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

Chapter 331 Zhu Youjian: "Waaah, I'm a good-for-nothing!"

"I'm innocent! Lord Wen, I'm innocent! The laws of the Ming Dynasty stipulate that the Chunqiu Righteous Society is innocent, and I am truly innocent! If you insist that I am guilty, then my crime is my patriotism and my love for the people! Lord Wen, His Majesty must have misunderstood me. I beg you to speak up for me again!"

"This humble subject has something to say to Your Majesty. Yes, let me pour out my heart, and Your Majesty will surely use my words! Please lend me pen and ink, sir, so that I may speak to Your Majesty now!" Zhang Pu was already flustered when he learned that he was to be stripped of his official title.

Many people joined the Fushe Society, but most of them weren't actually there to study classical texts. Many had heard that joining the society to study the eight-legged essay (a rigid, formulaic essay) would increase their chances of passing the imperial examinations. Zhang Pu was popular because he was exceptionally accurate in predicting exam questions; he was skilled at analyzing current events, understanding the emperor's intentions, and also had a bit of connections.

In the first year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, when everyone thought the emperor would be testing military and financial knowledge, his advocacy of practical learning inadvertently had a connection to the palace examination questions set by the emperor. At that time, Zhu Youjian asked how to solve the dilemma posed in the questions, almost causing the candidates to break down mentally. Fortunately, it was already the palace examination, so even a breakdown wouldn't lead to expulsion.

After the results of the palace examination were announced and the answer sheets were made public, people slowly began to realize the true meaning: the emperor did not expect them to solve the problems perfectly at all; his purpose was simply to find some capable people.

Therefore, in the examination of the first year of the Chongzhen reign, some traditional candidates for the top scholar position who had a deep understanding of poetry, literature, and etiquette did not perform well. On the contrary, some people with eccentric talents, unusual abilities, or who were usually a bit slow-witted, did very well. These were the so-called practical talents. These people were later given important positions, and although they were not directly promoted to high posts, their official careers were relatively smooth.

Some of the Jinshi graduates from the first year of the imperial examinations have already risen to the position of Censor-in-Chief. The top scholar became a Censor-in-Chief in the Ministry of War, while the third-ranking scholar was captured by the Marquis of Taining and assigned to the Imperial Clan Court as an official in the Bureau of Records. It is said that Miss Chen is exceptionally beautiful and a famous charming widow in the capital, while Chen Xiaomei has been sent to the palace by the Marquis of Taining.

Therefore, Zhu Tongfang was both the emperor's brother-in-law and a member of the imperial clan. Although he belonged to the Ning princely line, because of their distant relationship, he was not implicated in the rebellion of Zhu Chenhao and was not removed from the imperial clan register. It could be said that his future was limitless!
This fellow was initially unwilling to marry a widow and complained to the emperor, accusing the Marquis of Taining of coercion. The incident caused quite a stir. However, the Marquis of Taining remained adamant and refused to listen to the emperor's advice. He said that his daughter would be unable to marry after all this, and unless the emperor married his eldest daughter, the third-ranking scholar would have to marry her.

Zhu Youjian was overjoyed, so he returned to the palace to ask Chen Xiaomei for her opinion. It turned out that she didn't seem to have a good relationship with her older sister. She told Zhu Youjian that her sister already had a son! If the emperor married her, what would happen to her son? Was the emperor going to bestow a title upon someone of a different surname, or change his surname and adopt a son for himself?!
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian was immediately terrified. Who the hell would dare to marry a widow with a son? So, this pitfall could only be stepped into by Zhu Tongfang.

Zhu Youjian coaxed, "I heard that you came to the capital to take the exam and couldn't even afford the travel expenses. You had to borrow money from loan sharks and return it thirteen times over to make enough for your journey. If you're an official and behave yourself, how much money will you have? If you try to cheat people, I won't let you off the hook. Why don't you go and become a live-in son-in-law in the Marquis of Taining's household? The Marquis of Taining's family is good at business and has quite a lot of wealth. Think about it carefully."

Marquis Taining said he wouldn't dare let a third-ranked scholar become his son-in-law; he was marrying off his daughter, so of course the dowry would be plentiful! As a result, Zhu Tongfang reluctantly and somewhat confusedly married the Chen family's daughter. It's said that widows are very caring; after the marriage, Zhu Tongfang regretted his decision and boasted to his colleagues every day about his wife's virtuousness.

His colleague felt a pang of jealousy and could only retort sarcastically, "Zhu Tanhua, so arrogant at first and so obsequious at second, how laughable!"

Zhu Tongfan shamelessly claimed that he was "young and didn't know the value of a widow, mistaking a maid for a treasure!"
Although the position of Supervising Secretary was only a seventh-rank official, everyone knew that both the Supervising Secretary and the Hanlin Academy were breeding grounds for future prime ministers. There were so many poor Hanlin scholars, but very few could actually rise to the top; however, even if a Supervising Secretary couldn't become a Grand Secretary, being promoted was as easy as eating and drinking. The next rank after a seventh-rank Supervising Secretary was not a sixth-rank official, but usually a fourth-rank official!

Becoming an official also depends on timing. When the political situation is unclear, some scholars would rather stay at home to farm and study than take up an official post. Everyone felt that becoming an official during the Chongzhen era was still relatively promising, but these young and middle-aged people felt that the emperor was not radical enough, and the middle and upper-level positions were still firmly controlled by a group of old fogies.

That Bi Ziyan is nothing but a fraud and a charlatan. He's too afraid to take responsibility for important matters, walking like an eighty-year-old woman with a shaky gait. If they had been allowed to implement sweeping reforms, things wouldn't be like this today. And those Zhu Xieyuan and Yuan Keli are even more laughable. They controlled the military, yet they couldn't even pacify Liaodong in five years, and they even let the Jurchens reach the capital!
With the capital city fallen and hundreds of thousands of lives lost, these shameless old bastards still have the nerve to pretend defeat and demand titles from the emperor! Is the emperor so incompetent, and don't they understand? Anyone with a shred of decency would have committed suicide long ago! They couldn't even pacify Liaodong in five years; they're truly just incompetent officials holding positions without doing any work! Yuan Chonghuan, who went to Liaodong alone, is their idol.

If they were put in power, how could the Liaodong affair be so difficult, dragging on until now without resolving the Jurchen issue? When it comes to war, as long as the soldiers are informed of the dangers and the greater good, and the army is motivated to fight bravely, how could the Ming Dynasty, with its two capitals and thirteen provinces, possibly fail to defeat Liaodong, a mere corner of the country? The emperor's strategy is so conservative; he must be intimidated by these old fogies, which is why he dares not go to war.

These old fogies are unwilling to conquer the Jurchens, undoubtedly to maintain their power and facilitate embezzlement of military funds! The Ming Dynasty is short of money because these old tyrants have embezzled too much, emptying the Ming's coffers! The constant natural disasters are due to too many treacherous officials in the court, and the emperor hasn't eliminated them! Now these treacherous officials have revealed themselves!
These were the topics that the Fushe Society often discussed, perfectly aligning with the thoughts of lower- and middle-ranking officials, and those who failed the imperial examinations.

However, Zhang Pu's propaganda was very enticing. His analysis of the exam questions was very eloquent, and his description of the situation in the court and among the people seemed very plausible. He claimed that the emperor was a good man and certainly wanted to bring peace and order to the country, but that his subordinates had mismanaged the task. He also claimed that the emperor was now being misled and manipulated by treacherous officials, and that people like Zhang Pu were needed to save him!

However, there was one minor drawback: Zhang Pu himself failed the imperial examination in the first year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, which was a real embarrassment for him. Failing was failing, and all his explanations seemed weak. After enduring three years of humiliation, Zhang Pu finally passed the imperial examination in the fourth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

That year, the palace examination questions were still very challenging. Zhu Youjian asked: Zhang Juzheng's reforms led to a surge in the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue, with the figures even surpassing those of the Hongwu era. Many people attributed the later Wanli Restoration to the merits of Zhang Juzheng's reforms.

But why did the Ming Dynasty remain prosperous during the Hongwu reign, when the Taizu Emperor waged wars on multiple fronts and mobilized millions of troops? In contrast, the Wanli Emperor only led a few expeditions, mobilizing only tens or hundreds of thousands of troops, yet he quickly depleted the Ming Dynasty's decades of accumulated wealth, leading to a severe shortage of national funds.

During the Battle of Sarhu, the army was facing a critical shortage of funds, forcing them to hastily engage in battle, which led to this disastrous defeat. Even though the money was clearly increasing, why was the imperial court becoming increasingly short of funds?
When the Ming Dynasty was first established, the entire country had only tens of millions of people, concentrated along the Yangtze River. The north was uninhabited for thousands of miles, and there were more non-Han people than Han people. After Emperor Taizu drove out the Tartars and resettled people to populate the border, the population of the Ming Dynasty is now several times that of that time.

Logically, more people mean more power and more tax revenue, so why did the Ming Dynasty become weaker? The exam question is: "The more money you have, the less money you have; the more people you have, the fewer people you have. Why is this? What is the explanation?!"

I had long heard that the emperor's palace examination questions were bizarre, and now it seems they are indeed true. Who could have imagined this?! Zhang Pu also didn't guess the questions correctly, but that didn't matter. Although he didn't guess the palace examination questions correctly, he had a stroke of luck and guessed the provincial examination questions correctly. It's just that his palace examination results were not good, and he was ranked at the bottom. At least he still managed to get the title of Jinshi.

Having finally passed the imperial examination, he thought he would rise to high office and reach the pinnacle of his life. However, as soon as he entered officialdom, reality dealt him a heavy blow. He had hoped to chat and laugh with the emperor and jointly plan the governance of the country, but his daily work was to copy books meaninglessly in the Hanlin Academy. He was not even compiling new books, but simply copying outdated materials.

He felt that his own work, despite being a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and a prestigious Hanlin official, was of no value any different from that of a down-on-his-luck scholar writing letters and petitions on the streets. The old Hanlin scholars had long since lost their edge and were completely uninterested in his theories.

In Jiangnan, he was the leader of the Fushe Society, adored by everyone; in the Hanlin Academy, he was a nobody, a mere copyist. This stark contrast shattered his resolve, so he chose to flee the Hanlin Academy and return to the familiar Jiangnan.

Upon returning, he naturally refused to admit that he had left because he couldn't gain power. Instead, he embellished his story, exaggerating the corruption of the court and the oppression of young officials like himself by the older generation. This rhetoric was very popular in Jiangnan; the North-South divide was not just a figure of speech.

The gentry of Jiangnan have always stubbornly believed that the imperial court levies heavy taxes on Jiangnan and favors those barbarians in the north. They believe that if it weren't for them paying to support those stinking beggars in the north, the people in the north would have starved to death long ago. They think that the gentry are truly hateful!

After Zhang Pu returned to Jiangnan, he began lecturing and became even more popular. His first conference, the Yinshan Conference, was attended by several hundred people and was hailed as a major event in the Jiangnan literary world. After returning to his hometown, he held a second conference in Nanjing, which was called the Jinling Conference. This time, over a thousand people attended.

His compilation of the "Surname Record" documented the members of the Fushe Society, and he discovered that there were already more than two thousand, close to three thousand, members, which greatly satisfied his self-esteem.

But now all of that is ruined. The emperor has stripped him of his official titles and barred him from holding office! Why is that? Could it be because he frequently criticized the eunuch faction, and thus Wei Zhongxian targeted him, slandering him to the emperor? It can't be that the emperor himself dislikes him! The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became: How could the emperor be so incompetent? He is truly innocent! This is the calamity of the partisan purge!

Did the emperor intend to force him to submit to the Jurchens?! But the Jurchens are already on their last legs, and he has often criticized them. If he were to submit to them, his reputation would be ruined! Now that the Mongol Yuan dynasty is gone, he suddenly envies the scholars of the Western Han and Song dynasties; at least they had more options!

Others joined the Fushe Society to become officials, but now the emperor says Fushe members cannot hold office. He'll disregard those who joined before, assuming they were deceived by the Zhang brothers; and those who participate in Fushe activities afterward will not be employed. Who would want to join his Fushe Society now?! Do they really think these people are reviving ancient learning? Joining the Fushe Society is merely for building connections and improving their chances of becoming officials!

Wen Tiren felt no pity for Zhang Pu whatsoever. He pushed Zhang Pu merely to draw the emperor's attention and, incidentally, leverage the vast network of connections within the Fushe Society. He did indeed succeed in attracting the emperor's attention, but the emperor's gaze was icy cold; he would rather have had none of that attention!
Wen Tiren directly turned against Zhang Pu, ordering his servants to throw Zhang Pu and his entourage out of the mansion. He deliberately made a scene at the gate, scolding them as swindlers who were just trying to freeload, hoping that his actions would reach the emperor's ears and allow him to sever ties with the Fushe Society. Didn't Zhang Pu want to advance his career?
On one side, Zhang Pu and others were filled with despair, and Wen Tiren was busy distancing himself from him. On the other side, however, some people genuinely sympathized with his plight. Zhu Youjian thought the matter of the Fushe Society was over, but unexpectedly, in the afternoon, two old men from the cabinet came to him with only the imperial edict of rejection from the censor of the Ministry of Personnel.

The current Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel is none other than Guan Shaoning, the second-place scholar selected by Zhu Youjian during the first imperial examination! This is outrageous! The emperor's protégé is leading a rebellion against him! The imperial examinations of the first year of the Chongzhen reign may not have been entirely fair. Zhu Youjian selected the top-ranking scholars from military households, commoners, and members of the imperial clan to clearly define his three core supporters and win over these three groups. Guan Shaoning was from a commoner family! Guan Shaoning wasn't so short-sighted. His reason for refuting the edict was: "Your Majesty, it's understandable that you want to strip a scholar of his title—the scholar is appointed by the emperor, and your removal is reasonable. However, your edict only punishes him without specifying what crime Zhang Pu committed. How can this be convincing and serve as a warning to future generations?"

As a censor, I am responsible for rejecting problematic official documents and imperial edicts. This is not to oppose Your Majesty, but to help you identify and correct any oversights. Therefore, Your Majesty should fabricate a suitable charge against Zhang Pu. However, I believe Your Majesty should use whomever you wish to use, and simply not use Zhang Pu if you don't like him. Removing his official title is too harsh; punishing someone without prior instruction is not advisable.

Your Majesty should either release Zhang Pu to show your magnanimity, or simply kill him to prevent him from spreading rumors and slandering Your Majesty's reputation after being stripped of his official titles. Your Majesty must not be unaware of the story of Zhang Yuan from the Song Dynasty!

"What the hell is this? This is so sarcastic!" Zhu Youjian slammed the edict rejecting the document onto the table. "What are you two doing here? Trying to plead for Zhang Pu too?!"

Bi Ziyan said he came to plead for Zhang Pu. He believed Zhang Pu was indeed quite influential, and Guan Shaoning's proposed solution was reasonable—just don't use him. Removing his official title would seem unfair, and while donating money to the court or organizing literary gatherings might be inappropriate, it didn't actually constitute a crime.

Your Majesty, you yourself said that you act with integrity and uprightness, and that you should learn from Li Shimin and uphold justice. But what you are doing now is somewhat inappropriate, isn't it? More seriously, it will cause a rift between the court and the people, exacerbate the north-south divide, and the confrontation between the gentry in the south and the court will make the gentry in the south disillusioned with the court and the emperor!

Zhu Xieyuan then pulled out a censor's order from the Ministry of War, which rejected the transfer of troops from the chieftains of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, as well as the Guangxi wolf soldiers. Both he and the censor felt there were better options for troop deployment, and there was no need to send southern troops all the way north to fight. The problem with the southern troops wasn't that they couldn't fight, but that it would add enormous financial and logistical burdens—in short, they were very expensive.

They felt that conquering Liaodong might take two or three years. It would be easy to defeat them, but difficult to annihilate them. If it dragged on until then, it was hard to say whether the finances could withstand it. Don't be fooled by the fact that Taicang has 20 to 30 million yuan now, which seems like a lot. But now there are expenses everywhere, for disaster relief, for preventing peasant uprisings, and there might really be problems.

Furthermore, the south is also a border region. If we transfer all the elite troops away, who knows what Annam and Myanmar might think?!

Good heavens! After being repeatedly rejected by both the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, Zhu Youjian thought to himself, "Is this still the way of the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Youjian felt the differences between himself and his ministers were widening; they simply didn't understand the dangers of the Restoration Society. He knew the future, yet he felt utterly helpless. He was clearly the emperor, yet he was being wronged, and others were being wronged. He felt utterly unjust!

Zhu Youjian said he didn't mobilize the southern troops, only Qin Liangyu and Yuan Chonghuan. Qin Liangyu herself had a grudge against the Jurchens; sending her to avenge them and help her fulfill her wishes was a good thing, wasn't it? Yuan Chonghuan was alone in Ningyuan, and the city was well defended. The Guangxi chieftains sent troops, and the Guangdong navy transported troops—wasn't that just right?!

Traveling from south to north by land is indeed arduous and time-consuming, but by water it would only take about a month. Besides, there aren't many capable fighting troops in the interior; the elite soldiers of Sichuan are indeed one of the few options. At the same time, some military merit should be shared with the south. In short, Zhu Youjian felt that transferring southern troops north was no big deal; it was worthwhile even as training.

Zhu Xieyuan said that he still disagreed with the emperor's idea, but he also knew that he could not go against the emperor's wishes. He was just explaining the pros and cons. If the emperor insisted on doing so, he, as a subject, could only do as he was told. He just hoped that the emperor would not regret it if something went wrong.

After much deliberation, Zhu Youjian finally compromised and decided not to expel Zhang Pu. Since he was only a junior scholar, he was sent to be the magistrate of Lingao County. Zhang Cai, who had gone with him, was sent to Qiongzhou Prefecture as a judge. In fact, Zhang Cai had already risen to the position of principal officer in the Ministry of Justice, a truly promising future, but who told him to get involved with Zhang Pu?!

The county magistrate and the judicial officer were both seventh-rank officials, which was a legitimate official position and a dream that many scholars could only dream of. In the local area, they were like local tyrants! To offend the emperor and still have an official position, Zhu Youjian wanted to slap himself!

"Your Majesty, what about me?!" Zhu Xieyuan waved the transfer order in his hand! Zhu Youjian told Zhu Xieyuan to get lost and told the Ministry of War censor that if he rejected the transfer order again, he should also get lost!

Zhu Xieyuan kept turning back to ask, "Your Majesty, what if Annam and Burma really attack us?!"

Zhu Youjian said, "Can't you mobilize troops for defense? It's just a few thousand soldiers to provide support. Why are you making such a fuss? Do you think the southeast and southwest provinces are doomed just because they've lost a few thousand soldiers?! If they really dare to attack, then we'll just fight back!"

"Your Majesty, there really aren't many soldiers in the south! You don't have a few thousand garrison troops, you have several thousand elite troops! Our neighboring countries are really restless. Your Majesty, you can't be willful anymore. If war breaks out in the north and south, and we fight on two fronts, the Ming Dynasty will be finished!" Zhu Xieyuan leaned against the door frame, unwilling to leave.

"Get out! Get out! You always say 'all is lost'? Is my Great Ming Dynasty really that vulnerable?" Zhu Youjian said impatiently.

Zhu Xieyuan nodded vigorously and said, "Your Majesty, you are right. Our Great Ming is indeed outwardly strong but inwardly weak, and fraught with crises!"

Zhu Youjian was thoroughly annoyed and said in a depressed mood, "Fine, fine, you're the Minister of War, do whatever you want, I don't care anymore! I'm going back to have a baby and then I'll rule by doing nothing!"

Zhu Xieyuan said, "Really? That's wonderful! Your Majesty, please don't obey the imperial decree to mobilize troops!"

"roll roll roll!"

"Your Majesty, you must not obey the imperial decree to mobilize troops!" Zhu Xieyuan emphasized repeatedly.

Bang! Zhu Youjian kicked the door shut, locking the two old men out!

“Maohe, what you’re doing isn’t right. His Majesty is angry,” Bi Ziyan said in a low voice.

Zhu Xieyuan glanced at him sideways and said disdainfully, "You've angered His Majesty quite a bit too!"

A loud commotion came from inside the door, like the sound of clutter being swept onto the floor.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Zhu Xieyuan quickly pulled on Bi Ziyan's sleeve.

"Your Majesty, our cabinet is short-handed. Don't forget to find me some helpers. If all else fails, then let's have a court recommendation!" Bi Ziyan was weak and was being dragged along by Zhu Xieyuan, but he still didn't forget to shout back.

Inside the Maoqin Hall, Zhu Youjian was so angry he laughed. No one else could be an emperor like him! He squatted on the ground, picking up the memorials he had swept away. Recently, his little helper had also been throwing a tantrum, refusing to come and help him no matter what.

As a result, he was busy reviewing and archiving the memorials that had already been approved this year, while also processing the newly submitted memorials. Seeing how tired he was, Wei Zhongxian thoughtfully offered to help the emperor with the approvals, truly knowing how to squeeze in time!
"Damn it, I quit!" Zhu Youjian didn't know what being emperor had brought him. He had been in power for several years, but he hadn't made any progress. Instead, things were getting more and more difficult. He had conflicts with the outer court, fought with his wife, and felt more and more lonely and anxious.
"I'm right!" Zhu Youjian muttered to himself, "Am I really right?!" His face shifted between determination, doubt, and blankness, before finally collapsing in despair, "Waaah, I'm a useless piece of trash!"

(End of this chapter)