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The tenth year of the Yonghui era, Luoyang, Environmental Protection Agency.

Zheng Mingyuan is already sixty-two years old, but he is still in good spirits and appears at the yamen every day at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

Ten years later, the UNEP has grown from a fledgling department into a massive organization with over two thousand officials, tens of thousands of technicians, and a presence across the country.

In front of him was a newly compiled "National Environmental Quality Report for the Past Ten Years in Yonghui".

Air quality in major cities such as Luoyang, Chang'an, Chengdu, and Guangzhou has improved compared to the first year of the Yonghui era.

Among the major rivers nationwide, the proportion of heavily polluted sections has decreased from 30% in the first year of the Yonghui era to less than 10%. The Luo River, Wei River, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the Pearl River have all recovered to water quality standards suitable for swimming and fish farming.

Over the past decade, the area of ​​reclaimed mine land has reached 30 million mu (approximately 2 million hectares). What were once barren slag heaps are now covered in green trees and grass. In some areas, ecological agriculture has even been developed, with fruit trees and medicinal herbs planted on the reclaimed land, yielding considerable profits.

Two billion trees have been planted along railways and highways nationwide. A long green corridor has been formed on both sides of the 10,000-mile railway line from Luoyang to Suyab.

In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency did something significant: it pushed the government to enact the Cleaner Production Promotion Law, which mandated that new factories must simultaneously build environmental protection facilities, and that existing factories must upgrade within a specified period. Fines for violations increased annually until closure was imposed.

Over the past decade, a total of 1,200 factories have been shut down due to severe pollution and their refusal to rectify the situation. More than 300 officials have been investigated and punished for environmental violations.

Zheng Mingyuan knew that behind these numbers were countless curses, cries, and even threats. But he also knew that the empire ten years from now would be more habitable than it had been ten years ago.

This is enough.

…………

In the fifteenth year of the Yonghui era, in the Western Regions, at the city of Shule.

Pei Huai-ren stood atop the city wall of Shule, gazing at the bustling crowd below.

Fifteen years ago, he was appointed as the first director of the Ethnic Coordination Department, embarking on a long career of frontier coordination with a decree and a heart full of enthusiasm.

Fifteen years have passed, and he is now sixty-three years old, with a full head of white hair, but still in good spirits. The Ethnic Coordination Department has also grown from a few dozen people to a huge organization with more than three thousand officials stationed throughout the country.

Over the years, he traveled to every corner of the empire: the oases of the Western Regions, the grasslands of the northern deserts, the mountains of the southwest, and the islands of the South Seas. He saw the tears of naturalized people, heard the roars of tributary people, and even had brief exchanges with the "lowly people" in the labor camps—although that was a privilege granted under the strict surveillance of the Imperial City Guard.

Fifteen years have passed, and the changes are obvious.

In the first year of the Yonghui era, the number of naturalized citizens was approximately 650 million. By the fifteenth year of the Yonghui era, the naturalized citizen population had increased to 820 million. The main sources of this growth were: firstly, the promotion of registered citizens from the status of those under the control of the government; secondly, the natural reproduction of naturalized citizens; and thirdly, the promotion of a small number of laborers through special contributions.

Over the course of fifteen years, a total of twelve million former incarcerated citizens successfully gained citizenship. These individuals were mostly "model incarcerated citizens" who had served fifteen years in the Empire, had no criminal record, and were fluent in Mandarin Chinese. After gaining citizenship, they acquired the same rights as naturalized citizens: freedom of movement, freedom of occupation, the ability to purchase land, intermarriage with Chinese (subject to compliance with the new Intermarriage Ordinance), and the right for their children to attend school and receive Chinese-language education.

Among the naturalized citizens, a number of outstanding figures emerged: there were Sogdians who held sixth-rank official positions in the Protectorate of the Western Regions, descendants of Persians who participated in scientific research at the Academy of Natural Sciences, and Turkic merchants who dominated the business world. Although they still could not enter the core of the empire's highest power, at least they had a ladder to climb up.

In the first year of the Yonghui era, the number of people under the control of the imperial court was approximately 380 million. By the fifteenth year of the Yonghui era, the population had decreased to 320 million. The main reason for this reduction was that 12 million of the most outstanding individuals were promoted to naturalized citizens, while several million others were demoted to labor service due to rebellion, crime, or other reasons. Natural population growth was offset by these two factors.

The lives of the incarcerated people have improved somewhat compared to fifteen years ago, but the improvement is limited. They are still confined to the reserves, still unable to migrate freely, still prohibited from intermarrying with the Han Chinese, and still forbidden from possessing weapons. But at least they now have a channel for appeal: commissioners from the Ethnic Coordination Department conduct regular inspections and handle their complaints; and some Han Chinese officials and merchants who oppressed the incarcerated people have indeed been punished.

One of the most important policies promoted by Pei Huai-ren was the implementation of "bilingual education" in the tributary states: all children of tributary states were required to receive education in Chinese while being allowed to retain their native languages. After completing their studies, they could choose to work anywhere within the empire—provided, however, that they renounced their citizenship and became naturalized citizens.

Pei Huai-ren was well aware that when all the children of the "tributary states" could speak Mandarin, write Chinese characters, and identify with imperial values, the so-called "tributary states" would be nothing more than a name.

In the first year of the Yonghui era, the number of laborers was approximately 160 million. By the fifteenth year of the Yonghui era, the laborer population had increased to 180 million. The main sources of this growth were newly added criminals, prisoners of war, and some detainees who had failed in their rebellions.

Over the course of fifteen years, approximately 500,000 laborers were granted official status for "special contributions"—whether it was rescuing people in mines, displaying bravery in frontier battles, or contributing important technological inventions. Fifty thousand is insignificant compared to the total of 180 million. But at least it proved that a path existed—albeit an extremely narrow one.

A more significant change was the "hierarchical" structure within the labor service class. In the fifth year of the Yonghui era, Pei Huai-ren promoted the promulgation of the "Detailed Rules for the Management of Labor Service Camps," dividing the labor service class into three classes:

Superior laborers: Those with good performance and no disciplinary record may engage in technical labor, such as operating machines and maintaining equipment. Living conditions are relatively good, with one day off every seven days, and family members may live in the camp.

Medium-level laborers: Ordinary workers engaged in heavy physical labor such as mining, logging, and road construction. Living conditions were average; they worked five hours a day and were entitled to two days off per month.

Lower-class laborers: violators, rebels, and dangerous elements, engaged in the most arduous labor, such as underground mining and road construction in polar regions. Living conditions were harsh, with nine hours of work per day and no days off.

Labor service members could be promoted year by year based on their work performance. If a senior labor service member performed exceptionally well for three consecutive years, they could apply for a "special contribution assessment," and if they passed, they could be registered as a tributary citizen.

This system did indeed play a role in sowing discord and weakening the enemy. Rebellions and escapes decreased by 70% compared to before the first year of the Yonghui era.

Pei Huai-ren knew that the ultimate solution for the laborers was not through the court's favor, but through the gradual reduction of the empire's demand for labor. When steam engines replaced human labor, and machines replaced manual labor, the laborers would naturally lose their "value." At that point, the court would either let them fend for themselves, or... give them a real way to survive.

But that's a matter for the next Director of the Ethnic Coordination Department.

Luoyang, Petition Office.

Cheng Wenyuan, the director of the petition office, is reviewing a thick file.

Cheng Wenyuan is fifty-eight years old this year. He once served as the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and was known for his integrity and incorruptibility. In the first year of the Yonghui era, Yi Junze personally appointed him as the first director of the Letters and Visits Bureau.

Over the past fifteen years, the petition office has handled a total of 1.2 million appeals of various kinds.

After the petition office verifies the complaint and forwards it to the relevant departments for processing, about 70% of the petitioners receive a satisfactory response—either their cases are retried, corrupt officials are investigated and punished, or their disputes are mediated. The remaining 30% are rejected or archived pending investigation, either due to insufficient evidence, unreasonable demands, or involvement of core imperial interests that make public processing inconvenient.

The greatest function of the Petition Office was not to solve all problems, but to provide everyone with an "outlet." Riots and rebellions on the imperial borders decreased by 60% compared to before the first year of the Yonghui era.

Of that 60% decrease, no one can say for sure how much of the credit goes to the Petition Office. But Cheng Wenyuan knows that at least half of the petitioners left the Petition Office with a relieved expression on their faces.

.........

In the twentieth year of the Yonghui era, in Luoyang, at the Audit Office.

Auditor General Qian Mingli is presiding over the annual "National Fiscal Audit Conference".

The National Audit Office was established in the first year of the Yonghui era, and its first director was Qian Mingli—at that time, he was just a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Revenue's Department of Finance. Twenty years later, he was sixty-two years old, with a full head of white hair, but still in good spirits.

Over the course of twenty years, the National Audit Office audited 300,000 accounts of government departments at all levels, uncovering more than 8,000 cases of corruption, embezzlement, and falsification, involving 300 million taels of silver. More than 4,000 officials were transferred to the Censorate and the Imperial City Guard for investigation. Among them were 17 officials of the second rank or above, and 89 officials of the third rank or above.

These figures earned Qian Mingli countless enemies in officialdom. Some called him a "cruel official," some called him a "lackey," and some secretly threatened to kill him. But he didn't care. He only cared about one thing: every ounce of the empire's money had to be spent openly and transparently.

By the twenty-fifth year of the Yonghui reign, the empire's fiscal revenue had increased to 1.8 billion taels of silver, a 50% increase from the 1.2 billion taels in the first year of the Yonghui reign. But Qian Mingli knew that true progress lay not in how much revenue had increased, but in whether every tael of silver was spent wisely.

The biggest reform promoted by the National Audit Office is "budget transparency".

In the tenth year of the Yonghui era, the Audit Office, in conjunction with the Ministry of Revenue, promulgated the "Budget Disclosure Regulations," requiring all government offices above the prefectural level nationwide to publicly disclose their revenue and expenditure accounts for the previous year. These accounts were posted publicly, and anyone could view, verify, and report on them.

This reform was vehemently criticized by some officials as "cutting off one's own limbs" and "giving others a handle to use against one's own people." But Qian Mingli overruled the objections and insisted on pushing it through. His reasoning was simple:
"The empire's money is the blood and sweat of the people. The people have the right to know where their money goes."

Twenty years later, budget transparency has been implemented nationwide. The number of corruption cases has decreased from an average of 300 per year in the first year of the Yonghui era to an average of 50 per year in the twenty-fifth year of the Yonghui era.

Qian Mingli knew that this was not the achievement of the National Audit Office alone. The supervision of the Censorate, the eyes and ears of the Imperial City Guard, the complaints of the Petition Office, and even the media oversight of the newspapers all wove together an impenetrable net.

But he also knew that this network had too many loopholes. Fifty corruption cases each year meant that at least fifty officials were embezzling public funds. Fifty may seem insignificant compared to the hundreds of thousands of bureaucrats. But for the people they had harmed, fifty was a devastating disaster.

…………

Luoyang, Translation Bureau.

Shen Mingyuan, the director of the Translation Bureau, is presiding over a special ceremony.

Thirty years ago, Shen Mingyuan was just a young compiler at the Hanlin Academy. Because of his proficiency in Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic, he was personally appointed by Yi Junze as the first director of the Translation Bureau. Thirty years later, he is sixty-three years old, with a full head of white hair, but still in good spirits.

Over the past thirty years since its establishment, the Translation Bureau has translated and introduced more than 12,000 academic works, covering various fields such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography, medicine, agronomy, philosophy, history, and literature.

These translations come from various ancient civilizations, including Persia, Arabia, and India; from the more distant Byzantium; and from the far west—countries whose names even Shen Mingyuan cannot pronounce.

The translation work at the Translation Bureau follows a principle: start with the easy and then move to the difficult, begin with practical and then move to theoretical. In the first ten years, the main focus was on translating books on medicine, agriculture, and engineering technology; in the second ten years, the focus shifted to translating basic theories of mathematics, physics, and chemistry; and only in the third ten years did they venture into "useless" subjects such as philosophy, history, and literature.

Over the past thirty years, the Translation Bureau has published a total of 80 million translated works, which have been distributed to bookstores, libraries and schools of all sizes throughout the empire.

More importantly, it is the talent cultivated by the translation institute.

Over the course of thirty years, the Translation Bureau trained more than 30,000 translators, of whom 2,000 were proficient in three or more languages. Apart from a few who remained at the bureau, most of these translators were assigned to the Xuanwei Envoy's Office, the Institute of Natural Sciences and Crafts, and various Protectorates, becoming bridges for the empire's foreign relations.

...............

Luoyang, Ziwei Palace.

Yi Junze sat alone in the imperial study, a thick stack of memorials laid out in front of him.

Thirty years ago, when he inherited the empire from his father, he spent countless sleepless nights worrying that he wouldn't be able to protect it. Thirty years later, the empire remains stable, even more prosperous, more orderly, and more... vibrant than it was thirty years ago.

Environmental improvements, improved ethnic relations, smoother access to public services, strengthened fiscal oversight, and accelerated introduction of knowledge—each new policy is like chiseling a small window into a sturdy iron barrel.

The window was small, but enough for the person inside the bucket to breathe.

This breath is the lifeblood of the empire.

Yi Junze opened a memorial, which was the Ministry of Revenue's report on the national population statistics for the 30th year of the Yonghui era.

The total population is 2.34 billion.

Of these, 1.02 billion are of Chinese descent, 950 million are naturalized citizens, 300 million are dependent citizens, and 70 million are laborers.

Thirty years ago, the ratio of Chinese to naturalized citizens was approximately four to three. Thirty years later, Chinese still make up slightly over 40%, but the proportion of naturalized citizens has approached 40%. This increase is mainly due to the formal registration of those who were previously registered as dependents, as well as the natural reproduction of naturalized citizens.

The labor force population declined from 180 million thirty years ago to 70 million. The main reason for this decline was not the change in social status, but rather the empire's drastically reduced demand for laborers. Steam engines replaced human labor, and machines replaced manual labor, rendering the labor force obsolete. Many labor camps were abolished, and the laborers were released, but they had nowhere to go and were forced to live on the streets, becoming a new social problem.

Yi Junze closed the memorial and fell into deep thought.

Thirty years after the implementation of the new policy, significant results have been achieved, but many problems remain. The future of the working class, the further integration of naturalized citizens, the ultimate fate of those under special jurisdiction, and the stratification of social classes within the Chinese community... each problem is more complex than it was thirty years ago.

At least these problems are now on the table, being discussed, debated, and addressed. They're not being suppressed and left to fester silently, as they were thirty years ago. (End of Chapter)