I'm really not doing business

Chapter 759: More Professional Tax Inspectors

The news of the Ming Dynasty's great victories in Seoul and Incheon had long been reported back to the capital. Everyone in the capital reacted calmly to the fact that Qi Jiguang led the Beijing camp to another victory, thinking it was natural.

As soon as Qi Shuai makes a move, we will know whether it is successful or not.

However, because there was no news in the imperial gazette, the people of the Ming Dynasty still mainly relied on rumors.

Among the rumors, the most outrageous one is that Qi Jiguang displayed his supernatural power, revealed his thousand-foot-tall true body, controlled the clouds and rain, and caused the wind and waves to flood Incheon three times, drowning countless Japanese pirates. The pirate chieftain transformed himself into the Yamata no Orochi and tried to stop them, but Qi Jiguang's thousand-foot-tall golden body chopped off three of his heads, and the Yamata no Orochi fled in fear.

Even the Ministry of Rites was helpless about this kind of strange story. In strange stories, the beginning is right, the middle is outrageous, and the ending is right again.

Everyone was waiting for news from the court gazette, and the court gazette was waiting for the emperor's edict, and the emperor was waiting for battle reports from the front line.

Finally, on August 15, the 14th year of the Wanli reign, the emperor received battle reports from the front line.

"Report!" The imperial guards hurriedly ran into the imperial study in Tonghe Palace and presented the wax-sealed letter tube to the emperor.

Zhu Yijun took the letter box from Feng Bao and opened it immediately. He looked at the good news and smiled brightly.

"After Mao Li Terumoto fled, Chen Lin led the navy to attack Incheon from Yuewei Island. The Hwarang Hyuk only resisted for three hours before choosing to surrender in Kaesong. After receiving the battle report from Incheon, General Qi immediately made adjustments and besieged 30,000 Japanese pirates including Toda Katsutaka in Masan Pavilion. He annihilated them all, killing 3,400 Japanese pirates and capturing more than 21,000!"

"Toda Katsutaka was captured alive under the car!"

"A huge riot broke out in Seoul. The Japanese pirates killed Hwarang, but Hwarang refused to sit still and wait for death, so they started a counterattack. The two sides fought in Seoul, and the casualties were unknown. However, Hashiba Hideyoshi and others led the Japanese pirates to flee to Chungju."

"The Ming Dynasty has recovered Seoul and Inchon! Great! There will be a huge reward!"

Toda Katsutaka was the Japanese daimyo who led the troops in this battle. He was captured alive by the Ming army and had been sent to Tianjin Prefecture in chains. He would soon be sent to the capital, but was thrown into the dismemberment institute. This was Toda Katsutaka's fate.

The battle of Seoul broke out. Not long after the Japanese pirates and the Hwarang Association started fighting, the entire Seoul was engulfed in flames. When the Ming army arrived, only ruins were left.

"Your Majesty, all five palaces in Seoul were burned down by the Japanese pirates." Feng Bao whispered, "Even the tomb of the former Joseon king was dug up. When the Ming army arrived, even the coffin was opened, and the burial objects were looted by the Japanese pirates."

The victory reports of Qi Jiguang and Liang Menglong were mainly concentrated on the battlefield, while Li Yougong wandered around to see if there was anything new to tell His Majesty. Li Yougong actually saw that the Korean royal tombs near Seoul, from the sacred road, arrow gates, pavilions, silk furnaces, to tombs were all destroyed.

Zhu Yijun frowned and asked, "Does Li Cheng know that their ancestral tomb was dug up by the Japanese pirates?"

Feng Bao hurriedly said: "From the confession of the Japanese spies captured at the front line, Li Cheng knew everything clearly, and even expressed his anger to his subordinates, saying that he would be ungentlemanly if he did not take revenge."

Zhu Yijun took a deep breath and said sternly: "Then Li Sun is going to work with the Japanese pirates to burn the grain, fodder and gunpowder that I sent to Korea? It is he, Li Sun, whose ancestral grave is dug up, not me!"

"Li Sun said that I forced him to do so. I deposed him from the throne and wanted to abolish the country. Did I really leave him no way out? If I didn't allow him to come, wouldn't he have submitted a petition himself to request submission? Why did I have to ask for it myself?"

"There are many retro-styled people in the Ming Dynasty. They like to be accommodating to foreigners. For the sake of destroying the Japanese, I can reluctantly agree to it. Did he do it? No, he didn't even think about submitting to the Ming Dynasty. He wanted to team up with the Japanese pirates. Now he was killed by Yi Sun-sin. He deserves it!"

In the battle of Seoul and Incheon, the Ming Dynasty solved two problems. The main problem was the Japanese pirates. Seoul fell into the hands of the Japanese pirates, and the front line had been unable to make any progress. There was constant talk of it.

The secondary trouble is the trouble of the Korean royal family. It is not easy for the Ming Dynasty to solve this trouble. Zhang Juzheng has called for the Korean royal family to be drowned more than once, but drowning still has consequences.

The royal family of Joseon and both the civil and military officials were all killed by Yi Sun-sin. In a physical sense, all the nobles were trampled to death in the streets. If Yi Sun-sin wanted to kill Yi Sun, he had to kill all of these civil and military officials, leaving no one alive, because they were a community of interests. This is treason, and treason is violence, not playing house.

Li Sun refused to surrender, and now he is doomed to die.

"Your Majesty, Yi Sun knows very well that once he submits the petition for surrender and Your Majesty agrees, he will no longer be the King of Joseon. Even if he wants to, the civil and military officials will not allow him to do so." Feng Bao has his own opinion on this issue.

Lee Sun was not His Majesty. Lee Sun had never been in control of the government. He was just a puppet, even until the last moment of his life.

Zhu Yijun said with emotion: "It's such a pity!"

"Issue an imperial decree in Uiju. The court has verified the true identity of Yi Sun. Both the civil and military officials should be buried on the spot. Also, issue a stern decree to reprimand Yi Sun-sin! No matter how big the conflict is, the king cannot be killed. Look how undignified this matter is. Demote him. He must be demoted! Just demote him to the garrison of Uiju and make him General Sinmu. Let him make amends for his crime and make meritorious contributions."

Feng Bao counted on his fingers and whispered, "This is a promotion."

The garrison commander of Yizhou was a fifth-rank official, but General Xinwu was a fourth-rank official, which was roughly the same as a deputy lieutenant general in the army. The biggest problem here was that Yi Sun-sin changed from a military officer of Korea to a military officer of the Ming Dynasty.

Is this really a punishment?
"When I say demote, I mean demote." Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao and said with certainty, "Yi Sun-sin was originally the third-rank governor of North Hamgyong Province, but now he is only the garrison commander of Yizhou. Do you think this is a demote?"

"Yes, yes, I obey your command." Feng Bao bowed his head and accepted the order. In fact, there were two different voices in the Ming Dynasty court regarding the killing of Lee Sun-sin. One was that Lee Sun-sin should be executed for committing treason, and the other was that Lee Sun-sin should be rewarded for his contribution in suppressing the rebellion.

It is not true that he committed insubordination, because the Ming Emperor had already clearly abolished the king, the country, and the feudal system. So Lee Sun's identity was that of a criminal under surveillance. If you say he committed insubordination, doesn't that mean that the emperor's edict was bullshit?
But the reality is that we also have to take into account that Lee Sun was indeed the King of Joseon. This time, in order to eliminate future troubles, Lee Sun-sin did not allow any members of the royal family or the civil and military classes to survive. The emperor's decision was to smooth things over. Lee Sun-sin was demoted from a Joseon official to a Ming official, which was a demotion in the open but a promotion in secret, and it was all reasonable.

Moreover, those Korean soldiers who followed Lee Sun-sin to fight for their lives also followed Lee Sun-sin to become the Ming army. This was the reward given by the Ming Emperor. For Lee Sun-sin and his troops, this was a great gift from heaven.

These days, it is as difficult as ascending to heaven to become a member of the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince De invites you to go to the Gewuyuan, as there is an auspicious sign to be presented." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty of the itinerary. It was time for His Majesty's favorite auspicious sign. The Gewuyuan did not hide anything this time. It was the auspicious sign of the successful test run of the Ming Dynasty's 72-horsepower iron horse.

Zhu Yijun held a red satin memorial and said solemnly, "I think my uncle is fooling me. I remember that we only mass-produced 48-horsepower iron horses at the end of last year. Today, we have 72. It's only been half a year. Am I such a boastful person?"

The memorials covered with red satin were special memorials for auspicious signs. This time, the Institute of Gewu gave the emperor a great surprise. The speed of horsepower increase exceeded Zhang Juzheng's proposal of doubling it in one year, and it doubled in just half a year.

Feng Bao hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the maximum horsepower of this iron horse is 96, but it cannot be maintained for a long time, so the lowest horsepower was reported to you. The middle horsepower is 84. Your Highness Prince De is already very conservative."

Zhu Yijun felt that Prince De was trying to please him and exaggerate, just like how Zhao Gao deceived Hu Hai by calling a deer a horse.

But Feng Bao was very sure that King De was very conservative and set maximum, minimum and intermediate horsepower for the iron horses. The intermediate horsepower was used as the standard and the minimum horsepower was reported to the king.

Maximum horsepower will waste the life of the iron horse. Metal is also susceptible to fatigue. Running at maximum horsepower all the time can easily cause problems. Neither maximum nor minimum is objective. Only the power that is output stably throughout the life of the iron horse can be used to measure the standard.

"Then let's go and take a look." Zhu Yijun stood up and went to take a look if he didn't believe it.

Prince De Zhu Zaiyu, Doctor of Gewu Huang Zifu, Li Kaifang, Jiao Hong, Zhang Siwen and others had been waiting in front of the Gewu Academy for a long time. When they saw His Majesty's procession, they hurried to greet him.

"Long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty." Zhu Zaiyu came with more than 107 doctors of the Imperial Academy of Inquiry to pay their respects. There were doctors of the Imperial Academy of Inquiry in the Ming Dynasty. These -plus doctors were from the Iron Horse project, and they were responsible for the acceptance of the horsepower.

"No need to be polite." Zhu Yijun came here on foot. Tonghe Palace and Gewuyuan were both in the Forbidden Garden, and it was less than five minutes' walk away. He saw a young man's face and smiled.

In the 14th year of Wanli, Xu Guangqi took part in the imperial examination and successfully passed the examination and became a Jinshi. At the same time, he was also admitted to the Academy of Gewu and became a Doctor of Gewu.

"Dr. Xu, where is Galileo now?" Zhu Yijun asked about Galileo, a talented foreigner who had met the emperor.

Xu Guangqi bowed his head and said, "Galileo has gone to Fujian to vaccinate the people of Fujian. He will come to Beijing to take the exam for the Royal Institute of Technology at the beginning of next year."

There are two ways to enter the Gewuyuan. Only those who pass the imperial examination and are among the top 50 in mathematics are eligible to take the Gewuyuan examination, just like the Hanlin Academy recruiting Hanlin. In the fifth year of Wanli, the emperor specially added 50 quotas of Jinshi for the purpose of selecting talents for the Gewuyuan.

If these fifty Jinshi candidates fail to be admitted to the Academy of Gewu, they can also serve as academicians at the Polytechnic Institute.

Another way is to enter the Royal Institute of Technology. After graduation, you can stay in the institute or be admitted to the Academy of Sciences.

The relationship between the Gewu Academy and the Royal Institute of Technology is somewhat similar to that between the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College, especially after the students of the Institute of Technology also had the title of scholar, it became even more similar.

Galileo was a foreigner, so naturally he could not pass the imperial examination and could only go through the route of the Institute of Technology and the Academy of Sciences.

When Zhu Yijun walked into the Gewu Academy, he saw two iron horses that had been completed and assembled. They were two feet and one foot long, nine feet and three inches wide, and seven feet and three inches high. They were also huge machines. The outer covering of one iron horse had been completely removed to make it easier for His Majesty to view the internal structure. The other iron horse was already being preheated in preparation for a test run.

Zhu Zaiyu introduced the various parts of the iron horse bit by bit, then took the emperor to a long table and said, "Your Majesty, this is a model made by the Institute of Gewu. Although it is small, it also has three horsepower of power."

There is a model on the table, but it cannot be considered a model. It is another direction of the Gewuyuan's research on iron horses, which is to reduce weight and miniaturize them. If they are too heavy, they will be inconvenient to transport and will waste a lot of raw materials. Miniaturization is to make the steam engine have more applications.

It was a miracle that it went from half a room to the size of a large desk and had three horsepower.

"It is expected that this three-horsepower iron horse will be able to be truly mass-produced the year after next." Zhu Zaiyu explained that this thing is still within the scope of craftsmen's exquisite craftsmanship, similar to the story of the Walnut Boat, where a lifelike boat is carved out of a walnut. Mass production is still a bit difficult, but the possibility of mass production can already be seen.

"Let's test drive it." Zhu Yijun studied the new model sent by the Academy of Gewu and liked it very much. There was only one of this thing, and he would give it to Zhu Yiliu and Zhu Changzhi after he had played with it enough. The main purpose today was to verify the iron horse with 72 horsepower.

This huge iron horse is expected to be put into mass production by the end of the year, and Wang Chonggu's ambition for fully mechanical production of the official woolen factory is based on this more powerful iron horse.

Zhu Yijun's viewing platform was quite far away, and strong men placed iron blocks weighing 50 kilograms each on a steel tray.

Zhu Yijun randomly picked up two iron blocks and lifted them. They were indeed 50 jin each, and each block had to be weighed. "The total weight is 10,800 jin of counterweights." Zhu Zaiyu asked His Majesty to inspect the counterweights and then started the test run.

Although he had witnessed dozens of iron horse test runs, Zhu Yijun still felt extremely shocked. The bellows of the furnace increased the wind power, the ignited coal in the furnace turned red, and the water in the boiler began to boil, but the high-pressure valve held back the steam until the steam pushed open the high-pressure valve, allowing the high-pressure and high-temperature steam to enter the pipeline.

Under the regulation of the centrifugal flyball governor, steam enters the cylinder, pushing the reciprocating piston and valve stem in the bellows structure, moving back and forth quickly from slow to fast, while the push rod is connected to the flywheel and rotates rapidly.

As the whistle suddenly sounded, the flywheel pulled the 10,800-jin counterweight and began to rise. Within half a minute, it rose to a height of about ten feet and stopped. The experiment was completed, and then the counterweight slowly fell down, repeating the cycle.

The entire test run had to be carried out thirty times in total, and each of these thirty times took about half an hour. Zhu Yijun's expression became more and more relaxed, and the test run of the 72-horsepower iron horse was successful.

When the weighted iron block fell to the ground for the 30th time, Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Very good, there will be rewards for every weight, and everyone in the Institute of Gewu will receive a lucky box."

There were more than 30 craftsmen working on the Iron Horse project. After the 72-horsepower Iron Horse passed the acceptance, everyone from the Doctor of Gewu to the craftsmen received set rewards. Even the most ordinary craftsmen could receive 100 silver coins, and the Doctor of Gewu, who was in charge of the design, received 500 silver coins.

After the iron horse is authorized to various government factories for production, there will be a steady stream of royalties and dividends.

Everyone in the Gewuyuan received a reward, which was an extra reward. Even if they did not participate in the Iron Horse project, everyone received an extra reward. There was fifty silver coins in the Baishiji box, which was much more than the two silver coins in the Dajiji box given by the emperor when he had a child. Even the officials of the Ministry of Rites who were in charge of administration received a share.

Zhu Yijun has not invested in the Academy of Gewu for a long time, and the Academy has been able to balance its own income and expenditure.

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"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace." Zhu Zaiyu, together with the Doctors of the Academy of Gewu, and the Minister of Rites Shen Li, together with the officials of the Ministry of Rites, expressed their gratitude.

"Uncle, I'm quite curious. It's only been half a year, and the horsepower has increased from 48 to 96?" Zhu Yijun asked his doubts in joy. It was really too fast.

"Your Majesty, when digging a well, water will gush out the moment it is hit. We are Tiema Manufacturing. We have been digging the soil before, and now we have finally dug a well, so the well gush out. We have solved some problems one after another over the years. For example, we add waste steam into the boiler cycle, release it after cooling, and so on." Zhu Zaiyu explained with a smile.

In recent years, in addition to the steam condensation cycle to reduce steam heat loss, there have been improvements in the transmission device. The parallelogram connecting rod has greatly broadened the application range of the steam engine; the centrifugal ball governor has controlled the entire working condition; the emergence of boring machines has reduced the smoothness and circular runout difference inside the cylinder; the steam valve counterweight has controlled the pressure, and so on.

Hence the rapid improvement.

Zhu Zaiyu continued, "Specifically for this time, it is the improvement of materials. The weight of the 72-horsepower iron horse is 1,300 kilograms lighter than the 48-horsepower iron horse."

Zhu Zaiyu once said to the emperor that the basis of everything is materials, and only when there is a huge breakthrough in materials can technology be realized.

Zhu Zaiyu, the president of the Academy of Sciences, had a project called steam turbine. Even though the design was perfect enough, the steam turbine could not be truly and reliably turned because the basic materials could not be improved.

"Our steel is becoming better because we have changed our thinking." Zhu Zaiyu thought for a moment and said, "Let Li Kaifang explain it."

Zhu Zaiyu did not take credit for the achievement, but instead pushed Li Kaifang out and asked him to explain the changes in the research and development ideas of the Institute of Gewu.

Li Kaifang was scratching his head. He was not good at speaking and it was difficult for him to deal with this situation. He was silent for a long time before he asked someone to bring three bowls and a small ball and said, "This question is a bit complicated to explain. I have three bowls and a ball. We have stipulated that the one who finds the ball will be the winner, Your Majesty."

"I put this little ball in the bowl."

Li Kaifang blocked the emperor's view and changed the position of the bowls, saying, "Your Majesty, please choose a bowl."

"This." Zhu Yijun pointed to a bowl on the far left.

Li Kaifang reached out and opened the bowl on the far right and said, "Your Majesty, I have eliminated a wrong answer for you. Would you like to change the bowl?"

"What difference does it make whether we change the bowl or not? Since it's not in the third bowl, it must be in the first two bowls. Aren't the probabilities the same whether we change it or not?" Feng Bao asked puzzledly.

"No, no, I'll change." Zhu Yijun raised his eyebrows and said with a smile.

"Your Majesty is wise." Li Kaifang opened the middle bowl and said, "The ball is indeed in the middle bowl. This is not a coincidence. After we eliminate one wrong answer, Your Majesty's chance of winning without changing the bowl is only one-third, and the chance of winning with changing the bowl is two-thirds."

Feng Bao was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said, "I cannot understand."

"It's not your fault." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "Not only you, but the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan is also confused. However, what the Doctor of Gewu said is very convincing. Common sense and rules are in conflict."

Three bowls and one ball. When a bowl is selected, excluding one wrong answer, the probability of winning by changing the bowl is twice the probability of not changing the bowl.

"If I don't change, I will choose one out of three. If I change, I will choose one out of two. Naturally, the probability of winning will be greater." Zhu Yijun explained to Feng Bao very confidently. The logic is actually very simple. It is a typical three-door problem.

Feng Bao looked at Shen Li, and when he saw that Shen Li also had a confused look on his face, he smiled with relief. The smartest scholar in the Ming Dynasty didn't understand, so wasn't it natural that he, Feng Bao, didn't understand?

"Your Majesty, I have a formula to describe this phenomenon. This formula includes prior probability, conditions, and posterior probability." Li Kaifang was so excited that he couldn't express it in words when he saw that His Majesty could understand it!
When he deduced this formula, he didn't believe it himself. Later, after repeated verification, he confirmed that it was indeed true. Then he told it to the doctors of the Five Classics, and they all thought Li Kaifang was crazy.

But as this formula was constantly verified, everyone finally accepted this counterintuitive but correct formula.

When Li Kaifang was explaining the formula, Zhu Yijun listened with great interest, while Shen Li, Feng Bao, Zhang Hong and others looked confused. Feng Bao even doubted whether His Majesty had really understood it.

Of course Zhu Yijun understood. This is conditional probability theory, which uses prior probability and likelihood function to calculate posterior probability. The likelihood function is actually the condition that Li Kaifang mentioned, the probability of phenomenon B occurring under condition A. The posterior probability is used to make the best choice.

Sometimes, mathematics is indeed difficult to understand.

Li Kaifang said excitedly: "According to the formula, we have changed our thinking. When we don't know a certain result, we first estimate a number subjectively, and then use the experimental results to continuously refine the estimated value, and finally get the result."

"Dr. Gewu used this method to perfect materials science. When we don't know how much ingredients to add to get enough hardness and flexibility, we just estimate a value, practice it, and use the result to reduce the error."

“In short, the more conditions that support a phenomenon occur, the more likely it is that the phenomenon will hold.”

"Huh." Zhu Yijun raised his eyebrows and said, "I have thought of the application scenario of this formula, and I can explain this formula through this application scenario!"

Zhu Yijun clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention, and then continued: "I will use this formula for tax collection."

"When our tax inspectors are handling cases, the most difficult part is never checking the accounts, but identifying the target. Who is the scum who refuses to pay taxes? This is the most pressing issue. This screening process will definitely create false cases and miscarriages of justice, causing panic among the people."

"At first glance, all the targets of the inspection are law-abiding and loyal. So how do we find these scums among such a huge crowd?"

"As long as we find out the common points of these tax evaders and list them as conditions, the more common points or conditions that support the phenomenon of tax evasion, the greater the possibility that this guy will evade taxes!"

Li Kaifang clenched his fist and said with great certainty: "Your Majesty, this is what I mean!"

"Dr. Li, you see, the Tax Inspection Office has been established for more than ten years, and there are many backlogs of files. I only need to pick out the keywords of these files and use them as conditions for screening. Can't I greatly reduce the scope of tax inspection?" Zhu Yijun said excitedly.

"From a mathematical point of view, that's the case," Li Kaifang said with great confidence.

Zhu Zaiyu pulled the extremely excited Li Kaifang and told him to shut up quickly. The Five Classics Doctors were not involved in politics. This was the guarantee of their transcendent status and the reason why the officials in the court turned a blind eye and allowed the Institute of Gewu to exist. Li Kaifang had crossed the line.

But all things are universally connected, and since the doctors of the Academy of Gewu lived in the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for them to avoid politics.

The uncle was very sure that the emperor understood, because the emperor understood the formula, and even Feng Bao and Shen Li understood it. Zhu Zaiyu said with a complicated expression: "Your Majesty, this is a formula, which is mainly used for research in the Institute of Gewu, such as material proportions, not for taxation."

"The Tax Inspection Office is already powerful enough. I have heard about the prestige of the Tax Inspection Office when I was in the Institute of Gewu."

"Uncle, rest assured. This is government affairs and has nothing to do with the Institute of Gewu."

"I will secretly instruct the Tax Inspection Office to reduce the possibility of this matter being known to outsiders. The tax inspection cavalry must also be professional. This formula is also very useful for auditing accounts." Zhu Yijun said with a smile. He stood in front to block the fire. If the fire did not kill him, it would not burn the Institute of Gewu.

The more professional the tax inspectors are, the higher the accuracy of their case handling and the greater their authority, the more people will voluntarily pay taxes, and the smaller the scope of tax inspection will be. In theory, if development continues, taxes can be collected even without tax inspection, but that is only theory.

The 13,000-strong tax inspectorate is more professional and can effectively reduce the occurrence of redundancy and maintain long-term peace and stability in the tax inspection office.

Zhu Yijun quickly ordered someone to screen all the accumulated files for tax evasion conditions, and soon the seven most frequently appearing labels were placed in front of Zhu Yijun's desk.

"Your Majesty, I have an idea." Feng Bao and Zhang Hong looked at each other, and Zhang Hong took a step forward and said.

"Oh? Go ahead." Zhu Yijun said with a smile as he looked at the seven labels in front of him.

Zhang Hong bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, everything is changing. Cases from the past ten years may no longer be of reference value to today's cases. It would be better to select only three years of case files for screening. The conditions selected will be more accurate."

Zhu Yijun's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Yes! That makes sense! Review the files every three years, and select the conditions that are more suitable!"

(End of this chapter)