Chapter 568: Let Investigation Win at the Starting Line!

The chief medical officer Pang Zhang Xian truly has an imperial edict.

The Emperor of Great Ming specifically issued an edict to Chief Shen Yiguan Pang Zhang Xian, ordering him to use every means possible to allow Shi Shi Mao Hua to live a little longer in greater peace; Great Ming is changing daily, and for Shi Shi Mao Hua, every extra day lived, every additional glance at today's Great Ming, is comfort.

For men like Shi Shi Mao Hua and Tan Lun, even if they are barely clinging to life in misery, merely hearing a scrap of good news about Great Ming makes it all worthwhile.

"His Majesty forbade Shi Viceroy from reading the border reports," Pang Zhang Xian said with a smile. "His exact words were: 'Rest well. Shi Viceroy, let us both continue to behold Great Ming's magnificent lands.' Upon reaching the capital, you may read the official gazettes and bulletins."

"That's more like it." Upon hearing the edict was real and that official bulletins were available, Shi Shi Mao Hua finally felt satisfied, vigorously shifting his body and asking curiously: "What's this carriage? It doesn't jolt much at all."

Travel by boat or carriage is chiefly exhausting due to jolting; Shi Shi Mao Hua expected the journey back to the capital to shake him apart, yet the carriage was unusually comfortable.

Pang Zhang Xian could not, under the pretext of treating Shi Shi Mao Hua, control his actions.

For instance, this return to the capital was Shi Shi Mao Hua's own request—he wished to personally witness the reclaimed Ordos before dying in peace. Pang Zhang Xian had originally proposed he retire in Xi'an Prefecture, Shaanxi, but Shi Shi Mao Hua still set out.

Moreover, he took a vast detour: departing Xi'an Prefecture, he first reached Ningxia Guard, entered the Ordos region, followed the Yellow River to Wuyuan Prefecture, passed through Shuofang Prefecture, and arrived at Guihua City. This was meant to be Shi Shi Mao Hua's final journey; Pang Zhang Xian had already prepared for the possibility that Shi Shi Mao Hua would not survive the trip. Yet after reaching the Ordos, his spirit improved steadily.

A withered tree in deep mountains blooms anew; old branches bear brighter flowers.

Having laid down his burdens and ceased mental exhaustion, having witnessed the restoration of the Ordos, Shi Shi Mao Hua's mood soared, and his health improved markedly.

"This carriage uses the Emperor's hydraulic shock absorbers. I'm just a chief medical officer—I don't understand the mechanics." Pang Zhang Xian did not know the carriage's structure, only that hydraulics were the Royal Academy of Investigation's latest invention and widely adopted.

The effect was excellent—at least Shi Shi Mao Hua's carriage was indeed not jolting.

"Very good, very good." Shi Shi Mao Hua gazed out the window at Guihua City, smiling like an old child, curious about everything.

"The Three San Niangzi, the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Suiyuan in Guihua, wishes to visit the Viceroy. Should the Viceroy receive her? She's merely an old consort of a barbarian chief." Pang Zhang Xian asked Shi Shi Mao Hua's opinion.

Hearing this, Shi Shi Mao Hua immediately shook his head: "You must never become an official. Altan Khan is dead; now the Commissioner is Nayan Chu. If you were an official, saying such a thing alone would contradict the court's grand direction. No matter what you truly think, such words must never be spoken."

"The way of governance lies in careful speech."

"I'm not becoming an official—the chief medical officer isn't an official." Pang Zhang Xian instantly realized he had said something improper, but soon relaxed—he was a doctor, healing the sick; other matters had nothing to do with him.

"That's true." Shi Shi Mao Hua nodded. The prescriptions of the Imperial Medical Bureau and the essays of the Hanlin Academy were both untrustworthy for a simple reason: the Imperial Medical Bureau's prescriptions were caught between two stools. A doctor is a doctor; a doctor who understands politics too well is an official, not a doctor.

"I won't see the Three San Niangzi. She's a local official of Suiyuan; I'm merely passing through—no need to meet." Shi Shi Mao Hua decided against the meeting. The way of governance is to avoid unnecessary complications—he was just passing by to see, and meeting the Three San Niangzi might invite criticism, not of base morality, but of disturbing the locality.

In Guihua City, Shi Shi Mao Hua saw a steam engine for the first time. He circled the iron steed three times left, three times right, turning many laps before pointing at the iron steed, the size of half a room, and staring blankly: "This thing… is the iron steed? Hearing is not seeing. How does it operate?"

Pang Zhang Xian stared curiously at the massive monster. The iron steed, motionless on the expressway rail, radiated mechanical power, drawing the gaze of passersby. Pang Zhang Xian shook his head: "I don't know. This is Huang Huang Zifu, the Five Classics Doctor overseeing the Suiyuan expressway survey. Ask him what you wish to know—I'm just a doctor."

Huang Huang Zifu was a friend of Tan Lun and had never met Shi Shi Mao Hua before. Huang Huang Zifu explained the iron steed's principles in the simplest terms possible.

"This sounds simple, but building it isn't easy at all," Shi Shi Mao Hua patted the giant machine, deeply moved. The words came easily, but this device was the result of years of relentless effort by the Royal Academy of Investigation's Five Classics Doctors, the Armaments Bureau's craftsmen, and the Xishan Coal Bureau's workers—truly, it was extraordinarily difficult to achieve.

Huang Huang Zifu smiled: "Ever since the Grand Secretary joined the Royal Academy of Investigation and miniaturized it into a toy, more people can now clearly understand its principles."

"Oh? What kind of toy?" Shi Shi Mao Hua's eyes lit up, eager to know.

Huang Huang Zifu had someone bring a model toy of a steam engine—made entirely of copper and glass, a small steam-powered fan.

Wan Shihé believed this was part of ritual propriety.

It was a complete set of toys, centered on the steam-powered fan and hydraulic mechanical arm, encompassing sixteen principles of investigation: levers, inclined planes, pulleys, magnifying glasses, microscopes, telescopes, the balancing bird, clock escapements, and more.

This toy set was sold at cost: seven tael of silver per set. Each toy came with a card explaining its principle. This set was launched immediately after the runaway success of the condensed edition of the Yongle Encyclopedia, riding the wave of popularity.

In Wan Shihé's own words: "The struggle between the Academy of Investigation and the base scholars will be long and cyclical. Gaining more people's interest in investigation, sparking curiosity in the infinite principles of all things, is especially vital. We must start with children—let investigation win at the starting line!"

Shi Shi Mao Hua looked at the toys and eagerly said: "Give me one set."

Shi Shi Mao Hua was drawn to the hydraulic mechanical arm—it looked fun. It used complex maneuvers to grasp a wooden block and move it elsewhere, far slower than hand-carrying, seemingly pointless. But this was a toy—what if it were a large machine?!

Shi Shi Mao Hua, Viceroy of the Three Frontiers of Shaanxi and Minister of War, boarded the iron steed-drawn carriage bound for the capital. The vehicle ran with exceptional smoothness; apart from the occasional hiss of the pressure valve startling the passengers, everything was fine.

The iron steed belched thick black smoke, racing along the expressway. Amid the howling north wind, the carriage passed lush grasslands where herds galloped, crossed Qingning Lake, where herders looked up at the roaring iron steed, cracked their whips, and drove their flocks home, passed through the Dabingshan Pass, where Qi Qi Jiguang's former fortified garrison still stood, now a resting place for merchants.

Shi Shi Mao Hua arrived in Xuanfu and saw the bustling border market.

The border market lay outside Xuanfu's walls. Now, in the final stretch before winter storage, the entire market was filled with cabbage, sold alongside salt and kelp—these three goods were the most vital for the grasslands to survive winter, besides coal.

Shi Shi Mao Hua spent the entire day wandering the border market, speaking at length with the market supervisor, inquiring about prices and transaction volumes.

Only when night fell did Shi Shi Mao Hua return to the guesthouse, satisfied. He wrote down all his observations into a memorial. Only when Pang Zhang Xian reminded him it was time to rest did he reluctantly put down his brush.

Indeed, Great Ming now had many problems, but today's Great Ming was truly good. He saw the common people and frontier residents living in peace and prosperity—this was the greatest comfort of his life. Tan Lun had never witnessed such a scene.

Shi Shi Mao Hua's carriage crossed the seventy-zhang Huailai Bridge, passed through the tunnel at Juyong Pass, crossed Juyong Pass, and arrived beyond Great Ming's Xitucheng, finally lodging at the Huitong Guesthouse in the capital.

The Emperor had already prepared Shi Shi Mao Hua's residence in the capital before his departure; now staff were finishing final cleaning. His entire family had been brought to the capital; he would spend his remaining years in peace there.

Shi Shi Mao Hua submitted his observations from the journey and his petition for retirement to the palace. Retirement was granted, but return to his hometown was forbidden, to prevent local power brokers from emerging again. Xu Xu Jie had seized 400,000 mu of land in Songjiang—a half-county estate—this was the lesson.

Senior officials retiring must not return to their hometowns—this too was a form of "denying mourning." Leaves cannot return to their roots, but they may be buried beside the Western Hills mausoleum, becoming one of Emperor Wanli's Reform Achievers.

Just as Mao Mao Zedong's policies transformed Great Ming, the public-private discourse subtly reshaped it, inch by inch. Men like Shi Shi Mao Hua, who made immense contributions to the Great Ming collective, were not merely the Emperor's loyal ministers—they were Great Ming's heroes, the heroes of all its people.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was delighted!

Because Shi Shi Mao Hua, having ceased handling mundane affairs and witnessed the civilizing progress of Suiyuan, had grown much sturdier. Zhu Zhu Yijun had no intention of letting Shi Shi Mao Hua exhaust himself further. He promoted him to Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, approved his retirement petition, and assigned him a ceremonial post at the Martial Academy, forming a retired trio with Ma Fang and Liu Zhang Xian, dedicated to training Great Ming's junior officers.

"I don't grip someone useful and work them to death. Everyone needs something to do; otherwise, their spirit sags, and illness comes knocking." Zhu Zhu Yijun explained his reasoning.

What was "spirit"? Zhu Zhu Yijun didn't fully understand it, but he had seen many such cases: men who labored tirelessly their whole lives, then fell ill immediately after shedding their burdens—some couldn't even survive a year.

"Your Majesty, Li Le is waiting outside the palace." Feng Bao reminded the Emperor. Li Le remained in the capital to report before departing.

"Admit him."

Li Le entered the Tonghemen Imperial Study, bowed respectfully.

"I know what you've done in the Southern Office. You've done well—I am deeply pleased." Zhu Zhu Yijun ordered Li Le to rise and sit, opening with praise.

"Your Majesty's excessive praise humbles me. I dare not claim credit—it is all due to Your Majesty's sagely virtue and guidance. I am shallow in talent, granted only the chance to act. To eat the ruler's salary is to serve the ruler faithfully." Li Le quickly bowed his head. He had not done perfectly; having just assumed the post of Provincial Governor, he had acted too hastily in places.

"I still recall when you humiliated Minister Wang Ci at the Quan Chu Guesthouse—Wang Ci still speaks of it to this day." Zhu Zhu Yijun brought up old matters—this was reminiscing, a way to bond.

After chatting about old times, Zhu Zhu Yijun turned to Li Le's memorial.

"I cannot issue an edict banning extravagance, because I cannot enforce it," Zhu Zhu Yijun said, somewhat helplessly.

Li Le readily agreed: "Your Majesty, I raised this matter not to pressure the Master or the Emperor, but to draw attention. Changing customs cannot be achieved overnight. I pushed too hard and made a fool of myself. Such matters must be handled gradually."

"If I issue an edict banning extravagance, cunning men will exploit it as a pretext for injustice."

Faced with the lure of money, Great Ming now swarmed with a culture of competition in luxury. Zhu Zhu Yijun did not ban extravagance because an edict would be useless—it would only waste the Emperor's credibility. Though Zhu Zhu Yijun's credibility was immense, even minor erosion mattered.

The problem was, an anti-extravagance edict would become a tool for some: inventing false levies to drain the treasury, intimidating the rich to extort the poor, or using the ban as cover for oppressive taxation.

Great Ming had experienced this before. Since Emperor Wanli Fifteen, after the wholesale reversal of Zhang Zhang Juzheng's New Policies, the state's finances regressed to the unstable levels of Emperor Longqing Six. Then, because the Emperor Wanli Emperor's imperial tomb budget exceeded eight million taels of silver, the national and imperial treasuries were emptied.

To raise revenue, the Emperor Wanli Emperor launched the Mining Supervisors—eunuchs sent across Great Ming to set up checkpoints and collect levies. The Emperor Wanli Emperor wanted only silver; these eunuchs, once on the ground, used every possible means. For example, the eunuch sent to Nanjing eventually sold off the forest lands of Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's Xiao Ling Mausoleum.

Eunuchs had always collected taxes this way. Their fanatic pursuit of silver left them with no legal constraints—complete, absolute freedom to tax.

The Mining Supervisors plundered, while local officials seized the opportunity, inventing new taxes and joining the frenzy. Great Ming grew filthy and corrupt; its decline became visibly apparent.

The struggle against the Mining Supervisors lasted until Emperor Tianqi First Year—over thirty-four years. Only after two imperial edicts from Emperor Wanli and Taichang recalled the eunuchs was the system finally abolished. The Mining Supervisors ceased their plundering, but the myriad local taxes they had created remained.

The entire struggle was thirty-four years of lost imperial trust and rising public suspicion. During this time, the Emperor and court's credibility was exhausted, yielding only meager tax revenues.

Abandoning all achievements of Zhang Zhang Juzheng's New Policies for temporary stability may have been Emperor Wanli's greatest regret, for later, when Japan invaded Korea and ministers shouted to attack Japan's homeland and exterminate it, Emperor Wanli could only choose negotiation.

Issuing an unenforceable decree gives local officials an excuse to invent new taxes.

Li Le returned to the capital to report—not to pressure the Master or the Emperor. He lacked the power to do so; he merely observed a phenomenon and urged the court to be vigilant.

"How are the people who seized the contracts in the Southern Office now?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked, his expression grave.

"They're now working in shipyards and state factories, Your Majesty. Everywhere, every industry, is desperately short of labor," Li Le said of their resettlement. These were all laborers—Great Ming lacked people everywhere. Even Dan'gao Town on Jilong Island and Xinglong Village had sent recruiters to the Southern Office for carpenters.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had feared these people would be persecuted, but he had overthought it—it wasn't that the law couldn't punish them, but that Great Ming suffered a labor shortage.

Zhu Zhu Yijun's 37.12 million taels of ocean investment were continuously expanding. Though his imperial treasury had halted investment, the completed state factories operated stably, and their retained profits allowed continuous expansion.

On this matter, Zhu Zhu Yijun and Li Le spoke at length, learning why the abolition of the Jiannuji decree could be implemented: state-led investment spurred economic growth; handicraft workshops sprouted like mushrooms after rain; and these workshops needed labor.

Ninety percent of Great Ming's people were farmers; few were willing to leave the land for workshops. With labor shortages, abolishing the Jiannuji and establishing free employment became inevitable.

"The powerful families of Jiangnan did try hiring foreign laborers, but these foreigners were… hard to describe. In the end, they had to find solutions inland," Li Le said, explaining how workshop owners solved their labor shortage. Some powerful families hired indigenous people from the Yuanxu Islands and found them truly unusable.

"Sometimes they're lazy; sometimes they're diligent."

Li Le described the situation powerful families encountered when developing the Yuanxu Islands: the natives were so lazy they wouldn't move unless whipped—fields were overrun with weeds, ignored.

As for diligence, when bricks were freshly fired, the diligent natives would rush to haul them to their own homes. Every plantation faced the same: if left unattended for seven days, everything would be stolen clean. To prevent this, they had to build earthen walls and moats.

"This phenomenon arises because their desperate labor yields no reward, so gradually they become this way," Li Le reflected. "Your Majesty, in Luzon, Manila, there's a copper mine now called Tongxiang Town—a copper-gold Gongshengkuang."

"I know Tongxiang Town. The last time, its chief Chen Chen Chengyi came to the capital to report. Now Luzon has eleven copper mines. Chen Chen Chengyi is one of the imperial special examination graduates I personally granted." Zhu Zhu Yijun nodded immediately. Chen Chen Chengyi was one of the pillars of Guoxing Yin Zhengmao's administration; eleven copper towns were the foundation of the Luzon Governor's rule.

Li Le continued: "That place was once called Lanbeijinshan. Spanish colonists killed anyone caught secretly panning for gold, hanging their bodies upside down from trees to deter the natives."

"There was a gold prospector named Harry. He was originally a farmer near Manila. One day, the red-haired barbarians arrived with muskets, drove him off his land, and he fled fifty li to his daughter, who had already married."

"Harry went to his daughter's home, only to find her husband beating her. Harry gave his entire savings to the husband, begging him to stop. He then built a thatched hut. Without land, Harry secretly began panning for gold at Lanbeijinshan."

"Every morning he ate only one taro and a pinch of salt. If he caught a monkey or snake on the way, it was a feast. He couldn't fight crocodiles—when he saw one, he ran."

"He secretly panned for gold, selling the gold dust to workshops. By the third year, he finally saved enough to buy an iron shovel."

"Wait!" Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned, puzzled. "He risked his life panning for gold, and after three years, he only bought an iron shovel?"

Li Le sighed: "Yes. The gold dust was indeed valuable, but the local workshops paid only a pittance—tiny amounts of salt or grain. By the third year, he bought an iron shovel, thinking he could now extract more gold."

"But on the third day, someone stole his iron shovel…"

Zhu Zhu Yijun stared blankly at Li Le: "Stolen?"

"Yes. That was the beginning of the tragedy. Since his old shovel had been pawned to the workshop, Old Harry could only dig with his bare hands." Li Le sighed. "What saddened him most was that after three years, his son-in-law still beat his daughter."

"By the sixth year of panning, Old Harry hadn't saved enough for a second iron shovel. His son-in-law beat his daughter more frequently, because he believed Old Harry had taken advantage of their family."

"Old Harry knew he should die."

"When Old Harry decided to risk entering the deeper mine to pan high-grade ore, he saw the cross flag replaced by the Big Dipper flag. He had heard of the Big Dipper flag, but the legends were so distant he had forgotten what it represented."

"Now, Old Harry is the foreman of Pit No. 17 in Tongxiang Town. His son-in-law no longer beats his daughter—instead, he constantly hovers around Old Harry, hoping he'll help other relatives get jobs at the mine."

"You can't help him. Helping will cause trouble," Zhu Zhu Yijun said immediately. This son-in-law had gone from arrogant to obsequious—he was no good. Helping would bring resentment, not gratitude.

Li Le smiled: "Old Harry knows that. So he neither promises help nor refuses. Old Harry is a microcosm of Luzon's common folk. Countless others like him toil endlessly, working themselves to death for no reward, and gradually become lazy when working but diligent when stealing."

"Where did you hear this story?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked, puzzled.

Li Le explained: "In June this year, Old Harry escorted five million catties of copper to Xingang. Three million catties were destined for the Southern Office. I met Old Harry then. He said he used to be thin as skin over bone and loved stealing—he nearly got killed by Chen Chen Chengyi for stealing from the mine, but since labor was scarce, they spared his life."

"Old Harry isn't fat anymore, but he's got flesh on him, and that means strength. Old Harry says: working for Great Ming, Great Ming actually pays."

"It's not laziness that causes poverty, but poverty that causes laziness."

After telling Old Harry's story, Li Le realized that the Old Harry of Lu Song was no different from the poor laborers of Great Ming. Setting aside the debate between Han and barbarians, these were the lowest strata of society—none lacked diligence, but the persistent mismatch between labor and reward had bred widespread apathy.

"Suffering is suffering; it is never worthy of praise," Zhu Zhu Yijun said, nodding.

"Your Majesty, I believe the alienation caused by money stems primarily from distribution. The people do not seek great wealth or nobility; they seek only stable livelihood. If labor matches its reward, admiration will not turn to envy, and people will not lose their basic reason and become slaves to money." Li Le laid his cards on the table—he used Old Harry's story to describe the struggles of the poor laborers, aiming to fully articulate his understanding of the culture of extravagance.

Admiration is rational; a good life is naturally admired by all. But envy is irrational. When admiration slips into envy, reason is lost.

Losing reason is the beginning of alienation—and it is extremely dangerous.

Li Le bowed low and said: "Your Majesty, let those decadent nobles fight over wealth! A life of music, women, dogs, and horses is far beyond the reach of the common people. A single flower basket costing a hundred taels is a sum no commoner could ever hope to afford. I believe: those who labor shall receive, those who toil shall gain. Only then can the realm be at peace and governance harmonious!"

"You have now come into your own—you can shield the Master from wind and rain," Zhu Zhu Yijun said sincerely. "Li Le, the Master is old. His legacy, his reputation—relying on me alone is not enough. We need more people to stand with us."

"Since the Emperor Wanli Reforms, the Master has offended everyone he could—and everyone he couldn't, even me. To protect the New Policies, we must protect the Master's legacy and reputation. Li Le, I hope you will help me."

This was a request—and a promise. It was the first time Zhu Zhu Yijun had spoken so openly and sincerely.

The boomerang of the Emperor's frugality had already struck Master Zhang full in the head. Zhang Zhang Juzheng had indeed offended the Emperor by insisting on frugality and self-discipline—but the Emperor had chosen not to hold it against him.

"I shall not fail Your Majesty's trust!" Li Le swept his sleeves, bowed deeply, and spoke loudly.

Li Le was now at ease. Though the Emperor seemed greedy, petty, vengeful, and obsessed with small grievances, his promises were always golden words—once given, they were always kept.

A promise exists to be fulfilled—why make one otherwise?

This was a guarantee—a pledge to all members of the Zhang Faction: work boldly. Even after Zhang Zhang Juzheng's passing, Great Ming would continue advancing the New Policies!

Zhu Zhu Yijun spoke calmly: "This is not merely a bond between teacher and student—it is the fate of Great Ming's Jiangshansheji, and the hope of millions."

When Li Le left, he took with him a set of toys—the Ge Wu Principle toys. Zhu Zhu Yijun had said Li Le should let his children play with them.

On this return to the capital for his official report, the Emperor had bestowed many gifts, but Li Le cherished most these Ge Wu Principle toys. Like Wang Wang Jiaoping, he had become deeply interested in all the new things in Great Ming since arriving in the capital—but some things he still could not understand.

Li Le looked at the sixteen toys before him and decided he would play with them first, then give them to his children.

Xu Wan Shihe, as Minister of Rites, had instead sounded the clarion call against ritual orthodoxy. These toys, these cards, paired with the condensed Yongle Encyclopedia, were aimed at children from infancy—clearly an assault on the very roots of Confucian ritual law.