I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 202 Military pay reduced by one tael of silver

Xu Wei is hailed as the best in the world in poetry, prose, calligraphy, and painting.

He once said that among his four great skills, calligraphy was the foremost. The calligraphy he referred to was neither calligraphy nor writings, but rather military treatises.

In other words, Xu Wei believed that his military talent was very high, extremely high, exceptionally high, not just ordinary high.

Others might see this as arrogance, but Xu Wei saw it as confidence.

With such a brilliant man, unparalleled in the Jiangnan region, coming to help Lin Shisan design a trap for the Japanese pirates, Lin Shisan was truly given wings.

Xu Wei took up his pen and quickly revised the intelligence report on Qi Jiguang's army in a short time. He then spent another half an hour writing more than a dozen innocuous and easily verifiable reports, as well as ambiguous and half-true reports.

But he did not write any false information.

Xu Wei said, "Commander Lin, we must nurture this intelligence channel. We must nurture it until the Japanese pirates completely trust it. When the Ming army launches a general crackdown on the Japanese pirates, we will then provide them with false intelligence that they will walk right into our trap."

“At critical moments in the war, a single piece of false intelligence could sway the entire situation of the anti-Japanese war in the southeast.”

Lin Shisan said, "Mr. Xu's insight is profound; I understand."

Xu Wei then uttered a few more cold and ruthless words: "When necessary, some garrison troops must be sacrificed."

Lin Shisan was taken aback, thinking to himself: Although Mr. Xu is a scholar, he does not have the sentimentality of a scholar. He is a ruthless person who is decisive in killing.

Xu Wei gave Lin Shisan some more instructions. The next day, he bid farewell to Lin Shisan and returned to Nanjing with Shen Weijing.

To prevent any mishaps, Lin Shisan simply had Xue Yanwang move into Wenyuan Xiuju and open a gynecology clinic on the pleasure boat.

The cooks, servants, and madams at Wenyuan Xiuju were all replaced by people from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Since we're making Xue Yanwang live on a pleasure boat and suffer from the dampness all day, we should at least give him some benefits.

The benefit Lin Shisan offered was that Xue Yanwang could sleep with any of the six girls at Wenyuan Xiuju when there were no guests.

The channel through which Wenyuan Xiuju supplied false intelligence to the Japanese pirates was now fully established.

Lin Shisan wrote a letter to Lu Bing, explaining the matter in detail. Naturally, Lin Shisan made no mention of the list of officials colluding with the Japanese pirates.

The letter was urgently delivered to the capital, and Lin Shisan had once again performed a great service.

However, Lin Shisan ended up owing Shao Daxia a huge favor because of this.

Or rather, Lin Shisan owed Gao Gong a huge favor.

After all, behind Master Shao stood Gao Gong, the teacher of Prince Yu.

Having nothing to do that day, Lin Shisan went to the Qinhuai River again and fished with Duke Xu Pengju of Wei.

This time, he had two more fishing buddies with him.

One of them was Huang Maoguan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing.

One was Li Ke, the Prefect of Yingtian Prefecture.

Xu Pengju introduced Lin Shisan: "This is the magistrate of Yingtian City, the most idle person in all of Yingtian, Prefect Li Ke."

Xu Pengju's words are true. Li Ke is indeed very free.

The imperial court established both a governor and a prefect in Yingtian. The governor was in charge of Nanjing city and the surrounding prefectures, states, and counties; the prefect was in charge of Nanjing city only.

The two positions already overlapped in importance.

The civil service group reached a tacit agreement with the nobility group. All civil and military affairs in Nanjing were placed under the jurisdiction of the Nanjing garrison.

Li Ke was an official with the title of a third-rank official but no real power.

Lin Shisan cupped his hands in greeting: "Your subordinate pays respects to Prefect Li."

Li Ke quickly replied, "Please don't stand on ceremony. We're all friends when we're fishing together. Once we've got our fishing rods, we don't distinguish between official ranks."

Xu Pengju then pointed to Huang Maoguan beside him and said half-jokingly, "This is Huang Maoguan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing. His nickname is Huang the Busybody."

Lin Shisan quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "The Nanjing Garrison only has Mao Guan as an assistant. I have long heard of Minister Huang's great name!"

Most of the current officials in charge of the Six Ministries remaining in Nanjing are in a state of mind focused on enjoying their retirement and living a comfortable life. They take a laissez-faire attitude and just go through the motions.

Only Huang Maoguan was an exception.

Huang Maoguan nodded symbolically to Lin Shisan. Then he began to chatter on and on with Xu Pengju.

"My Lord. In the year of Wushen, the border troops were short of food and pay. At that time, the imperial court issued an edict to transfer 40% of the food and pay in Nanjing to the nine border regions, and this became a fixed practice."

"When Ma Kun became the Minister of War in Nanjing, he actually reduced the monthly military pay of the soldiers from five coins to four coins."

"The garrison troops in Nanjing are completely useless. They rely entirely on the battalion soldiers. Their pay has been reduced by one qian for two years now!"

"Old Ma has now packed up and left, but he has sown the seeds of future trouble in the Sixth Battalion!"

"It's true that the soldiers are good at fighting, but they're also wild. They're short a penny every month, and they're holding a grudge. Sooner or later, something big will happen."

Xu Pengju said, "It's just one less coin of silver per month. Is it really worth it for them?"

Huang Maoguan became anxious: "Why don't you just say that the Six Battalions have 18,000 men, and each man gets an extra 10,000 taels of silver in military pay, which is only 1,800 taels of silver per month? If the people left behind in the Six Ministries use less public funds for a few meals, the money will come out!"

"If the people of the Six Ministries skip a few meals, they can appease the morale of the soldiers in the Six Battalions for the imperial court!"

(Note: In the Ming Dynasty, silver was priced using a decimal system of taels, coins, fen, and li. One tael was equal to ten coins, one coin was equal to ten fen, and one fen was equal to ten li. It was not a system of sixteen taels.)
Xu Pengju said, "This is not about the amount of money. Military pay is always a sensitive issue."

“It is easy to cut military pay, but to raise it back requires a joint document from the Nanjing garrison commander, the garrison eunuch, the assistant garrison commander, the advisor on military affairs, and the officials of the Nanjing Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue to be submitted to the court.”

"After the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Five Military Commissions have reviewed and approved it, it must be submitted to the Grand Secretariat for a draft, then presented to the Emperor for review, and finally approved by the Directorate of Ceremonial."

“Those upright officials in the court would still criticize and obstruct.”

Huang Maoguan got angry, threw down his fishing rod, and stood up: "You're afraid of the trouble of raising military pay. Aren't you afraid of the trouble of military reorganization?"

Xu Pengju looked indifferent: "A mutiny? That's an exaggeration. Whether it's the soldiers or the common people of the Ming Dynasty, they won't rebel until they're starving."

Huang Maoguan was furious, his eyes blazing with anger: "Fine! Fine! When a mutiny really breaks out, I'll have you, Duke of Wei, shield yourself from the mutinous soldiers' swords and spears!"

"I just don't understand. Why is it so difficult to get anything done in officialdom!"

After saying this, Huang Maoguan left in a rage.

Xu Pengju said to Lin Shisan, "Look at Huang Maoguan. He's always so quick-tempered. But Old Huang is a good man. He really wants to do something for the court."

"But these days, how easy is it to get things done?"

Lin Shisan said, "Yes, yes, yes."

But in his heart he thought: You, Duke of Wei, are a well-fed man who doesn't know the hunger of a starving man. That one coin of silver is nothing more than a few more handfuls of bait in the Qinhuai River for you.

For ordinary soldiers, however, it meant the cost of books for their children's private schooling; the cost of cloth for their wives; and the cost of medicine for their parents' medical treatment.

Xu Pengju called him a good-for-nothing. Actually, the term "good-for-nothing" doesn't mean he's stupid, but rather that he's unwilling to take responsibility and avoids problems.

He seemed to have seen through Lin Shisan's thoughts.

Xu Pengju said, "It costs more than 1,800 taels a month. To put it bluntly, the Marquis of Linhuai, the Earl of Chengyi, and I can scrape it together with our private savings."

"If we do that, those upright officials in the capital will immediately be labeled as 'bribing the army,' 'plotting rebellion,' and so on."

"In life, it's better to avoid trouble. Let go when you should!"

Xu Pengju had some things he couldn't say openly. "My father, as the garrison commander of Nanjing, was in charge of the army, the people, and the finances. And my ancestors were loyal to the Jianwen Emperor."

If I take this post seriously, will the Emperor feel comfortable entrusting me with power?

If I fulfill my duties diligently, the emperor will suspect that I intend to establish my own independent regime!
So, I decided to simply wash my hands of the matter. I'm content, and the Emperor is at ease.

The feather float suddenly sank. Xu Peng lifted the rod, and it immediately bent sharply.

Lin Shisan shouted, "We've caught a big fish! The Duke is incredibly brave!"

Xu Pengju tightened his stance, gripped the fishing rod tightly with both hands, and used all his strength to play the fish.

This fish was enormous; it took about two quarters of an hour for it to finally collapse belly-up from exhaustion. It was only because Xu Pengju was strong and robust that the smaller, thinner man was dragged into the water long ago.

Lin Shisan was a master of flattery in the capital's officialdom. Upon arriving in Nanjing, he became a skilled fishmonger for the Duke of Wei.

He picked up the net, held his breath, aimed at the fish's head, and with a "plop," the fish went into the net.

Lin Shisan pulled the net ashore and exclaimed in surprise, "A grass carp! My goodness, it weighs at least thirty catties! The grass carp stone in its mouth alone could sell for five taels of silver, not even counting the meat!"

Xu Pengju was as happy as a child who had eaten eight pounds of honey: "How could there be such a big bluefish in the Qinhuai River?"

Lin Shisan quickly praised, "You are blessed with good fortune; catching this big bluefish is your destiny."

"In my opinion, you're about to have a stroke of good luck!"

Xu Pengju removed the fishhook from the fish's mouth: "Hey, that's really rare. Such a big fish, and it still gets a good bite."

"Your bait recipe is still the best."

Lin Shisan subtly hinted, "Minister Huang Maoguan just mentioned to you about raising the soldiers' pay. You immediately caught a big fish."

"Perhaps this is the will of Heaven—if you agree to help Minister Huang with this matter, everything will go smoothly."

Xu Pengju frowned: "Little Thirteen, how much did you get from Lao Huang? No, Lao Huang is as honest as a puddle of water. He never gives anyone any benefits."

"You must have something on Lao Huang, right? Otherwise, why would you use words to confuse me and do things for him?"

Lin Shisan said, "I just feel that this big blue carp is an auspicious sign, a hint from heaven."

Xu Pengju said, "Let's forget about it. It's better to avoid trouble."

"It's better to avoid trouble" was the favorite saying of the incompetent Duke Xu Pengju.

Prefect Li of Yingtian Prefecture chimed in, "That's right, that's right. If the sky falls, those big shots in the capital will hold it up. Why should we worry about it?"

"Furthermore, the soldiers are just resentful. It's still a long way from the sky falling down!"

Lin Shisan was quite helpless.

It would be truly terrifying if all officials in the Ming Dynasty had the mentality of Xu Pengju.

The three of them fished all day. Xu Pengju returned home satisfied. Prefect Li also had a good catch.

Lin Shisan carried the carp he had caught back to his mansion on Dachanggan Street.

Wang Xiaochuan and Hu'er were squatting on the ground, playing a game of adding strokes to change words, with small wooden sticks in hand.

Unfortunately, the two were still young and didn't know many characters. They could only play a game called "One, Two, King, Field, You, Shen".

Seeing this, Lin Shisan was secretly delighted: Wang Xiaochuan has really grown up. He's stopped leading Hu'er to play with firecrackers and blow up latrines and started playing with literature instead.

When Biyun saw Lin Shisan return carrying a carp, she asked, "No crucian carp?"

Lin Shisan nodded: "It seems that the crucian carp in the Qinhuai River have all swum into the main stream of the Yangtze River to spawn recently. Today, I went fishing with the Duke of Wei, but we didn't see a single crucian carp."

Biyun complained, "Yun'er is short of breast milk and needs crucian carp to help her produce more. I sent Chun Ge'er and Meiniang to the fish market to buy some, but they're out of stock."

“When Yun’er had plenty of breast milk, you would bring back several buckets of crucian carp every day. You couldn’t eat them all, so you gave them to the neighbors.”

"When she doesn't have enough breast milk, you won't be able to catch any crucian carp."

Lin Shisan laughed and said, "Look at you, what's wrong? You seem so upset. Who upset you?"

Biyun turned her face away: "Nobody messed with me!"

After dinner, Biyun had a long face and didn't say a word.

As night fell, Lin Shisan could no longer sleep in Yun'er's room. He quickly and tactfully went to his wife's bedroom.

Lin Shisan said with a fawning smile, "My dear Mrs. Lin, what's wrong with you? We've been married for so many years, and I've rarely seen you lose your temper like this."

Biyun said, "Take your bedding and go sleep with prostitutes by West Lake in Hangzhou! Don't bother me."

Lin Shisan's heart skipped a beat: "What's wrong? I swear to God, although I sometimes have casual flings with other women, you are the only one I love, my wife, my sweetheart Biyun!"

Bi Yun cursed, "You call yourself a royal guard, a high-ranking official? Can't you stop doing such despicable things?"

Lin Shisan's expression changed: "What despicable thing have I done?"

Biyun said, "Do I really have to spell it out?"

Lin Shisan also got angry: "Then just say it outright!"

Biyun asked, "Isn't there a prostitute named Yu Niang by West Lake in Hangzhou? It's fine if you sleep with her, but you also let Li Gao sleep with her."

"A royal attendant and commander of the Imperial Guards actually became sworn brothers with the Crown Prince's brother-in-law, a commander of the Imperial Guards!"

Lin Shisan stood there, stunned. How did this get to Biyun's ears?
Lin Shisan tentatively asked, "Who's been gossiping about you? Aren't they afraid of getting their tongues rotten?"

Biyun said, "It was Cuizhu from Sun Yue's fourth wife who told me. How could it be false?"

The chain of events surrounding this matter is as follows.

Sun Yue took a courtesan named Cuizhu as his concubine. One day, after drinking too much and engaging in a passionate encounter, he blurted out the whole thing to Cuizhu.

In order to curry favor with Biyun, Cuizhu told Biyun about this matter again.

Lin Shisan was extremely embarrassed.

Biyun angrily said, "Which official in the Ming Dynasty doesn't have three wives and four concubines? Which one doesn't indulge in philandering? I can tolerate all of that. As long as you don't let me know, I'll consider you a virtuous and law-abiding man like Liu Xiahui."

"But when I heard about it, I couldn't stand it anymore!"

"Why did you have to befriend Li Gao? What's his status compared to yours? If this gets back to the censors, it'll be another big deal!"

Lin Shisan is a real man who never does anything wrong, but once he does, he feels guilty.

He knelt down before his wife, Biyun, with a "plop": "My dear Biyun, calm down. Don't be angry, or you'll ruin your health."

"I swear to God! I will never again seek out women. If I am ever again an imperial envoy, I will refuse any women offered to me by local officials!"

"I accepted everything without question before, not because of... but because..."

Biyun retorted angrily, "Don't tell me you're doing this for the sake of the court and the country, or for official connections. You're just doing it for the pleasure of those below."

Lin Shisan quickly said, "I was wrong. It's all my fault. I won't do it again. Please forgive me this time."

Biyun sighed, "Fine. From now on, try not to cause trouble outside, at least don't let me find out."

Seeing that he had calmed Biyun down, Lin Shisan cursed inwardly: That bastard Sun Yue! I'll teach him a lesson tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)