Chapter 900

The officials of the Dao Lu Si happily went to find Pan Yun and hinted: "Should we arrange for the Master's senior brothers, senior sisters, and disciples?"

Pan Yun: …

She silently regarded them for a moment, thinking inwardly: Why don't you arrange for me first?

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow; only then did she remember she hadn't obtained her ordination certificate.

Seeing Miao Zhen might very well obtain hers next year, but she didn't need the Dao Lu Si to arrange anything for her.

And… "Sending people to Luchuan is to contribute a modest effort toward national stability. South of Luchuan has always been governed by local chieftains, who have their own customs—some good, some not. We should preserve the good customs, but abolish the cruel, bloody, and harsh ones, replacing them with other beliefs and practices. Luchuan is not a place for you to assign useless officials to draw salaries. I expect those sent by the Dao Lu Si to be capable, responsible, and possess a heart that embraces all things."

In the Luchuan region, the people under the chieftains were essentially their tenant farmers, and in some places, even their slaves.

The children born to the people belonged to the chieftains; their lives and deaths rested entirely in the chieftains' and their families' hands.

Some tribes even had cruel customs, such as making drums from the skins of young girls, and sacrificing boys and girls to the mountains during floods.

The results were negligible, yet they added much resentment to this world.

The imperial court wished to civilize these regions, and Pan Yun wished the same.

The Dao Lu Si officials pondered deeply, then respectfully took their leave.

Pan Yun watched them depart, her eyes lowering to the Pan Xiaohei curled at her feet: "Do you think I should get myself an ordination certificate?"

Pan Xiaohei: "Do you want one?"

Pan Yun mused: "I took the exam twice—it turned into an obsession."

Pan Xiaohei: "Isn't it just one word from you now?"

Pan Yun waved her hand: "Forget it. If I take someone else's slot, that wouldn't be right. Besides, I don't need it anymore."

Pan Xiaohei rolled over, exposing its belly: "This is so boring. Don't you find it boring?"

"Not boring at all—I'm busy every day," Pan Yun glanced at it. "If you're bored, go into seclusion."

Wouldn't that be even more boring?

Seeing how content she was, Pan Xiaohei couldn't help asking: "How can you be so carefree? Aren't you worried about Miao Zhen and the other three? Or that fox and Little Red?"

Pan Yun's expression remained calm: "Their peace charms have remained perfectly still—what's there to worry about?"

Pan Xiaohei gazed longingly at the blue sky outside the door: "The world beyond is so vast—I want to go out and explore."

Pan Yun picked it up, brought it eye to eye with her, stared for a moment, then smiled: "You've truly grown a heart."

Pan Xiaohei froze in shock.

Pan Yun set it gently on her lap, rubbed its head, smoothed its fur, and said softly: "Wait a little longer—we'll go out too."

She cultivated the Dao, not out of true lust for power; staying in the palace was temporary. One day, she would leave.

Pan Yun gazed at the clear blue sky beyond the door, a faint smile on her lips—that was her world.

Pan Yun continued to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works; the cannons weren't finished yet, but she'd casually improved many other weapons and tools.

Good news kept arriving.

After persistent efforts by Yang Shan and Xue Shao, Deng Maoqi was finally pacified.

But Deng Maoqi did not immediately disband his followers; he demanded the imperial court fulfill part of its promises first.

For example, the imperial court must issue an order capping land rents in Fujian and Jiangxi at no more than sixty percent, and forbidding landlords from demanding additional grain storage from tenants.

Of course, the order was issued—but whether local landlords would obey it? No one knew.

The court could guarantee only government-owned land, and that when peasants appealed, there would be laws to rely on.

Seeing Deng Maoqi's demands missed the point, Xue Shao subtly guided him.

Thus, two additional points were added to the memorial: first, the court must provide land for Deng Maoqi's followers, ensuring each received at least two mu to sustain themselves; second, a full land survey of Fujian and Jiangxi must be conducted.

Xue Shao wrote a memorial earnestly requesting the court accept these two conditions from Deng Maoqi.

The first condition benefited not only Deng Maoqi's refugees but also the court.

By anchoring the people to land, these refugees would be bound to it and cease rebelling.

The second was precisely what the Emperor wanted to do—perfectly using Deng Maoqi as an excuse.

The Emperor agreed to both.

Naturally, there were voices of opposition in court.

"Setting this precedent will surely lead the people to threaten rebellion whenever they're dissatisfied, breeding troublemakers and harming the state."

But Yu Qian said: "Should we abandon food because we choked on a bone?"

Thus, the Emperor made the final decision and granted Deng Maoqi's demands.

After one and a half years, Deng Maoqi's rebellion was finally quelled. Xue Shao and Yang Shan were ordered by imperial decree to handle affairs in Fujian, and returned to the capital before the New Year to report to the Emperor with Deng Maoqi and his followers.

At the same time, good news came from the sea: Zhejiang's coastal defense official Li Qing destroyed sixty-eight pirates at sea, captured one hundred nine, and rescued two Great Ming silver ships stranded offshore.

At the joint request of the Prefect of Zhejiang and the Maritime Command, the court decided to establish a Maritime Trade Office in Ningbo Prefecture, allowing the silver ships from Dasen Village to dock directly at the Ningbo Maritime Trade Office.

When Pan Yun heard this news in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, she burst into loud laughter, slapping her thigh in delight: "Is Cao Jixiang going to spit blood?"

The Spring Official also chuckled: "I heard Cao Eunuch submitted three memorials urging the Emperor to investigate Quanzhou Garrison, and even volunteered to serve as its supervisor!"

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow: "For him to be supervisor isn't necessarily bad."

The Spring Official stared at her in surprise, then hesitated before saying: "Court ministers strongly oppose it—they believe it's already taboo for a eunuch to serve as director of the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Office; to involve him in military affairs… might…"

Pan Yun: "What's the worry? Everyone has greed. Has Jiang Fangzheng done any less? Men always assume that losing one thing below the waist makes a man monstrous—but in my view, there are plenty of monsters in court far worse than eunuchs."

The Spring Official was embarrassed.

Pan Yun knew why they disliked eunuchs holding military power: they had no wives or children, so once in power, they were hard to restrain.

But they forgot the Emperor favored them precisely because of this.

Because they had no roots or base—they could only rely on the Emperor.

The Spring Official cautiously reminded: "Still, be careful. Cao Jixiang is loyal now, but who knows what he'll become later? And setting this precedent may make eunuchs meddling in military affairs a norm—harmful to the state."

Pan Yun countered: "Didn't Emperor Yongle start this precedent with eunuch supervisors? How come no one ever complained when Guo Jing supervised troops in Datong for years?"

The Spring Official was embarrassed.

The court was also arguing over this matter endlessly, and this time, Yu Qian was likewise one of those who opposed it with all his might: "It is precisely because of the precedent set by Guo Jing and others that we must take it as a warning."

After all the trouble it took to get rid of Wang Zhen, how could another Cao Jixiang be allowed to appear?

Sure enough, the eunuch officials were as odious as ever — not even as good as a Daoist Priest.

Yu Qian decided to find time to meet Pan Yun and have her persuade the Emperor.

At this time Yu Qian did not know that Pan Yun stood on Cao Jixiang's side, and was an unorthodox cultivator.