Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

Five days later.

The marking of papers is complete.

Inside the study of the Right Viceroy's Office.

Pei Yuan sat behind a large rosewood desk, holding an exam paper that had been marked with red ink.

The handwriting on that scroll wasn't exactly the style of a famous calligrapher.

But the meticulous mathematical deductions and the incisive, concise water conservancy construction strategies impressed even a well-informed and knowledgeable person like Pei Yuan, who was considered an immortal.

"What a remarkable Song Yin!"

Pei Yuan looked at the signature at the end of the exam paper, a gleam of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

"The calculations of the center of gravity and the forces exerted on the sails of this ocean-going vessel are absolutely accurate. It also reveals the shortcomings of our Ming Dynasty's firearms in terms of chamber pressure resistance."

"Such a great talent would be wasted if he were put in the Imperial Academy to memorize the eight-legged essay."

Pei Yuan picked up his vermilion pen and, without hesitation, wrote a large "First Class, Grade A" at the beginning of the exam paper.

"Lu Zheng".

Pei Yuan put down his pen and looked up.

"The results are out. First place goes to Song Yin of Suzhou. Send someone to the inn to summon him to me."

Half an hour later.

Song Yin, wearing a faded gray cloth gown, walked somewhat awkwardly into the study of the Right Vice-Governor's Mansion.

Although he was proud and arrogant.

But standing before this all-powerful, living Yama, one still felt an invisible pressure.

"This humble citizen, Song Yin, pays his respects to Your Excellency, the Governor."

Song Yin performed the formal salute.

Pei Yuan did not tell him to get up immediately.

Instead, he stood up, walked slowly to Song Yin, and looked down at the young man.

"Song Yin, I have read your paper. It is excellent."

Pei Yuan's voice was calm, revealing no emotion.

"But I must tell you this: if you become the top scholar in this special imperial examination and enter the Royal Trading Company, you will become the public enemy of all scholars in the world. They will call you a disgrace to scholarship and a lackey of this treacherous official."

"Your name won't make it into the elegant annals of scholars; it'll only be written in the scornful scribblings of those pretentious literati. Are you afraid?"

Song Yin knelt on the ground, his body stiffening slightly.

But he immediately raised his head, his clear eyes staring directly at Pei Yuan without flinching.

"Reporting to the Governor, this humble subject is not afraid."

Song Yin's voice was not loud, but it was firm and resounding.

"This humble subject has studied the classics for ten years, only to see streets littered with starving corpses and an empty treasury. The governor bears eternal infamy, yet he has built invincible warships for the Ming Dynasty and earned mountains of silver."

"I am but a commoner, and I do not understand anything about eternal fame. I only know that only when the abacus is working can the Ming Dynasty have enough to eat. Only when the cannons are cast can the Ming Dynasty sleep soundly."

"This humble commoner is willing to be this refined scoundrel, willing to be the abacus in the governor's hands."

"I only beg the Governor to grant me an opportunity to display my knowledge and skills to the world!"

Song Yin kowtowed heavily.

The study was completely silent.

Pei Yuan quietly looked at the young man kneeling at his feet.

After a long while, he suddenly burst into laughter.

The laughter carried the joy of finally finding kindred spirits after a century of solitude.

Pei Yuan reached out and personally helped Song Yin up from the ground.

He walked to a display cabinet in the corner of the wall.

He took out a waist tag engraved with the gold seal of "Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Commerce Bureau" and handed it to Song Yin.

"What a clever schemer to manipulate me."

Pei Yuan patted Song Yin's thin shoulder, his eyes full of expectation and deep emotion.

"From this day forward, you will be in charge of the Royal Trading Company. I hereby entrust you with all the accounts of the Tianjin docks and the supervision of the shipyard."

Pei Yuan looked out the window at the bright spring sunshine that had returned, his voice deep and powerful.

"Go do it. Let those old Confucian scholars who only know how to recite the eight-legged essay see that the Ming Dynasty was truly built on literature."

"It was thanks to us scoundrels that we bought it out with real money, powerful ships, and cannons!"

Song Yin accepted the heavy waist token with both hands, his eyes slightly red, and nodded heavily.

……

Since the beginning of June, the capital city has been like a giant steamer, without a single drop of rain falling for a whole month.

The weeping willows on both sides of the moat were withered by the scorching sun.

The cicadas, hiding deep within the lush foliage, were chirping loudly, which was quite irritating.

The towering red walls of the Forbidden City gleamed with a dizzying, ethereal light under the scorching sun.

However, a hundred miles away in Zhenhaibao, Tianjin, a scene of bustling activity and grand scale unfolded.

The sea breeze flowed back into the city from the Bohai Bay, dispelling the sweltering heat of the dog days of summer.

Inside the deep-water harbor, dozens of newly built armed Fujian-style ships were lined up, waiting for the Royal Trading Company to inspect and load them.

On the dock, coolies with towels draped over their shoulders shouted in unison as they carried boxes of silk, porcelain, and medicinal herbs onto the gangplank.

In a secluded courtyard of the Commerce Bureau, the sound of abacus beads clicking was like pearls falling onto a jade plate, so dense that there was no time to even catch one's breath.

Song Yin, wearing a faded blue summer robe, stood before a mountain of account books and timber calculation sheets.

His thin face was smudged with a few specks of ink, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

"Master Song, please take a look at this batch of materials."

An old shipwright from Zhenhai Fort led several men to carry a thick piece of nanmu wood into the courtyard.

The old shipwright frowned, his face full of resentment.

"This is new material delivered by the Qiao Family Trading Company in Shanxi. They say it's the finest old Phoebe zhennan wood from Sichuan and Guangdong, and they bought it at the price of top-grade material. But this old man has been sailing all his life, and when I weigh it in my hand, the weight is wrong."

"The wood grain looks fine, but it has a damp, gloomy feel to it; I'm afraid it's..."

The old shipwright hesitated, after all, the Qiao family's business was now a major customer of the Royal Trading Company, and he, as a craftsman, dared not speak too definitively.

Song Yin put down his brush, walked quickly to the nanmu wood, stroked the surface of the wood for a moment, and then tapped it with his fingers.

The dull sound reached his ears, instantly turning his originally gentle face into a layer of frost.

"How dare they! They tamper with the materials used by the imperial court to build treasure ships."

Song Yin stood up and swept his sharp gaze across the Qiao family steward, who was standing to the side wiping away cold sweat.

"You soaked this material in water for over a month and then sealed the surface with tung oil. The wood absorbed a lot of moisture, so it was naturally heavy and looked shiny. But once it's used to make the keel of a ship, the wood will crack and warp after it dries at sea."

"If the ship encounters a great storm at sea, it will break in two, and all the crew members will perish!"

The steward of the Qiao family was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground with a thud, his whole body trembling like a leaf.

"Sir Song, please investigate! I...I truly knew nothing about this. It was all the fault of my subordinates who, greedy for cheap prices, used inferior materials. I will immediately take this batch of materials back and compensate you tenfold!"

"Pull it back?"

Song Yin snorted coldly, turned around and walked back to his desk, picked up a command token stamped with the official seal of the Royal Commerce Bureau, and threw it heavily in front of the steward.

"Governor Pei has long had strict rules for Zhenhai Fort. Anyone who dares to falsify anything related to military and national treasures, or materials for precious ships, will be punished as a traitor. This batch of materials will all be confiscated and put into public use."

"As for you, and the manager in charge of procurement for your Qiao family, go to the Imperial Prison of the Zhenfu Division and explain to the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

Several fierce-looking officers of the Imperial Guard rushed in and dragged the crying and wailing steward out like a dead dog.

The old shipwright was moved to tears upon seeing this scene.

In the past, these craftsmen wouldn't dare utter a sound in front of those wealthy merchants.

The newly appointed Chief Clerk Song is not only proficient in timber calculations, but also incorruptible and decisive.

It really gave those of them who got things done real support.

"Master Song is truly a divine being."

The old shipwright exclaimed in heartfelt praise.

Song Yin shook his head slightly, picked up his brush again, and continued to calculate the accounts.

"I am no great man. The sky over Zhenhai Fort is held up by Governor Pei. I am just an abacus in the Governor's hand, and I have to keep the accounts clear for the Ming Dynasty and not tolerate any villains causing trouble."

In the past six months or so, ever since the results of the practical examination were released, Song Yin and a group of talented individuals skilled in practical matters have taken over the Royal Trading Company and the shipyard.

The efficiency of the entire Tianjin city was astonishing.

Without those pedantic scholars who only knew how to quote classics but were clueless about government affairs interfering, accounts were settled daily and monthly, and the construction of cannons and treasure ships was carried out in an orderly manner.