My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 148 The Demon Report Scandal (Bonus Chapter!)

Lei Li sighed because of the note from Gao Gong.

The note Gao Gong wrote to him contained only one name: Pan Jixun.

As the Minister of Works, Lei Li had a keen political sense and understood Gao Gong's intention to reinstate Pan Jixun.

Before his period of mourning, Pan Jixun was already the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, assisting the former Minister of Works, Zhu Heng, in governing Huang.

Therefore, Pan Jixun's appointment this time will definitely be as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works.

Of course, the Ministry of Works can have multiple vice ministers.

However, both Pan Jixun and Wang Zhihuan were ambitious and enterprising people. If they were both in the Ministry of Works, the entire Ministry of Works would probably be in turmoil.

This is why Lei Li wanted Wang Zhihuan to be appointed to a post in Huai'an.

With two vice ministers in charge of the Ministry of Works, one in charge of internal affairs and the other in charge of external affairs, the Ministry of Works can be united.

Of course, Lei Li did this not entirely for the sake of stability within the Ministry of Works.

Lei Li genuinely believed that Wang Zhihuan was not suitable to serve as Minister of Works in his current state.

The reason Lei Li thought this way, besides his lack of practical experience, was that Wang Zhihuan's personality was too straightforward and he didn't have room for maneuver in his actions, which was also why Lei Li felt he was not suitable.

Lei Li sighed deeply. The Minister of Works was respectfully called "Grand Minister of Works" or "Grand Architect," but in reality, it was a miserable job.

He had to mediate, coordinate the budget, and complete the project before the deadline, all at the emperor's request.

Lei Li is an architectural expert, meticulous by nature, and highly skilled in his profession. He feels like he's walking on thin ice in this position.

Given Wang Zhihuan's personality, if he were to become the Minister of Works, he probably wouldn't be able to push any projects forward.

Putting everything else aside, given Wang Zhihuan's personality, how could he possibly persuade the emperor and the cabinet to approve the budget?

To put it bluntly, the position of Minister of Works requires not only professional expertise but also the ability to coordinate with superiors and subordinates.

Managing a mega-project is primarily a management issue, and only secondarily an engineering issue.

Lei Li also regarded Wang Zhihuan as half a disciple. He hoped that Wang Zhihuan would hone his skills during his tenure as the governor of Huai, change his personality, and perhaps have a chance to succeed him in the future.

Lei Li unfolded his memorial and began writing a petition supporting Wang Zhihuan's proposal to separate the Yellow River canal from the main canal and rebuild a new one.

Immediately afterwards, Lei Li wrote another book, requesting the court to recommend a new vice minister after Wang Zhihuan left the capital and the position of vice minister of the Ministry of Works became vacant.

Having achieved this, Gao Gong, as the Minister of Personnel, could naturally promote Pan Jixun to the position of Vice Minister of Works.

This is the political tacit understanding between Lei Li and Gao Gong.

Lei Li sighed again at the thought of Gao Gong.

At their age, a political successor is even more important than their own political future.

There was only one position ahead of Gao Gong—Grand Secretary—while Gao Gong himself had already reached the limit as Minister of Works.

Lei Li envied Gao Gong even more. With Su Ze as his political successor, Gao Gong's political ideals could continue.

Meanwhile, his half-heir, Wang Zhihuan, was so incompetent that he was easily fooled by Su Ze into going to repair the canal.

If things continue like this, even if Wang Zhihuan becomes the Minister of Works, wouldn't he be just like a mule or horse on a construction site, at the mercy of Su Ze?

Just then, a Ministry of Works official rushed in and reported:

"Minister Lei, the matter of the corner tower has caused another argument."

Lei Li rubbed his temples.

The Lantern Festival pleased the emperor, but a corner tower in the Forbidden City caught fire due to an accidental fire during the festival.

Fortunately, the Cabinet Secretary Li Chunfang had a contingency plan in place, and the fire at the corner tower was quickly extinguished, destroying only half of the tower and causing minimal damage.

But with the corner towers of the Forbidden City burned down, the Ministry of Works suddenly had a job.
Damage to the imperial palace is a major event, so for this project to repair the corner tower, Lei Li, the Minister of Works, served as the construction director, and all departments of the Ministry of Works participated.

However, by the end of February, the corner tower restoration project was still embroiled in disputes.

For any project involving the imperial court, the decision-making process in the Ming Dynasty involved the Imperial Construction Bureau and the Ministry of Works each submitting a budget, which was then drafted by the Grand Secretariat and finally submitted to the Emperor for approval.

After the budget was approved, the Ministry of Works would make the purchases, the Ministry of Works would be responsible for the construction, the Palace Construction Bureau would be responsible for supervising the construction, and the emperor would personally inspect the completed work.

However, the very first step involved a fierce argument between the Imperial Workshop and the Ministry of Works regarding their proposed plans.

Anyone who has ever done engineering bidding knows that if two parties submit bids for a project, the party with the higher bid will be suspected of having shady dealings.

The Ministry of Works' bid was twice as high as that of the Imperial Workshop, and as a result, the budget was not even approved by the Cabinet.

The budget has already been rejected twice. If it is not approved soon, the emperor and the cabinet will think that the Minister of Works is incompetent.

So Lei Li simply invited the eunuchs from the Imperial Workshop to conduct an on-site inspection and discuss a price that was roughly the same for both sides.

As a result, when the officials were invited to conduct an inspection today, the two sides immediately started arguing on the spot.

Lei Li was extremely troubled. Rebuilding the corner tower was a small project, but since it involved the royal family, it could not be neglected.

The corner tower is the outermost building of the Forbidden City. A half-burnt corner tower has been abandoned there for so long. What can the outer court say about it? It can only be said that the Ministry of Works is incompetent.

Moreover, the corner tower also serves to guard the palace. What are your intentions in delaying the repair of the corner tower?

With the Beijing inspection imminent, Lei Li also wanted to start the project as soon as possible.

However, according to the Imperial Workshop's quote, it wasn't even enough to cover the repair costs, so the Ministry of Works couldn't start construction at all.
-
February.

After the New Year, the temperature in the capital began to rise again.

Since the Longqing Emperor ascended the throne three years ago, the Ming Dynasty has enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests.

This year's Lantern Festival was a celebration shared with the people, and there were even more voices in the capital praising the emperor as a sage ruler.

For ordinary people, a prosperous era is one where the weather is favorable and the emperor and the court don't cause trouble.

Shen Yiguan rushed into the newspaper office in a flurry of activity.

"Wang Zhihuan was appointed as the governor of Huai, and Pan Jixun was reinstated as the vice minister of the Ministry of Works!"

In fact, Su Ze already knew this outcome.

With your assistance, Wang Zhihuan was appointed Governor of Fengyang, concurrently serving as Vice Minister of Works and Superintendent of the Grand Canal Transport.

Wang Zhihuan visited various localities and confirmed that the Jia Canal project was feasible.

A year later, construction of the Jiayun River began ahead of schedule, separating the Xuzhou section of the Grand Canal from the Yellow River, allowing for unimpeded grain transport.

[Ming Dynasty +2]

It's a pity that I didn't get any prestige points this time. Su Ze guessed that it might be because not many people were paying attention to the Ministry of Works' affairs, so I didn't get any prestige points.

But it doesn't matter. I can just write back a year later to request the repair of the Jia Canal, and then my prestige will skyrocket.

The reinstatement of Pan Jixun was the result of discussions between Su Ze and Gao Gong.

After reviewing Pan Jixun's personnel file and past memorials, Gao Gong also felt that he was a talented person. So he consulted with Lei Li and made room for Pan Jixun.

Of course, the recommendation of Pan Jixun by the court occurred after Wang Zhihuan left the capital.

I wonder what this Vice Minister Wang will think when he finds out that he just left the capital and the cabinet immediately reinstated Pan Jixun to replace him as Vice Minister of Works. Su Ze can only do nothing about this.

Gao Gong was about to insert his hand into the Ministry of Works, and it was normal for him to revive Pan Jixun.

Lei Li is qualified to not take sides, but the next Minister of Works will definitely have to.

Wang Zhihuan, an official who rose through the ranks in the Ministry of Works, was naturally less controllable than Pan Jixun, who was parachuted in from outside.

This is a scheme orchestrated at the level of a Grand Secretary, which is beyond Su Ze's control.

Moreover, Wang Zhihuan was really unlucky.

When faced with a river management genius like Pan Jixun, who appears only once in a millennium, they would be completely outmatched in both professional skills and emotional intelligence.

If he can repair the Jia Canal, at least he can leave his name in the history books.

Seeing that Su Ze remained unmoved, Shen Yiguan stared at Su Ze and asked:

"Brother Zilin, you knew all along, didn't you?!"

Su Ze remained noncommittal, which only strengthened Shen Yiguan's conviction that he already knew the news. He then spoke with a hint of defensiveness:

"Brother Zilin, has Grand Secretary Gao told you when you'll be appointed as a candidate for the imperial examination?"

Luo Wanhua, who doesn't understand jokes, immediately said:

“Brother Jianwu, are you confused? The selection of officials for important positions is recommended by the Nine Ministers, not decided by the Grand Secretary.”

"Hahahaha!"

Zhang Wei and Wang Jiaping couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing.

Su Ze and Shen Yiguan were amused, and the entire history museum was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Just then, Guo Zhun, a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat who served Gao Gong, stepped into the History Bureau.

"Lord Gao wants to see me?"

Shen Yiguan glared fiercely at Su Ze, as if asking him if he really wanted to be a candidate for the imperial concubine selection. Su Ze replied to Guo Zhun:

"Please wait a moment, Master Guo. I will tidy myself up and go."

Shen Yiguan knew that Gao Gong's summons to Su Ze was probably for something important, so he stopped joking.

Su Ze followed Guo Zhun toward the cabinet. He looked up into the distance and saw that the corner tower that had been burned down during the last Lantern Festival had not yet been rebuilt.

The scribes in the Imperial Secretariat were all well-informed, and Su Ze and Guo Zhun had already developed a good relationship. He asked gossipily, "Why hasn't the corner tower started construction yet?"

Guo Zhun sighed and said:

"Isn't it because the Imperial Workshop and the Ministry of Works can't agree on the cost? Even the Grand Secretary is having a headache over this."

Su Ze asked again:
"Guo Sheren, what business does the Grand Secretary have with me?"

Guo Zhun became tight-lipped at this point, and quickly said, "We'll be at the cabinet soon, let's wait for the Grand Secretary to ask."

Su Ze nodded. Guo Zhun, the son of the former prime minister, was not good at studying for the imperial examinations, but he was still good at being an official. As a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat, he was tight-lipped enough.

The two arrived at the cabinet's reception room, where Su Ze met Gao Gong.

Compared to before the Lunar New Year, Gao Gong is thinner, but his eyes are more bright.

After Su Ze sat down, Guo Zhun went out and closed the door, and Gao Gong took out a newspaper.

"Look at this."

Su Ze took a look and saw that it was a yellowed newspaper, similar in style to the "Yuefu Xinbao" newspaper, but with a knock-off name called "Xin Yuefu Bao".

The layout of this newspaper was basically copied from Su Ze's "Yuefu Xinbao".

Did I encounter piracy?
I've actually stumbled upon the piracy business that's so characteristic of the Ming Dynasty?
The book piracy industry was highly developed in the Ming Dynasty, and basically every famous book had a pirated copy.

Piracy in the Ming Dynasty took many forms, including not only pirated printing but also publication under false names.

For example, there was a reference book in the early Ming Dynasty called "Duoneng Bishi" (多能鄙事), which contained essential knowledge for daily life and was similar to a general encyclopedia of life.

This book is said to have been written by Liu Bowen and includes many aspects such as agricultural planting, recipes, and simple disease prevention and treatment. It was very popular in the early Ming Dynasty.

Then, in the mid-Ming Dynasty, various pirated books appeared, such as "Duoneng Bishi Xu", "Duoneng Bishi Bie Pian", and "Nengduo Bishi".

These books are all made by finding some impoverished writers, who then imitate the original work and continue writing it, and then publish it under false names to make money.

Piracy was rampant in the Ming Dynasty. Not only ancient books, but also books by famous scholars of the time were often pirated as soon as they were published.

The collected works of Wang Shizhen, a leading figure in the contemporary literary world, are frequently pirated and reprinted by booksellers. Wang Shizhen was so angry that he took the matter to the authorities, but the authorities were helpless.

These pirate printing workshops were all hidden underground, and given the efficiency of the Ming government, they simply couldn't investigate this matter.

In fact, the Yuefu Xinbao had already been pirated. Many guild halls in Jiangnan sent back the newspapers, which were then pirated and sold locally.

However, this was just a pirated copy. Su Ze looked at this "New Yuefu Newspaper," which was not a pirated copy, but an underground tabloid published under his own name.

Su Ze glanced at it and noticed that the printing of this newspaper was much rougher than that of the Yuefu Xinbao.

The content of the previous versions was basically copied from "Yuefu Xinbao", but as he read on, Su Ze's expression became serious.

The problem is in the fifth edition.

This edition features an article addressing the recent rise of textual exegesis in the field of Lishixue (里实学).

Although Zhang Siwei's textual research and exegesis article was not published in the Yuefu Xinbao, it became very popular in the capital.

The reason is simple: discussing ancient books carries no political risk, and this activity, which is similar to a word game of deduction, is nominally annotating Confucian works, which sounds very elegant.

Gao Gong and Su Ze originally wanted to promote a practical learning atmosphere, but they uncontrollably drifted into the path of textual research.

This article is a critique of this trend, stating:

"The Six Classics, the Analects, and the Mencius are nothing more than the pedantic disciples and ignorant students of the sages, who memorized their teachers' words, with a beginning but no end, missing the beginning and forgetting the end, according to their own understanding."

"Later scholars, without careful examination, claim that these words came from the mouth of a sage, and put them on a high shelf as 'classics,' but they do not realize that most of them are not the words of a sage?"

"Even if it comes from a sage, the sage makes suggestions for a purpose, just as he prescribes medicine for an illness, and prescribes medicine at any time to save these ignorant disciples and pedantic followers."

"Due to the difficulty in determining the appropriate medicine for an illness, it is hard to establish a fixed prescription. How can this be considered an unchanging principle for all ages?"

Good guy!
Su Ze hadn't expected the article to be so sharp.

In fact, Su Ze also felt that the views expressed in this article made sense.

The article means that the Four Books and Five Classics were compiled by the disciples of sages and were inherently flawed, yet they have been studied as classics by later generations.

The words of a sage are also based on the events of the time, just like a prescription given for an illness, which is in response to the current political situation, that is, 'prescribing medicine according to the illness'.

It's ridiculous that a prescription written for an illness is treated as an eternal truth.
Our Ming Dynasty seems to be a bit too advanced!
Immediately afterwards, the article began to attack the philological studies of practical learning.

That's right. This article even criticizes the Four Books and Five Classics. So what is the philology that studies the words in the Four Books and Five Classics?
Carving flowers on poop?
Su Ze put down the newspaper, and Gao Gong looked at him.

(End of this chapter)