Di Ming

Chapter 291 The Empress Dowager Arrives!

Zheng Guotai knew, of course, that the emperor wanted Tian Yi's money. But he had to ensure that the emperor could obtain Tian Yi's assets legitimately and justifiably.

Therefore, Tian Yi must be convicted of a crime deserving of confiscation of property and execution!

Since Tian Yi refuses to confess, the only option is to imprison him. As long as he is convicted, even if he dies in prison, it will still be an explanation to the outside world.

Even the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs was just the Emperor's household servant!

The emperor can arrest or kill whomever he wants; what's wrong with that?

Of course, if this case can be used to bring down some annoying political enemies and make them pay for Tian Yi's downfall, then it would be killing three birds with one stone.

Tian Yi raised his frosty eyes and said coldly:
“You were acting on imperial orders, but those orders did not allow you to interrogate me, force a confession, or torture me into giving one. If I were to die under torture, it would tarnish His Majesty’s reputation for benevolence. The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs will not be in any great danger without me, but things still need to be done. The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs will still need to put on a show, but the future Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs may not be as easy to talk to as I am.”

Now that things had come to this, Tian Yi was no longer so polite in his speech.

His meaning was simple: You, the emperor and your ministers, easily tortured a high-ranking eunuch into confessing on trumped-up charges. Where is the dignity of the Directorate of Ceremonial? How can the Directorate of Ceremonial check and balance the cabinet and foreign officials in the future? Who in the Directorate of Ceremonial will be able to work with peace of mind in the future?
There was one treasonous thing he dared not say: he thought the emperor was stupid!

For the sake of money, he lost more than he gained; a classic case of being blinded by greed.

What were the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial? They were not merely the heads of the emperor's household servants, but also the inner ministers used by the emperor to control the court. They were the heads of the court who could stand alongside and rival the cabinet ministers!

The emperor would find excuses to imprison and confiscate his property for the sake of gold and silver. After that, the court officials would no longer be so loyal to the emperor. In order to protect themselves, they would even collude with civil and military officials, leaving the emperor truly isolated and without any power to rely on. He would be deceived and misled.

This shows that the emperor was truly not a wise ruler.

Zhang Jiangling, Zhang Jiangling, this is the excellent student you've painstakingly taught!

Zheng Guotai shook his head as if he had everything under control. "Master Tian, ​​saying these things won't save you. However, I do have a way to save your life and ensure the safety of your family."

As he spoke, he took out a confession from his sleeve, on which were clearly the names of some officials.

The names of more than a dozen officials are listed, including Zhu Yin, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War; Yuan Keli, Supervising Censor; Song Yingchang, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War; and Sun Piyang, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

These are the ministers who are most steadfast in their support of the eldest prince and who are most at odds with the Zheng family group.

The confession was written in Tian Yi's name, saying that he colluded with Zhu Yin, Song Yingchang, Sun Piyang and others to launch a petition in the court and the public, knocking on the Meridian Gate of the palace, and forcing the emperor to settle the matter of the country as soon as possible and establish the eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Changluo, as the crown prince.

It was also said that Zhu Yin, Sun Piyang, and others had agreed to contact more court officials and petition the emperor.

Zheng Guotai pointed to the name on the confession and smiled:

"Master Tian, ​​have you seen clearly? If you dislike someone, you can add their name. As long as Master Tian signs and affixes his seal, I guarantee Master Tian's life will be safe. How about it?"

Tian Yi stared intently into Zheng Guotai's eyes and said in a tone as sharp as a knife:
"You are so audacious and reckless. Does the Emperor know about this? If the Emperor finds out that you are using your position to settle personal scores and frame ministers, even the Imperial Concubine will likely be implicated."

"Haha!" Zheng Guotai couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Does it really matter whether His Majesty knows or not? Tian Yi, you're really getting senile. This is a difficult question for me to answer. Just one question: will you sign or not?"

Tian Yi sneered. How could he possibly go against his conscience to frame Zhu Yin and other court officials?

Besides, even if he signed it, he would only die sooner. Having served in the officialdom for decades, how could he possibly trust the promises of someone like Zheng Guotai? If he could fall for Zheng Guotai's tricks, how could he have become the Grand Eunuch?
“Zheng Guotai, you can forge a confession at will, but it will be extremely difficult for me to sign this confession of falsely accusing others.”

Tian Yi spoke slowly, but his expression was unwavering, as if he had already disregarded life and death.

Zheng Guotai's face was grim. "If you don't sign, I'll immediately send men to take your whole family to the imperial prison to keep you company. Then, it won't just be you who suffers..."

Just then, a captain came in and reported, "Second Master, Fourth Master has arrived. He says he has important matters to discuss overnight. Fourth Master is having tea in the West Flower Hall and requests that you come to see him immediately!"

"Oh?" Zheng Guotai was greatly surprised. Why was his fourth sister... no, his fourth brother, coming to the prison to see him so late? What happened?

Zheng Guotai had no time to torture Tian Yi, so he quickly went to the West Flower Hall, where the aroma of tea filled the air. He immediately saw his fourth brother sitting there drinking tea, looking gloomy and unapproachable.

"Fourth...brother, what happened?" Zheng Guotai asked abruptly.

Zheng Guowang handed over a crumpled piece of paper with a cold expression. "Second brother, take a look at this first. Tonight, someone shot an arrow into my yard."

Zheng Guotai picked up the paper and looked at it; his face immediately turned ashen.

"Who sent this? Who sent it?!"

"Is there a traitor within the household, someone who betrays us? Or is it that imperial physician?"

Zheng Guowang snorted coldly, "Second brother, what have you done? You are the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, yet such an important secret has been leaked in your residence. I have already checked the handwriting; it is the handwriting of Marquis Wuqing, Li Wenquan."

"It's him!?" Zheng Guotai gritted his teeth. "That makes sense! He really is the Emperor's good uncle. So, Tian Yi is actually the Empress Dowager's man? No wonder Tian Yi was so stubborn and acted so confidently; it turns out he has the Empress Dowager behind him!"

He mistakenly believed that Tian Yi's righteousness was because the Empress Dowager was backing him up.

Although Tian Yi was close to the Empress Dowager's relatives, he was by no means part of her faction. Tian Yi was the Emperor's man. In fact, he was most loyal to the Emperor.

Zheng Guowang nodded. "There can only be this one explanation. Tian Yi has the Empress Dowager behind him, and his secret care for Zhu Changluo is also at the Empress Dowager's behest. Otherwise, why would Li Wenquan write a letter threatening us immediately after Tian Yi was arrested and imprisoned?"

"Tian Yi is now in your hands. If you kill Tian Yi, how could the Empress Dowager, with her petty nature, let it go? We can't cause trouble for my sister, and we can't let her and the Empress Dowager fall out."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Zheng Guotai frowned. "You've always been the most resourceful in our family, and you're a scholarly husband, so what do you say?"

Zheng Guowang said, "Although Second Brother has the imperial decree to interrogate Tian Yi, you know the Emperor's temperament. If the Empress Dowager gets angry, the Emperor will forget the decree, and in the end, the Empress Dowager will hate us."

"So we should wait and not torture Tian Yi. Not only should we not torture him, we should also try to exonerate him. If the Empress Dowager really pleads for Tian Yi, the Emperor will definitely make an exception. You should do the Empress Dowager a favor and get Tian Yi out of the prison."

Although Zheng Guowang was the "younger brother," he was a civil official and naturally the person with the highest status and the most influence in the Zheng family.

"You've thought things through very well." Zheng Guotai sighed and nodded. "Things have come to this point, so this is the only way. Alas, we were originally going to torture Tian Yi into confessing and framing Zhu Yin and the others. This would have been a good opportunity to get rid of Zhu Yin, but who knew that the Empress Dowager was standing behind Tian Yi."

Zheng Guowang said, "Zhu Zhihu is a close ally of the eldest prince, and it will be difficult for him to switch sides and support Chang Xun. If Chang Xun wants to become the crown prince, the upright officials in the court represented by Zhu Yin will be a major obstacle. This person must be eliminated, if not this time, we will think of another way next time."

Zheng Guotai said worriedly, "Fourth brother, Li Wenquan succeeded in threatening us this time. Will he use this secret to blackmail us again next time? This Marquis of Wuqing is a scoundrel. He won't be so easy to deal with."

Zheng Guowang said with a wry smile, "I don't know either. I hope he's not too much of a scoundrel who harms others without benefiting himself."

"Furthermore, who leaked this secret? We must thoroughly investigate with our trusted confidants! There can't be more than ten people in the manor who know about this!"

“I’ll investigate.” Zheng Guotai gritted his teeth. “It’s better to kill ten innocent people than let one guilty person go free! If we find the traitor, fine. If not… kill everyone who knows the truth.”

Zheng Guowang suddenly asked, "How much wealth does the Tian family have? Has an inventory been prepared?"

Zheng Guotai nodded, "It's done. More than 500,000 taels of silver, more than 23,000 taels of gold, plus fields, houses, jewelry and other items, totaling 1.2 million taels of silver. That's enough to explain to the Emperor. Here's what I'm thinking: we'll handle the Tian family's assets and directly hand over 1 million taels of silver to the Emperor for the Imperial Treasury."

This is certainly a good deal. The emperor only wants gold and silver; he's not interested in land, houses, jewelry, calligraphy, or paintings. They can buy all of these things themselves and then give the emperor one million taels of silver. In this way, not only will the emperor be happy, but they'll also have a profit margin of two hundred thousand taels, making a fortune.

Everyone was happy. However, the Tian family's decades of hard work had suddenly benefited the Emperor and their own family.

Even with the Empress Dowager's support, Tian Yi can only save his family's lives this time; he certainly can't save his family property. It would be good enough if he could just retire and return to his hometown.

Thinking about this, Zheng Guotai felt much better.

Zheng Guowang, however, frowned slightly and said with displeasure:
"The emperor is the Son of Heaven, what would he do with so much private wealth? The whole world belongs to the emperor, why should he care so much about gold and silver? This is not a good thing."

"In recent years, the Emperor has neglected court affairs and focused too much on financial matters. He spends more time calculating than reviewing memorials. This is not a good thing for the country if it continues."

Zheng Guotai laughed and said, "Look at how lightly you speak. Fourth brother, you are, after all, a scholar-official with the refined and noble air of a minister, full of Confucian classics, and exuding the fragrance of ink. You are not tempted by gold and silver. But who in the world does not love gold and silver?"

"Which civil or military official doesn't embezzle money? If they can, why can't the emperor? If the emperor isn't allowed to embezzle, but they are allowed to do so themselves, are they still loyal ministers?"

His words seemed to make a lot of sense at first glance. Zheng Guowang opened his mouth, not knowing how to refute his brother's words, but something felt off.

"No!" Zheng Guowang finally realized, "The officials' love of wealth is not a reason for the emperor to love wealth! The emperor is the role model for the officials, not the other way around. The emperor should serve the public good, and only then can he expect the officials to be loyal and devoted to the country. If the emperor also pursues wealth, how can he restrain his ministers and rectify official corruption? How can the court be clean and efficient, and how can the country be well-governed?"

"I want my sister to persuade the Emperor..."

Zheng Guotai rolled his eyes. "What's it to you, Fourth Brother? Although you're a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), you're still young. Don't be so idealistic. The Emperor loves to make money, so we'll just try to find ways to help him. Why are you taking it so seriously?"

"The Emperor and the Empress like you. You are the only scholar in our family to have passed the imperial examination. You are the pillar of our family. Chang Xun's position as Crown Prince also depends on your help as his uncle. You must not be tainted by sour grapes and ruin important matters."

Zheng Guowang took a deep breath. "Alright. Don't worry, Second Brother, I have my own plans."

……

The news of Tian Yi's home being raided and his imprisonment came as a bolt from the blue, shocking the court and the public.

Tian Yi, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, whom the emperor trusted implicitly, suddenly fell from grace overnight.

The imperial edict has been issued, stating that Tian Yi colluded with foreign officials to force the emperor to abdicate and install the crown prince!
They also accused Tian Yi of embezzling public funds and enriching himself.

Although Tian Yi was an inner court official, and it was inconvenient for court officials to submit memorials to defend him, there were still many ministers who felt indignant on his behalf.

Tian Yi served as the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial for more than four years. His political achievements and conduct were evident to all. He did not form cliques for personal gain, did not seize power and disrupt the government, did not flatter the emperor, and did not indulge the Eastern Depot. He was a rare and virtuous eunuch.

The stability of the court in recent years is largely due to the efforts of Tian Yi, who was in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

But what crime did Tian Yi commit? Why was he suddenly imprisoned and punished without any prior warning?
The Grand Secretaries Wang Xijue and Zhao Zhigao, as well as Zhang Wei and Shen Yiguan, were all dissatisfied with the emperor's behavior.

The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs is also part of the government. Why didn't they inform the Cabinet beforehand that the head of the Inner Minister was suddenly removed? Did they still take the Cabinet seriously? After the Cabinet approved the memorials, who would issue the imperial edict with their seal?
The Emperor issued an edict to imprison and confiscate the property of the Grand Eunuch without consulting the Cabinet. How should the Cabinet respond? Such a major event cannot be ignored.
Does this sound like a word?

The four Grand Secretaries and a group of Nine Ministers were all at a loss, completely bewildered by the capricious and capricious master in the palace.

For a time, the outer court fell into an eerie silence, and not a single memorial was sent to the Office of Transmission all day.

Since the matter involved court officials, the outer court could not change the emperor's decree, nor did it have the power to demand an explanation from the emperor. They could only express their dissatisfaction through such indifference and silence.

The cabinet then ordered that, due to a sudden major change in the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, memorials could not be stamped, and all six ministries and departments should suspend their operations.

They actually have a holiday!

Your Majesty, you didn't even give us a chance to discuss it before suddenly removing the head of the inner court. We have no choice but to take a temporary leave.

However, the courtiers still overestimated the emperor's integrity.

When the news reached the Qianqing Palace, the emperor, who was playing mahjong, heard the report and surprisingly said without any concern:
"Temporarily suspend office work? What's the big deal? We can take a break, play mahjong, have a drink, and play chess in the government office. What's wrong with that? The world will still be at peace."

The emperor was speaking from the heart; he wasn't joking.

In his view, it wouldn't affect the peace and stability of the country if officials temporarily stopped working or played cards or chess.

He even thought that officials in government offices were just playing cards and chess.

Even if any government office in the Ming Dynasty was short-staffed, the country would still be at peace, and he would still be the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

From a lazy person's perspective, laziness always has its reasons.

This is why he did not immediately appoint a new chief eunuch to replace Tian Yi after dismissing him.

He's not in a hurry.

"Get rich!" Consort Zheng played a card and said with a smile, "Old nanny, Guotai said that one million taels of silver can be deposited into the imperial treasury today."

"East Wind!" The emperor also played a card, a smile on his fat face. "That old bastard Tian Yi, he has quite a lot of money at home. I really didn't wrong him!"

He was in a good mood because a full one million taels of silver would soon be sent to the imperial treasury.

Ordinary people still thought the emperor was some kind of divine being. But if they had the chance to enter the Qianqing Palace and take a look, they would understand that the emperor's words and actions were no different from those of a nouveau riche, far from the unimaginable figure he was.

However, the emperor's good mood lasted only a short while before shouts rang out from outside the palace: "The Empress Dowager has arrived!"

"Why has the Empress Dowager come?" The Emperor's smile vanished instantly.

He stood up lazily, preparing to personally greet them.

It was common knowledge that the emperor and empress dowager had a poor relationship. However, filial piety was paramount, and the emperor still had to be respectful to the empress dowager.

Before the emperor had even left the Qianqing Palace, the empress dowager's imperial carriage had already arrived.

Empress Dowager Li was nearly fifty, yet she was well-maintained, of noble birth, and still possessed a captivating charm, remaining a beauty in palace attire. However, at this moment, her face was frosty, her gaze cold, and she clearly displeased.

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty!" The Emperor, along with Consort Zheng and others, bowed in greeting.

"Your Majesty!" The Empress Dowager's tone was filled with anger. "Tian Yi is the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, how come he's suddenly imprisoned in the Imperial Prison?"

"What crime did he commit?"

"I heard that the imperial decree said he instructed people to take care of Jingyang Palace. Is that a crime? Your son is in Jingyang Palace! I was the one who told Tian Yi to do it! I am the mastermind!"

"Why don't you just throw this old woman into the imperial prison too? Wouldn't that be more convenient!"

P.S.: I still haven't asked for leave... I can't take it anymore, I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, please.

(End of this chapter)