Chapter 400: Each with Their Own Schemes

This needed careful thought.

At this thought, Zhu Youxiao could not help but let out a helpless sigh.

The Wanli reign had actually produced no small number of famous generals—but those were all in the early period; by the late period, the number of famous generals had sharply declined, and there were hardly any who could truly stand on the stage.

This was likely related to how the Wanli Emperor had handled things back then. Qi Jiguang had not met a good end, and that had left many people disheartened.

Especially with the Three Great Campaigns of the Wanli reign, the Great Ming's elite troops had been heavily consumed, and the nation's strength had been heavily drained as well.

Finding a general who could dominate an entire era was genuinely difficult. Under such circumstances, there really was no one who was quite suitable.

Originally, Li Rusong would have been a very suitable choice—if Li Rusong had not died, Liaodong probably would never have fallen into chaos. But Li Rusong was dead, and Liaodong could be said to have no famous generals at all left, which was why it had become a complete mess.

However, Zhu Youxiao also knew that this situation would not last long under his command. As time passed, as he continued to encourage people, the capable men under him would grow more and more numerous.

He believed that by that time, the Great Ming would present a scene of famous generals emerging in abundance. On this point, Zhu Youxiao was utterly confident in his heart.

At the same time, Zhu Youxiao also believed that in the future things would absolutely not go as they had in the original history, where all those capable men had met bad ends. In this life, Zhu Youxiao was determined to make sure they had good outcomes.

Since Zhu Youxiao had ascended the throne, he had done many things, and policies throughout the court had all seen changes. So the ministers placed even greater weight on reading Zhu Youxiao's intentions, and news spread fastest through the court on ordinary days.

As soon as the matter of noble titles came out, everyone was stirred up.

The speed at which the news spread surpassed everyone's imagination.

Within just two hours—everyone in the capital who ought to know had heard, and at the same time everyone was digesting the shock that this news brought.

For the civil officials, this was yet another thing that gave them a headache.

The reform of noble titles looked like it had little to do with the civil officials, but in reality it had a great deal to do with them. The civil officials wanted to intervene but could not find any good justification, which left people feeling somewhat helpless.

If they forced their way in, it would instead provoke backlash. This matter itself concerned the reform of noble titles, and those with the greatest stake in it were the hereditary nobles and the relatives of the imperial clan.

But anyone with clear eyes could see that this was only what appeared on the surface. Starting with this matter, His Majesty had been gradually expanding the power of the Staff Office, and that was a bad signal for everyone.

The reform of noble titles also stirred up a huge uproar among the hereditary nobles and imperial relatives. Although this matter looked like a good thing on the surface, the essence of readjusting noble titles was His Majesty establishing who was close and who was distant, who was favored and who was not.

The old practice of resting on one's hereditary title and living off past glory would probably not be so easy from now on.

The most panicked of all was the Duke of Ding—this man was truly afraid.

Before this, the Duke of Ding had had nothing to do with the Staff Office. The Duke of Ying and the Duke of Cheng had both joined the Staff Office, and only he, the Duke of Ding, had not joined—that alone had already made him very embarrassed.

Now they had gone and created a new noble title system on top of that. If the titles of the other dukes all remained unchanged, and only his, the Duke of Ding's, title was lowered by one rank, then what would he become?

He would certainly become a laughingstock among the hereditary nobles, and he would also fail his ancestors. At this thought, the Duke of Ding was nearly an ant on a hot pan.

In his heart, he was also pondering just what he could do to make His Majesty value him once more.

At the same time, news of the noble title reform also reached the Grand Secretariat.

The four Grand Secretaries were also pondering this matter, but what they were concerned about was not the matter of noble titles.

For the four Grand Secretaries, the titles of the hereditary nobles and imperial relatives had little to do with them—whether they were raised or lowered, it was all the same.

What Han Kuang and the other three cared about was the power of the Staff Office. This plainly showed that His Majesty intended to support the Staff Office. Under such circumstances, it was hard for Han Kuang and the others not to be concerned.

So the four Grand Secretaries gathered together once again and began to discuss this matter.

But after they had gathered, no one spoke for a long while. The reason was simple—they truly did not know what to say.

His Majesty had let the Staff Office deliberate and decide the matter, which in itself left no role for the Grand Secretariat. If the Grand Secretariat wanted to force its way in, there was no good justification to be found. Were they to oppose His Majesty's reform of noble titles?

But His Majesty had not consulted the Grand Secretariat either. If Han Kuang and the others wanted to speak, they would have to steel themselves and go forward. But to steel themselves and go forward, they still needed a reason.

To oppose the reform of noble titles, one also needed grounds for opposition. That justification would probably not be easy to find either. Were they to say it violated ancestral institutions?

Such words, before the current His Majesty, need not even be spoken—they would have no meaning at all.

"There must be some sort of plan," Han Kuang said.

As soon as these words came out, Xu Guangqi and the others all raised their heads.

Xu Guangqi said: "Since this is a matter that has nothing to do with our Grand Secretariat, there's no need for our Grand Secretariat to have any plan, is there?"

The reform of noble titles had little to do with Xu Guangqi, and he did not want to create any conflict with His Majesty over this matter.

Xu Guangqi deeply understood his own position and also understood why His Majesty had promoted him. Within this Grand Secretariat, Xu Guangqi knew what should be done and what should not be done.

Moreover, as for this reform of noble titles, Xu Guangqi truly did not see anything significant in it. If His Majesty wanted the Staff Office to hold some power, then let them have it.

Everyone's gaze fell upon Sun Chengzong's face, wanting to see what he would say. After all, this matter touched upon the Ministry of War—originally it should have been something the Ministry of War did, and now it had been transferred to the Staff Office, which was not quite appropriate.

Sun Chengzong also wore a grim expression; speaking of it, he still felt somewhat pained in his heart.

But His Majesty's dismantling of the court's power was not something that had only begun today. When His Majesty had raised the status of the Office of Transmission before, that had already shown it very clearly; this kind of move this time was not strange either.

When the Staff Office was established, everyone should have already foreseen this day. If His Majesty wanted a Staff Office, naturally it could not be just an empty shell of an institution. Otherwise, why would His Majesty have gone to so much trouble?

So the reform of noble titles simply could not be stopped. In truth, matters at court were just that—either imperial power crushed ministerial power, or ministerial power crushed imperial power.

From the moment the current His Majesty ascended the throne, everything he did had been about gathering power into his own hands.

The first thing the current His Majesty seized was military power—having Qi Jin train the new army, not using the court's money but using the funds of the inner treasury, directly bypassing the Grand Secretariat and the ministers of the Six Ministries.

At the same time, His Majesty had also launched an anti-corruption campaign at court, eliminating a large batch of people from the Donglin Faction. But he had not eliminated them all—instead, he had fostered three forces in Xu Guangqi, Han Kuang, and Sun Chengzong, preventing them from uniting into a single rope, thereby weakening the power of the Grand Secretariat.

His Majesty had also supported the Office of Transmission, stripping away part of the power of the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries; he had set about establishing the Imperial Academy, cutting away another portion of the Ministry of Rites' power.

Under such circumstances, His Majesty's control over the court was already very strong. This could be seen from Xu Guangqi's words—he would not butt heads with His Majesty over this matter.

A court that could not unite into a single rope had no capacity to resist at all.

Moreover, on the current court, all sorts of affairs were complicated and tangled, making it very difficult to form a unified consensus.

The recent matter in Shandong showed how bold His Majesty was, because His Majesty had confidence—the military achievements of suppressing the rebellion in the southwest had shown everyone the capability of the new army. With the support of the new army, His Majesty became even more unscrupulous in doing things.

There were also no small number of officials at court who supported and backed His Majesty—the Xu Guangqi faction was one example.

Besides that, no matter how loudly Han Kuang shouted his slogans, when it truly came down to matters, no one knew which way Han Kuang might flip. If one believed Han Kuang's words, one would definitely be tricked to death by him.

If Han Kuang did not behave, the Censorate would impeach him. After all, the one in charge at the Censorate now was Cui Chengxiu, and he was Wei Zhongxian's man.

With the pincer attack from both the Censorate and His Majesty, replacing Han Kuang would be the simplest thing in the world. When that time came, the one to take his place would be Xu Guangqi.

So now no one at court made a move—they all sat still like old turtles.

If he stood up to oppose this matter himself, Sun Chengzong believed he would certainly be replaced by His Majesty.

All sorts of thoughts churned back and forth in Sun Chengzong's mind.

After pondering for a moment, Sun Chengzong said, "Since this matter is being handled by the Staff Office, we don't need to concern ourselves with it. Let them do their work."

No one had expected Sun Chengzong to say such a thing.

A trace of disappointment clearly flashed through Han Kuang's eyes. A pack of old foxes—none of them easy to deal with.

Han Kuang was also well aware that the situation at court was plain to see: his own power as Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat had been greatly weakened. Now he was just as the people outside cursed him: a clay-molded Grand Secretary.

"Since Grand Secretary Sun has spoken thus, then let it be done that way." Han Kuang said.

The matter came to an end here.

This session of the Grand Secretariat had essentially produced nothing—or rather, no one wanted to produce anything. Still, it had set a tone.

After several rounds of mutual concession, everyone more or less understood that it was impossible for the Grand Secretariat to pull together as one.

Even if Xu Guangqi and Sun Chengzong had some collusion, and Han Kuang could find common ground with Sun Chengzong on any matter, no one could possibly weld three separate factions into one. Take this matter of noble rank reform, for instance—Xu Guangqi had opposed it with clear banners.

Since no decision had been made, there was no point in continuing the discussion. The four men each went their separate ways.

After leaving the Grand Secretariat, Sun Chengzong walked out toward the outside.

Sun Chengzong let out a gentle breath and soon arrived at the Ministry of Personnel. He wanted to see Minister of Personnel Zhou Jiamo.

As Minister of War and a Grand Secretary of low ranking within the Grand Secretariat, a major reason Sun Chengzong could stand firm at court and make no one dare underestimate him was his relationship with Zhou Jiamo.

With the Minister of Personnel backing him, combined with his own abilities, Sun Chengzong's position was very secure.

Seeing Sun Chengzong arrive, Zhou Jiamo smiled and welcomed him in. Tea was quickly served.

After the two took their seats as host and guest, Zhou Jiamo smiled and said, "Judging by Zhisheng's expression, it seems you have something on your mind. Is it because of the Staff Office matter?"

Before Zhou Jiamo, Sun Chengzong naturally had no need to conceal anything. He nodded lightly and recounted what had happened in the Grand Secretariat to Zhou Jiamo, then quietly waited for his response.

"This Han Kuang harbors ill intentions!" Zhou Jiamo stroked his beard and said with a smile.

"I could see that too." Sun Chengzong nodded and sighed. "That's also why I didn't agree to Han Kuang. I want to get things done, but he's scheming for my position. That makes me afraid to do anything."

"This victory in Liaodong seems to have struck right at Han Kuang's sore spot." Zhou Jiamo said with a smile.

"Everyone knows about the Liaodong situation. Though no one at court has brought it up recently, that doesn't mean they aren't paying attention. Why did His Majesty invest so much energy and money into drilling the new army? Wasn't it to build a strong fighting force?"

"Our His Majesty has grand ambitions in his heart—we can all see that, so there's a consensus at court. His Majesty will certainly send troops to Liaodong; it's only a matter of sooner or later."

"Xu Guangqi oversees the Hundred Crafts Institute and the Ministry of Revenue, while you oversee the Ministry of War. When war comes to Liaodong, you two are certain to earn merit. No one dared act before because everyone feared losing."

"But now Xiong Tingbi has won in Liaodong, and with the new army's fighting strength at court, who knows—this war isn't a sure thing, but at least it's seventy or eighty percent certain. That's making a lot of people restless."

"The Liaodong campaign is of grave importance, so the court will certainly send someone as Supreme Commander. Xu Guangqi is out of the question, so the most suitable candidate is you. In terms of office, you are a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat and Minister of War; in terms of connections, you are close to His Majesty. Thus, you are unquestionably the first choice. Once Liaodong is won, your position will inevitably rise with the tide."

"Han Kuang appears upright and moderate, but his mind is calculating. He's sowing discord. His Majesty's reform of noble ranks is something no one can touch—touch it and there will be no good end. What you did was very wise."

Sun Chengzong sighed and said with some helplessness, "But the Staff Office growing stronger is ultimately not a good thing."

"It won't be so easy for the Staff Office to grow." Zhou Jiamo said with a smile. "With just those few people in the Staff Office now, there's no chance at all. The strongest fighting force at court is the Imperial Guard, which answers to the Imperial Guard Command Office. No one else can get a hand in. How things will turn out in the future, no one can say."

Just then, a clerk appeared at the doorway and said, "Sir, someone from the Grand Secretariat has come looking for Grand Secretary Sun. They say a messenger from the palace has arrived with an imperial edict, and they urgently need Grand Secretary Sun to return."

Hearing this, Zhou Jiamo was startled and turned to look at Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong was also puzzled—why would an imperial edict come now?

Still, after thinking it over, he stood up and said, "In that case, I should be getting back."

Zhou Jiamo also rose to his feet and said with a smile, "Let me see Zhisheng out."

Leaving the Ministry of Personnel compound, Sun Chengzong returned to the Grand Secretariat. The moment he entered, he saw Chen Hong waiting with a beaming smile.

The other Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat were also present, clearly all waiting for Sun Chengzong to return.

Upon seeing Sun Chengzong, Chen Hong smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "This servant must first congratulate Grand Secretary Sun."