White-robed Minister

0056 [Having dinner at Yu Jing's house]

Xu Lai led his men to find Cai Kang, but Cai Kang was not in Guangzhou.

He's just too busy!

Having just reformed the salt transport system in Guangdong, and before the seven-day holiday was even over, Cai Kang went to Shaozhou and Nanxiong.

The first task was to rectify the Censhui copper mine in Shaozhou.

That was the largest copper mine in the country, producing hundreds of thousands of strings of copper coins every year.

However, production has continued to decline in recent years.

The copper mines had been nationalized by Emperor Renzong of Song, but were then subcontracted to individual mine owners. These owners recruited workers to mine and smelt the copper. All the smelted copper had to be sold to the government. Of the proceeds, 20% was used for taxes, and the remaining 80% went to the mine owners.

What's the situation now?

When the government collected copper, it often issued IOUs, which could not be used to offset taxes and were unlikely to be redeemed in the foreseeable future.

This forces the pit owners to pay contract fees, 20% copper tax, and wages to the workers, while the profits are just a bunch of IOUs.

The more you do, the more you lose!

The mine operators concealed their production output and sold the copper privately at low prices. Much of this sold copper flowed back to the government to meet quotas for the imperial court.

You can imagine how much of that is illegal profit.

Cai Kang's purpose was to deal with the issue of IOUs and take the opportunity to rectify the officialdom of the Censhui Copper Mine.

Historically, after Cai Kang reorganized the Censhui Copper Mine, the annual output of this single copper mine soared to 88% of the national annual output!

Secondly, we need to build roads and plant trees.

After dealing with the copper mine issue, Cai Kang also needed to go to Dayu Ridge to repair and maintain the official road there.

His younger brother worked on the repairs in Jiangxi, while he himself worked in Guangdong. Together, the brothers improved transportation between Guangdong and Jiangxi, strengthening the connection between the two provinces. This facilitated both the rapid mobilization of troops to suppress bandits and the smooth flow of civilian trade and transportation.

Cai Kang has been transferred to Guangdong for half a year and has hardly had any rest, spending his time eliminating various long-standing problems.

Since Cai Kang was not present, the work of the Transport Commissioner's Office was to be handled entirely by Judge Chen Congyi.

"Judge Chen, there are students from the prefecture outside the yamen requesting an audience with Cai, the magistrate. There are more than one; there are twenty or thirty students."

"Twenty or thirty students from different states?"

"Yes. I dared not neglect this task, so I came to report immediately."

"Please let them in."

If there's only one student from a state, then it's absolutely nothing, and the Transport Commissioner can simply ignore it.

But when students from twenty or thirty states arrive, the nature of the event changes completely!

The scholars were quickly invited to the transport magistrate's office, where Chen Congyi rushed over after finishing his work.

The scholars hurriedly paid their respects.

Chen Congyi said, "Cai Cao Si is not in Guangzhou. If you have any important matters to discuss, you can tell me."

Xu Lai presented the petition with both hands.

Chen Congyi frowned after only glancing at the title and said, "Isn't this a petition to Minister Yu? Why has it been sent to the Grain Transport Office?"

Xu Lai seized the opportunity to sow discord: "We were unjustly blocked by Prefect Shi. Not only could we not go to the Military Commissioner's Office, but we couldn't even get through the prefectural government office. I heard that Commissioner Cai and Prefect Chen are both selfless people, so I rushed to the Transport Commissioner's Office to submit a letter. The matter is urgent, and there is no time to write another letter. Please forgive me, Prefect Chen."

Why did Xu Lai come to the Transport Commissioner's Office?

Besides writing the letter, he also wanted to take revenge on Shi Xun.

Shi Xun is petty, but can't Xu Sanlang be petty too?

If a prefectural judge wants to be promoted, the transport commissioner is the direct evaluator. If the transport commissioner gives a negative evaluation, the prefectural judge can forget about being promoted, and may even be demoted.

In last year's case of the theft of the imperial convoy, Yu Jing bypassed the Criminal Investigation Department and asked the Transport Commissioner's Office to intervene. The Transport Commissioner then assigned the case to the Transport Judge.

What does this tell us?

This shows that even if Yu Jing, Cai Kang, and Chen Congyi didn't have a particularly close personal relationship, they still had a close working relationship.

Whether it was a personal relationship or a collaboration, this petition, once it reached the Transport Commissioner's Office, would make the three of them work together more smoothly—the management of the river channels inherently required the joint efforts of the Strategy Office and the Transport Commissioner's Office.

Xu Lai is essentially giving away his political achievements to everyone!

"Why is Judge Shi stopping you?" Chen Congyi couldn't understand.

Xu Lai did not answer.

Those scholars who had previously cowered in the face of battle are now chattering and exaggerating their grievances. They are all seething with anger and hope that Chen Congyi can convey their opinions to Cai Kang.

Chen Congyi didn't know much about Shi Xun, but he had long admired Shi Xun's father.

Hearing the students' collective complaints, Chen Congyi couldn't help but chuckle to himself: "Like father, like son—that's certainly true. This Shi Xun is a scoundrel too."

The story of Shi Changyan having his son perform for Fan Zhongyan is so widely known that it's hard for any official with even a little seniority not to know about it.

Moreover, Shi Changyan, despite being a scholar of the Longtu Pavilion, has been moving from place to place serving as a prefect, and he causes trouble wherever he goes, resulting in increasingly worse positions: he has been demoted from Hangzhou to Huazhou.

Chen Congyi remained silent, carefully reading the petition and studying the three accompanying diagrams.

"Was it the craftsman Cai Chengyou who told you about the evolution of this river-seizing strategy?" Chen Congyi asked.

Xu Lai replied, "It was based on my on-site observation and deduction. As for the name of the river, it was also a temporary one."

Chen Congyi was skeptical: "You know about mountains and rivers? Even a skilled craftsman doesn't know this, and you think you can just go and see for yourself?"

"It wasn't just a casual glance."

Xu Lai explained, "I have conducted a detailed survey. Ganxi is at a higher elevation but has a weaker water flow; Shahe is at a lower elevation but has a stronger water flow. The rocks and soil of Changyaoling are not hard either. Over millions of years, they have been eroded by the Shahe River, so it was inevitable that a gap would be carved out. With careful observation and a little thought, one can understand this."

Chen Congyi was both amused and exasperated: "What a fine 'think it over'! No wonder someone who has only read the Analects and overheard the Great Learning can summarize the Three Cardinal Guides and Eight Virtues."

"It shouldn't be too difficult, right?" Xu Lai had to maintain his image as an intelligent person, otherwise he wouldn't be able to explain his knowledge.

Chen Congyi said, "Alright, you all go back to school and study... Xu Lai, please stay."

Was Xu Sanlang left alone?

The scholars were filled with envy, yet they could not feel jealousy.

These days, they have grown quite respectful of Xu Sanlang. Especially after today's ordeal, only Xu Lai and Yang Shu dared to confront the prefectural judge directly.

After everyone had left, Chen Congyi said to Xu, "Come with me to see Master Yu."

The two did not go towards the prefectural government office.

There is a separate passage between the Transport Commissioner's Office and the Military Commissioner's Office to facilitate daily communication between officials of the two offices.

Yu Jing has also been extremely busy lately.

The year's plan begins in spring. Encouraging agriculture and sericulture, offering sacrifices and praying for blessings, clearing up cases and handling lawsuits, balancing taxes, providing disaster relief, training the military, and cracking down on piracy at sea... even the affairs of the state school must be planned for the whole year before April.

Xu Lai followed Chen Congyi to request an audience. After waiting in the small hall for a while, Yu Jing hurried over.

Yu Jing asked with a smile, "What trouble has this student gotten into this time?"

Chen Congyi handed over the letter, briefly explaining why he had intervened.

Yu Jing's smile vanished, and his impression of Prefect Shi Xun worsened.

He had already received complaints that Shi Xun had only been in Guangzhou for two months, yet he had already begun to embezzle funds from the Maritime Trade Office—the prefectural judge concurrently serving as the second-in-command of the Maritime Trade Office.

If it wasn't a lot of money to be made, Yu Jing wouldn't really care, after all, that's just how corrupt the officialdom of the Song Dynasty was.

But what's with Shih Hsun stopping twenty or thirty students from various states who had important business to attend to when he came out to block them?

Yu Jing couldn't understand this behavior at all.

Do you want to block my right to speak?

Yu Jing was very familiar with Shi Xun's father, Shi Changyan, because Shi Changyan was from the Qingli New Party!

It was precisely because of his affiliation with the Qingli New Party that Shih Chang-yen rose through the ranks so quickly in his youth. Later in life, he committed a series of disgraceful acts, and many powerful figures, remembering past relationships, helped him clean up the mess.

The Qingli New Party of that time had all sorts of extraordinary figures.

For example, Teng Zijing, who built Yueyang Tower, was serving as the prefect of Jingzhou when the front lines were in complete disarray, and the Western Xia army marched all the way to Jingzhou. Teng Zijing didn't have many soldiers at his disposal, so he could only recruit brave men locally to defend the city, and finally held out until reinforcements arrived.

However, the soldiers and civilians of Jingzhou suffered heavy casualties, and Teng Zijing opened the state treasury to reward and compensate them. Later, he was impeached for embezzlement, and he burned the account books. He said he didn't want to implicate others and would bear any guilt himself.

The construction of Yueyang Tower is interesting; where did the money come from?

He even stepped in to help people collect debts. He was responsible for helping to collect debts that were uncollectible from the public, but the money had to be used to repair Yueyang Tower. The creditors responded enthusiastically, since they were bad debts that were impossible to recover anyway, using the money to build the tower would at least bring them fame.

corruption?

Three years after Yueyang Tower was completed, Teng Zijing died of illness.

After his death, his family had no surplus wealth, and Fan Zhongyan even had to pay for his children's upbringing—this is not a forced whitewash. The graves of Teng Zijing, his wife, sister, and daughter were excavated, and the four tombs contained a total of one inkstone, two jade rabbits, and two porcelain jars.

How should we evaluate someone like Teng Zijing?

You might think he's a good official, but he's capable of doing something as simple as burning the account books.

You might say he wasn't a good official, but he did do a lot of practical things, and he was honest and upright throughout his life without ever being corrupt.

The members of the Qingli New Party were politically naive and incredibly audacious.

If one were to forcefully summarize a characteristic, it would be that they are prone to acting on impulse and are particularly attached to old relationships, even protecting corrupt officials like Shi Changyan.

Yu Jing also cherishes old friendships.

He hated Shi Xun and also disliked Shi Changyan, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything to them.

Then let's just try to smooth things over.

"It's almost noon, let's go to my house and chat." Yu Jing led Xu Lai and Chen Congyi to the back of his house.

At the same time, someone was sent to invite Shi Xun to dinner.

The meaning is clear: this matter ends here, and Shih Hsun is not allowed to retaliate afterward.

What kind of behavior is it for a dignified prefectural judge to make things difficult for a group of scholars!

Yu Jing walked and looked at the petition, then studied the three accompanying diagrams.

"Did you figure this out yourself?" Yu Jing asked Xu Lai.

Xu Lai replied, "It was deduced through on-site observation."

Yu Jing then asked, "If we block the breach in the water diversion channel, will the water levels of Ganxi and Juhu Lake really rise?"

"Your Excellency can send someone to inspect it," Xu Lai said.

We definitely need to send someone to investigate.

However, construction will not begin immediately because the pre-flood season will begin in a month, and rainfall will increase. In two months, Guangzhou will experience its peak rainfall of the year.

There is no water shortage for the time being.

Moreover, conscripting laborers now will severely impact spring planting.

The best time for construction is after the late rice harvest. Farmers have some free time, and the water level has dropped.

Yu Jing handed the memorial to Chen Congyi: "This matter is entirely entrusted to the Transport Commissioner. Also, report the names of the scholars who signed it."

If a water conservancy project were to be undertaken in Guangdong, the Military Commissioner would be responsible for surveying, project approval, planning, conscripting laborers, supervising construction, and, if necessary, dispatching local troops to assist.

The Transport Commissioner's Office was involved in planning, responsible for fund approval and allocation, and supervised the performance of officials throughout the process.

In the event of a major project that cannot be delayed, the Transport Commissioner's Office shall be given full authority to carry it out, while the Military Commissioner shall only be responsible for overall coordination.

Yu Jing handed the matter over to the Transport Commissioner's Office, seemingly not caring much about it, but in fact, he had listed it as a major project.

"How are your studies going?" Yu Jing asked.

Xu Lai replied, "I have finished studying the Classic of Filial Piety and am currently studying Mencius and Erya. I am also working hard to study the Zuo Zhuan of the Spring and Autumn Annals."

Yu Jing spoke gently, as if addressing a junior: "Flood control is a major undertaking, but don't let it interfere with your studies."

As they spoke, they had already arrived at the inner quarters, and they did not even bother to hide it from their wives and daughters.

We had to avoid it last time.

Pianpian, accompanied by her maid Yu'er, skipped out and was surprised to see outsiders.

Yu Jing introduced with a smile: "Pianpian, this is Xu Sanlang."

Previously, Pianpian had only been peeking, but this time she got closer to observe, and not only did she act very openly, but she even tilted her head in a charmingly innocent way.

Yu'er's face turned red. Even though no one was paying attention to her, it was as if her secret thoughts had been read.