Officialdom Unmasked

48. Anything to Please One's Superior

48 Anything to Please One's Superio r In another half a month, Tong Ziliang had concluded all his official business. In all, h e ha d raise d abou t a millio n tael s o f silver . Ther e wa s nothin g els e t o detain him in Nanjing, s o he made ready to sail north. Shortly before his departure, an Intendant an d two Magistrates arcived fro m Anhui Provinc e t o accompan y hi m t o th e province . Knowin g tha t th e Envo y would refuse to travel on a steamship, more than ten large sailing ships were placed at his disposal. In addition, the Provincial Naval Commander-in-Chief assigne d over ten gunboats as his escort along the river. After a few days, the convoy reached Wuhu. As there were no official dutie s which claimed the Envoy's attention, he did not go ashore. When they arcived at the Provincia l Cit y o f Anqing, he was greeted by all the senio r and junior civi l and military officials there . As the Governor of Anhui Province was himself facing a number of charges, Envoy Tong was obliged to stay behind even after he had finished inspectin g th e accounts and raising funds. The Governor of Anhui Province was called Jiang Yuzhai. He had served one term as Governor of Shandong Province, and came to Anhui in the spring of last year. Governor Jiang was somewhat displeased a t being moved fro m a busy to a leisurely province . Bu t a t th e tim e th e nort h o f th e provinc e wa s infeste d b y numerous bandits . Th e Imperia l Cour t too k int o accoun t Governo r Jiang' s experience as a military officer, coupled with his success in suppressing the bandits in the region of Caozhou i n Shandong Provinc e in the previous year, so he was ordered to be transferred t o the troubled area. 480 Officialdom Unmasked When Governor Jiang received the seal of his new office, he sent an Intendant from th e Militar y Secretaria t calle d Huan g Baoxin , an d a Colone l calle d H u Luanren, to lead five battalions of infantry an d cavalry to extirpate the bandits. Though Governor Jiang gave them personal instructions as to how they should proceed, they were incapable of doing anything effective whe n they reached th e area. So they sent up a plea saying how strong and fierce th e bandits were, an d asked fo r th e assistanc e o f additiona l battalions . O n receivin g th e petition , Governor Jiang dispatched an Acting Brigadier General called Gai Daoyun with three o r fou r battalion s o f newly traine d soldier s relief. Each office r receive d a folder from the Governor ordering them 'to fight the bandits head on if any were met'. The bandits were in reality nothing more than a large crowd of rabble forces. How the n coul d the y resis t th e governmen t troops ? Within thre e months , th e bandits were routed. The villages in the region too were also eliminated! When asked how the villages had disappeared, the answer was that they were completely destroyed by the cannons set up by the three officers . In thi s way , th e force s returne d i n victory . B y Governo r Jiang' s recommendation, H u wa s promoted t o Brigadier General. Gai was promoted t o Provincial Commander-in-Chief . Intendan t Huan g wa s awarde d th e B'at'ur n Military Distinction. At th e height of this joyous moment, several charges were preferred by a Censor, complaining that they were indiscriminate in the killing of the guilt y a s well a s the innocent . I t wa s als o sai d tha t Governo r Jian g rashl y recommended th e wron g person s fo r promotio n an d ha d n o regar d fo r huma n lives. This was the incident the Imperial Envoy was assigned to investigate. At this point of the story, I must refer to one expectant Intendant, surname d Diao, who had been the favourite o f three successive Governors of Auhui. Thi s man...