Di Ming

Chapter 418 Three years passed in the blink of an eye, and Prince Xin took up his fief in Jiujiang.

Zhu Yin certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity, nor would he disappoint the enthusiasm of the people of Pengshui. He immediately ordered that every household in the entire Pengshui County, regardless of clan affiliation, should donate a bolt of cotton cloth.

The moment the order was given, the surrounding crowd erupted in cheers.

Each household will receive a bolt of cotton cloth. Mr. Zhihu truly loves his people like his own children!
"Mr. Xie Zhihu!"

May Mr. Zhihu be granted the title of Duke and Marquis for generations to come!

Chen Side, however, looked troubled. Since ancient times, when has a new official ever bestowed such great favors upon the people upon taking office? The county treasury doesn't have much money or grain to begin with; how can it possibly be so generous to the people? Even if the treasury can afford it this time, what will his successor do?
Fearing that Zhu Yin might not be able to keep his promises and that things would get out of hand, Chen Side kindly stepped forward and whispered a reminder:
"Your Excellency, Pengshui County has 16,000 households. Each household needs a bolt of cotton cloth, equivalent to 8,000 taels of silver. The county treasury is already empty, and we are struggling to provide relief. How can we possibly have money to benefit the people?"

What he didn't know was that Zhu Yin was going to use his own money to benefit the people, and that the purpose of this benefit was to win people's hearts.

Zhu Yin smiled slightly, "Brother Chen, please rest assured. My wife has some family wealth, and we will provide the cotton cloth ourselves, without spending a single bolt of public treasury money."

Chen Side and the others exchanged bewildered glances. Pay for it themselves? This…

Zhu Yin entered Pengshui County amidst cheers, and only then did he get a clear look at the county town.

The county seat is Hanjia Town, which has a long history. The city wall is over two zhang high and has a circumference of seven or eight li. From the south gate to the north gate, it is at most two li. Its area is about the same as the Forbidden City. It is indeed just a county seat, only one-third the size of Chongqing Prefecture City.

The city had a population of over ten thousand, with shops and taverns lining the streets. The spiderweb-like streets were paved with bluestone slabs, and ancient locust trees stood at each street corner. The entire city was filled with the lively atmosphere of everyday life, making it undeniably prosperous.

Pengshui County was established in the fourth year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, nearly a thousand years ago. Therefore, historically, Pengshui County was already completely Sinicized. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was a thoroughly Han Chinese area.

However, when the Mongols invaded the south, they encountered fierce resistance in the Chongqing area, suffering heavy losses. Even the Great Khan Möngke was killed by the Song army at Diaoyu City in Chongqing.

The Chongqing area resisted the Mongols for more than 30 years, which the Mongols deeply resented.

In retaliation, the Mongol army carried out a large-scale massacre in the Chongqing area. "Bayan captured Fuzhou and did not sheath his sword for seven days," "Bodies blocked the river, and the water turned red for three months," "The river water suddenly turned red, and all the fish scattered."

More than two million people were massacred in Chongqing, with 90% of them dying. Counties and prefectures, including Pengshui County, were almost entirely deserted.

In Chongqing, which had long been a traditional Han Chinese area, the Han population had almost completely disappeared. As a result, large numbers of other ethnic minorities from the southwest migrated there and became the indigenous population. However, Han Chinese later began to migrate there as well.

Over the course of more than three hundred years, this place has become a place where Han and Yi peoples live together. It's a history full of blood and tears.

Looking at the still relatively prosperous ancient city before him, Zhu Yin seemed to vaguely see the bloodshed and sword flashes of more than three hundred years ago.

Just a few decades later, Chongqing experienced another brutal massacre. This time, the perpetrators were the Qing army. The local population of all ethnic groups was almost completely wiped out by the Qing troops.

The people created civilization and prosperity, but they have been repeatedly destroyed by licentious and shameless rulers!
Can we allow these incompetent and muddle-headed officials to continue to be in power?
...

On that day, Zhu Yin and his predecessor, Chen Side, handed over the official seal, account books, and government affairs in the main hall, officially taking office as the new magistrate of Pengshui County.

Chen Side was actually very happy. He hadn't served two terms as county magistrate, so it was unlikely he would be promoted. However, because of the imperial edict demoting Zhu Yin to county magistrate of Pengshui, he had no choice but to move. This move, surprisingly, led to a promotion to the first rank, and he was transferred to the position of Assistant Prefect of Kuizhou Prefecture.

This was also because Zhu Yincai was lucky.

Before leaving, Chen Side invited Zhu Yin to the signing room, personally poured tea for Zhu Yin, and said with a smile:
"I have long heard of the Grand Tutor's esteemed name, but have never had the chance to meet him. I am overjoyed to meet you today. I originally intended to personally accompany you for several days, but official documents urge me on, so I must leave today."

Zhu Yin picked up his teacup. “Brother Chen, you’re too kind. The position of Vice Prefect is very busy. Kuizhou is two hundred li away. Please set off immediately to take up your post. There’s no need to delay for me, lest the Prefect of Kuizhou be displeased.”

Chen Side said, "Even so, there is still something I would like to tell you, Your Excellency."

Although Zhu Yin was demoted to county magistrate, he still retained the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. To show respect, Chen Side addressed him as Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, rather than County Magistrate Zhu.

Zhu Yin knew what was going on, and smiled calmly, "Brother Chen, please speak freely."

Chen Side removed his official hat, leaned forward slightly, and lowered his voice, "Pengshui County actually has a population of at least 90,000, of which 40,000 are Miao people, accounting for nearly half. The Miao people are usually quite obedient, but since last year, the Yang family of Bozhou has secretly sent people to this county several times to contact the Miao chieftains here. I'm afraid they have ulterior motives."

Zhu Yin couldn't help but give Chen Side a deep look. The fact that this man could perceive this was enough to prove that he was a talented person, but it was a pity that after more than ten years in office, he had only just been promoted to the sixth rank.

Chen Side then gave a brief introduction to the situation in the county before taking his leave.

After bidding farewell to Chen Side, who was leaving office, Zhu Yin burned incense at the local temple in front of the county government office and then moved into the old and quiet Santang back residence.

The Third Hall was the official residence of the county magistrate. It had everything from the East Flower Hall and West Flower Hall to gardens and pavilions, but it only occupied two acres and was a small and exquisite courtyard, which was far too small to accommodate the Zhu family's several hundred members.

Zhu Yin could only select one hundred people to live in the county magistrate's residence, and the rest of them rented houses and inns in the city.

Feng Menglong, Sun Chengzong, and Gao Panlong, the three staff members, received the highest treatment. They even lived in a small courtyard in the city rented by Zhu Yin, with their own separate entrance and private soldiers for protection.

That evening, dozens of people, including local officials, gentry, and local chieftains, hosted a banquet to welcome Zhu Yin.

At the banquet, Zhu Yin raised his glass and said, "I am new here and need the help of all my colleagues to work together to govern this area. As the saying goes, a new official makes three bold moves. I don't have those three bold moves, but I hope that the county will be well-governed, safe, harmonious, and that the people can live and work in peace and contentment."

"I have already instructed the tax authorities to abolish all exorbitant taxes levied under the guise of mining tax; henceforth, they will all be exempted..."

Upon hearing this, everyone was both surprised and delighted, and they all stood up to raise their glasses in a toast. Mr. Zhihu has done a truly great thing for Pengshui County!

Upon taking office, he immediately benefited the people of the county.

Zhu Yin continued, "However, I would also like to make a three-point agreement with you all. I am a man of principle and have always valued fairness above all else. Especially when it comes to government affairs that concern the well-being of the people, I dare not be careless and am not afraid to do it personally."

"From this day forward, in all matters concerning agriculture, sericulture, crafts, taxation, litigation, relief, corvée labor, education, public security, water conservancy, logging, and postal transport, from the highest officials such as the county magistrate, registrar, clerk, inspector, and instructor, down to the lowest clerks, yamen runners, constables, postal workers, and prison guards, all those who are paid by the emperor must practice the principle of justice. What is justice? It is actually very simple: just be lawful and diligent in your duties."

"If all officials, high and low, in this county uphold justice, the county will be well-governed. If the county is well-governed, I guarantee you will all be promoted and receive raises, and everyone will be happy. If you fail to uphold these two principles, then I cannot help you..."

"Half of my 80,000 mu of noble land and estate is located in Pengshui County. I only charge 20% of the land rent for my estate."

These words sent a chill down everyone's spines. Even on their own estates, they only charged tenants 20% of the profits!

How could they dare to resist a new superior like Zhu Yin? They could only obsequiously express their determination not to disappoint the Grand Secretary's expectations.

Those who can serve as officials in the county are all shrewd and capable. They know very well that if they continue to embezzle money and grain, neglect their duties and be negligent as before, they will probably not be able to get away with it again!

...

The next day, Zhu Yin took office and personally oversaw important county affairs. He appointed Feng Menglong as his clerk, Sun Chengzong as his criminal affairs clerk, and Gao Panlong as his finance clerk.

On the third day, he began inspecting prisons, warehouses, county schools, post stations, official fields, wharves, markets, and other places. He also inspected city defenses, armories, and centurions, and reviewed the patrol offices and the three shifts of yamen runners.

Next, they visited Han villages and Miao villages, and went to Jiuli City to inspect the local conditions.

For several days in a row, he was busy with county government affairs. He and several advisors, including Sun Chengzong, were busy running around, working day and night. In just half a month, they managed to get the county government in good order.

Zhu Yin was so busy with county affairs that he didn't even personally inspect the 80,000 mu of marquis's estates in Pengshui and Wulong counties, only sending Murong Gou Dan to check on his estates.

Zhu Yin gradually became familiar with the governance of the prefectures and counties of the Ming Dynasty. Many things concerning the people's suffering and grassroots politics could only be truly understood by becoming a county official.

Zhu Yin was deeply moved and benefited greatly from the experience.

It turns out that grassroots governance is not only multifaceted but also extremely complex. This is because the county government is closest to the people and serves as the execution terminal of imperial politics, making its practical administration almost micromanagement.

Coupled with limited resources, strong autonomy of county officials, and the control of rural governance by gentry, coupled with a lack of supervision and checks and balances, it is most prone to going astray and becoming an insulator to central government affairs, thus degenerating into a relatively independent level.

Once it reaches this point, the imperial system becomes rigid and dysfunctional. No matter how good the policies of the central government are, they are all distorted or rendered ineffective at the county level. When it develops to this extent, the county level ceases to be the executive end of imperial administration and becomes an autonomous institution participating in resource allocation. Then the central government loses control over the grassroots, and its foundation crumbles.

Before the Yuan Dynasty, prime ministers in all dynasties rose from the ranks of prefectures and counties, which was a good tradition. Unfortunately, in the Ming Dynasty, it became a system where only members of the Hanlin Academy could enter the cabinet, and the talents of prime ministers were selected from the so-called noble Hanlin Academy. As a result, a scholar who had never served as a county magistrate was able to enter the cabinet and assist in government.

Hanlin officials, having never served in grassroots government, maintain an detached and aloof perspective, ultimately leading only to wishful thinking. Their understanding, like viewing flowers through a fog, remains incomplete, forever failing to grasp the essence of grassroots governance. And once they are in power, how capable will they truly be of governing the country?

So how can someone who has never served as a prefectural or county official truly understand the political landscape of grassroots power, even if they become the prime minister? And how can they prescribe targeted solutions?
This is why the Ming Dynasty eventually degenerated into what Gu Yanwu criticized as "governance by petty officials," where power and authority fell into the hands of petty officials and their staff, and most officials had low administrative abilities and even lacked common sense.

After serving as magistrate for half a month and personally handling both major and minor matters, Zhu Yin felt much more grounded. The frivolous state of mind that had developed over the years due to excessive success was gradually tempered and solidified.

He felt more grounded and more confident. This political environment, which was closer to the people, allowed him to understand the true meaning of governing the country better than when he was a vice minister in Beijing.

This county magistrate didn't get his position for nothing. How could he have learned so much without spending a few years working at the grassroots level?
...

At the end of July, as the summer heat gradually subsided, Ning Qingchen and Xu Wei finally arrived in Pengshui County with hundreds of medical students.

After nearly two months apart, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law finally reunited here.

No one knows how she did it, but the vast majority of medical students and professors followed her south.

Zhu Yin bought a large, vacant mansion belonging to a wealthy landowner and hung up a sign for Qingchen Medical College. As soon as the medical college moved to Pengshui County, Ning Qingchen announced in a high-profile manner that he would recruit a group of women as midwives to benefit the people of Southwest China.

Li Shizhen and several other veteran professors from the medical school continued to revise the "Compendium of Materia Medica".

With Ning Qingchen's medical school, Zhu Yin simply reopened the Huimin Pharmacy, providing free medical treatment and medicine to the poor.

Thus, Qingchen Medical College, one of the world's most advanced medical institutions, began to take root and flourish in Pengshui County.

Xu Wei's "Chronicles of the Xia Dynasty" was also completed at this time. The book contains 1.08 million words and took a full six years to write.

Although *The Chronicles of Summer Gods* was written by the talented Xu Wei, many elements of it were inspired by Zhu Yin. Strictly speaking, it was a collaborative work between Xu Wei and Zhu Yin.

Zhu Yin read "The Chronicles of Summer," a book infused with his own thoughts and inspiration, in one go. He was overjoyed and exclaimed in admiration!
"The Chronicles of Xia" is not only well-written and highly readable with a compelling story, but also profoundly philosophical, embodying the ideals of exploring the Way of Heaven, respecting the Way of Humanity, and achieving harmony between Heaven and humanity. Its core message is that cultivating the Way of Humanity leads to the attainment of the Way of Heaven. Xu Wei's summary of the Way of Humanity consists of truth, goodness, wisdom, courage, and diligence.

The five-word mantra is like the five elements; without any one of them, there can be no perfection, and no true attainment.

Its theme is grander and more profound than that of "Journey to the West".

The protagonist of the book, Zhang Jian, followed these five words of truth, cultivating himself from a young being into a celestial being, becoming the Jade Emperor, establishing the order of the Three Realms, and ushering in a new era of civilization for all living beings.

More importantly, "The Legend of Xia Shenji" accomplished a significant mission: to unify and summarize the originally contradictory and chaotic Chinese mythology into a logically complete system.

It is equivalent to completing a great cultural project that no later generation can ever complete!
Mythological systems are an extremely important ideology, and as an upstream domain, they are crucial to a nation's cohesion.

Unfortunately, the origins of Chinese mythology are chaotic, contradictory, and unsystematic. This has led to a lack of cohesion among the Chinese people.

For example, the legends about Nuwa, Fuxi, and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors are varied, inconsistent, and lack a systematic approach.

The already published versions of "Journey to the West" and "Investiture of the Gods" are also different interpretations and incompatible with each other.

The myths of other ethnic groups are even more disconnected from Chinese mythology and seem completely out of place.

The Chronicles of Summer Gods solves this problem. It provides rigorous logic and a systematic framework, and integrates myths from classics such as Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods into a unified and grand world: the world of Chinese mythology!
Moreover, the myths of the major ethnic minorities were also incorporated into the Chinese mythological world in "The Chronicles of Xia".

"The Chronicles of Summer Gods" is practically a treasure trove of Eastern mythology. With this massive mythological novel, the originally chaotic Chinese mythology becomes rigorous, complete, and unified.

At Xu Wei's request, Zhu Yin gladly wrote a preface for *The Chronicles of Xia*, generously and preemptively defining it as follows:

"Mythological history is the true history of China, and divine history is the true history of China."

Then he ordered the woodblocks to be printed and prepared for publication. At the same time, he instructed Huya to launch a public opinion campaign to promote "Xia Shen Ji" and establish its status as a "divine history".

The four classic Chinese mythologies, namely *Xia Shen Ji*, *Journey to the West*, *Investiture of the Gods*, and *Journey to the East*, are collectively referred to as the "Four Great Histories of Chinese Divine History," with *Xia Shen Ji* positioned as the "First of Histories of Divine History" and the "Master of Histories of Divine History."

Feng Menglong, Sun Chengzong, and others were captivated by "The Chronicles of Xia Shen Ji," deeming it a divine text. The writing style, incorporating elements of later online novels, had a profound impact on them.

Zhuang Shu, a young lady from a humble family who came to Pengshui with Feng Menglong, became so engrossed in watching "The Legend of the Summer Gods" that she neglected to take care of her children.

...

In early August, Ning Caiwei finally arrived in Pengshui County with Hongying, Wu You, and others to reunite with Zhu Yin.

Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei had not seen each other for more than half a year, and they were overjoyed to meet again, feeling as if they had been separated by lifetimes.

Thus, the three people and the dog were reunited in Pengshui County.

That night, the three chatted in the inner quarters of the county magistrate's residence. Zhu Yin talked about the war with Goryeo and the turmoil in the court, Caiwei talked about the upheaval in Guanzhong and making a fortune, and Qingchen talked about the major progress made in the experiment using Japanese pirate prisoners. The three shared their stories and were very happy.

Ning Caiwei told Zhu Yin that she not only obtained the Qin Prince's Mansion's gold and silver treasures worth tens of millions, but also annexed most of the commercial territory left by the Qin Prince's Mansion, becoming the head of Qin merchants.

She was confident that she would become the richest person in China within three years, even richer than the money-grubbing emperor.

Xiao Hei sat cross-legged at Zhu Yin's feet, watching the three of them chatting happily into the night. It gently wagged its tail and felt that its dog life was happy and fulfilling.

The money-grubbing emperor in Beijing never imagined that even though he demoted Zhu Yin to the position of county magistrate, Zhu Yin would still act like a winner in life, and his family would continue to live like gods.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhu Yin received a report from Wei Zhongxian in Shandong.

When the Kong family learned that he had been dismissed from his post, they could no longer contain themselves and decided to take action against Ning Caiwei's mine. They planned to cause a mining accident and then take back the mine that had been sold to Caiwei.

Wei Zhongxian, who had been preparing for this, had been patiently waiting for the Confucius Mansion to make its move. Just as the Confucius Mansion was about to act, the White Lotus Rebellion in Shandong launched an attack on the Confucius Mansion.

Under the secret instigation and manipulation of Huya, tens of thousands of people gathered to attack Qufu, plundering gold, silver and grain, and killing the disciples of the Confucius family.

Before the Kong family could even complete their plan to seize the Caiwei Mine, they themselves became easy prey for the White Lotus Sect.

The direct descendants of the Confucius family were all slaughtered by the White Lotus Sect, and all their gold and silver treasures were looted. Except for the Confucius Temple and the Confucius Cemetery, the entire Confucius Mansion was burned to the ground.

Wei Zhongxian was extremely ruthless. He used the White Lotus Sect to eliminate the Confucius Mansion, and then, while the government troops were suppressing the White Lotus Sect, he led his Tiger Fang men to raid the secret headquarters of the White Lotus Sect and robbed the Confucius Mansion of its gold and silver.

The White Lotus Sect was instigated into a risky uprising, but the spoils of war ended up in the hands of Wei Zhongxian and his associates, essentially pulling chestnuts out of the fire for Zhu Yin.

The government troops inflicted successive defeats on the White Lotus Sect in Jining and Yizhou, and the White Lotus Sect leader was killed in battle.

The remaining 10,000 or so people fled east to the coast on Huya's advice. The Jinghai Navy's Eighth Flagship Fleet was already waiting on Yingyou Island. Disguised as Japanese pirates, they swaggered to meet the more than 10,000 remnants of the White Lotus Sect, set sail, and headed straight for Jingzhou (Luzon).

Thus, after more than half a year of planning, Zhu Yin not only obtained several million taels of floating wealth from the Kong family, but also abducted more than 10,000 remnants of the White Lotus Sect to Jingzhou.

When news of the Shandong upheaval reached the capital, Zheng Guowang, the Vice Censor-in-Chief, submitted a memorial to the court, requesting that they once again contact the navy of Hai Mingyue, the "righteous pirate of the sea," to pursue and kill the pirates and Japanese pirates who colluded with the White Lotus Sect, wipe out the remnants of the rebel army, and recover the gold and silver of the Confucius Mansion.

The emperor granted the request and appointed Zheng Guowang as Imperial Commissioner for Coastal Defense and Pacification, to represent the court in contacting Hai Mingyue's "righteous pirates" and presiding over negotiations to bring Hai Mingyue's fleet under the court's control.

Upon receiving the intelligence, Ning Caiwei smiled at Zhu Yin and said, "Zheng Guowang wants to negotiate with me and asks me to wipe out myself. It seems I'll have to go out to sea."

Zhu Yin said, "We've been reunited for less than a month, and you're already going to sea?"

Ning Caiwei said, "There's nothing I can do about it. I have to go and appease Zheng Guojiu; I can't ruin her wonderful impression of Hai Mingyue."

Zhu Yin couldn't help but laugh. "This was also a deadly ambush. If she had known that Hai Mingyue was Ning Caiwei back then, would her Dao heart have shattered?"

Ning Caiwei stayed in Pengshui for a few more days before leaving with Hongying and the others to return overseas to play Hai Mingyue.

Once at sea, Ning Caiwei, posing as Hai Mingyue, met with Zheng Guowang again and agreed to cooperate with the imperial court. However, she was required to first pay 500,000 taels of silver for departure expenses and ammunition costs.

The emperor was unwilling to pay upfront. After some haggling, Zheng Guowang persuaded the emperor to agree to pay 200,000 taels of silver upfront, and then promised to later bestow upon Hai Mingyue the title of Marquis of Fubo.

Ning Caiwei feigned agreement and took 200,000 taels of silver from the imperial court.

Ning Caiwei didn't return to Pengshui for the Chinese New Year until the end of the year.

……

Flowers bloom and fade, spring comes and goes. Two or three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

When summer arrived again, it was already early May of the 24th year of the Wanli reign.

It has been almost three years since Zhu Yin came to Pengshui as magistrate.

Zhu Yin was already a nineteen-year-old youth.

Ning Caiwei is already six months pregnant!

On the day before the Dragon Boat Festival, Zhu Yin received important intelligence:

On April 18th, after enduring several years of hardship, the emperor finally disregarded the fierce opposition of his officials and defied public opinion by deposing the eldest son and establishing the younger one in favor of the younger. He issued an edict appointing Prince Fu, Zhu Changxun, as the Crown Prince and placing him in the Eastern Palace.

After the three kings were enfeoffed, the emperor was finally appointed in one fell swoop. The news caused an uproar throughout the court and the country!

The fifteen-year-old eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Changluo, who should have been the crown prince, was immediately ordered to leave the capital and take up his fiefdom, and was not allowed to stay.

Prince Xin's fiefdom is... Jiujiang!
...

P.S.: This chapter, again, spans three years in terms of time and space. I didn't go into detail about Little Tiger's nearly three years as county magistrate, since that experience was just an interlude.

(End of this chapter)