My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 142 The Storm at the Censorate

Su Ze stood up and said to Shen Yiguan:
"Submit a memorial? What memorial?! Your fellow graduate has been beaten! Go and see him!"

Shen Yiguan then realized what was happening and quickly said:

"Brother Zilin is right, let's hurry to Brother Shen and Brother Wang's house!"

Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong were also classmates of Luo Wanhua and others. They all stood up and followed Su Ze out of the history museum.
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Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao had just been appointed to their posts before the Lunar New Year and were confirmed to stay in the capital. Therefore, their families would not set off for the capital until after the Lunar New Year. Since they were born in the same year and both served in the Censorate, they simply rented a small courtyard together.

By the time Su Ze and his group arrived, many officials were already standing in Wang Shen's courtyard.

Some of them were their colleagues in the Censorate, and the rest were their classmates like Su Ze.

When Su Ze arrived with Shen Yiguan and the others, the atmosphere in the courtyard reached its climax.

"Brother Su! We absolutely cannot tolerate these treacherous people!"

"They even dare to beat up the imperial censors! Just how far will these local people go in bullying others by abusing their power!"

"Impose! I want to submit a petition to impeach Shen Sixiao, the magistrate of Gaomi County!"

"Not only Shen Sixiao, but also whoever issued the official credentials to Shen Sixiao's personal attendants and servants should be impeached!"

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries with everyone, Su Ze led them into the house.

Seeing that Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong were not seriously injured, Su Ze was relieved.

Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong were extremely grateful to Su Ze for coming to visit them immediately, but they were soon overwhelmed with shame.

It’s so embarrassing!
As esteemed censors of the Censorate, Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong originally thought that as long as they revealed their identities, these petty scoundrels would obediently submit.

Unexpectedly, when they tried to verify the credentials of Shen Sixiao's servants, they were surrounded and beaten by this group of people.

If it weren't for Postmaster Zhou Yusheng leading his men to drag the two out, they would probably have been beaten to death!

The two had narrowly escaped death, and now, after calming down, they felt even more terrified.

Seeing that the two were unharmed, Shen Yiguan said:

"You two brothers were far too careless. This isn't a government office in the outskirts of the capital. Nobody cares about your status as censors. Has the thief been caught yet?"

Wang Renzhong said:
"They've been caught. The Shuntian Prefecture sent officers to arrest those servants who assaulted people."

Shen Yiguan's expression relaxed. With the servant who had assaulted the man caught, the witnesses and evidence could be confirmed, making things much easier.

Shen Zao said:

"I heard from others that these servants were all hangers-on that Shen Sixiao recruited in the capital. They were originally supposed to go to Shandong with him before the New Year to take up their new posts, but they wanted to stay in the capital for the New Year, so they didn't set off until after the Lantern Festival."

So that's how it is. No wonder these people attacked Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao after hearing their identities; they're all local thugs and ruffians from the capital.

Luo Wanhua asked, puzzled:
"Why did Shen Sixiao need to recruit these people from the capital to take up his post in Shandong?"

Shen Yiguan explained:

"As the saying goes, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. The county magistrate is supposed to be the official in charge, the local magistrate, but the county government is deeply entrenched. How can a mere county magistrate possibly subdue these local tyrants?"

“Nowadays, when a county magistrate takes office, he must equip himself with both civil and military officers. The civil officers are his advisors and clerks, who assist in handling the paperwork of the yamen. The military officers are these scoundrels and hangers-on, who are used to serve as the two shifts of yamen runners.”

"These hangers-on are needed for everything from cracking down on smuggling and catching thieves to collecting taxes. Without capable people, we can't even collect the summer and autumn taxes!"

The more Luo Wanhua listened, the more complicated it became. He was glad that he was the top scholar in the imperial examination and was directly appointed as a Hanlin official.

No wonder that old Hanlin scholar committed suicide by burning charcoal at home when he heard that he was to be demoted and exiled from the capital. For those old Hanlin scholars who had spent their entire lives in the Hanlin Academy, the local areas were truly a den of dragons and tigers.

Su Ze asked again:
"Where did these people hold the official certificates issued by?"

Wang Renzhong said:
"It was a verification document from the Censorate."

"Things are clear now," Su Ze said, standing up.
"You two are too careless. A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall. Even if you are on patrol in plain clothes, you should bring guards with you."

"Today they are just scoundrels and hangers-on from the capital. If you investigate important cases in the future, it will be a matter of life and death."

Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao felt even more ashamed.

Seeing that the two had learned their lesson, Su Ze said again:
"Emperor Taizu respected the officials who spoke out because they were doing dangerous things. But without the censors and officials who corrected the law and discipline, the innocent people who were beaten would have nowhere to seek justice, and the world would become more and more corrupt every day."

"You two gentlemen enforced the law with an iron fist; this beating was taken on behalf of the people."

After speaking, Su Ze bowed to the two of them. Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao were so excited that they tried to sit up from the bed to return the bow, but Shen Yiguan and the others held them down.

Su Ze continued:

"I had already drafted a memorial, and once you two brothers have made some progress, we will jointly submit it to His Majesty, requesting that the post station regulations be reformed."

"Now it seems that the problem of the post station's official regulations is more serious than I thought. Longquan Post Station is under the emperor's nose and the most important post station in the country. If such a thing can happen there, what about other post stations? How will the post station workers and the people around the post stations be exploited?"

Su Ze said:

"I have asked you two gentlemen to submit this petition. I, Su, will certainly submit a petition to second this matter. We are determined to dispel this evil trend and restore order to the post roads!"

Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao nodded repeatedly, eager to pick up their pens and write a memorial to the throne immediately.
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On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, the entire Censorate was indignant because of the incident in which Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao were beaten.

The censors were a unified whole; the fact that these two men were beaten was a provocation against the entire Censorate system.

The censors of the Censorate mobilized in droves, rushing to the post stations around the capital and arresting all those who had violated the regulations by using the official documents, according to their respective jurisdictions.

This was partly due to Wang and Shen, and partly because the Censorate was also pushed to its limits by the Six Ministries' performance evaluation system!

Actually, the Shandong Circuit where Wang and Shen were located was not bad. After all, Shandong was adjacent to the capital. If they really couldn't meet their targets, they could just go to Shandong to arrest a few corrupt officials.

If that doesn't work, there are still officials from Shandong in the capital; keeping an eye on them and supervising them would also be an option.

But what are you going to do with the supervising censors of Yunnan Circuit?
There aren't many officials from Yunnan to begin with, and a trip to Yunnan and back takes more than half a year. By the time they return, their performance bonuses have already been deducted.

Wang Shen's method of focusing on the post stations provided these imperial censors with an excellent solution.

Of course, there have been instances of resistance to law enforcement.

However, this time the Censorate mobilized its entire force, led by senior censors, and had already laid ample manpower. Several who attempted to take action were immediately brought to justice and escorted back to the capital.

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, many government offices were still closed. Seeing the usually tough Censorate in such disarray due to the Examination and Assessment Law, the onlookers burst into laughter. After the New Year, the entire officialdom of the capital was filled with gossip about the Censorate.

But these people soon stopped laughing.

As those arrested confessed one after another, the person who issued the warrants to them was also identified.

This includes the nine major and minor government offices in the capital, especially the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Censorate.

Those censors who had issued official documents in violation of regulations all submitted petitions to plead guilty, and then the censors turned their criticism towards other government departments.

As a result, officials from all levels of government in the capital were recalled, and faced with impeachment from the Censorate, they all submitted memorials to defend themselves, instantly dispelling the festive atmosphere of the New Year. At this time, the censors who had been beaten, Li Xingwang Renzhong and Shen Zao, jointly submitted a memorial to the emperor and the cabinet, describing the current chaos at the post stations and listing the burden that the post stations placed on the surrounding people.

Su Ze followed suit and submitted a memorial as well:

"The imperial court classified the five categories of 'gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, and humility' as criteria and issued them to officials and envoys in accordance with regulations."

“Nowadays, the postal system is in chaos, and those who travel along the postal routes are mostly people who are ‘unfriendly, bad, disrespectful, extravagant, and unyielding.’”

"Your Majesty, I humbly beseech you to consider the hardships of the people and the importance of the nation, and to issue a decree as soon as possible to clear the post roads."

Next, Su Ze proposed reforms to the post road system.

The post station's official documents had to be signed by the head of each government office, and all signed documents had to be registered and destroyed after use. At the end of the year, the records from both sides had to be submitted to the Censorate for verification.

The name of the user must be clearly stated in the document. Using a document under someone else's name should be dealt with as a crime of forgery. If a document is lent to someone else without authorization, the lender should also be held guilty of the same crime.

The post stations had to record every expense for hospitality, and at the end of the year, these records were compiled separately and submitted to the Censorate for verification. Even if officials held legal travel documents, those who engaged in extravagance and waste along the way would be held accountable.

In his memorial, Su Ze also mentioned Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao, praising them for discovering the long-standing problems of the post roads and setting a good example for censors. He hoped that the court would remember their contributions and reward them.

Su Ze stuffed the memorial into the "Portable Ming Dynasty Court" device, and sure enough, the cost of executing the memorial was extremely low this time.

——[Simulation Start]——

A day later, the memorial entitled "Requesting the Opening of Post Roads and Strict Investigation of Joint Cases" was sent to the Cabinet, and all the cabinet ministers expressed their support. The memorial was then sent to the palace.

Two days later, the emperor approved your memorial.

The Sixth Department partially agrees with the contents of your memorial, but believes that Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao were merely fulfilling their duties and should not receive any additional recognition.

The emperor agreed with the Six Ministries' opinion, but issued an edict to appease Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong.

——[Simulation End]——

[Would you like to consume 50 prestige points to ensure the entire memorial is executed?]

Good heavens, is that even possible? The memorial was approved?

Su Ze now realized just how difficult it would be to get promoted in the Ming Dynasty's officialdom without his special abilities.

In fact, it was normal for the Sixth Department to disagree with promoting Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao.

In the workplace, a simple phrase like "it's my job" can erase so much effort.

Fortunately, after this incident, the cost of forcibly executing the memorial was reduced to 50 points.

Su Ze did not hesitate to choose to enforce the decision.

[Prestige points have been deducted]

[Remaining Prestige Points: 420]

Now it all depends on how the system performs. If it can really help Shen Zaowang get promoted this time, then Su Ze will be able to execute more plans.
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Wang and Shen's memorials were sent to the cabinet first, and Su Ze's memorial was sent along with them.

Having just drafted the memorials of Wang and Shen, Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard upon seeing Su Ze's memorial, a satisfied expression on his face.

After the New Year, the first batch of silver dollars and brass coins delivered from the Dengzhou-Laizhou mint have already entered the market.

Zhang Juzheng was also swift and decisive. He started with the Ministry of Revenue, which he controlled, and forcibly demanded that all funds disbursed by the Ministry of Revenue starting this month be in new silver dollars and brass coins.

Just as Zhang Juzheng and Su Ze had predicted, this exquisite new coin was quickly accepted by the market.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Juzheng, in the name of the Ministry of Revenue, issued an order to all government offices in the capital, stating that for any matter involving money, the people could pay with silver dollars and brass coins, and the government was not allowed to refuse to accept them.

One silver dollar was worth five mace of silver, and ten brass coins made up one silver dollar.

This dispelled the public's concerns about using the new currency, and the new money quickly began to circulate.

Early this morning, the steward of Zhang Juzheng's residence brought back a brass coin as change.

Zhang Juzheng was naturally even happier to receive this news.

The first batch of coins delivered was not much, but this time the imperial court issued new coins more smoothly than the several times during the Jiajing era. Zhang Juzheng knew that this was all thanks to Su Ze.

Upon seeing Su Ze's memorial, Zhang Juzheng was very supportive of the plan to reorganize the post stations.

But when Zhang Juzheng saw the part where Su Ze helped Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong request commendations, he smiled slightly.

Based on Zhang Juzheng's experience, such a request would normally be rejected.

Zhang Juzheng also heard about the beating of Wang and Shen.

However, officialdom is not like a secret society; it's not a place where you can get compensation just because you've been wronged.

The fact that the two censors were beaten is a disgrace to the Censorate, but isn't this also due to the poor handling of the matter by you two, Wang and Shen?

Moreover, the Six Ministries currently have a poor relationship with the Censorate, so they will definitely try to suppress the two of them.

In reality, the normal procedure in officialdom should be to record Wang and Shen's merits and then arrange for them to be promoted when they have the opportunity to be promoted again.

Zhang Juzheng shook his head. This was clearly Gao Gong's business scope. How could Su Ze not understand such a simple principle?

Does Su Ze really not understand?
Zhang Juzheng shook his head again, thinking that this guy probably wasn't ignorant, but was just doing it on purpose.

However, considering Su Ze's contributions to coinage, Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to say to Xia Wei, the secretary of the Imperial Secretariat, who was beside him:
"Go to the Ministry of Revenue and retrieve last year's accounts for the post roads near the capital."

After a while, Xia Wei returned to the cabinet with some documents in his arms.

Zhang Juzheng did some mental calculations again, then retrieved the memorials from Wang Renzhong and Shen Zao, and revised his own opinion:
"Last year, the Ministry of Revenue subsidized the post roads with 380,000 taels of silver, including Longquanyi in the suburbs of Beijing."

"Based on the report submitted by Wang and Shen, after clearing the post roads, we can save 200,000 taels of silver this year."

Last year, the more than 500,000 taels of silver allocated for postal services were mostly given to the post stations near the two capitals.

The reason is simple: the administration of the Ming Dynasty was centered around the capital, and the post stations in the suburbs of the capital were the busiest.

Moreover, the imperial court couldn't see the post stations in remote areas and wouldn't provide any subsidies.

Zhang Juzheng added this sentence to make the contributions of Wang and Shen more concrete.

If the emperor is pleased, he will naturally reward the two men.

Zhang Juzheng put down his pen. If it weren't for Su Ze, he, as a Grand Secretary, would never have bothered to settle this score with the Emperor.

This can be considered a reward for Su Ze.
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In Gaomi County, Shen Sixiao, who had not yet received the news, was convening a meeting of officials and clerks of the Gaomi County government.

(End of this chapter)