Chapter 971: Convinced

Pan Yun furrowed her brows: "I am no different from Elder Yu and the ministers in the imperial court who wish to improve official conduct—we merely lack a solution."

Hu Ying said: "To find a solution, we must first identify the root cause. Does the State Preceptor intend to begin with official conduct?"

Pan Yun shook her head: "Throughout history, reforms always start with taxation, then land, with official conduct as a supplement—each time, blood flows like a storm, whether successful or not. I've been wondering: can we find another path, one that reduces bloodshed?"

Hu Ying stroked his beard and said: "So the State Preceptor has been focusing intensely on the Ministry of Works—but no matter where you begin, official conduct cannot be avoided."

Pan Yun nodded, then fixed him with a piercing gaze: "My lord, you've served as Minister of Rites for many years—can you suggest a way to place talent where it belongs?"

"What about surplus officials?" Hu Ying smiled. "I thought the State Preceptor would ask first how to deal with surplus officials."

Pan Yun: "To me, aside from the empty salaries being embezzled, there are no useless people in the court. So-called surplus officials are merely talents placed where they don't belong. Worst case, they can still be sent to work the official lands or the imperial estates—surely they aren't incapable of tilling soil?"

Hu Ying burst into loud laughter, stroking his beard: "Exactly, exactly—talent is only wasted when misplaced; there are no surplus officials!"

After his laughter faded, Hu Ying sighed: "Alas, few in this world think as you do. Those who become surplus officials are not the kind to endure hardship. To place them where their abilities truly lie—they won't go. If they refuse, and their positions are cut, they'll pressure more capable, more suitable individuals to take lower posts. Over time, it's better to simply keep paying them their salaries."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow: "Then what if the imperial court stops paying them?"

Hu Ying looked up at her; their eyes met. In hers he saw determination and resolve; in his, she saw gentle, broad-minded tolerance.

Hu Ying smiled faintly: "Then cut them."

He added: "There are three hundred and sixty trades—officialdom isn't the only path. Beyond the court, many other avenues exist."

Pan Yun's lips curved upward in delight: "I thought so too."

She ate the remaining half of the osmanthus cake.

Hu Ying fetched a teacup and teapot to pour her tea: "Did the State Preceptor come here solely to chat about this?"

He said: "Perhaps you should go east—to the Ministry of Personnel next door?"

Surplus officials are the Ministry of Personnel's concern—what does it have to do with the Ministry of Rites?

After sipping tea, Pan Yun shook her head: "No. I came to consult you on talent cultivation and basic education."

Hu Ying's hand froze mid-pour. He silently set down the teapot, sat back down, and gestured: "State Preceptor, please speak."

Pan Yun was curious: why, after seventy years, was Great Ming's literacy rate still so low?

Talent cultivation cannot be separated from basic education. To obtain the talent she needed, she must raise literacy rates—among both men and women.

In certain fields, girls' creativity is no weaker than boys'; only by nurturing both can the kingdom cultivate the talent it truly needs.

Hu Ying sighed softly: "In the early Hongwu era, the realm was in ruins. The founding emperor wished every subject could read and write and serve the state—so he ordered local governments to open community schools. But financial hardship and official negligence caused most to decay. Only a few survived, because in their founding years, local officials and gentry had jointly purchased permanent land to sustain them."

Pan Yun asked: "How much funding is allocated annually to community schools?" Community schools were educational institutions outside the Imperial Academy and prefectural, prefectural, and county schools—primarily for grassroots literacy, located in counties, townships, and villages.

Hu Ying paused, then shook his head: "Now, the Ministry of Rites allocates its educational funds primarily to the Imperial Academy, prefectural, prefectural, and county schools—all students are exempt from tuition, and stipended students receive grain rations; travel expenses for candidates going to the capital are partially covered by local authorities and partially by the Ministry. The imperial treasury is strained—how could we possibly spare funds for community schools?"

"Even in poverty, education must not suffer. Even if education is poor, basic education must never be neglected," Pan Yun frowned.

From Hu Ying's words, she understood: annual funding flowed from top to bottom.

The Imperial Academy, prefectural, prefectural, and county schools—yet it was precisely the lower-level institutions that needed funding most.

Pan Yun fixed Hu Ying with a determined gaze: "Hu my lord, we must revive basic education—bring back the community schools."

Hu Ying rubbed his temples in pain: "But we have no money~~"

Pan Yun grasped his hand, gazing at him warmly: "I believe you can do it—if you're willing to try, nothing in this world is impossible!"

In another timeline, late Qing's literacy rate was even lower than Great Ming's today; during the War of Resistance and the Liberation War, primary schools and literacy classes…

Even at thirty or forty, the founding emperor could drag people into classrooms to become literate—and in the process, they learned countless practical skills. Why can't we do it now?

Pan Yun shook Hu Ying's hand: "Where there's a will, there's a way!"

Hu Ying looked at his hand in hers, then at Pan Yun's bright eyes, and smiled: "State Preceptor, why not first resolve the surplus officials issue with the Ministry of Personnel?"

Pan Yun winked at him: "Isn't that a good idea? The two problems can be solved together."

Hu Ying's smile slowly faded, his expression growing serious.

The two spoke in secret for a long time; only when the orange sunset bathed the walls did Pan Yun finally leave the office.

Hu Ying sat motionless in his chair until dusk fell, the room darkened, and silence blanketed the outside—only then did he stir his stiff body and rise slowly.

Hu Ying stepped out of the office, gazing at the empty Ministry of Rites, and shook his head with a wry laugh: "Old, old—I've grown so dull to the passage of time?"

He turned, pulled shut the creaking door, locked it, then walked out with his hands behind his back.

The palace corridors were empty too; only distant guards turned their heads at the sound, saw it was someone from the Ministry of Rites, and looked away again.

Hu Ying, however, stared deeply at the distant palace gate. After a long while, he turned away, murmuring: "Still a youth… Youth is good~~"

On the twelfth day of the eighth month of JingTai's first year, the Grand Audience was held. Minister of Rites Hu Ying submitted a memorial urging the revival of community schools, listing their importance in enlightening the people and cultivating talent, and requesting increased imperial support.

Almost immediately after he finished speaking, Minister of Revenue Chen Xun opposed him outright—his reason was simple: the imperial treasury has no money.

Whoever proposed anything now, he'd say the same thing: no money. His greatest hope was that everyone would suggest policies to increase revenue and cut waste—not keep demanding to drain the treasury further.