Chapter 123: Who Dares to Steal My Silver?

The bookstore’s purpose, ultimately, is to make a profit.

To achieve profitability, there needs to be people buying books.

If the store only sells “The Great Learning,” “The Analects,” “The Great Ming Code,” and similar texts, the students of the Imperial Academy may not be interested, let alone the ordinary people.

After having lunch, Zhu Yunwen began to think about the booklist and sections of the China Bookstore.

Since he wanted to do it, he wanted to do it the best, making the Central Chinese Bookstore the number one bookstore in the Great Ming, a symbol of the prosperous era!

After having lunch, Zhu Yunwen returned to the Kun Ning Palace and took a nap. Then he woke up and accompanied Zhu Wenkui, teaching him Arabic numerals.

Ma Enhui was not unfamiliar with Arabic numerals, as she, along with Consort Ning, Consort Xian, and Lady Luo, were the first batch of “students” for the “Elementary Mathematics.” She liked this new knowledge very much.

Compared to the complex Chinese characters, Arabic numerals were simple and clear, making it easy to record, without the need to check and verify word by word.

Additionally, the multiplication tables were easy to memorize, making simple calculations much faster and more straightforward, eliminating the need for an abacus.

Ma Enhui was very curious about how Zhu Yunwen mastered these numbers and knowledge. When she asked him, Zhu Yunwen only said it was knowledge from the Western Regions, brought into China by traders.

Ma Enhui was skeptical about this, so she secretly sent someone to find a Hui people, who indeed recognized these numbers but didn’t know the multiplication tables.

Ma Enhui kept this small secret to herself, watching Zhu Yunwen play with their child with a gentle smile.

No matter what kind of knowledge it was, if you learned it, it became your own knowledge.

Shuangxi walked quietly to Ma Enhui’s side and whispered, “Your Majesty, the officials are still sitting outside in a quiet protest. They even skipped lunch. Should we inform His Majesty…”

Ma Enhui frowned and complained, “These officials are truly unreasonable. His Majesty has only taken a few days of rest. Why are they acting like this? Since His Majesty has no intention to deal with them, just let them sit.”

Shuangxi didn’t say anything more and retreated outside the room. He instructed the eunuch standing by: “keep an eye on them and report back if they left.”

Upon hearing this, the chief quickly departed.

Zhu Yunwen, holding Zhu Wenkui, had a faint smile on his lips as he walked over to Ma Enhui. He asked, “Empress, what troubles you?”

Ma Enhui reached out to take Zhu Wenkui, sighing, “Your Majesty, I heard that the officials are staging a silent protest outside the Fengtian Hall. I don’t understand why they are doing this when Your Majesty has been working tirelessly for the country and the people. How can they not see it?”

“Because I’ve touched their cake.”

“What is cake?”

“Uh, it’s a type of pastry. Empress, it’s not important. What matters is that the new policies I’ve implemented have reduced their profits. When the world is in a state of prosperity, everyone seeks profits. When the world is in chaos, everyone seeks opportunities. This saying also applies to the court.”

Zhu Yunwen calmly explained.

Ma Enhui furrowed her brows and said, “But Your Majesty has already reformed the salary system, which is quite generous. Isn’t that enough to satisfy them?”

Zhu Yunwen shook his head slightly and asked, “Empress, if someone stole a hundred taels of silver from you and then returned fifty taels, would you be grateful, or would you hold a grudge?”

“Who dares to steal my silver?!”

Ma Enhui’s expression turned stern.

The palace maids and eunuchs nearby knelt down in a hurry.

Zhu Yunwen chuckled and said, “That settles it then. The officials feel the same way…”

Ma Enhui suddenly understood. She frowned and said, “But it’s different. The silver in my hands is all earned through legitimate business. However, the silver that these officials are missing was taken from the common people’s earnings and doesn’t belong to them in the first place.”

“Yes, it doesn’t belong to them in the first place. But, Empress, when people have something in their hands for a long time, they start to think of it as their own.”

Zhu Yunwen spoke seriously.

Borrowing something and not returning it is one thing, but these officials were using “legal land deeds” to buy land with the silver when the distribution was made, and they felt the pain, it was only natural for them.

However, they should heal quietly after feeling the pain, be honest, and not jump around everywhere.

But they didn’t listen. When they saw that their opposition was ineffective, they began to use Heavenly father to put pressure on him and directly blamed Zhu Yunwen for the occurrence of the earthquake.

“Your Majesty, why did this earthquake happen?”

Ma Enhui looked at Emperor Zhu Yunwen with some unease.

Regarding the reasons for the earthquake, she had heard of the concept of Heaven and Earth’s response to human actions and the interpretation of natural disasters as heavenly warnings, as mentioned by Dong Zhongshu: “When the rulers of a state lose virtue, the famous mountains crumble, and the earth quakes.”

If that were the case, could this earthquake be a heavenly warning to the emperor for his wrongdoing?

Zhu Yunwen smiled and said, “Empress, an earthquake is simply the movement of the earth itself, unrelated to the heavens and unrelated to me.”

“The movement of the earth itself? Why would the earth move?”

Ma Enhui lowered her head and seemed to want to check if the earth had run away.

Emperor Zhu Yunwen certainly couldn’t tell her about “sitting on the ground, traveling 80,000 miles a day, patrolling the heavens and looking at a thousand rivers.” Telling her that we are all on a sphere that rotates by itself would surely keep her awake all night…

“Empress, it’s like this table. If you push it hard, the things on the table will shake, and some might even topple over. It’s the same principle as an earthquake.” Zhu Yunwen explained.

Ma Enhui shook her head, full of doubt, and said, “But there’s no one who could give the earth such great force.”

Zhu Yunwen gently said, “What about the sea?”

Ma Enhui looked at Emperor Zhu Yunwen in astonishment.

Yes, the sea was constantly lapping against the land every day. Although the force varied, there was definitely such a force.

Moreover, the capital was not far from the sea.

Zhu Yunwen couldn’t explain more natural science to Ma Enhui at the moment. He turned to Shuangxi and asked, “Are the officials still outside?”

Shuang Xi quickly replied, “Your Majesty, they are still outside the Fengtian Hall.”

Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly and said, “Summon the Director and Vice Director of the Directorate of Astronomy to wait outside the Fengtian Hall.”

Shuang Xi was somewhat surprised, but he didn’t ask further questions and arranged for someone to summon them.

“It seems Your Majesty has a countermeasure.”

Ma Enhui smiled lightly and relaxed.

Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly and said, “When I come back, we’ll have dinner together.”

Outside the Fengtian Hall.

Over 120 officials were collectively sitting in silence, their eyes filled with unwavering determination.

At the forefront were Hou Tai, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Jing Qing, the Left Censor-in-chief of the Censorate.

Jing Qing had his reasons for taking the lead this time.

He had opposed the policy of curbing land consolidation in the past, and although Zhu Yunwen had rebuked him and even called him “old,” Jing Qing had not suffered any punishment. He still held his position as the Left Censor-in-chief of the Censorate.

Since the Emperor was not going to punish anyone, and for the sake of their own interests, they couldn’t afford to back down.

Just as the saying goes, taking a gamble warms the carriage.

For the sake of our own legs, for the sake of enjoying a better life, for… we cannot retreat. We are speaking for the heavens and for the Ming Dynasty.

The Emperor has made mistakes, and as officials, we should dare to correct his errors. Even if we are punished as a result, it will be our unwavering integrity, leaving a mark in the annals of history.

In one sentence: Those who remain seated here are heroes; those who run away are cowards.

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