Chapter 139: A True Man Must Not Be Scorned for His Youth (First Order Subscription Request)

One must understand that in the court, although factional lines were often clearly drawn, more often than not the alignments were jagged and interlocking.

Each faction basically had members within the others, and members of the others within itself. Sometimes today it was you, tomorrow it was me; there were plenty of people jumping back and forth, and with the fence-sitters swaying this way and that, the whole picture looked even more chaotic.

Many people were now choosing which side to stand on, though they hadn't yet decided which side that would be. Some were still thinking about how to leave their original camp and join a new one.

The hearts of the court were hardly unified either, but since matters had reached this point, there was no way to turn the tables for the moment.

Zhu Youxiao's gaze swept across every minister present.

After this round of exchanges, the general shape of the court had become clear.

Liu Yijing's side wanted to remove Zhao Nanxing of the Donglin Faction, so he had directly struck a killing blow at Zhao Nanxing first.

Zhu Youxiao went along with the current, letting Zhao Nanxing investigate the Ministry of Works — if he could find something, he could clean house in the Ministry of Works while he was at it and squeeze out a large sum of silver for the Emperor, and then Zhao Nanxing would not have to leave his position.

But if Zhao Nanxing did this, he would offend a great many people, even members of the Donglin Faction. So what choice Zhao Nanxing would make was still uncertain. Zhu Youxiao was curious as well; he prepared to wait and see.

After this matter was settled, Cui Chengxiu stepped forward.

Whether it was Liu Yijing or Wei Zhongxian pulling the strings behind Cui Chengxiu, Zhu Youxiao could not yet know. But that this was an attack on the Donglin Faction — that was indeed a fact.

In response to this matter, the Donglin Faction put forward Han Kuang.

And to show his support for Han Kuang, Liu Yijing chose to back him, and the situation once again grew complicated.

Whether Liu Yijing's move was supporting Han Kuang or digging a pit for him was hard to say at the moment.

Would Han Kuang choose to break completely with the Donglin Faction and lean toward Liu Yijing? Or would he unite with the Donglin Faction to oppose Liu Yijing? None of this was yet known.

But no matter which choice Han Kuang made, Zhu Youxiao would not let him get his way easily.

If Han Kuang broke completely with the Donglin Faction, he would not stop it — he could just use Han Kuang's hand to clean out a batch of people. But if Han Kuang leaned toward Liu Yijing, he absolutely would not permit it.

If Han Kuang chose to stand with the Donglin Faction, then he need not remain a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. He could just use Liu Yijing to clear him out and put one of his own men into the Grand Secretariat.

After these two matters passed, the Donglin Faction's counterattack came.

Zhu Youxiao knew of their counterattack as well — the Donglin Faction had directly dragged Fang Congzhe out, and they would not rest until the matter was huge, going so far as to manufacture a major case of treason.

In the end, Liu Yijing went along with the current and delivered this knife directly into the hands of Zhu Youxiao. If he wanted to strike, this knife was naturally sharp enough.

The general thread of the whole affair was roughly like this.

Though it looked simple, it was filled with all sorts of contests of wits and schemes and machinations; one slip and you would be strangled within it.

Moreover, this great board had already begun to turn — whoever entered would easily be ground to pieces.

Glancing at Yu Maoheng standing below, eager to try, Zhu Youxiao decided not to call on him.

Originally, if today's matter could not achieve his desired goal, he would have had Yu Maoheng step forward to push it along.

This was a fuse Zhu Youxiao had prepared, to be lit when he wanted to use it.

But now it seemed it would not be needed — this fuse could not be lit too early.

Otherwise, when it exploded, what it blew up would be the entire board.

He could not let this great board be destroyed so soon; it still needed to spin, forming an even greater vortex to draw more people in.

So Zhu Youxiao decided not to call Yu Maoheng's name.

"We have discussed today's matters well enough, and We are somewhat tired, so let us stop here!" Zhu Youxiao's backside lifted slightly from the dragon throne, preparing to withdraw from court.

The business was done; he had to slip away quickly.

At this moment, Zhu Youxiao felt greatly pleased inside — there was a feeling of "set the fire and run, this is damn thrilling."

Just as Zhu Youxiao was preparing to retreat, a man suddenly stepped forward.

This person took a stride forward — it turned out to be Han Kuang.

Han Kuang bowed and spoke: "I report to Your Majesty, your minister has a matter."

Zhu Youxiao was momentarily startled, then smiled slightly, sat back on the dragon throne, straightened himself, and said with an expectant look: "If my beloved minister has something to say, speak freely — We very much look forward to my beloved minister handling cases, so whatever my beloved minister asks, We can agree to."

Although Zhu Youxiao's words were very polite, in truth he was telling Han Kuang: hurry up and investigate the case, don't bother with irrelevant matters.

If you speak about the case, We will agree to anything; if you dare speak of other things, We will certainly deal with you.

Whether Han Kuang understood Zhu Youxiao's subtext or not, he simply continued: "Your minister requests that the prisoners be held in the Imperial Prison of the Northern Provost's Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The Court of Judicial Review had that incident before, and these men were already interrogated by Eunuch Wei at the Eastern Depot, so your minister wishes to find a suitable place to hold them — the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Imperial Prison is the most fitting."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Han Kuang, a look of amusement on his face — this was somewhat interesting.

Liu Yijing, Sun Shenxing, and the others turned rather grim at Han Kuang's words.

They had not expected Han Kuang to do this; this move had completely caught both of them off guard.

For the Donglin Faction, sending the men to the Embroidered Uniform Guard meant Han Kuang did not want to be mixed up with them.

For Liu Yijing, it meant Han Kuang did not want to throw in his lot with him.

Because in the Great Ming, besides the Embroidered Uniform Guard having the Imperial Prison, there was another place one could choose to hold court officials under investigation — that place was the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice was under the jurisdiction of the Grand Secretariat; for both Han Kuang and Liu Yijing, that was their own turf.

Bringing the prisoners to the Ministry of Justice would naturally be convenient and trouble-free.

But Han Kuang had not chosen to do so — his purpose was simple: he was guarding against Liu Yijing.

Han Kuang did not want Liu Yijing to meddle in this matter; to put it plainly, Han Kuang wanted to be his own master.

Zhu Youxiao found it interesting because he too had not expected Han Kuang to do this.

Han Kuang's stance meant he would not lean toward either side, but had instead chosen Zhu Youxiao, the Emperor.

To put it plainly, Han Kuang was going to go it alone, preparing to set up his own banner.

In an instant, a third force had appeared in the court.

The civil officials had basically split into three factions.

The old Donglin Faction.

The force led by Liu Yijing.

Plus Han Kuang setting up his own banner.

The civil official system had gone from a contest of two powers to a three-kingdom struggle.

The reason Han Kuang chose to speak up at this moment was simple — he needed to obtain an admission ticket.

One had to understand that not just anyone was qualified to participate in such a struggle. If you wanted to take part, you needed an admission ticket.

The one who issued this admission ticket was Zhu Youxiao. Once this ticket was issued to you, whether you wanted to participate or not, you had to participate.

Right now, Han Kuang wanted this admission ticket. He wanted to participate.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Han Kuang, his expression warm with a smile, and said in a clear voice: "We have just promised you, my dear minister, that whatever request you raise, We will grant it."

"How about this — We shall immediately issue an edict to Luo Sigong, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and have the Guard cooperate with you. If anything comes up, you may go directly to him. If you wish to investigate a case, you may also deploy the Guard's manpower. Things will be much easier to handle."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, a look of delight immediately appeared on Han Kuang's face.

He knew his choice had been correct — His Majesty had given him this admission ticket.

Not only had he been given the ticket, but His Majesty was also strengthening his position, placing the Embroidered Uniform Guard under his command — all so that he would not be hampered when investigating cases.

No need to worry about lacking manpower, no need to worry about subordinates playing tricks behind his back.

This was His Majesty's support for him.

Han Kuang hastily bowed and said respectfully: "Your servant thanks Your Majesty."

After saying this, Han Kuang stepped back to one side, his face expressionless, as if the entire affair had nothing to do with him at all.

At this moment, Sun Shenxing's expression was extremely ugly. Originally, Sun Shenxing had wanted to force Han Kuang to pick a side.

Sun Shenxing knew that Han Kuang would not choose his side, because doing so would mean opposing too many people, and would even incur His Majesty's displeasure. Han Kuang would not do that.

Even if Han Kuang did not fear this, he would still worry about what came later. One had to understand that Han Kuang and his own side had never been of one mind. If his side had listened to Han Kuang earlier, they would not have fallen to their current state.

The situation now was that if Han Kuang reconciled with his side, once the matter passed, Han Kuang would still be ostracized.

Han Kuang would not do something with no benefit. Pressuring him was meant to make him take the blame — in plain terms, to make Han Kuang strike against his own side's people, so that he himself would not have to do the cleaning up. From then on, the blame would belong to Han Kuang. Whether Han Kuang defected to Liu Yijing or not would no longer matter.

But now, his plan had clearly been seen through by Han Kuang. Liu Yijing had probably figured it out too, which was why Liu Yijing had chosen to cooperate with him.

What neither of them had expected was that Han Kuang would choose a third path — directly turning his back on both of them.

Since Han Kuang had established his own standing, he naturally had no fear of offending the Donglin Faction's people, nor of offending Liu Yijing. Because he had found another backer — His Majesty.

Now that His Majesty had already given Han Kuang his support, he was even less afraid. If His Majesty had not given him support, he would probably have gone home and resigned.

He truly was a resolute man.

But Han Kuang had been resolute — Liu Yijing and Sun Shenxing, however, now had headaches.

Zhu Youxiao looked at his ministers' expressions and secretly rejoiced in his heart. Though it was not breathtakingly beautiful, it was still quite delightful.

"Alright, that's enough for today!" This time, Zhu Youxiao stood up directly.

He was afraid someone might try to stop him again, so he hurried back — if he ran fast enough, no one could catch up to him.

After saying this, Zhu Youxiao turned and slipped behind the screen, vanishing from the great hall.

Only after Zhu Youxiao had walked out did Wang An's shout echo through the hall.

"Court dismissed!"

Following this shout, the sound of the assembled ministers kowtowing rose up.

Zhu Youxiao listened to the shouts behind him and gently spread his arms.

A gentle breeze brushed past, stirring Zhu Youxiao's robes.

Zhu Youxiao murmured softly:

"The great roc rises with the wind one day, soaring ninety thousand li straight up.

Should the wind cease and it descend, it could still churn the vast seas' waters.

The world sees my uncommon ways, and hearing my bold words, all sneer coldly.

Even Confucius feared the young might surpass him — a true man must not look down on youth."