Chapter 412: With the Academy in Hand, the World Is Mine

Hearing the questions from Wei Zhongxian and Cui Chengxiu, Ruan Dacheng immediately revealed a bitter smile and said helplessly, "Director Wei, Lord Cui, I don't know either! I was just blocked inside the house by them. If I hadn't dodged quickly, I'd probably have been beaten to death by now."

Hearing this, Wei Zhongxian and Cui Chengxiu both furrowed their brows.

The two hadn't expected the situation to be this severe — clearly someone had ordered a deadly strike.

Then it was simple: someone was stirring things up here, and they wanted to blow the matter out of proportion, even going so far as to try to kill Ruan Dacheng.

"Then what do we do?" Wei Zhongxian looked at Cui Chengxiu and said directly.

Whether Ruan Dacheng lived or died, Wei Zhongxian didn't care. A man like that dying was no great loss — he was an inconsequential person to begin with. But if the matter couldn't be investigated clearly, then Wei Zhongxian would be in real trouble.

Cui Chengxiu said with a bitter smile, "I don't have any good ideas right now either."

"Then let's just arrest all of them." Wei Zhongxian thought it over, then gritted his teeth and said, "Once we get them back, we'll deal with them slowly, make them testify against each other. I expect we'll get a good result."

"That might not be appropriate," Cui Chengxiu said hesitantly. "After all, there are people here who support the Academy reform. If we arrest all of them, the matter will definitely blow up, and then we won't be able to answer to His Majesty."

Just at that moment, Sun Yunhe walked over, came straight to Wei Zhongxian's side, and said cautiously, "Director, someone wants to see you. He says he knows who the ringleaders of the disturbance are."

Hearing this, Wei Zhongxian's eyes lit up.

He hadn't expected someone to come forward with information at a time like this — and it seemed this person had been keeping his eyes open all along.

Wei Zhongxian said with a delighted expression, "Where is he? Where? Take me to see him at once!"

"Very well." Sun Yunhe acknowledged, turned around, and led the way.

Wei Zhongxian hurried after him. Cui Chengxiu followed as well.

Though Wei Zhongxian hadn't called for Cui Chengxiu, he still followed along.

Cui Chengxiu genuinely wanted to keep an eye on Wei Zhongxian right now, afraid that this Director might stir up some huge trouble.

The three soon arrived at a corner, where someone was already waiting.

Upon seeing Wei Zhongxian, the man hastily bowed and said, "Greetings to Director Wei, greetings to Lord Cui."

Wei Zhongxian and the others looked the man up and down.

Though he had tidied himself up somewhat, one could still tell he was in a sorry state — his hair was disheveled, his clothes were tattered, and he even had a black eye. Clearly he had been beaten quite badly.

"You know who it is?" Wei Zhongxian looked at him and asked directly.

The man smiled and said, "I do. My name is Wang Linsheng. I'm one of Eunuch Chen's men in the Directorate of Ceremonial, and many of the people here are as well. We came to support the Academy reform — most of those supporting the reform were brought here by us."

Hearing this, Wei Zhongxian was taken aback, and his expression turned grave.

He truly hadn't expected Wang Linsheng to be one of Chen Hong's men. Chen Hong was currently very favored in front of His Majesty, and most crucially, Chen Hong was a very loyal dog of His Majesty's. Without His Majesty's orders, Chen Hong wouldn't dare do something like this.

"How do you prove your identity?" Wei Zhongxian looked at Wang Linsheng and asked directly.

"You can go to Eunuch Chen to verify," Wang Linsheng said directly. "Having us cooperate with Director Wei was also Eunuch Chen's instruction. Eunuch Chen said that the most important thing right now is to properly carry out His Majesty's task."

Hearing this, Wei Zhongxian nodded. He understood what Chen Hong meant.

Wei Zhongxian said, "I'll remember this favor. I'll speak with Chen Hong about it later. Now tell me — who exactly is leading the disturbance?"

Wang Linsheng smiled and said, "Among those who oppose, there's actually no leader. The few ringleaders stirring things up are all hiding among the crowd of supporters."

"Director Wei, look over there." As he spoke, Wang Linsheng pointed to one side. "There are a dozen or so people over there, led by a man named Zhang Qiu. He's the leader of this whole affair. Apparently he's a close friend of Wei Dazhong, and he's the one who stirred this whole thing up."

"Wei Dazhong?" Wei Zhongxian asked with some hesitation.

How was this man sharing his surname?

When Cui Chengxiu heard the name Wei Dazhong, his expression shifted, and he walked directly to Wei Zhongxian's side and said, "This Wei Dazhong is one of Gao Panlong's men. Donglin Academy is their stronghold."

Hearing this, Wei Zhongxian showed a look of sudden understanding, then smiled and said, "So that's how it is. It seems the Donglin Faction in the court hasn't been cleaned out yet. These people really do seize every opportunity to make trouble — they're never peaceful. By the way, where has that Wei Dazhong gone?"

Hearing Wei Zhongxian ask this, Cui Chengxiu hastily recounted the whole sequence of events to Wei Zhongxian.

How Cui Chengxiu and Ruan Dacheng had schemed against Wei Dazhong — he concealed nothing and told Wei Zhongxian everything.

After hearing Cui Chengxiu's account, Wei Zhongxian waved his hand and said, "You two were too petty about it. Once you arrested him, you should have interrogated him. And you shouldn't have used such a flimsy pretext. Only through interrogation can you dig out his accomplices."

Cui Chengxiu could only smile bitterly.

Could he have done such a thing? He hadn't expected these people to have accomplices in the first place. And even if they did have accomplices, he couldn't just arrest people at will — he didn't have an imperial edict like Wei Zhongxian did.

"Alright, since we know who the mastermind is, this is easy to handle." Wei Zhongxian said with a smile, while giving Sun Yunhe a meaningful look.

Sun Yunhe naturally understood. He turned and left with his men, went straight into the crowd of supporting students, and arrested Zhang Qiu along with several men around him.

Those taken away by Sun Yunhe also included the students who opposed the Academy reform.

Though they struggled and made a fuss, it was all useless — the Eastern Depot men suppressed them all.

Moreover, there were students supporting the Academy reform on site, so the opponents couldn't stir up much trouble anyway.

The matter at Shoushan Academy was quickly settled.

As he was leaving, Wei Zhongxian looked at Cui Chengxiu and said directly, "Get this matter sorted out as quickly as possible. Push the Academy reform through as fast as you can, and don't let any more trouble crop up. This incident has blown up so big that someone in the court might already be preparing to impeach you. You need to be careful."

Cui Chengxiu hastily nodded and said, "Rest assured, Director. I know what to do."

Wei Zhongxian left with his men, and Cui Chengxiu immediately went to find Zhong Yuzheng. Together with a few others, they discussed matters inside Shoushan Academy.

Zhong Yuzheng still hadn't recovered by this point. He simply couldn't understand what these people were thinking — why did they have to make trouble here? Was what he had done not enough?

Thinking of the words of opposition from those people, Zhong Yuzheng felt somewhat dejected inside.

He let out a helpless sigh and said directly to Cui Chengxiu, "Lord Cui, I'm afraid Shoushan Academy cannot agree to the reform."

Hearing this, Cui Chengxiu's brows furrowed, and his face darkened.

If this matter wasn't handled properly, he would have absolutely no future — not even a glimmer of hope. What he needed now was to complete the reform of Shoushan Academy flawlessly; if he couldn't, he felt he would be finished.

The reason was simple: Shoushan Academy was no longer merely a matter concerning one single academy — it had become the focal point of the struggle between both sides. If the reform here couldn't be completed, it would mean these troublemakers had succeeded, which was absolutely unacceptable to His Majesty, and equally unacceptable to Cui Chengxiu.

"There's no room for negotiation on this matter." Cui Chengxiu said with a dark face. "If it had been before this incident, perhaps there could have been further discussion. But after what happened this time, it's absolutely impossible. Shoushan Academy must undergo reform, and the reform must be completed as quickly as possible."

Hearing this, Zhong Yuzheng's expression also turned ugly.

The reason was also simple: among those who had made trouble this time, Zhong Yuzheng had seen many familiar faces.

As a member of the Donglin Faction, Zhong Yuzheng understood very well that the ones supporting this from behind were the Donglin Faction — they hadn't even bothered to consult him.

Though Shoushan Academy was an independent academy, all academies under heaven belonged to Donglin — this was no longer anything strange. Even in the northwest, academies were a means of spreading Donglin's ideology, and everyone did it that way.

If he didn't return to the embrace of the Donglin Faction now, his reputation would certainly be ruined, and they wouldn't let him off either.

Cui Chengxiu didn't give Zhong Yuzheng any chance to speak, and said directly: "If we delay any longer, it won't benefit any of us. You will still be the dean of the Shoushan Academy, and the court will soon send people to carry out reforms. All the students will also be screened. If anyone is willing, then keep them; if they're unwilling, they can leave at any time."

After hearing this, Zhong Yuzheng looked at Cui Chengxiu with a grim face and said: "What if I refuse?"

"Then we'll have no choice but to invite you to take a trip to the Eastern Depot." Cui Chengxiu's expression was very ugly.

At this point, there was no need to put on any more false pretenses. No matter what it took, these things had to be done.

Ruan Dacheng, standing to one side, heard this and his expression immediately became agitated. He understood Zhong Yuzheng's thoughts and also knew this man's temperament.

This was a stubborn old pedant. If one reasoned with him gently, perhaps it could work; but if one resorted to threats and coercion, it definitely would not.

Ruan Dacheng didn't wait for Zhong Yuzheng to speak and hastily said: "There's no need for that, no need for that."

Both Cui Chengxiu and the other man looked at Ruan Dacheng.

Ruan Dacheng didn't hesitate either, and said directly: "Didn't we already discuss this before? Let me ask Lord Cui now—what does the palace say about this matter?"

Hearing Ruan Dacheng's question, Zhong Yuzheng's expression finally improved somewhat.

Cui Chengxiu glanced at the two men and said: "His Majesty is somewhat worried, afraid that someone might use this incident to stir up trouble, which is why he had Director Wei investigate the matter thoroughly."

"Who would have thought that the moment we arrived, we'd see you two fighting. It proves that His Majesty's concerns were correct—there really are people here causing trouble."

Zhong Yuzheng and Ruan Dacheng exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Clearly, having such an incident break out on their own turf was nothing to be proud of.

"The two of you should immediately write up a routine memorial requesting academy reform. I will submit it on your behalf. As long as this memorial is submitted, I believe the court will give a proper response."

"Rest assured, this incident won't affect the two of you. The troublemakers at Shoushan Academy have already been rooted out, and there won't be any further problems. As for the matter of teaching the sages' way, that's no problem either—the court will agree to it."

Cui Chengxiu was deceiving Zhong Yuzheng and the other man. He had no such assurance at all—he hadn't even said His Majesty would agree, only that the court would.

Cui Chengxiu only hoped that Zhong Yuzheng and the other man would write the memorial. As for what happened afterward, that was no longer within Cui Chengxiu's consideration.

As long as the matter was settled, even if Zhong Yuzheng went back on his word, it would be useless. If he truly reneged and tried to stir up trouble again, then they could directly resort to lethal measures.

Ruan Dacheng shot Cui Chengxiu a meaningful glance.

Cui Chengxiu understood the signal and said: "I'll step outside to check on the students. The two of you should think it over carefully."

With that said, he stood up and walked outside.

At this very moment, within the imperial palace.

The three Grand Secretaries had already arrived at the palace.

Han Kuang and the others had already learned of what was happening outside, and they had suddenly received many routine memorials. Most of the memorials were similar in content, with fierce wording—basically all opposing the academy reform; or else requesting Cui Chengxiu's removal.

All at once, a wave of opposition to the Imperial Academy reform had risen.

To say there was no one orchestrating this behind the scenes would be impossible. But who exactly was behind it was unknown for now, and probably couldn't be traced either.

Still, the three Grand Secretaries dared not take it lightly.

After hearing what Han Kuang and the others reported, a look of helplessness appeared on Zhu Youxiao's face.

It seemed the matter was still not feasible—the Emperor couldn't truly break with the scholars. Only by arresting all these people and completing the academy reform could he, as Emperor, occupy the mainstream position.

Everyone understood this matter—whoever held the academies in their hands controlled public opinion and won the hearts of the scholars.

If the academies were in the Emperor's hands, many people outside would be unable to do the things they wanted to do.

Judging from the current situation, these people were determined to make trouble.

Zhu Youxiao had certainly considered using Wei Zhongxian's methods to push things through by force.

After all, in the original history, Wei Zhongxian had demolished the Donglin Academy and wantonly destroyed academies throughout the entire realm. But what was the result?

The result was that Wei Zhongxian was pushed completely to the opposite side. If Zhu Youxiao did the same, the result would be identical.

What Zhu Youxiao wanted to compete with the Donglin Faction for was the people's hearts, the support of the scholars, and the support of the realm—not simply to knock down the Donglin Faction.

After using violent means to topple them, the people's hearts would still not be won over. At that point, the same troubles would remain. This was not what Zhu Youxiao wanted.

Zhu Youxiao naturally also had a Plan B. He hadn't originally wanted to implement this Plan B, but now it seemed it could no longer be avoided.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at the three Grand Secretaries and said: "What thoughts do you all have? Feel free to share them."

The three exchanged glances, all wearing expressions of difficulty on their faces.