Chapter 60: Perils of the Officialdom
Li Yi watched their departure with a calm expression. The merchant nearby shrank back, fearful of angering Li Yi and being implicated himself. In truth, Li Yi was not angry—he even felt a touch of amusement. Did this group think that leaving together would force him to yield?
He glanced at the merchant beside him, lifting a heavy hemp sack weighing a hundred or two pounds with one hand and tossing it onto the cart. The merchant hurried forward, speaking carefully, “This sack of sugar is my humble offering to you, sir.”
Li Yi waved his hand dismissively. “From now on, taxes will be levied according to the number of carts and the value of goods, divided into two shares: one is the official tax, recorded in the books; the other is an unrecorded miscellaneous tax. The official tax follows the government’s quota; the miscellaneous tax is one in thirty. No one will demand bribes, and no one will trouble you.”
Hearing this new rule, the merchant’s eyes lit up. He understood clearly: from now on, the checkpoint at Fragmented Gold Town would tax according to government regulations. Oppressive levies, miscellaneous taxes, and bribery would all be abolished, requiring only a single miscellaneous tax.
The merchant pondered silently; this way, passing the checkpoint would cost half as much. “May I ask your name, sir?” he asked quietly.
“Li Yi, Inspector of Fragmented Gold Town.”
“So it is Inspector Li. My name is Fan Yongnian. If things truly follow this rule, you’ll be our savior.”
Li Yi was puzzled. Fan Yongnian gave a bitter smile. “Corruption runs rampant these years, and the government’s finances are strained. It’s almost a checkpoint every fifty miles, a major one every hundred. They pluck feathers from every passing goose, extorting and demanding bribes, making it impossible for small caravans like ours to do business. Ninety percent of our profits are taken; in time, we cannot even feed our families. Without land or property, we’re forced to sell ourselves to wealthy households as stewards or servants.”
“The court does nothing?”
Fan Yongnian shook his head. “When the imperial inspectors or censors visit, the checkpoints are removed. Once they leave, they’re restored. If anyone dares to file a complaint, the authorities join forces with local thugs to sabotage their business, even resorting to murder. Even if a complaint is filed, officials bribe the inspectors and censors, who, once paid, will never uphold justice for merchants like us.”
Li Yi was speechless. The local authorities were draining the pond to catch fish.
Without farmers, there is no stability; without craftsmen, no wealth; without merchants, no vitality. Merchants used the price differences between north and south to transport silk, tea, and sugar to the north, and bring back furs and red dates. Only through the circulation of goods does the economy flourish, providing for more people. Yet local officials’ endless extortion destroys business, and with recent disasters forcing farmers into vagrancy, how could the Ming not descend into chaos? How could the nation not perish?
Having spoken of the Ming’s ailments, Li Yi addressed Fan Yongnian again. “I have a favor to ask, Master Fan.”
Fan Yongnian departed with his caravan. Li Yi rode back to Mizhi County.
He sought out Shi Kefa, recounting how everyone in the inspector’s office had resigned. Shi Kefa frowned and advised, “This could be serious. If someone uses it against you, it could become grounds for impeachment. If the censors hold you accountable, you’ll be punished.”
Li Yi was unconcerned. “They left of their own accord; I couldn’t stop them. Besides, they extorted and took bribes, committed all manner of evil. Entrusting them with public safety is an enormous joke.”
Shi Kefa also possessed upright character. Though he voiced disagreement, he secretly approved of Li Yi’s actions. “But this might have too great an impact. If it alarms the censors and the prefectural office, you may not only lose your position, but face imprisonment. Perhaps I should intervene, keep some of them, and provide an explanation.”
“I have no time for their games. If they want to leave, I’ll replace them all, saving myself from their scheming behind my back,” Li Yi said with a cold smile. “I only fear Yan Zibin will deliberately make trouble, so I ask you to support me.”
Shi Kefa answered without hesitation, “I won’t stand idly by.”
Li Yi left Mizhi County, intending to return to Li Family Village. He encountered the tall, thin bailiff leading a horse.
Seeing Li Yi, the bailiff hurried over. “Inspector Li, the magistrate sent me to find you. He has questions.”
Li Yi guessed it was trouble from the inspector’s office. Knowing escape was impossible, he followed the bailiff back to the county office.
In the hall, Yan Zibin sat with a cold face, staring at Li Yi. He did not invite Li Yi to sit, remaining upright as if judging a criminal, and barked sharply, “Inspector Li, I warned you yesterday—the inspector’s office is important, and you must act with caution. Why, then, have you angered the archers? They have all come to the county office to complain.”
“I simply ordered them not to take bribes or extort merchants. They refused and resigned. What does that have to do with me?”
Yan Zibin cared nothing for bribery or extortion; he merely wanted Li Yi to suffer. “Did you break the legs of Gai Hu’er and the others?”
Li Yi looked up at Yan Zibin for a long time before answering coolly, “They showed no respect to their superior and tried to harm me. I defended myself.”
“So you admit you broke their legs.”
Yan Zibin’s gaze grew colder, a mocking smile on his lips. “Injuring archers, mistreating subordinates, acting recklessly, and leaving the inspector’s office without staff—you are bold indeed, Li Yi.”
Li Yi stood in the hall, facing the overbearing Yan Zibin, his anger burning within. But he knew Yan Zibin was trying to provoke him.
He took a deep breath and replied coldly, “You know full well how things stand. More words are useless; I have nothing else to say to you.”
Yan Zibin shouted, “I’ve reported to the imperial censors. Tomorrow you will be tried for arrogance and lawlessness, mistreating your subordinates. Prepare for prison.”
Li Yi laughed coldly and stood up, leaving directly. He had now tasted the treacherous ways of officialdom. Twisting truth, wielding power, threatening impeachment and punishment—such officials were not worth serving.
Leaving the county office, he turned to glare at those following him. He’d been ordered not to leave Mizhi. The tall, thin bailiff followed nervously. “Inspector Li, the magistrate ordered this—please don’t make things difficult for me.”
Li Yi shook his head. “I won’t trouble you. Go find Gao Yigong and tell him I’ll wait at the tavern.”
The bailiff hesitated, but realizing he couldn’t stop Li Yi, he obeyed and left.
Li Yi entered the tavern, chose a window seat, and poured himself some wine.
With the archers collectively accusing him and Yan Zibin and others adding fuel to the fire, he knew that if he were falsely convicted of mistreatment and lawlessness, he would surely be imprisoned.
He would not surrender, nor allow himself to be locked up. Otherwise, both Yan Zibin and the Ai family would find ways to kill him.
He had resolved that if things became impossible, he would take his people into the hills and await the outbreak of disaster next year to rebel.
After drinking a pot of wine, Gao Yigong arrived.
“There’s a banquet downstairs—go enjoy it,” Li Yi instructed the bailiff.
The bailiff thanked him profusely and left.
Gao Yigong sat down, and Li Yi poured him wine. “It’s the Ai family stirring things up. Ai Wan Hua went to the county office early this morning to see Yan Zibin.”
Li Yi frowned. He hadn’t clashed with the Ai family for a long time, yet the viper had bitten him in secret.
Gao Yigong glanced at Li Yi, and after a moment’s thought, said, “I had my men watch the county office. At noon, Secretary Zheng took a carriage to Yulin. I fear they’re trying to bribe the imperial censor and governor to harm you.”
Li Yi smiled, drinking his wine, a hint of disdain on his face. “These people only know underhanded tricks.”
Gao Yigong warned earnestly, “Brother Li, you must be careful. These officials kill without blood. I know some men of the greenwood—if anything happens tomorrow, they’ll help you escape Mizhi and join them.”
Li Yi felt warmth in his heart. “Don’t worry. If I want to leave, no one can stop me.”
After their third round of drinks, Li Yi asked Gao Yigong to send word to Gao Jie, to have trusted men ready outside Mizhi to support him.
He must be cautious and prepared. Even though it might implicate himself, Gao Yigong agreed.
They chatted, and Gao Yigong told Li Yi about recent events in the county office. Yan Zibin had grown ever more ruthless in collecting taxes, even targeting the office clerks.
Aside from the magistrate, chief clerk, and assistant magistrate—officials appointed by the court—the rest were minor clerks and the lowest level, menial workers.
Officials’ salaries were meager, let alone those of clerks and menials. Why, then, did people still scramble to enter the office?
For money, naturally. Only by taking assignments could they earn, and assignments required permits.
Thus, the magistrates sold permits; whoever wanted work bought one, and if they received benefits, they had to share thirty percent with the magistrate.
Yan Zibin had taken it further: not only assignments, but each department’s bribes passed through him, and he forced clerks and menials to collect taxes. If they failed, he fined them.
Gao Yigong sighed, “Times are getting worse. Yan Zibin squeezes the clerks and menials, and they, in turn, squeeze the people. In just a few days, dozens of families have been ruined, countless suicides by hanging.”
Liu Zongmin’s father was driven to suicide by tax-collecting clerks.
Li Yi sighed, now seeing the office’s brutal darkness clearly.
“At this rate, the people will soon have no choice but to rebel.”
Gao Yigong was startled, quickly looking around and whispering, “That’s not something you can say.”
Li Yi gripped his cup, gazing out at the lifeless street.
“I’ve heard Yan Zibin will soon sit for the nine-year civil exam. His extortion is to amass wealth, bribe his superiors, and secure a post in Jiangnan.”
Gao Yigong understood at last. “That explains his relentless greed. These days, he’s been revisiting old cases, profiting from both plaintiff and defendant; in just a few days, he’s made hundreds of taels of silver—that’s the reason.”
Yan Zibin had stirred up Mizhi County to the point of popular outrage; Li Yi had not expected it would be so bad.
Combined with the intrigues of officialdom, Li Yi realized more clearly that trying to save the world through an official position was impossible. The Ming dynasty now was patching wounds by cutting flesh, its days waning.
After parting ways with Gao Yigong, Li Yi planned to visit Shi Kefa again, but the steward at Shi’s residence told him he was out.
Li Yi found an inn to rest.
The next morning, a squad of bailiffs waited at the inn's entrance, glaring fiercely.
“What a display,” Li Yi sneered, glancing at them before walking straight out toward the county office.
He waited in the county office until afternoon, when he was summoned to the hall.
There, an elderly official sat in the chief seat, Yan Zibin smiling beside him, along with the assistant magistrate and chief clerk.
It seemed the elderly official was Liu Zhongzhou, Imperial Censor of Yansui.
Imperial censors, like county magistrates, are seventh-rank officials, but they serve as the emperor’s inspectors; all provincial and county officials must submit to their scrutiny.
Not only a minor magistrate like Yan Zibin, but even governors and viceroys could be disregarded and impeached by the censor.
For a petty ninth-rank official like Li Yi, he could be summarily tried and punished.
Liu Zhongzhou sat with a ruddy face, occasionally burping. Although Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang had decreed that censors must not indulge, with meals limited to four dishes and a soup, and forbidding them from riding horses—only donkeys—these rules were long since ignored.
Yan Zibin had arranged for an eight-man palanquin to carry him into the county office, collected rare delicacies and fine wine, and even hired a courtesan to entertain him, serving Liu Zhongzhou lavishly.
After the meal, Yan Zibin bribed him with two thousand taels of silver, mainly to secure his favor, and dealing with Li Yi was merely incidental.
Liu Zhongzhou touched the silver notes hidden in his sleeve, his face beaming.
“Inspector, this man is arrogant and lawless, disrespectful to superiors, and cruel to subordinates,” Yan Zibin wasted no time in poisoning the well.
Liu Zhongzhou, stern and imposing, barked, “Li Yi, do you know your crime?”
Li Yi stood straight, his voice calm. “I know no crime.”
“The archers accuse you of mistreating them, injuring several, and demanding bribes. When they refused, you harassed them. Is this not so?”
Li Yi nearly laughed in exasperation.
“They were gambling together, disrespecting their superior, and tried to attack me, relying on the Ai family’s power. How has this become me injuring them? As for bribes, I forbade them from taking any; they were unwilling—how does that become me harassing them?”
“A sharp-tongued rascal! Even now you dare twist the truth and deceive me?” Liu Zhongzhou knew Li Yi was telling the truth, but ignored it, shouting, “Guards, restrain the accused and prepare the heavy punishment!”
The bailiffs around, armed with batons, looked at each other, afraid to approach. This was Li Yi, the cub of Ganquan, renowned for his fierce skill; even the Ai family avoided provoking him.
Liu Zhongzhou roared, “How dare you! Do you mean to disobey orders?”
The bailiffs, faces miserable, reluctantly surrounded Li Yi.
Li Yi clenched his fists. It seemed today would not end peacefully; he might as well rebel and make a clean break.
“Li Yi, hold your temper!”
Just as the standoff reached its peak, an official burst into the hall.
Shi Kefa strode in, his expression severe and tinged with anger.
Yan Zibin was momentarily stunned, looking at Liu Zhongzhou.
Liu Zhongzhou frowned. “Who are you?”
Shi Kefa bowed. “Inspector, I am Shi Kefa, Judicial Officer of Xi’an Prefecture.”
Judicial Officer?
Liu Zhongzhou dismissed him, “A Judicial Officer from Xi’an—what are you doing in Mizhi County office?”
Shi Kefa replied calmly, “I have heard of the inspector’s case and wish to observe the proceedings, if I may.”
Liu Zhongzhou glared, shouting, “What does this case have to do with Xi’an Prefecture? Leave at once, or I’ll charge you with obstructing justice.”
Shi Kefa was unmoved. “I uphold the virtues of my mentors and cannot bear injustice. Today, I insist on seeing fairness in this case.”
“Such boldness!”
Liu Zhongzhou abruptly stood, pointing at Shi Kefa and shouting, “Arrogant wretch! Who are your mentors? Do you know I can detain any official below sixth rank on the spot? You dare speak so brazenly—are you itching to taste my methods?”