[{"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-965":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},2364234,4622,"Chapter 965","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-965",965,"\u003Cp>The livelihood of a million canal workers is an issue the Great Ming must confront.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, the establishment of the Inland Waterway Transport Office with a Transport Commissioner to oversee river affairs is a direct confrontation with the problem, not an evasion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming first faced this issue when river transport was switched to sea transport in the second year of Wanli, a process that took six full years to fully shift four million shi of grain from land to water transport.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Wanli nine, this figure continued to surge rapidly, and today, over twelve million shi of grain will be shipped from the New Port in Songjiang Prefecture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The route is from the New Port in Songjiang Prefecture to Naha Port in Ryukyu, then turning northward, for after reaching Naha, ocean currents can be harnessed to reach Tianjin, the Miyun Customs Office, and other destinations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The volume of grain transported by sea is still growing rapidly, as officials from Huguang, Jiangzuo and Jiangyou, Zhejiang, and other regions are fulfilling their tax quotas by purchasing imported grain—on another level, completing the unfinished Single Whip Reform.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When river transport was first switched to sea transport, the resistance was far greater than the opposition faced today with the establishment of the Inland Waterway Transport Office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the first time the Great Ming court attempted to resolve the livelihood issue of a million canal workers—and it succeeded brilliantly: river transport capacity was fully released, the economic vitality of the Grand Canal was thoroughly activated, and lights burned all night along both banks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the first time, when the court had no experience and moved with extreme caution, this time the court’s decision-making is far more assured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Building tugboats to tow barges is meant to supplement insufficient transport capacity; when capacity is sufficient, goods will flow more smoothly, leading to more workshops emerging, and likewise, each dock will require vast numbers of laborers—this can all absorb the pressure released by the displacement of haulers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the Ministry of Public Works has pledged to build ships while observing conditions, taking five to eight years to complete the transition of official vessels, and ten to twenty years to gradually transform the lives of these haulers—never rushing, aiming to minimize disruption as much as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no matter what, such changes will profoundly impact the lives of these haulers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They must abandon the way of life they have known for decades, even centuries, to adapt to a new era—and this pain is borne by the common people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The court deliberation on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month is the year-end summary; after the summary, the Emperor must write a work report and burn it as a qingci prayer to Heaven and the ancestral spirits during the New Year’s Day sacrifice at the Imperial Ancestral Temple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan presented a memorial and said: “Your Majesty, this year, Xuan-Da, the capital, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, and other regions received no snow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even by the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, the Ministry of Revenue had received no good news; this year is worse than last year, for at least last year there was a heavy snowfall that calmed the restless populace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this year, not a single snowflake fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Suiyuan, Liaodong, and Shandong all had heavy snowfalls, causing snow disasters—snow piled higher than a man when stepping outside.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vice Minister of Revenue Wang Yie spoke with a bitter expression: some places received no snow at all, while others were buried under snow that trapped people indoors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dengzhou and Laizhou Prefectures, those snow traps, were hit especially hard this year—snow fell so heavily it could bury people alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is the true face of drought and flood imbalance—like the Emperor’s temper, capricious and unpredictable, as if the Great Ming people were being treated as Japanese.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun felt like the Governor of Fengxian County, unaware of when he had offended the Jade Emperor, causing drought and flood imbalance in Fengxian—yet the governor was utterly powerless before such calamity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Fengxian County waited only three years before the Great Sage Equaling Heaven resolved the crisis; how long will the Great Ming’s celestial changes last?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It could snow,” Zhu Yijun sat upright and said: “I am not in these regions—local officials, eager to please me, could submit memorials claiming snowfall to deceive me into happiness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But they did not. At least they still remember my words: to give the people a way to live, not to drive them to death.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether it snowed or whether famine occurred directly affects next year’s land tax exemptions; local officials dare not lie on such matters, for the Emperor will truly refuse exemptions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When that happens, local authorities must extract taxes from the people—natural disaster plus human misrule will instantly spark rebellion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Wanli Reforms, whenever rebellion breaks out, the sole fate of local officials is execution and public display—never pardoned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Between imperial orders and the people’s livelihood, the Emperor demands his ministers choose the people’s livelihood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun is not in a hurry; the Great Ming faces no clear external pressure, so policy can be more flexible, using time and the Overseas Governorates to mitigate the intensity of reform’s pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Next year, reduce land taxes by another two tenths; if drought occurs, exempt them entirely.” Zhu Yijun, despite having no funds, slashed land taxes by another two tenths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a reduction by the Emperor would have plunged the court’s fiscal revenue in the Jiajing and Longqing eras to unsustainable levels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But profits from state factories, sea transport, imported grain, and other sources have alleviated the court’s fiscal difficulties, giving it greater capacity to mediate these contradictions—no longer forced to join local magnates in reaching into the people’s grain bins for the last handful of rice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty is wise,” Zhang Xueyan and Wang Yie bowed again; with this single pronouncement, millions of Great Ming subjects will survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is no exaggeration: given the severity of last year’s drought and flood imbalance, rebellions should have erupted everywhere—but none did, for Heaven itself reduced land taxes, forcing local magnates to swallow their pride and lower rents during the famine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, celestial changes are not terrifying; what is terrifying is when natural disaster and human misrule strike together. Power and blessing are mutually reinforcing,” Zhang Xueyan said with a strange expression; the impact of celestial change was far less than imagined—life is far more resilient than expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason no great upheaval threatening the very foundation of the state occurred\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>is precisely because natural disaster and human misrule did not coincide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they had coincided, the court would now be rushing to put out fires everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I truly have no power over Heaven; when Heaven sends celestial change, I must endure it. But do I have no power over these powerful magnates, local gentry, and scholar-officials?” Zhu Yijun expressed his stance clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I cannot deal with Heaven, can I not deal with these magnates?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The powerful magnates and scholar-officials did not create human misrule because they are virtuous? Of course not—they refrained because the Emperor is ruthless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The court cannot control celestial change, but it can control human misrule—especially after last year’s campaign against Rongcheng, local magnates realized they must never provoke the Emperor’s thunderous wrath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they provoke the Emperor’s thunderous wrath, the Capital Garrison will arrest indiscriminately and enforce land restitution—uprooting the very foundation of the scholar-officials, leaving them unable to recover for decades.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And rebellion will inevitably provoke the Emperor’s thunderous wrath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming calls imperial authority the “Power and Blessing” authority—these two words are indeed profoundly apt, especially after last year’s famine preparations, Zhang Xueyan now understood them more deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When a wise ruler’s power is great, his blessing spreads across the realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A gentleman who is not solemn lacks authority; a gentleman has four solemnities: solemn speech, solemn conduct, solemn demeanor, and noble tastes—careful speech, dignified behavior, proper bearing, refined interests; if one’s words and actions lack solemnity, one has no authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this can also be interpreted as: if a gentleman does not strike hard, he has no authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng, Wang Chonggu, and Ling Yunyi—these chief and deputy grand secretaries—exactly validate Xiong Tingbi’s heterodox Confucianism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After discussing with the Emperor strategies for next year’s response to celestial change, Zhang Xueyan returned to his seat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“High Minister, how is the Round Pacific Trade Alliance progressing?” Zhu Yijun asked about the negotiations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next February, this delegation of East Pacific Governorate envoys will return home; around June or July, the East Pacific Governors will come to the Great Ming to sign the comprehensive agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, in your benevolence, you instructed me to concede—I humbly followed your teaching, explaining to the envoys the vastness of your grace; all envoys expressed profound gratitude for your boundless benevolence. All agreements are now settled; after the New Year, they will travel to Wanguo City in Songjiang Prefecture and return home in February.” Gao Qiyu hurriedly reported the details.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the final signatures of the Governors remain as formalities—the Round Pacific Trade Alliance has already reached consensus and is established.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The villainy was done by Minister Gao; the goodness is mine. Minister Gao has rendered great service to the state.” Zhu Yijun waved his hand, signaling Feng Bao to bestow a reward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, Zhu Yijun does not bestow rewards on ministers in the Wenhua Hall—he waits until after court—but for this year-end deliberation, Zhu Yijun broke precedent and granted Gao Qiyu an extra reward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A young eunuch placed a rosewood box on the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Bao opened the rosewood box and displayed its contents to the court ministers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Qiyu’s temple veins throbbed—inside the rosewood box lay a single Ziwei Shaofu Star, a palm-sized, pure purple, flawless gem, and twenty-six smaller gems, each the size of a thumb, arranged around it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each tap of one could secure wealth for over a dozen generations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am unworthy to receive this,” Gao Qiyu was genuinely startled; reward for merit was the Emperor’s governing logic, but what astonished him most was: the Emperor is out of money—and yet still bestowing such priceless treasures!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun sat upright and said: “The primary reward is for your daring mission to Kyoto in Japan, forcing Toyotomi Hideyoshi to surrender; the Round Pacific Trade Alliance is not yet finalized, so I would not reward you for it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thirteen-six military merit holders each received rewards; you deserve this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun had not forgotten Gao Qiyu—he went to Japan and burned half of Kyoto with firebirds, and it still has not been rebuilt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All military merit holders received rewards; Gao Qiyu deserved his share.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I kowtow to thank Your Majesty’s boundless grace,” Gao Qiyu, hearing the reward was for the Japanese campaign, reluctantly accepted—if he returned it, wouldn’t the General and the 135 other stars have to return theirs too?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, this is key to building the Great Ming’s Yingxue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Nine Victories of the Eastern Campaign construct Yingxue—not only through the “Record of the Eastern Campaign” and “Biographies of Heroes,” but also through folk tales, storytelling, and now this full-sky-star reward: both storytelling and Yingxue construction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming’s Yingxue is a direct continuation of China’s historical Yingxue: only by winning can one win.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, it also requires supplementation: when you win, you must write it loudly—not win one sentence and lose several books.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang exchanged glances; the Emperor’s jade sales must have brought in enormous silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People never learn from history’s lessons—how long ago was the Great Cloth and Fine Woolen Cloth farce? Now the jade bureau has appeared—but people are just so forgetful; the powerful magnates of the capital, the Southern Yamen, and Songjiang Prefecture are all chasing these beautiful stones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What surprised Zhang Juzheng most was: the rarer the jade, the more expensive it became, and the more the powerful magnates revered it and flocked to it—and the Emperor precisely sensed this pulse, even deliberately smashing large jade pieces to sell them; jade over two taels is now exceedingly rare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deliberately creating scarcity of large jade pieces, combined with the extra exchange value bestowed by the Emperor’s rewards to ministers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The jade scheme—the Emperor has succeeded again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng knew the Emperor had been remarkably benevolent—he had not brought in tulips, so it wasn’t outright fraud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great Ming merchant ships brought back many strange tales—for instance, in the Netherlands, a flower called the “Young Nobleman Tulip”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>sold for 480 ducats—equivalent to the price of four oxen!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The jade the Emperor introduced has extreme scarcity; such gems, especially pure purple or pure green grades, are exceedingly rare, originating from the distant Dongyu—far superior to such things as tulips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the Emperor said: stealing yields less than deceiving; people willingly fall for the trick!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grand Marshal Ceng Shengwu reported this year’s military downsizing; the verification of troop rolls proceeded smoothly. Grand Censor Ling Yunyi reported a plan called the “Great Cleansing,” intending to comprehensively purge local ruffians, bandits, urban gangs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Local police inspectors and yamen runners will execute it; when necessary, the Capital Garrison may be deployed for targeted elimination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first step of this Great Cleansing plan is not to target gangs in major cities, but to target the bureaucracy itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Ling Yunyi’s words, unless these rebels are crushed, these gangs, ruffians, and hoodlums can never be eradicated—only by eliminating the court officials sheltering these criminal elements can further action proceed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Cleansing began in Wanli nineteen and will continue until Wanli twenty-nine, aiming for ten years of results; the Ministry of Justice will work closely with the Anti-Corruption Bureau, using anti-corruption to precisely eliminate these officials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After repeated deliberation, Zhu Yijun still approved Ling Yunyi’s memorial; the Emperor hesitated because Ling Yunyi’s ruthlessness was truly extreme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his memorial, Ling Yunyi proposed the permanent deployment of the Capital Garrison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In every province along the imperial highway, station one battalion of three thousand men, rotating every five years, specifically to target and eliminate mountain strongholds and urban gangs that local authorities cannot handle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ling Yunyi reviewed all past cases and found that often, it was not that the yamen wanted to suppress bandits—they were powerless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some bandit groups outnumbered the yamen runners; the runners and archers were truly helpless against them, forced to let them run rampant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Capital Garrison went to Rongcheng County, they discovered this truth: two mountain bandit dens had more swords, spears, bows, arrows, and armor than the Rongcheng County yamen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ling Yunyi’s reason for targeting these stubborn bandit dens was not for the people’s welfare, but because of celestial change.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Celestial change reduced harvests and increased instability; these bandit dens would seize the chaos to rise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Destitute refugees lack organization and cannot cause rebellion—but they often gather near these bandit dens, or even join them—this is wind feeding fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Refugees who could have been pacified and relieved will rapidly swell into uncontrollable uprisings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The purpose of permanently deploying the Capital Garrison is not merely to suppress bandits, but for celestial-change military governance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once celestial change becomes so severe that military governance becomes necessary, the permanently stationed battalions can respond swiftly, allocating all supplies to prevent further turmoil.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun ultimately approved the memorial; before large-scale rebellion erupts, the Capital Garrison will only suppress bandits; once large-scale rebellion occurs, they will respond rapidly, fully taking over local yamen, even enforcing land restitution, pacifying the people, and reducing the likelihood of large-scale rebellion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun ultimately approved the memorial, dispatching the Capital Troops solely to suppress bandits before large-scale peasant uprisings erupted; should a major uprising occur, they would respond swiftly, take complete control of local yamens, even redistribute land to pacify the people and reduce the likelihood of large-scale unrest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is Grand Minister of Justice Ling Yunyi’s comprehensive stability-maintenance strategy, centered on the Capital Garrison, designed to safeguard the realm and the state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Capital Garrison is a sharp sword; once drawn, it must draw blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun concluded the year’s final court deliberation and grew busy again: he went to Nanhaizi in Daxing to visit the families of the beacon-tower sentinels, to see the Feathered Forest orphans, to inspect the Capital Garrison’s official workshops, to visit the families of the Capital Garrison’s elite troops at the Northern Camp, and to receive the imperial clansmen at the Ten Royal Cities to demonstrate familial affection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Yijun opened the Huangji Gate again and received foreign officials, elders, and commoners—nearly a thousand randomly selected people from all social strata—who wrote down their most pressing concerns along the corridors on either side of the Huangji Gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corridors echo the people’s thoughts; the vermilion steps question the rites of governance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Yijun accepted New Year greetings from his ministers; on the first day of the first lunar month, he offered ancestral rites at the Imperial Ancestral Temple; on the second day, His Majesty carried over a thousand memorials of the people’s concerns to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests to perform self-examination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this period of self-examination, Zhu Yijun had to read every single memorial of the people’s concerns—even if he could not solve the problems, he must know them by heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seven days of self-examination passed; the Great Ming Emperor failed to pray for snow. He extended it three more days, yet still failed to summon snow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The air in the capital grew slightly murky; under the smog, the capital shimmered with an eerie purple hue in the sunlight, filling all with profound unease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, the Emperor left the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and issued several edicts, ordering local officials to combat locusts in drought-stricken regions according to the “Memorial on Locust Control,” to prevent drought from escalating into locust plague, and demanding that all officials rigorously urge local gentry to fulfill their original sixty-four-year pledge: not to turn natural disasters into human catastrophes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the Capital Garrison began deploying forces: the first deployment sent ten battalions to Liaodong, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Suiyuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Huguang, Jiangzuo, and Jiangyou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These regions had express roads, enabling rapid deployment and low-cost rotation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun had prepared himself: if locusts truly arrived, he would emulate Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, and swallow locusts whole to demonstrate his resolve to share the people’s suffering.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before becoming emperor, Zhu Yijun thought Li Shimin’s act of eating locusts was performative; even if an emperor chose to perform for the people, it was already an act of benevolence, since many rulers did not even bother to pretend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after becoming emperor, Zhu Yijun realized it was not performance—it was a desperate, unavoidable act to calm the people’s hearts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The West could attribute all guilt to God, since no one could judge God; but the Great Ming had no gods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All guilt had to be laid at the emperor’s feet—and if the emperor died, he would die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To calm the people’s hearts during a severe locust plague, one had no choice but to swallow locusts whole—a last-resort act of self-preservation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun prepared to swallow locusts whole and coordinated the details with the Ministry of Rites, ensuring the people of the capital would witness it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During a locust plague, raising chickens or ducks was useless: once locust density surpassed a critical threshold, they secreted a toxin; after the swarm passed, the sky would be darkened, windows and doors blocked, rooms filled without a single gap, grass and trees stripped bare across thousands of li, and even the hair and banners of cattle and horses devoured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the perspective of Heaven’s Mandate, this was a crushing blow to the emperor’s heavenly legitimacy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What does Heaven truly intend?” Zhu Yijun stood before the door of the Tonghe Palace’s imperial study, gazing up at the swirling heavy snowfall, motionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was snowing—greatly. The snowfall left Zhu Yijun bewildered, his hair and eyebrows coated in white.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had prayed for snow for ten full days at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, while the sky remained cloudless; he had released his pre-prepared contingency plan, ready to endure this year’s celestial upheaval.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet when he rose that morning, Feng Bao scrambled to the outer chamber of his sleeping quarters, shouting in ecstatic joy: “It’s snowing!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And it was heavy, goose-feather snow; by this rate, it would pile at least three feet deep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, such celestial changes are capricious,” Feng Bao sighed deeply in relief—this snow was utterly timely!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drought breeds locusts; if no rain comes this spring, the locust plague in March and April will engulf the land, leaving the people destitute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Issue an edict to the Grand Secretariat: once the snow stops, proceed to the Altar of Heaven to offer thanks and prayers; have the Celestial Master Zhang Guoxiang compose the green incantations for the sacrifice to Heaven,” Zhu Yijun walked several circles in the snow, shook off the flakes from his body, and gave the order to Feng Bao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A delayed response is still a response; if Heaven deigned to send snow or rain, that was more than enough—this snow alone would at least prevent the north from sliding from drought into locust plague, allowing the people to harvest at least one season of potatoes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun immediately decided to go to the Altar of Heaven to fulfill his vow—and he did so with great ceremony, offering sacrifices to Heaven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In matters of faith, the people of the Great Ming always showed remarkable flexibility: one moment cursing the cruel heavens, the next praising Heaven’s boundless grace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Potatoes are nutritious and can serve as staple grain, preventing starvation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having food to eat was one of Zhu Yijun’s mad delusions, like the Dinghai Education System; his five grand ideas—each a mad delusion—were slowly becoming reality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, the snow ceased; the Emperor suspended morning court and led his ministers to the Altar of Heaven, solemnly offering sacrifices to Heaven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A message arrived from the Nagasaki Governor’s Office: Toyotomi Hideyoshi has been assassinated three times—twice narrowly escaped, once wounded,” Zhu Yijun joined the Quan Chu Association for a meal, took a report from Japan handed to him by the association, and passed it to Zhang Juzheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiaozhou Bay is an ice-free port; maritime patrol officers from Nagasaki transmitted the news back to the Great Ming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s three assassination attempts grew increasingly perilous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One was an arrow aimed straight at his chest; another, an explosion so violent it wounded him; during his convalescence, poison was added to his medicine, killing his attendant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In these three months, Toyotomi Hideyoshi could be described as running frantically from death to death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And the reason for the assassinations is simple: Toyotomi Hideyoshi realized the Bliss Sect recognizes neither forgiveness nor redemption. Admitting fault means continuous confession and ever-greater sacrifice. He planned to resist, to militarily purge the Bliss Sect—and that triggered the assassinations,” Zhu Yijun handed Zhang Juzheng another dossier, compiled by a garrison company commander.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reading it, Zhang Juzheng pondered long before speaking: “If I were Toyotomi Hideyoshi, I would flee to the Great Ming and live as a wealthy commoner; if the Great Ming refused me, I would go to the Southern Seas, claim a patch of land, and live my life. Japan is beyond saving.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This monkey, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, is no match for Oda Nobunaga, the great demon-king—but he is still a rare genius, reduced now to such desperation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng’s expression grew grave: “The consensus underpinning Japan’s state structure has been perverted. The term ‘Yamato’ will vanish entirely from history’s river, becoming a forgotten weed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Japan once sent envoys to Sui and Tang; over centuries of exchange, Japan gradually realized the character ‘Wa’ was pejorative. Thus, in the Nara period, they adopted ‘Wa’—meaning harmony, the highest virtue—and began calling themselves ‘Yamato.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The concept of ‘Yamato’ was one of the most vital pillars of Japan’s state-building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng never anticipated this outcome; he expected Japan’s state structure to be shattered by the invincible Great Ming army—but instead, its consensus had been perverted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Bliss Sect, this evil cult, is terrifying beyond measure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sir, I fear Toyotomi Hideyoshi will again launch an invasion of Korea, using foreign war to ease internal tensions. If he defeats the Great Ming, he can leverage the victory’s prestige to resolve domestic issues.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just as I have done,” Zhu Yijun voiced his concern. He had prescribed two remedies; Toyotomi Hideyoshi could not replicate them—but such a desperate gamble on national fate was still possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming must remain vigilant against Japan’s last-ditch gamble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Impossible,” Zhang Juzheng mused, then shook his head. “Unless he eradicates the Bliss Sect entirely, he cannot succeed. The origins of the Bliss Sect are exceedingly complex—much of it stems from remnants left uncleaned by Oda Nobunaga during his campaign to unify the land.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming is far more terrifying than the Bliss Sect. Unless Toyotomi Hideyoshi possesses Oda Nobunaga’s military genius—winning victory after victory to unify the people through civil war—no one will support his gamble on national fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming is far more terrifying than the Bliss Sect; unless Toyotomi Hideyoshi possesses Oda Nobunaga’s military genius and wins victory after victory to continually rally the people amid civil war, betting the nation’s fate on a desperate gamble will gain no support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It may be cruel and unjust, but it must never lose. Military defeat means total collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yet we must still guard against it—especially by securing Tsushima Island, to prevent a desperate, last-resort act,” Zhu Yijun agreed with Zhang Juzheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The conflict between the Great Ming and Japan, spanning a millennium, is nearing its end—and that end can only be the total annihilation of one side. The Great Ming is now dismantling Japan comprehensively in military, political, economic, and cultural terms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In cultural dismantling, the Bliss Sect has done far more terrifying damage than the Great Ming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Last year, forty-three thousand Japanese engaged in trade; another twenty-six thousand Japanese courtesans and entertainers traveled south to the Southern Seas,” Zhu Yijun pulled out a third memorial: the number of Japanese traders in the eighteenth year of Wanli matched the seventeenth year—Japanese trade had reached its peak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Japan’s able-bodied youth are declining at a terrifying rate—these are not the old, weak, or sick, but the prime of the population.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The horror of the triangular trade left even the Emperor trembling: Japan’s total population barely exceeds seven million; nearly seventy thousand able-bodied men vanish annually. Such a loss would shake the Great Ming to its core—how much more so Japan?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Zhang Juzheng reviewed it, Zhu Yijun crossed out the line, threw it into the brazier, stirred the ashes, and confirmed that the Directorate of Ceremonial had already copied a version of the memorial without the details of Japanese trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Zhang Juzheng read it, Zhu Yijun crossed out that line, threw it into the firepot to burn to ash, and stirred it; the Directorate of Ceremonial had already copied a memorial without details of the Japanese trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They can no longer launch a counterattack on the Great Ming—there are no men left,” Zhang Juzheng said gravely. “Your Majesty, the clamor of the Bliss Sect is ebbing. This evil cult is too repulsive even for the Japanese; it will gradually face widespread opposition.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And we can’t launch a counteroffensive against the Great Ming—there’s no one left.” Zhang Juzheng said with a grave expression: “Your Majesty, the clamor of the Bliss Sect is ebbing; this evil cult cannot be accepted by the Wa people, and will gradually face widespread opposition.”\u003C\u002Fp>",4630,"2026-06-21T07:56:02.219Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","f5409519da4788a27e4e932c58f7da95dd14f5b9a13c9307d2cb444eb89d60bc","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-966","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-964",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-cover.jpg"]