Chapter 485: The Great Ming's Transformation and Opportunity

Xu Xiake's assignment made many people envious — it was essentially using the court's money to travel and enjoy the scenery.

It was said that thousands wanted to join at the time, and many scholars wanted to see the great rivers and mountains of their homeland. After all, scholars held that reading ten thousand volumes is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles, and this was the perfect chance to go out and see the world.

In the end, the court sifted and screened, selected and chose, and put together a team of over a hundred people. It was said that it would expand after the new year. Thinking of the court's grand scale, Chen Yannian couldn't help but sigh — His Majesty truly had money these days.

But everyone knew that His Majesty had money, yet was very stingy with himself.

Now the common folk all knew that His Majesty ate only four dishes and one soup at every meal, and since ascending the throne he had not built a single palace. Instead, he had built Confucian temples, schools, and libraries for the people — countless such deeds.

Nowadays, the people's estimation of the Emperor had risen higher and higher. People had once said that the Emperor believed in Daoism, that the Emperor had killed many people, that the Emperor's thinking was extreme. But after a few years, no one saw it that way anymore — public opinion had shifted very quickly.

Especially after the Theory of Four Classes and the Theory of Mandate came out, people stopped saying such things altogether.

The so-called Theory of Four Classes held that the four classes were equal. As long as one was a subject of the Great Ming, there was no distinction of high or low, noble or base. Of course, this was only the surface — those who actually benefited from this theory were the merchants.

Beyond that, the Theory of Mandate also played a great role. The so-called Theory of Mandate was, in essence, having merit for the state.

When this theory first appeared, people argued endlessly over it. But by now, everyone had come to accept it.

Why could the Emperor be Emperor?

Because they had merit for the realm. The Zhu emperors of the Great Ming had rescued the people of the realm from chaos, driven out the Tartar barbarians, and restored the land of Cathay — so they were qualified to be Emperor.

As for the dukes, they too held their high positions because of their merit for the realm.

And now, if you wanted such a high position, you could go and render merit for the state; if you made mistakes, when your errors were enough to offset your contributions, the court would punish you severely.

This matter had now gained widespread acceptance. If anyone wanted to replace the Zhu family's rule, then go and render merit. But in fact, everyone knew you wouldn't even have the chance to have your merit overshadow the sovereign.

Chen Yannian looked at the Imperial Library before him, his eyes filled with longing.

It was said that many ideas had been born in this Imperial Library, and after years of dissemination, they had become the things everyone now saw and learned.

In the words of Grand Secretary Xu Guangqi of the current court, the Great Ming was in the midst of a transformation unseen in a millennium, an opportunity unseen in a millennium, a prosperity unseen in a millennium. Every subject of the Great Ming should join in this grand endeavor.

After all, they scholars had only heard about it; the time to actually participate was still far off.

"Brother Chen, what are you thinking about? Look over there." Zhao Gui interrupted Chen Yannian's thoughts, pointing at a building not far away and saying, "Do we still have unfinished buildings over there? Didn't they say the book city was already completed?"

"It's said to be a church." Chen Yannian frowned and said, "Seems to be some kind of religious sect."

"I know." Zhao Gui said excitedly, "It's said to have come over from the West. Many of the books we study were brought by them. They've already proven that the earth is round, that we live on a sphere. When I first learned of this, I was absolutely stunned."

"Besides that, weren't you also very interested in the things they brought? It's said they're still translating books now — the books they brought themselves have already been translated, and many of them were collected by His Majesty's orders."

Chen Yannian nodded and said, "It's said they want to preach now."

Hearing this, Zhao Gui curled his lips and said with disdain, "Dream on!"

After saying this, he looked left and right, then said cautiously, "I heard earlier that these people made a fuss once. They said that if they weren't given the chance to preach or build churches, they would stop translating books for the Great Ming."

"Do you know what His Majesty did? It's said His Majesty killed many of them, and now those people don't dare make trouble anymore. Look at this church — it's been under construction for over four years and still isn't finished. It'll probably never be finished."

"Then what about the book translations?" Chen Yannian frowned and said, "After all, they're still needed."

"Do you think our Great Ming's scholars are just for show?" Zhao Gui said disdainfully. "Those who followed them translating books long ago had already squeezed out every bit of their skill. Now those scholars can write a book in the Western language themselves."

Hearing this, Chen Yannian's expression grew somewhat complicated. He looked helplessly at Zhao Gui and said, "Acting this way seems a bit..."

Glancing at Chen Yannian, Zhao Gui quickly reached out and patted him, then looked around again. Seeing no one watching, he let out a sigh of relief.

Then Zhao Gui said, "Don't talk nonsense. Is this something we can discuss? I'm telling you, don't go bringing trouble on yourself. Who are those foreigners? They're people with ill intentions. They even want to preach — how could His Majesty possibly let them spread their faith here?"

"Do you know Academician Wang Zheng? Back then, there was a huge uproar over his taking a concubine. Those missionaries wouldn't allow him to take one, and it's said His Majesty had quite a few heads chopped off. Those people were stubborn as nails — even after having heads cut off, they still wouldn't agree."

Chen Yannian shook his head helplessly. Forget it — this wasn't something he could concern himself with.

Chen Yannian thought for a moment, then asked again, "What happened with Academician Wang Zheng's matter in the end?"

Chen Yannian wanted to know about such things, but his status was too low and his sources of information too limited — he simply couldn't learn the true situation.

"What else could happen? His Majesty suppressed it, of course. At the time, His Majesty summoned Academician Wang and spoke with him about something — no one knows exactly what was said, but afterward Academician Wang never brought the matter up again. You should know about the Concubine Law from two years ago — it came about because of his case."

Mentioning the Concubine Law, Chen Yannian's expression turned somewhat odd.

The court's regulations permitted taking concubines, but also imposed restrictions — for example, the age gap could not be too large, and those over fifty were not allowed to marry women under twenty, and so on.

When the Concubine Law first came out, it caused an enormous uproar. But the matter was settled just like that.

The court now had a Legalist faction, represented by Huang Kezuan, Minister of the Ministry of Justice. In recent years they had been very active and conspicuous. Everyone knew about this.

This so-called Legalist faction in the court represented the legalist school within Confucianism, following Xunzi's teachings, advocating in the court that where there are laws, they must be followed, and where laws are enforced, enforcement must be strict.

In recent years, the Legalist faction had been attacked frequently. Yet even so, these people remained very active, and their numbers were large.

It was this man Huang Kezuan who had prompted the Emperor to revise a "Imperial Clan Law" — if any member of the imperial clan committed a crime, they would all be dealt with according to the Imperial Clan Law.

Everyone had originally thought it would be a lenient law, but after it was implemented, people discovered that wasn't the case at all. The Imperial Clan Law contained no small number of beheading penalties — it just differed from the law for ordinary people. After all, the imperial clan had special circumstances, and many things were different.

There was also a "Nobility Law," also pushed for revision by Huang Kezuan and his group.

People across the realm could be said to both love and hate Huang Kezuan and his group. Huang Kezuan and his people had no regard for personal connections — what they dealt in was legal principle.

And the loving part was even simpler. These people showed no favoritism — if you encountered a problem, you could go to them. Once there was an issue, they would see justice done for you, and they feared no powerful figures.

Many members of the Legalist faction came out of the Law Academy of the Imperial Academy, and every one of them was raring to go.

Chen Yannian had even thought about entering this Law Academy, but that would only be possible after the academy placement exam a year after enrollment — for now, it was impossible.

Their carriage passed the Imperial Library, and soon another building appeared before the two of them.

Zhao Gui said excitedly, "This is the Confucian Temple! We must come pay our respects here later."

Chen Yannian nodded and said with a solemn expression, "Indeed, we should pay our respects here. To come to the book city without paying respects to the Sage Confucius is like coming for nothing!"

The carriage passed through the Confucian Temple and soon arrived before a massive building.

Green trees shaded the entrance. Walking a short way in along the street, one saw a tall memorial archway.

Further in was a huge stone gate, upon which hung a massive plaque bearing four large characters:

Imperial Academy.

These were His Majesty's own calligraphy, with a stone stele and couplets beside it.

At this moment, quite a crowd had already gathered at the entrance of the Imperial Academy, and beside it was a large parking area.

Zhao Gui had his servant park the carriage over there, and he and Chen Yannian got off together and walked toward the entrance of the Imperial Academy.

There were guards standing at the gate, and only those who presented their admission notice could enter.

After verifying their admission notices and identity documents, Zhao and Gui stepped together into the Imperial Academy.

The spring breeze brought warmth, birds sang and flowers bloomed—the entire Imperial Academy looked so pleasant.

Walking along the paths, one felt relaxed and joyful.

"What a wonderful place!" Zhao Gui could not help but sigh in admiration. "Look at their scholar's robes—they're really handsome."

"You'll have one too, before long," Chen Yannian said with a smile. "Stop dawdling—let's hurry up and get registered. Once all the formalities are done, we can go out for a stroll."

"Let's go to the Imperial Library first—I've been looking forward to that for a long time."

Zhao Gui said with a smile on his face, "You're right."

The two of them, holding their admission notices, followed the signs toward the Freshman Academy.

Meanwhile, in the Martial Academy nearby, the same scene was unfolding.

Countless students gathered in the Academy City on this day, coming to study at the sacred place in their hearts—the Great Ming Imperial Academy.

And within the Great Ming Imperial Academy, Zhu Youxiao, also wearing a set of scholar's robes, was strolling along with his hands clasped behind his back.