Chapter 262: The Autumn Levy (Part 27)

The kneeling men turned pale with fright. The ankle press was a “major torture” device that the yamen only used on murderers or notorious bandits. Even the toughest man would confess after a couple of turns of the rope. Moreover, those who survived the ankle press were often left crippled.

It was common for yamen clerks to receive a beating from the magistrate, from the head scribes down to the common runners. But since they were all colleagues, they looked out for each other. The beatings were often for show, with the bamboo rod striking the ground more than flesh. Now, this Australian chief was calling for the ankle press right from the start. How could they endure it?

The men immediately began to kowtow like garlic being pounded, pleading, “Mercy, my lord!”

“Stop the kowtowing,” You Guotuan said. “Just tell me, how much have you skimmed from the county treasury?”

“We wouldn’t dare—” the men below cried, desperately proclaiming their innocence.

Just then, the four retained yamen runners were called in. They knelt and kowtowed as soon as they entered.

“No need to kowtow. Get ready to work,” You Guotuan ordered. “Did you bring the tools?”

“Replying to my lord, we have brought them,” a runner said, stealing a glance at the kneeling men. Seeing they were the treasurers, he knew the Australians were about to deal with these “fat pigs.”

“Come, give each of them twenty strokes of the rod first,” You Guotuan commanded directly.

“Mercy, my lord! I have money, I have money! I am willing to offer it to my lord…”

“It’s a little late for that now,” You Guotuan waved his hand. “Begin!”

These runners were known for being “highly skilled in their trade.” Seeing their colleagues sent out of the city to an unknown fate while they were kept behind had left them deeply anxious, unsure if it was a blessing or a curse. Now, being ordered to administer torture, they were in their element. They roused their spirits and dragged the men over, stripping them naked.

The well-dressed scribes were instantly stripped bare, like plucked pigs. The runners showed no mercy, ignoring their screams and struggles. They pinned them to the ground, and two men, wielding bamboo rods, immediately began to swing.

The first dull thud of the rod on flesh was met with a piercing shriek, but no blood appeared on the white buttocks. You Guotuan knew the runners weren’t faking it. If they had wanted to fool him, the first strike would have broken the skin, making it look bloody and gruesome while the injury was actually minor. This kind of bloodless, muffled beating was not only excruciatingly painful but also caused much more severe internal injuries.

For the last few strikes, the runners, following procedure, broke the skin to let blood, preventing the men from dying of internal bleeding and shock.

After the beating, the treasurers lay on the ground, unable to move.

“Alright, now tell me honestly, how much have you taken from the county treasury? And where is it all stored?” You Guotuan asked. “And how many people in this yamen have taken your bribes? Confess everything!” He had paper and ink thrown down before them. “Write it yourselves, and write neatly.”

…After a long and noisy session, the men handed in their first “assignment.” Frowning as he tried to decipher the traditional characters and compare their stories was a chore. Fortunately, he didn’t need to scrutinize it too closely—that was a job for other specialists. He just needed to see if they were answering honestly.

After the beating and writing lengthy confessions, the treasurers were exhausted. They lay on the ground, groaning. The younger, stronger ones managed, but a few of the older, less active ones had fainted.

“Good, get their thumbprints on these first,” You Guotuan instructed the runners. “Take these men down, apply medicine, and let them recuperate. We’ll question them again in a few days!”

A chorus of wails immediately rose from below: “Have mercy, my lord! We’ll tell you everything…”

“Take them away,” You Guotuan waved his hand impatiently. It seemed the matter wasn’t so difficult after all; one beating and they confessed everything. The modern instruments he had specially brought seemed unnecessary.

The confessions were immediately sent to Zhang Youfu’s residence, where they were transcribed into clear script by the language team and copies were distributed to the relevant leaders. A copy also reached the person Xiong Buyou was about to introduce to Wu Mingjin.

“Now we have Wu Mingjin in our grasp,” Zhou Botao said, slapping the table after reading the documents.

“What is it?” Wu De was also studying the materials.

“According to the salt treasurer’s confession, Wu Mingjin’s personal servants have repeatedly borrowed salt certificates from the salt treasury.”

“Oh?” This piqued the interest of Wu De and the others around the table.

“Look,” Zhou Botao pointed to the document, “page four, the salt treasurer says. The Wu family has several servants who would borrow a number of salt certificates from the salt treasury each year, settling the account at the end of autumn.”

“That’s not surprising. Don’t forget, a large portion of the private salt produced at the Maniao saltworks after we took control was distributed through his hands.”

“This is different. That was purely private salt. This is converting public assets for private use,” Dong Weiwei explained after reading. It was another form of corruption. They would borrow salt certificates from the county treasury and sell them directly to private salt merchants. Then, during the autumn when salt production was high, they would use the surplus collected from the salt tax to cover the shortfall.

Salt easily absorbs moisture and has a high loss rate, so salt collection also had a surplus levy, which was a major burden on the salt producers.

They sold the salt collected by the government at a low price for a high price, then used the surplus levy to fill the gap. It was a business with no capital investment!

“Why didn’t he just get private salt directly from the saltworks?”

“At that time, the Maniao saltworks were controlled by the Gou family. If he got directly involved, he would have had to collude with them—and the Gou family had a terrible reputation. That was probably something he was unwilling to do.”

“No wonder Wang Zhaomin was so quick to agree when we proposed a partnership in the private salt trade during last year’s negotiations. They were already doing it!”

“Otherwise, why do so many people throughout history squeeze their heads to become officials?” Wu De laughed. “A house of gold and a face like jade aren’t just empty words.”

“Does our cleanup of the county treasury count as touching his cake?” Xiong Buyou was concerned about this.

“He’s already getting his income from the salt from us now, so cleaning up the treasury won’t affect his grey income much. The treasurer’s books are very clear: this kind of borrowing stopped completely last year—once we got involved.”

In the afternoon, Xiong Buyou brought a “Kun bandit” whom Wu Mingjin had never seen before for a meeting. This man was the president of the Delong Grain Company—Yan Ming.

On the Transmigration Group’s official hierarchy, Yan Ming was not yet at the level of a People’s Commissar, but Delong was already becoming the de facto central bank of the group, its importance self-evident. Given his important position and his mastery of complex financial knowledge, he rarely left Bairen City. Except for a few inspection trips to Bopu and the East Gate Market, he never set foot outside the Green Zone.

His appearance in the county yamen was to sell his county treasury agency plan to the magistrate—a coercive sale, of course. Whether Wu Mingjin was willing or not, Delong’s treasury agency system would be implemented. It was a crucial step in reforming the county’s administration, a step closely tied to the reform of the tax collection system.

According to the leadership group’s estimates, with the combined effect of the Heaven and Earth Society’s agricultural technology promotion and the new tax collection system, Lin’gao’s tax revenue would see a massive increase in the next five years.

However, this growth was not meant to strengthen the Ming’s rule. The right to use this increased revenue had to fall into the hands of the Transmigration Group. Just as the Executive Committee was continuously strengthening its financial control over its various departments, it also had to control the finances of Lin’gao County.

The method of control was to bypass the yamen. This was the purpose of the treasury agency business.

The business of acting as a treasury agent already existed in the late Qing Dynasty. The emerging draft banks and private banks not only acted as agents for county and prefectural treasuries but even for provincial treasuries. Local tax payments and administrative appropriations were handled through these financial institutions, which not only saved the county and prefectural levels the trouble of managing and storing funds but also made fund transfers more convenient than transporting physical silver. Yan Ming was simply trying to bring this system to the late Ming.

Of course, this reform would touch upon the interests of a group of people, and in theory, Wu Mingjin was one of them. However, judging from the treasurers’ confessions and the seized account books, Wu Mingjin, apart from collecting the customary annual “regular fees” from the treasury and engaging in some private salt trade, generally did not dip his hands directly into the county treasury. In this respect, he could be considered a rather honest local official. As for other minor officials and clerks, there were many so-called “borrowings,” which were, in name, “loans,” but in reality, a way to share in the treasurers’ spoils.

Since Wu Mingjin himself had no great personal desire for the county treasury, and the benefits he received from the Transmigration Group were not a small sum, the treasury agency matter would not face much resistance from him.

As for whether others objected, Wu De didn’t care. Of course, if Wu Mingjin was truly determined to oppose it, he had ways to make him submit. While the black material on Wu Mingjin wasn’t extensive, it was significant enough.

“Treasury agency?!” Hearing Yan Ming’s proposal, Wu Mingjin was somewhat baffled, but his first reaction was one of extreme absurdity—the county treasury was the state’s granary, how could it be entrusted to a grain company?

On second thought, he realized this was just another of the Kun bandits’ schemes to plunder the treasury’s wealth. At this thought, a look of indignation appeared on Wu Mingjin’s face, and a bit of a scholar’s backbone emerged. He was the officially appointed magistrate of the great Ming’s Lin’gao County! If he couldn’t even protect the county treasury, what kind of official was he?

“On this matter, I am afraid I cannot comply,” Wu Mingjin said coldly. “The county treasury, though small, is an important government office. How can it be lightly handed over to a merchant to manage?”

“Master Wu, you misunderstand,” Yan Ming said patiently, anticipating this reaction. “Delong’s agency for the county treasury is actually to handle the collection and payment on behalf of the county. The biggest benefit for the county is that it eliminates the embezzlement by the clerks.”