Chapter 55: A Thousand Pieces of Gold to Buy a Horse's Bones

To accomplish great things, the two most critical points are these: see the strategic direction clearly, and handle personnel shrewdly.

In the extreme, not seeing the strategy clearly is still acceptable — as long as you handle personnel shrewdly, those who do understand strategy will naturally help you plan and advise.

Once the strategic direction and the right people are in place, as time advances, achievements and prestige will naturally flow forth in a steady stream.

Among all the myriad affairs, personnel comes first. From ancient times to the present, it has always been so.

The afternoon sunlight diffused through the hall, warming everyone in its gentle heat.

Zhu Youjian leaned back against the broad imperial throne, his expression calm, carefully leafing through the evaluation dossiers of the candidates one by one.

The task was undoubtedly tedious, yet Zhu Youjian carried it out with extreme patience.

For a feudal dynasty with a vast territory and slow communications, every appointment was a gamble with the fate of the realm.

Of course, the officials being chosen now were all right under his nose, so the consequences were perhaps not quite so dire.

But in the perilous situation the Great Ming faced, every extra shred of advantage he could accumulate was one more shred of advantage — only thus could he gradually get the snowball rolling.

His gaze fell first upon the list of candidates for Minister of Justice.

The first name was Su Maoxiang, the current Granary Minister.

The Ministry of Revenue in Beijing drew its income partly in silver converted from tax-in-kind, and partly from grain and fodder delivered by canal transport and from the capital region itself.

The so-called Granary Minister was precisely the official in charge of these grain stores — the Capital Granary and the Tongzhou Granary.

Zhu Youjian studied the dense record of service on the dossier: this man had served in the Six Ministries at the capital and in prefectural and regional posts in the provinces; his breadth of experience was seasoned indeed.

A pity, then, that his backbone was so pliant — to curry favor with Wei Zhongxian, he had actually built a living shrine right beside the imperial ancestral tombs at Fengyang, a truly obsequious spectacle.

The second was called Chen Jiuchou, an even more remarkable talent.

This man had entered officialdom as a mere juren, and by rights his career should have led nowhere bright.

Yet by dint of his achievements in framing members of the Donglin Faction, he had soared to the heights in a single bound and seated himself among the highest ranks of the ministries.

Wei Zhongxian may have been evil, but when people did things for him, he genuinely rewarded them.

To have reversed the entire moral climate of the realm in just three short years — that truly could not be credited to the Tianqi Emperor's support alone; Boss Wei's largesse also deserved its share of the credit.

The third candidate: Qiao Yunsheng, the previous Minister of Justice, now idling at home in retirement.

This Elder Qiao was precisely the longevity champion among this round of candidates, currently seventy-four years old, well into his hoary old age.

Zhu Youjian's fingertip tapped lightly on Qiao Yunsheng's name, and a trace of cold laughter welled up unbidden in his heart.

What a fine slate of candidates.

Two diehard stalwarts of the eunuch faction, and one dotard tottering toward the grave.

Were they so afraid that he, the new sovereign, meant to settle old scores upon taking the throne, that they had deliberately pushed forward a list like this?

Playing these "false choice" psychological tricks with His Majesty?

Zhu Youjian casually tossed the three Ministry of Justice dossiers aside and picked up the roster for Minister of Personnel.

Fang Zhuangli, currently serving as Left Censor-in-Chief — a mediocre record, neither meritorious nor blameworthy. Skip.

The only thing worth remarking on was that he was the longevity runner-up in this round of candidates, at seventy-two years of age this year.

Next… Wang Yongguang.

Zhu Youjian's eyes abruptly lit up.

Now here was a find!

This service record — the man was practically a hexagon warrior!

The Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, the Censorate, the Court of Judicial Review — he had actually served in all of them!

Even more remarkable, he had been Minister of War precisely during the period of the Battle of Ningyuan.

A man like this, judging purely by his record on paper, could in fact be considered well qualified.

Zhu Youjian's gaze fell upon his age: sixty-six. The longevity bronze medalist of this round of candidates…

Zhu Youjian's heart wavered with indecision, and his eyes shifted to the final candidate: Yang Jingchen.

At court today, it was this man who, on the matter of the Tongzhou horse fodder, had spoken with piercing acuity, struck straight at the heart of the issue, and then with perfect timing recommended Lu Xiangsheng.

Even setting aside the halo of Lu Xiangsheng's later historical renown, this recommendation could still be called seasoned in judgment and precise in its placement of talent.

Lu Xiangsheng's record was indeed a perfect match for the task of converting horse fodder to silver payments.

With keen interest, he opened Yang Jingchen's dossier.

Junior Compiler at the Hanlin Academy, Hanlin Academy Reader-in-Waiting, Vice Minister of Rites, and finally, by imperial order, compiler of the "Three Reigns Canon."

Zhu Youjian's brow furrowed slightly.

Something's off.

This career path had, from beginning to end, followed the most prestigious and most abstract route of the Hanlin literary servitor — he had virtually never dealt with any practical matters of revenue, grain, or administration.

How could a xiucai who had never set foot in a kitchen possibly know the proper heat of the stove?

In Zhu Youjian's mind, Yang Jingchen's performance at court today flashed past in an instant — every glance, every word, all of it so perfectly apt, as if rehearsed countless times.

This fellow… had clearly done his homework thoroughly in advance, and had come specifically aiming for this opportunity!

This was a precisely targeted speculation, with a clear objective in mind!

For a moment, Zhu Youjian did not know whether he ought to be disappointed or not.

He had thought this was an able minister buried by history; he had not expected someone who had simply memorized the exam questions in advance.

Finally, the list for Minister of War.

Zhu Youjian's expression unconsciously grew solemn, and he straightened his back a few degrees.

To speak of the Ministry of War, one cannot but speak of the Later Jin.

That nightmare coiled in Liaodong — though for now still blocked beyond Shanhai Pass — Zhu Youjian knew with utter clarity that history had not left him much time.

Once the Later Jin swallowed up the various Mongol tribes of the southern desert, then that blade dangling over the Great Ming's head could fall at any moment.

In history, in the second year of Chongzhen he had taken the Zunhua route — but that did not necessarily mean he would take the Zunhua route this time.

From the Chiliarch station at Bohai to Shanhai Pass, the Ji Garrison stretched over two thousand li, with more than a hundred passes large and small. To set defenses everywhere was to set defenses nowhere.

The only way to break the deadlock was to forge the entire Ji Garrison into a second military bloc — one even stronger than Liaodong's.

To use a powerful field army, a mobile strike force, to meet the iron cavalry of the Later Jin.

A pity, then, that this age had no Qi Jiguang.

And no sufficient funds or grain.

The Liaodong levy already consumed five million two hundred thousand taels a year, nearly draining the very marrow from the Great Ming. Raise another Ji Garrison?

Zhu Youjian smiled inwardly. Now that he was here, perhaps it was not impossible to raise.

But he decided to toss the problem first to the incoming Minister of War — to see what solutions these men of the Ming court would propose.

He opened the first evaluation dossier: the pessimist, Wang Zaijin.

He still patiently read through the man's entire career record, but search as he might, the only bright spot was fighting Japanese pirates in Fujian during the Wanli era.

Which was, by now — a matter of twenty-seven years ago.

Forget it. Even the Tianqi Emperor had found this man worthless and banished him to Nanjing.

Was he running a salvage yard for rejects here?

The second: Huo Weihua.

Even worse than Wang Zaijin — a career too barren to merit comment.

The third: Yan Mingtai… the current Governor-General of Ji and Liao?

Zhu Youjian read the record carefully.

So it was you!

Grand champion of the Wei Zhongxian living-shrine construction contest! Seven living shrines built in a row!

Truly… what a piece of rotten timber for the state.

Had your name not been submitted, We would not even have known you. Now you can forget about remaining Governor-General of Ji and Liao.

Zhu Youjian slowly closed his eyes. His knuckles tapped the imperial desk in silence.

List after list, name after name, arranged, combined, and gamed out inside his mind.

After a long while, he finally opened his eyes, his gaze resolute.

"Gao Shiming."

Gao Shiming, who had been standing in attendance all the while, hurried forward and bowed at the sound. "This slave is here."

"Convey Our decree."

"Summon Qiao Yunsheng. Appoint him Minister of Justice."

Two eunuch-faction men thinking they could control the Ministry of Justice?

Absolutely impossible.

In the days ahead, he still intended to find other pretexts to meticulously scrape the eunuch faction's silver all over again.

How could he possibly hand the hilt of that blade into their hands?

Qiao Yunsheng might be old, but at least his record was clean and his character upright and unbending.

Let him come up first to paper things over. Even if he died in office, he would still be better than those two grotesques.

"Promote Vice Minister of Rites Yang Jingchen to Minister of Personnel."

At these words, Gao Shiming's heart gave a violent lurch.

But the corner of Zhu Youjian's mouth held a trace of a smile.

Wei Zhongxian had casually vaulted a mere juren straight to a rank-three Vice Minister, and so the scholars of the realm had learned to treat fawning and living shrines as shortcuts to high office.

Such was the power of greed in human nature.

He had already set up Li Guopu as an exemplar, but that reward had been only "fame."

Were there those who did not want fame, but wanted only position?

They were probably more numerous than carp swimming upriver, were they not?

Yang Jingchen would serve perfectly as that thousand-gold horse-bone!

"As for the Minister of War candidate — We are satisfied with none of them. Order the outer court to conduct a new court nomination. Furthermore, these three men are barred from being listed again."

Zhu Youjian's tone paused, as if he were mulling something over. Only after a moment did he add:

"Summon the former Minister of War, Wang Yongguang, back to service. He is to enter the capital for an audience."

Having settled all this, Zhu Youjian let out a long breath of relief.

His gaze dropped back to the imperial desk, to the three dossiers that remained. A sense of anticipation rose anew.

The true SSR draws — all in here!