Chapter 680: Self-Cultivation of a Treacherous Official

The *Classic of Mountains and Seas* records a wild beast called "Bingfeng," living east of the Wuxian Kingdom. It is a two-headed pig, one body with two heads. When encountering things, both heads want to escape, one to the left and one to the right, caught in a dilemma, and as a result, their strength is not used in one place, and they cannot escape.

This is the reason why Fu Xizhi walked step by step to this point. Some things, on one side is public, on the other side is private; on one side is personal will, on the other side is the pusher behind; on one side is wearing armor and holding weapons to fight desperately to defend the Great Ming, on the other side is corruption and lawlessness to seek wealth and riches. This is all Fu Xizhi.

These things, it is not that he did not want to, but he did not do them.

Under the dual alienation of power and money, walking to this step today, Fu Xizhi did not argue too much for himself, nor did he have room for debate, because he knew very well that the smuggling volume of 50,000 catties was the current amount. As the business continued to expand, it would lose control and finally reach an irreparable point.

He knew very well that he deserved to die.

Before dying, Fu Xizhi did not bite back indiscriminately, dragging the Duke of Wei's mansion into the water, because it was already shameful enough.

Some people are dead, but they are still alive; some people are still alive, but they are already dead. Fu Xizhi is a living dead man.

"Lin Fucheng said that people are alienated by religion, by money, and by power, just like smoking opium, which will form inner demons. Inner demons will grow in the continuous commission of evil, slowly controlling people's behavior, and finally turning them into living dead men. This is the final face of alienation." Zhu Yijun spoke of the results of Lin Fucheng and Li Zhi's speculation.

The final orientation of alienation is the living dead.

And Fu Xizhi practiced this truth with himself.

"The guilty minister deserves death ten thousand times." Fu Xizhi spat out a turbid breath, and his whole person collapsed. He originally wanted to confess honestly at the last moment of his life, when His Majesty made the final judgment, to maintain his dignity, but now that His Majesty's "inner demon" theory came out, Fu Xizhi knew that he had no dignity at all.

He was not waiting for death, but had already died long ago.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "The state has the 'Eight Deliberations.' You are a second-rank Minister, and you should have been deliberated for nobility. You wore armor and held weapons back then, and had merit in suppressing Japanese pirates, and should have been deliberated for merit. You smuggled some things to Japan, at most you would be dismissed from office and investigated, and perhaps you could have retained your fame. After death, under the pens of literati and poets, you could have become a banner for the court's wronged scholar-officials."

"But there was saltpeter in these things, so I cannot give you the 'Eight Deliberations'."

"Beheaded immediately. Your family and relatives will all be exiled to Java."

Zhu Yijun gave Fu Xizhi the final dignity: beheaded and displayed to the public, instead of being taken to the Dissection Institute to be made into a specimen.

"The guilty minister kowtows to thank the imperial grace." Fu Xizhi kowtowed again, thanking the Emperor for his grace.

His crime was very serious. If judged according to the *Great Pronouncements*, the whole family would be executed. If judged according to the consistent public opinion of the Great Ming, smuggling with Japan would lead to being sent to the Dissection Institute. Both could be accepted, but His Majesty finally gave him "beheaded immediately," did not make him into a specimen, and his family and clan were punished by exile.

His Majesty said he would not deliberate for nobility, but in his heart, he still deliberated for Fu Xizhi's merit. Civil and military officials who killed Japanese pirates could get extra preferential treatment from His Majesty, which is also a convention.

"Take him down." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, signaling the Embroidered Uniform Guard to take the prisoner away.

"The guilty minister takes his leave." After Fu Xizhi performed the ceremony, he left the Southern Lake Villa under the escort of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Zhu Yijun wanted to see Fu Xizhi to ask for the truth, to ask why he did this, and also to prevent the occurrence of unjust, false, and wrong cases, such as Hu Zongxian being harmed to death in the prison by Xu Jie.

Hu Zongxian wrote a memorial to defend himself in prison, but this memorial was never sent to the Emperor's desk.

Fu Xizhi, a second-rank high official, Zhu Yijun saw him to prevent someone from writing a "small essay" in the future, saying that the Embroidered Uniform Guard framed him.

The judgment was made by Zhu Yijun himself, so there is no need to push it onto the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Smuggling with Japan means death.

Zhu Yijun's gaze had been on Fu Xizhi. He walked very slowly, his head buried deep, and his movements left like a marionette.

"Feng, my companion, tell me, will I become like him in the future?" Zhu Yijun suddenly asked.

Feng Bao was startled, thought seriously for a long time, and said: "No, Your Majesty. A scholar cannot be without breadth of spirit and perseverance. Your Majesty has breadth of spirit and perseverance. Even if the scholar-officials splash ten thousand basins of dirty water on Your Majesty, time will prove that Your Majesty is right."

"Beyond control," "two-headed pig," Hence Hai Rui, Zhang Juzheng, Yuan Hongyu, Shen Li—these people are also old. How did they live by their own will? Even if this world is excessively bad, they still stubbornly persisted.

Scholars with breadth of spirit and perseverance will not be swayed by the pushers behind them. Perseverance is Your Majesty's virtue.

"You are optimistic, and your flattery is deafening." Zhu Yijun smiled and picked up the memorial. This Feng Bao has been like this for more than ten years, a flatterer.

Feng Bao waved his hands repeatedly and said: "It is not that I am optimistic, nor is it flattery. Since the Senior Grand Secretary Wan Shihe began to read history, I have also read a lot of history books. I have not seen the sage kings and wise masters in books; I have only seen sage kings like Your Majesty."

Those sage kings are all dead, but Your Majesty is alive. Feng Bao does not think Your Majesty is inferior to those wise kings in the long river of history.

"Alright, get to work." Zhu Yijun was too lazy to argue with Feng Bao. He chose to grind the ink, and the Northern Metropolitan Area sent some memorials that needed to be handled by the Emperor himself.

Ling Yunyi was acting like a tyrant in Henan and was reported by the powerful and wealthy of Henan. What made the Emperor feel extremely surprised was that although the powerful and wealthy of Henan cursed Ling Yunyi for being overbearing, they only hoped that the Emperor would let the Minister Ling restrain himself, and had no intention of driving Minister Ling away.

In the words of the Henan gentry: Minister Ling is overbearing and arrogant, but his actions are open and aboveboard.

Kill if you want to kill. Some people really deserve to die, and even the gentry felt they deserved to die.

Open and aboveboard. Ling Yunyi did things in two words: fair, fair, and damn fair.

Repairing the Yellow River embankment, apportioning according to land ownership—how much land you have, you apportion that much. This is fairness. People do not worry about scarcity but about inequality. In such apportionment, the money of the powerful and wealthy is returned in full, while the money of the local gentry is split 30-70. It would be strange if the local gentry were willing to donate! Wouldn't the clans unite to resist the court's policy?

If the Prince's mansion and the powerful and wealthy are not measured, but they, the local gentry, are measured, how could they, the local gentry, be willing?

But Ling Yunyi did things by measuring whoever had more land, and everyone was measured as one. No matter who you are, the local gentry of Henan highly recognized Ling Yunyi, but still felt that Ling Yunyi's knife was too scary.

Shen Yiguan reported to the court that he had not yet found the salt lake mentioned by the Western merchants, which is the potassium salt lake. He hoped that the court could give more time. These Western merchants have tight lips and need some torture instruments to pry their mouths open.

Shen Yiguan is a scholar from Zhejiang. In his eyes, the barbarians are wolf-faced and beast-hearted, not human.

The distinction between Hua and Yi is a discriminatory theory. Not treating barbarians as human is taken for granted by the people of the Central Plains.

This arrogance of not treating barbarians as human lasted until after the Second Opium War. Under the very, very strong demand of the British, the titles of "barbarian" and "barbarian people" were canceled in the state letters, and changed to the word "Westerner." Article 51 of the *Treaty of Tianjin between China and Britain*: "Hereafter, in all official documents, whether in the capital or outside, when referring to British officials and people, the character 'Yi' (barbarian) must not be written."

When the Treaty of Tianjin was signed, the British regarded this character as a great humiliation, even saying that if it was not changed, they would not talk and would continue to fight.

Shen Yiguan is the mainstay of the Zhejiang Party, and he is also a traditional scholar-official. He opposes torture, but barbarians are not human, so he intends to use torture to find this potassium salt lake that can make the land harvest abundantly.

The salt lake, which is Luo Bupo, is in the desert. Luo Bupo in the Wanli reign had not completely dried up and was still an oasis. Finding Luo Bupo means finding a fulcrum for marching into the Western Regions. This is an important step in reopening the Western Regions.

News came from Yunnan that the Great Ming had restored a Laos Laos Xuanweisi and requested to rename it a Prefecture, subordinate to Yunnan.

The opinions of Duke of Qian Mu Changzuo and Sichuan Regional Commander Liu Ting were: rename it Mubang Prefecture, subordinate to the Yunnan authorities, and become a territory of the Great Ming.

The idea of Yunnan Governor Liu Liu Shiceng was completely opposite to that of the Duke of Qian and the Sichuan Regional Commander. Liu Liu Shiceng's idea was: rename Mubang Prefecture as Mubang Governor's Office, with the Duke of Qian leading the Mubang Governor. If the entire Taungoo Dynasty is taken in the future, then the Duke of Qian will concurrently lead the Taungoo Governor.

For this reason, the civil and military officials quarreled endlessly.

It is not that Liu Liu Shiceng had any evil intentions. His reason was that the Duke of Qian's mansion did not spend the court's money and grain in Mubang, and it was territory they fought for themselves. Since the war had progressed to this point, it would be unreasonable not to give some substantial rewards. It would be better to just give them substantial fiefs.

And Mu Changzuo's idea was that the main force this time was Han soldiers, and it was Liu Ting, Liu the Great Knife, who fought the war. On the contrary, the Duke of Qian's mansion raised countless "raw Miao" and "cooked Miao" for many years, and these barbarian troops were useless and had a counterproductive effect, almost stealing the base in Dali.

Mu Changzuo refuted Liu Liu Shiceng: How could it not cost the court's money and grain? His Majesty's rewards and the Han soldiers of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Qian all contributed. When it came time to pick the peaches, the Duke of Qian's mansion wanted to monopolize them. There is no such reason.

"Why do I feel that Yunnan is singing a duet with me?" Zhu Yijun looked at this memorial and always felt something was wrong. It has always been that people quarrel because of uneven distribution of spoils. This is good; they are pushing the peaches back and forth, shirking responsibility.

"Your Majesty, the reasons they gave are not what they are thinking in their hearts."

"The Duke of Qian thinks clearly. Why would he want to be a Mubang Governor? It is not as comfortable as being a Great Ming Prince. Besides, newly opened land is full of unruly people, and governance is troublesome. It is better to hand it over to these civil officials and let them toss and turn." Feng Bao explained from his position why the Duke of Qian's mansion strongly opposed giving himself a fief.

According to the enfeoffment of the Zhou Dynasty, if land was really granted, it would be conquered within a few years, and the fief would be lost, and the title would also be lost.

Besides, all the etiquette of the Duke of Qian's mansion is the standard of a Prince's mansion. The Mu Prince's mansion is not just talk. Enfeoffment without granting land is the ancestral system. Things that alienate the Great Ming cannot be done.

"Then what about Liu Liu Shiceng?" Zhu Yijun approved of Feng Bao's statement. It is understandable that the Duke of Qian's mansion does not want a fief. Being a Mubang King or a Taungoo King is not as good as being a Great Ming Duke. There are only six Dukes in the Great Ming. Except for the Duke's mansions from the beginning of the dynasty, there is only one Qi Jiguang.

Which of the Marquis of Yingyang Zhang Yuanxun, Marquis of Sishui Yin Zhengmao, or Marquis of Shilong Deng Zilong would be willing to give up their Great Ming titles to be kings of barbarian countries?

If Mu Changzuo really had this idea, the ancestors of the Mu family would all be so angry that they would crawl out of their graves.

"Liu Liu Shiceng's idea is actually very normal. If this is designated as a Prefecture and subordinate to Yunnan, one must engage in 'King's Transformation.' This place is far away, and no one is willing to go. It is better to be a hereditary Tusi. Your Majesty, that place cannot grow crops. In Liu Liu Shiceng's eyes, it is worthless." Feng Bao could understand Liu Liu Shiceng's idea. If it really became a Prefecture, all Yunnan local officials would have to curse Liu Liu Shiceng for finding a rotten job for the bureaucratic class.

Zhu Yijun nodded again and said: "Reasonable."

The Mubang Laos Laos Xuanweisi was fought down by Great Ming soldiers. There are many, many Han people in this place. Previously, Han people accounted for more than 60%, although not as much as the 80% in Suiyuan, but they also had the conditions for "King's Transformation." Plus, the Great Ming army conquered it, and these raw and cooked Miao ran away or died, and the proportion of Han people rose again.

To eat it all up, the cost of governance is high. Not to eat it, it has already been fought down. It is a dilemma.

Not only individuals, but state affairs sometimes also have this state of "Bingfeng."

"In this way, stop them from quarreling. Designate it as a Prefecture, subordinate to Yunnan, and like the original Yunnan, establish many Tusi autonomies. This 'King's Transformation' will come slowly, and digest it over a long period of time." Zhu Yijun made the final decision. Nominally, it is subordinate to the Yunnan Administration Commission, but in reality, it is still Tusi autonomy, which can be considered as taking care of all forces in Yunnan.

"King's Transformation" is not something that can be done overnight. The time span may even exceed one hundred or two hundred years. This time will be shortened with the improvement of productivity, but it is not something that can be done in ten or twenty years.

Zhu Yijun approved a total of five memorials, all of which were major state affairs. The routine affairs were handled by Zhu Yiliu.

The Prince of Lu was impeached again and again!

This time it was not the censors picking bones in an egg, nor was it the Prince of Lu making trouble again. The Prince of Lu making trouble was no longer worth the censors' impeachment. It was really that this child, the Prince of Lu, reviewed memorials by fishing for three days and drying nets for two days. The memorials sent to the palace had no reply for seven or eight days, causing the bureaucrats in the Northern Metropolitan Area to complain, administrative efficiency to decline, and the yoke of the "Comprehensive Calculation of Degrees" not to be loosened, making some censors want to run to the palace to petition!

But they were worried that the unreasonable Zhu Yiliu would throw them directly into prison, so they had to ask His Majesty to return early.

The Prince of Lu also specifically submitted a memorial, cursing the bureaucrats for writing memorials that were vague, long-winded, low in effective information, scattered, and without punctuation, making it difficult for him, a child! He is still a child, and if he reads slowly, he is shouted at!

Zhu Yijun could only draft a stern imperial edict, admonishing Zhu Yiliu not to be playful, and to review the memorials that should be reviewed, even if it was just stamping a seal.

Zhu Yijun had just finished reviewing the memorials when Wang Chonggu arrived. Wang Chonggu came to report the results of the "Spring Thunder" operation and the leading role of the official factories.

Wang Chonggu's "Spring Thunder" operation was executed very thoroughly. High-pressure policy, a sentry every three steps, a post every five steps. If you touched a money bag, you would be caught within five steps. Those who kidnapped children and stole were thrown onto ships and sent to Java. For this fertile land of Java, the Great Ming Emperor was determined to win.

"Vice Minister Wang, I heard that others call you 'Five-Step Snake'." Zhu Yijun mentioned an interesting story in Nanjing recently. During the "Spring Thunder" operation, Wang Chonggu also got a nickname, called "Five-Step Snake."

The toxicity of the five-step snake is very high; you fall within five steps. The intensity of the "Spring Thunder" operation is like a five-step snake. Of course, under such intensity, Nanjingcheng instantly became clear and bright, and Vice Minister Wang, who presided over the "Spring Thunder" operation, became the "Five-Step Snake."

"I thank them for the nickname they gave me. There are wrong names, but there are no wrong nicknames. They had better remember this nickname forever." Wang Chonggu said very calmly: "I have never believed in moral constraints; I only believe in fear. As long as they remember this nickname for one day, they will not dare to be too presumptuous."

"If they dare to make things difficult for the craftsmen, I dare to make things difficult for them."

Wang Chonggu and Wang Qian are worshipers of authority. They only believe in the effect of intimidation, only believe that fear will have an effect. Earnest teachings—saying so much, what is the use! It is not as good as a punch to make them honest.

This is mostly the thought of Legalism: "Clear punishments to assist teachings."

"There is a 'Miscellaneous Report' in the Southern Metropolitan Area. Does Vice Minister Wang want to see it?" Zhu Yijun took out a 'Miscellaneous Report' from the table and handed it to Wang Chonggu after circling an article.

Wang Chonggu took one look and frowned: "Your Majesty, the base Confucianists are farting, it stinks! No matter what, the official factories must not engage in turning long-term workers into short-term workers."

The content of the 'Miscellaneous Report' was to affirm the broker-comprador employment method. The whole article was discussing the positive significance of the broker-comprador employment method. In the 'Miscellaneous Report,' the editor believed that official factories should also have a certain amount of short-term workers.

Too many long-term workers in official factories will easily cause inbreeding, bloating, rigidity, and low production efficiency. Introducing the short-term worker method can effectively solve these problems. Most importantly, it can save costs and save money. The labor remuneration of a long-term worker is very high, and cultivating them is also very expensive, but official factories and civilian workshops actually do not need so many skilled craftsmen.

Skilled craftsmen produce high-value-added goods, and these high-value-added goods are often high-profit and high-price, such as silk, such as fine woolen cloth. The market for high-value-added goods is very low, so the demand for skilled craftsmen is also low.

The court's overall denial of the broker-comprador employment method is a denial of short-term workers, which is using a visible big hand to interfere with market adjustments. It is impossible for everyone to be a skilled craftsman, just as it is impossible for everyone to be a *jinshi* or *juren*.

The whole article makes sense.

But Wang Chonggu thought it stank.

Wang Chonggu put down the 'Miscellaneous Report' and shook his head: "The content of this 'Miscellaneous Report' is wrong, and it is because they do not understand the 'sitting craftsman' system. Your Majesty, short-term workers actually do not save money, especially for official factories. Besides being convenient, I can't think of any other reason."

"Does it not save money?" Zhu Yijun was startled.

"Your Majesty, civilian workshops can at most produce goods with low added value without skilled craftsmen, but official factories cannot. If official factories can only produce low-value-added goods, how can they occupy a leading position? How can they be the backbone? It really does not save money. The profit created by skilled craftsmen is ten times or more that of an apprentice." Wang Chonggu first corrected His Majesty's prejudice.

Temporary workers really do not save money, especially for official factories.

Wang Chonggu continued: "People who do not engage in production are often like this. They have never seen the craftsmen in the official factories. Even the top-level master craftsmen among the five-level craftsmen are people who cannot stay idle. If you don't let them work, they will scold people. They always want to tinker with something, just like these scholars. Once they have ink in their stomachs, how can they not write something?"

"In the official factories, there are of course people who engage in special privileges, but the tricks played by the craftsmen are far less than the things these scholars have come up with. Tsk tsk, I don't know how this editor had the nerve to say that craftsmen engage in special privileges."

"In the eyes of the base Confucianists, the whole world is base!"

The problem that this editor publicized extensively certainly exists in the official factories, but the biggest problem is inbreeding. The Great Ming itself is a hereditary craftsman household system.

"Your Majesty, craftsmen occupy a leading position in the official factories. This is something the base Confucianists do not understand." Wang Chonggu thought about it and still wanted to explain this problem clearly to His Majesty.

"Craftsmen do not obey the big heads, do not obey the nonsense of these officials, and can express it. They can even point at the noses of these officials and scold them for meddling in other people's business. When my son took the editor to the woolen mill to see the iron horse, there were people from the Legal Affairs Office who told Wang Qian to wear his hat properly."

"Official factories are for production, and production is like this. Everyone manages their own affairs."

"The reason why the 'sitting craftsmen' are so bold, even daring to make things difficult for Wang Qian, and Wang Qian has no choice but to wear his hat properly, is because the expulsion of 'sitting craftsmen' is not controlled by officials, but is handed over to the general manager after the Legal Affairs Office investigates the cause. If it involves criminal law, it will be transferred to the yamen; if it does not involve criminal law, it will be handled at discretion."

"Your Majesty, 'sitting craftsmen' are the fixed assets of the official factories, the assets that turn raw materials into goods and money. Without criminal guilt, it is not allowed to easily dismiss 'sitting craftsmen'."

'Sitting craftsmen' and craftsmen in civilian workshops are completely different things. This is something the base Confucianists do not understand.

The Great Ming official factories have metabolism. The metabolism of the official factories is called "clearing and eliminating." Assessment standards that have been failed multiple times, multiple violations of safety production regulations, major production accidents, and political clearing and eliminating are the metabolism of the official factories. But the personnel of the official factories are generally more stable than those of the civilian workshops.

The assessment standard is 70% of the most efficient craftsman of that level among the five-level craftsmen. And coal kilns in Xuzhou are controlled by private hands, often using the highest efficiency plus additional workload for assessment. It would be strange if they could complete it.

And for assessments, there will be six books and one account. Officials cannot make things difficult for craftsmen at will. Craftsmen have their own accounts, workshops have their own accounts, factories have account books, and there are accounts for leaving the factory.

These are the experiences and lessons summarized during the construction of the official factories.

What pains Wang Chonggu the most here is political clearing and eliminating.

Previously, after brothel women turned over a new leaf and joined the official factories, they organized to use the background of the official factories and their identity as weavers to cheat in marriage. Since then, brothel women have not been allowed to enter official factories. There were brothel women in the Southern Metropolitan Area who turned over a new leaf, but they were one day late and could not enter the official factories. In the end, they hanged themselves in front of the Li Zhizao, but this policy still did not change.

And this policy has follow-ups, becoming even more intense. The assessment of weavers from brothels will be stricter than others, and it is easier to be cleared and eliminated by official factories.

Many weavers from brothels in the Li Zhizao and woolen mills are already skilled craftsmen. In the political clearing and eliminating, the losses were heavy. Not all brothel women were willing to step into the hell of the flower world, but while the official factories closed their doors to them, the weavers from brothels who had already come ashore were also implicated.

"Managing the official factories, you have worked hard, Vice Minister Wang." Zhu Yijun praised Wang Chonggu. It was truly hard work.

"Your Majesty, I am old. Wang Qian is not interested in these things. He spends his time in that trading house all day, earning more money than I do. I am actually worried that if I die, there will be no one to succeed me in the official factories." Wang Chonggu said with some emotion.

Hence Hai Rui does not mess with Wang Chonggu because without Butcher Wang, His Majesty really has to eat pigs with hair.

Official factories are a major plan of the country. If this position leaves Wang Chonggu, there will definitely be huge changes. The assassination of Wang Chonggu by the powerful and wealthy was correct. Official factories are successful because of the person.

The woolen mills of the past were just for "sheep eating people" to weaken the strength of the Northern Barbarians, and they slowly developed to their current scale.

Wang Chonggu shook his sleeves and took out a memorial: "I have summarized several methods for managing official factories and formed the Legal Affairs Office. But these regulations must also change with the times and cannot be rigid. Otherwise, under rigidity, the official factories cannot last long. After thinking about it, I wrote a memorial and respectfully ask Your Majesty to look it over."

Zhu Yijun finished reading Wang Chonggu's memorial and said with a very serious expression: "The craftsmen of the Great Ming should all thank Vice Minister Wang. Not only the official factories, but all the bureaucrats of the Great Ming should also read this *Memorial on Matters of Official Factory Regulations*."

This memorial is not just about how to manage official factories, but about how to be an official.

Summarized into four sentences:

Maintain sympathy and attention to the group; maintain vigilance and distance from the individual;

Handle affairs strictly according to systems and processes; leave traces everywhere in everything.

These four sentences exhaust the principles of official factory management, and they are also talking about how to be an official. To expand on them, it is very, very complicated. Generally speaking, the demands of the group are reasonable under normal circumstances, but the demands of the individual are usually seeking special privileges. This is the inevitability of human nature.

Although systems and processes are rigid, they are also protecting oneself. Every matter must leave traces, preferably with documents as evidence, to prevent being caught by enemies when floating and sinking in the official sea.

Being able to do these four sentences well can be called a qualified bureaucrat.

"Your Majesty's praise is too much." Wang Chonggu stood up to take his leave. His steps were very light and very steady.

Zhu Yijun held the memorial in his hand and said with a smile: "Vice Minister Wang is afraid that he has seen Fu Xizhi's end, so he has a feeling and wrote this memorial. If this memorial were renamed *On the Self-Cultivation of a Treacherous Official*, it would probably trigger a rush to read it."

Since Wang Chonggu gave the memorial to His Majesty the Emperor, whether His Majesty takes it to publish in the *Di Bao* or publishes it, Wang Chonggu is too lazy to care.

Zhu Yijun intends to change the name of the memorial to attract the bureaucrats of the Great Ming to read this book, so as to prevent himself from being alienated by power and finally ending up in prison.

"Changing it like this, is it too hurtful to Vice Minister Wang?" Feng Bao frowned. The past is the past, and now is now. Vice Minister Wang is not a treacherous official now. Saying this hurts the heart of a great minister.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "You are right. He can say it about himself, but I cannot say it about him. Now Vice Minister Wang is loyal to the monarch and patriotic, and manages the country."

"How about this, rename it *On the Self-Cultivation of the Five-Step Snake*. This 'Five-Step Snake' is a nickname personally recognized by Vice Minister Wang."

"I obey the decree." Feng Bao thought about it and felt that the latter name sounded better, and could also achieve the effect of intimidation by promoting the prestige of the "Five-Step Snake." ===== CHAPTER 681 =====