Song Dynasty: Yuan Dynasty, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm still alive.

Before Gongsun Yan could react, Shen Guanchou stepped forward abruptly, bowed towards the throne, and his tone suddenly became earnest: "Your Majesty! I have a humble opinion: the sincerity of remembering the late Emperor cannot be contained in mere words."

He deliberately emphasized his words, his voice slightly choked, and tears seemed to glisten in his eyes: "We, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue, are willing to put our remembrance into practice through concrete actions—within three days, we will verify the number of newly reclaimed fields in Australia, the amount of grain stored in the Luzon granaries, and the annual revenue from the Japanese silver mines, and compile a 'Record of the Holy Ancestor's Benevolent Deeds' to present to Your Majesty! Only such pragmatic actions can truly live up to the late Emperor's profound principle that 'the Way lies in the people'!"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly turned his head, his gaze sharp as he stared directly at the officials of the Ministry of Works, his tone a mixture of sigh and sarcasm: "If Minister Gongsun thinks that writing an article is more important than practical matters... could it be that the frequent incidents of firearms exploding in the Ministry of Works in recent years are all because the craftsmen have spent all their time on writing and painting, neglecting their primary duty of forging firearms?"

These words were like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

Since you want to launch an attack, then so be it, strike at the heart of the matter!

Gongsun Yan's face instantly turned bright red, and he trembled with rage, cursing inwardly: "Shen Guanchou, you old scoundrel! Can Daoist matters be called an explosion? In our Daoist eyes, an explosion is the embodiment of the principles of heaven and earth, the ultimate form of art!"

Before he could retort, the officials from the Ministry of Works had already erupted in anger, accusing Shen Guanchou of making false accusations. The officials from the Ministry of Revenue were not to be outdone and immediately stepped forward to argue. The court was instantly thrown into chaos, with the noise almost lifting the roof off the palace.

Seeing this, the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel exchanged glances and stepped forward to support the Ministry of Revenue.

In their view, the Daoist school was already so aggressive after just taking control of the Ministry of Works. If it was not curbed, there would probably be no place for Confucianism in the imperial court in the future.

Two fists can't fight four hands, and the Ministry of Works officials quickly fell into a disadvantageous position, their voices of debate gradually fading away.

Lu Junyao sat upright in the ranks, his brows slightly furrowed, thinking to himself that things were not going well—if this arguing continued, it would not benefit the Ministry of Works or the Daoist Academy, but would only annoy His Majesty.

He immediately coughed twice, his voice not loud, but carrying an invisible authority. The arguing in the court gradually subsided, and all eyes focused on him.

Lu Junyao slowly rose, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, I humbly request your wise judgment!"

He paused, then clearly stated: "First, all officials of the third rank and above must compose an essay entitled 'Ode to Daoist Learning.' The style of writing is not important, but it must be combined with their duties to explain how to improve government affairs using Daoist thinking. This essay will be jointly evaluated by Tsinghua Academy and the Ministry of Works, and divided into three grades: the best will be commended, the middle will be retained to observe government affairs, and the worst... will be punished as appropriate."

"Secondly, at the same time, all ministries are ordered to submit the 'Records of Practical Benefits of the Holy Ancestor,' such as the Land Records of the Ministry of Revenue, the Frontier Defense Strategies of the Ministry of War, and the Education Records of the Ministry of Rites. Both documents should be submitted together to ensure a complete remembrance."

He added as soon as he finished speaking, "This arrangement not only follows the late emperor's will to 'take the Way as the guiding principle,' but also adopts Minister Shen's loyal advice to 'emphasize practical matters,' and avoids the bias of 'selecting people based on their literary skills'—after all, the essence of Taoism lies in the unity of knowledge and action."

Without hesitation, Zhao Wen blurted out, "Excellent! Let's do as the Right Chancellor proposes."

Having said that, he seemed to suddenly remember something, and turned his gaze to the Left Chancellor Kong Yuanheng, who stood at the head of all the officials, asking in a calm tone, "What does the Left Chancellor think?"

Kong Yuanheng thought to himself: You've already agreed, what objection could I possibly have?

But he remained outwardly calm, and under the expectant gazes of his ministers, he slowly bowed and said, "Your subject has no objection."

This court debate, in which Zhao Wen secretly took sides, ultimately ended in victory for the Ministry of Works (Daoist School).

However, the people of the Song Dynasty were always upright and unyielding, and were by no means submissive. Especially when it came to struggles concerning their own political future, they would never give up.

As night fell, Xinxiang City was shrouded in darkness. Shen Guanchou and Han Chengye disguised themselves and, avoiding pedestrians, quietly arrived at the residence of Left Chancellor Kong Yuanheng.

Inside the study, the candlelight flickered as the three men sat around the table, their expressions solemn.

"Prime Minister Kong," Shen Guanchou spoke first, his tone urgent, "When His Majesty was still the Crown Prince, he strongly advocated for the introduction of Confucianism into the court. At that time, there was still the late Emperor's restraint, and in the end, only Confucianism was allowed to control the Ministry of Works. Now that the late Emperor has passed away, His Majesty is no longer bound by these constraints. Today's actions are merely a test. In the future, I fear there will be no place for Confucianism in the court!"

The three people present were all shrewd and calculating, and they had already seen through the Ministry of Works' series of actions today, which were clearly at the behest of the Emperor.

Kong Yuanheng tapped his fingers lightly on the table, lost in thought. After a moment, he looked up and asked, "Regardless, the teachings of the sages must not be lost in our hands. Chengye, what are your thoughts?"

A glint of shrewdness flashed in Han Chengye's eyes as he said in a deep voice, "Judging from the situation in court today, most officials secretly oppose the Ministry of Works' actions, but they were silenced by Lu Junyao and the Emperor's swift decision. In that case, why don't we follow the example of the 'Zhongzong' temple name incident from a while ago?"

Shen Guanchou's eyes suddenly lit up, and he instantly understood what he meant: "You mean, contact the newspapers and magazines to guide public opinion and use the people's voices to advise the officials?"

"Exactly!" Han Chengye nodded. "Public opinion is the will of the people. Even if the emperor is biased towards Confucianism, he cannot completely disregard the will of the people."

"Brilliant plan! Truly a brilliant plan!" Shen Guanchou couldn't help but clap his hands in approval, then turned to Kong Yuanheng, "What does Prime Minister Kong think?"

Kong Yuanheng nodded slowly: "Alright."

"This time, we must teach the Confucian scholars a lesson!" Shen Guanchou rubbed his hands together, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "They should just stay in the academy and do their research; why do they have to come to the court and cause trouble, vying for power!"

He looked at Han Chengye and said, "Chengye, I'm entrusting this matter to you. Make sure it's handled properly."

Han Chengye bowed and agreed – it was an old custom among them that whoever proposed the plan was responsible for it.

Shen Guanchou further instructed, "Remember, this matter must be handled cleanly and efficiently. Under no circumstances should anyone be able to find any fault with it, otherwise, you will be doomed."

"Understood."

……

The next morning, in the residence of Xu Xiuyuan, the Vice Minister of Works, he was sitting in his study handling official business when a subordinate rushed in, looking flustered.

"My lord! Something terrible has happened!"

Xu Xiuyuan raised his eyes, his brows furrowing slightly: "What's the matter? Tell me slowly."

The subordinate took a breath and whispered, "Sir, I've discovered that Han Chengye, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, sent people to the *Gewu Weekly*, which is overseen by our Ministry of Works, to publish several articles attacking our Ministry. The language is extremely sharp, accusing us of misleading the country with our Confucianism and using the late emperor's name to eliminate dissidents!"

"What?!" Xu Xiuyuan stood up abruptly, his face full of disbelief. The brush in his hand fell to the paper with a "thud," spreading ink into a blot. "Say that again? Han Chengye dares to send people to our territory to publish attack articles?"

"I am absolutely certain!" The subordinate nodded hurriedly and handed over a newspaper. "This is today's 'Investigation of Things Weekly,' and every sentence in it is aimed at our Ministry of Works and the School of Taoism."

Xu Xiuyuan picked up the newspaper, quickly glanced through it, and his face grew increasingly gloomy.

He muttered to himself, "This doesn't make sense... Han Chengye is always cautious, how could he be so blatant? Is there some kind of conspiracy involved?"

"Does the lord mean we should wait and see?" the subordinate guessed. "If it's a conspiracy, we might fall into their trap if we act rashly."

Xu Xiuyuan pondered for a moment, then raised his right hand to stop his subordinate, his eyes resolute: "No, this matter is strange. Let me cast a divination to find out the outcome."

Xu Xiuyuan was a typical Taoist believer. Divination and numerology were the core disciplines of classical Taoism, and he firmly believed in them.

He closed his eyes, rapidly calculating with his fingertips while muttering incantations. He first used the Little Six Ren divination method, and the result was "Great Peace"—an auspicious hexagram.

Still not reassured, he used various divination methods, including Plum Blossom Divination, Six Lines Divination, Taiyi Divination, and Qimen Dunjia, to perform further calculations, and all of them yielded auspicious results.

One instance could be a coincidence, but the fact that so many divination methods yielded auspicious results is definitely not a coincidence!

Xu Xiuyuan felt relieved and immediately got up to go to the Right Prime Minister's residence to tell Lu Junyao about the matter in detail.

"Are you sure this isn't a conspiracy orchestrated by the Ministry of Revenue?" Lu Junyao asked with a grave expression after hearing the question.

"I am absolutely certain!" Xu Xiuyuan patted his chest and assured him, "I have confirmed that the person who published the article is indeed Han Chengye's confidant. The evidence is conclusive and there is no falsehood!"

Lu Junyao nodded, having already made up his mind.

He immediately picked up his pen and wrote a memorial, clearly outlining the evidence of Han Chengye's crimes of manipulating public opinion, slandering officials, forming cliques for personal gain, and plotting treason. He then submitted it to the Censorate, ordering the censors to impeach Han Chengye.

It should be understood that the Censorate is an independent institution, not subject to the control of the Left and Right Chancellors, and no one has the right to interfere with its impeachment matters.

Now that the evidence is conclusive, if the Censorate turns a blind eye, it would be a dereliction of duty.

The next morning at court, the censor was the first to step forward, holding a memorial, and loudly impeached Han Chengye, the vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Although Zhao Wen had already learned of this matter from Lu Junyao, he still couldn't help but feel furious when he heard the charges listed by the censor.

He slammed his hand on the armrest of the dragon throne and shouted sternly, "Han Chengye! How dare you! You collude with outsiders, manipulate public opinion to slander the court, and frame your colleagues! What else do you have to say?"

Han Chengye was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a thud, his face pale and his whole body trembling.

He was filled with doubt and fear: he had kept this extremely secret and had bribed people at the newspaper with a large sum of money, so how could it have been leaked?

Surely the Ministry of Works doesn't still control the newspaper?

Kong Yuanheng and Shen Guanchou, who were standing to the side, also looked extremely grim, glaring at Han Chengye—this useless teammate, more trouble than he's worth!

With the evidence irrefutable, Han Chengye's thousand words seemed pale and powerless.

Seeing this, the other ministers all lowered their heads, none daring to defend him—guiding public opinion, slandering the emperor, and forming cliques for personal gain were all serious crimes punishable by death, and no one wanted to get involved in this mess.

Ultimately, Zhao Wen issued an imperial edict: Han Chengye was demoted to the position of magistrate of Yin County in Peru, America; Kong Yuanheng and Shen Guanchou, being members of the same faction, were respectively demoted to the positions of prefect in Japan and governor in India; and all other officials of the Ministry of Revenue involved in the matter were also exiled.

The first fierce political struggle during the Yongchang era ended in a complete victory for the Daoist school.

After clearing away the obstacles, Zhao Wen intended to issue an edict appointing Gongsun Yan as Left Chancellor and Xu Xiuyuan as Minister of Works.

To his surprise, the officials of the Ministry of Personnel resolutely refused to carry out the decree, arguing that "the selection, assessment and promotion of officials are all governed by clearly defined qualifications, procedures and terms of office, and the emperor should not issue special decrees to remove or appoint officials, thus violating the ancestral laws."

Subsequently, officials from the censorate also stepped forward to vehemently remonstrate on this grounds, their words earnest and sincere, with some even threatening to resign.

Zhao Wen was furious but helpless. He could only secretly write down the name of the Minister of Personnel in his notebook, waiting for the day he would be held accountable.

But then he thought again that since Right Chancellor Lu Junyao was now one of his own, even if officials were selected according to the Ministry of Personnel's procedures, the key positions such as Left Chancellor, Minister of Works, Minister of Revenue, and Vice Minister of Revenue would inevitably be filled by people he favored.

Moreover, unlike Zhao Shi, he was not carefree and cared deeply about the continuation of the Song Dynasty.

If one were to lead the way in breaking the rules, it would inevitably set a bad precedent for future rulers. If a foolish ruler were to follow suit and abuse imperial power, the foundation of the Song Dynasty would be shaken.

Having understood this, Zhao Wen suppressed his anger and pretended to be agreeable, saying to the assembled officials, "What you all say is absolutely right; it was my oversight. Let us proceed according to the Ministry of Personnel's proposal and select officials according to procedure."

The second political struggle during the Yongchang era ended with a narrow victory for Confucianism.

The debate between Daoism and Confucianism in the imperial court may seem to have subsided temporarily, but undercurrents are surging and a greater storm is brewing.