[{"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-977":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},2364246,4622,"Chapter 977","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-977",977,"\u003Cp>The concept of legal legitimacy is useless when not needed, like toilet paper; but when truly building a state, without legitimacy, no one will recognize it, and then it becomes extraordinarily important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Xianbei Wuerhan wished to establish his own nation, the Xianbei State, and thus needed legal legitimacy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he lacked sufficient strength to convince his own subjects or conquer all the tribes, and had no power to persuade other nations to recognize his Xianbei State, so he needed to leverage external forces.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Undoubtedly, leveraging the power of Great Ming was stronger than leveraging the power of Russia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Russia burned, killed, looted, and committed every evil; Great Ming’s adventuring teams brought roads, caravans, and purchased goods at fairer prices—Great Ming was gentler, and since it was far away, it posed no fatal threat to the Xianbei State.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Xianbei Plains were poor; the Great Ming court had no reason whatsoever to launch an offensive against them, nor any interest in occupying the Xianbei Plains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Legal legitimacy is sometimes truly important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Philip punched the Ottomans and kicked France, expanded overseas, established countless colonies, achieved the status of the Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets, and longed to become emperor, sovereign of the West; but his father did not pass the throne to him, so he remained merely a king.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Philip’s prior pursuit of a loose commercial alliance in the West was not without intent to go further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once a king, one desires to be emperor; once an emperor, one desires immortality—human desire is always thus, endless and never fully satisfied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, England’s mighty ships and cannons spread across all four oceans, yet England could only obtain an imperial title from the Mughal Empire, calling itself the British Empire; but this stolen imperial title was soon not widely recognized, and gradually, the British Empire reverted to the Kingdom of England.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fundamentally, legal legitimacy is won through force—if you are strong enough to fight, you earn recognition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The imperial thrones of the Roman Empire, the Tsardom of Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Napoleon’s French Empire were all seized by force, not bestowed by others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ottoman imperial title was recognized after capturing Constantinople; the Russian imperial title was won by punching Eastern Europe and kicking the Qing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Napoleon’s imperial title was earned through his struggle, nearly unifying the West.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, the Xianbei people on the Xianbei Plains now faced survival crises.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They could not defeat Russia; without Great Ming’s adventuring teams, the Xianbei would have been exterminated by the Russians and Cossacks, and even internal unrest—a band of a thousand Japanese pirates on the run—was beyond Wuerhan’s control, forcing him to rely on Great Ming’s beacon-outpost adventuring teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unable to win legitimacy by force, he could only beg for a grant of legitimacy from Great Ming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After serious consideration, Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: “It is no problem for me to enfeoff Wuerhan, but whether he can hold onto it is another matter—this land is too distant, and Great Ming cannot offer any assistance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun could enfeoff, and enfeoffing was simple—a single imperial decree—but what then?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Russia had four Cossack regiments; only one was raiding the Xianbei steppe for furs. If Wuerhan established the Xianbei State, Russia would certainly deploy far greater force to destroy it, not merely these minor skirmishes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great Ming could enfeoff and offer limited aid, but Great Ming was truly too far from the Xianbei State.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three hundred beacon-outpost adventuring teams sound numerous, but in total they numbered only 1,500 men—a team consisted of one beacon-outpost commander, one interpreter, two Great Ming guard soldiers, and one Wala man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The able-bodied men among the forest dwellers and the Seven Tribes of the Northern Desert had all been absorbed into the beacon-outpost adventuring teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if, after entering the Xianbei Plains, each adventuring team expanded by three to five Xianbei enforcers, their strength remained extremely weak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Against organized Cossack regiments, these adventuring teams could not determine victory or defeat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great Ming had no reason to dispatch organized armies to aid the Xianbei in establishing their state or resisting Russian invasion—Zhu Yijun was never a soft-hearted man; he only wished to be a good Great Ming emperor—the Xianbei must prove themselves; if they did not strive, Great Ming could not help them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That is precisely why we need Your Majesty’s enfeoffment,” Wen Du, the ten-thousand-household commander, replied. These words, though spoken by the emperor, had already been explained to him many times by Ministry of Rites officials—he understood that for the Xianbei to survive, they must rely on their own efforts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the emperor’s enfeoffment, it would be easier to rally hearts and resist Russian invasion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then let the Grand Secretariat draft the decree,” Zhu Yijun finally decided to grant the enfeoffment—if it succeeded, it could naturally halt Russia’s eastern expansion and at least stabilize Great Ming’s northwestern frontier; if it failed, it was merely a single imperial decree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enfeoffment was enfeoffment—Great Ming would offer no assistance whatsoever; Zhu Yijun clearly informed the Xianbei ten-thousand-household commander Wen Du not to expect any help from Great Ming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the Xianbei believed that possessing an imperial decree entitled them to demand unconditional aid from Great Ming, they were deluding themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emperor Zhu Yijun of Great Ming did not care about face—success or failure, it was all the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great Ming had little interest in the Xianbei Plains—only furs and some black rye; the adventuring teams primarily sought mineral deposits, but gold and silver mines were not easy to find, and distance made transportation problematic—the Wuma Gang mining complex was already sufficient for Great Ming to mine for many years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The adventuring teams’ main responsibility was to expand the buffer zone along Great Ming’s northwestern frontier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun received envoys from the West.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The envoy from the Great Light City of France brought several bad tidings: the plan to advance on Paris had met fierce resistance and could no longer proceed; the Great Light Church had suffered three consecutive defeats and now teetered on collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These three defeats: one due to overreach, when the vanguard was wiped out by Duke Henry of Guise; one from trusting the Parisian nobles’ defection, resulting in a pincer attack; the third from a surprise strike on supply lines by Henry of Navarre, the Protestant leader who inherited the Duchy of Anjou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All cities previously captured by the Great Light Church had been lost; they had fully retreated into Great Light City, uncertain of their next move—only because Duke Guise and Duke Anjou were unsure of Great Ming’s stance, they had not attacked Great Light City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This French war of succession, also called the War of the Three Henrys, involved three Henries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, Henry III, the effeminate king; despite all efforts by Empress Mother Catherine, Henry III proved utterly incompetent, unfit to rule—he died of assassination in the year Wanli 17.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second Henry was Duke Guise, whose power base was the Holy League, led by Spain and the Roman Catholic Church; after driving away Marion’s father, he became the de facto ruler of Paris.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The third, Henry of Navarre, was a Bourbon noble, a Protestant leader; yet Henry of Navarre’s faith was highly flexible—Protestants in France numbered less than ten percent, so Henry of Navarre converted to Catholicism to win Catholic approval.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Great Ming always viewed religion as a tool of downward control, yet some insisted gods truly existed and spread the gospel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If gods truly existed, would not a thunderbolt strike Henry of Navarre for switching allegiances?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, Marion’s father and his Great Light Church were strong contenders for the throne, but three consecutive defeats shattered the church’s cohesion; all previously conquered territories were lost, and they had lost the strength to compete for the throne.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun inquired in detail about the three battles—overreach, gullibility, and lax defenses—these three blows were the greatest setbacks the Great Light Church had ever suffered; even its clergy now doubted its future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, Great Light City no longer barred other believers from entering; it even planned to revert to its original name, Saint-Nazaire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The followers of the Great Light Church have lost their courage and no longer believe they can walk their own path to salvation,” Zhu Yijun said after hearing the envoy’s account. “If they no longer believe in themselves, there is no need for them to gather—Great Light City may revert to its original name.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The core doctrine of the Great Light Church: wisdom arises from the cosmos; only by comprehending the infinite principles of heaven and earth can one attain wisdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its core tenet is humanity—no vague, ethereal god exists; success, failure, sin, and justice are borne solely by the individual, not by some phantom deity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To some extent, the founding and spread of the Great Light Church resembled the ancient “Separation of Heaven and Earth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But religion’s power in the West was formidable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grand Patriarch Marion is willing to bear all blame and take responsibility for every failure—if the Prophet issues a divine edict, Marion is ready to pay with her life,” the envoy said firmly, taking a deep breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marion feared not death, but confusion—fear of not knowing the path ahead; this was now the most perilous moment for the Great Light Church.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun immediately said: “No, no, no—Marion is wrong, and you are wrong—is this how one takes responsibility? By dying?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What of the believers? Those who risked their lives for freedom? What of their sacrifices? Was their blood spilled in vain? If death alone could atone, then where would sin remain in this world?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Failure is not shameful; losing courage is unforgivable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The War of the Three Henrys is nearing its end; after Henry of Navarre’s conversion, he gained more support, while Duke Guise retreated steadily—it now seems he has utterly lost any chance of seizing the throne.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The War of the Three Henrys was drawing to a close; after Henry of Navarre converted to the faith, he gained greater support, while the Duke of Guise suffered repeated defeats and clearly had no chance left of seizing the throne.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If the Roman Catholic Church had truly won broad popular acceptance in France, why would Protestantism exist? Why would there have been a decade-long religious war? If that were true, France should simply have been annexed by Spain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun had never believed Marion’s advance on Paris would succeed—he saw only one possible outcome: failure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Zhu Yijun had not expected Marion to be so shattered by defeat that she planned to die in atonement—a cheap, useless form of repentance; the best atonement is to win back victory!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the War of the Three Henrys was slowly ending; Marion and her Great Light Church had lost their chance to exploit the chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Please, Prophet, guide the lost sheep to the right path,” the envoy said, understanding the emperor’s words but not fully grasping them—what exactly did the Prophet want Marion to do to save the Great Light Church from ruin?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun thought and said: “The founding of the Great Light Church was an accident—caused by Portuguese State Minister Xu Pan, who, after King Antonio rashly expelled the cardinal, triggered social unrest, forcing the House of Wisdom, previously responsible for intelligence, to replace priests in conducting weddings, funerals, and blessing newborns.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Marion traveled to Lisbon, encountered the Great Light Church, and came to Great Ming; her original intention was simple—she discovered that even without religion, one could live well, even better—free from the Church’s taxes, life became lighter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Marion wished to liberate those suffering under cruel religious rule—this was her original thought, the most fundamental meaning of freedom.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But as her father helped her establish the Free Knights, everything changed—Marion’s goal no longer seemed to be liberating the suffering, but seeking the throne. In my view, this was a complete deviation—she had forgotten why she began.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perhaps returning to her original intention will yield better results.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Free Knights were established at an unimaginable speed, Zhu Yijun knew Marion had strayed; now, her continuous failures seemed to be correcting her path, guiding her back to her original course.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the correction was excruciating—at least Marion had considered ending her life to end her sinful existence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Free Knights had suffered heavy losses: originally thirty thousand knights, now fewer than three thousand; after three defeats, many died, deserted, or fled; the remaining three thousand could be called fanatics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I understand,” the envoy said immediately, his face grave. “Perhaps abandoning focus on major cities and turning attention to the vast countryside is a better choice—they have suffered more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun was stunned—was that his meaning? His meaning was clearly that the throne meant nothing; what mattered was remembering why she had begun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I understand,” the messenger immediately grasped the prophet’s divine decree, his expression grave. “Perhaps it is better to cease fixating on great cities and instead turn one’s gaze toward the broader countryside—they have suffered more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Duke Guise and Henry of Navarre would not obsess over attacking Great Light City, since Great Ming’s goods still flowed through it; it was merely a small town—so long as Great Ming’s goods could still enter France smoothly, that was enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking the countryside route seemed indeed a good choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The War of the Three Henrys appeared lively, but centered mainly on central regions—the Loire Valley, around Paris; vast rural areas were ignored, and no one cared about the commoners’ fates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“May wisdom forever accompany you,” the Great Light Church envoy said joyfully and departed after receiving the Prophet’s edict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun gave no further instructions—the Great Light Church was merely a sideline move to enhance Great Ming’s influence, an experiment in long-distance pastoralism; success was welcome, failure inconsequential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Long-distance pastoralism was a way of harvesting the world; at its peak, it required no army to gather vast herds of overseas livestock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Portuguese envoy brought news of a death: State Minister Xu Pan died in the seventh month of Wanli 18, aged sixty-two; he requested an imperial edict of mourning to honor his merit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As State Minister, Xu Pan rescued Lisbon from filth; now it was the jewel of the West, known as the City of Flowers—without him, Antonio could never have ruled stably, for state affairs were overwhelming, and Xu Pan died from exhaustion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun granted an imperial edict of mourning to honor Xu Pan’s contribution to expanding Great Ming’s influence; without Xu Pan in Portugal, Portugal could never have repaid its massive war debts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who is the new State Minister?” Zhu Yijun asked curiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Han literati collectively decide,” replied Portuguese envoy Paulino, his expression odd. “Prince Antonio distrusts any single individual; he ordered the selection of eighty-eight Great Light Church apostles from Han literati exiled to the West to jointly deliberate on proposals.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Antonio adopted a popular method, forming a strange bureau similar to England’s or the Netherlands’ House of Lords or Spain’s Council of State; but since he distrusted any individual, he assembled eighty-eight apostles to vote on proposals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These eighty-eight apostles were divided into four groups of twenty-two: Heaven, Earth, Mystery, and Yellow; members changed annually, with at least eight replaced or exchanged per group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After each group reached a decision, it was submitted to the palace for the prince’s judgment, functioning somewhat like court secretaries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As long as Antonio doesn’t mess it up,” Zhu Yijun said with a smile upon hearing this. “These Han literati are no easy people to deal with—don’t let Antonio be sidelined in a few years and come crying to me; the West is too far, I can do nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A State Minister is a single person who can be dealt with; this collective decision-making method means no one bears responsibility.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Prince Antonio has no choice—he cannot find a trustworthy State Minister and begs Your Majesty to send one; but the journey to the West is long, and no one wishes to go,” Paulino said helplessly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, Antonio had ordered Paulino to beg the emperor at all costs to send a State Minister to Lisbon; if denied, Paulino was to go to the Hanlin Academy or the Imperial University and spare no expense to bribe a scholar-official qualified to serve as State Minister to go to Lisbon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As envoy of the tributary state of Portugal, Paulino could move freely in Great Ming, but his lobbying failed—the Hanlin and Imperial University scholars remained unmoved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not a matter of silver—they simply refused to meet him, this Western envoy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Paulino did not make his unreasonable request before the emperor, and could only temporarily manage with collective decision-making while slowly searching for a State Minister.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the envoy of Portugal, a vassal state, Paulino could move freely within the Great Ming, but his persuasion failed; the scholars of the Hanlin Academy and the National University remained unmoved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not a matter of silver— he, this envoy from the West, was simply never seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Paulino did not present his unreasonable request before His Majesty, and could only temporarily placate matters, first jointly deliberating state affairs while slowly seeking a candidate for the Grand Secretary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Antonio was isolated; the Portuguese nobility distrusted him and would not assist him in any decision-making—even copying Felipe by selecting representatives from each region to form a State Council was beyond his reach, for the nobles simply ignored him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During Felipe’s attack on Lisbon, nearly all the nobles stood by, showing no intention to aid Antonio.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This king of his is truly pathetic—he brought Portugal many benefits, yet the nobles still cling to his illegitimate birth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“? Why not just kill them all?” Zhu Yijun fully understood the situation Antonio faced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the assassination of the Sword Saint Marcus, Antonio grew increasingly unable to control the nobles; previously, they had feared Marcus’s martial prowess and concealed their true feelings, but now they no longer even pretended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Paulino bowed and said, “Your Majesty is wise. Prince Antonio thinks likewise, so he has been systematically eliminating those hateful nobles—any noble who failed to send troops during the national war shall be executed for treason!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm?” Zhu Yijun paused, finally understanding why Antonio had made a grand show of traveling to Madrid to seek peace—it was for internal purges! And his methods appeared extremely ruthless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun asked doubtfully, “Can he pull it off?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Though Prince Antonio’s military talent falls short of Marcus’s, he is more than sufficient to deal with these nobles who have never faced real turmoil,” Paulino replied with great confidence; within Portugal, Antonio was still formidable, and as long as Felipe was kept content, there would be no danger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Proceed with caution,” Zhu Yijun said, refraining from interfering in Portugal’s domestic policy, merely wishing Antonio safety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor of Great Ming received nearly all envoys, yet the English envoy was still denied an audience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the grand court session, Zhu Yijun changed into everyday robes and, accompanied by a squad of Embroidered Uniform Guard, headed toward Xizhimen, where he transferred to a small steam train bound for the Xishan Coal Bureau.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today marked the first Workers’ Alliance meeting since the implementation of the body-share system at the Xishan Coal Bureau; all craftsmen holding body-shares—that is, those with three or more years of service—would attend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The main agenda of this Workers’ Alliance meeting consisted of three points: announcing the establishment of the Workers’ Alliance, declaring its basic operational mechanisms, and defining its responsibilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the incident of the craftsmen descending the mountain, everyone had witnessed the terrifying power of artisan uprisings; a significant portion of the state’s revenue came from profits surrendered by official workshops. If the Great Ming court suppressed any artisan movement indiscriminately, it would inevitably trigger even larger uprisings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The birth of the Workers’ Alliance was meant to mediate these tensions—to involve craftsmen in the management of official workshops, to supervise the conduct of official workshop officials, and to revise unreasonable regulations within the workshops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enabling all craftsmen to “participate, supervise, and revise” the official workshop reforms was the primary duty of the Workers’ Alliance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The full-factory Workers’ Alliance meeting would be held every six months; each workshop’s Workers’ Alliance meeting would be held every three months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each team, led by the chief foreman in every workshop, must collect craftsmen’s opinions on “participation, supervision, and revision” monthly, conduct comprehensive oversight of official workshop administrators, provide leads on officials violating administrative laws, and consolidate these reports for submission to each workshop’s Workers’ Alliance meeting, where they would be presented to the Master Craftsmen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Craftsmen would negotiate with the Chief Administrator of the workshop, and ultimately resolve issues at the biannual Workers’ Alliance meeting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Workers’ Alliance meetings held at the end of June and December each year would have all meeting minutes submitted directly to the Emperor’s inspection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If matters were not to be escalated to the Emperor’s attention, they must be resolved internally within the workshop—and this resolution process required satisfaction from both the craftsmen, represented by the Master Craftsmen, and the workshop officials, represented by the Chief Administrator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Overall, the Workers’ Alliance had no physical structure, yet it held meetings; moreover, the selection of Master Craftsmen was extremely strict: among the nearly thirty thousand craftsmen at the Xishan Coal Bureau, only twelve were designated as Master Craftsmen, each of whom had brought tremendous changes and made immense contributions to technological innovation in the official workshops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Zhu Yijun, Emperor of Great Ming, appeared at the official workshop’s Workers’ Alliance meeting, he was met with thunderous cheers and cries of “Ten Thousand Years!” that never ceased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Embroidered Uniform Guard barely calmed the craftsmen’s emotions, allowing the first Workers’ Alliance meeting to proceed smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun remained at the workshop for a long time, engaging in extensive discussions with Chief Administrator Wang Ji, who was from Ruicheng, Shanxi—barely a half-member of the Jin Party, since he had never sought patronage under Wang Chonggu at the All-Jin Society Hall, though he had some ties to Wang Guoguang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a jinshi of the second year of Wanli, appointed the following year as Judge of Chizhou, then Inspector of Baoding; in the ninth year of Wanli, he arrived at the Shengzhou Factory and participated in its construction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stayed there for nine years, returning to the capital in the eighteenth year of Wanli as a fifth-rank Director of the Bureau of Construction under the Ministry of Works, appointed Chief Administrator of the Xishan Coal Bureau.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Ji possessed extensive experience in workshop administration; when questioned by the Emperor, he answered fluently, especially regarding reforms to workshop regulations, where he held his own views.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun was highly satisfied with Wang Ji; after inspecting the workshop, he proceeded to the water-fertilizer plant, listened to Master Craftsman Wei Youshan’s report on improvements to water-fertilizer production, then departed the Xishan Coal Bureau.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor’s carriage proceeded directly to the Northern Camp to inspect the cavalry; when he returned to Tonghe Palace, night had fallen. Zhu Yijun lit the lime lantern and began processing today’s memorials. Though there was no longer a strict rule requiring memorials to be handled the same day, the Emperor still habitually finished them all before feeling at ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, the Grand Physician of the Dissection Institute has submitted a memorial,” Feng Bao placed the final memorial before the Emperor; Wang Guoguang’s condition had suddenly worsened yesterday; after emergency treatment, he now barely recognized people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the Grand Physician’s assessment, Wang Guoguang’s body remained robust and had not yet reached its terminal stage—only beginning to show signs of confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was grave news; as one of the architects of the Wanli Reforms, Wang Guoguang’s health was deteriorating. After reading the memorial, Zhu Yijun issued an edict to the Dissection Institute, ordering them to ensure Wang Guoguang’s quality of life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, good news: Her Majesty the Empress, blessed with boundless fortune, is again with child. Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Li bestowed gifts upon the palace attendants,” Feng Bao quickly added another piece of joy: besides the Empress, Consort Gu, Gu Meisheng, who entered the palace two years ago, had also, two days prior, been confirmed by Grand Physician Wu Lian to be pregnant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun calculated: next January, two more imperial heirs would arrive. After Zhu Yiliu’s departure to his fiefdom, Empress Dowager Li had fallen ill, feeling the palace too quiet; now that the Empress’s womb stirred again, she naturally wished to bestow generous rewards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This, perhaps, is life—joy and sorrow, union and separation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun calculated that come January, there would be two more imperial heirs; after Zhu Yilou departed for his fiefdom, Empress Dowager Li had fallen ill and felt a certain loneliness, so now that the Empress’s womb had stirred again, she was naturally eager to bestow generous rewards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is perhaps what life is—joy and sorrow, union and separation.\u003C\u002Fp>",4149,"2026-06-21T07:56:02.219Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","bc5f592247da091d2ae4834e8089011d1c657dea2364bbc5812cb9bbcde505df","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-978","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-976",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-cover.jpg"]