On the first day of the sixth month in the first year of Jingtai, government offices across the Ming Dynasty successively received an Imperial Decree from the emperor.
Tools served the people, bringing convenience and benefiting the economy. Now, for the benefit of all people and to advance the development of implements, the Imperial Preceptor had contributed one hundred thousand taels of silver. Whether they were people of the Ming Dynasty, foreigners, scholars, farmers, merchants, craftsmen, or slaves, anyone with an invention could report it to local implement workshops, county offices, or Daoist Registry Offices. So long as it was verified as an effective invention, they could receive no less than twenty taels of silver and up to one hundred.
The Imperial Decree also gave examples. Waterwheels had existed since ancient times, yet Hu Wei of the Ministry of Works had managed to apply both wind and water power to waterwheels. He received twenty taels of silver for each, forty taels in total.
Another example was an old farmer from an Imperial Manor who had altered a wooden piece on a plow, allowing it to dig two inches deeper into the earth. He received twenty taels of silver.
Anyone with a similar invention would receive a silver reward as long as it passed verification.
The Imperial Decree was copied out and posted on the notice walls of government offices. At the same time, along with the decree sent to the localities, came a message from the Imperial Preceptor.
"Poor Daoist cultivates merit, and what I detest most is broken faith. So whoever ruins my merit, I will curse them for the rest of their life."
The Provincial Administration Commissioners, Prefects, and County Magistrates who received this message silently copied every word of the decree without omission and posted it on