Chapter 161: A New Team

In the Forbidden City, at Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao was eating.

Since the court affairs had come to a temporary close, Zhu Youxiao's mood had improved considerably, and so had his appetite. Today's meal he ate with great relish.

Chen Hong entered at this moment, hesitating as he wanted to step forward yet dared not disturb Zhu Youxiao, who was eating with gusto.

Glancing at Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao raised his head, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and smiled: "If there's something to say, just say it. Why hem and haw?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the men below have reported that Gao Panlong went to Sun Chengzong's residence. Gao Panlong first went to Sun Shenxing's residence, and after coming out from Sun Shenxing's place, he went to Sun Chengzong's residence." Chen Hong hastily bowed and said.

Hearing what Chen Hong said, Zhu Youxiao was not particularly surprised, only smiling as he said: "So they've set their sights on the Ministry of War?"

At this point, the remaining members of the Donglin Faction in court naturally had to find ways to protect themselves, especially Sun Shenxing and Gao Panlong. These two should have already realized the danger, so they naturally needed to find ways to stay.

Only, the bigwigs in court didn't have very good relations with Sun Shenxing and the other two.

Chief Grand Secretary Han Kuang went without saying — originally these people's relations were quite good, but because of this Donglin case, they had completely fallen out.

Especially Sun Shenxing and Han Kuang — they had truly burned all bridges, and Gao Panlong was about the same.

Under such circumstances, the two of them going to see Han Kuang was certainly out of the question, so the best choice was Sun Chengzong. After all, everyone had been quite close before, so reaching out a hand to help now wasn't anything strange.

However, Zhu Youxiao was quite curious about what the final result would be.

If Sun Chengzong truly agreed, then that would really disappoint him. Anyone with clear eyes could see that Gao Panlong wasn't cut out for the Ministry of War.

If Sun Chengzong truly agreed, then this decision would be entirely out of personal motives. That was not something Zhu Youxiao could permit.

One should know that the premise for his use of Sun Chengzong was that Sun Chengzong still maintained a certain sense of public duty, not starting everything from personal motives — this was the same principle as his use of Han Kuang as Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat.

"Do you know the outcome?" Zhu Youxiao asked, his expression having already turned serious.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, not yet. However, the men below also reported a piece of news at the same time — Gao Panlong's expression was not very good when he left Sun's residence, and many people saw it, so it's very likely the talks fell through."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, and said expressionlessly: "The Eastern Depot is very busy over there. Let the Embroidered Uniform Guard put some effort into the Ministry of Works case."

"This servant understands. This servant will go at once." Saying this, Chen Hong turned and hastily walked out.

In fact, everyone thought the case had already burned out, but only Zhu Youxiao knew there was still a Ministry of Works that hadn't caught fire yet.

Once the Ministry of Works also caught fire, it would burn many people to death along with it.

Zhao Nanxing had gone to investigate the case, but there had been no progress. Because of the Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of War affairs, the Ministry of Works had been delayed, but the Ministry of Works matters were actually more serious than those of the other two ministries.

Now Zhu Youxiao was preparing to make a move on the Ministry of Works as well, taking advantage of this moment to solidify Bi Maokang's authority.

Although he had previously made Bi Maokang Vice Minister of Works, Bi Maokang didn't have much real power — most of his energy was spent at the Hundred Crafts Workshop. But this time was different; he was going to put Bi Maokang over there.

As for Zhao Nanxing, he had done quite well too. If nothing unexpected happened, he would let Zhao Nanxing continue, that is, promote him up to the position of Minister of Works.

Although things were relatively calm inside the palace, outside the palace things had already become turbulent.

Many people began submitting routine memorials, wanting to rescue those who were in the middle of it all.

Even the scholars of the practical science school began running about and crying out — they were pleading, they wanted to make their voices heard, but they had no way to submit their appeals.

Their connections with the central authorities in court had already been severed. Gao Panlong and Sun Shenxing could barely protect themselves, and the others even more so.

As for Han Kuang and Zhao Nanxing, at this time they couldn't speak up for these scholars either — in fact, they were quite disgusted by their behavior.

Han Kuang and Zhao Nanxing both just hoped the situation would settle down as quickly as possible, yet these scholars still vainly tried to drag the matter up endlessly.

But things in this world are always two-sided — while some people wail, others must celebrate.

The wailing ones were the losers; the celebrating ones were another group of people.

At Xu Guangqi's home, several people were gathering.

This small group was led by Xu Guangqi, and many of its members held no high status. Besides Xu Guangqi, the representative figures also included Li Zhizao.

Li Zhizao was a man of profound learning, skilled in astronomy, calendrical calculation, and mathematics — "versed in military strategy and proficient in Western learning" — ranked alongside Xu Guangqi and Yang Tingyun in reputation.

He became a jinshi in the twenty-sixth year of Wanli and studied Western science under Matteo Ricci. In the thirty-first year of Wanli, while serving as education commissioner of Fujian, he incorporated astronomy questions into the imperial examinations.

Later, Li Zhizao accepted Catholic doctrine and was baptized into Catholicism in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli. Baptized at the same time as Li Zhizao and joining Catholicism were also Wang Zheng, Li Tianjing, and others.

Li Zhizao's original official position was Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices in Nanjing. After Xu Guangqi gained Zhu Youxiao's favor, Xu Guangqi recommended Li Zhizao to Zhu Youxiao.

At the time, in order to get Zhu Youxiao to give Li Zhizao an important post, Xu Guangqi said many good things on Li Zhizao's behalf, saying he was proficient in astronomy, mathematics, and calendrical systems, especially skilled at manufacturing cannons.

Thus Li Zhizao received Zhu Youxiao's promotion, rising from Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices in Nanjing to Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, concurrently managing the affairs of Bureau Director of the Waterways and Dikes Bureau of the Ministry of Works — still a rather inconspicuous position.

Of course, this was deliberate on Zhu Youxiao's part. At that time, the court was in turmoil and the struggle was at its white-hot stage, so Zhu Youxiao naturally couldn't let Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao show their heads.

But now that things had settled down, it was naturally time for Xu Guangqi and his people to emerge.

This gathering was precisely for this matter — the Ministry of Revenue had been given to Xu Guangqi by His Majesty, so naturally this was their time to step forward.

Zhu Youxiao had never underestimated Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, and their kind from start to finish. They were a school with a complete tradition of transmission; they all had connections with one another; they struggled for common ideals and common goals — they simply had never received appreciation and attention.

But now, when it truly came time to use Xu Guangqi and his people, they would erupt with unprecedented force.

The ones happy now were precisely those led by Xu Guangqi — outside people were wailing, and they were celebrating.

Xu Guangqi and his people felt their opportunity had come; this was the time to spread their wings and show what they could do.

Besides Li Zhizao, there were others present as well.

This one was quite special — he had once been a member of the Donglin Faction, had also had contact with Matteo Ricci, and at the same time associated with the missionaries in Jiangnan such as Lazzaro Cattaneo, Nicolas Trigault, and Giulio Aleni.

In the thirty-ninth year of Wanli, after attending the Western-style funeral of Li Zhizao's father, this man decided to convert to Catholicism.

This man was different from the other two — the other two were more concerned with the natural sciences, with the fusion and integration of Eastern and Western science, while he cared about education.

He believed the country's education system and examination system had problems, and that new talent selection systems and a redefined official system were needed.

He had done considerable research in this area, so these three counted as a small group. This man was Shen Tingyun.

Likewise, after Xu Guangqi gained favor, Xu Guangqi recommended Shen Tingyun to Zhu Youxiao, and Zhu Youxiao employed him as well.

Shen Tingyun's current official position was Erudite of the Directorate of Education — a mid-ranking official, but one who remained outside the center of power.

Besides these three leading figures, others were also present, including Wang Zheng and Li Tianjing, who had entered the faith together with Xu Guangqi, and even Chen Kedao, a student of Li Zhi.

It could be said that this was a grand gathering of all their people — the posture of preparing for a great undertaking.

Xu Guangqi was now Second Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, and indeed needed people to support him.

One should know that those celebrating here were only their people in the capital; in the provinces they had even more people of the same school. Beyond that, there were also the students of other schools within the School of Mind.

One had to understand that although the followers of the School of Mind currently had no connections with Xu Guangqi and his group, they had also been heavily suppressed over the years.

Once Xu Guangqi and his people accomplished something, there would certainly be those who chose to join them. Everyone was a disciple of the School of Mind, and doing such things would be completely without scruples.

So Xu Guangqi and his group had a bright future ahead. As long as they obtained Zhu Youxiao's support, these people would become the Dong Zhongshu of the Han Dynasty, the Confucians of that era.

They would rapidly seize power and knock many people flat on the ground.

Because there were quite a few people and Xu Guangqi's home was rather small, everyone had to make do by setting up a few tables in the courtyard, placing some snacks and fruits on them.

Drinking alcohol was out of the question. Everyone drank tea and chatted, each one extremely excited, speaking freely about their ideals and planning for the future.

When the casual conversation had gone on long enough, Xu Guangqi set down his teacup and said with a solemn expression: "His Majesty has asked me to draft a list of names. I want to select some people from among us. There are some things I must say upfront — among us, some people are suited to enter the Ministry of Revenue, but some are not."

"Everyone knows my character. We have worked together without playing guessing games, so I will speak plainly: those who are not suited to enter the Ministry of Revenue, I will not recommend to His Majesty. His Majesty using us is a sign of trust, and we must not betray that trust."

"So everyone should not bear any resentment over this. When other opportunities arise in the future, I will still recommend you to His Majesty."

Everyone smiled and nodded.

At this time, they were still relatively pure, not yet a major interest group, so there were no barriers between them.

One had to understand that among them, what mattered was ability first and division of labor — whoever was skilled at something did that thing.

Take Shen Tingyun, for example. He knew he was not skilled at governance, nor was he skilled at astronomy and calendrical matters, so he did not get involved in such affairs, merely sitting to one side smiling and drinking tea.

But Li Zhizao was comparatively suited to entering the Ministry of Revenue, so a position as Vice Minister of Revenue was indispensable for him.

After drafting a major list, Xu Guangqi let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Then that settles it."

However, Shen Tingyun also raised his own concern, speaking with some hesitation: "If we do this, will His Majesty be displeased?"

One had to understand that their current behavior perfectly fit the definition of forming a faction for private gain.

Not long ago, His Majesty had just eliminated such a group, and now they were doing the same.

If this made His Majesty suspicious, then everything would be ruined.