The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 678 Acting as Government Agent
Li Tingji was genuinely bewildered.

Emperor Wanli actually appointed him to teach the Crown Prince how to handle state affairs!
This job seems to be a hot commodity.

Once the crown prince ascends the throne, the imperial tutor will be the prime minister, and the one who controls the court, because even the crown prince has to listen to him.

If it were a civil official with ulterior motives, he would probably be overjoyed.

He was taken aback for a moment before bowing deeply with a solemn expression and saying, "Your humble servant obeys the decree."

This is actually a very heavy burden.

The crown prince is the future emperor.

Teaching the crown prince how to handle government affairs is essentially teaching the future emperor how to govern the country.

To put it bluntly, if he hadn't taught them properly, the Ming Dynasty would have been finished!
Seeing this, Wanli couldn't help but nodded secretly.

It seems that Li Tingji is not greedy for power at all.

This person also manages the Imperial Household Department and teaches the Crown Prince how to handle government affairs. After the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he will definitely be the Grand Secretary who controls the power of the court.

If it were someone greedy for power, they would probably be overjoyed.

This guy, however, had a very serious expression on his face.

In other words, this guy was concerned with the weight of the responsibility of teaching the crown prince how to handle government affairs, rather than how much power he would gain in the future.

Not bad, not bad, really not bad.

This person is the best candidate to teach the Crown Prince how to handle state affairs.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Er Zhang, which officials do you think should be selected to assist Xun'er now?"

That depends on what you want the crown prince to do.

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to ask, what political affairs do you wish to have His Highness the Crown Prince handle on your behalf?"

This little guy can't do anything else for the time being.

Wanli pointed directly to the memorials on the table and said, "I just want Xun'er to learn how to review these important memorials first."

"My intention is for Xun'er to properly learn how to handle important matters according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty. You have reviewed and revised all the laws of the Ming Dynasty, so you should be very familiar with them, right?"

Uh, you want me to teach the Crown Prince how to review important memorials?

These important memorials all concern the appointment, removal, promotion, and dismissal of important officials and the decisions on major court matters.

If something goes wrong, it will be a disaster.

It's best not to let others get involved in this kind of thing. Everyone has selfish motives, and some people are very selfish. If something goes wrong, I'll have to take responsibility too.

Li Tingji thought carefully for a moment, then said cautiously, "Your Majesty, if you only want His Highness the Crown Prince to review important memorials, I believe that there is no need to select other officials to assist His Highness the Crown Prince for the time being."

Okay, then you can teach it by yourself for now.

Upon hearing this, Wanli immediately picked up the stack of important memorials that Shen Li had just delivered and placed them in front of Xiao Zhu Changxun. He then solemnly said, "Xun'er, you should learn from Erzhang. Changgeng, you should also come over and learn from him."

Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing quickly stood up and stood next to Xiao Zhu Changxun.

Wanli gestured for Li Tingji to sit down, then solemnly said, "Xun'er, take a good look at the memorial first, and then ask Erzhang for advice on how to handle it."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun quickly opened the memorial and began to read it carefully.

He looked at them for a while before picking out a memorial that promoted someone to the rank of Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, a fourth-rank official, and asked, "Lord Li, what do you think should be done with this?"

Don't call me that.

Li Tingji cautiously replied, "Your Highness, I dare not address my subordinates as 'Lord.' Those who are close may be addressed by their courtesy names, while those who are distant may be addressed by their given names."

Oh, I'm the crown prince now, none of you are older than me.

Xiao Zhu Changxun thought for a moment, then mimicked Wanli's tone and said, "Er Zhang, what do you think we should do about this?"

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji took the memorial and read it carefully.

This is just a promotion to the rank of Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, a position of the fourth rank. It seems very simple; all you have to do is approve or disapprove the request.

Actually, it's not that simple.

Li Tingji thought about it carefully, and then said cautiously, "Your Highness, according to the law, the promotion of officials requires checking their resumes and looking at their political achievements."

The Ministry of Personnel will likely examine this matter carefully. However, to prevent anyone from forming cliques and cultivating cronies, you should still scrutinize it thoroughly.

If you know nothing about the promoted official, you need to check his resume, examine his achievements, and have a trusted official thoroughly investigate his reputation and even his character.

what?
Is it so troublesome?

I thought I had picked the easiest one.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun said with a hint of helplessness, "Er Zhang, I really know nothing about this person. I've never even heard of his name. What should we do?"

How am I supposed to teach you like this?
Li Tingji thought about it carefully again before cautiously saying, "Your Highness, this situation should not have occurred."

The career paths of these court officials all begin with the imperial examinations, and officials of the fifth rank and above are almost all graduates of the highest level of the imperial examinations.

Your Highness, I dare to suggest that you pay more attention to the palace examination and even the metropolitan examination in the future. Even if you don't know all the newly appointed scholars by heart, you should at least have some impression of their names.

In this way, once these officials are promoted, your impression of them will become deeper and deeper, and it won't matter much if you don't have a deep impression of those who are not promoted.

In this way, after ten or twenty years, you will be very familiar with the important officials in the imperial court.

Uh, I also have to remember the names of the newly appointed scholars.

Xiao Zhu Changxun thought about it carefully, and said with some helplessness, "I have never memorized the names of the newly appointed Jinshi before, so I can only memorize them later. What should I do now?"

His Majesty said it should be handled according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Li Tingji thought for a moment, then cautiously said, "Your Highness, you can order the Ministry of Personnel to submit this person's resume and recorded achievements for review, and then ask someone about it."

Okay.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun immediately sent someone to the Ministry of Personnel, ordering them to submit the man's resume and recorded achievements. After carefully reviewing them, he solemnly said, "Er Zhang, it's too troublesome to have someone else ask. Asking you directly should be fine, right? What do you think of this man? Is he suitable for promotion?"

Okay, you can ask me as per the rules.

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji slowly nodded and said, "I know this person quite well. He is capable and has some notable achievements. He has been an official for more than ten years and has never been known to have any misdeeds."

That'll do.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun glanced at his father, who remained silent to the side.

Seeing this, Wanli simply moved all the red ink and brushes over and placed the imperial seal in front of the little guy.

So you mean, you don't care, I'll approve it?
Xiao Zhu Changxun was stunned for a moment before picking up the red pen and solemnly writing the words "Approved".

Immediately afterwards, he asked Song Yingxing to help him stamp the seal.

This memorial has finally been processed.

There are about ten more to go.

Li Tingji would meticulously explain the relevant laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty to any memorial, and he would have Zhu Changxun order people to investigate what needed to be investigated, and have Zhu Changxun order people to present the relevant official documents for careful reading.

Processing memorials in this way is very slow; it took nearly two hours to process more than ten memorials.

Emperor Wanli, however, sat to the side watching without uttering a sound.

Li Tingji was truly dedicated and responsible in teaching the Crown Prince.

It seems that these important government affairs can be entrusted to them for handling.

By the time the memorial was finished, it was almost noon.

Li Tingji glanced at the sky, then cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, do you think this is auspicious? Should I come again this afternoon?"

The little guy has no experience in handling government affairs; you'll have to teach him more.

After thinking for a moment, Wanli solemnly said, "From now on, you will come every morning at Chenshi (7-9 AM) to teach Xun'er how to handle important memorials."

This afternoon, bring the ordinary memorials you need to handle to the study in Cining Palace. You will write your drafts, and Xun'er will watch over you. If he doesn't understand something, he can ask you.

Uh, do we have to teach this too?

Upon hearing this, Li Tingji nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Seeing this, Song Yingxing cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, what should I do this afternoon?"

You don't need to learn how to handle routine government affairs; you should already know a little bit about those.

A genius like you shouldn't be wasted on handling ordinary administrative tasks.

After thinking for a moment, Wanli instructed in detail: "You shall develop farming machinery this afternoon."

In fact, steam-powered vehicles do not necessarily need to be on railway tracks to move on their own.

You could also consider driving this vehicle into the fields for plowing, sowing, and harvesting, or even driving it on the road.

Uh, this can't be right, can it?
Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing cautiously said, "Your Majesty, the steam-powered carriage is too heavy. The boiler, steam engine, water, and coal alone weigh several thousand kilograms."

If you also include the wheels, axles, supports, and the vehicle body, it weighs at least tens of thousands of kilograms.

"A vehicle this heavy, let alone driving it into a field, it would get stuck and unable to move even on a road."

Everything you said is right.

However, these problems are not unsolvable.

The reason I didn't tell you this before was because you didn't have much experience.

Now that you've even developed a train, you should have enough experience.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "The steam-powered carriages are indeed too heavy, but this problem can actually be solved."

For example, you could consider changing the boiler to be made of forged steel, so the furnace wall wouldn't need to be too thick. If you also make the boiler smaller, the water inside wouldn't be too heavy.

In other words, the boiler and the water inside can be controlled to weigh around 1,000 jin (500 kg), which is about the same weight as the goods being transported by a horse-drawn cart.

With lighter loads on the vehicle, the heavy-duty wheels no longer need to be solid iron discs; you can consider forging wheels like waterwheels from refined steel.

As for the frame and body, you could consider replacing them with hardwood covered with sheet metal or even copper.

You could also consider using kerosene as a substitute for coal used for steam burning.

In this way, the weight of the entire vehicle can be kept below 3,000 jin (approximately 1,500 kg).

Oh, we can try every possible way to reduce the weight of the car.

Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing slowly nodded, then carefully said, "Your Majesty, if it weighs around three thousand catties, it should be able to run on the road, but it will damage the road, and it certainly won't be able to go to the fields."

You can figure out a way to do that too.

Wanli shook his head slightly and explained in detail: "You know about foundations, right? Not to mention city walls, even the walls of ordinary houses are actually quite heavy."

If you build the wall directly on flat ground, the wall will definitely sink.

Nowadays, when building a house, do you have to dig a foundation much wider than the walls beforehand and then fill it with stones to prevent the walls from sinking?

The same principle applies to this car; you can make the wheels wider.

If you make the wheels three times wider than those of a horse-drawn carriage, wouldn't a carriage weighing around 3,000 jin (1,500 kg) not damage the road?
And you're probably very familiar with pedal waterwheels, aren't you?

Imagine if you made the sprocket wider and replaced the chain with a thin iron plate that could be driven by the sprocket. Wouldn't that be like laying an iron plate on the road and moving forward?
This thing isn't called a chain anymore, it's called a track, a track that can move like it's flat ground even in mud.

Yes, we can also find a way on the wheels!

Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, saying, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

(End of this chapter)