Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 68 Power corrupts when concentrated, affairs fail when neglected (4.7K long chapter! Requesting monthly votes~)

Zhu Youjian sat upright in the grand chair, but his eyes followed Gao Shiming's back.

What exactly is "loyalty" in this era?

As a modern soul, he finds it difficult to truly understand and believe in the pure, even somewhat foolish, loyalty of the ancients.

In the world he knew, loyalty was often synonymous with self-interest, a fig leaf for cliques and factions.

Profits draw people closer, while the gateway acts like an invisible shackle, binding people firmly to a specific chariot.

Therefore—whether out of caution or for efficiency—the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs must be dismantled.

This organization, which has been developing for over two hundred years, has now grown to an abnormally large size.

Apart from the military power being transferred to the Imperial Horse Administration, almost all the power in the inner court eventually fell into the hands of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Financial power, personnel power, educational power, supervisory power... and most importantly, the power to approve documents in red ink, which is also the symbol of the extension of the emperor's authority.

This is almost a miniature imperial court independent of the outer court.

Not to mention, in his long-term plans, the inner court will play an even more important role.

He plans to use Huangzhuang and Huangdian as pilot projects to test the driving effect of state-owned enterprises.

Yes, state-owned enterprises certainly have various shortcomings such as low efficiency and corruption, but they are also often the best tools for opening up new industries and untapped fields.

If this is also taken into account, the power and responsibilities of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs would expand to an unimaginable extent.

How can such a behemoth not be broken down?
Power breeds corruption, and affairs fail due to negligence.

The excessive concentration of power inevitably leads to corruption and loss of control; this is an immutable law.

Moreover, having so many things concentrated in one organization makes it difficult to achieve results.

He needs more refined management and needs to ensure that every step is performed at its highest efficiency.

Zhu Youjian picked up the teacup beside him, and the warm tea slid down his throat, making his chaotic thoughts clearer.

Of course, it wasn't that he truly distrusted Gao Shiming, but often there was no need to test human nature.

Taking precautions is both the duty and the benevolence of a monarch.

……

Not long after, Gao Shiming returned, followed by three middle-aged eunuchs, their steps hurried and their expressions varied.

"Your Majesty, the person has been brought here," Gao Shiming said, bowing.

Zhu Youjian looked up and his gaze swept across the faces of the three men.

Gao Shiming understood, turned to the side, and began to introduce.

"This is Liu Ruoyu, who was under the name of the late eunuch Chen Ju."

Zhu Youjian's gaze fell on Liu Ruoyu.

This person was quite tall, standing out even among the generally tall eunuchs.

On his chin, you could see the bluish stubble left after shaving, but his brows carried an inescapable scholarly air, and his eyes were calm as still water.

"This is Cao Huachun, who was under the name of the late eunuch Wang An."

Cao Huachun looked older, with slightly graying temples, but his face was very kind and gentle, even with a hint of a smile.

"This is Zheng Zhihui, formerly under the name of the former eunuch Wang Feng."

Compared to the previous two, Zheng Zhihui appeared much more shrewd and overt.

He wasn't tall, and he was slightly hunched over, but his eyes darted around, revealing a cleverness in them.

After the introductions, Gao Shiming added, "Your Majesty, these three men all entered the palace in the 29th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign."

Zhu Youjian raised his eyebrows.

interesting.

Gao Shiming specifically pointed out that these three people belonged to Chen Ju, Wang An, and Wang Feng, three old friends, and explained that they entered the palace in the same batch. What was he doing?
Is he telling himself that these three people have different backgrounds and belong to different factions, and can check and balance each other?
Or is this a way of clarifying in advance that the promotion of these three people has no personal connection with Gao Shiming?

Perhaps, both.

Zhu Youjian understood, but remained calm and simply nodded.

He hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"Your exam papers were personally selected by me."

Upon hearing this, the three men reacted with varying expressions.

A flash of excitement crossed Cao Huachun's face, Zheng Zhihui's breathing quickened slightly, while Liu Ruoyu remained calm, though his gaze became more focused.

“However,” Zhu Youjian changed the subject, “I am actually not satisfied.”

The atmosphere solidified instantly.

"The questions I ask require concrete and feasible strategies, not flowery but empty articles."

Zhu Youjian's gaze sharpened. "Therefore, we will now add another test. Only those who answer well in this test will truly pass."

The three of them felt a chill run down their spines and immediately bowed, replying, "This servant obeys the decree."

They knew that the real test was just beginning.

Zhu Youjian leaned back in his chair and casually posed his first question.

"I have heard that since the Tianqi era, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been plagued by the abuse of power and overreach, with its personnel numbers more than doubling."

"Then, do the palace eunuchs also fall into this category?"

He didn't specify who should answer, but simply gestured with his hand: "Whoever can answer, step forward and reply."

The three exchanged glances, Zheng Zhihui's gaze shifting between Cao Huachun and Liu Ruoyu, as if he were weighing his options.

There are certainly cases of overcharging and extortion, but should we really speak out about it? Who will be the one to take the lead?

Finally, Cao Huachun took a deep breath and took a step forward.

“I used to work under Eunuch Wang An and assisted in managing palace affairs, so I know a thing or two about this matter. I dare to ask you to speak on this.”

His voice tried his best to remain calm, but there was still a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.

After all, he had to consider whether this might be his only chance after being exiled for so many years.

"Speak." Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.

“Your Majesty,” Cao Huachun composed himself and said clearly, “During the reign of Emperor Wanli, the number of eunuchs in the palace fluctuated between 11,000 and 16,000. But now, as far as I know, there are more than 19,700 registered eunuchs in the palace.”

"The difference is as little as three thousand and as much as eight thousand. If we take eight thousand redundant staff as an example, and calculate that each person has a monthly ration of four dou and an annual shoe material cost of five taels and six qian, then the palace will spend as much as 44,800 taels of silver and 96,000 shi of grain every year because of this."

Not a single word of fluff, just pure, practical information.

The data is accurate and well-organized.

Zhu Youjian finally smiled: "This is a good strategy. Bring me a seat."

A young eunuch moved at the sound, but when he looked around, he saw that apart from the grand chair that His Majesty was sitting in, there were only a few chairs of the same style left in the hall. How could he dare to move them?
After hesitating for a moment, he had a sudden inspiration and moved a long bench used for torture from the corner of the wall and placed it opposite Zhu Youjian.

Upon seeing this, Cao Huachun quickly expressed his gratitude, then carefully walked over and sat down on only half of the bench, keeping his back straight.

Zhu Youjian then posed a second question.

"I know that corruption is rampant in the Ming Dynasty's officialdom. But the gold and silver in the imperial treasury have never been shorted when they are counted every year. That is strange."

His gaze shifted to the other two. "Tell me, where exactly did these palace eunuchs operate, and how did they embezzle state funds?"

Zheng Zhihui's heart suddenly raced.

This question is more pointed and more offensive than the previous one.

He glanced at Liu Ruoyu beside him and found that the other party still had the same calm and composed expression, seemingly having no intention of stepping forward.

Zheng Zhihui gritted her teeth.

Fortune favors the bold! Who knows what the next question will be!
He stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this servant...this servant knows a little about this."

"explain."

“Your Majesty,” Zheng Zhihui said, speaking faster than Cao Huachun, his words revealing a shrewdness, “the annual revenue of the imperial treasury consists mainly of gold and silver and grain from military farms, totaling more than 1.05 million.”

"Among these, the gold-plated silver is a large ingot of silver worth fifty taels, and it is often given away for reward purposes, so most people dare not start from there. If they were to start, they would only steal some of the loss during the melting of the gold-plated silver into plain silver, which is not considered a major expense."

"Therefore, the corruption among the palace eunuchs actually mostly occurred in the ten treasuries." He paused, and seeing that the emperor was listening attentively, he became bolder.

“In addition to gold and silver, the palace also allocates a large amount of grain, silk, beeswax, tung oil and other materials to the local areas every year, which are stored in ten warehouses, such as the Jiazi warehouse and the Yizi warehouse.”

“Besides the huge consumption of grain, the amount of other items allocated each year often far exceeds the daily expenses required.”

"Over time, the warehouses accumulated a lot of wealth. Such goods either rotted due to improper storage or were stolen by those who were in charge of guarding the palace and sold for profit."

"Even worse, some collude with outsiders to pass off inferior goods as superior ones and falsely report losses. Their methods are varied and have long been an open secret in the palace."

Zhu Youjian's smile widened.

"Good! Well said! Zheng Zhihui, you are indeed knowledgeable about details, not bad, not bad! Please sit down."

"This servant thanks Your Majesty." Zheng Zhihui was overjoyed and quickly expressed her gratitude.

He walked to the bench, and Cao Huachun, being quite perceptive, moved aside to make room for him.

Zheng Zhihui thanked him softly and, following Cao Huachun's example, sat down on the left edge of the bench.

Now, only Liu Ruoyu remained standing in the hall.

Zhu Youjian's gaze finally fell entirely on him.

This guy is a true genius.

His father was the General of Liaodong, a proper descendant of a military family, yet he himself requested to enter the palace as an official after experiencing a "strange dream." This was quite a peculiar story in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Even more legendary is that in the original history, he was imprisoned because of his involvement with the eunuch faction of Wei Zhongxian. In dire straits, he worked hard and wrote a book called "Zhuozhong Zhi" in prison, which recorded in detail the affairs and regulations of the palace during the Tianqi period, leaving valuable historical materials for future generations.

His unwavering resolve made him a comparable alternative to Sima Qian among eunuchs.

only……

Zhu Youjian thought to himself: In this time and space, you probably will never have another chance to leave your mark on history in this way.

He thought for a moment and then asked one last question.

"With lax palace regulations, news from within the palace often spreads throughout the capital in an instant."

"It is as if my daily life and words are being watched by my court officials. I find this extremely distasteful."

"If we want to reform the palace, where should we begin?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoyu remained calm.

He stepped forward and calmly cupped his hands in greeting.

"Your Majesty, the laxity of palace security and the leakage of information can be attributed to three main reasons."

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but steady and clear, possessing a convincing power.

"Firstly, it is the Eight Trigrams and the Book of Changes."

"There are tens of thousands of palace maids and servants in the palace. They are confined within the palace walls all day long and their lives are monotonous."

"From the emperor down to the empresses of the palace, their words and actions naturally became the best topics of conversation."

"This is human nature. When they have nothing to do, they use this to relieve their boredom. Although it is difficult to prohibit, it can be guided. Just instruct and punish them not to spread royal matters without permission."

"Secondly, for petty gains."

"Many eunuchs were ordered to leave the palace to make purchases, or they had family members outside the palace. They were often willing to sell information they heard in the palace for money."

"Such news is a mixture of truth and falsehood, mostly unfounded rumors, and the profit gained is only a few coins. However, it spreads widely and causes great harm."

"Thirdly, it involves collusion between insiders and outsiders."

"This matter has deep roots; it may be the work of spies among court officials or the connection between palace eunuchs and the outer court."

"The situation is complex and difficult to fully understand in a short time. To eradicate it completely, we must establish a wide network of surveillance, encourage whistleblowing, and impose severe penalties to deter such behavior. This will allow us to gradually unravel the complexities and remove the root of the problem."

His words, moving from the surface to the core, layer by layer, clearly dissected a seemingly unsolvable problem.

After hearing this, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but secretly praise him.

Such insightful observations, a thorough understanding of the inner palace's affairs, and a direct grasp of people's hearts—truly befitting someone capable of writing "Zhuozhong Zhi."

"Well said!" Zhu Youjian praised. "Please sit down as well."

Liu Ruoyu thanked them and turned around. He saw that Cao Huachun and Zheng Zhihui were trying to squeeze to the left of the bench to make room for him on the right.

He walked to the bench, but did not sit down properly. Instead, he spread his legs slightly apart, assumed a half-stance, and sat down on the far right.

Thus, a somewhat comical scene unfolded in the hall.

Gao Shiming stood respectfully to one side.

Zhu Youjian sat upright in the large armchair, looking calm and composed.

Opposite him, three newly appointed middle-aged eunuchs, soon to be entrusted with important responsibilities, were crammed together like three quails on a long bench, looking both crowded and awkward.

Zhu Youjian remained silent for a moment, seemingly processing the questions and answers, or perhaps contemplating the next steps.

Finally, he spoke, breaking the strangely comical atmosphere.

"Your answers just now show that you have all given my questions a lot of thought. You also have detailed and unique ideas on personnel, finance and taxation, and supervision. That's very good."

He suddenly changed the subject and became serious.

"I will now assign each of you a task. But this time, do not flaunt your pedantic literary skills; you must present me with a solid and practical plan!"

Having said that, he pointed his finger directly at Cao Huachun.

"Cao Huachun, you will be in charge of palace affairs."

"From this day forward, you will be in charge of all personnel transfers, promotions, and dismissals within the palace."

"The most important task at present is to start by reducing redundant staff in the palace. All those who impersonate others, are old and frail, or are cunning and lazy should be dismissed."

"But there are two points: those elderly eunuchs who served the late emperor and worked in the palace for many years must be properly settled, and their later years must not be made miserable. The list of personnel must be reviewed repeatedly, and we must not mix up the good and bad, so as not to harm the honest and kind people."

"do you understand?"

Cao Huachun was extremely excited. He stood up abruptly and replied calmly, "This servant obeys! I will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

Zhu Youjian nodded in satisfaction, his finger sliding towards Zheng Zhihui.

"Zheng Zhihui, you are in charge of the palace's finances and taxes."

"From now on, you will be in charge of all the inflows and outflows of the palace’s treasuries, financial accounting, and expenditure audits."

"The most important task at hand is to thoroughly summarize and clean up the accounts in the ten warehouses and get a clear picture of our assets!"

"From now on, every single item in and out of the treasury, even a needle or thread, must be recorded in the 'Four Pillars of Records' for me, ensuring that every transaction is clear and the accounts match the actual situation."

"do you understand?"

Zheng Zhihui immediately stood up, his eyes gleaming with undisguised ambition and desire.

He bowed deeply, saying, "This servant obeys! I will certainly safeguard the imperial treasury's funds and provisions for Your Majesty!"

The long bench was already packed with people, and when two people suddenly left, the weight became unbalanced, causing it to tilt slightly.

This startled Liu Ruoyu, who was standing at the very edge in a horse stance, so much so that he broke out in a cold sweat and almost lost his balance.

Zhu Youjian's gaze finally fell on him.

“Liu Ruoyu,” his tone grew even more somber, “you are to take charge of the palace’s surveillance.”

"From now on, you will be in charge of supervising and impeaching any gambling, fighting, leaking secrets, or embezzlement in the palace."

"The most important task at hand is to strictly enforce palace discipline, rectify the inner court's conduct, and prevent any palace affairs from being leaked to the outer court!"

Do you understand?

Liu Ruoyu breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief and stood up from the bench.

He calmly bowed and accepted the order: "This servant obeys."

"Alright," Zhu Youjian waved his hand, "You may all leave now. Later, each of you should write down the actual procedures in detail and submit them. Gao Banban, please stay."

"The slaves retire."

The three men and the eunuchs who were serving them bowed in unison, then walked backward out of the main hall with their bodies bowed.

(End of this chapter)