Chapter 1076

Pan Yun's hand-crafted pedal cart was incredibly useful; she was already skilled in device crafting, meaning she could handle all tasks alone—fitting, grinding, boring…

So far, she had built only two pedal carts: one given to the Emperor as his birthday gift this year, and another sent to Yu Qian.

Now, Yu Qian rode this pedal cart to and from court every day.

With the Grand Secretary leading the way, pedal carts quickly became fashionable among officials; officers of all ranks not only bought them for themselves but also for their family members, allowing the Ministry of Works to make a substantial profit, covering its R&D costs and even contributing funds to the imperial treasury, adding a surplus to its otherwise lean coffers.

Even better, once officials and their family members had bicycles, those below the middle class sold off their oxen, horses, and mules, increasing the number of such animals in the countryside and lowering their prices; more farmers in the Jingcheng region began purchasing oxen and mules, greatly improving farming efficiency.

Pan Yu followed Seeing Miao Zhen to the palace gates and saw a neat row of pedal carts parked on the open ground beside the palace entrance.

Pan Yu paused in his steps, staring in astonishment.

In the past, this space had been reserved for horse-drawn carriages and horses.

Seeing Miao Zhen accompanied him for a while, then explained: "The carriages and horses have been moved to the back."

Pan Yu frowned: "Why?"

"Because horses defecate and stink," Seeing Miao Zhen said solemnly. "And who would dare make Grand Secretary Yu move his pedal cart to the back?"

That made sense.

This was one reason why ministers were willing to follow Yu Qian in riding pedal carts to court.

Seeing Miao Zhen produced her token and led Pan Yu into the palace.

She took him straight to the main hall and whispered: "Don't spare their feelings—say whatever you want. Your junior uncle will back you."

Pan Yu's gaze flickered; hearing the muffled voices from within the hall, he asked softly: "Little sister never lets the Pan family use her name—why suddenly bring me forward?"

Seeing Miao Zhen looked him straight in the eye, her gaze holding something Pan Yu couldn't understand; after a moment, she lowered her eyes and said: "Your junior uncle says that every dynasty has achieved territorial expansion—we, the descendants, don't expect to expand borders, only to manage the Great Ming's territory well."

Pan Yu was puzzled: governing was the civil officials' duty—what did this have to do with promoting him?

Seeing Miao Zhen continued: "Since Yongle's reign, the Nuergan Regional Military Commissioner has been too long detached from central control. Also, the Wa Kingdom is ambitious, cunning, and hard to control. Nuergan has an island called Kuwu, bordering Sakhalin; and Sakhalin lies just across a narrow strait from the Wa Kingdom."

Pan Yu: … This sounded familiar.

Had he not known Li Song couldn't reach his little sister, he'd have thought they'd already coordinated.

An imperial eunuch stepped out, saw Pan Yu and Seeing Miao Zhen, bowed low, and said respectfully: "General Pan, His Majesty summons you."

He then bowed to Seeing Miao Zhen as well, offering a flattering smile.

Seeing Miao Zhen gave him a slight nod and cast Pan Yu an encouraging glance.

Pan Yu took a deep breath, suppressing his rapidly accelerating heartbeat, and walked solemnly into the hall.

The war with Korea began suddenly and ended quickly.

Compared to the nearly six-month-long rebellion led by Yexian, this conflict, concluded in just twenty days, was remarkably efficient.

Because of this, many Oirat and Tatar chieftains suspected it was fake—that the Great Ming, knowing they were far from the center, had spread false news to deceive them.

Of course, they wouldn't voice their suspicions outright, but their words carried this implication.

Pan Yu was speechless, retorting: "Our Great Ming is a mighty empire that never breaks its word. The Korea campaign involved both Korea and the Wa Kingdom—no god could erase all traces. If you uncover any deception, our Great Ming's prestige will vanish—why would we lie like this?"

One tribal chieftain tried to smooth things over: "General, you misunderstand—we never accused you of lying, only that there might be a misunderstanding. The Wa Kingdom, separated by a strait, why would it suddenly attack Korea?"

"Because they've lost their minds and harbor delusions," Pan Yu said. "Does ambition need explanation? Then tell me—why did Yexian, separated by the Great Wall, attack the imperial court and rebel against the Great Ming?"

Everyone opened their mouths but could not speak.

Pan Yu snorted: "I know why you don't believe—it's because you've seen how telegraphs transmit information and find it unbelievable?"

The tribal chieftains fell even quieter.

Pan Yu grunted: "Telepathic communication across great distances has always existed—only previously inaccessible to mortals. Now, thanks to the State Preceptor's integration of technology, it's become available to the people. This benefits all under heaven. And the State Preceptor treats all equally—so long as you remain loyal to the throne, you too shall enjoy these divine conveniences!"

"Indeed," Yu Qian added: "The Great Ming has always regarded all ethnic groups as brothers, treating them equally. Once your tribes submit, every divine invention our empire creates will include your share."

Yu Qian stated that once imperial officials were settled in the three tributary prefectures, the Ministry of Works would also build several telegraph stations on the grasslands.

"Then you can use these telegraph stations to send messages—faster than horses or falcons."

One tribal chieftain's eyes gleamed, and he immediately addressed the Emperor: "Your Majesty, please grant each tribe a telegraph machine and teach our people to send and receive messages—then our tribes' communication with Jingcheng will be swift."

Hu Cheng refused: "I wish to, but I lack the capacity. The Ministry of Works' production is limited—it cannot supply so many transmitters."

The chieftain frowned: "Cannot supply? Or does the court distrust us and refuse to give?"

Hu Cheng: "If you doubt me, I can show you the Ministry's production schedule. Several components of the telegraph require extremely advanced fitting work—only a few craftsmen can handle them. Not to mention, high-power transmitters must connect to generators. In short, they're extremely difficult to make. The current backlog extends ten years ahead."

Hu Cheng added: "You may want them—then wait in line. When your turn comes, we'll make them for you."

Yu Qian then interjected: "The telegraph machines planned for the grasslands are diverted from other provinces and military units."

Nearby, the Left Army Grand Commander Chen Huai bellowed loudly: "Grand Secretary Yu, I repeat—I oppose assigning our military's quota to them! Why give it to them? Our army hasn't even received ours yet—we're the ones who won the battle!"

"Grand Secretary Yu, General Chen's words show he still doesn't consider us one of his own—we're now under Great Ming rule too—why deny us?"

The hall erupted again in chaos.

Of course, this wasn't the only issue.

For example, the question of civilizing the grasslands.

The court has established tributary prefectures on the grasslands, shifting frontier positions outward. Although the defenses around Datong, Xuanfu, and the Great Wall remain unchanged, customs duties and permitted goods at the passes must be drastically revised.

This has been the main point of contention during these recent debates and one of the reasons tribal envoys came to Jingcheng.

If you claim the grasslands as your own territory and establish prefectures with imperial officials, then goods from the Central Plains entering the grasslands must no longer be taxed;

And goods from the grasslands entering the Central Plains must also be exempt from customs duties;

Trade restrictions must be lifted entirely—iron, salt, copper, horses, and all such goods must be freely traded.

This, of course, is impossible.

But we cannot maintain the old system either—otherwise, what's the point of establishing tributary prefectures?

They argued again as usual, and the debate grew so heated they nearly came to blows.