Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 366 It’s hard to persuade the devil with good words

The Du Shui Si of the Ministry of Works was one of the four Qingli Si offices of the Ministry of Works. It was mainly responsible for auditing and estimating the funds for river channels, seawalls, river defenses, ditches, water conservancy, bridges, and road projects, as well as the funds for the construction of warships, ferries and other types of vessels in various provinces, and verifying the salaries of river defense officers and soldiers.

This government office has plenty of money.

As the Langzhong of the Du Shui Si, Ma Xun was fully responsible for the construction of the ten warships in the southeast.

Ebony is relatively cheap, but the Ministry of Industry’s quotation is very high. There will be a part of the price difference, which is the profit of the entire Du Shui Bureau.

After the bloody purge in the Ministry of Works last time, the government offices under the Ministry of Works no longer dared to engage in blatant corruption. But this time was different. The price of ebony was floating. They found a relatively low price to purchase ebony, and they could use the extra difference in the bid as the funding for the entire government office.

This is certainly not corruption.

If it is replaced with teak, it will not work, because there are few teak merchants, teak is precious, and it is impossible to compare prices from three stores. The price is fixed. It is different from the floating price of ebony. The price of ebony fluctuates in different places. The Ministry of Industry has the right to purchase independently and can choose to purchase relatively cheap ones, resulting in the quotation difference.

But teak can't do that.

So Doctor Ma naturally didn't want to buy more expensive teak.

To put it another way, the ships previously built by the Ministry of Industry and the inland waterway transport ships were all made of ebony, and no problems were found in the ships after so many years of use.

Why does Chen Ce have to change ebony to teak?

Doctor Ma didn't care who Chen Ce was, or what his relationship was with Minister Xu. He asked Chen Ce, "Which government office are you from? When did it become your turn to interfere in the affairs of the Ministry of Works and Waterworks?"

Xu Guan glanced at Ma Xun indifferently and said expressionlessly: "Doctor Ma, if you have something to say, just talk about it!"

Ma Xun said hurriedly, "Lord Xu, the Waterworks Department has already purchased the ebony, and the contract has been signed. The ebony will arrive at the workshop tomorrow. If we change to other wood at this time, it will only make the court lose its credibility. How should we deal with so much ebony that we have purchased?"

Chen Ce said: "The purchased ebony should be stored first, and it can be used to build inland water transport ships in the future. Ebony cannot be used for seagoing warships. The corrosiveness of seawater and the complexity of the battlefield indicate that ebony cannot be used for ocean voyages."

Ma Xun sneered and said, "Your Excellency's words are so certain, do you have any evidence?"

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "No, I just made a suggestion. Sailing at sea concerns the lives of thousands of officers and soldiers. Minister Xu, you'd better be more cautious. If something goes wrong, I'm afraid you, as the Minister of Works, will be fully responsible."

Xu Guan closed his eyes and thought.

Ma Xun snorted and said to Xu Guan, "Sir! If anything happens, I will be fully responsible! I am willing to sign a military order in front of all the bureaucrats in the Ministry of Works!"

As the head of the Du Shui Si, this batch of ebony hides huge profits, which can be converted into funds for the Du Shui Si. He will not allow the materials of the warships to be changed at all costs.

Although Xu Guan was ruthless and impartial, he had a calm personality. He knew Chen Ce, and Chen Ce would never do such boring things. Since he could come to the Ministry of Works in person to give suggestions, it was enough to show that there might be huge hidden dangers in manufacturing warships with ebony.

But as the highest official of the Ministry of Works, Xu Guan could not ignore the lives of his subordinates, otherwise he would have no authority in the Ministry of Works.

He knew that ebony could bring financial surplus to the Du Shui Si government office. If he refused rashly, the entire Du Shui Si government would probably disobey him as the Minister of Works.

But he was unwilling to take the responsibility if something went wrong with the ebony warship in the future. Xu Guan still had some faith in Chen Ce from the bottom of his heart. Although Chen Ce was not from the Ministry of Works, Chen Ce's performance time and time again made Xu Guan have to pay attention to Chen Ce's opinions.

Now that he had subordinates acting as pioneers, he naturally took advantage of the situation, so Xu Guan immediately summoned all the people from the Ministry of Works.

Ma Xun guaranteed in front of all the officials of the Ministry of Works that he would be solely responsible if there was any problem with the ebony. This move instantly aroused applause from all the officials in the Du Shuisi Yamen.

Chen Ce continued to remind people earnestly, but no one took Chen Ce's opinion seriously. In order to avoid a conflict between Chen Ce and the people from the Ministry of Works, Xu Guan signaled Chen Ce not to continue.

Chen Ce sighed in despair.

This is not the time to be angry. After the construction of the warships in the southeast is completed, soldiers will be needed to go out to sea on the warships. If the warships encounter an accident on the ocean, can he, a doctor in the Ministry of Works, take responsibility for the lives of so many soldiers?

"Doctor Ma." Chen Ce said calmly, "I know that ebony may bring some profit to your government office, and there is nothing wrong with that."

"I'm not telling you not to use these ebony. You can use them later. But you'd better use teak for the Southeast warship. If you can't, you can build two small boats to do an experiment and compare them."

"The Southeast warship concerns the lives of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. If something goes wrong, it's not something you, a doctor, can handle."

Hearing Chen Ce's tone, Ma Xun's stubborn temper came up, and he waved his sleeves and said, "Humph! You are a proofreader in the Eastern Palace, what qualifications do you have to point fingers at my Ministry of Works? Everyone has their own expertise, so you should go and study how to arrange your classics, history, and miscellaneous works!"

Chen Ce: “…”

It really proves the saying that it’s hard to persuade a damned person with kind words.

Chen Ce said no more.

After the crowd in the Ministry of Works dispersed, Xu Guancai said to Chen Ce: "Chun Jian, it's not that I don't trust you. Although I am the Minister of Works, the structure of the Ministry of Works is complicated. If I want to gain a firm foothold in the Ministry of Works, I have to compromise on some things."

"The Dushui Division has its own system. I can't interfere with it all. If I interfere with it by force, if something goes wrong in the end, I will have no prestige in the Ministry of Industry."

This involves the unspoken rules of political personnel management. To put it bluntly, Xu Guan was not considering the issue of ebony and teak, he was considering personnel and political issues.

Since the other party is willing to take the blame, why should Xu Guan offend others?

Chen Ce understood Xu Guan's idea, but he still reminded him: "Lord Xu, you should discuss this matter with the Ministry of War. If it really doesn't work, why not let the ships built with two kinds of wood go to sea for a try..."

Xu Guan shook his head and said, "It's too late. His Majesty only gives us three months to decide on the wood and start building the warships right away."

Chen Ce said: "But this concerns the lives of officers and soldiers in the southeast."

Xu Guan said: "The only thing I can do now is to believe that Wu Mu will not have any serious problems. In short, Chun Jian, I know your intentions. I thank you for reminding me this time. Let Ma Xun do it. He will bear the consequences if anything goes wrong."

Chen Ce wanted to say something else, but Xu Guan stopped him and said, "Don't say anything more. This matter is probably a foregone conclusion. Neither you nor I can change it."

(End of this chapter)