Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 254 Judgment and Merger

When Cui Wensheng heard this question, instead of becoming more frightened, a fleeting, morbid smile appeared on his face.

"Do you think you've done it perfectly? Wei Zhongxian is watching you." As he spoke, Zhu Changluo turned around, picked up a thin little notebook from the imperial desk, and threw it in front of Cui Wensheng. "It clearly states when, where, and who your eldest son killed. Would you like to take a look for yourself?"

Cui Wensheng picked up the small notebook from the ground and gently flipped it open. As he flipped through it, the hairs on his body stood up unconsciously. Cui Wensheng discovered that the contents of this small notebook were much more detailed than what Cui Yuan had reported to him, and some of the entries were even accurate to the time.

He calmed himself down, raised the notebook above his head, and spoke in a voice tinged with sorrow. "These people are all traitors who support the Third Prince, either openly or secretly!"

Cui Wensheng sent Cui Yuan out to kill people simply to protect a secret that had been fabricated by lies and never existed in the first place. Initially, the people Cui Wensheng put on his death list were few in number; only a few eunuchs living in and around Beijing. They were all Cui Wensheng's colleagues in the Zheng Palace.

If these colleagues had remained in the palace to serve Concubine Zheng, it would have been difficult to kill them. However, in order to clip Concubine Zheng's wings, Wang An threw all these eunuchs out of the Forbidden City when Concubine Zheng moved to the Cining Palace. This inadvertently cleared the biggest obstacle for Cui Yuan's assassination plan.

The assassination went smoothly. But later, Cui Yuan discovered that someone was following him. Although Cui Yuan couldn't confirm the identity of the stalker, the presence of an organization like the West Factory, whose main job was to monitor the East Factory, made it difficult for Cui Yuan not to have correct suspicions.

After the matter was reported to Cui Wensheng, he decided to take a gamble and simply lengthen the death list, using human lives to increase the commonality of the victims and make the assassination appear to be a retaliation against Prince Fu's followers. However, in reality, many of the non-local officials he killed had no intention of supporting Prince Fu's ascension to the throne. They were merely currying favor with the Zheng family and had directly or indirectly given gifts to the imperial concubine.

"Wow. So, you're helping me settle the accounts?" Zhu Changluo paced in the hall, while Cui Wensheng's head kept rotating and adjusting in line with his steps.

"I have no intention of presumptuous behavior. I just feel regretful when thinking about the past, and want to completely break with my past self." Cui Wensheng answered cleverly.

After saying this, Cui Wensheng slid forward, lowering his limbs to the ground. He then raised his head and kowtowed, performing a standard prostration. "Only by cutting off our retreat can we continue to march forward with our master!"

This action once again refreshed Zhu Changluo's understanding of Cui Wensheng. A wave of surprise welled up in his heart, causing a facial muscle near his left eye to twitch unconsciously. However, with Zhu Changluo's active control, the twitching muscle quickly calmed down.

"Cui Wensheng, you really know how to pick out pleasantries." Zhu Changluo snorted coldly, then turned to look at Wei Chao and asked, "What do you think?"

Wei Chao had been trying to speak up for Cui Wensheng. Seeing the emperor's words now reach his ears, he immediately jumped on the bandwagon. He stood up and bowed respectfully, saying, "I believe that while Cui Wensheng may have acted arbitrarily, he has no intention of disobeying his will."

"Wei Chao said you were a loyal minister. Why don't you thank him quickly?" Zhu Changluo said sarcastically.

“.” Cui Wensheng kowtowed again while maintaining the prostrate posture, but did not respond.

"If you don't thank him, it means that you don't think you are a loyal minister?" Zhu Changluo withdrew his gaze from Wei Chao and continued to look down at Cui Wensheng.

Cui Wensheng spoke up: "I dare not call myself a loyal subject. At most, I can only be considered a loyal dog of the master."

"Loyal dog?" Zhu Changluo stepped onto the steps, narrowing his eyes slightly, as if observing something carefully. "From this point of view, you seem like a good dog. At least you don't dare to show your teeth to me."

"Thank you, my lord, for the reward." Cui Wensheng did not take it as an offense, but was honored.

"A good dog must obey orders. If you bite people without my permission again, I will ask Wei Zhongxian to skin you. Do you hear me?" Zhu Changluo sat back in his chair.

"Yes." The sweat on Cui Wensheng's forehead dripped all over the floor.

"Louder." Zhu Changluo's voice was so soft that it seemed to come out from between his teeth.

"Yes!" Cui Wensheng answered in a clear and resounding voice. He knew he had passed the test. Apart from the old Buddha statue in the Cining Palace, which could not be moved no matter what, he had no other concerns.

"Get up." Zhu Changluo seemed to have put away his power, and it seemed as if nothing had changed.

"Your servant bows to thank the master, may he live forever." Cui Wensheng kowtowed again before supporting himself with his limbs and getting up from the ground.

As soon as he stood up, Cui Wensheng couldn't wait to go to the imperial desk and asked, "Master, what should we do with those corrupt servants? Over the past few decades, the silver we sent to the treasury is less than what they took out. These bastards are really tired of living." Cui Wensheng's eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty gleam, but his expression looked like he was asking for credit and begging for mercy.

Zhu Changluo continued to process the memorials piling up on his desk. He wrote in red as he replied, "Those who embezzle more than one million will be executed by slow slicing. Those who embezzle more than half a million will be beheaded. Those who embezzle more than 100,000 will be ordered to commit suicide. Those who embezzle or behead will be taken to Xisi Pailou for public execution after the stolen goods are confiscated. The rest of those who embezzled less than 100,000 and their dependents will be spared and assigned to guard the late emperor's mausoleum. Let them guard the late emperor's mausoleum for the rest of their lives. Let them spend the rest of their lives repenting to the late emperor."

"Where are the relatives of the criminal official?" Cui Wensheng asked again.

"Those within the three clans will be treated with reduced punishment in accordance with the criminal officials. Those outside the three clans will not be questioned." Zhu Changluo said.

"Long live the master, you are a holy and benevolent man." Cui Wensheng bowed deeply.

"Is Gao Huai still alive?" Zhu Changluo suddenly asked.

On the day when Cui Wensheng arranged the arrest mission, Gao Huai, the former Liaodong mining tax eunuch who was recalled to the capital in the 36th year of Wanli, was handed over to the East Factory for "reception" by the Silijian headquarters, which was responsible for imprisoning him.

"He is still alive." Cui Wensheng replied.

"That's good," Zhu Changluo nodded. "Should we deal with him differently?" Cui Wensheng asked.

The Eastern Depot's Judicial Office treated this eunuch, known for his impressive mining tax collection, with exceptional hospitality, but despite several days of hospitality, they couldn't extract much profit. This was in stark contrast to the corrupt official Ma Tang, who had recently returned to Beijing. However, it wasn't because Gao Huai was unwilling to speak out due to the Judicial Office's poor hospitality. He did report numerous gold vaults, but when Eastern Depot agents followed the addresses, they found most of them empty and clearly showing signs of excavation. Cui Wensheng could only surmise that they had been taken by his disciples and lackeys.

"Liaodong is in such a state of disrepair, and Gao Huai, that bastard, is in no way innocent of this. If we spare his life, it would be too easy for him. Gao Huai must die. Kill him!" said Zhu Changluo.

"Or execute him at Xisi Pailou?" Cui Wensheng directly ruled out the option of death penalty.

"No. Kill him wherever he caused trouble." Zhu Changluo put down his pen and looked up, his smile gone. "Send him to Liaoyang. Slice him to death in front of the Liao people he exploited."

"Your servant." Cui Wensheng paused. The sentence of lingchi itself wasn't enough to frighten Cui Wensheng, but the emperor's solemn expression made him feel that such a sentence would be imposed on him in the next moment. He didn't dare to disobey, and quickly lowered his head and replied, "As you wish."

"Go out. You have nothing to do here." Zhu Changluo waved his hand.

"Yes." Cui Wensheng bowed his head and left.

--------

After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Cui Wensheng didn't take the usual route out of the Forbidden City. Instead, he took a slight detour, specifically avoiding the cabinet area. He was in a complicated mood and didn't want to run into Wang An again at this time and be criticized again.

Cui Wensheng had successfully evaded Wang An, so Wang An didn't waste time on his way back. He entered the study and saw that the emperor was looking at him instead of concentrating on the official documents in his hands. So he walked up to the imperial desk, knelt quickly, and asked, "My master, do you have any instructions?"

"Cui Wensheng's work is almost done. How about yours?" Zhu Changluo's attitude towards Wang An was much more lenient than his attitude towards Cui Wensheng. Just by listening to the tone of his voice, it was clear that this was just a simple inquiry, without any urging.

"The strategy for integrating and eliminating the inner court offices is basically complete, and the regulations are being drafted. We're still a little short of implementing full layoffs." Wang An thought for a moment and added, "But we should be able to come up with a layoff list within this month."

"Then tell me the strategy of integration and layoffs first." Zhu Changluo let out a long breath.

"Liu Ruoyu is in charge of this matter. He knows more about it than I do." Wang An requested, "Please allow him to report to the emperor."

"Okay. You can sit back down." Zhu Changluo nodded in agreement and waved towards Liu Ruoyu, saying, "Liu Ruoyu, go ahead."

"Yes." Liu Ruoyu pulled out a densely written manuscript filled with deletions and revisions from a drawer. "Your Majesty."

Liu Ruoyu had just stood up and was about to open the notebook when he heard Zhu Changluo say, "Just sit down and talk. Don't just stand there blankly."

"Yes." Liu Ruoyu sat back down, picked up a few memorials that were blocking his way, and then placed the opened draft in the newly vacated space. He glanced at it casually and found the first key point from the messy traces of corrections:
"First, the Imperial Household Department. Previously, I received His Majesty's approval to transfer the clerks from the Imperial Household Department directly to the Imperial Household Department. After the transfer, all the clerk positions have been eliminated."

The eunuchs in charge of documents at the headquarters of the Imperial Household Department were numerous. Under the eunuch in charge of the seal, there were four chief eunuchs alone, responsible for matters such as the general affairs of the department, financial revenue and expenditure, the selection of eunuchs, and the distribution of supplies. Each chief eunuch was assigned two fourth-rank junior eunuchs, two fifth-rank assistant eunuchs, and several sixth-rank bookkeepers.

However, these people were almost completely useless because their jobs had long been taken over by the Imperial Household Department.

Important matters of the inner court, such as financial revenue and expenditure, the selection of eunuchs, and the distribution of provisions, were now collectively referred to as "miscellaneous affairs," and were overseen by the eunuch Superintendent of the Imperial Household Department. Specific matters were handled by the eunuchs in charge of the department or supervisors under the eunuch Superintendent. Even the eunuch holding the seal of the Imperial Household Department, the head of the Imperial Household Department, was often nominated by the eunuch holding the seal or the pen of the Imperial Household Department at the time.

Therefore, when these idlers were demoted to work in the Imperial Household Department, they not only did not complain, but instead lined up to kowtow to Wang An and Liu Ruoyu, who was in charge of this matter. Their enthusiasm for work was high, and their learning ability was very strong. They quickly adapted to the new accounting system and greatly improved the speed of paperwork processing in the Imperial Household Department.

"Later, the Imperial Household Department plans to merge all the internal official offices, including the Internal Affairs Department, the Military Equipment Department, the Hat and Headgear Department, the Needlework Department, the Internal Weaving and Dyeing Department, and the Silverworks Department, into one agency. The Internal Affairs Department will be in charge."

Liu Ruoyu argues that while the outer court was governed by a single Ministry of Works, the inner court was divided into seven separate offices. Each office maintained its own accounts, leading not only to extremely chaotic management but also, with salaries rising across the inner court, the numerous "senior" eunuchs employed in these offices would receive incomes far in excess of their duties, resulting in unnecessary waste of the treasury.

The only craftsman office that needed to be retained independently was the Imperial Household Department, which was responsible for making imperial utensils for the emperor.

"How to merge, and how to separate after the merger? Tell me the details." Zhu Changluo nodded slightly.

"After the merger, the Imperial Household Department will be under the jurisdiction of four bureaus: the Construction Bureau, the Weaponry Bureau, the Clothing Bureau, and the Miscellaneous Manufacturing Bureau. Among them, the Construction Bureau will be responsible for the construction and repair of palaces and mausoleums. The Weaponry Bureau will still be in charge of the production of military products. The Clothing Bureau will be in charge of the production of textiles such as weaving, dyeing, needlework, scarves and hats. The Miscellaneous Manufacturing Bureau will be in charge of the manufacture of utensils such as wood, stone, tile, earth, and lacquer. Each bureau will have its own craftsman manufacturing department under its jurisdiction." Liu Ruoyu compared the system of the East and West Factories and regarded the department as a subordinate agency of the bureau, rather than a peer agency stipulated by the ancestral system.

"Where is the organization?" Zhu Changluo asked again.

"The Internal Affairs Office will have one fourth-rank eunuch in charge of the seal, one left and right junior eunuch of the fourth rank, and one left and right assistant eunuch of the fifth rank. Below them will be a number of seventh-rank bookkeepers, tentatively planned to number twenty. The estimated annual cost of this office is 3,400 taels of silver."

"Each bureau under this department will have one director of the fifth rank, two deputy directors of the fifth rank or so, and several clerks of the seventh rank, temporarily planning to have five people. Each department plans to spend 950 taels of silver each year." Liu Ruoyu even changed the titles of ambassador and deputy ambassador.

"Each craftsmanship department below the bureau level will have a sixth-rank chief, two sixth-rank deputy chiefs, several seventh-rank supervisors, and several seventh-rank supervisors. The specific number cannot be determined until the process and the number of craftsmen are determined."

(End of this chapter)