Chapter 334: Promotion

After the announcement of the new Governor of Shaanxi, the hall fell into a profound silence, as each person pondered the now-vacant post of Vice Prefect of the Metropolitan Prefecture.

Zhu Youjian swept his gaze across the assembled ministers, reading each expression in turn, then continued with an impassive air: "Minister Hou, since the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue has been abolished, yet its affairs were vast and weighty—if these were to be handed over to the Revenue Bureau of the Nanjing Prefecture, it would hardly be able to bear the burden. After some thought, I intend to move the Zhejiang Clear Clerk Department of the Ministry of Revenue to take up permanent residence in Nanjing, to oversee the collection of taxes and grain in Jiangnan. What does Minister Hou think of this?"

Hou Xun's words just now had reminded Zhu Youjian that the abolition of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue would stir up certain complications.

The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue levied taxes directly from the prefectures of the directly-administered region and the three provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang. Moreover, it maintained independent granaries, grain stores, and silver vaults—but all tax-collection activities and quotas had to be reported to the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing for approval in advance, with annual accounts submitted one copy before the throne and one to the Ministry of Revenue for the record.

After the abolition of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, the three provinces of Huguang, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang, along with the newly established provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui, could remit their taxes directly to the capital—all well and good—but those various granaries and storehouses under the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue's control could not simply be handed over to Jiangsu Province for custodianship.

Jiangsu and Nanjing Prefecture were both newly established. Though they would set up the six bureaus and six offices corresponding to the Six Ministries of the capital and recruit personnel to conduct business, from a professional standpoint, the competence of these newly hired clerks differed vastly from that of the officials and clerks of the Ministry of Revenue in the capital.

Most of the clerks working in the thirteen Clear Clerk Departments of the Ministry of Revenue had inherited their posts from their fathers, serving in the ministry for generations. They were thoroughly versed in every procedure for collecting taxes, grain, and supplies from all regions, and were equally well-acquainted with the various means of embezzlement. It could be said that once they applied themselves seriously, any trickery would be seen through at a glance.

Every year, several million shi of tribute grain were shipped from Jiangnan to the capital. Though these were primarily expedited by local governments and the grain-transport offices, they could not do without the assistance of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. Now that the new provinces had been established, the original burdens had been greatly lightened, yet the remaining volume was still beyond what the revenue bureaus and offices could manage.

But the mid- and low-ranking officials and clerks of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue were likewise mostly hereditary officeholders, already fused into one body with the local gentry and wealthy merchants, using their authority to brazenly embezzle and devour the court's money and grain.

If, out of concern that no one would handle official business after transferring them all north, this batch of low-ranking clerks were left in place, such a move would only embolden these men to act with even greater recklessness. They would naturally conclude that the court could not do without them, and their behavior would grow ever more brazen.

Moreover, these storehouses under the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue possessed another crucial attribute: they existed as Jiangnan's strategic reserve. This rule had been established after Emperor Chengzu moved the capital north, designed to prevent the extreme scenario in which a major disaster south of the Yangtze might find grain and supplies impossible to muster on short notice, thereby triggering a chain of subsequent calamities.

"What Your Majesty says strikes at the heart of the matter. This policy is an excellent measure, and this old minister had been thinking along the same lines. A branch of the Ministry of Revenue permanently stationed in Nanjing would better streamline the court's tax-collection affairs. Yet this old minister has one further request: that Your Majesty permit the branch to retain some of the original clerks of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. After all, with such a multitude of storehouses and goods involved, the current staff of the Zhejiang Clear Clerk Department could hardly sort everything out in the short term. I humbly beg Your Majesty's gracious approval!"

Hou Xun clasped his hands and bowed as he presented his memorial.

"Granted! After Minister Hou returns and selects his personnel, dispatch them immediately to Nanjing to inventory and hand over with the relevant parties. All original soldiers guarding the storehouses shall be retained. I will send imperial guards to take up permanent residence at the branch office, to assist in handling daily affairs and guard against unforeseen contingencies!"

After a moment's deliberation, Zhu Youjian approved Hou Xun's request. The so-called Embroidered Uniform Guard assistance at the office was merely fine-sounding rhetoric—in truth, the Guard was sent in to monitor and intimidate these people, preventing corruption and embezzlement to the greatest possible extent.

"The former Prefect of Pingliang Prefecture, Zhao Zhiyong, has been diligent and dutiful in his post, frequently going to the front lines in person to inspect and supervise the settlement of disaster victims, land reclamation, well-digging, and water-conservancy works. A man who devotes himself so wholeheartedly to the welfare of the people deserves reward and promotion. I decree that Zhao Zhiyong be specially promoted to Governor of Jiangsu, with the concurrent title of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, and that he proceed to his post immediately upon receiving this edict! All officials of Pingliang Prefecture below Zhao Zhiyong shall be promoted one grade, with the post of Prefect assumed by Vice Prefect Zhang Wenxian, and the same rule applied down the ranks!"

Before Sun Chuanting had entrusted Yang Sichang with forwarding his request for an audience, he had already submitted a routine memorial—one written while he was leading the Qin army on the road to the capital.

He knew that once he left Shaanxi, he would never have the chance to return, so he had written into the memorial a list of capable officials he had secretly assessed in his daily work, along with a brief account of their achievements over the past two years, to serve as reference for Zhu Youjian when appointing personnel.

This Zhao Zhiyong was the standout name on that list.

Just past forty, Zhao Zhiyong had passed the examinations in the fourth year of Tianqi. After one year of observation at the Ministry of Works, he was sent to Lantian in Shaanxi as county magistrate, and had never left Shaanxi since.

Over more than a decade, he had gradually risen by merit to the post of Prefect, but in the northwestern lands where bandits were everywhere and starving refugees swarmed like ants, serving as the chief official of a prefecture was an exceedingly trying existence. It could be said that most local officials in Shaanxi had already prepared themselves for their entire families to perish at any moment. Zhao Zhiyong, burning with anxiety yet helpless, could only do his utmost to soothe and relieve the people under his charge, trying to keep more starving refugees from drifting elsewhere and swelling the ranks of the roving bandits.

Fortunately, most of the roving bandits within Shaanxi were concentrated in northern Shaanxi, rarely drifting westward toward Pingliang Prefecture. The reason was simple: Pingliang was too poor, with little to plunder, and so the entire prefecture had remained relatively stable for many years. But with the rise of great bandit chiefs such as Huntian Wang, Renyi Wang, and Ma Jinzhong, Pingliang Prefecture soon plunged into chaos as well.

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, after Sun Chuanting assumed his post in Shaanxi and successively annihilated the major bandit forces, the northwest of Shaanxi was thoroughly pacified. Immediately afterward, Sun Chuanting designated Pingliang Prefecture as the primary region for settling disaster victims, personally traveling there to inspect the relevant prefectures and counties on the ground, accompanied by Zhao Zhiyong and others, and formulated detailed measures for military farmland and settling the people.

As waves of disaster victims were guided in an orderly fashion, vast quantities of money, grain, and supplies poured in as well, along with numerous Embroidered Uniform Guard officers in resplendent robes atop fine horses. The great project of settling the people and cultivating military farmland unfolded across the entire territory of Pingliang Prefecture.

Seeing that even Sun Chuanting frequently rushed between the various settlement sites, how could Zhao Zhiyong and the officials of Pingliang Prefecture dare remain idle in the prefectural office? Combined with the substantial reward silver and subsidies, as well as the overt and covert surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Censors, the officials of Pingliang Prefecture were, under the pressure of these several factors, all compelled to throw themselves into the vast undertaking of comforting the people, cultivating farmland, and building waterworks.

Over the following nearly two years, Zhao Zhiyong led by example, devoting the greater part of his energy and time to the matter of settling the people. Under his impetus, the officials of Pingliang Prefecture followed suit one after another, setting aside their dignity and personally throwing themselves into the practice of every link. The various difficulties encountered in land cultivation were swiftly resolved in short order.

After enduring more than half a year of waiting, the summer harvest within Pingliang Prefecture in the second year yielded over two hundred thousand shi of grain, followed by an autumn harvest of over one hundred thousand shi. These locally produced grains, together with support from Xi'an Prefecture, gave nearly two million disaster victims enough rations to sustain them until the next year's summer harvest.

With the completion and matching of various water-conservancy facilities, and as the reclaimed wasteland matured into productive fields, the summer harvest of Pingliang Prefecture in the tenth year of Chongzhen reaped a great bumper crop, totaling nearly four hundred thousand shi. If the promising autumn harvest were added, the disaster victims of Pingliang Prefecture would not only need no outside support, but would enjoy a considerable surplus of locally produced grain.

It could now be concluded that the entire project of settling the people and cultivating military farmland in Pingliang Prefecture had achieved tremendous success. And with the increase of reclaimed fields, within a few years Pingliang Prefecture would become the great granary of the northwest.

As for the promotion and employment of Zhao Zhiyong, Sun Chuanting's recommendation was one factor, while the intelligence reports relayed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard were even more detailed. It was the combination of these two that led to Zhu Youjian's appointment today.