Pei Bingyuan tossed the register onto the desk and regarded Commander Leng with a cool and measured gaze. He replied: “The soldiers who drove out the brigands suffered wounds in close combat, and their efforts deserve to be rewarded… However, entrusted by the Emperor and newly arrived at this post, this official does not dare act unilaterally and presume to decide the matter on his own. I ask that Commander Leng convey my message to the Commander and have him wait, while this official investigates the matter and then speaks further. The year’s end is still some way off — the Commander is not going to starve for lack of this meal.”
With no troops of his own at present, he could not stand against the Zhenhai Garrison — but buying time and making his position known, that much he could still do.
Strictly speaking, a Garrison Commander of a Thousand held the senior fifth rank, half a grade above Pei Bingyuan. But civil and military appointments were of different weight — Pei Bingyuan owed Commander Leng no pleasant expression. He was, after all, the chief official of the entire prefecture, with authority over the people of the whole region. How could a Commander of a Thousand, commanding a mere thousand men, compare with that?
If one truly wished to compare, only the Garrison Commander himself — the one behind Commander Leng — could hold his own against Pei Bingyuan.
Pei Bingyuan had no troops to rely upon, but his bearing must not fall beneath the other’s.
Commander Leng had not anticipated running into such a hard nail this time. Last night’s display had failed to rattle the new Prefect. Left with no other choice, he invoked his superior’s title as a show of force, and said: “The Garrison Commander is of hereditary military nobility. Should the Prefect, at some future point, return to the capital… we ask that the Prefect think it through carefully.”
“What a coincidence.” Pei Bingyuan laughed aloud with a note of disdain: “This official too is of hereditary noble descent.”
He added another line: “More than that — both of this official’s sons-in-law are also of hereditary nobility. If the Garrison Commander is truly in such a hurry for this official’s seal, he is welcome to come in person. This official is not one who is unreasonable.”
Commander Leng was taken aback. There was a good deal of information packed into those two remarks, and the matter had become complicated — it was well beyond the authority of a small Commander of a Thousand to decide.
He could only go back and report to his superior.
Pei Bingyuan let out a breath, though his expression remained grave.
The Zhenhai Garrison had been stationed in Taicang for many years. To have dared to harbor brigands for their own advantage and commit such lawless acts, they must have greased the right palms and built connections at every level throughout the hierarchy. If he wished to reverse the situation in Taicang Prefecture, what he needed to contend with was not a single Commander of a Thousand, nor a single Garrison Commander.
It would require careful and patient planning.
After that, Pei Bingyuan personally led his men out into the streets to make a full assessment of the losses sustained by the people of the city overnight. Fortunately, there were no civilian casualties — the brigands had seized grain, poultry, and livestock, then departed in haste.
The night’s commotion had given the brigands their grain, given the Zhenhai Garrison a pretext to claim meritorious service, and left only the common people to bear the losses.
One could only imagine this had not been the first time such a performance had been staged. No matter how prosperous a place might be, it could not withstand being subjected to such staged performances round after round.
The following day, Pei Bingyuan dressed simply, put on a bamboo hat, and prepared to set out with his men to conduct a survey of the various townships within Taicang Prefecture.
“Father, your son will come with you.” Pei Shaohuai said.
He added: “Your son came along to study from experience — how could I let such a good opportunity for direct observation pass me by?” One truly had to have seen the hardships of the people’s lives before having any right to speak of governing them.
Pei Shaohuai also dressed simply, and brought along a notebook and portable brush and ink.
Pei Bingyuan nodded with quiet satisfaction and had the runners prepare an extra carriage.
For half a month on end, father and son worked their way through the villages and fields, covering nearly the entirety of Taicang Prefecture. They did not know the local dialect, but fortunately the prefectural yamen had a monitoring student from Jiangzhe who was doing his practical training — he had been following at Pei Bingyuan’s side throughout, helping to translate.
The embankments of Taicang Prefecture were wide and solid, and it was now spring — the willow branches on the embankment tops had just begun to sprout green, swaying softly in the breeze.
These embankments had never breached. Yet in Taicang Prefecture, the townships of Hui’an, Xin’an, Shuangfeng, and Xunyi suffered summer floods year after year — during the summer floods, after heavy rain caused the water level to rise sharply, the river water would spill over the embankments and spread across the farmland, lying there for ten days to half a month at a time.
The farmers’ autumn grain harvest was greatly reduced as a result.
Hui’an, Xin’an, Shuangfeng, and Xunyi were situated on the lowest-lying ground in the prefecture, and were the most susceptible to flooding — in flood years they were severely inundated, and even in drought years they suffered minor flooding.
The better-positioned farmland at higher elevations within Taicang Prefecture, by contrast, benefited from the river water for irrigation and brought in good harvests year after year. However, nearly all of this better farmland had been seized by the Zhenhai Garrison.
The stricken common people lamented the devastation of the floods and pleaded desperately with the Prefect to raise the embankments and control the water, saying that every household was willing to contribute labor.
The monitoring student Wu presented the water-level register to Pei Bingyuan and bowed: “Your Excellency, this is the record this student has compiled — the water-level heights as recorded on the first day of each month over the past two years are all entered in the register. On the occasions when the river water overflowed in summer, this student made a rough calculation of the volume of overflow, and those figures are also recorded together.”
After reviewing it, Pei Bingyuan nodded approvingly and commended the monitoring student. He said with puzzlement: “According to your records, raising the embankments by only one more meter would greatly reduce the flooding. This is no difficult feat — why have none of the successive Prefects taken any action?”
Pei Bingyuan had experience with flood control, and had worked the figures out quickly.
This was somewhat simpler than the flood control he had managed in Yuchong County.
“Your Excellency may not yet be aware — resolving this matter will also involve other counties within Suzhou Prefecture.” Encouraged by the commendation, the monitoring student Wu spoke more boldly and offered his own view: “Taicang Prefecture lies in the lower reaches, while Changshu County lies in the upper reaches. If only Taicang Prefecture raises its embankments, the river water will still pour down from Changshu County. These several townships, lying on the lowest ground, will still be unable to escape the summer floodwaters.”
So it was tangled up with other jurisdictions.
“This official understands.” Pei Bingyuan praised the monitoring student again: “You have spoken very well.”
This young man doing his practical training was a person of talent worth using.
After inspecting the embankments, the Pei father and son went next to look at the maritime grain transport wharf. The maritime grain transport wharf was under the jurisdiction of the Zhenhai Garrison and managed by military officers, with multiple layers of armed guards stationed inside and out. The Pei father and son could only look on from an upper vantage point.
Every year after the autumn harvest, the grain tribute from the military-farmed garrisons across the Jiangnan region was transferred and shipped north to the capital by way of this maritime grain transport wharf. With the Zhenhai Garrison controlling such a critical hub, it naturally helped itself to abundant benefits — no wonder those above it had been shielding it at layer upon layer.
The Zhenhai Garrison had seized the fertile farmland and also controlled the maritime grain transport wharf. With so many advantages in hand, it was easy to secure the loyalty of the military households. As for how the local common people fared — what did that have to do with the Zhenhai Garrison?
Some ten-odd li east of the maritime grain transport wharf was a commercial shipping wharf — and in stark contrast to the bustling activity of the grain transport wharf, the commercial shipping wharf had lain abandoned for decades, overgrown with thickets and wild grass. If one did not look carefully, it would be impossible to tell that this place had ever been a wharf at all.
The Da Qing dynasty had prohibited maritime trade for several decades, and on top of that, brigands frequently came ashore at this stretch of coast — the common people did not dare come near this area to till their fields or make their homes. Over time, what had once been a thriving commercial shipping wharf had fallen into ruin, becoming an abandoned wasteland.
Pei Shaohuai lingered at this place for a long while, frequently setting down his brush to record something in his notebook, with thoughts he could not yet fully articulate turning over in his mind.
When the important locations had all been surveyed, monitoring student Wu reported: “Your Excellency, within Taicang Prefecture there was originally a large shipbuilding yard. When the Longjiang Shipyard in Nanjing rose to prominence, and Taicang Prefecture fell into decline, the yard gradually fell into disuse. Now only a few aged master craftsmen remain there, keeping watch over the place. Does Your Excellency wish to go and look?”
The Pei father and son exchanged a glance, their eyes both lit with something — the Zhenhai Garrison had been so preoccupied with contending for farmland and grain that it had simply abandoned such a fine place.
Pei Bingyuan said: “Lead the way.”
The dilapidated shipyard stood beside a waterway channel. Like the commercial shipping wharf, it lay in ruins, yet the framework of its former days remained — even the grooves worn into the ground where ships had been pushed into the water had not yet been completely buried.
Father and son moved back and forth excitedly through the abandoned shipyard, as though they had stumbled upon a treasure.
Several very elderly men came out from behind the shipyard and looked at the strangers with uncertain glances. Monitoring student Wu introduced Pei Bingyuan’s identity to them in the local dialect. The old men were startled, and immediately began to bow and kneel in salutation.
Pei Bingyuan could not possibly accept such a thing, and hurried forward to help them up.
“Had the official gentleman come ten years earlier, you might still have seen the ships we built. Now… it is beyond us.” One of the old men said with a sigh in the local dialect. “River craft of the Taicang style grow fewer and fewer. Everywhere you look it is Fujian-style vessels, Guangdong-style vessels…”
They had been born here, and here they had grown old, and here they remained.
“If one wished to revive the shipyard, how should it be done?” Pei Bingyuan asked deferentially, having monitoring student Wu convey the question.
The old man shook his head and said: “The common people can barely fill their stomachs, and the prefectural yamen brings in no grain revenue year after year — where would the silver come from to build great ships?” He dared not even mention a great hundred-meter sailing vessel with a black-tailed wind-sail. Even a single eight-oared fast patrol boat for fifty men would require four or five hundred taels in materials alone.
“Old craftsman, there is no need to worry about that — just tell us what needs to be done.”
“To answer the official gentleman — a craftsman’s son becomes a craftsman, generation to generation. The prefectural yamen still holds the craft registry of shipbuilding household titles. The later generations have mostly had their registrations changed to carpenter or house-builder, but their skills remain. If all of them could be gathered together, and given tools and timber, it might be possible to start from two-hundred-cargo vessels and build up from there — gradually to five-hundred-cargo, then seven-hundred-cargo great ships.” The old man replied, a flicker of hope in his clouded eyes.
But he did not dare hope too much. After so many years of abandonment, how easy would it be to rebuild from nothing?
Pei Bingyuan noted it all and instructed the runners to properly settle and care for these aged craftsmen before they took their leave of the abandoned shipyard.
In the rear residence of the prefectural yamen, the family of three ate together.
Lin Shi kept placing dishes before father and son, urging them to eat more, and said with heartfelt concern: “You two — every single day without fail you run about from morning to dark, not coming home until nightfall… Even if the inspection is pressing, you must look after your health.”
She also poured warm water for the two of them and said: “I brought some fine filtered earth from the capital, have already filtered the water through it — both of you drink some. We are new here, and the local water may not suit you. It is better to take the precaution.”
After the meal, Pei Bingyuan summoned his son to his study for a talk.
His son was only sixteen, yet in Pei Bingyuan’s mind, what he said carried considerable weight, and was well worth thinking over.
“These past few days of inspection, I have noticed you writing and sketching away constantly in your notebook — you clearly have some ideas of your own. Might I look it over? Or you might simply tell me.” Pei Bingyuan asked.
Pei Shaohuai had some rough thoughts in mind, and had been intending to share them with his father. Now that his father had brought it up, he could lay everything out at once.
Before he began, Pei Shaohuai said: “Father has certainly developed new ideas during these days as well. I would like to hear Father speak first.”
“Very well.”
Pei Bingyuan spoke at an unhurried pace: “At present I have no resources to depend upon — nothing but an empty title of Prefect. If I truly wish to establish the authority of the prefectural yamen as the governing body, the greatest resource available to me is the hearts of the people. And what constitutes the hearts of the people? In this world, a mouthful of food is what constitutes the hearts of the people. If the people cannot even find a mouthful to eat, where would they find the will to follow you? Thus, the first thing your father must do is control the flooding and ensure the people have a bountiful harvest — so that every household has grain it can eat.”
“Second: producing grain still requires protecting it. If after a good harvest the brigands come and plunder it all, does that not mean we have only fattened someone else? I have already written to your second brother-in-law, asking him to lend me a few soldiers who know how to drill troops, so I can properly put this ragged lot here in the prefectural yamen through their paces. Furthermore — it is not only Taicang Prefecture that suffers brigand raids. As long as the prefectures and counties organize together, with every household among the common people equipped with a long staff or a sharp implement, I do not believe a mere thousand-odd brigands can stand against the full force of an entire city’s worth of people.”
“If I am to unite the people, much will depend on whether I can control this summer’s flooding. A promising harvest gives the people something to hope for, and that unity will be halfway there.”
“Third: with a good harvest this year, and the prefectural yamen having some funds available, I will without fail revive the shipbuilding yard. The crafts of Taicang Prefecture must be passed on.”
“As for what lies further beyond — your father has not yet thought it through clearly, and intends to proceed step by step.”
When Pei Bingyuan had finished, he looked toward his son and smiled: “Huai Jie’er, it is your turn now.”
Pei Shaohuai then laid out his own thoughts one by one, saying: “Father’s love for the people is truly admirable. Your son has some rough and humble ideas to offer for Father’s consideration.”
“Your son’s view is this: the Zhenhai Garrison is entirely focused on seizing Taicang Prefecture’s fertile farmland and grain revenue, without taking any active interest in observing the court’s broader strategic direction. Its foresight is remarkably limited — and that is precisely the opening it has handed Father to mount a counter-offensive.”
“The court last year already opened maritime trade in Songjiang Prefecture, and opening the coast along Jiangzhe and Chaoguang is an inevitable direction. Once Taicang Prefecture opens its maritime trade, that abandoned commercial shipping wharf will become a coveted prize — for Taicang Prefecture lies closer to the Grand Canal, and the transport routes are far more convenient. Therefore, your son’s view is that this commercial shipping wharf must be firmly held and must not be allowed to slip away.”
“Father need not worry either that Taicang Prefecture’s commercial shipping wharf will lack a reputation, or that no merchant vessels will come to anchor here. What maritime merchants fear most is not the payment of taxes and levies — what they fear most is local officials collecting taxes at their own arbitrary rates. Some take one in ten, some take one in three, some accept goods in kind and then resell them, some simply demand silver directly — none of it fixed, and what is collected is not necessarily deposited into the national treasury. Therefore, Father need only establish a clear and workable tax policy, submit it to the Ministry of Revenue for memorial to the court and its approval, and make it known far and wide in writing — and sea merchants will come flocking when they hear of it.”
“The tax revenue naturally goes into the national treasury. Yet the many merchant vessels anchoring at Taicang Prefecture will bring far more than merely tax revenue. With all that bustling commerce flowing in, the day Taicang Prefecture stands shoulder to shoulder with Yangzhou is not out of the question.”
“Your son recalls that some years ago, there was an incident where an inner court officer named Zhang Qian encountered several thousand pirates in the waters off Jinyuan Garrison. The pirates had many men and many ships, while Zhang Qian’s vessel carried barely a hundred men — yet relying on the advantage of the larger ship, he fought them at sea for more than twenty engagements, and the enemy had no means to prevail, and could only withdraw and make way. On the open sea, several dozen eight-oared fast patrol boats may not necessarily hold their own against a single great vessel with a black-tailed wind-sail. If Taicang Prefecture’s shipyard were one day able to build nine-hundred-cargo or one-thousand-cargo great ships, even a force of several hundred naval troops could hold its own against an enemy numbering in the thousands. That is where your son sees the true advantage of the shipbuilding yard.”
“As for the Zhenhai Garrison — the Garrison Commander who dares harbor brigands for his own gain will find his time to be consumed by it from within. If a military officer wishes to advance, what matters most? Military merit. For a coastal garrison, what constitutes military merit? Killing brigands. The Commander wishes for both military merit and the ability to nurture the brigands — how can he have it both ways?”
“Two more years from now, the Garrison Commander will face a promotion decision, and will naturally seek every means to claim a measure of military merit. That will be the moment when they begin to prey upon each other — and what brigand would willingly bow its head and let them cleanly sever it? If it happens at just that moment that the Ministry of War dispatches a capable general to the south, who, with the assistance of great ships, goes out to sea and captures pirates and claims great merit, while the Zhenhai Garrison’s record of failing to eliminate the enemy stands exposed — it will then follow naturally that the Ministry of War nominates that general to take command of the Zhenhai Garrison.”
“The wrong of the Zhenhai Garrison does not lie with the military households — like the common people, they are simply trying to put food on the table. The wrong lies with the many military officers above them. Remove them one by one, and the military and civilian households of Taicang Prefecture will be able to live in peace with one another.”
“When the people prosper, moral instruction can be extended. Father then establishes a prefectural academy and a garrison academy — scholars will come from all around when word spreads, and Taicang Prefecture can become a prefecture renowned for its literary culture and refinement.”
Pei Shaohuai said: “At every place your son traveled, he wrote down the thoughts that came to him. They may not be fully formed — Father may wish to compare them against the Da Qing statutes and regulations, and then examine in detail what may be feasible… Your son’s view is that, if one wishes to see real results, it will likely require five or six years of effort.”
Pei Bingyuan listened with the most earnest attention. When his son had finished, he remained for a long while unable to return to himself, his thoughts sinking deep into what he had heard, as though he could already see the vision of Taicang Prefecture transformed, all moving in the right direction.
After some time, Pei Bingyuan placed a hand on his son’s shoulder and said: “With a son like this, why should I worry that the family will not flourish?”