My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 204 The Deceptive Korean Envoy

"Brother Zilin, Brother Rumo's appointment to this position is bound to cause controversy!"

Su Ze was just about to ask Shen Yiguan about the results of the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination, so he quickly asked:

"Brother Jianwu, what brings you to this?"

Shen Yiguan plopped down, picked up the cold noodles Zhang Wei handed him, took a couple of bites, and said:
"Brother Zilin, the son of Grand Secretary Zhang, will be participating in this provincial examination."

"Besides the son of Grand Secretary Zhang, there are many other sons of important officials participating in this year's Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination."

After hearing this, Su Ze understood why Gao Gong didn't let him compete for the position of chief examiner in this Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination.

If Zhang Juzheng's son were to take the provincial examination, and his disciple Shen Shixing were to preside over the examination, and the son of the Grand Secretary Zhang was admitted, the court would surely accuse him of favoritism and corruption.

However, if none of these sons of high-ranking officials are admitted, it would be a very offensive thing to do.

Su Ze asked doubtfully:
"With Brother Rumo's cautious nature, why would he want to get involved in this mess? He should just resign."

Su Ze's reason for resigning was "being concerned with interests," a reason that would not offend anyone and would be seen as a sign of high moral character by the outside court.

Shen Yiguan sighed, "This time, Brother Rumo's chief examiner was personally appointed by His Majesty."

"His Majesty appointed him?"

Shen Yiguan nodded and said:
"I heard that it was because Brother Rumo excelled at the lecture that His Majesty appointed him as the chief examiner for the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination."

Since he was appointed by the emperor, it's no wonder that Shen Shixing dared not resign.

Thinking of Gao Gong's reminder, Su Ze also began to worry about Shen Shixing.

Shen Yiguan said:
"Brother Zilin, should we go and remind Brother Rumo?"

Su Ze shook his head and said:

“Brother Rumo has been in officialdom longer than any of us, so he naturally understands the stakes involved. If he really needs something from me, he will come to me. Let’s not get involved now.”

Su Ze wasn't heartless; rather, he deduced from Gao Gong's reminder that the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination involved a power struggle among important court officials.

I am from the same hometown as Shen Shixing and we are good friends, but we belong to different camps.

Previously, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng had a tacit understanding, but if this understanding were broken, then there would be a rift in their friendship.

There is nothing we can do about this.

Shen Shixing's rapid promotion was definitely not because he was the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Of all the top scholars in the Ming Dynasty, few could match Shen Shixing's rapid rise in rank.

Su Ze could only pray that this year's Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination would not cause any more trouble.

But things in this world rarely go as planned.

On August 4th, the Xinlefu Daily published an article listing the sons of officials who would be taking the provincial examination in Shuntian Prefecture this year.

On this list, Zhang Jingxiu, the son of Zhang Juzheng, one of the three Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, is listed first, and there is a long list of sons of important cabinet officials.

Because of Su Ze's memorial, this year marks the first time that children of officials registered in Shuntian Prefecture will take separate examinations.

In order to solve the problem of the examination qualifications of students of the Imperial Academy, Su Ze once submitted a memorial to the emperor, proposing to "add twenty extra places to each subject in the Shuntian examination, specifically for official students. Following the example of the separate list of candidates from the north and south in the second year of Yongle, the examination papers should be sealed and marked with the character 'official' in red ink, and those who pass should be noted as 'official students'."

These candidates with official status included the children of officials in Beijing, as well as students studying at the Imperial Academy in the capital.

Although only twenty people were admitted, the number of applicants from the official category was relatively small compared to the large number of applicants from the civilian category, resulting in a higher admission rate.

This article in the Xinyuefu Daily put Shen Shixing, the chief examiner of the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination, in the spotlight.

The relationship between Shen Shixing and Zhang Juzheng has been exposed. Even though the provincial examinations only started in September, rumors of cheating had already spread before Shen Shixing had even finished preparing the exam questions.

However, Shen Shixing never approached Su Ze about the provincial examination. Since the other party didn't bring it up, Su Ze didn't feel comfortable bringing it up himself.
-
Although Su Ze did not receive a request for help from Shen Shixing, he did receive one from Shen Yiguan.

On August 6th, Shen Yiguan rushed into Su Ze's official residence in the East Palace and shouted:

"Brother Zilin, save me!"

Su Ze was preparing lessons for Xiao Pangjun. After inviting Shen Yiguan to sit down, Shen Yiguan began to pour out his grievances.

"Brother Zilin, the Korean envoy has arrived again."

Su Ze then remembered that Shen Yiguan still held a formal position as Assistant Director of the Ministry of Rites' Department of Receptions.

The main functions of the Ministry of Rites' Department of Foreign Affairs included managing foreign affairs and receiving tribute missions from foreign vassal states, involving diplomatic correspondence, reception of envoys, and investiture ceremonies.

Receiving envoys from vassal states was within the scope of the Ministry of Reception and Reception's duties.

Su Ze squinted at Shen Yiguan. This guy was always hanging around in front of him, and Su Ze thought the job of the Ministry of Rites' Department of Guests was easy.

Shen Yiguan said:
"This is the ninth time this year that a North Korean envoy has visited North Korea."

"How many?"

“This is the ninth batch of envoys from North Korea since the beginning of the new year. The previous batch of envoys just left the capital last month.”

Su Ze was speechless; the North Korean envoys were coming far too frequently.

But Su Ze asked:

"We should treat the Korean envoy as usual when he comes to pay tribute. What are you worried about, Brother Jianwu?"

Shen Yiguan frowned and said:
"If it were just a delegation paying homage to the emperor, that would be one thing, but this time the Korean delegation brought 10,000 sheets of white cotton paper."

Now Su Ze understood why Shen Yiguan was worried.

This is an old case.

In the fourteenth year of the Chenghua reign, the Korean envoy Han Myung-hoi presented 10,000 sheets of cheap bamboo paper as tribute, falsely claiming them to be top-grade white cotton paper.

Ten thousand sheets of bamboo paper would cost only fifty taels of silver in the capital market, but according to the Ministry of Rites' "Regulations for Reciprocal Gifts," every hundred sheets of top-grade paper would be rewarded with a bolt of silk.

As a result, the silk gifts that the Ming Dynasty bestowed upon the Korean delegation totaled more than three thousand taels, a price difference of nearly sixty times.

After this incident, the Ming Dynasty court only investigated the then Director of the Bureau of Receptions, but did not hold Joseon accountable.

So in the second year of the Chenghua reign, Joseon repeated its old trick, using bamboo paper worth sixty taels to swindle five thousand taels from the Ming Dynasty in return.

When the incident finally came to light, the court's punishment for the Korean delegation was merely "improper conduct," and the penalty was to prohibit the head envoy from ever coming to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute again.

Such a lenient attitude naturally emboldened the North Koreans.

The fact that the North Korean delegation visited North Korea an average of twelve times a year was not merely out of filial piety towards their Ming Dynasty father.

With such high profits from begging, North Korea still complains that twelve times a year is not enough.

Su Ze immediately understood. It was likely that North Korea had received the news and knew that Shen Yiguan had just taken office as the Chief of the Guest House, so they took advantage of his lack of knowledge and sent an envoy to swindle money using bamboo paper.

No wonder Shen Yiguan rushed to the Eastern Palace in such a hurry. This Korean delegation swindled money, and the unfortunate ones were all the officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Shen Yiguan is currently in charge of the main and guest departments. If this incident comes to light, he will be the first to suffer.

But these Koreans were seasoned swindlers and very familiar with the laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty.

This group of Korean envoys is particularly good at making trouble out of nothing. If they start causing trouble, Shen Yiguan, the Assistant Director of the Ministry of Reception, will be the one to suffer in the end.

Shen Yiguan said with a bitter face:
"Moreover, in your memorial to the throne, 'Proposal for Another Voyage to the Western Ocean,' you stated that all future tribute missions would go into the imperial treasury, and the profits and losses would be unrelated to the Ministry of Revenue. With such a deficit, wouldn't the Imperial Transport Treasury tear me apart?"

Shen Yiguan had never been this afraid, not even when Mongolians pointed knives at him on the grasslands.

Seeing Shen Yiguan's appearance and recalling the despicable methods of these North Koreans, Su Ze felt indignant.

North Korea's tribute fraud is so outrageous that it has even become an industry.

Even when the North Korean Internal Affairs Department (the North Korean king's private treasury) experienced a deficit, it was recorded in the account book as "the surplus profit from paper tribute is used to supplement the private treasury with 20,000 taels of silver annually".

Fraudulent rewards have become a source of wealth for the Joseon royal family; whenever they are short of money, they come to the Ming Dynasty to swindle money.

After thinking for a moment, Su Ze decided to drag Shen Yiguan to see the Crown Prince.
-
"What! Master Su, Master Shen, this Korean delegation is so despicable, they actually dared to deceive Father Emperor!"

Su Ze thought to himself, "In terms of being deceived the most times, your grandfather, Emperor Jiajing, was the one who was deceived the most. It's because Daoist Master lived a long life that Korea paid the most tribute."

The young Zhu Yijun, being inexperienced in the ways of the world, was still angered by the despicable tactics of the Korean delegation.

Shen Yiguan quickly said:
"Your Highness, it has been known throughout history that Korea has been cheated out of its rewards, but our Celestial Empire cannot afford to break ties with Korea over this matter."

Zhu Yijun then looked at Su Ze.

Su Ze nodded and said, "Your Highness, the founding emperor and the founding emperor made all nations pay tribute not for the purpose of making money."

Su Ze explained the significance of the imperial court to Xiao Pang Jun, explaining that the tributary system itself was not for the sake of these meager tributes.

For the Ming Dynasty, paying tribute was a means of controlling the surrounding small countries and using the system of granting tribute to establish its legitimacy.

However, most countries are not as shameless as North Korea, which has turned the tribute system into a scam.

Zhu Yijun's face flushed red as he asked:
"Are we just going to let the Korean king and his ministers keep deceiving us like this?"

Su Ze said:

"Your Highness, I do have a solution, but I would like to ask for your help."

"Please speak, Master Su!"
-
Inside the guesthouse under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kim Yong-sil, the chief envoy of the North Korean delegation, was enjoying a hearty meal, while his clerk, Heo Su, seemed rather uneasy.

The chief envoy of the Korean delegation was usually a member of the Korean royal family or a nobleman or relative of the emperor, while the scribe was the second-in-command of the Korean delegation.

The scribe's duty was to record the various documents, such as the Ming Dynasty's laws and regulations, Confucian literature, and other materials that the mission learned and bring back to Korea.

This is similar to the role of the envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty, who came to the Ming Dynasty to learn its advanced systems. Therefore, they were generally officials from the Hongmungwan (Korean government's official institution for scholars).
The Hongmungwan in Korea was modeled after the Hanlin Academy of the Ming Dynasty, and its members were the most outstanding scholars selected through the Korean civil service examinations.

Xu Zi is a scholar with excellent Chinese proficiency. He passed the imperial examination at a young age and is only twenty-three years old.

At his age and in his position, he naturally could not accept that the envoy, Kim Yong-sil, had cheated him out of the reward.

Kim Yong-sil took a big gulp of his wine and said dismissively:

"This matter of tribute paper has been going on for a long time. The Celestial Empire didn't say anything. Even if it was discovered, they would just be expelled back to their country."

"Besides, this batch of tribute paper was personally handed to me by the king."

Kim Yong-sil brought up the king, and Heo Jun could only shut up. As a Confucian scholar, loyalty to the king was naturally his top priority.

Seeing Xu Zhen's discomfiture, Jin Yongshi said gleefully:
"Now that you're here, you should enjoy yourself. Xu Hongwen, is this your first time on a diplomatic mission?"

Jin Yongshi then summoned the clerk serving outside the guesthouse and rattled off a list of dishes like a comedian reciting a cacophony of words. Xu Zi was astonished by how fluent his Mandarin was.

After reciting the names of the dishes, Jin Yongshi roared again:
"Sila! How can there be fine wine and delicious food without music? Is the music and dance troupe deserted?"

The minor official on duty naturally dared not offend the Korean envoy, so he had no choice but to agree to Kim Yong-sil's request and hurriedly ran out the door.

Seeing this, Xu Zi shook his head and simply left the room.

Kim Yong-sil chuckled. If Xu Yu didn't interfere with the mission's affairs, then he wouldn't have to share the money he could have embezzled through this scam.

To obtain the position of chief envoy, Kim Yong-sil spent a considerable amount of money bribing the palace servants around the king.

Not only is the North Korean king hoping to make up for his deficit by swindling rewards, but Kim Yong-sil, the chief envoy, is also hoping to make up for his deficit.

While Jin Yong was feasting at the guesthouse, the scribe Xu Zi did not choose to go along with the corrupt practices, but instead began to seriously investigate the situation of the Ming Dynasty.

Xu Zi was exceptionally talented and a young genius in the Korean imperial examinations. For him, Chinese was like his mother tongue.

He quickly gained a good reputation among the Ming Dynasty scholars who admired genius.

The more Xu Zi learned about the current state of the Ming Dynasty, the more alarmed he became.

What shocked Xu Yi the most was the newspaper.

He couldn't wait to buy several popular newspapers on the market, and after reading them, Xu Zi was unable to calm down for a long time.

An article worth a fortune in North Korea was thus published in a newspaper that cost a brass coin.

Xu Zi bought a bound volume of "Journey to the West" published by Yuefu Xinbao. He spent two nights reading the serialized version under a whale oil lamp, and immediately felt like ants were crawling all over his body.

Xu Xiang was extremely distressed. What would he do when he returned to Korea and read the serialized version of "Journey to the West"?

Are we supposed to ask a North Korean businessman to buy newspapers for us to take back?
Aside from Journey to the West, Xu Zi was alarmed by the content of the newspapers and their circulation.

The issues discussed in the *Yuefu Xinbao*, *Xin Yuefu Bao*, and *Junzi Bao* were a hundred times more profound than those discussed among Korean Confucian scholars.

The information about mountains and rivers, overseas customs, the study of things and the pursuit of knowledge, and even opera and poetry introduced in newspapers would be regarded as classic texts by scholars in Korea and kept on a high shelf. They would never be taught to anyone other than one's son or a close disciple.

In the Ming Dynasty, even ordinary people could easily acquire this knowledge.

The circulation figures of these newspapers in the Ming Dynasty astonished Xu Yi.

It is likely that the total number of educated people in all of Korea is less than the number of readers of these three newspapers in the capital.

In other words, the tea drinkers in the teahouses of the Ming capital who discussed politics were probably more politically savvy than the ministers of Korea.

Xu Zi was terrified by the power of the Ming Dynasty, and the name of Su Ze, the founder of the Ming Dynasty newspaper, frequently came to his ears.

Su Ze is a young genius who has wielded immense influence in his official career in less than a year, which makes Xu Zi yearn for him and long to pay him a visit.

But on August 9th, Xu Zi heard some news.

Su Ze of the Hanlin Academy submitted a memorial to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, requesting a change to the tribute system.

(End of this chapter)