Chapter 184: The Emperor Personally Leads the Way in Cutting Corners

Zhu Zhu Yijun had little interest in rebuilding the imperial palace; after the fire, he achieved his political goal, launched a full-scale purge of the northwest faction, and further solidified the necessity of Zhenwu by leveraging the palace fire, with Qi Hu, Yu Long, Li Li Chengliang, and Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao all expressing clear support for the emperor's cleansing of the northwest faction.

Yu Long and Qi Hu went personally, Li Li Chengliang attacked Zhangwu to advance the front line and secure the safety of Danning Wei, while Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao directly came to the capital to receive the imperial surname as His Majesty's overseas supporter.

It must be confirmed that Luzon holds invaluable significance for stabilizing the Ming economy and securing the southeastern coast; Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao accepting the imperial surname meant bearing immense public condemnation, yet he did not care for personal glory or disgrace—he firmly supported the Ming emperor.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had already achieved his political goal and had even less interest in rebuilding the palace.

He wished to reside in the Western Garden; the Western Garden was good—surrounded by water, secure, and more livable, since the Northern Palace was dry and living near water was not overly damp, and Zhu Zhu Yijun's Baoqi Office was built in the style of the Quanchu Guildhall, making it extremely comfortable.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng refused absolutely to let the young emperor reside in the Western Garden; how could a young emperor, still so young, move into the Western Garden? The Ming court officials still bore psychological trauma from Emperor Jiajing Emperor's neglect.

Eventually, the conflict reached a compromise: the young emperor agreed to the palace's reconstruction, but demanded cost-cutting.

Zhu Zhu Yijun's cost-cutting meant forcing the Grand Minister of Justice to reduce expenses, not to oppress the craftsmen.

During Emperor Longqing, the prevailing trend was not to exploit the gentry; in early Emperor Wanli, the prevailing trend was not to oppress the common people.

The common people could no longer be squeezed further, but the gentry could still be pressured—this followed a complete and meticulous logic, grounded in the current Ming society, which had already reached its limit of consolidation and could no longer absorb further integration.

The common people were so destitute that five family members shared only two pairs of trousers; further exploitation would spark rebellions everywhere.

Precisely because of this politically correct climate, new policies such as land surveying, land restitution, and the Six Registers and One Account began large-scale implementation.

If the Grand Minister of Justice Wang Wang Chonggu oppressed the common craftsmen and was caught by the censors, he would certainly face impeachment, allowing him to witness the censors' sharpness—after all, Wang Wang Chonggu was still under indictment.

The next morning, Zhu Zhu Yijun entered through the Wu Gate into the construction site and offered specific opinions on the palace reconstruction, asking detailed questions.

"Grand Minister of Justice, can we use less steel? Steel is meant for casting cannons—using it for corridor arches and pillars seems wasteful; we should use as little as possible."

Wang Wang Chonggu paused a moment and said: "Your Majesty, we still have sufficient steel for casting cannons; these are materials from newly established foundries. Your Majesty, please note, this is already far cheaper than using golden nanmu wood."

Even today, golden nanmu remains an extremely expensive wood; for example, a single golden nanmu window frame for Qianqing Palace cost five thousand taels of silver—only the emperor's room used it, while others did not; the most expensive parts of the former palace were the pillars of the Three Halls and Two Palaces, previously constructed from golden nanmu tenoned joints.

Now, using steel-reinforced concrete is already extremely cost-saving!

"Why not make it hollow and fill the center with construction waste? After all, steel-reinforced concrete is sturdy." Zhu Zhu Yijun proposed another cost-saving solution!

Wang Wang Chonggu exclaimed: "Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, whether it's the lime factory, steel factory, or glass factory—all are established enterprises; if managed well, these expenses can be recovered. Your Majesty, money should be spent where necessary and saved where appropriate—there's no need to cut here!" Wang Wang Chonggu's remarks referred to the fact that making concrete required a lime factory, embedding steel required a steel factory, and installing glass required a glass factory.

Wang Wang Chonggu intended to give the Ming emperor a small shock with his official factories; producing glass had already been scheduled—replacing palace windows with glass, making them bright and clean, was Wang Wang Chonggu's gesture of loyalty.

"That's true—the grand project of rebuilding the palace can indeed promote industrial formation and technological advancement, even provide employment for displaced people, giving them skills to earn a living—all valid—but large-scale construction is still large-scale construction." Zhu Zhu Yijun, watching the site progress as scheduled, sighed deeply.

"Your Majesty, this is steel-reinforced concrete, not earth and wood." Wang Wang Chonggu corrected the emperor's wording.

Scholars were adept at nitpicking words; since there was no earth or wood, it should be called "large-scale steel-reinforced concrete construction."

Zhu Zhu Yijun laughed bitterly and shook his head: "Grand Minister of Justice, let's talk about the faction."

Among those executed was Wang Wang Chonggu's cousin Wang Wang Chongya, an unambiguous faction member, and Wang Wang Chonggu himself presided over the execution—Wang Wang Chonggu sacrificed kin for justice.

Every matter must end with a summary—to learn from experience and prevent recurrence—and Zhu Zhu Yijun asking Wang Wang Chonggu himself to summarize was finding the right person; Wang Wang Chonggu deeply understood.

"Clan, imperial examinations, and politics." Wang Wang Chonggu, seeing the young emperor finally ask, laid out the relationship among these three.

"Local clans, bound by blood and geography, play a vital role in the rise of regional merchant guilds. The tight integration of clans and merchant guilds inevitably leads to the fusion of scholar and merchant; this is not only evident in Shanxi and Shaanxi, but even more so in the southern offices, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong—Your Majesty, Ma Ma Ziqiang also came from a wealthy merchant family."

"Merchants seek profit out of the genuine need for clan survival and development; after scholar-merchant fusion, powerful clan merchants all make imperial examinations the top choice for their sons. The examinations allow merchants to merge with bureaucratic power-holders, enabling clan influence to infiltrate local governance—and even the imperial court and the Zhao Wenhua Hall."

"The court has previously included Yang Bo, Wang Wang Chonggu, Zhang Zhang Siwei, Ma Ma Ziqiang, and the imperial court is filled with allies from the same examination cohort, same hometown, same master, and marital ties, directly influencing court decisions."

"Scholar-merchant fusion, aided by the imperial examination system, further evolves into a collective of bureaucratic merchants, achieving feudalism."

"In the regions, under tolerance, this collective, leveraging the power of the imperial court, has become like mountain lords; this is the danger of feudal warlords. Since power rests in the hands of bureaucrats, power becomes the pivot linking local magnates—the root of tolerance's ills. Merchants, meanwhile, control most means of production, acting as enablers."

"Local officials and clans collude, preferring to defy imperial edicts rather than face public censure; preferring to violate public law rather than refuse private requests."

"From bottom to top, the court has no solution—this is the relationship among clan, imperial examinations, and politics."

Wang Wang Chonggu himself was a member of the faction; he clearly understood this phenomenon—a collective tightly bound by power and means of production, whose ultimate goal was feudalism, more precisely, warlordism.

"When Senior Minister Master Xinzheng was in office, he said: 'When governing, one must value appropriateness in governance, planning, profit, and law.' What caused the formation of the faction? What are its social roots?" Zhu Zhu Yijun continued, asking for the cause behind the phenomenon of feudal bureaucratic-capitalist collusion between officials and magnates.

Feudal bureaucratic-capitalism was a network—built upon clans, constructing a regional political-economic web, a web where means of production and power harmonized, capable of resisting imperial edicts.

After long consideration, Wang Wang Chonggu replied: "I believe the faction's emergence stems from two causes."

"Commodity exchange has become increasingly frequent. The old small-scale economy—based on the household, using minimal means of production, relying entirely or primarily on one's own labor to meet personal needs—alongside agricultural trade—is being replaced by large-scale wage-labor economies based on workshops, utilizing larger means of production, and trade driven by mass production in handicraft workshops."

"Second, silver is effectively replacing copper coins, salt certificates, and treasure notes as the Ming's primary currency. Because silver is inherently scarce, and scarcity increases value, it is naturally suited as currency. The massive inflow of silver has accelerated commodity exchange, and frequent trade has further increased demand for silver—mutually reinforcing each other."

"These are the causes."

Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly: "Grand Minister of Justice's summary is very precise. Practically speaking, the more we promote silver inflow, the better we pave roads and facilitate commodity exchange, the more we accelerate the formation of this feudal bureaucratic-merchant collective. Then, cutting off silver inflow—or using institutional design, such as household registration and travel permits, to seal off regional exchanges—seems to safeguard the stability of my throne."

The young emperor voiced his concern.

"Your Majesty, logically it makes sense, but practically it reverses cause and effect. To refuse food for fear of choking is contrary to the tide of history." Wang Wang Chonggu clearly understood that from the emperor's perspective, blocking trade, reducing commodity exchange, and limiting silver inflow might stabilize the Zhu dynasty.

Is that true?

The answer is no—the Ming had already tried this. Emperor Xiaozong did exactly that; the Ming's retro public opinion stemmed from this idea—as if removing merchants would make all social ills, moral decay, and unrest vanish.

Refusing food for fear of choking—yes, you won't choke, but you'll starve. The Ming court nearly starved to death; only Zhang Zhang Juzheng dared bear the stigma of being a greedy minister, constantly pushing land surveys and land restitution to accumulate silver for the court. But once the court had silver, how to spend it became a problem—silver couldn't just sit in the treasury rotting.

Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly: "Yes, the faction is indeed widespread in the Ming; the faction's power-holders stretch like giant hands into every corner of the Ming, even reaching the imperial court and the palace, influencing decisions and intensifying social contradictions into violent conflicts—the wider their reach, the more they feed the faction's growth, mutually reinforcing each other."

"The cause is the accelerating commodity exchange in the Ming, further propelled by silver inflow."

"How to resolve it?"

The phenomenon, the problem, the cause—all clear; now, what is the solution?

Wang Wang Chonggu considered himself a sycophant.

Wang Wang Chonggu's self-perception was always clear: he would never be clever when his leader was foolish. Zhang Zhang Juzheng was the type who knew the man on the dragon throne was foolish and unambitious, yet insisted on being clever—criticizing Emperor Jiajing, blocking Emperor Longqing, teaching Emperor Wanli—all foolish acts Zhang Zhang Juzheng committed.

Similarly, Wang Wang Chonggu, a true sycophant, would never hide his cleverness when his leader was wise—this was Wang Wang Chonggu's skill of adapting to the wind.

Zhu Zhu Yijun did not see Wang Wang Chonggu as a simple sycophant; a simple sycophant could not stop the Ming's bleeding, stabilize the land and pacify the people, make official factories thrive, or carry out the grand act of sacrificing kin for justice—Wang Wang Chonggu deserved a place in the Biographies of Virtuous Ministers.

Though much of Wang Wang Chonggu's conduct was forced—pushed by Zhang Zhang Juzheng—he still did good deeds; good deeds are good deeds—judging by deeds, not intentions; judging by intentions, no one is perfect.

Regarding Wang Wang Chonggu, Zhu Zhu Yijun always took a dialectical view; Wang Wang Chonggu himself firmly believed he was a sycophant.

Sycophants have their own survival tactics; when the emperor became wise, Wang Wang Chonggu revealed his own wisdom, bowing deeply: "How to resolve it?"

"Master Zhang Yuanfu's method is to break tolerance and rectify officialdom—this method is excellent, brilliant! Anonymous grading, fixed rankings, transparent records—excellent! By breaking tolerance and rectifying officialdom, we dismantle the core of the feudal bureaucratic-merchant collective: the bureaucrats, the pivot."

"I lack such wisdom. I believe we can also target the means of production. If we concentrate even a third of the means of production in the court's hands, the weakest link in this collective—the merchants—will collapse on its own."

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Wang Chonggu; Wang Wang Chonggu looked at Zhang Zhang Juzheng; Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked at the young emperor; the three stared at each other. Wang Wang Chonggu's words immediately plunged them into thought.

Breaking tolerance and rectifying officialdom meant not only targeting officialdom but also the means of production—this was Wang Wang Chonggu's core logic.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng remained silent for a long time before saying: "Your Majesty, Grand Minister of Justice should enter the Grand Secretariat as soon as possible. I find this idea brilliant; if implemented well, combined with the Examination of Achievements system, it will ensure long-term stability."

Wang Wang Chonggu's means of production included land, mines, pastures, water, grass, and also the official factories the Ming had recently established—all were means of production.

"I've long approved it. Grand Minister of Justice has always refused to enter the Grand Secretariat—is it my fault?" Zhu Zhu Yijun spread his hands.

Last year, faction members clamored for Zhang Zhang Siwei to enter the Grand Secretariat; Zhu Zhu Yijun had already declared Wang Wang Chonggu should enter. Uncle and nephew were the same; during the New Year, Zhu Zhu Yijun specially bestowed a crane-feather cloak and the title of Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, preparing the ground for Wang Wang Chonggu's entry.

But Wang Wang Chonggu repeatedly declined—first claiming old age and frailty, then lack of virtue, then no merit, and recently, that the Mao wool factory had not yet succeeded and the palace was still under construction—he simply lacked the strength.

Wang Wang Chonggu hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, isn't this the grand project of rebuilding the palace? After the palace is rebuilt…"

Zhu Zhu Yijun accepted Wang Wang Chonggu's excuse; if the man himself was unwilling, forcing him into the Grand Secretariat would only lead him to feign illness and refuse to work.

Could one enter the Grand Secretariat and still not work?

Indeed, one could.

After Xu Xu Jie fell, Li Li Chunfang served as chief minister for several years, always claiming illness or requesting retirement, never doing any work; Gao Gong and Zhang Zhang Juzheng fought in court, and Li Li Chunfang, unable to offend either, simply avoided everything.

Zhu Zhu Yijun stayed at the construction site for a long time; every suggestion he made was rejected by Wang Wang Chonggu. The emperor's proposals were all capital offenses: hollow pillars, reducing steel reinforcement, filling with construction waste, reducing steel in pillars, backfilling with earth—all standard practices of shoddy construction.

Wang Wang Chonggu utterly disagreed!

Even the backfilling with earth made Wang Wang Chonggu break into cold sweat: according to design, after excavating the foundation and setting the pillars, the backfill should be compacted three-part lime-soil—layer upon layer of lime and soil, compacted thoroughly to prevent collapse from rain.

The emperor suggested simply piling up earth—saving time and effort.

Wang Wang Chonggu was utterly astonished; under the young emperor's method, the three-million-tael project might be completed for just a few hundred thousand!

Others plucked feathers as geese flew by; the young emperor didn't just pluck feathers—he took the whole goose!

Wang Wang Chonggu had been accused of secretly colluding with barbarians, but those were events before Zhang Zhang Juzheng's reign; after Zhang Zhang Juzheng took power, Wang Wang Chonggu came to the capital to assist in managing the capital's military affairs, was severely reprimanded, and ceased his collusion with barbarians—he feared death; money could be earned anywhere, but life was only once.

According to the emperor's accession amnesty law, offenses committed by Wang Wang Chonggu before June of Emperor Longqing Sixth Year were pardoned, since the emperor's accession meant a general amnesty.

Zhu Zhu Yijun hummed a tune as he left the construction site and returned to the side hall of Zhao Wenhua Palace; recently, he had been reading a chaptered novel, exactly one hundred chapters, about Tang Tang Sanzang's journey to fetch scriptures.

Zhang Jin, the eunuch in charge of southern military affairs, made a fortune selling books and constantly sought unpublished good books; he received a book, "Newly Engraved Illustrated Official Edition of the Great Character Journey to the West" by Huayang Dongtian Master, and immediately presented it to the emperor.

"Journey to the West," universally known as a long fantasy novel, differs from later generations' consensus that Wu Cheng'en was its author; in the Ming, the author was still regarded as Huayang Dongtian Master.

Zhu Zhu Yijun loved reading "Journey to the West"; the more he read, the more he found it strange, the more he felt it was not fantasy at all—it was pure politics.

Using a fantasy world to reflect and expose the Ming's darkness and corruption, praising rebellious spirit and heroic acts against feudalism and decay, yet this book was a solid tragedy: Sun Sun Wukong, brave in struggle and rebellion, ultimately became a Buddha indistinguishable from the celestial gods—achieving enlightenment, was this not a compromise, a surrender, a co-optation?

Reading was like looking in a mirror; "Journey to the West" resembled Emperor Wanli Emperor, and especially Emperor Jiajing Emperor—Emperor Jiajing, a collateral branch entering the main line, causing chaos in court, reforming the old order, but halfway through, crushed under the Five-Finger Mountain, finally becoming a monarch who refused to govern, coldly observing the world.

It also resembled Emperor Wanli Emperor: Emperor Wanli studied under Zhang Zhang Juzheng, mastered his skills, held the powerful army Zhang Zhang Juzheng built—Qi Qi Jiguang was Zhang Zhang Juzheng's gift to Emperor Wanli, his golden cudgel. Yet Emperor Wanli himself put on the golden circlet, hiding in the palace, becoming a sage who coldly observed the world.

"Find out who wrote this, and bring them to me! Who dares to subtly mock my grandfather? Is there no law?!" Zhu Zhu Yijun banged the table at Feng Bao: "Print this book exactly as is in the palace press; let me add a line or two, and no one will dare to counterfeit it."

"This book is well-written, and making money is extremely important."

Feng Bao bowed obediently, slightly melancholy; the emperor's frugality was good, but to the point of cutting costs even on palace reconstruction? This frugality had gone too far—it was all Zhang Zhang Juzheng's fault, constantly preaching frugality; the young emperor was so diligent and studious, this was no longer frugality—it was stinginess!

This book clearly mocked court politics, yet the emperor wanted to profit from it!

Why did the emperor practice frugality? Why had the court established the politically correct norm of oppressing powerful magnates while favoring commoners? All of this began with Zhang Zhang Juzheng's "Six Matters Memorial."

In the section "Stabilizing the Foundation" of the "Six Matters Memorial," Zhang Zhang Juzheng wrote: "I have heard that to repel external threats, one must first secure the interior. The Book of Documents says: 'The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state is peaceful.' Even in the most prosperous times, there are always barbarians and bandits. Only when the people are content and prosperous, each household self-sufficient, can external threats be rendered harmless, for the foundation will be deep and secure."

Only when the people suffer and plot rebellion, when they are destitute and desperate, will barbarians and bandits rise.

To repel external threats, one must first secure the interior; "securing the interior" means the people are the state's foundation; when the people live in peace and prosperity, the state is stable, and barbarians and bandits cease to be problems—this is the principle that content people can uphold righteousness, while desperate people easily turn to wrongdoing.

When the people are settled, great righteousness can be practiced; when they are suffering, nothing is right.

The common people, crushed by consolidation, must be appeased; the powerful magnates, obsessed with consolidation, must be punished—this was Zhang Zhang Juzheng's core philosophy; all his policies stemmed from the principle: "The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state is peaceful."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng then bluntly added: "Yet I privately believe that to correct excesses, one must go beyond the norm. At a time when the people are impoverished and the treasury empty, if we do not drastically cut expenses, we cannot save the state. I humbly beg Your Majesty to pity the people's suffering, to favor the foundation of the state, to suspend all unnecessary projects and burdensome levies, and to uphold frugality and simplicity as an example to the realm."

This remark directly targeted Emperor Emperor Longqing, who indulged in luxury and pleasure; to correct an excess, one must go to extremes—the people were so poor that a family shared two pairs of trousers, their wealth long exhausted, yet they still failed to practice self-restraint and frugality; if the empire's precarious situation, like a pile of eggs on the verge of collapse, is to be ignored, then let it perish.

Do not undertake grand construction projects; do not arbitrarily conscript labor; uphold frugality and simplicity, and be the model for all the powerful and wealthy in the realm.

The emperor is the supreme magnate of the realm; if the emperor practices frugality, then there is a foundation for curbing the extravagance of the powerful; if the emperor is this plain, yet the magnates still exploit the common people for their own pleasure, the court gains moral authority to punish them—this is the root of Zhang Zhang Juzheng's constant insistence that the emperor must cultivate self-discipline and uphold frugality and simplicity.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng said this, and he acted on it. When Emperor Emperor Longqing first ascended the throne and sought to rebuild the Xiangfeng Tower, Zhang Zhang Juzheng and Li Li Chunfang directly blocked him.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng saw this clearly, but Emperor Emperor Longqing himself was a man who greatly enjoyed pleasure; during the Great Ming Spring Festival, he once bestowed over a hundred thousand taels; the Emperor Longqing era was not Zhang Zhang Juzheng's version—the early Emperor Wanli years were Zhang Zhang Juzheng's grand version, made possible by Gao Gong's own folly and Gao Yi's death, after which Zhang Zhang Juzheng seized sole control of state affairs and launched his new policies.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng had always taught the young emperor to uphold frugality and simplicity, yet now, it had turned against him!

The imperial palace had burned down, and the emperor found repairs too expensive, refused to fund them, and kept slashing the budget; when approving expenditures, he even casually erased a zero—this taught Zhang Zhang Juzheng the sharp sting of a boomerang.

"Feng Bao, after bringing the hundred-chapter supernatural novel Journey to the West to the Zhang Wenyuan Pavilion, lamented bitterly: 'Chief Councilor, you've done nothing but harm! As the emperor's tutor, urging His Majesty to embrace frugality was necessary, but you didn't need to go to such extremes—look what you've caused! The emperor is still a child; using steel-reinforced concrete instead of golden nanmu wood is already frugal, yet he personally leads by example in cutting corners!'

'What dignity remains for our Great Ming dynasty!'

Zhang Zhang Juzheng fell silent. This was indeed what he had taught, and he himself had said that to correct an excess, one must go to extremes—but he had gone too far.

The Three Great Halls are indeed the emperor's private residence, but they are also the venue for grand court assemblies! They are public instruments, symbols of court authority, and the seat of sacred power.

'Enough, enough—I'll go and counsel His Majesty properly,' Zhang Zhang Juzheng waved his hands repeatedly. Only the emperor could truly challenge him; those two dark clouds—one was the young emperor's exceptional scholarly ability, the other his many interests—were growing ever larger.

'It's not your fault, Master,' Feng Bao admitted, realizing he had lost his composure, his voice heavy with worry. 'It's the court's problem—the emperor is terrified of poverty.'

Feng Bao deeply understood why the emperor clung so tightly to frugality—it was born of poverty. When he first ascended, the court was utterly bankrupt; now that wealth had returned, he dared not spend, and it wasn't entirely Zhang Zhang Juzheng's fault.

Feng Bao patted the bound volume and said, 'Master, His Majesty wants to know who this Master of Huayang Cave Heaven really is.'

Zhang Zhang Juzheng flipped through it briefly and knew immediately who wrote it; he stated with certainty: 'Li Li Chunfang—it's him.'

This Journey to the West was far too full of palace details; in this era, only those in the Grand Secretariat could know so much about court rituals.

Feng Bao nodded: 'Then we don't need to give Li Li Chunfang a share. When he retired, the late emperor granted him special favors: eight attendants annually, six shi of official grain monthly, exemption from taxes on ten thousand mu of land, and a eunuch to accompany him. Since it was written by a court minister, His Majesty may use it without paying him.'

'Shouldn't we give him a share? To take someone's book without payment—is that right?' Zhang Zhang Juzheng ventured.

'Fine—if His Majesty offers him money and he dares to accept it, then let him,' Feng Bao replied, choosing to yield to reason. If Li Li Chunfang wants the money, then let's settle accounts for his veiled insults to the emperor.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng stated firmly: 'Li Li Chunfang never indirectly criticized the emperor or slandered the imperial carriage. He's describing most people—even himself. In his youth, he believed he was the hero who would rescue the collapsing tide and prop up the crumbling edifice; but as time passed, his sharp edges softened, until he became a smooth, calculating man. Sun Sun Wukong is not a metaphor—he's a reflection of many.'

'The emperor says it's a metaphor,' Feng Bao said bluntly. 'No shares. Pretend we don't know who wrote it.'

'His Majesty is wise,' Zhang Zhang Juzheng finally understood why Feng Bao had entered the room accusing him of misapplying frugality.

The emperor had no intention of discovering who wrote the supernatural novel—he simply wanted to avoid paying royalties and make money. What could Zhang Zhang Juzheng do? The young emperor had played the card of unreasonable demands to earn cash.

Feng Bao pulled out another imperial edict: 'His Majesty wishes to erect a Buddhist pagoda for the Empress Dowager and invites talented individuals from across the realm to submit designs.'

In Ming and Qing times, the author of Journey to the West was known as the Master of Huayang Cave Heaven; after Hu Shi and Lu Xun's research, it was attributed to Wu Cheng'en, though some argued for Li Li Chunfang—the author accepts the latter. Please vote for monthly tickets! Awooooo!!!!!!!!!!