Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 627 The Hidden Currents of Hanyang (Part 7)

"Li Guangchang." Li Hui's eyes swept around the Xuanzheng Hall, and finally, as usual, settled on the fourth person below the Three Ministers of State Affairs.

"Your subject is here!" Li Erzhan stepped forward, holding his tablet, and bowed respectfully.

"You are the Chief of the Court of Rites, the Director of the Imperial Academy, and the top scholar in the re-examination," Li Hui said, raising Li Erzhan's hand in a gesture of respect. "You should understand very well what loyalty and trustworthiness are, right?"

Li Erzhan was lost in thought, but he still humbly replied as usual: "I am but a lowly and pedantic scholar. Even if I have some knowledge, it is nothing more than parroting."

“Hehe,” Li Hui chuckled, then lifted Li Erzhan up to the sky: “If you’re already a pedantic scholar, then there are no great scholars left in this hall.”

"I dare not!" Li Erzhan knew all too well the principle that the higher one is praised, the harder one falls. His response was simple: he knelt directly on the ground. "As the saying goes, there is no second place in martial arts, but no first place in literature. The knowledge of sages is so vast. When I took the exam again, I was chosen as the top scholar only because my writing was clever and pleased the king. If the king were to read my essays again now, he would surely be so disgusted that he would throw my papers into the wastebasket."

"Hehehe cough cough." Li Hui chuckled and then began to cough lightly.

"Your Highness, please take care of your health!" Li Erzhan, taking advantage of his proximity, immediately began kowtowing upon hearing the king cough.

"It's nothing, it's nothing, just a tickle in my throat." Li Hui waved his hand before the others knelt down. "Speak. What is loyalty?"

Li Erzhan, who had understood somewhat just moments before, was now puzzled. However, for him, the word "loyalty" was far too easy to understand:
"Your Highness is wise! Though I am dull-witted, I am willing to expound the essential meaning of 'loyalty' based on the words of the ancient sages. Confucius said, 'A subject serves his ruler with loyalty, and a ruler treats his subject with propriety.' This is the foundation of social order and the principle of Heaven, as clear as the sun and moon and unchangeable. Guanzi said, 'The relationship between ruler and subject, father and son, is called righteousness.' And loyalty is the ultimate righteousness. Just as Mencius said, 'There has never been a ruler who prioritizes righteousness over loyalty.' Subjects should take the ruler's heart as the North Star and devote themselves wholeheartedly to upholding the righteousness of Heaven."

"Our late Emperor Taizu once instructed, 'Loyalty is unwavering to the ruler, and even in death, one should not forget him.' This is truly a timeless principle. Han Feizi said that a loyal minister should 'strive to uphold the law and wholeheartedly serve the ruler,' and that even thunder and rain are acts of divine grace, for ministers should only bow their heads and obey. The Classic of Loyalty states, 'Loyalty, when applied to the near, can protect the nation; when applied to the far, it reaches to the ends of the earth.' Therefore, loyalty is not merely about serving the ruler personally, but also about taking the ruler's will as one's own—Your Highness works tirelessly day and night for the sake of the people; how could we, your subjects, not be willing to give our lives for you?"

"In the past, Yi Yin carried the tripod and the Duke of Zhou spat out his food, both using 'great loyalty' to educate the world; Bi Gan cut out his heart and Wu Zixu hung up his eyes, both using 'lower loyalty' to preserve their integrity as ministers. Now Your Majesty's holy virtue is majestic, and we ministers can only emulate Ling Yin Ziwen's 'three appointments without joy, three dismissals without resentment,' and strictly adhere to the teachings of 'ruler as ruler, minister as minister, father as father, son as son,' so that our loyal souls may flow like rivers across the land, and even if we die nine times, we will not regret it!" Although Li Erzhan was over sixty years old, his mind was as clear as ever, and he opened his mouth with a splendid article full of flattery.

"Well said, well said!" Li Hui nodded repeatedly, clapping his hands in praise. "No wonder he is the top scholar personally selected by me."

"Your Highness is wise and insightful; I am far inferior to you." Li Erzhan kowtowed to Li Hui again.

"Ahem." After two more light coughs, Li Erzhan slowly put away his smile. "Then let me ask you! If someone violates etiquette and presumptuously sows discord among the royal family's relatives, is that still considered loyalty?"

Li Erzhan was immediately alarmed, thinking to himself: His Highness separated "loyalty" and "trust" and was actually targeting Zhang Haogu!
“To sow discord without cause is naturally disloyal, but to act in accordance with propriety and with unwavering loyalty to the ruler is utmost loyalty!” Even for his own sake, Li Erzhan had to say this. Otherwise, how would he settle the score of kinship with the “royal family’s flesh and blood,” such as Prince Linhai, Prince Yongchang, Prince Jinling, and Prince Lingchang?
“That makes sense.” Li Hui nodded with a smile, then his expression changed again: “But my sister and I have always been on good terms. I have always loved her dearly. Her title of Zhenming was bestowed upon her by me personally! How dare you force me to demote her to a princess or even a commoner again and again!”

Upon hearing this, many ministers in the hall who favored the reformist faction and opposed the removal of the mother showed expressions of bewilderment, ranging from amusement to utter contempt.

Yi Hun always puts on this hypocritical facade. Even when he intends to do something shameful, and does it, he insists on acting as if he's forced, unwilling, or coerced. This was the same way when Yi Er-chan led the Great Northern Faction in fabricating the "Gye-chou Incident," falsely accusing the Queen Dowager's father, Prince Yeonheung Kim Ti-nam, of plotting to overthrow the King and install Grand Prince Yeongchang as the new king.

At that time, the Daebuk faction repeatedly requested the execution of Grand Prince Yeongchang. The king outwardly refused, but secretly instructed the newly appointed Ganghwa Prefect Jeong Hang to execute Grand Prince Yeongchang. After Grand Prince Yeongchang's death, Jeong Hang reported that he died in an accident. The king feigned shock but did not punish Jeong Hang in the slightest. Instead, he exiled Jeong Un, the remonstrating official who advocated for Jeong Hang's execution, to Jeju Island.

Therefore, to many uninformed people, the king was playing another clownish trick of secretly giving instructions but not giving them out in public.

But Zhang Wan has always been upright and honest, so how could she have gotten involved with Li Erzhan? Everyone saw it but didn't understand.

Just when everyone thought Li Erzhan was about to join forces with Zhang Wan, Park, and Liu Erchang, weeping and wailing, to beg for the princess's demotion, Li Erzhan suddenly kowtowed dramatically and shouted, "Your Majesty, I am guilty! I beg you to dismiss me!" Not only did he shout this, but he also pulled out a letter of resignation from his robes. "This is my letter requesting dismissal; I beg Your Majesty's permission!"

This stunned not only the courtiers and the king, but also Yoo Hee-bun and Park Seung-jong, who had been trying to oust Lee Il-chan. After a brief silence, the hall erupted in commotion.

Amidst the clamor of whispers, Zhang Wan, the only calm and knowledgeable person, also knelt down beside Li Erzhan.

"I am guilty! But please, Your Majesty, dismiss me!" Zhang Wan shouted as he resigned, but his voice was drowned out by a cacophony of voices, a mixture of fear, bewilderment, sympathy, schadenfreude, and eagerness.

All eyes were on him and Li Erzhan. It was as if, at this moment, their location was the very heart of the hall.

However, the focus of the hall soon shifted back to Li Hui. Regardless of the ministers' intentions, the decision of whether a minister stayed or left rested solely with the king on his throne beneath the canopy.

Li Hui did not stop the commotion in the hall, but listened, watched, and pondered silently. Li Hui quickly recovered from his initial shock, and by the time the hall quieted down again, he had found someone who could express his opinion.

"Counselor Li," Li Hui said, looking at Li Tinggui, who had been standing behind Li Erzhan, "what do you have to say?"

Upon hearing that the king had immediately mentioned Li Tinggui, Li Erzhan's followers immediately displayed expressions of profound grief.

Li Tinggui was a typical upright and capable official, and one of the earliest officials to be expelled from the capital by Li Erzhan and his cronies for opposing the "deposition of the mother." If it weren't for the fact that "the Jurchen traitors were operating within the Celestial Empire, and the Celestial Empire, seeing two of our marshals among the rebels, suspected us of colluding with the barbarians. Hanlin scholar Xu Guangqi, censor Zhang Zhifa, and others framed our country, even raising the issue of guardianship," Li Tinggui would not have been reinstated.

Last autumn, as the war drew to a close, Yi Jeong-gu returned to Joseon with a series of bombshell reports. The king immediately reinstated him as a councilor in the Uijeongbu (National Assembly) for his "meritorious service in refuting false accusations." This appointment surprised almost everyone, not because it was a second-rank official position, but because at the time, the Uijeongbu was effectively monopolized by the newly appointed Grand Chancellor Park Seung-jong. The entire Uijeongbu, from the inside out, was staffed by Park's cronies; besides the king's absolute decision, the only options were recommendations from Park Seung-jong, or at least recommendations that Park Seung-jong wouldn't oppose. Therefore, many speculated that the Park family had somehow won over Yi Jeong-gu in order to overthrow Yi Il-chan and reinstate him to his position as Minister of Rites.

However, to everyone's surprise, Li Tinggui gave a rather mild reply: "Your Highness is wise. In my opinion, the way to secure the country is through filial piety and brotherly love. The requests made by Judge Li and Counselor Zhang the other day were indeed inappropriate and should have been refuted. But now, the country is facing many troubles, and we are caught in a dilemma in terms of propriety, and there is a danger of the Jurchen invaders invading the border. It is really inappropriate to rebuke ministers for such requests."

Li Erzhan's cronies breathed a sigh of relief amidst their bewilderment, while the upright officials, while lamenting their loss, praised Li Tinggui for his consistently brilliant leadership.

Li Hui remained silent for a while, then did not call anyone else out to ask questions: "Li Guangchang, Zhang Canpan."

"Your subject is here!" Li Erzhan immediately presented the letter of resignation to Li Hui and kowtowed.

"Your subject is here." Zhang Wan was a beat slow, lightly placing her forehead on the front of her clothes.

"Did you all hear what Judge Li said?" Li Hui asked.

"Your subject has heard." Li Erzhan already knew that the king had no intention of dismissing him for the time being, but he was not happy at all.

"I heard it." Zhang Wan saw through it all and felt a deep sorrow in his heart.

"Get up, all of you." Lee Hui withdrew his gaze and subtly glanced at Park Seung-jong and Yoo Hee-bun, who were at the front of the line, and found that they indeed had regretful and heartbroken expressions on their faces.

"Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Majesty!" Li Erzhan kowtowed and stood up, showing gratitude, and stuffed the unopened letter of resignation back into his bosom.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your forgiveness," Zhang Wan replied in a low voice, almost like a sigh.

"Go back." Li Hui waved to the two of them.

“Yes.” Li Erzhan and Zhang Wan each stood up and exchanged a glance. They both saw sorrow in each other’s eyes.

"Having spoken of loyalty, now it's time to speak of integrity." After Li and Zhang returned to their positions, Li Hui's gaze drifted back to the end of the military officer ranks. "Zheng Zhongxin."

Zheng Zhongxin had been somewhat prepared, but when the moment actually arrived, he still panicked: "Your subject, Your subject is here!"

"Your name contains both loyalty and trustworthiness. Li Guangchang has already exemplified loyalty, so now it's your turn to exemplify trustworthiness," Li Hui said with a wry smile.

"Your Highness is wise. The so-called 'trustworthiness' is one of the Five Constant Virtues. Confucius said, 'One's words must be trustworthy, and one's actions must be resolute.' This is sincerity, honesty and not deceiving." Zheng Zhongxin hadn't read many classical poems or written much, let alone produced a sycophantic essay like Li Erzhan, who could launch into a tirade of quotations from classical texts. In his nervousness, Zheng Zhongxin's mind went blank, and he even stammered.

"Well said!" Li Hui interrupted Zheng Zhongxin before he could finish speaking with an exclamation of praise. "Since 'xin' means honesty and integrity, then I ask you, did you write the memorial you submitted yesterday yourself?"

Zheng Zhongxin was stunned. He had prepared himself for the possibility of not being allowed to accept advice, or even being demoted or dismissed, but he never expected that the king would ask questions in this way.

Zheng Zhongxin was caught in a dilemma. If he nodded, it would be tantamount to deceiving the king, because the memorial was indeed not written by Zheng Zhongxin himself. But he couldn't deny it either, because the king would definitely ask about the memorial's origin, which would be betraying Zhang Wan. Zheng Zhongxin was unwilling to betray Zhang Wan, even though he had already guessed the king's purpose in staging this charade.

"Zheng Zhongxin. Didn't you hear what I just said?" Li Hui urged with a smile, his tone surprisingly gentle.

Zheng Zhongxin licked his dry lips and, as if on cue, said, "Every word in that memorial reflects my wholehearted loyalty! I implore Your Majesty to swiftly execute Jiang Hongli, Jin Jingrui, and other traitorous generals who surrendered to the country, and to exile their families and relatives into slavery, so as to demonstrate our nation's will and comfort the heart of the superior nation!"

Li Hui's eyes twitched slightly, and a faint anger quickly clouded his gaze. He had originally intended to suppress Zheng Zhongxin to quell the matter and, incidentally, send a warning to Zhang Wan and Li Erzhan, hoping they would quiet down. He hadn't expected such a lowly envoy to have such courage.

Before Li Hui could think further, Zhang Wan, who had already returned to his position, stepped forward again and knelt heavily once more: "Your Highness! The memorial that Envoy Zheng presented yesterday was written by me, so his meaning is also my meaning! I implore Your Majesty not to hesitate, but to swiftly execute Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui, and implicate their families, so as to demonstrate to the Celestial Dynasty our nation's 250 years of unwavering loyalty and willingness to sacrifice our lives for the greater good!"

Zhang Wan was a banner; as soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen officials, both high-ranking and low-ranking, from various departments and bureaus stepped forward. They walked behind Zhang Wan, knelt down in unison, and shouted, "Your Majesty, we second your opinion! We beg Your Majesty to accept our advice!"

Li Hui frowned deeply, his fists clenching secretly. He was unwilling to summon his ministers for a meeting precisely because he didn't want to see such a scene.

However, Yi Hun was ultimately a mature monarch. He did not fly into a rage, nor did he shout, nor did he even voice his opposition. Yi Hun simply turned to Park Seung-jong, who stood at the head of the civil officials, and calmly asked, "Minister, what is your opinion on this matter?"

Park Seung-jong glanced at Lee Er-chan, who was still standing, and stepped forward, saying, "I believe that Lee Guang-chang, as the Chief of the Ministry of Rites, should have a good plan for this matter. Your Majesty may wish to hear his opinion first."

Lee Hun frowned, and before Lee Er-chan could react, he emphasized as he said to Park Seung-jong, "Prime Minister, I am asking you a question!"

(End of this chapter)