"Cat Theory" and Yang Shiqi

Dao Yan, who understood yin and yang and could discern hidden mysteries, knelt before Zhu Yunwen in greeting.

Zhu Yunwen issued an edict restoring Dao Yan's secular name, Yao Guangxiao, and appointed him Left Virtuous Administrator of the Bureau of Buddhist Registers. He also admitted him to the Hanlin Academy as an Expositor-in-waiting, charged with reading histories to the emperor, explaining the classics, and answering his questions as an adviser.

Yao Guangxiao stared at Zhu Yunwen, unable to believe his ears.

A Hanlin Expositor-in-waiting was practically half a member of the Grand Secretariat. Though the post carried no actual authority, it held the power to influence the emperor's decisions!

To the Jianwen Emperor and Great Ming, he had neither an illustrious past nor any backing. He had not come through the imperial examinations, had no achievements to his name, and had no experience in governance. How could he possibly enter the Hanlin Academy?

He had assumed Zhu Yunwen's decision to keep him was nothing more than a hollow pretext, and that he would be tucked away in some insignificant position. Now, however, it seemed the emperor was serious-he truly intended to entrust him with important duties!

After frittering away decades, could I, Yao Guangxiao, finally realize the ambitions in my heart and do justice to everything I have learned?

Yao Guangxiao's promotion sparked fierce debate at court. Several officials submitted memorials taking direct aim at Zhu Yunwen, urging the emperor not to appoint officials arbitrarily or listen to malicious counsel. Some even declared that there was no place for a monk at court.

But these people had forgotten that Zhu Yuanzhang had once been a monk himself. Why could Great Ming not accommodate one more?

In his anger, Zhu Yunwen drew upon Deng's Cat Theory of white cats and black cats and wrote a three-thousand-character essay, venting his dissatisfaction and speaking his mind without reserve. He laid out its central point:

Whether a cat was black or white, a cat that caught mice was a good cat.

Whether a person was a monk or a nun, anyone with ability and talent could serve as an official.

The capable should rise; the mediocre should fall.

If you dared occupy an office while doing nothing to earn your keep, he would lay you off and reassign you to shine and burn in the service of Great Ming's agriculture.

"To recruit talent, we must examine a person's character, assess their abilities, and put them to use. In my extensive reading, one line has particularly earned my admiration: I urge Heaven to rouse itself anew and send down talent unbound by any mold. After lengthy reflection, I believe these words should form the foundation of the empire's policy for selecting talent!"

From Xie Jin pounding the table in admiration, to Xu Huizu throwing back his head in a resounding cry, to the officials bowing in wholehearted acceptance, Zhu Yunwen's essay took only two short days to win them over.

"Cat Theory" became the focus of discussion in the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries, then spread from the court to the common people.

For a time, handwritten copies of "Cat Theory" became the hottest reading material among Nanjing's residents. Seeing this, several bookshops printed through the night and sold the essay in the Capital. Traveling merchants also took substantial quantities of "Cat Theory" with them when they left.

Before long, the Jianwen Emperor's "Cat Theory" appeared in Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Kaifeng, Jinan, Beiping, and other places.

Jiangxia, Wuchang Prefecture.

A teacher in his thirties, dressed in a dark blue-green robe, smiled and nodded to the children in his schoolroom. After bowing to him, the children left.

Calling it a schoolroom was not entirely accurate.

It was merely a room cleared out of a storage shed.

And its pupils were no more than a handful of village children.

"Teacher Yang! Ha ha, you really are still here."

Ding Jin, an assistant bureau director, strode into the schoolroom, calling out in a booming voice.

Yang Shiqi closed the Great Learning in his hands. Looking up at Ding Jin, who had already reached the doorway, he rose and bowed. "My greetings, Assistant Director."

"Ha ha, why stand on ceremony with me?" Ding Jin laughed heartily, lifting the wine and food he carried. "I've come to bring good news today."

"Good news?"

Yang Shiqi looked at Ding Jin in some surprise, unsure what had happened.

Ding Jin pulled Yang Shiqi down into a seat and arranged the wine and food on the table. Smiling, he said, "Wonderful news! Teacher Yang, you're going to the Capital!"

"To the Capital?"

Yang Shiqi stood up, astonishment written across his face.

Ding Jin motioned for Yang Shiqi to sit, rubbed his hands, and glanced around the dilapidated schoolroom. "It's far too cold in here. Still, your hard days are coming to an end. Read this essay first."

Yang Shiqi took the essay Ding Jin drew from inside his robe and lowered his eyes to it. Seeing the words "Cat Theory" at the top, he could not help laughing. "Since when did cats become something worth making such a fuss over?"

"Just keep reading."

Ding Jin filled the wine bowls and took a sip himself.

As Yang Shiqi read closely, his smiling face gradually grew solemn. When he reached "I urge Heaven to rouse itself anew and send down talent unbound by any mold," he slapped the table and sprang to his feet. "What a fine essay! What a fine essay!"

"Keep it down! If you spill my wine, I'll charge you with disrespect!"

Ding Jin chuckled.

Yang Shiqi read it over several times, clicking his tongue in admiration. "This 'Cat Theory' is easy to understand, states its purpose from the outset, and is strikingly clear. Reading it is like a thunderclap that makes even the deaf hear, opening one's eyes in an instant. What talent is and how to select it-this policy should be followed throughout the realm. Our present emperor is a wise sovereign, worthy of my bow!"

With that, Yang Shiqi placed "Cat Theory" on the desk and solemnly performed a full bow with the utmost reverence.

Ding Jin nodded emphatically, rose, and bowed beside Yang Shiqi.

Though "Cat Theory" contained only three thousand characters, its publication meant that countless talented people throughout Great Ming would be entrusted with important duties! And those mediocre men who accomplished nothing while drawing salaries for occupying offices would be thrown out.

Yang Shiqi bowed not only to Emperor Zhu Yunwen, but also to Great Ming's future!

"Today, we won't leave until we're drunk!"

Yang Shiqi spoke solemnly.

Ding Jin burst out laughing. "Let's not talk about drinking ourselves senseless. Drink a little less, so your elderly mother won't worry."

Yang Shiqi laughed heartily, tears glistening in his eyes.

After the New Year, he would be thirty-six.

He had lost his father at the age of one and wandered from place to place with his mother.

When he was six, his mother remarried Luo Xing, and he took the surname Luo.

During an ancestral ceremony in the Luo household, he had made a clay figure to honor the Yang ancestors. Luo Xing discovered it and, admiring his resolve, restored his surname Yang and supported his studies.

Later, Luo Xing offended powerful men and died while serving on the frontier in Shaanxi.

With no one to depend upon, Yang Shiqi could only take his elderly mother with him and make a living by teaching.

Though he had once served as a local educational instructor, he had lost the school's official seal and been forced to flee with his mother, wandering through Hubei and Hunan to seek refuge.

People did not fear hardship; they feared being unable to see its end.

Yang Shiqi knew that with the publication of "Cat Theory," his day to rise would surely come.

Ding Jin raised his wine bowl and smiled. "Teacher Yang, Wang Shuying, the magistrate of Hanyang, is a close friend of Hanlin Academician Fang Xiaoru, and he thinks very highly of your talent. After the New Year, it will be the First Year of Jianwen, and His Majesty will surely order the compilation of the Veritable Records of Ming Taizu. Magistrate Wang has already recommended you to his superiors. I imagine it won't be long before you enter the Capital."

Yang Shiqi smiled. "If that truly happens, I must thank Wang Yuancai."

"Only Magistrate Wang? What about me?"

"Of course I must thank you too! Ha ha!"

The two men laughed freely in the shabby schoolroom.

Midway through the twelfth lunar month, at the Prince of Yan's Palace in Beiping.

Zhu Di had been acting mad for some time, but constantly feigning insanity outdoors was no solution. After all, even if a winter swim did not feel cold, failing to change afterward could freeze a man to death.

Playing the fool was all well and good, but taking it too far and losing his life would hardly be worth it.

So Zhu Gaochi and the others had arranged for the prince's guards to bind Zhu Di and carry him back to the Prince of Yan's Palace. Though he occasionally went out to cause trouble in the streets, these outings grew less frequent, until he simply hid at home and pretended to be mad there.

Some time earlier, Zhu Di had received a letter from the Prince of Ning, Zhu Quan. It recounted Zhu Quan's "audience in the hall" with Zhu Yunwen before leaving the Capital and warned Zhu Di to bring the performance to an end once he had done enough.

Zhu Di huddled in a corner of his room, wrapped in a quilt, watching the doorway as he trembled. Once the sounds outside the door faded, his trembling stopped.

At the end of the eleventh month, Zhu Gaochi had agreed on Zhu Di's behalf to Ping An's implementation of the New Army Strategy in the three guards, stabilizing the Prince of Yan's Three Guards and buying them time.

What Zhu Gaochi had not expected was that the New Army Strategy included not only a "policy section," but also an "ideology section."

Zhu Yunwen's meaning was clear: since they had implemented the "New Army Strategy," it was only natural that they also accept ideological instruction in "Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty and defend Great Ming's mountains and rivers."

Thus, a group of Confucian scholars moved into the guard garrisons.

These men were firmly grounded in loyalty to the sovereign and service to the country. Conducting ideological education and cultural publicity was well within their abilities. To strengthen its effects, Zhu Yunwen had merely outlined a few key points for them.

These included fostering the soldiers' resolve to "fear no hardship and fight tenaciously"; instilling their faith in fighting for their families, their country, and Great Ming, "slaying enemies a thousand miles away and returning wrapped in horsehide"; and nurturing their aspirations to "inscribe their achievements on Mount Yanran and offer sacrifices atop Mount Langjuxu"...

Zhu Di understood that although the Prince of Yan's Three Guards still bore his title, they had effectively become Zhu Yunwen's personal troops.

Before drills, the three guards had to swear loyalty to the court, to Jianwen, and to Great Ming. After training, they had to shout, "Slay the enemy for our country, and fear not death!" Even before going to bed, the soldiers had to cry out, "Become the New Army and defend our mountains and rivers!"

Even the Prince of Yan's veteran soldiers and generals gradually grew distant from his palace.

Footsteps sounded outside the door again, and Zhu Di immediately began to shiver.

The door opened, and Zhu Gaochi entered. Closing it behind him, he approached Zhu Di and knelt, then took out a small booklet and offered it to him. "Father, word has come from the Capital. Master Dao Yan has entered the Hanlin Academy. This 'Cat Theory' is the policy essay His Majesty wrote to justify appointing him. It is also called the 'Great Ming Talent Theory.'"

Zhu Di stopped trembling, and his unfocused gaze gradually sharpened. He stared hard at Zhu Gaochi. "Master Dao Yan has entered the Hanlin Academy?"

Zhu Gaochi nodded sorrowfully. "It is absolutely true."

Zhu Di's lips quivered, his eyes filled with disbelief. "That cannot be true! Master Dao Yan and I share deep affection and loyalty. He is my trusted confidant. I have known him for more than ten years-how could I not know that?"

Zhu Gaochi sighed. "I do not know the circumstances behind it, but those are the facts. Judging from the news Uncle Ning sent us, His Majesty may well have foreseen our every move long ago. Father, we... should bow our heads!"

Zhu Di leaned his head against the wall and began to chuckle.

Countless times, he had dreamed of taking the seal of authority from his father Zhu Yuanzhang, sitting upon the supreme imperial throne, issuing commands, and ruling over Great Ming!

But were his dreams destined to be shattered by reality?

Zhu Yunwen!

My dear nephew!

He was a man of means, a man of ability, and, from the look of things, a capable emperor as well!

But to make me bow my head and submit!

I cannot accept it!

"Father! Elder Brother!"

Zhu Gaoxu burst into the room with a gust of cold wind and shouted something that sent a chill through both Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi: "Master Dao Yan is back!"