Chapter 26: Section Five

"But how could I be satisfied with a few hundred taels of silver?"

Having thought through his arguments for the evening, Huang Shi lowered his head and drew a deep breath, letting the fragrance of the tea suffuse his chest, then began drinking slowly in small sips — this was his favorite sequence. His personal guards had gathered in front of the main gate, anxiously awaiting Yang Luhuo's return. They all knew Yang Luhuo would bring back a considerable sum of tea money — a necessary sweetener for the commander's personal guard while bribing their superior.

A few days ago, Huang Shi's prospective father-in-law Sun Degong had handed him a lucrative assignment. To be precise, Sun Degong had carved out a large share of the plum assignment that Wang Huazhen had sent his way. Wang Huazhen had put Sun Degong in charge of the annual audit for Guangning Garrison, a task that had to be completed before the year-end.

December was a busy month. Wang Huazhen, the Provincial Governor of Liaodong, not only had to deal with military pressure from the east, but also had to urge officials at every level to settle the year's detailed accounts. At the same time, as a grand imperial commissioner of the court, he also had to preside over a series of quasi-religious activities such as praying for snow and giving thanks to Heaven. There was also the important work of instructing and edifying the locality — large numbers of the venerable elderly required pre-year-end visits from the Provincial Governor, the childless aged needed compassion, the imperial clan required respectful offerings, and the titled nobility required gifts. Watching the busy Liaodong Provincial Governor's government office, Huang Shi for the first time felt that Ming local officials did not have it easy either.

This year's December was especially hectic. As the dust settled on the Korean war, Later Jin grew ravenously hungry for intelligence on Guangning, and large numbers of hidden agents stirred into action, straining to ferret out information on the city's defenses and garrison. Gao Bangzuo, the Prefect of Guangning, had arrested four batches of spies in less than ten days of the month.

Out of a desire to co-opt him, Wang Huazhen handed the entire garrison's annual audit to Sun Degong, and Sun Degong in turn assigned Huang Shi the task of inspecting the weapons and equipment at each gate. The officer in charge of such annual audits would usually deliberately pick out a few flaws, then sit back and wait for the gifts of tribute to come to his door. So upon receiving this assignment, every one of Huang Shi's personal guards was visibly delighted.

But soon their smiles vanished. Huang Shi inspected camp after camp with meticulous care, checking every figure without missing a single one. He stirred up utter chaos, and even his own personal guards reminded him several times to let things slide, but the gifts that the men under inspection sent over were returned by Huang Shi time and again.

Yang Luhuo soon reported back to Huang Shi that a chorus of curses was erupting behind his back. Everyone was saying that this new officer Huang was a pack of ravening jackals, bent on taking a vicious bite out of everyone's flesh. Today, the faces of the fellow officers accompanying Huang Shi on his inspection had already turned very grim.

As he sipped his tea, Huang Shi flipped through the account book in his hand. "...The register lists three thousand six hundred long spears; actual count two thousand three hundred twenty-five, a thirty percent shortfall. The register lists one thousand five hundred stiff bows; actual count eight hundred twelve, a fifty percent shortfall. Armor, actual count six hundred fifty-three sets, a seventy percent shortfall..."

These shocking figures he had already read aloud this afternoon to the gate storehouse officers and Company Commanders. What filled him with deep admiration was that

these officers, as they listened to him recite the numbers, all managed to keep their faces perfectly composed. One after another, they complained about the quality of the weapons. In short, it all came down to one line: the weapons had broken on their own and had to be discarded.

They further hinted to Huang Shi that if he truly had the ability, he should use this annual audit to have the higher-ups reissue weapons and make up the shortfall.

That afternoon, Huang Shi had listened to these words with a smile. Now, however, Huang Shi was sneering without pause. These past few days he had inspected every soldier, every single one! Not even one in ten soldiers could name a firearm. Out of a hundred soldiers, only three or four knew how to use one.

He had raised this issue this afternoon as a very serious problem as well. Unfortunately, the officers he questioned were even more self-righteous than he was.

"We have nothing to train with. Brother Huang, you are new here and don't understand many things. Materials such as gunpowder ordinarily cannot be used without authorization. Without orders from our superiors, we certainly cannot fire guns or cannons."

He remembered one Guangning officer countering him in this way, and this reasoning actually drew a chorus of agreeing voices.

The endless stream of problems Huang Shi raised elicited all manner of bizarre explanations, and they wrangled with him all the way until evening. Huang Shi finally laid his cards on the table — they could go explain these reasons to the Liaodong Provincial Governor in person — and only then did he somewhat suppress their arrogance.

The most senior of those officers stepped forward to smooth things over, suggesting that it was getting late and they should all go have some drinks, setting aside work matters for the moment. Huang Shi, with no regard for face, casually made some excuses. He had discussed this issue with his personal guards beforehand. The guards unanimously agreed that if Huang Shi went into the fray bare-chested, it would be very detrimental to the bargaining.

When he made it clear he was not going, those officers finally showed some looks of respect. Only then did they realize that Garrison Commander Huang was no greenhorn. What followed was only natural — the personal guard captains of those officers came as a group to invite Yang Luhuo out for drinks. As Yang Luhuo left, he thumped his chest and assured Huang Shi: "Rest assured, my lord, your subordinate will argue forcefully on your behalf."

Between personal guard captains, they could freely demand sky-high prices and bargain down to the ground. No matter how fiercely these subordinates quarreled, it would not harm the harmony among colleagues. This, too, was an unwritten rule of the Great Ming.

The results of his calculations lay on the desk. Arabic numerals were very handy, and the four arithmetic operations posed no difficulty for Huang Shi, but the results he calculated still left him deeply shocked, making him rework them again and again.

A sudden clamor erupted at the door, mixed with excited shouts. Huang Shi guessed that Yang Luhuo had returned, and sure enough, his voice soon sounded at the door.

"Come in."

"Yes—" Yang Luhuo, his face glowing with delight, came running in, dragging out the syllable.

"Let them all come in. No need to eavesdrop at the door."

A large crowd of personal guards surged in, all of them beaming with smiles. It seemed they had struck it rich this time.

Huang Shi asked with a grin, "You've scooped up quite a bit, haven't you?"

Yang Luhuo rubbed his hands together and answered with a cheeky grin, "All thanks to your good fortune, my lord. We did scoop up some wine money, but a pittance like this surely isn't worthy of your notice."

"Ridiculous. Why would I want your wine money? Just don't come begging me for tips anymore, that'll be enough."

The personal guards immediately began clamoring all at once, shouting that they absolutely must beg for some more, otherwise wouldn't the illustrious Garrison Commander Huang seem far too stingy? It was a long while before Yang Luhuo could continue reporting the results to Huang Shi. The terms settled tonight were two hundred taels of silver in exchange for a clean inspection report.

One thing Huang Shi understood very clearly: if he refused to take bribes, his subordinates would be very dissatisfied. The history books recorded the fate of such fools — upright superiors betrayed by their own men, even murdered. An official who refused bribes threatened the positions of others, blocked his own subordinates' path to wealth, and was even less able to pay tribute to his superiors. If a man offended everyone around him, then he was doomed to achieve nothing.

"I intend to report the facts truthfully."

The moment Huang Shi spoke these words, he saw the faces of his personal guards change color, their smiles freezing one by one.

"But they can spend more money to go talk to Lord Sun. Then I would get neither money nor merit."

These words made the guards' faces relax again, but if their lord understood things so clearly, then what did his earlier words mean?

"Therefore, I must get Lord Sun Degong to support me."

Looks of disbelief and doubt began to appear.

"My lord, see clearly — two hundred taels is already quite a lot. Your subordinate argued forcefully all evening to settle on this." The speaker was Yang Luhuo, worried that Huang Shi might doubt his competence.

"Your humble servant set this price first, and only then dared to ask for wine money for himself!" It seemed Yang Luhuo was also worried that Huang Shi might misunderstand his loyalty.

Huang Shi's left hand lifted a draft sheet from the table, while his right index finger flicked the paper with a rustling sound:

"These missing items — tens of thousands of taels, worth at least tens of thousands of taels of silver! Just the few Company Commander battalions at the East Gate alone have a hole worth tens of thousands of taels!"

The personal guards faced Huang Shi in silence. Finally, Zhao Manxiong spoke: "My lord, this was not accumulated in one year or one term, and quite a bit..."

"Quite a bit was sold off by the soldiers themselves — I know that. Besides, their superiors also need to pay tribute upward." Huang Shi impatiently cut off Zhao Manxiong's words and brandished the paper:

"But how could I be satisfied with a few hundred taels of silver?"

Huang Shi's soaring ambition left his personal guards dumbfounded. They stared blankly for a long moment before tentatively asking:

"Then what does my lord mean to do?"