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

Chapter 304 The Emperor's Plan to Lure the Tiger Away from the Mountain

Half a month ago, Zhu Youjian instructed several Grand Secretaries to keep it a secret. After Sun Chengzong, Zhu Xieyuan, and Yuan Keli returned to the Grand Secretariat, they told Bi Ziyan and Li Guoyu the news and instructed them to keep it a secret as well. Xu Guangqi was not a Grand Secretary, but he was well-liked and got along well with the Grand Secretaries, so he also learned of the news.

Later, secrecy became a mere formality, and rumors about the persecution of Buddhism circulated as gossip, some true and some false, leaving people somewhat confused. However, in the capital, all sorts of rumors were rampant; there had even been a rumor that the emperor intended to depose and install an empress, but in the end, nothing came of it.

To the common people or lower-ranking officials, this might seem like mere speculation, but the top officials in the court knew that this news was true.

Sun Chengzong disagreed with the emperor's suppression of Buddhism, but he couldn't persuade him otherwise. Bi Ziyan, on the other hand, was supportive. He had no prejudice against monks, but he hated all those who evaded taxes, even though he himself was a large landowner with a family history of officials and a distinguished lineage.

After their indecisive struggles and fruitless resistance, the old men had already begun to quietly prepare to cooperate with the emperor, though they didn't know when he planned to make his move. They figured that with the weather so cold, they should at least wait until spring, but they never expected the emperor to be in such a hurry and act so quickly.

Even though they had close ties with the emperor and were promoted by him, as civil officials, they still deeply resented the emperor's style of bypassing the court and acting arbitrarily. Just as Zhu Youjian and Zhang Weixian left the palace, Sun Chengzong and several other old men arrived aggressively at the Qianqing Gate to knock on the imperial edict, only to find it empty.

"His Majesty has left the city."

"Where?"

"do not know."

Sun Chengzong's blood pressure soared. With a mournful face, he asked Bi Ziyan beside him, "Jingzeng, I'm not as good as you! How did you manage to get through all these years as Grand Secretary?!"

Bi Ziyan glanced at Sun Chengzong with pity, but didn't say anything. His appointment as Grand Secretary was simply a title given to him by the emperor to facilitate his implementation of reforms.

In reality, he didn't understand Sun Chengzong's current troubles. The emperor was very obedient back then, okay? Who knew that as he grew older, instead of becoming more composed, he would become more unruly?!

When Bi Ziyan saw that Sun Chengzong was in trouble, he felt a little smug for some reason.

Although the two had a fairly good personal relationship, rumors circulated that the emperor removed him from his position as chief minister in order to make room for his teacher.
Even though Bi Ziyan became the emperor's henchman, amassed wealth for the emperor, and even lost the integrity of a scholar, his status in the emperor's heart was still inferior to that of the imperial tutor Sun Chengzong. He was a complete failure as an official and as a person.

Logically speaking, Bi Ziyan felt that this statement was nonsense, and he really did not have enough energy to manage both the cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue was the most complicated of the six ministries, and the Minister of Revenue was known as the "Minister of Accounting," which was not just a title.

But as time went on and more people talked about it, he inevitably began to doubt himself and couldn't help but compare himself to Sun Chengzong. As he compared them, he became somewhat unbalanced and started to dislike Sun Chengzong. But Sun Chengzong didn't notice these subtle changes.

Although he came up empty-handed, Sun Chengzong was not one to give up easily. He pulled five other cabinet members and was about to go out of the city to arrest the emperor. However, apart from Li Guozhuo who agreed to go with him, the others scattered.

Shi Laifeng confessed, "Minister, I have already submitted my resignation and am just waiting for His Majesty's approval. His Majesty has never liked me, and now I can't afford to offend him. I also want to retire smoothly, and I hope you can understand."

Shi Laifeng's words drew attention, and everyone looked at him in surprise. This could be considered the most glorious moment for this insignificant member of the cabinet. Sun Chengzong opened his mouth, but with his colleague about to leave, it was indeed not appropriate to ask him for anything more.

"And what about you two?!" Sun Chengzong looked at Zhu Xieyuan and Bi Ziyan with displeasure. The cabinet was already in decline, and these two were not sticking with him. What were they up to?

“Minister, you know perfectly well that it’s almost the end of the year, and the accounts of my Ministry of Revenue are piled up on the roof of the yamen. How can I have time to deal with anything else?” Bi Ziyan said with a bitter face.

Zhu Xieyuan became even more shameless, saying with a completely innocent face, "The Ministry of Revenue says there's something wrong with the accounts of my Ministry of War. I have to hurry back to sort out the accounts, find out the bad apples in my Ministry of War, or at least prove my innocence!"

"Fine, I understand now. You all have things to do, you're all ministers, so why do you have to do this today?!" Sun Chengzong's neck turned red with anger.

"Hey, Zhisheng, calm down, calm down, I'll go with you, okay?" Yuan Keli quickly stepped in to mediate; he had also wanted to slip away earlier. The group parted ways, and as soon as Bi Ziyan returned to the Ministry of Revenue, he was completely dumbfounded: "Where are all these people? Where have all the people in the Ministry of Revenue gone? Where have all my hundreds of people gone?!"

Meanwhile, Zhu Xieyuan, the Minister of War next door, was also deep in thought, looking at the Ministry of War, which was half empty.

"Can someone tell me what's going on?!" Zhu Xieyuan asked, tapping the table.

“Uncle, His Majesty has already borrowed all of them,” replied Yang Sichang, the Left Vice Minister.

"Then why don't you go?!" Zhu Xieyuan asked again.

Upon hearing this, Yang Sichang said in a low voice, "Perhaps His Majesty doesn't trust us. Elder Tang, didn't you also not go?!"

Zhu Xieyuan frowned instantly, looked at Yang Sichang, and said with disgust, "Don't let me hear such words again!"

……

In front of the City God Temple in Xicheng, a large number of monks and Taoist priests were herded here by the army like sheep. Among them were more than a dozen wearing white cloths on their heads or holding crosses.

The most influential religion in the Ming Dynasty was Buddhism, with thousands of Buddhist temples in the capital and its suburbs. Taoism developed relatively rapidly during the Jiajing period, but it was not as powerful as Buddhism. There were about two hundred Taoist temples in the capital area, and each temple did not have a large number of Taoist priests.

In addition, Matteo Ricci built a small church outside Xuanwu Gate, which was bestowed the name Niujie Mosque by Emperor Zhu Youjian. There were more than 30 large mosques in Beizhili.

"Fa Chan was the chant master of Fayuan Temple. His original name was Niu Bangchui. In the thirty-eighth year of the Wanli reign, he obtained his ordination certificate from the Buddhist Registry of the Ministry of Rites."

The emperor has decreed that monks and Taoist priests be dismissed and their ordination certificates be repurchased. Your ordination certificate has been cancelled, and you will be registered as a commoner and required to pay taxes and corvée labor as usual. If you farm, you will have to pay land tax.

"Here's the repurchase silver. Take it and sign here." Li Dian, a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue, said expressionlessly, placing a small silver ingot on the table.

"Sir, this number is not right! This humble monk spent twelve taels of silver to buy his ordination certificate, how come you only have five taels of silver?"

"I don't care. The Ministry of Revenue's account only received five taels of silver. Any price difference is due to the middleman and has nothing to do with the court. You can go find him!" Li Dian said coldly.

"Sir, it's been over ten years, where am I supposed to find them?!"

"Heh, I don't know then, next one!" Li Dian waved his hand, and several yamen runners rushed out from the side and dragged Niu Bangchui away.

"No, no, officers, I've dropped my silver!" Niu Bangchui clutched the silver ingot tightly and carefully put it into his pocket.

He had amassed at least three hundred taels of silver as the chant master at Fayuan Temple, but now all that money had been confiscated by the imperial court, and these five taels of silver were all he had left.

Now, in the dead of winter, they have nowhere to go and are afraid they will freeze to death on the road! Niu Bangchui felt hopeless about his future.

(End of this chapter)