Chapter 51: Zhu Tongmeng

"Your Majesty, it is nearly complete." Chen Hong hurried forward a few steps and said in a respectful tone.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Have the Grand Secretariat draft an edict: promote Shuntian Prefecture Vice Governor Bi Maokang to Left Supervising Secretary of the Office of Transmission."

This was the post Zhu Youxiao had chosen for Bi Maokang. How good was this post? The answer was: not very good at all.

The Office of Transmission was a very important yamen, responsible for handling memorials and sealed petitions from officials and commoners alike. Its chief was the Transmission Commissioner, one of the Nine Ministers — yet the lowest-ranked of the Nine Ministers.

Because of the existence of the Grand Secretariat and the Directorate of Ceremonial, the Office of Transmission had no real power whatsoever. Even the Transmission Commissioner had no real authority, let alone the Left Supervising Secretary.

Within the Office of Transmission, there was one Left and one Right Supervising Secretary, both of the fourth rank (receiving memorials from within and without and sealed petitions from officials and commoners).

The reason Zhu Youxiao had placed Bi Maokang in this post was simple: the post was leisurely, with little to do.

Only such a post suited Bi Maokang, allowing him time to enter the palace and keep the Emperor company at the Hundred Crafts Institute. If Bi Maokang had been placed in the Ministry of Works, when would he have had the time?

As for power — did people in this era look at official rank? No. What mattered was how close you were to your superior.

A leader's secretary and driver were not high-ranking, yet who dared look down on them? With Bi Maokang attending at the Emperor's side all day, how could his influence be small?

"Yes, this servant will go deliver the edict at once." Chen Hong acknowledged and turned to walk out.

Zhu Youxiao, meanwhile, was pondering the problem of money.

He was certainly going to spend money in large amounts — whether for Qi Jin's troop training or his own Hundred Crafts Institute, both were big spenders.

Where was money to come from? Tax reform? Or commerce?

Don't be ridiculous — he lacked both the strength and the energy for that. He needed to think of other ways.

Right now he was like someone running a company on the verge of bankruptcy. To revive the company, he needed an injection of outside capital.

"Summon Wei Zhongxian." Zhu Youxiao tapped lightly on the armrest of his wheelchair, his face expressionless.

Wei Zhongxian soon walked in from outside.

These past days he had been keeping watch over the Three Judicial Offices. The case of framing Xiong Tingbi had stalled there — or rather, his strategy was proceeding very smoothly, because the men at the Three Judicial Offices had all retracted their confessions. As they retracted, matters became even more awkward.

"This servant greets Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian knelt to the ground and respectfully saluted Zhu Youxiao, excitement evident in his tone.

Glancing at Wei Zhongxian, Zhu Youxiao said expressionlessly, "How goes the matter at the Three Judicial Offices?"

"Your Majesty, there is no progress at the Three Judicial Offices." Wei Zhongxian said hurriedly, "Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, Zhang Xiude and the others have all retracted their confessions, and Li Ruzhen has also retracted his. According to Li Ruzhen's testimony, he never bribed anyone — it was all this servant's fabrication and frame-up."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, then continued, "What does Yang Lian say?"

"Your Majesty, it seems Magistrate Yang has no way forward." Wei Zhongxian raised his head as he spoke, saying this cautiously.

"Someone come." Zhu Youxiao called out expressionlessly toward the outside.

Chen Hong hurried in from outside: "This servant is here."

"Go to the Censorate and deliver the edict. Tell Yang Lian that I give him only half a month. If he cannot produce a verdict within half a month, then I will replace him." With that, Zhu Youxiao reached out, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said expressionlessly.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Hearing this, Chen Hong turned and ran out once again — he was now a full-time errand runner.

Glancing at Wei Zhongxian standing to one side, Zhu Youxiao thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you know Zhu Tongmeng?"

Zhu Tongmeng was actually a very interesting man. In the Xiong Tingbi case, he had helped the Donglin Faction, because it was he who had gone to Liaodong to review Xiong Tingbi's achievements. At that time, Zhu Tongmeng was a Supervising Secretary in the Bureau of Military Appointments.

When Zhu Tongmeng returned and submitted his memorial, he comprehensively set forth Xiong Tingbi's achievements, saying that the people of Liaodong spoke of him with tears of praise, and that hundreds of thousands of lives had been preserved solely because of Tingbi.

Yet at the very end, Zhu Tongmeng said that in the Battle of Puhe, when the enemy attacked Shenyang, Xiong Tingbi had spurred his horse to the rescue — how great his courage! But then, seeing the weakness of the officers and soldiers, he had suddenly retired to his hometown. Where, then, did he place the Emperor's great kindness to him?

In fact, Xiong Tingbi's resignation was precisely because of the impeachments by Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, Zhang Xiude and others. Censor Zhang Xiude had further impeached him for destroying Liaoyang. Xiong Tingbi became even more indignant and submitted another memorial to clear himself, even saying, "The Liaodong lands have now turned from danger to safety, yet I, your servant, am about to go from life to death."

He submitted a memorial vigorously defending himself and requesting to be dismissed and return home. Plainly put, this was declaring his true intentions.

But when it reached Zhu Tongmeng's mouth, it became something different entirely — all of it turned into Xiong Tingbi's crimes.

Zhu Tongmeng seemed like a member of the Donglin Faction, yet he impeached Censor-in-Chief Zou Yuanbiao and Feng Congwu for establishing the "Shoushan Academy," thereby offending the Donglin Faction and being directly dismissed from office.

Not until the fourth year of Tianqi, when the Donglin Faction suffered a great defeat, did Wei Zhongxian recall Zhu Tongmeng and Guo Yunhou as Vice Ministers of the Court of the Imperial Stud. Shortly after, Zhu Tongmeng was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, favored throughout the capital.

After the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, he executed Wei Zhongxian and purged the eunuch faction. Zhu Tongmeng was listed in the case of traitors and was ultimately branded a member of the eunuch faction. The main evidence of his crime was that Zhu Tongmeng had once built a life shrine for Wei Zhongxian exceeding the prescribed specifications.

Clearly, this man was a bundle of contradictions.

Yet such cases were also numerous — many people, squeezed and suppressed by the Donglin Faction, resolutely threw themselves into the embrace of the eunuch faction.

The Donglin Faction's exclusivity was too strong — either with them or against them — directly driving no small number of people into becoming eunuch partisans. Zhu Tongmeng was one of them.

This man was someone Zhu Youxiao intended to use.

"Zhu Tongmeng, the Supervising Secretary of the Bureau of Military Appointments?" Wei Zhongxian asked hurriedly. He wondered what His Majesty wanted with this Zhu Tongmeng.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "That's him. This is his routine memorial. Take a look."

Wei Zhongxian was startled, then hurriedly took the memorial and glanced through it.

It was a memorial of impeachment, very simple in content — impeaching Zou Yuanbiao and others for establishing the Shoushan Academy.

Wei Zhongxian read the memorial twice through and still could not see what problem lay within it. He could not help but hesitate.

"Your Majesty, this servant thinks Zhu Tongmeng makes sense!" Wei Zhongxian gritted his teeth and bowed, saying, "The fall of the Song dynasty was due to lecturing on learning; this should be severely censured."

Zhu Youxian glanced at Wei Zhongxian and sighed inwardly. No wonder Wei Zhongxian could rise to Nine Thousand Years — this sensitivity and decisiveness alone were extraordinary.

Letting out a light sigh, Zhu Youxiao said somewhat helplessly, "That is how you think, but how do the people of the realm think? How do those civil officials think?"

Having said this, Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Enough. You may withdraw."