Chapter 701: The Grand Finale

Prince Fu was utterly helpless.

He was afraid now, truly afraid.

He worried that Zhang Yu might silence him, and he simply could not afford not to worry! This incident was obviously the work of the Great Ming.

Outsiders might not know, but Prince Fu's heart was crystal clear.

After all, the entire affair had been orchestrated by the Great Ming—perhaps even by the very man standing before him.

Now Joseon had descended into chaos like a pot of porridge, the king was dead, and few knew of it. Now that he knew this secret...

This fellow had always been a ruthless one; he might well silence him.

Zhang Yu was helpless as well. He pulled Prince Fu aside and said, "Your Highness is of noble status; it would be best to go and take a look. If something truly goes wrong, there will be no way to account for it."

That was a threat.

Prince Fu shuddered at once. Left with no choice, he nodded and forced a smile, saying, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Zhang."

With that, he followed the men away.

After Prince Fu had left, Song Xiang stepped up from one side, covering her mouth with a laugh: "This prince is truly timid, and his imagination is quite rich as well."

"That depends on how you look at it." Zhang Yu chuckled and said, "This matter cannot be hidden from the perceptive. But it hardly matters—the Great Ming does not care. Even if people learn of it, so what? Who would dare speak of it? And what could they do even if they did?"

"So there is no need to worry about Prince Fu at all. Besides, he is a prince of the Great Ming; he will not spout such nonsense. This Prince Fu is a clever man, and we can rest easy. Were it not so—killing him to silence him might not happen, but taking him back would very likely mean house arrest."

"Then that is not for us to decide." Song Xiang shot Zhang Yu a look and said, "Why bother considering all this? I have already ferreted out many people in the palace. What shall we do?"

"Many people already know the news, and quite a few who witnessed the assassination in the great hall are still around. Now rumors are spreading every which way—what should we do?"

"What else can we do?" Zhang Yu said with a smile. "Kill the eunuchs, and take the palace maids back to the Great Ming. Send away the Korean king's consorts and maids—send them all to the Great Ming. As for how to arrange them, leave that to the people of the Imperial Household Department. But warn them not to act rashly. His Majesty is watching this matter closely. If anything goes wrong, none of them will get away with it."

"I understand." Song Xiang nodded and said, "If we handle this carelessly, it may even implicate us. I will have Chen Facai handle this matter; he is a man of discretion."

"Good," Zhang Yu nodded and said, "After all this busy work, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief."

That night, sporadic gunfire still echoed through Hanseong, but it did not last long.

When the sun rose in the east, the whole of Hanseong had returned to calm. Apart from the streets being deserted and empty of people, it was as if yesterday's events had never happened.

The corpses on the streets had all vanished, and the roads had been swept clean. Unless one searched carefully and looked closely, even the bloodstains could no longer be seen.

Finally, the government offices opened and posted proclamations to reassure the people. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion. The full picture of the affair finally emerged with the authorities' announcement.

It turned out that the Second Prince had rebelled, framing Zhang Fu and assassinating Kim Jeong-min. It was all his doing. When the plot was exposed, the king sent men to summon him, and in his madness he struck.

Zheng Xuhong had died in the Second Prince's residence, killed by his men. Beyond that, all of yesterday's incidents had been instigated by the Second Prince. Many had joined him in rebellion, assassinating the king in the palace, and that was what had thrown all of Hanseong into chaos.

Government offices had also been attacked, with grievous casualties. Many officials were killed before they even knew what was happening—it was a veritable catastrophe! Later, some turned soldiers into bandits and looted the city wantonly. The rebels even released prisoners from the jails, inciting the common folk in the streets and turning citizens into brigands. The affair had grown enormous.

The Great Ming's army was a heavenly royal host, answering the Korean king's request to help suppress the rebellion. It was only that the Second Prince had moved too suddenly, leaving no time to intervene. The Great Ming's army could only maintain peace and order, powerless to save the Korean king.

Fortunately, Joseon still had its Crown Prince. Zhang Yu, the Great Ming's envoy, had already submitted a routine memorial to the Ming Emperor, requesting that the Crown Prince of Joseon return to take charge of affairs. It was believed that once the news reached the Great Ming, the Crown Prince would soon return to Hanseong.

To hunt down the remaining rebels, the Great Ming's army had temporarily taken over security in Hanseong, while also establishing the Hanseong Public Security Management Committee, chaired by the Great Ming. The various clans and officials of Hanseong would all send representatives to participate, temporarily forming a miniature court.

At the same time, all parties were notified to strictly guard their own territories and not act rashly. Officials were to carry on as usual, and generals were absolutely forbidden to leave their posts.

Simultaneously, the Imperial Navy stationed at Busan was requested to advance along the coast and come directly to Hanseong. The Ming army stationed in Liaodong was also notified, requesting their support to stabilize the region.

In an instant, Joseon had completely changed hands.

At the Great Ming embassy.

Zhang Yu looked at the food and wine before him, picked up the flagon, poured a cup, and set it before Cao Wenzhao, saying, "You've come this time to take over Joseon, haven't you?"

"Why do you say that?" Cao Wenzhao picked up the cup and took a sip, saying, "Don't you want to stay?"

"His Majesty won't let me stay." Zhang Yu thought for a moment, then said, "Joseon needs a military man here. Someone like me—unqualified."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu shook his head with a helpless look.

"Everyone knows your abilities—how are you unqualified?" Cao Wenzhao laughed.

"The main business ahead will likely be suppressing rebellions. There are ambitious men all over Joseon, troublemakers everywhere, and those factional partisans are all stubborn bones. These people may well act recklessly—you need to be careful."

"I'm not skilled in this area, but you are different. Still, there is one thing I must tell you: eradicate evil completely. Kill when killing is due; do not be soft-hearted. But one rule—treat the people of Joseon well."

"I think you should issue an order as soon as possible, cutting taxes for all of Joseon. I looked into it earlier—Joseon's taxes are far too heavy, and the common folk can barely bear them. I will also report this matter to His Majesty; I trust it won't be a problem on his end."

Cao Wenzhao nodded and said, "What you say is indeed good, but I cannot do it."

"How so?" Zhang Yu asked hesitantly.

"The intent from the palace is to separate civil and military authority in Joseon. The Great Ming has already reformed in this way—you'll see when you return. Joseon will have a Governor-General's Office, overseeing both civil and military affairs. Beneath the Governor-General's Office there will be two departments—one general administrative office and one governor's office—mutually independent, mutually non-interfering."

"We only handle the troops; they only handle administration. Everything is decided by the Governor-General alone. You should understand what that means, yes?"

"I see." Zhang Yu nodded and said, "Then who will be Joseon's first Governor-General?"

"Sun Chuanting." Cao Wenzhao said with a smile, "A man of both letters and arms—who else could be more suitable?"

"I see." Zhang Yu nodded and said, "Then I won't discuss this matter with you further. I'll write a memorial and send it up later."

"Actually, His Majesty had it in mind to make you Governor of Joseon for a term. What do you think?" Cao Wenzhao looked at Zhang Yu and asked.

Zhang Yu shook his head directly and said, "I don't want to stay here. Even if I were to serve as Governor for a while, I wouldn't want it in Joseon. I want to return to the Great Ming."

"Very well, His Majesty will respect your wishes." Cao Wenzhao nodded and said, "But you needn't be so cautious. You know what kind of man His Majesty is—he won't suspect you."

"His Majesty won't, but a minister's duty must still be fulfilled." Zhang Yu nodded and said, "Joseon is in your hands now. Once I finish writing my routine memorial, I'll pack up. I'm sure word for my recall will arrive soon."

Cao Wenzhao shook his head and said, "Not in my hands. Lord Sun Chuanting is already on his way—you wait and hand things over to him. Don't think you can just wash your hands of it. I've been keeping my nose out of everything these days; if I got involved, it would be too much trouble."

"You—when did you learn to be so slick?" Zhang Yu pointed at Cao Wenzhao and laughed.

"Who do you think I learned it from?" Cao Wenzhao said with exasperation.

"Alright, alright, enough talk. Drink, drink!" Zhang Yu laughed heartily.

The capital, the imperial palace.

In late autumn, the capital had grown somewhat chilly. Zhu Youxiao, draped in a great cloak, turned to Chen Hong beside him and said, "Send this routine memorial down."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong nodded hastily in assent.

This was not a routine memorial of any great consequence, but its significance was profound indeed.

A routine memorial requesting the establishment of Taiwan Province.

The Governor of Fujian submitted a routine memorial, hoping to establish a province on Taiwan.

The Grand Secretariat said nothing much and simply approved it directly. For the Grand Secretariat, this was a very good thing, beneficial for solving the employment problems of Great Ming officials.

In recent years, graduates of the Imperial Academies across the regions had grown more and more numerous, and increasingly worthless. The Imperial Household Department had recruited quite a few people and had begun guiding them to spread continuously into other professions. Yet there were still some who insisted on becoming officials — every year during the civil examinations, the crowds were like mountains and seas.

Countless times people had suggested the Emperor take on more officials, but after all, there was only so much use for them — one couldn't simply pile up redundant posts, could one?

It was just that the expansion of territory in Liaodong and on the grasslands had given them some ideas. Those places had absorbed quite a number of officials over the past few years — countless people had been sent over. On the one hand, it could expand the frontiers; on the other, it could consume more scholars. It was a move that killed two birds with one stone.

And so recently, the ministers of the Great Ming had become enthusiastic about this matter, and were enjoying it without end.

For the Grand Secretariat, that was simply nonsense. The reply they gave was to permit the establishment of a single prefecture. After all, given the current population up there, one could only build a prefecture at most.

However, the Wa state over there could indeed send out many officials — that was a good thing. With the conclusion of the war in the Wa state, bringing its rule under administration had been placed on the agenda.

Only, these matters no longer required Zhu Youxiao to worry about them — the people below could handle them with complete ease.

Drawing a breath, he set down the last routine memorial. Zhu Youxiao finally let out a sigh of relief.

No matter what time it was, reviewing and approving routine memorials was an extremely exhausting task.

What he saw before him had already been screened by others, and the Grand Secretariat had already provided certain proposed solutions. He only needed to listen to the reports and then hear the drafted measures — if they seemed proper, he would do it that way; if not, he would make some changes.

Even so, it was tiring beyond measure.

Zhu Youxiao stood up and stretched his limbs.

At his current age, he might still feel all right, but if he were any older, he feared he wouldn't be able to take it anymore.

Walking toward the back as he went, Zhu Youxiao asked, "What's next?"

"To answer Your Majesty, Your Majesty is to fly kites with the Empress and the Crown Prince. The Empress's side has already sent someone to ask." Chen Hong said with a smile, "The Crown Prince is getting a bit impatient waiting."

"Little brat — all he knows all day is playing." Though Zhu Youxiao scolded, his face was full of smiles, and his pace quickened considerably. "Looks like I'll have to add more coursework for him when we get back."

When Zhu Youxiao saw Empress Zhang, everything behind was already prepared.

Accompanying his wife and son to fly kites — for Zhu Youxiao, this too was a rare form of rest.

Empress Zhang watched the father and son at play, a brilliant smile on her face.

Over these years, the Emperor's favor toward her had never waned — she could count herself fortunate indeed.

Chen Hong walked over carrying a routine memorial.

Empress Zhang glanced at Chen Hong and asked, "Is there something urgent?"

"To answer the Empress, it is a routine memorial from Joseon." Chen Hong hastened to reply.

Empress Zhang did not inquire further.

This was already the absolute limit — if she asked any more, it would give the appearance of the Empress interfering in governance.

Empress Zhang said, "Then send it over."

"Yes, Your Majesty the Empress." Chen Hong hastened to comply.

Soon, the routine memorial was delivered into Zhu Youxiao's hands.

This was a very long routine memorial, detailing the full course of the Joseon incident. Zhu Youxiao read it very carefully.

After reading it, Zhu Youxiao reached out and handed the memorial to Chen Hong, asking, "How is the Crown Prince of Joseon?"

"Upon suddenly hearing the terrible news, he vomited three sheng of blood and has now fallen unconscious." Chen Hong said hurriedly.

Zhu Youxiao nodded, sighed, and said, "Who could have imagined such a thing would happen? For parents and kin to pass away so suddenly — no wonder he is like this. Send the best imperial physicians over, bring all the good medicines from the palace, and do everything possible to save him."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong respectfully acknowledged.

But both ruler and minister knew that the Crown Prince of Joseon was likely beyond the help of medicine or stone. After all, he was too grieved, too heartbroken — this probably would not end well.

Zhu Youxiao went back to flying kites with his son.

Originally the wind was from the south, and the kite flew from south to north.

But after Zhu Youxiao took over, the wind changed direction — from a south wind it became a north wind, blowing straight toward the south.

Zhu Youxiao watched the kite flying ever southward, then suddenly reached out and said, "Bring me a pair of scissors."

"Right away, Your Majesty." Chen Hong hastily handed a pair of scissors into Zhu Youxiao's hand.

Zhu Youxiao took them and with one snip cut the kite's string, letting the kite fly wildly off toward the south.

Watching the kite recede into the distance, Zhu Youxiao's eyes slowly narrowed. Then he turned to Chen Hong and said, "What do you think of the south?"

"Warm climate, a land of fish and rice." Chen Hong said with a smile.

"Yes, it's a good place." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Since it's a good place, then the Great Ming ought to go take a look."

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The End!