Chapter 172: Zhao Nanxing Temporarily Assumes the Ministry of Works

Glancing at Chen Hong standing not far away, Zhu Youxiao said coldly with a stern face, "Go and find Wei Zhongxian for me!"

Seeing that his master's expression was not too good, Chen Hong hurriedly bowed and said respectfully, "Yes, Master."

After saying this, Chen Hong strode quickly out.

Watching Chen Hong's hurriedly departing figure, Zhu Youxiao wore a thoughtful expression.

This time, the matter at the Meridian Gate could only be handled by Wei Zhongxian; the Embroidered Uniform Guard could not be moved for now, and the two forces must not be allowed to merge. When the day came that he needed to deal with one person, he had to at least ensure the other could still be used.

In later generations, the Chongzhen Emperor made a mistake—he cleaned out both the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, even lumping everyone together as the eunuch faction and exterminating them all, leaving himself not a single path of retreat.

In truth, Wei Zhongxian's power had grown too great by that time, and with a new emperor newly ascended to the throne, killing Wei Zhongxian was nothing much. After all, every dynasty has its own ministers under a new sovereign, let alone a powerful minister like Wei Zhongxian.

But the Chongzhen Emperor should not have killed everyone. People like those of the Embroidered Uniform Guard could have been kept entirely. The Embroidered Uniform Guard had already become notorious—everyone wanted them dead.

Apart from Chongzhen himself, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had no one else to rely on. These people were the knife in the Chongzhen Emperor's hand. You might not use it, but you must always keep the handle firmly in your own grip.

When the time came to use it, you could take it out and strike directly—you could not wait until you wanted to wield the blade only to discover there was no knife left to use.

Toward Wei Zhongxian and Luo Sigong, Zhu Youxiao adopted exactly this strategy. If the day ever came when Wei Zhongxian had to be discarded, then outside the palace Luo Sigong would take his place, while inside the palace Chen Hong would succeed him.

This was the reason Zhu Youxiao had always kept Chen Hong in use.

Although Chen Hong's abilities were far inferior to Wei Zhongxian's, there was one thing—Chen Hong was still relatively obedient.

Zhu Youxiao felt that if he could not find a more suitable person to replace Chen Hong, then using Chen Hong in the future would be no problem. By the time he employed Chen Hong, the situation would certainly not be what it was now.

In only a short while, Wei Zhongxian arrived at Qianqing Palace.

After entering the great hall, Wei Zhongxian hurriedly knelt to the ground and kowtowed to Zhu Youxiao, "Long live the Master!"

Looking at Wei Zhongxian respectfully prostrate on the ground, Zhu Youxiao said casually, "The Eastern Depot has been rather idle these days. Time to stir things up. Didn't you say a few days ago that some people were colluding? They should all be members of the Donglin Faction. Have the Eastern Depot arrest some of them."

"Yes, Master." Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian was so excited his whole body trembled.

He had wanted to do this before, but the Master had not agreed; he never expected that this time the Master would consent. It seemed those people had done something else to anger the Master. But it did not matter—he could finally make his move.

"Alright, go on then." Zhu Youxiao nodded, waved his hand, and dismissed him.

Wei Zhongxian climbed up from the ground, bowed, and quickly retreated a few steps before dashing out—he had great deeds to accomplish.

"Master, Zhao Nanxing, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, requests an audience."

Chen Hong soon entered to announce, bowing as he said, "Luo Sigong, Regional Military Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, came with him."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, knowing that what he had said earlier had taken effect.

One should know that before this, Zhu Youxiao had told the Embroidered Uniform Guard to speed things up, with Chen Hong relaying the message.

Now Zhao Nanxing and Luo Sigong had come together—it looked like the matter had reached a conclusion.

Zhu Youxiao said expressionlessly, "Let the two of them in!"

Before long, the two men walked in from outside and paid their respects to Zhu Youxiao.

Waving his hand, Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, "This isn't the great hall—dispense with these formalities. The two of you coming together means the matter has reached a conclusion, yes? Then let's hear it."

"Your Majesty, the matter has been fully investigated." Zhao Nanxing spoke first.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Then let's hear it!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhao Nanxing acknowledged, organized his words, and then said, "Through your subject's detailed interrogation and investigation, as many as nine out of ten officials implicated in the Ministry of Works are involved, from top to bottom with none spared—only some obscure minor officials in remote posts were not implicated. Among them, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works committed the most severe corruption."

"This is your subject's interrogation record and list." As he spoke, Zhao Nanxing bowed and presented a routine memorial.

Taking the memorial from Chen Hong's hands, Zhu Youxiao quickly flipped through it, then looked at Zhao Nanxing and asked in surprise, "Why is your name on this list?"

To be honest, this surprised Zhu Youxiao somewhat. He knew Zhao Nanxing was not clean either—he had certainly taken money.

But in the Emperor's eyes, whether you took money was never the point; whether you could get things done was the point. As long as Zhao Nanxing served his purposes and helped him handle matters, taking a bit of money was no concern.

Just like in that television drama from his previous life, the Jiajing Emperor once said: "Of one tael of silver, if four qian goes to them and twelve qian to the state treasury, I accept it; if six qian goes to them and ten qian to the state treasury, I also accept it." But in the end, more than a third was taken directly—even close to half—and so the Jiajing Emperor flew into a rage.

Now Zhu Youxiao operated on the same principle. If Zhao Nanxing had taken that money and did not mention it himself, Zhu Youxiao would not ask either.

Zhu Youxiao had not expected Zhao Nanxing to actually write his own name on the list as well.

Looking at the amount at the end: 36,700 taels, Zhu Youxiao sighed. It did not seem like much on its own, but with layers of extortion and corruption from top to bottom, the total became enormous.

Setting down the memorial in his hand, Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhao Nanxing, waiting for him to give an answer. In truth, Zhu Youxiao genuinely wanted to know his answer.

"Your Majesty, this is money your subject accepted previously."

"Your subject will speak some words from the bottom of his heart. In his hometown, your subject has a fair amount of family property—some farmland and shops—and lives a rather comfortable life. Although the court's salary is not much, it is enough for your subject's personal expenses. After all, having reached this position, your subject no longer needs to bribe superiors, so your subject does not lack this money."

"But some things are not a matter of what your subject wants or does not want. Given the previous state of the Ministry of Works, if your subject did not take this money, he could not have stood firm within the Ministry. Please punish your subject, Your Majesty—your subject's character lacks resoluteness, and he dared not expose them; your subject valued his own reputation and is ashamed before Your Majesty. Please punish your subject."

As he spoke, Zhao Nanxing removed his official hat and gently placed it on the ground.

"Now Your Majesty is purifying the court, thoroughly investigating corruption, and restoring a bright and clear sky to the Great Ming. Your subject's heart is overjoyed. Regarding the crimes your subject committed in the past, your subject dares not conceal a single bit, and so today he speaks truthfully to Your Majesty. Even if Your Majesty punishes him, your subject's heart will be content. Your subject hopes Your Majesty can revive the Great Ming and make our Ming mightier than all under heaven!"

Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhao Nanxing, wondering how much of his words were true and how much false, how much came from genuine sincerity and how much was performance put on for his benefit.

But in truth, none of this mattered. What Zhu Youxiao wanted was not for Zhao Nanxing to speak the truth—it never had been. What he wanted was only his attitude.

Walking down from the dragon throne, Zhu Youxiao came to Zhao Nanxing's side.

Chen Hong on the side hurriedly stepped forward and reached out to help Zhao Nanxing up. Chen Hong could not possibly let Zhu Youxiao do the helping, and he also picked up the official hat from the ground.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhao Nanxing and said with a gentle smile, "Your words today, my dear minister, bring great comfort to my heart."

As he spoke, Zhu Youxiao took Zhao Nanxing's official hat from Chen Hong's hands, but did not put it on Zhao Nanxing's head.

If Zhu Youxiao personally placed the official hat on Zhao Nanxing, the honor would be somewhat excessive. As a sovereign, one must grasp the proper measure of such things.

"Put it on! Serve me well from now on. The Great Ming needs talents like you, my dear minister."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhao Nanxing knelt to the ground once more, extended both hands above his head, and respectfully received the hat from Zhu Youxiao's hands, placing it upon his own head.

After putting on the hat, Zhao Nanxing respectfully kowtowed to Zhu Youxiao and said with a grateful expression, "Your subject would die ten thousand deaths without hesitation. I thank Your Majesty for your heavenly grace!"

Zhu Youxiao turned and walked back to the dragon throne, saying with a smile, "Work hard, my dear minister. I trust you."

This trust was not worth much, really. Both Zhu Youxiao and Zhao Nanxing knew very well in their hearts that this was merely a reconciliation—a reconciliation of what had happened before.

Zhu Youxiao would no longer hold this matter in his heart, nor would he pursue old accounts. As long as Zhao Nanxing did his work well from now on, Zhu Youxiao would not hold it against him.

Zhao Nanxing understood this point as well, so he quickly spoke up, saying, "Your subject will surely go through fire and water, and die ten thousand deaths without hesitation."

"As for that silver, my dear minister need not return it—consider it a gift from me." Zhu Youxiao said once more, waving his hand, brushing the entire matter aside.

Zhu Youxiao thought of something and asked, "What about Wang Zuo, the Minister of Works? Has evidence of his corruption been found?"

"Your Majesty, Minister Wang Zuo has been an upright official, keeping his own hands clean." Zhao Nanxing replied respectfully.

Zhu Youxiao nodded.

The meaning of those words was clear: Wang Zuo himself had not taken money, but he knew others had, and he had not intervened—hence the remark about keeping his own hands clean.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Youxiao turned to his side and asked, "Did Wang Zuo submit a routine memorial of resignation a few days ago?"

This question was directed at Chen Hong, so Chen Hong hurried forward a step and said, "Your Majesty, indeed he did."

With such a major incident in the Ministry of Works, Wang Zuo could not possibly escape involvement, so he had long since submitted his memorial asking to return home. But whether he could leave still depended on whether Zhu Youxiao would let him go.

These past days, Wang Zuo had been waiting at home, and Zhu Youxiao had paid him no mind. Because Zhu Youxiao was also waiting for the results—only after the findings came out could he decide how to deal with Wang Zuo.

Now that the results were out, he could naturally deal with him. So Zhu Youxiao said indifferently, "Grant it."

This meant Wang Zuo could be allowed to return home.

It was not that Zhu Youxiao did not want to kill Wang Zuo, but rather that he needed Wang Zuo to set an example—that those who embezzled must die, while those who did not take money still had a path to survival.

This was what Zhu Youxiao wanted to convey to the outside world, because such matters would surely arise again in the future, and you could not kill everyone who had taken money—this point was crucial.

"This servant understands." Chen Hong acknowledged, stepping back to one side.

"My dear minister shall temporarily act as Minister of Works. As for how to handle those people, consult with the Ministry of Justice and draft a routine memorial to submit as soon as possible." Zhu Youxiao said.