Chapter 113: Changlu

Not many days after Li Rui submitted his memorial, the Northern Bastille Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard suddenly dispatched a large number of officers to Hejian Prefecture, arresting dozens of officials from the Changlu Salt Transport Commissioner's Office, from the Salt Transport Commissioner on down, and throwing them all into the Imperial Prison. This move caused no small stir in the court.

Minister of Revenue Hou Xun, accompanied by two Vice Ministers, hurried to the Grand Secretariat. After consulting with the Grand Secretaries there, they jointly submitted a memorial requesting an audience.

The Chongzhen Emperor received the Grand Secretariat officials in the Qianqing Palace.

After the formal ceremonial bows, Wen Tiren clasped his hands and reported: "I report to Your Majesty: your servant has learned that the Embroidered Uniform Guard went far to Hejian and arrested dozens of men from the Changlu Salt Commissioner's Office, from top to bottom, into the Imperial Prison. Has Your Majesty heard of this matter?"

The Chongzhen Emperor nodded and said: "Several days ago, when I first heard rumors of corruption throughout the Changlu Salt Commissioner's Office, I sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to verify the facts, and indeed they proved true! At a time of national crisis, when the state treasury is exhausted, these men set aside the interests of the court, gave no thought to serving the country with true hearts, and instead colluded in graft, plucking chestnuts from the fire. I cannot abide it!"

As Chief Grand Secretary, Wen Tiren was merely opening the discussion. He naturally knew the Embroidered Uniform Guard had acted on imperial orders, and the men arrested had nothing to do with him. But as the head of the court officials, he had to take the lead in dealing with the Emperor — though offending the Emperor was something he would never do.

After hearing this, Wen Tiren clasped his hands and withdrew to one side. Wang Yingxiong, Zhang Zhifa, and the others likewise remained silent.

Hou Xun stepped forward, clasped his hands, and said: "I report to Your Majesty: your servant does not know the inside story of the Changlu affair, but as head of the Ministry of Revenue, where ministry business is concerned I cannot but ask about the full sequence of events. This time, from the Salt Transport Commissioner on down, all have been imprisoned. How then will the salt works continue to operate? With the treasury empty, how will the losses from Changlu's halted operations be made up? If the Changlu officials are guilty, who will fill their vacant posts?"

Although the officials of the Changlu salt works were under the Ministry of Revenue, and though their chief officers received constant festival gifts, they were not Hou Xun's own men. What he cared about more was not letting one of the court's sources of revenue be cut off. For Hou Xun, never mind a hundred-some thousand taels entering the treasury each year — even a few thousand taels of silver was a considerable sum to him.

The Changlu Salt Transport Commissioner was a high official of the third rank, and the posts below him — Vice Prefect, Judge, Deputy Commissioner, and the various Superintendents — were positions of little fame but great lucre. Now that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had wiped them all out in one sweep, the vacancies left behind were posts that made every man's eyes turn green with envy.

Wang Yingxiong hastily stepped forward and memorialized: "I report to Your Majesty: your servant concurs with Minister Hou's words! The Changlu salt works have long been an important source of the court's annual revenue, and its importance is all the more evident when the court's finances are strained! Your servant has heard that the Salt Transport Commissioner, one Sun by name, is known for his integrity. Has the investigating office verified whether the corruption charges against him are true?"

The Salt Transport Commissioner Sun Zuoren was Wang Yingxiong's protégé, having secured this lucrative post by heavy bribery of Wang Yingxiong. Now that trouble had arisen in his post, Wang Yingxiong, as his patron and teacher, still tried to save him.

The Chongzhen Emperor did not answer Wang Yingxiong's question, but instead asked: "How many salt-boiling stove households are under the Changlu salt works? And what is the annual revenue?"

Zhou Zhiqian, Left Vice Minister of Revenue, stepped forward and reported: "I report to Your Majesty: the Changlu salt works has fifteen thousand three hundred and sixty-two adult males in stove households, six thousand two hundred and thirty-eight stove pans, four thousand six hundred and fifty-three brine ponds, and two thousand seven hundred and fourteen boiling skimmers. Last year, one hundred and twelve thousand and some odd taels entered the treasury!"

The Chongzhen Emperor gave Zhou Zhiqian an approving look and said: "Minister Zhou recites such minute figures as fluently as counting family treasures. This shows you are exceptionally diligent in ministry affairs day to day. Very good!"

Zhou Zhiqian was secretly pleased — today he had shown his face prominently before His Majesty, which could only be quite favorable for his future career.

He hastily clasped his hands and modestly declined: "I dare not accept Your Majesty's praise! The Minister is busy with the great affairs of the ministry and has no leisure for other matters; in my spare time I enjoy leafing through the data reported from various places, and so I am able to remember it clearly!"

The Chongzhen Emperor nodded and said: "When one does well, of course one must be praised! Minister Zhou must guard against arrogance and impatience. Minister Hou is advanced in years; you and Minister Zhang are in the prime of life. You must assist Minister Hou well in managing the Ministry of Revenue! The court's moneybag is a matter of the utmost importance. If you do well, I will not be stingy with promotions and rewards!"

Zhou Zhiqian hastily bowed in thanks together with Right Vice Minister Zhang Xiong, who for his part was burning with jealousy that Zhou Zhiqian had stolen the limelight.

The Chongzhen Emperor continued: "Since all of you have raised the importance of Changlu, and Minister Wang has even spoken of Transport Commissioner Sun's reputation for integrity, let me show you all what sort of 'upright' man occupies this post of such importance!"

With that he gave a slight lift of his chin, and Li Erxi picked up several sheets of paper from the imperial desk, descended the steps of the throne, and handed them to Chief Grand Secretary Wen Tiren.

Wen Tiren took them and looked closely. In a moment his face was full of astonishment. After reading the first sheet, he passed it to Wang Yingxiong. Wang Yingxiong took it, gave it a brief look, and his expression instantly turned extremely ugly.

These sheets of paper recorded the detailed figures obtained from the Northern Bastille Office's confiscation of the Changlu criminals' family properties. The first page was the inventory of the Salt Transport Commissioner Sun Zuoren's household assets.

After everyone had passed the sheets around, Li Erxi collected them, placed them back on the imperial desk, and stood to one side of the Emperor.

The Chongzhen Emperor savored the expressions of his senior ministers, gave a "heh heh" laugh, and said: "Just now Minister Zhou said that last year Changlu delivered over one hundred and ten thousand taels of silver to the treasury. You have all also seen that from Sun's household alone, over eighty thousand taels in ready silver was seized! And he had held his post for barely two years! Heh heh! This is the 'upright' official of the Great Ming!"

Wang Yingxiong lowered his head, not daring to meet the Emperor's gaze. He had just claimed Sun Zuoren had a reputation for integrity, hoping to lighten his protégé's guilt — and had been slapped hard in the face by iron-hard facts.

Wen Tiren stepped forward and memorialized with great fervor: "I report to Your Majesty: at a time of national crisis, Sun and his ilk have turned their backs on imperial grace and thought only of private gain. Such vile conduct absolutely cannot be forgiven! If there are those implicated, they too should be dealt with! To uphold the court's discipline!"

Sun Zuoren was not his protégé or old acquaintance. Since the household had already been confiscated, the outcome was obvious. Naturally, he should adopt a posture of righteous indignation to express his stance and win the Emperor's favor. As for who stood behind Sun Zuoren, it mattered not at all — Wen Tiren got along badly with everyone anyway.

Wang Yingxiong was both furious and frantic. By the meaning of Wen Tiren's words, the Sun Zuoren affair was not over — the responsibility of those behind him should also be pursued. His teacher-student relationship with Sun Zuoren would be discovered with a single inquiry — would that not drag the blame onto his own head? Worse still, he did not know whether the Embroidered Uniform Guard had used torture. If they had, and Sun Zuoren could not bear it and confessed to having bribed him for the post back then, then given the Emperor's suspicious and impetuous nature, he had no idea what his own fate would be. Yet he could not speak out in rebuttal — was he to watch Wen Tiren bury him alive?

In his desperation, he shot a glance at Zhang Zhifa beside him. The two were on good terms ordinarily, and in the Grand Secretariat they joined forces to counterbalance Wen Tiren.

Zhang Zhifa took the hint, stepped forward, and memorialized: "I report to Your Majesty: your servant concurs with Grand Secretary Wen's words! Sun and his ilk absolutely cannot be forgiven! But your servant does not approve of implicating others by association! At this time when the court needs men of ability, if this case is used to implicate people wholesale, it will throw all the officials of the court into panic, with every man fearing for himself! The court's various policies and decrees will grind to a halt! The urgent matter is how to handle the aftermath — how to select suitable officials to fill the posts at Changlu, so that the salt works do not fall into ruin!"

The Chongzhen Emperor had long since read the Embroidered Uniform Guard's interrogation records — Sun Zuoren had already confessed to bribing Wang Yingxiong. But what mattered now was abolishing the offices the court had established at Changlu. If he issued an edict forcibly abolishing them without any reason, it would anger the court officials who had hoped to pick up the scraps, thereby disrupting the normal functioning of the government. So he still needed the Grand Secretariat's cooperation. If killing people could solve problems, he would have slaughtered most of the officials long ago. That sort of transmigrator nonsense — executing entire clans of nine generations at the slightest provocation — was something he could not bring himself to do. If he truly went on a killing spree, he would soon find himself abandoned by all; those local officials charged with defending their territories would have long since opened their city gates to welcome the Dashing King.

He smiled and said: "What Minister Wen and Minister Zhang have said both have merit. Whom Sun has named and what he has said are not important — perhaps he was frantically slandering others in desperation. I have a good sense of the matter in my own mind. But upon reflection, there is one thing I do not understand: the Changlu salt households number over ten thousand, and the officials, soldiers, and clerks number in the hundreds — why is the annual salt output only a few million catties? To the point that the salt of the north still depends on supply from Lianghuai. With efficiency so low, is there any need for it to continue existing?"

Wen Tiren understood the implied meaning at once — gauging the imperial will was his specialty; how else had he earned such trust from the Emperor?

He immediately stepped forward and memorialized: "What Your Majesty says is most true! Your servant has heard that the Changlu officials exploit the salt households severely, that the salt folk suffer beyond words, and that whole families fleeing is a common occurrence! Over ten thousand adult males is no negligible force — if manipulated by those with designs, and the salt households, unable to bear the oppression, rose up together, there would be danger of rebellion in the capital region! On this basis, your servant believes Changlu may simply be abolished!"

The Chongzhen Emperor nodded approvingly at Wen Tiren. Old Wen really was useful — with one word from him, the man understood exactly what he meant.

Wang Yingxiong was disgusted inwardly. The salt households were indeed miserable, but at least they had a mouthful of food. As long as they had food to eat, who would dare gather a crowd to defy the court? Even if they dared rebel, this was the capital region — they would be crushed by the army before any disorder could even begin.

From the Emperor's meaning just now, it seemed Sun Zuoren had sold him out, but the Emperor had some intention of letting him off.

Old villain Wen only knew how to flatter, but Wang Yingxiong had to admit the man understood the Emperor's intent thoroughly and reacted quickly. It seemed the Emperor intended to abolish the Changlu salt works and did not plan to take the blame himself — this black pot would have to be borne by the Grand Secretariat. Very well, since the Emperor's attitude hovered in ambiguity, he would trade the black pot for the Emperor's forbearance.

Wang Yingxiong stepped forward and memorialized: "Your servant seconds the motion! The salt households are suffering, and the salt output is a drop in the bucket for the north. Changlu is like a chicken rib — since that is so, better to abolish it, to lighten the people's burden!"

Zhang Zhifa also memorialized: "Your servant seconds the motion!"

The Chongzhen Emperor looked toward the three Ministry of Revenue men, who had remained silent throughout, and said: "Changlu falls under the Ministry of Revenue's jurisdiction. The words of you three are the most crucial. Minister Hou, what should be done in this matter?"

Hou Xun thought to himself: you raised the topic of abolishing Changlu, and the Grand Secretariat has already agreed — even if I had other ideas, I'd have to agree too.

So he memorialized: "Since this is the will of the Grand Secretaries, this old servant has no other thoughts. Only, from now on the state treasury will lose over a hundred thousand taels in revenue each year, which grieves me deeply. As for how the salt households are to be resettled, I beg Your Majesty to consider it properly!"

Zhou Zhiqian and Zhang Xiong also memorialized: "We have no objections!"

The Chongzhen Emperor said: "Since the Grand Secretariat has proposed it, I will follow good counsel! Ministers Wen and the rest, return and draft the edict: abolish the Changlu Salt Transport Commissioner's Office and all related posts! The confiscated properties of Sun and the others total four hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver; the Ministry of Revenue shall receive half! Each salt household member shall receive five taels as resettlement money, pending the court's dispatch of officials to arrange matters! Sun and all those below him shall be beheaded and their bodies exposed in the marketplace! Their families shall be exiled to the Xuan-Da frontier passes!"