Seeing this, Mo Zi spoke thus: “I know that women of Da Zhou cannot casually speak their given names, but His Majesty called my name before a hall full of important ministers, and now has granted me these official robes. I thought it inappropriate to be bound by ordinary rules, so I boldly refer to myself by my given name rather than my courtesy name to demonstrate imperial dignity, imperial grace, and official authority. Otherwise, if I said ‘Madam Song,’ everyone would probably think I was some family member.”
The Bureau Chief thought: what a formidable tongue.
“What Miss Song says is quite right.” The Deputy Chief said, “I heard that yesterday, Minister Yang’s daughter went to the Ministry of Rites to pay respects to the Minister and also referred to herself by her courtesy name. His Majesty is a wise and enlightened ruler. Since he has made the exceptional appointment of a woman as an official, we should treat her equally. However, titles like Administrator or Inspector don’t quite suit a young lady’s grace—Miss Song is better.” All seemingly harmonious on the surface.
“That’s fine with me.” She didn’t mind at all.
“Miss Song, although His Majesty permits you to move about, it’s merely nominal without a real position. This official cannot arbitrarily violate regulations, so no office space has been arranged for you in the Bureau, nor can subordinate officials be assigned.” The Shipping Bureau violated regulations all the time, but this time the Bureau Chief put on airs, not wanting to see a woman giving orders here. The Ministry of Rites had it easy—they also had an additional nominal female official, but one who didn’t move about.
Mo Zi inwardly laughed at this childish method of trying to make her appear less often, but her face was full of smiles. “Your Excellency need not worry about Mo Zi. Though I’m an Inspector of the Shipping Bureau, I actually only do what His Majesty instructs. I won’t and don’t wish to interfere with other Bureau affairs—Your Excellency can carry on as usual. As for subordinates, I’ll enter the palace tomorrow to borrow two people from His Majesty. I wouldn’t dare trouble the Bureau Chief. His Majesty gave me a token for entering and leaving the palace—it would be good to try using it.” Don’t say she was worthless, openly and covertly threatening people with the Emperor—the key point was that it worked.
Hearing this, the Bureau Chief thought: hey, she doesn’t dare trouble him but dares trouble the Emperor? That made him sound more important than the Emperor—how could that be acceptable?
The old man quickly coughed twice. “For such a small matter, you needn’t mention it to His Majesty. I’ll look into it again and try to assign two people to help you.”
“Thank you, Bureau Chief.” She would still need someone to maintain appearances and clear the way ahead. Relying on herself alone would require too much mental and physical effort.
The Bureau Chief’s old face smiled stiffly as he nodded and moved past it.
Despite appearing reluctant, the Bureau Chief was actually quite efficient this time. Mo Zi had just entered the shipping yard and barely begun talking with Yin Shi when two people came in from outside.
One old and one young, one tall and one short. The old one had a stern face, his sparse beard too thin to grasp in one handful. Upon seeing her, he grunted twice—his ideological work apparently hadn’t been completed yet. The young one was a pudgy little fatty with beady mole-like eyes, his face all smiles.
Mo Zi took special note of Yin Shi’s reaction. Seeing a trace of strange amusement on his face, an expression somewhat like schadenfreude watching a good show, she understood these two were probably troublemakers in the Bureau. However, she hadn’t expected them to work for her anyway—she just needed them to clear the way ahead. Since they were troublemakers, they might unexpectedly prove very useful.
The little fatty, seeing Mo Zi’s gaze fall on him, bowed. “This subordinate is Zheng Wen, a new graduate from the recent examinations, newly appointed as Bureau Registrar. I arrived before the New Year, a few days before Miss Song.”
Oh, quite clever and talkative. Most likely hadn’t established a firm foothold yet, so easy to assign and couldn’t complain much. Typical—bullying the newcomer.
Mo Zi looked next to Zheng Wen. That elderly gentleman acted as if he hadn’t seen anything and wouldn’t utter half a word.
Zheng Wen remained proactive. “This is Master Qi Xiu who manages the Document Repository, widely read in all books, full of knowledge. Everyone calls him Doctor Qi.”
In the Shipping Bureau, who was there to listen to vast knowledge? Moreover, managing the document repository was just being a file clerk, and at near-retirement age—either he hadn’t achieved success or this was an exaggeration.
Mo Zi listened for now. “I’m new here and this is essentially a sinecure position. His Majesty looks favorably upon me to help with some practical matters. My experience is shallow, making it difficult to begin. Having you two to assist me puts my mind somewhat at ease. I’ll rely on you for many things in the future. Please don’t hesitate to advise me.”
Doctor Qi, hearing this, spoke sarcastically. “The Inspector outranks us by several grades. What could we possibly teach you, Administrator? If there’s work, order us to do it and we’ll do it. If there’s no work, we each attend to our own duties. The Administrator may come or not come, but we must be here daily. The repository receives documents every day—if we neglect it for even one day, it becomes chaotic. As this is the Administrator’s first day taking office, there’s surely nothing urgent. This subordinate’s position is lowly but duties are many. I take my leave.” He waved his sleeve and walked straight out.
Zheng Wen’s face showed embarrassment. “Miss Song, his temperament is straightforward—surely he means no harm. Please don’t take offense. I… I’ll go persuade him.”
These two—they came quickly and left quickly too.
Yin Shi secretly laughed to himself, stealing glances to see Mo Zi’s face turn red, but unexpectedly she remained calm and composed with an indifferent attitude. He thought this quite strange.
“Yin Shi, I’d like to see that sunken ship.” Mo Zi’s visit today—paying respects to the Bureau Chief was merely incidental.
“How can this be done?” Yin Shi’s face showed difficulty. “Miss Song is herself a shipping yard manager and should know that after spring begins, things get busy. Moreover, we’re government-run. The Secretariat ordered the Chancellery to draft plans—a thousand new ships for the capital this spring. Even working day and night, we might not finish…”
Mo Zi cut off his lengthy discourse. “So how was the sunken ship handled?”
Yin Shi was led into the main topic. “Storage for raw lumber and various materials is tight—there’s really no place to put it, so we had to dismantle it. Usable parts were reused, unusable parts were thrown away or burned. I did ask the Bureau Chief about this—he personally agreed. At that time, none of us knew Miss Song would become Inspector and come investigate again. May this subordinate speak a word from his heart?”
Of course Mo Zi would let him speak.
“This subordinate believes that since this ship’s sinking already has a conclusion and the generals suffered no injuries, there’s no need to dwell on it or create trouble from nothing.” Through these words, Yin Shi was suggesting Mo Zi was making something out of nothing.
Mo Zi remained fully patient with these people who held dismissive attitudes toward her. “I wasn’t aware there was already a conclusion. Can you tell me what the cause actually was?”
“Those days, large chunks of floating ice flowed down from the upper reaches of the Ya River. After the master craftsmen carefully examined it, the dragon keel’s underside had been struck by a hard object. Apart from floating ice, no other explanation was considered. The underside of floating ice can be sharp, difficult to discern with the naked eye. This was also verified with the soldiers on the ship that day—the ship did indeed shake, and they personally saw floating ice pass by the ship’s side. At that time, both witness testimony and physical evidence explained everything. Moreover, not long after, the ship of Da Qiu’s previous envoy was also damaged by floating ice, further confirming the conclusion without doubt. Oh yes, didn’t Miss Song also come to our shipping yard to give testimony?”
Mo Zi thought to herself: the Da Qiu ship was sabotaged by people she had arranged—where was any floating ice? This Yin Shi was lying through his teeth. Was he the mastermind, an accomplice, or had he truly been kept in the dark by others and was just talking nonsense? When she came to testify, they hadn’t asked for her thoughts at all—they only asked about the situation when she saw the ship taking on water and sinking, and didn’t mention a single word about any discoveries during those days when it was salvaged and kept at Hongyu. She had firmly kept Yuan Cheng’s words in mind and simply didn’t mention any suspicious points at all. The result? Now when it was her turn to investigate, they used the excuse of a closed case to destroy all the evidence.
“Though His Majesty has you investigate, you needn’t take it seriously in front of people—just go through the motions. First, to sound a warning to those people. Second, Da Zhou’s officialdom has many chronic problems that one or two upright officials cannot turn around.” This was Yuan Cheng’s advice to her.
She decided to follow his words, so she nodded and expressed agreement to Yin Shi. “You’re right. Since there’s already a conclusion that’s reasonable and logical, I needn’t nitpick. However, since this is a matter His Majesty entrusted to me, I must at least keep up appearances. If you don’t mind, let me look around everywhere.”
Yin Shi was stunned again. First seeing that she was completely unconcerned by their overt mockery and covert ridicule, seeming ready to really accomplish something, how had she suddenly become so easy to talk to? Thinking again, this was just how women were—changeable as wind and rain, putting on airs as if she truly had official authority when in fact her belly had no ink and she was just saving face. In any case, if she wanted to muddle through, he wanted to muddle through even more.
“What Miss Song says is quite right. Who dares neglect His Majesty’s command? However, this subordinate’s official duties are busy—I’m afraid I can’t spare time to accompany you. If Miss Song doesn’t mind looking around on your own, would that be acceptable? I’ll give instructions below that absolutely no one will dare obstruct you.” He didn’t want to follow behind a woman.
Mo Zi pretended not to know his intentions and said with a smile that she was grateful. Rising, she added, “Then I’ll go look around now. I’ve long heard the Capital Shipping Yard is grand in scale, the greatest in the nation. Last time I came and went in haste without the standing to observe carefully.”
Though Yin Shi maintained his contemptuous attitude, somehow he felt powerless to resist. “Yes, I’ll give instructions right away. Miss Song, please feel free.”
Watching Mo Zi leave, Yin Shi let out a long breath.
A trusted manager beside him then said, “In this one’s view, Your Excellency needn’t worry. I see she just wants to perfunctorily deal with His Majesty and grab some credit. She’s just making us her foundation, using us as backing for a woman.”
“Sending her away quickly is the proper thing.” Yin Shi’s heart still couldn’t settle. “I heard from the Bureau Chief that they’ll find an opportunity to make her lose great face, then submit a memorial impeaching her, forcing His Majesty to revoke her permission to move about. That way, she’ll hold the title in name but won’t actually interfere with our affairs—everyone happy.”
The confidant was curious. “Wonder what clever plan it is?”
Yin Shi glared at him. “No need for us to worry blindly—people above will think of something. By the way, those things below—what should be hidden, is it all hidden well?”
“Your Excellency can rest assured, everything’s hidden tight and secure. Even if His Majesty came personally, he absolutely couldn’t discover any trace. We really have had bad luck—which bureau or office doesn’t skim profits? Yet they’re only investigating the Shipping Bureau.” The confidant expressed indignation.
“It’s also because those below went too far. Tell them not to skim so ruthlessly in the future. Those were military ships—of course when something happens, the investigation will be tight.” Yin Shi instructed his confidant to leave. “Hurry, pass down orders that when anyone sees a female official, give her some leeway and keep their mouths shut tight.”
The confidant left the door and wiped his nose. “Tell others to skim less ruthlessly when you people above have skimmed everything clean—how can they not be ruthless?”
Muttering to himself, he finally left.
As soon as he left, Ding Gou’s face appeared from behind the corner wall, then disappeared again.
Mo Zi, who hadn’t gone far, after hearing Ding Gou’s report, asked him and Zan Jin, “What do you two think—how will they try to make me lose face?”
After pondering, Zan Jin said, “Perhaps they’ll give false leads, let Brother Mo reach wrong conclusions, then impeach you before His Majesty?”
Ding Gou said instead, “Investigate what? It’s a whole nest of crows. You’re a sesame-seed-and-green-bean-sized official, and female at that—can you clean out the whole pot? Just wander around casually.”
Mo Zi said both made sense.
Then she smiled.