The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Carpenter Prince!

More than half a month after the training institute began operating, Zhu Youxiao implemented a new rule: a ten-day report.

He submitted a report every ten days, with a uniform format of five columns: what was done in the current ten days, the obstacles encountered, the amount of money wasted, the plans for the next ten days, and the promotions needed. He personally drafted a blank form, meticulously drawing lines with a wooden ruler, and placed it on the desk in the training institute, instructing six people to each copy it.

"From now on, submit one report at the end of each ten-day period. Do not write lengthy articles; state the advantages and disadvantages directly. Speak frankly and do not be hypocritical or secretive."

When the first batch of ten-day reports arrived, Zhu Youxiao flipped through two pages, rubbed his temples, and looked displeased.

The two scholars' reports were written in a long, parallel style, beginning with "I believe that the Liaodong affairs are wasteful and complicated, and this is not a problem that can be solved overnight," and so on. They were more than three hundred words long, but if you break them down, you can only find two sentences of useful information.

The clerk who copied the text was too concise; three of the five columns were left blank, with only the first column stating "copied several copies," without even specifying how many copies that "several copies" meant.

Only the reports from the two tenant farmers were well-organized, with accurate figures and concise writing, but unfortunately, they were too concise. One wrote about calculating the loss rate of grain transport from Puhe to Liaoyang, concluding that about 37 shi were lost for every 100 shi transported by land. The other wrote about comparing the difference between the Ministry of War's archives and the military governor's reports on troop numbers, with the largest difference in the Puhe section.

The format resembles a military report, and the numbers are like those used in official documents from the Ministry of War.

Zhu Youxiao stared at the two ten-day reports for a long time, then picked up his pen and wrote a line in vermilion ink on the scholar's report: "Three hundred words in total, but only two sentences are useful. Rewrite it next ten days."

He circled a line in the "tenant's" ten-day report but left no comment.

The meaning of "circle" is quite clear. It was done well, but it needs to tone down its sharpness; the writing style is too military.

He thought to himself that these two were experienced and should be able to understand this deeper meaning.

…………

The ten-day report was still presented to Emperor Taichang in accordance with the established practice of having it reviewed by a proxy. It first passed through the hands of the Crown Prince, who then drafted and screened it before presenting it to the Emperor along with other reports.

Emperor Taichang flipped through the ten-day report, paused briefly at the first column, and then turned the page.

"Understood." The emperor lightly wrote three words.

After putting down his pen, Emperor Taichang casually added, "This format of the ten-day report is quite novel. Have someone make a copy and send it to the cabinet so that Grand Secretary Fang can also take a look."

Zhu Youxiao bowed his head in agreement.

My heart skipped a beat and sank slightly.

The Emperor has come again. He entrusted the power of reviewing documents to the Crown Prince, while simultaneously sending a copy of the register to Fang Congzhe. This is the first time. Now, the Emperor has again entrusted the Crown Prince with a copy of the ten-day report, which was then sent to Fang Congzhe. This is the second time. Emperor Taichang ensures that the Grand Secretary is fully aware of every political matter handled by the Crown Prince. Regardless of whether he trusts the successor, the imperial authority will not allow the Crown Prince to secretly accumulate uncontrollable power. This is the imperial family's system of checks and balances—crude yet watertight.

…………

Cabinet Office.

Fang Congzhe was the only one who received a copy of the Xunbao newspaper.

He unfolded the book and read it carefully, once, twice, and even three times.

On the first viewing, the Crown Prince's study group calculated the accounts for Liaodong, including the cost of transporting grain, the shortage of troops, and the comparison of procurement prices. Every single detail required solid desk work.

The second time I looked at the format, the five columns were clear at a glance, without any nonsense or official jargon. The memorials from the Six Ministries and the Censorate were often thousands of words long, and they were all just repetitive phrases. The really important points were all buried on the third page, seventh line. As the Grand Secretary, he must have been suffering terribly every day drafting these documents. However, the Crown Prince's blank document was clear in its entirety with just a glance at the five columns.

The third time, he didn't look at the words and sentences, but stared at the five vertical lines for a long time before summoning the Imperial Secretary.

Who drafted this form?

The secretary was taken aback: "Your Excellency, the copy was not marked with this."

Fang Congzhe remained silent.

"If all the memorials submitted by the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers were to be submitted in this format," he said, placing the ten-day report on the table and stroking the edge of the paper. "This old man can draft thirty more in a day."

The Imperial Secretary kept his eyes down, not daring to respond.

On the same day, the Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard also secretly sent a memorial.

The document detailed the origins and backgrounds of the six trainees at the training institute, which perfectly matched the information Fang Congzhe had previously gathered through his informants. The two scholars had impeccable backgrounds, the student was a former student of the Imperial Academy who had been dismissed, and the clerk was a low-ranking official in the Ministry of War. All of them were poor and uneducated.

As for the two "literate tenants," the annotations on the Imperial Guard's folded document clearly stated that they were tenants from Gaoyang County and students of mathematics in Baoding Prefecture, exactly the same as those on the official register.

Fang Congzhe glanced at it coldly and casually put the folding book aside.

The fact that the Embroidered Uniform Guard could not find any flaws did not mean that there were no flaws at all. However, what he was more concerned about now was not the background of these six people, but the thoughts and plans hidden behind those five vertical lines.

Where did a crown prince who had just married at the age of fifteen learn such shrewd and experienced methods in officialdom?

The question about the distance between Shenyang and Liaoyang at the imperial lecture can be considered a fleeting inspiration, and the accounts of the Liaodong military expenses discussed in the court can also be attributed to Sun Chengzong secretly writing them. However, this ten-day report format, with its five columns, meticulous details, traceable records, and verifiable details, is indeed an extremely sophisticated system of governance.

Who exactly is giving these instructions behind the scenes?

Sun Chengzong was indeed a learned scholar as a lecturer at the Imperial Academy, but he was ultimately a member of the Hanlin Academy and spent his life working on classics, history, and memorials. He could never have drafted such a practical document.

Could it really be something the Crown Prince came up with on his own?

The eldest son of the emperor, who had lived in the deep palace for a long time, had not even read the Four Books and Five Classics.

Fang Congzhe laid out the ten-day report and the secret report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard side by side on the table and sat there blankly for a long time.

Outside the window, only withered branches remain of the old locust tree, and the north wind gradually rises, growing stronger with each gust.

During this period, a thorn had been growing deeper and deeper in Fang Congzhe's heart.

This thorn has a strange name.

Each move by the Crown Prince, when analyzed individually, was reasonable and without any transgression. His obstruction of Hongwan was due to his filial piety, his request for written notification was due to his cautious nature, his inquiry about the distance he traveled was due to his intelligence and eagerness to learn, and his investigation of the Liaodong military expenditure was also due to his concern for the country.

However, if all these moves are connected, they are truly interlocked and meticulously planned, showing no trace of a fifteen-year-old's skill, but rather that of a seasoned bureaucrat who has been navigating the treacherous waters of officialdom for twenty years.

Fang Congzhe closed his eyes, forcefully suppressing the thorn in his heart.

Unfathomable variables should be set aside for now.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he had already made up his mind.

…………

The next day, in the warm room.

Fang Congzhe entered to offer his greetings, first presenting two routine political matters, and then abruptly shifted the conversation to the training institute.

"Your Majesty, I was very pleased to read the copy of the ten-day report submitted by the Crown Prince's Academy yesterday. His Highness's diligent study and daily lectures are indeed a model for the imperial family."

Emperor Taichang was reclining on a soft couch, resting with his eyes closed, when he heard this, he slightly raised his eyelids.

Fang Congzhe continued, "However, I have a slight concern. The current number of six students in the training institute is too small to be confined to the side hall of Cining Palace all day long. Since Your Highness is so eager to learn, why doesn't Your Majesty extend your grace and recruit more students? In my humble opinion, it would be better to transfer the entire training institute to the Hanlin Academy and have Hanlin compilers come in to tutor the students. This would be in accordance with the ancestral system and would be perfectly legitimate. The court officials outside the capital would certainly not be able to find any fault with it."

Emperor Taichang did not immediately respond.

His gaze swept over Fang Congzhe's old face, a fleeting glint of cold light flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"Does Fang Qing think that the Crown Prince's training institute is operating in violation of regulations?"

"How dare I have such a presumptuous thought!" Fang Congzhe bowed and said, "I only think that Your Highness has done an excellent job in organizing this event. Since it is a good policy, it should be promoted and widely implemented."

Emperor Taichang gave a noncommittal "hmm" and closed his eyes again, without giving a direct answer on the spot.

Fang Congzhe understood and stopped pressing him, then politely withdrew.

…………

The news was secretly transmitted to the Eastern Palace within half a day.

Wang An rushed over and relayed Fang Congzhe's words from his audience in the warm pavilion, word for word.

Zhu Youxiao was carving elm wood when he heard this, and the carving knife in his hand hovered in mid-air.

After a moment's hesitation, he put the carving knife back on the table.

The smile on his face vanished completely.

What a capable chief minister! He finally couldn't hold back and made his move.

And every move he makes is a deadly strike aimed directly at the vital points.

Fang Congzhe's advice was impeccable on the surface. Not only did he not obstruct the establishment of the training institute, but he also gave his full support to expand your influence. Who in the entire court could stand up against the Grand Secretary's tutoring of the Crown Prince? This story will surely become a legend among scholars.

However, a deadly trap lurks within.

Once the Hanlin Academy took over the management, the power to appoint and dismiss personnel in this training institute was forcibly taken away from the Crown Prince.

The lecturers were appointed by the Hanlin Academy, the curriculum was drafted by the Hanlin Academy, and the number of attendants depended entirely on the Hanlin Academy's register.

The private army he had painstakingly built up was reduced to a public tool of the outer court overnight. Nominally, he still bore the title of Crown Prince, but the people inside had long since lost all connection with him.

That was truly a brilliant trick of deception.

Even more insidious was that Fang Congzhe bypassed the cabinet meetings and informed the Crown Prince, directly passing the buck to Emperor Taichang.

If the emperor grants the request, he, as the son, can only obey and dare not disobey the imperial decree. If the emperor rejects it, it is tantamount to announcing to the court officials that the emperor intends to allow the crown prince to raise his own faction. Once this is spread and stirs up controversy, those censors who originally did not take the training institute seriously will inevitably rise up to attack him. He will be in a hopeless situation no matter what.

Zhu Youxiao picked up the carving knife and scraped off a shaving along the grain of the elm wood, the shavings falling in a flurry.

"Otomo, what was Father's reply at the time?"

"His Majesty only asked Fang Qing whether he felt the training institute was not properly run. Fang Congzhe repeatedly denied it and said that it should be promoted more widely. After that, His Majesty closed his eyes and did not comment."

Neither confirmed nor denied.

Zhu Youxiao loosened his grip on the carving knife slightly.

The fact that the Emperor did not grant permission on the spot meant that he had already seen through Fang Congzhe's scheme behind his memorial, and at least he was not easily fooled by the phrase "extend it further".

However, the emperor did not reject it on the spot, as he was still weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

Weighing the options, if the training institute remains in the hands of the Crown Prince, there is a risk of him forming cliques and becoming too powerful to control. If it is handed over to Fang Congzhe, wouldn't the successor of the Ming Dynasty become deaf and blind again? Between these two evils, we must choose the lesser one. The Emperor has not yet made a decision.

This was his only chance to turn the tide. He had to come up with a reason that his father would believe before the imperial decree was issued, a reason that would be far safer for the training institute to remain in the Eastern Palace than to hand it over to the outer court.

Zhu Youxiao put down his carving knife and closed his eyes slightly.

Gao Fang Congzhe had been mediating disputes in the court for seven years. This was the first time he had taken the initiative to launch an attack. His tactics were extremely shrewd. He did not suppress me openly, nor did he trip me up secretly. Instead, he used the guise of assisting me to support me and make me stronger, step by step pushing me to the edge of a cliff.

But despite his meticulous planning, he overlooked one crucial detail: the foundation of this scheme was to treat the training institute as a place for private lectures, completely failing to grasp its inner workings. What I rely on is not those six impoverished individuals, but the powerful political instrument that is gradually taking shape behind them, capable of dispelling the clouds and revealing the sun.

Can the Hanlin Academy's upright officials handle such meticulous methods as checking ten-day reports and comparing procurement prices?

Those courtiers who spend their days composing poems and indulging in romantic fantasies, completely oblivious to the distance between Liaoyang and Shenyang, will soon find themselves in a complete mess when tasked with such practical matters.

Once this system of checks and balances is abolished, no one in the Ming Dynasty can understand the mess left in Liaodong. Can the Emperor truly bear the cost of shaking the foundation of the nation?

Zhu Youxiao's gaze narrowed slightly as he gripped the carving knife tightly.

"Otomo, tomorrow you will need to do a errand for me."

Wang An was taken aback: "Your Highness, please give your orders."

"Instruct Chen Wenju to recompile the ten-day reports from the past half month, and submit them together with the original draft of the calculation of the uneven troop numbers and the waste of grain transportation expenses to the Warm Pavilion."

Wang An was taken aback: "Does Your Highness intend to present this to His Majesty for review?"

"I want my father to see for himself what he is secretly plotting with this training institute."

The blade moved smoothly along the grain of the wood, and the wood chips fell like snowflakes.

Since Fang Congzhe said that good policies should be promoted and widely implemented, I asked my father to use his wisdom to see the weight of this good policy. The weight is so heavy that the Hanlin Academy dares not touch it and the Six Ministries cannot handle it. The entire court of scholars and officials simply cannot understand such details.

Such meticulous work, requiring painstaking effort, is something that no one else in the world, except for a few peasants under my command, can handle. This is my greatest trump card.

By avoiding a power struggle with the cabinet and directly confronting Fang Congzhe, the cabinet could seize power if it wanted to, but who would manage this mess for the Ming Dynasty after it took it?

…………

In the stillness of the night, in the cabinet office.

Fang Congzhe sat alone by candlelight, with a copy of the "Daytime Warm Pavilion's Daily Records" spread out in front of him.

He pondered Emperor Taichang's words, "Does Minister Fang think the training institute is not properly run?" The words contained a subtle barb. The emperor did not inquire about how to expand the institute or who in the Hanlin Academy was suitable for the task, but instead questioned him about whether he felt there was anything wrong with it. The implication was that Fang Congzhe was deliberately trying to provoke the Crown Prince.

Fang Congzhe smiled wryly, his protective instincts evident.

Emperor Taichang's first reaction to the situation was to disregard the advantages and disadvantages of the court and instinctively protect his son, making the situation truly difficult.

He picked up his teacup, drank the cold tea, and then got up and walked to the window.

The cold moonlight outside the window was like frost, and the bare branches of the old locust tree cast menacing shadows. Suddenly, something popped into his mind.

In the latter half of the day, he secretly copied several old documents from the Six Ministries, which made the drafting speed not just a little faster, but more than double.

The rules casually thrown out by the fifteen-year-old prince were more sophisticated and efficient than the bureaucratic system of the Six Ministries of the Ming Dynasty, which had been in operation for more than two hundred years.

Fang Congzhe stood by the window, the cold moonlight reflecting on his aged face. This crown prince could not be described as simply intelligent.

He had seen too many exceptionally intelligent people in his life, such as Zhang Juzheng during the Wanli reign and Yan Song during the Jiajing reign. Although they each had their own strengths, they all followed the same principle: to do their best to maneuver and scheme within the established rules and regulations of their ancestors.

The Crown Prince, however, was different. He disdained to curry favor with the old rules and was trying to reshape the rules of the dynasty.

The difference between the two is more than just an insurmountable chasm.

Fang Congzhe turned around and sat back down at his desk, carefully folding the copy of the ten-day report and placing it under the paperweight. Unbeknownst to him, the hidden thorn in his heart, called "Strange," had deepened another inch.