Chapter 970: Hu Ying

Pan Yun: "I trust you, but your smelting techniques haven't shown clear progress in years, and you're not anxious either."

Hu Cheng muttered: "Human energy is limited; all my focus has gone into cannon research."

Pan Yun: "Then you haven't researched deeply enough. Do cannons not need steel or iron? If you don't improve the materials, how can you improve the cannons? If you must improve the materials, how can you not improve the methods of smelting them?"

Hu Cheng had no reply.

Pan Yun spread out the blueprints; now they had discovered and mined only a tiny fraction of the iron ore that would be found in later generations—many iron deposits remained undiscovered and unmined.

Hu Cheng leaned in: "Your Grace, are we going to pursue iron mines next?"

Pan Yun nodded.

Hu Cheng: "For building that railway?"

"Steel has countless uses, and if I'm going to build railways, how could I build only one?"

Hu Cheng swallowed hard and turned to Chen Feng: "Chen Neiguan, didn't you say you wanted to modify the iron furnaces?"

"Yes," Chen Feng stepped forward and said: "To smelt iron into steel, the first requirement is temperature. Raising the temperature and accelerating the heating rate will increase both iron and steel output. I've found we can add a heat-storage chamber to the furnace."

Pan Yun's eyes lit up; she immediately turned to face him: "Have you made progress?"

Chen Feng's face flushed slightly; he spoke softly: "All current furnaces are in use—we can't delay iron production—so we'd have to build a new furnace, and success isn't guaranteed. It would cost a great deal. The ministers have accused me of squandering public funds, so…"

Pan Yun looked at Hu Cheng.

Hu Cheng immediately said: "The imperial treasury is empty. What matter isn't more important than this? The court ministers strongly oppose it, and even Chen Neiguan isn't confident—so…"

Pan Yun said: "I'll ask the Emperor for funds. Chen Neiguan, prepare yourself. I'll give you some blueprints and materials later—study them yourself. You must improve our iron and steel smelting techniques, especially the cold-forging and quenching process."

She added: "Steel made by this process won't corrode or rust for a hundred years; railways built from it will last a century."

Chen Feng didn't know what a railway was—did she mean laying iron plates on the road?

How would carts and horses travel on it? Would it not be slippery or painful?

Chen Feng had many questions, but he stole a glance at Hu Cheng and wisely stayed silent.

Pan Yun had memorized the map; she handed the blueprint back to Hu Cheng and asked: "Who in your department can prospect for iron ore? Send them out to find new deposits."

Hu Cheng: "... Usually the localities report discoveries, then we send people to verify. If confirmed, we dispatch officials from the Imperial Factory to mine. But deliberately searching for new deposits? We're short on manpower now…"

Pan Yun understood. She sighed: "The court keeps crying 'excess officials, excess officials,' yet many places have no one available. Not just our Ministry of Works—our prospectors and craftsmen—but also the academies under the Ministry of Rites: state, county, and village schools. Many draw salaries without working, yet every academy is desperately short of teachers. Since Emperor Taizu promoted learning and established schools seventy years ago, why is the literacy rate among common men only thirty to forty percent, and among women only ten percent?"

Hu Cheng blinked: "Your Grace, wouldn't it be better if you paid a visit to the Ministry of Rites next door?"

This wasn't even under his Ministry of Works' jurisdiction!

Pan Yun glanced at him, snorted, and actually turned and walked over to the Ministry of Rites next door.

The Minister of Rites was also surnamed Hu, named Hu Ying, courtesy name Yuanjie, and he had another sobriquet: Jie'an.

He was not only one of the Five Regents entrusted by Emperor Xuanzong, having served ten years as Minister of Rites, but also a medical scholar.

If he weren't an official, Pan Yun thought, he'd be her peer.

When the existence of cultivators was known to only a tiny fraction of people, he dared risk his reputation by recommending those connected to cultivators.

Since becoming State Preceptor, Pan Yun had noticed he rarely spoke in court—but she could feel he was the one in court who held the most goodwill toward her, even more than Yu Qian, her usual collaborator.

Of course, excluding Xue Shao.

Yet she had never exchanged a word with this old minister. Pan Yun suddenly appeared outside the Minister of Rites' office, raised her hand, and knocked. The door creaked open inward with a long, soul-sucking "creeeak——"

Pan Yun: …

Hadn't this door been broken all along?

Pan Yun couldn't help glancing inside.

Behind the desk sat an old man with a white beard. He deftly wrapped up the paper packet on his desk, shoved it into a drawer, smoothed his beard, quickly chewed a few times, then sat upright, eyes fixed on the door, and said sternly: "Enter."

Pan Yun instantly pulled her gaze back, paused, then pushed open the door, already ajar by a third.

"creeeak——"

Another soul-sucking sound.

Pan Yun couldn't help glancing down at the door hinge.

Hu Yuanjie squinted; Pan Yun stood in the dim light, and it took him a moment to recognize her: "State Preceptor?"

Pan Yun bowed: "Mr. Hu."

Seeing her bow so deeply, Hu Yuanjie rose and reached out to help her up: "State Preceptor, you needn't be so formal."

She hadn't bowed like this even to the Emperor!

Pan Yun looked at Hu Yuanjie's kind, benevolent face and smiled gently: "One must show respect to elders."

Hu Yuanjie chuckled, stroking his beard, his wrinkles coming alive with mirth.

Hu Yuanjie stepped aside to invite Pan Yun to sit.

Pan Yun walked forward and sat down—only then did she catch the sweet fragrance wafting from the desk.

She sniffed and smiled: "Osmanthus cake?"

Hu Yuanjie laughed heartily and pulled out half a packet of osmanthus cake: "From Guiyuan's osmanthus cake—State Preceptor, try some?"

The osmanthus cake was pure white, dotted with golden osmanthus blossoms. Pan Yun picked one up, tasted it, and nodded: "Delicious."

Hu Yuanjie beamed and reached for a piece himself—but before he could bring it to his mouth, Pan Yun tilted her head and asked: "But isn't your health unsuitable for eating too much?"

Hu Yuanjie froze; the cake in his hand refused to go into his mouth.

The old man and the young woman stared at each other. Finally, Hu Yuanjie put down the cake and sighed: "I am seventy. How many years do I have left? Even wanting to eat something good is hard."

Pan Yun studied him, then smiled: "But I see you have the appearance of longevity—another ten or twenty years won't be a problem. But if you indulge, it may not be so."

Pan Yun held the remaining half of the osmanthus cake: "Appetite is desire—it is a form of greed."

Hearing he might live twenty more years, Hu Yuanjie immediately put down the cake and smiled warmly: "State Preceptor never visits without purpose. What brings you here today?"

Pan Yun: "I encountered some difficulties in the Ministry of Works next door and came specifically to seek your advice."

Pan Yun spoke of the Ministry of Works' staffing shortage: "Beyond the Ministry of Works, other ministries also lack qualified personnel, and the problem worsens in the provinces—especially in the most specialized roles, where the shortage is most acute. Yet the Great Ming clearly suffers from excessive officials. Not only has Grand Secretary Yu submitted memorials on this issue multiple times, but even I have repeatedly observed empty salaries and bloated staffing—four or five men doing the work of one."

Hu Yuanjie stroked his beard and smiled faintly, the creases at the corners of his eyes bunching together: "The National Preceptor isn't refusing — he's telling me that you want reform."