Chapter 319: Heaven and Earth Are Transformed, and Thus the Four Seasons Take Form

The plan for auditing military payrolls was debated in the capital for months, with countless details repeatedly refined before the Yongchang Emperor finally nodded his approval.

What had to be weighed and refined here was far from limited to the so-called sovereign art of manipulating hearts and minds.

On the contrary, that approach of grasping men's psychology was actually settled at the very beginning and underwent the fewest revisions.

Strike one portion, reward another, and finally issue a clear channel of survival of the fittest, forcing everyone to swim with the current.

To put it plainly, it was simply the standard playbook of the New Policies.

What took the longest deliberation here, and best revealed the seasoned judgment of the various ministers, was in fact the boundary between "reward" and "punishment."

In the first-phase purge list, the officers marked for removal were not necessarily those who had embezzled the largest sums.

Some officers were just as insatiably greedy, but when they took silver, they spent it lavishly on their household retainers, keeping their private troops well-fed and maintaining the fighting strength of their elite units.

So long as such men had not provoked universal outrage, they would actually be let off lightly in the first round of purges.

It was just that after the payroll audit, they would inevitably have to have a private heart-to-heart talk with the audit team.

And why was someone like Zu Dashou, who had clearly pulled back of his own accord, implicitly prodded right from the start?

It had nothing to do with his temperament, his ability, or even his attitude.

It was simply because he himself was the biggest local power-broker in Liaodong.

His clan had built up their influence over many years, and they were entrenched in a strategically vital and prosperous place like Ningyuan, which bordered the sea on the right and the frontier on the left.

When it came to power and personal connections, even the local jinshi clans of Liaodong could hardly match them.

Yes, bitter and cold as Liaodong was, it still had its own jinshi clans.

For instance, Liu Guojin, who was dismissed from office for embezzling relief funds for Liaodong refugees and for the desertion of the troops he had recruited and trained.

Another was Hong Dunjiao, who was implicated in a Later Jin espionage case; though the investigation found no solid evidence, he was still ordered into forced retirement.

Then there was Tong Bunian, who, because his clansmen Tong Yangzhen and Tong Yangxing had defected to the enemy, came under intense suspicion and impeachment, and ultimately hanged himself in prison.

Liu Guojin was purely both corrupt and incompetent — it was the desertion of his recruited troops that dragged his massive corruption case into the open.

Tong and Hong, by contrast, were implicitly caught up in the great tide of factional struggles during the Tianqi reign.

After all, the idea that Liaodong affairs required employing Liaodong men was originally the proposition of Xiong Tingbi and Sun Chengzong.

So extending the attack from Liaodong men to the architects of that policy was naturally a very effective tactic.

And a preposterous charge like colluding with the enemy was even handier.

Once saddled with such an unverifiable, murky crime of communicating with enemy chieftains, one's political life was utterly finished.

By now, the only jinshi clan in Liaodong that still retained some stature was the family of Chen Minqing, Bureau Director of the Operations Section at the Ministry of War's Shanhai Pass field office. All the tangled power struggles and entanglements described above came from the Joint Investigative Report on the Origins of Liaodong's Influential Clans and Key Figures, compiled by the Hanlin Academy, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern Depot.

And it was precisely thanks to this report that He Kegang was able to stand out from the vast crowd.

For the court to implement the New Policies in Jiliao, establishing a benchmark was the top priority.

First, this benchmark had to be incorruptible — they could not pick a black crow and make themselves a laughingstock.

Second, he had to be capable: given resources and troops, he must be able to fight tough battles and never drop the ball.

Third, He Kegang's background as a man who had lost his homeland could naturally resonate with the hundreds of thousands of Liaodong refugees scattered across Liaodong, Denglai, and Northern Zhili, laying the groundwork for the future public-opinion momentum for a counteroffensive to reclaim their homes, and even for the great development of the Northeast.

And the fourth point… though unmentioned in the plan, was perhaps the most important of all.

This man had been raised from commoner status by Yuan Chonghuan's patronage, had an old friendship with Ma Shilong from participating in the Battle of Qingcheng, and was also on fairly good terms with Sun Chengzong. Moreover, he came from the military examination track, was accomplished in both civil and martial affairs, and possessed precisely the orthodox background against which civil officials could find the least fault.

Sometimes, the great tide of events happens to need a certain man, and that man happens to satisfy every harsh condition — that is destiny bestowed by Heaven. When the plan was finalized, the Yongchang Emperor's imperial rescript fell upon his head.

"In carrying out the New Policies, the court's first priority is to establish trust."

"To elevate one man and thereby draw the hopeful gaze of thousands upon thousands — this is what is meant by 'setting a standard to serve as a model, so that the realm's talents will flow toward it like water running downhill, and its momentum will be so overwhelming that nothing can stop it.'"

In sum, after this round of psychological manipulation, the top-tier officers and officials were preliminarily brought into line.

And immediately following that, the suppression, purging, and guidance targeting the various powerful clans was Yuan Chonghuan's job, as he was in charge of civil affairs — we shall set him aside for now. As for the payroll audit team, after the first phase of rectification, only one final task remained, and it was the most critical one of all.

How to take this awe-inspiring momentum and, from top to bottom, blast it fiercely through every lowly frontier fort on the Liaodong left flank.

At the Yushan Pass parade ground in the early morning, the north wind whipped across, stinging faces painfully.

Tens of thousands of camp soldiers were arrayed here, a low buzz of whispered chatter darting about at the rear of every formation.

At the front, where the officers and their household retainers stood, all was silent.

A few common soldiers had their hands tucked into their sleeves, their breath forming clouds as they spoke.

One of them lowered his voice and spoke first: "Well? Who do you reckon's going to catch it today?"

Another smirked slyly, pursed his lips, and flicked his eyes toward the armored officers up ahead: "I'm guessing Old Turtle Han is done for."

At these words, a low ripple of snickering laughter broke out all around.

This so-called Old Turtle Han, whose real name was Han Guoqing, was the Garrison Commander of Yong'an Fort.

The man had started out as a rank-buying military officer, and in his early years he had been a brave fighter who dared to charge and risk his life.

But later, after spending silver to secure a hereditary Centurion post, whatever mettle he had in his bones instantly rotted away completely.

He controlled Yong'an Fort, a key point on the route to the Mongols, engaging in smuggling and running trading operations, and grew fat and sleek from it all.

If he had merely been greedy for money, that would be one thing — the rank-and-file soldiers had long grown inured to such sights; so long as they could stay alive, who would bother quibbling over how much silver their superior had skimmed? But this Han Guoqing was insatiably lecherous and utterly lawless. Not only did he pocket the pay of phantom soldiers, he also ran usurious loans right inside the camp, frequently forcing soldiers who could not repay their debts to hand over their wives and daughters as compensation.

He was so utterly loathed and despised that men yearned to eat his flesh and sleep on his hide.

Were it not that Yong'an Fort lay in the interior of the Liaodong left flank, rarely touched by the blade of war, the wretch would have long ago taken a stray arrow in the back. One man lowered his voice and said, "Aye. If it were some other civil official come calling in the old days, you really couldn't say. But this time it's Imperial Commissioner Yuan! In all my years as a soldier, this is the first time I've ever gotten my bonus pay in full!"

Someone beside him, however, gave a scornful snort: "What damn use is getting it in full? Won't the officers from each camp just claw it back afterward anyway? Who the hell knows if that clawed-back silver doesn't just change hands and end up in Imperial Commissioner Yuan's own pocket!"

"Keep your mouth from spewing filth!" someone nearby immediately rebuked him angrily. "Your own heart is foul, so you come and slander Imperial Commissioner Yuan's good name!"

Another chimed in right after: "Exactly! My uncle's over at Tiechang Fort, and Garrison Commander Wu over there didn't dare skim this time. I heard even the usual monthly skimming rate got lowered. When it comes down to it, it's that bastard Old Turtle Han who's just too black-hearted!"

Shanhai Pass was neither very large nor very small, and it happened to be right around the New Year.

The various forts and camps inside and outside the Pass were all linked by ties of kin, and with everyone moving about and visiting, what news could possibly fail to leak out?

"It's not just Garrison Commander Wu who's had a change of heart."

"I've heard that the officers in all the nearby forts have been reining it in lately! No doubt about it — they're scared of that New Policies thing the court's pushing!"

"Heh, depends on the man. I figure Old Turtle Han's a greed-blinded fool who doesn't know when he's courting death — odds are he'll be taken for a banner sacrifice today." "Not just Old Turtle Han. My uncle inside the pass wrote that the Right Camp's got a hard-headed one too — business as usual, not a single cash shorted…" The men muttered among themselves, pointing and gesturing from the rear of the ranks, until they'd pretty much run through every officer up top.

By the end, they were each assigning charges in their heads — beheading, stripping of rank, dismissal from office — a lively scene indeed. Suddenly, someone in the front row whipped his head around and hissed a low, urgent warning: "Silence! He's here!"

In the space of a dozen breaths, the word spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and the entire parade ground fell still, as if pressed down by an invisible giant hand.

Yuan Jixian, in a perfectly ordered official robe and escorted by over a dozen fully armed Embroidered Uniform Guard guardsmen, strode briskly up onto the command platform.

He slowly turned his head, sweeping his gaze downward like a tangible weight.

Looking out at the vast, dark mass of tens of thousands of soldiers in worn armor and tattered uniforms, yet with a glimmer of expectation in their eyes, Yuan Jixian felt a surge of emotion in his chest.

In just three months, everything had changed.

He had changed — and this deathly, stagnant Ji-Liao frontier would change today as well!

He glanced over at Sun Yingyuan and received a firm nod in return.

That meant the Valiant Guard Camp stationed at the pass had already deployed into formation and was ready to suppress any unrest.

— Perhaps there would be trouble, perhaps not; in any case, for safety's sake, everything that needed preparing had been prepared.

Yuan Jixian nodded, and without so much as a word of preamble, he threw back his head and bellowed:

"Gentlemen! The pay-audit team has been at Yu Pass for several days now. All irregularities in every camp and fort have been thoroughly investigated by this official!"

As the orderlies beside him repeated his words in unison, his booming voice carried across the entire parade ground.

"We assemble the troops today for no other reason than to carry out rewards and punishments right here in open court!"

Yuan Jixian drew a thin booklet from his sleeve, snapped it open, and began calling names.

"Garrison Commander of Yong'an Fort — Han Guoqing!"

Han Guoqing, hearing his name, shuddered convulsively and jerked his head up.

"You dog of a scoundrel — utterly debauched and insatiable!"

"The blood money your brothers stake their lives on in battle — you skim thirty percent off the top! The pay and rations you do issue, you lend back out at usury right inside the camp: nine out, thirteen back, interest compounding on interest, rolling like a donkey, until you've forced them to hand back seventy percent!"

"And when they can't repay, you let your personal retainers plunder them by force!"

"You've driven veteran soldiers to pawn their wives and sell their daughters, tearing flesh and blood apart!"

"You've driven crippled and wounded soldiers to ruin their homes and hang themselves from the rafters!"

"You even fornicate in broad daylight — right inside this very fort, dragging your subordinates' wives and concubines into your tent to settle debts, and at the slightest resistance, you have them beaten to death on the spot under martial law!"

"A filthy, swinish wretch like this, who devours his brothers' flesh and blood alive — is he fit to hold the post of Garrison Commander?!"

Yuan Jixian turned toward the Yong'an Fort formation:

"Soldiers of Yong'an Fort! Do any of you dispute these charges against Han Guoqing?!"

Deathly silence.

Across the vast parade ground, not a sound.

Han Guoqing's face was ashen as paper; cold sweat instantly soaked through his inner garment. He looked around wildly, left and right, searching for the household retainers and guards who had always taken his favors.

Yet everywhere his gaze fell, even his most trusted household retainers averted their eyes.

Had it been merely embezzling silver, the retainers might have steeled themselves and stood by him — but this filthy business of forcing himself on soldiers' wives and daughters…

Who would dare step forward to defend him under the eyes of this entire assembly? Defend him, and how could they ever hold their heads up in camp again?

Seeing this, Yuan Jixian gave a cold nod and raised his hand, pointing:

"Yong'an Fort — send a few men forward to seize this wretch and deliver him before the platform for judgment!"

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire assembly was shaken.

This was utterly unlike any past investigation by the Ministry of War or the censors.

He was not sending the Embroidered Uniform Guard to make the arrest, nor his own headquarters battalion — he was ordering the lowliest rank-and-file soldiers to personally march their own commanding officer out of the ranks!

This act, bordering on "breach of military discipline," left the camp soldiers of Yong'an Fort utterly stunned for a moment. A ripple of hesitation stirred through the ranks, yet no one dared take that first step.

Yuan Jixian did not press them, nor did he explain. He simply stood there, gazing down at that formation in silence.

On the parade ground, it was utterly still at first — but as the tension stretched to its breaking point, scattered jeers began to ring out from the formations of other camps and forts. "Spineless!"

"Has Yong'an Fort not a single man with balls?"

"A pack of gutless cowards — you deserve to be cuckolded!"

The abuse hit like boiling water poured into a wok of hot oil, instantly igniting the mood within the Yong'an Fort ranks. "To hell with it! If you lot don't have the guts, I do!"

A roar like a wild beast's exploded from the ranks. A burly, thick-limbed man with bloodshot eyes shoved aside the comrades in the front row, charged out of formation, and drove his boot hard into Han Guoqing's back!

"Aagh!" Han Guoqing screamed as he was kicked to the ground, his helmet flying off and rolling away.

Once a single man dared to lead, years of pent-up resentment and terror detonated in an instant.

"Beat the old bastard to death!"

In a rush, four or five more men with reddened eyes surged out of the ranks and fell upon him in a wild, chaotic flurry of kicks. Then, one grabbing his arms, another hauling his legs, they dragged him like a dead dog — the once high-and-mighty Garrison Commander Han — all the way to the foot of the command platform.

Yuan Jixian watched it all with an expressionless face. Only when the Embroidered Uniform Guard stepped forward to take custody did he give a cold laugh, reopen his booklet, and continue calling names. "Commandants Han Wenxian and Cui Bingde!"

"Mobile Corps Commanders Jiang Tao and Peng Shouyin!"

"Assistant Prefect for Rewards and Commendations — Yan Wenxi!"

Every officer whose name was called trembled in their boots, their faces drained of all color.

Yuan Jixian's voice rose higher and sharper:

"His Majesty has ascended the throne and issued his gracious reward! This official has personally overseen its distribution, determined that not a single copper cash fall anywhere but into your hands, brothers! Yet these men before you — the moment they left my sight and returned to camp, they went right back to collecting red-envelope silver and document fees from below! And they had the gall to claim it was to pool funds for a farewell gift for this official?!"

In his heart, Yuan Jixian had long since moved past the fury he had felt when he first heard the news.

But on his face, he put on a show of towering rage.

He strode forward a step, pointed at the officers below, and roared:

"Today I stand here, before the entire army, to ask you scum one question!"

"Where — is — my — money?!"

"You bastards, using my name to peddle bribes — where the hell did this silver actually end up?!"

That furious roar rang out, and the entire parade ground froze for a full three breaths — then suddenly erupted in laughter fit to blow the sky apart!

The mass of soldiers doubled over, and every man fixed his eyes on those officers, trembling like chaff in a sieve, as though watching a monkey show.

Military corruption, too, has its own set of tricks.

You can't just tell the common soldiers straight out: I'm going to eat your flesh and drink your blood.

If you really did that, the troops would have mutinied long ago.

So the most common excuse these officers used day to day was to drag out the civil official lords and the eunuch fathers as their shield.

Every word out of their mouths was "the higher-ups need greasing," "the imperial commissioners need their tribute."

In the past few decades of the Great Ming, saying that wasn't really wrong.

Out of ten imperial commissioners and censors, nine were exactly like that.

In the words of Yang Jingchen, Minister of Personnel, when a Regional Inspector was sent out on assignment, if he only pocketed twenty thousand taels before returning, that counted as restrained.

But today, applied to an imperial commissioner like Yuan Jixian who refused to play by the rules, that excuse became awkward.

A scene this absurd — an imperial commissioner personally stepping down, straining his voice to demand "where did my dirty money go" — these hard-bitten frontier soldiers had never witnessed in their lives!

Listening to the mountain-roaring, sea-surging laughter around him, Yuan Jixian's taut cheeks could not help but ease a little.

Before he left the capital, the Yongchang Emperor's instructions seemed to echo right by his ear:

"'Wu Qi commanded troops by eating, living, and sleeping alongside them, even personally sucking the pus from his soldiers' sores — that was the way of the generals of old.'"

"'Then what of the way of oversight? The way of clearing military pay? Can the same method be used?'"

"'Jitong, the chronic disease of the Great Ming cannot be cured by dispatching one or two more censors, nor by having the Embroidered Uniform Guard's horsemen spying and probing everywhere. Censors will rot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard will rot too.'"

"'The key is to establish a mechanism where information from below truly flows upward without obstruction.'"

"'In our generation, we must rebuild trust among the common people at the very bottom.'"

"'Let these lowliest soldiers truly believe in us, truly be able to rely on the court!'"

"'Go to them, draw close to them, stand in their position to think, speak in their language!'"

"'Jitong, use a different method to reshape a different Ji-Liao!'"

"'We believe you can do it!'"

Yuan Jixian slowly closed his eyes, letting the biting north wind buffet his cheeks.

When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with a cold, iron-blooded resolve.

"All officers and men of every camp, hear this! Seize every one of these brazen, heaven-defying, greedy wretches and bring them before this official!"

At this, the entire parade ground paused for only a moment.

Then, like a dike bursting and floodwaters surging forth —

The soldiers from the named camps swarmed out, without the slightest restraint now, gleefully and even scrambling over one another to shove, kick, and beat their camp's named officers out of the ranks, flinging them like dead pigs beneath the command platform!

Very good. Everything was going according to plan.

Every link in the pay-clearing scheme had been meticulously designed.

The charges against this batch of officers thrown out as sacrificial flags were likewise highly targeted.

The purge at Vice Regional Commander and above looked at overall stance and attitude — whether they still had value to exploit, whether they could still go into battle and kill the enemy. The investigation at Vice Regional Commander and below, however, looked at the extent to which they had encroached on the interests of the lowest soldiers, the extent to which they had provoked public fury.

Only in this way could these hundred thousand and more Liao subjects and Liao soldiers truly feel the cleansing force of the new policies! Yuan Jixian waited for the feverish atmosphere to subside slightly, then continued reading aloud:

"Adjutant Ni Chengye, Assistant Regional Commander Meng Zhao! On purchasing horses and camels from the Mongols, you deliberately chose old, sick, and tumor-ridden horses to make up the numbers, lining your own pockets!"

"Once these horses and camels reached Ji-Liao, they collapsed and died before long. And you, in turn, used this as an excuse to dun the horse-tending soldiers for replacement silver!"

"This official would like to ask: a horse on the verge of death — unless a Great Luo Golden Immortal descended to earth, how was it to be kept alive?!"

"Since it was no fault of the soldiers, on what grounds were they forcibly fined?!"

"And those officers and men whose families were ruined and wives sold over this — how utterly innocent were they?!"

"Soldiers of the camp! Seize these two wretches and bring them before this official!"

"Assistant Regional Commander Li Chengxian, Adjutant Li Yuchun, privately used soldiers as slave labor..."

"Garrison Commander So-and-so, Assistant Regional Commander So-and-so, extorting firewood silver every time they passed a fort..."

Yuan Jixian's words never paused as he named names and ordered arrests down the line.

The soldiers below plunged into utter frenzy. Amid the swarming arrests, some used the chaos to deliver vicious, lethal kicks to the officers who had bullied them daily. Muffled groans of agony were buried within the crowd, barely audible.

Sun Yingyuan stood in place, hand on his sword, frowning, already prepared to bring the Valiant Guard Camp in to restore order.

The scene today truly resembled a camp riot.

But... it seemed it was not quite a camp riot either.

Even though the ranks were scattered, even though the din rose to the heavens —

After the men seized each officer and flung them before the command platform, they crowded and jostled together, standing before the line drawn by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, every face wreathed in grins, yet not one man stepped a single inch beyond the boundary.

It was not until more than twenty battered and bruised officers, great and small, lay piled before the command platform that Yuan Jixian finally stopped speaking.

He stepped forward, swept his gaze across the entire assembly, and declared in a loud voice:

"Gentlemen! The new policies are now launched, precisely to restore a clear and righteous order to this realm!"

"The corruption and filth of the past shall, from this day forward, from this frozen soil of Ji-Liao, be utterly severed!"

"This official proclaims: from this month onward, on the first and fifteenth of every month, the Pay-Clearing Teams shall open their doors to receive complaints at Yu Pass, Ningyuan, and Jinzhou! For any injustice, come to the office and file a complaint! Every complaint will be accepted; every crime will be investigated!"

"If those below you commit fraud, then come find me, Yuan Jitong, at the Yu Pass headquarters!"

"If I, Yuan Jitong, have also gone blind and cover things up for private gain, then go to the capital and strike the Dengwen Drum outside the Meridian Gate to file your complaint!"

Yuan Jixian drew a deep breath and hurled the final, heaviest thunderclap:

"His Majesty decrees: Should any person dare obstruct any soldier or civilian traveling to the capital to strike the Dengwen Drum — regardless of right or wrong, beheaded on the spot, and his clan exterminated to the third degree!" After a brief silence, the entire parade ground boiled over completely.

An unprecedented fervor blazed in the eyes of tens of thousands of low-ranking soldiers, and countless men tore their dry, hoarse throats roaring:

"An incorruptible Imperial Envoy sent by His Majesty!!"

"His Majesty has come to deliver justice for us!!"

"Damn right! From now on, if anyone dares to skim the money that keeps us brothers alive, I'll go to the capital and beat that Dengwen Drum myself!"

"Ten thousand years to His Majesty! Ten thousand years to Imperial Envoy Yuan!!"

The chaotic shouts merged into a world-shaking torrent, shaking the snow from the trees around the parade ground until it fell in rustling cascades.

They knew no protocol, shouting "ten thousand years" for the Emperor and the Imperial Envoy together — yet this unbridled, artless fervor was the truest portrait of soldiers' hearts won and allegiance given. Yuan Jixian stood silently on the platform, watching the flushed, vital faces below.

"Jitong, an outsider can never see the inner workings of things."

Facing the wind and snow, Yuan Jixian suddenly recalled these words his close friend Ma Maocai had spoken months ago, when he left the capital.

He swept his gaze across the field, felt the surging tide of voices wash over him, and could not help closing his eyes and clenching his fists.

Brother Ma, you were right. If one is merely an outsider, it is indeed very hard to see through to the inner workings.

It was because of that advice that I was able to carry out the enthronement reward distribution so smoothly.

But that was then, and this is now.

Just as His Majesty said.

Heaven and earth change, and the four seasons take their course. The old order of things... was always meant to be smashed to pieces!

Yuan Jixian opened his eyes and turned to face the assembled Regional Commanders and Vice Regional Commanders who had observed the entire performance.

Those Regional Commanders and Vice Regional Commanders, ordinarily so high and mighty, now stood pale-faced before this mountain-toppling, sea-overturning tide of soldier fury, not one of them daring to meet his eyes.

"Gentlemen, the matter here is now concluded."

Yuan Jixian's voice grew calm:

"Come. I must trouble you all to accompany this official and the pay-inspection team onward to Zhongqian Garrison!"

"We shall sweep through every stop along the way."

"First, let us cleanse this foul miasma from Ji-Liao in one bold stroke, and give the soldiers back a world of clear skies!"

At these words, the assembled commanders all felt a jolt in their hearts.

The business in one city was done, yet he would not release them — he meant to drag them along to the next stop. Clearly, he was giving no one any chance to conspire or leak word. Yuan Jixian paused, his gaze passing over each man's expression, then suddenly smiled faintly:

"As for the ledgers of troop strength and pay, once we have swept away this filth and these scoundrels, we shall turn back and examine them — slowly, meticulously." His smile, though it carried no killing intent, sent a chill down every commander's spine.

"However, this official will give you gentlemen a frank assurance here and now."

"Since His Majesty's golden mouth has spoken, past matters will not be pursued. The troop-strength figures and account books involved in this pay inspection will not be investigated further."

"From this day forward, His Majesty will look only at your future conduct."

He turned and strode down from the platform, leaving behind only a single parting remark:

"Do well, and you may be enfeoffed as lords, appointed as generals, your names inscribed in the annals of history — is that not far better than wallowing in this filth?"

"Hurry and keep up, gentlemen. An opportunity like this does not come often!"