Chapter 113: Do It or Die Trying

"Your Excellency Yu, I am well aware of your situation in the Censorate — your days have not been easy. It was His Majesty who took a liking to you and promoted you to Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. What does this mean? It means His Majesty has shown you the grace of a patron who recognizes talent. Do you not always say, 'If my lord treats me as a state scholar, I shall repay him as a state scholar'?"

"Besides, does Your Excellency truly wish to give up? Now that you have been promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, this is precisely the moment to unfold your grand plans and display your abilities. Would you really be willing to fade away in obscurity, growing old alone among the mountains and streams?"

"Unable to put what you have learned into practice — would Your Excellency truly be content? A man's life in this world is nothing more than risking all on a single gamble. Win the gamble, and naturally the sea is wide and the sky is vast; lose it, and there is nothing more to be said. Does Your Excellency not wish to take that gamble?"

"The philosophy of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi once regarded Dong Zhongshu and his kind as heretics, and even the Confucian school did the same. But who in this world today can say such matters with certainty? Sometimes it is not a step back that opens the sea and sky, but a step forward."

After Chen Hong finished speaking, he once again picked up his teacup, took a light sip, and said no more.

Yu Maoheng's face flushed red and then turned pale by turns. He glanced at Chen Hong, smiled bitterly, and shook his head.

Words were all well and good, but how could matters be so easily accomplished? If they were that easy, would he have agonized over this for so long?

Yet Yu Maoheng could also see that Chen Hong had not come to speak these words with any purely simple motive.

In this officialdom, how many people were truly simple? Chen Hong merely wished to form an alliance with him.

As for mentioning Dong Zhongshu, that was nothing more than painting a grand picture for him, while also telling him that he was willing to support Yu Maoheng in becoming a Dong Zhongshu.

And what would he have to give in return?

Naturally, it would be his support for Chen Hong outside the court.

In the court now there were two eunuchs — one was Wei Zhongxian, and the other was this Chen Hong standing before him.

Wei Zhongxian's power and influence needed no elaboration; ever since he had taken control of the Eastern Depot, it had truly grown with each passing day.

This Chen Hong, Eunuch Chen, before him had served the longest at His Majesty's side and could be said to be a favored figure before the Emperor.

Under such circumstances, it would be strange indeed if these two did not contend with each other.

Since they could not settle the contest between them for the moment, they would naturally have to open a second battlefield and find ways to defeat their opponent from another angle. Clearly, Chen Hong was preparing to work his schemes within the court.

Though nothing had been said openly, the two of them had ultimately reached a tacit understanding.

In the end, Yu Maoheng gritted his teeth, knowing full well that he had no path of retreat.

This matter had to be done — whether he wanted to or not.

With that thought, Yu Maoheng put away the routine memorial and said to Chen Hong, "Does Eunuch have any other business?"

Seeing Yu Maoheng put away the memorial, a smile immediately spread across Chen Hong's face.

His errand was as good as done. As for whether he had other business? Of course he did, but he could not say it.

Some things could only be understood, not spoken aloud.

Though he very much wished to have a proper heart-to-heart talk with Yu Maoheng, an open and frank discussion, the time was not yet right.

"This old servant has no other business. If Your Excellency has nothing to instruct, then I shall return to the palace." Chen Hong said with a smile.

"Then I shall see the Eunuch out." Yu Maoheng rose to his feet and said with a smile.

The two of them left the Censorate offices together.

Watching the other man depart, Yu Maoheng turned and walked back toward the building.

Since he had already accepted the matter, it was time to get to work. But before that, he needed to make all the necessary preparations.

The preparation Yu Maoheng needed to make was simple — finding allies.

As the saying goes, when one walks the rivers and lakes, more friends mean more paths. Moreover, since he was about to undertake such a great matter, he needed to secure his line of retreat. If he accomplished the task but was not accepted by the other side, that would be the worst outcome of all.

Yu Maoheng would not go to Chen Kedao, because in Yu Maoheng's view, Chen Kedao was a man who could not appear on the grand stage.

A true heavyweight would never behave like Chen Kedao.

In fact, with careful analysis one could see that the real heavyweight was someone else — a man recently promoted by His Majesty, who had previously languished in obscurity, and who could best be connected with Chen Kedao.

So who was this man?

Anyone with even a little understanding could guess. Looking at those who had been given important posts recently, and examining their résumés, one could instantly pick out a single person. That person was Xu Guangqi.

Why was he squeezed out in officialdom? Very simple — because he was Jiao Hong's proud disciple.

And who was this Jiao Hong? He too was a representative figure of the School of Mind, and had been on the best of terms with Li Zhi throughout his life.

He believed that what the Buddhist scriptures expounded best captured the essential meaning of Confucius and Mencius's "exhausting one's nature and fulfilling one's destiny"; the commentaries of the Han and Song Confucians, by contrast, had become mere dregs. He sought to draw Buddhism into Confucianism and reconcile the two schools of thought.

In the seventeenth year of Wanli, Jiao Hong sat the metropolitan examination in Beijing and placed first among the jinshi — the Zhuangyuan — becoming a Senior Compiler in the Hanlin Academy. Later he served as Director of Studies in Nanjing. By the conventions of Ming officialdom, this was absolutely not the career path a Zhuangyuan ought to have had.

But that was precisely what happened, because he had been squeezed out and regarded as a heretic.

Though his final fate was not as miserable as Li Zhi's, the aspirations of his heart went unfulfilled for his entire life. Under such circumstances, his disciple Xu Guangqi would be even less likely to receive anyone's patronage.

As the saying goes, with someone in court, officialdom is easy; without anyone in court, one can still work hard. But for someone like Xu Guangqi, who had others laying traps for him in court — let alone easy officialdom, he could not serve as an official at all.

But at the beginning of the year, this man was promoted by His Majesty to Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, placed in charge of the Capital Camps, and was now drilling troops together with Qi Jin, a descendant of Qi Jiguang.

Though Xu Guangqi had been drilling troops before as well, so on the surface this seemed like nothing out of the ordinary.

But Yu Maoheng was different. From his own promotion, to Chen Kedao's lectures, to the routine memorial by Zhu Tongmeng in his hands, to the Donglin Faction being struck down in court — putting all these things together, the matter became perfectly clear.

His Majesty wished to foster a new school of thought and support a new group of ministers in the court.

Those ministers who opposed this school of thought, and those who opposed His Majesty's policies, would all be eliminated.

Having discerned all of this, what remained was the question of which side to stand on.

He had no choice in the matter, so he would naturally stand on the side where His Majesty wanted him to stand.

If he wished to rise to prominence, he had to gain the recognition of certain people. That would be the emerging leader of the School of Mind — and that person would certainly not be Chen Kedao.

In Yu Maoheng's view, that person should be Xu Guangqi.

If he could gain Xu Guangqi's support, then his path of retreat would be secure.

Returning to his duty room, he tidied up briefly, and then Yu Maoheng walked out through the gates of the Censorate.