My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 477 Su Dang's Promotion
Captain Li Jing of the Faxian did not immediately bring the ship to shore.

There are many hidden reefs in the nearshore area that cannot be seen. If you approach them rashly, you will run aground.

While Li Jing sent people to observe the hydrology, he also searched for a good harbor where they could dock.

Li Jing was also trying to figure out whether it was a large island or a continent.

The concepts of islands and land are completely different.

If it were just an island, it would become an important supply point for the route to the Southern Continent.

But what if this were a continent?
In fact, some people have predicted this continent.

The Yuefu Xinbao newspaper once published a "Complete Map of the World," which marked a continent between Nanzhou and Daming.

At first, this continent caused quite a stir.

However, soon someone showed this map to a Western captain who had sailed the oceans, and the captain firmly denied that there was a continent in the ocean.

Later, the Ming Dynasty established the Office of Transmission in Luzon. Li Jing, the head of the Office of Transmission, also sent people to verify the existence of this continent. The local sailors all denied the existence of this continent.

The world map was originally a popular science article, and people quickly forgot about this continent.

Is it true?
The next step is verification.

After sailing along the coastline for four days, Li Jing was certain that this was a continent!
Cheers erupted aboard the Faxian!

Discovering a continent! This is an achievement that will definitely go down in history!
Li Jing understood that the battle for longitude was extremely important, as it concerned the development of navigation.

But longitude is such a technical thing!
Even if it's written into history books, readers may not necessarily understand its significance.

But discovering a continent is a different story!
This is something that will absolutely be recorded in history books and will be remembered forever!
After hesitating for a few days, Li Jing finally arrived at Zhang Bi's cabin.

Seeing Zhang Bi carefully maintaining the marine clock, Li Jing's face showed a guilty expression.

"Master Zhang".

After Zhang Bi improved the printing press at the printing house, Su Ze petitioned to appoint him as an official craftsman.

Li Jing said cautiously:
"Master Zhang, according to our calculations, this continent in front of us may be Australia, as predicted in the Yuefu Xinbao. We discussed it on the ship and decided to sail around the Australian continent to survey it."

When Li Jing said this, he was already prepared to be scolded by Zhang Bi.

This battle of longitude was a contest to see which ship from both sides could reach Nanzhou first and then return from Nanzhou the earliest.

The design and supplies of the Zheng He and Fa Xian ships were all prepared for this voyage.

Li Jing meant that he wanted Zhang Bi to abandon the Battle of Jingdu and the journey to Nanzhou, and instead go to Australia.

However, to Li Jing's surprise, Zhang Bi remained quite calm.

He said:
"Captain Li, I understand. Since this is everyone's idea, then we will change our voyage to a roundabout route around Australia. I will cooperate with you in conducting geographical surveys during the journey."

After listening, Li Jing felt grateful for Zhang Bi's understanding.

He thanked Zhang Bi repeatedly, returned to the deck, and announced the good news to all the crew members.

The whole ship cheered!

One of the crew members looked and asked:

"Captain, can this Australian land be divided?"

Everyone burst into laughter, and one of the crew members said:
"Who would want to come to this godforsaken place!"

"Yes, we've done such a great service. Wouldn't it be better to go back and use the reward money to buy some good land than to farm here?"

"Even exiled prisoners wouldn't come here, would they?"

Li Jing coughed and said:
"Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the emperor. If Australia is what we discover, then this land belongs to the Ming Dynasty!"

In short, let's just take it first!
-
Meanwhile, Zhang Jingxiu's Zheng He ship also docked on an island in Hawaii.

The sound of waves crashing against the obsidian coastline, the small boats lowered from the Zheng He cut through the spray.

Zhang Jingxiu stood at the bow of the ship, his hand on his waist sword, followed by a small naval reconnaissance flag bearing a musket.

This is the second time that the Zheng He ship has sent people to the island.

The first time, it was the Pacification Commissioner Chen Hao who led the team to the island to investigate. But to everyone's surprise, there were also native inhabitants on this island in the vast ocean!

Chen Hao discovered the indigenous village. He sent someone back to report to Zhang Jingxiu, and then went himself to lead a group to negotiate with the indigenous people.

As a result, Chenhao was detained.

According to the report from the flag bearer, these natives are still in the era of slash-and-burn agriculture, and their weapons are made of wood, stone, and shells; they don't even have bronze artifacts.

But since they had taken Chenhao hostage, Zhang Jingxiu dared not act rashly, so he had no choice but to personally lead his team to the island to negotiate.

Upon arriving on the island, Zhang Jingxiu was greeted by a line of natives.

This doesn't seem like hostility, it seems more like welcome?
Zhang Jingxiu, with his hand on his waist knife, looked at the flamboyant feather ornaments on the heads of these natives and the ochre-red tattoos on their bodies.

What puzzled Zhang Jingxiu was that these natives also had black hair and yellow skin, and were not much different from the Han people.

Zhang Jingxiu had received a message from Chen Hao, knowing that he was out of danger in the tribe. He followed the tribespeople toward their village.

Upon arriving at the tribe, Zhang Jingxiu spotted Chen Hao among the crowd.

"The Pacification Envoy!"

Chen Hao smiled at Zhang Jingxiu, indicating that he was alright. He then pointed to the Hawaiian natives who were holding a ceremony in the center of the tribe.

They presented bone fishhooks and rough pottery, and the campfire was piled up to resemble a raft, with oars placed beside it.

"Envoy, who is this?"

Chen Hao said:

"The Yue people valued boats and fishing and hunting. I have read about this in ancient books. It seems to be the boat etiquette of the ancient Yue people."

"The ancient Yue people?"

As soon as Zhang Jingxiu finished speaking, an old man wearing a feathered crown walked out from the bushes, the strings of shells on his chest jingling with each step.

The old man had shark tooth pendants hanging from his earlobes and tattoos on his body.

Chen Hao said:

The Huainanzi states that the ancient Yue people had a custom of "piercing the ears," where they would make important prey into earrings and hang them on their ears.

“These tattoos are also a custom of the ancient Yue people. Captain Zhang is also educated, so he naturally knows that tattoos are a symbol of the Yue people. This custom still existed in the Nanyue region during the Wei and Jin Dynasties.”

Zhang Jingxiu nodded. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, both Sun Quan and the Eastern Jin regime that moved south had many records of their conquests of the Yue tribes, which are recorded in historical books.

The true ancient Yue people did not disappear from the Central Plains until around the Song Dynasty.

Immediately after the tribal elder finished presiding over the sacrificial ceremony, he placed a dyed wooden block in front of Zhang Jingxiu.

Chen Hao introduced:
"There is no papermaking technology on the island; all records are made using these wooden chips."

"This tribe only has a language but no written language, and these pictures are their history."

Chen Hao pointed to the dragon and snake totem on the wooden piece and said to Zhang Jingxiu:
"This is the totem of the ancient Yue people. The island's inhabitants are descendants of people from the Central Plains who were scattered overseas." Zhang Jingxiu looked at these people. These were descendants of people from the Central Plains?

Chen Hao ignored Zhang Jingxiu's question and instead said:

"Tattooing and cutting hair are customs of Wu, while boats and shrines to snakes conform to Yue etiquette. This island should be incorporated into the Chinese territory!"

Zhang Jingxiu finally understood what Chen Hao meant!

Regardless of whether the island's natives are actually descendants of people from the Central Plains, let's establish this argument first!

Since they are descendants of people from the Central Plains, they should naturally be subject to the rule of the emperor!

In other words, Chenhao's declaration is tantamount to asserting ownership of these islands!
The people are descendants of those from the Central Plains, and that land belongs to the Ming Dynasty!
Next, Chenhao exchanged tokens with the tribe's chief using gestures.

Chen Hao handed a bronze seal to the clan chief. These bronze seals were originally entrusted by the Ministry of Rites and the Court of State Ceremonial to be delivered to Zhang Xuan of the Nanyang Administration Bureau, who was to confer titles upon the local natives of Nanyang.

However, the Ministry of Rites had far too many seals, so Zhang Xuan only accepted a portion of them.

The Hawaiian tribe then presented Chen Hao with the wooden piece depicting a dragon and snake totem.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Hao instructed Zhang Jingxiu to trade the unused iron nails, iron buckets, and other iron products on the ship to these Hawaiian tribes.

The Hawaiian tribe, in turn, offered dried fish, fresh water, and a type of liquor that the locals obtained from cassava.

Zhang Jingxiu originally quite liked this kind of cassava wine.

However, when he saw a dozen or so tribal women sitting on the ground, chewing cassava in their mouths and spitting it into earthenware jars to ferment, Zhang Jingxiu grabbed his neck and vomited up all the wine he had drunk at the banquet.

Chen Hao, on the other hand, calmly drank his wine, gesturing and talking with the tribe's chief as he drank.

With the help of the local natives, Zheng He collected timber for repairs and obtained sufficient fresh water and food supplies. Huang Ji then surveyed and determined the precise latitude and longitude of the islands, marked them on the nautical chart, and Zhang Jingxiu commanded Zheng He to set sail and continue its voyage to Nanzhou.
-
The capital city, the Six Offices.

Li Ji, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, stepped into the Six Ministries.

Last time, he mediated and ensured that none of the six ministries opposed Li Rusong's memorial. The emperor quickly approved Li Rusong's memorial and ordered the inner court to hold a staff examination.

Professional military matters could not possibly be decided by the emperor himself.

Finally, the inner court decided that the emperor would set a final policy question related to military and political affairs, while other professional questions related to military affairs would be assigned to the five departments of the Secretariat and Chancellery.

Su Ze never expected that this task, after going around in circles, would end up falling on the fifth branch of the Secretariat.

Su Ze did not attend the inner court meeting. It is said that Grand Secretary Zhao and the other Grand Secretaries reached an agreement that the Military Affairs Department and the Department of Justice and Rites would jointly set the questions.

Song Xun, the chief of the military affairs department, and Shen Yiguan, the chief of the criminal justice department, were also troubled when they received this order.

Shen Yiguan had never done military work and had no idea how to set questions.

Although Song Xun followed Zhao Zhenji and was familiar with military affairs, this exam was being watched closely by everyone, and it wouldn't be easy to prepare a good exam paper.

If it's too easy to get the prize out, it will be seen as rigging the game.

However, if the questions are too difficult and too few people pass, the General Staff will complain and think that the civilian officials are deliberately making things difficult to prevent the General Staff from recruiting more personnel.

With nowhere else to turn, Shen Yiguan finally gritted his teeth and found Su Ze.

Su Ze recommended Li Ji, a military advisor, to Shen Yiguan.

Upon hearing Li Ji's name, Song Xun nodded repeatedly, and so Shen Yiguan and Song Xun approached Li Ji again.

Li Ji naturally dared not refuse and quickly agreed, joining the examination group of the five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery, and produced an examination paper for the General Staff to select staff officers.

Li Ji spent his days in contact with officials from the Five Offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery, and since the Six Ministries worked together with the Five Offices, his involvement in preparing examination papers for the Five Offices was naturally not hidden from his colleagues.

This made many of the censors realize that something was amiss.

Was Li Ji getting too close to the five branches of the Secretariat and Chancellery?
Then, thinking about how he had prevented everyone from submitting a petition to impeach Li Rusong, people began to speculate again: had Li Ji secretly sided with the Su Party?

This made Li Ji's position in the Sixth Department even more awkward, and these days he would arrive at the Sixth Department early.

Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the government office early today, he encountered someone who had arrived even earlier than him.

“Yan, the Censor.”

Li Ji and Yan Yonghe were old rivals, but Yan Yonghe had more seniority, so he still took the initiative to bow to him.

Yan Yonghe smiled and said to Li Ji:

"This humble official congratulates Lord Li on his promotion."

Li Ji was startled. Faced with Yan Yonghe's sarcastic tone, he was more concerned about the word "promotion".

I haven't heard a single word about it.

However, Yan Yonghe was a supervising secretary in the Ministry of Personnel, and he had the function of supervising the Ministry of Personnel. He was also the person with the best information about personnel matters among all six departments.

Although they didn't get along, in official circles, no one would joke about promotions.

Yan Yonghe looked at Li Ji and thought to himself that this man was hypocritical.

Yan Yonghe was also shocked by Li Ji's rapid promotion. Could this be the benefit of joining the "Soviet Party"?

Yan Yonghe was unaware that this matter was related to a conversation between Su Ze and Song Zhihan, the head of the Civil Affairs Department, a few days earlier.

After Su Ze and Song Zhihan talked, Song Zhihan kept thinking about this matter.

Is Su Jian hinting at something to himself?

Anyone who could serve as Gao Gong's political secretary must have been politically reliable.

Since Su Ze had given such a hint, Song Zhihan, as a subordinate, naturally had to take action.

Song Zhihan made a special trip to the Ministry of Personnel to review all the positions suitable for Li Ji's promotion.

Although the position of Supervising Secretary of the Six Ministries is only a seventh-rank official, there are many opportunities for promotion.

There was a saying at the time: “The six officials who are promoted are promoted to either the inner or outer ranks. The inner ranks are promoted to the fifth-rank officials in the capital, and the outer ranks are promoted to the third-rank officials. The outer ranks are promoted to the seventh rank, which is a special honor for officials, but many people despise it. Hence the saying that if an official is promoted seven ranks, his power will be reduced by a great deal.”

In other words, in the best-case scenario, a Sixth Secretariat Censor could be promoted to the third-rank Provincial Administration Commissioner, but officials still felt that such a promotion was too low in power and not as influential as the seventh-rank Sixth Secretariat Censor.

Because the Provincial Administration Commissioner was an official appointed to a post outside the capital, he was required to leave the capital.

Normally, the officials in charge of the Six Ministries would prefer to be promoted to senior officials in the capital, that is, to the chief officials of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers.

After much deliberation, Song Zhihan finally chose the position of Assistant Director of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War.

Of course, Song Zhihan's decision on this position was not final. He then contacted the Ministry of Personnel, and the Minister of Personnel, Yang Sizhong, immediately approved it and sent the list of recommended candidates to the emperor.

The emperor already had a good impression of Li Ji, so he immediately approved the appointment.

Although the Assistant Director of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War was not a fifth-rank official, the Military Selection Department was different from other departments and had a higher status.

In addition, Shen Shixing, the head of the Military Selection Division, is about to be promoted, and the vacant position can be filled by Li Ji.

From a seventh-rank official to a fifth-rank official, this was how officials in the Censorate rose through the ranks, which is why they were so eager to become Censor-in-Chief.

As the officials from the Censorate arrived at the yamen, Li Ji grew increasingly uneasy.

Not long after they arrived at the yamen, the messenger to deliver the imperial edict arrived!

(End of this chapter)