Chapter 977

"And we can't obtain accurate data—not just because of layers of exploitation, but because we lack the power to investigate." Chen Xun said: "If people won't speak up, just think about how much paper and ink is spent on every rural inspection—do you know the cost?"

"Senior Grand Secretary Yu always says the Great Ming's bureaucracy is bloated, and he's not wrong—in the middle and upper levels, the redundancy is severe. Ask the Minister of Personnel about this!"

Cao Nai, standing outside the crowd with his ears pricked up, hadn't expected the fire to turn on him; he snapped: "Ask me? How long have I even been Minister of Personnel?"

He paused, then added: "But Minister Chen is right—the grassroots officials are insufficient, yet the middle and upper levels are severely bloated."

Chen Xun spread his hands: "We don't even have enough paper to record population and landholdings. Many poor counties, to save on paper and ink, go two or three years without conducting rural inspections, merely estimating figures and reporting upward each year. The prefectures don't check, and our Ministry of Revenue can't audit them—so they slip through. When we do find anomalies, we must send people down to investigate—how much does one official mission cost?"

"This isn't just the Ministry of Revenue's problem—it's also the Ministry of Personnel's," said a Censor from the Censorate sternly. "Evaluating officials is the Ministry of Personnel's duty."

"Regardless of which ministry, doing anything requires spending money—and now the state treasury is empty. That's why Senior Grand Secretary Yu wants to survey land and reorganize the bureaucracy, uncover hidden landholdings, and increase land taxes," Chen Xun said. "But doing all this with land surveys alone isn't enough. And even if we survey this year, the process of going down and reporting back takes time. After consulting with the Minister of Works, I learned that thanks to the State Mentor's strong support, the Ministry of Works has recently developed many useful devices—these can be deployed to generate revenue for the state."

Hu Cheng nodded promptly: "The Ministry of Works provides the technology, the Ministry of Revenue manages it—isn't that a triple win?"

The officials: "Triple win?"

Hu Cheng: "When the Ministry of Works' technology is used, the state treasury gains revenue, and the common people benefit."

Hu Ying stroked his beard and smiled: "According to the Minister of Revenue's own words, it's not a triple win—it's a septuple win! Hahaha—"

Everyone realized it was true and burst into laughter.

But once they left the palace, at least half the officials no longer wore genuine smiles.

"Is it really this good? Could the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Works be colluding to embezzle state funds?"

"Then the Censorate must keep a close eye on them."

"I heard yesterday the State Mentor summoned several Ministers to the Ministry of Works, avoiding Your Majesty—isn't that forming cliques for personal gain?"

"Shh—don't say that! Your Majesty now listens to the State Mentor without question."

"Don't talk nonsense. I think the State Mentor is solely focused on crafting devices and rarely involves himself in state affairs."

Everyone fell silent the moment they saw Wang Hong.

Wang Hong frowned: "Why are you all quiet now?"

"We can't talk sense to a fool. If the State Mentor truly doesn't meddle in state affairs, why gather several Ministers together?"

"Stop arguing—aren't you curious what the Ministry of Works' new device is? How will they make money? How much do they estimate they'll earn?"

"Right! Minister Chen didn't mention it in his memorial!"

"And even Your Majesty didn't ask…"

Despite the officials' suspicion and uncertainty, the cooperation between the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works began.

In February and March, Yu Qian submitted a memorial to abolish several tax checkpoints, and as a result, dismissed a number of redundant personnel tied to those checkpoints.

Now, with the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Works cooperating, they needed manpower.

Hu Cheng carefully noted Pan Yun's plan, then, after studying her blueprints with several trusted master craftsmen, decided they could start with the steel mill and the textile mill.

Chen Xun was astonished: "Two?"

"Yes, two," Hu Cheng said. "According to the State Mentor's division, one is heavy industry, the other is light industry."

"Why build a textile workshop? Didn't your Ministry of Works already open branches nationwide and publish new spinning and weaving machine blueprints?" Chen Xun said. "I think the civilian textile workshops are sufficient—plus your Ministry's weaving bureaus in Jiangnan. There's absolutely no need to compete with the people in this area."

Hu Cheng said: "The main purpose of this textile mill isn't textile production—it's researching and manufacturing textile machines."

Hu Cheng had long wanted to do this. He said: "The experimental site on the city outskirts is too small and cluttered with random junk. Now that the Ministry of Revenue is joining, everything must be properly categorized."

"The textile mill, besides making spinning and weaving machines, can also research and manufacture related machinery. From now on, all spinning and weaving machines across the empire can be ordered and shipped from this mill."

Chen Xun: "Then what about your Ministry's branches nationwide…?"

Hu Cheng waved dismissively: "They serve different purposes. Do you think the blueprints we've published are the most advanced?"

He said: "The new machines released to the public are first-generation. The one Empress used at her suburban textile workshop originally was first-generation. The machines we've added since then already use third-generation technology. The ones we've now developed are fifth-generation—spinning output and quality are twelve percent higher than fourth-generation. And the fifth-generation weaving machines can even produce simple brocade patterns."

Chen Xun stared at him, mouth agape, then finally asked: "Why not release the latest version?"

Hu Cheng snapped: "Do you think our craftsmen can innovate and improve constantly? If we published everything the moment we made it, what would we do when we can't produce anything newer later?"

Chen Xun stared at him in silence: "I didn't know your Ministry of Works had such cunning."

"Don't act like your Ministry of Revenue is innocent. How do you think when you routinely suppress funding requests from other ministries?"

Chen Xun said nothing.

Hu Cheng said: "Moreover, rapid technological turnover isn't necessarily good."

Chen Xun: "Hm?"

"Imagine you're a merchant. You just spent a fortune buying ten new spinning machines, and your female workers have barely mastered them—then a newer generation appears, at nearly the same price. What would you think?"

Chen Xun: "I'd think the person who recommended this weaving machine was mocking me."

"Exactly. Unease breeds trouble," Hu Cheng said. "And new machines require testing—and that takes time."

"Previously, we could only test at the suburban experimental site. The Ministry of Works spent money buying silk and hemp, and the yarn we produced could be woven into cloth—but what about the cloth we produced?" Hu Cheng said. "We treated it all as waste."

Because Pan Yun was interested in textile machines, technological innovation in textile machinery was fastest from last year to this year, resulting in the greatest amount of discarded cloth.

Hu Cheng lifted his robe to show Chen Xun his trousers: "Look—made from waste cloth."

He pulled at the collar of his inner garment: "This shirt too—and these shoes—are also made from waste cloth."

He sighed: "Now, from me, the Minister of Works, down to the apprentice craftsmen, we all wear nothing but waste cloth—from inside to outside."

Chen Xun: "... Are you showing off?"

"No. I'm trying to tell you these wastes could have become revenue."

This was why he wanted to open the textile mill.

Moreover, this technology is mature—the construction speed will definitely surpass the steel mill.

(End of Chapter)