Chapter 325: Awaken, the Beast Slumbering Within the Body

The moment Zheng Zhihui's words fell, the atmosphere in the auction hall could no longer be contained.

Being summoned by the Emperor was nothing rare in the Great Ming, and in this Yongchang reign, it was even less so.

Since this new sovereign ascended the throne, his favorite pastime has been receiving all manner of people.

Beyond the usual officials, ennobled nobles, and military officers, local strongmen, merchants, Squad Leaders, and even corvée laborers, farmers, and post-station runners all fell within the scope of his audiences.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard sent men out daily with imperial summons placards to search everywhere for people.

They would leave the capital, open a brocade pouch, and then follow the random direction, random location, and random selection inside to seize—to invite someone.

Once invited, that person was sent straight into the imperial palace.

This had long been a piece of news delightfully chewed over by everyone in the vicinity of the capital.

Many common folk at the bottom of society deeply envied these lucky chosen ones.

After all, for each audience, even setting aside the occasional exceptionally brilliant person, the guaranteed minimum was five taels of silver for travel expenses.

Sometimes, the content of certain "Emperor and the Common Man" interviews would even be published directly in the Great Ming Times.

Everywhere, it projected an image of "We stand together with you at all times."

But…

After spending an astronomical sum of six hundred seventy thousand taels to win the manuscript of a booklet already printed and distributed in the capital, and then immediately being granted a private audience with the Emperor—the implication was utterly different!

How could this still be merely buying a manuscript?

This was not just buying an iron-plated writ of immunity; it was buying a ticket straight to the ears of the throne!

Coupled with the "white crow, black crow" theory this Emperor was always fond of citing…

Lü Buwei's "rare goods worth hoarding," Tao Zhugong's advising a state and preserving himself whole, Deng Tong's winning imperial favor to monopolize coin minting…

A series of legendary tales of great merchants instantly seethed and surged through the hearts of every merchant present.

Wang Quan, a fellow capital-debt merchant, sat in his chair, overcome with belated regret.

Son of a bitch!

Why didn't you say so earlier!

If you'd said earlier that winning this thing came with this kind of bonus, I would have staked this old face, borrowed from every friend and relative in the capital, and scraped together the money to throw it in!

But where in the world does one find so much advance knowledge?

Missing out is missing out.

Faced with these clear and distinct new-policy winds, those who failed to see through this subtle opening move, or who could not bring themselves to stake everything, only made themselves laughingstocks by coming back to regret it now.

As Zheng Zhihui turned and descended the platform, Li Shiqi, the Vice Director of the Tax Office, rose to his feet and took control of the proceedings.

"Gentlemen, please exit in an orderly fashion."

"Those who did not win a lot, turn left after leaving the door to collect the ten thousand taels deposit you paid in advance."

At these words, a slight stir rippled through the crowd.

Each merchant invited previously had been required to pay a ten-thousand-tael deposit first.

But they had assumed…

that this was simply another form of compulsory contribution or purchased office.

Thus, everyone had originally written off that silver as money thrown into the water; none had expected it could actually be refunded.

"Those who have won a lot, turn right after leaving the door and wait a short while in the main hall."

"Clerks will come later to notify and guide you. Clerks from the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, the Academy of Sciences, and the Tax Office will sign the tax contracts with you one by one."

Li Shiqi's gaze fell upon Wu Jinbo as he said this, and he smiled:

"As for you, Wu Cheng'en, your tax contract will not be signed for now."

"Hurry home and prepare. Do not miss the hour of your imperial audience."

After the merchants, each harboring their own thoughts, had been escorted out the door…

In the private room on the second floor, the various high officials who had observed the entire proceedings finally descended the staircase. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, six hundred seventy thousand taels." Huo Weihua, Minister of War, was the first to break the silence, his tone tinged with disbelief. "This sum is far, far greater than what we had previously envisioned!" Bi Ziyan, Minister of Revenue, chimed in as well, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "With this, the budget shortfall for the first year of Yongchang has been plugged by a huge chunk!"

Gao Shiming, walking to one side, frowned slightly at these words and cut in, flat and dry:

"Minister Bi, how this money is to be used still depends on His Majesty's arrangements. No hasty decision can be made."

From his understanding of the Emperor, obtaining the money was a minor matter.

In the process of obtaining it, how to use that force to generate counter-force, how to leverage this sum into tenfold or a hundredfold its influence—that was the key His Majesty truly cared about. Who could say? His Majesty might just return this money to Wu Jinbo on the spot.

Even setting that aside…

This six hundred seventy thousand taels was bid for His Majesty's and the Empress's manuscript. What connection does it have to the court?

So long as the taxes are paid in full, the remaining money will all go to the Inner Treasury.

How does it fall to the civil officials of the Ministry of Revenue to make presumptuous decisions here?

Bi Ziyan's eyes widened, his beard quivered, but he could not be bothered to wrangle with Gao Shiming here.

He simply cupped his hands and said, "Then I shall go sign the tax contracts for each project first, and then hurry back to my ministry to tinker with that budget proposal of mine that can never pass muster!"

Tossing out this neither soft nor hard barb, Bi Ziyan turned and left.

The others—Xue Fengxiang, Xiong Mingyu, Huo Weihua, and the rest—sensing the souring mood, each eyed this windfall covetously but could only take their leave one after another.

The realm's wealth, when gathered below, scatters above.

Family and state, on the Great Ming's ledger, had always been a muddled account impossible to settle.

When finances were good, the Emperor would desperately funnel money from the the the Taicang treasury treasury treasury into his own privy purse, and the civil officials would desperately block him, invoking every ancestral statute to restrain him. When finances were bad, the civil officials would rack their brains to draw money from the Inner Treasury to subsidize the state coffers—and at that moment, they would still invoke every ancestral statute. Where was there ever a clear distinction between family and state?

Li Shiqi saw off his various superiors, then gathered the scattered new clerks together and began assigning tasks.

"Qian Changle, compile a detailed record of every project each merchant participated in during today's auction, and the amount of every single bid. This must be completed within half an hour, then transcribed into two copies—one for the Eastern Depot, one to be kept at the office."

Qian Changle hurriedly bowed and acknowledged the order.

This document was, in essence, a barometer of each merchant's attitude toward the new policies.

Are they eager or indifferent, hesitant or decisive?

Then combine their attitude, financial strength, and past performance — these three together will determine the future fate of those merchants.

A fat pig that won't actively draw close, has stains on its record, and is loaded with money — if it won't climb onto the chopping board, does it still expect to make a debut?

Where in the world do you find something that cheap?

— Li Shiqi did not quite understand what His Majesty meant by this "make a debut."

But dao means a path.

Judging by the term, it should mean that these merchants want to leave their original path and enter a new one, right?

As for giving a share to the Eastern Depot, that goes without saying.

The Emperor's sorting out of all the personal connections and networks beneath the surface has always been his top priority.

Li Shiqi's face turned solemn, and he continued issuing orders:

"Wu Yanzuo, sort through each of the auction items."

"For every single one, chase after the merchants and make them submit detailed project plans."

"When preparations will begin, when construction will start, when delivery will be completed, and how each plan's interim milestones will be verified — list every item clearly. Once done, arrange them into tables and send official notices to all the relevant departments. Don't let it end up a tangled mess of buck-passing and muddled accounts." Setting aside novelties like the "microscope patent auction," the rest of today's projects were essentially the standard Ming practice of summoning merchants for procurement. Not to mention less sensitive matters like army boots, padded jackets, and barracks construction.

In the past, even critical military assets like the "red barbarian cannon" and "gunpowder" could be procured by summoning merchants.

The Great Ming, as a feudal dynasty, was not yet so fastidious in the manner of a modern nation-state.

The early Ming system was for everything to be government-run.

The various Regional Military Commissions and guard stations themselves possessed the independent capacity to supervise the manufacture of military equipment.

The bows, armor, and firearms they turned out each year numbered in the hundreds of thousands, even millions.

But government-run operations, along with institutions like the guard stations and in-kind taxation, naturally collapsed and rotted away with the sweeping tide of the times. After the Zunhua Ironworks shut down, aside from the few remaining government-run bodies like the Armory Bureau and the Armor Factory, much military matériel had in fact quietly shifted to private procurement.

To speak honestly, so long as it wasn't a case of collusion and fraud, under normal circumstances the goods produced by private merchants were often far superior in quality to those made by government-run institutions.

And today's auction was, in substance, meant to gradually transform the previously scattered, kickback-ridden, closed-door procurement — which relied entirely on the personal integrity of individual officials — into open, formal purchasing conducted in plain sight. In theory, this was a matter where the departments issuing each project ought to supervise delivery.

For example, the Ministry of Works would oversee the barracks matter, and the Ministry of War would oversee matters like the army jackets and boots.

But the blade of the New Policies must always first be concentrated to wash itself clean before it can cut through the old tangled mess.

So temporarily, the authority to supervise and press for results on these projects was consolidated under the Capital Tax Office.

Only once the entire system gradually matures will this authority be returned to the original departments, or else the Censorate will be brought in to supervise. As for why it was the Capital Tax Office...

There was no helping it — before the New Year, the Tax Office's thunderous campaign to pursue and collect overdue commercial taxes from merchants across every trade had delivered a solid achievement of seventy thousand taels of silver handed over.

With such capable efficiency, if this task wasn't given to Li Shiqi, who else could it be given to?

In the eyes of all parties at court and in the provinces, the Capital Tax Office's separation from the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture and establishment as an independent body was already a foregone conclusion.

— The premise being that Li Shiqi did not stumble or stray.

Li Shiqi methodically assigned the new clerks their tasks one by one.

Some were responsible for finalizing contracts and apportioning the various taxes from them.

For the signing of contracts, the deed tax was set at 3% of the contract amount.

The patent transfer tax, however, was heavier, at 25%.

There were also various detailed tax-rate gradations — higher or lower depending on the industry and category, to encourage or restrain as needed — all of which the clerks had to finalize. Others were responsible for sorting out the funds and confirming with the various merchants or central government departments when the silver payments would arrive.

In this, the merchants had to deliver their payments into the accounts on time.

But the various departments issuing the tenders likewise had to pay the merchants their silver on time.

In a certain sense, the latter was actually the target Li Shiqi was watching most closely.

He understood all too well that what His Majesty valued above all was always the credibility of the New Policies.

If this was handled poorly, then even before the results of this procurement reform came in, it would already be half a failure.

Still others were responsible for preparing the next auction session's projects, going to the various departments to request project descriptions.

In sum, a great variety of tasks — everyone had something to do.

Once all the tasks were assigned, Li Shiqi swept his gaze over the group and concluded:

"Within one shichen, complete all tax deed signings and produce a preliminary summary report to submit to His Majesty."

"Before leaving duty tonight, revise and finalize the previously drafted plan incorporating today's results. Tomorrow I will enter the palace in person to report to His Majesty on the follow-up planning for the merchant-summoning procurement system."

"From here on, track progress every ten days and compare results every month, producing regular reports. We must ensure that this first batch of projects is all carried out solidly and thoroughly — is that understood?!" The numerous new clerks, whipped into spinning like tops, yet not one complained of hardship. They all straightened their backs and answered in unison:

"Yes! Vice Prefect!"

Li Shiqi nodded with satisfaction, waved a hand, and sent them off to their respective tasks.

Watching the brisk, efficient backs of the new clerks, Li Shiqi felt deep gratification.

These new clerks — how smoothly they work!

Point them anywhere and they go, not a word of complaint, volunteering for overtime!

Compared to the old slick operators he used to face in the Ministry of Revenue, they were so much better.

A pity that His Majesty set up some "Jiliao Tax Police Headquarters" to the east and forcibly took twenty new clerks from his side.

That immediately forced his Tax Office's work efficiency down a notch.

Li Shiqi narrowed his eyes, a wildfire of ambition kindling in his heart.

He was going to see, just watch, whether that so-called Tax Police Headquarters could collect as much silver in a whole year as a single finger of his Capital Tax Office!

Thinking of those other departments that had lately been frantically bombarding His Majesty with reports begging for new clerks, Li Shiqi inwardly spat with even greater contempt.

You lot think you deserve new clerks too?

Never mind pulling in six hundred seventy thousand taels in one go like today — how about you at least earn His Majesty seventy thousand taels first, all right?

A pack of beggars, and you dare lay hands on the ladle that serves the porridge — have you turned the heavens upside down!

The Western Park, within the Hall of Earnest Reflection.

Unlike the frenzy of the auction or the relentless bustle of the tax offices, the atmosphere within the hall was exceptionally tranquil and warm. Ever since the Ji–Liao affairs, the new policies, and the capital matters had been gradually set in motion and put on track, His Majesty's work tempo had abruptly slackened. He had shifted from personally attending to every matter to delegating authority downward as much as possible.

After all, if subordinates simply followed the emperor's baton in everything, they would never be tempered into men truly capable of shouldering responsibility on their own.

Thus, the reason Wu Cheng'en was summoned only at three in the afternoon today was not because His Majesty had been delayed by some important court conference.

It was simply because, ever since New Year's Day, His Majesty's daily schedule had changed.

This brief stretch of time after waking from the midday nap was merely the Emperor and Empress's routine period for writing and painting.

The officially printed World Under the Microscope was only the first modest trial of the new sovereign's popular science initiative.

Next, a series of publications on "science" would be rolled out one after another.

Their scope, too, would shift from the microscopic lens to the macroscopic, to the natural principles between heaven and earth.

Only, what the Academy of Sciences was charged with compiling were official textbooks, more solemn and geared toward examinations.

Whereas what the Emperor and Empress, in perfect harmony within this hall, were jointly writing were popular science publications more inclined toward children's enlightenment.

Why do solar eclipses happen? Why do lunar eclipses happen?

Does sound have speed? Why does thunder always arrive later than lightning?

A Hundred Thousand Whys series of books was thus slowly beginning to take embryonic form within the secluded confines of the great Ming imperial palace. As for what meaning there was in the two most exalted people in the Ming producing such children's readers…

When the eldest prince or eldest princess is born in the future, will they not need excellent popular science reading material?

Zhuge Youjian, who plans three steps ahead in a single move, naturally had to prepare for a rainy day and start from the cradle.

To this end, Zhu Youjian had specially engaged a renowned master painter from Jiangnan—Chen Hongshou—to enter the palace.

Ordinarily, Chen Hongshou was responsible for the painting curriculum at the Academy of Sciences, instructing students in sketching, perspective drawing, and other such painting techniques oriented toward engineering applications and emphasizing realism.

In his remaining time, he was occasionally summoned to the palace to guide the two imperial majesties in their painting skills, so as to equip these popular science readers with vivid and precise illustrations.

Within the hall, the fragrance of ink curled faintly; the years were tranquil and serene.

But this imperial recreation, a blend of domestic and state affairs, was ultimately interrupted when the auction results were reported. Listening to Gao Shiming's account, Zhou Yu, who had been unconcernedly bent over outlining a "Diagram of Thunder and Lightning," felt her brush-hand tremble involuntarily—a thick drop of ink fell onto the xuan paper and bloomed outward.

Zhou Yu raised her head and let out a cry of astonishment:

"Six hundred seventy thousand taels?!"

Zhou Yu turned her head to look at the equally stunned Zhu Youjian beside her, her voice tinged with absurdity:

"Your Majesty… this Wu Jinbo… has he gone mad?"

Indeed, let alone those wily, calculating merchants outside having anticipated this.

Even Zhu Youjian, who prided himself on planning three steps ahead and controlling the whole board, had his brush-holding hand suspended in midair.

He, too, had not expected that Wu Jinbo, whom he had met a few times and who seemed utterly harmless, would have the audacity to stake his entire fortune and throw out such an outrageously astronomical price!

Six hundred seventy thousand taels!

But this mortal astonishment lasted only an extremely brief instant.

The next moment, that normal human shock and ease receded from his eyes like the ebbing tide.

What replaced it was absolutely cold, ruthless reason.

His brain, like a precision gear wound to the tightest spring, began to bite and spin madly.

A little booklet like this, fetching such an outrageous sky-high price—was this a good thing? Or a bad thing?

Would the court and the provinces, high and low, see this as a gesture of mutual goodwill between sovereign and subject, or would they deem it a path of bribery and favor-seeking for advancement?

Even worse, would some people think this was a form of imperial "extortion" against merchants?

How great a storm would Wu Jinbo's action stir up throughout the court and the country?

And in which direction must this newly ignited momentum be guided and exploited to reap the maximum benefit for the coming new policies?

The ink-laden brush was gently laid upon the brush-rest.

The father who would draw A Hundred Thousand Whys for his unborn child, the husband who enjoyed the fragrance of a beauty adding incense by his side on a languid afternoon—vanished into nothingness in an instant.

The helmsman of the Great Ming Empire, the cold-blooded and hyper-efficient political creature Zhu Youjian, slowly raised his head.

From the tender shell of an ordinary man…

He awoke.