Chapter 1026: The Divine Person (Part One)

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow: "Father, why say such a thing?"

"The rumors I heard outside—tell me, are they true?"

Pan Yun only smiled without answering.

Pan Hong understood: this matter was almost certainly true.

He perked up and recited with even greater effort, thanking heaven and earth—after seventy or eighty years, the Great Ming's official salaries had finally risen, not fallen.

Last year, Japan sent back two ships of silver, docking at Tianjin Port, while the customs revenues from Tianjin and Quanzhou Ports were also compiled and sent to Jingcheng.

Due to the rectification of official administration and the Emperor's special attention, the tax revenues from both ports and the silver from Da Sen Village were delivered to the capital without error, with minimal loss upon storage.

Combined with the national tax revenues entering the treasury, the imperial coffers had become unusually full.

The Emperor knew that when the state was wealthy, the people must also be wealthy—true joy came when the whole nation rejoiced together.

So he first paid out last year's overdue relief funds, then converted all official salaries' paper money into silver and copper coins; after the New Year, the spring agricultural assistance funds were also disbursed; seeing the remaining funds, and remembering that several ports would open this year, the new Emperor waved his hand and, seizing the momentum of the official reform, raised official salaries.

First, to motivate officials to work hard and serve the state;

Second, to quell discontent caused by the official reform;

Third, to unify the loyalty of ministers and enhance the credibility of the imperial court and the royal family.

Indeed, after the examination system tests, when the Emperor's edict raising official salaries was issued, all officials across the land rejoiced and became less resistant to the troublesome examination system.

Sharpening the blade doesn't delay chopping firewood; to raise official efficiency and integrity and support the Emperor's new policies, Pan Yun and the Ministry of Works labored hard, producing many devices suitable for civilian promotion in just half a year, while also vigorously promoting devices selected from the people—among them was even the bicycle.

Of course, the inventor didn't call it a bicycle, but a foot-powered cart, its frame primarily made of white wax wood, with metal chains and joints.

The inventor was a young man from the Thousand-Household Office of Runing Prefecture, Henan.

He was both military register and artisan; his family had for generations forged bows, crossbows, spears, and lances in the military, using white wax wood most frequently.

When Pan Yun first saw this foot-powered cart discarded in a corner at the Ministry of Works, she was utterly stunned, thinking she had met someone just like herself.

After retrieving the inventor's information from the Ministry of Works, she flew to Runing Prefecture that very night and met this young man named Wei Wei.

He said he got the idea from the wheelbarrow.

The wheelbarrow was fast and could carry loads far heavier than his own body weight with ease—if a person could ride the wheelbarrow and carry himself, wouldn't that save effort and increase speed?

Since his youth, he had intermittently pondered this idea, but due to heavy military labor, he never pursued it deeply.

But when Pan Yun announced her call for novel devices, Wei Wei stayed up all night turning his idea into reality, hoping for the reward.

He failed thirteen times, and on the fourteenth attempt, he finally made a foot-powered cart he was satisfied with.

Wei Wei boasted: "I've ridden it myself—my foot-powered cart can carry three hundred catties and moves 2.4 times faster than walking."

Pan Yun gave him a thumbs-up.

Wei Wei beamed even more proudly: "My foot-powered cart was submitted for selection, passed the Ministry of Works' approval, and I won ninth prize—sixty taels in incentive money. The Henan Provincial Finance Office heard I won and gave me another fifty taels; the Prefect of Runing gave me thirty taels; my Thousand-Household Office gave me twenty taels; and my fourteen trials cost thirty-nine taels. The leftover money is enough to support my family for ten years."