The emperor's new directives began to flow through the veins of the empire like a subtle drug. In the armories, teams of artisans, freed from their usual work, began a frenzied period of experimentation, puzzling over the emperor's cryptic sketches of lever-action windlasses and box magazines.
In southern ports, confused merchants received imperial edicts with specific shopping lists. They were to trade for "the strongest steel wire" and "the whitest saltpeter crystals," with generous bonuses for quality and quantity. It was bizarre, but the emperor's coin was good.
Minister Liu watched these strange developments with a growing sense of unease. He could find no angle of attack. There was no overt corruption in the armory project—the budget, thanks to the new "boring" ledgers, was frustratingly transparent. The trade orders were odd, but not illegal. He couldn't accuse the emperor of treason for buying foreign steel.
He tried a different tactic. During a court audience, he stepped forward, his voice dripping with concern.
"Your Majesty, the scholars and I are… curious. The imperial workshops hum day and night. Our merchants sail with strange shopping lists. Yet, the northern border remains tense. Should our efforts not be focused on reinforcing the Great Wall? On raising more levies from the provinces? These are the proven methods to keep the barbarians at bay."
Zhu Haolang looked up from a report on corn yields. He had been hoping to sneak out early to check on his new koi pond.
"Minister Liu," he said, his tone one of profound boredom. "Tell me, if you have a termite problem in your roof, do you spend your time swatting each individual termite as it emerges? Or do you find the nest and smoke it out?"
"The… the nest, Your Majesty?"
"Precisely. Raising levies is swatting termites. It is a endless, bloody, and expensive task. I am looking for the nest. I am looking for a way to make the Mongols decide that raiding us is simply not worth the effort. It is a more permanent solution. It requires less ongoing effort. Therefore, it is superior."
He could see the logic bouncing harmlessly off Liu's traditionalist mindset. "But Your Majesty, the ways of the barbarians are savage and unpredictable! We must meet strength with strength!"
"Strength is not just numbers and bravery, Minister Liu," the emperor said, a hard edge finally entering his voice. "It is also the strength of a better idea. Now, if you are so concerned with provincial levies, I have a task for you. I need a comprehensive census of all blacksmiths and metalworkers in the northern provinces. Their skills, their tools. See to it. It will keep you… occupied."
It was a mammoth, tedious, and utterly administrative task. The perfect punishment. Liu's face fell, but he could not refuse.
As Liu retreated, defeated once more, Zhu Haolang allowed himself a moment of grim satisfaction. The pieces were moving. The new crossbow prototypes were promising. The first shipments of high-quality steel were arriving.
But the reports from the north were growing more urgent. The Mongol unification was real. Their new leader, a man named Batu, was charismatic and ruthless. The storm was no longer brewing; it was on the horizon.
The Lazy Emperor had built granaries and bureaucracies. Now, he had to build a deterrent. And he had to do it faster than he wanted to. His lazy paradise was slipping away, one Mongol scout at a time. He had to prove that the most efficient war was the one you never had to fight. And to do that, he would have to show the Mongols something they had never seen before: not just Ming strength, but Ming ingenuity, forged in the fires of his profound desire to avoid a long, drawn-out conflict. He would give them a reason to stay on their side of the wall. Permanently.