Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 448 New Facts
"Yeah." Zhu Changluo turned to look at Wang An. "Wang An, what do you think?"

After sitting for a while, Wang An's breathing became steady, but his mind was still confused and he was still thinking about the Beitang case.

Wang An concentrated his attention and thought for a moment, deciding now was the time to say something harsh, so he said, "I think Prime Minister Fang is absolutely right. Some people have indeed been resting on their laurels for too long. Their descendants are simply eating the emperor's food. Not only is this of no benefit to the country, but their loyalty is also questionable."

Fang Congzhe felt that Wang An seemed to have something else to say, so he glanced at him sideways, but only saw a slightly red face.

"What about hereditary positions? How does Fang Qing plan to abolish them?" Zhu Changluo's voice drew Fang Congzhe's attention back. "First cut the salary, then cut the position? Or wait until the hereditary salary is completely reduced before cutting it?"

Fang Congzhe shook his head slightly. "I think the reduction of hereditary positions can be slowed down."

"Tell me in detail." Zhu Changluo said.

"After many reforms in our ancestors' dynasties, it has become a reality that hereditary positions have titles but no differences. Since hereditary positions have titles but no differences, and the court has decided to abolish hereditary salaries, then hereditary positions themselves will not be too big a burden for the court. Therefore, as long as a system of gradual clearance can be established, it will not be a problem even if this system cannot immediately eliminate the hereditary officials that have accumulated to this day." Whether it is a problem or not depends on the emperor, so Fang Congzhe stopped talking here.

"Please continue." Zhu Changluo urged.

"For those who have jobs, their descendants will inherit the positions at a lower level. For those who have no jobs, their descendants will inherit the positions at a lower level. This will continue until there is no lower level to be demoted, and then the hereditary positions will be abolished." Fang Congzhe had many contingency plans, and this was the one he thought was the safest.

Zhu Changluo pondered for a moment, then understood. "That is, if the father has a job, the son can inherit the ancestral position. Otherwise, he can only inherit a lower-level position. Is this what Fang Qing means?"

"Your Majesty is wise." Fang Congzhe's face immediately revealed a look of admiration.

"But what if someone fills the vacancy and dies after working for only a short period of time, or what if someone is dismissed from his post due to a fault or crime?" Zhu Changluo asked immediately.

Fang Congzhe thought for a moment and said, "First, regarding death. If someone died in the line of duty, then they can be retained or even promoted to succeed them, all at the mercy of the Emperor. If they died of illness, then it depends on the length of time they served. If someone has served for a period of time, or has been promoted at least once due to merit or meritorious service, then their descendants can be allowed to retain their position and succeed them."

"For example, if someone is a hereditary fourth-rank assistant commander, and after passing an examination, is offered a position as a centurion. But if he only serves for six months and dies of illness before being promoted to deputy centurion, his son will be demoted to inherit the title and salary of a centurion. However, if he is promoted from a centurion to deputy centurion, or has served the full court-mandated term, his son will be allowed to inherit the fourth-rank assistant commander."

"If a person's descendants fail to obtain official positions for several consecutive generations, that branch will be relegated to civilian status. This not only reduces redundancy and permanently prevents the accumulation of redundant officials, but also encourages the succession of officials to actively improve themselves. As for dismissal due to crimes or mistakes, it is an opportunity to permanently end the family's hereditary line. This not only punishes the guilty official and demonstrates the authority of heaven, but also permanently reduces the number of people receiving salary and grain."

"In general," Zhu Changluo concluded, "this means that hereditary salaries will be reduced year by year, based on the different levels, and then hereditary positions will be reduced generation by generation?"

"That's exactly what I mean." Fang Congzhe replied.

"But why do you say that you should downgrade the inherited title and 'salary'?" Zhu Changluo lightly emphasized the word "salary".

Fang Congzhe explained, "I believe that the Jinyiwei currently has far more redundant officials than it actually has vacancies, necessitating relatively radical salary reductions. However, by implementing this system of elimination, we can bring the number of hereditary officials into closer alignment with the number of vacancies in the future. By then, even if salaries were continued for hereditary officials without official positions, it wouldn't be a significant burden on the court. Otherwise, rewarding meritorious individuals with a title that carries no official position, no salary, and only qualifies them for the entrance examination would be far too meager."

"Yeah." Zhu Changluo understood and nodded deeply. Then he asked Wang An, "Wang An, what do you think?"

"Master," Wang An echoed. "I believe that Prime Minister Fang's strategy is one that considers the present and the future, taking into account both the urgent and the temporary. It is indeed a mature and wise strategy for statecraft."

"Since both the Interior Minister and the Foreign Minister agree, then we should proceed with the reduction of hereditary salaries according to this line of thought, Cabinet." Zhu Changluo paused, then changed his tone, "Mr. Fang, you, please draft a detailed regulation as soon as possible. Before the official decision is made on its promulgation, please put it on hold for now, otherwise it will be difficult for Luo Sigong to deal with it."

"Your Majesty is wise!" Fang Congzhe and Wang An praised him in unison.

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"The Jinyiwei matters have been arranged. Let's talk about business." Zhu Changluo looked at Wang An. "Wang An."

"I'm here." Wang An stood up immediately.

"Sit down." Zhu Changluo waved his hand downward, then pointed at Fang Congzhe beside Wang An. "Mr. Fang brought a case from the Censorate. They say the iron pot case has been resolved. Do you know anything about this?"

"Iron pot?" Wang An was stunned.

"It's the case that Yang Lian was asked to investigate last month." Zhu Changluo reminded.

Wang An came back to his senses, a look of realization crossing his face. "The memorials from the Ministry of Personnel are all directly reviewed by the Emperor. I haven't seen them, so I don't know." Wang An shook his head.

"Mr. Fang," Zhu Changluo said to Fang Congzhe, "then tell Wang An about it."

"Yes." Fang Congzhe reached into his bosom, but only pulled out Yang Lian's letter. "Yang Lian, the Liaodong Inspector General, has been ordered to thoroughly investigate the illegal smuggling of ironware in the Guangning border market. It has been discovered that at least the servants of the Marquis of Wuqing, the Marquis of Yangwu, the Earl of Pingjiang, and others were directly involved in the smuggling of various goods, including ironware, salt, tea, and horses."

The export of ironware, especially finished ironware, has always been strictly prohibited. Salt and tea are restricted goods. While not prohibited, they must be reported to the Ministry of Revenue and are subject to annual quotas. Horses, on the other hand, are only imported by the government; private traders are not subject to quotas. "Wan Youfu, the deputy commander of the Guangning Circuit, knew of this, but instead of stopping it, he was greedy and profited, opening the door wide and condoning smuggling. It has been discovered that since Wan Youfu arrived in Guangning to manage trade and pacify the barbarians, he has accepted bribes totaling over five thousand taels. The value of the smuggled goods is still unknown. The details are all here. Please take a look, Wang Zhangyin." With this, Fang Congzhe handed the letter to Wang An.

"Okay." Wang An had just taken the letter when he heard the emperor say, "There's nothing interesting to read. First, tell Fang Qing what the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guards have found out."

"Yes." Wang An responded calmly.

Fang Congzhe asked Wang An, "Have the factory guards investigated the case?"

"It's not this case." Wang An shook his head and said, "Recently, the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang have each handled two cases. These two cases..." Wang An patted the letter Fang Congzhe handed over. "They have something in common with the smuggling and bribery case sent by Yang Zhongcheng."

"What case? What commonality?" Fang Congzhe felt a chill run down his spine. As the Prime Minister, the highest-ranking civil servant in the Ming Dynasty, he dealt with countless pieces of information daily. Yet, the Imperial Guards handled the case, and in the end, not a single word was heard. Even if the outer court couldn't interfere in the inner court's affairs, this complete secrecy was still terrifying.

"Prime Minister Fang, please don't be impatient. Let me explain." Wang An keenly noticed the subtle change in Fang Congzhe's expression, and a strange sense of pride rose in his heart. They were both old men by the emperor's side, but it seemed that he, an old man, was more trusted by the emperor. He hadn't felt this kind of happiness gained through competing for favor in a long time.

"Haha, no hurry. Just take your time." Fang Congzhe couldn't guess what Wang An was thinking.

"Do you still remember Shen Caiyu's case?" Wang An asked.

"Shen Caiyu," Fang Congzhe said uncertainly. "Is it the case that happened in Zhongwei, Tianjin?"

"That's the case," Wang An nodded. "You must have heard about it. Before the Imperial Guards went south to Tianjin to arrest the suspect, Shen Caiyu got wind of it and fled along the Grand Canal to Hangzhou. The Imperial Guards later confirmed that the rumor had been leaked by Marquis Wuqing."

In just a few words, Wang An omitted and even distorted many details and twists. However, because the Outer Court had almost never touched this case, let alone any contact with the criminals involved, Fang Congzhe simply asked, "Have the Jinyiwei obtained the evidence?"

"Hmm," Wang An seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, "Let me tell you this. The Jinyiwei found out that the servant of Wuqinghou, who was communicating between Wuqinghou and Shen Caiyu, had been robbed and killed at the time of the crime. At that time, the Jinyiwei suspected that Wuqinghou had killed this man. However, the clues were not interrupted by this man's death. The Jinyiwei still followed other clues to catch the escaped Shen Caiyu himself and arrested him. The things I just told you were confessed by Shen Caiyu himself. In order to ensure that Shen Caiyu was not desperate and making random accusations, the Jinyiwei had been pressing the case. But now, everything that needs to be verified has been verified, and we are preparing to make it public."

After confirming that the emperor had decided to drag Shen Caiyu into the fight against Wuqing Hou, Wang An fabricated a complete lie, completely erasing the emperor's previous protection. In the fabricated new facts, the emperor never softened his heart, always pretending to be a sage and wise ruler who would investigate the case thoroughly.

"Do you really want to make it public?" Fang Congzhe stole a glance at the emperor, only to find him lost in thought, staring out the window. Was he reluctant, or was he not? Fang Congzhe couldn't tell.

"Not only the cases of the Imperial Guard, but also those investigated by the Eastern Depot must be brought to light!" Wang An reached into his bosom and pulled out the Eastern Depot report that the emperor had asked him to bring. "I just received it recently."

"What's going on?" Fang Congzhe asked.

As Wang An handed over the report, he said, "I believe Prime Minister Fang should still remember that Zhang Quan, the military commander of Jin, Fu, Hai, and Gai Prefectures, once submitted a copy."

"Yes, I remember," Fang Congzhe said, still deeply impressed by Zhang Quan's memorial. "Zhang Quan said that sea-transported grain has long been unable to stabilize grain prices in Liaodong because the Ministry of Supply has long designated Lushun and Jinzhou as destinations, resulting in ineffective sea transport. I hope the emperor will issue a decree ordering the Ministry of Supply to change the destination to Gaizhou."

"You remember correctly." Wang An continued, "After seeing Zhang Bingxian's memorial, the Imperial Household Department sent people to check the records kept by the Ministry of Revenue and found that the Ministry of Revenue did send the grain and wages to Gaizhou instead of Lushun and Jinzhou at the beginning, but for some reason they changed the route later. So we suspect that it was Li Changgeng, the Minister of Revenue, who deliberately changed the route for his own selfish interests, so they sent people from the East Factory to Beitang for a secret investigation. Alas!" Wang An sighed and said again:

"Unexpectedly, the Marquis of Wuqing was behind this. Following clues, the East Depot conducted an in-depth investigation and apprehended a group of lackeys from the Li family of the Marquis of Wuqing, the Guo family of the Boping Marquis, and the Chen family of the Pingjiang Marquis. The East Depot interrogation revealed that these individuals, in order to defy national policy and force Li Changgeng, the Minister of Finance, to reroute supplies to Lushun and Jinzhou to maintain high prices in Liaodong, not only fabricated losses but also embezzled a shipload of grain and military equipment. They even had the audacity to target the Tianjin Coastal Defense Battalion, attempting to bribe Li Weidong, a coastal defense guerrilla, into helping them embezzle military pay and fabricate losses. Their crimes are truly numerous and blatant. The East Depot has already taken the servants of the Li, Guo, and Chen families to Beijing, where they are being held in the East Depot's prison, awaiting interrogation and verification."

"There's actually such a thing." Fang Congzhe was stunned. "How did Li Changgeng become the Minister of Finance?" Fang Congzhe put down the report, looked at the emperor, slowly stood up, and then slowly knelt down. "Your Majesty, I am guilty!"

"Ah?" Zhu Changluo came back to his senses and was immediately stunned. "What crime have you committed?"

"I drafted the document for Li Changgeng, the Minister of Finance, and requested the late emperor to appoint him." Fang Congzhe kowtowed.

"Fang Qing, there's no need to blame yourself for this." Zhu Changluo's expression quickly relaxed. "When my father was alive, you were the sole minister of the cabinet. Which document wasn't written by you? As the saying goes, a single tree can't support a whole building. If you're always demanding and blaming yourself for everything, then assisting the government would probably be something only a god could do."

Fang Congzhe continued to blame himself: "I was honored by the emperor's grace and appointed as an assistant minister. I failed to judge the people clearly, which led to the waste of money and grain and the inability to remedy the crisis in Liaodong."

"Alright!" Zhu Changluo interrupted him. "It wasn't Li Changgeng who did this, neither was it you who did it, nor did it harm the public interest and enrich himself. I won't blame you, and don't let your imagination run wild."

"Your Majesty, I bow to you and thank you for not punishing me." Fang Congzhe kowtowed to the emperor with a sincere tone and expression.

"Stand up and sit down." Zhu Changluo nodded.

"Yes." Fang Congzhe stood up and sat down, still with his head lowered and brows furrowed, as if he still felt guilty.

"Mr. Fang, how do you think these cases should be handled?" Zhu Changluo asked.

(End of this chapter)