Chapter 102: The Wind Rises from the Tip of a Duckweed Frond (Bonus Chapter — Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The Emperor's direct palace edict struck like a boulder hurled into a placid lake, instantly sending ripples spreading outward in widening rings.

Its first stop was the Grand Secretariat.

Chief Grand Secretary Huang Liji held the thin sheet of the decree, his expression composed.

He passed the direct edict to Li Guopu and Shi Fenglai, then spoke slowly:

"A promotion like this does break convention somewhat. But His Majesty has newly ascended the throne and intends to purge the civil service and renew the spirit of governance. A measure of rule-breaking is permissible. What do you two think?"

Shi Fenglai pondered for a moment. The image of the 'Three-Don't-Know' Grand Secretary flickered through his mind, and in the end he nodded in agreement. "The Chief Grand Secretary speaks truly."

Li Guopu, however, was somewhat hesitant.

He read the appointment again and again, and finally nodded. "His Majesty's move is swift," he said, "but his placement is precise."

"That proposal of Xue Guoguan's — this old minister has read it as well. It is clearly reasoned and thoroughly considered. He is a capable man who can get things done."

"To promote him to oversee the new policies in the capital — the man chosen is the right one. This old minister has no objection to this direct edict."

Huang Liji nodded. "Since there are no objections, we shall proceed according to the decree."

He summoned a Secretariat Drafter and instructed him: "Send this direct edict to the Six Offices of Scrutiny."

"At your command."

The Secretariat Drafter accepted the order and departed.

Li Guopu watched the retreating figure of the drafter, his gaze deep and brooding.

After a moment's thought, he turned and walked back to his own desk. He spread out paper, readied his brush, and began to grind ink.

He intended to submit a personal memorial.

The Emperor's appointment was correct, but the Emperor's conduct was open to question.

If today one worthy man is promoted by breaking convention, the realm will see where His Majesty's heart lies, and every official will strive forward with zeal.

Yet if, in days to come, rewards are lavished and favoritism shown, once that breach is opened, the laws of the state will cease to exist.

Employing men by personal preference is, in the end, inferior to employing men by institutional process.

No matter how decayed that institutional process may be, one still cannot cast it aside and act purely on personal impulse. Only that is counsel that serves the state.

Li Guopu raised his brush and wrote six characters on the paper: "Your subject Li Guopu respectfully memorializes." His expression was solemn.

But His Majesty has only just ascended the throne. He is brilliant, martial, and fiercely determined to advance. This zeal is a good thing and must on no account be dampened.

Therefore, words of remonstrance should be conveyed in a mild personal memorial — absolutely not a sharply worded routine memorial, lest the events of the Shenzong reign recur.

He, Li Guopu, remonstrated for the sake of the state, not to leave his name in the history books!

The second stop was the corridor of the Six Offices of Scrutiny.

Chen Erji, Chief Supervising Secretary of the Office of Scrutiny for Personnel, held the direct edict forwarded from the Grand Secretariat. He was silent, his brow tightly furrowed.

"Brother Xiubai, this seems to violate established precedent."

He spoke softly, his gaze turning toward the man seated in the grand armchair at the head of the room, resting with his eyes closed — Yang Suoxiu, Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.

Under the Ming bureaucratic system, although each of the Six Offices of Scrutiny had its own Chief Supervising Secretary, there was no clearly designated principal officer. Whoever's official title carried the phrase "managing the affairs of the Office" was the de facto head.

And Yang Suoxiu was, at present, the man in charge of the Office of Scrutiny for Personnel.

Chen Erji continued: "This Xue Guoguan was originally Chief Supervising Secretary of the Office of Scrutiny for Justice, a rank of Principal Grade Seven."

"By precedent, when a capital official is promoted and rotated, the highest he can reach is a rank-four capital post. Even if sent out to the provinces, it would only be Assistant Provincial Administration Commissioner, a rank of Associate Grade Three."

"Now, this title of Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief is one thing — it is merely Principal Grade Four. But the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture and the Vice Minister of Works are both substantive Principal Grade Three posts!"

"To ascend to heaven in a single step, rising eight grades at once — this is far too shocking."

Yang Suoxiu still had his eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep. Only after a long while did he slowly open them.

"In matters of promotion, one must, after all, look at the substantive post. Though the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture is Principal Grade Three, it has always been regarded as a tainted office, not to be spoken of in the same breath as a pure-stream remonstrance post."

"Compared to an external posting as Assistant Provincial Administration Commissioner, it is only one grade higher. His Majesty's decree does not break convention too severely."

He paused, lifted his teacup, and took a small sip.

"Moreover, that proposal of Xue Guoguan's — you and I have both read it. It was indeed solidly done, beyond reproach. With such ability, a promotion by exceptional selection is within reason."

"What is most critical is..."

Yang Suoxiu set down his teacup, looked at Chen Erji, and sighed.

"After all that has happened up to today, have you still not seen it clearly? How can you still ask such a question?"

Chen Erji was silent for a moment, then gave a bitter smile. "In truth... from the moment His Majesty made his appointments during the selection of the three Ministers, I should have understood. It is just that, in the end, I still harbored a sliver of wishful thinking."

Yang Suoxiu let out a long sigh. "Indeed. This sovereign does not care whether you are of the eunuch faction or the Donglin. What he wants are men who can be of use to him. He means to build a new stove — to establish a faction of his own!"

He gently picked up the imperial decree and ran his fingers over the gold-thread patterns upon it, speaking slowly:

"All the world bustles for profit; all the world hustles for profit."

"Yet for us scholars, our profit lies in reputation, and our reputation lies in achievement. What His Majesty is offering now is a clear path to the clouds — trading achievement for renown."

"So long as one suits his wishes, in the blink of an eye, one may soar straight up to the heavens."

"This Xue Guoguan — if he truly can handle the affairs of the capital flawlessly, I fear that within a few years, he may enter the Grand Secretariat directly."

"To shed one's plain robes and, in less than ten years, set one's sights on the office of Chief Grand Secretary..." Chen Erji's tone was filled with both sighing wonder and longing. "What a ladder to the heavens that is..."

Yang Suoxiu remained silent.

Chen Erji collected himself and asked, "Then... Master Yang, shall the Office of Scrutiny for Personnel copy and issue this decree as received?"

"Copy and issue it." Yang Suoxiu waved his hand, his tone indifferent. "At this juncture, it is only a Governor of Shuntian Prefecture — it does not affect the greater picture. Why play the bird that sticks its neck out and invite trouble?"

He spoke with meaningful emphasis: "I have a feeling that this new sovereign of ours is just waiting for someone to throw themselves onto the edge of his blade. Whoever does, dies."

Chen Erji felt a chill in his heart. He nodded, immediately bent over his desk to draft the document, then summoned a Supervising Secretary and ordered him to forward it to the Ministry of Personnel.

He turned back and asked, "Master Yang, that Chen Jiuchou has been leaping about lately, grandly rallying the old followers of the eunuch faction. It seems he wants to set up his own mountain stronghold. Should we use him to whet our blade and present a pledge of loyalty to His Majesty?"

Yang Suoxiu pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"That is probably not what His Majesty wants." He tapped the table lightly. "What His Majesty wants is getting things done, not factional strife. A foolish move like that — better to let those Donglin gentlemen who are about to enter the capital go and do it."

Chen Erji asked again, "Then should we… also submit a memorial, to discuss the new policies in the capital?"

Yang Suoxiu shook his head and laughed ruefully. "The capital's new policies no longer have a place for us. What, are you willing to work under Xue Guoguan and take his orders?"

Chen Erji was instantly tongue-tied.

Yang Suoxiu clasped his hands behind his back, rose, walked to the window, and gazed at the patch of sky framed by the window of the Six Offices of Scrutiny corridor. He said slowly,

"If one is to do something, then it must be something great. There is no need to rush this moment. Let us take it slowly."

The Ministry of Personnel.

Yang Jingchen, Minister of Personnel, received the direct palace edict forwarded by the Six Offices of Scrutiny and merely glanced at it briefly.

Without the slightest hesitation, he summoned a Bureau Secretary directly.

"Immediately draft Xue Guoguan's appointment document. After affixing the seal, send it to the Office of Transmission and proclaim it to the realm."

"Yes, Minister."

Yang Jingchen watched the Bureau Secretary's hurriedly retreating back and sank into deep thought.

He knew perfectly well that His Majesty's action, ostensibly an exceptional promotion of Xue Guoguan, was in truth a signal to the entire officialdom.

A signal that "talent alone is the criterion, without regard to convention."

But among the capital officials, most were pure critics. How many could truly get things done?

It seems I must once again carefully select men of talent for His Majesty.

—This Great Ming surely has more than one Lu Xiangsheng!

He clapped his hands and summoned several core department officials of the Ministry of Personnel.

"Gentlemen, set aside the matters at hand for now."

Yang Jingchen swept his gaze across them, his eyes sharp.

"Bring out all the merit evaluation files of every sitting official in every Provincial Administration Commission, prefecture, subprefecture, and county across the realm for this minister."

The Office of Transmission.

Lü Tunan, the Transmission Commissioner, gently set down the appointment document just forwarded from the Ministry of Personnel and picked up another file.

It was a copy of Xue Guoguan's memorial.

When this memorial first came up through the Office of Transmission, he had paid it no mind, merely following routine by registering it and forwarding it to the Grand Secretariat.

Only now, after the Supervising Secretaries had approved the Emperor's direct palace edict and the Ministry of Personnel had issued the formal appointment document, did he pull out the original draft of that memorial again and read it carefully.

Brilliant as the proposal was, the crux was still the Emperor's inclination.

After thirty years in officialdom, through all its rises and falls, how could he fail to read this latest political wind?

Only…

Lü Tunan let out a long sigh, and an old saying that had circulated for years in the sea of officialdom surfaced in his mind.

The best swimmer drowns; the best rider falls. In the way of officialdom, the more you do, the more mistakes you make; the less you do, the fewer mistakes; do nothing, and you make none.

He was already old, long since stripped of the drive and ambition of youth.

Better to stay quietly here in the Office of Transmission.

No matter how great the storms at court, could they ever reach him here in the Office of Transmission, responsible only for passing documents up and down?

After a moment of deliberation, Lü Tunan summoned his clerks and instructed,

"Transcribe this appointment and send copies to all ministries and provinces for the record. Also, include this matter in today's Capital Gazette."

In the Hanlin Academy, Ni Yuanlu stretched lazily and set down his brush.

As one of the future Daily Lecture officials, he had been preparing lecture materials for the Emperor these past few days, pouring his heart and soul into the task.

Now that the final draft of the lecture materials was complete, all that remained was to await His Majesty's confirmation of the date for the first Daily Lecture.

He raised his head and only then noticed that the Hanlin Academy, usually packed with colleagues, was now utterly empty.

"Brother Yuanfan?"

"Brother Yuanhui?"

He called out several times, but there was no response, only the crisp chirping of birds outside the window.

Puzzled, Ni Yuanlu stepped out of the Hanlin Academy and looked around, instantly stunned by the scene before him.

Beneath the Gate of Accepting Heaven not far away, a vast, dark mass of officials in blue-green official robes was packed tightly together, layer upon layer, every one of them craning their necks as if watching some spectacle.

Curious, he hurried over, only to be solidly blocked outside the crowd, utterly unable to squeeze through.

Ni Yuanlu pulled over a blue-robed official beside him who was also straining to push forward, cupped his hands, and asked, "Brother, may I ask what has happened up ahead? Why are all our colleagues gathered here?"

The official turned back to glance at him and said breathlessly, "Brother, you haven't heard? The former Chief Supervising Secretary of the Office of Scrutiny for Justice, Xue Guoguan, submitted a policy essay on the capital's new road-building policies. His Majesty was greatly pleased and personally selected him for an eight-rank direct promotion! He is now the Prefect of Shuntian, of the principal third rank, with the concurrent titles of Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and Vice Minister of Works, specially in charge of the capital's new policies!"

He pointed excitedly at the human wall ahead.

"An eight-rank direct promotion is nothing — the key is that earth-shaking policy essay, now posted on the imperial notice board at the Gate of Accepting Heaven!"

"His Majesty personally annotated it in vermilion, calling it 'the foremost statecraft document of the Great Ming'!"

"I… I have to see for myself what kind of essay dares to call itself the foremost statecraft document!"

The foremost?

The foremost!

Ni Yuanlu's eyes instantly went wide.

He abandoned that official, and with no further regard for the decorum of a refined gentleman, threw himself desperately into the crowd, fighting to squeeze through.

He pushed and shoved, and suddenly felt…

Huh? Why does this scene feel somehow familiar!