Chapter 7: Han Kuang Offers Counsel

Watching Chen Hong walk away, the attendants in the duty room wore varied expressions, but one thing was clear to everyone—this matter was trouble.

Liu Yijing, however, was deeply uncertain. What did His Majesty mean by this?

When Xiong Tingbi had been removed earlier, others might not have known what was really going on, but how could Liu Yijing not know? It was the Donglin Faction eliminating those who disagreed with them!

Never mind a mere Xiong Tingbi—what about Fang Congzhe, the former Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat?

Fang Congzhe had essentially served as sole Grand Secretary through the latter part of the Wanli reign. After the Tianqi Emperor ascended the throne, Old Fang knew he had lost his function as a balancing force and could no longer contribute to the court situation—so didn't he just go home?

But His Majesty now wanted to recall Yuan Yingtai and reinstate Xiong Tingbi. The waters here ran deep indeed!

"What should I do?" Liu Yijing couldn't help but sink into deep thought.

In truth, Liu Yijing also knew that he was merely occupying the seat for now—before long, he too would have to step down.

After thinking it over briefly, Liu Yijing smiled wryly at himself. In his current position, why bother thinking about all this? What did it have to do with him anyway? He might as well just follow His Majesty's wishes and draft the edict.

"Lord Liu, this matter seems rather improper, does it not?"

Liu Yijing could endure it, but someone else could not—that someone was Han Kuang, Second Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat.

Unlike Liu Yijing, this Han Kuang was a true veteran of the Donglin Faction. Like Ye Xianggao, he had often participated in major court affairs, could render fair judgments, and was able to coexist with the ministers of the Zhejiang Faction.

Dismissing Yuan Yingtai and reinstating Xiong Tingbi—this was something Han Kuang could not let pass. He had no regard for Xiong Tingbi.

But he was only the Second Grand Secretary. He wanted Liu Yijing to agree with him as well, or at least reach a consensus on this matter.

Glancing at Han Kuang, Liu Yijing broke into a smile and waved his hand to cut him off, asking, "Then what does Lord Han think should be done?"

Before Han Kuang could speak, Liu Yijing rose and closed the door, then slowly sat back down and continued, "This matter is, after all, His Majesty's decree. I fear it will not be easy to turn around."

"Not easy to turn around"—Liu Yijing's words were quite tactful. In truth, he was telling Han Kuang: this is His Majesty's sacred edict. If you want to oppose it, then you should go see His Majesty yourself. What use is there in coming to me? Am I supposed to defy the imperial decree? I don't have that kind of ability to turn things around for you.

After a brief pause to ponder, Han Kuang assented: "Then I shall go see His Majesty and lay out the pros and cons in person!" With that, he straightened his back slightly, turned, opened the door, and strode out of the Grand Secretariat's duty room with large steps.

Watching Han Kuang's retreating figure grow ever more distant, Liu Yijing sat in his chair, stroking his graying beard with a meaningful smile spreading across his face.

In the warm chamber of the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao reclined sideways on the daybed, his face expressionless, while his mind churned over the affairs of Liaodong.

He wondered whether transferring Xiong Tingbi over now would even be in time—or whether by the time he arrived in Liaodong, the entire region would already have been lost.

If Liaoyang and Shenyang fell, then the whole of Liaodong would be in danger, and the Later Jin would have thoroughly secured its foundation for establishing a state!

"Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Han Kuang of the Grand Secretariat requests an audience!" Chen Hong walked in cautiously and bowed in salute.

Han Kuang had come. Zhu Youxiao was not surprised—he had known things could not go that smoothly. Sitting up, Zhu Youxiao instructed, "Let him in!"

Before long, Han Kuang walked in from outside and respectfully paid his respects to the Emperor.

Zhu Youxiao waved a hand and said, "Beloved minister, no need for ceremony! What matter brings you to seek an audience with me?"

"In reply to Your Majesty, your minister has come regarding Yuan Yingtai, the Military Commissioner of Liaodong. As your minister understands it, Yuan Yingtai, in the Liaoyang and Shenyang region, is benevolent and caring toward the people, and enjoys extremely high prestige among the troops. I wonder if Your Majesty..." Han Kuang had spent decades navigating officialdom, so he had naturally learned to speak only half a sentence.

He had come to probe the Emperor's intentions, so of course he would speak only halfway.

Zhu Youxiao cast a faint glance at Han Kuang, gave a light smile, and made no commitment: "Then what does my beloved minister think?"

In truth, Zhu Youxiao's impression of Han Kuang was rather favorable. Although this man was a veteran of the Donglin Faction, he still had principles when it came to doing things.

Take, for example, the rather famous incident in history when the Donglin Faction sought to manufacture a case of injustice. One must understand that in matters of factional strife, the Donglin Faction had never hesitated to strike ruthlessly.

Fabricating major cases was always the best way to eliminate certain people. When you physically destroyed your opponents, then to a certain extent, you could be considered victorious.

Those great cases stirred up by Ming Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang—were there innocent people among those condemned? No one could know for certain, but those people were definitely on the purge list. Stirring up major cases and sweeping all one's enemies into them for elimination—that was the most commonly used method.

How could the Donglin Faction possibly let go of such a fine method?

Thus there came a time when Donglin members began to investigate the "Red Pill Case"—the incident in which Li Kezhuo, Vice Director of the Court of State Ceremonial, had presented red pills to the Guangzong Emperor during his illness, and the Emperor died after taking two in succession.

At the time, court and commoners alike were abuzz with discussion, and some Donglin members attempted to use the opportunity to vent their grievances. In the fourth month of the second year of Tianqi, Sun Shenxing, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, impeached Fang Congzhe, charging that his use of Li Kezhuo to present the red pills was tantamount to regicide and treason. The court deliberations were in chaos, with no unified opinion.

At that time, Liu Yijing had already left office, so Han Kuang insisted on defending the matter. He submitted a memorial to the Tianqi Emperor, who had already ascended the throne, detailing in full the true sequence of events surrounding the administration of the medicine.

The memorial stated: "Let those who debate the law not turn minor doubts into major ones, and let compilers not turn truthful history into slanderous records," guarding against the matter being used to launch a great inquisition, thereby protecting Fang Congzhe, the Chief Grand Secretary and leader of the Zhejiang Faction, and preventing a great injustice.

This matter was one in which certain members of the Donglin Faction, in order to thoroughly destroy their political enemies, had prepared to fabricate a great case of regicide and treason, directly launching a massive inquisition to sweep all their political enemies into it and eliminate them.

But people like Han Kuang refused. He knew that factional struggle could be contested, but it absolutely could not be elevated to the point of casually taking lives, let alone fabricating cases of treason and rebellion.

Once it reached that point, it truly became a fight to the death with no quarter. But things did not go as Han Kuang had imagined—as the Qi, Zhe, and Chu factions threw in their lot with Wei Zhongxian and the eunuch faction rose, this rule was broken.

Starting from Wei Zhongxian's killing of the so-called Six Gentlemen of Donglin, the factional strife of the Great Ming slid into a state of "if you're not with us, you're against us"—a life-and-death struggle.

This was also why, even at the point of the nation's destruction, these people were still locked in mortal combat with one another.

Because once you lost the struggle, even if the nation did not fall, you yourself would not survive.

Now, the one who had transmigrated here was Zhu Youxiao. Though situated in one of history's rare chaotic eras, standing at the very center of the vortex, he knew the general course of history—so naturally, he could not allow the situation to slide into the abyss.

He also knew that the foundation of the Donglin Faction was not these people at court, but the gentry-merchant groups of Jiangnan. They annexed land, smuggled goods, and conducted maritime trade—one could say every family was dripping with wealth—yet they were always thinking of ways to avoid paying taxes. Thus the Donglin Faction advocated for emphasizing agriculture over commerce and "hiding wealth among the people."

Even if all the Donglin members at court were dismissed or killed, what would that accomplish? New participants in factional strife would still come forward generation after generation.

If this problem could not be solved at its root, the Donglin Faction would continue to exist forever.

The Donglin Faction represented the newly risen industrial, commercial, and gentry classes of Jiangnan, while the Qi, Zhe, and Chu factions represented the great landlord class. The only difference was that both were cliques—both were forming factions for private gain and banding together for profit.

In Zhu Youxiao's heart, there was no difference between the two factions. What he needed to do was figure out how to use both factions, then extract his own benefit from them.