Chapter 452: The Predicament of Prefectures and Counties

False Song, Bianjing, Li Yuan's residence.

In the study, the flickering lamplight cast Li Yuan's tightly knitted brows into sharper relief.

What lay before him was not the classics and histories, nor documents pending approval from the Ministry of Personnel, but several private letters from various local prefectures and counties, with differing handwriting, some even sloppy.

The paper was coarse, yet the information it carried weighed heavily on his heart.

One letter, from a fellow graduate of Yizhou in the Jingdong Circuit, bitterly described how the prefecture's clerks colluded with local magnates, inventing extra charges like 'mouse and sparrow consumption' and 'foot money' when collecting the summer tax, exploiting the populace and lining their own pockets;

Another letter, from an old friend in Tangzhou of the Jingxi Circuit, lamented the empty prefectural treasury; the magistrate wanted to undertake waterworks, but lacking funds and grain, could only impose corvée labor, stirring up popular resentment, while orders from the superior prefecture to remit taxes came one after another, ever more urgent;

Yet another letter, from Suzhou in the Huainan Circuit, spoke of the local grain transport office's petty clerk Zheng He, who, for insisting on verifying grain transport losses, provoked his superiors, was reprimanded on some pretext, and now faces ostracism in the office, his ambitions thwarted……

These letters were not formal memorials, merely private talk among friends.

Precisely because of this, they lacked the embellishment of officialese and laid bare the many predicaments of local governance in the False Song.

"Clerks are like tigers, miscellaneous taxes oppressive……"

"The treasury is empty, livelihoods suffer greatly……"

"Those with ambition find it hard to take a step……"

Li Yuan set down the paper, exhaled a long turbid breath, and felt his chest suffocate.

He served in the Ministry of Personnel, overseeing officials' evaluations, and was not entirely ignorant of local administration.

Yet hearing such concentrated, specific complaints from friends across different regions still left him shocked.

He recalled the words of 'Lu Ming' before his retirement that day: "Those who govern should weigh personnel affairs and cultivate virtuous governance…… The light of the eastern border has not yet dawned; all the more need for pragmatism……"

Indeed, be pragmatic!

But look at the present: the court above and below disputes endlessly over the illusory 'Heavenly Book', the emperor observes fasting days in sincerity, and the Bureau of Astronomy bustles up and down.

Yet these concrete ills that affect people's livelihoods and the stability of prefectures and counties seem to be ignored, intentionally or not.

"Could this be what we scholars, after ten years of cold study, seek in 'governing the state and pacifying the world'?"

Li Yuan gazed at the jumping candle flames and uttered a question unheard by anyone.

He picked up his brush, wanting to write something.

He thought of memorializing a senior minister, of doing what lay within his power.

But the brush tip hovered in midair for a long while, and eventually he let it fall weakly.

He well knew that, being of low stature and little influence, rashly memorializing would not only be futile but might also invite unnecessary trouble, even implicating the friends who had confided in him.

A sense of helplessness spread silently.

He could only carefully gather these letters and hide them in the bottom layer of his book chest.

Thus, he could temporarily seal away those distant sufferings and injustices.

Chen Dynasty, a separate villa.

Zhang Cheng presented a lengthy analysis, compiled and organized from various intelligence sources, before Chen Wen.

"Your Majesty, this is our analysis of the current state of local prefectures and counties in the False Song, organized from feedback to the various branches of the South Wind Chronicle and information indirectly obtained through channels such as Li Yuan."

Zhang Cheng's tone carried a gravity born of insight.

Chen Wen received the thick document and examined it carefully.

The document's content was detailed, laid out point by point:

First, fiscal distress.

The False Song inherited the old system of the previous dynasty, with taxes highly centralized at the center, leaving very little for local prefectures and counties.

Yet the expenses that prefectures and counties must bear—official duties, relief, repairs, even entertaining visiting officials—are enormously burdensome.

Moreover, in recent years the court, preparing for possible ceremonies such as 'welcoming the Heavenly Book' and responding to pressure from the northern Khitan, has only increased its fiscal demands on localities, never decreased.

As a result, most prefecture and county treasuries are bare, and living off next month's grain has become the norm.

Second, the clerks' malpractice.

In prefectures and counties, specific affairs are mostly handled by clerks.

These clerks are not appointed officials, hold no rank or grade, receive meager salaries, and often inherit their posts father to son, entrenching themselves locally and knowing the loopholes in administration.

They collude with local magnates and wealthy merchants, exploiting their authority to levy taxes, impose corvée, and handle litigation, extorting at will and becoming a malignant tumor attached to the local body.

Meanwhile, appointed officials, mostly graduates of the imperial examinations, serve limited terms, are unfamiliar with mundane affairs, and are often deceived by the clerks—or simply join them in corruption.

Third, institutional rigidity.

The False Song boasts of governing with the scholar-official class; its civil service system is huge and bloated, yet its administrative efficiency is low.

Officials at all levels are many-layered, and document circulation drags on for days.

A people-benefiting policy, from the center to the prefectures and counties, is often whittled down layer by layer, even distorted.

For example, the earlier promotion of new farm tools—if they did not directly benefit smallholders and offered no profit, they would likely be difficult to spread at the grassroots.

The shelving of Zheng He's grain transport boat improvement plan is a clear sign that it touched existing interests and that the system lacks impetus for innovation.

Fourth, unsettled popular sentiment.

The lower classes are burdened by taxes and labor, and have limited trust in the court.

Mid- and lower-level officials, such as Li Yuan, Zheng He, and Zhou Huaian, who harbor ambitions feel deeply constrained and helpless;

the unambitious simply go with the flow, seeking ease.

The upper echelons, due to matters like the 'Heavenly Book', see growing divergence, and the pragmatic wind is suppressed.

Chen Wen finished reading, gently placed the document on the table, and remained silent for a long time.

The other guardians in the quiet room also circulated the analysis, their expressions varied.

Wang Ru sighed:

"Seemingly splendid as a bouquet of flowers, yet inside it is riddled with a thousand holes."

Qian Gui gave a cold snort:

The Iron Crow Army maintains such 'history', who knows what meaning it has? It's nothing but accumulated ills and chronic ailments!

Shi Dun focused more on the practical:

If that's the case, the False Song appears huge, but its foundations are unstable? If a great storm hits, I fear...

Old Slacker Zhao scratched his head:

I just find it strange—they clearly have some talent in the Ministry of Works, yet they can't get anything done; turns out their hands and feet are tied.

Zhang Cheng looked at Chen Wen and concluded:

My lord, beneath the False Song's facade of civil rule, hidden worries run deep.

If finances are strained, there will be no money to support troops or promote benefits and eliminate harms;

If clerks are corrupt, they directly harm the populace and shake the foundations of rule;

If the system is rigid, it becomes difficult to respond promptly to internal and external challenges;

If the people's hearts are unsettled, there is a lack of cohesion.

These structural problems cannot be changed overnight, nor can they be covered up by a few auspicious signs.

This is exactly what we can monitor long-term and wait for an opportunity to exploit.

Chen Wen slowly raised his head, his gaze deep, as if piercing the wall, he saw that vast territory which seemed prosperous but was internally being hollowed out by insects.

What Zhang Cheng said is correct.

The Iron Crow Army can forcefully promote the 'Heavenly Book', monitor officials, and restrict technology.

But they cannot easily change the entrenched ills of a system that has run for hundreds of years, cannot fill this huge fiscal deficit, and cannot instantly cleanse the long-corrupted clerk system.

These chronic ailments are variables beyond their complete control in their 'script', and also a fulcrum we can leverage in the future.

He paused for a moment, his tone turning grave and resolute.

Continue observing, continue gathering information.

Pay particular attention to how these predicaments will evolve as the 'Heavenly Book' incident continues to ferment and the Imperial Court possibly increases expenditures.

We must grasp every lesion on the False Song's body as clearly as a doctor taking a pulse.

Yes!

All replied in unison.

Chen Wen walked to the map, his finger tracing the False Song's territory.

Stout fortresses are often breached from within.

The Iron Crow Army gave them a seemingly perfect 'historical script', yet gave them a reality riddled with holes.

Then we will help them truly recognize this reality.

The troubles of prefectures and counties are like a hidden ailment lurking beneath the False Song's glossy facade of civil rule, spreading silently.

And Chen Wen and the others watching from across the river have already keenly sensed the corrupt aura within, capable of overturning the 'script'...