The struggle for the throne during the Jiajing reign

Chapter 134 Impeachment

Jiajing reached out and took the account book compiled by the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs. He quickly flipped through it, and the more he looked, the more his mouth turned up. Even the emperor is short of money. The construction of the Da Gao Xuan Hall costs more than 100,000 taels of silver a year, and the materials for alchemy and Taoist cultivation are procured from Huguang and Guizhou every year, which also costs more than 100,000 taels of silver a year.

A small religious ceremony costs several thousand taels of silver, while a large one costs tens of thousands of taels. The expenses for other ritual implements and rewards are even more incalculable.

Especially with the Lunar New Year approaching, should the imperial concubines be given some jewelry as a reward?

The wet nurse is going to the palace for a few days. Are we going to let her go back empty-handed?

The imperial treasury's annual income was limited, and the Ministry of Revenue would cry and wail over a little money, with censors and officials chiming in. Then, a snow disaster struck, and he thought the Ministry of Revenue would have to ask him for money for disaster relief.

"Who taught this brat? I never taught him any of these things."

Emperor Jiajing was no stranger to money, but this was different; it was money confiscated during a house raid.

The confiscation targets corrupt officials and unscrupulous merchants who hoard goods, without harming the people's livelihood or requiring him to personally appeal to the Ministry of Revenue for payment.

The nobles obediently paid their pennies, the civil officials dutifully made up for the deficit, the disaster victims received relief, and before the censors could even impeach them, the matter was completely resolved.

The most ingenious thing is that this brat never asked him for a single imperial decree from beginning to end, and the money was sent into the imperial treasury without him having to ask.

Huang Jin carefully crawled over on his knees and pulled the sable cloak over, waiting for the emperor to step on it before carefully choosing his words.

"Your Majesty, I believe that Your Highness did not learn it, but rather figured it out on your own out of a filial heart."

Moreover, His Highness is like you; he understands everything without needing to be taught. The descendants of dragons and phoenixes are naturally insightful, and are ultimately different from ordinary people.

The news is everywhere that some child prodigy has appeared. What kind of child prodigy could provide relief to hundreds of thousands of disaster victims in their teens? I've never even heard of such a thing!

Seeing Jiajing's brows and eyes becoming more relaxed, Huang Jin knew that the opportunity was fleeting and she quickly pressed her advantage: "This servant thinks that Your Highness's ability to surpass ordinary people is mostly because His Majesty cultivated a semi-immortal body at that time, coupled with Consort Jing's profound blessings, which is why Prince Jing is so naturally intelligent."

Jiajing subconsciously replied, "My mother always said that Lady Lu was a blessed person. I didn't think so at the time, but now it seems that she was right about people."

Huang Jin dared not respond to this; he had already said enough. He simply smiled and told the emperor how excellent the purity of the gold that had entered the imperial treasury this time was. The cinnabar and vermilion were of the highest quality, several times better than what the Ministry of Revenue had procured in previous years. There were also old lingzhi mushrooms from the deep mountains, each as large as a human head—

The hall was warm and inviting, the snowflakes reflected in the windows, and the emperor was deeply engrossed in his studies.

Just then, light footsteps sounded outside the hall. Mai Fu, the Grand Secretary of the Directorate of Ceremonial, entered with his head bowed and a cautious and solemn expression, breaking the rare tranquility in the hall.

Mai Fu knelt and kowtowed, his voice low and steady: "Your Majesty, the Six Ministries and the Censorate have jointly submitted a sealed memorial impeaching His Highness Prince Jing."

The gentle smile that had just graced Jiajing's eyes vanished instantly. He handed the account book to Huang Jin and asked indifferently, "Impeach him for what?"

"The joint memorial alleges that Prince Jing, under the guise of disaster relief, has engaged in rampant confiscation of property and recovery of stolen goods, tortured and coerced civil officials, implicated too many people, arbitrarily controlled life and death, and privately initiated criminal proceedings. He has abused his power, oppressed officials, and cruelly disturbed the people, which is contrary to the principles of Heaven and Heaven."

Furthermore, some officials directly accused Prince Jing of misappropriating huge sums of confiscated funds and arbitrarily handling confiscated property, suggesting he was accumulating wealth for his own use, trying to win over the people, and had excessive ambitions.

Inside the secluded room, you could hear a pin drop.

"Sizzle"

Zhu Zaizhen and Zhang Juzheng were roasting a lamb leg. Under the high temperature, the lamb fat melted and fell onto the hot coals, sizzling and popping, with wisps of smoke rising and the aroma of meat filling the air.

"Take it."

They use a copper openwork hanging roasting rack, with the lamb leg pierced through the leg bone by a long wrought iron fork, which has a wooden handle for adjusting.

Zhu Zaizhen looked relaxed with a smile on his lips. He first sprinkled a handful of fine salt and pepper, then used a brush to apply a mixture of sesame oil and acacia honey to the surface of the lamb leg. As the honey oil heated up, a thin amber-colored crust quickly formed on the skin, making the aroma even richer.

Zhang Juzheng fine-tuned the wooden handle to ensure the lamb leg was heated more evenly. The usually serious and upright man shed his restraint at this moment, but his expression remained focused.

Xu Wei sat at the table to the side for a long time, holding a pen in one hand and writing furiously. His tiny characters flowed like clouds across the paper as he copied the entire set of disaster relief closing accounts, the list of meritorious officials and their punishments, and the details of work-for-relief. His other hand was constantly moving the abacus, making a series of crisp clicks as he checked the details of money and grain.

He hadn't slept for two days and two nights, his eyes were bloodshot, and his clothes were stained with ink, yet he remained energetic and clear-headed.

Meanwhile, Qi Jiguang, Lu Bai, Lü Jin, and others were drinking and celebrating their victory next door. Laughter and chatter could be faintly heard. They had two whole roasted lambs, accompanied by strong liquor bought from a street vendor.

The snow stopped, food was plentiful, and the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works began to recruit able-bodied men for work relief. The confiscation of property was also put to an end, the Ministry of Personnel began to reward those who had made contributions, and the censors and officials began to find fault. Everyone's future was bright.

"Completed!"

Xu Wei abruptly put down his wolf-hair brush and abacus, gently lowered the brush, returned the abacus beads to their place, let out a long sigh, and strode towards the grill.

His eyes were dark from days of working so hard, but now they were filled with longing: "Your Highness, Uncle, we agreed beforehand that the first leg of lamb would go to me, the one who stayed up for two days and two nights to finish the accounts!"

Zhu Zaizhen sprinkled the last handful of ingredients, then straightened up and laughed, "I know you've worked hard, this is just a treat for you. After you finish eating, go to sleep. Even if the sky falls, you won't have to get up."

Zhang Juzheng was also hungry, but he was not one to keep detailed accounts, so he made an agreement with Xu Wei that whoever did the work would get to eat, and the one who didn't would be served roasted lamb legs.

"A gentleman's word is as good as his bond, and I have always been a person of my word."

"Haha, very good, very good! To be able to eat a lamb leg roasted by His Highness and Uncle Da themselves in this lifetime is enough to make my life worthwhile!"

A moment later, Zhang Juzheng struggled to remove the grill and placed it steadily on the nanmu wood table. The aroma of the steaming lamb leg suddenly spread out. The skin was crispy and reddish, while the meat inside was tender and juicy. The aroma of honey, fat, and caramel intertwined and lingered, making it extremely tempting.

"Eat it while it's hot, it'll get a bit gamey when it cools down." Zhu Zaizhen had enjoyed grilling it once, so he asked Zhang Xingzhou to move the grill outside and get busy, while Daban stood guard at the door.

Xu Wei didn't stand on ceremony, but he didn't eat alone either. He first used a small knife to cut off several large pieces of meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat for the two of them, and then buried his head in the meat and ate it with gusto, hissing and laughing as he was burned, while occasionally taking a sip of wine.

Zhu Zaizhen and Zhang Juzheng sat down and slowly looked at the accounts while eating lamb leg meat. Ma Dezhao also brought three kinds of condiments: plum sauce, salt and pepper, and fine pepper powder, each with its own flavor.

"The memorial should have reached the Emperor by now. What do you think of my plan?"

Zhang Juzheng wanted to laugh upon hearing this, but he held it in and praised, "Your Highness is wise, taking the initiative at every step and doing things unexpectedly. I admire you greatly."

"This is what it means to follow someone else's path and leave them with no path to follow."

Zhu Zaizhen picked up a piece of fatty and lean meat with his chopsticks, dipped it in salt and pepper, and laughed: "Instead of waiting for them to find a handle to impeach me, it would be better to secretly hand over all the charges and so-called evidence that can be used for impeachment to those people in the Sixth Secretariat and the Censorate who are willing to risk their lives for fame, and then have them push things along."

Relying on the imperial court's authority, officials and censors were allowed to speak out on hearsay without being held accountable. Sure enough, they hastily submitted impeachments without verifying the facts.

"My father just took everything I had; surely he wouldn't be so quick to abandon me after using me?"

Zhang Juzheng didn't want to spoil the mood, but his duty required him to speak up, especially when His Highness was so relaxed and vigilant: "Forgive my bluntness, but that's not necessarily true. Apart from Grand Secretary Yan, who can accurately grasp Your Majesty's thoughts, the others are not quite as good at it."

Your Highness's contribution this time is immense, but sometimes too much can be detrimental. Although you deliberately attributed the good reputation to Prince Yu, the common people who are even slightly informed know that it was you who confiscated grain from their homes and forced them to produce it; otherwise, even the most skilled Prince Yu would be powerless without food.

Zhu Zaizhen's smile faded, and Zhang Juzheng stood up and bowed.

"Sit down. Good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the disease, and honest advice is unpleasant to the ear but is beneficial to conduct. I understand this principle."

Xu Wei wiped his mouth and said, "Throughout history, there have always been more meritorious people than innocent ones. Your Highness has done an excellent job this time."

"I understand your concerns." Zhu Zaizhen's smile returned. "It's just that you don't understand Father Emperor as well as I do. You all think Father Emperor prefers mediocrity, obedience, and gentleness, and dislikes strength, sharpness, and merit, is that right?"

The two exchanged a glance and then nodded. There were so many capable people in this dynasty, especially the chief ministers throughout history, but in the end, it was Yan Song, who seemed the most mediocre, who secured the position.

"Please enlighten me, Your Highness."

Zhu Zaizhen looked up at the snow-covered landscape outside the window. The sky was clear and bright after the snowfall. It took him a long time to speak.

"My father spent half his life cultivating Taoism. His outward appearance was one of tranquility and inaction, but his true nature was one of extreme pragmatism."

What he disliked was not competence, but competence coupled with seeking fame, seeking fame leading to forming cliques, forming cliques and creating momentum, ultimately forcing him to diligently attend to government affairs while abandoning Taoism and the pursuit of immortality.

Xu Wei heard it clearly, pondered it for a long time, and suddenly understood. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Your Highness has revealed the secret of heaven in one sentence!"

Yan Song was a factionist, greedy, and power-hungry, but he never competed with the Emperor for fame. When the Emperor wanted peace and quiet, he would shield the Emperor from the storms of the court and ensure that the Emperor could cultivate in peace in the Western Garden.

When His Majesty needed money, he ruthlessly plundered the country. When His Majesty wanted to maintain balance in the court, he suppressed the outspoken officials, but did not exterminate them.

His Majesty did not want to establish a crown prince, so he stood behind His Highness to support him and suppress Prince Yu.

"That's why he held immense power and remained in power." Zhang Juzheng nodded slowly, his expression solemn.

Seeing that they understood, Zhu Zaizhen laughed and said, "You still have to learn from Grand Secretary Yan. This time, I did the work of disaster relief, confiscating property, recovering stolen goods, and punishing meritorious officials. I took the blame for the bad reputation."

All credit should be attributed to the imperial court, to Prince Yu, and to the Ministry of Personnel for recognizing merit.

Not a single coin of gold, silver, jewels, cinnabar, or lingzhi was kept; it was all sent to the imperial treasury to fill the vacancy left by my father. I have not formed any factions; my true confidants are only a handful of you.

If Father Emperor continues to suppress me unjustly despite my utmost loyalty, filial piety, diligence, and fulfillment of my duties, then I may cause trouble at the Western Garden. I might as well abandon my post and take you all to your fiefdoms.”

Zhu Zaizhen spoke seriously; he could accept his father's checks and balances, but if it was just a matter of shirking responsibility without any reason, then it was meaningless.

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