Chapter 216: Hit Whoever You Dislike

"Benefits and drawbacks?" Xu Guangqi took over the conversation from the side and said, "I don't want any of them."

As he said this, the expression on Xu Guangqi's face was not very pleasant.

For Xu Guangqi at the moment, the best thing would be for nothing at all to happen in the court, so that nothing could affect him. Peaceful and quiet would be best, and he could continue developing according to the current model.

Judging from the current situation, as long as he kept developing, his strength would only grow greater, and everything he wanted to accomplish could be done.

But now that this matter of demoting Mencius and elevating Xunzi had arisen, public opinion throughout the court was churning, and everyone was fighting over it—which was actually not very favorable to him.

"Now that things have come to this, we can only choose the option with more benefits," Li Zhizao said. "In fact, we don't have too many choices. We can only choose to support Huang Kezuan. If we don't support him, things will probably become even more troublesome."

Shen Tingyun on the side also nodded and said, "Indeed. What did we rely on to rise to our current positions?"

"It was Li Zhi's teachings—His Majesty trusted Li Zhi's teachings. Judging from the current situation, His Majesty does not oppose what Huang Kezuan is doing, which is to say His Majesty does not oppose Xunzi's teachings. If we oppose at this time, what would His Majesty think?"

"Would His Majesty think we are the same as those people before us? If so, we would lose the very foundation of our existence. So although it seems we have a choice, in reality we have no choice—we can only support Huang Kezuan."

"Replacing Mencius with Xunzi…" Xu Guangqi murmured to himself, then let out a sigh and said somewhat helplessly, "I'm afraid we will bear a bad reputation. If things fail, we may be reviled for ten thousand years."

"Then make it succeed!" Li Zhizao said through gritted teeth.

"There's no need to be so grim about it." Shen Tingyun smiled to comfort everyone: "In our studies, in our conduct, in our deeds, all we seek is a clear conscience. For the sake of the Great Ming, a little damage to our reputations is nothing. Even if things fail and we are reviled for ten thousand years, we won't be around to hear it."

Glancing at Shen Tingyun, Xu Guangqi pointed at him and said with a smile, "How old are you now? Still so mischievous. Since that's the case, let's not wait any longer—let's submit a routine memorial directly to support Huang Kezuan."

"I think you should still wait a bit." Shen Tingyun said with a grave face, "You are different from us. You are now a Grand Secretary and Second Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, so you cannot afford any trouble. And given your current position, it would be best not to take a stance for now."

Li Zhizao on the side also nodded and said, "The matter has only just begun, and the situation is not yet clear. We don't know what stance the several Grand Secretaries in the Grand Secretariat hold, so you shouldn't be in a hurry to declare your position either."

Xu Guangqi thought it over, nodded in agreement, and said, "Fine, I'll listen to you both."

Zhu Youxiao had been very bored lately.

He didn't want to read the routine memorials, because there was nothing important in them—they were all attacking Huang Kezuan. So Zhu Youxiao felt there wasn't much point in reading them or not.

As for attending the morning court session, that was even more out of the question. Going to morning court at a time like this—who knew when he might be angered to death.

Someone might very well dash himself against a pillar in the Golden Throne Hall to prove his integrity. How would that be handled?

So he simply didn't attend court. Let things be whatever they would be.

And so Zhu Youxiao found himself with free time, and rather bored.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Youxiao wasn't entirely without things to do. He began training together with Qi Yuanfu's Qianniu Guard.

Of course, Zhu Youxiao's training volume certainly couldn't match that of the elite members of the Qianniu Guard, but exercising his body still felt quite pleasant.

Although Zhu Youxiao's body had been weak for quite a while since his last cold, fortunately he was young and had good recuperative ability.

Besides training and exercising together, Zhu Youxiao also began researching new tactics with Qi Yuanfu—or rather, new training methods.

Mainly, Zhu Youxiao brought over some things from the later age, such as small-unit coordinated operations, special operations, and also troop type classification.

Some of these things Zhu Youxiao understood fairly well, and others he only knew the gist of. But that didn't matter—he had Qi Yuanfu by his side.

Although Qi Yuanfu was not very famous in history, far less so than Qi Jiguang and Qi Jin, he was still very knowledgeable about his family's training methods and knew the Mandarin Duck Formation very well.

That was enough for Zhu Youxiao. So the two of them tinkered together, combining some things from the later age with what the Qi Family Army currently used, and began continuous attempts and experiments.

They wanted to find a brand-new method of warfare. Two novices researching together—they were quite absorbed in it.

In this way, Zhu Youxiao's days passed rather fully, and he was full of enthusiasm every day.

"Your Majesty," Chen Hong walked to Zhu Youxiao's side and said softly, "Grand Secretary Xu Guangqi of the Grand Secretariat requests an audience."

Hearing Chen Hong's words, Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Let him in."

Before long, Xu Guangqi walked in from outside.

Zhu Youxiao had someone bring a stool, waved for the bowing Xu Guangqi to come over, and said with a smile, "My dear minister, do sit down and speak."

"Your servant thanks Your Majesty." Xu Guangqi quickly replied, then bowed and sat down.

Only after Xu Guangqi had sat down did Zhu Youxiao say with a gentle smile, "My dear minister, coming at this time—is there something on your mind?"

"To report to Your Majesty, your servant came today to discuss the matter of the imperial estates with Your Majesty." Xu Guangqi quickly said.

Hearing Xu Guangqi bring up this matter, Zhu Youxiao only then remembered it.

Come to think of it, it had been so long that he had truly forgotten about the imperial estates. Fortunately, Xu Guangqi was still conducting trial plantings, and it seemed the results should be good.

Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, "Then let's hear it."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Xu Guangqi quickly said, "The sweet potatoes your servant planted in the spring are growing very well. Many of the other crops also survived after being planted, and they look quite good. As for the specific harvest, we'll have to wait for the autumn harvest."

"However, the potatoes should have results soon. Your servant has searched in many places—in other parts of the Great Ming, common people have also spontaneously planted potatoes. But their plantings are not on a large scale, yields are uneven, and their methods vary greatly, so your servant is not too certain of the results."

"This time, everything was planted according to the method Your Majesty described. The growth looks good now—they've already flowered in the past few days, and I estimate they can be harvested very soon." Xu Guangqi said with a smile.

Zhu Youxiao nodded. The so-called sweet potato was actually just the common yam; as for potatoes, those were just tūdòu.

Zhu Youxiao naturally knew very well how to plant these two things.

Potatoes need to be sprouted, cut into pieces, and then planted—this was a method summarized in the later age.

Although Zhu Youxiao didn't know who had summarized it, or why it was done this way, there must certainly be a reason for it. As long as this planting method could be worked out, it could be promoted.

From this time onward, the Great Ming would face disaster after disaster—food grew scarer by the day, and famines increased year after year. How to keep the people's bellies full was the top priority.

Zhu Youxiao didn't have many methods to choose from. Given the current transportation conditions, plundering and transporting grain from abroad was unrealistic, so the only option was to improve domestic cultivation.

As for expanding arable land, unless war was launched in the south, the possibility was not very great.

At least until the problems in the north were resolved, he could not make a move in the south—this was a matter of proper sequence.

No matter how much trouble the south made, it couldn't amount to much.

The north was different.

Although Zhu Youxiao had done so many things during this period, he was very clear in his heart about the ranking of importance of matters.

The food problem would always rank first—not having enough to eat was the real big problem.

Now hearing Xu Guangqi say this, Zhu Youxiao was naturally very pleased.

As for the question of whether potatoes tasted good—when you're truly at the point of starving to death, what question of taste is there?

Besides, one could think of ways to prepare them, to enrich their flavors. For example, the French potato bread and so on—researching such things would also be excellent.

"My dear minister, today you have brought Us some good news." Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi and said with a smile, "When the potatoes are ripe, remember to call Us along—we'll go dig them up together."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, I will present them to you promptly." Xu Guangqi was also smiling quite happily; his joy came from the bottom of his heart.

Zhu Youxiao nodded. Seeing that Xu Guangqi showed no sign of taking his leave, he continued to ask, "Is there anything else?"

"To answer Your Majesty, there is also the matter of the Hundred Crafts Institute."

"The first batch of flintlock muskets at the Hundred Crafts Institute has been finalized and production has already begun. The prototype will be completed very soon. Ever since we acquired the hydraulic stamping press, production efficiency has greatly improved."

"There is one more thing I must report to Your Majesty, and that concerns the lathe Your Majesty mentioned. The Hundred Crafts Institute has already manufactured a simple one. As for the rifling Your Majesty spoke of, we have yet to find a suitable boring tool. The steel currently being smelted at the Hundred Crafts Institute is not up to standard."

"Can't bronze cannons work either?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao furrowed his brow, then turned to look at Xu Guangqi beside him. "By all logic it shouldn't be a problem—bronze has far better malleability and ductility. Finding a boring tool capable of cutting rifling into a bronze barrel shouldn't be too difficult."

"To answer Your Majesty, bronze can work, but the cost of casting bronze cannons is simply too high." Xu Guangqi said with some helplessness, "The expense is truly excessive—the Hundred Crafts Institute has already stopped casting bronze cannons."

The cost of bronze cannons was indeed a problem.

Not to mention whether the Great Ming has sufficient copper—the key point is that in this era, copper IS currency. Casting cannons out of copper is casting cannons out of money.

Under such circumstances, an ordinary court simply could not bear the burden. For a poor emperor like Zhu Youxiao, bronze cannons were simply beyond his means.

After all, cannons are not the kind of thing where one or two will do. You need many—in numbers, in scale. A small quantity is of little significance. So steel cannons are the best choice.

Now, after this long period of research by Zhu Youxiao and Xu Guangqi, the Hundred Crafts Institute has been able to manufacture steel cannons. It's just a matter of production speed, plus a few minor issues to resolve, and then they can go into mass production.

Beyond that, the Hundred Crafts Institute has also begun to expand into other firearm projects. For example, the Great Ming's traditional "beehive" landmine, the incendiary bomb known as the "Ten-Thousand-Man Foe," as well as the Divine Fire Flying Crow and the Thunderbolt Rapid-Fire Gun, and the large-caliber revolver known as the Five-Thunder Divine Machine.

Zhu Youxiao was very interested in several of these weapons, such as the Divine Fire Flying Crow. In Zhu Youxiao's view, this thing had the potential of a missile—at the very least, a rocket launcher.

Another one that interested him was the Thunderbolt Rapid-Fire Gun. This contraption was a multi-barreled firearm, with as many as eighteen firing tubes. Weighing 2.5 kilograms, with no interruption in firepower, it could be called a truly formidable repeating gun.

As for the Thunderbolt Rapid-Fire Gun, Zhu Youxiao had already given his suggestions for improvement—namely, reducing the number of barrels and achieving sequential firing through a rotating mechanism.

As for ammunition—since paper-cased cartridges were now being popularized, Zhu Youxiao had the Hundred Crafts Institute think about whether they could produce ammunition belts.

The final product of this line of development would naturally be the later-famous Gatling gun.

As long as the Hundred Crafts Institute could produce the Thunderbolt Rapid-Fire Gun, the Ming army would truly be invincible.

Whether it was the Jurchen or the Mongols of the grasslands, they would surely all become very warm and hospitable.

Zhu Youxiao was also very interested in the Five-Thunder Divine Machine—this thing was the world's earliest revolver.

The Five-Thunder Divine Machine came in three-eyed, five-eyed, and seven-eyed variants. When firing, it was operated by a two-man team—one person held the frame and rotated the barrel, while the other aimed and fired. Its range could reach 180 meters. So Zhu Youxiao also provided improvement ideas for it.

In short, Zhu Youxiao had provided improvement ideas for all sorts of Great Ming firearms. If any single one of them achieved a breakthrough, the Great Ming's firearms would advance by leaps and bounds—and then, whoever we don't like, we'll shoot.

However, these firearms were all still under research, and Zhu Youxiao could only wait patiently. So he was in no hurry to launch any war in Liaodong—just hold the line properly, don't lose any territory, don't lose any ground, and that would be enough.

Nothing else matters—just wait quietly. Once I've sorted things out internally, once all my firearms are made, then we'll fight.

By that time, the number of troops deployed will be very small, the material consumed will be very little, the duration of battle will not be long, and the scale won't even be that large.

In one sentence: efficiency!

Achieving the most victories with the least investment—that is what Zhu Youxiao wanted.

So he had poured tremendous effort into the Hundred Crafts Institute, and now the Hundred Crafts Institute had repaid him. In such a short time, the flintlock had already been produced—but this was not what Zhu Youxiao wanted.

The flintlock produced this time was a muzzle-loading smoothbore, whereas what Zhu Youxiao wanted was a muzzle-loading rifled gun. But there was nothing to be done about that for now—the rifling for cannons hadn't been worked out yet.

Glancing at Xu Guangqi, Zhu Youxiao knew he was anxious too, so he took the initiative to comfort him: "My dear minister, there's no need to be impatient. As long as you do things properly, step by step, you will succeed one day."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty—I will keep a close watch on them. Everyone at the Hundred Crafts Institute will give their utmost!"

Zhu Youxiao nodded with a smile and said, "In that case, I leave it all in your hands."

"Then I shall take my leave." Xu Guangqi stood up and bowed.

After Xu Guangqi had left, the smile on Zhu Youxiao's face slowly faded.

It was only natural for Xu Guangqi to report these matters to him, since they fell under his jurisdiction.

But the fact that he hadn't mentioned anything else caught Zhu Youxiao somewhat by surprise.

He had originally assumed that when Xu Guangqi came this time, those two matters were just a cover—that what he really wanted to discuss was Huang Kezuan's affair.

Unexpectedly, Xu Guangqi hadn't brought it up at all, which made Zhu Youxiao hesitate.

But soon enough, Zhu Youxiao cast the matter to the back of his mind.

No matter how things stood, the truth would eventually come to light.

Lifting his head to glance at Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao said expressionlessly, "Go and fetch Fang Zhenghua."

"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will go at once." With those words, Chen Hong quickly departed.

After Chen Hong had left, Zhu Youxiao turned back around and continued fishing.

Fang Zhenghua had to travel from the Imperial Household Department to the Western Park, so it took him a little while.

By the time he arrived, Zhu Youxiao had already caught three fish. That was much better than the past two days—it seemed the bait he had laid was working.

"This servant Fang Zhenghua pays respects to Your Majesty." Upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, Fang Zhenghua hastily performed the ritual greeting.

"Rise." Zhu Youxiao nodded without turning around, and asked directly, "How is the preparation for the Imperial Household Department's examination coming along?"

"To answer Your Majesty, it is nearly ready. Registration has already begun over the past two days." Fang Zhenghua said hurriedly, "As for the examination date, it should be half a month from now."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Go back and post another notice, saying that the Imperial Household Department will allow petty clerks to sit for the examination—as long as they register, that's all. Understand?"

Fang Zhenghua was taken aback for a moment, then quickly replied, "This servant understands."

"Then go and handle it." Zhu Youxiao said, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on the float.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a method he had thought up—it gave the petty clerks of the realm a path upward, but more than anything, it was about winning people's hearts.

Since this was the first examination, no other conditions were needed—just registering was enough.

But the next time would be different. Once this system became widespread, they could be recommended by their supervising officials—this effectively placed a yoke on the petty clerks' heads, forcing them to do their work honestly.

Of course, for those petty clerks who didn't want to rise up, they could simply be removed directly. With the opportunity to enter the Imperial Household Department through examination, more people would be willing to become petty clerks.

Once the time was right, the Imperial Household Department wouldn't need to recruit from outside—it could recruit entirely from among the petty clerks.

But these were all Zhu Youxiao's speculations. As for how things would ultimately turn out, that would depend on the results of the experiment.

After arranging everything, Zhu Youxiao stretched his back and prepared to head back for dinner.

He really was feeling a bit hungry now — he wondered what delicious food the Empress had prepared for him.

Just thinking about it made him a little excited.

As Zhu Youxiao was heading back, someone came hurrying over carrying a stack of routine memorials.

Zhu Youxiao and Chen Hong both stopped in their tracks — clearly this person had something to report.

The young eunuch carrying the memorials didn't walk up to Zhu Youxiao's side, because Chen Hong had already blocked him.

After saying something in front of Chen Hong, the young eunuch handed the memorials into Chen Hong's hands.

Chen Hong quickly brought the memorials before Zhu Youxiao and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, these are routine memorials just delivered from the Grand Secretariat — submitted by some Censors of the Censorate."

Zhu Youxiao didn't look at the memorials, but asked directly, "What do they say?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, they concern Grand Secretary Huang of the Grand Secretariat." Chen Hong said hurriedly, "But they aren't impeaching Grand Secretary Huang — rather, they all support Grand Secretary Huang, believing that Mencius should be removed and Xunzi put in his place."

There was even a note of tension in Chen Hong's tone.

Without saying anything more, Zhu Youxiao reached out, picked up the memorials, and began flipping through them.

After reading the topmost memorial, Zhu Youxiao understood what was going on, because this memorial was from Cui Chengxiu.

As for the reasons given on it, they naturally all looked perfectly reasonable. But they were all complete nonsense — they served no purpose whatsoever.

This kind of matter was just a case of each side insisting they were right; there was nothing much to say about it — what mattered most was declaring one's stance.

Cui Chengxiu supporting this matter meant that the memorials coming up from the Censorate this time were basically all of the same stance; otherwise, they wouldn't have timed it so well.

This could only explain one thing: this was a group affair — someone wanted them to do this. As for who wanted them to do this?

It was perfectly clear — who else could it be but Wei Zhongxian?

Zhu Youxiao put the memorials back down and said with utter indifference, "Take them all back."

"Oh, right — news of this matter should have already spread, shouldn't it?" Zhu Youxiao thought of something and pressed further.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it has indeed already spread. Once these memorials reached the Grand Secretariat, they immediately caused an uproar. The news has now spread throughout the entire capital." Chen Hong said somewhat nervously.

The matter was growing bigger and bigger now — Chen Hong didn't want to be caught up in it.

Zhu Youxiao said nothing more, but nodded and said, "Then let's go — off to the Empress's place for a meal. As for this matter, let them handle it themselves."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong quickly acknowledged, then respectfully kept pace at Zhu Youxiao's side.

These memorials from the Censorate instantly caused an uproar in the capital.

Originally everyone had been united in criticizing Huang Kezuan — who could have imagined that at this moment someone would submit such a memorial, that someone would actually write in support of his position!

And so, all at once, everyone turned their spears toward the Censorate.

Apart from Cui Chengxiu, Yu Maohueng, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, naturally couldn't escape involvement either, and so he too came under attack from all sides. To put it plainly, they were forcing Yu Maohueng to declare his stance, making him take an opposing position.

After all, Yu Maohueng was Cui Chengxiu's superior — at least on this matter, he held a hand over Cui Chengxiu. As long as he stood up and declared his stance, then Cui Chengxiu's declaration would count for nothing.

The most critical point was that Yu Maohueng and Cui Chengxiu held differing opinions, and this matter was a major affair — when the time came, one of the two would definitely have to go.

The malice behind these people's intentions could not be called anything but sinister.

But regarding this matter — how could a big shot like Yu Maohueng possibly declare his stance so easily?

And so the storm of public opinion grew ever more intense. The number of impeachers increased, and the scale grew larger — all of them targeting Yu Maohueng, and even Huang Kezuan had some of his pressure relieved.

Under such circumstances, Yu Maohueng quickly gave his stance. Only, this stance was not at all what everyone had imagined — it could be described as worlds apart!

Not only did Yu Maohueng agree with Huang Kezuan's demotion of Mencius and promotion of Xunzi, he also put forward a new demand — or rather, his own new idea.

He submitted a memorial, and the title of this memorial was simple and blunt — it was called "A Memorial Requesting Xunzi's Entry into the Confucian Temple."