Chapter 312: The Emperor Leaves the Capital

Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi, then spoke: "I will assign this matter to someone else. You focus on your preparations—I will allocate you a venue specifically for compiling and translating these books."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xu Guangqi quickly replied in agreement.

"Alright, you may withdraw now." Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi and spoke slowly.

After Xu Guangqi left, Zhu Youxiao leaned back in his rocking chair, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest, a hesitant expression on his face. After a long moment, it seemed he had made up his mind—the hesitation vanished, replaced by resolve.

Turning to look at Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao spoke: "Go fetch Wei Zhongxian for me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong quickly acknowledged, then turned and hurried out. Clearly, His Majesty had another task for Wei Zhongxian.

For Wei Zhongxian, these days had not been easy.

Ever since His Majesty ascended the throne, Wei Zhongxian had been given important responsibilities, and his standing had risen very quickly. But recently, his position was no longer so high, and his days had grown difficult.

First, the competition came from his traditional old rival—the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

After that fellow Luo Sigong was removed, Wei Zhongxian had thought the Embroidered Uniform Guard would decline for a while. But who would have thought that this Xu Xianchun would rise up and actually gain His Majesty's favor and appointment? The Embroidered Uniform Guard had been basking in glory lately.

Following the Office of Transmission around, arresting people and trying cases everywhere, their standing had grown very quickly.

Besides that, he had not accomplished much in official circles either. The positions of the several Grand Secretaries in the Grand Secretariat had grown ever more secure. With the Office of Transmission wielding power as well, the Eastern Depot's days had become increasingly difficult.

Recently, His Majesty had not assigned him any new tasks.

Wei Zhongxian knew very well what this meant for a eunuch in the palace. It was a sign that he was about to fall out of favor—and this had Wei Zhongxian frantic with worry.

But he had no good solution. If His Majesty had no use for him, and he forced himself forward, it would likely backfire. Upon hearing that he had been summoned, Wei Zhongxian came running as fast as he could.

His heart was pounding with excitement—his chance had finally come.

Watching Wei Zhongxian rush in, Zhu Youxiao said: "Catch your breath before you speak."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian quickly acknowledged.

Once Wei Zhongxian had stopped panting, Zhu Youxiao finally spoke: "There is a matter I want you to handle. You must do it well."

"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will certainly do it well." Wei Zhongxian quickly gave his assurance.

"Lately I have taken a liking to some books—all of them brought over by those foreigners. I want to find more of these books. This task is yours to handle."

"Oh, right—those books are written in their own script. Go bring those people to the capital as well, and have them translate the books for me."

"I hear there are quite a few of their churches in places like Nanchang. Go find people there."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian quickly said: "Rest assured, Your Majesty. This servant will return and arrange men at once. I will definitely find these people for Your Majesty, and all these books will be delivered to the capital completely intact."

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded, then said: "Then go handle it."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian acknowledged, then hastily performed the formal bow and said: "This servant takes his leave."

Watching Wei Zhongxian's retreating figure, Zhu Youxiao let out a sigh of relief. Once this matter was delegated, Wei Zhongxian would certainly handle it well—after being pent up for so long, he would work hard now that he had a task.

As for whether those people would be willing to come—that was not within Zhu Youxiao's considerations.

Whether it was the Eastern Depot or Wei Zhongxian, they had no scruples when handling matters. Their only goal was to please him, so they operated without any hesitation.

This was why he had not let Xu Guangqi handle it, but instead given the task to Wei Zhongxian.

If those missionaries tried any tricks, Wei Zhongxian would resort to force directly. Moreover, when Wei Zhongxian collected books, he would not care about the means.

After delegating the matter, Zhu Youxiao could finally breathe easy.

In the following days, there were no major events at court. Everyone's attention was focused on the imperial examinations, which made the court considerably more stable.

But that was not to say nothing stirred—the examinations had indeed caused an uproar.

The reason was simple: because of this examination's questions, Feng Congwu had gone to extremes. He had manipulated the examination topics to a great degree.

He had replaced the Four Books and Five Classics that should have been tested with Xunzi.

The examination question was: "Heaven has its seasons, earth has its resources, man has his governance."

This passage came from Xunzi's "Discourse on Heaven," expressing the most direct core of Xunzi's thought—the separation of Heaven and man. When this question was announced, it caused an uproar in public opinion.

Countless people ran about shouting in protest; countless people cursed and raged.

But at court, there was strangely complete silence on the matter. It was as if no one had heard anything, as if it had never happened at all.

This only further inflamed the anger of the scholars. Countless people began to campaign, hoping someone would step forward to speak out.

For many scholars who revered Mencius, this was nothing short of a catastrophe. For a time, throughout the capital, public sentiment was in turmoil—several incidents of scholars causing disturbances even broke out.

Many people were deeply worried, afraid that chaos would ensue.

Of course, there were also those who disapproved. Some submitted routine memorials—but they did not target Xunzi directly. Instead, they went straight after Feng Congwu, impeaching him for unfairness in the examinations.

In plain terms, they said he favored the students of his academy and had failed to be fair and impartial.

Not many submitted such memorials—their main purpose was to test Zhu Youxiao's attitude. If Zhu Youxiao showed no reaction, they would continue submitting more.

In the palace, Zhu Youxiao flipped through the memorials, his face expressionless.

He casually tossed aside the memorials impeaching Feng Congwu, then picked up his tea and took a sip. This was actually what Zhu Youxiao wanted—these were the very things he intended to change.

Naturally, he could not listen to these people's nonsense at a time like this.

The guiding ideology of the Great Ming had to be changed. The way of Confucius and Mencius would not do—it had to be replaced with Xunzi's doctrine. This was what Zhu Youxiao had always insisted on, and what he had always wanted to push forward.

For all scholars, the orthodox tradition they defended was, in plain terms, their own interests.

If he touched their orthodox tradition, he touched their interests—of course they would speak out. Turning to glance at Chen Hong, Zhu Youxiao said: "Have the Embroidered Uniform Guard keep watch. If anyone causes trouble, and it gets too violent, have them arrest the culprits."

"But tell Xu Xianchun—no deaths."

"Yes, Your Majesty. This servant will certainly convey that to him." Chen Hong quickly replied.

As long as no lives were lost over this matter, it was nothing serious. The ministers at court would not make a fuss with him over this.

After all, this matter had already been discussed before.

At court, the various factions were now in a balance of power—none could overcome the others. So Zhu Youxiao was not worried about problems arising at court. As long as the court itself was stable, suppressing the unrest below was all that was needed.

Through this examination, he wanted to tell all the scholars under heaven: change your allegiance.

If you dare not change your allegiance, you will have no way forward. Zhu Youxiao believed there were stubborn-minded people, but more people studied precisely to become officials, to get ahead—they would quickly switch their allegiance.

Once he expanded the academies, even more people would join them.

The reason was also simple: the academy's students had an advantage in examinations. For Zhu Youxiao, who had experienced exam-oriented education, he understood very well what it felt like to study for the sake of exams.

Once he had done what came next, things would become much simpler.

As for what to do afterward, that was rather troublesome, because Zhu Youxiao wanted to leave the capital. So he thought of someone again, glanced at Chen Hong, and said: "Spread the word that I have been plagued by nightmares recently."

Hearing this, Chen Hong was startled and quickly said: "Your Majesty, should we summon an imperial physician to take a look?"

"No need." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said: "Just spread the word. Also, have Han Li come to the palace to conduct a few rites to ward off evil and dispel misfortune for me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong quickly agreed.

Although he did not know what His Majesty intended to do, Chen Hong was very clear in his heart that whatever needed to be done this time was probably no small matter.

It was best not to get involved. He would just keep an eye on Xu Xianchun and make sure nothing went wrong.

The news that Zhu Youxiao was plagued by nightmares spread quickly, and soon rites were being conducted in the palace. These events left the court officials utterly bewildered.

Some even submitted routine memorials, admonishing Zhu Youxiao not to be overly superstitious about ghosts and spirits.

Zhu Youxiao naturally turned a deaf ear to this. As for ghosts and spirits, he certainly could not put too much faith in them in the future, because what he was promoting was Xunzi's teachings. Perhaps later he would even bring out the Mohist doctrine of ghosts, but now was not the time.

After the matter had brewed for a few days, Zhu Youxiao summoned all the Grand Secretaries.

When they arrived at the palace, they saw Zhu Youxiao reclining sideways on the couch, looking utterly listless. Xu Guangqi quickly spoke up: "Your Majesty, perhaps you should summon an imperial physician for a look!"

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said: "I know my own body well enough; there is no need to summon an imperial physician."

"Han Li has already told me that the reason I am plagued by nightmares is that the ancestors have appeared in my dreams. Our Great Ming faces a great calamity — the Shandong earthquake is the omen. Therefore, I truly wish to leave the capital to pay respects at the ancestral tombs and beseech the ancestors for their protection."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, the several men were all somewhat stunned. It was too sudden; for a moment they could not react.

His Majesty actually wanted to leave the capital, and the reason he gave was to pay respects at the ancestral tombs.

This made matters rather difficult. If they did not let him go, would that not be preventing His Majesty from fulfilling filial piety? But if they let him go, the journey would be arduous, and the expense would not be small either.