Green Mountain-Chapter 748 - 599: Breaking Free

The imperial physicians looked outside the door, not expecting that instead of coming to arrest Chen Ji, they had actually sent the Director of the Imperial Palace and the Chief to the door.

To add to the excitement?

Using the Commander of the Eunuch Party for amusement, what a grand gesture!

Changxiu, smiling, escorted the Director of the Imperial Palace and the Chief through the crowd: "Excuse me, please make way."

The imperial physicians quickly stepped aside, allowing the Jiefan Guard to proceed to the main hall.

Changxiu stood still outside the main hall, looking at Chen Ji, who was reading behind the desk, seemingly unaffected by the commotion outside.

He gestured for the Jiefan Guard to remain outside and stepped over the threshold to admire Chen Ji's desk: "Mr. Chen, you have such refined tastes, finding peace by hiding in the Imperial Hospital. In recent years, there have been many who have suddenly risen to prominence in the Imperial Capital, but few can achieve inner peace."

Chen Ji raised his head to look at him: "Bringing in the Director of the Imperial Palace, such a significant move, must not be just for pleasantries."

Changxiu, with his hands folded in his sleeves, continued to praise: "Mr. Chen, your insight is remarkable, you have the demeanor of a Prime Minister."

Chen Ji sized up the Jiefan Guard commander: "Lord Changxiu greets everyone with a smile and begins with three kind words, whose demeanor is that?"

Changxiu ignored Chen Ji's sarcasm and instead moved a chair to sit opposite the desk: "I brought the Director of the Imperial Palace over not to make a deal with you, but because I've long wanted to get rid of him. First, this person always acted against the Ritual Supervision by relying on his position as a close minister to Your Majesty, so I just happened to remove him, which also counts as Lord Wu Xiu's fierce start as a new official. Second, bringing him over is just a token of sincerity, nothing else."

Chen Ji lowered his head to continue reading: "In that case, I thank you on behalf of the Imperial Hospital."

Changxiu smiled sheepishly: "That was just a meeting gift before, now it's serious business. I can not only apprehend the Director of the Imperial Palace, but also restore those imperial physicians expelled by Ye Yan to their posts, just like when Doctor Yao was here three years ago..."

Chen Ji turned a page indifferently: "You want to exchange for the 'Enlightenment of All Things'?"

Changxiu took his hands from his sleeves, giving a thumbs up: "You indeed have remarkable insight, sir."

Chen Ji pulled out the 'Enlightenment of All Things' from his pocket and pushed it forward: "Take it."

Changxiu picked up the booklet and flipped through a few pages. Upon seeing the fourth page, he hesitantly asked: "Can this modified Dragon Bone Water Wheel really turn during slow flow?"

Chen Ji glanced at him but said nothing.

Changxiu flipped a few more pages, his eyes becoming increasingly bright, but when he reached the last page, he suddenly asked in confusion: "What is this sweet potato, which can produce over a thousand catties per acre and can replace millet and wheat? Mr. Chen, wheat yields only about two hundred catties per acre. Do you know how many people the Ning Dynasty could sustain if this exists? Do you know what this means?"

Chen Ji casually replied: "I only heard about it from merchants when I was in Guyuan, but I don't know if it truly exists, so I put it on the last page."

Changxiu's smiling expression faded, and he asked urgently: "Can it be grown in both the north and south?"

Chen Ji, sitting behind the desk, vaguely replied: "I heard so."

Changxiu leaned forward as he stood up: "Who said so?"

Chen Ji looked at him but did not answer.

In Chen Ji's memory, sweet potatoes were smuggled back to the country by merchants from the Philippines during the late Ming Dynasty Wanli Period, and later planted in Guangzhou and Fujian, helping the southern people get through several famines.

However, during the Ming Dynasty, they were only planted on a small scale, not until the Qing Dynasty did they become cultivated nationwide.

Since coming to the Ning Dynasty, Chen Ji had not seen sweet potatoes, so he wasn't sure if anyone in the Ning Dynasty had seen them, or even if this world had them.

But overseas trade in the Ning Dynasty was so developed, perhaps someone had already brought it back.

Changxiu stood in place thinking for a moment, then stuffed the 'Enlightenment of All Things' into his pocket: "Regardless of whether this can be found, Mr. Chen should go down in history with this book."

Chen Ji, uninterested in such empty fame, continued to read: "I've given what I should, take care, I won't see you off."

Hearing Chen Ji's implicit order of dismissal, Changxiu didn't move, remaining glued to the desk: "Mr. Chen, there's no need to rush me off; I still have something to say."

Chen Ji gently turned a page of his book: "I'm listening."

Changxiu glanced back outside the door, then looked at Chen Ji: "I want to ask, does this morning newspaper still have some significant use? Seeing as you are no longer fond of these items, you might as well teach me the things you've kept, to benefit the people."

Chen Ji ignored him.

Changxiu's eyes spun, and he lowered his voice: "These days, the outside world thinks Mr. Chen's major upheaval is because the Ritual Supervision and Qi family took away your business and property, so you're venting your anger. But I know, Mr. Chen, you actually want to force Lord Wu Xiu to strip you of your Spy Department position, and then force the Qi family to find ways to take away your title, so you can free yourself, am I right?"

By now, Chen Ji had almost reached the end of the Medical Skills Summary, with only one page left.

Changxiu continued: "I even know that once you are free of your shackles, you'll immediately set off for Luocheng City. You'll first study medicine, and once you've mastered it, you'll open a small Medical Hall, and live a peaceful life for the rest of your days."

Inside the main hall, all was silent. Finally, Chen Ji closed the book and raised his head: "Did you guess this yourself?"

He carefully scrutinized Changxiu, this little eunuch who looked like a fox, with cunning eyes. Among everyone these days, only this one had guessed his intention.

Changxiu grinned; he knew he had guessed right: "Who could have imagined Mr. Chen isn't at all greedy for power, willing to throw away valuable things without hesitation. But sir, as long as you are still useful, no one will let you go; even at the ends of the earth, someone will remember you, while those without use are forgotten in corners."

Chen Ji's eyes moved slightly.

Changxiu continued, "Instead of hiding what's at the bottom of your chest, you might as well hand it over to me. I'll tell Lord Wu Xiu that you have nothing left to pull out from your sleeve."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "May I ask Lord Changxiu, who is governing the Ning Dynasty?"

Changxiu thought for a moment and cautiously replied, "Naturally, it is governed by Your Majesty."

Chen Ji just stared at him, not rushing to speak.

After being stared at for a while, Changxiu stopped speaking in empty words, "Naturally, the Imperial Capital is governed by Your Majesty. Outside the capital, civil servants govern, and at the county level, it is governed by local gentry and clans. If the court is ineffective, an Imperial Decree that leaves the capital and reaches local officials can either be followed or ignored. For example, Lord Zhang Zhuo's implementation of measuring fields and acres is currently facing resistance; when the governmental decree reaches the county, no one pays attention."

Chen Ji made a sound of acknowledgment, "The reason that local gentry and clans can control the common people isn't because their power is immense, but because the Imperial Decree cannot reach the county, so the common people can only believe what they say... But what if newspapers could spread the decrees throughout the north and south of the Yangtze River?"

Changxiu was startled, got up, and pondered for a long time.

After a while, he denied it, "Local gentry and clans either have dozens of servants or are prosperous in numbers, so even if the common people know the court is measuring fields and reducing taxes, they dare not defy the gentry."

Chen Ji asked in return, "What if the common people are on the verge of starvation?"

"There are quite a few common people on the verge of starvation," Changxiu mused, "My Ritual Supervision could enlist some micro-engraving experts from the Buddhist Sect and borrow carrier pigeons from the Eagle House Office to deliver morning newspapers everywhere. However, I'm afraid the farthest places might experience a seven-day delay, unless..."

Chen Ji stood up, "I've given you the method, whether you can accomplish it is up to you." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Saying this, he walked out.

Changxiu lingered, so he had no choice but to leave.

As he stepped across the threshold of the main hall of the Imperial Hospital, Changxiu stood at the threshold with a cheerful smile, "Marquis Wu Xiang, your great talent, is not easy to extricate yourself from. I'll speak to Lord Wu Xiu for you, but with the Qi family's side, the matter still requires you to find a solution; they won't give up easily."

Chen Ji didn't look back. He handed the read Medical Skills Summary to the Hospital Director and left the Imperial Hospital directly.

...

...

At 3:45 PM.

On Chessboard Street, the remnants of the Double Ninth Festival finally faded away.

The vendors selling cornelian were nowhere to be seen, with only a few stalls selling chrysanthemum wine still set up. The wine jars were nearly empty, and the vendors were using wooden scoops to scrape the last bit of wine into the customers' wine gourds.

As Chen Ji walked by, he caught a whiff of that faint chrysanthemum fragrance, mingled with the smell of wine, reminiscent of the scent of Luocheng Red Dress Lane.

He turned onto Jade River Bridge from Chessboard Street.

The bridge was a stone arch bridge, its stone railings worn smooth by years of wind and rain. Below the bridge, Jade River flowed gently, and the water waves fragmented the setting sun, turning it golden-red, drifting in pieces on the water's surface.

Standing on the bridge, Chen Ji halted in the sunset.

He watched the fragmented sunset, the flickering light on the water surface gathering and scattering, seemingly assembling something, or perhaps dismantling something.

There was nothing on the water's surface.

No trace of She Dengke's massive silhouette, no sign of Liu Quxing's abacus, no image of Old Yao wielding bamboo strips, scolding loudly.

Nothing at all.

Only the gentle Jade River water, continuously flowing southward.

As the sky darkened.

Orange-red turned to gray-blue, gray-blue turned to ink-blue. The light on the water extinguished, leaving only a heavy darkness reflecting the gradually brightening lamps on both shores.

His time suddenly didn't seem as pressing anymore; he could stand on Jade River Bridge in a daze, for as long as he wanted, no longer being pulled urgently forward by a rope.

As Changxiu had said, indeed Chen Ji had thought, if Wu Xiu could relieve him of his duty in the Spy Department, and the Qi family stripped him of his title, that would be even better.

By then, he might truly be able to return to Luocheng and open a small Medical Hall, living a life free from worldly conflicts.

Just then, a carriage hurried toward the Imperial Hospital, and Chen Ji turned to see it, carved with seven cranes in hollow relief.

The carriage had not yet come to a stop in front of the Imperial Hospital when a servant jumped off the carriage and hastily ran into the Imperial Hospital.

While running, he loudly called out, "Hospital Director, Dean, come with me quickly. My master has awoken, Mr. Qi has awoken!"

Chen Ji watched as the Hospital Director and Dean rushed onto the carriage, then he turned and left.

Returning to Shaojiu Alley, the smell of food drifted out from a distance. Chen Ji stood outside the door, rubbed his cheeks, and then pushed the door open, "I'm back."