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

Chapter 306 Coercing the Emperor and Forcing Him to Reign: Betrayal and Abandonment

On the fourth day, the inner court expelled the lamas and monks, sealed off the capital, and arrested monks and Taoist priests within the city; on the seventh day, the imperial army marched out and swept through the temples and monasteries in the suburbs of the capital; on the fifteenth day, the capital was unsealed; on the twentieth day, Zhu Youjian announced that he had recovered from his typhoid fever and resumed the regular court sessions.

After not attending court for a month, Zhu Youjian missed his ministers very much, and the ministers breathed a sigh of relief.

Back then, both the Jiajing and Wanli Emperors were diligent and hardworking when they first ascended the throne, but after a few years, for some unknown reason, they began to neglect court affairs for extended periods. Even the Tianqi Emperor, at the beginning of his reign, experienced a period of prosperity with "a full house of upright officials," but in the end, it was nothing more than a mirage, like a fleeting moment.

At the court assembly, Zhu Youjian sat high in the first chair of the temple, bestowing cured meat and imperial wine, and distributing gold and silver in a scale. The emperor and his ministers were very happy!
"Marquis of Taining, His Majesty has bestowed money upon you, why do you look so gloomy?" Duke Zhang Weixian of Yingguo asked, tilting his head with a smug look.

Chen Ying, carrying two preserved rabbits and half a bag of gold and silver at his waist, said with tears in his eyes, "His Majesty confiscated 30,000 mu of my land. This amount of money is not even a fraction of what I owe. This money was originally mine!"

"Hahaha, serves you right!" Zhang Weixian laughed heartily. He himself had also been extorted by the emperor, spending three thousand taels of silver to redeem his three thousand acres of land, but seeing that others were in worse shape than him, he immediately felt better.

"Duke of England, could you lend me some money?" Chen Ying asked, bowing respectfully.

"Borrow money? What do you want to do with it?" Zhang Weixian clutched his waist bag, looking at Chen Ying with a wary expression.

"I want to redeem the land! We can't abandon our ancestral heritage; it's been passed down for nine generations!" Chen Ying said with a mournful face.

"It's only a few tens of thousands of taels of silver, can't you afford it?" Zhang Weixian said, looking at Chen Ying with disdain.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ying lowered his voice and said, "My frail body can't compare to yours, Your Excellency. I wouldn't dare to take out any money! What if His Majesty takes notice of us? He robbed those Taoist priests and monks this time, what will he do next time?"

"What can we do? If His Majesty wants it, we'll just give it to him. Do you intend to rebel?" Zhang Weixian said disdainfully.

Chen Ying: ...

Zhang Weixian comforted him, "Don't overthink it. His Majesty is still sensible. He doesn't even care about your little bit of wealth. I'm not afraid, so why are you?"

"This money?"

"No borrowing!"

The court was in a noisy mess, like a marketplace. Zhu Youjian was not angry at the sight, and tidied up to leave the court.

Before the officials of the Court of State Ceremonial could restore order to the court, Wei Zhongxian stepped forward and shouted in a shrill voice, "Speak if you have something to say, otherwise the court is adjourned!"

Zhu Youjian rose from the dragon throne, intending to slip away, when he heard Grand Secretary Li Guoyu shout in a loud voice, "I have a memorial to present!"

"I am feeling slightly unwell. If there is anything you need, just submit a memorial to me, and I will read it!" Zhu Youjian said in a deep voice.

However, Li Guozhu, who was usually very obedient, acted out of character this time. He took a deep breath and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I want to impeach Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong!"

"Hmm?" Zhu Youjian's eyes widened, and he silently sat back down in his chair. The others in the court were also intrigued and began to stare at Li Guozhu, occasionally glancing at Sun Chengzong; Sun Chengzong, however, kept his eyes downcast, making it impossible to discern his emotions.

Why are these two fighting? Zhu Youjian was somewhat baffled. Weren't they getting along well before? Zhu Youjian hated factional strife the most. All this fighting and arguing for the sake of arguing, it got nothing done and wasted so much time!

"Speak!" Zhu Youjian said coldly.

"Your Majesty, I impeach Sun Chengzong for dereliction of duty! As the Grand Secretary, he is incapable of presiding over the drafting of imperial edicts, serving as an advisor, mediating the balance of power, and bearing the weight of personnel selection. He is unable to carry out the Emperor's orders above, nor is he capable of leading the civil service below. This is a person who holds a position without doing his job. I request Your Majesty to dismiss him!"

"I am guilty and beg to retire. Your Majesty may choose another virtuous and capable person to fill the position of Grand Secretary!" Sun Chengzong walked from the front row of the right wing to the middle aisle and prostrated himself on the ground. "Hiss!" The ministers all gasped.

Good heavens, this isn't impeaching Sun Chengzong, it's clearly aimed at me! Zhu Youjian's expression turned somewhat ugly.

"Li Qing, aren't you exaggerating a bit?" Zhu Youjian said with a somewhat unfriendly expression, but he didn't look at Li Guoyu, instead staring intently at Sun Chengzong.

Li Guoqi sighed inwardly, but still insisted, "I am not speaking recklessly, Your Majesty, please investigate!"

Zhu Youjian remained silent for a long time, and the court fell into silence. Zhu Youjian felt betrayed: it was indeed the right thing to do to send Sun Chengzong to the Northwest and keep him out of the court all those years ago! This old man thought too highly of himself. Zhu Youjian never expected that this guy would actually stand up and seize power, playing the trick of forcing the emperor to abdicate.

Zhu Youjian was completely numb and didn't know what to do. But it was impossible for him to back down. He hated being threatened. He wanted to tell Sun Chengzong, "Screw you! This won't work. Do you think I'll pity you?"

Zhu Youjian looked at Bi Ziyan, but Bi Ziyan avoided his gaze and didn't respond. He then looked at Zhu Xieyuan, who was staring blankly at the floor. Then there was Yuan Keli, who did meet Zhu Youjian's gaze, but looked like he had dementia, with innocent eyes. As for Shi Laifeng, not wanting to offend either side, she gave Zhu Youjian a pleading look and didn't step forward.

It seems Zhu Youjian has truly angered the masses. He can play tricks and act arbitrarily, bypassing the court, but the court officials also have their tempers, and this is their retaliation. Zhu Youjian suddenly feels utterly exhausted. He'd rather not be emperor; he doesn't even know what he's gained from being emperor!

"Master Sun, don't you have anything to say? I grant you permission to defend yourself!" Zhu Youjian said with a gloomy face.

Sun Chengzong felt a chill in his heart. He could tell the emperor was unhappy, but was he, as the chief minister, really happy? He just couldn't understand what the emperor of the Zhu family, living a life of luxury, could possibly be dissatisfied with, and why he had to cause trouble!
“Your Majesty, I am old and can no longer assist you. Please allow me to return to my hometown,” Sun Chengzong said tremblingly.

"In that case, if I don't agree, it would be my fault. You want to retire, is that it? I grant your request!" Zhu Youjian said coldly.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!" Xu Guangqi, who had been observing coldly, suddenly jumped in.

"Your Majesty, please reconsider!" Bi Ziyan continued.

"Your Majesty, please rescind your decree!" the ministers shouted in unison.

In the imperial court, a vast expanse of officials knelt, at least half of whom were involved. The rest stood there, bewildered, watching the Grand Secretaries and the Emperor engage in a power struggle, completely unaware of what was happening! Everything was fine just a moment ago, how did it suddenly turn into a fight? Could they still eat the preserved meat? Should they return it to the Emperor?!

With a whoosh, the Imperial Guards moved. They gripped their weapons with their right hands, took a half-step forward, and waited for the Emperor's order.

But Zhu Youjian couldn't really kill all these people, could he?! He felt he was facing the biggest trouble since ascending the throne; he was deserted by everyone, and it seemed like he was about to mess things up!

"I am tired. Let's discuss this another day. Court adjourned!" With that, Zhu Youjian turned and left, leaving the officials looking at each other in bewilderment.

Wei Zhongxian left behind harsh words: "What a group of loyal and virtuous ministers! They actually dare to form cliques, coerce the emperor, and force him to serve. In my opinion, His Majesty has been too good to you. This cured meat is better fed to the dogs than to you!"

"Alas, Sun Zhisheng, this is really bad. I don't know how to end this!" Zhu Xieyuan sighed.

Sun Chengzong stood up, cupped his hands, and bowed to the crowd. He said somewhat dejectedly, "Gentlemen, this matter arose because of me, and I should naturally bear all the blame. His Majesty has already dismissed me from my post. If I were to cling to it any longer, it would be shameless of me. I'm leaving now. I entrust His Majesty to your care from now on!"

"Children!" Bi Ziyan grabbed Sun Chengzong's shoulder.

Sun Chengzong pushed his hand away and said, "I will petition His Majesty to reinstate you. As the Grand Secretary, I am no match for you!"

Bi Ziyan secretly competed with Sun Chengzong. Under normal circumstances, hearing Sun Chengzong say he was inferior would have made him so happy he'd wake up in the middle of the night. But in this situation, hearing this made him feel very uncomfortable! He felt that Sun Chengzong was actually right. Even the emperor couldn't be allowed to act recklessly. A gentleman has principles of conduct. These people flattered the emperor for their own power, while only Sun Chengzong dared to point out the emperor's mistakes and take responsibility as prime minister. What a good person! Why couldn't His Majesty just soften his stance a little?!

(End of this chapter)