Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 623 The Hidden Currents of Hanyang (Part 3)

After a moment of silence, Zheng Zhongxin surprisingly asked, "Why can't you offer advice to reassure the emperor, instead of always choosing to offend him?"

“If the emperor’s heart could be calmed by mere remonstrance, Emperor Taizong wouldn’t have deposed Chengqian first, then Prince Wei, and installed Emperor Gaozong instead. As for the wickedness of the emperor, hehehehe,” Li Erzhan couldn’t help but laugh. “‘Street scoundrels, vixens and poisonous stingers, Lin Fu and Qin Hui, all combined into one person,’ these words of the purists are not untrue, are they?”

"Since I, Li, am so corrupt, why can't I join the wicked in the king's cause?" Li Erzhan shrugged indifferently. "Although Yongchang is dead, the matter of 'deposing the mother' has been delayed again and again because of the obstruction of people like Li Hengfu. The king has lost patience."

"So you want to consolidate your own favor by 'deposing your mother' first," Zheng Zhongxin said, suppressing his anger, "and then advise the king to execute the general to put his mind at ease?"

“That’s the only way,” Li Erzhan nodded, his face seemingly proclaiming “This child is teachable.” “Otherwise, His Majesty won’t listen to what I say.”

“I understand,” Zheng Zhongxin stood up and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Li Erzhan. “I will convey your message to Lord Luoxi immediately. Farewell!”

"What's the rush? I haven't finished speaking yet." Li Erzhan stretched out his hand and made a downward finger gesture. "Sit down."

"What else do you want to say?" Zheng Zhongxin remained standing; he really didn't want to stay any longer.

“At other times, even if you wanted to talk to me, I wouldn’t bother with you,” Li Erzhan said with a mocking smile. “I really don’t know how Li Hengfu could appreciate a silly boy like you.”

“It doesn’t matter if you insult me. But he’s gone now, so please watch your words!” Zheng Zhongxin clenched his fist.

"Hmph!" Li Erzhan snorted coldly, speaking in a provocative tone, "If you don't dare to hit me, then loosen your fist. If you want to get things done, then listen to what I have to say!"

Zheng Zhongxin released his grip with a stern expression and sat back down.

"That's more like it." Li Erzhan softened his tone and pushed the teacup further.

"It's getting late, please speak quickly if you have something to say," Zheng Zhongxin said with a sigh, gazing at the red-lit window frame.

"Alas!" Li Erzhan sighed as well. "When China is in trouble, the feudal lords come to its aid. This is the great principle of the Spring and Autumn Annals, and the duty of the vassal states. Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui first refused to send reinforcements, and then led their troops to surrender. It is of no benefit to the state, no benefit to the king, and no benefit to you or me if such people continue to live. You should have killed these two scourges on the way and then burned that letter of state. If you had done so, even if I did not speak up for you personally, I would have instructed the censors to do so!"

Zheng Zhongxin's pupils contracted, and his eyes darkened, as if he were deep in thought.

"But you didn't do that. Instead, you brought back Jiang Hongli, Jin Jingrui, and that damned letter of state. Who are Jiang and Jin?" Li Erzhan asked. "Jiang and Jin are the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief whom the king insisted on appointing. I have mentioned Li Hengfu many times, and you must feel embarrassed and angry. But you brought these two people back and intend to execute them in a public manner. Isn't that just embarrassing the king? So I am sure that if you make this rash proposal, even if no one in the court objects, you will return empty-handed."

"This, I..." Zheng Zhongxin was shocked.

“On the other hand!” Li Erzhan raised his hand to interrupt Zheng Zhongxin, then picked up his tea and took a sip. “If you rashly submit your proposal, at most you’ll return empty-handed. But if I openly agree with you when you do, what will the King think? Will the King think I’ve switched sides and betrayed him? If the King starts to overthink things and a few more people jump out to stir things up, you and I will both be executed. If it really comes to that, I won’t even follow in Li Hengfu’s footsteps and get exiled! I’ll go straight to prison.”

"So that's why you want us to say 'abolish the mother' for you first?" Li Erzhan brought up Li Hengfu again as an example, but Zheng Zhongxin was no longer as angry as before.

"This isn't just helping me!" Li Erzhan said solemnly, abandoning all his teasing and provocation. "It's also helping yourselves! Only if you first cater to the King's desires and become his henchmen, working for him to please him and ensure his peaceful sleep, will the King listen to your words! And even then, you must be careful with your words, never letting the King feel that executing Jiang and Jin would damage his dignity and prestige!"

"Is it only by encountering the ruler's evil that one can persuade him to do good?" Zheng Zhongxin said sadly.

"Mencius said, 'The people are the most important, the state is next, and the ruler is the least important.' Therefore, to offend the ruler is a small crime, but to protect the country and the people is a great merit!" Li Erzhan narrowed his eyes slightly, his words full of allure. "Zheng Qianshi enlisted in the army at the age of seventeen, serving under Duke Zhongzhuang. In a time of widespread silence, he volunteered to break through the Japanese pirates' encirclement, clearing the road and delivering Duke Zhongzhuang's petition to the imperial court in Yizhou. Such heroic spirit remains etched in my memory even today. Now, the Tang Dynasty's anger is brewing in the heavens, the threat of the Japanese invaders looms on the border, and the shame of the Jili Kingdom is imminent. A memorial to the throne, ordering the execution of generals and the burning of books to express our resolve, delayed even by a day, will bring a hundred years of trouble. Delayed even by ten days, it will bring a thousand years of disaster!"

“My sincerity is so radiant,” Li Erzhan said, picking up his teacup and drinking the tea stems at the bottom in one gulp. “Envoy Zheng can inform Zhang Luoxi of this in full.”

Zheng Zhongxin was almost dizzy from Li Erzhan's words. He both thought Li Erzhan was talking nonsense and felt that there was some truth to what he said. After a moment of stunned silence, Zheng Zhongxin stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to take his leave: "I understand what Judge Li means."

"No need to see me out." Li Erzhan put down his cup, his gaze following Zheng Zhongxin until he left the study.

The footsteps faded into the distance, and Li Erzhan withdrew his gaze. Looking at another teacup across the coffee table, Li Erzhan murmured, "What a waste."

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Half an hour after leaving the Li residence, Zheng Zhongxin arrived at Zhang Wan's residence and recounted, in a simplified and largely accurate manner, what Li Erzhan had told him.

After Zheng Zhongxin finished speaking, Zhang Wan remained silent for a long time. However, Cui Mingji, who was sitting in the guest seat, couldn't help but speak up: "That old scoundrel Li Erzhan pretends to be ignorant of the meaning of the text, plagiarizes similar words, and thinks he is a literary talent. In reality, he is nothing but an ignorant fool! How dare he distort the words of Master Meng Sheng like this! Lord Luoxi, I still think the same way. Not a single word of that old scoundrel Li can be believed!"

Cui Mingji's indignation wasn't entirely due to Li Erzhan's indiscriminate use of Mencius's words. Born in the fourteenth year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Cui Mingji spent his childhood amidst the flames of the Imjin War and the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the war subsided, Cui Mingji reached school age. He studied classics and history under two prominent Confucian scholars, Li Hengfu and Shen Qin, and befriended literary figures such as Zhao Yi, Zhang Wei, and Li Shibai. Before entering officialdom, he was already quite famous, known as one of the "Four Friends."

In the thirty-third year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Cui Mingji, barely twenty years old, achieved remarkable success in the imperial examinations, thus entering the political arena. After entering officialdom, Cui Mingji's career progressed smoothly, eventually reaching the rank of Assistant Military Officer. It wasn't until the forty-first year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, when Li Erzhan instigated the "Guichou Case" and the "Petition to Depose His Mother," that his smooth-sailing life took a dramatic turn, plummeting to its lowest point.

In the 42nd year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Cui Mingji was dismissed from his official post for opposing the abolition of his mother's title. Subsequently, he suffered the loss of both his parents and remained in office for seven consecutive years. During this period, his two mentors, Shen Qin and Li Hengfu, were also dismissed and exiled for opposing the abolition of their mothers' titles. In the 46th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Li Hengfu died in exile in Beiqing, Xianjing Province. Upon hearing the news, Cui Mingji wept bitterly. From then on, his hatred for Li Erzhan intensified.

“Brother Cui, there’s no need to condemn them all.” Li Shibai, one of the “Four Friends,” was also present, sitting next to Li Hengfu. “I think we can still listen to Judge Li’s words, setting aside those maliciously misinterpreted words of the sages.”

As soon as Li Shibai finished speaking, Zheng Zhongxin glanced at him immediately. Zheng Zhongxin omitted the conversation about Sima Qian, but all along the way, he had been thinking about who this "Cao Wushang" really was.

"Listen to what?" Cui Mingji was replying to Li Shibai, but his gaze remained fixed on Zhang Wan. "Are we supposed to listen to this shameless old scoundrel's misleading rumors and persuade Lord Luoxi to act against his conscience and support the deposed mother?"

“I never expected Li Deyu to use the word ‘precarious’ to describe his own situation.” Zhang Wan didn’t respond to Cui Mingji’s comment; he still looked at Zheng Zhongxin. “Kexing. Did he really say that?” Kexing was Zheng Zhongxin’s courtesy name.

“Absolutely true.” Zheng Zhongxin immediately recalled the sentence Li Erzhan had used before “precarious.” He hadn’t taken it to heart at the time, but now he realized it was just Li Erzhan’s habitual provocation. As he thought about it, Zheng Zhongxin suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered a small matter he had overlooked: “Right! There’s another little thing that might be related to this ‘precarious’ statement.”

"What is it?" Zhang Wan asked.

"Li Panshu once asked his subordinates," Zheng Zhongxin said simply, "whether it was Wenchang Jun who sent his subordinates to find him."

Wenchangjun, or Wenchangfuyuanjun in full, was the title of Liu Xifen, the elder brother of the king's principal wife, Lady Liu.

"Why did Li Deyu ask that?" Zhang Wan pressed.

“I don’t know either,” Zheng Zhongxin glanced at Li Shibai again. “It’s probably because Li Panshu found out about the fact that Lord Wenchang sent someone to find me earlier.”

"If you don't mind, could you tell me why Lord Wenchang sent someone to visit?" Zhang Wan smiled warmly.

"Actually, it's nothing much, just asking about Generals Jiang and Jin and Guoshu," Zheng Zhongxin said.

"Did his people mention Li Deyu?" Zhang Wan asked again.

“I don’t think so,” Zheng Zhongxin squinted and thought for a moment. “I didn’t take it to heart at the time. I just thought it was routine. My answer to them was exactly the same as my answer in the Military Affairs Office.”

Zhang Wan nodded, then asked, "In what context did Li Deyu ask that question?"

"What was the situation?" Zheng Zhongxin recalled carefully for a while. "If I had to say, Judge Li probably suspected my motives for going to see him." After saying that, Zheng Zhongxin took the initiative to ask, "Is there a big conflict between Judge Li and Lord Wenchang? I heard that Li Liupu and the three Wenchang have always been in the same faction, and they've started fighting amongst themselves?"

Yi Er-chan was not a relative of the imperial family, but based on his three merits—"Hengnan," "Jingshe," and "Yishe"—he also obtained the first-rank title of "Gwangchang Prefectural Prince." In his time, Gwangchang Prefectural Prince Yi Er-chan, Munchang Prefectural Prince Yoo Hee-bun, and the current Chief State Councilor and Michchang Prefectural Prince Park Seung-jong were often referred to as the "Three Changs" by the purists due to their similar interests and power. Regarding the "Three Changs," contemporaries offered a somewhat inaccurate summary: Er-chan, Hee-bun, and Seung-jong all acted through close ties. Er-chan was responsible for all the criminal cases, Hee-bun for selling official positions, and Seung-jong for constructing many palaces.

“Li, Liu, and Erchang don’t seem to be openly competing, but they’re probably fighting behind the scenes.” Zhang Wan wasn’t a completely upright person like Li Hengfu or Shen Qin, but he was far removed from the truly corrupt ones either. As for the grudges and feuds among the three Changs, Zhang Wan could only glimpse them vaguely.

“Lord Luoxi, Li Erzhan is a cunning and opportunistic fellow. You must not easily believe his words!” Cui Mingji interjected.

“The Aya-Chang case.” Zhang Wan looked at Mingji. “Ziqian, have you thought about this? This case happened six years ago, and Aya-Chang is already dead. Why has it suddenly been brought up again recently?”

"Do you think those people were acting on Wen Chang's orders?" Cui Mingji asked rhetorically.

“The Lingchang treason case implicated Shen Jingxi, and at the time, some voices used this line to attack Li Deyu. Now that the old case is being brought up again, not to overturn the verdict, who is it aimed at?” Zhang Wan thought about it more and more and it seemed more and more likely. “Li Deyu has disciples and old friends all over the world, he must have sensed something.”

"Since Erchang has started fighting like dogs, why don't we take advantage of this opportunity to kick him while he's down and bring down that old scoundrel Li in one fell swoop?" Cui Mingji actually started to get excited.

“No,” Zhang Wan shook her head immediately. “We can’t do that.”

"Why not!?" Cui Mingji's first reaction upon hearing the objection was to recruit others to work independently.

“Brother Cui,” Li Shibai gently tugged at Cui Mingji’s sleeve. “Don’t forget what we’re here to talk about.”

“Dun Shi is right. The most urgent task now is to execute generals and burn books to appease the emperor.” Zhang Wanxian nodded to Li Shibai. Then, he looked at Cui Mingji: “Ziqian, you should have heard that a new military advisor has been appointed in Zhenjiang, which is separated from Yizhou by a river. It is said throughout the court and the country that the reason why the dynasty added this advisor is because of the ‘false accusation’ in Xu Lishu’s book.”

The news that the Ming court had suddenly established a new military advisory body in Zhenjiang caused a huge uproar as soon as it reached the capital. Soon after the news spread, someone impeached the Yi Jung-gu mission for failing to effectively refute the accusations and dispel the emperor's suspicions. If the Joseon court hadn't already sent the Oh Yun-gyeom mission to Liaodong with a message, the capital would have been determined to send a new mission to find out what had actually happened.

"So," Cui Mingji's eyes flashed with hatred, though it was unclear who it was directed at, "Lord Luoxi has already decided to cater to that old scoundrel Li's suggestion and agree to the 'deposing of the mother'?"

(End of this chapter)