Chapter 347: Court of Agricultural Supervision

Yang Sichang offered his thanks for the Emperor's praise and sat down, secretly delighted in his heart.

With Wen Tiren recommending Hezhou Prefect Xun Wenli as Changzhou Prefect, the selection of principal officials for the four Jiangnan prefectures was finally settled; the remaining vacancies for Judge, Assistant Prefect, and other posts were left to the Ministry of Personnel to examine and appoint, and Zhu Youjian had no intention of interfering.

Investigating Censors and the Embroidered Uniform Guard had already begun stationing themselves in the major prefectures, supervising the performance of duties by principal local officials and reporting their conduct to the Emperor and the Grand Secretariat at any time.

Under such strict oversight measures, the actions of both the competent and the negligent or indolent would be recorded in the archives, which would further benefit the efficiency and integrity of official governance.

When these two supervisory bodies covered the vast majority of prefectures and counties in the Great Ming, Zhu Youjian believed, a clean officialdom unprecedented in history would be born during his reign.

This was no extravagant hope or fantasy, because compared to the enormous population of later ages and the equally enormous administrative apparatus, local officials of the present were far too easy to keep an eye on.

After all, the number of regular officials the court dispatched to the localities was far too small, and their every move drew attention; the Embroidered Uniform Guard needed only a modicum of effort to learn their daily conduct inside and out.

In truth, the transparency of the Great Ming's existing governing system was already quite high—every link was conducted essentially in the open—and the transparency of local government affairs was even higher.

Take the simplest example: adjudicating cases.

Everyone on earth knew that when a County Magistrate heard a case, commoners were permitted to sit in as observers in the main hall. Though those who dared to attend were, apart from persons connected to the case, mostly idle folk of some standing who had nothing better to do—ordinary commoners truly did not dare set foot inside the yamen.

Theoretically, any commoner could observe, let alone Censors and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. So long as either was present, the Magistrate's every action, word, and verdict during a hearing would be recorded in the files—under such circumstances, how would a Magistrate dare to bend the law for personal gain?

Most importantly, though fellow civil officials—some Censors might choose to look the other way, shut one eye, or even wallow in the same mire to deceive superiors and hoodwink subordinates—who would dare to try bribing the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Even if someone dared, would they not end up having a layer of skin peeled off by the Guard in the process?

Zhu Youjian intended to extend the Embroidered Uniform Guard's duty-station system, already in force in the capital, to local government offices—and no one could say a word against it.

Every ministry and bureau in the capital had Colonels on duty; could a paltry local yamen compare itself to the central government?

"Yesterday I was struck by a sudden fancy and left the palace to inspect the Wenyuan Pavilion—this was also the first time I had visited the Grand Secretariat's offices since my ascension. Though I had long heard that the place where the Grand Secretariat handled affairs was none too spacious, I had not imagined it would be so cramped as this. I do not favor extravagance, but neither can I sit idly by while my Grand Secretaries work in such an environment. After reflecting through the night, I have resolved to expand and renovate the Grand Secretariat's offices, to uphold the dignity of the court. Minister Fan may, after this meeting, dispatch officials of the Bureau of Construction to survey the site, then draw up a renovation plan, and, without disrupting the Grand Secretariat's business, choose an opportune moment to carry out the expansion. The expansion shall add a dining hall, rest quarters for night duty, and facilities for changing clothes and bathing; the costs in money and grain shall be calculated and paid by the Ministry of Revenue!"

When Zhu Youjian finished speaking, Wen Tiren opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.

Because it had suddenly become clear to him: the number of Grand Secretaries would soon increase to at least six, and the secretaries and clerks in the two chambers would correspondingly grow as well—that nose-pore-sized space of the Grand Secretariat would suddenly hold several times its current number of people, and without expansion it would be utterly impossible to conduct business.

The assembled ministers raised no objection to the Emperor's move, and especially those few hoping to enter the Grand Secretariat were extremely satisfied with this gesture of care.

Yang Sichang in particular, who prized cleanliness above all, had been greatly displeased every time he went to the Grand Secretariat at the tiny bed on which the Grand Secretaries slept during night duty in the inner room. Hearing the several details the Emperor had specifically instructed, Yang Sichang suddenly felt that he and the Emperor were in fact the same kind of person—both refined gentlemen who valued quality of life.

Next came the day's third agenda item: establishing new government offices.

"I submit to Your Majesty: since the Grand Ancestor founded the dynasty and established its institutions, the powers and responsibilities of the court's ministries and bureaus have sufficed to meet the conditions of our dynasty—why must new offices be established time and again, squandering the state's coffers? What place does this leave for the ancestral system?"

The speaker was Minister of Rites Zhang Guowei. Knowing full well that he had offended Zhu Youjian at the last deliberation and that entry into the Grand Secretariat was now utterly impossible, this fellow, in the spirit of smashing a cracked pot, once again stood up to court death.

"Minister Zhang's words are mistaken! Our dynasty's system follows that of the former Mongol Yuan, and the Grand Ancestor naturally made corresponding reforms according to our dynasty's conditions. Take the predecessor of the Grand Secretariat: in the early years of the state, the Grand Ancestor established the Central Secretariat, appointing Left and Right Grand Councilors, with the Chancellor of State Affairs as deputy—the Central Secretariat was then the most important office for handling court affairs. The Grand Ancestor subsequently abolished the post of Grand Councilor in the thirteenth year of Hongwu, replacing it with Grand Secretaries to participate in confidential affairs. After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he brought in Lecturers, Readers, Junior Compilers, and Correctors to participate in confidential affairs, forming the Grand Secretariat to assist the sovereign in governing—and Grand Secretaries began openly participating in confidential matters and aiding in the administration of the state. By Minister Zhang's logic, was Emperor Taizong's action not a revision of the ancestral system?"

The one who came out to slap Zhang Guowei's face was, as ever, Wen Tiren. Old Wen, adhering to the principle of striking while the iron is hot and kicking a man when he's down, once again gave Zhang Guowei a thorough beating.

Last night he had already discerned from Zhu Youjian's words that the newly established offices would bear on his own son's future prospects, so when Zhang Guowei stepped forward first to object, Old Wen refuted him without the slightest courtesy.

"Ministers need say no more on the matter of establishing new offices—this is something I have considered deeply. I observe that throughout the rise and fall of successive dynasties, the causes have all lain in land and grain; and the rapid rise of the roving bandits previously was likewise due to the single word 'grain.' Under successive droughts and floods, countless commoners had nothing to fill their stomachs, and with wicked bandits inciting and coercing them, the northern reaches of the Great Ming fell into ruin.

Now, thanks to the dedication of my ministers and the valor of the imperial armies, the roving bandits have been wiped out almost entirely, and my people are at last free of the suffering of displacement and homelessness."

There was nothing novel in Zhu Youjian's remarks; as the courtiers sat upright and composed, they were all privately guessing what rank of office the Emperor intended to establish—surely it would not be another chicken-rib like the Health Bureau?

"Moved by the principle that food is the heaven of the people and grain the foundation of the realm, I have resolved, following the system of the former Song, to re-establish the Court of Agriculture in the outer court, charged exclusively with matters pertaining to the produce of fields, rivers, lakes, and seas. The Court of Agriculture shall have one Chief Minister, of the third rank; one Left and one Right Vice Minister, of the upper fourth rank; the remaining numbers and ranks of Assistant Directors, Registrars, and other posts shall be set by the Grand Secretariat in conjunction with the Ministry of Personnel. The Court of Agriculture shall be responsible for the nation's encouragement of agriculture and sericulture, and all matters of forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, and hunting; the Left Administrators of each province and the Vice Prefects, Assistant Prefects, and Registrars of each prefecture, department, and county shall liaise with it and carry out the statutes and orders it issues. The Court of Agriculture shall have the right to make recommendations on the promotion, transfer, and reassignment of the local officials with whom it liaises, for the reference of the Ministry of Personnel in its merit assessments!"

Re-establishing the Court of Agriculture was one of the great undertakings Zhu Youjian had wished to accomplish since last year; its purpose was to gradually transform the Great Ming's currently backward methods of production, using more advanced techniques and measures to raise the per-mu grain yield of the entire Great Ming, and free more commoners from the calamity of hunger.

Without agriculture there is no stability, without commerce no vitality, without industry no wealth—these three points run through the development of all agrarian societies, and the first is the cornerstone upon which all social activity proceeds smoothly.

In the present absence of efficient compound fertilizers, raising grain output—apart from the help of Heaven—depended on deep plowing and fine cultivation, reclaiming wasteland to add new acreage, promoting the widespread use of advanced farm tools, building water conservancy works, the large-scale application of human and animal manure and composted grass-ash fertilizer, the utilization of large livestock, and similar measures—all highly effective means and methods.

But all these favorable conditions could not be achieved without the court's guidance and support.

To put it plainly, what was needed was for the court to scatter silver on a massive scale; and given the current revenue of the Taicang treasury, though it had already improved considerably compared to the period before the eighth year of Chongzhen, it was still far from sufficient to bear such an enormous investment.