Top Scholar

Chapter 606 Progress
After finishing their dumplings, the group followed Yan San into the side hall that served as their accommodation area.

Inside the hall, a long, communal bed was built with adobe bricks, and all the bedding was neatly laid out. Some elderly people sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), chatting and playing mahjong.

"It's not cold in the room," Zhu Shou said, exhaling.

Yan San then explained, "Because there is a flue under the large communal sleeping area, once the stove is lit, the room won't be cold."

"Is there enough coal?" Su Lu asked.

"It's enough, it's enough. We dug and transported the coal ourselves," Yan San said, not forgetting to express his gratitude. "But it's still thanks to the Emperor's great kindness, because the coal mine we dug also belongs to the Emperor."

"The young man is quite sensible," Zhu Shou said, and the accompanying official laughed.

As he spoke, Zhu Shou walked over to the elderly people and saw that each of them had a bundle of hemp fibers in their hand and were skillfully twisting hemp ropes...

An old man asked Yan San, "Who are these people?" Yan San explained their purpose, and the old man then began to speak at length about the goodness of the Imperial Grace Academy.

In their words, it was almost like paradise, which made Su Lu feel embarrassed...

But Zhu Shou noticed that their hands were still working even as they were talking, so he asked with a smile, "You're praising the Emperor so much, yet you're still making you work on New Year's Eve?"

Su Lu and the others thought to themselves, 'How novel! We just finished our imperial errand.'

“It wasn’t the Emperor who ordered it.” An old man with a face as rough as hemp rope raised his head and said, “But at this time of year, everyone is busy cooking, cleaning the house, worshipping ancestors and adding to the genealogy… who’s ever idle?”

As he spoke, he looked around and said, "Right now, I don't have to do anything, I can just sit on the kang and wait to enjoy myself. But I feel empty inside, and I feel like I'm letting the Emperor down."

“Yes, we’re just idling around anyway, so let’s make some more hemp ropes to hand in for the New Year. It won’t be a waste of our time,” the old folks chimed in.

Zhu Shou frowned slightly and asked, "Is the higher-ups pressing us too hard?"

Upon hearing this, the elderly waved their hands repeatedly, emphasizing, "Don't say that. No one forced us. We wanted to do it ourselves, so we can't blame anyone else."

"Why not? Wouldn't it be better to rest?" Zhu Shou asked, puzzled. A lazybones like him simply couldn't understand people who worked non-stop.

"For this young master to have such a safe haven during this famine, to be neither hungry nor cold, and to even receive medical treatment—that is truly an act of imperial grace and an immense blessing!" The old people said, their faces showing a hint of fear.
"What if the hospital doesn't want us anymore? In the dead of winter, where will we find a way to make a living? We'll have to work with all our might!"

In years of great disaster, when social order collapses, the elderly are filled with fear...

Zhu Shou nodded, seemingly understanding, when he saw an old man using long tongs to add a strangely shaped coal briquette into the stove. His eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "Hey, your coal is quite unique, it looks like jujube cake!"

Upon closer inspection, it looked like a lotus root segment, with many holes.

"The charcoal is so durable and burns so brightly! The people in the capital really know how to do things!" the old folks exclaimed. "And there's hardly any smoke. Can't you smell how pungent it is inside the house?"

"Indeed." Zhu Shou had seen coal burning before, and the smell of coal smoke was awful. "But why haven't I seen this shape before?"

"Because we didn't have this before, this is something my brother just figured out," Zhu Zihe said. As a secretary to a secretary, he also had his own responsibilities.

"Is that so?" Zhu Shou suddenly felt it made sense.

"These are called honeycomb briquettes. They're made by mixing coal powder with a little yellow mud and then shaping them using a mold," Su Lu explained softly.
"Don't be fooled by the fact that it's just a change in appearance; it has many advantages. Besides being powerful, burning longer, and producing less smoke, it's also easier to transport and has much less loss than loose coal. I'll have our coal shops try it out at the Imperial En Temple first, and once the process is perfected, we'll start selling it in the capital."

Zhu Shou listened with admiration, looking at Su Lu with awe: "You, you, where do you come up with so many new ideas all the time?"

"Many of these ideas have been in my head for a while, but I was too busy studying to put them into practice," Su Lu said with a smile.
"Furthermore, this is not the work of one person alone; it also relies on the power of meetings. Every time we have a meeting, we brainstorm to bring out the ideas that I have buried in my heart. Then, by pooling our wisdom, we gradually come up with practical methods."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Shou asked incredulously, "Then why is it that going to court is like being in prison, completely useless?"

Su Lu smiled and countered, "Will Eunuch Liu allow them to speak freely?"

"That definitely won't do. How much do those people want to say to the Emperor? If the Grand Chamberlain doesn't restrain them, will the Emperor dare to attend court? He'll be covered in spittle!" Zhu Shou waved his hand and said with a wry smile.
"Forget it, you guys can have this one."

He then patted Su Lu on the shoulder and said, "Meetings are good, we should have more of them, and we should have good ones!"

"Okay." Su Lu nodded helplessly.

~~
After the inspection, Zhu Shou sat in the slightly swaying carriage, opened the window, and stared intently at the Huang'en Academy, where laughter and chatter filled the air.

Only after the carriage turned the corner did he turn back to look at Su Lu: "These dumplings are the most delicious I've ever eaten." "Because they contain the Emperor's favor?" Su Lu joked.

"Thank you," Zhu Shou said earnestly.

Su Lu smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Why are you being so polite between friends?"

Zhu Shou smiled, looking at the street scene flashing by outside the car window, "I really didn't expect that you would do so many things quietly, and that every single one of them would be implemented."

"At least I have a decent team now. I'm busy day and night. How could I be working for nothing?" Su Lu leaned against the carriage wall and said with pride, "I haven't let down the Emperor's trust, nor have I let down those disaster victims."

Zhu Shou suddenly remembered something and asked, "Why don't you let them know your name? They are full of gratitude and don't even know who their real benefactor is."

"The real benefactor is of course the Emperor. I am just the Emperor's secretary. They only need to remember the Emperor." Su Lu smiled without taking credit, and then lowered his voice to say, "Besides, if I am too arrogant, someone might ask me for New Year's money tomorrow."

"Heh..." Zhu Shou couldn't help but laugh out loud, knowing that the person Su Lu was talking about was his master who loved to take advantage of others. "I can't help you with this. You were the one who willingly let him take advantage of you."

"Do you think I'm a masochist? It's just that the devil is always one step ahead of the saint. I'm a complete novice in front of my master. I always manage to fall into his trap in different ways, and I can't escape him no matter what," Su Lu complained bitterly.

"But I can't not go to pay my respects for the New Year. And there's also Grand Secretary Yang, who is also a senior fellow townsman, even more difficult to deal with than my master."

“Yes, Master Yang is a very difficult person to deal with.” Zhu Shou looked at Su Lu sympathetically and asked, “Since he’s so difficult to get along with, why don’t you just stop associating with them?”

“That won’t do,” Su Lu shook his head repeatedly. “If you cut yourself off from the civil officials, you’ll end up like Eunuch Liu, unable to accomplish anything. You’ll have to deal with them for at least twenty years and train five or six classes of outstanding talents before you can finally break ties with them.”

"That's true, all the people doing the work under you are civil officials..." Zhu Shou was just making a casual remark. After a year, he had a good understanding of how politics worked, and he sighed softly:

“In the past, whenever I asked a civil official to do something, they would always have a hundred reasons to object, so I could only let my husband and his men handle it. Although their methods were a bit rough, at least they could get the job done. But in the past six months, seeing what you and the Imperial Household Department have been doing, I've realized just how sloppy their work is—it's simply unbearable to watch!”

Su Lu also said seriously, "Those in positions of power must exercise their authority with utmost caution and cannot issue orders lightly. But once an order is given, it must be put into practice and executed effectively, and there must be a satisfactory result. Otherwise, it will be a drain and a deconstruction of authority."

"How much authority has my husband squandered over the past few years?" Zhu Shou exclaimed, speechless.

“That must be a lot,” Su Lu said candidly. “But he’s the one who helped you gain this authority. Without his aggressive attitude, who would be afraid of you?”

"That's true..." Zhu Shou smiled awkwardly. If it weren't for Liu Jin, he would have been manipulated into a puppet by those civil officials long ago. "Then I won't let him cause any more trouble."

Su Lu shook his head and said earnestly, "But power cannot be left unused. The power field abhors a vacuum; no matter how great the power, if it is not exercised, it will soon be replaced by someone else. So the key is to exercise power accurately—don't just make decisions on a whim, but conduct thorough research and argumentation to ensure that every decree is implemented effectively and yields results. Only then can authority be gradually accumulated, building up strength for future reforms!"

“No wonder my eldest brother always does bad things with good intentions,” Zhu Shou suddenly realized, and said with a self-deprecating laugh, “I used to think that as long as no one dared to oppose me, I could change things however I wanted.”

“Yes.” Su Lu nodded. “Without the support of the grassroots, Eunuch Liu can only issue decrees in various ways, but they are far from being implemented. As a result, the people have lost their awe of the imperial decrees.”

He paused for a moment and then continued, "Therefore, the reform must not be rushed; we must proceed according to the three steps we originally planned."

These three steps were the roadmap that Su Lu had set for Zhu Shou: first use techniques, then establish momentum, and finally determine the method.

Zhu Shou's eyes lit up, and he excitedly whispered, "Someone will be paying my blood tax soon, so does that mean we've already moved on to the second step?"

"Take a look first. Have we really done all sixteen words of the first step properly?" Su Lu shook his head and asked questions one by one: "Trusted confidants and informants."

"It's starting to take shape."

"Alright." Su Lu nodded, then asked, "What about assigning specific responsibilities?"

"The good news is that the Court of Imperial Sacrifices did a perfect job," Zhu Shou said with a smile.

"The bad news is that only the Court of Imperial Sacrifices..." Su Lu poured cold water on his enthusiasm and then asked:
"Disciplinary actions and rewards are arbitrary?"

"This is alright, now we can do whatever we want to whomever we want," Zhu Shou said.

“But we must rely on Eunuch Liu.” Su Lu said, then asked, “What about maintaining a balance of power?”

Zhu Shoudu was so discouraged by him that he lost all confidence. "The current situation should be considered pretty good... right?"

"It's temporarily balanced, but that balance will soon be broken," Su Lu said ruthlessly.

(End of this chapter)