The struggle for the throne during the Jiajing reign

Chapter 135 Audience

"Minister Xu! What's going on? How could you impeach Prince Jing at this time!"

Hearing Gao Gong's high-pitched, raspy voice, Xu Jie frowned slightly. The censors and officials were already considered the least respectful of their superiors, but in front of Gao Gong, they all showed some manners.

"This will also implicate His Highness Prince Yu. The disaster relief efforts are not completely over yet. Everything should be discussed after the New Year. Whose idea was this?"

Xu Jie patiently suppressed his temper and said gently, "Suqing, please sit down first."

Gao Gong had just stepped inside when he heard the greeting. He didn't refuse, gave a perfunctory greeting, and sat down. There were still many people in the hall, and they couldn't help but feel indignant at this.

Especially those in the Hanlin Academy, who had worked with Gao Gong for several years and had accumulated a lot of resentment.

"Gao Suqing! What kind of attitude is this? If the Minister truly pursues this matter, eighty strokes of the cane would be more than enough according to the law!"

If Gao Gong were afraid, he wouldn't be himself. He simply scoffed, "Even Grand Secretary Yan didn't punish officials with caning for a few words!"

"you!"

"Alright." Xu Jie said helplessly. Gao Gong was truly talented. He passed the provincial examination at the age of sixteen or seventeen and became the top scholar in the province. He passed the imperial examination before the age of thirty and entered the Hanlin Academy.

But after all this time, he's still just a seventh-rank editor. I knew this person must have a major flaw; otherwise, he should have been promoted long ago.

Having served as the head of the Hanlin Academy for many years, Xu Jie naturally understood his temperament: a rough and unruly personality, disdain for colleagues, and a blunt and outspoken nature.

If the emperor hadn't truly lacked such a gentleman, he wouldn't have promoted this person; he was indeed difficult to manage.

But since Gao Gong has already been placed by Prince Yu's side, it is natural not to easily antagonize him. Moreover, judging from Prince Yu's recent behavior, he is clearly becoming more and more dependent on Gao Gong. This is Gao Gong's extraordinary ability to see people's strengths.

Xu Jie didn't hold it against him. If he didn't have this kind of magnanimity, he might as well retire early and go home to enjoy his grandchildren and live out his old age in peace.

"Minister Su, impeaching Prince Jing was not our idea, and I was unaware of the joint memorial beforehand. This is the very matter we are discussing now."

Gao Gong was taken aback upon hearing this, then stood up and cupped his hands in apology: "In that case, it is my fault. I apologize to the Minister."

Xu Jie gestured for him to sit down and not stand on ceremony: "It's alright, you've come at the right time. I was going to send someone to fetch you anyway."

He continued to the others, saying, "By the time I learned of this matter, the joint memorial had already been submitted to the Office of Transmission. As you all know, the Six Ministries' Censors and the Censors of the Censorate have the right to report on matters based on hearsay. Once the joint memorial enters the Office of Transmission, it is beyond my ability to stop it."

Even if the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet intervened, they could only manipulate the draft proposals; they couldn't stop them from submitting their memorials.

There was a mix of truth and falsehood in what he said; some people nodded in agreement while others were skeptical, but no one dared to speak up.

Some time ago, Minister Xu had instructed them to collect evidence of Prince Jing's abuse of power.

Xu Jie was also in a difficult position. King Jing had a weakness, so how could he not attack? He had to at least lay an ambush first.

But he did not have anyone jointly impeach him. The time was not right, and he had not yet seen the Emperor's attitude clearly. How could he just rush in like that?

"What are the contents of the impeachment? What actions have the Yen Party taken?"

"The impeachment is still unclear, but it's nothing more than favoritism, perversion of justice, torture, and oppression of merchants," Ouyang De replied. "Yan Song and Ouyang Bijin have submitted memorials to request merits for the two princes and urged the Ministry of Personnel to expedite the reward process."

Goodness, people are doing both good and bad things. What are they up to?

Gao Gong stroked his beard and said, "Then let's also submit a joint memorial to request credit for the two princes. Putting aside everything else, the disaster victims have indeed received relief."

"this--"

Before they could continue their discussion, someone came to summon them, saying that His Majesty had come out of the pass and was summoning officials of the fourth rank and above, as well as censors from the Six Ministries and the Censorate, to the Western Garden for an audience.

Xu Jie, Ouyang De, and the others immediately stood up, exchanged glances, and felt uneasy. This matter was really hard to predict. Would His Majesty go with the flow to suppress Prince Jing, or would he reward him? What would Prince Yu do?

Xu Jie first straightened his clothes and instructed, "We shall immediately prepare our clothes and proceed to the West Garden. The rest of you must not discuss this privately, and even more so, you must not submit any memorials in private."

"Yes, we will obey your orders, Minister."

They rushed to the gate of Yongshou Palace and first carefully observed the expressions of the eunuchs on duty. If their faces were gloomy and their brows were tense, it meant that His Majesty was in a bad mood at the moment.

If the expression is calm, it means there's nothing life-threatening; they're simply there to agree.

Now, their faces clearly show joy, indicating that the emperor is overjoyed.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and joy naturally appeared on their faces. They whispered among themselves, celebrating the passing of the disaster, the upcoming New Year, and the ever-growing prowess of His Majesty.

Grand Secretary Yan Song was the last to arrive. After everyone greeted him, the eunuch on duty announced his summons. He was then summoned and entered the hall according to his rank, kneeling with his head touching the buttocks of the person in front of him.

"Your Majesty, we pay our respects and wish you good health!"

Inside the hall, the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, and the fire in the alchemy furnace burned gently. Emperor Jiajing, dressed in a plain Taoist robe, sat upright on his throne with his eyes slightly closed. Several memorials were laid out on the table in front of him. At the top was a memorial from Yan Song and Ouyang Bijin, requesting merit from the two princes. At the bottom was a memorial from the censors, impeaching Prince Jing.

"I am well, please rise."

Was he in a good mood or a bad mood? Everyone was filled with doubt and uncertainty. They stood up one by one, heads bowed, and no one dared to speak first.

"I have been in seclusion, cultivating the Tao and contemplating the will of Heaven. The affairs of the court have been managed by my ministers. Now the disaster is gradually subsiding, the refugees are returning home, and the cities are returning to normal. I have read the memorials submitted by the cabinet, and everything is in good order. This is truly remarkable. You have made great contributions."

Yan Song felt a slight sense of relief upon hearing this, and immediately bowed and stepped forward, saying loudly, "This is because Your Majesty's virtue is widespread and your blessings extend to all people. If Your Majesty had not cared for the common people and had not established a national policy of disaster relief early on, even if we had the will and strength, we would not have been able to stabilize the disaster-stricken areas."

Your Highnesses were ordered to oversee the disaster relief efforts, working tirelessly and personally supervising the work, which has brought about the stability and prosperity of the people today. Our humble contributions are truly insignificant.

Praising the sage ruler first, then the two kings, will never be a big mistake.

Jiajing reached out and took out the impeachment memorial, and threw it directly on the ground: "I was originally happy that the snow disaster had been quelled, the refugees had returned to their hometowns, the cities were restored to peace, and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau reported that the next year would be a year of favorable weather."

All these years of cultivating Taoism, what I have sought is nothing more than peace and well-being for the people.

"But when I left the pass today, I found this pile of things on my desk: a dozen or twenty people jointly impeaching a prince who was in charge of disaster relief, with more than a dozen charges. In my opinion, these charges are even more serious than those impeaching the border generals who lost cities and abandoned territories."

The emperor's tone was calm, but it was undoubtedly an expression of dissatisfaction. Everyone knelt down, their knees hitting the floor tiles and then their foreheads.

"I am guilty."

"Whether you are guilty or not is not yet clear to me. I just want to ask you, is the disaster situation in the capital region truly stable?"

Yan Song crawled a few steps on his knees, picked up the memorial from the ground, and replied, "Your Majesty, we would never dare to deceive you, and there is no one in this world who can deceive you."

"That's interesting." Jiajing pointed to the memorial in his hand and said, "Either they are deceiving me, or you are deceiving me. Grand Secretary Yan, you are the head of the household, you should distinguish right from wrong for me."

"I am Your Majesty's subject, and I am ordered to manage some affairs of the cabinet. Only Your Majesty is the head of our Great Ming Dynasty. I am just like all the people, a subject of the sovereign."

After saying this, Yan Song opened the memorial and began to read it. His expression was solemn. After reading it, he said, "Your Majesty, most of it is false and does not reflect the facts at all."

"Oh, how is it not true?"

"First, the impeachment against Prince Jing for arbitrarily wielding life and death power and privately administering criminal justice. During this disaster relief period, every person His Highness Prince Jing ordered to be arrested was approved by the Ministry of Justice first, and then executed by the Shuntian Prefecture and the Military Command. Every single case has a file on file and can be checked. The accusation in the memorial of abusing power, bullying officials, and being cruel and disturbing the people shows that the officials only see the ruthless methods, but not the merit of saving the world."

Emperor Jiajing listened with his eyes closed and one hand patting his knee. Yan Song refuted all of the dozen or so charges against him, leaving the old man sweating as he finished speaking.

Yan Song closed the memorial, held it above his head with both hands, knelt on the ground, and said in a hoarse but solemn voice: "Your Majesty, most of the points listed in the impeachment memorial are exaggerated statements commonly used by censors. The words are sharp and harsh, but they do not match the facts."

I dare to assert that this is not an impeachment based on the incident itself, but rather on the merits of the service provided. Prince Jing and His Highness Prince Yu have demonstrated loyalty and filial piety in their disaster relief efforts.

This old minister has never seen a prince so devoted to sharing the burdens of his sovereign and father, nor has he ever seen a prince, after achieving such great merit, be impeached in such a manner.

Emperor Jiajing nodded in satisfaction, his gaze falling on the censors and officials: "There's a saying that goes, 'Catch the thief red-handed.' I'm letting you speak, so produce your evidence."

Censor Zhou Mian stepped forward and said: "It is the duty of censors to report on matters based on hearsay. It is true that His Highness Prince Jing has made meritorious contributions to disaster relief, but it is also true that he has protected the nobles and abused torture!"

Zhou Maohe, Feng Yunzhen, Gao Qiyuan, and other officials appointed by the imperial court, according to the law, should have been tried jointly by the three judicial departments, convicted and had their property confiscated by imperial decree. However, Prince Jing arrested them first, recovered the stolen goods on the spot, and directly drafted charges and confiscated their property. Although he claimed to have obtained the Ministry of Justice's documents afterward, in reality, he acted first and reported later.

When everyone saw that it was Zhou Mian, they were not surprised. This Jinshi from the 20th year of Jiajing's reign had already been honorably flogged twice in his short ten-year official career.

The first time was for advising on the rites of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and he was beaten almost to death. The second time was for advising on the Crown Prince's marriage, and he was beaten so badly that one of his legs was injured and he was bedridden for half a year. Now it seems he is about to suffer a third time.

Jiajing chuckled and then asked, "Who else?"

A younger official in a blue robe stepped forward and said, "Your subject Zhao Kongzhao has stated that His Highness Prince Jing has promised promotions to officials without consulting the Ministry of Personnel."

Furthermore, the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver confiscated from corrupt officials should have been entirely sent to the Ministry of Revenue for unified allocation by the court for disaster relief and national use. However, Prince Jing privately split the silver, bypassing the Ministry of Revenue's registration and verification process, arbitrarily allocating it to local disaster relief, and using only his seal to withdraw funds, thus circumventing the Ministry of Revenue's verification process.

Xu Jie knelt behind Yan Song, his eyes lowered, his face calm as still water, but his heart was churning with countless emotions.

Zhao Kongzhao, he silently repeated the name in his heart. He had only been assigned to the Censorate for two years and hadn't even survived a single capital inspection, yet he already dared to directly criticize a prince for breaking the law in front of the entire court of civil and military officials.

It's less about courage and more about the fearlessness of a newborn calf. But if such a person isn't protected, who else in the court will dare to speak out?

>

-