Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 92: Line chart? No, it's a broken chart!
Hua Lun just looked at Xia Zhibai in silence.

Xia Zhibai was not in a hurry and waited quietly for Hua Lun to give a reply.

Hua Lun's arrival gave Xia Zhibai another idea, a method of advancing step by step while also having the possibility of rushing forward recklessly.

Some of the things he promoted were also applicable and useful to some officials in the court.

That means too.

He could take bigger steps.

a long time.

Hua Lun still couldn't bear it.

He held a large bowl of tea in his hand, trying not to show his emotions, and said calmly: "I need to listen first. If it is like last time, I need to contradict His Majesty, or make enemies with the ministers in the court, I, Hua Lun, will never agree to this."

"I'm not as bold as you."

Hua Lun snorted coldly, not thinking there was anything wrong with what he said.

Xia Zhibai's courage was so extraordinary that he could not compare with him at all.

He didn't even want to compete.

Xia Zhibai smiled, a strange light flashed in his eyes, and he said slowly: "Don't worry about this, I won't hurt you."

"The Hanlin Academy is considered a noble government office."

“Although I don’t have much power, I can get in touch with political affairs from all sides.”

"As an editor of the Imperial Academy, you must have submitted memorials several times. I wonder what the results were?"

Hua Lun's eyes darkened.

He did not hide anything and said in a serious tone, "I have indeed compiled a lot of memorials, but when I submitted them, they did not satisfy His Majesty."

"There is still a big gap between how the court handles political affairs and how the local government handles political affairs. All aspects must be taken into consideration."

"I didn't have much experience before, so I couldn't really show my skills."

Xia Zhibai nodded.

Hua Lun is too young and is a gifted child.

Now he seems to be less than twenty years old.

Once you enter the vortex of power in the imperial court and face the complicated situation in the court, you will naturally feel extremely overwhelmed.

This is all to be expected.

Xia Zhibai said: "I have some understanding of your talents. You are a talented person. Although you are a little arrogant, you do have the capital to be arrogant. The reason why you have trouble making progress in the court is not entirely because of your lack of experience as you think. Experience is indeed a part of it."

“But the sage books won’t tell you that.”

“This is a family empire.”

"I will not tell you that when you submit a memorial, you must follow the emperor's preferences."

"In the third year of Hongwu, the first imperial examination was held, but it was soon abolished. Your Majesty explained the reason. The main point was that 'the officials selected many young people' who were not practical and could not 'put what they learned into practice', so it was impossible to achieve your Majesty's original intention of 'demanding practical talents'."

"You are now very suitable for this unrealistic situation."

Hua Lun's face froze slightly.

He stared at Xia Zhibai deeply and wanted to defend himself, but when the words came to his lips, he didn't know how to defend himself. He was in the Hanlin Academy and had no chance to get in touch with real politics. He could only read the memorials submitted by local officials. How could he show his talents?
Seeing Hua Lun's dissatisfied look, Xia Zhibai smiled and said, "I know you are dissatisfied with this statement."

"But it's true."

"If you can't clean your own house, how can you clean the world?"

"If you can't even handle memorials properly, who would trust you to govern an area?"

"The imperial examination is the final destination for scholars."

"Being an official in the Hanlin Academy is the starting point for becoming a Jinshi."

“Everything needs to be started from scratch.”

"Hanlin Academy is a good place, but also a bad place."

"The good thing about it is that you can be exposed to various political affairs. By learning from them, you will have a certain amount of experience in handling various political affairs. In the future, when you serve as an official in the court or are sent to a place outside the capital, you will be able to handle various political affairs with ease."

"But the bad thing is that this is in Yingtian Prefecture, where you can be exposed to too many political affairs and see too many memorials submitted by officials."

"The official who submitted the memorial had been in the officialdom for many years and was full of bureaucratic airs."

"And the problem lies precisely in this bureaucratic atmosphere."

Hua Lun's eyes moved slightly.

This is the first time I heard this novel term.

He sat upright and listened attentively, wanting to hear what was said.

Xia Zhibai continued, "As veterans in the officialdom, many Ming officials have bureaucratic temperament. The most direct manifestation of bureaucratic temperament is that they are not willing to stick to the pan when encountering problems. When a situation occurs in the world, their first reaction is not to think about solving it, but to cover up the problem, shirk responsibility, and focus on the situation rather than the reality."

"Take the recent flood in Shouzhou as an example."

"You can think back or look through it and you will find that many officials start their letters with long speeches."

"The first thing they talked about was not the disaster situation, but they criticized the previous dynasty's inaction and reckless actions, which led to the long-term disrepair of the levee. Then they praised the Ming Dynasty and Your Majesty, saying that the local government had taken various measures to benefit the country and the people and repair the levee. Finally, they changed their tone and said that they were not up to the task and failed to plug the loopholes left by the previous dynasty, which caused the levee to burst."

"Then he said a few words about the disaster in a bland manner."

"I need some money and food."

"This kind of memorial is very common in the world."

"Your Majesty complained about it more than once, but the officials still did as they pleased."

"The reason is this bureaucratic atmosphere."

"They are afraid of being held accountable and they are afraid of being convicted."

"When something goes wrong, the first reaction is to shift the blame to the previous dynasty, the people, and the local officials. Anyway, it will never fall on their heads. The only way is to save their official robes first before considering disaster relief."

"Your Majesty wants accountability for this situation!"

“Return to the basics!”

"You read so many memorials in the Hanlin Academy."

"I have been influenced by this habit unconsciously, so it is natural that Your Majesty will not like it."

Hearing this, Hua Lun couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

He hadn't realized this problem before.

And that’s exactly what it did.

Because he couldn't possibly offend other court officials and had to take into account the influence of all parties, he could only say good things about other officials in these memorials. But this was invisibly the opposite of what His Majesty wanted as an official. How could he gain His Majesty's respect?

Hua Lun looked at Xia Zhibai deeply.

Eyes full of fear.

Xia Zhibai was not in the court, but he had a deep understanding of some of the court's situations.

It's really scary.

But even so, what can he do?

He was just an editor in the Hanlin Academy and did not have much real power.

How dare I offend important officials of the court?
Xia Zhibai said: "In this situation, we must learn to cater to the other party's preferences."

"Speculating the intentions of superiors, in some cases, is unpleasant to them, but sometimes, it is very much favored by them."

"Since His Majesty wants officials to be pragmatic."

"Then you should be pragmatic."

"But given your situation, you probably don't want to offend the court officials, so you have to find another way."

“Let the data speak for itself.”

Xia Zhibai tapped the paper on the table with his fingers.

Hua Lun frowned and looked at the paper suspiciously, his eyes full of confusion.

data?

What data?
Express some court data in Arabic numerals?
He can see it clearly, but can Your Majesty see it clearly?
Isn't this just asking for trouble?

Xia Zhibai smiled, dipped his finger in the tea, and drew a line on the paper with some Arabic numerals written on it.

Hua Lun watched intently.

Still don't understand the meaning.

Xia Zhibai continued drawing, adding a line with an arrowhead horizontally and vertically.

Three lines appeared on the paper, forming a 'line graph'.

Xia Zhibai pushed the "line chart" in front of Hua Lun and asked Hua Lun to take a good look at it.

Hua Lun frowned, his mind felt empty and he didn't see anything strange.

But when he combined it with the Arabic numerals below, a flash of inspiration suddenly came to his mind. He suddenly became alert, put the drawing in front of him, and stared at it closely.

a long time.

Hua Lun suddenly raised his head and looked at Xia Zhibai in shock.

"This"

"This is the method I taught you." Xia Zhibai said, "Use a line graph to represent data. Compared with dry numbers, a line graph can show more things, it is clearer, and it is easier for His Majesty to accept."

"Your Majesty is a commoner."

"He's not that sensitive to numbers."

"No matter how much data you give him or how much you say, he will only listen to a few words, such as you are asking for money, grain, or saying that the harvest is poor, etc."

"In fact, the more detailed your list is, the more he will scold you."

"I feel like you're not focusing on handling political affairs, but on making up all kinds of data."

"Just to ask His Majesty for more money and food."

Hua Lun smiled awkwardly.

Because this seems to be the character of His Majesty today.

Xia Zhibai said: "This is the workaround that officials need to master."

“Corrupt officials must be controlled.”

"An honest official should be in control even more."

"Through these contrasting broken lines, your majesty can clearly tell what happened in a certain place and how much impact it caused. Only by seeing the broken line that turns sharply downward can your majesty truly realize what exactly happened."

“That’s not a simple number.”

"It's a tragic situation that could kill you at any time."

"In addition, these line graphs can also be used to compare past years and months, which is also helpful for the court to check accounts."

"When it comes to the politics of the world, we need to do subtraction in terms of data."

“Simplify some long and cumbersome data.”

"Clarify."

"But..." Xia Zhibai glanced at the paper and sneered, "If the court really starts to organize all the data from previous years in the form of a line graph, I'm afraid that many officials in the court will lose their heads."

“The total account is correct, but the separate accounts are difficult to balance.”

"There are also some who falsify information and fill in accounts at random."

"I'm afraid life will be tough."

Hua Lun's eyes darkened.

He understood what Xia Zhibai was talking about.

This kind of situation has always happened in the world.

It’s just that in the past, the imperial court was not able to review data and information in such a detailed manner. As long as there were no major omissions overall and the accounts matched, there would basically be no problems. But if you start making comparisons month by month, a lot of data will appear abrupt and abnormal.

In particular, the same situation is quite different from the data in other regions.

And that means someone is going to lose their head.

Line chart?
No.

That would be a picture of a severed head!
(End of this chapter)