My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 192 I'll definitely do it again next time

Zhang Juzheng looked at the emperor.

Emperor Longqing then personally reviewed Hai Rui's memorial.

Hai Rui's calligraphy reflects his personality; every stroke is cold and austere.

The memorial was a very standard official document. In addition to attaching Shuai Jiamo's memorial, Hai Rui also submitted the evidence listed by Shuai Jiamo. Hai Rui also listed the rebuttal memorials from several other counties at the end.

According to Shuai Jiamo, the silk tax was originally to be borne by all six counties of Huizhou Prefecture, but later, for some unknown reason, it was changed to be borne solely by Shexian County.

Now that Shuai Jiamo is requesting the restoration of the original system where the six counties share the responsibility, the other counties will naturally have objections.

Taxation is a matter of national importance, and if it is not handled properly, it could lead to civil unrest.

Therefore, Hai Rui wrote a memorial and sent it to the capital, requesting the court to investigate the origins and details of the silk tax.

The timing of this memorial is perfect.

Therefore, after receiving the memorial, Zhang Juzheng immediately took it to see the Longqing Emperor.

The emperor also fell silent.

The emperor had no idea that a silk tax was being paid in Shexian County.

However, Huizhou Prefecture levied this tax for several decades. Hai Rui stated in his memorial that the six counties of Huizhou Prefecture were so self-serving that they were on the verge of civil unrest.

Emperor Longqing asked:

"Master Zhang, what do you think of this memorial?"

Zhang Juzheng frankly stated:
"Your Majesty, please grant the Ministry of Revenue's request to compile the Longqing Accounting Records and clarify the tax system of the empire."

This is indeed what happened.

The Longqing Emperor understood Zhang Juzheng's public-spiritedness, and his suspicions vanished.

He said:
"Then let's follow the Ministry of Revenue's proposal and keep a copy of the internal transport warehouse's account books in the Ministry of Revenue."

Then the Longqing Emperor said:
"Order the relevant officials to examine the accounts of the Imperial Transport Treasury and see how the silk tax of Huizhou Prefecture is actually collected."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

The Longqing Emperor was somewhat weary. Since becoming emperor, the close relationship between Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng had disappeared.

However, the Longqing Emperor also understood that this was the inevitable path for a ruler.

Then the Longqing Emperor said, "Have the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department recommend a senior official from Shandong. As for Su Zilin, let him go to the Eastern Palace more often. Last time, the Crown Prince asked him why Master Su didn't have time to go to the Eastern Palace to give lectures."

Zhang Juzheng opened his mouth, intending to persuade the emperor, but then he remembered that his memorial requesting the revision of accounting records had offended the emperor, so he could only keep quiet.

The matter was accomplished, but Su Ze was pulled back to the Eastern Palace by the Emperor.

Is it really worth it?

Zhang Juzheng, following his old habit, began to weigh the pros and cons.

But as he continued calculating, he remembered Su Ze's words.

Some things are bound to happen, and some steps are bound to be taken.

But once you step out, that's how things are; all the initial surprise and fear have dissipated.

A slight smile appeared on Zhang Juzheng's stern face. He abandoned calculating the gains and losses and instead stood in Su Ze's position, imagining what Su Ze would do next.
It's something like, "I'll definitely do it again next time"?
Su Ze already knew the outcome of what happened in the palace.

After Zhang Juzheng transformed personal memorials into Ministry of Revenue memorials and signed them, the prestige points required to execute the memorials were greatly reduced.

In the end, the system forcibly approved the memorial using only 200 prestige points.

[Using 200 prestige points, the memorial was forcibly approved.]

The "Accounting Records of the Longqing Era" was completed after two years of work.

Accounting records contributed to the unification of national finances.

However, the host was pulled back to the Eastern Palace by the emperor and had to abandon his duties at the Ministry of Revenue.

[Ming Dynasty +1]

[Remaining Prestige Points: 8.]

Seeing this result, Su Ze was very pleased. This time, he was exploring ways to use the prestige points.

Su Ze's assumption was correct: the prestige required to execute memorials could be "advanced" from the system or borrowed from others.

This time, the system must have "borrowed" Zhang Juzheng's prestige points.

If the memorial not only bears his own signature, but is also the result of public discussion within the Ministry of Revenue, then the resistance to forcibly pushing the memorial would not fall solely on Su Ze's shoulders.

This allows one to achieve great results with a small investment, accomplishing things that are difficult to achieve through personal petitions.

This time, Su Ze took advantage of Zhang Juzheng and the Ministry of Revenue's influence to complete the compilation of the "Longqing Accounting Records" ahead of schedule.

The national fortune increased by 1. Historically, the compilation of the "Wanli Accounting Records" was completed under Zhang Juzheng. I was just a few years ahead of schedule, so this increase in national fortune is normal.

Unfortunately, the emperor pulled him back to the Eastern Palace, seemingly unwilling to let him continue causing trouble in the Ministry of Revenue.

It seems that my fast track to promotion has come to an end for now.

There was no other way; dealing with the Ming emperor was basically always like this.

From initial appreciation to harmonious relationship between ruler and subject, to gradually parting ways, and finally ending in an awkward situation.

From the Jiajing reign onwards, among the several prime ministers, only Gao Gong was able to enjoy his later years in peace after being dismissed from office.

Just as Su Ze said to Zhang Juzheng, the places that were easy to reform have already been reformed.

The remaining reforms will inevitably touch upon imperial power, or the most fundamental power of the bureaucratic system.

Su Ze also remarked that Longqing was indeed a good emperor.

After causing such a commotion, the only punishment he received was being removed from the Ministry of Revenue and sent back to teach the Crown Prince.

If it were any other emperor, Su Ze would probably have already been banished from the capital.

Of course, the emperor's leniency was also related to Su Ze's kidnapping of Zhang Juzheng and the Ministry of Revenue.

Let him teach at the Eastern Palace. Anyway, Su Ze has almost finished handling the affairs of the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission. The plan for salt administration reform has been put forward. Next, all that is needed is to promote the new salt-making method in various salt stations and remove the household registration restrictions for salt-making households.
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At the end of June, the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department quickly and efficiently selected a candidate for the position of Director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Personnel under the Ministry of Revenue. The Emperor approved the appointment in red ink that same day, and the newly appointed Director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Personnel took office immediately.

The newly appointed Shandong Provincial Department Director is named Ge Ye, and he is a protégé of Grand Secretary Li Chunfang.

Apart from the Shandong Provincial Department Chief Secretary, the remaining vacant positions of Chief Secretary were also filled, and all of these people had one thing in common: they were not Zhang Juzheng's protégés.

The emperor was infiltrating the Ministry of Revenue with scum.

In fact, it wasn't just the Ministry of Revenue; the vacant positions in the Ministry of Personnel, controlled by Gao Gong, and the Ministry of Rites, controlled by Zhao Zhenji, were all filled.

Anyone who has worked in government knows that many departments have vacant positions for the head of the department, with the deputy acting as the head of the department.

On the one hand, these deputy positions, which have not yet been officially promoted, are highly motivated and work very hard.

On the other hand, some department leaders favor people who are not qualified or old enough, but the leaders want these people to do the work, so they arrange for them to "act as deputy heads".

Both Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong were in this situation; they were suppressed by Xu Jie during the previous dynasty, and their factions lacked manpower.

Directly promoting someone to a key position wouldn't gain the support of the people, so many positions were left vacant, with deputies taking charge. Emperor Longqing's move was a drastic measure, as he directly filled these vacancies with protégés of Li Chunfang and others.

Su Ze couldn't help but sigh, "The emperor is indeed a born political animal."

No one expected that Li Chunfang, the prime minister who remained completely silent during this political turmoil, would be the biggest beneficiary!
Su Ze, the assistant secretary, also got wind of the situation from Zhang Juzheng and readily accepted his new position, handing over all his work to Ge Langzhong.

Su Ze's work schedule was changed to one day at the newspaper office, one day at the Ministry of Revenue, and three days at the Eastern Palace, returning to his previous lifestyle of working three days and resting two.

Su Ze also had the opportunity to steal some free time to spend more time with his wife.

July arrived just like that.

As Su Ze stepped into the newspaper office next to the printing workshop, he heard Luo Wanhua having a meeting with the field research commissioner from the Imperial Academy.

Originally, the newspaper office and the history office were located together, but the history office was inside the palace, making it very inconvenient to enter and exit.

Later, Luo Wanhua and Su Ze discussed and set up a public house next to the original printing workshop outside the palace to serve as the editorial office of the "Yuefu Xinbao".

Luo Wanhua is already a qualified editor-in-chief. He has listed the price data collected by the field research team on the blackboard and confirmed the final situation with the field research team.

Luo Wanhua confirmed, "The torrential rains of the past few days caused disasters outside the city, and many people fleeing the disaster poured into the north of the city, causing the price of grain in the north of the city to rise."

"Shuntian Prefecture requested the Ministry of Revenue to open the Ever-Normal Granary, but the Ministry of Revenue refused."

Luo Wanhua then said:

"A few days ago, Editor-in-Chief Su suggested adding the price of white sugar to the price index. What do you all think?"

Zhang Chun, a student at the Imperial Academy, said, "Editor-in-Chief Luo, the price of white sugar varies greatly. How can we determine the price?"

Everyone looked at Luo Wanhua. In addition to Fujian Fuqing white sugar, there is also sugar icing from Sichuan Suining sold on the market. The most expensive one is sugar icing.

Frosting, as white as snow, was a luxury item exclusively supplied to the homes of high-ranking officials and nobles.

Luo Wanhua said:
"Let's use the price of white sugar sold in the East Palace shops as the price index."

After thinking about it, everyone agreed that this was a good idea.

The Donggong Shop has already made a name for itself. Compared to other private shops, the biggest advantage of the Donggong Shop is its ample supply. Even if there is a shortage of goods, it can transfer goods from other shops in the capital.

Zhang Chun then said:
"Editor-in-Chief Luo, should we still publish the news about the disaster victims in the north of the city?"

Luo Wanhua thought for a moment and said:

"Find a few skilled writers to interview some refugees, write down their experiences of fleeing famine and disaster, and publish them in the latest issue of the newspaper to put some pressure on the Ministry of Revenue."

Su Ze nodded secretly after hearing this; this move wasn't actually that surprising.

For writers, manipulating words is almost instinctive.

One direct trigger for the failure of Wang Anshi's reforms in the Song Dynasty was Zheng Xia's presentation of the "Refugee Map," which moved Emperor Shenzong to tears and led him to abolish the Green Sprouts Act.

Simply writing news about the disaster outside the city wouldn't resonate with many people. Luo Wanhua had people interview the refugees and write their experiences into reports, which would be much more impactful.

Ordinary people can resonate with the story, and officials can understand the plight of the displaced people after reading it, which naturally puts pressure on the decision-making level.

After assigning tasks, the interviewers left, and Luo Wanhua finally noticed Su Ze in the corner.

Upon seeing Su Ze, even a kind-hearted man like Luo Wanhua began to complain.

"Brother Zilin, you're really not taking this newspaper business seriously enough."

Su Ze smiled and said:

“With Brother Youfu here, what else could I possibly worry about?”

Luo Wanhua has been diligently working on his "emotional intelligence" lately, and is now immune to tricks like those used by Su Ze, so he said directly:

"Brother Zilin, did you know that the *New Gentleman's Gazette* has recently started serializing supernatural tales? They are all short and exquisite stories, and their sales in teahouses have already surpassed those of the *New Yuefu Gazette*."

Su Ze nodded; Luo Wanhua had already told him about this last time.

There are thresholds to writing a long-form serial novel.

Ordinary people may not have the time to follow Journey to the West, so short and quick tales of the strange and unusual are actually more popular.

The most frequently reprinted and pirated vernacular story in the Ming Dynasty was not "Journey to the West" or "Jin Ping Mei", but "San Yan Er Pai".

"San Yan Er Pai" is a typical chapter-style novel, which means that each chapter contains a complete short or medium-length story, and the content is all common folk tales.

Seeing Su Ze's calm demeanor, Luo Wanhua became even more anxious. Su Ze asked:

Are there any blank pages left for the fourth edition?

Luo Wanhua's eyes lit up, and he looked at Su Ze and asked:

"Brother Zilin, are you about to start writing?"

Su Ze nodded and said:

"I happen to have a few short stories, so I'll just use them as practice."

Luo Wanhua was overjoyed and said:

"With Brother Zilin's help, the sales of our Yuefu Xinbao will definitely reach new heights!"

Nowadays, in the capital, there are two private entities under one official position: the Yuefu Xinbao and the Xin Yuefu Bao.

As a private newspaper, the Xin Yuefu Bao was even more unrestrained in its articles, covering all kinds of topics without any taboos. Moreover, the editor-in-chief of the Xin Yuefu Bao seemed to have no specific political stance, and articles with left-leaning positions could be published on the same page. Scholars in the capital jokingly called it "a battle between the left and right."

The New Gentleman's Daily recently changed its style, catering to the market of lower-class cultural figures. It has produced a lot of secular reading materials, and even some explicit articles have been openly printed. Its sales are growing rapidly.

The Yuefu Xinbao was an official newspaper and didn't actually have any sales targets, but Luo Wanhua was unwilling to let the newspaper relinquish its top sales position under his control, so he spent his days at the newspaper office thinking of solutions.

After receiving a short story from Su Zezhong, Luo Wanhua felt inexplicably at ease.

Su Ze has proven countless times that as long as he takes action, everything will be alright.

Having resolved the newspaper issue, the two began chatting casually.

Luo Wanhua said:
"Brother Jianwu (Shen Yiguan's courtesy name) will be back soon, won't he?"

Su Ze nodded and said:

"A few days ago, a message was sent by carrier pigeon that the mission had arrived at Datong Right Guard. Judging by the days, they should be returning to the capital in the next couple of days."

Luo Wanhua let out a long sigh and said:

"Brother Jianwu, this mission was a close call with death, but with such great achievements, you are sure to be promoted."

Su Ze nodded. Fortune favors the bold, and since ancient times, being sent as an envoy to an enemy country has always been a great achievement.

With this achievement, Shen Yiguan's future career path in officialdom will be much easier than others.

Luo Wanhua then said:

"When Brother Jianwu comes back this time, you must have him write more than a dozen articles to properly introduce the local customs and culture of the grasslands!"

Su Ze looked at Luo Wanhua, "So you were hoping Shen Yiguan would come back because of the newspaper?"
Just as the two were talking, Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong from the Censorate walked into the newspaper office.

"Brother Zilin, have you heard about the Crown Prince's birthday celebration for the Imperial Concubine?"

(End of this chapter)