Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 6 The storm is coming
"Your Majesty, this is the memorial drafted by the cabinet today." Wang An ordered the eunuchs to bring two small carts full of memorials to the emperor's desk.

Zhu Changluo felt much better than he had in the past few days. Although the medicine prescribed by Liu Yuanshi had completely lost his appetite, he still followed the doctor's instructions and ate and rested regularly. However, a certain area still showed no signs of recovery, which made him somewhat worried.

"Read it." Zhu Changluo nodded.

"I, the Imperial Censor Wang Anshun, implore His Majesty to refrain from indulging in beauty and prioritize state affairs." Wang An's eyelids twitched, and he omitted most of the content, polishing the harsh words. What kind of treasonous nonsense was this?

The memorial was several hundred words long, with an allusion every three lines on average. It was used to describe the evil deeds and bad reputations of the foolish emperors who were addicted to wine and sex in history, and then Zhu Changluo was brought in as a scapegoat.

Not to mention that the eunuch's job was to extract key information from the memorial and then submit it to the emperor. Even if that was not the case, he would have to hide some of the content.

"The cabinet's vote was to 'comfort his intentions and criticize his words.'" The cabinet's meaning was simple: you're right, let's continue next time.

For the censors in the Ming Dynasty, verbal criticism was no different from praise. They would be even happier if the emperor ordered them to be beaten with a stick in court.

"Refute." After gradually adapting to the job of being the emperor, Zhu Changluo discovered that if the censors only targeted the emperor himself, they would be excited no matter whether he agreed with them or went against them.

It's approved today. It proves that the Emperor thinks I'm right. We'll continue tomorrow.

Not allowed today. Prove that the emperor was deceived by the traitor. Continue tomorrow.

Most censors are like taffy, once they stick to you it’s hard to get them off.

How to stop them from bothering him? Before abolishing the censor system and establishing a new supervisory system, Zhu Changluo's method was to let them fight each other.

If you want to quarrel, then quarrel among yourselves. Don't bother me. I employ people when I should employ them and reprimand people when I should reprimand them.

Anyway, he has seen more than the original Zhu Changluo, so he can save a lot of effort in selecting people.

"I, the Imperial Censor Zheng Zhongzhou, implore His Majesty not to indulge in beauty and to prioritize state affairs." Although there are some differences in the expression, the core is basically the same.

"barge."

"The Imperial Censor Wu Liangsi requests His Majesty not to indulge in beauty and to prioritize state affairs." Another identical document.

Zhu Changluo thought for a moment. Chu Party? "Yes."

Wang An discovered that similar memorials submitted by the Donglin Party were mostly rejected, while those submitted by the Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang factions were mostly approved. However, due to the large number of censors in the Donglin Party, their total censorship eventually equaled that of the Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang factions combined.

What exactly does His Majesty mean?

"Is Consort Li still going to the Imperial Concubine frequently recently?" After reviewing the last memorial, Zhu Changluo looked up at Cui Wensheng with a tired face.

"Your Majesty, yes." Cui Wensheng's face turned serious and he answered respectfully.

"Hmph, not much ability, but big ambition." No one knew who Zhu Changluo was talking about.

That night, Nanxunfang Liu Mansion

Liu Yirong had just finished his meal when he heard a servant come to report that a eunuch had handed him a visiting card, asking to see him.

"Whose name is written on the visiting card?" Liu Yirong rubbed his nose and asked.

"No, I asked him, and he said he could only tell me after he met the Lord." The servant replied.

"Wang An's people? They shouldn't be so secretive," Liu Yirong muttered, puzzled. When Zhu Changluo was still the crown prince, the Donglin Party frequently contacted him through Wang An. Eventually, they established a fairly good relationship, and Wang An also developed a fondness for the Donglin Party, who worked so hard to protect their master.

This is the same reason why Liu Heqing, the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau, disliked the Donglin Party.

"Let him in." Liu Yirong thought for a moment and gave the order.

The Emperor's thoughts were becoming increasingly difficult to predict. Most of the memorials submitted during the day had been rejected. Although the number of approved memorials was comparable to that of the three factions, the absolute number of rejected memorials from the Donglin Party far exceeded that of the three factions.

Although he didn't express his anger directly, the emperor was still dissatisfied with the Donglin Party because of Yang Lian's incident. Liu Yirong shook his head and sighed.

"Please sit down, sir." Liu Yirong put down his teacup, stood up and greeted the eunuch with a smile.

The eunuch was flattered and bowed quickly, saying, "Lord Liu."

"Which boss sent the eunuch to the Liu Mansion?" Liu Yirong didn't want to play tricks on the person who delivered the message. There was no need.

Seeing the eunuch looking around without saying anything, Liu Yirong said, "All of you go out. I want to talk to the eunuch alone."

After the servants left, the eunuch pulled a letter from his sleeve and said, "Cui Bingbi asked me to give this letter to Liu Gelao. He hopes to use it to gain the Donglin Party's favor."

"Cui Bingbi?!" Liu Yirong had just sat down when he was shocked by the news and stood up again. The Donglin Party had earlier discussed using Cui Wensheng as a leverage point to drive out Zheng once the emperor's anger subsided.

Where did Cui Wensheng get the news? The suspicious Liu Yirong began to suspect that someone in the Donglin Party was secretly colluding with the eunuchs, but after a brief shock, his expression returned to its calm state.

Liu Yirong didn't reach for the envelope. Instead, he said, "I don't know where Cui Bingbi heard this rumor. If that's the reason, then please go back, eunuch."

"Lord Liu, please take a look. With this, everything you want to do will come naturally." The eunuch recited Cui Wensheng's words to him verbatim. Then he walked straight to Liu Yirong and handed him the letter.

If he failed to accomplish this, Cui Bingbi would have a hundred ways to kill him. For example, he would find a random excuse to cane him, and then have the executioner "beat him with all his heart." Even if he died, it would be because of his own weakness. For Bingbi, a eunuch second only to the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, beating a common eunuch to death was a piece of cake.

When Liu Yirong saw the anxiety and fear that was hard to conceal in the eunuch's eyes, he immediately knew that Cui Wensheng had given him a death order.

Why is Cui Wensheng so anxious?

He might have thought that Yang Lian's impeachment was directed by the Donglin Party, and since he was an old associate of the Zheng family, what was he trying to do? Liu Yirong's mind worked extremely quickly, and he figured out the key points in an instant.

"Okay, I'll take a look," Liu Yirong took the envelope and opened it. "Sure enough."

"You can go back and report now, sir."

"That's what Cui Bingbi said." The eunuch still wanted to get a definite answer.

"You may return now, eunuch." But how could Liu Yirong say anything more to him? Cui Wensheng had come in person, so there was more to discuss. Liu Yirong sat down, picked up his tea, and stopped looking at the eunuch.

From beginning to end, he didn't even ask the eunuch's name.

After the eunuch left, Liu Yirong called the servants and said, "Go and invite Han Dongge, Zhou Shangshu, Zou Sicheng, Sun Shilang, and Zhao Du Yushi."

The servant looked at the sky. It was getting late, but he didn't need to think too much. He just did what his master said. "Yes."

At almost the same time, another eunuch knocked on the door of Fang Mansion.

(End of this chapter)