Chapter 470

Zhang Juzheng's new policies, rectifying the academic administration, from the Maritime Academy to promoting entrusted special training—Zhu Yijun wanted universal education, letting every child have school to attend. When he first proposed it, Zhang Juzheng immediately rejected it, saying it couldn't be done.

Zhu Yijun mentioned universal basic education once, and Zhang Juzheng used opening the sea and revitalizing the military to fob the Emperor off. That time, the navy was increased from 30,000 to 90,000. Wan Guo basic education is even more expensive than expanding the navy. (Chapter 390)

Entrusted special training, like the Maritime Academy and the Craftsman Academy, requires tuition. The court pays half, and the students pay half. If the students can go to Suiyuan for nine years and get the highest rating for three years of assessment, they don't have to pay back the court's half, and they can also receive the court's salary.

This matter will break the monopoly of the powerful and wealthy, local gentry, and scholar-officials over official positions and power, which is a truly grave-digging act, providing the poor with another path for upward mobility.

And most importantly, it will inject fresh blood into the stagnant water of the court.

This will inevitably arouse strong opposition from the powerful and wealthy, but which of Zhang Juzheng's clean-up, assessment, and academic administration contents did not effectively harm the interests of these people?

Zhang Juzheng had long ago offended everyone who could be offended, including His Majesty the Emperor who was high above.

Wang Chonggu knew very well that this time he had fallen into Zhang Juzheng's trick of feigning weakness. He suddenly understood one thing: after he submitted that "Memorial on Equalizing Land and Labor," Zhang Juzheng could no longer let him go.

Wan Shihe couldn't help but recall the scene where he was reprimanded by the Emperor back then. It was truly a past that was unbearable to look back on, but the Emperor had never scolded him like that, only calling him a "cheap scholar." At that time, Wan Shihe was indeed a "cheap scholar," and Wan Shihe did not deny this, but he later stayed in the court more bravely than Wang Zhi.

Feng Bao is a very qualified actor. Some problems he really doesn't understand, and some he is hiding his clumsiness. Sometimes Zhu Yijun can't tell whether Feng Bao is cooperating with the performance by playing dumb.

Wan Shihe talked about these things mainly to talk about vertical scale. The Southern Song Dynasty had already communicated with the Arab world, and he also talked about horizontal scale—Great Ming's merchant ships also had to do business with the Arabs.

The purpose is self-evident.

On March 12th of the tenth year of Wanli, the sky was as blue as if washed, because it had just rained in the spring, making the sky clean and bright. The spring sky was like a sapphire, and everyone breathed fresh air in big gulps. Those big chimneys in the Western Hills began to spray clouds and fog. In less than a day, coal smoke could shroud the entire capital. When Zhu Yijun went out, he wore a mask and stepped on a "dry duck" (a type of shoe) to go to work in the Wenhua Hall.

Wang Chonggu's opinion made the court officials frown. Wang Chonggu was a bit too insidious.

Great Ming's maritime defense inspectors already numbered over a thousand. From recent reports, there had been no large-scale smuggling of gold, silver, or copper coins out to sea.

At that time, the power of supervision was dominated by one family, controlled by the Censorate. Later, with the "Zhenwu," military generals had the power of affairs, and memorials didn't have to be held up in the Ministry of War for several days before being submitted. There were also supervising eunuchs. Under the three-party control, the Xuan-Da garrison troops and Li Chengliang's retainers immediately had no loopholes. They either accepted the court's supervision or died.

At that time, Zhu Yijun also said that the literary inquisition of the Qing Dynasty couldn't even cure the symptoms, the Arab world directly cured the root cause, and Korea and Japan used Chinese characters as a class barrier, while in the Arab world, even knowledge was not circulated.

"You are so smart, why are you obsessed with beauties from all over the world?" Zhu Yijun naturally understood. Wang Chonggu had lost to his own strange desire for victory. Wang Chonggu wanted to prove himself too much and wanted the Engineering Corps to be realized too much, to the point that he subconsciously ignored the trap Zhang Juzheng had set for him.

"Because there were no maritime defense inspectors flying on the water before. One thing completely forbidden = completely not forbidden." Zhu Yijun explained the logic. It's fast to do problems with formulas.

"I actually think there's no need to wait." Wang Chonggu said: "What's the big deal? Do we need to mobilize the Capital Camp? According to the water route, the navy will return to the garrison in just a hundred days. The powerful and wealthy are also human, and they are also afraid of death. A tray of loose sand—what is there to fear?"

"What happened?" Minister of Rites Wan Shihe asked with great curiosity. Why did the Emperor reprimand him? How did he reprimand him so that people directly resigned? It was headless and tailless, making people a bit confused.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment and said: "Even if it's a trap, the current Wang the Junior Grand Secretary has to stick his head into it. No, what nickname are you giving people? Wang the Junior Grand Secretary is the Junior Grand Secretary. What nonsense are you talking about?"

There were no maritime defense inspectors before, only the Yuegang Shipping Office. As long as you bribed the small officials checking at the shipping office, you could flow out smoothly. Now you need to bribe the maritime defense inspectors who detect smuggling. The Yuegang Shipping Office's "all-pay hall" and the small officials checking at the Yuegang Shipping Office—Great Ming's practical experience told Zhu Yijun that those who could do this were all people with eyes reaching the sky.

Movable type printing was not that powerful either, because to use movable type printing, the picking craftsmen, singing craftsmen, and carving craftsmen all had to be literate, otherwise there would be mistakes and omissions. People who knew how to read and write in this era were high-level talents, and printing was a bitter job.

"Widely build community schools." Zhang Juzheng took out a memorial, his expression somewhat hesitant. Great Ming didn't have the capital to engage in universal basic education. Zhang Juzheng really wanted to do it, but if he couldn't, he couldn't. This was a compromise and appeasement method, but what kind of storm would be brewed after this new academic administration method was pushed out was hard to say.

Wang Chonggu didn't think there was anything rebellious about Zhang Juzheng's memorial, and it wasn't very difficult to realize. About thirty percent of the court officials came from military households, and more than seventy percent were from civilian households. There seemed to be too many "cheap scholars" in the court. The Engineering Corps were also military households.

"Your Majesty, actually Great Ming does have people who are proficient in this." Wan Shihe bowed and said.

The profit tax and the "Memorial on Returning Land"—these two things had already stimulated the powerful and wealthy, although the "Memorial on Returning Land" was sneaky.

The leaders of the Jin faction, Yang Bo and Gao Gong, originally wanted to cut the Directorate of Ceremonial. In terms of supervision, another important link was missing.

Not daring to name names, not even daring to say that the Capital Camp had problems, so this memorial was truly strange. The reason for not naming names was very simple: the Grand General was leading eighty thousand elite troops on an expedition. If he really impeached them indiscriminately and angered the Grand General, and the Grand General led troops back to the capital to "clear the monarch's side," who could withstand it?

Hence Hai Rui took out a memorial, sighed, and said: "Yesterday, His Majesty descended with thunderous rage and reprimanded the Censor of the Censorate, Hong Siqi. Hong Siqi was ashamed and angry, and submitted a memorial requesting to resign."

The atmosphere of Great Ming had been spoiled by His Majesty. Everyone was a "fun-seeker."

How can the Emperor scolding people be called scolding? That's called reprimanding.

Now that this profit tax has come out, it has instead solved the problem of precious metal outflow.

These three pieces of evidence were submitted directly to the Emperor, and they were translated.

Zhang Juzheng led the group of officials to pay their respects. Ten years passed like one. People came and went in the court. The Emperor was already in his prime, and everything in the empire was flourishing, except for those two dark clouds from the beginning, which had already covered half the sky: one was that the Emperor read too well, and the other was that the Emperor didn't attend to his proper duties.

Wang Chonggu thought for a moment and said: "What's difficult about this? Bring it here for me to see."

Filtering out academic failures doesn't filter out human scum, and the fulfillment of the entrusted contract is the filtering of human scum.

"It's still too difficult." Zhang Juzheng said with a difficult expression.

"Then approve it." Zhu Yijun really did all kinds of business. Printing scriptures was a business with ten thousand times the profit. Making money is not shameful.

"From the current point of view, people's thirst for knowledge is the same, regardless of region. Even if this Arabic *Euclid* is simple, full of typos and errors, and the letters and lines are not clear enough, any scholar in our Great Ming who sees books of such quality would not think they have any significance. But books are still hot goods, and the price is extremely expensive." Wan Shihe explained the current predicament of the Mughal Empire.

Wan Shihe displayed three pieces of evidence.

Being deceived every day, one deception after another, and the tricks are different every time.

Minister of Rites Wan Shihe took out a memorial and said: "The Shah's envoy requested this year whether the court can sell some block-printed Arabic books, block-printed wooden knives, ink, paper, and other items to the Mughal Empire. Bai Yin is easy to talk about, the more the better, the more the better."

The three-party mutual control is a chaotic triangle. No one knows whether the other side has secretly allied, and no one knows whether they will step on their heads to get to the top. The triangle has stability because a suspicion chain can be established.

"The wedding ceremony for the Prince of Lu has been determined." Zhang Juzheng took out a memorial from the Ministry of Rites. The much-anticipated wedding of the Prince of Lu had been prepared. It was still the Emperor's frugal style of wedding ceremony.

The coral was red tree branches boiled with dye, the pearls and various gemstones were all glass burned, and the gold, silver, and jewelry were all copper-lead-tin alloys. These things were not even newly made; they were all leftovers from the Emperor's own wedding.

Zhang Juzheng's opinion was the traditional punishment of stripping official degrees, never being used again, and three generations not being allowed to take the imperial examination.

"Did the 'Big Fat Head' really not see that it was a trap?" Zhu Yijun chose to change the subject. Zhu Yijun had also learned the tricks of the "cheap scholars" seven or eight out of ten.

Wang Chonggu and Zhang Juzheng communicated about the details, such as pre-school selection, enrollment, entrusted training time, entrusted contracts, etc. Especially regarding the punishment for breach of contract, Wang Chonggu and Zhang Juzheng had different opinions. Wang Chonggu believed that they should be fined—five hundred for one fine, sixty silver for tuition, and thirty thousand silver for the fine. If they couldn't pay, they would be directly exiled. They had to go whether they wanted to or not.

"Want to try?" Zhang Juzheng still had doubts, but he looked like he wanted to try.

Yes, at that moment, he had completed his transformation in the historical change. From that moment on, Zhang Juzheng would never let him go. The "letter of intent" for the pirate ship had been handed in. If he wanted to get off the ship, there was no way.

Directly rebel—why smuggle?

Wang Chonggu had very rich experience in being a treacherous minister. How did the Jin faction find loopholes back then? Wasn't it because supervision failed?

The funds were very sufficient—200,000 silver. A 70,000-strong Engineering Corps could select 3,000 scholars, which was enough. As long as the pilot was successful, it could be spread out bit by bit.

According to reason, the effect of the silver ban should be stronger than the profit tax, because the silver ban completely prohibited the circulation of gold and silver, and even prohibited gold and silver from flowing overseas. But every year, gold and silver still couldn't stop flowing out, through various means, making people unable to guard against it.

And "strictness in every examination" means that the selection process must be strict. While requiring strictness in the questions, it also requires reporting to the Ministry of Works. The selection at the level of general manager must be reported to His Majesty for a decision. This is almost equivalent to the Jinshi palace examination. The only problem is that it caused trouble for His Majesty.

Hence Hai Rui took out the original memorial and handed it to the ministers. The ministers looked at it one by one and found that the memorial had the Emperor's vermilion approval, with 3,500 characters, a total of seventeen articles, not one of which was useful.

Wang Chonggu held back his laughter and read out the vermilion approval: "Your direct words, I have already known by heart since I was young. It is like the words memorized by a child in enlightenment. If you are a child who speaks without taboo, you are not a child at your age. Such an article coming from the mouth of a court official is sad! Just from what is said in the memorial, one can see your shallow knowledge, and there are even three typos. I have picked them out for you. Let the Censorate know. It is better to secretly destroy the memorial to prevent others from hearing it and laughing at you for being a parasite. You should study articles more on weekdays, and reading the *Za Bao* is also fine."

The coal mining in the Western Hills Coal Bureau not only did not reduce production, but with the appearance of the Ministry of War's guild hall acceptance bills, it was constantly increasing production, which made the censorate officials furious.

"I respectfully obey His Majesty's holy decree!" Zhu Yijun said excitedly. For the sake of a happy life in the second half of his life, he would not stop practicing martial arts.

Sure enough, as soon as the floating ticket was written, Wang Chonggu's face changed. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his face became helpless.

"Then does the Shah's envoy mean that Great Ming should help print them? Our Great Ming's interpreter hall seems to only have two interpreters who know Arabic." Zhu Yijun felt it could be approved, but it was very difficult for Great Ming to do it.

"Isn't it said that the Mughal Empire and the Ottoman Empire prohibit the printing of various scriptures and only allow handwritten copies?" Zhu Yijun was stunned. The Shah's envoy's request did not conform to Great Ming's understanding of them.

"Practice martial arts in the future and don't let it fall behind." Zhu Yijun finished approving the memorial and still reminded Zhu Yijun that physical health was very important. Play when you should play, make trouble when you should make trouble, but don't ruin your body. You can only watch and cry during the good times.

This scolding was indeed ugly. Hong Siqi was 34 years old, and the whole memorial was full of things memorized by children in enlightenment, secretly destroying it so as not to be laughed at by others for shallow knowledge, not understanding other people's articles, and reading the *Za Bao* to increase some knowledge.

I have seen stingy people, but I have never seen anyone so stingy. The legendary Pixiu that only enters and never exits was eclipsed in front of His Majesty.

Because of the sanctity of the scriptures, they must be copied sincerely to reflect the firmness of that faith. For this reason, Emperor Akbar and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire repeatedly issued bans prohibiting the spread of printing technology. This is a saying that is very widely spread in the West.

Wang Daokun also asked with curiosity: "How did he reprimand him?"

"Promote literature and suppress the military—no need to use them together in the future."

He has today entirely by relying on his own efforts and serious study.

Zhang Juzheng's hand holding the memorial stopped. Between hesitation, he still took it back and said with a face full of sorrow: "Forget it."

Wang Chonggu sighed. He could only say that if he couldn't break free, he could only enjoy it.

The post road from Datong Prefecture to Great Ming's capital had been opened. The 7.5-horsepower steam engine was on the road. Although it didn't pull much cargo and the production capacity was limited, horse-drawn rail cars could also pull coal!

The profit tax didn't collect much money, but the problem of Great Ming's silver circulation was partially alleviated. This was good news. The throughput of the shipping office had been further improved, and the ship tickets of the Yanxing Building Trading House had risen by five cents of silver.

Zhu Yijun said in a low voice: "The court officials all say that he can't beat the Master and was used by the Master. The matter of the 'Memorial on Returning Land'."

"We respectfully obey the holy decree." Zhang Juzheng led the group of officials to bow and obey. Civil and military are not contradictory. Civil and military never need to be discussed in opposition, nor are they things that rise and fall together. But scholar-officials are always deliberately creating this kind of opposition.

To enter, one must take the examination. The content of the examination is different from the selection of official examinations. The management positions of acting and handling affairs are to test professional skills, and they also require three to five years of practical experience. An outsider commanding an insider—in just a few years, the walls will collapse. The official factory group construction method is Wang Chonggu's capital for turning over, so he is naturally cautious.

Because the court is inevitably rigid due to the system, the handling of problems is lagging. Therefore, the literary inquisition of the Qing Dynasty was only launched after the bad consequences had already been brewed. The influence had already been caused, and rebel remarks had already spread everywhere. Literary inquisition cures the symptoms but not the root cause, while the Arab world directly bans the spread of knowledge.

"Resign if you want to resign." Zhang Juzheng wrote the floating ticket, handed the memorial to Feng Bao, and sent it to the Emperor.

"Although they didn't join forces, there is a universal consensus." Zhang Juzheng shook his head and prepared to take the memorial back. It was safer to wait for Qi Jiguang to return.

Many of the contents in this memorial were similar to what His Majesty learned at the age of ten. 3,500 words, seventeen articles, each one saying nothing. Only "cherishing the people from afar" was a long-winded discussion with some of his own views. Not a single sentence mentioned General Qi and the Capital Camp, but it was insinuating, saying that the expedition of the great army was without benevolence and righteousness, inevitably creating killing, and violating the harmony of heaven.

The reply from the envoy sent by Great Ming to the West was all said like this.

Literary inquisition? There must be writing. In a world with only handwritten copies, the price of knowledge will be infinitely expensive, and it can only become the exclusive privilege of the nobility.

There are three things being actively promoted: the expansion of the Yanxing Building, the profit tax, and the increased production of the Western Hills Coal Bureau.

The real gold and silver were only ten taels of gold, fifty taels of silver, and ten taels of pearls.

Wan Shihe didn't mention this matter suddenly either, mainly for the sake of the matter to be discussed next.

Zhu Yijun handed the memorial to Feng Bao and said: "Promote literature, advocate civil governance, strive for education, establish schools and promote literature—this is originally a good thing. Why must promoting literature mean suppressing the military? When promoting literature, why can't we revitalize the military? During the Yongle years, we went north to conquer the Tatars and also compiled the *Yongle Encyclopedia*. Discussing civil and military in opposition is itself a confusion of right and wrong. Just from what I have seen with my own eyes, there are ministers like Tan Lun, Yin Zhengmao, Liang Menglong, and Ceng Shengwu, all of whom are capable of pacifying the world with martial arts when on horseback, and governing the world with civil governance when off horseback."

Wang Chonggu pondered for a while and said: "Try it in the Engineering Corps first, then promote it everywhere, to the official factory group construction method. In this way, it can be considered a gradual approach, not too urgent."

At this moment, Wan Shihe also admitted that the Liberal School improved by Lin Fucheng had some substance. The Arab world lacked the vertical and horizontal scale of printing due to the scarcity of material conditions. In fact, there were still a small number of printed materials circulating in the palace, but the quality was too poor, which is why handwritten copies became popular.

"Strictness in every examination." The assessment method of the official factory group construction must be strictly implemented. Use the same "pasting names on the grass list" and "filling in names on the bottom register" as the assessment method for assessment. The supervision must also visit the craftsmen, and finally get the results. And there are three books of accounts: one for the official factory, one for the Ministry of Works, and one for the Ministry of Personnel. The assessment is mainly aimed at officials.

"Regarding the matter of nepotism in the official factory, I have formulated a set of regulations. His Majesty's vermilion approval says it is feasible. This is one of the regulations of the official factory. In the future, the selection of officials such as general managers and acting managers for the official factory must go through official examination and selection. The overall principle is only one: every entry must be examined, every examination must be strict, and every supervision must be cautious." Wang Chonggu took out specific regulations for the problems discovered by His Majesty during his inspection of the Yongding Wool Factory a few days ago.

"How about waiting for General Qi to return in triumph?" Zhang Juzheng held the memorial, did not open it, but prepared to take it back. This is a path dependence. Several times before, he would wait. Without ballast, Zhang Juzheng felt panicked.

Fining money is straightforward, and you have to pay off the debt for a lifetime.

Zhang Juzheng handed the memorial to Wang Chonggu. Wang Chonggu looked at it for a long time and said with great certainty: "What's difficult about this? Try it in the Engineering Corps first. Anyway, we can copy the experience of the Capital Camp's elite soldiers' Lecture Hall."

It was fine for the Ministry of Works to be vague before, but now they have increased coal mining, which is truly infuriating. It is simply outputting on the faces of the censorate officials. It is truly unbearable!

But the censorate officials have no good way to deal with the Ministry of Works, because there is Wang the Junior Grand Secretary in the court acting as a protective umbrella for the Ministry of Works! Wang Chonggu used flattery to bewitch His Majesty, even sacrificing the sweet air to engage in the official factory group construction.

Great Ming's navy is on an armed tour of Japan, and Great Ming's Capital Camp is conquering the Ordos Loop. It seems that Great Ming has no ballast and government decrees need to be delayed, but Wang Chonggu, standing from the perspective of the powerful and wealthy, doesn't feel that there is anything about this.

The key is, His Majesty scolded correctly...

For the censorate officials, Wang Chonggu had long ago far exceeded the execution line and was already on par with Yan Song!

"This year, the profit tax collected less than 300 silver taels." Feng Bao talked about the predicament of the profit tax implementation. He asked with full confusion: "Your Majesty, why is this profit tax easier to use than the silver ban?"

A decree from the second year of Wanli, when the Ottoman Sultan Murad III ascended the throne, printed with block printing. The content of the decree was just to tell everyone that the monarch had changed. The content was nothing outstanding, but it was block-printed; another was a copy of *Euclid's Calculation of Pi* in Arabic; and another was a decree protecting the trade rights of Western merchants to sell "precious Arabic printed books and booklets." This decree was very long, and the interpreter hall had translated it carefully.

Zhu Yijun approved his resignation. Being scolded twice and then resigning—Wan Shihe was scolded so many times, yet he was still as tenacious as a wild grass and grew up sturdily. If you don't have any stress resistance, what kind of official are you? Go home and sell sweet potatoes.

If it were a scholar who wanted face, it wouldn't be resignation, but directly hanging himself. Living is simply too shameful.

Zhu Yijun truly envied this younger brother. The life he lived was truly very happy.

"Better to take root in the Engineering Corps first." Wang Chonggu proposed a compromise. After all, it had to be piloted. Then try it in the Engineering Corps. The labor intensity of the Engineering Corps is extremely high. In this environment, if there is still some progress in reading, then it is a talent that can be cultivated, and academic failures can be selected out on a large scale to cultivate talents.

At first, Wang Chonggu did fall into Zhang Juzheng's trap. He was clearly opposed to the "Memorial on Returning Land," but in the end, he became the one who charged into the trap. The court officials all knew this, and private discussions were very normal.

"Hong Siqi submitted a memorial on seventeen matters of state yesterday, totaling 3,500 characters, citing classics and allusions, saying a lot of things, and was scolded by His Majesty." Wang Guoguang was not so polite; he didn't reprimand, but scolded.

"Just follow the rites of the Ministry of Rites." Zhu Yijun picked up the Wanli Treasure and stamped it on the memorial of the Ministry of Rites. Zhu Yijun was as happy as a child. He was originally a child, and he couldn't hide things in his heart.

The Pu family of Quanzhou, descendants of Arabs, even influenced the fate of the Song and Yuan dynasties. The Song Dynasty was not very good to the people, but it was not thin to these Arabs in Quanzhou. Later, the Pu family of Quanzhou sold the Zhao family clansmen who fled to Quanzhou to Kublai Khan in exchange for official positions. Great Ming was established, and Zhu Yuanzhang prohibited the Pu family of Quanzhou from taking the imperial examination. Most of the Pu family of Quanzhou changed their surnames to Zhao or Wu.

"Your Majesty, this is a rumor deliberately manufactured by Westerners. In fact, the Ottoman Kingdom and the Mughal Empire have no conditions for block printing. It is just that the scriptures have no requirements for printing, and the Ottoman Sultan and the King of the Mughal Empire have never issued such an order." Wan Shihe explained the details in detail. The reply to the envoy sent by Great Ming to the West was all said like this.

The scope of entrusted academic administration includes not only Suiyuan, but also Luzon, Old Port, Nagasaki, Ryukyu, and other overseas viceroyalties. These contracts are realized through the Maritime Academy, which can also be considered a dual-standard pilot.

Correspondingly, there were twelve beauties from all over the world. This thing was contributed by many countries.

So even if Wang Chonggu didn't realize he had been tricked now, he should have understood when the floating ticket was written and stamped.

Yang Bo was very good at judging people. Wang Chonggu was truly hot-tempered, meaning he was easily swayed by emotions. He actually wasn't afraid of treacherous rebels. He knew their tricks clearly. Who isn't a treacherous rebel?

The group of officials looked at His Majesty the Emperor. Those fake goods from the beginning, His Majesty actually kept them and reused them...

Zhu Yijun was serious on the platform, while Zhu Yijun tilted his head and said in a very low voice: "Brother, the 'Big Fat Head' seems to have fallen into the Master's trap again. The Master wasn't hesitant at all; he was clearly setting a trap for Wang Chonggu. Brother, am I right?"

The court was still discussing the matter. There were two things that made the court officials feel caught in a dilemma: the Engineering Corps and Zhang Juzheng's new academic administration.

"Killing a chicken with a butcher's knife." Wang Chonggu's set of actions seemed a bit too forceful. The big stick of the assessment method was smashed on the officials. The official factory only had official status for the general manager, and the rest were at most clerks.

But Wang Chonggu made such a big fuss this time to escort the official factory group construction method that had just started. This is an extremely important force in Great Ming's new policies and an inexhaustible source of power for Great Ming's reform, which cannot afford any mistakes.

(End of chapter)