Chapter 137: Those Who Share Virtue Share One Heart; Those Who Share One Heart Share One Purpose

Zhu Youjian drew several deep breaths, and only then did the tight, lonely knot in his chest slowly ease.

The afternoon sun slanted through the lattice windows, casting dappled light and shadow across the gold-glazed floor tiles of the warm pavilion; the air was faintly suffused with the scent of tea and sandalwood.

That whole "Great Ming is dead" speech just now was, in truth, nothing more than the Pinduoduo knockoff version of the grand blueprint in his mind.

But that didn't matter — hack away cut by cut, and there was no saying you couldn't eventually carve out that final hundred-yuan red envelope.

Judging by the immediate effect, this line of argument had precisely struck the raw nerve of this age, and had also ignited a fire in the hearts of the men before him.

Now that the atmosphere had been stirred to this pitch, he might as well strike while the iron was hot and plant one more far-reaching thread.

Zhu Youjian let a gentle smile settle back onto his face; he adjusted his sitting posture, lending his voice a more reassuring, calming power.

"Rise."

The word was spoken softly, yet it was like a spring breeze melting snow, and Gao Shiming, Wang Tiqian, and Lu Xiangsheng all unconsciously relaxed, slowly straightening up.

Zhu Youjian's gaze swept slowly across their three faces.

He could feel it clearly — after that speech and the ritual exchange just now, an invisible bond was quietly taking shape among them.

And he, as the one who had guided all this, needed to give that bond a name, and quickly.

Was it the rapport between a lord and his ministers? Perhaps, but what he wanted went far beyond that.

Zhu Youjian cleared his throat and spoke, each word distinct and deliberate.

"We have read in the Discourses of the States: 'Those who share virtue share one heart; those who share one heart share one purpose.'"

He paused briefly, his gaze turning especially earnest as he looked at each of the three in turn. "What you three ministers have said and done today, what you have thought and pondered — it can be said that you share virtue and share one heart with Us."

"Thus, among the four of us here — a civil official, a palace eunuch, and the Son of Heaven — our stations differ, yet so long as we vow unwavering resolve and labor together for the realm and its people, how can we not call one another 'comrades'?"

Name and substance give birth to each other — so it has been since ancient times.

The Donglin Faction and the eunuch faction could define each other.

He, Zhu Youjian, the august supreme sovereign of the Great Ming, whose very words carry the force of heaven's law and whose speech becomes binding decree — how could he not define, for all those under heaven who truly aspire to change, what they are?!

The term "comrade" was far, far more brilliant than "Emperor's faction" or "imperial faction."

It stood inherently on the moral high ground — striving for a shared purpose, not for the private gain of one emperor.

How many needless attacks would that deflect when the new policies were rolled out in the future!

Personal morals? Currying favor with the emperor? Toadying to the throne?

My good sir, do you even hear what you are saying?

Do you even see where you are standing? You are the one in the moral gutter!

Have a taste of the big-stick sanctions of feudalism with distinctive characteristics!

The moment Zhu Youjian said this, the expressions of the three men in the pavilion each shifted differently.

Gao Shiming merely gave a slight tremor, but his face showed no great surprise.

He was, after all, a man to whom His Majesty had already entrusted a dream; this talk of comrades simply gave that dream a more resounding name.

Wang Tiqian, for his part, felt a surge of inward delight; with eyes cast down toward his nose and nose toward his heart, countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, all ultimately settling into the perfectly measured deference on his face.

But Lu Xiangsheng, that still somewhat callow future renowned minister, felt only a surging tide in his breast!

Yet when the corner of his eye swept over the two palace eunuchs beside him, a faint, vague sense of unease rose in his heart.

To be "comrades" with palace eunuchs? This...

Zhu Youjian took in all three expressions, but had no desire to make them declare their stance on this occasion.

Today, the seed had been planted; as for how it would take root and sprout, that would depend on his future methods.

"Very well. To have met three comrades today — Our heart is deeply gratified."

Zhu Youjian reined in his words at just the right moment and waved a hand, as though he had merely spoken of some ordinary trifle.

"The affairs of the realm are tangled and manifold, yet so long as those who share virtue and share one heart grow ever more numerous, why worry that the realm will not be settled, or the state's business set right?"

He turned to Lu Xiangsheng. "Minister Lu, you may withdraw for now. Take that memorial on fodder, revise it in light of what We have said today, and resubmit it. Your specific appointment will follow shortly."

"This subject obeys the decree!" Lu Xiangsheng bowed deeply and withdrew from the warm pavilion, his heart brimming with fervor and a measure of bewilderment.

The warm pavilion fell quiet once more.

Zhu Youjian pondered for a moment, then turned his head and said to Gao Shiming, "Companion Gao, come closer. We have rather a lot to say; you had best take notes."

He watched Gao Shiming spread out paper and brush, and as he organized his thoughts, he began to speak slowly.

"Regarding Lu Xiangsheng's fodder matter just now, We have several edicts to issue together."

"The first edict."

"Promote Lu Xiangsheng to Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief, and appoint him Governor of the three prefectures of Yongping, Hejian, and Shuntian."

"The patent shall instruct him to take sole charge of fodder affairs. For the duration, all military and civil matters within the three prefectures, the appointment and dismissal of officials of the seventh rank and below, the conscription of merchants and civilians, and the granary funds and grain stores — all shall be at his discretionary disposal!"

"In addition, bestow upon him an imperial warrant banner and tablet. Should he encounter any who obstruct him, he may act at his discretion!"

Yang Jingchen's original recommendation for Lu Xiangsheng had been "Regional Inspector," with the emphasis on surveillance.

But what Zhu Youjian gave him was "Governor" — a true territorial magnate, with administrative, military, and supervisory authority merged into one!

A mere fodder matter, costing no more than one hundred eighty thousand taels, truly did not require dispatching a governor-grand coordinator.

Yet the many issues entangled with the fodder could, as it happened, carve out a model for his new policies in Northern Zhili and gather the most solid set of data.

Reform, reform — the very first thing is not a pilot program, but investigation and research!

Before his words had even faded, he continued, "The second..."

At this point, his mind suddenly went blank, and he could not recall the details.

It couldn't be helped — he had spoken with three people today, and every conversation had been dense with information.

Zhu Youjian turned his head and asked, "Just now, Lu Xiangsheng said that if fodder were purchased solely within Yongping itself, how much silver would it require?"

Before Gao Shiming could search his memory, Wang Tiqian had already stepped forward and answered with a bow, "In reply to Your Majesty, ninety thousand taels. If the two prefectures of Hejian and Shuntian are also used this time, the cost may be even lower."

A faint smile touched Zhu Youjian's face; he gave Wang Tiqian an approving glance and nodded.

"When Lu Xiangsheng first entered the capital region, most of what he gathered in his investigations came from the mouths of others — ultimately, it is not solid enough."

"For those who govern, the greatest taboo is taking things for granted. Everything stands when prepared, and fails when not. For any matter that cannot be fully confirmed, one must leave a buffer."

"Convey Our verbal edict to him: have him revise the budget in his horse-fodder policy proposal back to the original one hundred eighty thousand taels."

"Shortly after, inform the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War to pool their silver reserves. If there is still a shortfall, We shall make up the difference from the privy purse. Then have Lu Xiangsheng take this one hundred eighty thousand taels with him when he departs for his post!"

Gao Shiming's brush flew across the page, utterly unable to spare a moment to reply.

"Third: order Tian Ergeng to select two banners of Embroidered Uniform Guard lieutenants to accompany Lu Xiangsheng to his post."

Two banners — twenty men. They would serve as his guards, and also as the eyes and ears he had planted.

The Lu Xiangsheng in the history books was worthy of trust, but he could not blindly trust the Lu Xiangsheng of the here and now.

The annals of history stretch back a thousand years — who knows what truly happened in between?

What was more, in the days to come, more and more governors and grand coordinators would be dispatched to the provinces. Deploying the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the field to obtain intelligence from multiple sources had to be established as a fixed institution.

One more source of information, after all, always yields one more measure of truth.

"Fourth: open the telegraph system fully to Lu Xiangsheng. Grant him a personal telegraph code, authorize him to set up a small telegraph center, and bestow upon him an independent codebook."

Gao Shiming's brush flew — a sheet of pure white xuan paper was soon filled with dense, slightly disorderly script.

Wang Tiqian, standing to the side, grew more alarmed the more he listened.

Authority, funds, personnel, intelligence sources!

For a mere horse-fodder assignment of one hundred eighty thousand taels, the resources and trust His Majesty was providing Lu Xiangsheng nearly matched what Sun Chengzong, Supreme Commander of Jizhou and Liaodong, received!

Was this Lu Xiangsheng truly so favored in the imperial mind, or was there some deeper mystery behind this horse-fodder affair?

Wang Tiqian could not figure it out for the moment, so he merely noted the matter down in secret.

What he did not know was that this set of combined measures was precisely the "standard configuration" Zhu Youjian was preparing for all future local reformers.

For now, he was merely using Lu Xiangsheng as a whetstone.

In history, the Chongzhen Emperor's use of personnel had one very great flaw.

Namely, extremism.

Extreme trust, and extreme suspicion.

Extreme harshness, and extreme leniency.

His whole person was like a diode.

He could not be like that. Provide sufficient funds, sufficient authority, sufficient personnel — then judge by results, grant room for trial and error and directional guidance, and help them withstand the pressure of opposition.

Draw them with reputation, lead them with profit — that is the correct approach.

Setting aside the matters of funds, authority, and personnel mentioned earlier, the telegraph alone was a condition the Chongzhen Emperor could never have possessed.

The foundation for this so-called "independent telegraph code" came from the Embroidered Uniform Guard Assistant Guard Commander Zou Zhiyou — it was with this proposal that he had taken the top prize in the technology bounty. As for the second prize, it had been taken by Wang Shide's full-duplex communication proposal.

But the concept of a "personal code" was an idea Zhu Youjian had supplemented himself, akin to the telephone numbers of later ages.

Unlike the fixed-location codes used at Ningyuan and Jinzhou, this was issued only to special individuals who required direct access to the throne — men like Sun Chengzong, Lu Xiangsheng, and Ma Shilong.

Paired with a unique, one-of-a-kind codebook, it became a secret memorial reporting channel of extreme speed.

Once the telegraph line from the capital to Jinzhou was fully connected, barring extreme weather, he would in theory be able to conduct near-real-time communication with Sun Chengzong, Lu Xiangsheng, Ma Shilong, and the others, with delays ranging from one quarter-hour to one double-hour!

The post stations were the horsewhip of emperors past, but the telegraph — this was Zhu Youjian's whip of God.

When that time came, shifting a wagon-fort position ten meters to the left would not be an impossibility!

As for the "telegraph center," that was the latest optimized proposal submitted by Tian Ergeng after consulting with Sun Chengzong.

In the initial telegraph design, all messages used the capital as the sending and receiving point.

However, after discussion, they concluded that the various prefectures, counties, and key military towns also had a need to aggregate and distribute information from multiple directions.

Therefore, telegraph centers of different grades were established, based on the volume and urgency of information transmission.

The Shanhai Pass, where Sun Chengzong was stationed, for example, was a large-scale telegraph center of the highest grade.

Lu Xiangsheng's horse-fodder assignment, by contrast, was relatively simple — a small telegraph center would suffice.

Each telegraph center would receive additional personnel and equipment, and be authorized to send and receive telegrams with surrounding stations.

Beyond this, there were also various optimizations such as intelligence classification and plain-versus-cipher codes, which so delighted Zhu Youjian that he happily issued another three hundred taels of silver in rewards.

All of the above, taken together, formed the "reform kit" that Zhu Youjian configured for high officials dispatched to the provinces.

Having finished laying out these four edicts, Zhu Youjian silently reviewed them once more in his mind, confirming that nothing had been overlooked.

He let out a long breath. "The matter of Lu Xiangsheng ends here. Draft the edicts as quickly as possible and send them out."

"This slave obeys the decree." Gao Shiming straightened up and answered with deference.

Only then did Zhu Youjian lift his head and look anew at the two trusted inner-court officials before him.

Gao Shiming remained as unruffled as a cloudless sky; Wang Tiqian wore an amiable smile.

On the surface, nothing could be discerned.

Comrades…

What was said today was, after all, merely laying down a thread — how could it transform all at once into the shape of later ages?

The smooth and slippery, like Huang Liji and Wang Yongguang.

The impetuous and spirited, like Xue Guoguan and Lu Xiangsheng.

The seasoned and prudent, like Cheng Jiming and Zhang Weixian.

The life-preserving, like Wang Tiqian and Tian Ergeng.

The reputation-seeking, like Li Guopu and Yang Jingchen.

The opportunists, like Huo Weihua and Yang Suoxiu.

The people of this realm — their desires are tangled and manifold, each seeking something different.

To say nothing of how native place, master-disciple ties, interests, class, aspirations, and all manner of other factors intertwine together.

How difficult it is to truly bind them into a single rope, to unite their hearts and minds!

In the ten days and a month since his enthronement, the people he had met were many and varied, yet all had problems of one kind or another.

In the end, it was simply a matter of devising plans according to the man, of employing each according to his talent.

No matter — the road is long and obstructed, but walk it and you shall arrive.

Zhu Youjian slowly rose to his feet. That faint trace of sentiment in his heart was instantly supplanted by a surge of more powerful heroic spirit.

Reform is not accomplished by wagging one's tongue!

Reform requires preparing to shatter everything with violence!

That was why, before his third Daily Lecture, he had hastily convened this officers' examination.

Because these men were the greatest reliance upon which he dared to stir up this world-toppling wave!

Among them, the Platoon Officers and Company Commanders from the reorganized Valiant Guard Camp numbered sixty-one!

From the elite Platoon Officers and shock-troop champions summoned from the Nine Frontiers, those with a rough grasp of letters numbered eighty-four!

And then there were the seven military-officer cards he had personally drawn from among several thousand men after personally inspecting the officer rosters — six of whom had now arrived!

A native of Kaiyuan in Liaodong, Garrison Commander of Juehua Island in Liaodong — Huang Degong!

A native of Jinzhou in western Liao, Garrison Commander of the Jinzhou Left Garrison in Liaodong — Zhou Yuji!

Add to that the current Company Commander of the First Division of the Valiant Guard Camp, Sun Yingyuan, and they just happen to complete the bond of the "Three Tigers of the Capital Camps." (Morale +10, Attack +20, haha.)

And then,

A native of Liaoyang in Liaodong, Company Commander of Jinzhou in Liaodong — Zu Kuan!

A native of Datong in Shanxi, Company Commander of Ningyuan in Liaodong — Cao Bianjiao!

A native of Linqing in Shandong, Commandant of the Right Chariot Camp in Liaodong — Zuo Liangyu!

A native of Gaizhou in southern Liao, Assistant Regional Commander of the Dongjiang Garrison — Kong Youde!

Every man of whom he had some impression in later ages…

— even those of whom the impression was terrible, like Kong Youde and Zuo Liangyu.

So long as their rank was still low and would not affect the frontline's fighting strength, he summoned every one of them that he could!

The corners of Zhu Youjian's mouth rose uncontrollably.

A hand full of royal flushes — an opening of flying dragons bearing down on the face!

Was this script for the Emperor of the Great Ming… not far more exhilarating than starting out by landing on Hainan Island?!

The momentum of all under Heaven is forever with me!

Zhu Youjian strode toward the door of the warming chamber.

As he passed before Gao Shiming, his steps halted.

"Companion Gao, a little later, take the remarks I made during today's audience with Lu Xiangsheng — those about 'the three deaths of a man, the three deaths of a state' — and carefully arrange them, then prepare them for publication in the Great Ming Times."

Gao Shiming cupped his hands in acknowledgment. "May I ask Your Majesty, in which issue shall they be published?"

Zhu Youjian smiled, his tone laden with meaning. "It will not be long. They can be published within the month. For now, simply prepare them."

Zhu Youjian lifted his foot and walked on. Junior eunuchs had long since eagerly pushed open the doors of the warming chamber ahead of him.

The magnificent main hall of Qianqing Palace gradually unfolded before his eyes.

Now, Zhu Youjian was going to see what sort of answer paper his future keen blades…

had ultimately handed in to him!