Chapter 416: The Patrol Office

"Hmm? What Minister Ni says does give me a fresh perspective. I have long dwelt deep in the palace, and though I know the general state of affairs both within and without, the affairs of the realm are vast and numerous, and I have no leisure to attend to every fine detail. This patrol office you speak of, Minister, I seem never to have heard of it — pray, tell me more!"

Ni Yuanlu's words roused Zhu Youjian's interest and attention.

Though he had been striving to push forward this gradual transformation in the Ming, one man's counsel is short while many men's counsel is long — there were far too many things throughout the Ming that needed improvement for him to possibly attend to every one, so the suggestions and reminders of capable ministers and able officials were of the utmost importance.

"I report to Your Majesty: the patrol office of which your servant speaks is the collective name for the fire soldiers and night-patrol archers of each city. Observing that under the day-and-night patrols of the capital's Five Wards Troops and Horses Office and its seventy-two red watchtowers, thefts and fires within the city have decreased year by year, and the people's property and lives have gained greater protection, your servant thus wished to extend this practice to the various prefectures and counties of the metropolitan area, using the court's strength to reduce the harm that unforeseen disasters inflict upon the people's lives and property!"

Ni Yuanlu clasped his hands and, unhurriedly, set forth the reasons and purpose behind his proposal.

In terms of the court's various policies and strategies of governance, as well as a whole series of preventive measures for dealing with natural disasters, the Ming could be said to lead the entire world at that time.

Especially in the capital, that great city which was then the most densely populated and most prosperous in the world.

Let us speak first of the Forbidden City.

In the courtyard of every palace within the imperial city were placed several great vats capable of holding over a thousand liters of water, and these vats were kept filled to the brim every day; if any water was used, eunuchs would afterwards carry water to refill them, so as to be prepared for any need.

To prevent the water in the great vats from freezing solid in winter and becoming unusable, the eunuchs would also wrap each vat in a quilted cotton or woven straw covering.

Should a major fire break out, besides the water in these great vats, the moat outside the palace and the Golden Water River within the palace grounds became the best places to draw water.

As for the tall courtyard walls surrounding the bedchambers where the emperor and his consorts dwelt in the inner palace, besides preventing the leaking of private matters, their greater function was in fact as firewalls.

Should a fire start in one bedchamber, these firewalls could completely contain the blaze within a single local courtyard, preventing the great fire from spreading to other palaces.

Now let us speak of the entire capital.

Within the vast capital were installed seventy-two fire watchtowers, each manned day and night by eighteen fire soldiers and archers; when night grew deep, a Squad Leader would lead five subordinates carrying bronze bells on their night patrols, and the ringing of the bells reminded the people to guard against fire and theft while also serving the function of apprehending thieves.

At set intervals throughout the capital, the court would have a well dug, and within the patrol range of each fire watchtower several great vats were placed, filled either with water or with sand and earth, to be ready for urgent use should a fire break out.

Every fire watchtower was equipped with long axes, hoes, iron rakes, and other water-holding vessels; the moment a fire arose, the watchtower soldiers would immediately go to extinguish it, and residents and households near the fire were also required to participate in fighting the blaze without condition, lest they be punished by the authorities afterwards.

Under these rigorous measures, though fires might still occur in the capital of a million souls, the losses they caused were reduced to the minimum.

After Ni Yuanlu took up his post in Shuntian Prefecture, he too was full of ambition to achieve notable accomplishments; after on-site inspections and reviewing the documents of the subordinate prefectures and counties, he decided to advise the Emperor to extend this complete system of fire prevention and theft prevention that benefited the people from the capital to the local prefectures and counties.

"Your servant has reviewed the official records of the relevant prefectures and counties, and finds that though the many prefectures and counties under Shuntian Prefecture have all established watchtower soldiers and fire soldiers, through years of negligence and slackness these have already become hollow shells in name only, so that when fires suddenly break out or thieves enter homes, there is no strength to resist, and the people suffer grievous losses of life and property! Your servant proposes that the prefectures and counties of Shuntian follow the capital's model, establishing a number of patrol offices within their cities, staffing them with actual personnel, and issuing all manner of implements for urgent use. Their personnel shall be under the jurisdiction of the Judge and the County Magistrate, and their salaries shall be paid following the capital's example, so that they may have constancy in their duties. If every city establishes a patrol office, then the safety of the people within the cities can be secured, and it will also manifest the court's duty of loving and caring for the people!"

After Ni Yuanlu finished his memorial, he again clasped his hands and bowed, then quietly awaited the Emperor's reply; beside him, Wen Tiren stroked his beard with closed eyes, offering no opinion on Ni Yuanlu's proposal.

"What Minister Ni memorializes is most proper. This matter concerns the daily safety of the people and should indeed be vigorously promoted. The salaries of patrol office personnel may be appropriately increased, so that they may devote themselves more earnestly to this duty! Minister Ni may draft this memorial as a routine memorial and deliver it to the Grand Secretariat; once the Directorate of Ceremonial has given its red endorsement, it shall be implemented throughout the metropolitan area! Minister Ni's people-centered thinking truly earns my admiration!"

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with Ni Yuanlu's strategy.

Though this product of combining firefighting with police patrol was hardly novel, it was nevertheless a good beginning toward professionalizing this line of work.

From this point on, local governments would no longer burden the people with night-watch and bell-ringing duties in the form of corvée labor, but would instead spend money and grain to establish professional teams for more effective management of urban security and fire prevention.

For Ni Yuanlu's open-minded concepts and way of thinking, Zhu Youjian felt genuine delight and admiration.

For such major matters that fell within the blind spots of his vision, so long as they proved effective, he would issue an edict to promote this measure throughout the entire Ming territory; while spending money and grain, it would also conveniently resolve the employment problem of no small number of people.

At a time when most officials held that the people of the Ming had the duty and self-awareness to pay out of their own pockets for the government's sake, first came Wen Tiren's progressive reform plan for the relay-post system, and now came Ni Yuanlu's suggestion to turn the patrol offices into a professional institution — these two changes, though minor, were nonetheless conspicuous, proving that Ming officials were not all ossified and conservative rotten types, and that many people's ideas and concepts were still very open and ahead of their time.

As they spoke, Yang Sichang, Zhang Guowei, Hou Xun, and others arrived one after another at Zhaoren Hall; after the rites between sovereign and ministers, the assembled ministers took their seats one by one, awaiting Zhu Youjian's imperial instruction.

"Minister Yang, has any latest military intelligence arrived regarding the fighting beyond the passes? Have the Xuan-Da forces under Minister Lu and the troops of Liu Guoneng and Zhang Wenyao at Dengzhou made ready to strike deep into enemy territory?"

Zhu Youjian did not first put forward his own agenda, but instead turned the conversation first to the war beyond the passes that had already begun.

"I report to Your Majesty: since yesterday, when Grand Secretary Sun sent word that Academician Chen intended to dispatch men to burn the enemy's grain stores, and prepared to send out troops to support this surprise attack, taking the opportunity to drive the enemy at Ningyuan northward, no latest military intelligence has yet arrived!"

The elegant Yang Sichang rose unhurriedly, bowed, and replied.

"Minister Chen's plan is indeed a stroke of surprise, and Minister Sun's deployment of the main army to engage the enemy head-on also shows a deep grasp of the essence of Sun Tzu's Art of War! Minister Yang, in your judgment, what are the chances of success or failure for Ministers Sun and Chen this time?"

After receiving the military intelligence report that Yang Sichang had sent into the palace yesterday, Zhu Youjian had been full of admiration for the military strategies of Chen Qiyu and Sun Chuanting, but in his heart he was deeply worried whether the two men's joint scheme could succeed — after all, the Qing army was no rabble like the roving bandits.

"I report to Your Majesty: so long as Academician Chen's plan can succeed, the eastern barbarians' retreat northward is a certainty! And in your servant's humble opinion, the surprise attack that Academician Chen has devised has a nine-in-ten chance of succeeding!"

Facing the Emperor's inquiry, Yang Sichang immediately gave an affirmative answer.

"Why does Minister Yang judge so? The eastern barbarians' soldiers are all battle-hardened veterans — how could they fail to guard their grain stores heavily?"

Zhu Youjian felt somewhat relieved upon hearing this, but still wished to hear Yang Sichang's reasoned analysis of the matter.

"What Your Majesty says is true — the eastern barbarians have fought bitterly against our Ming border troops for over a decade and are indeed a formidable army rarely seen in this age, but it is precisely for this reason that Academician Chen's surprise attack has all the more chance of success! For no other reason than that they are an arrogant army! The eastern barbarians, from the barbarian chieftain on down, have always looked upon our imperial troops as nothing; though they now face our formidable new army, their contemptuous and arrogant bearing will not diminish in the short term — this gives our forces an opening! Furthermore, from what your servant knows, when the eastern barbarians face our troops they have never placed much weight on the arts of encampment and fortification, and moreover they are focused solely on our main army marching out from Ningyuan, so they should have no guard against the little town of Zhenyuan Fort; with these two factors combined, our forces need have no fear of failure — I beg Your Majesty to rest easy! If your servant's estimation is not mistaken, word of victory should arrive no later than the day after tomorrow!"