[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties":3,"chapter-i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-60":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Really Am Not Neglecting My Duties",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2363329,4622,"Chapter 60","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-60",60,"\u003Cp>Li Le had flaws; he became a jinshi in Longqing fifth year, began his probationary service after passing the imperial examination, and was appointed as a Military Censor, but he had never witnessed luxury, so when luxury came crashing down upon him, easily attainable, he became bewildered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did Zhang Juzheng have flaws? Yes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His flaw was glaring: skilled at planning for the state, clumsy at planning for himself—but this flaw was extremely difficult to counter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Siwei thought long and hard, gritted his teeth, and growled: “Zhang Juzheng? Wait until he dies! Once a man is dead, he can no longer control what happens after.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Arong and Wang Chonggu were as close as brothers sharing one pair of trousers, and though the Jin Party held the majority in court, that didn’t mean no one could balance Gao Arong—Zhang Juzheng, as Vice Grand Secretary, could counter him in some measure; in military affairs, politics, and oversight, Zhang Juzheng had his own faction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So when faced with the imperial decree of dismissal, no matter how unwilling, Gao Arong could only return home to idle away his days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Siwei had no real way to deal with Zhang Juzheng; he couldn’t defeat him. From any angle, Zhang Siwei could not treat Zhang Juzheng as he treated Li Le. Yang Bo repeatedly tried to win Zhang Juzheng over with extraordinarily generous terms—even offering him the entire Jin Party—but Zhang Juzheng remained unmoved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t Qi Jiguang return the full Chu Hall’s credential plaque to the Grand Secretary? Isn’t that an opportunity?” Wang Chonggu said grimly. If he’s hard to deal with, does that mean we shouldn’t find a way? We must exploit every possible chance to weaken Zhang Juzheng’s power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Qi Jiguang,” Zhang Siwei sighed, shaking his head. “To deal with Qi Jiguang, strike at his vital point. What is his vital point? His military prestige—the awe-inspiring, intimidating prestige built by one victory after another.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as he keeps winning, all outside schemes are useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ll send someone to try to sway him. Recently, censors have impeached Qi Jiguang—let a few of them go and try to persuade him. Probably won’t work.” Zhang Siwei walked away from the Full Jin Hall with measured steps.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People like Qi Jiguang were even purer than Zhang Juzheng—impossible to bribe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To deal with Qi Jiguang, even treachery and deceit won’t work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Qi Jiguang suppressed the Japanese pirates in the southeast, his enemies weren’t just pirates—he still won despite countless plots and schemes. How do you counter such a military genius?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At dusk, You Qi returned to the Full Chu Hall and found Zhang Juzheng annotating the Four Books and Five Classics for the young emperor in the Wenchang Pavilion. You Qi’s expression was complex: “Master, word came from the Full Jin Hall—Li Le went there and hasn’t left. He may be defecting to the Jin Party.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You Qi knew because he’d planted spies in the Full Jin Hall. Li Le, as the imperial inspector sent to the frontier, was under intense scrutiny—even if he entered through a side gate, those who wanted to know would find out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know,” Zhang Juzheng put down his pencil. After finishing one passage, he sighed helplessly—he could already imagine which questions the emperor would ask him. He had to prepare in advance; if, as the emperor’s tutor, he could only evade the questions, Zhang Juzheng would lose face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then what should we do?” You Qi looked at his master. Zhang Juzheng seemed to have anticipated this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng smiled: “Do you remember Lu Shusheng? We were classmates. In the late Jiajing and early Longqing years, we both belonged to Xu’s faction. After I assumed power, I promoted Lu Shusheng to Minister of Rites. He opposed every policy I enacted—not because he disagreed with them, but simply because the Jin Party offered more and I offered less.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Back to Li Le—he doesn’t understand. Threatening his wife and family is merely a tactic. Would the Jin Party dare do it? If they open this door, can they bear the consequences? It’s just intimidation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The originator of evil, may he have no descendants.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Le was new to officialdom—he didn’t understand. Even if Li Le, representing the court, uncovered something, he himself wouldn’t be punished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for what to do,” Zhang Juzheng pulled out two memorials, glanced at them briefly, then put them back. He smiled: “Build a false road openly, secretly advance through Chen Cang. Li Le is the decoy—he accepted Zhang Siwei’s terms, making them complacent. Now send others to secretly investigate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zhang Siwei has schemed to the extreme. If he hadn’t meddled with Li Le—if he’d just let Li Le go investigate wherever he pleased—we wouldn’t have had to act. But since Zhang Siwei insists on stirring trouble, don’t blame me for stirring up trouble in return.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng’s gaze was dark, even fierce. When the young emperor asked him what outcome he expected from sending Li Le and others to inspect the frontier, Zhang Juzheng replied: “Success means sending censors who aren’t from the Jin Party.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng didn’t want much—he never intended to utterly crush or kill the Jin Party before the emperor came of age. If the court were entirely Zhang’s faction, the Empress Dowager and the emperor would grow restless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Zhang Siwei insisted on turning Li Le into a Jin Party man—attacking Zhang Juzheng’s people, trying to sway Zhang Juzheng’s allies. How could Zhang Juzheng swallow this insult?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was vengeful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they wanted to fight, then fight. Zhang Juzheng’s intent was clear: from now on, Li Le was merely a decoy—the “false road.” Secret investigation was the “secret advance”—the real killing blow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng had originally planned to merely give a token response. But Zhang Siwei provoked him—so now, token responses wouldn’t do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Zhu Yijun was farming, walking among the fields with Xu Zhen, Zhang Hong, and Zhang Jing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun said to Xu Zhen: “In March and April, the soil temperature is still low. Your idea of using sorghum stalks to make wind barriers, enclosing the vegetable plots, then covering them with manure and wood ash to retain warmth and prevent late frost damage to seedlings—is a good one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When should we apply fertilizer?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“About fifteen days after transplanting,” Xu Zhen replied quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Bao whispered to a young eunuch, his face turning ashen, then hurried to the emperor’s side and bowed: “Your Majesty, there is news.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait a moment,” Zhu Yijun gestured for Feng Bao to hold off, then continued: “How much fertilizer?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zhen opened his notebook: “For diluted animal and human manure compost, one mu needs fifteen hundred to two thousand jin. Too much will burn the seedlings; too little won’t provide enough nourishment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zhen really wanted to say: from his observations, potatoes and sweet potatoes could survive even without fertilizer—just a bucket of water—and yields would still differ, but planting them densely across the fields would yield more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The emperor’s method of farming was imperial—truly extravagant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Intensive cultivation had its way; slash-and-burn, half-hearted farming was another. The overseas barbarians of the South Seas didn’t even coat their cuttings in wood ash…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm. When should we prune and top?” Zhu Yijun noted the number.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One jin of compost cost six wen. Diluted five jin, one mu needed three to four hundred jin of compost—that’s eighteen hundred to twenty-four hundred wen, roughly one tael of silver. But among common folk, especially in the countryside, compost wasn’t bought—it was collected from human and animal waste. Most importantly, every crop required fertilizer; farmers’ costs didn’t increase, yet yields rose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manure was a lucrative business—so profitable even Emperor Gaozong of Song, Zhao Gou, was willing to run the manure trade himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pruning and topping meant cutting off two or three branches in fields with excessive growth, concentrating nutrients into the tubers to increase yield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Topping meant pinching off the tender tips. When branches grew too vigorously, pinch off the tips to prevent nutrients from flowing into stems and leaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun already knew this—he’d told the two imperial dowagers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unrestrained growth, lush foliage, wasn’t necessarily good for crops—especially potatoes and sweet potatoes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zhen opened his notebook: “Pruning should be done in April—cut every fifth branch. Topping should occur after the seedlings reach twelve cun in height but before eighteen cun. Too early, the foliage isn’t dense enough; too late, the tubers become small and yields drop.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm,” Zhu Yijun nodded, gazing at his ten mu of land, stretching lazily. On the left five mu, the seedlings had been pinched and heat-treated; on the right five mu, they hadn’t—the difference was already clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The left field hadn’t been replanted, yet it remained lush and green.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The right field had been replanted once, but dead seedlings still appeared. Even in color, there was a gap: the left side was deep green; on the right, every other plant had yellowed or rotting leaves, leaves that were thin and lacked rich green.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zhen and his staff from Baoqi Palace never gave the young emperor any heavy labor. Pruning and topping, Zhu Yijun could still join; fertilizing? Forget it. Even if he worked all night, Xu Zhen wouldn’t let the emperor carry or spread manure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s Feng Da’s news?” Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Bao whispered to the emperor. The news that Li Le had gone to the Full Jin Hall had reached the palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically, Li Le’s visit to the Full Jin Hall should have been top secret—but the Full Chu Hall and the Full Jin Hall were only one street apart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since Zhang Juzheng and You Qi, people from the Full Chu Hall, already knew, it was no surprise Feng Bao knew too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Siwei accused Zhang Juzheng of monopolizing the imperial lectures to isolate the inner and outer courts—but Zhang Juzheng did monopolize the lectures, yet he didn’t isolate the inner court. He always informed the palace of what he knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you have any ideas, Feng Da?” Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, please instruct,” Feng Bao replied. He had several ideas himself, but when it came to playing along with the emperor’s game, he would never pretend ignorance!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun thought a moment: “Send Zhang Jing to the Full Chu Hall. Since the Jin Party acts unjustly, don’t blame me for acting unrighteously. Zhang Siwei is a fool—if he hadn’t stirred up trouble, Zhang Juzheng wouldn’t have had to retaliate. I’d have accepted it. But since Zhang Siwei insists on provoking, don’t blame me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Jin Party had operated in Xuanfu and Datong for years. If Li Le merely performed the surface rituals, he wouldn’t uncover anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only if the construction of the Xuanfu-Datong Great Wall had decayed to the point where even surface pretense was impossible—so horrifying it couldn’t be hidden—would such a move be necessary. Zhang Siwei had to demonstrate his influence. Truly, he had schemed to the extreme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So your meaning is: build a false road openly, secretly advance through Chen Cang? Send Zhang Jing to the Full Chu Hall, then dispatch people to secretly investigate?” Feng Bao mused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun nodded: “Yes. Have the Embroidered Uniform Guard assign two Assistant Commanders of Judicial Inspection to accompany him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your servant obeys.” Feng Bao’s current priority was protecting the safety of Baoqi Palace—the emperor’s farming must not be disrupted, not even by the weather!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If heaven brought a late frost, the young eunuchs had to lay down thick straw mats!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Successfully securing the safety of Baoqi Palace meant real merit—Feng Bao’s position as Chief Eunuch would be secure for at least five or six years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he didn’t oppose sending Zhang Jing, the adopted son of Zhang Hong from the Qingqian Palace. Everyone was doing their duty. Zhang Hong was working; Feng Bao was working. As long as each performed his task well, all were loyal ministers to the emperor—no one threatened another’s position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Jing, holding the credential plaque from Xu Jue, changed into civilian clothes and entered the Full Chu Hall. The Grand Secretary was tending the sweet potato field beside the nine-fold white jade bridge. Too many seedlings had been pruned, so Zhang Juzheng had ordered all flowers and grass removed and replaced entirely with sweet potato seedlings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng looked at Zhang Jing’s arrival, his expression complex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because beside Zhang Jing stood another man: the Military Censor Li Le.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Le was dressed as a servant—wearing coarse hemp, hair disheveled, face clean, one shoe with a hole. Zhang Juzheng didn’t recognize him at all—who would mistake this man for the twenty-seventh-ranked jinshi of Longqing fifth year?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a jinshi. This attire was truly disgraceful to scholarly dignity—but it did conceal his identity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t you take the Jin Party’s bribes? Why return?” Zhang Juzheng’s tone carried reprimand and a touch of relief. This Li Le hadn’t become like Lu Shusheng—fully defected to the Jin Party.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Le pushed back his disheveled hair and bowed: “Master taught me: to defeat an enemy, you must understand him. I came to see what tricks they’ll play. Zhang Siwei’s words sound reasonable to those without integrity, justice, or resolve.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But this empire belongs to the emperor, to the court, to the people of Great Ming—it belongs not to the Jin Party.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng shook his head slightly: “You’ve become cunning.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master taught me well,” Li Le smiled broadly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nonsense. You’re cunning because you’re cunning.” Zhang Juzheng grinned: “Build a false road openly, secretly advance through Chen Cang. Li Le—what do you think of this matter?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Le bowed: “I believe Zhang Siwei’s crude tactics stem from one fact: the construction of the Xuanfu-Datong Great Wall has decayed so severely that even surface pretense is impossible.”\u003C\u002Fp>",2291,"2026-06-21T07:55:54.218Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","722a92b891d8008478a33064e6415783773c7862771c8910518bf058d72c2a83","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-61","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-59",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-cover.jpg"]