Chapter 281 — Craft That Rivals Heaven
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
" Shen Wanyun's spirits soared; he went off cheerfully, thinking: "If we are to die, then of course we should all go together, noisy and merry and neat and complete! " Si Yunxiang blinked, and stretched a white hand out before Shen Mu.
Shen Mu took out his own book token and laid it in her hand; Si Yunxiang gave a cheer and went off. The book token of the Divine Ability Residence admitted one only to the second floor of the Tower of Heavenly Records, whereas Shen Mu's token allowed one to enter the third floor and read the collected scriptures; every time she went to the Tower she borrowed Shen Mu's token.
The Imperial College had a Hall of Heavenly Craft, somewhat like the Artisan Hall and the Heavenly Craft Hall of the Nether Demon Cult; the Hall of Heavenly Craft mostly studied mechanical manufacture. Refining primal soldiers, building ships and bridges, paving roads and making carriages all came from the hands of the Hall's scholars.
The Imperial College had been built jointly by the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and the Netherworld Demon Patriarch, and so the teaching in its various halls was largely copied from the halls of the Nether Demon Cult. This was one of the things that made the Great Thunderclap Monastery, the Daoist sects and other orthodox sects look askance at the state of Jingping.
Scholars who came out of the Hall of Heavenly Craft usually went on to serve in the court's Ministry of Works; most of the scholars Crown Prince Ling Yushu brought this time were scholars of the Heavenly Craft Hall as well, and the rest were officials of the Ministry of Works. Many of the Ministry's officials and clerks came from the Hall of Heavenly Craft, and counted as fellow students of Shen Mu and the others. In the Ministry of Works, the Minister of Works stood highest, and next came the Vice Minister.
The Ministry was further divided into four bureaus: the Bureau of Works, which managed city walls and civil engineering; the Bureau of Land Settlement, which managed the surveying and allotment of land; the Bureau of Mountains and Marshes, which managed vegetables, fruit, grain and fodder; and the Bureau of Waterways, which managed water conservancy. The Nether Demon Cult and the Imperial College held nearly every office in the Ministry of Works.
Learning was put to use: the Heavenly Craft Hall, the Artisan Hall, the Vegetable Hall, the Rain Hall, the Farming Hall and the other halls of the Nether Demon Cult all produced the talents the Ministry required, and all could enter the court's Ministry of Works.
So when Shen Mu saw the officials Ling Yushu had brought, a strange look came over his face: more than half were his own people from the Nether Demon Cult.
Shen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Yun Que, Wei Yong and Si Yunxiang also hurried over. Shen Wanyun had been beaten black and blue, yet he looked exceedingly pleased with himself.
When Si Yunxiang saw the Ministry of Works officials Ling Yushu had brought, she too could not hide her astonishment, and asked Shen Mu in a whisper: "Cult Master, is the Crown Prince one of ours too?
" Shen Mu was rather tempted, and said to Ling Yushu: "Your Highness, have you ever heard of the Heavenly Sage Cult? " Ling Yushu would not take up that thread, and said hurriedly: "Everyone is here; let us set out as soon as possible.
My father's command to me this time is to tour the geography of every prefecture and commandery in the realm, to inspect the water conservancy and city defenses after the natural disaster, and also to survey the land everywhere and examine the grain, vegetables and fruit.
Wherever we go, I shall question the local officials, while you inspect the local hydrology, city defenses, land and provisions, and the two accounts shall be checked one against the other. " The assembled officials assented.