Chapter 134: Wei Zhongxian Makes His Move

The court actually had established rules and procedures for handling impeachments; it was not the case that an impeachment automatically meant the facts were confirmed.

Since remonstrance officials were permitted to memorialize on hearsay, naturally others had to be allowed to rebut.

The usual procedure was that when someone submitted an impeachment, the impeached party would remain at home and simultaneously submit a self-defense memorial, awaiting His Majesty's disposition.

If there was no problem, then the matter naturally passed; if His Majesty wished to deal with you, then he would send people to investigate the case.

This applied to officials at the central government level.

If a local official was impeached, the court would send people to the locality to investigate.

Once the facts were verified, then matters would be handled accordingly; if not verified, then there were no other facts to speak of.

Zhu Youxiao naturally knew this procedure as well; now it was a matter of seeing what Zhao Nanxing would do.

If Zhao Nanxing could explain himself clearly in the great hall today and gain Zhu Youxiao's approval, then naturally he would not have any problems.

If not, then Zhao Nanxing would need to go back and await investigation. Others might subsequently impeach him as well, and he would need to submit routine memorials to explain himself.

At this moment, Zhao Nanxing had already stepped forward, not looking at anyone else.

In his heart, he knew very well that this was actually factional strife.

Someone had set their sights on his position, and the one stirring things up behind the scenes was Liu Yijing.

The several matters for which he was being impeached were actually rather difficult to explain. But what needed to be said still had to be said.

Zhao Nanxing spoke: "Your Majesty, your ministers founded the Donglin Academy for the purpose of spreading the teachings of the sages. As for the accusations of colluding with one another and forming cliques for private gain — at that time we were not serving as officials at court, so where could forming cliques for private gain come from? As for the claim that criticizing current affairs constituted slandering the court and defaming the sovereign, that is even more groundless."

"Our fervent patriotic hearts and our loyalty to Your Majesty are witnessed by Heaven and Earth and shown by the sun and moon! How could we ever have harbored such base thoughts? We have never for a moment dared to forget the teachings of the sages; what we have spread is nothing but the learning of the sages — where could any heretical doctrines come from?"

Zhu Youxiao quietly watched Zhao Nanxing.

It was not that Zhao Nanxing's rebuttal was ineffective, but rather that this kind of question simply could not be rebutted.

Because everything was just spoken from one mouth — the crux of the matter was not what you said, nor what you did, but rather which side the Emperor believed.

If the Emperor believed that you had not formed cliques for private gain and had not done these things, then everything would be easy to handle.

These arguments were all surface-level work; the real work had already been done behind the scenes.

The Donglin Faction was already quite helpless — they had already lost His Majesty's trust in them.

Zhao Nanxing also knew in his heart that what he was saying now was not of much use, because His Majesty no longer believed in these people of his.

Liu Yijing's side knew this point very well too, which was why they attacked without restraint. The work had already been done behind the scenes; by the time it was brought out into the open, they basically already had full confidence,

Of course, relying on words alone probably would not suffice either, so they had fabricated that one charge behind the scenes — the Ministry of Works embezzling silver.

Zhao Nanxing felt this was unjust. Was this his problem? It was not something that had only existed after he arrived at the Ministry of Works!

Everyone at court knew this; even if someone had to bear responsibility, it should be the Minister of Works, not him, Zhao Nanxing!

But they had linked these two matters together anyway. Things that clearly had no great connection, once linked together, became a big deal — and it even dragged in the Liaodong case.

Who did not know how sensitive that case was right now? Once you were dragged into it, extricating yourself would be difficult!

Zhao Nanxing could only steel himself and explain, speaking slowly: "As for the case of the Ministry of Works embezzling silver, your minister is not very clear on this matter. Your minister has not been at the Ministry of Works for long, so I am not very familiar with these affairs. However, your minister believes that if such a matter truly exists, then it must be severely punished. Your minister requests that Your Majesty strictly investigate this matter, and no matter who is implicated, they will never be shown leniency."

This was Zhao Nanxing's statement of position, and also the attitude he ought to have.

He had not forcefully argued his defense, in fact, in order to accommodate His Majesty's attitude.

Sometimes, the more forcefully you explained yourself, the less people believed you.

The matter was not about the case itself, but rather that something had gone wrong behind it. If the problem behind the scenes was not resolved, then merely wrangling over the case itself was not of much significance — on the contrary, one would suffer a great loss.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Zhao Nanxing, nodded lightly, and spoke: "I still trust you, my minister. Matters of the Ministry of Works should be left to the Ministry of Works to manage. Since you believe this matter ought to be investigated, and investigated strictly, then I shall entrust this matter to you — investigate thoroughly from top to bottom at the Ministry of Works. I hope you can produce a result."

The moment Zhu Youxiao's words came out, the great hall fell silent.

Although it appeared that Zhu Youxiao trusted Zhao Nanxing — not only not pursuing the previous matters but also entrusting the investigation to him —

the people present were not fools; they were all old hands in officialdom, and they naturally knew what this meant. This precisely indicated that His Majesty suspected Zhao Nanxing!

If His Majesty truly trusted you, he would instead let you go home and wait, then have others investigate, in order to prove your innocence.

Now His Majesty was having you investigate yourself — that meant you needed to prove your own innocence, and that difficulty was much greater.

If what you uncovered could not satisfy His Majesty, then your official career was just about over. Moreover, there were people beside you watching and looking for faults, making matters even harder to handle.

Zhao Nanxing's mouth tasted bitter, and he understood in his heart that His Majesty still did not trust these people of his — he would need to pay more.

Having himself return to the Ministry of Works to investigate — how was he supposed to investigate?

Not uncovering anything would certainly not do. But he knew how deep the waters ran here; if he truly dug deep, he might even drag the entire Ministry of Works in.

Although he himself was not implicated in it, if he went to investigate, he would instead implicate himself.

If someone else investigated, then he only needed to prove his own innocence.

A hundred emotions churned in his heart, but Zhao Nanxing had no choice — he could only steel himself and say: "Your minister obeys the decree."

After Zhao Nanxing withdrew, this matter was temporarily concluded for the time being.

But everyone knew this was only the beginning, not the end.

At the same time, many people quietly waited, even lowering their heads further, all awaiting the next wave of attack.

Liu Yijing's side was not finished, and Zhao Nanxing's side would not let the matter rest either.

"Your Majesty, your minister has a memorial to submit." After Zhao Nanxing returned to his place, another person stepped forward.

Everyone turned to look at the person who had stepped forward this time.

This time it was again a Censor.

With the lesson just witnessed, everyone's hearts were raised this time — who knew what these Censors would stir up now?

Zhu Youxiao also looked at this person. He found that he still did not recognize him, which made him somewhat embarrassed.

However, Wang An standing at his side was perceptive and directly leaned close to Zhu Youxiao, saying: "Your Majesty, this man is called Cui Chengxiu, a Censor of the Censorate."

He had not expected this man to actually be Cui Chengxiu.

Zhu Youxiao could not help but size him up carefully.

One had to know that this man was far too notorious — he basically had no moral bottom line at all.

In history, after Cui Chengxiu was promoted to Censor, he was dispatched to inspect Huai and Yang regions. During that time, Cui Chengxiu was reported by Chief Censor Gao Panlong for corruption and bribery, and was dismissed from office by the court pending punishment.

So he threw himself at the feet of Wei Zhongxian, the head of the eunuch faction, kowtowing and weeping, begging to be adopted as a foster son.

At that time, Wei Zhongxian was under concerted attack from court ministers and was precisely seeking external allies, so he took in Cui Chengxiu, spoke up for his grievances, and restored his official position. For this reason, Cui Chengxiu harbored a bitter hatred for the Donglin Faction and became the vanguard under Wei Zhongxian in opposing the Donglin Faction.

He compiled separate lists of Donglin Faction members and non-Donglin Faction members into the "Records of Comrades" and the "Mirror of Heaven Records," presenting them to Wei Zhongxian to promote his own kind and strike down those who differed.

It could be said that this man was a strategist under Wei Zhongxian, and naturally, when it came to doing things, he had no moral bottom line whatsoever.

The fact that Cui Chengxiu could acknowledge Wei Zhongxian as his godfather shows just how contemptible his character was under the prevailing values of this era.

However, Zhu Youxiao didn't really care much about that. Cui Chengxiu was the best candidate for a harsh official. So Zhu Youxiao actually had some expectations for him.

Glancing at Cui Chengxiu, Zhu Youxiao spoke: "If you have something to say, go ahead."

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the case of the Donglin Faction forming cliques for private gain is already as solid as iron evidence. The Eastern Depot has already uncovered many people—these people indeed falsely accused Xiong Tingbi while colluding with Li Ruzhen. They manipulated matters from top to bottom, embezzled military funds in Liaodong, and corrupted discipline and order. At court, they shielded Li Ruzhen and protected Yao Zongwen and others—truly the most heinous of crimes!"

"Your subject requests that this case be designated an imperially mandated major case, investigated thoroughly from top to bottom, and that all implicated persons be severely punished without exception. This case carries grave implications, and Your subject believes we should select capable officers to investigate this case completely!"

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Cui Chengxiu, somewhat puzzled.

Although the events that should have happened in history had not yet occurred, and Cui Chengxiu should not yet have thrown in with Wei Zhongxian, why did he look today as if he and Wei Zhongxian were wearing the same pair of pants?

Could this be the corrective force of history?

After all, hadn't he previously handed cases to the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review? And what had they done with them?

Because of this matter, Yang Lian and Zou Yuanbiao had already been arrested, so handing it back to them to handle was naturally out of the question.

Who else could it be left to? Only the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot.

Cui Chengxiu's meaning was obvious—he wanted Wei Zhongxian to preside over the investigation of this major case.

Although Zhu Youxiao had already placed people in the Eastern Depot, he had only let Wei Zhongxian conduct interrogations; he had no intention of turning it into a major case.

This fellow Cui Chengxiu was blowing the matter up out of proportion—and blowing it up without any benefit to himself.

But everyone present was an old hand, and they already understood what this man meant—he had colluded with Wei Zhongxian of the Eastern Depot.

Wei Zhongxian now controlled the Eastern Depot and enjoyed deep trust from Your Majesty, so everyone had anticipated that he would reach into court affairs.

Naturally, there would be people at court who colluded with Wei Zhongxian, because those without moral bottom lines were simply too numerous.

But no one had expected Cui Chengxiu to be so utterly devoid of moral bottom lines!

Fine, so you've thrown in with Wei Zhongxian—but to say such things so brazenly and openly?!