Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 385: Progress of the East Factory

These "rebellious articles" range from literary works like poetry and prose to relatively systematic analyses and observations, and even correspondence. Regardless of their form, they are almost all the product of Mendoza's relatively pure and fanatical theologians' grand visions of establishing a "Christian Ming Dynasty."

In the articles written by theologians, the land of Ming Dynasty is full of lambs who, due to misunderstanding and ignorance, do not know the gospel of God. These lambs often worship gods whose origins they themselves cannot explain.

For example, Long Huamin, president of the Society of Jesus, had seen "three-headed idols" more than once in "Chinese monasteries." He described them as three heads looking at each other and sharing a "common will and common love." If one head was happy, the other two would be happy too; conversely, if one head was unhappy, the other two would also be unhappy.

Long Huamin asked the locals to explore the origin of the deity represented by the idol, but he was surprised to find that almost no one could answer his questions accurately.

Therefore, Long Huamin concluded that this idol represents the Holy Trinity, widely believed and worshipped by Christians. He also inferred that Saint Thomas Christus once preached in this land. However, due to long-standing misunderstandings and distorted idolatry, the lambs of this land have lost sight of the true meaning of the Trinity.

Therefore, Long Huamin concluded that as long as careful guidance is provided, the gospel of God is widely spread, and the doubts of the lambs on this land are resolved, then the shadow of Satan can be dispelled, the erroneous idolatry can be broken, the lost lambs can be converted back to Jesus Christ, this land can be conquered by faith, and the "Christian Ming Dynasty" can be established.

At first, Johann Adam Schall von Bell hoped to cover up the Jesuits as much as possible by blurring out words like "conquer," which clearly carry an aggressive connotation. However, after seeing other members of his group accurately translate these words and learning that these materials were not translated by a single group but by multiple groups working together, he gave up on the cover-up.

After spending several days together, Tang Ruo also discovered that while these Chinese scholars might have various errors and omissions in their pronunciation and their knowledge of Western allusions was limited, their grasp of common character forms and meanings was quite advanced. Some of the "Southerners," in particular, were just as familiar with Spanish and Latin as he was. Deliberately concealing one's knowledge would not only fail to gain favor, but would also make one appear to have ulterior motives and harbor ill intentions.

Unbeknownst to Tang Ruowang, his passive choice of "honesty" actually saved him. His daily translations were carefully reviewed by Zhang Wenda, the Left Censor-in-Chief. If Zhang Wenda concluded that Tang Ruowang was deliberately mistranslating to cover up a case, one of the censors would impeach Tang Ruowang before the Censorate officially released its findings. It can be said that Tang Ruowang was constantly being guarded against and treated differently by that seemingly amiable old man.

"So," Sun Yuanhua stared at Tang Ruowang in amazement. "Have you made up your mind?"

A gust of wind blew, making the doors and windows bang.

"Ye Cifu is right," Tang Ruowang said, his attention drawn to the noise. He turned his head and looked toward the window. "I need to get myself out of this."

"Have you ever considered," Sun Yuanhua closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, "that submitting this memorial before the Censorate submitted its findings wasn't just about exonerating yourself, it was actually exposing you."

"Of course I've thought about it." Tang Ruowang's heart tightened, and he pulled over a stool. The legs of the stool scraped against the tiled floor, making a grating sound. "As the saying goes, trying to hide something only makes it more obvious. If I wait until the Censorate announces the results of the investigation and then file a petition to defend myself, claiming I had nothing to do with the case, it could easily be twisted into a sophistry. It's better to expose this matter early."

Sun Yuanhua opened his eyes but remained silent. He remained silent, so Tang Ruowang continued, "Chuyang, you know there's no turning back in this case. Even if I don't submit a petition, the Censorate will expose these things." Tang Ruowang seemed to be trying to convince Sun Yuanhua, but it was more like trying to convince himself. "No matter how I act, it won't affect the final outcome of the case. But my actions can affect myself and those comrades who shouldn't be involved in this matter."

After being recommended by someone, Johann Adam Schall von Bell read Zuo Qiuming's "Guoyu". He saw the words "Those with the same virtue have the same heart, and those with the same heart have the same comrades" in the "Jinyu" chapter, and thought they were very good. So he borrowed the word "comrades" to refer to all the missionaries who traveled across the ocean with him.

"As long as I hold an official position, I can at least present my petitions directly to the Emperor," Johann Adam Schall von Bell said, growing increasingly agitated. "But if I'm dismissed, I'll have no choice but to ask someone else to submit my petitions on my behalf! Then, I won't be able to speak for my comrades anymore."

Sun Yuanhua stood up, walked to the window and closed it.

"Chu Yang, do you think this is bad?" asked Johann Adam Schall von Bell.

Sun Yuanhua remained silent. He pulled out the tinder he carried with him, unscrewed the lid, and blew gently, sighing. The tinder ignited, but the shimmering flame wasn't enough to compensate for the vanishing light.

Sun Yuanhua returned to the desk, picked up the candlestick, and used a tinder to light the half-lit candle. "Daowei, you're really becoming more and more like an official. If I still can't pass the exam this time, I'll stay on as your advisor." Sun Yuanhua replaced the lit candle and gently rolled the brush in the inkstone.

--------

After a fierce gust of wind in the middle of the night, a rain cloud, obscuring the sun, enveloped the entire city under the cover of darkness. Without warning, the gods sent down a torrential downpour across the capital and the surrounding mountains and rivers for hundreds of miles.

Beijing has been sunny for several days now, the continuous sunshine spoiling the city's residents. Strong winds blew away clothes, and torrential rains muddied the ground. While God blessed the rain, he also taught a lesson to those families who left their clothes uncollected at night.

The heavy rain put a stop to many people's plans to go out, but it didn't affect the government's normal work. Early in the morning, at daybreak, a sixth-rank official from the Imperial Observatory left the small hut where he was staying, holding an umbrella. He was headed not for the Censorate or the Imperial Observatory, but for the Ministry of Public Administration, located on the other side of the Thousand-Step Corridor.

The Forbidden City, located north of the Tongzhengshisi, is the highest point in Beijing. Its terrain is generally high in the middle and low on either side, with the north higher and the south lower. The Xuanwu Gate, located at the northernmost end, is nearly two meters higher than the Wumen Gate, located at the southernmost end. Within this two-meter drop, countless open channels, hidden trenches, and culverts are located.

Before silting up, rainwater would drain into the Inner Golden Water River, then from the Inner Golden Water River into the moat, and finally flow southward into the moat of the capital. No matter how heavy the rain, as long as the water did not flood the entire capital, the Forbidden City would not be submerged.

Under heavy rain, the rare spectacle of thousands of dragons spitting water once again appeared within the Forbidden City. But Emperor Zhu Changluo would not brave the rain to admire this extraordinary spectacle in the square in front of the Huangji Hall. These days, even a cold could be fatal. To avoid further trouble, Zhu Changluo abandoned his outdoor activities and instead wrestled with the gold-coated iron lump in the Southern Study. While the emperor wrestled with the lump, Wang An, the eunuch holding the seal of the Imperial Household Department, sat at his desk, reading the daily bulletin in a steady voice.

"The Internal Transport Treasury has allocated 200,000 taels of silver from its reserves and delivered them to the Ministry of Works' Jieshen Treasury to purchase raw materials for the Armory Bureau to manufacture weapons and armor."

"The newly minted silver notes issued by the Baochao Bureau, totaling three hundred thousand taels, have all been deposited in the Sun Moon Bank's main banknote vault."

"Hui Jingao's imperial envoys have already left the capital and are heading to Liaodong to select a location for the Guangning branch." When Hui Jingao left Beijing, he also took with him, as planned, 100,000 taels of silver, 200,000 taels of silver notes, and start-up funds in addition to the reserve silver. However, the withdrawal of silver had already been reported, so Wang An did not make any special mention of it.

Because the briefing was mostly boring, Zhu Changluo just listened silently most of the time. He didn't express any opinions, didn't ask any questions, and even his expression didn't change much. Until Wang An mentioned a small matter:
"The Imperial Kitchen Supervisor has allocated ten spare iron pots to the Taichang Temple."

"Transfer the iron pot?" Zhu Changluo slowed down his movements.

"Yes." Wang An immediately stopped reading and explained to the emperor, "A while ago, Amudaihong Taiji, the envoy of the Chahar Khan, Lindan Batur, entrusted Fan Jishi, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Department and the Superintendent of the Four Barbarians, to submit a petition requesting that the silver reward be exchanged for iron pots. The petition was approved, so I had the Imperial Kitchen Supervisor allocate ten iron pots and deliver them to the Imperial Household Department."

After the meeting, Zhou Jiamo, the Minister of Personnel who was in charge of the Ministry of Rites' seals, drafted a list of rewards for Amudaihong Taiji as usual. Among them was "five hundred taels of platinum." However, he seemed to desire the iron pot more than the five hundred taels of silver. So, after receiving the five hundred taels of silver, Amudaihong Taiji entrusted Fan Jishi to submit this memorial.

The memorial was passed to the cabinet, and the general opinion was that since the foreign envoy had made a request in "extremely respectful" words, he should be rewarded with ten more iron pots. As for the silver that had already been issued, it did not need to be returned.

After receiving the memorial, Zhu Changluo only glanced at it twice, wrote his approval, and then put the matter behind him.

Amudaihong Taiji had no other options. Iron pots were sold cheaply in every market in Beijing, and five hundred taels of silver could buy a lot of them. But their appearance was even more striking than that of Westerners, especially their hairstyles, which looked like a trade ban plastered on their foreheads. Forget shopping in the market; even if they simply left the Siyi Pavilion to stroll around, enthusiastic citizens would approach patrolling soldiers and ask them to arrest these Tatar "spies."

Even if they had sent Han Chinese to buy the pots, it would have been useless. Without a special certificate, the pots would have been confiscated at the checkpoints along the way by the cargo inspectors, who would have accused them of smuggling. Furthermore, if the certificate stated ten pots, they could only take ten, not one more. Whether this would cause diplomatic disputes or even spark war was not something the inspectors should have considered.

"Oh." Zhu Changluo remembered, nodded, switched hands, and continued fiddling with the dumbbell. Wang An saw this and continued reading the rest of the passage.

After reading a few more miscellaneous items, Wang An inevitably read the briefing that he did not want to read aloud in person.

After a pause so short that it was barely noticeable, Wang An slowly spoke:

"The East Factory has now ascertained the truth. The reason the Marquis of Wuqing invited the dukes, marquises, and earls to Qinghua Garden was mainly to discuss grain trade."

"Grain trade." As Wang An had predicted, the emperor immediately responded. "Where to buy from, and where to sell to?" Zhu Changluo had just posed the question when he came up with the answer. "Liaodong?"

"My lord is wise. He will sell it to Liaodong." Wang An was slightly surprised by the emperor's sharpness.

"Tell me in detail." Zhu Changluo put down the dumbbells.

"Yes." Wang An closed the briefing and put it away, then picked up the report submitted by the East Factory last night from the desk.

If it doesn't rain today, this report will be placed in the most conspicuous place on the imperial desk together with the briefing, waiting for the emperor to read it in person after the exercise.

Wang An flipped open the report from the East Factory, straightened up, and said concisely:
"The East Factory has discovered that Marquis Wuqing and the noble relatives invited to the banquet at Qinghua Garden were all involved in some way in the grain trade to Liaodong via land. Among them, the caravans formed by Marquis Wuqing, Duke Chengguo, and Duke Yingguo were the largest. They've been engaging in this trade since the 46th year of the Wanli reign, when slave bandits were wreaking havoc in Liaodong."

The East Depot cast a wide net. Cui Wensheng not only sent spies to investigate the Marquis of Wuqing and the other nobles who attended the banquet, but after learning the cause of the incident, he also sent spies to the families of the Duke of Yingguo, the Duke of Dingguo, the Earl of Yongning, and even the Marquis of Taining. It can be said that almost all the nobles with titles in Beijing were under the surveillance of the East Depot.

Wang An's throat felt dry, but he didn't reach for the teacup within reach. He simply swallowed, moistened his throat slightly, and continued. "Eastern Depot spies learned from a servant named Li Laifu at the Marquis of Wuqing's mansion that the direct reason the young marquis summoned the nobles and relatives for a secret meeting was because Zhang Quan, the military governor, was using Dong Xuan's story to enforce the order in Haizhou. He lowered the official grain price in Haizhou from four taels to three taels and five cents, and refused to grant any concessions to the nobles and relatives. Cui Zhongqing, who led the reward mission back to the capital a few days ago, also mentioned this in his performance report."

Zhu Changluo hadn't interrupted, staring silently at the empty desk. But upon hearing this, he couldn't help but ask, "What is Li Mingcheng planning? Is he going to send someone to Haizhou to kill Zhang Quan, or is he going to join forces and submit a petition to force me to remove Zhang Quan?"

(End of this chapter)