Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 351 Transferring Treasury Silver
"I won't catch anyone." Wang An shook his head slightly, and his eyes passed by Cui Wensheng and drifted to the eunuchs standing behind Cui Wensheng.

"Not arresting anyone?" Cui Wensheng was startled, then understood and said, "Grandfather, these little brats are all smart guys that Cui Yuan has selected. They are trustworthy."

When the four eunuchs heard this, obvious joy immediately appeared on their faces.

Wang An retracted his gaze and continued, "Tianjin Pay Department."

"Is it the government office that specializes in transporting food and supplies to Liaodong?" Cui Wensheng asked.

Wang An nodded and said, "Our Lord has ordered the East Depot to send someone to Beitang to conduct a secret investigation and find out what's going on here."

"Secret investigation?" Cui Wensheng keenly grasped the word.

"Yes. It's a secret investigation. You have to make good arrangements. The Lord doesn't want to suppress one problem only to have another pop up. If you want to arrest someone, you have to dig up the whole root of the problem." Wang An glanced at Cui Yuan and said, "At least you have to be as efficient as the last time Cui Yuan helped you with the task."

Cui Yuan's face suddenly turned pale.

Cui Wensheng quickly smiled and said, "With this kid's limited skills, he can't hide it from you, let alone the Emperor's sharp eyes."

"That's all." Wang An stood up. "That's all. Do it well and don't mess it up."

"I'll see you off!" Cui Wensheng also stood up.

"Don't send me off when you're dressed like this. Just take a rest." Wang An waved his hand and left on his own.

After Wang An's back disappeared, Cui Wensheng slowly put away the flattering expression on his face. He walked over to the couch and sat down, looking at Cui Yuan who had followed him. "Did you hear the old ancestor's instructions clearly?"

"Yes. I heard you clearly, son." Cui Yuan knelt down without paying attention to the water stains on the ground. He reached out his hand and tested the temperature of the foot washing water. Finding that the water was a little cold, he called the eunuch who was carrying the foot basin to come over and fill a new one for Cui Wensheng.

Cui Wensheng gently stroked Cui Yuan's head. "Then do it. Do it well, catch a few big fish, make your godfather proud, and show off in front of the Emperor." The last time they raided the house, the East Factory had used a list provided by the West Factory to follow their lead, which left Cui Wensheng feeling a sense of regret and incompleteness.

"Yes." Cui Yuan lowered his head, but Cui Wensheng could tell from his "yes" how excited his eyes were.

--------

After lunch break, the Southern Study had not yet received any report from the Censorate, so Liu Ruoyu followed the emperor's order early in the morning and asked Shi Fuming to send someone to the Censorate for questioning.

Shi Fangda entered the main hall of the Censorate and found no one sitting behind the desk. So he went to the desk of Li Zongyan, the Left Censor-in-Chief, and called softly, "Li Zhongcheng."

Li Zongyan looked up and saw a stranger in eunuch robes standing before him. He stood up and asked, "Excuse me, who is this eunuch?"

"I am the Imperial Guard of the Qianqing Palace, Shi Fangda. Minister Li Zhongcheng can just treat me as an errand boy." Shi Fangda bowed.

"So it's Eunuch Shi. My apologies." Li Zongyan returned the greeting with a fist. "Eunuch Shi, are you here at the Censorate to inquire about the case of the foreigners' rebellion?"

"I'm not asking." Shi Fangda originally wanted to speak to Left Censor-in-Chief Zhang Wenda, but since Li Zongyan brought it up, he just went ahead and asked, "Your Majesty wants to know when the Censorate will hand in the report? It's been several days."

Hearing it was the emperor who had sent someone to ask, Li Zongyan's expression grew more serious. He replied sternly, "I have already reviewed the evidence sent from Liaodong and have written a draft of the review. But it cannot be submitted to the emperor yet."

"Why?" Shi Fangda asked immediately.

Li Zongyan said, "The Xiantai has always been particular about corroboration when handling cases. If there were only the Liaodong case files, then the Xiantai could naturally submit a memorial based on them. However, the Northern Pacification Office has also sent many letters and documents. These letters and documents are extremely important evidence. They may contain text that can support or overturn the current conclusion. We cannot afford to be careless. I, the Xiantai, need to thoroughly organize them before I can submit them together with the evidence from Liaodong."

Shi Fangda questioned, "The Censorate alone has over a hundred censors in the thirteen provinces. Even if a courtyard has a lot of correspondence and paperwork, it can't withstand so many of you working together, right?"

Li Zongyan was visibly stunned for a moment, then he let out a dumb laugh. "Eunuch Shi, that's not how it's calculated. Not to mention that the 110 censors in the thirteen prefectures aren't fully staffed yet. Even if they were, they all have their own official positions, so it's impossible for them all to be mobilized to investigate this one case. Right now, General Zhang is assigning one person from each of the thirteen prefectures to handle this case. It's already a special case. Otherwise, they wouldn't even be able to write a draft of the review in these few days."

"Okay, okay." Shi Fangda scratched his head awkwardly. "So, how far have you progressed with this special case?"

"It hasn't even started yet." Li Zongyan shook his head.

"What do you have to say?" Shi Fangda frowned.

"Alas," Li Zongyan sighed. "Most of the letters and documents sent over from the Northern Pacification Office are written in completely incomprehensible foreign languages. I, the Xiantai, am at a loss as to what to do about them and am currently trying to find someone to translate them."

"Then please give me that draft." Shi Fangda said.

"No." Li Zongyan shook his head again.

"What do you mean?" Shi Fangda was obviously displeased.

"Eunuch Shi, please don't be impatient." Li Zongyan said slowly, "As I said earlier, I, the Xiantai, must thoroughly review all the evidence and ascertain the facts before presenting them to the emperor. If you insist on requesting the draft review at this time, please bring the emperor's imperial approval."

"Is it necessary to be so rigid?" Shi Fangda's face was bitter.

"That's not rigidity; it's being fair. You're here to question me by imperial decree, and I've answered all your questions thoroughly. That's one thing. If you want to transfer the files from the Xiantai, you must do so in compliance with the imperial decree. That's another." Li Zongyan smiled at the worried-looking Shi Fangda like a mischievous old boy. "Do I understand?"

"Stop, stop, stop! I'm not as reasonable as you." Shi Fangda left helplessly.

The financial power of the Ming Dynasty court was highly decentralized, with almost every government office having its own treasury. Furthermore, unless ordered by the emperor, the silver in each treasury could not be transferred to another treasury.

Last year, the silver confiscated from the Zheng family was used to pay the salaries of officials in Beijing and the military pay in Liaodong. In essence, the emperor issued an edict, asking the Neichengyunku to first send the silver to the Taicang Warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue. The Taicang Warehouse would then open the warehouse to pay the salaries, and then send the remaining silver to the Ministry of War. Finally, the Ministry of War would send the silver directly to the camps in Liaoxi up to Guangning, and the military pay office in Beitang, according to the distance.

In addition to instructing the inner court to transfer silver from the inner treasury to the outer treasury, the emperor could also order the outer court to transfer silver from the outer treasury to the inner treasury. If this behavior was motivated by the emperor's selfish desires, resulting in the silver being used for royal purposes or simply stored in the inner treasury without being distributed, it was considered "seizing silver from the outer treasury." During the Wanli reign, and especially after the death of Zhang Juzheng, this phenomenon became extremely common.

For example, in the first month of the fourteenth year of the Wanli reign, when the third son Zhu Changxun was born, Emperor Shenzong ordered the withdrawal of 200,000 taels of silver from the Taicang warehouse to fill the gap, citing a shortage of funds in the inner treasury.

Faced with such a situation, neither the assistant ministers nor the ministers could refuse and could only find ways to bargain with the emperor.

The day after the order to fill the position was issued, the assistant minister Shen Shixingzhi submitted a memorial stating that annual expenses in the capital were increasing, while the granary's reserves were dwindling. He therefore proposed taking only 100,000 taels. Emperor Shenzong, however, issued an order to add another 50,000 taels. Finally, the emperor took 150,000 taels from the Ministry of Revenue's granary to fill the inner treasury.

If Emperor Taichang had followed the normal procedure and issued a written order to the Ministry of Revenue to send the silver to the Internal Transport Treasury, Wang Ji would have been able to offer a few token objections. However, since the emperor had sent eunuchs directly to the Ministry of Revenue to convey his order, Wang Ji had no choice but to comply.

At about the same time that Shi Fangda arrived at the Censorate, Wang Ji also brought Tang Daoheng, the person in charge of the Taicang Silver Treasury, to the new Taicang located near Dongzhimen Street in Nanjuxianfang.

The term "Taicang" was originally used to refer to the granaries built in Beijing and Tongzhou for storing grain after Yongle moved the capital.

In the seventh year of the Zhengtong reign, the emperor authorized the establishment of the Taicang Silver Vault to store the silver paid to Beijing by prefectures like Suzhou in southern Zhili, allowing merchants to purchase it when needed. Later, as the internal treasuries, primarily used to store gold, silver, cloth, and silk, gradually withdrew from the national public finances, and various state taxes began to be levied in silver, the Taicang Silver Vault gradually became a specialized and frequently mentioned silver vault.

In order to distinguish it from the "Old Taicang" located in Sichengfang, the Taicang Silver Vault is also called the "New Taicang".

When the Taicang Silver Treasury was first established, there was one ambassador and one deputy ambassador. During the Jiajing period, the deputy ambassador was dismissed, leaving only an ambassador who was not a regular official, to be in charge of the treasury accounts and to inspect the warehouses.

The true managers of the Taicang Treasury were the fifth-rank Yuanwailang (Minister of Revenue) and the sixth-rank Guankuzhushi (Director of the Treasury). During the Jiajing reign, a bimonthly report on payments and receipts was mandated. In the second year of the Wanli reign, Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng assigned an additional official from the Ministry of Revenue to be stationed permanently at the new Taicang. This became known as the Assistant Guankuzhushi (Assistant Guankuzhushi). Every payment or receipt of silver required the simultaneous presence of the Yuanwailang (Minister of Revenue) and the two officials.

The reason why Wang Ji came in person was because the vacancy had not been filled since the previous Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Revenue had left office. Previously, when Li Ruhua was in office, Li Ruhua held the position concurrently, but now that Li Ruhua had retired, the job naturally fell to Wang Ji.

When Wang Ji and Tang Daoheng arrived at the Taicang Silver Vault, Zou Jiasheng, the accompanying treasury manager, was sitting in the signing room of the silver vault office reading a novel.

"Cough!" Tang Daoheng coughed lightly.

Zou Jiasheng was so engrossed in his conversation that he didn't notice Tang Daoheng's cough. It wasn't until Tang Daoheng knocked on the door with his knuckles that Zou Jiasheng raised his head.

When Zou Jiasheng followed the sound and saw Wang Ji's old face gradually approaching, his nerves suddenly tensed up.

Zou Jiasheng closed the book in a hurry and tried to pull something over to cover it, but before he could move, the novel was pulled away by Wang Ji.

"Oh, you're reading Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua while you're at the yamen?" Wang Ji's eyebrows immediately raised when he saw the cover of the book. He sneered, "Zou Yuanyu, you really have a refined taste."

"." Zou Jiasheng subconsciously reached out to pull it back, but as soon as he stood up, he retracted his hand and then stood there in a daze.

Zou Jiasheng hung his head and blushed, like a naughty student caught by his teacher.

Wang Ji flipped through a few pages and noticed that the guy was seriously taking notes in the book. "Aren't you afraid that Zhao Deyou will catch you and report you?"

The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of the treasury, and the Revenue Department inspected it. The Revenue Department's Censor could simply go to the treasury without any prior notice and ask to inspect the books and the treasury.

"He just came here the day before yesterday. He probably won't come again in the short term." Zou Jiasheng suddenly had an idea and answered.

Wang Ji was startled for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Zou Yuanyu, you're truly clever! Do you want me to write a memorial requesting a reward from the court?"

Zou Jiasheng knew he had said something wrong, and his whole face turned red like a piece of fine pig liver.

"Open the vault and release the silver." Wang Ji tossed the copy of "Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua" back onto the table and stopped pursuing him. Wang Ji knew that most of the time, working as a treasury assistant was a boring job, especially since Zou Jiasheng was in charge of a treasury with very little in it. If he didn't find something to do, he'd just sit there and stare blankly.

Zou Jiasheng quickly put the novel away and said, "Master Zuo Tang, this is the official document from our headquarters."

"It seems your brain hasn't been completely clogged by this vulgar stuff." Wang Ji gave Tang Daoheng a look. Tang Daoheng immediately pulled out an envelope containing official documents from the Ministry of Revenue and handed it to Zou Jiasheng. To prevent embezzlement, every transaction must be supported by the original official document.

"Transporting 80,000 taels of silver from the Taicang Warehouse to the Nei Cheng Yun Warehouse?" Zou Jiasheng was puzzled. It wasn't yet time for the Taicang Warehouse to receive its first official income, and the 200,000 taels of silver currently stored in the Taicang Warehouse had all been transferred from the Nei Cheng Yun Warehouse. Therefore, strictly speaking, the official salaries had been paid from the imperial treasury for the past several months.

"I didn't write it wrong, and you didn't read it wrong." Wang Ji nodded.

"Please allow me to ask you, Mr. Wang Zuotang, why is this happening?" Zou Jiasheng asked.

"Starting next month, excluding rice subsidies, officials' salaries will be paid in half cash and half in notes," Wang Ji said. "This cash will be taken to the inner transport warehouse to be exchanged for notes."

"Silver note? Which bank's banknote is this?" Zou Jiasheng widened his eyes.

"It's not a bank, it's a bank, the Sun and Moon Bank." Wang Ji recalled what the eunuch had told him yesterday. "The nearest one is the Andingmen branch."

"Ah?" Zou Jiasheng had never seen the sign of Sun Moon Bank and had no idea what Wang Zuotang was talking about.

"Just think of it as a ticket office opened by the palace." Wang Ji didn't want to waste any more time. "Hurry up! Don't dawdle. I have a lot of things waiting for me at the ministry."

(End of this chapter)