Chapter 86: I, the Emperor, Have Money, But I Cannot Give It to You (Bonus Chapter for Patron S, 4k Extra!)

Xue Guoguan, of course, had no standing to write at the imperial desk.

However bold he might be, and however much Zhu Youjian might emulate the spirit of Han Gaozu, the rules of propriety between sovereign and subject could not be broken so brazenly.

In the end, it was Zhu Youjian who summoned a junior eunuch and had a table and chair brought into the great hall for Xue Guoguan.

And so, right there in the warm chamber of Qianqing Palace, Xue Guoguan began the most exhilarating — and most glorious — examination of his life.

The examiner was the reigning Son of Heaven.

The topic was the paving of the capital's roads.

The time limit was one shichen.

As for Zhu Youjian, he unhurriedly resumed his seat behind the imperial desk.

By coincidence, Gao Shiming had just returned with that hefty volume of the Huang Ming the capital Wenbian.

Zhu Youjian took advantage of this interval to read through it carefully.

He wanted to see how the elite civil officials of this Great Ming dynasty ordinarily thought and how they conducted affairs.

Yet, as he read, Zhu Youjian's brow furrowed tightly.

First, this so-called the capital Wenbian was actually compiled by person, not by subject.

This meant that if he wanted to quickly understand how the national policy of the "Open-Salt Law" had evolved and been amended through successive reigns —

he would actually need to flip through this entire thick volume from beginning to end, just to piece together a rough outline from the memorials and policy essays of various famous ministers.

The disorganization of its structure and the tediousness of consulting it were simply infuriating.

And the second problem was even more fatal than the first.

It turned out that Guo Yunhou's earlier "Ten Strategies for Fiscal Management" — a document that spoke only of direction and never touched on details — was no isolated case.

The policy essays of civil officials in this era bore a very distinct stamp of the times.

That is, they were entirely composed of grand, overarching strategies enunciated from a lofty vantage point, mere lists of various measures.

As for the concrete implementation details when these measures were actually carried out?

What problems might be encountered? How should they be addressed? In different places, facing different local customs and human circumstances, how should one adapt accordingly?

On these most crucial points, the language was invariably vague, the content left blank.

Zhu Youjian tapped his fingers on the desk, sinking into deep thought.

He recalled certain puzzles from when he had read about this late-Ming period in later times.

Both were troop reductions — why was Yuan Chonghuan able to carry them out in Liaodong, yet in the second year of Chongzhen, when that unlucky fellow in the Ji Garrison (his surname was Wang, wasn't it?) tried to do the same, the cuts immediately left the border defenses wide open and let the Later Jin pour through the passes?

Seen in this light, wasn't the root problem precisely those unwritten details in these memorials and policy essays?

In this era, the success or failure of any official dispatched to handle affairs depended enormously on the factor of the "man" himself.

The court could only pin its hopes on that official being a heaven-sent genius who, upon arriving at his post, could make the most of circumstances and respond with flexible ingenuity.

Because all he could glean from his predecessors' experience was merely directional guidance, while detailed advice was sorely lacking.

The same "Ten Strategies for Governing the State" — would the results be the same if carried out by Zhang Juzheng versus Sun Zhixie?!

If even matters of national importance were treated this way, local governance was surely in even sorrier shape.

A county magistrate, newly arrived at his post, utterly in the dark.

Which were the local power brokers? What were the personal ties and relationships among them? How should he set about pruning them one by one? And how could he prevent them from colluding in secret to stir up trouble?

None of this would be written in the policy essays.

Zhu Youjian could well imagine that even if heaven really did drop down several hundred county magistrates who were incorruptible, devoted to public duty, and single-mindedly devoted to the people —

once he dispatched them to their posts, in the end, those who could truly accomplish something would probably not be too many.

More than half, he feared, would still end up being sidelined and deceived by those deeply entrenched local clerks and gentry with their tangled webs of connections.

Interesting...

Zhu Youjian set down the book in his hands, raised his head, and looked at Xue Guoguan, who had already stopped writing and was now standing with a respectful bow. A meaningful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Although a small accident had occurred midway, matters had ultimately returned to the track he was most familiar with and most skilled at.

Since this era lacked a book titled Five Hundred Model Ming Official Documents.

then he, the Emperor, would take the lead in starting one.

And your policy essay, Minister Xue, shall serve as the opening piece of this guidebook.

Whether or not you ultimately become a grand councilor, having your name inscribed in the annals of history is, I'd say, a certainty!

Xue Guoguan stood in place, his heart filled with an unprecedented confidence.

Although he had only had one shichen, today he felt as if divinely aided.

His literary thoughts gushed forth like a spring; his brush raced through a thousand words.

For the entire policy essay, he wrote with great fluency and vigor, setting forth nine countermeasures, and then, after racking his brains, he forcibly cobbled together one more, thus completing the "Ten Strategies"!

Every point cut to the core with penetrating insight, each one hitting the ills of the age, every sentence deeply thought-provoking.

He believed this was absolutely the most brilliant policy essay he had ever written in his life!

Yet behind the imperial desk, Zhu Youjian's heart was utterly unmoved.

As expected.

The exact same policy-essay style.

Grand and sweeping from start to finish, without a shred of detail.

Zhu Youjian did not doubt for a moment that if one really acted on this policy essay, Xue Guoguan, with his talents, would certainly be able to gradually work out all the details in the process and ultimately accomplish the task.

But this was not the kind of "model official document" he wanted.

The Tang and Song had their Ancient Prose Movement, but that touched upon the ideological battleground of Confucianism, and he had no intention of prodding that forbidden preserve so soon.

But launching a "Document Movement" first within the court — that was timely indeed.

Zhu Youjian pondered for a moment, gently set down the policy essay, and opened his mouth to speak:

"Minister Xue, let me ask you this. At present the state treasury is empty, the privy purse is strained, and time, money, grain, and manpower are all extremely limited."

"Of the sixteen gates and sixteen main thoroughfares inside and outside the capital, which roads do you intend to repair first, and which later?"

Xue Guoguan's mind raced at lightning speed.

The origins of the road-repair matter, the projected timing of the Donglin faction's entry into the capital, the geographic positions, prosperity, and political significance of each main thoroughfare — countless thoughts flashed through his brain.

In barely a moment, he already had his answer.

"In reply to Your Majesty, this subject believes we should first repair Chaoyang Gate Avenue, followed by Xuanwu Gate Avenue and Chongwen Gate Avenue. For the remaining roads, we may for the time being mobilize the local fire-and-watch units and simply level them with packed earth."

Zhu Youjian nodded with satisfaction.

As expected — the details all resided in the minds of these clever men; they simply could not be bothered to commit them to paper.

Chaoyang Gate was the capital's eastern gate. Continuing eastward from it brought one to Tongzhou, and Tongzhou was the nexus of the canal transport system.

Repairing this road would both slightly speed up the canal transport, and serve as a display for those Donglin partisans who were about to enter the capital via the canal.

In a certain sense, part of the road-repair project was fundamentally a "political achievement project," intended precisely to give the Donglin faction a small taste of "eunuch-faction shock and awe."

Outside Xuanwu Gate lay mostly the mansions of officials; outside Chongwen Gate was a district thick with merchants and traders.

Assigning these two roads second priority, corresponding respectively to the official and the commoner constituencies, was only proper.

(The illustration below shows the three roads to be repaired. I measured with a scale ruler: roughly 7.2 li, or 1,296 zhang.)

"Very good." Zhu Youjian asked further, "If we set deadlines of the first day of the tenth month and the first day of the eleventh month, roughly what degree of progress could the works reach by those two dates?"

A trace of embarrassment appeared on Xue Guoguan's face.

"In reply to Your Majesty, this matter… this matter your humble subject does not yet know. I must go back, carefully consult the archives and records, make my calculations, and only then will I be able to answer."

Zhu Youjian neither agreed nor disagreed, but pressed on with another question:

"During the road repairs, should you encounter the households of palace eunuchs, meritorious nobles, imperial in-laws, or great merchants encroaching upon the roadway and obstructing the construction — how would you handle it?"

This question struck squarely within Xue Guoguan's own professional domain.

His spirits lifted, and he declared in a clear voice: "Your Majesty, this matter is easily resolved! According to the Collected Statutes of the Great Ming: 'Any who encroach upon streets, lanes, or roads by erecting buildings or making gardens shall be punished with sixty strokes of the heavy bamboo and ordered to restore the site to its original state. Those who breach walls to discharge filth and foul matter onto the streets and lanes shall be punished with forty strokes of the light bamboo.' With the law to rely upon, this subject shall naturally act according to the law!"

Zhu Youjian said nothing, merely watching him with a faint smile.

Within that smile was a hint of penetrating, all-comprehending understanding.

Xue Guoguan grew uneasy under that gaze, and the confidence he had drawn from acting according to the law instantly deflated.

He laughed awkwardly and added: "Of course… the dynasty's laws are now lax. Such harsh statutes, I fear, cannot be suddenly enforced."

"This subject's thought is that we may first issue a circular and proclamation, notifying the entire city. After that, we can seize a few blind fools as examples, publicly punish them according to the law to warn the rest. For the remaining offenders, we may exercise discretion and simply require them to pay fines in lieu of punishment."

Only then did Zhu Youjian nod with satisfaction.

"In carrying out this matter, you need defer to no one."

He paused, suddenly recalling his own preposterous father-in-law, and added in a brooding tone:

"Even if it be my own closest imperial kin who break the rules when the time comes, I myself will bear the burden for you. You need only act boldly and without restraint."

A warmth surged in Xue Guoguan's heart, and he hastily cupped his hands and assented.

Yet before he could fully exhale in relief, His Majesty's next question came hard on the heels of the last.

"Manpower, corvée labor, construction materials, supervision, anti-corruption, inspection tours, maintenance…"

Zhu Youjian rattled off a string of questions, each more detailed than the last, each more devilishly tricky than the last.

At first Xue Guoguan could answer fluently, but gradually the well-rehearsed talking points he had long held ready in his mind proved insufficient.

Some questions he could only silently note down. Cold sweat once again soaked through the back of his robe.

After this barrage of rapid-fire questions and answers, the boundless optimism Xue Guoguan had felt upon writing his "Ten Policies" had long since vanished like smoke.

His head was spinning from the interrogation. He felt as though the youthful monarch before him was not an emperor raised deep within the palace, but a seasoned old clerk who had spent decades grappling with affairs in the provinces!

At last, Zhu Youjian posed the final, and most critical, question.

"As you said earlier, manpower can be supplied by corvée labor, so we may set that aside for now. But the wages of the craftsmen, and the materials for the stone slabs — these two items: roughly how much silver would they require?"

Xue Guoguan let out a soft breath of relief.

This question happened to fall squarely within the scope of his preparations.

He answered respectfully: "In reply to Your Majesty, this matter still requires detailed calculation by the Ministry of Works. But based on this subject's estimates using the costs of past road repairs, the three avenues of Chaoyang Gate, Xuanwu Gate, and Chongwen Gate, totaling over 1,300 zhang, if all are to be fully paved with stone slabs, the silver required, I fear, would be between 300,000 and 400,000 taels."

Whoa! That's quite expensive!

Zhu Youjian's eyebrows lifted slightly.

Still, although the figure was enormous, it accorded with his own understanding and basic logic.

After all, if stone-paved roads in the capital were truly cheap, they would not have gone more than two hundred years without being properly laid.

He looked at Xue Guoguan and asked slowly: "This sum — how do you intend to resolve it?"

Xue Guoguan hesitated a moment, then in the end could not resist probing: "I wonder… within the privy purse…"

An open, candid smile appeared on Zhu Youjian's face.

"Minister Xue is a man I lean heavily upon, so I need not hide the truth from you. After disbursing the enthronement bounty silver, the privy purse still holds 1.3 million taels."

Upon hearing this, a glint of delight flashed through Xue Guoguan's eyes.

1.3 million taels! More than enough!

Yet before the smile on his face could fully bloom, Zhu Youjian raised a hand and gently cut him off.

"However — this money, I cannot give."

Xue Guoguan's smile instantly froze on his face.

But he was not overly surprised. After all, Ming emperors had always regarded the privy purse as their exclusive preserve; they winced with pain even when subsidizing the military pay of the nine border garrisons, let alone spending it on road repairs.

He was about to speak and present the backup plan he had originally prepared.

But Zhu Youjian shook his head and continued:

"This is not stinginess on my part."

"We rule all within the four seas; all wealth under Heaven is Ours. How could We begrudge a mere four hundred thousand taels of silver?"

—This was a lie from Zhu Youjian.

He looked earnestly at Xue Guoguan, his expression sincere, but then his tone shifted.

"This matter, in truth, is cut from the same cloth as the administrative abuses we just discussed. It may be called a 'fiscal abuse.'"

"The privy purse was originally established to pay the salaries of officials in the capital. After a century of changes, it now only disburses salaries for military officers, while also issuing rewards to border troops everywhere. It has long been a tangled mess of bad accounts."

"As for the outer court—the Ever-Full Treasury, the the the Taicang treasury treasury treasury, the Economy-Provident Treasury, the Court of Imperial Entertainments treasury… funds are dismantled and diverted between the various treasuries, all to plug the holes in the frontier campaigns. The lines of authority and responsibility are unclear, and fraud runs rampant—who knows how much?"

Xue Guoguan listened, startled and alarmed.

How acute he was. Almost instantly, from these few seemingly casual remarks by the Emperor, he caught the scent of something extraordinary.

—This new sovereign actually intended to overhaul the state's finances!

Zhu Youjian, however, did not delve deeper into this topic. He merely skimmed the surface, touching on it and then stopping.

"Moreover, building roads in the capital is ultimately not comparable to the frontier campaigns in Liaodong. Those it benefits are merely the people of the capital alone."

"If We were to take the gold-flower silver sent as tribute from the southern provinces to fill this hole, it would not sound very good in the telling."

"Therefore, it is not that We are unwilling to provide this money, but that We truly cannot."

"…Does my minister have any other strategy?"