Chapter 20: Governance

Page 1 of 3

Gao Yin nodded. “Very well. I shall trouble you, Uncle, to make the arrangements on my behalf.”

Once that matter was settled, Gao Yin began handling the affairs of the Grand Commander’s Office.

From this year onward, Gao Yin had already begun serving as regent. His Grand Commander’s Office handled a multitude of matters independently of the Secretariat, which meant that it stood on equal footing with the Secretariat. Strictly speaking, Gao Yin had already become one of the realm’s de facto chief ministers. This was also preparation for his eventual accession to the throne.

The matters before him therefore touched directly upon the fundamental tensions within Qi, such as the distribution of land and the administration of population and taxation.

In every dynasty, these two issues were matters of the utmost importance.

The first was land distribution. Gao Huan had risen to power by relying on the great clans of the Northern Garrisons and Hebei. But sixteen years earlier, after Gao Shen had defected to Western Wei, the Hebei clans had been suppressed. Gao Huan lost faith in them and began stripping away their political privileges and economic power.

Thus, after Northern Qi was founded, the state relied chiefly on the military aristocracy of the Northern Garrisons in Jinyang to maintain its rule. The surrendered households from the Six Garrisons and the more than one hundred thousand Xianbei of the Six Wards from the old Luoyang region formed the backbone of Qi’s armed forces. From Eastern Wei through Northern Qi, whatever economic policies were adopted, they had to protect the interests of the Northern Garrison nobles and the Xianbei warriors.

Gao Yang had once selected and trained Xianbei warriors from among the Six Wards, each of whom was said to be worth a hundred men. They were known as the “Hundred-Protector Xianbei.” Those men were ferocious beyond measure, throwing away their lives for Great Qi on the battlefield. The reason for their valor was simple: they were paid well enough, and their loyalty rose accordingly.

Moreover, because the eastern and western states were locked in prolonged confrontation, the military groups on both sides possessed greater bargaining power. Otherwise, they might simply defect to the enemy. The state was therefore forced to surrender benefits in order to purchase their military strength. As a result, from King Gao’s time to the present reign of Emperor Tianbao, the state’s repeated attempts to survey and reclaim land had ended in one disastrous failure after another over the course of twenty-six years.

The pie was simply too large. The rulers of the Gao clan could not bring themselves to touch it, and population administration was an even greater mess.

Last year, in the eighth year of the Tianbao era, the state’s expenses had become insufficient. Gao Yang therefore discussed with his ministers the relocation of landless households from Ji, Ding, and Ying Provinces to Youzhou, Fanyang, and other regions where land was abundant but people were scarce.

The great clans had swallowed up vast tracts of land, while more and more households were being concealed from the registers. Gao Yang’s aim was to uproot those dependent households sheltered by the clans. He could not control the clans in Ji, Ding, and Ying, but once the households were moved to Youzhou, he could handle them as he pleased. In the end, however, the plan was abandoned because of fierce opposition from the great clans.

If the state had been stable, Gao Yang and Gao Yin could have imposed the policy by force, and the clans would never have dared openly resist. But Qi and Zhou were now locked in a struggle for survival. The clans lacked the courage to rebel outright, yet they were quite bold enough to collude with bandits, unite in resistance, or even secretly communicate with the western state. In May of this year, for instance, Liu Xiang, a commoner from Ji Province, had plotted rebellion in the capital. All his accomplices had been executed, but a few remnants still remained.

The existence of remnants meant that someone was sheltering them. No one knew exactly who, but it was not difficult to guess.

“Now that the Grand Commander’s Office has been established, it should act like the office of a grand commander. Liu Xiang’s accomplices have been executed, but Liu Xiang himself has yet to be found. I intend to assign more men and expand the patrols around the capital. What do you think?”

The officials were assembled in the office to discuss affairs. Gao Yin put forward his first proposal, immediately sparking debate.

Some believed that intensifying the patrols would unsettle the capital even further. Others expressed their support, arguing that the capital was already unstable, and that if Liu Xiang was not captured quickly, Qi’s authority would suffer an even greater blow.

Yet as the discussion continued, its direction began to change.

The offices established under the various dynasties and states differed in detail, but were broadly similar. Within such an office, beneath its presiding official, the Chief Administrator was the foremost figure, effectively the office’s chief minister. He was followed by the Military Administrator, staff officers, clerks, and the officials in charge of the various departments.

At this point, Huang Tong, an official in charge of judicial administration, rose and bowed to Gao Yin before saying, “Great Qi has stood for nine years, and the foundations of the state are secure. Why throw the capital into disorder over one petty bandit? Liu Xiang’s followers have already been executed, which means he can no longer stir up much trouble. If we simply maintain the present situation, he will be caught sooner or later. Why be so hasty?”

“Indeed. He has hidden himself among the outlaws. Though that may allow him to escape for a time, it cannot last forever. Someone will eventually bind him and deliver him to the authorities. There is no need to waste our strength.”

When he saw that some were supporting Huang Tong, Gao Yin understood. Someone was still fanning the flames behind the scenes. He would have to show them who was now in power, so that they would understand that the sun and moon had changed places.

“You say he will be caught sooner or later. Do you mean sooner or later? How many days? How many months? How many years?”

Huang Tong stroked his beard. “I imagine it will not take very long.”

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

“Then if Liu Xiang is not caught within half a year, shall I hold the judicial administrator responsible?”

Huang Tong shook his head again. “How can the number of days be fixed? The greater tide is with Qi, and a petty bandit has no hope of establishing himself. What does the Crown Prince think?”

Gao Yin gave a cold snort. “I think that leaving him alive will only invite trouble. We should capture him as soon as possible, before he can collude with the enemy.”

“Pass down my order. Let the Grand Commander’s Office dispatch another six hundred men to conduct a strict search in and around the capital. If he is not found within a month, add another six hundred and extend the search northward. If he is still not found by the end of the year, send three thousand more men and turn all of Hebei upside down!”

Huang Tong and the other office officials fell silent, not daring to oppose the Crown Prince.

They did feel that the Crown Prince’s temperament had changed from before. Perhaps he had only just taken power and was still filled with grand ambitions. In any case, the Gao clan had produced no shortage of domineering men, and the recent rumors from the palace had reached their ears as well.

“I also think these protected households ought to be thoroughly investigated. Make sure word is sent down and tell them all to be careful. If I find such people hidden in anyone’s household, the honor your families have accumulated over three or four generations will not be enough to save you!”

Gao Yin flipped through the registers. The great clans’ concealment of population was common knowledge. They were competing with the state for wealth. Since these people were kept off the registers, the taxes that should have gone to the state were swallowed by the clans’ estates.

Gao Yin’s meaning was therefore perfectly clear: if Liu Xiang did not appear, he would kill a few chickens to prepare an appetizer for Great Qi.

“This subordinate will certainly... certainly do his utmost to carry it out.”

Only then was Gao Yin somewhat satisfied.

Once that matter was finished, an even more troublesome issue was raised by Zhang Gan, the Chief Clerk.

“Prices in the capital have fluctuated greatly of late. In the morning, a bolt of cloth might purchase ten measures of rice. By evening, it can purchase only seven.”

Gao Yin felt a headache coming on at the very mention of it.

The governance of a state was, in essence, a matter of securing the peace, maintaining political stability, and fostering economic prosperity. Those were the responsibilities of anyone who sat at the top.

Yet with a tyrannical emperor like Gao Yang on the throne, none of these things could be achieved. He had built the Great Wall in the north and raised troops in the south to aid Xiao Zhuang, costing tens of thousands of soldiers their lives. He had also undertaken the construction of terraces, towers, and palaces, while distributing rewards without restraint. The treasuries of Qi had consequently been emptied, and corruption had run rampant among officials and nobles. The livelihood of the people had grown increasingly difficult, while crimes and banditry continued without end. As a result, Qi’s economic development was exceedingly poor.

As for currency, the Gao clan was not chiefly to blame. In fact, they had made some contribution. The old Wei dynasty’s problems had been severe, and constant warfare had left the court’s currency both crude and inconsistent. Private minting had become widespread. There were tight coins, auspicious coins, Pillar of Heaven coins, red-thread coins, the blue and red coins of Yongzhou, the raw-thick coins of Liangzhou, and the rough, unrefined coins of Heyang. All sorts of currencies had bloomed chaotically across the realm.

And that was considered a relatively good situation. North of Ji Province, coins did not circulate at all. Commercial transactions were conducted entirely with silk or cloth as the general medium of exchange. That was why Zhang Gan had used cloth as his example.

Abolishing the old Wei dynasty’s Yong’an coins and replacing them with the Changping five-zhu coins had been one of the few genuinely good things Gao Yang had done after becoming emperor. The characters on the Changping coins were elegant and fluid, their designs uniform, and their workmanship exquisite. Their value was therefore high: a hundred coins could purchase ten bolts of silk or thirty bolts of cloth.

Then private minting began again. Red-ripe coins, blue-ripe coins, fine-brow coins, and other privately minted currencies had already appeared on the market. Some unscrupulous minters even added iron, lead, and tin, producing thin, inferior coins that undermined the value and credibility of the genuine Changping five-zhu pieces.

Bad money drove out good money. Gao Yang was furious, but the practice continued despite repeated prohibitions. Gao Yang himself lacked the determination to persist, and eventually stopped bothering with it.

Thus currency never managed to replace cloth. As the officialdom of Qi grew darker, the people of Great Qi gradually entered an age of barter.

Of course, Zhou to the west and Chen to the south were hardly any better. Private minting was rampant everywhere; the elder brother had no right to mock the younger. Zhou was still using the old five-zhu coins of the Wei dynasty, while the Lingnan region of Chen was even more backward, conducting transactions with salt, rice, and cloth.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

Now that the matter had reached Gao Yin, he intended to put an end to this situation.

“The people regard food as Heaven. Matters of food and finance concern the very foundation of the state. If price stabilization is useless, a measure of rice will cost more than ten thousand coins, while a single coin may buy an entire acre. In the end, the realm will collapse.”

His words were deliberately grave. His meaning was simple: take this seriously.

“Yi Lang!”

“This subordinate is present!”

A sturdy soldier stepped forward. Gao Yin ordered him, “Take your men and establish a market in each of the four quarters of the capital. Whether firewood, vegetables, fruit, rice, or oil, prices must be maintained at the level they stood before the disasters at the beginning of the year. Anyone who refuses will have his money and goods confiscated and will be driven out of the markets.”

“Zhang Gan, contact the officials of the Court of Agriculture. Together, speak with the merchants of the capital. Obtain whatever goods are lacking from them. Reduce the prices as far as possible. Have them extend credit for the time being, and put all the accounts under the name of the Grand Commander’s Office.”

Gao Yin felt that merchants in this era had a difficult existence. On this land, where agriculture was favored and commerce suppressed, merchants had long been kept under pressure. Trade itself also carried all manner of risks. It would be unfair to accuse them all of exploiting the crisis for profit. Their ambitions merely had to be restrained somewhat. They could not be allowed to profit from the nation’s misfortune at such a time.

Zhang Gan hesitated. “What if they attempt to evade their obligations?”

In truth, anyone who could become a wealthy merchant in the capital of Northern Qi, a place as dangerous as a dragon’s pool or a tiger’s den, had to possess the protection of powerful nobles. Otherwise, both their goods and their capital would have been devoured long ago. It was therefore extremely difficult to make trouble for them; behind each merchant might stand one powerful noble after another.

The Grand Commander’s Office had only recently been established, and its authority had yet to be firmly established. Zhang Gan lacked confidence.

“If they are unwilling, tell them that the debt will be recorded under the Crown Prince’s name!”

Zhang Gan had nothing more to say. The order would also reassure the merchants.

If the debt were recorded under the Grand Commander’s Office, then once Gao Yin stepped down, the next grand commander would have to bear it. Gao Yin could go even further and dissolve the Grand Commander’s Office altogether, leaving the merchants with no hope of recovering their capital after being thoroughly fleeced.

But if the debt were recorded under Gao Yin’s personal name, there would at least be an explanation. He himself could not evade responsibility.

As for becoming emperor and then refusing to pay his debts... sometimes it was precisely an emperor who could not break his word. This was especially true given Gao Yin’s current position. If he truly cheated the merchants, they would dare invest in Gao Yan or Gao Zhan instead.

Gao Yin would never allow such a thing to happen. He genuinely wanted to repair Qi’s economy. The whole mess was a disaster, but one day he would be the one in charge. No matter how rotten the mud, he would have to lift it back onto solid ground.

Page 3 of 3