Seeing Han Qian get straight to the point in questioning, Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei didn’t beat around the bush either. Staring at Han Qian, they said:
“We two come from the Inner Palace Bureau and are consecrated to the Prince’s Manor, so naturally we are only responsible to His Highness alone. His Highness has already notified Lord Shen Yang to send the roster of scouts, intelligence agents, craftsmen households, and master craftsmen belonging to the Left Bureau to Jinyun Tower for separate registry and management. But the Left Bureau should still have some people not on the roster, correct?”
Han Qian suppressed the turbulent waves in his heart and said calmly, “When we recruited plague-stricken famine victims to establish the Dragon Sparrow Army, a copy of the military household roster had to be filed with the Ministry of War. Since you two elder gentlemen, like Han Qian, are only loyal to His Highness, you must know that Han Qian hiding some people off the roster was done out of necessity. His Highness couldn’t attend to such matters at the time.”
“Minister Han need not explain this. We naturally understand,” Jiang Huo said.
Han Qian’s eyes narrowed slightly as he said impassively, “As long as His Highness permits, in the next couple of days Han Qian will hand over this roster to you two gentlemen along with Marquis Li.”
“This matter should first be submitted to His Highness for approval.” Seeing Han Qian still doubted their identities, Jiang Huo also said calmly.
Han Qian had deliberately included Marquis of Xinchang Li Pu in that last statement. But seeing that Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei showed no surprise, he sighed inwardly, thinking that Emperor Tianyou indeed still had eyes monitoring the Marquis of Xinchang’s manor. But during this period, Emperor Tianyou hadn’t made any excessive moves—perhaps the eyes hadn’t yet uncovered any terrifying secrets.
Han Qian forcibly suppressed the waves in his heart and said, “Besides this, what other matters regarding the Left Bureau must I follow you two elder gentlemen’s instructions on in the future?”
“Instructions is too strong a word,” Jiang Huo said with a genial expression. “Besides matters of rewarding merit and punishment for promotion among the Left Bureau’s soldiers, we also hope to know about the Left Bureau’s revenues and expenditures. Additionally, we two have trained seven or eight disciples in the Inner Palace Bureau. We hope they can all be deployed under Minister Han’s command, but it would be best not to alarm anyone else about this. Apart from these matters, whatever Minister Han does, we two will absolutely not interfere in the slightest.”
Regarding Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei directly demanding control over the Left Bureau’s personnel and audit powers and placing seven or eight of their direct subordinates into the Left Bureau, Han Qian didn’t find anything surprising. Besides, at this moment he couldn’t afford to care about his own feelings, so he said:
“These are all acceptable. Han Qian will immediately arrange for people to transfer the account books from the warehouses, money shops, and workshops to Jinyun Tower.”
Seeing Han Qian’s humble attitude and agreeing without complaint to hand over the Left Bureau’s foundation—at least they couldn’t detect anything unusual—Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei exchanged glances, secretly amazed.
Jiang Huo stroked his smooth, beardless chin. His eyes gleamed sharply as he fixed his gaze on Han Qian’s eyes and asked:
“The Left Bureau’s soldiers rendered considerable merit in the Jing-Xiang campaign and must be rewarded. The Personal Attendants Office can promote sixteen Mounted Personal Attendants in total. Two Mounted Personal Attendant positions remain unfilled. Besides us two, Jinyun Tower also lacks two chief clerks. Which soldiers under the Left Bureau’s jurisdiction does Minister Han think these positions should be awarded to?”
“Since His Majesty has said that matters of rewarding merit and punishment for promotion should be determined by you two elder gentlemen, as for who under the Left Bureau deserves such appointments, you two elder gentlemen surely have discerning eyes and don’t need Han Qian’s input,” Han Qian said.
“The four people Minister Han brought into the Prince’s Manor today are surely people Minister Han relies on daily. The affairs inside Jinyun Tower will require their considerable effort in the future,” Jiang Huo said.
“Very well. I’ll have them come in now to receive instruction from you two elder gentlemen.”
Han Qian agreed readily and matter-of-factly. Without showing any emotion, he turned and went out, calling Gao Shao, Tian Cheng, Lin Haizheng, and Zheng Tong inside. Pointing at Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei, he introduced them:
“Elder Gentlemen Jiang and Yuan are Manor Consecrates who are only responsible to His Highness. Henceforth, within the Left Bureau and Jinyun Tower, besides myself, you must act according to Elder Gentlemen Jiang and Yuan’s orders—you have rendered merit in escorting His Highness and defending Xichuan this time. The two gentlemen have positions to settle you into.”
Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, Lin Haizheng, and Zheng Tong looked at each other in confusion, momentarily unable to figure out what was happening. Following Han Qian’s instructions, they all knelt on one knee, listening to what these two old eunuchs had to say.
Mounted Personal Attendant was a military position of lower eighth rank. Chief clerk was also a civilian position of regular ninth rank. These would henceforth be the four formal official ranks belonging to Jinyun Tower (Left Bureau). For ordinary people, this was tantamount to ascending to heaven in one step.
Han Qian had originally planned to transfer Lin Haizheng to Xuzhou, but since Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei designated Lin Haizheng to stay and serve as one of the chief clerks, he naturally adjusted his plans, first letting the Left Bureau continue operating.
At the Qiuhu Mountain villa, after Han Qian had suppressed Lin Haizheng and Fan Dahei, Zheng Tong had always been the head master craftsman of the workshop and was most familiar with the workshop’s situation. During the Jing-Xiang campaign, he had also been transferred by Han Qian to Xiangzhou to command the Left Bureau’s craftsmen battalion.
With Zheng Tong appointed as chief clerk in Jinyun Tower, workshop affairs would henceforth naturally be under his control.
Zheng Tong’s relationship with Han Qian wasn’t that close, but as head master craftsman, when Han Qian formed the craftsmen battalion in Xichuan—responsible for city repairs and construction in the early stages, and later for making various war machines—it was all with Zheng Tong’s assistance.
In any case, Zheng Tong had considerable military merit. Han Qian had anticipated there would be rewards upon entering the manor today, which was why he brought him along.
Though these were chaotic times and the reality made all states’ demand for master craftsmen and craftsmen households quite high, their status was still suppressed very low.
Zheng Tong officially receiving the position of chief clerk this time made him exceptionally happy. He had no mind to consider all the hidden complications behind it.
With Tian Cheng and Gao Shao receiving Mounted Personal Attendant positions, they would nominally be close personal guard officers beside the Third Prince and would continue to respectively command the Military Bureau and Intelligence Office. But they knew too many secrets. Unable to immediately guess what arrangement His Majesty’s direct insertion of personnel into the Left Bureau represented, how could they be smugly pleased about receiving a low-level military position like Mounted Personal Attendant?
After experiencing the bloody battle at Xichuan, Lin Haizheng’s temperament had also become much more steady. At this moment he was both surprised and doubtful, but since Han Qian said nothing, he, along with Tian Cheng and Gao Shao, steeled themselves and accepted first.
The affairs of the warehouse and Linjiang Money Shop had previously all been handed to Zhao Ting’er to manage. Han Qian thought that in the future Lin Haizheng would oversee the warehouse and Linjiang Money Shop’s affairs. He wrote an order and gave it to Lin Haizheng to take directly back to Zhao Ting’er, to have the account books from the warehouse and Linjiang Money Shop moved to Jinyun Tower.
Although the incoming and outgoing accounts of the workshop, warehouse, and Linjiang Money Shop were clear, the workshop had initially been privately funded by Han Qian. For quite a long time, the workshop also occupied the Qiuhu Mountain villa’s grounds and had developed and grown under the leadership of Han Qian using the Han family’s household troops.
Only the warehouse and Linjiang Money Shop had borrowed the name and some funds from the Marquis of Linjiang’s manor and the Dragon Sparrow Army.
Currently, to separate the workshop, warehouse, and money shop from Han Qian’s personal holdings and place them all under Jinyun Tower’s jurisdiction, there were many accounts that would temporarily be very difficult to settle clearly.
After Han Qian received three thousand gold ingots from Wang Wenqian, besides Yang Qin and Feng Xuan using them to purchase new ships, and the batch of supplies just unloaded into the warehouse today that had been transported from Xuzhou, he had also advanced compensation money for casualties among the convict soldiers, repaid previously owed payments to the four great clans, advanced part of the costs for constructing the Yangtan water fortress and Wufeng Mountain river embankment, and advanced the cost of redeeming a new batch of Xi clan members. Money flowed out like water, and by now Han Qian had less than three hundred gold ingots remaining.
Han Qian had told the Third Prince he would treat this gold as the Left Bureau’s funding, but when truly separating the Xuzhou shipping guild and Xuzhou affairs from the Left Bureau, he would discover this was another muddled account.
Of course, Han Qian could treat this gold as military funds advanced by the Xuzhou shipping guild during the Jing-Xiang campaign. But Han Qian had embezzled over twenty-five million cash from the money shop for the Xuzhou shipping guild’s expansion and redeeming Xi clan members—how should this be accounted for?
Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei had obviously received clear instructions beforehand. After the two reviewed the general ledger at this moment, they took up their brushes and directly crossed out the incoming and outgoing accounts between the money shop and Xuzhou shipping guild, asking Han Qian: “Settling accounts this way, is Minister Han satisfied? This is also the maximum extent of our authority. If Minister Han is not satisfied, we’ll go find Minister Shen for instructions.”
Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei’s meaning was that besides the Military Bureau and Intelligence Office, they would also designate the workshop, warehouse, Linjiang Money Shop, and even Qiuhu Mountain villa as properties controlled by the Prince’s Manor. But the Xuzhou shipping guild and the various affairs in Xuzhou would be formally placed under Han Qian’s personal name.
Of course, the Left Bureau would still be under Han Qian’s management going forward, but from this moment on, public and private accounts would need to be clearly distinguished.
Besides those with formal appointments like Lin Haizheng, Han Qian would also need to transfer the Han family’s household troops and household troop descendants out of these enterprises.
Han Qian had no objections to this. What concerned him most at present weren’t these matters, so he compliantly said: “Everything is entirely up to you two elder gentlemen.”
After the preliminary clearing of accounts here, the sky had already darkened. At this moment, the Third Prince, having escorted the Imperial Consort back to the palace, had just returned. Accompanied by Manor Administrator Zhang Ping, he walked over to Jinyun Tower.
Seeing that Han Qian, Jiang Huo, and Yuan Guowei were still settling accounts in Jinyun Tower, Yang Yuanpu said: “So Teacher Han has already met the two elder consecrates. That saves me the trouble of introducing you.”
Han Qian glanced at Zhang Ping and saw his eyes full of surprise. He obviously hadn’t previously known Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei’s true identities. Han Qian groaned inwardly, realizing the Third Prince hadn’t yet restored his trust in Zhang Ping and Marquis of Xinchang Li Pu and others, which was why he had deliberately not mentioned this to them.
Although Han Qian could now confirm the Third Prince wasn’t foolish enough to directly treat Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei as confidants, this also made the undercurrents within the Prince’s Manor even more turbulent and dangerous.
Besides sighing inwardly, Han Qian really had no way to say anything.
Yang Yuanpu asked about the account settlement situation. Jiang Huo and Yuan Guowei mentioned clearing the accounts between the Xuzhou shipping guild and the money shop.
Seeing Han Qian had no objections, Yang Yuanpu directly approved it, saying: “At midday I had to dine with Mother Consort and didn’t get to properly welcome Teacher Han. If Teacher Han has nothing else to attend to now, stay and share a couple of drinks with Yuanpu?”
“I do have time to share a couple of drinks with His Highness,” Han Qian said with a smile. “Why doesn’t Your Highness just arrange for some wine and dishes to be sent to Jinyun Tower? Invite Elder Gentlemen Jiang and Yuan to also drink together in merriment.”
“You make the arrangements,” Yang Yuanpu instructed Zhang Ping.