Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 127 Liu Ruoyu, You're Going to Go Down in History (7K words updated today! Requesting monthly votes!)
The atmosphere in the duty room of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs became somewhat tense for a moment.

The emperor's reprimand of Zheng Zhihui and the death penalty for leaking palace secrets were imminent.

The matter had been settled, but the emperor still hadn't left.

No one knew what the emperor was thinking at that moment.

Zhu Youjian took in everyone's expressions but did not speak immediately.

His gaze lingered between Cao Huachun and Liu Ruoyu, seemingly casually.

Actually, there's still one mission left that hasn't been sent out.

In a sense, this is actually a tremendous reward.

To whom?
Zhu Youjian stroked his short beard, his gaze unconsciously falling on Liu Ruoyu's bluish stubble.

Never mind, never mind, I'll take it.

You probably won't have the chance to write that blood-soaked and tear-stained book, "Zhuozhong Zhi," again in this lifetime.

I will then provide you with something that will ensure your place in history.

Having made up his mind, Zhu Youjian spoke directly.

"Cao Huachun".

Zhu Youjian first called out Cao Huachun's name.

Cao Huachun tensed up and quickly bowed, saying, "This servant is here."

"It was just decided that the eunuchs and palace servants will have to cram for three months to learn to read and arithmetic." Zhu Youjian's tone was very calm. "All in all, there are probably tens of thousands of people. Among them, there are probably quite a few who can't even read a single character."

“If we are to teach them, we can’t have the teacher teach them one by one. For the sake of efficiency, we can only have a class of a hundred or even two hundred students. But in this way, the teaching effect will probably be less than satisfactory.”

Hearing the emperor's words, Cao Huachun secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had thought of these words as soon as he received the order, but he dared not utter a word to refute His Majesty's command.

Now that His Majesty himself knows how difficult this matter is, things will be much easier.

He was about to say a few polite words when he saw the emperor point to another person.

"Liu Ruoyu".

"Yes, sir!" Liu Ruoyu's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly responded.

"I have a method that may solve this predicament."

"I'll leave this to you."

As he spoke, Zhu Youjian took the pen and ink from the table and wrote four characters on the paper.

"一、因、于、要".

He waved, gesturing for the three to come closer.

"Take a look at these characters, do you see any similarities?"

Gao Shiming, Cao Huachun, and Liu Ruoyu quickly gathered around, their eyes all fixed on the piece of paper.

Character shape? Stroke count?
Not like.

What matter is being referred to?

It's completely unrelated.

All three fell into deep thought, and only their careful breathing could be heard in the duty room.

Gao Shiming, being the head of the Directorate of Ceremonial, was extremely perceptive. He silently repeated those four words to himself several times, and suddenly exclaimed, "Eh!"

"Your Majesty... how are they pronounced..."

Zhu Youjian nodded approvingly: "That's right, that's the correct pronunciation."

He stretched out his finger and pointed to those four words.

"In the Ming Dynasty today, the method of fanqie (a method of indicating pronunciation) is used to confirm the pronunciation of a character."

“For example, the character ‘一’ is pronounced ‘于悉切’, where ‘于’ is the first character (initial consonant) and ‘悉’ is the second character (final vowel and tone).

"However, this method is ultimately inconvenient. There are four hundred characters above and one thousand below. In order to distinguish the sounds, one must first learn fourteen hundred characters. How inconvenient is that!"

"Then why not simply break down this pronunciation into three parts: initial consonant, final vowel, and tone?"

Zhu Youjian's voice wasn't loud, but to the three of them it was like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

"The Chinese characters in the world have no more than a few dozen tones, no more than a few dozen rhymes, and as for the tones, there are only eight tones: level, rising, departing, entering, yin and yang."

"The Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things. This sound, rhyme, and tone are that 'Three,' from which all the pronunciations of Chinese characters can be derived!"

The three of them were stunned for a moment, as if countless fireworks were exploding in their minds.

Gao Shiming was the first to react. He could not hide the shock on his face and exclaimed in admiration, "Your Majesty is wise! This method... this method is truly unheard of, yet so simple and concise! If it can be truly mastered, scholars will only need to learn these mere hundred or so phonetic categories, and then they will be able to pronounce all the characters in the world by themselves!"

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly; this was exactly the effect he wanted.

“Liu Ruoyu.” He looked at Liu Ruoyu again, “Go and summarize this method and compile it into a book. Then select a thousand commonly used characters and annotate the pronunciation of each character using this method.”

"In this way, once scholars learn this method of phonetics, they can even learn to read on their own. The task of learning to read and arithmetic in the palace will be much more efficient."

He paused, then emphasized, "Give it a try. Don't be too critical of the first version; just make sure it works. We can improve it gradually later."

"When will it be finalized? I will personally issue an edict to have it published throughout the land. I've even thought of the title..."

Zhu Youjian looked at Liu Ruoyu and said, word by word, "Let's call it 'Yongchang Pinyin'."

"And you, Liu Ruoyu, are the chief editor of this book."

Liu Ruoyu felt a buzzing in her head, and she was completely stunned.

Editor-in-Chief? "Yongchang Pinyin"? Published worldwide?

These words hit him so hard that he felt dizzy and almost couldn't stand up.

What an achievement this is! This will make him famous for all time!

He knelt down with a thud, his voice trembling violently with excitement: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! This is an unprecedented feat, a work of unparalleled grandeur! This servant... this servant has only done the work of a dog or a horse, how could I possibly be worthy of such a great responsibility! Only Your Majesty is qualified to be the chief editor of this book!"

Zhu Youjian shook his head and spoke.

"Do as I command. I possess the entire world; would I covet the merits of a mere subject?"

These words shocked not only Liu Ruoyu, but also Cao Huachun and Gao Shiming who were standing next to him.

Only now did they truly realize what a monumental achievement the emperor had presented—an achievement capable of driving any scholar mad.

Even with Gao Shiming's calm demeanor, a hint of undisguised envy, even jealousy, flickered in his eyes as he looked at Liu Ruoyu.

Zhu Youjian saw everything but said little.

What he wants is this effect.

"Now that the matter has been agreed upon, let's all get to work on it."

Zhu Youjian stood up, dusted off his sleeves, and said, "I am also tired. Let's return to the palace."

After saying that, he strode towards the door.

Cao Huachun and Liu Ruoyu quickly followed and escorted him to the gate of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Zhu Youjian mounted his horse, and behind him, all the eunuchs, big and small, from the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Inner Study, knelt on the ground, a dark mass of them.

He didn't immediately spur his horse on, but instead reined in his horse and looked up at the sky.

After a long silence, Zhu Youjian suddenly smiled.

He turned to the side and looked down at the kneeling crowd below.

"When I ascended the throne, I told you to be loyal and to speak to the emperor about everything; to abide by the law, to be careful with your salary, and not to take anything without permission."

His voice sounded somewhat faint in the wind.

"So what will I give you in return? I think I forgot to say that back then."

There was a deathly silence in front of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and everyone was listening intently.

Zhu Youjian scanned the crowd with piercing eyes and slowly began to speak.

"Firstly, it is called power."

"If you are capable, diligent, and conscientious, a bright future awaits you. The positions in the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Twelve Directorates of the Inner Court are all there."

Below, the eunuchs who were in charge of the proceedings and writing down their thoughts instantly became eager.

Zhu Youjian continued.

Secondly, money.

"Now that the nation is in decline and needs money everywhere, I cannot afford to give too many rewards at the moment. But once the nation's fortunes improve, I will increase salaries and rewards without hesitation. I dare not say that I can make you as rich as kings and nobles, but I will certainly ensure that you can enjoy your old age in peace. If you truly make an unparalleled contribution, why would I hesitate to reward you with hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of gold pieces?"

Among the crowd, the young eunuchs who had just entered the palace and still harbored fantasies about the future had a fire burning in their eyes.

"And thirdly..."

Zhu Youjian paused, picked up his riding whip, and vaguely pointed in the direction of Liu Ruoyu and Cao Huachun.

"This is it, the name."

"The 'Yongchang Pinyin' is just the beginning. I have countless important things to do. As long as you work diligently and keep up closely, even if not everyone can be remembered in history, you will certainly not have lived in vain."

He retracted his whip and gave a final glance at the faces below, some excited, some fervent, and some awe.

"Just get your job done."

"Do not let me fall behind!"

The moment he finished speaking, Zhu Youjian suddenly lashed out with his riding whip.

"drive!"

With a long neigh, the horse galloped away like a black lightning bolt towards the Qianqing Palace.

His personal guards immediately spurred their horses to follow, the thunder of hooves echoing as they sped away into the distance.

All that remained were the eunuchs kneeling in front of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the sky, heavy with the weight of impending doom, yet not a single drop of rain fell.

(End of this chapter)