Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 57 You mean I'm going to reward the Beijing Garrison with 40 taels of silver? (Please vote!)

I got an SSR!
No, we can't start drawing the prize money yet. We need to arrange the 180 million taels of silver reward first.

Zhu Youjian felt a pang of heartache, but more importantly, there was a high probability that the 180 million would just be a hollow promise.

However, he still had to listen to the sound.

Zhu Youjian opened the register of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and found only thirty-two people.

Most of them were Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) who were ranked third in the second or fifth year of the Tianqi reign.

Their resumes were very simple, basically stating that they went to a certain place on a certain date to receive titles and rewards.

This makes perfect sense; the pyramid of Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in the Ming Dynasty is an example of this.

The very best batch entered the Hanlin Academy.

The second-best will be promoted to the Six Ministries.

The least ambitious, or those who wanted to achieve something, were sent out to serve as county magistrates or judges.

Those in the Imperial Censorate were all graduates of the highest level of the imperial examinations, lacking connections and background, and unwilling to leave the capital. So they stayed in this peripheral department, enduring hardship and waiting for an opportunity.

However, there is usually no chance.

To put it bluntly, this is a group of Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) who are relatively less qualified but also relatively innocent.

Zhu Youjian's fingertips slowly traced those names.

Ma Maocai, Guo Weijing, Yuan Jixian, Kong Wenji, Cheng Liangchou, Gong Tingxian, Chen Xianze, Guo Duxian, Shen Weixian, Zhang Sanmo...

Very well, even worse than the list of ministers, not a single person is recognized.

His meager historical knowledge from his previous life was utterly useless in the face of these obscure names.

He sighed, picked up a sheet of snow-white Xuan paper, and then picked up the vermilion brush.

He began to write and draw on the list of pedestrians.

“Yansui Town… Ma Mao is a local, so it’s a good opportunity to send him to see what the situation is like in northern Shaanxi.”

“Datong Town…Shen Weixian, a native of Shaanxi, is also considered to be in the same area.”

“Cui Jidi from Jizhou Town and Yongping Prefecture is a local and should be familiar with the situation.”

……

Like a project manager, he tried to optimize the allocation of human resources in this era without Excel.

Delete, edit, and scribble.

A perfectly good sheet of Xuan paper quickly became a mess.

Even so, in several places in this important border town, it is still impossible to find travelers with the appropriate place of origin.

After racking his brains to arrange it once, he copied it again.

"Gao Shiming."

Zhu Youjian put down his pen, rubbed his temples in frustration, and called out.

"The servant is here."

Gao Shiming stood respectfully at attention.

Zhu Youjian handed over the sheet of white paper covered in writing, saying, "Arrange things according to this list first. For the remaining military towns that haven't been assigned, let the Bureau of Personnel make its own nominations and submit the list."

He paused, then added, "Once the final list is finalized, bring them all to the palace. I want to meet them in person before they depart."

"The slaves obey the order."

Gao Shiming respectfully took the paper, glanced at it, and hesitated.

He hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this list... seems to be missing a place."

"Oh?" Zhu Youjian was somewhat surprised. "Where else was missed?"

Gao Shiming lowered his eyes and lowered his voice even further: "The capital's garrisons and the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Zhu Youjian suddenly slapped his forehead.

"Look at my memory! I actually forgot what was right under my nose!"

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, picked up his pen again, and began tracing his thoughts on the paper, seemingly pondering who to send.

He casually asked, "How much should be awarded for this portion, according to custom?"

Gao Shiming immediately replied, "Your Majesty, according to precedent, it is approximately 470,000 taels."

Zhu Youjian's pen continued to move slowly across the paper, as if searching for a suitable name.

He was still muttering to himself, "Four hundred and seventy thousand... Hmm, that's quite a lot..."

He stopped writing abruptly.

His entire movement seemed to be frozen in time.

He slowly raised his head and looked at Gao Shiming in shock.

"How many?"

"Four hundred and seventy thousand taels?"

Gao Shiming remained as respectful as ever, bowing his head and saying, "Your Majesty, the total amount of 400,000 taels is approximately 400,000 taels for the 81 garrisons, 3 major camps, 5 patrol camps, and garrisons in Tongzhou and other areas of the capital. In addition, there is the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which amounts to approximately 70,000 taels."

Zhu Youjian leaned back, staring blankly at the exquisite and intricate caisson ceiling above him, without uttering a word.

He suddenly felt somewhat ridiculous.

Just now, he spent half a day here planning the list of personnel to be selected by the Pedestrian Bureau.

This was to ensure that the reward money was distributed as accurately as possible.

But what happens in the end?
He's gone to great lengths here; perhaps he can save a few thousand or even tens of thousands of taels.

As a result, these weak and ineffective Beijing garrison troops actually tried to swallow 470,000 taels of silver from him!

Gao Shiming seemed to sense the emperor's intense emotional fluctuations. After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously asked, "Your Majesty personally selected this list. Is it... to reduce corruption?"

Zhu Youjian snapped out of his daze, glanced at him, and nodded: "That's one of the reasons."

He paused, then continued, "In addition, I would like to send officials from the local military garrison to see for themselves and bring back some real information to me."

"They are locals, and although they might be biased due to personal relationships, it's still better than sending an outsider who gets completely fooled by the subordinates. In this way, we can hear both sides and get a clear understanding."

After listening, Gao Shiming's eyes flashed with understanding.

He stepped forward and lowered his voice, saying, "Since Your Majesty has this intention, then this servant dares to say that there may be one person on this list who is not quite right."

He took the list out again and pointed to a certain spot.

"This man is none other than Cui Jidi." "Although he is from Yongping, he is a perfect match for Yongping Town within the pass."

"However, he was a morally corrupt man. Before Wei Ni's downfall, he had been saving money, preparing to use connections to curry favor with the eunuch faction."

“When he went to the Jing’an Prince’s Mansion to hold the funeral last time, he extorted bribes on a large scale, and his reputation as an official was extremely bad.”

"Furthermore," Gao Shiming changed the subject, "this servant noticed that His Majesty has not selected personnel for many military garrisons. Perhaps the Ministry of Personnel is short of personnel corresponding to the place of origin?"

“In that case, we can actually select from the Secretariat Drafters. According to ancestral rules, the usual practice for bestowing titles and rewards is one Secretariat Drafter for every line of officials. There are currently dozens of Secretariat Drafters on the payroll, so we should be able to make up the quota.”

Zhu Youjian looked at Gao Shiming with an inscrutable expression.

He instantly realized how foolish he had been.

Perhaps he has unparalleled advantages in strategy, technology, and historical trends.

But when it comes to the selection of a specific, unknown minor official, and in these complex interpersonal relationships, how can an outsider like him compare to Gao Shiming, a "shrewd person" who has spent his whole life navigating the palace and the officialdom?
The key is to firmly grasp the "big shots" at these crucial junctures, rather than personally micromanaging these countless "small people"!
This principle is common sense.

However, he was momentarily blinded by the enormous reward of 1.8 million taels of silver.

With this change of heart, Zhu Youjian suddenly felt the world was vast and boundless.

He suddenly laughed and casually tossed the vermilion brush in his hand onto the imperial desk, making a crisp sound.

"Gao Banban" (高伴伴).

His voice was full of ease.

"My objectives are now three."

"First, we must do everything we can to ensure that every penny reaches the rightful recipient."

"Secondly, these people sent out should be able to bring back accurate information to me after they arrive at the military towns, the more accurate the better."

He paused, hesitated for a moment, and then said the last point.

"In the end... the Beijing Garrison is so weak and corrupt, yet we have to spend such a huge amount of reward money. I... am really not happy about it."

He looked at Gao Shiming with intense gaze.

"Brother Gao, do you have any good advice for me?"

Gao Shiming bowed deeply, pondered for a moment, and then replied with his hands clasped in greeting:
"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, this matter can be done in stages."

"To prevent corruption, the selection of officials such as the Attendant and the Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat should be based on those with good reputations and wealthy families. Those with good family backgrounds are less likely to be swayed by money."

"In addition, each time a reward is conferred, it is done by a group of people, a secretary of the Imperial Secretariat, and several members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"You may order Tian Ergeng to select some younger, well-off, and honest young men from the Embroidered Uniform Guard to accompany you on your post."

"Civil officials and the Embroidered Uniform Guard are not under each other's command and often dislike each other. Such mutual supervision should reduce corruption to some extent."

As he spoke, he pondered deeply, his thoughts flowing smoothly and coherently.

"If the purpose is to gather information about a region, it is best to listen to both sides to gain a clear understanding. Therefore, when selecting officials such as the envoy and the secretary of the Imperial Secretariat, it is best to have one person from the local area and the other from another region."

"Even if the two people are not close and come from different backgrounds, they can still keep an eye on each other. The same arrangement can be made in the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

He paused slightly as he spoke, seemingly considering his words, and his expression showed some hesitation.

"As for... as for the excessive rewards given to the Beijing Garrison."

"Your Majesty... the rewards can be delayed. Just say that the imperial treasury is temporarily short of funds and that the rewards should be distributed to the nine border regions first."

"As for the Beijing garrison, we can do a little accounting before issuing the funds. In this way... we might be able to reduce the amount slightly."

"Furthermore, during the Tianqi era, there was rampant abuse of power in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The number of available positions was only around 17,000 during the Wanli era, but now it has reached over 36,000..."

After Gao Shiming finished speaking, he felt extremely uneasy. He lowered his head even further and bowed deeply.

"This servant is dull-witted, and even after racking my brains, I can only come up with these rudimentary methods."

Zhu Youjian was still smiling, but his eyes suddenly became subtle.

These first and second strategies are merely mediocre and nothing particularly impressive.

Gao Shiming was more familiar with the official rules and personnel system of the Ming Dynasty than he was, so it was not surprising that he could think of these things.

But this third strategy...

How could a eunuch, a chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, take the initiative to mention the need to investigate the quota and reorganize the Beijing Garrison and the Embroidered Uniform Guard?
What gives him the right to say that? Just because of his so-called loyalty?
But he only remembered the names Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen, and completely forgot that there was a loyal man named Gao Shiming by Chongzhen's side!
What is this person after?

Zhu Youjian then suddenly realized that what he was seeing under the lamp was not only the Beijing garrison, but also the Gao companion in front of him.

He used Li Guopu as a figurehead, appointed Yang Jingchen to a position, and drove Wang and Tian out of fear.

However, he had no idea what the head of the palace eunuchs beside him wanted.

It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost.

Considering this, Zhu Youjian decided not to mince words and spoke directly:

"Gao Banban, since I ascended the throne, I have been busy with many matters and have not had time to have a deep conversation with you."

"I've finally got some free time today, but I don't know..."

"What is your dream?"

　Cui Yongping surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

　　The timeframe is the later period of the Yisi Incident, specifically the third year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, when the Later Jin forces captured Yongping (where Liu Xingzuo died).

　　Historical record: "Those who passed the imperial examinations lavishly adorned their daughters and presented them to the emperor." — Chongzhen Changbian, Volume 30

　　I made up the stories about corruption and bribery, but do you guys think I made them wrong?

　　-
　　The record of the Beijing garrison distributing more than 40 silver coins as a reward comes from the historical document "Memorial on the Distribution of Silver Coins for the Emperor's Ascension to the Throne".

　　This is a collection of memorials from Li Shouqi, the Earl of Xiangcheng, who, along with Li Banghua, was responsible for reorganizing the Beijing garrison.

　　Among them are records of the Beijing Garrison receiving 50 taels of silver and the Imperial Guard receiving 7 taels of silver as a reward.

　　The capital garrison's 50 troops also include the silver from the Miyun and Changping garrisons. After considering the troop numbers of the capital garrison and the two garrisons, I roughly set the capital garrison at 40.

　　-
　　The positions of Xingrensi and Zhongshu Sheren were filled by those who were both top-ranking Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations).

　　They usually waited in the capital for a position to be filled, or for a position in a county or prefecture in another region. In short, they were low-ranking Jinshi who were not successful in their careers.

　　-
　　The way the pedestrians were embezzled was by accepting red envelopes from others when they went out to distribute rewards.

　　The officials in the Imperial Secretariat were even more ridiculous. They were responsible for drafting imperial edicts, which involved using gold powder. They would vigorously coat their pens with gold powder, then break them—this was considered normal office damage. They would then take the broken pens home, extract the gold powder, and sell it. —From *Wanli Yehuo Bian*

　　-
　　In addition, there are three types of Zhongshu Sheren: those who are Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) and those who are Juren (successful candidates in the provincial imperial examinations) and are appointed through the Ministry of Personnel to perform official duties; and those who are appointed through various favors or by purchasing their positions.

　　This chapter discusses the first type of main text.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)