Chapter 928

Pan Yun led twenty-eight Daoist Priests straight to Quanzhou.

Cao Jixiang hurried out of the Maritime Trade Office, beaming, and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty's National Teacher coming here is truly a stroke of fortune for Quanzhou."

The Prefect of Quanzhou also rushed over.

This time, Pan Yun took the seat of honor.

She got straight to the point, pointing at the twenty-eight Daoist Priests: "These are my Daoist Priests and officials from the Ministry of Public Works. Both of you, find us a place to work."

The Prefect of Quanzhou immediately replied: "Yes, yes, yes—there are several vacant mansions in the city; Your National Teacher may send people to inspect them. If none suit, we in Quanzhou will rebuild one exactly to Your National Teacher's specifications."

Since she hadn't started earning yet, Pan Yun didn't want to overburden the local treasury.

Otherwise, the court ministers would start clamoring.

Pan Yun sent Zhang Weiliang to inspect the mansions.

She brought many blueprints, all tested and approved by the Ministry of Public Works, for machines useful to civilian life.

The Quanzhou branch could not only manufacture these devices but also conduct refinement and upgrade research.

Quanzhou was chosen because, after a year of development, its harbor now ranked first in the Great Ming.

The dockside berths were heavily used, the warehouses ashore were sixty percent full, and numerous shops had been built.

The harbor had now formed a bustling street, utterly unlike its former desolation, where not a soul could be seen for miles.

Crowds thronged everywhere; most were laborers squatting by the docks waiting to unload cargo, and vendors pushing carts selling goods.

Due to thriving maritime trade, textile and kiln industries in Quanzhou and nearby towns had grown especially prosperous; here, new-style spinning and weaving machines could directly supply Quanzhou and surrounding towns, and be carried further by local merchants.

Pan Yun entrusted this task to the twenty-eight Daoist Priests.

They were all Daoist Priests from proper Imperial Academies; besides Daoist arts, medicine, and artifact crafting, their arithmetic was naturally excellent.

Everything was arranged neatly, requiring not the slightest concern from Pan Yun.

That's why Daoist Priests are truly all-round talents.

Cao Jixiang watched, envious, and sighed: "Your National Teacher truly knows how to use people."

Pan Yun smiled: "Cao my lord is no less capable. I've heard that since the New Year, in just over two months, ships on the sea have flowed like woven silk, ceaselessly coming and going—yet in only two months, Quanzhou's Maritime Trade Office has collected twenty thousand taels in customs duties."

Cao Jixiang's brow twitched slightly; the total customs revenue was a secret—how did Pan Yun know?

The figure was nearly exact.

He kept his expression calm, smiling: "Maritime trade depends most on winter and spring; once summer arrives and storms rise over the sea, ships can't sail out or come in easily."

Pan Yun nodded slightly, glancing at the waves gently lapping the shore, and smiled: "This year's typhoons will mostly come in late summer and before Mid-Autumn."

Cao Jixiang hurriedly said: "We lack Your National Teacher's celestial knowledge, so we cannot match your calm strategic foresight. My lord, I have already submitted a memorial to the imperial court, requesting His Majesty establish a branch of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau in Quanzhou to observe weather and warn fishermen and merchants. This proposal will likely be approved—Your National Teacher, whom would you recommend to lead it?"

Pan Yun's eyes lit up, her lips curling slightly—here came the employment slots for her Daoist Priests.

Besides taking the Daoist licensing exam, they could also take the imperial civil service exam. Pan Yun said: "I am not in Jingcheng; this matter rests with the Four Chief Astronomers of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau—they will choose the candidates themselves."

That evening, back at her lodging, the yellow talisman in her pocket had grown hot—Emperor had also inquired about this matter.

The court ministers were not merely quarrelsome; after the personal campaign, with Yu Qian holding court and Pan Yun as National Teacher standing firm, everyone cherished this new Emperor who listened to advice, so every deliberation was taken seriously, temporarily setting aside factional disputes to consider only whether a matter should be done, and how best to do it.

Thus, though the proposal to establish an Imperial Astronomical Bureau branch in Quanzhou came from the eunuch Cao Jixiang, the civil officials no longer reflexively opposed it merely because of who proposed it—they now seriously considered the proposal itself.

After deliberation, they reviewed last year's customs revenue reports from Quanzhou's Maritime Trade Office and all agreed with the plan.

Last year was the first year of maritime trade—no, only half a year; in that half-year, customs revenue exceeded fifteen thousand taels of silver. This year, with further growth in maritime trade, wouldn't customs revenue be even greater?

Thus, to promote maritime trade and local development, establishing a branch of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau in Quanzhou, dedicated to weather forecasting, was a sound idea.

So the ministers agreed—but no consensus emerged on who to send.

The main issue: the Imperial Astronomical Bureau was critically understaffed.

With too few officials, they could only transfer personnel from elsewhere—but transfers couldn't be arbitrary; first, candidates must understand astronomy and geography.

Fortunately, today's civil officials were no fools; except for a very few, most had studied astronomy and geography when taking the provincial and metropolitan examinations.

After all, mastering only the Eight-Legged Essay might pass the exam—but it would never yield top results.

So they scoured the bureaucracy and, to their surprise, found several men with notable achievements in astronomy and geography, including but not limited to Xue Xuan and his nephew, Xue Shao, and Xu Youzhen.

Besides these few high-ranking officials, the rest held extremely low ranks, some even without official grade.

Hmm—in this era, those who pursued the sciences were seen as leaning toward craftsmen, and indeed received little respect.

Daoist Priests and craftsmen were both classified among the "Three Teachings and Nine Streams."

Pan Yun carefully inquired via the yellow talisman about these men's circumstances, then wrote: "Xue Xuan, Xue Shao, and Xu Youzhen have more important duties—they need not be confined to Quanzhou. Seek instead among lower-ranking officials, but ensure they possess the ability to forecast weather."

Pan Yun proposed the Imperial Astronomical Bureau draft an examination for them.

She also advised the Emperor to establish a separate examination track specifically to recruit talent for the Imperial Astronomical Bureau and the Ministry of Public Works.

She wrote directly: "Weather forecasting and craftsmanship are regarded by civil officials as lowly trades; many understand them, but few master them. Your Majesty, fine tools are like elite soldiers—generals alone cannot win battles; you need elite soldiers."

The Emperor pondered deeply, immediately noting it in his memorandum, and decided to propose a new examination track the next day.

He kept thinking, then turned to glance at the Empress, hesitating: "Strange—Yu Qian always tells me there are too many idle officials, yet Pan Yun tells me we lack personnel. Tell me, are we short on talent—or are we just bloated?"

Empress Wang replied: "Lord Yu speaks of officials; National Teacher speaks of talent. An official is not necessarily talent—perhaps they're simply misplaced. That's why some departments overflow with idle men, while others have none to spare."

The Emperor frowned: "I intended to hold a special examination to recruit talent, but now I see we must first screen officials—move surplus personnel from overstaffed departments to understaffed ones, and dismiss those unfit for service."

"But how do we find such a method?"

Empress Wang, hearing this, grew equally troubled.