[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming":3,"chapter-the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-976":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Unorthodox Sword of Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338181,4570,"Chapter 976: Heading Toward a Virtuous Ruler","the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-976",976,"\u003Cp>Chen Xun rolled up his sleeves, determined to make all the departments under the Ministry of Public Works prosperous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he wouldn’t work for free, so he spent the night drafting a memorial to formally establish cooperation between the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Public Works.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ministry of Public Works provides the technology; the Ministry of Revenue handles operations. This achievement, the Ministry of Revenue must take at least half the credit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Cheng had little appetite for power, but the Ministry of Public Works had other officials besides Hu Cheng and the artisans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Right Minister of Public Works was no technical expert; upon hearing this, he pounded his chest and stamped his feet: “Your Excellency, if you’re not good at operations, don’t you have me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Cheng: “Perfect. Then you handle the negotiations with the Ministry of Revenue. I entrust this cooperation to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Right Minister of Public Works: “...Your Excellency, what I mean is, this matter can be handled entirely by the Ministry of Public Works. If we lack manpower, we can hire more. It’s hard to find three-legged people in the world, but there are plenty of talented, operationally skilled men.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Cheng: “How much energy would it take to assemble such people? The Ministry of Revenue has experience in this, and they already have the personnel. Why not cooperate with them? After all, any profits earned must still go into the state treasury.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Foolish, foolish,” said the Right Minister of Public Works. “Money in our own hands is not the same as money in the state treasury. If the profits stay with the Ministry of Public Works, you and the artisans can conduct any research you wish, buy any materials, build any furnaces—you decide everything, submit your own reports, approve your own requests. But once the money enters the state treasury, retrieving it becomes extremely difficult!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Cheng blinked, puzzled: “But aren’t we doing all this precisely to earn money for the state treasury, to strengthen the nation and enrich the people?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Right Minister of Public Works fell silent for a long while before replying: “Money kept in the Ministry of Public Works can also strengthen the nation and enrich the people. After covering our own expenses, how much we give to the state treasury is still entirely up to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Cheng smiled faintly: “You’re right—but if all six ministries think this way and act independently, the Great Ming will be on the brink of collapse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Right Minister of Public Works knew further argument was useless; it would only make him appear greedy and self-serving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still,” Hu Cheng said, “you’ve given me a useful reminder. When the Ministry of Revenue’s people arrive, make sure you negotiate with them: at least twenty percent of annual profits must be retained for research. Whether it’s the steel mill or any other workshop, research must continue—and research costs money.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Right Minister of Public Works’s eyes lit up, and he eagerly agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu had also seen Pan Yun’s plan sheet—they called it the Shu Yao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He too felt his heart surge with excitement, unable to help asking: “These things have never existed in the world. How did the National Teacher know about them? And how did you draw blueprints for them all?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun said: “I saw them in the future.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu’s eyes gleamed: “The future?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun deceived him: “Yes. Though the Great Ming is currently the world’s strongest nation, last year’s defeat in the northern campaign broke my heart.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu lowered his head, equally sorrowful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Moreover, during these past two years traveling to Japan, I’ve seen much on the sea. Only then did I realize that beyond the Great Ming lies a vast world. In the west, there are two nations called Spain and Portugal—they’ve long sought to come east, and have heavily invested in maritime development. Your Majesty, there is gold on the sea. Look at our quarterly maritime tax revenues and the silver we retrieve from Japan. I have a premonition: if we continue the maritime ban, yesterday’s pain from the Oirats will recur. Perhaps because I thought of it daily, one day my spirit left my body and traveled to the future.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu listened, stunned, and believed him. He pressed: “What did you see in the future?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun sighed: “I only caught a fleeting glimpse—I arrived in a place filled with books. I know very little, but even that little reveals a glimpse of the truth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun said: “In the future, the people’s physical condition will be vastly superior. Average life expectancy will reach seventy, and the elderly will live to one hundred and four.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu’s eyes sparkled again and again as he asked: “How did future generations achieve this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun: “With sufficient resources—people eat well, dress warmly, children receive education, the elderly are cared for, the sick are treated—and combined with cultivation to strengthen the body, this is possible.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu murmured: “Children receive education, the elderly are cared for, the sick are treated—three short phrases, seemingly simple, yet how immensely difficult. Just ensuring everyone eats enough is as hard as climbing to heaven.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu was no emperor who asked why the poor didn’t eat meat. Imperial edicts struggled to reach the countryside, and the Great Ming was so vast. To ensure every single person had enough to eat weighed on his heart like a mountain of Tai Shan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Pan Yun’s eyes gleamed as she gripped his hand, pressing gently: “Your Majesty, do you lack confidence in yourself?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu looked up at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun looked at him firmly: “I believe you can. A ruler with virtue gathers virtuous men; a wise ruler gathers talented, ambitious ministers. And Your Majesty possesses both virtue and wisdom—I believe you can!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu clenched his fists, his gaze bright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike in another timeline, Zhu Qiyu here was righteous and legitimate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qizhen died before Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne; Zhu Qiyu’s succession was a heroic rescue, a burden borne in silence, a fulfillment of filial piety and fraternal duty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In another timeline, Zhu Qiyu, out of jealousy and fear, treated his elder brother cruelly, sparking doubts among courtiers and the public about his moral character.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the power struggles of some individuals pushed events toward an even worse direction, making many of his intended reforms nearly impossible to implement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But here, as long as Zhu Qiyu maintains his current resolve and clarity, the ministers gathering around him will be far more virtuous and capable than corrupt ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Yong knew this. Yu Qian understood it too. Whether it was the emperor’s favorite, Pan Yun; the new noble, Yu Qian; or the old minister, Hu Yong—everyone was pushing the emperor in the same direction. As long as he didn’t turn away himself, he would keep moving forward on that path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Qiyu made the final decision: he approved the memorial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Yu Qian and the others, he chose not to make it public, but locked it away, occasionally taking it out to review.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next day, Chen Xun formally submitted his proposal for Ministry of Revenue–Ministry of Public Works cooperation. The officials were still bewildered when the emperor approved his request.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Neither the Ministry of Revenue nor the Ministry of Public Works objected; the Grand Secretariat raised no opposition. The remaining officials, though confused, said nothing. But as soon as court ended, they surrounded Hu Cheng and Chen Xun: “What are you two up to?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hu Cheng and Chen Xun spoke in unison: “The state treasury is short on funds—we must do this. Otherwise, the Ministry of War wants to expand the navy and even split off a separate ocean fleet. The Ministry of Public Works doesn’t just want to dredge the Yellow River—it wants to dredge the Huai River and the Grand Canal too. The Ministry of Rites wants to open community schools so all school-age children can attend for free. What about your Ministry of Personnel? How much do you spend annually on external inspections? Just the costs of posthumous honors alone are substantial. And don’t even get me started on our Ministry of Revenue—do you know the actual population and cultivated land of the Great Ming today?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Reports go from the li to the county, the county to the prefecture, the prefecture to our Ministry of Revenue—five layers in all. In reality, each layer strips away more. Do you think only money gets stripped away?” Chen Xun said. “Wrong! People and land are stripped first!” (End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1433,"2026-06-20T22:04:01.137Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","48c2b042cea42841ffce15d91271b76ec2044229005bef7136b815e696d2b23d","the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-977","the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-975",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-cover.jpg"]