Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 364: British Public Issues
Apart from these things, the investigation and control report copied in the briefing only had trivial matters that were not worth paying attention to, such as "Governor of the Beijing Camp, Marquis of Taining Chen Liangbi stayed at home all day and did not go to the military government. The assistant secretary of the Left Army Governor's Office, Duke of Cheng, Zhu Chunchen, did not go to the Left Office and was absent from work for the whole afternoon. Yesterday afternoon, the Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, who was in charge of the Rear Army Governor's Office, went to the Rear Office as usual and returned home on time."

After reading the briefing, Zhu Changluo closed it and set it aside. He then picked up the first batch of memorials from today and began to read them. The most recent one was a resignation, submitted by Chen Liangbi, Marquis of Taining.

Resignation letters during the Ming Dynasty were sometimes used as a retreat to advance, sometimes as political blackmail, and sometimes simply as a formality. In short, these letters were often discredited; the emperor would simply issue a warm decree to retain the official, and the matter was considered settled. After all, those who could submit a letter of resignation to the emperor were often high-ranking or influential, having achieved such a position with such difficulty that they wouldn't sincerely wish to leave unless absolutely necessary. If one truly couldn't continue, they would at least submit a third letter of resignation.

This was the third letter of resignation from Chen Liangbi, Marquis of Taining, who, citing old age and weakness, requested his retirement. Combined with the surveillance records he had just seen, Zhu Changluo had no choice but to take it seriously.

"Wang An." Zhu Changluo called.

"I'm here." Wang An immediately put down his work and pulled out his memo to write down his thoughts. He was already very familiar with this routine.

"Send someone to the residence of Marquis Taining. If Marquis Taining is sick, send a royal physician to see him." Zhu Changluo did have the intention of reforming the Beijing Camp, and when the time came, he would definitely remove Marquis Taining, the nearly eighty-year-old old man.

However, reforming the Beijing Camp wasn't a pressing priority like suppressing the Liaodong slaves. Furthermore, Zhu Changluo hadn't yet decided which military honor to assign to the military government to oversee the Beijing Camp. The Marquis of Taining, whose status could be removed at any time, perfectly suited Zhu Changluo's needs.

"Yes." Wang An accepted the order and wrote down the memorandum.

Zhu Changluo put Chen Liangbi's petition for retirement aside and took the next one to read. He found that it was another petition for illness, but this petition was not for resignation, but for leave: The Duke of Yingguo is ill due to overwork and I beg God for mercy and to allow me to take leave to recuperate so that I can prolong my life and fulfill my duties. Then there was a lot of description about what the Duke of Yingguo had done recently in the rear palace, how hard he worked, how tired he was, etc.

"How come the Duke of Ying is ill too?" Zhu Changluo muttered, remembering the briefing notes on the important nobles and relatives. "Wasn't he still full of life yesterday?"

"Master," Liu Ruoyu reminded, "Besides the Duke of Yingguo, there are also the Duke of Dingguo and the Earl of Yongning. They are also ill and have requested recuperation. The memorials are all in the pile you are looking at, all next to each other."

"Huh?" Zhu Changluo pulled the next two memorials from the pile. He glanced at them briefly and frowned. "They've been fine these past few days, haven't they? Why are they suddenly all resigning?" Zhu Changluo didn't believe in unexplained coincidences. "Wang An, make another note and send someone to check on them."

"Yes."

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The errand fell to Shi Fangda again. He always felt that those old men were always suffering from various illnesses and pains, and they never stopped running around. His shoes had even unstitched from all the running around.

According to common practice, when the palace sent eunuchs to visit ministers' homes to inquire about their health, they could not leave empty-handed; they had to bring some rewards to show the emperor's sympathy for his subjects. Last time, his visit to Li Ruhua's residence was not "inquiring about the health of the emperor" but his personal behavior, or a continuation of the summons, so there was nothing.

But even if there were any, the reward was simple, so simple that no special permission was required. Twenty taels of silver and one piece of silk, that was all. Shi Fangda brought such a small amount alone, and Shi Fuming didn't even give him an attendant.

Shi Fangda walked to the gate of the Duke of Yingguo Zhang's residence, carrying the gift. He placed the gift on the ground, then grabbed the copper door knocker and gently knocked it against the door. Then, he picked up the gift from the ground, smiled, and waited silently for the doorman to open the door for him.

The door swung open quickly, and the concierge emerged from the gap between the panels. He had received orders that no matter who came for what reason, they should excuse the visitor, citing the Duke's illness. However, since the man before him was dressed as a eunuch, he couldn't simply dismiss him outright. The emperor and his envoys were never considered "who."

The doorman bowed first. "What brings you to my house, sir?"

Shi Fangda replied, "His Majesty, having read the Duke's memorial, was deeply concerned, and therefore sent me to visit him."

The doorman was startled and said quickly, "It turns out you are on duty. Please come in quickly." As he spoke, the doorman knocked hard on the door with his knuckles.

The other doormen behind the door understood what was going on and hurried over to move the two heavy door panels open.

Duke of Yingguo, Zhang Weixian, had not anticipated the emperor's request for leave to recuperate and therefore had not disguised himself as if ill. When Shi Fangda arrived, Zhang Weixian was sitting in his study, reading, completing his final sprint on the decimal section of his book "Arabic Numerals and Double-Entry Bookkeeping."

Zhang Weixian had little expertise in arithmetic, nor did he have much interest in it. He preferred Confucianism to mathematics. If it weren't for the book's nickname, "An Introduction to Imperially Decreed Western Mathematics and Accounting," and the fact that after the Imperial Finance Conference, the emperor issued an edict requiring all government offices to use Western mathematics for bookkeeping, he wouldn't have bought it.

But after reading it, Zhang Weixian found that this book was indeed exquisite.

Addition, subtraction, and multiplication are self-explanatory. Zhang Weixian, having memorized the multiplication formula "one plus one equals one, nine plus nine equals eighty-one" as a child, understood it well. While the textbook recommended by the palace only briefly clarifies these principles, applying the methods in the book significantly simplifies the calculations required. Crucially, this booklet also builds on the foundations of the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art by simplifying and explaining the concepts of fractions and division, and even introduces decimals and the decimal point based on the decimal system.

The example given in the book on "The Art of Decimals" is that one liang, two qian, three fen, four li, and five hao of silver equals 1.2345 liang, written as liang in Western numerals. This is incredibly concise and immediately apparent. Following this example, there's also a word problem:

If this 1 liang, 2 qian, 3 fen, 4 li and 5 hao of silver were to be divided equally among three people, how much silver would each person get?

Zhang Weixian's first instinct was to have the silver brought over and cut, then weigh it afterwards. The Duke of Ying's mansion had several servants skilled in this art. However, Zhang Weixian ultimately chose not to do so, for the solution lay beneath the problem. Through a remarkably simple calculation process, the result was that each person would receive four qian, one fen, one li, and five hao of silver, or 0.4115 liang ( liang in Western numerals).

Immediately after this question, the book gave another question: If these four cents, one cent, one cent and five cents of silver were to be divided among three people, how much silver would each person get?
Zhang Weixian did the calculation on the draft, but he was surprised to find that 0.4115 divided by 3 was not an exact number.
"Dad!" Zhang Zhiji rushed into Zhang Weixian's study.

Zhang Weixian was concentrating on reading, having already entered a state of "flow." Zhang Zhiji's shout almost shattered his father's heart of Taoism. His body suddenly trembled, and he said in dissatisfaction: "What are you doing! Can't you see I'm reading a book?"

"What are you still reading? Go find a place to lie down." Zhang Zhiji ran so fast that his meticulously combed hair was messed up when he got up. "Why should I lie down when I'm fine?" Zhang Weixian felt that it was time to teach this idiot a lesson.

"You can't be all right," Zhang Zhiji said anxiously, "Someone's coming from the palace!"

"what?"

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When Shi Fangda met Zhang Weixian, Zhang Weixian was half lying on a small couch in the study. In front of him was a small table, on which was placed the book he had just read.

Zhang Weixian's mind raced. He wasn't resigning, just asking for leave. There was no need to lie in bed and act like he was dying, as Zhang Zhi had suggested. He just needed to appear weak. Therefore, Zhang Weixian didn't even change his clothes.

"I am Shi Fangda, your servant, and I am here to pay my respects to the Duke." Shi Fangda saluted the Duke according to ancestral rules.

"Ahem!" Zhang Weixian pretended to cough dryly, then took a sip from the teacup in front of him. "You're too polite, Eunuch Shi. No need to be so polite." Zhang Weixian held his breath and managed to produce the nasal sound typical of a patient.

Shi Fangda stood up straight, and Zhang Weixian waved his hand towards the chair beside him and said, "Eunuch Shi, please sit down."

"Thank you, Duke, for the invitation." Shi Fangda bowed again. Carefully settling down on the edge of the chair, he asked, "Duke, you look so haggard. Didn't you call a doctor?" When Shi Fangda had previously visited Li Ruhua at the Li residence, the room had been filled with the unsettling smell of medicine. But at the Duke of Ying's residence, there was no smell at all. Instead, the incense gave people a sense of security.

Zhang Weixian was stunned for a moment. Then he suddenly had an idea and looked at Zhang Zhiji beside him. "Is the doctor not here yet?"

"I'll go and ask right away." Zhang Zhiji understood and left the study immediately.

But no matter how much the Duke of Yingguo and his son pretended, it was useless. Shi Fangda knew full well that the Duke of Yingguo was not ill at all. The memorial from the Duke's Mansion had gone to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to go through the formalities early that morning. Even if it had been written this morning, a doctor would have been on the scene by the time Shi Fangda arrived. Nanxunfang was not without its own clinics, and the Duke of Yingguo, a man of such stature, didn't need to search the capital for a female doctor out of taboo.

Shi Fangda didn't expose the truth. Instead, he wore a worried look on his face and said, "Your Majesty, please take care of your health. This morning, the study received several requests for leave and recuperation. Your Majesty is deeply worried."

"Several?" Zhang Weixian asked in awe, "Who are they?"

"Don't you know, Duke?" Shi Fangda asked with a smile.

"How would I know? Huh, cough! Cough!" Zhang Weixian sensed a hint of danger. He concentrated his attention, pretending to cough while looking at the eunuch in front of him.

Shi Fangda still had a smile on her face. "My Lord, take good care of yourself. I have to go back and report back." Shi Fangda's work was done, so there was no need to stay any longer.

"I cough! I'll give my father-in-law a ride." Zhang Weixian supported himself on the table and slowly got down from the couch. He acted so well that Shi Fangda began to doubt his own judgment.

"Ouch!" Shi Fangda hurriedly supported Zhang Weixian. "My Lord, please rest and recuperate. I will find my way back."

Zhang Weixian sat down again and waved to a servant boy. "Send Eunuch Shi away."

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Shi Fangda leisurely returned to the Qianqing Palace. This time, no eunuch in red robes was waiting on the steps at the Qianqing Gate. He took a detour and entered the Qianqing Gate Hall through the only open right gate. Then he turned and went to the right side room. This was where Shi Fubai, the eunuch in charge of the Qianqing Palace, worked all day and served as the gatehouse for the entire Qianqing Palace.

When Shi Fangda entered the right side room, his godfather Shi Fuming was confirming the records of the emperor's sexual life. After this confirmation, the draft summary compiled every ten days would be sent to the Secretariat of the Imperial Household Department for archiving and formally entered into the "Inner Daily Records".

According to palace conventions and ancestral family rules, if a concubine or maid was favored by the emperor, she would be rewarded. Furthermore, after the visit, the eunuchs would record these events. The records would include not only basic information such as which concubine or maid the emperor visited on a certain date and place, but also the gifts the emperor bestowed upon them.

The greatest significance of this information is to determine whether the baby carried by the women in the palace is of royal blood.

Emperor Shenzong had been secretly enjoying the company of Wang, a palace maid in the Cining Palace of his biological mother, Empress Dowager Li. Even after being caught by the Empress Dowager, he still denied the affair. The Empress Dowager then used the records in the "Nei Qi Ji Zhu" (Inner Daily Records) and compared them with the rewards bestowed upon Wang, forcing the emperor to admit the affair. This record, then, can be said to be the source of the protracted and far-reaching dispute over the foundation of the nation.

Typically, the emperor's sexual life was recorded as he went along by his eunuchs, but this initial record was only a draft. It would then be verified by the eunuchs who actually distributed the gifts, and archived and transcribed by the Secretariat of the Imperial Household Department before it could be officially recorded as the "Nei Qi Ju Zhu." These drafts would be kept for a year for review. After that year, they would be destroyed, leaving only the official "Nei Qi Ju Zhu" to be stored in the Imperial Archives as a permanent palace archive.

Shi Fangda simply bowed. "Son greets godfather."

Shi Fuming put down the draft summary in his hand and looked up at Shi Fangda: "Sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Godfather." Shi Fangda walked to the first chair against the wall and sat down. The first thing he said was: "Britain has problems."

(End of this chapter)