MLMD -Chapter 403 Collecting Taxes

The news of Qufu’s recapture quickly spread back to Jinan Prefecture. Neither Yue Yang nor the officials in Jinan were surprised by it—after all, the Xuan-Da Army’s reputation was well known. If they couldn’t even deal with a band of roaming bandits like this, people would have to suspect that Yue Yang was deliberately letting them off.

Among everyone, the happiest was naturally Duke Yansheng, Kong Yanzhi. Upon hearing that Qufu had been retaken, he immediately began packing to return home. This time, however, he was a bit more cautious. He went to the governor’s yamen to find Yue Yang, requesting that the authorities immediately send troops to escort him back and that the court dispatch soldiers once again to garrison Qufu County.

Looking at the Duke Yansheng standing before him, speaking with such righteous conviction, Yue Yang couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated. It seemed this Duke Yansheng was truly anxious—he didn’t want to stay even a single day longer. But that was fine. Yue Yang had no desire to keep this living Buddha in Jinan either. He was the classic type who accomplished nothing and ruined everything; keeping him around would only cause trouble. Better to let him return to Qufu and be the local tyrant of that little county.

“Knock, knock, knock…” There was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Yue Yang said.

The door opened, and Chen Dazhi strode in. After saluting Yue Yang, he reported, “My lord, Lord Ma and Lord Ke are outside requesting an audience.”

“Let them in.”

Soon, Ma Ke and Ke Zhennan entered, both dressed in official robes. Logically, after resting for over half a month, they should have looked more energetic, but in fact the opposite was true—their faces looked rather grim.

Ma Ke stepped forward and asked bluntly, “Lord Yue, now that Qufu has been recovered and Duke Yansheng has returned to his home, shouldn’t you issue an order to lift the military administration?”

Yue Yang replied calmly, “Lift it? Why lift it? Isn’t things going quite well now? You gentlemen stay at home every day, drinking wine and listening to music. You’re still the Provincial Administration Commissioner and the Surveillance Commissioner of Shandong. I handle all the province’s affairs for you. This way, if anything goes wrong in the future, you bear no responsibility. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Wonderful my ass. An official without any power—what kind of official is that? Over the past half month, the officials of Jinan Prefecture had lived as if years were days. All their authority had been taken over by Yue Yang. Whether issuing policies or handling the most trivial matters, it was all handled by people sent by the Xuan-Da Army. To these officials, this was worse than death.

Hearing Yue Yang speak as if he intended to carry on military administration indefinitely, Ke Zhennan trembled with rage and pointed at him, shouting, “Yue Yang! You have neither a cabinet decree nor an imperial edict, yet you dare impose military administration in Shandong on your own authority. At best, this is issuing unlawful orders; at worst, it is rebellion! Do you really intend to sever yourself from the court? If you do not announce the lifting of military administration, Lord Ma and I will die by shooting ourselves here today!”

“Hey—wait, wait!” Yue Yang hurriedly stopped the overly agitated Ke Zhennan. The man was already past fifty, yet his temper was still this fiery.

“Lord Ke, why such anger? We can talk this through.”

“So tell me—are you lifting military administration or not?” Ke Zhennan persisted, clearly determined.

“Exactly,” Ma Ke added indignantly. “We are officials appointed by the court and approved by the cabinet. Your unilateral imposition of military administration without court approval is a grave act of insubordination. If the court investigates, you won’t be able to bear the consequences!”

Yue Yang pondered for a moment before saying, “Gentlemen, it’s not difficult for me to lift military administration. But can you guarantee that you will no longer obstruct the implementation of my new policies?”

As he spoke, Yue Yang fixed them with a piercing gaze, clearly implying: if you don’t cooperate, military administration stays.

Ma Ke and Ke Zhennan exchanged a glance and slowly nodded. They had realized that continuing to oppose Yue Yang was unrealistic. After these days of sparring, they understood his determination—he would not stop until he achieved his goals, and whoever stood in his way would become his enemy. Moreover, they had submitted countless impeachment memorials against him, all of which sank like stones into the sea with no response. Gradually, they realized that as long as Yue Yang didn’t raise a banner of rebellion, the court wouldn’t do anything to him.

There’s a saying from later generations: life is like that—if you can’t resist it, you might as well enjoy it. The same applied here. Since their combined fists were no match for his, they might as well compromise. After all, being an official was essentially a process of constant compromise.

Ke Zhennan nodded. “Very well. Lord Ma and I can promise to support the implementation of the new policies and to urge the subordinate officials to re-measure land and levy commercial taxes.”

“That’s more like it,” Yue Yang said, a wolfish grin spreading across his face. “However, there’s one more thing I must inform you of. Given that our dynasty’s commercial tax rate is far too low, I believe it’s necessary to raise it. What do you two think?”

“Uh… raise the commercial tax?” Ma Ke and Ke Zhennan looked at each other.

After a moment, Ke Zhennan asked, “My lord, the current rate is one in thirty. How much do you intend to raise it to?”

Yue Yang raised one finger, his expression light and casual. “Fifteen percent.”

“What?!”

The two nearly jumped in shock. My lord, you’re killing the merchants! They already resisted paying when it was one in thirty—now you want to raise it to fifteen percent? People will die!

Yue Yang glanced sideways at them. “What—does this rate trouble you that much?”

“Uh… yes,” Ke Zhennan said bitterly. “More than trouble. If you announce this now, all of Shandong will explode.”

“Explode?” Yue Yang laughed instead of getting angry. “It’s settled. Anyone with objections can come see me. I’ll say this plainly: they will pay this tax whether they want to or not. Anyone who dares resist—don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

A chilling murderous intent flashed in Yue Yang’s eyes, making Ma Ke and Ke Zhennan shudder. But it vanished just as quickly, and Yue Yang smiled again.

“I know the subordinate officials have many complaints about collecting commercial taxes, thinking it’s thankless work. Is that right?”

The two rolled their eyes inwardly but said nothing.

“Well then,” Yue Yang continued, “I know they all oppose it. After careful thought, I came up with a solution. Although all collected taxes will be turned over to the governor’s yamen, every month I’ll take ten percent of the commercial tax revenue and distribute it to the local offices as integrity stipends. What do you two think?”

At this, their eyes lit up with delight. Ma Ke hurriedly asked, “My lord, is that true?”

“Of course,” Yue Yang said irritably. “Do you think I’d deceive you?”

“Integrity stipends…” Ma Ke and Ke Zhennan repeated the term, then nodded in unison.

“Excellent—let’s call it integrity stipends,” Ma Ke said approvingly.

Ke Zhennan, however, was more cautious. “But what about the court…”

“What is there to fear?” Yue Yang waved his hand. “I’ll handle the court. The Ming salaries are so low—if we don’t provide something extra, how can officials at the prefectural and county levels serve with peace of mind? We’ll do it as I say.”

“My lord is truly benevolent!” Ma Ke and Ke Zhennan exclaimed sincerely. For the first time, they felt this man was rather decent—at least he considered those below him.

Watching their excited expressions, Yue Yang laughed inwardly. Since ancient times there had been the saying that people travel a thousand li to become officials just for wealth. Though exaggerated, it wasn’t entirely wrong. In any era, being an official was one of the fastest ways to make money. Give them enough money, and they wouldn’t care what they were asked to do.

He waved them off. “Alright, that’s settled. You two go prepare—starting tomorrow, all offices will resume normal operations.”

“Yes!” The two hurried away.

After they left, Chen Dazhi, who had been standing guard, asked in confusion, “My lord, are you really lifting military administration just like that?”

Yue Yang countered, “What, did you want to keep Jinan under military rule forever?”

Chen Dazhi chuckled honestly. “I just feel it’s a pity to let them off so easily. And why give ten percent of the taxes as ‘integrity stipends’? Isn’t that just handing money to them for nothing?”

“What, jealous?” Yue Yang teased.

“No, no, I wouldn’t dare,” Chen Dazhi waved his hands.

Yue Yang asked earnestly, “Dazhi, let me ask you—if I sent you down to govern a county, could you manage it well? Could you ensure the people have enough to eat and wear?”

Chen Dazhi hesitated, scratching his head. “Probably not.”

“What about a prefecture?”

“Even less possible.”

“And governing all of Shandong?”

Chen Dazhi looked like he was about to cry. “My lord, please stop teasing me. I can barely read—how would I dare talk about governing livelihoods?”

“There you have it,” Yue Yang said. “Military administration is only a temporary measure. Governing the country ultimately relies on scholars. Too much military interference in politics leads to serious consequences—this is an ancient lesson!”

Yue Yang knew well that although the late Ming bureaucracy was rotten, continuing military rule would do more harm than good in the long run. History had proven this time and again.

Soon after, Ma Ke and Ke Zhennan returned to their offices and convened an emergency meeting of all subordinate officials, announcing Yue Yang’s decisions. Just like them earlier, the officials all looked miserable upon hearing about the fifteen-percent commercial tax. Officials and merchants were deeply intertwined—now they were to tax those same merchants?

“Must this money really be collected?” asked Lu Zhili, the Provincial Military Commissioner, who had forced himself to attend despite his injuries.

“Yes,” Ke Zhennan replied grimly. “Lord Yue has finally lifted military administration. If we don’t cooperate with the new policies, he’ll likely reinstate it.”

“How dare that villain!” Lu Zhili trembled with anger.

“Alas—the arm can’t twist the thigh,” Liu Zeqing, the provincial commander, said resignedly.

They all knew: once the tax was collected, the merchants’ “gifts” would be gone forever.

“Enough,” Ke Zhennan said sternly. “This tax must be collected—no excuses. Go back and supervise your subordinates closely. Anyone who messes this up will answer to me!”

Soon… a massive tax-collection campaign began.

At the city gate, a merchant caravan of dozens of carts arrived, only to find several tax clerks and over a dozen soldiers waiting.

A caravan hand asked the steward, “Boss Wang, what’s wrong with those clerks today? Why are they at the gate—don’t tell me they’re collecting taxes themselves?”

The steward sneered. “Hmph, just a bunch of poor devils. Probably short on drinking money. We’ll give them some loose silver and send them off.”

The caravan approached. The clerks stopped them. “Halt! Has tax been paid on this cargo?”

The steward stepped forward. “Officer, we belong to Lord Zhang’s household. These goods were personally approved by him…” As he spoke, a piece of silver slipped into the clerk’s hand.

To his surprise, the clerk pushed it back. “Sorry. No matter whose goods these are, the tax must be collected today.”

Thinking the bribe was too small, the steward added more silver. But the clerk, face dark as iron, pushed it back again. “Prepare for inspection.”

That was too much. “Enough!” the steward snapped. “I’ve done my part. If you insist on inspecting, bear the consequences yourselves!”

“You’d better think about how much cargo you’re carrying,” the clerk retorted coldly. “If you have complaints, take them to the governor. I just collect taxes.”

“Fine, fine!” the steward laughed angrily. “Go ahead and check—but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Inspection followed. Soon a clerk reported, “Cloth and wine, total value 3,600 taels. Tax due: 540 taels.”

“What?!” The steward leapt up. “Five hundred forty taels? Why don’t you just rob us?!”

The clerk pointed to the notice board. “New order from the governor. Commercial tax is now fifteen percent. No exceptions.”

The steward gritted his teeth. “I won’t pay a single coin. Let’s see who dares stop the Zhang family’s caravan!”

Clatter! A line of gleaming spearheads snapped into place, aimed at him.

The clerk’s cold voice followed: “The governor has ordered—anyone who resists taxes may be executed on the spot.”