Chapter 519: Changing the General of the Ministry of Rites

Zhigui, who had been flustered, felt uneasy after returning to his office; he kept asking his subordinates to check if his clothes were neat and his hair was disheveled, making the entire Ministry of Rites, which had few people to begin with, feel restless.

Fortunately, not long after, someone from the Shangshu Department sent a document to Zhigui, stating it was an important task that the Ministry of Rites must complete within the specified time, or else they would face severe punishment.

Only then did Zhigui let out a long sigh; so the King was putting him through such trouble because there was a task to assign to him, and Baibai had been afraid for such a long time.

He took the short document, sent the person from the Shangshu Department out, and then sat down to look over the document with his colleagues.

The task arranged in the document was nothing out of the ordinary—it was just what their Ministry of Rites should be doing—but when Zhigui saw the time limit, he was so frightened that he sat in his chair for a long time unable to get up, until a subordinate anxiously reminded him from the side: "Boss, this, we should get started now, otherwise, we really won't be able to finish the task."

Zhigui's gaze was slightly dull: "Ah? How do we get started? With just this few of us, do you know how big Huaxia is, not to mention there is also Lema City?"

The subordinate also said, "Other departments do the same when they are short of people; there shouldn't be a problem, right?"

After taking a few deep breaths, Zhigui said: "Fine, I will go ask for people now; you all think of a way to see how we can get things moving more smoothly."

The others agreed readily and watched Zhigui leave, but before long, before they had thought of any solution, they saw Zhigui return with a sallow complexion.

Several people hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Boss, how did it go? Did you get the manpower?"

Unexpectedly, Zhigui burst into a foul-mouthed rage: "Get a fart! Do you not have legs or hands of your own? Are your hands only for playing chess and cards! Have you come up with any countermeasures?"

It was the first time the subordinates had seen Zhigui in such a state, and for a moment they were at a loss, but they had placed all their hopes on Zhigui, so how could they possibly use their brains to think? One by one, they stammered and could not speak.

Zhigui, whose face turned from yellow to red, sat back in his chair angrily: "I didn't get any manpower, and the King just scolded me again, saying the Ministry of Rites is just eating without working; now we must get this done, otherwise we really won't have any good days ahead."

Zhigui held his forehead and thought for a long while before saying: "First go to the Ministry of Education and borrow the movable type; print more of this document. When the time comes, whether we distribute them or post them, as long as everyone can see it, it will do. If we only use our mouths to talk and our legs to run, it is impossible for us to finish."

Because the quality of Huaxia Paper was getting better and better, Pine Soot Ink was constantly being improved, and with the widespread popularization of characters, Baifeng thought about creating Movable Type Printing; after all, just the textbooks for students were a huge project.

Baifeng did not know how to make Lead Clay Movable Type, and he had let the Artisans try it, but ordinary Ceramic Clay was simply not suitable for making movable type; in the end, after much deliberation, he chose Wooden Movable Type.

After all, they did not have many places where they could use printing, the wear and tear was low, and making Iron Movable Type or Copper Movable Type was even more impossible, so in the end, he chose a relatively good type of wood and made a few sets of Wooden Movable Type for commonly used characters.

However, other departments used them every day, and only the Ministry of Education occasionally had some free time, which is why Zhigui thought about borrowing them from the Ministry of Education.

The subordinates also knew the seriousness of the current situation, so someone immediately volunteered to go borrow them, then slipped away and went to the Ministry of Education's office.

The others prepared paper and ink; when they used the ink, they discovered that theirs were ink sticks, which still had to be ground on the spot, and they didn't have an inkstone that large, so they had to choose to exert great effort to create a miracle, grinding while adding water, like an ox at a mill.

In the end, they still rushed to finish that day, arranged the type, and printed frantically; after printing nearly a hundred copies, they immediately went to distribute and paste them nearby; as soon as they saw someone, they would grab them to promote it, regardless of what the person was doing.

If there were busybodies who heard about this, they would hold back the Ministry of Rites personnel and ask detailed questions, leaving the Ministry of Rites Official unable to answer and unable to leave.

However, they did not have much of a sense of urgency on the first day, and they didn't even work overtime, getting off work on time in the evening, thinking that at their current speed, it should be fine...

They spent another day doing this and realized they were running out of time, only then understanding what "working overtime" meant; since it was not good to go out at night, they printed documents in the office all night, printing enough to distribute and promote the next day before stopping; afterwards, they split into two groups, some in Huaxia City, and some going to Lema City.

Unfortunately, until the deadline ended, they still had not finished the work, and there was still a portion of people who did not receive this news; Baifeng was not afraid of the Ministry of Rites hiding it, because his intelligence system could be seen everywhere.

Baifeng had also long anticipated this result, or perhaps this was what he wanted to see in the first place; after all, without a legitimate reason, how could he punish Zhigui and let Wu take his place?

Afterwards, Baifeng convened a plenary meeting, explained the importance of "rites" to all officials, announced the requirements for officials regarding rites in court, and then announced a piece of news that left Zhigui in despair.

"Because the Minister of Rites Zhigui is incompetent and the Ministry of Rites staff are slack in their work, everyone is demoted by one rank and fined one month's grain; the Minister of Rites will be served by Wu. Considering that Wu lacks the energy, all work of the Ministry of Revenue will be handled by the Crown Prince Bai Yulong. Bai Yulong will not serve as the Minister of Revenue; the original personnel remain, and no changes will occur, only that Bai Yulong needs to manage and handle all matters of the Ministry of Revenue."

No one had any objections, and some were even gloating; everyone had been unable to stand the Ministry of Rites, which was idle to the point of boredom. Now that Wu was sent there, even if Wu was going there to retire, they wouldn't be jealous, because this just meant that even if everyone was old, they wouldn't be abandoned and would have a guarantee; if it meant adding a burden and assigning tasks to the Ministry of Rites, they were happy to see it.

After all matters were handed over, Baifeng went to the Ministry of Revenue in person, because some things had to be taught face-to-face.

There was another reason, which was that Yu's wife had agreed, and they were preparing to get married the day after tomorrow; Baifeng wanted to give Yu a formal and solemn wedding ceremony, so the people in the Ministry of Rites had to be well-trained; furthermore, it was to give them some experience to prepare for Yu's later wedding, which would be Yulong's grandest wedding.

Baifeng taught them the official gait, told them how to perform rites, greet, and how to address others, teaching them every aspect, large and small; once they learned it, they would have to teach it to the masses of Huaxia.