My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 266: The record can be checked
Huang Ji's image wasn't much better than Shuai Jiamo's.

Because he had to get up at night to observe the stars every day, Huang Ji woke up at night and slept during the day. He was wearing a loose-fitting robe and yawned at Shuai Jiamo, saying:
"Have you received the imperial decree?"

Shuai Jiamo quickly replied, "This disciple has already received the imperial decree."

Huang Ji yawned again and said, "Don't you understand? Why would a mere county magistrate of Changxing need a messenger to deliver an imperial edict?"

Shuai Jiamo nodded repeatedly.

The county magistrate was considered the lowest-ranking official in the Ming Dynasty. Generally, the Ministry of Personnel was sufficient to appoint him, and the Ministry of Personnel was not required to announce the decree.

Huang Ji said:

"That's understandable. Didn't Governor Hai tell you anything either?"

Shuai Jiamo nodded again.

Huang Ji said:

"I don't have much to say to you."

"what?"

Shuai Jiamo was completely dumbfounded. How could the riddles of officialdom be more difficult to solve than mathematical problems?
Huang Ji said:

“You have a talent for mathematics. I originally wanted you to join the Imperial Observatory and work with me to compile the calendar.”

"But if someone needs you, I have no choice but to give you up."

Shuai Jiamo was completely dumbfounded. He felt that what happened today was even more difficult to solve than a calculus problem.

Huang Ji said:

"You don't need to worry. That person won't treat you unfairly. If this matter is handled well, you will definitely get your share of the benefits."

Huang Ji then said quietly:

"But now that person has taken a liking to you, I'm afraid your days of being sent to serve are yet to come."

Huang Ji felt a little regretful; he had only mentioned this disciple's studies in his daily correspondence with Su Ze.

But Su Ze remembered all of this.

Having personally experienced how Su Ze treated him, Huang Ji looked at Shuai Jiamo with eyes full of sympathy.

If it weren't for Su Ze, he would probably still be at the Imperial Household Department, happily instructing the Crown Prince.

However, in return, Su Ze also gave Huang Ji a higher life goal.

As long as a more accurate calendar can be created, then being remembered in history is certain.

Shuai Jiamo's background was even worse than his own. For his disciple, being able to be someone Su Ze could order around was a kind of luck.

I wonder how many people wished they could be assigned tasks by Su Ze, this young Grand Secretary, but never had the chance.

Huang Ji continued, "When you arrive in Changxing County, you must keep a low profile. What you need to do is write down everything you see and hear, especially the accounts between Changxing County and the government treasury. You must keep those in mind."

Shuai Jiamo nodded.

Then Huang Ji pointed to the fat pigeon on his table and said:

"Go and feed that pigeon."

Shuai Jiamo took the rice bag from Huang Ji and scattered a handful of rice on the table. The fat pigeon glanced at Shuai Jiamo and began pecking at the rice on the table.

Huang Ji said:

"After you take office in Changxing County, someone will contact you using this pigeon. Remember to feed the pigeon rice."

"If there is anything urgent to report, you can also send a message by pigeon. Just tell me the destination of the message, and it can be sent by either me or the governor of the sea."

"Remember, it needs to eat the best rice, such as the tribute rice from Huzhou."

Shuai Jiamo was stunned for a moment. Was this fat pigeon eating so well?

"Master, what will happen if we don't feed it? Will it stop delivering messages?"

Huang Ji shook his head and said:

"of course not."

"But it will poop on your head, don't ask me how I know."

"..."
-
In July, the weather in the capital was extremely hot.

In early July, the emperor finally bestowed ice to cool down the government offices in the capital.

But even hotter than the weather, and showing no signs of cooling down, was the public discourse in the capital.

The major event in July was the finalization of the Ministry of Revenue's "Accounting Records," which meant the successful completion of the year-long "taking stock of the Ming Dynasty's assets" project.

However, the completion of the project was just the beginning of the troubles.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has a record of its assets, it will definitely have to settle old scores.

On the eve of the release of this "Accounting Record," major government offices in the capital launched a final round of fierce competition.

The result was, of course, disastrous.

July 20th, just three days before the "Accounting Records" were to be published.

Shen Yiguan stood in the newspaper office, waving a newspaper in one hand and writing something on the blackboard with a piece of chalk in the other.

Blackboards and chalk were also Su Ze's inventions.

It was only when Su Ze was lecturing at the Imperial Academy and the Military Academy that he realized how inconvenient teaching was now.

Unfortunately, in this era, education is a highly aristocratic affair, both in the East and the West.

The common people's education that Su Ze received before his time travel was actually a product of modern times.

In the Ming Dynasty, efficiency was never a goal pursued by educators.

There was no private tutor who could teach dozens of people at the same time.

When Su Ze was finally about to teach a large group of people from the Martial Arts Academy, he remembered that he had invented a blackboard and chalk.

But to Su Ze's surprise, this unassuming invention quickly became popular.

Su Ze then remembered that blackboards and chalk, in this era before PowerPoint, were also the best tools for reporting and presentations.

Soon, blackboards and chalk were purchased for all the major government offices in the capital.

There was also a similar screen in the newspaper office, which Luo Wanhua used to demonstrate typesetting.

However, Shen Yiguan has already grabbed the chalk today. He is taking stock of the past few days because he collapsed in the government office the night before the "Accounting Records" were about to be published.

As Shen Yiguan wrote, he said, "The most miserable one is the Court of Imperial Stud. Because of the horse administration, the Court of Imperial Stud has been impeached more than twenty times by the Censorate. From the Minister of Imperial Stud to the Director of the Imperial Stud, eight officials of the Court of Imperial Stud have submitted their resignations, and it has also implicated many officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War."

Su Ze couldn't help but ask, "So, Brother Jianwu, what do you mean by the numbers you wrote on the blackboard?"

The numbers written by Shen Yiguan are called Suzhou numerals.

Suzhou numerals are actually a decimal system of counting, widely used in accounting offices in the southeastern region.

In fact, Arabic numerals had already been introduced during the Ming Dynasty, which was naturally a legacy of the Yuan Dynasty.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang had an ancestral instruction in the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty" that "all documents must not be written in the style of non-Chinese characters," so Su Ze would naturally not be able to promote Arabic numerals in the Ming Dynasty.

Su Ze quickly discovered the Suzhou numerals.

Actually, the Suzhou numeral system is quite useful. Its counting method corresponds to that of counting rods, and it also has a set of calculation formulas that correspond to the counting rods, which can be used in conjunction with the counting rods to perform the four arithmetic operations.

So Su Ze simply promoted the Suzhou numeral system, and now the mathematical textbooks of the Ming Dynasty basically use the Suzhou numeral system as the numerical symbols.

Shen Yiguan said, "This is the number of officials who have stepped down. This was also compiled by Brother Yifu."

Su Ze glanced at Luo Wanhua; it seemed that even the top scholar Luo had been corrupted.

Today, Luo Wanhua invited Shen Yiguan over. The *Yuefu Xinbao*, which had remained silent throughout this turmoil, was preparing a summary of the *Accounting Records* scandal, listing the number of officials who had fallen from grace today due to unreasonable expenditures. It must be said, Luo Wanhua is becoming increasingly adept at running a newspaper.

The Yuefu Xinbao was an official gazette, so it could not get involved in the initial stages of the information war.

The reason is simple: a newspaper as powerful as the Yuefu Xinbao cannot be used to attack other government departments, otherwise they would be in great fear.

Even the Six Ministries and the Censorate would be dissatisfied. If newspapers become tools for impeaching officials, what is the point of having censors?
Su Ze understood the proper boundaries; as an official gazette, it shouldn't be taking over the work of the supervisory authorities. Therefore, the Yuefu Xinbao remained silent during this chaotic period.

With the publication of "Accounting Records" approaching, Luo Wanhua could no longer hold back.

So they summoned Shen Yiguan to review the cases that had already been concluded, which could be considered as a final attempt to capitalize on the hype.

However, Su Ze was quite supportive of Luo Wanhua's idea.

These officials have already been convicted, so the news reported in the newspapers is official news. You can't say that the Yuefu Xinbao is a tool of political struggle, can you?

Then, news reports about fallen officials are sure to be hot topics. Whether you're an official or an ordinary citizen, everyone likes to see news of officials being brought down.

Shen Yiguan said again:

"The Court of Imperial Sacrifices also dismissed many people for violating regulations regarding sacrificial rites."

Luo Wanhua asked, "Illegal sacrificial ceremony?"

Shen Yiguan nodded and said:
"The emperor established seven ancestral temples, and the distant temples were called 'Tiao' temples. The Guanglu Temple held grand ceremonies at the Tiao temples, which cost an extra 30,000 silver dollars last year."

Luo Wanhua frowned, a worried look on his face.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucianism has established strict rites and laws.

Etiquette and law served as an endorsement of the sanctity of the rulers, and this remained extremely important even in the Ming Dynasty.

The emperor's seven ancestral temples mean that the emperor can only worship seven ancestors in the ancestral temple.

The remaining ancestral tablets are then moved to the Tiao Temple, which is the temple of distant ancestors. This is called Tiao relocation.

Of course, not all ancestors had to be moved. Only emperors who were called "ancestors" or "ancestors" could have their titles "never be moved."

Luo Wanhua's concern stemmed from the biggest political struggle of the Jiajing era, the Great Rites Controversy, which concerned the relocation of imperial lineages.

If the Jiajing Emperor wanted to move his biological father into the Seven Temples, then the other emperors would have to be moved out of the Seven Temples.

The emperor who moved out after the Jiajing Emperor was Emperor Renzong, Zhu Gaochi.

Sure enough, Shen Yiguan said in a low voice:
"The Guanglu Temple held a grand ceremony to commemorate Emperor Renzong."

Su Ze also sighed.

The repercussions of the Great Rites Controversy are still lingering today. Clearly, many officials are still dissatisfied with the fact that the Jiajing Emperor enshrined his biological father in the Seven Ancestral Temples.

The grand sacrificial ceremony held by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices for Emperor Renzong, who was removed from the Seven Temples, was a blatant act of defiance against the Great Rites Controversy.

As expected, Shen Yiguan said:
"His Majesty was furious and severely punished the officials related to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices also submitted a letter requesting to resign."

Su Ze also sighed.

The Great Rites Controversy was indeed a brilliant move by the Jiajing Emperor after he ascended the throne.

The Great Rites Controversy concerned the succession to the throne and was a crucial event for the legitimacy of the Jiajing Emperor. It was through the Great Rites Controversy that the Jiajing Emperor established the legitimacy of his succession.

However, Emperor Jiajing went too far by insisting on enshrining his own father in the Seven Temples.

This incident also became a hidden thread in the court struggles during the later years of the Jiajing reign.

Su Ze didn't know whether these officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices secretly used lavish offerings to Emperor Renzong out of respect for him, to disgust people in secret, or simply out of stupidity.

At this critical juncture, with such an incident occurring, the officials are worried that the emperor might use this as an excuse to launch another round of the Great Rites Controversy.

However, it seems that Emperor Longqing only punished the officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and did not intend to expand the punishment.

Shen Yiguan said again:

"In addition, the Guanglu Temple's Confucian temple sacrifices also exceeded the budget. Last year, the Duke Yansheng repeatedly petitioned to repair the Confucian temple, and the Guanglu Temple allocated 50,000 silver dollars. However, it is said that the Kong family only made simple repairs to the ancestral hall."

Luo Wanhua was also speechless. In the eyes of the Ming emperors and ministers, the Confucius family, the Duke of Yansheng, was nothing more than a liability to Confucius, the Great Sage Confucius.

The Duke Yansheng's family had the privilege of tax exemption, so the people of Qufu all donated their land to the Duke Yansheng's family.

If that's the case, then so be it; we can just consider Qufu as a territory granted to the Confucius family.

But Kong Shangxian was not satisfied. He set up checkpoints in Qufu to intercept and extort merchants.

In addition, Kong Shangxian, as a 64th-generation descendant of Confucius, not only did not act in accordance with Confucius's teachings, but also took advantage of the opportunity to go to the capital to meet the emperor every year to smuggle goods and extort money from the post stations along the way.

This time, the Kong family is once again using the pretext of repairing a temple to extort money from the imperial court.

Su Ze was also speechless.

Shen Yiguan said:
"Grand Secretary Zhang submitted a memorial proposing to change the Kong family's annual pilgrimage to a pilgrimage every three years."

Su Ze shook his head and said, "These are all just temporary solutions."

Shen Yiguan sighed and said, "But that's all we can do."

Luo Wanhua nodded in agreement. What the Kong family did was disgusting, but it wasn't a serious crime like treason, so the emperor couldn't punish them severely.

Moreover, the Kong family, based in Qufu, enjoyed a special privilege: the magistrate of Qufu was always a member of the Kong family.

This also made Qufu almost a lawless place.

Shen Yiguan then listed a bunch of names, and finally looked at the blackboard and said:

"A total of fifty-three people were dismissed from their posts. This is all thanks to Brother Zilin's 'illustrious achievements'."

What is this? Are the battle records verifiable?

Su Ze said speechlessly:
"Why is it my war merit again? It wasn't me who submitted the memorial impeaching these ministers."

Shen Yiguan said:
"Brother Zilin, wasn't it you who submitted the letter requesting the revision of the 'Accounting Records'?"

"It all started with the falsification of accounting records, and you're still saying it wasn't your 'achievement'?"

Well, it seems I've taken the blame again.

Su Ze walked over and changed the number on the blackboard again, from fifty-three to fifty-four.

He said, "In that case, we won't hesitate to add one more person."

Luo Wanhua asked, "Brother Zilin, who do you wish to impeach?"

Su Ze sneered:

"Min Qing, the number one governor in the land."

Shen Yiguan asked:
"Brother Zilin, are you really going to take action against Min Qing? He was just commended by His Majesty, and he is the Governor of Jiaxing and Huzhou. Do you really want to bring him down?"

Shen Yiguan's concerns are understandable.

The fact that Min Qing could serve as governor in top-tier places like Jiaxing and Huzhou speaks volumes about his influence in the imperial court.

Rumors circulated that he was promoted by Grand Secretary Li Chunfang.

This is why many people knew that Min Qing's political achievements were problematic, but no one exposed it.

Su Ze said, "Min Qing has nothing to do with Chief Minister Li, and Chief Minister Li also advocates cracking down on this unhealthy trend of local governments making false reports!"

However, Shen Yiguan did not relax; he said:

“It’s common practice in our Ming Dynasty for local officials to fabricate their achievements. Although Min Qing exaggerated his achievements, I’ve heard he’s an honest official and hasn’t caused any serious consequences. Why does Brother Zilin need to target him?”

Luo Wanhua said:
"Brother Jianwu, you are mistaken. Min Qing is not after money, but fame!"

"Being greedy for fame and greedy for profit are the same thing; both treat political achievements as a stepping stone to promotion and regard the people under their rule as private slaves. Such officials are bound to be cruel and ruthless!"

(End of this chapter)