Chapter 936: Development

Pan Yun indeed favored Ningbo.

But Ningbo is not far from Hangzhou; as long as it's within Zhejiang, it counts as achievement for the Provincial Administration Commission and benefits the people and officials of Zhejiang alike.

The terms can be discussed equally.

Only she is the State Preceptor—her status makes it unsuitable.

Soon, the Emperor's edict arrived at the Zhejiang Provincial Administration Commission.

The Emperor's edict mirrored Pan Yun's earlier conversations with them; Sun Yuanzhen set down the document and murmured, "Is this truly the Emperor's favor, or does the Emperor favor her?"

Yang Zan lowered his gaze and said, "Whichever it is, if it benefits the people, we should use it."

Sun Yuanzhen snapped back to himself and nodded. "Reasonable."

With the Emperor's will, Sun Yuanzhen now had far more confidence in acting.

While Pan Yun was searching everywhere for Daoist Priests without dossiers but with talent, Sun Yuanzhen and Yang Zan joined forces with the gentry, landowners, and wealthy merchants of Zhejiang's eleven prefectures to deliberate on establishing a seaport in Zhejiang.

"From winter month to the end of this February, the customs duties from Quanzhou's Maritime Trade Office have already reached nearly 200,000 taels of silver."

Seeing their interest but hesitation, Sun Yuanzhen continued: "The State Preceptor strongly advocated lifting the sea ban; even the Daisen Village silver mine was presented to the imperial court by her. This shows how greatly she values maritime trade. Quanzhou Prefecture, with its seaport and Maritime Trade Office, has seen the State Preceptor visit several times in one year. Prefect Lu Mingzhe of Quanzhou has been frequently mentioned by the Emperor since winter month, accumulating merit—barring unforeseen circumstances, within three to five years he can be promoted directly to a deputy position in one of the Six Ministries."

Yang Zan scanned the crowd and picked up Sun Yuanzhen's thread: "Because she values Quanzhou, the State Preceptor has also opened a branch of the Tools Workshop there, under the Ministry of Works. Even the Imperial Astronomical Bureau has sent two officials to Quanzhou Prefecture's government office specifically to determine weather patterns for the people, aiding agricultural timing. It is said that a college will soon be established to teach the people the knowledge of the Ministry of Works."

Yang Zan sighed softly: "All of you know the Southern Examination is always harder than the Northern. Each session, most Metropolitan Graduate come from Jiangxi, Nanzhili, and our Zhejiang. Now Fujian is being strongly encouraged—perhaps the first or second sessions show no difference, but by the third or fourth, Fujian will likely overtake us."

"Fujian is a remote, impoverished land—how many good teachers would willingly go there to teach? Director Sun worries too much."

Sun Yuanzhen said nothing; Yang Zan sneered: "That's your short-sightedness, far inferior to Director Sun's foresight. Once Quanzhou Port opens, merchants will flock in. To shorten transport distances, they'll establish countless textile and porcelain workshops in Fujian. Fujian is hilly terrain and ideal tea-growing land—its economic benefits from the seaport are incalculable."

"In three years, the signs will appear; in six, Fujian will surpass Zhejiang; in nine… the children who entered school at age seven will be sixteen!" Yang Zan shouted: "Sixteen—that's the age of your own sons and grandsons, the age to take the Licentiate and Provincial Exams. When years later they go to Jingcheng for the Metropolitan Examination, are you certain your descendants can defeat theirs?" Yang Zan sneered: "Remember, in the Southern Examination, Jiangxi and Nanzhili have always been unmatched; Zhejiang, after all, falls short."

Concerned with their descendants' futures, the gentry and landowners exchanged glances, growing uneasy.

The merchants had already been won over.

Unlike the gentry and landowners, their eyes saw only white silver.

So much customs duty—how much profit could that bring?

Moreover, besides the profits from export ships, we producers profit too.

With more goods exported, domestic commodity prices might even rise—we'd make another profit.

One merchant immediately asked: "What must we do for the court to approve establishing a seaport in Zhejiang? Please, Director Sun and Director Yang, guide us."

"Everyone, listen closely."

Sun Yuanzhen stroked his beard: "We must make the Emperor and the imperial court see that the people and gentry of Zhejiang are united as one."

How could they make the Emperor and the court see this?

Donate money. Donate land.

The Zhejiang Provincial Administration Commission will collect and consolidate the money and land to settle the refugees.

The gentry, landowners, and merchants: … This sounds a bit like bribery?

Is this about settling refugees—or settling the officials?

If the former, a little will do; if the latter, we can't give too little.

Too little, and the officials will look down on us, think us powerless, and we'll lose face among peers.

But this was Sun Yuanzhen's first time directly asking the gentry, landowners, and merchants for land and money.

Previously, he had always seized land through policy—so now he blushed.

Good thing he was dark-skinned; no one noticed up close.

Precisely because he was so inscrutable, everyone leaned toward the latter interpretation.

If this was bribery, then…

"My lord, my family is in Jinhua Prefecture, far from Hangzhou—if I donate land, to whom should I give it?"

Sun Yuanzhen immediately said: "Don't worry—just donate boldly. I'll send men to take possession, and we'll erect a stele and write a biography to tell your fellow villagers of your contribution to establishing the seaport."

The landowner pulled at his mouth, implying this was merely his goodwill, and Director Sun need not be so courteous.

Hearing this, everyone became more certain it was the latter—otherwise, why send special envoys?

Sun Yuanzhen thought inwardly: Of course I must send special envoys—otherwise, if local officials handle it, who knows how much they'll embezzle?

Since this was bribery—and bribery directed at Zhejiang's two highest officials—all the gentry, landowners, and merchants present didn't want their peers to look down on them; each tried to outdo the other in sincerity.

Moreover, they gave one portion at the banquet table, then after the banquet, secretly approached Sun Yuanzhen and Yang Zan again with another portion.

Their demands varied.

The gentry wanted recommendation letters from Sun Yuanzhen and Yang Zan, or for their sons or grandsons to be admitted to the Imperial Academy;

The landowners coveted specific wastelands or barren mountains, hoping Directors Sun and Yang would instruct the local Prefects to sell them at reduced prices;

The merchants coveted the seaport construction contracts—this one recommended their timber to Sun Yuanzhen, that one recommended their bricks and craftsmen to Yang Zan; others eyed land near the seaport, wanting to build shops…

Sun Yuanzhen and Yang Zan: …

By the time the two men finished dealing with everyone and returned to the Provincial Administration Commission, it was deep night.

Officials were still working overtime in the government office; seeing the two lords exhausted, especially Director Sun—who looked as if he'd aged three years—they said nothing.

Sun Yuanzhen truly looked aged; he sighed: "Harder than fighting ten battles."

Yang Zan smiled: "We can vaguely promise for now. When the seaport is actually built, compare materials and prices—if they're similar or equal in quality, prioritize them."

Sun Yuanzhen sighed: "Only this way."

With the two top officials of a province leading, the matter naturally proceeded swiftly and well, with astonishing efficiency.

On one side, Sun Yuanzhen's envoys collected land and money; on the other, his petition to split Rui'an's three counties and establish four new districts—Taishun, Yunhe, and others—was approved in court.

Sun Yuanzhen arranged new garrisons to be stationed there, while personally touring the four districts, demarcating zones, and ordering the troops to lead refugees in reclaiming wasteland…

The reclaimed wasteland and the land donated by landowners were distributed among the refugees; the merchants' donations were partly used to purchase more land for further refugee resettlement, and partly to build houses and provide for their households.

The court had yet to decide whether to build the seaport—but Zhejiang was already thriving.

The increasingly sharp tensions between refugees and landowners also eased considerably.

Although the refugees in the eleven prefectures had not all been settled, those still unassigned clung to a sliver of hope—that they would be next—so they became cautious and restrained, no longer roaming about causing trouble, determined to achieve results like Deng Maoqi and his group.

Sun Yuanzhen, having quelled several rebellions over the past few years, was especially sensitive to shifts in this atmosphere.

When he noticed the smoke of unrest among the refugees had largely dissipated—even bandits hiding in the mountains quietly returned home to become refugees again—his heart grew more complex.

Yang Zan seized the opportunity to intensify land tax equalization, spreading the official land taxes evenly onto civilian lands with lighter tax burdens.

Sun Yuanzhen also allocated more wasteland to the garrison troops, ordering them to reclaim it for military farming.

This was real military farming: the plots would be distributed to soldier households, and their produce, after surrendering a portion to the army, belonged entirely to the households and their families.

The military and civilians of Zhejiang rejoiced as one.

But the scholar-gentry landowners and merchants of Zhejiang grew frantic, seeing that they were nearly…

By now, they knew the land and money they had donated had truly been used to settle refugees, leaving them unable to accuse Sun Yuanzhen and Yang Zan of bribery.

At most, they could accuse them of coercing donations.

But…

Coercing donations—yet donating them all to refugees—would the Emperor and court ministers even listen to them?

The scholar-gentry landowners and merchants were utterly exasperated, spending every day seeking to hint or plainly urge the two men.

Sun Yuanzhen was also anxious; he heard Pan Yun had forcefully established a branch workshop in Ningbo and helped the imperial family open a textile workshop, operated by the Empress's people, so he traveled overnight to Ningbo to meet Pan Yun.

Pan Yun, amid her busy schedule, looked up and asked, tilting her head: "Has the imperial decree not arrived yet?"

Sun Yuanzhen fretted: "Not yet. His Majesty… he won't renege, will he?"

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, then asked: "Is Xue Shao still in Zhejiang?"

Sun Yuanzhen paused, then said: "Inspector Xue is now in Jiangxi. I heard he just prosecuted the Prefect of Jiujiang two days ago."

Sun Yuanzhen paused again, then praised him: "Inspector Xue truly has a loyal heart. After his inspection of Zhejiang, cases of usurious lending and grain loans surged across the eleven prefectures. Each prefecture took Hangzhou as the model, reclaiming 687,563 mu of land and 86,000+ taels of silver, plus 937,000+ copper coins."

"Six hundred eighty-seven thousand mu," Pan Yun pulled at her lips and asked: "Did the scholar-gentry landowners donate six hundred eighty-seven thousand mu this time?"

Sun Yuanzhen paused, then said: "Only ninety thousand mu or so."

Pan Yun: "So prevention is far more cost-effective than post-facto reckoning."

Sun Yuanzhen fell into thought, but before he could plead further, Pan Yun rose and said: "Still, since I promised you, my lord, and Lord Yang, I will fulfill it. I'll return to the capital tonight to see His Majesty."

Sun Yuanzhen exhaled in relief and hurriedly said: "I'll arrange the carriage and horses immediately."

Pan Yun paused, then said: "No need. I'll go and return swiftly. Unless something unexpected happens, news will arrive the day after tomorrow."

"Huh?" Sun Yuanzhen instinctively glanced at her legs.

Pan Yun shot him a look: "I don't ride horses."

She sighed: "Pity—you're Provincial Administration Commissioner, forbidden to enter the capital without imperial summons. Otherwise, I'd have taken you back to Jingcheng."

Depart in the afternoon, arrive by evening, meet the Emperor, return—still have time for a good night's sleep.

Sun Yuanzhen dared not ask further, but that afternoon, someone claimed to have seen a pot flying through the sky.

Sun Yuanzhen: …

His aides couldn't help asking: "My lord, is the State Preceptor truly capable of flight?"

Sun Yuanzhen, a second-rank official himself, knew some of this world's secrets: "Didn't you hear the rumor last March, when villagers in two villages near Hangzhou fought over water, and a giant pot fell from the sky?"

The aide murmured: "I always thought it was just a rumor…"

If that was true, then more rumors must be true too?

The aide felt it was dreamlike: "Why have I never heard of this before?"

"The Dao Inspection Offices handle exactly this kind of thing. Many phenomena, once seen, become rumors and half-truths, and in the end, believers are few while skeptics dominate," Sun Yuanzhen paused, then added: "Pan Yun dares reveal her abilities now only because she is the State Preceptor—high in rank and power, beyond the reach of the Dao Inspection and Dao Record Offices."

Otherwise, the abilities she's shown publicly would have been enough to strip her of every last possession.

But why is Pan Yun being so conspicuous?

Is she carried away by pride—or is there some other scheme?

Sun Yuanzhen recalled Pan Yun's words and mannerisms, feeling uneasy; he always suspected the latter.

If it was the latter, and she was displaying these supernatural abilities before the public—what did she intend to do?

Pan Yun, with Pan Xiaohei, vanished in a flash back to Jingcheng.

As she'd said: departed in the afternoon, arrived by evening.

As always, she was well-behaved, never crossing Zhang Zijin's boundaries, so she landed outside the city, stowed the Sanbao Ding, then ran in using lightness skill.

To Pan Yun's surprise, in just over three months, Jingcheng had changed greatly.

In the evening, the streets were still crowded.

Pan Yun looked around curiously, standing before a skewer stall, ordering fifty lamb skewers at once. While waiting for them to cook, she asked: "The sun's almost set—why aren't you packing up yet?"

The vendor glanced at her and asked: "Miss, you've just returned from outside the capital, haven't you?"

Pan Yun grunted: "Yes. I was away for several months on business."

"That explains it," the vendor said. "Since last month, the capital has lifted curfew on the first and tenth days of each month. Today is the twenty-first of May—this is a main street. People won't stop streaming until midnight."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow: "This proposal… is brilliant. The imperial court and academies also rest on the first and tenth days of each month, right?"

"Exactly! That's why these two days are always bustling!"

Pan Yun's lamb skewers began sizzling with aroma, drawing passersby. The vendor grew busy, no longer able to chat with her.

Pan Yun stepped aside, turning to observe the crowd.

She noticed not only more people on the streets, but more girls too.

Even their clothing had changed slightly compared to previous years.