Chapter 928
: A sudden inspiration
Pan Yun led twenty-eight Taoist priests straight to Quanzhou.
Cao Jixiang greeted the Maritime Trade Office with great joy and bowed respectfully: "It is truly a blessing for Quanzhou that the Imperial Preceptor has come."
The prefect of Quanzhou also rushed over.
This time, Pan Yun took the seat of honor.
Without further ado, she pointed to the twenty-eight Taoist priests and said, "These are the two of us from the Ministry of Works. Please give us a place to work."
The prefect of Quanzhou immediately replied, "Yes, yes, yes. There are some vacant houses in the city. The Imperial Advisor can send someone to take a look. If they are not suitable, we in Quanzhou can rebuild one according to the Imperial Advisor's requirements."
Before even starting to make money, Pan Jun didn't want to take up too much of the local government's revenue.
Otherwise, the court officials would be arguing amongst themselves.
Pan Yun then asked Zhang Weiliang to look at the house.
She brought many blueprints, all of which had been tested by the Ministry of Works and were intended for use in people's daily lives.
The Quanzhou branch can not only manufacture these artifacts, but also conduct detailed and upgraded research.
The reason for choosing Quanzhou is that after a year of development, Quanzhou's port has become the top port in the Ming Dynasty.
Many of the berths in the port were in use, the warehouses on the shore were 60% full, and many shops were built.
The port has now developed into a bustling street, a stark contrast to its previous desolation, where it was deserted for miles around.
The place was bustling with people, mostly laborers squatting at the port waiting to unload their cargo, and vendors pushing carts to sell their wares.
Because of the developed maritime trade, the textile and kiln industries in Quanzhou and surrounding towns were particularly prosperous. The new textile and looms made here could not only be directly supplied to Quanzhou and surrounding towns, but also taken to other places by the big merchants here.
Pan Yun entrusted the matter to the twenty-eight Taoist priests.
They were all Taoist priests from proper academies, and in addition to their Taoist arts, medical skills, and weapon crafting, they were also excellent at arithmetic.
Everything was arranged perfectly, so Pan Yun didn't have to worry about anything.
So Taoist priests are all-rounders.
Cao Jixiang watched with envy and couldn't help but sigh, "The Imperial Advisor really knows how to use people."
Pan Yun laughed and said, "Lord Cao is not far behind. I heard that from the end of the year to now, in just over two months, the ships on the sea are like silk threads, coming and going constantly. In just two months, the customs duties of the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Office have reached a huge amount of 200,000."
Cao Jixiang's brow twitched slightly. The total customs duties of the Maritime Trade Office were a secret. How did Pan Yun know about it?
The data is almost identical.
He remained calm and smiled, saying, "The most important seasons for maritime trade are winter and spring. Otherwise, when the wind picks up at sea in midsummer, it will be difficult for ships to go out or come back."
Pan Yun nodded slightly, glanced at the waves lapping against the shore, and smiled, "Most of this year's typhoons are in late summer and before the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Cao Jixiang hurriedly said, "We do not have the astronomical knowledge of the Imperial Preceptor, nor do we have his composure in making such a plan. Imperial Preceptor, I have already submitted a memorial to the court, requesting His Majesty to establish a branch of the Imperial Observatory in Quanzhou to observe the weather and provide weather forecasts for fishermen and merchants. This matter is likely to succeed. Who do you think would be suitable to send, Imperial Preceptor?"
Pan Yun's eyes lit up and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly. Look, the job openings for the Taoist priests have finally arrived!
Besides taking the ordination certificate exam, they could also take the exam to become officials. Pan Yun said, "I am not in the capital, so this matter is handled by the four officials of the Imperial Observatory, and they will naturally choose the candidates."
When she returned home in the evening, the yellow talisman in Pan Yun's pocket was already hot, and the emperor also asked her about it.
The court officials were not just good at arguing. After the personal expedition, with Yu Qian in charge and Pan Yun, the national advisor, there was a lot of respect for the new emperor who was willing to listen to advice. Therefore, they took every meeting very seriously, temporarily setting aside factional disputes and focusing on whether things should be done and how to do them from the perspective of national development.
Therefore, although the proposal to establish a branch of the Imperial Observatory in Quanzhou was put forward by the eunuch Cao Jixiang, the civil officials no longer vehemently opposed it as they had before, but instead seriously considered the matter itself.
After careful consideration, they retrieved the customs duties submitted by the Quanzhou Maritime Customs Office before the new year, and they all agreed to this method.
Last year was the first year of maritime trade, no, only half a year. In just half a year, customs revenue exceeded 150,000 taels of silver. If maritime trade develops further this year, won't the customs revenue be even higher?
Therefore, in order to promote maritime trade and local development, it would be good to establish a branch of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau there, specifically for weather forecasting.
So the ministers agreed, but they couldn't agree on who to send.
The main problem is that the Imperial Observatory is severely understaffed; there simply aren't enough people.
If there are not enough officials in the Imperial Observatory, they can only be transferred from other places, but they can't be transferred randomly. First of all, they must be knowledgeable in astronomy and geography.
Fortunately, the civil officials of today are not to be underestimated. With very few exceptions, most of them study astronomy and geography when taking the imperial examinations for the titles of Juren and Jinshi.
After all, if you only write formulaic essays, you might pass the exam, but you'll definitely do poorly.
So everyone picked from among the officials, and sure enough, they found several people who had made achievements in astronomy and geography, including but not limited to Xue Xuan and his nephew, Xu Youzhen, and others.
Apart from these few with higher official positions, the rest of the people had very low official positions, some of whom were not even in rank.
Yes, in this day and age, people who study science are often seen as craftsmen and are not highly regarded.
Taoist priests and craftsmen were both categorized into the three religions and nine schools of thought.
Pan Yun inquired about the situation of those people in detail through Huang Fu, and after thinking for a while, wrote: "People like Xue Xuan, Xue Shao and Xu Youzhen have more important things to do, so there is no need for them to be stuck in Quanzhou. We can find them from among the lower-ranking officials, but we must make sure that they have the ability to predict the weather."
Pan Yun suggested that the Imperial Observatory prepare a set of exam questions for them to take.
At the same time, she suggested that the emperor could open up a separate examination route to select talents specifically for the Imperial Observatory and the Ministry of Works.
She wrote directly: "In the eyes of civil officials, weather forecasting and craftsmen are all considered low-level jobs. Many people are versed in them, but very few are truly skilled. Your Majesty, sharp weapons are like elite troops. You cannot win a battle with just generals and commanders; you also need elite troops."
The emperor seemed to have something to say, and immediately noted it down in his memorandum, deciding to propose opening another examination channel the next day.
Remembering, remembering, he couldn't help but turn to look at the Empress, and asked cautiously, "It's strange, Yu Qian always tells me that there are too many redundant officials, while Pan Yun tells me that there aren't enough people. Tell me, are there too many people in the court, or are there not enough?"
Empress Wang said, "Lord Yu was talking about officials, while the Imperial Preceptor was talking about talented people. Officials are not necessarily talented people. Perhaps they are not being used in the right places. That is why some departments are overstaffed, while some places have no one to use."
The emperor frowned: "I originally intended to hold a special imperial examination to select talents, but now it seems that I must first find a way to screen officials, let the surplus people in the departments go to the departments that are short of people, and dismiss those who are unusable."
"But what can we do?"
Upon hearing this, Empress Wang also became distressed. (End of Chapter)