Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 241 Your Majesty, you've truly suffered these past years! Have I suffered, meow meow meow?!

Hehehe! The gates of the Maoqin Hall were tightly shut, and even the emperor's most trusted eunuch, Eunuch Wang, was driven out. From time to time, a very eerie laugh could be heard from inside, causing the servants passing by outside to lower their heads and quicken their pace.

The emperor was utterly heartless, lacking the broad-mindedness to embrace a world of harmony. He was usually stern and unsmiling when discussing domestic disasters, showing no empathy for the suffering of the Korean people. Sun Chengzong felt uneasy in front of these two, as if he felt too old to keep up with the thinking of Zhu Xieyuan, a 65-year-old young man, after all, he was already 68.

Sun Chengzong looked up at the roof ridge and recalled carefully: It's true that he taught Prince Xin, and there were no strange people who infiltrated the group! Back then, no one knew that Prince Xin would succeed to the throne, so who would rush to curry favor with him?

Even he himself didn't have a high opinion of Zhu Youjian at first, only guiding him along the way, based on the principle that "teaching one is the same as teaching two." Logically, he was teaching him only righteous and proper things, so how did the emperor go astray?!
"Huh?!" Sun Chengzong suddenly sensed something was wrong. He rubbed his eyes, his mouth slightly agape. "Wait, where did the ceiling go? Where did such a huge caisson ceiling go?!"

"Teacher, what's wrong with you?!" Zhu Youjian was startled when he saw Sun Chengzong's mouth and eyes were crooked, looking like he had suffered a stroke. He had to interrupt his secret plot with Zhu Xieyuan, and seemed somewhat reluctant to finish.

Sun Chengzong snapped out of his daze and carefully examined the furnishings in the hall. He discovered that not only had the caisson ceiling been removed, but the precious incense burners, ornate lamp stands, and rosewood chairs were all gone. He remembered that there used to be two large Yuan blue-and-white porcelain vases on the left side of the imperial desk, which were originally used to hold calligraphy, paintings, or map scrolls, but now they had been replaced with a newly woven bamboo basket, the bamboo green still not completely scraped off!

"Why did it have to come to this? Why did it have to come to this!" Sun Chengzong's eyes were slightly red as he looked at the emperor with great affection, which made Zhu Youjian scratch his head and get goosebumps!

Zhu Xieyuan's expression also changed, and he was extremely frustrated: "No way, Sun Zhisheng, you're crying like this just to compete for favor?! I'm scared of you, I won't mess with you anymore!"

"Your Majesty, you have truly suffered these past years!" Sun Chengzong said, wiping away his tears with his wide sleeves, a strange sense of conviction gradually emerging in his eyes.

"I'm suffering... Am I suffering? Meow meow meow?!" Zhu Youjian was still in a daze when he saw Sun Chengzong bowing down to Zhu Xieyuan!

Sun Chengzong felt guilty for still holding a grudge against the young Zhu Xieyuan, putting His Majesty in a difficult position. So he humbled himself and took the initiative to make peace. Zhu Xieyuan was extremely upset; he was almost in tears. A gentleman can be deceived by his principles, and he was not afraid of Sun Chengzong fighting him.

In terms of seniority, he was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 20th year of the Wanli reign, while Sun Chengzong was a Jinshi in the 32nd year. He entered officialdom a full twelve years earlier than Sun Chengzong! Sun Chengzong was already quite old when he passed the Jinshi examination; he was simply a fool! This was also a very important reason why he looked down on Sun Chengzong.

But now they're not fighting him anymore, they've apologized! Zhu Xieyuan felt like he'd swallowed a big fly, and with tears in his eyes, he shook hands with Sun Chengzong and made peace.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Youjian breathed a sigh of relief: "That's more like it! What's with all this fighting all day?" Even the infighting in his harem wasn't this serious; none of his women were as difficult to serve as these old men. Although Zhu Youjian was completely clueless about the conflict between the two old men, and didn't know Sun Chengzong's reasons for making peace with Zhu Xieyuan, the outcome was still considered good.

These two were only pretending to be brothers; the awkward micro-expressions on their faces betrayed their true feelings. Indeed, once a rift exists, it's not so easy to erase!

Zhu Youjian reflected deeply and realized that he shouldn't have let the two old men in together just to save trouble. The two of them were just too awkward, as if they were born to be incompatible, their fates were not aligned!
Since that was the case, Zhu Youjian decided to go all out and escalate the situation. He summoned Bi Ziyan and Xu Guangqi for an expanded meeting, turning the two old men into four.

Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi had been friends for many years, and Bi Ziyan and Zhu Xieyuan had been colleagues for several years, so the two had a good understanding of each other. Sure enough, when the four of them got together, the scene became much more pleasant. Sun and Zhu both had more genuine smiles on their faces, which was much more comfortable to look at than their awkward smiles earlier.

The expanded meeting still focused on how to further harass North Korea.

Xu Guangqi held the lowest official rank among them, but he was also the most radical. He said, "The three provinces south of the Yangtze River are difficult to defend, so let's take advantage of the spring, send our navy into the Yalu River, and recover the entire Korea!"

Xu Guangqi could be considered a military expert, but he knew nothing about military affairs. Zhu Youjian habitually looked at Zhu Xieyuan, which made Sun Chengzong slightly jealous, but he held back, afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would start arguing with Zhu Xieyuan again.

Sun Chengzong thought with a wronged expression: He was clearly the one more knowledgeable about Liaodong, so why did the emperor ask Zhu Xieyuan instead of him? Even asking Wang Zaijin would have been better! Zhu Xieyuan spends all his time with the southern barbarians; how could he possibly know anything about Liaodong? If he truly understood, how could he have allowed the Jurchens to invade the interior?!
That's how misunderstandings arise—neither side in the conflict is willing to speak. Even if you find someone to complain to, the two parties involved simply refuse to open up. It's not a cruel twist of fate; it's just that two people who already dislike each other naturally can't have a direct conversation because many things are simply too difficult for them to say!
If Zhu Xieyuan knew that Sun Chengzong viewed him this way, he would probably be so aggrieved that he would roll on the ground in protest: his strategy of seeking stability was to have the Guan Ning Army return to defend. Even if it could not completely stop the Jurchens from breaking into the interior, it would not be difficult to stop them east of Jizhou. He would definitely not let them reach the gates of Beijing!

However, since the emperor insisted on engaging in a war of attrition with the Jurchens, he, as a subject, had no choice but to obey orders.

Unfortunately, the "massacre of Liaodong" couldn't be publicized, and most people were completely unaware that it was a strategy devised by the emperor. In the end, the blame fell squarely on him, the Minister of War, who bore all the infamy. Fortunately, the emperor was still humane; he didn't use him and then discard him, but instead had him executed to quell public anger.

The fall of Jizhou is a huge mess, and now it's all a muddled mess, as if everyone is responsible. But that's the same as assuming no one is responsible at all—the law doesn't punish everyone!
Xu Guangqi's suggestion was met with unanimous opposition from the other three old men, but because he was quite popular, no one ridiculed him. Bi Ziyan spoke up, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Brother Zixian, you must know that you can't bite off more than you can chew!"

(End of this chapter)