Chapter 38: The Two Strategies

  Inside the Chongzhen Hall, there were only Emperor Chongzhen and Wang Chengen, with no other officials present.

  Even if there were outsiders, even if the Chongzhen Emperor asked, they did not dare to express their own opinions. The eunuchs had just fallen from power, and this was the result of their meddling in politics.

  Wang Cheng'en thought for a moment, then replied to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, I remember that when you first ascended the throne, you issued an edict requiring officials to submit concise memorials. From now on, all departments should present their cases clearly and briefly, with no more than 1,000 words. If the meaning is not fully expressed, it's okay to submit another memorial."

  The slave thinks that Your Majesty's intention is to improve efficiency, but Mr. Guan's method has made up for the mistake of breaking sentences. After all, ordinary people do not have Your Majesty's talent, and when officials communicate with each other or understand Your Majesty's intentions, they often make mistakes due to sentence breaks, which is a pity.

  Wang Cheng'en looked at Emperor Chongzhen and nodded slightly, then made his own conclusion: "Mr. Zhong's method is in line with Your Majesty's requirements, this is just a humble opinion of a servant."

  "Not bad, Da Ban can see the wonders of Mr. Zhong's method at a glance." The Chongzhen Emperor praised Wang Cheng'en with a smile, thought for a moment, and said: "Da Ban, go and pass on the order to have the Minister of Rites, Wen Ti-ren, come to pay his respects. I want to promote this method, but I still need to seek the advice of the Minister of Rites."

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Chengen bowed and retreated.

  The Chongzhen Emperor sat on his throne, placed the two memorials side by side and read them carefully again. A smile appeared on his face: "Mr. Zhong, you have great talent, your ideas are one after another." But as for the writing style, haha, he couldn't help but shake his head with a smile, "This is really plain language, even a child wouldn't be able to write such a memorial if they were qualified to do so."

  Before long, the Minister of Rites, Wen Ti-ren, arrived at the summons. Just before he came, I was still wondering what it could be, as Your Majesty has been in a bad mood lately and I feared some calamity.

  When I arrived, I found that Emperor Chongzhen's face was relaxed and slightly smiling, so I knew it wouldn't be anything bad.

  Seeing Wen Ti Ren come to pay respects, he recalled the conversation between him and Zhong Jin Wei, and the matter of jointly saving the emperor. He couldn't help but have a thought to chat with Wen Ti Ren: "Do you know why I summoned you here?"

  It's definitely not about the governance of officials, building prisons, or the loyalist army. If it were those things, Your Majesty wouldn't be smiling. So what is it? I haven't heard any joyful news from the imperial court either.

  Wen Ti Ren thought about it once and analyzed the possibilities. Suddenly, he wondered if Zhong Jin Wei had woken up, which was also related to himself, so he let him come over.

  "Your Majesty, is Zhong Jinwei awake?" asked Wen Tiaren tentatively.

  "Haha, Lord Wen is indeed cleverer than others, guessing half of it correctly." Emperor Chongzhen smiled and praised Wen Ti Ren before continuing: "Mr. Zhong not only woke up but also gave me two ideas, one of which involves the Ministry of Rites, so I'm passing it on to you for discussion."

  Oh, this kid actually woke up, not bad, I should be able to get more allies in the future.

  "I don't know what your intention is, Your Majesty, may I take a look?" Wen Tiaren bowed and said.

  Wang Chengen retreated to the side and watched the conversation between the monarch and his subject, feeling happy about Chongzhen Emperor's current good mood. It's rare for the master to show a smile!

  Before he could finish his sighs of admiration, he heard the voice of Emperor Chongzhen and hastily went forward to receive a memorial, which he handed over to Wen Tiren.

  Wen Ti Ren was very curious, wondering what strange idea that weird Zhong Jin Wei would come up with. As he unfolded the letter and took a look, lines of beautiful handwriting jumped into his eyes, leaving him stunned for a moment - how could this be written by a man? But he quickly came to his senses: he had seen Zhong Jin Wei's handwriting on that so-called blackboard before, and it was impossible for such ugly handwriting to be compared with this. It must have been written by his maid.

  Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that the content is related to punctuation marks used in articles, with different symbols distinguishing between sentence endings, questions, connections, and more.

  To be honest, he himself doesn't think much of these things. Punctuation is a basic skill for scholars since ancient times. But looking at Your Majesty's intention, it seems that you attach great importance to these things and want to promote them, otherwise you wouldn't have called me here.

  After some thought, it's indeed true that there have been cases of misunderstandings due to punctuation issues, or intentional misinterpretation for personal gain. For example, when interpreting sacred texts, people often punctuate them in a way that benefits themselves. If we had a standardized set of symbols, perhaps many ambiguities could be reduced, and important documents or urgent matters would not be subject to transmission errors. It seems that promoting this is still necessary.

  Wen Tianren folded the memorial and bowed to Emperor Chongzhen, saying: "Your Majesty, I think Mr. Zhong's set of symbols can be used for formal documents or urgent matters, ensuring accurate transmission of meaning. Therefore, I humbly request Your Majesty to promote this method."

  Huh, no need for Emperor Chongzhen to speak up, Wen Tiren has already expressed his thoughts first, what a clever person. Wang Chengen thought to himself on the side.

  "So you're saying that your Ministry of Rites agrees to promote this set of punctuation marks?" Emperor Chongzhen confirmed.

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Wen Ti-ren thought that this thing was not closely related to everyone's interests and it wasn't difficult to promote.

  "Alright, I'll leave this matter to you. After promotion, official documents such as memorials, public notices and other formal contents should all use this set of punctuation marks. As for folk poetry, songs, fu and articles, there is no need to make demands." The Chongzhen Emperor instructed Wen Tiren after seeing that he had no objections.

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Wen Ti-ren bowed and said.

  After giving these instructions, Emperor Chongzhen lowered his head and looked at the remaining memorial on the imperial desk, saying nothing for a moment.

  Weizhong Rendeng and others had a meeting, but did not find that Emperor Chongzhen had the intention of giving himself the remaining Zhong Jiawei, so he wanted to withdraw.

  At this time, Emperor Chongzhen raised his head and spoke: "These days' events, I think you should have seen them with your own eyes. What is your opinion?"

  Wen Ti Ren was taken aback, thinking that he would be asked about the second proposal. But instead, he was asked for his opinion on past events. He lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying: "Your Majesty, I think Mr. Zhong's words can be summarized."

  The Chongzhen Emperor listened and became interested, showing more concern.

  "It's a famous saying by Yue Fei: 'Scholars don't love money, generals don't fear death.' Then what happened the other day wouldn't have been possible."

  Yes, if my civil officials do not love money and my military generals are not afraid of death, then there is no room for the bandits to be arrogant. Emperor Chongzhen sighed in his heart.

  But sighing is of no use, Emperor Chongzhen asked Wen Tianren: "Do you have a good strategy?"

  "I think that those in high positions should set an example with their own behavior, promote clean politics and suppress corruption, promote capable officials, strictly enforce the law, and exercise the function of the Control Yuan, which will bring about a turn for the better."

  Chongzhen Emperor was slightly disappointed, as expected but also unexpected. As expected because most of the speeches were old clichés, everyone said so. Unexpectedly, those in high positions should set an example and lead by example to guide the atmosphere of integrity. None of the other ministers dared to speak up.

  "My dear minister, your life is simple and frugal, you are indeed a clean official, my heart is very pleased. Previously, you had merit in saving me from danger, I have not rewarded you yet, now Mr. Zhong has woken up and recommended several people to me, I am very satisfied, and also gave me two good strategies, I think I will reward you all at once." The Chongzhen Emperor stood up, smiling at Wen Tiren.

  "I am unworthy of such an honor."

  "We intend to let you enter the cabinet and assist Us in governing the country well. Is that acceptable?"

  Entering the cabinet is the ultimate goal of every Wen Chen, and only after entering the cabinet can one hope to become the head of the cabinet. At that time, it will be a person under one person and above ten thousand people, and one's own political ambitions can also be displayed. Thinking of this, Wen Ti Ren bowed his hands and said: "Your Majesty, it is the duty of the minister to share the worries for you, but the cabinet ministers follow the rules, and need to be promoted by the court."

  "This doesn't require your concern, you have a great advantage, I promoted you to the cabinet because of this, and they won't have anything to say." Chongzhen Emperor said with confidence.

  Wen Tianxiang saw the emperor speaking like this, and he no longer declined. Suddenly thinking of something, he asked Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, earlier you spoke of rewarding Mr. Zhong, but how will you announce his background to the officials?"

  The Chongzhen Emperor smiled: "This matter, I have already discussed with Mr. Zhong, he is a descendant of the Song Dynasty from overseas, who has returned due to his nostalgia for his hometown."

  "How could he enter the palace and thus achieve the merit of saving the emperor?" Wen Ti-ren still had doubts.

  "Oh, this... I haven't given it much thought, do you have any ideas?"

  "Your Majesty, I met Mr. Zhong on the way to the capital and learned that he has a broad vision, so I introduced him to you. As it happened, we arrived at the palace just as an assassin was making an attempt on your life, which is why I was able to render meritorious service in saving Your Majesty. I don't know if this is acceptable?"

  "Haha, you are right, that's indeed the case!" Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen burst out laughing. With this explanation, everything was settled.

  Chongzhen Emperor settled another matter, feeling very good. Seeing the memorial on the imperial desk, he said casually: "Mr. Zhong has another strategy, and you also read it to see what ideas you have." After finishing speaking, he gestured for Wang Chengen to hand over the memorial to Wen Tiren.

  Wen Tianren thought to himself, what new idea has this Zhong Jinwei come up with? Judging from the emperor's attitude, this memorial should be even more important. If they hadn't gotten along earlier, it's possible he wouldn't have been allowed to see it at all. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little curious.

  At first glance, the memorial seems to be in a similar vein as Emperor Chongzhen's, with the entire document being written in plain language, which is quite disdainful. However, upon closer inspection, the content becomes increasingly solemn and serious.

  Although vernacular Chinese lacks literary merit, it has the advantage of being straightforward. With the help of punctuation marks, the meaning of the entire article is clear at a glance and there will be no room for misinterpretation.

  What's most important is the content inside, which is shocking and eye-opening.

  Since ancient times, the monarch and the military general have been in a relationship of mutual restraint, with more emphasis on restraint than utilization. As a result, when foreign enemies invade, the general's abilities cannot be fully utilized, leading to defeat. This strategy, however, applies the means of monitoring generals to the needs of soldiers, while restricting the generals' power but not limiting their display, and having multiple layers of supervision and mutual supervision to prevent corruption. Brilliant! Brilliant!

  However, he soon realized that this memorial still had a major flaw. He wanted to bring it up with Emperor Chongzhen immediately, but felt it was not quite right and was momentarily at a loss.

  It's past midnight, so I'll just post today's now.