Chapter 474 - Autumn Levy (Part 29)

Xiong Buyou took the paper and examined it—a petition to undertake agency management of the public treasury. This was his first time handling such a matter. He couldn't help asking: "Is this all that's required?"

"You'll still need an official response from the yamen and a public notice," Wang Zhaomin said. "Then the matter is complete. I'll naturally handle this."

Seeing how practiced he was in all of this, Xiong Buyou suddenly grew suspicious. Could Wang Zhaomin have handled similar matters before?

Wang Zhaomin seemed to know what he was thinking. He smiled and said, "No need to look at me like that. Treasury agency management has been done elsewhere in the Great Ming before—"

"This method has many advantages." Wang Zhaomin said meaningfully. "Though I haven't handled it personally, some of my fellow apprentices have."

"Oh?" Xiong Buyou's interest was piqued. "Please enlighten me."

"There's nothing remarkable about it. The approach is similar to yours." Wang Zhaomin said. "However, it depends on the circumstances. Some places simply can't do it—like here."

Places that could implement banking agency management of the public treasury had to meet several prerequisites. First, commerce had to be developed, with frequent movement of people and goods—a prosperous region involving large sums of public funds, such as prefectures and counties in Southern Zhili. Money houses wouldn't open in poor backwaters.

From a public business perspective, bank agency management naturally had its benefits. But the greatest benefit was personal—to the county magistrate himself. Merchants who operated money houses valued harmonious relations and were always willing to negotiate. Compared to the rapacious and vicious clerks, they were far easier to deal with. And when temporary diversions of public funds became necessary, short-term loans could be arranged.

"But then, wouldn't shortfalls be difficult to cover—"

"Ha ha ha!" Wang Zhaomin laughed and shook his head. "When it comes to the investigation of things and applying knowledge to practice, no one in the Great Ming can match you. But when it comes to the intricacies of officialdom, you're still quite inexperienced."

"Please continue to guide us, Secretary Wang."

"Heh, with your abilities, if you were to enter officialdom in the Great Ming, each of you would be a capable administrator."

"Too kind, too kind," Xiong Buyou said. "They say a private secretary's brush is formidable—a single stroke can determine a family's fortune or ruin, can decide life or death, and sometimes can even affect the master's career! Others say 'the finest prose in the realm comes from the secretarial chambers.' This shows the depth of the craft."

"That's not an exaggeration." Wang Zhaomin accepted the compliment graciously. "However, my skills are lacking—I haven't reached that level. Otherwise, why would I be serving as secretary in this little county?"

At this, he seemed somewhat melancholy, apparently feeling a sense of loss at his lack of achievement.

So even this sleek Secretary Wang was dissatisfied with society. Xiong Buyou thought: good—discontent creates motivation.

According to informants' reports, Wu Mingjin had privately begun to grow distrustful of this secretary. Because Wang Zhaomin had long been responsible for negotiating with the transmigrators, he had received substantial benefits. Wu Mingjin increasingly suspected him of playing both sides.

If so, they could eventually bring him over to their side as well—cutting off another of Wu Mingjin's arms.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Xiong Buyou took his leave. Within a week, the takeover of the county yamen was complete; everything from top to bottom had been thoroughly overhauled. Wu De ordered most of the action personnel to withdraw from the county seat. The newly-trained runners who had completed their replacement duties formally assumed their posts. To ensure the county yamen remained firmly under the transmigrators' control, a "County Station Office" was specially constructed adjacent to the yamen, equipped with power lines and telephone connections, with Xiong Buyou as director and You Guotuan as the station's security special agent, fully responsible for political and military security within the county seat. To allow discreet access to the yamen at any time without attracting notice, an enclosed corridor was built between the yamen and the County Station Office.

After the Planning Committee inventoried the county treasury and established accounts using modern warehouse management methods, it was formally placed under Delong's agency management. To avoid overly provoking Wu Mingjin, apart from the grain and silver warehouses, the salt storehouse, materials depot, and confiscated-goods repository remained under yamen management. However, the warehouse clerks were all replaced with Planning Committee trainees, operating according to transmigrator-specified rules and regulations.

"The next step is to begin large-scale liquidation activities," Wu De said from his command post in Zhang Youfu's residence, issuing orders continuously by telephone. "For every family with members serving as clerks in the county, we must thoroughly investigate their assets! Especially those in 'lucrative' positions."

"Right now Zhou Dongtian and his people are concentrating all their efforts on Chen Minggang's gang..." Zhou Botao acutely felt the shortage of personnel.

"Have them inform on each other!" Wu De said coldly. "First pick a few who aren't too important but have blood debts. Bring their enemies and hold a public struggle session at the study class. Let everyone settle old scores—debts of blood and grudges alike. Beat a few to death."

"Understood!" Zhou Botao grasped his meaning. "I'll have people prepare the venue and make it impressive."

"Find everyone who has grievances against them—whether blood debts or petty injustices. Once the atmosphere heats up, the masses will inevitably get physical—" Wu De continued his instructions. "Let the masses vent. But pay attention: protect the others. Let them suffer in the flesh a bit, that's all."

"Yes, I'll make arrangements immediately."

"When does Elimination Operation Number One begin?" Wu De asked.

"In three days," Zhou Botao reported. "We're currently mustering the units and equipment needed for the operation."

---

Elimination Operation Number One was to remove all family members of the clerks taken to the study class from the county seat. This was primarily to ensure stability within the county seat and prevent any sabotage. Secondarily, it was an opportunity to confiscate their property and replenish the Planning Committee's warehouses.

"We must guard against them massing to resist or setting fires—that would disturb ordinary people and damage our reputation," Wu De said, spreading out a map of Lingao County seat. "Some of the clerks' residences are clustered together. Pay special attention to those areas."

"We've already prepared a contingency plan. The arrests will commence simultaneously on a unified signal."

"Is anyone watching them now?"

"Yes. The Militia Squad is mainly handling that."

"Remember, the entire removal operation must be swift," Wu De said. "People and property must be moved out of the city as quickly as possible. After it's done, post guards at the sites—the Planning Committee's special search teams won't be able to cover all these locations right away. We must prevent opportunistic looting and people sneaking off with hidden valuables we haven't found."

The Planning Committee's special search team was a newly-established unit directly under the Planning Committee. It consisted of both transmigrators and native personnel, with the specific mission of searching out concealed wealth and important items. People called it the "Asset Seizure Squad."

After arranging the city operations, he phoned the study class:

"Has Chen Minggang confessed yet?"

"Not yet." Zhou Dongtian's voice came through. "I plan to work on the others first, get all the peripheral evidence together, then begin interrogating him."

"Good, but work quickly! The fish-scale registers and account books in his possession must be obtained as soon as possible!" Wu De pronounced the last words with heavy emphasis.

The grain levy collection had only reached the halfway point and couldn't be abandoned. How many tricks Chen Minggang had pulled, how much he really knew about the true extent of Lingao's "hidden fields"—all of this had to be learned from the account books. Not to mention the upcoming tax system reforms and land title re-registration that would follow.

"I'll get it done quickly," Zhou Dongtian chuckled over the phone. "One night. I guarantee he'll talk."

"It's all in your hands now."

"But you'll need to bring me his family first—plus that little concubine, what's-her-name Hong. This old boy is slippery as a loach. I'll need to 'appeal to his emotions' to crack him."

"Done. We have people watching them. I'll send someone right away."

After the call, Zhou Dongtian returned to his interrogation room. The study class camp was set up in a temple not far from the county seat. The temple had been built during the early Ming when Zhu Yuanzhang was standardizing infrastructure across the counties. It was one of the officially-designated temples for state sacrifices. The deity it originally honored had been forgotten even by the locals after so many years. The incense had long since ceased, but some of the durable halls from those days still stood. They were now being utilized by the transmigrators. The Lingao Construction Company had renovated the usable structures and demolished the dangerous ones, repurposing their stone foundations.

Using the existing architectural remains, the construction company had built rows of barracks, watchtowers, and barbed wire fencing. The location was well-situated, didn't encroach on arable land, and though close to the county seat, was relatively secluded. The Executive Committee planned to develop this site into a prison for holding important prisoners and captives.

Zhou Dongtian's interrogation center was established on the stone platform of a collapsed temple hall. The construction company had erected a fully-equipped prefabricated structure using wooden modular components. Inside, it had everything: electric lights, telephone—all present and accounted for.

He walked down the corridor and opened a leather-padded soundproofed door at its end. Inside, all furniture was fixed to the floor or walls. A desk lamp shone, its beam falling on the face of Umbrella-Shop Little Hu, slumped in an interrogation chair to which he was cuffed.

Several of his apprentices were in the room, sleeves rolled up, sweat on their brows. They snapped to attention and saluted when he entered.

"Good. Anything new?"

"Reporting, Chief! Nothing new." The person taking notes stood and reported loudly.

Zhou Dongtian walked up to Little Hu. The man's face was clean, his clothes still reasonably intact, but his spirit was utterly depleted—Zhou Dongtian trained his students according to the cardinal rule of his trade from another timeline: no visible marks.

"Now look, you're just a grain runner. Is it really necessary to be this loyal to Chen Minggang?" Zhou Dongtian knew he'd suffered plenty already and needed someone to play the gentle role.

"Boo hoo hoo, spare me please..." Little Hu kept his head down and wept. "I really only know these things..."

(End of Chapter)