Chapter Thirty-Six: Lining Up to Collect the Money

Before long, Yan Wei arrived, bringing a group of tax office patrolmen with him. Zhu Cilang pointed to Liu Yongquan and his companions, all kneeling on the ground with ashen faces, and said, “These bandits have defied the imperial order, likely plotting rebellion. Arrest them all.”

Yan Wei stiffened and replied, “Yes, sir!”

Then, Zhu Cilang turned to Old Seventeen and gestured toward the bamboo and timber extraction bureau’s gate. “This bureau is clearly in collusion with those criminals. Break in, detain everyone and everything inside, and do not let a single thing escape your grasp.”

Old Seventeen answered solemnly, “Yes, sir!”

No sooner had Zhu Cilang finished speaking than a heavy sound, like a sandbag dropping, echoed from within the bureau’s walls. Moments later, a clerk led several others out, opened the gate, and knelt on the ground, howling as if being slaughtered, “Sir! We are innocent! There are no rebels in our bureau—it was all Liu Pei’s orders!”

The other clerks wailed, “It was Liu Pei who gave the command! We’re innocent!”

Their cries had barely begun when Liu Pei himself, broad-shouldered and strong, was kneeling on the ground, his hat nowhere to be seen, pounding his head against the earth. “Spare me, sir! Spare me! It was Chu Lushan who directed it all. I would never dare defy the imperial order!”

From the corner, Chu Lushan watched the scene, his lips twitching, and he slumped to the ground in defeat. “Do what you will—kill or torture me, I leave it to your discretion.”

Zhu Cilang glanced at the merchants and shipowners standing at a distance, watching the bureau but too fearful to approach. He frowned and snorted coldly, “Close the bureau’s gates. Even if you lose face, this is not the time for it!”

“And open the water gate! Yan Wei, inform the household—the work is about to begin!”

Naturally, “work” meant collecting taxes.

Yan Wei received the order and responded energetically. Others nearby heard Zhu Cilang’s command to open the water gate. Suddenly, someone started a chant, and the crowd cried out, “Lord Qin is wise!”

“We will obey the law and pay our taxes! Lord Qin is wise—may your noble house prosper for generations!”

“Lord, you are wise!”

Hearing this, Zhu Cilang turned to the merchants and shipowners, clasped his hands, and announced, “Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Please line up and prepare to pay.”

Hou Fangyu, overhearing Zhu Cilang’s words, could not help but twitch his lips. Sure enough, as he had expected, the merchants and shipowners showed no resentment—instead, they cheered enthusiastically.

Paying meant being allowed passage through the canal.

Not long after, Old Seventeen led his guards into the bureau, and the screech of the water gate opening rang out.

“May Lord Qin’s noble house last forever!”
“Wise lord!”
“An upright official!”

The cheers grew even more fervent. People hurried to their boats moored by the canal, rejoining their fleets and, guided by the patrolmen and clerks, began to enter in an orderly procession.

Meanwhile, Sheng Zhongquan, the magistrate of Linqing Prefecture, arrived in haste with his constables to maintain order, showering Zhu Cilang with compliments and polite words. But for the tardy Sheng Zhongquan, Zhu Cilang had little patience. He handed Chu Lushan over to the prefecture’s custody, and detained Liu Pei, Liu Yongquan, and their men in the tax office’s prison on charges of defying the imperial order.

Sheng Zhongquan offered no objection, merely inviting Zhu Cilang to a banquet, which the latter declined, his mind already set on the grand task of collecting taxes.

Yet twilight had descended, and it was late. Though the tax office worked overtime for another hour, as night fell, the business of collecting money concluded with the sound of the gong.

At that signal, marking the end of their shift, the clerks felt not fatigue but a lingering exhilaration.

With no bribery or obstruction, the clerks felt restricted, yet their work was much lighter. No need to fear being caught by Zhu Cilang, the “living King of Hell,” nor to bother with empty formalities.

Thus, the time that would usually suffice for handling just one ship’s taxes allowed them to process the fifth vessel that day. The entire office was running at peak efficiency. The result: box after box of silver carried into the treasury, so much so that the porters had to be replaced three times.

Such a gratifying outcome left all the clerks invigorated.

For Zhu Cilang had already issued a clear decree: in three days, salaries would rise according to the success of the new tax reforms!

Not only that, the office’s regulations now, after a slew of punishment clauses, included a plethora of reward articles, each legally and reasonably designed to increase income for the staff.

Ordinary clerks, in addition to their annual ten taels salary, could earn various bonuses. For example, a full day’s work counted as four hours; working twenty-five days a month earned eight taels as a perfect attendance reward.

If their group went ten days without a single complaint or violation such as bribery, each person received an additional tael for honesty.

If a year passed without major faults, their salary would rise a grade, earning an extra tael each month. This benefit was available to everyone, whereas before, only a select few profited from the office’s perks.

Moreover, if the monthly tax revenue exceeded Zhu Cilang’s target of twenty thousand taels, everyone’s income would double! A typical clerk could earn over thirty taels a year—enough to maintain a middle-class household.

And this was a secure position, guaranteed for life, regardless of drought or flood.

Thus, when Zhu Cilang returned to the tax office, he found it bustling with activity.

Crossing the courtyard and entering the inner hall, Zhu Cilang soon met Chang Zhilang, who had rushed over upon hearing the news.

Chang Zhilang was responsible for the Linqing branch of the Imperial College’s tax office. Though the branch had imperial approval, coordination with several scholars as instructors and preparations for construction were still pending—so its main task now was to assist Zhu Cilang with the ongoing tax reform.

Without unnecessary words, Zhu Cilang nodded to Chang Zhilang, who promptly began his report: “Today, using the new tax rate, commercial taxes collected exceeded those under the old system by two thousand three hundred twenty-nine taels and four qian, an increase of three hundred seventy-two percent. Sir… we’ve struck gold!”