My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 261 The Debate Between Righteousness and Profit
The monks of the Ming Dynasty all possessed remarkable knowledge of Confucianism.

The same goes for Abbot Fayan. He himself was highly accomplished in Confucianism and could say a few words about several schools of Confucianism. After all, Fayan Temple receives many scholars every year, and even those who are not quick to understand will eventually learn something from listening.

Master Fayan asked:

"Don't you Confucians value the debate between righteousness and profit the most?"

He Xinyin said, "Confucius said: 'The superior man understands righteousness; the inferior man understands profit.'"

Master Fayan nodded and said:

"Doesn't what Master He said contradict the teachings of the sages?"

He Xinyin shook his head and said:
"What my late master said was certainly correct, but the interpretations of later generations were wrong."

"what?"

He Xinyin said:

"A gentleman understands righteousness, while a petty person understands profit. But what is a gentleman? What is a petty person?"

"This statement has been misinterpreted throughout history."

“In the time of my late teacher, the gentleman was the ‘one who labors with his mind,’ which is the same as the one who eats meat. In contrast, the petty person was the ‘one who labors with his body,’ which is the same as the common people and slaves.”

"This sentence should be interpreted as follows: moral requirements should be set for scholars and made to abide by them, while practical benefits should be offered to ordinary people to guide them to survive."

"This is what I mean by 'A gentleman should speak of benefit before righteousness.' When it comes to the people, benefit should come before righteousness. We should first use benefit to guide them onto the right path, and then make demands of righteousness on them."

Master Fayan was stunned. Could it be explained like that?

You scholars are really something! We monks aren't that good at interpreting Buddhist scriptures.

However, this is normal. The so-called "interpreting the Six Classics" is what great Confucian scholars of all dynasties have done. Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming did it back then, so it is not surprising that He Xinyin did the same.

But what does this have to do with running a school?
He Xinyin said:
“Master, what I want to establish is not a school for people to study and take the imperial examinations, but a school that enables ordinary people to acquire a skill.”

He Xinyin counted on his fingers and said, "An ordinary handyman in the capital earns less than two silver dollars a month, but an accountant who can write and calculate can earn at least five silver dollars a month."

"Even among craftsmen, those who know how to draw with rulers and compasses can earn twice as much."

"There are also scholars who become lawyers, those who can handle civil cases, and their income is twice that of ordinary lawyers."

“There is more than one path in this world: studying and taking the imperial examinations. There will always be people who want to try other paths, and my school is there to guide them.”

"This is the advantage. With the advantage as a guide, and then through reading and understanding the meaning, students will be able to support themselves after they have completed their studies. Isn't this the best of both worlds?"

"Therefore, it is natural for me to charge fees for running this school."

Upon hearing this, Monk Fayan understood He Xinyin's idea; this was essentially a school that taught people how to make a living.

Now that you mention it, it actually seems feasible?
Putting aside other things, the monks who manage the warehouse at Lengyan Temple now have more and more to learn.

Originally, Lengyan Temple's accounts were very simple, with its main income consisting of three sources: donations from pilgrims, output from monks' land, and income from usury.

These three areas actually have little to do with the accounting department.

When pilgrims donate, the concern is that monks might embezzle the funds. The income from the monks' land is mainly used to manage the tenants.

The income from usury is the simplest. Why does Lengyan Temple have so many martial monks? Isn't it because they are trained for usury collection business?
But it's different now.

Monk Fayan was a wise man; he had realized the changing situation and prepared for a transformation.

As it turns out, Lengyan Temple's early transformation was the key to its rise among the temples in the capital.

Currently, all three of the temple's main businesses have been affected to varying degrees.

Donations from worshippers have the greatest impact.

This matter is also related to Su Ze.

In addition to their financial functions, temples in the Ming Dynasty also needed to provide cultural services for pilgrims, which involved preaching Buddhist scriptures.

Whether it's preaching in the East or spreading Buddhist teachings in the West, it's actually quite similar to storytelling—using popular Buddhist stories to educate the people.

Many ordinary people go to Buddhist temples to listen to sermons not to receive instruction, but to relieve boredom in an era lacking entertainment.

Of course, it's normal for someone to convert to Buddhism after listening to it for a while.

In short, preaching is a means for Buddhism to attract new members.

With the advent of newspapers and the availability of more diverse forms of entertainment, fewer people were willing to come to Buddhist temples to listen to sermons.

Preaching scriptures? Can it be as entertaining as "Journey to the West"?
Of course, devout believers will still donate money for incense offerings.

But without new believers, by the time the original believers grow old and die, it will be too late.

In addition, the output of the monk fields has also been significantly affected.

This doesn't mean that the yield of the monks' fields was low.

Instead, grain prices in the capital were becoming more stable, profits from monastic land production were decreasing, and it was difficult to collect high rents in the capital region.

Finally, there's the loan sharking business.

Of course, the usurious loans in temples are generally called "longevity treasury," which is nominally a mutual aid treasury between the temple and its believers.

But in reality, most loans these days are usurious. It's normal for loans to be issued nine times the interest rate and returned thirteen times the interest rate. Two or three times the interest rate is the norm.

However, after the promulgation of the Civil Code of the Ming Dynasty, the government also imposed restrictions on the maximum interest rate.

The official standard was the official standard during the Tang and Song dynasties, which was 20%.

Li Yiyuan researched the Green Sprouts Law and concluded that "two percent (interest) is also the normal rate of interest in the Changping system." He believed that this was a reasonable official interest rate before the Ming Dynasty, so he limited this amount to the official interest rate.

Private loans cannot exceed twice the official interest rate, meaning that a 4% interest rate is officially recognized, and any amount exceeding that is not.

Although Su Ze still felt the interest rate was too high, considering that this was the Ming Dynasty, the fact that they could set limits on the maximum interest rate was already a remarkable improvement.

As a result, the lawsuits that ensued, after several rulings by the Civil Division of the Zhenfu Division, all leaned towards the borrower, denying the legitimacy of the lender's high interest rates, and the temple's usury business suffered a major blow.

Of course, there are ways to circumvent these, but this would require the temple to have people who are proficient in law and finance to carefully design new loan contracts.

While other monasteries teetered on the brink of collapse when their three pillars were under attack, Lengyan Temple flourished even more.

Abbot Fayan recognized the changing times and made preparations for transformation in advance.

For example, He Xinyin's "New Yuefu Daily" included investments from Lengyan Temple.

Back when the editorial office of the "New Yuefu Daily" was still at Lengyan Temple, Abbot Fayan took the initiative to invest.

Today, the Xinlefu Daily is the second largest newspaper in the country in terms of circulation, and it is the largest privately-run newspaper in terms of circulation.

He Xinyin would give Lengyan Temple a share of the profits every month.

Besides newspapers, Lengyan Temple actively invested in many industries, including Fayan Fangzheng's most successful "investment," which involved donating part of the monastic property to the imperial court to host the Crystal Palace Expo, which brought Lengyan Temple great prestige.

However, changes in industry have placed higher demands on the management of temple store accounts.

Managing investment accounts is far more complex than lending and rent collection.

Moreover, not all investments are as worry-free as He Xinyin's.

Successful investments alone do not guarantee returns. It also requires involvement in the management of the invested businesses to prevent them from maneuvering to avoid dividends after becoming successful, and even to help them solve problems. Ultimately, it requires talent.

The topic returned to its starting point, just as He Xinyin had said: the capital city had a huge shortage of talent.

This time, the problem is different from that of the past few centuries. This time, the lack is not in the number of people who can take the imperial examinations, but in the number of people who can write and calculate.

This is something that has never happened in thousands of years.

This is an era of change, an era that no Buddhist scripture ever predicted.

Monk Fayan ultimately chose to believe He Xinyin, but this time Monk Fayan also requested to contribute land as shares, which He Xinyin readily agreed to.

However, the monk Fayan was even more worried because He Xinyin agreed to the business matter so readily.

Based on his understanding of He Xinyin, would he instill any personal agenda in the students after starting the school?
If something happens in the future, will they expose Lengyan Temple?

In the end, Abbot Fayan chose to turn a blind eye, since he was already this old and any trouble would be the responsibility of the next abbot.
-
On June 25th, Su Ze arrived at the Ministry of Works.

This time, Su Ze sensed that the atmosphere was different.

When he stepped into the Ministry of Works, many officials came out to watch, and bowed to Su Ze from a distance.

When Su Ze arrived at Wan Jing Gong Fang, the Ministry of Works official in charge of guiding him gave Su Ze a solemn bow before hurriedly leaving.

Su Ze now understood why Gao Gong said that politics is all about personnel matters.

His proposal to build affordable housing for officials in the capital was met with unanimous support from officials, something that had never happened before after so many important memorials.

This was also the time Su Ze had earned the most prestige points.

With some reflection, Wan Jing had already come out of the public housing to greet Su Ze.

"Has Manager Huang made any progress?"

Wan Jing nodded excitedly and said:

"Brother Su, please come with me quickly."

Wan Jing led Su Ze to a testing ground within the Ministry of Works.

The Ministry of Works was the largest of the six ministries in terms of area, not only because it had a huge warehouse, but also because of the numerous testing grounds of various sizes within it.

The Ministry of Works also had an artillery factory and a training factory outside the capital city, while the area inside the Ministry of Works could only be considered a small testing ground.

Su Ze saw a wall being built on the test site.

Huang Zongyu, the head of the Ministry of Works, was in front of this wall, directing the craftsmen to test something.

Su Ze saw some craftsmen holding various tools, conducting various tests on this single wall.

Su Ze and Wan Jing watched as Huang Zongyu finished the test before they went up to him.

"Su Hanlin, Wan Langzhong."

Huang Zongyu quickly bowed in greeting, but Su Ze waved his hand and asked the question facing the wall:

"Is this made of cement and steel bars?"

Huang Zongyu nodded quickly and said:
"After Su Hanlin finished speaking that day, I built this wall, and it was only completely dry yesterday."

Huang Zongyu continued:

"Su Hanlin is truly a civil engineering prodigy. I have been testing for two days, and the strength of this wall is enough to support a three-story earthen building!"

Hearing this, even Wan Jing became excited.

The emperor issued an edict supporting the Ministry of Works in constructing buildings to solve the housing problem for officials in the capital.

After the imperial edict was issued, it quickly sparked heated discussions among scholars in the capital and made headlines in major newspapers.

After the heated discussions, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) faced the greatest pressure.

Whether Su Ze's plan is feasible and whether it can build safe and reliable new cement earthen buildings are all things that the Ministry of Works needs to verify.

Huang Zongyu received the venue and funding immediately, and this wall was used to verify the strength of the reinforced concrete on site.

Huang Zongyu's statement that the strength is not a problem means that the new type of cement earthen building is indeed feasible.

"but."

Huang Zongyu said "but," and Wan Jingxin's heart sank again.

Huang Zongyu said:
"Cement is too expensive, this will make the cost too high."

Hearing this, Wan Jing felt relieved and said:
"Don't worry, Steward Huang. His Majesty has already invested in building a cement plant, and the price of cement should come down soon."

But Su Ze said:
"That is indeed a problem. This wall is made of cement, isn't it?"

Huang Zongyu nodded, and Su Ze continued:
"What if we don't need so much cement? For example, we could use bricks?"

Huang Zongyu shook his head and said:
"Su Hanlin was talking about using cement to bond the bricks, right? But that wouldn't be strong enough to support a three-story earthen building."

Su Ze said, "Instead of using ordinary bricks, we use bricks with holes, insert steel bars into the holes, and then fix them in place with cement?"

Huang Zongyu began to think again.

As Su Ze said, it is actually very wasteful to use cement for the entire wall.

By stringing the perforated bricks together with steel bars and then fixing them with cement, a lot of cement can be saved, thus reducing the cost.

The Ming Dynasty already had a very mature brick-making process. It's just a brick with holes, so there's not much difficulty in making it.

If the amount of cement used can be reduced, the cost of building a new type of cement earthen building will be even lower!
For the Ministry of Works, it was essential to demonstrate the progress to the officials.

This matter concerns the well-being of all officials. Su Ze has already submitted a memorial requesting an award, and the emperor has approved the allocation of funds. If your Ministry of Works fails to produce results in a timely manner, the blame will fall entirely on the Ministry of Works.

Therefore, the Ministry of Works understood this principle and knew that they had to produce some results as soon as possible in order to reassure their officials.

The Ministry of Works was more eager than any other government department to build a model building.

Seeing Huang Zongyu deep in thought, Wan Jing quickly asked, "Master Huang, is this feasible?"

Huang Zongyu then wrote and drew on the ground again, nodding and saying:

"If we can manufacture qualified perforated bricks, we can indeed build new-style cement earthen buildings without exceeding the budget by too much."

Upon hearing this, Wan Jing immediately said:
"I will immediately request permission from Vice Minister Pan to build a model building to reassure the officials in the capital!"

When Su Ze came out of the Ministry of Works, it was getting late, but the Ministry of Works was still brightly lit.
-
On June 27th, the weather in the capital was even hotter.

Even the water-cooled air conditioner wasn't working well, and Su Ze stayed in his office room at the newspaper office, refusing to go out.

However, Su Ze had no choice but to go out today. Liu Jun, a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat, summoned Su Ze to the cabinet for a meeting, carrying orders from the Grand Secretaries.

Su Ze pondered for a moment. He had been "well-behaved" lately and had not submitted any memorials or discussed politics. Why was the cabinet suddenly summoning him?

The Ministry of Works has also submitted its proposal, and I heard that the project is progressing smoothly. What is it that the Cabinet wants to summon me for?

(End of this chapter)