Entry

On this day, a proclamation was issued on the occasion of the birth of the Emperor's first grandson.....The proclamation read: "...Pearls have been procured from the Guang-dong pearl-beds for many years. There have been repeated reports memorialized by the grand coordinator and the regional inspector that the oysters are becoming increasingly few and that we should not exhaust the source. On the day the proclamation arrives, the office of the originally-sent eunuch official Li Min is to be closed down, and he is to speedily return by horse to the capital. The staff of the office should be put into labour service. The precious stone mines in Yun-nan interfere with the yi areas and the military situation, with the result that the distant peoples easily rebel and are difficult to pacify. The mines are to be immediately closed down and all mining is to be halted..."