Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 789 Records of Gentry and Merchants

Xu Fang fell silent, his fingertips gently tracing the band around the embroidered spring knife. He had originally thought that even if the canal smuggling case was complicated, it would at most involve a few powerful figures, and as long as the ringleader was caught, the case would be easily solved. He never expected that this would be such a troublesome case where the law could not punish everyone, so troublesome that he had no idea how to close the case.

"Chief Bai. This case has been investigated to this point. Even if there isn't a mastermind behind it, there should be some key figures whose influence you can count on, right?" After pondering for a moment, Xu Fang could only think of a way to close the case, such as making an example of someone to warn others.

“Commander Xu. The most influential figure in Tianjin is undoubtedly Governor Sun, also known as Censor-in-Chief Sun. Regarding him, I can tell you very clearly,” Bai Zhaoye sighed and shook his head with some regret. “Governor Sun has never sought any personal gain in this matter since he took office.”

Xu Fang wasn't surprised: "What about the others?"

“There was no indication that anyone around Governor Sun was involved in smuggling,” Bai Zhaoye said.

“The other people I’m referring to,” Xu Fang corrected, “are either military officers of the Three Guards or civil officials of prefectures and counties.”

"Hmm," Bai Zhaoye pondered for a moment before carefully replying, "They could indeed be implicated to some extent, such as servants in their households or managers of their businesses who used the canal boats to transport smuggled goods. But based on these entanglements alone, at most they would be demoted and transferred. If we want to convict them of serious crimes, we'll probably have to bite the bullet and dig up old cases."

"Can we only dig up old cases?" Xu Fang pondered. "So you mean you were doing it before, but haven't been doing it recently?"

“You could say that,” Bai Zhaoye nodded. “The Embroidered Uniform Guard had previously investigated cases of Central Guard officials openly participating in large-scale smuggling. However, in the past few months, investigation stations in various places have been conducting overt and covert investigations for quite some time, and they have indeed not found any cases of Guard officials or prefectural and county officials participating in or protecting smuggling on a large scale and directly profiting from it. Even ordinary misconduct is rare.”

"How could this happen?" Xu Fang's eyes showed a hint of suspicion. "Could it be that your operation was exposed and they noticed?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Bai Zhaoye hurriedly denied, shaking his head repeatedly. "Our operations are extremely secretive. The investigators we send out either disguise themselves as merchants or work as canal laborers, and they never have much contact with the government. Even if they have to deal with the government, they only follow the official procedures and never make direct contact, much less approach them or their families in private. There is absolutely no way they could have known we were there."

"Then why is that?" Xu Fang was even more puzzled. "There must be a reason for such a big change, right?"

"You should know the reason," Bai Zhaoye chuckled inexplicably. "At the beginning of the year, the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrested all the guards, including the commander, deputy commander, and assistant commander of the Tianjin Central Guard. The entire Commandery was left with only Shen Zhengping, the garrison commander, temporarily in charge of the guards. With this show of force, who would dare to defy the rules? Moreover, with a powerful figure like Governor Sun in Tianjin keeping things in check, even if those guards or officials in the prefectures and counties under the governor had the intention, they probably wouldn't have the guts."

Xu Fang propped herself up on her thighs, leaned forward, and stared intently at Bai Zhaoye: "Since Governor Sun is so upright and can keep his subordinates in check, why doesn't he do anything about the smuggling in the canal? The matter has already gotten this rampant, there's no way he wouldn't know about it, right?"

"Well, hehe," Bai Zhaoye said with a troubled expression. "I can't really say what Sun Jinfu is thinking, since we haven't had any direct contact with him. All we know is that neither he nor the people around him have profited from smuggling."

Xu Fang didn't press the matter further. Instead, he picked up the almond shortbread from the pastry plate and slowly chewed it with his lukewarm tea. The sweet aroma of the shortbread mixed with the slightly bitter taste of the tea as it passed down his throat did nothing to ease his mind.

Xu Fang remained silent, and Bai Zhaoye sat quietly to the side, head bowed, waiting. The signing room fell silent again, broken only by the intermittent chirping of cicadas and the sound of the wind outside the window, which offered a slight respite from the oppressive stillness.

Before long, Xu Fang finished the almond shortbread. He put down his teacup and stared blankly at the crack in the door. Morning light streamed in through the crack, casting a thin, bright line on the floor that swayed gently in the breeze.

“Chief Bai,” Xu Fang turned her gaze to Bai Zhaoye, “who have you investigated these past few days? Do you have a list?”

"Yes, yes! I'll go get it for you right away!" Bai Zhaoye immediately stood up and walked quickly to the desk.

This time, Bai Zhaoye did not search for the envelope on the bookshelf as before, but directly pulled out a book titled "Records of Gentry and Merchants" from a pile of books on the table.

"Chief Xu," Bai Zhaoye returned to Xu Fang with the booklet in his hands, handing it over with both hands, "this is the list of people involved in the case that we have compiled. Please take a look."

"Why didn't you hide this booklet?" Xu Fang reached out and took the booklet, asking, "Didn't you hide that survey station roster very well just now?"

“Zhijingtang is a bookstore, and I am a bookseller.” Bai Zhaoye pointed to the title of the booklet and said, “It’s quite normal for a bookseller to have a copy of ‘Records of Gentry and Merchants’ in his signing room, isn’t it?”

"That seems to be true." Xu Fang nodded slightly and opened the booklet. Every page of the booklet was filled with names, identities, and addresses written in neat small characters.

For example, “Zhang Chaohan, a grain merchant from Zhongwei, Tianjin, lives in the third house on Dongdan Toutiao”; “Zhou Shichang, a canal magistrate from Zhongwei, Tianjin, lives in the sixth house on Nanmenwai Street”; “Li Wanchun, a student from Cangzhou, lives in the second house on Gulou East Alley”.

“So many people are on the list,” Xu Fang asked as she flipped through the documents, “are they all involved in smuggling?”

“Yes. They all participated, just to varying degrees,” Bai Zhaoye said without hesitation. “Some were long-term smugglers of large quantities of goods, while others occasionally had their cargo ships carry some in-demand smuggled goods, in varying quantities.”

"This is too outrageous!" Xu Fang's expression grew increasingly grave as she read on, and she even gripped the pages harder as she turned to the back. "So many people are involved in the case just in Tianjin?"

“This only includes those directly involved, the prominent figures,” Bai Zhaoye added. “If we include the small vendors who occasionally break the law, as well as those who indirectly benefit, this booklet would be at least twice as thick.”

"Phew," Xu Fang quickly flipped through the entire booklet, looked up, and held it up, asking, "Why isn't the value of each person's case written here? For example, how much goods they smuggled, how much tax they evaded, and so on?"

“It’s really difficult to determine the value of the case.” Bai Zhaoye looked troubled. “To determine the value, we would have to make in-depth contact with the people involved, and even take inventory of their goods and check their accounts. This would easily expose our identities and purposes. Moreover, the types of smuggled goods are very diverse. Some are silk, some are tea, and some are spices and gems from Southeast Asia. The prices of these things fluctuate greatly, making it difficult to accurately estimate the value. Besides, the head office has not required us to investigate the value in detail.”

“Alright, I understand.” Xu Fang put the booklet down on the table and then patted it lightly. “I’ll take this booklet with me to make a copy, and then I’ll return it to you.” Bai Zhaoye was taken aback for a moment, and then quickly said, “Chief Xu, I’m afraid there’s no need for that, is there? I’ve already compiled the contents of the booklet into official documents and submitted them to the head office. The head office should have already filed them with the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs.”

“It’s your main factory’s business to file with the Directorate of Ceremonial. We’re here in Tianjin to collect firsthand information from below.” Xu Fang looked at him and said, “Don’t worry, we will assume that the information you have is correct and unmodified. If any problems arise later, such as the filed content not matching the original information you have, that’s the responsibility of your superiors, not yours.”

Bai Zhaoye felt a tightness in his chest. Reassured? How could he be at ease? He had no control over whether the head office would intentionally omit or modify information when reporting. If something went wrong, even if the higher-ups couldn't shift the blame, they would all scatter like leaves in the wind, inevitably implicating them.

Bai Zhaoye dared not say these words aloud, as it would probably be useless anyway. He could only keep them to himself and gently plead, "Commissioner Xu, this booklet is quite thick, containing information on two or three hundred people. It would be difficult to copy it all in a day or two. If it delays your journey..."

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Xu Fang waved her hand and tightened the hemp thread holding the pages together. “We brought several scribes with us this time. We’ll break the book down into several parts and have them copy it separately. It won’t take long to finish. Don’t worry, we’ll put the thread back together and return the original book to you before we leave Tianjin.”

Bai Zhaoye knew that further refusals would be useless, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and make another request: "Alright, I understand. However, this booklet is the investigation draft of this station. It is fine for you to see it or copy it, but if you want to take it away, I'm afraid I can only be so bold as to ask you to issue a written receipt."

Xu Fang raised an eyebrow: "Are you afraid I'll lose your booklet?"

"I naturally trust Commander Xu," Bai Zhaoye said with an awkward smile. "But that's how the rules are. I hope Commander Xu will understand."

"Rules," Xu Fang chuckled softly. "Hmph, the rules you set?"

"This is me."

"Fine. You just want some reassurance, right? I'll write it for you." Xu Fang stood up and walked towards the desk. "You have pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, right?"

"Yes, yes! Your humble servant will grind the ink for you right away!" Bai Zhaoye followed and quickly prepared the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

"Commander Bai." Xu Fang, holding a pen, wrote down the order to requisition the original files from the grassroots level in her capacity as an imperial envoy, and asked Bai Zhaoye without looking up, "Has your main factory given you any special orders?"

"What?" Bai Zhaoye's hair stood on end instantly. "A special order?"

“It’s the kind of order that tells you to investigate someone specifically, or not to investigate someone at all.” Xu Fang glanced at him.

"No, no!" Bai Zhaoye said firmly. "The main factory has never issued such an order, at least not to me."

"Hmm," Xu Fang remained silent for a while, before finally uttering a soft "That's good."

Bai Zhaoye breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could catch his breath, Xu Fang added, "If you ever encounter anything like this that shouldn't happen, you can report it to us anytime. We will guarantee your future and your personal safety. Conversely, if you know something but don't report it, well..."

Xu Fang stared at the door with a heavy heart, then nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Alright, take a look," Xu Fang put down her pen and handed the completed document to Bai Zhaoye. "Is there anything else I need to add?"

"No, no, thank you for your understanding, Commander Xu." Zhao Ye took it with both hands, glanced at it quickly, carefully folded it, and stuffed it into his pocket. Then, he turned around, picked up the book "Records of Gentry and Merchants" from the desk, and presented it to Xu Fang with both hands: "Commander Xu, please keep it safe."

Xu Fang took the booklet and casually tucked it into her clothes. "Alright, I don't have any more questions. Let's call it a day."

"Oh dear." Bai Zhaoye breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't wait to see his guest off, but he still said something to persuade him to stay: "Commander Xu, don't be in such a hurry to leave! You've come from afar and must be tired. I haven't even had a chance to show you the proper hospitality yet."

"Honoring as a host?" Xu Fang smiled. "Are you going to make a big fuss about taking me out for a meal somewhere?"

“In our line of work, we certainly can’t make a big fuss,” Bai Zhaoye said with an even more ingratiating smile. “But we could have a small chat in the study. I can have someone book a table outside and have it delivered to the backyard in a food box, without disturbing anyone. If you would do me the honor of having a meal here, it would be nice for the staff at the station to get a taste of your elegance.”

"Forget it, I don't have any airs of nobility for you to associate with." Xu Fang waved her hand, turned around and walked back to where she had been sitting, picked up the embroidered spring knife with a sash, and skillfully tied it to her waist. "Besides, I have to go somewhere else later. Let's talk about it another time."

"Where are you going next?" Bai Zhaoye quickly caught up, asking casually, "If you need directions, this humble servant can."

"Heh." Xu Fang paused, turned to look at Bai Zhaoye, and a half-smile appeared on her lips.

Bai Zhaoye snapped out of his daze and quickly raised his hand to lightly slap himself twice, a look of regret on his face: "Oh dear! I was so talkative! I was just asking casually, I didn't mean anything by it, please don't take it to heart!"

Xu Fang withdrew her gaze and turned to walk towards the exit of the signing room. Bai Zhaoye quickly stepped forward, pushed open the door of the signing room first, then stood to the side and made a courteous "please" gesture.

The two walked back the way they came and soon left the Weaving Hall. Xu Fang didn't linger or exchange pleasantries, quickly blending into the flow of people under Bai Zhaoye's watchful gaze. Bai Zhaoye stood there until Xu Fang was completely out of sight before letting out a long sigh of relief: "Damn it, finally gone."

(End of this chapter)