Chapter 50: Three Major Flaws

Su Ze brought Feng Shiyuan into his own room and gave the servant from the Zhang residence some copper coins to pack some food and wine from a tavern at the end of the alley. Afterward, he pulled Feng Shiyuan down to discuss the issue of the Bureau of State-Owned Housing and Land in Bianjing City.

As Su Ze had surmised, the person in Bianjing City who understood the Bureau of State-Owned Housing and Land inside and out was none other than this former petty official of Kaifeng Prefecture, later head of the Bianjing Housing Guild, and Lu Gongbi’s hatchet man in laundering money—Feng Shiyuan.

Grateful for Su Ze’s kindness, Feng Shiyuan poured out everything he knew:

"When the Bureau of State-Owned Housing and Land was first established, the late Emperor felt that living in Bianjing City was exceedingly difficult, and intended to secure the people's livelihoods through state-operated rental housing. But over these past decades, deep-seated abuses have piled up."

Su Ze nodded. Every system is like this; regardless of whether its original intention was good or bad, it is inevitably twisted and deformed during execution. Those with slightly better luck become channels for officials to divide the spoils, while those with worse luck become tyrannical laws used by officials to harm the people.

Su Ze asked:

"May I trouble Master Feng to elaborate thoroughly on the abuses within this Bureau?"

Feng Shiyuan was somewhat moved. Whether serving as a clerk in Kaifeng Prefecture or acting as the head of the housing guild, scions of influential families like Lu Gongbi had never treated him as a human being.

Although Feng Shiyuan knew it was Su Ze who had brought down Lu Gongbi, he found himself unable to harbor any hatred toward him at this moment.

Experiencing this long-absent respect once again in Su Ze's presence, Feng Shiyuan said earnestly:

"The first abuse is the chronic default on rent, which leads to severely aged buildings, exorbitant maintenance costs, and a deficit where the Bureau's expenditures far exceed its revenues."

Su Ze nodded. The Bureau was originally established to benefit the people, but any measure intended for the public good inevitably ends up being exploited by high-ranking officials and nobles during implementation.

Even in modern times, there are cases of people driving BMWs while living in subsidized public housing, let alone in a feudal era.

However, addressing the issue of housing maintenance expenses, Su Ze asked:

"Doesn't the Bureau have the Left and Right Wing Housing Repair and Selection Commands, comprising five hundred artisan households dedicated to maintenance? Why would the repair expenses be so enormous?"

Feng Shiyuan replied:

"This brings me to the second abuse. These five hundred artisan households in the Left and Right Wing Housing Repair and Selection Commands are frequently dispatched to build residences for the capital's powerful elites. A few years ago, when the Emperor had residences built for high-ranking ministers in front of the Right Side Gate of the Imperial City, this batch of artisans was conscripted. Sometimes they are even drafted to construct private mansions for influential families. With such heavy corvée labor, a great number of them have fled in recent years."

"Therefore, whenever the Bureau needs to renovate houses, it has to spend money to hire people, frequently employing artisans from our housing guild."

Now Su Ze understood what kind of hopeless mess the Bureau of State-Owned Housing and Land truly was.

Feng Shiyuan continued:

"This is also a common affliction for those on duty in Bianjing City. With so many powerful households in the city, there is never any end to their demands. When this humble criminal was on duty in Kaifeng Prefecture, I frequently encountered such matters; it is not a problem exclusive to the Bureau."

"Over the years, the only ones capable of blocking the grasping hands of these powerful families and preventing Kaifeng Prefecture’s runners from being enslaved by them were Lord Fan and Lord Zheng during their tenures."

Lord Fan referred to Fan Zhongyan, and Lord Zheng was Zheng Jian, the very man who had once expelled him from Kaifeng Prefecture. Su Ze asked:

"Judging by your tone, Master Feng does not resent Lord Zheng?"

Lowering his head, Feng Shiyuan replied:

"It was I who broke the law first, and Lord Zheng was merely executing his duties impartially. How could I possibly resent him?"

Seeing that he had touched upon Feng Shiyuan's past, and just as the servant from the Zhang residence returned with the food and wine, Su Ze temporarily suspended the conversation. After laying out the dishes, he said to Feng Shiyuan:

"Let us eat something first, and Master Feng can slowly tell me more."

Because Bao Zheng was the chief judge, Feng Shiyuan had not been subjected to torture while imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's grand jail, but one could hardly expect good meals in prison. He wolfed down a few mouthfuls before continuing:

"The third abuse is that these houses are old and overcrowded, leading to severe rat infestations and outbreaks of pestilence. Some houses have been inhabited for generations and illegally expanded by their owners, frequently causing fires. Whenever a fire breaks out, the Bureau is held accountable. Lu Yanei—Lu Gongbi's previous post as the public official of the Left Wing Bureau of State-Owned Housing and Land—was demoted and driven out of the capital precisely because of a fire."

Fires were indeed common in Bianjing City. Su Ze remembered that the authentic version of *Along the River During the Qingming Festival* depicted several fire incidents.

In a megalopolis with a population of over a million, such high population density would make the absence of fires rather strange.

Beginning in the Northern Song Dynasty, due to urban expansion and ecological issues, the forests outside Bianjing City could no longer provide sufficient fuel.

The Northern Song specially established coal yards, and impoverished families within Bianjing City used coal for heating.

Because coal was improperly stored and transported, countless fires and carbon monoxide poisoning incidents occurred. Several fires broke out in Bianjing City almost every winter, and a massive fire during the Zhenzong reign even burned down half of the imperial city.

Now Su Ze finally understood why Zhang Yaozuo had advised him not to accept this position.

Heavy responsibilities, high risks, and miscellaneous duties—the Bureau of State-Owned Housing and Land possessed all three in full measure.

Su Ze asked again:

"Master Feng, you are familiar with all the real estate properties belonging to the Bureau, aren't you?"

Feng Shiyuan replied with confidence:

"Among the more than twenty thousand properties under the Bureau, while this humble man dare not claim to remember every single one, I know the locations of the vast majority of them."

Su Ze could not help casting a glance at Feng Shiyuan. Indeed, anyone capable of being chosen by Lu Gongbi as a hatchet man was no ordinary person.

Hailing from a hereditary family of petty officials, Feng Shiyuan had been immersed from childhood in the government's explicit and implicit rules, understanding the inner operational mechanisms of a yamen even better than the officials themselves.

This was precisely why Su Ze had requested the Emperor to pardon him. Now that Feng Shiyuan's family property had been confiscated and his patron had fallen, leaving him virtually penniless, he was in a position to be put to good use by Su Ze.

Without such a capable assistant, taking office without even grasping the internal operational rules of the yamen would leave one vulnerable to deception and concealment by subordinate clerks.

A major flaw in local governance during the Song Dynasty was that officials were transferred far too frequently. Many local officials arrived, spent half a year figuring out the situation, and just as they were beginning to make a difference, transfer orders from superiors would arrive.

Some officials, in order to complete their performance evaluations, simply handed all administrative tasks over to the clerks, considering their duty fulfilled as long as they collected sufficient taxes and grain required by their superiors.

Managing more than twenty thousand public rental properties, the Bureau of State-Owned Housing and Land was even more complex than governing a county, and Su Ze needed an entry point precisely like Feng Shiyuan.

Su Ze continued:

"I heard that when Lu Gongbi handed over those three thousand properties of the Bureau to you, the Imperial City Intelligence Agency could not find the rental ledgers for them."

Feng Shiyuan answered:

"The accounts for all those properties are right here in my head."

Su Ze could not help looking at Feng Shiyuan again; he had still underestimated the man's capability.

Su Ze said:

"Since that is the case, those three thousand properties have now been reclaimed by the Bureau. Let us start with those three thousand. The day after tomorrow, you will accompany me into Bianjing City to inspect these properties."

"Understood!"