Chapter 236: A Copy of the

Zhu Youxiao, a smile on his face, helped Mei Zhihuan to his feet once again.

Three kneelings and three assistings—this could become a new classic.

Zhu Youxiao said gently, "My dear minister, go back and prepare yourself. I believe there will be results soon."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Mei Zhihuan's voice was slightly choked as he hurriedly acknowledged.

Originally Zhu Youxiao had wanted to discuss the specifics with Mei Zhihuan, but now the emotions had been built up to too high a pitch to come back down and talk business again, so he simply let him go back for now. The matter could be handled later.

After seeing Mei Zhihuan off, Zhu Youxiao let out a soft breath, wondering whether he could withstand the pressure.

Soon, word spread throughout the court and the realm that His Majesty would rehabilitate Zhang Juzheng and had also confirmed the implementation of the secret memorial system.

In an instant, the officialdom was in an uproar. Countless people began rushing about spreading the news; countless people began crying out loudly that the state was no longer a state!

Under such circumstances, the court fell into chaos, with anxiety and fear everywhere.

This storm also drew some blame onto the Grand Secretariat, but they actually felt considerably more relaxed. Compared to the attacks the Grand Secretariat had suffered before, now everyone had somewhat shifted their gaze elsewhere.

After all, before this, the Eastern Depot had stirred up the Censorate to frantically drive the narrative. Now that the Grand Secretariat had pushed this matter out, basically no one was paying attention to them anymore—this was a good thing for them.

But before the Grand Secretariat could even catch their breath, another matter came to light.

A man walked hurriedly into the Grand Secretariat, clutching a routine memorial, his entire body trembling incessantly.

He went straight to the Grand Secretariat duty room and said in a trembling voice to Han Kuang and the others, "My dear Grand Secretaries, please take a look at this routine memorial!"

Seeing such a situation, Han Kuang and the others were all taken aback.

It should be known that routine memorials within the Grand Secretariat were read separately—that is, each person was responsible for his own share. Unless it was an especially major memorial, or a matter entrusted by His Majesty, they would basically never read one together. This was also a way of dividing power within the court.

But the newcomer was now asking them all to read this one memorial together, which could only mean one thing: something had happened.

Sun Chengzong and the others all gathered around, their gazes falling upon Chief Grand Secretary Han Kuang. At a time like this, it was naturally his place to take the lead.

Han Kuang reached out, took the memorial, and slowly unfolded it.

The moment Han Kuang looked at it, his face lost all color, turning abnormally pale, and even his hands began to tremble.

Han Kuang tried to calm himself down, but it was no use. His hands trembled even more violently, and he seemed unsteady on his feet.

He was completely beside himself, and it was a long while before he came back to his senses.

This made Sun Chengzong and the other two hesitate—just how major was this matter?

Who was Han Kuang?

This was a man who had weathered countless storms. No matter how the court churned with disputes, he could sit steady as a rock.

What great matter had occurred now to provoke such an extreme reaction from him?

But since Han Kuang hadn't passed the memorial over, the three of them felt it inappropriate to snatch it.

Xu Guangqi was the first who couldn't hold back. With a concerned expression, he asked, "Grand Secretary Han, what is this?"

Seeing that Han Kuang had no reaction, Xu Guangqi called out several more times, "Grand Secretary Han? Grand Secretary Han?"

As Xu Guangqi's voice grew louder and louder, Han Kuang was finally startled back to his senses.

He then wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, handed the memorial in his hand to Xu Guangqi, and said with a slightly trembling voice, "Take a look—something has happened!"

Xu Guangqi reached out somewhat puzzled to take the memorial. After glancing through a few lines, his expression changed drastically.

Seeing this, Sun Chengzong and the other two grew even more worried. They waited for Xu Guangqi to pass the memorial over.

Xu Guangqi said nothing, simply handing the memorial to Sun Chengzong and Huang Kezuan.

The two quickly read through it, and their expressions also turned extremely grim.

After the two had also finished reading the memorial, Xu Guangqi finally spoke in a cold voice: "That such a thing should happen in this day and age! These people are audacious beyond measure—they should all be exiled to Liaodong!"

This was clearly Xu Guangqi venting his anger, so Han Kuang and the other two merely listened without anyone saying anything.

After a long silence, Han Kuang spoke with a grim expression: "The question now is what do we do? How do we explain this to His Majesty?"

"Are we to send this memorial straight up? If we do that, the consequences will be severe."

None of the three said anything—they naturally knew that what Han Kuang said made sense.

After thinking it over briefly, Xu Guangqi said with a dark face: "No matter how big this matter is or what the outcome will be, we must submit this memorial. Only, we won't attach a draft rescript."

Such cases were not uncommon. If the matter was too great for the Grand Secretariat to decide on its own, they would not draft a rescript but would instead send the memorial directly to the Emperor, waiting to see how His Majesty would ultimately rule.

So this time, when Xu Guangqi raised this suggestion, Han Kuang and the other two had no objections and all nodded.

"Then who will deliver it?" Sun Chengzong asked at this point.

It should be known that the weight of this memorial in hand was too heavy—no one knew what the final outcome would be.

If one chose to deliver it at this time, he would very likely bear the brunt of His Majesty's wrath, and the gain might not be worth the loss.

"Let's all go together."

Before anyone could argue, Han Kuang spoke up directly.

"This matter is too great this time. If we cannot act with one mind, I fear the court will be thrown into turmoil and the realm will know no peace—then we few will have become sinners." Han Kuang continued with a solemn face: "So let us all go together."

The three nodded, signifying their agreement with Han Kuang's words. They took the memorial directly and went to the Western Park.

In the Western Park.

Zhu Youxiao was flying a kite by the lakeside.

To be fair, the capital didn't have many days of good weather. As it happened, today wasn't too hot and the wind was nice, so Zhu Youxiao was in quite a good mood, taking the time to enjoy the breeze together with Empress Zhang.

The two chatted and laughed as they pulled the string together—a warm and harmonious scene.

At this moment, Chen Hong steeled himself and walked over quickly, his face expressionless but his heart aching terribly.

Going to disturb His Majesty at a time like this was the last thing Chen Hong wanted to do.

Acting this way would not only anger His Majesty but might even offend Her Majesty the Empress. Only a fool would willingly do such an unrewarding task.

But this time he had no choice. The four Grand Secretaries had come together, and without even saying what the matter was, they only stressed that they must see His Majesty.

Something major must have happened. Chen Hong dared not show the slightest negligence.

Glancing at the rapidly approaching Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao handed the kite over to Empress Zhang's hands. "Baozhu, play by yourself for a while. I'll be back in a moment."

Walking over to the lowered-head Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao asked expressionlessly, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Your Majesty, the four Grand Secretaries request an audience." Chen Hong hastily bowed as he spoke.

All four Grand Secretariat ministers came together?

What are they trying to do?

Zhu Youxiao couldn't think of what they might want at the moment, so he said to Chen Hong, "Bring them to the pavilion over there."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong acknowledged, then turned and went outside to receive them.

Zhu Youxiao walked over to Empress Zhang's side, reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, saying with a smile, "Baozhu, wait for me here. There are some matters over there I need to look into—I'll be back soon."

Empress Zhang gave Zhu Youxiao a sweet smile and nodded gently, saying, "Alright, I'll wait for Your Majesty."

After leaving Empress Zhang, Zhu Youxiao walked toward the pavilion.

By the time he arrived, the four Grand Secretaries were already waiting.

From their expressions and dejected demeanor, Zhu Youxiao knew this was no small matter—and certainly bad news.

After Zhu Youxiao sat down, the four of them moved to bow.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, signaling them to dispense with formalities, then said, "For all four of you to come together, it seems you haven't brought good news. Go ahead, then—speak."

"Your Majesty, Censor Chen Qing of the Censorate has submitted a routine memorial. After we read it, we truly did not dare make a decision on our own."

Han Kuang stepped forward, holding the memorial with both hands and presenting it to Zhu Youxiao.

This truly was something Zhu Youxiao hadn't expected.

If some region had rebelled, or the Oirat or the Jianzhou barbarians were attacking Liaoning—something of that magnitude—it wouldn't be strange. But clearly this wasn't that!

A memorial from a Censor of the Censorate—was it really worth making such a big fuss over?

Reaching out to take the memorial, Zhu Youxiao glanced at the title on it, and his gaze sharpened slightly. The smile on his face vanished.

Because the memorial was titled "Memorial on Governance."

That title was far too famous!

The moment Zhu Youxiao saw it, he had a bad feeling. Because long ago, someone else had also written a "Memorial on Governance"—that man was Hai Rui.

He wrote such a memorial, cursing the Jiajing Emperor roundly. One line from it became widely known:

"Jiajing—every household stripped clean."

Later, the more colloquial version was "Jiajing, Jiajing, every household stripped clean." It could be said to have stirred up an enormous storm.

Now this Chen Qing fellow had produced a memorial like this—he was imitating Hai Rui! And that would make him the Jiajing Emperor?

Although Zhu Youxiao had known in his heart this day would come, he still wasn't happy about it. Who wants to be savagely denounced?

The key issue was that Zhu Youxiao felt he was being scolded too early—why couldn't they have waited a bit?

Reaching out to open the memorial, Zhu Youxiao looked at what was written inside. The opening passage read:

"When the way of the sovereign is not upright and the duties of ministers are not fulfilled, this is the foremost concern under heaven. If I do not speak of this, what else is there to say?"

"High ministers cling to their salaries while outwardly flattering; lesser ministers fear punishment and feign compliance. Yet I am loyal to the Great Ming and do not fear death."

Then came a long stretch of quotations from the classics, followed by a statement of the current state of the Great Ming:

"The way of letters has collapsed, the hundred officials are in panic, and the people's hearts are unsettled. If the Restoration is not achieved, the realm will surely descend into chaos—officials corrupt, generals weak, the people with no means to live, floods and droughts without cease, and bandits growing ever more rampant."

Then came a torrent of abuse directed at Han Kuang, Xu Guangqi, and several others.

Xu Guangqi and Huang Kezuan in particular were directly labeled heretics—corrupting the laws and damaging ethics and morality, truly unworthy to serve as ministers. Not executing them would not satisfy the people's outrage; not executing them would not serve as a warning to others.

After finishing with them, the target shifted directly to him, the Emperor. The first line read:

"Your Majesty's errors are many; the greatest lies in abandoning the way of the sages."

Then it launched into a furious attack starting from his belief in that Taoist priest, went on to his employment of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, his exploitation of the officials at court, his arbitrary appointment of officials like Han Kuang and Xu Guangqi, and then his amusement at the Hundred Crafts Institute.

"Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, you have repeatedly governed foolishly, causing the Great Ming's national strength to decline and the common people to have no means to live. Therefore, I risk death to offer my utmost loyalty, earnestly speaking to Your Majesty. In a single turn of heart and change of course lies the decision of whether the realm is governed or not, whether the people and all things are at peace or not. I humbly beg Your Majesty to pay heed—the ancestral temples shall be fortunate, and the realm shall be fortunate."

After finishing reading, Zhu Youxiao set the memorial down, turned to look at Chen Hong, and said, "Put it away."

After saying this, Zhu Youxiao turned to look at the four Grand Secretaries and said slowly, "It's nothing more than trying to imitate Hai Rui. The title is also 'Memorial on Governance,' and it even quotes extensively from Hai Rui's 'Memorial on Governance.'"

"But if one wants to be Hai Rui, one must also have Hai Rui's ability."

As he spoke, Zhu Youxiao beckoned to Chen Hong again and instructed expressionlessly, "Have the Embroidered Uniform Guard look into it."

"How did Hai Rui conduct himself as an official back then?"

"He wore cloth robes, ate coarse grains and unpolished rice, and had his old servant grow vegetables for self-sufficiency. Governor-General Hu Zongxian of Zhejiang once told others, 'Yesterday I heard that Magistrate Hai bought two catties of meat only to celebrate his old mother's birthday.'"

"If this Chen Qing is likewise so upright, have the Embroidered Uniform Guard come tell me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong hastily bowed in acknowledgment, then turned and went off to find the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Chen Hong hurried away from His Majesty with quick steps—that place was simply too dangerous, and the atmosphere too eerie for him to linger. He took the opportunity to make a swift escape.

Chen Hong had made his escape, but the other four Grand Secretaries could not leave.

From what His Majesty had just said—though his tone was calm and his face showed neither pleasure nor anger—any fool could tell His Majesty was angry.

Back then, when the Jiajing Emperor spared Hai Rui, how much effort had that taken?

This Chen Qing was coercing His Majesty!

Though no one would say it openly, the ministers all knew in their hearts roughly what sort of reputation Emperor Shizong had.

Even so, Emperor Shizong had not killed Hai Rui back then. Now that Chen Qing was doing this, he most likely assumed His Majesty wouldn't kill him either.

First, one could not be punished for one's words—the ministers at court would all protect him.

Of course, they weren't protecting him as a person, nor did they think what he did was right. The ministers were protecting their own right to speak. If one could be killed today for submitting such a memorial, then in the future one could be killed for the same sort of thing.

The lower limit would only get lower, never higher—that was why the officials would step forward to protect him.

Beyond that, the second point was coercion of His Majesty. Emperor Shizong had not killed Hai Rui back then. If His Majesty were to kill Chen Qing now, His Majesty's reputation would instantly turn foul—even worse than Emperor Shizong's.

This was what galled the Grand Secretaries, and what frightened them.

They already hated that Chen Qing to death. Why couldn't he do something else with his life, instead of forcing His Majesty like this?

Your Majesty is still young and newly ascended to the throne—exactly the age of pride and arrogance. If you provoke him like this and he truly disregards everything and has you killed, wouldn't that create a rift between sovereign and minister?

When His Majesty raises the butcher's blade, how many lives will be lost because of this matter?

Most critically, once a confrontation between minister and emperor begins, it is very difficult to resolve. After all, one side must retreat, or else it will never end.

Given His Majesty's current disposition, how could he possibly be the one to retreat?

When that time comes, blood will surely flow like a river.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Han Kuang and the other three, then said slowly: "It's nothing major. Just a routine memorial—nothing to make a fuss over. The four of you have mobilized in full force over this. Alright, go on back, get on with whatever you need to do."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao speak this way, Han Kuang and the others felt a chill run through their hearts.

If His Majesty had flown into a rage at this moment, shouting for Chen Qing's head, even displaying tremendous fury and demanding his entire family be executed, Han Kuang and the others would actually have felt more at ease inside.

The way His Majesty was now—though he appeared as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't taken this memorial to heart—none of the four of them were fools. Having scrambled and climbed through the officialdom for so many years, if they still couldn't sniff out the meaning beneath this, they might as well give up entirely.

The most basic skill of an official is to learn to read faces and moods, to think of matters before your superiors do.

As close ministers of the Son of Heaven, you must be able to fathom the Emperor's thoughts, at the very least understand his methods and conduct.

Han Kuang and the other three knew His Majesty far too well. When the Donglin Faction was purged back then, His Majesty had shown no mercy—ministry by ministry, he had cleansed them all.

In those days, heads rolled outside the Meridian Gate every single day, and the stench of blood permeated half the capital, lingering for over half a month without dispersing.

Now Chen Qing uses such matters to coerce His Majesty—do you truly think His Majesty dares not kill?

Especially seeing His Majesty's current demeanor, this matter certainly cannot end peacefully.

Han Kuang and the others wore conflicted expressions, wanting to speak, but in this situation there was nothing they could say.

How could they say it? Say "Your Majesty, don't hold it in—tell your ministers what's on your mind"?

That would be utterly improper!

Han Kuang and the others could only bow and say: "Yes, Your Majesty. Your ministers take their leave."

After saying this, Han Kuang and the others performed their rites and retreated backward out of the hall, though their steps were somewhat heavy.

After everyone had left, Zhu Youxiao's expression darkened.

He was certainly angry, but not because Chen Qing had cursed him.

Zhu Youxiao had long anticipated this. Even if there were no Chen Qing today, someone else would curse him in the future—this was hardly anything strange.

What angered him was that matters had finally reached this point. Clearly, his long-standing actions had finally pricked the bottom lines of some people, and they wanted to resist him now.

They wanted to shake the world through such means, and even if it meant sacrificing themselves, they would not hesitate.

It was precisely because of this that Zhu Youxiao felt sorrow, felt anger.

Because this was internal strife, and such internal strife could only harm the Great Ming. Yet he could not stop doing what he did, because if he abandoned it, matters would only become worse.

Turning to look at Chen Hong, who had already walked back, Zhu Youxiao instructed: "Go fetch Wei Zhongxian for me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong quickly acknowledged, then turned around and hurried off on his errand.

But he didn't find this task tiresome in the least—rather, he felt running errands was the best thing. At least he could spend his time on the road, not having to get mixed up in all these messy affairs.

On the other side, after the four Grand Secretaries returned to the Grand Secretariat, each wore an extremely grave expression.

Without a word, all four tacitly refrained from returning to their own seats, instead coming together to the duty room.

After the four sat down, tea was brought in.

Gently lifting his teacup and taking a sip, Han Kuang then said in a low voice: "This matter likely cannot end peacefully. What we must do now is keep things from escalating—having one Chen Qing is already enough."

Sun Chengzong and the other two nodded together, understanding Han Kuang's meaning.

If this were only Chen Qing's own affair, it would be much easier to handle—just suppress him and be done with it. But if too many people started making a fuss, matters would become far more troublesome.

"Should we try to spare Chen Qing's life?" Sun Chengzong spoke up from the side at this moment.

Seeing everyone turn to look at him, Sun Chengzong continued: "Matters have reached this point—the court cannot be stirred into an uproar. Whether it's us or the Eastern Depot, no one will allow them to make a scene."

The reason the Eastern Depot was brought up was understood by all present. It was because the Eastern Depot controlled a portion of the court's public opinion—those people basically all had leverage held over them in Wei Zhongxian's hands.

This was also something His Majesty had approved; otherwise, Wei Zhongxian would not dare act this way. In this matter, they absolutely would not take a second stance.

Wei Zhongxian would not dare let them take a second stance, and Wei Zhongxian himself would not dare take a second stance either, so there was no need to worry about the Eastern Depot.

As for the other officials at court, among the Six Ministries' officials, the Grand Secretariat was very confident it could control the majority. The rest were small fry—they couldn't stir up any trouble or make any waves.

So the problem now centered on Chen Qing—the key question being whether to preserve his life.

"His Majesty probably won't kill him, will he?" Han Kuang asked with some hesitation.

After Han Kuang asked this question, no one in the room answered him.

Whether it was Sun Chengzong, Xu Guangqi, or Huang Kezuan, their opinions on this matter were extremely unified—His Majesty would not spare Chen Qing's life.

If no one intervened, this Chen Qing would die very soon.

"His Majesty has already sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate—do you think he is Hai Rui?" Huang Kezuan raised his head to look at Han Kuang, asking with a grave expression.

All of them fell silent, none speaking.

In fact, everyone knew that the reason Hai Rui had been able to cut a swath through everything back then was because he was a man of perfect virtue—one simply could not find fault with him.

Hai Rui lived each day like a self-flagellating ascetic, appearing almost incomprehensible among the ranks of officials.

He didn't embezzle, didn't take bribes, and lived on plain tea and simple meals each day, yet found it sweet as nectar. He ate poorly himself, and his family suffered along with him—planting fields and raising chickens around his home. One could say he was quite lacking in official dignity.

But a man like that was simply unyielding—there was no way to deal with him. Moreover, Hai Rui was devoted wholly to the public good, handling matters with single-minded dedication, and his reputation among the common people was exceptionally high. Whoever dared touch Hai Rui would be reviled for ten thousand generations.

So Hai Rui not only didn't die, his prestige actually soared. From the status of a mere juren, he eventually rose to Governor—a veritable miracle in the history of the Great Ming.

And this Chen Qing?

Is he Hai Rui?

Everyone present knew that he was not Hai Rui. So if Emperor Shizong had not killed Hai Rui back then, would the current Emperor also spare Chen Qing?

The answer was no—the Great Ming had only one Hai Rui.

At this moment, Xu Guangqi slowly said: "If he were Hai Rui, His Majesty might very well put him in an important position."

The moment these words were spoken, all those present fell silent.