Chapter 215: A Bold and Decisive Enlightened Sovereign

The affairs at court were a tangled mess, but whether emperor or minister, everyone had grown accustomed to it.

With the court so vast and matters so numerous, it was only natural that things should be so chaotic.

If no particularly major incident occurred within a stretch of time, that could truly be counted as stability.

It was only after something truly major emerged that people would genuinely pay attention.

Recently, the court had been fairly stable, the sole controversy arising from the Imperial Household Department's plan to grant the imperial insignia to private merchant houses.

But this matter was quickly resolved—though it was resolved by Xu Guangqi, the Second Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat.

After settling the Imperial Household Department's problem, a new one emerged instead: the Ministry of Revenue wanted to establish a government office to oversee merchants.

How should this office be positioned? How should it operate? Everyone was completely in the dark, with no idea what to do.

His Majesty had already issued a decree, tasking Xu Guangqi with handling this matter. No small number of people throughout the court were concerned about it.

Everyone was waiting for the Ministry of Revenue to produce a decision, for they all felt this affair was likely to be a major one.

Although Xu Guangqi had taken the seat of Second Grand Secretary and had no shortage of supporters, his foundation was ultimately shallow—he had no one backing him in the localities.

Many believed Xu Guangqi would not let this opportunity slip by; it was a fine chance for him to extend his reach into the provinces, and he surely would not pass it up.

At Xu Guangqi's residence.

Several people sat facing one another, tea and refreshments laid out upon the table.

Xu Guangqi spoke with a somewhat anxious expression: "That is how things stand, and you all know it now. We must produce a plan as quickly as possible, so there's no need to hold anything back—speak freely, whatever you have to say."

"There's really nothing so daunting about it." Li Zhizao, seated to one side, said with a smile: "This matter is nothing more than establishing a new office, so we might as well do everything according to new standards. Whether it's personnel assignments or the division of authority, all of it can be set anew—we need not worry about anything."

Xu Guangqi nodded, furrowing his brow as he said: "Worrying is indeed unnecessary, but there is one problem here."

Hearing this, Shen Tingyun and Li Zhizao both turned their gazes to Xu Guangqi, the two of them waiting to hear what he had to say.

After all, Xu Guangqi currently held the highest position within this small circle—he was the Second Grand Secretary, and also the man His Majesty trusted most; his information was of great importance.

Xu Guangqi said: "Who will take charge of this office? And should it fall under local jurisdiction? Sending men to the localities is already something we've agreed upon—at the very least, we should send men to several of the great cities, places like Hangzhou and Yangzhou, where merchants are everywhere."

"This brings me back to the problem I mentioned earlier. Though this matter appears simple on the surface, in practice it is not easy to carry out."

Having said this much, Xu Guangqi glanced at the two men and spoke: "You should understand what I mean by this, shouldn't you?"

Li Zhizao and the other naturally understood, though both harbored some hesitation.

Shen Tingyun pondered for a moment, then said: "Who takes charge is not too difficult—handing it to Zhizao will do. He is currently Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, which fits the post perfectly; he is also one of our own, so he is the most suitable man to preside over this office. The only problem now is what His Majesty will think—will he agree?"

After Shen Tingyun finished speaking, he and Li Zhizao both looked toward Xu Guangqi.

Neither of the two could answer this question; only Xu Guangqi could, for he alone was a close minister of His Majesty.

This was indeed a critical question, and so both men waited for Xu Guangqi to speak.

Xu Guangqi did not hesitate either, nodding directly as he said: "There's no problem there."

In truth, Xu Guangqi knew full well that ever since His Majesty had approved his routine memorial, this matter had essentially been handed over to him to manage.

After all this time, he had more or less managed to feel out His Majesty's intentions.

If it was something you wanted to do and His Majesty agreed to it, then His Majesty would support you; if His Majesty did not agree to the matter, he would absolutely never let you handle it.

Now that His Majesty was entrusting this matter to him, his recommendation of Li Zhizao would certainly meet with no objection.

And so Xu Guangqi could say with certainty that there was no problem.

Hearing Xu Guangqi say this, Li Zhizao and Shen Tingyun both nodded together.

Shen Tingyun continued: "The first problem is solved. Moving on to the second problem—I think we should not place this office under local jurisdiction, for otherwise it would lose all meaning. This office is meant to oversee merchants; if it were handed over to local government offices, what use would it still have?"

That was easy enough to say, and the reasoning was clear to everyone. Even setting that line of thought aside, looking purely from the perspective of power, no one was willing to share their authority with others.

Especially these men of officialdom—this was an obvious matter. Since it was so obvious, why was it still being brought up for discussion?

The reason was simple: objective conditions did not permit otherwise. If you did not grant this power of oversight to the localities, then it meant you were opening a brand-new office in the provinces—and what did that signify?

Setting aside the salaries the court would have to pay out, it meant the court was reaching its hand into the localities.

Taken lightly, it was the court's distrust of local officials; taken seriously, it was a division of power.

All other reasons were secondary—only the division of power was the primary concern, for this was the center reclaiming authority from the localities.

Once one saw the essence of the matter clearly, everything else became easy to understand. How could these local officials possibly be willing to hand over their power?

This was something no official would ever be willing to accept.

If the oversight authority of the new office were given to the localities, then it meant power remained in local hands—adding one more office would not have much impact on them, and might even help them gather more power to themselves.

As for the benefit, it was that this approach would make the office easier to establish, with far less resistance in the localities—it might even win local support.

But drawbacks existed as well: doing so would be tantamount to returning power to the localities, so what use would establishing a new office serve? Before the office was even properly set up, it would already be half useless.

There were pros and cons—it all came down to how one weighed and chose between them.

Shen Tingyun's meaning was that the new office should not be subject to local oversight; even if implementation proved more difficult, they would have to grit their teeth and push it through, without the slightest hesitation or wavering.

Having understood Shen Tingyun's meaning, Xu Guangqi turned his gaze to Li Zhizao, wanting to hear his opinion.

Because Xu Guangqi intended to have Li Zhizao manage this matter. After all, it had just been said that Li Zhizao would preside over the office, so his views carried great weight.

"I also think it should not be placed under local oversight." Li Zhizao said in a low voice: "We have all served as officials in the localities, and you both know well what things are like down there. If this power were given to the localities, it would all be wasted effort."

"Local officials may appear imposing and grand, but in reality they must all maintain good relations with the local gentry. And as for the so-called merchants—which household among them does not have the shadow of a great local clan behind it? Among those who work in the government offices, is there a single one not connected to the great local families?"

"What local officials can accomplish is quite limited, so we cannot allow this new office to be subject to the oversight of local officials."

Xu Guangqi and Shen Tingyun both concurred with Li Zhizao's words, for the two of them knew this point as well.

As the saying goes: iron-clad offices, flowing-water officials.

An official could not remain long in any one office, for court officials had fixed terms of service. But some people would never leave—namely, the constables and petty clerks of the government offices.

These men were not only locals but had lived there for generations. If something truly happened, would they help the gentry who had lived there for many years, or an official who would leave after a few years of service?

There was simply no choice to be made. Thus, the power of local officials was constrained.

Moreover, the great households of the locality routinely bribed these constables and clerks, spending no small amount of silver—so whom would these men help?

This was plain to see. All three men present knew this, and so they all understood what Li Zhizao meant.

"Good, then we won't place it under local jurisdiction." Xu Guangqi made the final call.

With that one sentence, Xu Guangqi settled the overall direction of the matter.

But that problem had only just been resolved—there were still others. Xu Guangqi spoke again: "But where will the personnel for the various local offices come from?"

This point was also extremely important, because if the people sent were unsuitable, the consequences would be severe.

If the person sent was fond of corruption, he would fleece the locals the moment he arrived, and this office of ours would be finished. Never mind outright plundering—even if he merely accepted the merchants' tributes, the office would be beyond saving.

After Xu Guangqi raised this question, neither of the other two men spoke. Because they too had no idea where such people should come from.

From the Ministry of Revenue? Or seconded from other offices?

No matter how they went about it, nothing seemed quite right.

"Why not leave this matter to His Majesty's decision?" Shen Tingyun said slowly.

Seeing Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao both looking at him, Shen Tingyun stroked his beard and said: "This matter is thorny, as you both well know. We truly have no suitable candidates, so we might as well let His Majesty make the call."

The three men nodded in unison, and Xu Guangqi said: "Then that's how we'll handle it."

After gaining unanimous approval, Xu Guangqi continued: "Now let us begin drafting the other matters concerning this office—such as its powers and responsibilities. This is absolutely crucial."

In truth, all three men knew this was no longer a question of crucial or not.

Anything touching on power and responsibility was a weighty matter; mishandled, it could spark a factional struggle. After all, everyone wanted more power and less responsibility.

The three men put their heads together to deliberate, trying to clearly delineate the powers and responsibilities.

The Western Park.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Huang Kezuan standing beside him and said with a smile: "There's no one else here, and the atmosphere is so pleasant—don't just stand there. If you have something to say, sit down and speak."

After saying this, Zhu Youxiao turned to Chen Hong and said: "Bring a stool for Minister Huang."

"Your servant thanks Your Majesty." Huang Kezuan hurriedly bowed.

Before long, Chen Hong brought a stool over for Huang Kezuan.

After a bout of polite refusals, Huang Kezuan sat down.

Once he was settled, Zhu Youxiao finally asked: "My minister has come today—have you made some headway?"

As for Huang Kezuan's side of things, there had been no shouting or arguing because the shouting and arguing were already over.

Now countless people were watching him, waiting for him to draft the imperial examination syllabus. Everyone wanted to know what sort of thing Huang Kezuan would produce, for it concerned the fate of all scholars.

Huang Kezuan ought to have been frantic with worry right now, but he didn't look that way at all. Instead, he appeared composed, a smile on his face, as if he had everything figured out.

Zhu Youxiao was very pleased to see this attitude in Huang Kezuan. After all, when a court official wore such an expression, it generally meant the matter was as good as done.

For Zhu Youxiao, as long as things got done, nothing else mattered much.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's question, Huang Kezuan quickly said: "Your servant does have some ideas, but I'm not sure whether they're appropriate, which is why I've come today to discuss them with Your Majesty."

Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "I trust my minister. But since you wish to speak, then I shall listen."

After saying this, Zhu Youxiao sat up straight, looking as if he were waiting for Huang Kezuan to begin.

Huang Kezuan did not hesitate—this was exactly what he had come for today. Now that His Majesty was willing to listen, he naturally had to speak well.

Huang Kezuan said: "Your servant believes that there are too many schools of thought in this world, too many philosophies. When the court drafts the imperial examination syllabus, there's no need to be exhaustive—simply designate a few books by the sages, and that should suffice."

Hearing Huang Kezuan say this, Zhu Youxiao immediately thought of the Four Books and the Five Classics. This was the current system, nothing unusual about it.

He had no idea what Huang Kezuan was really up to.

But Zhu Youxiao also recalled a point: when the Yuan dynasty restored the imperial examinations in the Yanyou era, it formally restricted the scope of questions to the Four Books with Zhu Xi's commentaries.

The Ming dynasty inherited the Yuan system and developed the "eight-legged essay" examination format, with questions likewise drawn from the Four Books with Zhu Xi's commentaries.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Huang Kezuan. He couldn't be planning to strike at that, could he?

If he struck at that, it would mean completely toppling Zhu Xi and severing the very roots of the School of Principle.

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but feel some hesitation inwardly. Huang Kezuan couldn't possibly be that ruthless, could he?

He asked: "Then does my minister have any ideas?"

"In response to Your Majesty, this is the list your servant has drafted." After saying this, Huang Kezuan drew a routine memorial from his sleeve and presented it directly before Zhu Youxiao.

Chen Hong hurried over, took the memorial from Huang Kezuan's hands, then held it in both hands as he walked before Zhu Youxiao and respectfully presented it to him.

Zhu Youxiao picked up the memorial and glanced at it—then his pupils suddenly contracted.

On this memorial, the Four Books and Five Classics were also written.

The Four Books currently in vogue in the Great Ming were the Analects, Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean; the Five Classics were the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the Book of Changes, and the Spring and Autumn Annals.

But what Huang Kezuan had written on this memorial was different. The Five Classics were unchanged, but the Four Books were not the same.

Huang Kezuan had directly removed Mencius and replaced it with Xunzi.

Zhu Youxiao truly had not expected this. He realized he had really underestimated Huang Kezuan—this fellow's nerve was too great!

Zhu Youxiao had originally thought Huang Kezuan's boldness in adding Xunzi was already impressive enough; he never imagined the man would go and remove Mencius as well.

One had to understand that this was not the era before the Song dynasty—Mencius's status was no longer what it once had been. Mencius's thought had a great influence on later generations, but his standing before the Song dynasty had not been very high.

It was only after Han Yu's "Inquiry into the Way" listed Mencius as the sole figure among pre-Qin Confucians to inherit Confucius's "lineage of the Way" that a "movement to elevate Mencius" began, and his status gradually rose.

Mencius's theories had a great influence on the Song dynasty.

In the fourth year of the Xining era under Emperor Shenzong of the Northern Song, the book Mencius was for the first time listed as one of the subjects of the imperial examinations.

Afterwards, the book Mencius was elevated to the status of a Confucian classic.

In the Southern Song, Zhu Xi combined Mencius with the Analects, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean into the "Four Books."

In the first year of the Zhishun era of the Yuan dynasty, Mencius was posthumously honored as "Duke Yasheng," thereafter called the "Second Sage," with a status second only to Confucius; his thought, together with Confucius's, was called the "Way of Confucius and Mencius," and the two were jointly referred to as "Kong-Meng."

Under such circumstances, Huang Kezuan actually dared to swing his blade at Mencius.

This was no longer a matter of boldness—this was simply not caring whether he lived or died.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Huang Kezuan, the expression on his face absolutely priceless.

Originally Zhu Youxiao had thought Huang Kezuan would dig up the roots of the School of Principle, targeting Zhu Xi, or even Zhu Xi's annotated Four Books.

But Zhu Youxiao never imagined that Huang Kezuan wasn't just digging up the roots of the School of Principle — he was directly excavating its grave!

Replacing Mencius with Xunzi — that was far too audacious! It could be said he had gone from one extreme to the other!

And with Mencius replaced by Xunzi, this would have nothing to do with Zhu Xi anymore. The Four Books annotated by Zhu Xi would be completely useless.

If Mencius was gone, then you, a mere annotator, truly had no connection left.

Zhu Youxiao's mood could not settle for a long time, his mind calculating the gains and losses. If he truly listened to Huang Kezuan, what would the result be?

It would surely cause an uproar across the realm, a great wave of public opinion. At that time, there would certainly be endless disputes and quarrels.

Could he suppress it? Zhu Youxiao asked himself inwardly.

In Zhu Youxiao's view, if it were only himself and Huang Kezuan, it definitely wouldn't work. This fellow was gambling too big — if things went wrong, there might even be people who would want to kill him directly.

If Xu Guangqi and the others were added, perhaps it might be possible.

This made Zhu Youxiao think of another matter — that was balance.

The balance in the court was currently maintained with great difficulty. It looked as though the School of Principle had lowered its banners and silenced its drums, but these were all illusions.

If Huang Kezuan were unleashed, perhaps he could bite them to death, or at least stop them from playing the coward. Would he himself gain any benefit?

Of course he would gain benefits. Xunzi's thought was useful in many places. That man was a materialist thinker, who proposed "mastering the Mandate of Heaven and using it" — the idea that man can conquer heaven. That alone was enough for his use.

If Xunzi's thought were adopted, then there would be no more talk of the unity of heaven and man. This could be perfectly combined with the theories he had previously had Chen Kedaos spread — they complemented each other well.

Not speaking of the empty, not playing at metaphysics, only speaking of practical things — this would be of great benefit to his future actions and policy-making.

In Zhu Youxiao's view, only by resolving the guiding ideology could the main body avoid chaos, avoid all kinds of problems, and further guide practical work.

"My dear minister, do you truly wish to do this?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Huang Kezuan and asked him slowly.

This question was truly too critical.

Zhu Youxiao wanted to know his true thoughts, which was why he pressed with another question.

"This is your minister's thought." Huang Kezuan said with a resolute expression.

Looking at Huang Kezuan's resolute expression, Zhu Youxiao did not speak for a long while.

He could not quite fathom Huang Kezuan's intentions, and this made him feel very uneasy. Because Zhu Youxiao could not see from this what benefit Huang Kezuan could gain — rather, the harm was greater.

This was not something an old bureaucrat should do, so there must be something within that he did not know about.

For Zhu Youxiao, this feeling was very unpleasant, but he still nodded and said: "Let me think this matter over."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Then your minister will take his leave." Huang Kezuan said with a cupped-fist salute.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand.

After Huang Kezuan left, Zhu Youxiao sank into deep thought.

He was somewhat at a loss for what to do — Huang Kezuan had truly gambled too big, and he had no other choice now.

If he did not agree to Huang Kezuan, then that would be equivalent to abandoning him. The reason was also very simple — this matter was too hot to handle; he could not protect Huang Kezuan.

If he wanted to protect Huang Kezuan, unless he agreed to his request and let him go ahead with this matter.

As for whether Huang Kezuan could ultimately be protected, that depended largely on Huang Kezuan himself.

Zhu Youxiao sighed, leaned against the back of his chair and pondered for a moment, then smiled at himself in self-mockery.

Huang Kezuan dared to do it, yet he himself had grown timid.

And he was still a transmigrator!

Turning his head to glance at Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao handed him Huang Kezuan's routine memorial and said expressionlessly: "Spread it out."

This routine memorial was far too important; Huang Kezuan should not have shown it to anyone else.

Under such circumstances, only he and Huang Kezuan knew about it. Once Zhu Youxiao released the news, he would see everyone's reactions. He wanted to use this matter to test those ministers he had appointed.

Those ministers supported this Emperor's series of policy reforms, actually because what he did was not out of line, or rather, it aligned with their beliefs.

But this time, they might not necessarily continue to support him. So Zhu Youxiao wanted to try — to see what attitude they would take this time.

"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will go handle it at once." Chen Hong acknowledged.

This matter was not difficult for him. Routine memorials in the palace were not much of a secret — unless one wanted to keep them confidential, otherwise taking them out would cause them to leak. There was no need for deliberate arrangement at all.

After leaving the palace, Huang Kezuan did not return to the Grand Secretariat, but directly chose to go home.

Before the result of this matter came out, there was no great meaning in him doing anything.

If the matter failed, his position would not be secure; if the matter succeeded, that would be an entirely different situation.

For now, Huang Kezuan only needed to go home and wait.

After arriving home, Huang Kezuan found his son waiting for him in the main hall with a worried expression.

Glancing at his son, Huang Kezuan said with a smile: "Why are you waiting here? Worried that your father won't come back?"

Huang Yongji said with some helplessness: "Father, you also know the weight of that routine memorial. Your son still cannot understand to this very moment — why did you have to do this? You only needed to add Xunzi's name; why did you have to remove Mencius? Doing so will stir up a huge uproar, and then everyone will target you, Father."

"Not necessarily everyone." Huang Kezuan said with a smile.

The father and son walked into the study together.

Huang Kezuan picked up his tea and took a sip, then said: "Since you want to know, then I will tell you."

"The court is in turmoil; everyone bustles about for nothing more than a few purposes — for power, for fame, for profit. Beyond these, there are not too many purposes."

"Those who seek power merely want to make their official position greater, to possess greater authority; those who seek fame merely want their names to be remembered in history; those who seek profit merely want to obtain some benefits."

"But at your father's current position today, seeking profit can no longer appear on the table. Whether it is me or the other Grand Secretaries, it is all the same."

"As for seeking power — being able to become a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat is already reaching the pinnacle. The only difference is whether one can become the Chief Grand Secretary. Being able to achieve it is naturally good; not being able to achieve it, in truth, is not such a great regret."

"Then only seeking fame remains. Everyone wants their name to be remembered in history, but there are many ways to be remembered. Some leave a stench for ten thousand years, some are revered for ten thousand generations — where is the difference? It is in what they did for the country and for the people."

"Many people, even if their reputation is bright as the sun for a time, may not end up with a good name afterward. What one seeks is nothing more than a clear conscience. What are Xu Guangqi and the others persisting in?"

"They feel that doing so is for the good of the Great Ming. Even if they offend many people, they still persist in doing it. But the affairs of the world are like a game of chess — how could it be so easy?"

"Your father has read the books of the sages since childhood — for what purpose? Wen Tianxiang once said: Confucius spoke of achieving benevolence, Mencius spoke of attaining righteousness; only when righteousness is fulfilled can benevolence be achieved. Reading the books of the sages — what is it for? From now on, may I be nearly without shame!"

"Your father has never thought of becoming a sage, but some things must be done by someone. Xu Guangqi feels that Li Zhi's teachings are acceptable, feels that Catholicism can save the Great Ming. But your father does not think so."

"The Great Ming has already lasted more than two hundred years, and problems have piled up everywhere. If we want to continue the dynasty's mandate, only reform can do it; apart from reform, there is no other path. Your father once searched for a way, but found no good solution."

"What Zhang Juzheng did before—doing it again wouldn't necessarily succeed, so I don't want to go that route. Having read through the histories, your father feels that Xunzi has the answer—ritual and law upheld together, that is the way to make a state strong."

Saying this, Huang Kezuan looked at Huang Yongji and said with a smile: "Your father has been thinking about this matter for many years, but how easy is reform?"

"There must be unity from top to bottom, unity between ruler and minister, and the courage to burn one's boats—not one of these can be missing, or reform will not succeed. Originally your father had extinguished such thoughts, but the current His Majesty has rekindled hope in me."

"The current His Majesty heavily employs Xu Guangqi, and can even accept Li Zhi's teachings—do you know what this means? It means His Majesty is broad-minded, can accept people speaking, can accept any doctrine. It also means His Majesty has already realized the current state of the Great Ming and wants to make changes!"

"When you said His Majesty believes in Xunzi, your father already had ideas."

"Does Father also believe in Xunzi?" Huang Yongji asked hesitantly.

In truth, Huang Yongji was somewhat uncertain, because his father had never shown any inclination in this direction before—why would he suddenly convert to Xunzi now? And have him keep reading Xunzi's books?

"Believe in Xunzi?" Huang Kezuan smiled and said: "I don't. But what does it matter whether I believe or not?"

"Reform is a matter that has no inherent logic to it. His Majesty said one thing well: practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. You only know whether something works by doing it—success or failure cannot be determined by talk alone. Once you do it, the result naturally appears."

"But you must also understand: to carry out reform, you must obtain His Majesty's absolute trust, must obtain His Majesty's absolute support, and must have enough ideas to persuade His Majesty. Xu Guangqi is doing it this way, but he hasn't done it well enough."

"But Xu Guangqi has already succeeded quite well—everything he proposed, His Majesty approved." Huang Yongji said with some surprise.

"Far from it!" Huang Kezuan shook his head and said: "Look at the court now—why does His Majesty still keep Han Kuang? Simply because he doesn't want to give Xu Guangqi too much power. Keeping Han Kuang is precisely to counterbalance Xu Guangqi. Why?"

"Because His Majesty doesn't trust Xu Guangqi that much. That is to say, part of Xu Guangqi's ideas are accepted by His Majesty, and part are not. His Majesty promotes Xunzi because he wants to employ the Legalist school—there's no need to deliberate further on that point. So someone must propose it."

"Since we already know this, then I will be the one to propose it. If His Majesty is willing to employ me heavily, he will remove Han Kuang and use me to counterbalance Xu Guangqi. Otherwise, this time your father will be going home."

"But having been an official for so many years, I've grown weary of the scheming and scrambling of officialdom. If I can do things according to my own ideas, then perhaps I'll continue; otherwise, I'd rather return to the mountains and forests, enjoy the pleasures of field and garden, and dandle my grandchildren—that would be fine too."

"But this is too dangerous!" Huang Yongji said urgently.

"No danger." Huang Kezuan waved his hand and said with a smile: "At worst they'll call me arrogant and perverse. Your father is old now, with few years left to live—let them talk, it doesn't matter. The only hardship is on you—I'm afraid your chances in the imperial examinations are gone."

"But the way you are, you don't study well anyway. Failing the examinations might not count as a bad thing. Staying home reading books and tending the fields isn't a bad thing either."

Glancing at his father, Huang Yongji said nothing.

His pride was wounded.

Huang Kezuan paid no attention to his son and continued: "So success or failure rests on this one move. Tomorrow you go to the Grand Secretariat and say that your father has caught a chill, that he's not feeling well, and needs to request leave."

Huang Yongji nodded and answered: "Yes, Father."

Lifting his head to look at his father, Huang Yongji spoke again: "Your son still has one thing he doesn't understand. Even if Father thinks this way, there's no need to strike at Mencius—why not just write Xunzi's name directly into the slot?"

"Because I want to see how His Majesty will choose." Huang Kezuan said with a smile: "Since ancient times, for those who serve as ministers—His Majesty chooses his ministers, but do ministers not also choose their enlightened lord? It's not only in times of chaos and contention that one must choose an enlightened lord. It's the same now."

"If your father only wanted to serve as an official safely and stably, there would be no need to do this; but to accomplish a great undertaking, to do something like reform, one must have an enlightened lord."

"Since ancient times, among those who attempted reform, scarcely one or two in ten succeeded. But every one who succeeded had an enlightened lord supporting them from behind. Such an enlightened lord must possess great boldness, great breadth of mind, and incomparable courage—he cannot vacillate and look back, and must have tremendous bravery."

"The current His Majesty has the intention to reform, but whether he can see it through is uncertain. The Song dynasty also had emperors who wanted reform—but what was the result? So your father wants to know how His Majesty will choose."

Huang Yongji stared wide-eyed at his old father and said in disbelief: "But this violates the way of the minister!"

"The way of the minister?" Huang Kezuan said with a smile: "What is the way of the minister? Loyalty to the sovereign and love of country—that is the way of the minister. What your father is about to do may not only cost him his life, but could also implicate the family. Before doing these things, no amount of caution on your father's part is excessive."

"If His Majesty cannot tolerate even this, then we father and son should pack up early and go home—no need to stay in the capital being an eyesore."

With that, Huang Kezuan waved his hand and said: "It's getting late—you should rest early as well. Also, don't go out for the next few days. I believe there will be results soon."

By the next day, the news had spread throughout the entire capital.

Everyone knew that Huang Kezuan had submitted a routine memorial to the Emperor, and the outline for reforming the imperial examinations had come out—the Four Books and Five Classics were unchanged, except that Mencius among the Four Books had been replaced with Xunzi.

This single proposal immediately stirred up an enormous uproar.

Mencius and Xunzi—how could they be mentioned in the same breath?

Mencius was a sage, the Second Sage!

What was Xunzi?

Even now there's no place for Xunzi in the Confucian Temple—does this world even have followers of Xunzi?

What was Huang Kezuan trying to do?

He was a heretic, he was turning back the wheel of history!

And so memorials impeaching Huang Kezuan flew into the imperial palace like snowflakes.

Although the court had been calm for a while, everyone knew this was merely the wind gathering before the storm.

Previously, the court had seen successive struggles, and the Emperor had suppressed many matters for the sake of stability.

But anyone with clear eyes could see that as long as a matter hadn't truly passed, after a brief period of calm, the waves would surely rise again.

Everyone had originally expected the storm to break from the Imperial Household Department or the Imperial Academy—no one expected it to break from Huang Kezuan.

He actually wanted to demote Mencius and elevate Xunzi—this was the problem.

Some were furious, some were afraid, but others were delighted.

The Eastern Depot.

Wei Zhongxian listened to his subordinates' reports, his face showing no expression, but in his heart flowers were blooming with joy.

Finally, there was something to do again!

Wei Zhongxian had been in a very bad mood lately—Chen Hong was gaining more and more favor in the palace; Wang An was doing an excellent job in the Imperial Household Department; even that one called Fang Zhengzheng was now being hailed as the rising star of the palace.

Luo Sigong of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had thrown in with Chen Hong, the two of them colluding like wolves and jackals. He had been on the verge of ascending to the very top position, but now he had fallen to this state.

If one had never obtained something, perhaps one wouldn't harbor hope; but when success was right before his eyes, yet he fell just short by that tiny margin—how could he possibly be happy?

Thinking of these things, Wei Zhongxian's heart burned like a fire. Now that something had finally happened at court, he, Wei Zhongxian, could not be absent.

Glancing at Sun Yunhe standing beside him, Wei Zhongxian curled his lips into a smile and said: "Is everyone outside talking about Huang Kezuan right now? Is everyone opposing him, is that so?"

"Reporting to the Grand Director, that is correct." Sun Yunhe nodded and said.

Wei Zhongxian slowly sat up straight, gently opening his eyes and saying: "Then tell Cui Chengxiu to have all our people support Huang Kezuan. This matter must be handled well—if anyone makes another mistake, don't blame me for being unreasonable."

Hearing this, Sun Yunhe was taken aback and said hesitantly: "Your Excellency, shouldn't we avoid getting involved in this matter? If Huang Kezuan succeeds, he probably won't acknowledge our favor; if Huang Kezuan fails, we'll likely be dragged down with him. This is a matter where neither success nor failure brings us any benefit—why does the Grand Director want to do it?"

"What the hell do you know!" Wei Zhongxian glared at Sun Yunhe and cursed: "Huang Kezuan can pull this off."

"As long as he gets this done, then factional strife will arise across the realm, and countless people will oppose him. Back then I thought Xu Guangqi would stir up factional strife, but those people lost their nerve — they've got even less balls than I do. So we did nothing, and that's how we've fallen to where we are today."

"But this time it's different. As long as Huang Kezuan gets this done, factional strife is certain to break out. When that happens, we'll be able to fish the benefits from the chaos. Only when I have matters to handle is there a place for us to show our skill."

"But what if Huang Kezuan fails?" Sun Yunhe spoke up again.

As for being scolded a few times by his own Director, Sun Yunhe didn't take it to heart. Among the people of the Eastern Depot, who hadn't been scolded by the Director? Being scolded meant you were a trusted confidant, so Sun Yunhe still dared to keep asking.

Glancing at Sun Yunhe, Wei Zhongxian said with a smile: "Let me teach you a trick — even if Huang Kezuan doesn't get this done, it does us no harm. As for Cui Chengxiu and the others, they'll only follow us with utter devotion."

"Do you know what it means to have your escape route cut off? These past days, seeing my influence waning, they haven't exactly been well-behaved."

Now Sun Yunhe understood — what his Director said wasn't false.

As time went on, Cui Chengxiu had risen with the tide, enjoying unparalleled prominence in the Censorate, and his connections with the Eastern Depot side had dwindled considerably — clearly he wanted to shake off their Director.

The Director didn't want them to shake him off, so there was nothing strange about this approach. If Huang Kezuan failed, then Cui Chengxiu and his kind would need the Director to protect them, or else they'd come to no good end. At that point, they could only be the Director's loyal hounds.

So Sun Yunhe hurriedly smiled and bowed, saying: "Your Excellency, rest assured — this subordinate understands. I know what to do, and I'll go handle it right away."

Seeing Wei Zhongxian nod, Sun Yunhe turned and walked out.

Meanwhile, at Xu Guangqi's residence.

Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, and the others were also in discussion.

The expressions on several of their faces were none too pleasant. They had guessed some of this beforehand — that Huang Kezuan would bring up Xunzi, and had even guessed that Huang Kezuan would lecture Your Majesty on Xunzi.

But none of them had imagined Huang Kezuan would be so bold, pulling off such a big move — directly using Xunzi to replace Mencius.

Truly, no one had imagined it!

Xu Guangqi glanced at Shen Tingyun and said slowly: "What do you make of this matter?"

After all, this matter concerned the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites had also participated in drafting this examination's educational guidelines. To put it plainly, Shen Tingyun had a stake in this too, so asking him was only natural.

Shen Tingyun wore a bitter smile, saying with some helplessness: "I truly know nothing at all. Huang Kezuan did this without consulting anyone. I'm completely at a loss right now, and for the moment I don't know what to do either."

Li Zhizao on the side said unhurriedly: "It's simply a matter of supporting him or opposing him. As for the pros and cons of supporting or opposing him, we need to think that through carefully. Our days aren't easy right now either."