to discern the truth, and that is ultimately unavoidable."

"However, if one is blind to a man's character, one cannot be held entirely blameless."

"Therefore, wherever the roster discrepancies are too great — where men with plainly evil records were not reported, or were privately shielded — depending on the severity, demerits of varying degrees will naturally be added, redeemable only by sufficient accumulated merit from the first year of Yongchang."

Standing in the left ranks, Zu Dashou heard this and finally unclenched his tightly balled fists, letting out a slow, turbid breath.

He had passed.

Piecing together the charges against those five men earlier, he had already sharply discerned the Emperor's red line.

Attitude — attitude was the key!

Those old rotten accounts — who in all of Liaodong did not have them?

Let no crow alight upon a pig, seeing only the other's blackness and never its own.

Under the principle that the law does not punish the multitude, His Majesty, for the sake of the greater picture, was naturally willing to hold his nose, raise the rod high, and bring it down gently.

But the prerequisite was that you had to show the court sufficient attitude and sincerity.

From this angle, all those close to him — whether the various sons and younger kinsmen of the Zu clan, or close associates like Wu Xiang — had, under his stern and repeated admonitions over these past months, each reined in their hands and feet.

As it happened, they had just barely stayed within the limits of the Emperor's tolerance.

And among his own subordinates — men like Mobile Corps Commander Jiang Tao, Peng Shouyin, and Commander Cui Bingde, who were either ill-informed or simply stupid, greedy, and base, still committing crimes against the wind — these men, this time, he had handed over exactly as they were, as his pledge of allegiance.

Thus, on the first question and the second, he, Zu Dashou, had truly and completely passed unscathed.

Zu Dashou finally dared to raise his head and look at Yuan Jixian, awaiting the outcome of the third question.

What had come before was might — the thunderous might that kneaded and wrung men's hearts over and over.

Then this third question, he reasoned, must surely be grace?

Just as expected, Yuan Jixian spoke:

"As for this third question, it concerns your objectives for the first year of Yongchang."

"This item, in fact, closely resembles the pledge letters of the New Policies in Northern Zhili…"

As he said this, his gaze drifted slowly across the assembled men in the hall.

"However!"

"The New Policies quotas are so precious — how could they be casually thrown open?"

"Therefore, this objective is merely the prerequisite for entering the threshold of the New Policies!"

"From the first year of Yongchang onward, all officers in Ji-Liao shall be assessed once every three months."

"After each assessment, a certain number of new New Policies quotas, and a certain number of New Policies reserve quotas, shall be opened based on the results."

"Only those who perform well, who dare to act, may enter the threshold of the New Policies, bringing all matters under their command into the New Policies evaluation system, striving to be clean and above reproach."

"And then, by means of these New Policies affairs, enjoy the path to promotion through added merits."

At this point, Yuan Jixian suddenly called out a name:

"He Kegang!"

All heads turned to look, every man knowing full well that this fellow was likely about to receive a boon, and they cast envious glances his way.

Yuan Jixian spoke in a deep voice:

"Since the New Policies began, the various commanders in Ji-Liao have gradually reined themselves in, each to varying degrees."

"But only the Ningyuan Garrison Battalion under your command has been the most thorough."

"Although the integrity you uphold can, for now, only perfect yourself and cannot yet influence those above and below you…"

"His Majesty, by special grace, has decreed that the very first New Policies quota in the land of Ji-Liao for the first year of Yongchang shall be bestowed upon you!"

Hearing the words "New Policies quota," the other officers in the hall felt their hearts churn like storm-tossed seas, waves of sour envy rising within them.

The New Policies quotas numbered only a few hundred men, and at present, most were civil officials.

The military officers who had managed to squeeze in — men like Ma Shilong and Man Gui — numbered no more than ten. For He Kegang, a mere Vice Regional Commander, to squeeze his way in meant his future prospects were nailed down, vast and boundless.

Yet Yuan Jixian did not immediately hand over the quota.

He slowly rose to his feet, his expression utterly solemn, and drew from his breast a token of gleaming gold.

"'Those who share virtue share one heart; those who share one heart share one purpose.'"

"These two words — 'shared purpose' — weigh a thousand catties. They cannot be conferred upon any who are not of the same path!"

"He Kegang, hear this clearly: once you enter the New Policies, your advancement will be swifter than that of ordinary men, but your punishment will also be more severe!"

"This tablet — one side is carved with your future, the other with life and death. Take it, and from this moment on, there is only a step forward, not half an inch of retreat!" Yuan Jixian's gaze was cold and sharp as he barked the question:

"He Kegang, do you dare accept this tablet?!"

He Kegang stared at that golden tablet and drew a deep breath.

He did not reach out directly to take it. Instead, he lifted the hem of his battle robe and, with the utmost solemnity, performed the full ritual prostration.

What he knelt to was naturally not the Yuan Jixian before his eyes, but the master of the Great Ming who dwelt deep within the palace forbidden, yet had turned his gaze upon Liaodong.

When he raised his head again, this stout fellow's voice rang like a great bell as he answered in a deep tone:

"Kegang was, from the first, a man who lost his home in Liaodong…"

"These several years, sitting idle within the passes, there has not been a single moment I did not yearn for the day when I might trample Jianzhou, return to my native soil, and welcome back my kinsfolk!" "This New Policies enterprise — it is the homecoming enterprise Kegang has dreamed of! It is what these hundreds of thousands of displaced common folk across the Liao lands have begged for with tears of blood!" He suddenly straightened his back, his eyes wide:

"For the New Policies enterprise, for the homecoming enterprise!"

"Kegang would not refuse, even if it meant his bones were ground to dust!"

A flash of admiration crossed Yuan Jixian's eyes, and he shouted:

"Good!"

"A man like this truly deserves to have his name carved on the stone tablets before the Altar of Land and Grain."

"Take the tablet!"

He Kegang straightened his body, raised both hands above his head, and received it with solemn formality.

It felt quite heavy in his hands.

He lowered his eyes to look. The entire tablet was a golden yellow, and squarely in its center, two large characters stood out in crisp relief carving:

"Comrade."

And below that, two more lines were engraved in tiny fly-head script:

"First year of Yongchang"

"Zero Zero One"

"This…" He Kegang gripped the tablet, his fingers tightening slightly, somewhat at a loss.

Yuan Jixian sat back down. He appeared to be explaining to He Kegang, but his gaze slowly swept across the other commanders seated in the hall:

"This is the 'Comrade Tablet' His Majesty ordered the Ministry of Works to produce. They are minted separately by year."

"The one in Vice Regional Commander He's hand is the very first tablet issued from the capital in the first year of Yongchang."

"It is also the four hundred and fifty-seventh tablet His Majesty has issued since the new policies began."

Only then did He Kegang truly understand.

His chest heaved violently. At last, unable to contain the surging emotion within him, he bent forward and knocked his head heavily against the floor.

When he rose again, his voice had taken on a hoarse, choked quality.

"The imperial grace is vast and boundless. Kegang has no way to repay it."

"I can only offer this unworthy body and devote myself utterly to the great cause of Ji and Liao!"

Watching He Kegang, holding the golden tablet in both hands, withdraw back into the ranks, the eyes of the other commanders in the hall changed completely.

There was envy, there was jealousy, and even more, there was a longing for the boundless future prospects that golden tablet represented.

Seeing that the moment was ripe, Yuan Jixian picked up the now lukewarm teacup at his desk and took a light sip.

With this gesture, the oppressive authority of life and death that had hung about him gradually dispersed, and his tone returned to its original flatness.

"The three questions end here."

"You may all return to your quarters and rest."

The commanders in the hall looked at one another. No one moved.

Some wanted to ask: was this matter truly concluded? What would happen to the five men who had been seized? Was their own clearance absolutely final? But the words reached their lips, and seeing Yuan Jixian's face, as still as an ancient well, none dared stick their neck out and speak.

Yuan Jixian set down his teacup. He seemed to see through their thoughts and gave a soft laugh:

"No hurry."

"There is still one more matter to attend to tomorrow. Everyone should rest early."

"Once tomorrow's matter is settled, this pay-audit assembly will be considered concluded."

"After that, we proceed according to standard regulations, auditing camp by camp, fort by fort."

"When that time comes, I will need your full cooperation, commanders."

The commanders had no choice but to take their leave, one after another.

But just then, Yuan Jixian spoke again:

"Vice Regional Commander He, please remain."

The others turned back, wondering what new trick was coming now.

They saw Yuan Jixian rise to his feet, extend his hand, and smile:

"Welcome to the Pay Audit Team."