Chapter 289: The Scapegoat, Prince Fu

"Since Lord Sun is so confident, let me go and see how Lord Sun fights this battle." Qin Liangyu said with a smile.

"Then please, old general, wait and see." Sun Chuanting said with a smile.

In Chongqing, the clouds of war were so thick that a great battle could break out at any moment.

But the capital was perfectly peaceful — every yamen was busy closing out its accounts for the year, terrified that His Majesty might uncover some error or omission.

At the same time, there were people in the court growing anxious, because some days earlier someone had submitted a routine memorial calling for a capital evaluation.

Not to mention anything else — the mere mention of the words "capital evaluation" had already set many hearts racing.

Although the court situation looked very stable right now, everyone knew that it was, in truth, not stable at all.

At present, in the court, Chief Grand Secretary Han Kuang and Grand Secretary and Minister of Justice Huang Kezuan had joined forces and formed a faction together. Though that was not how it was phrased outwardly, everyone actually knew exactly what was going on.

Second Grand Secretary and Minister of Works Xu Guangqi and Minister of Revenue Shen Tingyun had likewise joined forces and formed a faction, and their momentum was formidable.

Beyond that, there were also Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong and Minister of Personnel Zhou Jiamo — the two of them were also entangled with each other.

Add to that Wei Zhongxian of the Eastern Depot, and that Cui Chengxiu of the Censorate, and the situation could be said to be even more treacherous and unfathomable.

The reason the court could be so stable right now was that everyone had been busy before.

Now that everyone had free time, the business of fighting for power and profit naturally arrived.

The court's capital evaluation had always been one of the means by which officials fought each other. Once someone raised the matter, there was not a single person who was not tense — everyone was waiting for a reply from within the palace.

Once the palace activated someone's people to conduct the capital evaluation, the other factions would surely be thrown into panic.

In the Western Park.

Zhu Youxiao casually tossed the routine memorial onto the table, the expression on his face somewhat gloomy.

Leaning back in the rocking chair and swaying gently, Zhu Youxiao's expression was rather unpleasant.

Clearly, these ministers had gotten restless again.

By now Zhu Youxiao had also figured out one thing: that the moment he let his guard down even slightly, these people would start fighting.

But thinking about it, it was understandable — when it came to fighting for power and profit, you could not expect it to ever stop.

Moreover, these bigwigs in the court — every one of them had his own ideas, every one of them had his own policy agenda. Having reached their positions, having served as officials for so many years, what was there in officialdom they had not seen?

Wealth and women had long ceased to matter in their eyes. Having risen so high in office, their only remaining aspiration was probably to leave a name in history; at most, they might also grab a bit of benefit for themselves, but that was merely a side matter.

What they were thinking about was how to monopolize power, how to carry out the ambitions in their hearts.

A while ago there had been business to keep them busy, and they could not spare the attention for this; now it was different — everyone was thinking about how to topple the others and take their place.

Not to mention anything else — take the Liaodong affair in his previous life. There had been corruption in it, and factional strife too, but could you really say the fighting had been so fierce purely over corruption?

That was not how it was.

You want to do it this way, I want to do it that way; I think you are not doing well, you think I am not doing well. So you pull my leg, I pull yours. And what is the result?

The result is that everyone ends up doing nothing well — and as they fight, tempers flare up?

Since I cannot convince you, then I will get rid of you. If you cannot solve the problem, then get rid of the person who raised the problem.

Right now the court might look calm, but that was not really the case either. Once the court settled down, these people would start thinking about fighting.

The people in the court right now were all bigwigs — if they really started fighting, it would be a difficult business to handle.

Thinking of all that, Zhu Youxiao had a bit of a headache. Getting a bunch of bigwigs all together was not a good thing either. If this bunch started raising a ruckus day and night, it would be hard for him to deal with too.

He needed to think of a way to keep them from having the mind to bother with these things.

But what kind of way should he think of?

Push Wei Zhongxian out as the target?

As for the civil officials, Zhu Youxiao had already gotten a feel for their pulse. When there was an external enemy, they would be relatively more united.

For example, back when Yan Song was in power, Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng — they were tightly united! All their disputes were set aside as they closely rallied around the Longqing Emperor and fought Yan Song to the death.

But once Yan Song was finished, look at how they fought among themselves — it was practically bashing each other's dog brains out.

First Gao Gong toppled Xu Jie, then Zhang Juzheng got rid of Gao Gong.

Zhu Youxiao suddenly realized — he should find them a common target, so they would have no time to raise a ruckus. Who would be suitable for this role?

First, they needed to have a sense of crisis — this person had to be someone who, the moment he was brought out, would give them a scare.

From this angle, Wei Zhongxian and Xu Xianchun were not quite suitable.

Xu Xianchun was too green — he had just taken over as Regional Military Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, his seat was not even warm yet, and he had not even sorted out the interpersonal relations throughout the Guard. Having him come out as the target was not appropriate.

As for Wei Zhongxian, he was not enough of a fighter either — what was a mere Director of the Eastern Depot worth?

Tying Wei Zhongxian and Xu Xianchun together was not appropriate either, because, as everyone knew, the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard had always been governed separately. To prevent Wei Zhongxian from growing too powerful within the palace, he had even promoted Chen Hong.

If it were Wei Zhongxian alone, Zhu Youxiao felt he might not even be able to win.

He picked up his teacup and drank a bowl, gazing into the distant sky. Zhu Youxiao truly could not figure out any solution.

With Wei Zhongxian's current strength, he was simply no match for those few bigwigs in the court.

The reason Wei Zhongxian had been able to succeed in his previous life was, first, the Tianqi Emperor's favor and trust; second, because the Donglin Faction had slaughtered the Qi, Zhe, and Chu factions too viciously, causing those people to directly defect to Wei Zhongxian — that was why Wei Zhongxian had wielded such enormous power.

To put it plainly, the factional struggle between the eunuch faction and the Donglin Faction was, in essence, still a struggle within the civil official group.

The factions outside the Donglin Faction — they were the ones who propped Wei Zhongxian up. Rather than saying they defected to Wei Zhongxian, it would be more accurate to say they used Wei Zhongxian as a blade and a shield out front, while simultaneously exploiting Wei Zhongxian's trust with the Emperor to do the things they wanted to do.

For Wei Zhongxian to reach that step now was simply impossible — Zhu Youxiao could not purge all the ministers in the court just to make some people defect to Wei Zhongxian.

Wouldn't all the work he had done before then have been for nothing?

So Wei Zhongxian would not work either.

How about switching to the Imperial Household Department and putting his father-in-law up?

But his father-in-law's ability was really too lacking. Even with his own promotion behind him, he would probably be led into a ditch by others, and in the end be played until not even a scrap of bone was left.

Then there was no one left! Who could serve as this big target?

Just as Zhu Youxiao was racking his brains, Empress Zhang quietly walked over from behind.

She softly came before Zhu Youxiao and asked: "Your Majesty, is there something on your mind?"

Looking up and seeing Empress Zhang arrive, Zhu Youxiao reached out and pulled her over, saying, "It's quite cold out. I was planning to come over tonight—why did Baozhu come all the way here? Don't catch a chill."

Hearing His Majesty's concerned words and feeling his tender gaze, Empress Zhang's face broke into a radiant smile.

Life since entering the palace had been quite comfortable. His Majesty doted on her to an extraordinary degree—one could say she outshone the entire harem. He had even taken her outside the palace, and some people were already saying she was overly favored.

Still, Empress Zhang rather enjoyed this feeling, though of course she had to be careful about appearances.

Pulled by Zhu Youxiao to sit on his lap, Empress Zhang felt a bit embarrassed. Though this was not the first time, she still grew shy.

Shifting her position slightly, Empress Zhang said, "Your concubine's body isn't so precious as all that."

"That won't do—Baozhu is my treasure. Not a single thing can go wrong with you." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.

"Your Majesty is teasing your concubine." Empress Zhang said coquettishly.

"Alright, alright. I know you wouldn't come over if nothing were the matter—tell me, what's happened?" Zhu Youxiao said with a light laugh, his arm around Empress Zhang's waist.

"It's still that matter of the Prince of Fu's household." Empress Zhang said with some helplessness: "Today Consort Dowager Zheng came by, bringing the Prince of Fu along. She said she'd brought a theater troupe up from the south and wanted to send them into the palace to entertain Your Majesty."

"They just won't stay quiet." Zhu Youxiao gave a cold snort.

The Prince of Fu here was naturally not the old Prince of Fu, the imperial uncle, but rather Zhu Yousong, of the same generation as Zhu Youxiao—the future Southern Ming emperor.

Ever since this Prince of Fu had gone to the capital, Consort Dowager Zheng no longer holed up in the rear palace all day. She ran to Empress Zhang's quarters more diligently than Zhu Youxiao himself, sending this and that gift every day.

Zhu Youxiao also knew what she was after—this was fear.

Both her son and grandson had been moved into the capital under duress. Whether they lived or died was entirely a matter of his word, was it not?

Consort Dowager Zheng's conscience was uneasy. One could say she had no choice but to bow her head while under someone else's roof.

"Sending some theater troupe into the palace?" Zhu Youxiao said impatiently. "I don't care for listening to opera."

Empress Zhang then said, "Apparently, they're from the Suzhou theater circles. If Your Majesty feels bored, it might be worth a listen—after all, it is Consort Dowager Zheng's thoughtful gesture."

"Why are you speaking up for them?" Zhu Youxiao glanced at Empress Zhang and said.

"It's not that I'm speaking up for them." Empress Zhang looked at Zhu Youxiao. "Your concubine is merely concerned that, with the Prince of Fu in the capital, Your Majesty should not press too hard. If it truly comes to lives being lost, I fear it would damage Your Majesty's reputation."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Empress Zhang and said with irritation, "Has someone been gossiping at your doorstep again?"

Ever since he had begun favoring Empress Zhang, people outside had been drilling through every crack to pass messages in—cats had their ways, rats had theirs; like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their own magic.

Judging by Empress Zhang's manner, someone had clearly been saying all sorts of nonsense.

"Your Majesty, it's not that anyone has been gossiping—it's just that people outside say Your Majesty has been a bit too harsh." Empress Zhang said in a gentle tone.

Zhu Youxiao instantly understood the meaning of those words.

Outside, they surely said more than just "harsh." He estimated his standing wasn't far from that of a tyrant.

The killing had frightened many people, and so they had begun pinning labels on him.

Tyrant, fatuous ruler—whether or not you'd done such things, the labels went on first. If you cared about your reputation, you'd have some scruples.

That way, they gained much more room to maneuver. It had to be said—this trick worked for them every single time.

Zhu Youxiao fell into deep thought. This matter needed to change.

His reputation could be poor, but he couldn't let them ruin it like this. If it were tarnished in this regard, that wouldn't be good.

The Prince of Fu, reputation, the imperial clan, the scapegoat.

Several matters kept turning over in Zhu Youxiao's mind.

He suddenly felt that these matters seemed to have some connection—and that he might be able to make something of them.

Once this idea took shape, it immediately became impossible to suppress.

The Prince of Fu was a feudal prince of the imperial clan. Before his own younger brother had made a name as a prince, this one had been a very significant figure—one could say his status was extremely high.

He was, after all, his imperial uncle. To simply keep him idle in the capital would be somewhat wasteful.

But the previous matter had already been settled, and he had punished them enough. Eliminating them now would be rather difficult to justify.

Just as Empress Zhang had said—if he drove the Prince of Fu to death, it would damage his reputation.

Of course, Zhu Youxiao didn't care about reputation, but it would make all the other feudal princes fear for their own safety. That would make cleaning them up later rather troublesome.

Moreover, starting next year, he would have far too many matters to deal with to go after these princes one by one. But they would have to be dealt with eventually—it wouldn't do to let them stir up trouble.

There seemed to be some angle here he could work.

Zhu Youxiao pulled Empress Zhang close and said with a smile, "Fine, I'll listen to Baozhu. Since I'm bored with nothing to do today anyway, let's go see this theater troupe the Prince of Fu sent over. What plays are they good at?"

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Empress Zhang's face immediately broke into a smile.

Taking Zhu Youxiao's hand, Empress Zhang said with a smile, "They're from the Suzhou theater circles. Apparently, their specialty is The Romance of the Western Chamber, and they excel at Yiyang opera—your concubine has never heard it before."

Hearing Empress Zhang's words, Zhu Youxiao felt somewhat dazed instead.

Suzhou, theater circles, skilled at The Romance of the Western Chamber—wasn't that describing Chen Yuanyuan?

But thinking of the current year, Chen Yuanyuan probably hadn't even been born yet. It seemed he was overthinking things?

Still, Zhu Youxiao had genuinely grown curious. They said the courtesans of Jiangnan were extraordinary, and he had truly never seen one—he wondered how beautiful they could be.

Turning to glance at Empress Zhang beside him, Zhu Youxiao felt there wasn't much hope.

His own empress was this beautiful—there probably weren't many in the world prettier than her. Setting aside Empress Zhang, even his other consorts likely couldn't compare.

But sometimes one couldn't act solely on personal preference. Since female beauty wasn't an option, what about listening to opera?

It seemed the Qing dynasty emperors all rather enjoyed listening to opera and greatly favored those who performed it. He could pursue this angle—one could say it would be a new hobby of his.

He just didn't know what the current singing style was like. This Yiyang opera—he truly had never heard it.

He wondered whether the term "Kunqu" existed yet.

Never mind—he'd go have a listen first.