"Yes, I will remember the Lord Marquisās teachings."
"Very well, rise." Ye Ziāan returned the two booklets to him.
After thinking for a moment, he picked up the banknotes and said, "Assistant General Liu, delivering messages or items is something everyone should be doing, in the future, donāt casually include banknotes. Such bad habits cannot be encouraged."
Assistant General Liu blushed and said softly, "Without a bribe, things canāt get done. Thatās the way itās always been."
"What did you say?" Ye Ziāan motioned with his hand and said, "Come, come, sit over here and tell me, how did you use to bribe people. Rest assured, weāre just having a chat today, and I will certainly not disclose it was you who told me."
Assistant General Liu was sweating, his voice was so low, yet it was still heard.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he thought for a moment and said, "Lord Marquis, since you asked, Iāll tell you, this is not me tattling, but this is how it really is. Although the court disburses the military stipends on time every quarter, the stipends are not directly sent to our military camp but to the governmental office. Our camp has to retrieve it from there. You know Prefect Lan, although he doesnāt deduct our stipends, every time we have to pay him a little respect, otherwise, he can hold back the stipends for ten days to half a month."
"I am the dignified Assistant General, in charge of all the stationed troops in Zhejiang Prefecture, supposedly my rank is even higher than his. Yet, because of the stipends, every time I see him, I have to act subservient. When he withholds my stipends and I ask him about it, he just says they havenāt arrived yet or that thereās been a delay. Only when I bribe him does it get resolved."
"Once, I was so outraged that I had a big fight with Prefect Lan. He said, donāt blame him, every time those bringing food supplies arrive, he has to offer some respects too. He said the matters of the military camp arenāt his governmental officeās responsibility, surely he couldnāt be the one to pay the bribes out of his pocket? Thinking it over, I gave in."
He continued, "This is common. Letās talk about when the courtās stipends are limited, if thereās a year of disaster and I want to apply for more stipends, I first have to send a memorial to the Ministry of War. Then the Ministry of War would present it. At this time, when I send the memorial to the Capital City, I have to include banknotes in it. Otherwise, my memorial would disappear without a trace."
Ye Ziāan felt a chill in his heart, the selfishness of Great Zhouās officials was too great.
"Youāve sent them too?"
"Heh," Assistant General Liu awkwardly scratched his head, "I know this isnāt good, but thereās no other way. Take the Assistant General in the Northeast, for example. Heās a fellow townsman. Over the years, weāve often been in contact. Five years ago, there was heavy snow in the Northeast, and the soldiers were still wearing single-layer armor because the issued cotton-padded clothes were unwearable. They werenāt filled with cotton but willow catkins, and after two washes, they would be so torn it left only two layers of cloth. He wanted to apply for some silver to buy cotton-padded clothes for the soldiers. Because he didnāt include any banknotes in his memorial, not only was the memorial returned, but it didnāt get returned until April the following year."
Ye Ziāan was furious. Soldiers bleed and sweat to protect the country, yet they canāt even secure basic necessities ā isnāt this chilling their hearts?
No wonder when rebellions occur in various places, the nearby stationed troops are slow to pacify them. Theyāre probably disheartened and thinking of having a new ruler.
"Assistant General Liu, since youāve shared so much with me today, I have something to say to you as well. From now on, this kind of thing will never happen again. If it does happen when Iām still an official in the court, you may write directly to Marquis Changningās Mansion, and I will personally present it to the Emperor."