Qing Yao

Chapter 458 Meeting

Confession is lenient, resistance is strict.

Even if Mukden didn't consider his own family, he had to think about the fate of his clan if he decided to become a "tainted witness." If he were to be used as an example by Deputy Commander Zhao and punished, there would be no going back.

Compared to the former Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Marquis Jinghai, who was almost executed along with his entire family, he was nothing. If the matter really reached the old master's ears, once he heard that it was Neqin's son who was undermining the Eight Banners, the old master, with his temperament, would probably settle all old and new grudges at once and completely send his childhood friend's family to hell.

I'm a damn bastard!
"The supervisory officer Erhe embezzled 5,000 taels of silver annually by falsely reporting troop numbers; the salary office secretary Shumulu colluded with the third squad leader Langtu to embezzle no less than 10,000 taels of silver annually under the guise of 'fire loss'; the second squad leader and the fifteenth squad leader Bayar misappropriated funds from the banner treasury for lending, making substantial profits."

Having figured out the stakes, Mukden not only confessed his own illegal and criminal acts, but also, under Zhao An's guidance in exposing his crimes, truthfully revealed the illegal acts of other officials he knew of.

The two printing workers, Bai Tang'a, who were responsible for taking notes, were terrified. The two men were not exactly clean either, but they had no chance to tip off Zhao An under his nose, so they could only obediently keep the records.

Throughout history, the methods of making money within a "work unit" have remained largely the same.

According to Mukden's confession, the most common way to embezzle money was to claim that the official silver was not pure enough when distributing wages, or to use substandard scales to cheat, distributing one hundred taels as ninety taels, with the difference of ten taels going into the officers' pockets.

This situation exists in almost every Zuo Ling (military command), and has become an unwritten rule.

Even if the soldiers knew, they often didn't bother arguing with their superiors because their actual losses weren't too great.

This idea made Shangguan a fortune.

For example, if one bannerman is charged five coins, then one hundred bannermen would be charged fifty taels. If the full force consists of three hundred men, that would amount to one hundred and fifty taels!

Besides direct sedation, there are many other methods.

Second Lieutenant and Seventh Zuo Ling Hong Hai deliberately delayed the payment of wages. Then, taking advantage of the plight of his subordinates, he distributed "loan sharks" to them through merchants he colluded with. When the wages were finally paid, most of the soldiers' salaries had to be used to repay the principal and interest.

With this one trick alone, Hong Hai could make at least five hundred taels of silver every year, truly taking the exploitation of soldiers' blood to the extreme.

In addition, officers at all levels also forcibly deducted a portion of the bannermen's pay under various pretexts such as official duties, paying tribute to superiors, and celebrating festivals.

There are also terms like "rat loss" and "sparrow loss," which refer to the deduction of grain under the pretext of losses caused by rats and sparrows eating it during storage and transportation.

Distributing moldy, sand-mixed, old, or bad rice as good rice to the banner soldiers was a common practice.

The situation of fraudulently claiming government stipends was appalling. When a banner soldier died, the captain would not report it to the governor's office in a timely manner to cancel the banner's registration, but would continue to receive money and grain from the higher authorities in the name that the banner soldier was still alive.

The descendants of this deceased bannerman had to pay a sum of money to the captain if they wanted to be officially registered as bannermen, truly making the most of the dead.

That's considered good. The bad ones are like Mukden, who used his power to find non-Manchu people to impersonate Manchus and fraudulently collect money and grain. As long as the relevant personnel were bribed, the money would flow from the old man's pockets to their storage bags like tap water.

The imperial court's rewards for the Eight Banners soldiers, including weddings and funerals, became a source of illicit income for officers at all levels. Unmarried men would report being married, and those who were alive would report being dead.
An industry chain has been formed, in which the chief officers and deputy officers are responsible for reporting, the printing office responsible for managing household registration cooperates in making genuine and fake account books, and then the salary office responsible for finance distributes the money according to the list.

The proceeds of corruption are distributed proportionally, so everyone benefits.

Heshen, as the Manchu commander of the Bordered Yellow Banner, certainly wouldn't care about such a small amount of money, but many of his cronies were involved. Mukden mentioned the names of two of Heshen's cronies.

Conservative estimates suggest that at least 80% of the Manchu officers above the rank of Zuo Ling in the Bordered Yellow Banner are corrupt, and the percentage of those below Zuo Ling, such as Ling Cui and Xiao Qi Xiao, could reach 90%.

It was estimated that the amount of money and grain embezzled and misappropriated by the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner alone amounted to tens of thousands of taels of silver per year, not including various forms of deduction in kind. The two Baitanga who were responsible for taking notes were increasingly shocked as they listened. They knew about the corruption within the banner, but they never imagined it would reach such a shocking level.

If Deputy Commander Zhao were to report according to Mukton's confession, countless heads would be lost in the enraged Bordered Yellow Banner Manchus!

Zhao An was increasingly pleased as he listened. If everything Mukton said was true, he wouldn't need to fabricate a wrong case or a false case at all. He could use this confession to cause all sorts of trouble, making everyone in the Bordered Yellow Banner feel insecure and resentful towards Heshen and the old master.

They then pressed Mukden's cousin, Buyandalai, the first of the five commanders, to inquire whether he had been involved in these matters.

Mukton hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Buyandalai is a cautious person and probably didn't participate in these things, so he may not know anything about them."

"Oh?"

Zhao An narrowed his eyes, knowing that Mukton was protecting his cousin, so he didn't press the matter further.

Two hours later, Mukden finally signed his confession.

Zhao An picked up the confession and examined it carefully. He nodded in satisfaction: "Lord Mu is very understanding and righteous. I will definitely report your merits to Grand Secretary He and the Emperor."

"This humble official only asks to save his life and dares not seek merit."

Mukton felt only bitterness in his heart. Saving his family was the best outcome for him, and he dared not hope for any reward.

Zhao An ignored him and instead waved his hand to order someone to summon Commander Fan.

After Commander Fan arrived, Zhao An immediately ordered him to send someone to inform all Manchu officers of the Bordered Yellow Banner above the rank of Zuo Ling to attend a meeting at the Governor's Office at noon the next day.

Upon hearing this, Commander Fan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Sir, many officers in our banner have concurrent posts, some serving in the Beijing garrison, some in various ministries and departments, and some holding positions in other regions. It may be difficult to gather them all in one day."

"Taking on side jobs" and "traveling around" were common practices for Eight Banner officials in the Qing Dynasty. The purpose was to cultivate generalists and prevent officials from becoming too powerful in a particular position.

The commanders and lieutenants usually held concurrent positions in the Beijing garrison, such as the guard battalion, the vanguard battalion, and the firearms battalion, and some also served as bodyguards.

Those who did not hold concurrent positions in the Beijing Garrison served as secretaries, assistant secretaries, or principals in various ministries and departments.

Don't underestimate those who work part-time in ministries and institutes. They may be lowly in rank but powerful, and their connections are intricate and complex, making them the most difficult to deal with.

"Those from other places don't matter, but those in Beijing must come!"

Zhao An waved his hand, his tone leaving no room for doubt, "Anyone who fails to comply will bear the consequences."

"Whoo!"

Reluctantly, Commander Fan agreed, but after a moment's hesitation, he asked, "I wonder what matters Your Excellency has summoned to discuss with officers of the rank of Zuo Ling and above? I hope this will inform them."

Zhao An originally wanted to reply to Commander Fan with "kowtow more and talk less," but after thinking for a moment, he waved his hand and said, "Let's not discuss anything else, let's discuss what is the guarantee of our Eight Banners' fighting strength!"

(End of this chapter)