The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Carpenter Prince!

The nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM).

Side hall of the East Palace.

The fire in the charcoal brazier hadn't completely died down from last night, and now it was being covered with newly added silver-boned charcoal. Outside the window, the snow was faintly visible; the sky was still dark.

Zhu Youxiao opened the first book of questions he had been reading on behalf of others.

The footsteps outside the curtain paused.

"Your Highness."

Liu Shun lifted the curtain and entered, followed by Chen Lu, who was carrying a nanmu wood food box.

Chen Lu greeted them, placed the food box on the corner of the table, and stood respectfully to the side with his hands at his sides.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Liu Shun.

Liu Shun understood and stepped back to stand by the door.

Chen Lu then spoke up: "Your Highness, this servant took a detour around the side gate of Qianqing Palace today when delivering the cakes."

"A eunuch on the door used some silver coins, so I followed up on the activity in the corridor these past two days."

Chen Lu paused briefly, as if considering his words.

"Xiao Su was transferred to the Imperial Garden to serve as a servant yesterday at Chenshi (7-9 AM), because they said there wasn't enough manpower. The palace plaque was issued by the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the signature was 'Wei'."

"Last night, a stranger came to the corridor," Chen Lu said, lowering his voice even further. "At the beginning of the night, he brought in a dose of medicine, but the head servant didn't drink it."

Zhu Youxiao raised his eyes.

"The eldest servant declined the medicine, citing bloating, and poured it into a copper basin. This morning, the servant took it away and disposed of it. I just asked him, and he coughed for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea last night, and then went to sleep."

Zhu Youxiao tapped his knuckles lightly on the edge of the table.

Otomo is indeed cunning.

Wang An served in the Directorate of Ceremonial for twenty-six years and as a scribe for twelve. The number of people who passed by could fill half a corridor. This winter, his health deteriorated severely, and he coughed up blood several times. Zhu Youxiao dared not risk his life any longer. Unexpectedly, the head eunuch managed to hold on first, and as the people in the corridor changed, the bowl of medicine was never picked up.

Ears honed over twenty-six years are more reliable than any surveillance.

Physically damaged, but mentally intact. I consider myself to have not yet lost this crucial point.

"Chen Lu".

"This servant is here."

"On the day that the stranger is on duty, there's no need to send osmanthus cake."

Chen Lu paused for a moment, then agreed.

"He will still deliver on his two days off," Zhu Youxiao added. "Remember his shifts; it's not appropriate to deliver one day less or one day more."

"This servant understands."

Chen Lu bowed and withdrew.

Before the curtain fell, Liu Shun added, "Your Highness, Imperial Physician Lin's prescription this morning remains unchanged; he still added Schisandra chinensis."

Zhu Youxiao nodded.

The prescription was secured, and the eldest son also managed to hold the line at the corridor. The first three of the four checkpoints had already been secured by the eldest son himself; the fourth would require his continued vigilance these next few days.

If you can get through it, then you can get through it.

If they can't get through this, the consequences will be dire.

Zhu Youxiao didn't think any further.

"You should go and rest too, come back after noon."

Liu Shun withdrew.

The hall was silent. Zhu Youxiao reached for the carving knife on the table, then withdrew it.

My hand was unsteady when I made that cut today.

…………

At noon, the Office of Transmission sent copies of the documents to the Eastern Palace.

When Liu Shun brought it in, the cover was stamped with the red seal of the Ministry of Justice. This memorial followed the proper route of the outer court, first going through the Grand Secretariat for review before being sent to the palace.

Zhu Youxiao opened the seal.

"A certain Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Rites respectfully reports..."

He swept downwards.

The proposal was written in a very formal manner. The first paragraph praised the Crown Prince's extraordinary wisdom and his establishment of the training institute to gather outstanding talents; the second paragraph stated that since the institute's opening, its ten-day reports had been concise and impressive. Only after these two layers of preamble did it move on to the third paragraph.

"However, none of the six instructors at the training institute have any official background. They were neither selected through the imperial examinations, nor recommended, nor recommended by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. They are His Highness the Crown Prince's personal retainers. The six of them gather in a side hall of the Eastern Palace and submit reports every few days. The matters they submit include the old accounts of the Wanli Grand Canal transport, the loss of grain and provisions in Liaodong, and the discrepancies in the number of soldiers in the Ministry of War. These are all major policies of the court. How can we allow nameless and powerless people to interfere in these matters? We humbly request His Majesty to investigate and rectify these matters, so that these six instructors may be guided onto the right path."

The text, consisting of over 800 characters, consistently uses the phrase "inspection, verification, rectification, and strictness."

The last item is a small ticket proposed by Fang Congzhe.

character.

"This can be discussed at length and referred to the Ministry for deliberation."

Zhu Youxiao stared at those eight characters for a long time.

Fang Congzhe is shrewd and experienced.

The word "may" leaves room for the emperor to save face, "to consider at length" leaves room for the emperor to save face, and "to hand it over to the Ministry of Rites" pushes the matter to the Ministry of Personnel. If the Minister of Rites, Sun Ruyou, takes on this matter, even if this memorial does end up on his desk, it may not be resolved until March of next year.

The birth chart may appear stable, but it is actually riddled with flaws.

The battlefield has moved from the Eastern Palace to the training institute.

This is the fulfillment of Fang Congzhe's promise to write the two characters "lecture" after sitting alone for two nights five days ago. He had anticipated this a few days ago, but he did not expect it to come so quickly.

Zhu Youxiao did not pick up his vermilion pen.

He closed the copy and added the word "send" to the cover.

"Liu Shun".

"This servant is here."

"This copy is sealed and sent to Chen Wenju at the training institute."

Liu Shun took the cover without looking up.

"Just sending a gift, no message left?"

"Only for delivery."

"If Mr. Chen asks about His Highness's opinion, how should we answer?"

"Let him see for himself."

Liu Shun responded.

Zhu Youxiao added another sentence:

"Keep the original document. If the training institute can withstand this setback, I will discuss the next steps."

What if they can't hold out?

Zhu Youxiao did not reply.

Liu Shun bowed and withdrew.

The hall fell silent again. Zhu Youxiao put the original document into a hidden drawer and closed the case.

These six people at the training institute were someone I had gathered from scratch, and they had been keeping accounts for me for over a month during the dead of winter. As for matters of principle, if they could withstand it, that was fine; if not, I couldn't take their place. Chen Wenju's abacus was still halfway through the sixth cycle of fortune-telling. If he rejected this report today, the training institute would stand firm; if he panicked, I would have to start all over again.

This is the integrity of the training institute, not my own integrity.

Chen Wenju will take the lead in this hurdle.

…………

At the end of the day, an urgent message arrived at the palace from Liaodong, traveling 600 li.

The messenger arrived in the capital at 1-3 PM, and after being transferred from the Ministry of War's Department of Military Affairs to the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, the copy reached the Eastern Palace close to 3-5 PM.

Liu Shun, carrying the copy of the document, lifted the curtain and entered.

"Your Highness, this is a letter of reply from Consort Sun."

Zhu Youxiao accepted it.

The sealing wax was tight, and it bore Sun Chengzong's official seal. Unsealing it revealed only half a page.

"Your subject, Sun Chengzong, respectfully submits this report."

"The 100,000 taels of silver from the imperial treasury have arrived in Puhe. I will meet with the Puhe garrison commander tonight to count them. The families of the seventeen soldiers have already received their relief funds, each receiving 100 taels."

"The list of those to be granted relief is currently being verified. There are more than 2,300 orphans and wounded soldiers who died in battle in Liaodong over the years. I have discussed with the garrison commander that the elderly and weak should be given relief first, with each family receiving 15 to 30 taels of silver. The relief should be distributed before the 25th of the twelfth lunar month."

"Furthermore, regarding the matter of the three military camps at Puhe, I have already written a letter to Commander Xiong, discussing the regulations briefly. I have attached a draft of the initial regulations for the military camps, and I request Your Majesty to review the details. Your subject, Sun Chengzong, bows respectfully."

A booklet containing twelve articles of the charter was attached at the end of the letter.

Zhu Youxiao read it twice.

After finishing reading, I looked up and glanced out the window.

The journey took five days by post. On the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the Emperor wrote in vermilion ink, "Very good. Add more," and added forty-two characters, instructing Sun Chengzong to supervise the dispatch nearby. The imperial edict was issued at the hour of Shen (3-5 PM) that same day. Sun Chengzong was on the northern route on the sixteenth, crossed the pass on the seventeenth, and arrived at Puhe at the beginning of You (5-7 PM) on the eighteenth. As soon as the edict arrived, he was already at the city gates.

Five days without bias or prejudice.

The relief funds for the seventeen households have been paid, the rosters are complete, and the twelve articles of the land reclamation regulations have been attached. Everything is done meticulously, without a single superfluous word.

Zhu Youxiao closed the booklet.

This first step has been successfully completed.

He didn't look at it much.

"Liu Shun".

"This servant is here."

"Send it to the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, and then to the Qianqing Palace."

Liu Shun took the seal, lifted the curtain, and left.

…………

The warm pavilion of Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Taichang also took a day off today. He barely managed to review two memorials by Chenshi (7-9 AM), but his head ached at noon, so he rested for a while. When the copy was brought in at Shenmo (3-5 PM), the emperor was half-reclining on his couch.

Deputy Secretary Zhang Yun was waiting outside the pavilion.

Zhang Yun could hear the sound of the imperial brush pushing the paper inside, and then the soft sound of the brush being placed back on the inkstone.

He dared not go inside.

A moment later, three words came from inside.

"Keep moving forward."

There were no other instructions.

Zhang Yun accepted the approval document, bowed, and withdrew.

…………

Duty officer at Wenhua Hall.

Xu Yiqing placed the copy of the vermilion annotations on Fang Congzhe's desk.

Fang Congzhe unrolled the scroll.

Three words.

"Keep moving forward."

The three characters were neatly placed in the blank space at the end of Sun Chengzong's reply letter, the ink still wet.

Fang Congzhe understood the meaning behind those three words perfectly.

The emperor did not summon the cabinet for discussion.

The 150,000 taels of silver from the imperial treasury, the regulations for the three military farms, and the list of 2,300 people receiving pensions—any one of these issues could have been the subject of half a day of debate in court. Yet today, the Emperor did not discuss it, responding with just three words. From the Emperor's vermilion approval of "Very good. Add to that," to Sun Chengzong's supervision of the release of these items, and now to "continue as before," this process has proceeded flawlessly, without allowing the cabinet a single word of interference.

Fang Congzhe did not mention the draft vote again.

He placed the copy exactly as it was on the left side of the desk next to the white paper with the "lecture" from the day before. The two papers, one new and one old, were placed side by side.

Xu Yiqing waited for a moment, but received no instructions, so he clasped his hands and withdrew.

Fang Congzhe sat alone behind his desk for a long time.

…………

into the night.

Side hall of the East Palace.

It's snowing again outside.

Zhu Youxiao put on a black cloak, lifted the curtain, and went out of the palace.

Under the eaves outside the hall.

The snow fell a bit more heavily than last night.

He stood under the eaves, gazing northwards.

On the other side of the Pu River, the relief funds for the seventeen families must have been received by now. One hundred taels of silver per household cannot bring back the fallen soldiers, but it can at least allow the seventeen widows and orphans to get through the year. The remaining two thousand three hundred families will receive their payments before the twenty-fifth of the twelfth lunar month. I had settled this account more than a month ago, and now that it has been settled, it finally matches the record on the paper.

I've completed this step.

The question is how to proceed next.

Zhu Youxiao turned his gaze from the north to the snow streak at his feet under the eaves.

That head from the Wei Dynasty.

If he were the emperor, he could easily transfer Wei Chao away from the corridor of Qianqing Palace with a single word.

But I am not one of them.

He was merely the crown prince.

The eunuchs are subject to the Emperor's word; this is a line they cannot cross. The Emperor has just issued the decree and is now bedridden. To disturb His Majesty's health with such a trivial matter as "the Crown Prince's younger brother delivering medicine and encountering a shift change in the corridor" would be neither the conduct of a subject nor the heart of a son. Moreover, once this memorial is submitted, the Crown Prince will be essentially admitting that he has investigated the Wei Dynasty, and the larger net behind it will be scattered by this memorial.

It's not that I can't move.

It's not worth it to act now.

Zhu Youxiao stood under the corridor for a long time.

Snow fell on his cloak shoulders, but he didn't brush it off.

He stood for a moment, then turned and went back into the hall.

…………

There was one oil lamp inside the hall.

Zhu Youxiao walked behind the desk, took a sheet of plain white Xuan paper, and laid it flat on the desk.

I pick up my pen.

He wrote two words neatly on the paper.

"Wei Dynasty".

The two characters were written with steady strokes, and their shapes resembled seals.

Zhu Youxiao picked up the paper and remained motionless for a long time.

I had heard this name within the first month of entering the palace.

At that time, I had only been here for three days. Liu Shun was delivering osmanthus cakes back from the corridor when he mentioned an old eunuch named Li Jinzhong who was squatting there wiping the stove. He said that this old eunuch had an old relationship with Wei Chao, the man who was married to Madam Ke, and was using this relationship to get acquainted with people near the East Palace. At the time, I only remembered these few words as ordinary fragments and did not pay them any mind.

Later, the Imperial Pharmacy filled a vacancy, and Li Jinzhong entered. Yesterday, another vacancy was filled in the corridor of the Qianqing Palace, and Wei Chao entered. The two men shared the same surname and clan, one after the other. I had already mentally reconciled this connection the day before yesterday.

Today, it's just a matter of matching numbers.

The realization of old insights is not a new insight.

Zhu Youxiao folded the paper twice, took a plain white envelope, and sealed the paper inside. He didn't write anything on the seal, only added a little bit of residual wax.

He pressed the envelope into the bottom drawer.

The lock clicked softly as it closed.

…………

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Your Highness."

"Come in."

Liu Shun lifted the curtain. He entered without a hurried step.

"This servant just went to the training institute for a visit."

"Um."

Mr. Chen accepted the copy, looked at it for a while, and then said nothing.

"Anything else?"

"As Your Highness originally instructed, Mr. Chen is reviewing the old accounts of the Wanli canal transport." Liu Shun lowered his voice slightly. "Today we've reviewed the accounts for the sixth transport route, and the accounts are not yet complete."

Zhu Youxiao picked up his teacup.

The tea has gone cold.