Top Scholar

Chapter 644 Examples of Practice

Regardless, the emperor has noticed Liu Jin's change of heart and his diligent work this year.

Afterwards, Zhu Houzhao praised Liu Jin profusely, but at the end he only casually reminded him: "It's good to be decisive, but you must also be careful not to be too rough..."

"Yes, Your Majesty, this old servant will remember Your Majesty's teachings!" Liu Jin kowtowed repeatedly, his face beaming with joy.

This was the first time the Emperor had praised him since the Empress Dowager began her fast last year. He was overjoyed, his mind filled with those words of praise. As for the Emperor's final admonition, he didn't take a single word to heart...

When Xie En withdrew, Eunuch Liu walked with a limp gait, humming a little tune as he returned to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

As soon as he entered the duty room, he saw Old Black Donkey Jiao Fang, who was waiting for him to return.

"Your Highness seems to be in a good mood?" Jiao Fang asked playfully, seeing his obvious delight. "Could it be that you were rewarded by the Emperor?"

"Yes, His Majesty is wise and sees everything. Our efforts have not been in vain." With the help of Xiao Huozhe, Liu Jin took off his boots, put on casual shoes, and walked briskly to sit down in the main seat.

The godson served tea again.

Liu Jin asked with a smile, "What brings you here, old friend? Tell me, good news or bad news?"

“Great news, great news! I’ve come to present a treasure to His Majesty.” Jiao Fang said, presenting a hard-covered blue satin book cover.

Liu Jin took it and saw that the cover had the words "Examples of the Act" written on it. He opened the book and found a thick stack of documents inside, which were all the reform provisions he had promulgated since he took power, categorized and compiled into a book.

"Wow, it's done so quickly?" Liu Jin was even more delighted, unable to put it down and unable to take her eyes off it.

This matter began at the beginning of the year when Qu Quan, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, submitted a memorial requesting that all the regulations implemented by the court since the first year of the Zhengde reign be compiled into laws and regulations and promulgated throughout the country so that officials and the people could abide by them.

Liu Jin, acting on behalf of the Emperor, issued an edict stating: "When the court enacts laws, the existing regulations and rules are often unclear to officials and commoners alike. All government offices, in conjunction with the Three Judicial Offices, are ordered to jointly draft, publish, and promulgate these regulations as a permanent system of compliance!"
"Of course, His Highness's affairs will definitely be treated as a top priority," Jiao Fang said with a smile.
"The manuscript is organized according to the six ministries, involving twenty-four articles from the Ministry of Personnel, thirty articles from the Ministry of Revenue, eighteen articles from the Ministry of War, and thirteen articles from the Ministry of Works. It represents His Majesty's hard work in reforming the old and establishing the new over the years!"

"When I was compiling these examples, I was deeply moved... How concerned His Majesty is with the country and its people, managing countless affairs every day! There are so many things on his mind!" he said with admiration.

"The entire land of China is contained in His Majesty's heart!"

"There's nothing we can do; His Majesty has entrusted us with important matters, so we can only do our utmost to serve him." Liu Jin smiled reservedly, then asked, "What do you think of the quality of my policies over the years?"

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! A masterful stroke of genius! A visionary approach! Utterly ingenious!" Jiao Fang gave a thumbs-up, praising without reservation.
"If the government and the people can truly implement this, why worry about not being able to restore the grandeur of the Taizu era?"

"That's why we need to compile these edicts into laws and regulations, and promulgate them throughout the land as a permanent system!" Liu Jin nodded confidently, then said solemnly, "The Ming Dynasty cannot remain unchanged!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will certainly live up to your good intentions. After the draft is finalized, it will be printed as soon as possible and then distributed to all ministries, provinces, prefectures and counties!" Jiao Fang replied.

"Thank you for your trouble." Liu Jin smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, then added, "Just like Emperor Taizu promoted the Great Proclamation back then, have people repeatedly read the 'Examples of Conduct' to the people so that it will be deeply ingrained in their hearts and minds, and thus ensure its longevity!"

"Understood, arrange it all!" Jiao Fang readily agreed and even suggested, "It should also be used as teaching material in schools across the country, and it should be tested in all kinds of examinations, from county to prefectural to provincial and metropolitan!"

"Ah, yes, yes, we're not doing this for ourselves, but for a better Ming Dynasty!" Eunuch Liu thought this idea was absolutely brilliant.

~~
Liu Jin couldn't wait a moment longer. He immediately flipped through the "Examples of Practice" and symbolically proposed a few revisions, such as ordering widows throughout the land to remarry and changing burial to cremation.

"Ah, this..." Jiao Fang thought to himself, wouldn't this just invite criticism? But since Eunuch Liu brought it up, it meant he cared a lot, so what could Grand Secretary Jiao say? He nodded emphatically and said:
"middle!"

Eunuch Liu was efficient in all aspects, and finalized the draft in half a day. He then had Jiao Fang send it to the cabinet and instruct them to print it.

No matter how powerful the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs was, it still needed the endorsement of the Grand Secretariat for the "Precedents" to have any authority...

~~
However, the cabinet members reacted as if they had swallowed half a fly...

This so-called "Examples of Conduct" was nominally a compilation of imperial edicts. But everyone knew that it was actually a collection of Liu Jin's wild and whimsical "chaotic orders"!
The purpose of publishing it now is clearly to turn Liu Jin's will into a national law that everyone in the country must abide by.

Once this is accomplished, regardless of whether the people of the world will obey, Liu Jin will have achieved 'physical sainthood'!

By then, his title of "establishing an emperor" would no longer be just a joke among the people, but an indisputable fact! How could the three Grand Secretaries accept this?
Li Dongyang and Yang Tinghe could still tolerate Jiao Fang's ramblings, but Wang Ao, who already had a grudge against Jiao Fang and whose temper was getting more and more explosive with age, immediately sneered and asked, "Grand Secretary Jiao, whose subject are you, anyway?"

Jiao Fang's face fell, and he said stiffly, "Nonsense! I am naturally the Emperor's minister!"

"Is that so?" Wang Ao sneered. "I thought you were an inner courtier in Eunuch Liu's household!"

"Nonsense!" Jiao Fang's face grew even longer and darker—Wang Ao was clearly mocking him, calling him a eunuch's eunuch!
"I am a high-ranking official of the first rank, the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and a Grand Secretary of the Hall of Literary Glory. You are going to be impeached for slandering me!"

"You're saying I'm slandering you?" Wang Ao sneered even more, pointing at the foul-smelling manuscript and asking:

"Then tell me, how could the Emperor's ministers possibly come up with something like this? Don't you know what the consequences would be if this were issued?"

"What are the consequences?" Jiao Fang pretended not to know.

"There cannot be two suns in a country, nor two rulers under heaven! In my Great Ming Dynasty, only the Emperor's words are the golden law and the eternal constitution! Now you want to compile Eunuch Liu's instructions into court laws and regulations, so that all officials and commoners in the country can abide by them. What are you really up to? And you still say that you are not his retainer!" Wang Ao was so angry that he trembled all over. The eunuch faction was really challenging his understanding of the world.

"Nonsense!" Jiao Fang exclaimed, her sore spot touched. "This is the Emperor's decree! The Emperor ordered all government offices to draft and publish it, to be obeyed forever! What does it have to do with Lord Liu?!"

"Let's not beat around the bush!" Wang Ao retorted, standing his ground and saying, "If you dare to do something, you should dare to take responsibility. Don't use the imperial edict as a shield! Everyone in the Directorate of Ceremonial knows who drafted the edict and who compiled the draft!"

"Look at you, swearing again?!" It's as obvious as a lice on a bald head; how could Jiao Fang possibly argue with him?

"Look how impatient you are, insisting on comparing yourself to the dogs of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs." Wang Ao became even more venomous, each word piercing the heart.

"You! You! You!" Jiao Fang was furious, his face red and neck bulging. His old habit of resorting to violence when he couldn't win a verbal argument had resurfaced. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and said fiercely, "Say one more word and I'll beat you until your face is a bloody mess!"

"Come on! Do you think I'm afraid of you, you old dog?" Wang Ao grabbed the 'dog-beating stick' from the table!
"Alright, alright! Stop it!" Li Dongyang couldn't stand watching any longer, so he quickly grabbed Jiao Fang and shouted, "Is Wenyuan Pavilion a place for fighting?"

Yang Tinghe also held down the cane in Wang Ao's hand, thus preventing the cabinet from turning into a fighting arena once again.

Seeing that Wang Ao was unable to wield the cane, Jiao Fang shook off Li Dongyang's hand, straightened her official robe, and coldly swept her gaze over the three men: "Just give me a straight answer, are you going to do it or not?!"

Li Dongyang replied unhurriedly, "Of course we will do it. However, although this 'Example of Practices' is not long, its format is extremely broad, involving matters from all six ministries, with numerous entries and very important implications. We need some time to proofread it before it can be finalized and published."

Seeing that Li Dongyang had relented, Jiao Fang said, "Don't drag this out too long, or else..." and then turned and left to go home after get off work.

The moment his figure disappeared outside the door, Wang Ao slammed his cane on the ground and roared at Li Dongyang, "Master Yuan! How could you agree to that? This kind of thing that threatens the foundation of the country must never be published!"

Li Dongyang sat back in his chair and sighed, "We have no choice but to agree. If we forcefully stop him, he can completely bypass the cabinet and have the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers lead the printing, with the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Imperial Printing Office handling the printing. The cabinet won't even have a chance to make any amends."

Yang Tinghe echoed in a low voice, "What you say is true, Elder Yuan. Our cabinet is already weak, but the more so, the less we can let the world see the truth clearly. Otherwise, no one will take us seriously anymore."

"So, we just have to hold our noses, accept this damned 'Regulations for the Administration of Customs,' and help him print it?" Wang Ao's chest heaved, his indignation still palpable: "You're not afraid of being infamous for eternity, but I am!"

“Hey, taking on a task is one thing, completing it is another,” Li Dongyang gently advised. “First, help revise a few drafts, then check the entries, then print, proofread, and refine. Each step will take a month or two. We should take our time and do things carefully. Let’s drag it out as long as we can. Maybe if we drag it out for a year or two, they’ll forget about it and the matter will just be dropped.”

"Keep dreaming!" Wang Ao spat without any mercy.

Yang Tinghe chimed in helplessly, "Lord Zhenze, there's no better way now. We can only take on this matter, seize control, and then use this delaying tactic to see if we can wait for things to change..."

"Then you can keep dragging it out, keep waiting, and be happy if you become part of the eunuch faction!" Wang Ao looked at his two cowardly colleagues and thought about the corrupt court. He felt a surge of resentment stuck in his chest.

He slammed his cane to the ground and sighed, "What a pathetic thing it is to be a Grand Secretary!"

Having said that, he flicked his sleeves and strode out of the Wenyuan Pavilion without looking back.

Only the two Grand Secretaries remained, staring at each other in bewilderment.

(End of this chapter)