Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 231: Disbandment
"Old Eunuch Zhang died of righteousness, and his sons, Zhang Jing and Zhang Cheng, took over. However, these two were extremely arrogant and tyrannical, and both the inner and outer courts were shrouded in their tyranny. Eventually, the censors rose up to attack them. In the 18th year of the Wanli reign, Zhang Jing fell from power, and all his followers were liquidated."

"Zhang Cheng, who succeeded him and took charge of the Eastern Depot, should have learned from Feng Bao and Zhang Jing's mistakes and behaved humbly, but he went even further. He considered himself meritorious in confiscating the property of Zhang Wenzhong, and even dared to act so recklessly in front of the late emperor. Furthermore, Zhang Cheng even attempted to consolidate his position by marrying into the family of a prominent figure. He arranged for his brother Zhang Xun to marry the heir to the Marquis of Wuqing."

Wang An stared into Liu Ruoyu's eyes, as if he wanted to carve something into them. "But I am still a servant after all. No matter how much I hold in my hands, it is all a reward from His Majesty. If His Majesty wants to take it back, it is just a matter of a word."

"In the 24th year of the Wanli reign, the once powerful Zhang Cheng fell from power. Zhang Cheng, the dignified eunuch who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department and the governor of the Eastern Depot, also held the seal of the Imperial Household Department. Overnight, he was completely demoted, his towering structure crumbled, and all his guests dispersed!"

"He was demoted to Fengyu and sent to Nanjing to guard the Xiaoling Mausoleum for Emperor Taizu. His followers were either executed or sent into exile. During that time, the turmoil in the inner court was even more violent and prolonged than it is now. People were arrested and executed every day. But you didn't experience it. By the time you entered the palace, the turmoil had subsided."

The sadness and reminiscence on Wang An's face had vanished, replaced by a strange admiration. He smiled, revealing the care of an older brother for his younger brother.

"When godfather was alive, he often used these real-life examples to teach me, urging me to serve the master well. He told me not to be like Feng Bao, who relied on his favor to become arrogant, and even more so, not to be like the two Zhangs, who were greedy. You haven't experienced these things firsthand, and I don't think godfather has taught you either." Wang An's face lit up with rare but obvious pride. Among his fellow disciples, he was the only one recommended to serve under the eldest prince. "But whether it happened or not, since the master said that an elder brother is like a father, then I will tell you these lessons. God has pushed you into the Imperial Household Department, so you must serve well and behave yourself. You must be more cautious than before."

Wang An sighed and said, "Even if we don't talk about these distant past events, you should have witnessed the beating Cui Wensheng received with your own eyes."

Liu Ruoyu nodded silently.

"Heaven did not take him, allowing him to survive, but it also left a scar on his back that will never fade. This scar is on his back, and I hope it's on your heart, too." Wang An gave a final word of advice: "Now that you've been confined to the Imperial Household Department, there will be few people in the palace who will ask you to kowtow. But you must remember to kowtow loudly. The master is the master, and the servant is the servant. Don't let others' flattery and praise make you complacent and forget your own name."

"I will keep in mind my senior brother's teachings." Liu Ruoyu was deeply touched and kowtowed in tears.

In the 31st year of the Wanli reign, he took Chen Ju as his godfather, but Chen Ju passed away four years later. Two years earlier, in the 33rd year of the Wanli reign, his father, Liu Yingqi, who had always tolerated him and provided him with a way out, also died of illness at the age of 46. He was only 21 that year, and had not yet changed his name from Shi Tai to Ruo Yu to avoid the taboo of the reign title "Taichang."

"It doesn't matter if you can't remember. We brothers will die together." Wang An pulled Liu Ruoyu up from the ground and scolded him with a smile: "You little brat, you are worthy of being the son of a border general. You are so strong. There is another rule. Let me explain it to you first."

"Please give me some advice, senior brother." Liu Ruoyu lowered his head.

"Then don't call me Senior Brother." Wang An said, "There are no Senior Brothers or Junior Brothers in the Southern Study, only Seal Holders and Pen Holders. You've done well before, and you must continue to do so now. Outside of the Southern Study, if you call me Senior Brother, I'll still respond. But in front of the master, if you call me Senior Brother, not only will I ignore you, I'll even scold you. I'm going to be frank with you so you don't cry when the time comes."

"Yes." Liu Ruoyu responded again.

"Alright. Sit down and get down to business." Wang An nodded, then pointed to the stool where Liu Ruoyu had been sitting before and said, "You can't sit randomly in the South Study. The order is set by the master. Those two seats belong to Cui Wensheng and Wei Zhongxian. You can't sit there even if they're empty. I'll have someone bring a new set of tables and chairs over when we go to the Imperial Household Department later. For now, just sit down."

"Yes." Liu Ruoyu sat on the stool and faced Wang An.

"I won't say much about daily affairs. You will know the process after two days. I just want to ask you, how do you plan to determine the number of layoffs? In other words, how do you determine how many people should be retained for a certain position?" Wang An took out a piece of paper and a pen, ready to take notes.

Liu Ruoyu thought for a moment and replied, "That's easy. Take the manufacture of utensils, for example. Count the number of utensils worn out in each palace each year, and then calculate the total for the entire Forbidden City. Add a 10% to 20% increase to allow for a necessary surplus in case of emergency. This number will serve as the basis for all subsequent arrangements. Based on this number, we'll calculate the number of craftsmen needed to manufacture these utensils." Liu Ruoyu straightened himself and continued, "The same method will be used to calculate the purchase of food and medicinal materials, as well as the expenses of the servants who serve the masters."

Liu Ruoyu's thinking was clear. Although the emperor had only mentioned saving money, there was one key point that was firmly fixed. The inner court couldn't be paralyzed by these cuts, the Forbidden City's expenses couldn't be reduced in the slightest, and the princes and princesses, the late emperor's concubines, and the ladies of the various palaces couldn't become unhappy and complain to the emperor. Failure to do so would result in certain consequences.

"Start with the mobilization expenses and count them towards the construction and procurement. That sounds reasonable." Wang An nodded and said, "When you return, write me a detailed proposal. After a while, I'll assign you some manpower to take charge of this matter."

"After a while? Not immediately? This is a task assigned by His Majesty himself." Liu Ruoyu asked.

"Well, every task handled by the Imperial Household Department is assigned by His Majesty. But compared to other matters, this one isn't something that's urgent." Wang An chuckled and said, "Of course, if this were truly urgent, it wouldn't be your turn to make this decision. The Imperial Household Department has a lot of things to do right now and is very short of manpower. We need to sort them out and prioritize them."

"What could possibly be causing the Silijian to be so short-staffed?" Liu Ruoyu was puzzled. The Silijian was an extremely large institution. Its number of civil servants was second only to the Ministry of Revenue in the two capitals, which administered taxes and grain throughout the country.

"The first thing is to check the silver confiscated by the East Factory." Wang An held his chin and thought for a while, deciding to use this as an opportunity to talk to Liu Ruoyu about the division of labor and the relationship between the various government offices. "There are three account books in this matter, one from the East Factory, which is responsible for executing the order to confiscate the stolen money; the other from the West Factory, which is responsible for supervising the East Factory's actions throughout the process; and the other from the Internal Transport Warehouse, which is responsible for receiving and storing the silver." "Each of these three account books must be reviewed, and they must also be compared. If the numbers don't match, the heads of these three government offices must all be summoned to the Imperial Household Department or even the Imperial Court for a confrontation. If it's just a mistake in the record, it's fine, and they can just be demoted and taught a lesson. But if it's corruption and abuse of power, or even collusion in corruption, then the family law will be enforced."

Palace eunuchs were all servants of the emperor, so they often referred to palace punishments as "house laws." Palace house laws were often much stricter and more severe than the laws of the emperor outside the palace. This was true unless the executioner hadn't received a death order and was willing to accept a bribe to spare the execution.

"In addition to reconciling the account books, the Imperial Household Department will also send people to the transport warehouse to count the silver and check its quality. Items like miscellaneous silver, gold and silver utensils will also be melted down and recast into official ingots. In other words, no matter how violent the Dongchang or Cui Wensheng's actions become, the Imperial Household Department will always be pulling the strings behind the scenes." Wang An paused and continued:
"Secondly, the Imperial Household Department will verify the accounts submitted to the palace by the Outer Court and convert them into numerical accounts. This is a huge and urgent task, as it will be used at the Imperial Finance Meeting! By the way, speaking of this, you'll have to work overtime recently, and you won't have any free time."

"Overtime?" Although Liu Ruoyu was the official in charge of polishing imperial edicts, he wasn't an irreplaceable figure. He rotated shifts on schedule and almost never worked overtime. This was his so-called "step-by-step" approach.

"We, the eunuchs who serve close to His Majesty, have to help His Majesty handle important matters here during the day. We have to inquire about the progress of these matters when we return to the Imperial Household Department. Doesn't that mean we have to work overtime?" Wang An nodded.

"All eunuchs qualified to attend the Imperial Conference must at least be familiar with the accounts submitted to the palace by the Outer Court. You are now the eunuch in charge of writing, so you will definitely attend the Imperial Conference. When the time comes and they ask you questions, you can't just stand there blankly, speechless. If the civil servants in the Outer Court see this, they will laugh at me for having no one in the inner court. When we return to the Imperial Household Department, I will have Chun'er explain everything to you, and then you can recite the figures in the account book."

"That's it. Just put off the things you are doing for a while, it's okay." Wang An put away the paper with the simple notes, and then took down a memorial from the pile that had already been written by the emperor.

Decisions rested solely with the emperor. In his absence, even the eunuchs in close attendance had no authority to approve or disapprove memorials submitted by external officials. Wang An and his colleagues remained in the Southern Study, solely to categorize and finalize the memorials that had been authorized by the emperor. Once completed, they were carried to the Inner Court for distribution. Because the current emperor wasn't a riddle-maker like the Jiajing Emperor, his directives were clear and concise; they simply needed to amplify and transcribe them accordingly, making the finishing work relatively easy.

But before Wang An started, he heard Liu Ruoyu say beside him: "Regarding the manpower issue, this servant has an idea."

"Speak." Wang An put the memorial aside and took out a blank piece of paper.

"I think that the important matter of checking accounts and collecting cash should of course be managed by the Imperial Household Department. However, some basic investigations can be done by transferring personnel from other government offices." Liu Ruoyu said.

"Do you want to transfer people from other government offices?" Wang An asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." Liu Ruoyu affirmed.

"Which one?" While the Ming Dynasty's eunuchs were vast, the vast majority consisted of uneducated, illiterate, and basic laborers. While every government office had educated eunuchs, they were scattered among the ranks of the Grand Eunuch or Junior Eunuch. It was rare to find a single eunuch like the Imperial Household Department, where nearly all of them were educated.

Just as Liu Ruoyu, the "Emperor of Internal Affairs", was about to explain his thoughts, he was interrupted by Wang An.

"What a stupid move! The Imperial Household Department has tens of thousands of people under its jurisdiction, and they are the main targets of this purge. Asking people from the Imperial Household Department to help you check out redundant staff is like checking yourself." Wang An put down his pen without writing a single word.

As its name suggests, the Neiguanjian (Inner Palace Supervisor) was the government office responsible for managing eunuchs. In the early Ming Dynasty, the Neiguanjian was the most confidential office within the inner court system. It not only directly controlled numerous industrial and construction organizations but also oversaw the selection and assessment of eunuchs. Compared to the outer court offices, the Neiguanjian was the equivalent of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Works combined. The most famous eunuch in Ming history, Zheng He, the Three Protectors, was a member of the Neiguanjian.

However, after Emperor Zulong abolished the position of prime minister and established the cabinet system, the Imperial Household Department, originally responsible for overseeing the emperor's documents, seals, and palace etiquette, gained the ability to participate in key government affairs, while the Imperial Household Department, previously solely responsible for eunuch affairs, gradually declined. Later, the Imperial Household Department even usurped the Imperial Household Department's responsibility for selecting eunuchs, retaining only the nominal responsibility of "overseeing the list of eunuchs." This effectively reduced the Imperial Household Department to a mere Ministry of Works for the inner court. The term "Emperor's Department" became a misnomer.

Liu Ruoyu did not shrink back immediately, but said: "Please listen to my explanation, ancestor." Liu Ruoyu obediently changed his words.

"No matter what you say, it's impossible to let the government office to be investigated investigate itself. There is no such way." Wang An said this, but still waved his hand to allow Liu Ruoyu to speak.

"I'm not asking the Imperial Household Department to conduct a self-inspection. Instead, I'm asking for the complete removal of those personnel from the Imperial Household Department who are no longer of practical use." Liu Ruoyu first laid out the key points, and when Wang An showed no intention of interrupting, he continued:
"Although the Internal Affairs Bureau is no longer as powerful as it once was, and no longer manages the selection and assessment of internal officials, the vacancies established at the beginning of the country have been retained. As far as I know, the senior officials in these vacancies all came from the Internal Studies Hall. Although they have been unemployed for a long time and are not very useful, they should still be useful."

"You mean, not seconded, but transferred? Transfer those people from the Imperial Household Department to the Imperial Household Department?" Wang An asked.

"It's not just about transferring staff. We also want to take this opportunity to eliminate these useless official positions." Liu Ruoyu answered brightly.

(End of this chapter)