Working Together, Seeking Common Ground

The eighth day of the sixth month, the sixth year of Longqing. ... The halls and pavilions of the Forbidden City were crowned with red walls, cyan tiles, and upturned flying eaves. Where the palace courtyards stretched several compounds deep, layered pavilions and winding colonnades unfolded in grandeur, projecting an imposing majesty. By contrast, the Grand Secretariat tucked away on the eastern side seemed somewhat cramped and modest. Its central offices sat inside the Meridian Gate along the eastern flank, not far south of Wenhua Hall, consisting of only a cluster of low buildings. Yet this unpretentious compound was the nexus where the supreme power of the Great Ming congregated. Above the gate hung an imperial edict left by Emperor Shizong: *"A confidential and solemn ground. All unauthorized officials and idlers are forbidden from entering without leave; violators will be punished without clemency."* The central chamber reverently enshrined statues of Confucius and his Four Correlates. Four adjoining rooms were partitioned beside it, their doors opening southward, serving as offices where the Grand Secretaries conducted government business. Normally, each of the three Grand Secretaries remained stationed in his respective office. Early that morning, their individual rooms stood empty. Instead, one shared office was tightly shut, from which the voices of the three ministers could be heard drifting out from time to time. "Therefore, my position is that during this transition between the old reign and the new, we should not make excessively broad moves. Conducting a trial run first in Shuntian Prefecture is the safest course." "A nine-tiered terrace begins with a basket of earth." "Once we succeed in Shuntian, extending it outward to each provincial administration commission will follow naturally like water finding its course." "What is more, taking this path will lessen the resistance from the Two Palaces and the court officials." Having spoken, Gao Yi took a sip of tea. After decades of drifting through the tempestuous officialdom, he knew well how to see things through to fruition. Naturally, he would not lay out everything he had discussed with the Crown Prince the previous day. He simply framed Noble Consort Li's concession as his own deliberate idea. He claimed that in order to realize the Evaluation Law, a small compromise had to be made so that implementation could proceed as quickly as possible. The so-called "performance pay" was meant to rally the civil bureaucracy, while the "pilot program" was designed to persuade the imperial ladies of the Two Palaces. Proceeding step by step in this manner was entirely for the sake of the grand design of statecraft, enduring mutual hardship for the realm. Gao Yi lifted his eyes to look at his two colleagues. He saw Gao Gong lost in thought with furrowed brows, while Zhang Juzheng gazed sideways at the ceiling beams. He waited patiently for their replies. On this matter, Gao Yi felt considerable confidence. Reading the note sent to him by the Crown Prince the previous night, he had gathered that this approach stood on solid ground. Noble Consort Li, fearful of inciting chaos, had proposed this concept of a "pilot program." It had genuinely astonished Gao Yi; he found it hard to believe such foresight could emerge from a woman sheltered in the deep palace. Just as he had argued, while it took more time, it was undoubtedly far more secure. It allowed ample room to maneuver, while making it easier to adopt strengths and eliminate shortcomings later. Then there was this matter of "performance pay," which carried a distinct touch of benevolence. Though Gao Yi was long accustomed to contenting himself in honest poverty, he could not help but feel grateful on behalf of the realm's upright scholars. He did not know how the Crown Prince had persuaded Noble Consort Li to yield, but the resulting balance between inner court and outer court, between yin and yang, was remarkably harmonious. Taking everything together, Gao Yi considered this framework far more complete than the Evaluation Law they had previously debated. He was confident he could persuade his fellow Grand Secretaries. Just as the thought crossed his mind... "This so-called 'performance pay'—this Grand Secretary cannot agree to it," Gao Gong blurted out. "The matter of a 'pilot program,' I fear, warrants further consideration," Zhang Juzheng stated slowly. Both men had spoken almost simultaneously, each rejecting one of the two proposals. They exchanged a brief glance before turning their eyes away. Though Gao Yi was confident, he had never expected the process to be entirely effortless. His face remained composed. Without betraying his thoughts, he asked, "Why is that? Where does the fault lie?" Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly, motioning for Gao Gong to air his views first. Gao Gong did not mince words. Speaking bluntly, he demanded, "Zixiang, what is the difference between this measure of yours and bribing fellow officials?" "If every new policy must rely on bribing colleagues to be enacted, does our administration not become an administration of bribery?!" "Furthermore, where would the Ministry of Revenue ever find so much silver?" "Last year's official salaries called for three and a half million taels when converted into silver, yet they could only scrape together one million one hundred thousand!" "Now you wish to introduce some kind of performance pay. This is no longer the Hongwu era, when ranked officials numbered fewer than two thousand! Today, there are twenty-eight thousand mouths to feed. Can you satisfy them?!" "Spreading benevolence and bestowing grace? Merely an excuse! Has this Grand Secretary not lived on this meager stipend for decades?" "Whoever embezzles is deceiving Heaven and abusing the people, violating the duty of a subject. Such men ought to be flayed and stuffed with straw! Why should we spend money to placate them?!" Gao Gong unleashed the entire tirade without catching his breath, his voice booming and his posture unyielding. With a cold huff, he added, "Zixiang, do not take a false step and speak on behalf of corrupt officials." Gao Yi knew Gao Gong's fiery temper and took no offense. Deliberating affairs required discussion to truly be deliberation. To that end, he had come prepared. Gao Yi pulled a sheaf of documents from his wide sleeve, rose, and stepped up to Gao Gong, handing him a sheet. He then delivered another to Zhang Juzheng. Returning to his seat, Gao Yi spoke at an even pace: "This was compiled from the archived records of the Ministry of Revenue. Please, take a look, both of you." Memorials and official communications from every ministry and department were routinely archived in both the Grand Secretariat and the Six Offices of Scrutiny. Seeing that Gao Yi had done his research, the two ministers read through the papers with great care. While they examined the numbers, Gao Yi continued, "These are the stipends for officials of the nine ranks and eighteen grades throughout our dynasty, covering both court officials and provincial officers." "The Senior Grand Secretary just remarked that he has lived perfectly well relying on his stipend. That, of course, is true." "However, aside from your upright virtue and conduct, Senior Grand Secretary, one must remember that as Junior Preceptor and one of the Three Solitaries, your rank is secondary first class." "Your annual stipend is 252 shi, which converts to 151 taels of silver. Even with arrears, half was disbursed last year, supplemented from time to time by customary palace bounties." "Naturally, that is sufficient." "Yet what of the low-ranking officials? Pray, look at the page." Gao Gong's expression grew somewhat strained, but he kept reading down the sheet. Zhang Juzheng followed along quietly. Gao Yi continued, "I will not even speak of the secondary ninth rank. Let us look solely at our regular seventh rank—the county magistrates of the various counties." "Their annual stipend is thirty-one shi, which converts to a mere nineteen taels of silver! With last year's arrears, provincial seventh-rank magistrates received only sixty percent, while Beijing officials received a meager thirty percent. Calculate for yourselves how much that leaves." "Worse still, none of it was paid out in actual grain. A large portion was commuted into Great Ming Treasure Notes, cutting its real value by more than half." "And that was only what was officially issued from our end. After winding through layers of clerkly hands, how many broken bits of silver actually reach their palms?" "Zhang the butcher across the street from my house makes three taels a month selling meat alone, totaling over thirty taels a year!" "Senior Grand Secretary, among mere seventh-rank officials, how many great Confucian sages and paragons can there be?" "A magistrate governs an entire county with virtually no checks upon his authority, yet his income falls short of a common butcher's, and he cannot even feed his household. Is this not driving men to dip their hands into the till?" "If this Evaluation Law is handed down like this, the provinces and prefectures will either continue turning a blind eye, or over half their officials will be purged and dismissed. In either case, the new law will be ruined." Gao Yi's words were earnest and heartfelt. Gao Gong fell silent for a long moment, his earlier bluster finally fading. "Enough, Zixiang. You need not say more." He let out a heavy sigh, revealing his true concerns: "I am the Minister of Personnel. How could I not know what you speak of?" "The plain truth is... we have no money." "Of the tax collected this year, thirty percent was retained in Southern Zhili for the anti-pirate campaigns in the southeast. The revenue from the Shanxi Administration Commission was shipped in its entirety to the frontier garrison in Ningxia. The late Emperor's mausoleum must be constructed; the flooding season along the Yellow River approaches; Xuan-Da starves and cries for grain. The places demanding silver are too numerous for me to count!" "The Taicang Vault will soon be empty!" "Otherwise, why would we have gone so far as to dip into the palace treasury?" "Zixiang, fine words are easy to speak, but we must be practical in our governance. This precedent cannot be set." Once Gao Gong shed his abrasive armor, the Senior Grand Secretary, wielding supreme sway over the court, looked equally powerless. Without standing in his shoes, one could never truly know how hard it was to manage this household. There were twenty-eight thousand officials registered in the Ministry of Personnel. Even if performance stipends were paid to only half of them at ten taels each, it would cost nearly two hundred thousand taels. And that did not even account for the minor clerks! Where was he supposed to find that much silver? Great Ming Treasure Notes? Those were fit only for privy paper! Did people truly believe the state treasury was bottomless? In the first year of Longqing, when Ma Sen took office as Minister of Revenue, he discovered that the Taicang Vault held only enough silver for three months, while the capital granaries had barely two months of grain. Terrified, he attempted to resign. When Zhang Shouzhi replaced him, a tally revealed that the imperial court's annual income was merely 2.3 million taels, whereas expenditures reached a staggering 4.4 million taels. He could not help lamenting, *"The finances of the realm have come to this; every heart grows cold."* Back then, when the late Emperor asked the Taicang Vault for funds, the ministers submitted memorials in protest one after another. Had they been merely stalling? At the beginning of this year, Yin Zhengmao in Guangdong memorialized requesting military funds. Gao Gong had promised two hundred thousand taels, yet to this day not a single coin had been delivered! With fiscal affairs in such dire straits, how could they possibly raise official stipends? Gao Gong felt Gao Yi's ideas were sheer fantasy. If the Evaluation Law could only be implemented through bribery, it was better not to enact it at all. Gao Gong's stance was resolute: let the officials endure hardship; he would shoulder the blame. Gao Yi had anticipated this reaction. He deliberately avoided mentioning who would provide the funds, understanding well the art of taking two steps forward and one step back. If he had directly suggested the money come from the palace treasury, Gao Gong would have suspected that the inner court sought to meddle with official salaries and fiscal authority. Gao Yi paused, feigning hesitation. "Senior Grand Secretary... in my view, once the summer taxes are collected, that one hundred thousand taels should not be returned to the palace treasury." Gao Gong frowned. "What do you mean?" Gao Yi adopted a deliberate tone of uncertainty. "My thought is to seek the assent of the Two Palaces to allocate that sum toward 'performance pay.' What say you?" Upon hearing this, Gao Gong chuckled self-deprecatingly. He waved a hand dismissively. "The women of the Two Palaces would not part with a single hair. And with Feng Bao causing trouble behind the scenes, far from allowing us to keep it, even delaying by a single season would make them want to devour me alive. Zixiang, you are dreaming." Just as Gao Yi prepared to respond, Zhang Juzheng suddenly chimed in. "Senior Grand Secretary, in my view, it may not be impossible." Gao Gong turned his head in surprise, eyeing Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng smiled wryly. "Is Zixiang not held in great affection and respect by the Crown Prince? Zixiang might explain the advantages and disadvantages to His Highness, prompting him to drop a word into the ears of the Two Palaces. After all, the ladies of the Two Palaces are merely looking after the palace treasury on another's behalf." Saying this, he cast a helpless glance at Gao Yi. The moment Gao Yi suggested funding this from the palace treasury, Zhang Juzheng had recognized whose scheme it was. Zhang Juzheng had naturally heard about Gao Yi being invited to share a meal with the prince the previous day. He simply wondered what clever words that "sage ruler" had used to beguile his fellow Grand Secretary. Fortunately, there had been no talk of throwing the administration into disorder. Otherwise, Zhang Juzheng would have had to open the Classics Colloquium early to rein the boy in. Judging by current signs, this imperial prince possessed a degree of benevolence and some insight into practical matters; his mind was simply too shrewd and insufficiently anchored in orthodox principles, requiring strict and proper tutelage. For once, Zhang Juzheng felt his opinion of that conniving child improve slightly. An emperor willing to draw money from his own palace treasury was truly one of a kind. Silently shelving his plans to uproot Zhang Hong and open the colloquium prematurely, Zhang Juzheng decided to observe a while longer. Gao Yi, meanwhile, looked at Zhang Juzheng in surprise. The fact that he enjoyed the Crown Prince's deep affection and respect had already spread among his peers! In time, it might well become a celebrated tale of ruler and minister in perfect accord. A flicker of pride crossed Gao Yi's heart. With this unexpected assist boosting his confidence, he looked firmly at Gao Gong. "Senior Grand Secretary, what the Vice Senior Grand Secretary says is true. The palace treasury ultimately belongs to the Crown Prince." "During yesterday's daily lecture, I already sounded out His Highness's thoughts. I am confident I can persuade him. Why not let me try?" Seeing Gao Yi so full of confidence, Gao Gong assumed he was merely flattering himself. How many emperors refrained from taking money out of the Ministry of Revenue, let alone contributing their own? Such an emperor had never been heard of. Still... this gave Gao Gong an idea. Did Consort Li not fear tarnishing the imperial virtue? Then let her pay for it! If she refused to provide funds while barring them from doing their work, would the ruin of the realm's governance not tarnish that imperial virtue even more? He wanted to see whether she feared the clamor of corrupt officials more than the prospect of upright scholars prostrating themselves before the palace gates in protest. Human nature favored compromise; Consort Li would likely be no exception. Agreeing directly to the Evaluation Law seemed difficult, but once the Grand Secretariat pressed her to finance it, the former would appear far less objectionable. With this realization, Gao Gong shifted his attitude and accepted Gao Yi's proposal, declaring, "Since Zixiang puts it this way, let us give it a try." "Draft a preliminary memorandum first, and we shall see how the Two Palaces respond. It cannot be that we endure hardship for the state while they refuse to pluck a single feather." Evidently, the matter had passed his muster. Seeing Gao Gong relent, Gao Yi nodded in agreement. Then, recalling the other issue, he turned to Zhang Juzheng. "The Vice Senior Grand Secretary mentioned earlier that the 'pilot program' warrants further consideration. What did you mean?" He truly had not expected objections on this front. From any angle, it seemed eminently viable, even an excellent approach that any discerning eye should have welcomed. Why had Zhang Juzheng raised doubts? Zhang Juzheng did not answer directly. Instead, he held out a pair of wrinkled, dry hands, turning them over before Gao Yi's eyes. He spoke in a low voice: "Zixiang, you are fifty-five this year, are you not?" Perplexed, Gao Yi nodded. Zhang Juzheng turned to Gao Gong. "I recall the Senior Grand Secretary is nearly sixty?" Gao Gong gave a gruff hum. "Six months away." Zhang Juzheng sighed. "I too am nearing fifty." "Recently, during my leisure hours, I reread Han Changli's *Memorial for the Twelfth Nephew*, and could not help feeling deeply moved." He began to recite: "'Since this year, those hairs that were gray have begun turning white; those teeth that were loose have begun to fall out. My blood and vigor decline day by day, and my spirit and ambitions daily wither.'" Finishing the line, his gaze swept back and forth between his two colleagues. "Lately, gray hairs multiply, my heart flutters with unease, and at night I rarely sleep more than four hours." "Men such as us... how much time do we have left?" Both Gaos were visibly stirred. In this era, reaching sixty was considered a long life; men who lived as long as Yan Song were rare exceptions. All three were advanced in years, and their aging bodies were already flashing warnings. Given the rate at which their energy was declining, being able to handle affairs of state for another six or seven years would already be a remarkable blessing. Gao Gong grasped Zhang Juzheng's meaning at once. "You mean..." Zhang Juzheng nodded. "It is too slow. A trial in one prefecture, a trial in one province—who knows how long it will take to reach the entire realm?" "Furthermore, cleansing officialdom is merely the first step of a journey of ten thousand li. The Evaluation Law is only paving the road; there are still countless reforms we must enact." "My fear... is that it will collapse halfway, and when the men perish, their policies will die with them." He spoke without the slightest reservation. Performance pay, pilot programs—novel as they sounded, did anyone truly think no one had conceived of them before? The reality was that even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice, and time waited for no man. There was no need for such timidity! Once Noble Consort Li became Empress Dowager and Gao Gong retired, Zhang Juzheng was confident that, having taken supreme authority into his own hands, he could suppress any backlash. He believed he could establish an enduring institutional framework before relinquishing power, after which others could proceed at a measured pace. Yet if they dallied now, it would truly be too late down the road. Gao Yi believed that purifying official administration was the ultimate goal; Gao Gong believed that filling the court with righteous men would restore the Great Ming. Little did they know that in Zhang Juzheng's eyes, this was nowhere near enough! He wanted a comprehensive land survey! He wanted to reform the tax system! He wanted to pacify the northern frontier! The Evaluation Law? That was merely clearing away pests before the real work began, nothing more than the first step. How could he squander precious years on it? One had to remember that when Emperor Taizu conducted the empire-wide land survey, it took over ten years! How many ten-year spans did Zhang Juzheng have left? At an age when he was counting his days on his fingers, he had to spend his time where it mattered most. Reading Zhang Juzheng's expression, Gao Yi understood his colleague's intent. He had never considered the matter from that angle, believing simply that each generation had its own responsibilities. Human strength had its limits; how could one man hope to accomplish everything under Heaven by himself? Moreover, Gao Yi now believed that a worthy successor was waiting in the wings. He spoke slowly: "Vice Senior Grand Secretary, you must have faith in the capability of those who come after us." Judging by the Crown Prince's conduct, Gao Yi was willing to believe that his pupil had the genuine will to govern the realm. The new administration could safely be entrusted to him in due time. However, this was an unspoken understanding between teacher and student, not something to be shared openly with outsiders. Zhang Juzheng cast him an astonished look. Had this colleague's trust in the Crown Prince reached such an extent? Had he forgotten what Emperor Shizong and the late Emperor were like? What kind of spell had been cast on him? Yet Zhang Juzheng did not back down. "We must still do everything within our power first." He was well aware that acting with such fierce momentum carried endless perils: either an ill-fated old age or the desecration of his corpse after death. He cared for neither. When a man died, his lamp went out; while he could act, he had to exert himself to the utmost. Yet today's Gao Yi was not his usual compliant self. He proved exceptionally unyielding: "If we do not yield an inch, the Two Palaces will worry about tarnishing the imperial virtue and may well refuse their assent." "If we reach an impasse, we will only squander more time." "This is a necessary expedient." "Vice Senior Grand Secretary, think carefully." How could Gao Yi bear to let his pupil's ardent enthusiasm, displayed during his very first foray into state affairs, come to nothing? He felt no desperate urgency; whatever remained unfinished, he was entirely willing to leave in the hands of the new sovereign. Zhang Juzheng seemed to have anticipated this. As soon as Gao Yi finished speaking, he countered without hesitation, "Then add the eighteen prefectures of Southern Zhili and the Fujian Provincial Administration Commission. What say you?" Tackle the easy before the difficult. Whether surveying land or overhauling the tax laws, having Southern Zhili implement the Evaluation Law first would ease subsequent progress. This represented a concession on his part. Gao Yi hesitated. Suddenly expanding from a single prefecture to an entire metropolitan territory and an additional province deviated from his understanding with the Crown Prince. Now it was Zhang Juzheng's turn to persuade Gao Yi: "Zixiang, we too must clear the path ahead for the new sovereign as best we can." This struck precisely at Gao Yi's soft spot. One metropolitan region and one province remained within the administrative capacity of the Grand Secretariat. After a moment's reflection, he finally nodded. Seeing that their major differences had been resolved, Gao Gong finally struck the table. "Let us take it to a court deliberation." "I will coordinate with the Shanxi Faction and the surveillance and remonstrance officials first." "Shuda, go inquire whether the Chu Faction has any objections." "As for the Pure Stream, Zixiang will not need to exert much effort—just ensure they throw their full support behind the Evaluation Law." "Let us leave it at that for now. We will deliberate at court shortly. Nothing we decide here counts on its own; all the officials of the Six Ministries must nod, and the Two Palaces must give their assent."