Chapter 852: Even the Livestock of the Steppe Must Give Thanks

Shen Shen Shixing was raised under others' roofs, a life full of bitterness and hardship; though his uncle treated him well, those in his uncle's household did not necessarily do so, yet he still passed the imperial examination as Zhuangyuan and received a complete education.

Thus, Shen Shen Shixing's view of the world was filled with goodwill, and this goodwill made him hesitant and constrained when dealing with the local gentry who had formed returnee bandit gangs.

But Hou Hou Yuzhao was different; after passing the Ming Jinshi examination, he began to defy convention, and in Liaodong he directly confronted bandit chieftains.

Destroying hard-won farmland and seizing all the grain harvested over a year, Hou Hou Yuzhao's attitude toward these bandits was simple: bury the bandit chieftains in the soil as fertilizer.

When Hou Hou Yuzhao went to Zhejiang to return land, he stripped these destroyers of agricultural production from their identity as Great Ming subjects and treated them as bandit chieftains; once their status changed, dealing with them became very straightforward.

All within the Great Ming are the Emperor's subjects. Those who refuse the Emperor's civilizing influence and disobey his orders are no longer subjects—they are enemies. This slightly odd logic was Hou Hou Yuzhao's ingrained mindset after years of overseeing land returns on the frontier; though strange, it was highly rational and extremely beneficial for land returns.

Shen Shen Shixing, overseeing land returns in Zhejiang, always thought of them as his own people, insisting on laws, compromise, and understanding their grievances—but those who formed returnee bandit gangs were already enemies.

When internal conflicts transform into enemy-versus-us conflicts, matters become simple, clear, and unambiguous.

Zhu Zhu Yijun discussed seed cultivation in Gansu with Shen Shen Yiguan; the situation in Gansu surpassed Zhu Zhu Yijun's expectations, and a clear path had formed: the Great Ming Agricultural Academy developed new crops, while Gansu farmers expanded seedling production, eventually spreading them along the expressways toward the interior—a path of great importance.

The construction of the Longkai expressway would undoubtedly accelerate this spread.

The Longkai expressway had been under construction for four full years, with some sections already open, but problems were obvious: insufficient locomotives; small, high-power, high-efficiency steam engines were still far too scarce—not only in production, but also in allocation; had the Shanghai Iron Horse Factory not successfully come online and reduced the court's tilt toward Jiangnan in iron horse distribution, the interior's shortage would have been even greater.

"The Marquis Ningyuan Marquis has arrived at Jiayu Pass. Does Secretary Shen believe the Marquis Ningyuan Marquis can replicate the Liaodong expansion?" Zhu Zhu Yijun spoke of Li Li Chengliang's appointment to the Seven Western Garrisons.

"The Marquis Ningyuan… Marquis certainly can. Though the Western Regions are somewhat barren, the expressway has reached Hami Garrison; with expressway expansion, there is no problem." Shen Shen Yiguan answered haltingly—not because he lacked confidence in Li Li Chengliang, but because of the title issue.

Li Li Chengliang is Marquis Ningyuan Bo, not Marquis Ningyuan Hou; he was demoted one rank for killing a man in the street, but His Majesty seems to have forgotten.

Did Zhu Zhu Yijun truly forget? Of course not, because the edict restoring his title had already been drafted.

When Li Li Rusong returned from Japan, the court would announce it to the realm: Li Li Chengliang brought every single one of his private troops with him to the Western Regions; he never lost imperial favor, nor his title, and even the Seal and Ribbon Office had not carved a new seal.

Shen Shen Yiguan held Li Li Chengliang in high regard, but he did not wish to serve alongside him; this man was notoriously eccentric, unable to get along with anyone—over the years, only Hou Hou Yuzhao, another eccentric, could coexist peacefully with him; in the Western Regions, Li Li Chengliang became a wild horse unbridled, and the Western barbarians suffered for it.

"Does Secretary Wang still wish to return to Shandong?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked Wang Wang Yie with a smile.

Wang Wang Yie replied firmly: "Your Majesty, if I may return, it would be most excellent; the time to plant kelp is near, and kelp's freshness comes from sea salt—Shanghai is cultivating microbial cultures to ferment the salt. My task is not yet complete, and I fear failure at the final moment."

Wang Wang Yie's body had entered the capital, but his soul remained in Shandong's sea-salt fields.

"Then Secretary Wang cannot return—the court has already decided." Zhu Zhu Yijun smiled brightly. "I shall keep Shandong in mind."

"Your servant obeys." Wang Wang Yie bowed again, accepting the decree; resistance was futile—arms cannot overpower thighs.

In the capital, he could still fight for Shandong's people's interests: build more expressways, add more coastal patrol inspectors, redevelop Jiaozhou Bay, and ideally forge the strongest northern port—this single ice-free harbor in the vast north, if well managed, would ensure Shandong never remained poor.

After the three newly appointed ministers left the Zhao Wenhua Hall, Zhu Zhu Yijun carefully read the Record of the Eastern Expedition, and the more he read, the more something felt off.

"Hmm, Master has been hiding this from me all along!" Zhu Zhu Yijun chuckled and shook his head after finishing.

Each of the Nine Victories of the Eastern Expedition opened with an imperial edict; sometimes, rearranging the sequence of events created entirely different meanings—Zhu Zhu Yijun had seen this many times before.

This time, the Ministry of Rites placed the emperor's edicts at the forefront, in lengthy discourses, making it seem as if Zhu Zhu Yijun possessed divine foresight and clairvoyance, always issuing critical battlefield directives of great significance.

The key issue was that many of these edicts were retrospective—issued only after battles ended, to affirm frontline victories.

Most of these edicts were drafted by the Grand Secretariat.

Most imperial edicts personally written by Great Ming emperors were plain and vernacular; the ornate, literary ones were mostly drafted by the Grand Secretariat, revised and copied by the Directorate of Ceremonial, then sealed by the emperor.

How could such official documents be written personally by the emperor?

Thus, before the Great Ming army entered Korea, Zhang Zhang Juzheng had already begun preparing.

"Gao Gong, Yang Bo, Wang Wang Chonggu, and others were not unjustly dismissed; the clues were there, but I never perceived the Master's scheme." Zhu Zhu Yijun issued no imperial rescript to revise it; he disapproved of the narrative emphasizing imperial grace, yet he would not oppose it either—otherwise, generals like Qi Qi Jiguang would find themselves in an untenable position.

Great Ming had never developed a "winning studies" tradition because the curse of overwhelming merit threatening the throne had always haunted this land; to construct a fact-based winning studies, the emperor must be elevated higher—otherwise, the people would know only General Qi and not the emperor, and that would be disastrous.

Since the Nine Victories of the Eastern Expedition and the feats of the distant expeditionary troops must be promoted, the emperor must also gain renown, and Generals like Qi Qi Jiguang completed the eastern campaign under the emperor's wise leadership.

Zhu Zhu Yijun did not advocate such narratives of grace, nor would he initiate them, but when circumstances demanded, he would cooperate.

"Your Majesty, here is some awakening soy milk." Feng Bao presented a cup of tea with a smile. "It was sent by the Prince of Kunming; he says it is brewed from coffee beans with milk and sugar added—exquisitely delicious."

Coffee beans are beans; soybeans are beans; soy milk is made from soybeans; thus, awakening soy milk is soy milk made from coffee.

"Not bad." Zhu Zhu Yijun actually preferred Mingqian Longjing, but to support Yunnan's agricultural development, he designated thirteen acres in Yunnan as tribute land, where all coffee grown there became tribute goods; thus, if the emperor liked to drink it, others would naturally be willing to try.

Stories of the emperor's fondness, tribute status, mother trees, and more quickly spread.

Yunnan had crafted the story perfectly, and it had already gone public.

It was said that the emperor's beloved Empress Wang fell ill, and all physicians failed; the Yunnan scholar Long Qilei came to the capital for the imperial examination and brought coffee to the Dissection Institute; unexpectedly, after the empress drank it, her health gradually improved, and the emperor, overjoyed, designated a plot of land as tribute land.

A good story propelled rapid industrial growth; tea was a global commodity, and carefully cultivated, expanded coffee would become one too; each new global commodity brought more silver to fill the bottomless pit of the Dinghai Academic System.

Many things sell not because they are superior or technologically advanced, but because their stories are well told; if the story is told with enough mystery, the more people believe it, the better it sells—but once the story's core collapses and no one believes it anymore, everything crumbles.

"Your Majesty, tobacco could also become a global commodity—it has great potential." Feng Bao reminded the emperor that the Great Ming court's monopoly on tobacco was highly profitable, with large output and simple production; if the story were well told, it might well become a global commodity.

"The Luzong and Jiujiang Governorates have already begun promoting it." Zhu Zhu Yijun did not deny it; tobacco's harms were severe, but in these times, many people would not live long enough to suffer them.

The median lifespan of miners in the New World's rich silver mines was sixteen; the median lifespan of Japanese slaves on Great Ming's southern plantations was twenty-nine.

"The Governor of Suiyuan, the Lady of Lady Zhongshun, submitted a memorial of thanks." Feng Bao spread a memorial before the emperor; this memorial was written by San San Niangzi herself,

her classical Chinese level even below that of a child, written entirely in plain vernacular.

In recent years, the Great Ming had ceased policy favors toward Suiyuan; this memorial of thanks seemed inexplicable—San San Niangzi was cooperating with the court to promote the narrative of imperial grace, but it must be grounded in fact, not fantasy; that was not victory, it was embellished victory.

"Hmm." Zhu Zhu Yijun finished reading and understood why San San Niangzi had suddenly thanked him—it was genuine grace, unadulterated and fact-based.

Shandong salt fields had produced a large quantity of salt bricks, mostly waste scraps unsellable by the fields; these salt bricks were the substance of San San Niangzi's thanks.

Before the Great Ming reclaimed Suiyuan, Suiyuan long suffered salt shortages; people had no salt to eat, so the livestock of the steppe people had even less; humans without salt grew weak and dizzy, and animals without salt could barely chew grass and would die.

Before Shandong salt bricks were shipped in bulk to Suiyuan, steppe people collected urine and poured it into feeding troughs; the livestock's salt source was licking these troughs. When grazing, if some cattle or sheep wandered off, there was no need to fear—they would return on their own, for there was no salt to be found in the wild.

Even this was only for domesticated animals; wild animals had no chance to lick even a drop.

Some wild wolves would sneak in when the owners were away to lick these troughs.

Now, the livestock on the steppe could finally lick salt bricks.

Salt scarcity had degraded Suiyuan's pastures; without sufficient salt, animals died, so herders could only let livestock reproduce—but more animals died before reaching market age, causing massive waste of water and grass resources, creating an endless vicious cycle that turned pastures into desert, making life even harder.

Shandong salt bricks, transported from Xuanfu to Guihua City, then distributed to pastures, broke this vicious cycle.

From San San Niangzi's memorial, one sees that humans are indeed a luxurious species: all human secretions contain salt—saliva, sweat, excrement—and humans possess a highly developed sweat system, using salt to dissipate heat and regulate rising body temperature during sustained activity—this was humanity's most primitive hunting method: pursuit.

But most animals lack sweat glands and do not excrete precious salt.

San San Niangzi wrote in her memorial that as a child, she lived in Wala and Lin, where children herding there would urinate, and cattle and sheep would lick the ground, eating the soil along with the urine.

Suiyuan was ideal for narratives of grace: even the steppe's livestock must give thanks; without the Emperor's civilizing influence, livestock still licked troughs and ate soil to obtain salt.

Zhu Zhu Yijun annotated San San Niangzi's memorial with hundreds of characters, answering several questions she deeply cared about; her memorial not only expressed that imperial grace could never be repaid, but also inquired about down and feather production.

The more intricately the economic leash entwined, the more thoroughly the Great Ming and the steppe could reconcile and become inseparable.

The Great Ming still could not solve mass production; separating feathers from down was extremely difficult, output was low, and impurities were abundant; when feathers and down were mixed and simply sewn into garments and quilts, the smell was foul, and feather leakage was severe.

The weavers at the Yongding Wool Factory pooled their ideas and invented several crisscross quilting techniques and spiral stitching methods, solving some problems, but separating feathers from down remained a challenge.

This problem was being addressed; the Academicians of the Academy of Investigation had long struggled with it; Huang Huang Zifu once visited the Agricultural Academy and met the Minister of Agriculture Xu Zhen, who proposed a solution: the winnowing machine used in peasant households.

When the winnowing machine rotated, it generated high air pressure; opening the air gate blew away chaff and empty grains, allowing grain to slide out the outlet.

Huang Huang Zifu saw hope; the first prototype of an iron-wood feather separator had been built, and the Academicians were working overtime to improve the intake, air blower, feather brush, and gate mechanisms, aiming to mass-produce the first usable feather separator before year's end.

If feather and down separation could be achieved, it would escape the inefficiency of full manual labor, progressing from manual to semi-mechanized to fully mechanized; once feather separators were mass-produced, the down industry would flourish.

The first batch of five hundred dodo breeding birds had been prepared for shipment to Suiyuan; the dodo could not fly, was somewhat fat, its wings had regressed, and without human care, it would go extinct on its own.

If down and feathers could be separated, it would overcome the inefficiency of manual production, progressing from fully manual to semi-mechanized, then fully mechanized; once down-picking machines were mass-produced, the down and feather industry would flourish.

Under proper cultivation, ample food, and suitable conditions, the dodo could lay eighty eggs per year, with high reproductive capacity, rapid growth, high feed conversion efficiency, ability to digest varied foods without pickiness, and docile, easy-to-manage temperament—all advantages matching those of the goose in feather and down output.

"These Bliss Sect followers always come up with something unexpected to disgust people." Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned after reading a memorial from Nagasaki.

The Bliss Sect constructed a terrifying story called "Madam Mu Guang," glorifying love—entirely fictional.

A soldier of the Feng Dabao Bay Garrison, named Zheng Hong, tall, strong, and handsome, was stationed long-term in Kyoto and met and fell in love with the famous courtesan Madam Mu Guang.

This soldier, Zheng Hong, took the relationship lightly, merely for amusement.

But Madam Mu Guang fell deeply in love with Zheng Hong, and the two spent brief, sweet moments together in a small house in Kyoto.

Three years later, Zheng Hong's term ended, he left Kyoto and returned to Zhejiang, never contacting Madam Mu Guang again.

Yet Madam Mu Guang faithfully waited for Zheng Hong's return and raised their child alone.

Madam Mu Guang persisted in waiting, hoping Zheng Hong would return to Kyoto to renew their bond, rejecting many suitors.

Madam Mu Guang never saw Zheng Hong again, but received a letter delivered by the Feng Dabao Bay Garrison: Zheng Hong had married and intended to take the child away.

In utter shock and despair, Madam Mu Guang handed the child over to the Feng Dabao Bay Garrison commander and used the musket Zheng Hong had given her for self-defense to kill herself in their small house, leaving a final note:

Moths love to flutter toward lamps; one name is Spark, one is Mu Guang; death is nobler than shame.

This story spread widely, forcing the Feng Dabao Bay Garrison to conduct an internal investigation; it was a serious violation of military regulations, so they had to investigate—and found no soldier named Zheng Hong.

The investigation quickly expanded to the entire Nagasaki Governorate; not a single soldier in the Nagasaki Governorate's garrison bore the name Zheng Hong, nor any similar-sounding name.

Great Ming soldiers mostly came from poor backgrounds; their names were crude: Zhao Zhao Laoqi, Chen Chen Dazhuang, Liu Bi, Zhang Mei, Gou Sheng—after enlistment, they changed to three-character names to avoid duplication.

Eventually, the Nagasaki Governorate found this Zheng Hong—he was a Zhejiang merchant; when the Ningbo Prefecture questioned him, he looked bewildered, unaware of Madam Mu Guang; after much thought, he recalled once having met her briefly during a business trip to Japan—no affair had occurred.

This story spread so widely, even reaching the emperor's desk, precisely because it utterly contradicted Great Ming people's conduct: if a child existed, even taking her as a concubine would be preferable to abandoning her so irresponsibly and fleeing.

More importantly, Great Ming troops were stationed in Japanese mining districts—not just the Iwami Silver Mine; if Great Ming troops in Japan were this irresponsible within months, how could they possibly fulfill their duty to protect His Majesty's mines?

Eventually, the Nagasaki Viceroy's Office found this Zheng Hong, a Zhejiang maritime merchant; when the Ningbo Prefectural Office located Zheng Hong to verify the matter, he looked utterly bewildered—he had never heard of Madam Madam Mu Guang. After much thought, he recalled having once met her briefly during a trading trip to Japan, with no more than a passing acquaintance.

"Your Majesty, this story perfectly fits Master Wan's barbarian victory theory." Feng Bao, after reading long, sincerely remarked.

Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned. "Huh? Madam Mu Guang is dead—how did the Bliss Sect win? It merely glorifies love, and Madam Mu Guang never received love—she lost her life."

Feng Bao pointed to the story's ending: "Your Majesty, the Bliss Sect's paradise lies in the Great Ming, not in a divine realm; though Madam Mu Guang died, her child became a Great Ming subject—that is their victory!"

Zhu Zhu Yijun shook his head, utterly baffled: "Victory? What nonsense! Who will care for a motherless child? Won't everyone bully him? Life worse than death—where's the victory?"

Feng Bao hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I—"

Feng Bao paused at the story's end and said, "Your Majesty, the Pure Land of the Bliss Sect lies within Great Ming, not in a divine realm. Though Madam Mu Guang is dead, her child has become a subject of Great Ming—this is victory!"

Zhu Zhu Yijun shook his head in utter confusion and said, "Victory? Pfft! Who's going to care for a child without a mother? Won't everyone bully him? Better dead than alive—where's the win?"

Feng Bao hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, your servant—"

That's the point—the first victory lies in Master Mu's child, who reached the other shore for her, thus achieving it as well.

A man of such stature as Your Majesty finds it truly hard to comprehend this grotesque logic of these devotees.

Wang Qian asked Zhang Zhang Juzheng what people fear most, and Zhang Zhang Juzheng immediately replied: unfulfilled ambition—this was Zhang Zhang Juzheng's true belief, and Your Majesty is precisely such a man; Feng Bao never doubted that Your Majesty would sacrifice even his life for the success of the Emperor Wanli Reforms.

The He Yi Zhong assassinated Zhang Zhang Juzheng at the Yicheng Marquis's mansion in Xishan; the Emperor, clad in armor and wielding weapons, slew seven assailants himself, for at that time, the core of the Emperor Wanli Reforms was still Zhang Zhang Juzheng—if Zhang had died, the Emperor, whose wings had not yet grown strong, could not have sustained the Emperor Wanli Reforms.

The Great Ming cultivates Mahayana Win-ology grounded in reality; the barbarians cultivate Theravada Win-ology rooted in delusional narratives—it would be strange if the Emperor of the Great Ming understood them.

"Absurd." Zhu Zhu Yijun's lips twitched as he shook his head repeatedly; the logic held, yet he simply could not comprehend it—the child had lost its mother and was merely a bastard; even if it entered the Great Ming, its fate would be worse than death.

Feng Bao continued: "Your Majesty, Lady Mu Guang was a lowly Japanese, yet her child is a noble subject of the Great Ming—this is a leap in status. In this tale, Lady Mu Guang rejected countless suitors, including Japanese nobles and daimyo; she could refuse them because she had a child from a Garrison Company Commander."

"Lady Mu Guang achieved a leap in status; she could even ignore nobles and daimyo, remaining faithful to Zheng Hong for life."

"This provides the Bliss Sect's followers a path to status elevation—the second victory offers them a tangible route to the other shore. The sect's seductive power is evident."

Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism offer no path to the other shore in this life—but the Bliss Sect found one!

Zhu Zhu Yijun reread the entire story and found Feng Bao's claim about the second victory true: in Pyongyang, some unruly children who had gained Great Ming status forced those without such status to kneel.

"A story like this can achieve two victories?" Zhu Zhu Yijun marveled; he now understood anew why the barbarians kept winning—this was truly tenacious, and they still managed to win.

Feng Bao also spoke with deep emotion: "Your Majesty, there is a third victory—precisely in this final line: 'The moth skillfully brushes the lamp.' Lady Mu Guang's suicide is the story's ultimate elevation—she died for her faith."

Zhu Zhu Yijun asked in astonishment: "What faith? Played for a fool, raising another's child, then ending up dead—her child may not even survive. What kind of faith is this? The Animal Realm?"

"Love," Feng Bao said with absolute certainty. "The Bliss Sect is profoundly strange—it demands followers sever all ties with parents, kin, and friends. Yet one cannot live without emotion."

"So they elevate love above all else."

"This is the third victory: love becomes the supreme entity, capable of overriding all other emotions. After rationalizing it, one sacrifices one's life for the path of love—such martyrdom appears tragically noble, worthy of such praise."

Zhu Zhu Yijun recalled two tales: the Han Dynasty's "The Kong Que Flies Southeast" and the Eastern Jin's "The Butterfly Lovers." Both were about love and both ended in suicide—but these stories were profoundly reasonable.

In "The Kong Que Flies Southeast," Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi were forced apart, vowed to meet in the netherworld, and both took their own lives—neither betrayed the other.

In "The Butterfly Lovers," Liang Shanbo, unable to marry Zhu Zhu Yingtai, fell ill and died; Zhu Zhu Yingtai threw herself into his tomb and transformed into a butterfly.

Praising love is fine—when you love me and I love you, that is love. Faced with insurmountable obstacles, if you choose death together, that is martyrdom for love.

In Lady Mu Guang's story, Zhu Zhu Yijun saw no trace of the word "love"—he saw only verbs.

"Unfathomable." After a moment's thought, Zhu Zhu Yijun chose compromise—he would not try to understand.

Feng Bao exclaimed in wonder: "These three victories explain why the Bliss Sect devotees sing this tale so fervently. And Your Majesty, this story will be retold in endless variations."

Feng Bao could understand it because he had no worldly desires—he could observe it as an outsider, and combining it with his learning, immediately perceived why the tale spread so widely.

Moreover, as long as the Great Ming continues expanding, similar sordid tales will keep emerging in new forms, poisoning the Great Ming.

"At the Nagasaki Viceroyalty, impose strict restrictions: ban all Bliss Sect followers from leaving Japan. This is too sinister—it's even more perverse than the Korean battle reports received by Oda Nobunaga." Zhu Zhu Yijun chose harsh suppression.

The Nagasaki Viceroyalty maintains a question book: every Japanese is asked a series of questions—applications of conditional probability. Twenty seemingly unrelated questions can filter out Bliss Sect followers.

Preventing the spread of the Bliss Sect is one of the Nagasaki Viceroyalty's duties.

The Great Ming is actively preparing the grand ceremony to welcome the returning army; Zhu Zhu Yijun will travel to Tianjin Tanggu Port in Tianzhou on the third day of the third month to personally greet the victorious troops. The Emperor's personal reception conforms to Great Ming tradition, and was formally requested by the Minister of Rites.

This is the "Descending the Steps to Welcome at the Suburbs," one of the Five Rites of Military Protocol.

When the Emperor commands a general to lead troops into battle, he pushes down the carriage wheel—that is the departure rite. When the general returns victorious, the Emperor leads his ministers out of the city to the suburbs to greet them, showing honor and comfort—this is called "Descending the Steps to Welcome at the Suburbs." A platform for the welcome must be built to signify imperial grace.

The Emperor personally leading ministers to greet the army is a major event; normally, the Emperor sends an official to receive the troops.

If the army returns defeated, it is called "the army failed, the military is in sorrow." The Emperor must wear mourning robes and cap to mourn the fallen soldiers and comfort the wounded ("condole the dead, inquire after the injured").

The campaign against the Japanese pirates and the Nine Victories in the East are unquestionably major events of the Great Ming, worthy of the Emperor's personal reception.

The importance of this event even overshadowed the imperial examinations scheduled for February.

The importance of this matter even overshadowed the imperial examination scheduled for February.