Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 765 The Beginnings of Factional Strife

It was nearly noon, the air was hot and dry, and the sky was overcast.

Zhao Shiyong, enveloped in the sweltering heat and carrying the information he had overheard, slowly strolled into the Forbidden City.

The square outside the Meridian Gate was bustling with people, seemingly even noisier than usual. Other officials from various departments, and even some lower-ranking clerks, cast strange glances at Zhao Shiyong. Some looked inquisitive, some sympathetic, some avoided him like the plague, and some gloated. Zhao Shiyong subconsciously felt something was amiss, but he was absorbed in his own thoughts and didn't pay much attention to these unusual occurrences.

Zhao Shiyong pushed open the door to the Revenue Department's corridor, and the buzzing discussions inside suddenly subsided. Seven or eight Revenue Department censors on duty all turned to look at the source of the noise, their eyes, separated by the threshold, filled with complex emotions as if they were looking at strangers.

The room fell silent instantly, and an extremely strange atmosphere seemed to solidify into a tangible form.

Zhao Shi blinked, walked into the corridor, and habitually cupped his hands to the people inside, then to his colleagues, and bowed in a round of greetings. He then asked, somewhat puzzled, "What's going on, everyone? Why are you all standing here?"

His words fell silent, the room remaining deathly still. Everyone looked at each other, but no one answered for a long time.

Finally, Zhou Xiling, the head of the Household Department and a supervising secretary, stepped forward from the crowd and looked at Zhao Shiyong with a worried expression: "Deyou! Where have you been? Why are you so late?!"

"Where have I been?" Zhao Shiyong's gaze swept over his colleagues, whose expressions varied, and his unease intensified. He could no longer ignore the unusual atmosphere in the corridor, but he still managed a forced smile, trying to maintain a semblance of composure. "I went to the Ministry of Revenue. I happened to run into Eunuch Gao from the Zhengyangmen Bank who was there to discuss the tax reform, so I stayed and listened in, Brother Xiaohou!" He even tried to lighten the mood, his eyes darting around until he found Wang Jizeng, the Right Censor, and said with a hint of teasing, "You've come all this way for nothing. Didn't you see Shen Dazan in Shuntian Prefecture?"

Wang Jizeng's expression became even more peculiar. His lips moved, and his voice was somewhat hoarse. "I did not see Shen Dazan's residence."

Zhao Shiyong swallowed hard. "Minister Wang, Prefect Shen, and that Eunuch Gao—the three of them got together and discussed quite a few things. I'll tell you all about them now."

Zhou Xiling abruptly waved his hand, rudely shattering the normalcy Zhao Shiyong was trying to maintain: "What's the point of talking about this now? Something terrible has happened! Deyou! Something terrible has happened!"

"W-What's wrong?" Zhao Shiyong's heart sank, and the smile on his face instantly froze. "What major event has occurred? Is there an emergency at the border, or is there some kind of famine somewhere?"

"Sigh." Zhou Xiling sighed deeply, turned around and strode back to his desk. He picked up a still-freshly written imperial edict from the desk, turned back, and shoved it heavily into Zhao Shiyong's hand. "Read it yourself!"

He unfolded the imperial edict, his gaze quickly sweeping over the cold words. The color drained from his face, his expression gradually stiffening and becoming solemn, and his fingers gripping the paper trembled slightly.

"Zhao Shiyong, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, has made presumptuous and disrespectful reports, seeking fame and favor. He is hereby demoted to assistant magistrate of Xuwen County, Leizhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province. He shall leave the capital immediately to assume his post without delay."

"Xuwen." Zhao Shiyong raised his head, his face deathly pale, his voice trembling, his eyes filled with disbelief, shock, and bewilderment. "Me? How could this be?"

"It's all because of that memorial you submitted." Zhou Xiling sighed again.

"I...I didn't say anything excessive. What I said was all the opinion of the censors and the authorities," Zhao Shiyong shook his head repeatedly, gesturing left and right, trying to seek support. However, his colleagues subconsciously turned their heads away or looked at Zhou Xiling, the censor in charge of the official seal.

Zhou Xiling, feeling increasingly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of his colleagues, declared with a resentful expression, "There must be some wicked and treacherous person deceiving His Majesty and framing loyal officials!"

"Am I the only one?" Zhao Shiyong was still immersed in shock and confusion. "So many people submitted memorials to speak frankly, why am I the only one to suffer such severe punishment?"

"I heard that Shu Rongdu, the censor of Sichuan Circuit of the Censorate, was also dismissed because he impeached the Marquis of Wuqing," someone in the crowd chimed in.

Zhao Shiyong looked over, and Zhou Xiling nodded as well. "So far, I've only heard about him."

"What about the cabinet..." Zhao Shiyong pressed, "Has the cabinet not said anything?"

“The imperial edict was just delivered to the department,” Zhou Xiling said, shaking his head. “I think the cabinet is still discussing it.”

Zhao Shiyong felt a sudden wave of dizziness and helplessness. He grabbed Zhou Xiling's sleeve and asked anxiously, "Brother Ziyi, Brother Ziyi! What should I do?"

Zhao Shiyong couldn't help but panic. He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 41st year of the Wanli reign. He was initially appointed as the magistrate of Nan'an County, and later transferred to Min County. Last October, he took advantage of the emperor's great effort to appoint officials to the capital and stood out from a group of county officials waiting for the examination, and was selected to be promoted to the position of Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue.

The position of Supervising Secretary appears to be the same as that of County Magistrate, both being seventh-rank officials. However, in reality, it is a low-ranking but powerful position with extremely high prestige and a promising future.

Especially in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, after accumulating sufficient seniority and prestige through the civil service examinations, officials could often be directly promoted to high-ranking positions in various central ministries and departments. For example, they could be promoted to deputy or chief of the Court of Judicial Review; to assistant or senior officials in various ministries; or even to deputy positions in the "Nine Lesser Ministers," thus directly entering the ranks of high-ranking officials. Even when they were transferred to local areas, they were often promoted at least four ranks, such as assistant or deputy commissioner of the Provincial Surveillance Commission, councilor or advisor of the Provincial Administration Commission, or directly appointed as prefect.

In other words, if Zhao Shiyong could be transferred out of the Six Ministries normally, he would be a sure thing to become a high-ranking official in the capital or a major local official. However, if the emperor's edict were implemented, Zhao Shiyong's six-year career as a county magistrate, which culminated in his excellent performance in the provincial examination, would be completely ruined. He would suddenly drop from a promising censor to a minor official in a remote county. Even if he had the opportunity to be promoted in the future, he would no longer be able to compete with his colleagues.

Zhou Xiling grabbed Zhao Shiyong's arm and squeezed it firmly: "Deyou. The imperial edict hasn't reached the Ministry of Personnel yet, and you're still a Supervising Secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. You can submit a memorial to defend yourself. But in my opinion, it's best for you to remain silent. The Emperor is probably still angry right now; a rash rebuttal would only add fuel to the fire." Zhou Xiling's gaze swept over the group of colleagues in the corridor. "Don't worry, with the Six Ministries and Thirteen Circuits under my command, I will never sit idly by while treacherous officials mislead the Emperor, distort the truth, and harm innocent people!"

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The door to the cabinet office was pushed open, and Grand Secretary Fang Congzhe walked in. Compared to when he left, his tired old face now bore an added layer of helplessness. His shoulders slumped, and the crane emblem on his chest now looked like a drowning goose squeezed into a ball.

"Grand Secretary, what did the Emperor say?" Han Kuang, whose seat was closest to the entrance, immediately stood up to greet him.

"Sigh." Fang Congzhe sighed and shook his head.

"So His Majesty really doesn't agree to withdraw the decree?" Liu Yiju also came forward.

"Your Majesty." Fang Congzhe walked past Liu Yiju and Han Kuang, slowly moved behind his desk, grasped the armrest, turned around slowly, and sat down. "You didn't see me." "How could that be?" Shi Jixie had just stood up, but seeing Fang Congzhe sit down, he leaned back on the desk and sat down again.

"Prime Minister, what do we do next?" Liu Yizhu turned his head and looked at Fang Congzhe.

"What should we do?" Shen chimed in. "Let's eat first."

"Eat?" Liu Yizhu's voice suddenly rose two octaves.

"Otherwise what? Even if Grand Secretary Liu can't see the sun, he must hear the bell, right?" Shen said, seemingly with a slight smile. "It's long past noon. Are you planning to let the Grand Secretary go hungry here with you?"

“Have the Imperial Household Department send the food over,” Fang Congzhe said, looking up at Han Kuang, who was still standing by the door. “Yu Chen, thank you for your trouble.”

The Grand Secretaries were close advisors to the emperor and, in principle, were required to remain in the palace all day, making it impossible for them to go home for lunch. Therefore, from the very beginning of the establishment of the Grand Secretariat by Emperor Chengzu, the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (Guanglu Temple) began providing Grand Secretaries with a lunch called "Linxi" or "Zhisutangzhuan." This meal was of a very high standard, typically consisting of a pot of wine, four kinds of dishes, and a serving of rice. In other words, it included both wine and food.

"Okay." Han Kuang walked out of the duty room, casually beckoned to a young eunuch on duty, and gave him a few instructions.

"Gentlemen, please share your thoughts." Fang Congzhe's gaze swept around the duty room, finally landing on Han Kuang, who was turning back to the pavilion.

"How about..." Han Kuang spoke up first when he saw Fang Congzhe looking at him. "How about we return the imperial decree?"

"Return the imperial decree?" Before Fang Congzhe could even speak, Shen jumped out, glaring. "Come on then!"

Han Kuang was startled by the sudden shout and instinctively took a small step back. However, he then walked back to his seat, held onto the back of the chair, and said, "Grand Secretary Shen, why are you so agitated? I was just expressing my thoughts."

"Don't just think about it. I'll get the imperial edict for you right now. You can draft the edict and send it to him yourself." Shen walked to Fang Congzhe's desk, wanting to take the imperial edict pardoning the Marquis of Wuqing and his son.

"Mingzhen!" Fang Congzhe shouted urgently, then reached out and pressed down on the two imperial edicts that demoted Zhao Shiyong and Shu Rongdu, as if to stop Shen.

Shen paused for a moment, but he quickly realized that Fang Congzhe had not also suppressed the imperial edict pardoning the Marquis of Wuqing and his son.

His mind raced, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, and with a half-grabbing motion, he snatched the imperial edict and returned to Han Kuang's side. "Here, take this, draft it!"

Han Kuang was caught off guard by Shen's move and froze on the spot.

"Sigh," Fang Congzhe sighed softly, lowering his head as if regretting that he had failed to persuade Shen.

"Does Grand Secretary Shen's move mean he approves of the return of the imperial decree?" Liu Yizhu subtly made a move.

"I don't agree." Shen shamelessly ignored the challenge: "I just told him not to talk the talk but walk the walk. Minister Han, please." As he spoke, he pushed the chair forward again.

“Years ago, Grand Secretary Xu Wenjing Pu accused the Xiaomiao Temple of practicing Daoist heresy and repeatedly returned the memorial to the throne. His actions seemed disobedient, but his true intentions were loyalty and love. The memorial was submitted, and the Xiaomiao Temple accepted it.” Liu Yijing blinked, another move. “So, Grand Secretary Shen now intends not only to distort the truth and pardon the notoriously wicked Marquis of Wuqing and his son, but also to persecute virtuous people, demote upright officials, and implicate our wise and enlightened emperor in injustice?”

Shen, stung by Liu Yizhu's high-sounding counterattack, frowned and had no choice but to back down, saying, "I cannot agree with what Grand Secretary Liu has said. Right and wrong are still uncertain; how can remonstrance replace criminal law? Even if Marquis Wuqing is indeed guilty, there's no need for such a formality as returning the imperial edict! If we anger His Majesty and make it impossible for the cabinet to maintain balance, how can we then appeal for the release of Zhao and Shu? If it's about rescuing upright officials, I, Shen, can certainly submit a memorial, listing my name first. But if you two insist on drafting a document to return the edict, seeking fame and reputation for integrity, I, Shen, will absolutely not sign my name!" Shen's voice was loud and clear, his entire demeanor righteous and awe-inspiring. Having said that, he didn't retract the imperial edict but instead slammed it onto Han Kuang's desk.

"But what if we can't save them?" Liu Yijing asked.

"You haven't even submitted a memorial to plead for help, yet you already know it's hopeless?" Shen Jue didn't follow through on the conversation, only asking questions in return.

"The Grand Secretary hasn't even seen the Emperor's face yet," Han Kuang said, clenching his fist and staring at the imperial edict.

"It's the middle of the day, can't the Emperor rest?" Shen said.

"Heh," Liu Yijing snorted and rolled his eyes. "Then you, Grand Secretary Shen, should make another trip this afternoon. See if you can get an audience with the Emperor and report directly."

This time, Shen didn't respond to Liu Yiju's words, but looked at Fang Congzhe: "Grand Secretary. In the end, His Majesty only cares about family ties and wants to discuss the matter privately with the cabinet to lightly criticize Marquis Wuqing. Now that he has encountered harassment and obstacles, he has unleashed his thunder. As long as the cabinet can remove the obstacles and strive for the result of lightly criticizing Marquis Wuqing, we will definitely be able to save Lords Zhao and Shu."

“But things have escalated to this point, and the outer court, especially the Censorate, is unlikely to back down,” Ye Xianggao, a man with experience in this matter, suddenly said. Fang Congzhe, also a man with experience, closed his eyes and nodded painfully.

"Who on earth leaked the information! Now we're in such a passive position!" Shen's voice suddenly rose eight octaves. He looked around, but his gaze mainly drifted between Liu Yizhu and Han Kuang.

"Shen Mingzhen, what exactly do you mean?" Liu Yijing couldn't stand the scrutiny anymore. "Just say what you have to say!"

"Fine! Since you put it that way, then I won't hold back anymore." Shen slammed his hand on the table. "The Emperor's decree was clearly sent to the Cabinet by secret letter, and the Grand Secretary also said that he hoped everyone would keep quiet and not spread it. But only a few days have passed? The news has spread throughout the entire capital. In just this morning, nearly ten memorials have been submitted, all mentioning this matter! I'm certain that someone deliberately leaked the news!"

"No, Mingzhen, no way!" Fang Congzhe stood up, looking solemnly at Shen. "No one here would do that!"

"Grand Secretary! Don't be fooled anymore!" Shen looked at Fang Congzhe, his back ramrod straight. "That person is doing this to sow discord among upright officials, provoke the Emperor, and force him to issue an edict punishing and demoting virtuous officials. Then, that person can use this to force the Grand Secretary to return the memorials. This will only add fuel to the fire, inevitably provoking the Emperor's wrath and ultimately causing the Grand Secretary to step down, which will then be replaced by someone else!"

(End of this chapter)