The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Carpenter Prince!

When Sun Chengzong entered the hall, there were only two lines of writing on the Xuan paper on the imperial desk, and the ink was just about to dry.

He glanced up but didn't say a word.

Zhu Youxiao offered no further explanation, simply placing the Xuan paper face down on the table and getting straight to the point:

"What is your opinion on the clause in Grand Secretary Fang's draft that 'local inspections shall be conducted by the Provincial Administration Commission itself'?"

Sun Chengzong pondered for a long time.

"So-called self-inspection is nothing but not inspection."

"Um."

These six short words completely exposed the true nature of this poisoning scheme. When Fang Congzhe added this clause to the draft proposal, no one in the entire court dared to point it out on the spot, because the four words "local self-examination" were written so openly and honestly, seemingly an enlightened approach that trusted local officials. In reality, everyone knew perfectly well that along the dozen or so checkpoints from the capital to Liaodong, hundreds of officials were involved. Asking them to examine themselves was no different than asking rats to count the granaries.

However, this legal provision must never be deleted from the official record.

Fang Congzhe was forced to recite a text during the grand meeting today, and he was full of resentment with nowhere to vent it. If salt were rubbed into his wounds now, and he was forced to publicly revise the clauses he had written into the draft, where would he put his face as the prime minister for the past seven years? If he couldn't put his face aside, he had a hundred ways to secretly plant nails in other parts of the details to plug the leaks.

Deleting someone else's added clause creates enmity; adding your own clause to offset it is a skill.

"Sir, I do not intend to delete this message."

Sun Chengzong glanced at the Crown Prince.

"I would like to add one more clause: The Ministry of Revenue has the right to send personnel to conduct random inspections."

Sun Chengzong tapped his knee lightly with his fingers, his mind already turning to the next level.

Local self-inspections continued as usual, but the Ministry of Revenue could send people to conduct spot checks at any time. Self-inspections were for appearances, spot checks were for substance. Fang Congzhe preserved his face, and the Crown Prince also gained substance. No matter how eloquently local officials wrote their self-inspection reports, with the steel knife of the Ministry of Revenue's spot checks hanging over their heads, they always had to weigh the consequences before putting pen to paper.

With this clause added to the 60% version of the system, it can barely reach 70%.

It's impossible to achieve 100%. With Fang Congzhe still sitting in the position of Grand Secretary, a 100% success rate is just empty talk.

"How does Your Highness intend to add this clause? The detailed rules were drafted by the Cabinet in conjunction with the Ministries of War and Revenue, and were personally drafted by Grand Secretary Fang. Whether to add it or not is entirely up to him."

Zhu Youxiao leaned back in his chair, his gaze falling on the half-carved wooden horse on the table.

"We won't follow Grand Secretary Fang's route. We'll go through the Ministry of Revenue."

Sun Chengzong nodded slightly, waiting for what was to come.

"Li Ruhua said during the grand meeting: 'The Ministry of Revenue has accounts but no investigation, and I am ashamed.' These were his heartfelt words. The old Minister, at the age of seventy-two, was still standing there being questioned by all the officials, and he must have been losing face. He wanted to investigate, but he couldn't do it alone."

"Now we'll give him a pretext. The Ministry of Revenue will proactively request permission to send officials to assist in the investigation. This isn't a clause forced upon him by the Crown Prince, but rather something the Ministry of Revenue itself demanded. Will Grand Secretary Fang stop it or not? The Minister of Revenue is proactively handling the court's accounts; how can the Grand Secretary, in his position, step in to obstruct the investigation?"

Sun Chengzong's brows relaxed slightly.

The brilliance of this move lies in "who makes the suggestion".

The same clause, "The Ministry of Revenue has the right to conduct random inspections," is considered a power grab if proposed by the Crown Prince; it's considered a contradiction if proposed by Fang Congzhe; but if proposed by the Ministry of Revenue itself, it's considered its duty.

"Does Your Highness wish to order me to seek out Minister Li?"

"No. Sir, you have no dealings with the Ministry of Revenue. If you come here rashly, it will be reported to Fang Congzhe's desk tomorrow." Zhu Youxiao tapped his fingers lightly on the table. "Find Han Kuang."

Sun Chengzong was taken aback.

"Grand Secretary Han said 'the two should proceed in parallel without conflict' during the grand meeting today, and the Donglin faction appreciated his gesture. Li Ruhua and Grand Secretary Han are from the same year and have a long-standing friendship. So Grand Secretary Han conveyed a message to Li Ruhua: 'Grand Secretary Han's words during the grand meeting were reasonable. The investigation and the affairs of the military commander should proceed in parallel. If the Ministry of Revenue can take the initiative to volunteer for the investigation, it will truly be a contribution to the country.'"

In short, by going with the flow, they took over Han Kuang's extraordinary chess piece and made it their own.

Han Kuang's "parallelism without contradiction" today has planted a time bomb for the Crown Prince, who is now using this time bomb as a key to open the door of the Ministry of Revenue.

Sun Chengzong cupped his hands and said solemnly, "Your subject will depart first thing tomorrow morning."

"gentlemen."

"Your subject is here."

"The matter of reporting the threshold should also be settled at the same time. Grand Secretary Fang changed 5 li to 15%, which is too high. If a deficit is found, it does not need to be reported. It must be changed back to 5 li."

"This matter... I'm afraid it can only be done with the Emperor's approval."

"I have my own plans regarding Father Emperor."

Zhu Youxiao turned the upside-down sheet of Xuan paper on the table over.

Two lines of text. One line reads "The Ministry of Revenue dispatched personnel to assist in the investigation," and the other reads "The reporting threshold is five cents."

Planning things out thoroughly before inviting people over is not discussion; it's assigning tasks.

Sun Chengzong stared at the two lines of text, his heart skipped a beat.

Three days ago, during the grand council, the fifteen-year-old crown prince sat by the imperial desk and spent two hours flipping through the memorials, as naive as an ordinary boy who knew nothing of the world.

At this moment, deep within the Eastern Palace, a mere two lines of text and two simple moves have completely sealed off the escape routes of all the officials in the court.

He bowed deeply and silently withdrew.

…………

The next day. In the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Taichang was flipping through the memorials when he came to a report from the Ministry of Revenue, submitted by Li Ruhua.

The wording on it was extremely respectful, but the gist of it was nothing more than: Now that the system for verifying Liaodong military supplies has been established, the Ministry of Revenue, as the central authority for all the money and grain in the country, should take the lead and earnestly request the imperial decree to send officials to various circuits in Liaodong to assist in the verification, so as to demonstrate the credibility of the document.

Emperor Taichang glanced through it and casually asked a question:

"Li Ruhua has been diligent and proactive this time."

Zhu Youxiao flipped through the notebook in his hand without even raising his head:

"Minister Li was interrogated during the grand meeting. At seventy-two years old, he must have lost face. This time, he volunteered to help, probably hoping to regain his lost dignity."

Emperor Taichang grunted and then wrote the word "Approved" in vermilion ink.

The Ministry of Revenue requested permission to send officials to assist in the investigation. Approval was granted.

Although the "local self-inspection" clause in Fang Congzhe's draft was not deleted, it effectively added a sword hanging over his head.

Emperor Taichang opened another book.

"The Cabinet has set the reporting threshold at 15%."

Zhu Youxiao still did not raise his head.

Emperor Taichang couldn't help but mutter, "Only when fifteen taels of a hundred taels of silver were lost were they reported, while the remaining fourteen taels were simply left as a bad debt?"

These words were not spoken to the crown prince; they were merely the emperor talking to himself.

But the logic behind his self-talk is extremely clear.

Zhu Youxiao held his breath and waited for two breaths before smoothly replying:

"Your subject is completely ignorant of these administrative matters. However, yesterday when the Imperial Hospital was testing medicines, the chief physician rejected the prescription and ordered a resubmission even if the dosage of a single ingredient was slightly off. He was quite strict."

Emperor Taichang paused slightly with his pen.

The reporting threshold for drug testing is zero. If a single drug is incorrect, the application is rejected.

The reporting threshold for the inspection of Liaodong military pay was 15%. Even if there was a shortfall of 14.5 taels out of 15 taels, it didn't need to be reported.

The same court, the same set of verification logic, two thresholds, yet worlds apart.

"It's changed." Emperor Taichang picked up his brush and drew a heavy red line over "15%", and wrote three words next to it: "Change to 5%".

It wasn't the Crown Prince who said it. It was Emperor Taichang who personally revised it.

The crown prince merely happened to mention testing the medicine while standing nearby.

After Emperor Taichang changed the threshold, he flipped through two more commemorative books and suddenly asked:

"What was the name of that military commissioner in Liaodong again?"

"Reporting to Father Emperor, Xiong Tingbi."

"Yes. Yang Lian and the others are clamoring for a change of coach."

Zhu Youxiao, with his eyes closed and mind at ease, did not engage in this discussion.

Emperor Taichang rubbed his throbbing temples.

"Since it has already been stated in the grand council that the matter of the commander-in-chief will be decided after the investigation is completed, then let's wait and see. Do not rush it any further."

These words were directed at Wang An, ordering him to inform the Ministry of Justice and to temporarily withhold Yang Lian's memorial regarding the change of commander.

The matter of protecting the bear was thus settled. It wasn't the Crown Prince who made the protection decision; it was Emperor Taichang's own decree. From beginning to end, the Crown Prince never uttered a single word about "protecting" the bear in that warm pavilion.

…………

Day three.

The Cabinet, together with the Ministries of War and Revenue, drafted the "Detailed Rules for the Inspection System of Liaodong Military Pay" and submitted it to the Emperor for review.

Fang Congzhe's draft was flawless. The entire framework of the inspection system was retained, and the clause on "local self-inspection" remained intact. However, a new clause was added after it, requiring the Ministry of Revenue to send officials to assist in the investigation. The reporting threshold was even personally changed to five percent by Emperor Taichang. No matter how capable the cabinet was, it dared not refute the emperor's imperial approval.

Fang Congzhe stared at the words "five cents," his face expressionless.

Five percent. The Liaodong military levy involved thirteen checkpoints and hundreds of people. If even a single tael of silver was out of balance, a written report had to be submitted. The report was signed and documented, and there was a record to follow.

This net, once cast, can never be retrieved.

The final draft of the bill was presented to the Emperor for his signature.

Emperor Taichang approved the memorial.

…………

On the evening after the great debate subsided, Fang Congzhe sat alone in his duty room.

…………

Side hall of the East Palace.

The meeting ended half an hour later.

Zhu Youxiao sat alone in the hall, clutching the wooden horse that was only half-carved in his hand.

His knuckles turned white from gripping the fist so tightly.

It wasn't because of nervousness. He should have been nervous two hours ago, when he was sitting in the main hall flipping through his notes, his back ramrod straight, even counting his breaths.

It's because it's loose.

My fifteen-year-old body had been tense for two whole hours, and my muscles started to malfunction after my brain relaxed. My neck ached as if it had been twisted, and the web of my right hand was trembling so badly that I couldn't hold the carving knife properly, so I had to grab a wooden horse instead.

After clenching it for a while, I slowly loosened it.

There was a faint red mark on my palm, from the unpolished edges of the wooden horse.

Won.

The first major victory since the transmigration.

But three shadows followed the great victory.

From this day forward, Sun Chengzong will no longer be an unknown lecturer. At the grand meeting, he publicly presented the data on the three-year deficit to the entire court, and everyone knew he possessed genuine information. The three factions will begin watching him tomorrow. His future missions to Liaodong will be fraught with insidious surveillance and traps at every turn.

The crown prince pushed him to the forefront; this step had been decided before he even left the house. There was no going back on the move. But whether he regretted it or not was one thing, whether it hurt or not was another.

"The matter of the commander-in-chief will be decided after the investigation is completed." This statement was recorded in the daily records. Once the investigation results show that the Liaodong military expenditure was shockingly low, the pressure to replace the commander-in-chief would be overwhelming. At that time, the room for protecting Xiong would be extremely narrow, and the data would speak for itself; even the Crown Prince's word would not be able to suppress it.

Emperor Taichang made two appearances today. Once at a grand meeting to finalize the decision, and once in the warm pavilion to modify the threshold. His imperial decree carried weight twice; next time a similar situation arises, the officials won't be so quick to heed it. Overused seals are worthless.

Three accounts. None of them are insignificant.

Zhu Youxiao glanced down at the red mark on his palm and placed the wooden horse on the table.

Footsteps could be heard outside the door.

Sun Chengzong entered, his gaze lingering on the red mark on the Crown Prince's palm for a moment, but he remained silent.

Zhu Youxiao calmly put his hands behind his back.

"Sir, there is another task tomorrow. Although the detailed regulations have been reviewed, the person responsible for carrying them out is still undecided. I would like to trouble you to keep an eye on things at the Ministry of Revenue, and I will handle things with Grand Secretary Fang."

Sun Chengzong cupped his hands and said in a deep voice, "Your subject understands."

Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly and turned to walk towards the inner palace.

He took two steps, then stopped again.

He didn't turn around.

"When you go out of the manor in the future, please take two more attendants with you."

His tone was very calm, as if he were just talking about the clear and sunny day.

Sun Chengzong stood there stunned for a long time before bowing deeply.

…………

That night, the cabinet was on duty.

Fang Congzhe sat alone under the lamp, with all the official documents from the past three days laid out on his desk. He flipped through them one by one, and then looked at them repeatedly.

He didn't take Sun Chengzong's public display of his true abilities to heart. A mere lecturer from the Eastern Palace trying to show off was nothing to be alarmed about.

But then Han Kuang said, "They can coexist without conflict." Han Kuang had been in the cabinet for less than two months and had always kept his mouth shut, but on that day he spoke out.

Then, Li Ruhua took the initiative to request permission to send personnel to assist in the investigation. At the advanced age of seventy-two, when had Li Ruhua ever been so enthusiastic and proactive in his post? Han and Li were born in the same year, and they took the stage almost immediately after Han finished his performance.

Immediately following, the Emperor personally revised the threshold he had reported, reducing it from 15% to 5%.

Three days. Four people. Everyone acted reasonably and logically, without the slightest error.

Fang Congzhe picked up the teacup beside him. The cup was icy to the touch, and the tea had already been permeated with coldness.

He didn't drink it, and put the teacup down again.

Each of the four had their own agenda. Sun Chengzong was a bookish show-off, Han Kuang was a new cabinet minister seeking fame, Li Ruhua was an old minister trying to save face, and Emperor Taichang was a dictator making arbitrary decisions.

However, these four seemingly logical actions, when put together, strangely point to the same result.

It's going too smoothly. So smoothly that it sends chills down your spine.

Fang Congzhe closed his eyes, then opened them again.

He suddenly recalled that last glance he had inadvertently taken at the imperial desk when the grand discussion ended.

The prince was looking down, slowly and methodically whittling a piece of wood.

The blade was as steady as a rock.

Fang Congzhe stared intently at the flickering lamplight on the windowpane, sitting there for a long time.

During his seven years as prime minister, there was no situation in the court that Cong Zhe could not unravel.

Only in today's game of chess could he see the formation, but not the underlying strategy. It was as if he were watching a game through a veil of smoke; all the pieces were right in front of him, but the mastermind behind the scenes was hidden deep within the curtain.

A sudden gust of night wind swept up outside the duty room, causing the lamp flame to tilt violently.

Fang Congzhe gathered all the official documents on his desk and neatly stacked them one by one.

His hand suddenly paused.

He then pulled out the bottom document, laid it flat on the table, and wrote a few names on a piece of plain white Xuan paper.

After writing it down, he examined it for a long time, but couldn't see anything particularly interesting. He then folded the Xuan paper in half and put it into his sleeve pocket.

Suddenly, I had a feeling that my opponent might not be on the chessboard.