Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 393 The road is ruthless
Sun Chengzong did not answer directly, but instead asked, "Bo Shun, let me ask you, what is needed to build a city and a port?"

"Of course we need money, food and people," Lu Shanji replied.

Sun Chengzong nodded and asked, "Who will take care of the money, food, and people?"

"You mean you spared them just to let them do these things?" Lu Shanji understood at once, but his brows were still furrowed.

"That's right," Sun Chengzong explained. "Building and opening the port is a major project, a century-long undertaking. Doctor Mi has been traveling extensively and has reached a preliminary conclusion. That is, if we want to build a large-scale maritime terminal along the Tianjin coast and prevent maritime trade from interfering with grain transport, we must widen the entire section of the canal from Tianjin to the capital."

"Based on past experience with river repairs and flood control, if we want to complete the project within a year, at least 50,000 to 60,000 people will be needed simultaneously. This is just for widening the river, not counting the people building the port. If both the river widening and the port construction are started simultaneously, the number of workers will have to reach 100,000. Where will these people come from, and who will manage them? Where will their food and wages come from? With so many people gathered in the capital area, how can we prevent those with ulterior motives from inciting and destabilizing the country?"

Sun Chengzong took a deep breath, but quickly exhaled. "Furthermore, while we widen the river and build the port, the grain transport cannot be interrupted, and the grain and military supplies to Liaodong cannot be stopped. Land surveying, farming, tax collection, and military training must also continue across the country. Can all these tasks be accomplished solely by the governor's office?"

"Yes, you're right," Lu Shanji said. "The governor's office can't do everything, so it must rely on the lower-level offices. But the people in the lower-level offices don't have to be these filthy, incompetent people. Why can't we submit a petition to the emperor to select and dispatch new guards? And you also said that we must prevent those with ulterior motives from inciting chaos in the capital. But if there is no shortage of food and wages, who can be instigated? If these corrupt officials are taking advantage of the situation and embezzling the food and wages of the laborers and craftsmen during the river repair, then they are the real source of chaos. Zhongcheng, haven't you heard of the story of Emperor Shun's control of the Yellow River?"

"That's not a problem," said Sun Chengzong.

"How can it not be a problem?" Lu Shanji widened his eyes.

"What do you do for a living?" Sun Chengzong pointed at Lu Shanji, then at himself. "What do I do for a living?"

"I don't understand what you mean." Lu Shanji shook his head.

"Since you know they might return to their old ways and embezzle money, then keep an eye on them. Conduct a small check every ten days and a major check every month, and make the account flow and the whereabouts of money and grain clear and understandable, and that's it." Sun Chengzong said.

"It's still not right." Lu Shanji said.

"What's wrong?" Sun Chengzong asked.

"Supervision is of course necessary, but this does not conflict with replacing them," said Lu Shanji.

"There's no conflict, but keeping them is the most effective," Sun Chengzong said. "First, how long do you think it will take to investigate the case, find evidence to remove them, and then select new guards? It's been over a month, and there are still many unfinished business in the Zhongwei case alone."

"It's always possible before starting work." Lu Shanji said.

Sun Chengzong said, "It's not that easy. The Rear Military Governor's Office is in turmoil because of the Central Guard incident, and the Ministry of War is also busy. Even if these two procedures can be completed quickly and the case investigated quickly, where will the guards be transferred from? How much time will they waste on the road?"

"We can transfer them from the surrounding areas, Kaiping or Miyun will be fine." Lu Shanji said.

"You're taking it for granted!" Sun Chengzong said, "I'm just the Chief Censor, and you're just the head of the Ministry of Revenue. What right do you have to interfere in the selection of guard officers?"

"I'm not pointing fingers. You asked me and I answered." Lu Shanji said.

"I'm not..." Sun Chengzong choked. "Oh, forget it. I just want to tell you that these uncertainties waste a lot of time and are completely unnecessary. You can't guarantee that the new guard officer's butt is clean. What's the point of transferring a dirty butt from another guard station to replace the dirty butt from Tianjin?" Sun Chengzong's voice grew louder as he spoke, gradually drowning out the noise of rain hitting the rubble. "The corruption in the guard station has been going on for more than a day or two. If we want to completely reverse it, we have to reform it! If we want to reform it, we have to go up! Go to the cabinet, go to the place closest to the emperor, and make the emperor understand the corruption!"

"Zhongcheng, you..." Lu Shanji widened his eyes.

Sun Chengzong's agitated mind was brought back to its senses by the call. He closed his eyes and stopped talking. Since Sun Chengzong didn't speak, Lu Shanji stopped asking questions and silently looked at Sun Chengzong's face, which was remarkably clear in the candlelight. Only then did Lu Shanji notice that the lines between Sun Chengzong's eyes and brows were filled with haggardness and fatigue.

When he spoke again, Sun Chengzong's voice returned to its initial calmness, light and slow. "In short, I've considered everything you've mentioned. Our mission is to build the port city and increase revenue for the country, not to fight corruption and rectify the system. Leaving the military officers of the two guards is the most advantageous option at this time. Widening the river, building the port, maintaining the grain transport, and restoring military farms—these tasks must proceed simultaneously. Selecting new guards takes time, and the new officers aren't necessarily any cleaner or more familiar with local affairs than the ones they already have. Furthermore, with the Central Guard's previous experience as a warning, the Left and Right Guards will only become more restrained. Therefore, rectifying the system will only hinder progress and bring no benefit."

"Then their crimes will be forgiven just like that?" Lu Shanji looked at Sun Chengzong and found that the candlelight was slowly dancing in his eyes.

"Haha." Sun Chengzong laughed. "Boshun, I've convinced you, haven't I?"

--------

The next day, the rain stopped and the sky cleared up.

On the large desk in the center of the Censorate's lobby lay loose files, bound with string but unbound. These loose papers recorded the translations of the Translation Bureau's recent work, and each stack precisely corresponded to a single summary item in the investigative report before Zhang Wenda. Or, conversely, each stack of files was carefully selected to reflect the summary item in the investigative report.

When the ninth-rank inspector of the Censorate arrived at the lobby with another stack of loose, unbound case files, Zhang Wenda had almost finished transcribing the draft report. Since there was almost no empty space on the desk, the inspector had to carefully move a few stacks of files to create a space convenient for Zhang Wenda, then place the loose files and paperweight in the vacated space. During this time, the inspector made almost no noise.

Just as the inspector turned around, carrying the empty tray, and prepared to quietly exit the hall, Zhang Wenda's voice drifted over the pile of files and reached his ears. "Anything else?"

The inspector stopped dead in his tracks. Although he knew Zhang Wenda wouldn't be able to see him even if he looked up from this angle, he still turned around and replied respectfully. "To the General. There's one last copy left to transcribe." "Which one?" Zhang Wenda gently placed his brush on the pen holder and stretched lazily.

The inspector replied, "Yuan Yushi of Henan Province."

When handling this case, Zhang Wenda selected one person from each of the thirteen censors to participate in the investigation. This was because the case was large and involved a lot of materials, so in order to speed up the investigation, he had to increase the number of people. The second reason was to avoid any further trouble.

The Censorate was extremely numerous, and a mixed bag, with people from all walks of life. Rather than allowing them to engage in verbal battles outside the Censorate, ultimately disrupting the court, it would be better to let them argue during the trial itself. After all, the relevant case materials were there, so if they were dissatisfied, they could sit down and argue together. If they couldn't make sense of the argument and the situation became heated, the court officials would intervene and, based on the facts presented in the case files, deliver a verdict acceptable to both parties. Yuan Huazhong from Henan Province was one of the "Donglin Hermits" singled out by Zhang Wenda.

"Tell him to hurry up, I have finished writing everything here." Zhang Wenda casually pulled out a few loose case files and began to read them quickly.

"Yes." The inspector replied.

"Also," Zhang Wenda instructed, "have the Experience Department keep the original document safe and don't lose it."

The inspector puffed out his chest and said, "To the Chief Justice, except for Censor Yuan's copy, the others have been taken back to the Ministry of Experience for archiving."

"Very good." Zhang Wenda nodded with satisfaction. "You can go."

"Yes." The inspector bowed and said goodbye.

After the inspector left, Left Censor-in-Chief Li Zongyan immediately came over. "Chief Censor."

"What's wrong?" Zhang Wenda looked up at Li Zongyan. "Have you chosen the candidate?"

Yesterday, Zhang Wenda had resorted to a subtle trick, submitting two memorials simultaneously. He reported both the robbery in broad daylight and the laxity of the baojia system, hoping to draw the emperor, long confined to the inner palace, to the security situation outside the palace walls.

Zhang Wenda had originally expected the emperor to wait two days at most before issuing his memorial, or perhaps summoning cabinet ministers and the Imperial Court for a face-to-face meeting. Unexpectedly, the emperor's reply arrived in the rain, and it included three directives at once: a strict investigation, a severe crackdown, and the rectification of the baojia system. Zhang Wenda was immediately moved. After more than thirty years of official service during the Wanli reign, he had almost forgotten what it meant to receive a "reply that was in the mainstream." If Zhang Wenda's reaction were to be recorded in national history, it would surely be: Wenda was shocked, deeply moved and wept.

Zhang Wenda immediately made arrangements, first ordering Cui Qiguan, the inspector of Xicheng, to work with the Jinyiwei, the imperial guards, to quickly apprehend the thieves involved in the Baiyun Temple case. He also instructed the Jinyiwei to prevent them from falsely accusing innocent people of crimes and simply getting away with the matter. He also ordered Li Zongyan, the left assistant censor-in-chief, to lead the team and select several supervisory censors to work with the inspectors of the various cities to help regulate the baojia system. As for the imperial decree for a severe crackdown, since it had not been sent to the Censorate, Zhang Wenda could only make a specific note of it.

"The candidates, regional divisions and schedule have all been drawn up." Li Zongyan raised two lists.

"I think so," Zhang Wenda put down the papers in his hand and waved to Li Zongyan. "It wouldn't take so long to choose someone."

Li Zongyan immediately handed over the two lists and pointed to the inspection report, asking, "Can I see that, your humble servant?"

"Let's take a look." Zhang Wenda took the list of candidates and the schedule. Li Zongyan then folded up the inspection report and took it in his hand.

"So thick?" Li Zongyan felt the weight of the inspection report as soon as he picked it up.

Zhang Wenda said proudly, "Once you've read this memorial, you'll know exactly what this church is." He even had a vague feeling that this memorial would become an important historical document that future generations would relish. And he, Zhang Wenda, would also be remembered in history because of this memorial.

Li Zongyan flipped open the cover, skipped past the formatting, and looked up at the first paragraph: "Western religions believe in a single deity, called Dousi. Dousi refers to the Lord of Heaven, but is in no way God. God is another name for Heaven. Heaven is the Great Dao. The Great Dao is said to be emotionless, the Emperor of Heaven has no relatives, only virtue is its support, and it is neither happy nor angry." Dousi, while falsely claiming to be the Creator and claiming to be supreme, has a personality, but is in reality just an ordinary being with emotions. Dousi is joyful when worshipped, and angry when not. When happy, blessings are bestowed, and when angry, disasters are brought. This is truly not the Great Dao. Is this a kind of evil worship?
Li Zongyan's scalp suddenly went numb when he saw the last question. This sentence was equivalent to defining the "dousi" of Western religion. And the definition of "evil worship" was bloody.

But in the next paragraph, Zhang Wenda made another turn and classified Westerners into different categories: Westerners, that is, Europeans, came to China from afar. Some wanted to use evil worship to confuse the people and make a fool of themselves, such as Long Huamin and Mendoza. Some wanted to learn the king's way to find the great way, destroy their evil worship, and correct the original source, such as Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Giniger.
Seeing this, Li Zongyan understood that Zhang Wenda was planning to take the middle path. Li Zongyan poked his head out, looking slightly over the report, trying to secretly check Zhang Wenda's expression, but he and Zhang Wenda met his gaze.

"The article is pretty good, right?" Zhang Wenda asked.

"I haven't finished reading it yet." Li Zongyan quickly looked away.

"Go back and sit down to take a look. It's not something you can finish with just one or two glances." Zhang Wenda said with a smile.

"Okay." Li Zongyan left with the investigation report.

After Li Zongyan returned, Zhang Wenda picked up the loose case files that the inspector had sent him earlier and began to quickly scan them page by page. He had already read these files more than once, so he read them quickly, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he could read ten lines at a glance. When Zhang Wenda finished reading this loose case file and tied it up with string, Yuan Huazhong's file arrived.

Yuan Huazhong was also a key target of Zhang Wenda's attention. This guy was quite aggressive. Last year, during the imperial court case for "gathering a crowd to disrupt the court," he was the most aggressive and aggressive. He led a group of people to force Zhang Wenda to speak for the "upright gentlemen" in the name of the Censorate. Zhang Wenda didn't want to speak for them, but to prevent the situation from escalating further, he had to.

This time, in order to prevent Yuan Huazhong from making a big fuss outside and impeaching this and accusing that based on some hearsay, Zhang Wenda simply pulled him in to see if this guy was really a gentleman or just a person who was trying to gain fame and reputation by joining forces with others.

(End of this chapter)