Chapter 941

Pan Yun was utterly tired of the back-and-forth struggle over land and existing taxes—the pie was only so big, and a portion had been hidden away.

Yu Qian and his group wanted to expose that hidden portion to the world; beyond that, they relied on rectifying officialdom and cutting expenditures to increase the state treasury's revenue.

This was tantamount to snatching food from people's mouths—every time there was even a hint of progress, accidents would erupt in the former court and imperial harem, and Pan Yun would inevitably be dragged out and scolded along with them.

Her stance had never changed: Yu Qian and his group could continue what they were doing, but she could make the pie bigger, so that tensions would be dispersed and opposition would not be so fierce.

There was no better way to expand the pie than developing technology and productivity.

If the Gongbu Sect could build a hand-cranked generator, then steam engines and similar devices shouldn't be difficult.

With Great Ming's current technological level, it was merely a matter of time before they could build them.

Pan Yun had long ago handed over the blueprints to them.

Unfortunately, only those engaged in research were excited; few court ministers grasped the importance of these things, so the funding requested by the Gongbu Sect was cut again and again, until they received only the smallest portion—even enough to cover research expenses, let alone pay the artisans, they had to squeeze money out of officials' salaries.

Otherwise, how could someone as frugal as Pan Yun have handed over ten thousand taels of silver as a reward fund without a single hesitation?

To make the Gongbu Sect gain attention, these ministers must understand just how vital technology is.

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Pan Yun decided to let them experience the charm of technology through the speaking tube and radio.

The next day, Zhu Qiyu brought the ministers to visit the Gongbu Sect.

Hu Cheng warmly received them.

The Gongbu Sect had always done the most work with the least money.

Don't assume that because they were assigned to manage lucrative projects like dredging the Yellow River or constructing palaces, they were wealthy—in fact, the opposite was true.

For Yellow River management, the Gongbu Sect had to send officials to assist, but the lead official was never from the Gongbu Sect.

Now it was a man named Xu Youzhen—he had previously been a Hanlin scholar—and the two men sent by the Gongbu Sect were his deputies, serving only as technical advisors, occasionally tossed to the riverbank to inspect whether the work met standards.

They did all the dirty, exhausting labor, but no money or materials passed through their hands, so there was no chance for corruption.

As for palace construction, Gongbu officials always took the blame, but the credit and actual benefits were either held by the Imperial Household or the Chief Eunuch.

Hu Cheng himself had no interest in corruption or bribery; he devoted his entire being to firearms research.

This part was funded by the Bingbu Sect.

His personal research funding was not an issue, but the other Gongbu officials had little to no research funding; before Pan Yun arrived, everyone conducted research only within the scope of imperial demands, and privately pursued their own interests.

But due to lack of funds, many projects made no progress.

After Pan Yun arrived, the Gongbu Sect gradually produced outstanding results, and Hu Cheng hoped the sect would produce more good things—so when he saw the Emperor arrive with so many ministers, he was extremely pleased and enthusiastic.

Hu Cheng was on good terms with Wang Ji and Yu Qian; after showing the Emperor around the Gongbu courtyard, he quietly slipped over to the two men and whispered, asking them to speak well of the Gongbu Sect later.

Yu Qian said nothing, but Wang Ji curiously asked: "What fine thing is the State Preceptor going to show us?"

Hu Cheng grew excited and whispered: "The General will surely love it—it has great military utility."

Pan Yun arrived from another direction, saw the Emperor, and immediately smiled: "Your Majesty has come—quickly, quickly, let's walk along the line, and we can test it directly."

Zhu Qiyu followed her, bewildered, from the Gongbu Sect to the Bingbu Sect, with two courtyards between them, and the entire route consisted of only one pipe.

The ministers followed, bewildered; Pan Yun told Yu Qian and the others to stay in the Bingbu Sect, holding a round earpiece to their ears, and said: "Soon, sound will come through this—Yu my lord, please listen carefully and see if you can hear clearly."

Yu Qian raised an eyebrow: "This line—do you mean to speak from the other end, in the Gongbu Sect?"

"Exactly."

"How is that possible?" Before Yu Qian could speak, Chen Xun laughed: "State Preceptor, there are two courtyards between the two departments."

Wang Ji thought for a moment and said: "If you shout loudly enough, you can still hear it—hasn't Chen my lord ever heard of mountain calling?"

Pan Yun pulled Zhu Qiyu away: "It's not mountain calling—it's like speaking face to face."

Pan Yun led Zhu Qiyu to the Gongbu Sect, picked up an earpiece from the other end of the pipe, and gestured to him: "Your Majesty, shout into it."

Zhu Qiyu opened his mouth, saw all the ministers staring at him intently, felt inexplicably embarrassed, and held the earpiece without speaking.

Pan Yun urged: "The other side is Yu my lord—just call out 'Yu my lord.'"

Zhu Qiyu placed the earpiece to his ear and hesitantly called: "Yu Aiqing?"

Pan Yun: "Louder!"

Zhu Qiyu instinctively shouted: "Yu Aiqing!"

The ministers couldn't help laughing; Zhu Qiyu's face turned bright red, and Chen Xun roared: "State Preceptor, there are two courtyards between them—Yu my lord's ears may be sharp, but he won't hear that!"

Pan Yun lifted the Emperor's hand and pressed the earpiece to his ear; amid low laughter, a hesitant "Your Majesty?" came through the earpiece.

Zhu Qiyu froze, looked around sharply, but saw no Yu Qian, and hurriedly asked: "Is Yu my lord still in the Bingbu Sect?"

"Of course he's still in the Bingbu Sect."

The voice in the earpiece, slightly delayed, caught the tail of the sound and replied: "Yes, I am still in the Bingbu Sect—is Your Majesty now in the Gongbu Sect?"

Zhu Qiyu stared at Pan Yun in astonishment, then said: "Yes, I am still in the Gongbu Sect."

The ministers finally realized—the Emperor wasn't speaking to them; he was conversing with Yu Qian.

Everyone fell silent.

Zhu Qiyu was thrilled, and spoke into the earpiece: "Yu Aiqing, is General Wang beside you? Ask him to say something."

Wang Ji, standing beside Yu Qian, scratched his head and grabbed the earpiece the instant Yu Qian handed it to him.

The Emperor and his ministers exchanged several remarks, after which Zhu Qiyu reluctantly handed the earpiece to the other ministers to hear.

Thus, the ministers began playing the voice-transmission game between the Gongbu and Bingbu Sects.

Some ministers, annoyed by the crowd on their side, lifted their robes and ran to the Bingbu Sect to queue up, determined to confirm whether the voice truly came from the other end.

As a result, officials from all six departments had the rare privilege of watching ministers of Third rank and above sprinting back and forth between the Gongbu and Bingbu Sects.

Yu Qian and Wang Ji also ran over, their faces alight with excitement.

Wang Ji was sixty-eight, yet he sprinted the whole way, his eyes shining with the same fervor as if filled with sunlight—he had never looked at his own wife with such intensity in his youth.

Wang Ji briefly bowed to the Emperor, then rushed to Pan Yun's side, beaming: "State Preceptor, is this thing called the Thousand-Li Ear? Can ordinary people really use it?"

Yu Qian also looked at Pan Yun in astonishment.

Zhu Qiyu snapped back to himself and hurriedly said: "National Teacher, with this, can I now communicate with you without using yellow talismans?"

Writing on yellow talismans is still too troublesome—the characters must be written extremely small; sometimes one matter requires four or five yellow talismans, and before each stroke, you must deliberate again and again, condensing a sentence into just a few characters—it truly tests one's literary skill.

Zhu Qiyu felt his literary level had risen greatly over these past few months, comparable to when he studied under the Grand Tutor as a child.

Chen Xun had also tried it; the cylinder had been snatched away by Cao Nai, so he could only come over with an expression of lingering desire, looking at Pan Yun with complex emotions: "National Teacher, you Daoists have hidden this from us so well! We were always told your magical devices could only be used by Daoists—things like sleeve-universe, far-seeing eyes, far-hearing ears, earth-escape, water-escape—we always envied them inwardly but dared not speak aloud, yet now we can use them too."

Pan Yun waited until they had all finished speaking before saying: "This is not a magical device—it is a mundane tool; any craftsman who learns the technique can build it, and anyone can use it."

"A mundane tool?" Wang Ji murmured: "How could a mundane tool transmit sound over a thousand li?"

"This is the power of technology," Pan Yun said. "Technology can enable those without Dao cultivation to travel a thousand li a day, transmit sound over a thousand li, transmit video over a thousand li—oh, like speaking face-to-face."

Yu Qian suddenly remembered yesterday's words; his eyes narrowed slightly: "Is this what you meant yesterday—the power of technology?"

"Exactly!"

Zhu Qiyu waved his hand grandly and declared with boundless heroic spirit: "Build it! I want this thousand-li voice transmission!"

Pan Yun spread her hands: "It's not possible yet."

Zhu Qiyu: "Huh?"

"Your Majesty, one cannot eat a fat man in a single bite—you must give us time to grow."

"But we just heard it a moment ago!"

"It was only two courtyards apart—the cost is manageable. But if you want to speak to Sun Yuanzhen, you must lay a line from Jingcheng all the way to Hangzhou—and it's not just laying wire," Pan Yun asked: "Leaving aside the technical issues, do you have the money?"

Zhu Qiyu: … Money, money, money—why is it always about money?

Yu Qian's eyes gleamed; he said directly: "Money is not the problem. How long will it take for your technology to lay a line from Jingcheng to Hangzhou?"

Pan Yun's lips curled upward as she held up five fingers: "Five years!"

Yu Qian immediately nodded: "Good—we can wait."

"Wait, wait a moment," Zhu Qiyu hurriedly said: "Minister Yu, what do you mean 'money is not the problem'?"

Yu Qian's eyes sparkled: "Your Majesty, yesterday I was short-sighted. The National Teacher is right—once technology reaches a certain level, all money ceases to be a problem."

Pan Yun clapped her hands, chuckled for a moment, then said: "Of course, since Your Majesty and all of you have come here so rarely, I would not offer only this one thing. There is another—this is the true device capable of thousand-li voice transmission right now."

Pan Yun ordered Hu Wei to bring out the radio telegraph machine.

Hu Wei placed it down with great care; Pan Yun said: "I must specially thank Master Song Yang and Master Lian Cheng—they fired the crystal tubes I required, and only then could the telegraph machine be made. I thought this device would take years of research, yet I never expected the craftsmanship of Great Ming's artisans to be this advanced."

Hu Wei beamed: "National Teacher already provided detailed blueprints—if we still cannot make this, we are utterly incompetent."

Pan Yun shook her finger: "No, no, no—many of these technologies do not exist among the common people. I say you are talented, and you truly are."

Today, Great Ming's economy, culture, and technological level still lead the world, far beyond what the West can even dream of matching.

Unfortunately, after the late Ming, technology began to stagnate, while the West, after several revolutions, not only caught up with Huaxia but left it far behind.

Many crafts had already emerged, yet were never systematically applied.

Pan Yun knew that once these things were unearthed and put into use, they would develop with vigorous vitality.

She had merely pointed them toward a path through blueprints.

But for that path to truly be opened, it still depended on the Emperor and every minister in this courtyard.

Only if they recognized the power of technology would they value it.

Pan Yun explained the principle of the radio telegraph machine.

Of those present, except for a very few, no one understood.

Yu Qian did not understand, but Wang Ji and Hu Cheng did; what surprised Pan Yun was that the one who understood best was Chen Xun.

Chen Xun not only grasped the principle—he took the device into his own hands, first cranking the generator by hand, activating the telegraph machine, then clumsily operating it according to the cipher Pan Yun had provided.

Pan Yun looked at Chen Xun as if he were glowing; she praised: "Excellent, Lord Chen—you are the third person who understood immediately and could operate it right away."

Chen Xun felt a touch of pride; he mused: "If we equip the right personnel and ciphers, this could replace the eight-hundred-li express courier…"

Pan Yun said: "It cannot fully replace it—if the telegraph machine is destroyed, human messengers remain the safest method."

Wang Ji exclaimed excitedly: "But this would be immensely beneficial in wartime, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Qiyu nodded vigorously: "I understand, I understand—it is military equipment. We must first equip the army. If, if last year during my campaign against the Oirats we had this device…"

The ministers fell silent.

Zhu Qiyu turned his head and wiped his eyes, smiling: "It's not too late now, Chen Xun."

"Your servant is here."

"Allocate funds to the Ministry of Works. Order them to produce twenty telegraph machines first."

Pan Yun added: "And hand-cranked generators."

"Yes," Zhu Qiyu asked: "How much will it cost?"

Pan Yun looked at Hu Wei.

Hu Wei trembled: "It, it will require about five thousand taels."

Zhu Qiyu waved his hand: "Give them eight thousand taels!"

He said: "Do it well. When it's done, I will reward you."

Hu Wei, merely a craftsman, fell to his knees with a thud and shouted: "Yes!"

Zhu Qiyu quickly helped him up, smiling: "A man's knees hold gold. You are the pillars of the state—except during grand ceremonies, you need not kneel before me."

Hu Wei's eyes grew moist; he gazed at the Emperor with admiration and reverence, and at that moment, he would have gladly given his life for him.

The usually penny-pinching Chen Xun unusually made no argument—he agreed and promised to allocate funds to the Ministry of Works immediately.

The Emperor pointed to the still-played voice cylinder and asked: "What about this? How much will it cost to research this?"

Pan Yun: "This one will cost far more. Have the Ministry of Works draft a plan later—list the materials needed, and we can estimate the cost."

The Emperor and the others were more interested in the voice cylinder, since they didn't understand the telegraph machine—even the concept of electromagnetic waves traveling through the heavens and earth, then being received by another telegraph machine and decoded using pre-set ciphers of dots and lines…

They understood every word of this passage, but when put together, they didn't understand—first of all, what is an electromagnetic wave?

Zhu Qiyu didn't understand and didn't ask; he felt he had no need to understand this—he only needed to know that the device worked, that it was useful.

Still, the voice tube was more direct.

To be honest, if they hadn't first tested the voice tube, and Pan Yun had produced the telegraph machine, no one would have believed it.

How could it be that just because she said it could transmit voice over a thousand li, it actually could?