Chapter 300: Making an Example of the Marquis of Xining

The home of Cui Chengxiu of the Censorate.

As a rising star of the Censorate, everyone felt that Cui Chengxiu was a new luminary steadily ascending within the institution, and that he might soon even take the seat of Left Chief Censor.

Cui Chengxiu thought so too — he believed he had a bright future ahead, that he would smoothly secure the post of Left Chief Censor and become a newly elevated grand official of the court.

Once he reached that position, he could seek an external posting, and barring accidents, could rise to Governor-General; even if he stayed in the capital, landing a post as Minister of one of the Six Ministries would be no problem.

Thinking of all this, Cui Chengxiu could hardly keep the delight from his heart.

Two plates of side dishes and a pot of distilled wine — that was Cui Chengxiu's evening celebration.

"Master, Director Wei has sent someone over." The old servant stepped before Cui Chengxiu and said respectfully.

"Director Wei has sent someone?" Hearing this, Cui Chengxiu hesitated for a moment, then said: "At this hour, there must be some matter. Bring the man to the study."

"Yes, Master." The old servant acknowledged, turned, and went to receive the visitor.

Before long, a pale-faced young eunuch walked in from outside.

Upon seeing Cui Chengxiu, he bowed and said: "Greetings, Lord Cui."

"You are too kind, Eunuch." Cui Chengxiu said hurriedly, extending his hand in a token gesture of helping him up.

Only after the young eunuch straightened up did Cui Chengxiu continue: "For the young eunuch to come today, has Director Wei some instruction?"

"In answer to Lord Cui, indeed my godfather has matters to convey." The young eunuch said: "My godfather said that the materials you have prepared may now be brought out — take your people and impeach thoroughly. If this matter is handled well, you can advance another step. Zhu Tongmeng, the Left Chief Censor of the Censorate, has been playing the fool, and His Majesty is already displeased with him. Now is the time for you to take his place, so you must seize the opportunity firmly."

"Please convey my many thanks to Director Wei when you return, and also report to him that I will handle this matter well, handle it splendidly, and absolutely will not disappoint him."

"Rest assured, Lord Cui — your words I will surely deliver." The young eunuch said with a smile.

"Then I am indebted to you, Eunuch." Cui Chengxiu also smiled as he spoke, reaching aside to take a gold bar and pressing it directly into the young eunuch's hand: "A small token, my thanks to you."

The young eunuch did not stand on ceremony; he tucked the gold bar into his sleeve and said: "If Lord Cui has nothing else, this servant will take his leave."

"I'll see you out." Cui Chengxiu made a gesture of invitation and smilingly walked forward a few steps.

The young eunuch knew his place, aware that he could not let Cui Chengxiu truly escort him all the way out, so he said: "You've already seen me far enough — please stay, Lord Cui. I'll be off now."

Cui Chengxiu watched the young eunuch depart, the excitement in his eyes no longer concealable — finally, the time had come when his talents would find use!

Turning back into the house, Cui Chengxiu beckoned the old servant and said directly: "Grind my ink — I want to recopy the memorial I wrote before."

In truth, Cui Chengxiu had long since prepared the matter of the memorial; it was only that he had never had the opportunity to submit it.

Now the chance had finally come, and the memorial could be presented. Naturally, Cui Chengxiu would not submit the old draft as it was — instead he recopied it fresh, so that it would appear newly written.

Everything, every detail, had to be handled with care — absolutely no slip could be permitted.

Early the next morning, this memorial was delivered to the Grand Secretariat, and after passing through several hands, reached the hands of Zhu Youxiao.

At the same time, word that Cui Chengxiu had submitted a memorial spread abroad.

After all, news of a memorial was like a gale passing through a sieve-wall — nothing could stop it.

Zhu Youxiao looked at the memorial in his hands, nodded with satisfaction, and smilingly said to Wei Zhongxian, who stood not far off: "This Cui Chengxiu is not bad after all — he counts as a talent."

Cui Chengxiu had clearly put great effort into this memorial. It impeached the current dynasty's hereditary nobles and imperial relatives by marriage.

The chief target was the Marquis of Xining — or rather, the Marquis of Xining's household — and the language was extremely harsh. It said these people, having received the nation's grace for generations without thought of requital, squandered their ancestors' merits at will — that alone was bad enough. But they oppressed the good and innocent, seized land, and opened gambling dens and brothels to amass wealth by the handful — this truly damaged the court's reputation.

Cui Chengxiu petitioned the court, hoping it would severely punish the lawbreaking hereditary nobles and imperial relatives by marriage. And this severe punishment was to begin with the Marquis of Xining.

Reading this memorial, Zhu Youxiao could not help but sigh in admiration.

It had to be said — this Cui Chengxiu truly knew how to pick his target.

First, the title of Marquis of Xining was not low — a marquis ranks just below a duke. Second, this Marquis of Xining had been, for all these years, a stable and quiet hereditary noble. Though his family was still fairly flourishing, he had no real power in the military, and could hardly be said to have any strength behind him.

Even if the Marquis of Xining's title were truly stripped, it would be no great matter. Moving against a marquis could serve as a deterrent. And if some unexpected development required letting him off, retreat or advance would both be easy.

It could be said that Cui Chengxiu had chosen his man with real care.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Chen Hong beside him and said: "The Grand Secretariat's recommendation is a thorough investigation. Have the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice send people too — and the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard should follow along. Let them all go and take a look."

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao handed the memorial to Chen Hong and said: "Have the Directorate of Ceremonial apply the red endorsement, then send it to the Grand Secretariat."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong hurriedly acknowledged, and bearing the memorial in both hands, departed.

Wei Zhongxian, standing not far off, sighed inwardly — wouldn't this Marquis of Xining be scared to death? The Court of Judicial Review, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate would have been bad enough, but now even the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot were going — it had to be said that the mere show of force was enough to frighten a man to death.

But Wei Zhongxian also knew that His Majesty was not doing this for the sake of the Marquis of Xining at all.

Plainly put, His Majesty was killing the chicken to warn the monkeys — the Marquis of Xining was the chicken, and the other hereditary nobles and imperial relatives by marriage were the monkeys. The purpose was still the matter of taxing manor estates.

The uproar outside had grown so loud that Wei Zhongxian could hardly avoid knowing of it.

Yesterday the Duke of Ying had entered the palace to request the taxing of manor estates, and it was said His Majesty had not agreed — indeed, he had quarreled with the Duke of Ying over it.

The specific content of the quarrel had also leaked out: the Duke of Ying felt His Majesty was betraying his ministers' devotion, while His Majesty felt that the ancestral rules could not be changed, and that the court must not contend with the people for profit.

Wei Zhongxian knew this matter very well. He had originally thought it would simply fizzle out, but never expected that a change would come so soon.

He had found it somewhat strange before; now it was no longer strange. Once today's news spread, many hearts would surely be thrown into panic.

And indeed, just as Wei Zhongxian had thought, once the news spread, people truly did panic. The reason was simple — if even a man like the Marquis of Xining was going to be dealt with, what of those who ranked below him?

Even certain fellows of higher standing than the Marquis of Xining felt no confidence in their hearts.

More important still were not the hereditary nobles, but the imperial relatives by marriage. Compared to the hereditary nobles, their hearts were even more unsettled — the reason was simple: they were not people who had received the nation's grace for generations.

If a hereditary noble were disciplined, perhaps someone might still plead for him — after all, his ancestors had rendered merit for the Great Ming and exerted effort for the Great Ming, and his household still held an iron certificate of immunity.

It should be understood that titles of nobility also had their grades — this was a rule set down from the time of the Founding Emperor. Meritorious officials were given iron certificates, with four grades of honorific titles.

Those who aided the Founding Emperor in pacifying the realm were titled "Founding Assistants, Sincere in Counsel." Those who followed the Chengzu Emperor in raising troops were titled "Heaven-Serving, Crisis-Quelling, Sincere." The rest were titled "Heaven-Serving, Fortune-Supporting, Sincere," and "Heaven-Serving, Guarding, Sincere." Military officials were titled "Merit-Exerting Military Officials," and civil officials "Upholding-Right Civil Officials."

Those hereditary nobles were mostly of the first two categories. As for the imperial relatives by marriage — while a member of their family was in power, their status naturally went without saying. Take the Zhang family of the Hongzhi Emperor's empress: while that emperor was on the throne, how arrogant and overbearing the Zhangs were, unrivaled in their moment of glory. But what came later?

The Zhengde Emperor had no heirs, and after the Jiajing Emperor took the throne, the Zhang family came within a hair of annihilation — they were nearly all dead.

Now that the Emperor wanted to crack down on people, who would he strike first?

The hereditary nobles were hard to move — but were the imperial relatives by marriage hard to move?

How could such people's hearts not be panicked? And so they began burrowing through walls and doors to find connections — countless people surged toward the Duke of Ying's residence; at the same time, some began submitting memorials pledging their loyalty at length.

The residence of the Duke of Ying.

Zhang Weixian was chatting with his son.

Setting down the teacup in his hand, Zhang Weixian said with a smile: "See that? This is His Majesty's handiwork. That settles everyone down, doesn't it?"

"Father, are you saying that what Cui Chengxiu did was done at His Majesty's instigation?" Zhang Zhiji asked with some confusion.

"Instigation?" Zhang Weixian let out a cold laugh, speaking with a mocking tone: "Everyone knows what sort of man Cui Chengxiu is — he's nothing but a dog of Wei Zhongxian. For all that he's a civil official of the Censorate, he hasn't a shred of backbone. His submitting that routine memorial was certainly done at Wei Zhongxian's instigation."

"As for why Wei Zhongxian did this, isn't it simple? It's to curry favor and ingratiate himself with His Majesty! Besides, when one has reached Wei Zhongxian's level, does he still need His Majesty to issue instructions? His Majesty needn't say a word, and they'll get things done on their own. Otherwise, why do you think those eunuchs are so favored? It's because they can handle affairs and know how to handle them. Enough, let's not talk about them — this time, they'll probably advance another step."

"Can the Grand Secretariat just sit by and watch?" Zhang Zhiji said hesitantly.

"You really think those old fellows in the Grand Secretariat are easy to deal with? You just watch — this matter isn't over yet. Wei Zhongxian wants to fish some advantage out of this, but he won't get the chance. The civil officials will make their move soon enough, but that has nothing to do with us."

Zhang Zhiji nodded and said: "Someone from the Marquis of Xining's household just sent over a visiting card, saying they wish to see you. Will you receive them or not?"

"Coming to see me at a time like this — has he lost his mind?" Zhang Weixian said with irritation: "These people spend all day earning silver and fooling around with women, and it's rotted their brains. What do they want coming to see me now?"

"Tell him to go kneel at the gate of the Western Park. Idiot!"

Hearing his father's words, Zhang Zhiji quickly said: "I'll go at once."

After saying this, he turned and walked out, his steps urgent and his pace very fast.