Chapter 79: Laying Cards on the Table

From the positions of Yuan Yingtai, Wang Huazhen, Sun Chengzong, and Yuan Chonghuan, one could see the Donglin Faction's attitude on certain matters—calling them ambitious but incompetent was hardly unfair.

Liaodong had deteriorated under these men's hands, from losing cities and territory at first to burning money like mad later—it was all their doing!

Standing in opposition to them were Xiong Tingbi, Wang Xiangqian, and Wang Zaijin, men who had a very clear understanding of the Great Ming's situation.

The Great Ming had already declined; domestic problems were severe, court tax revenues could not cover expenditures, the common people suffered beyond words, and the Liaodong army had no fighting strength whatsoever.

Clearly, stubbornly insisting on recovering Liaodong was unrealistic and impossible to achieve.

History proved their thinking was right. If the Great Ming wanted to solve these problems, the key did not lie in Liaodong.

Liaodong was hardly a major problem to begin with—just the Jianzhou barbarians.

Over all these years, the Great Ming had fought the Japanese, pacified the southwest, and battled the Mongols in the north—there were the Tatars and the Oirats. Compared to all that, the Jianzhou barbarians in Liaodong at this time hardly counted for anything.

The Great Ming's problem was its own problem; the solution had to be sought from within, not by loudly clamoring to recover Liaodong.

Zhu Youxiao saw this clearly and thought it through—he could not repeat the same mistakes.

So appointing Wang Xiangqian and Wang Zaijin was already an imperative matter.

Zhu Youxiao turned his head to glance at Chen Hong and said directly: "Transmit my decree to the Grand Secretariat, instruct them to draft the edict: Wang Xiangqian as Governor of Liaodong, Wang Zaijin as Governor of Guangning. Guangning Governor Wang Huazhen is to return to the capital pending reassignment."

Chen Hong hurriedly replied: "This servant will go at once."

As for Wang Huazhen, there was no 'returning to the capital pending reassignment' at all—this time Zhu Youxiao intended to brand him as Donglin and take him down outright.

He could even use Wang Huazhen as a breakthrough point to pry open the matter of the Donglin Faction embezzling Liaodong military pay. The purpose, of course, was not to add more charges against the Donglin Faction.

Forming cliques for private gain and manipulating power through sham governance was already enough to sentence them to death.

The reason for investigating these men's embezzlement of military pay was simple—naturally, it was to recover the silver.

Though the inner treasury still had some silver, that paltry amount was nothing but a drop in the bucket compared to what Zhu Youxiao needed to do.

What Zhu Youxiao wanted was the Donglin Faction's money.

Matters in the capital were escalating—this was evident from the impeachment memorials.

Previously everyone had mainly attacked Wei Zhongxian, but this time it was different; the targets of attack were vaguely beginning to implicate the Tianqi Emperor himself.

Some people were afraid, and the more afraid they were, the more violently they reacted. This too was within Zhu Youxiao's expectations.

Seated behind the dragon desk, Zhu Youxiao flipped through the memorials before him, his expression utterly unchanged.

As he read, Zhu Youxiao suddenly smiled—this was a routine memorial defending Yang Lian.

It said that when Yang Lian served as County Magistrate of Changshu, he was ranked first among all incorruptible officials in the realm.

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao simply could not hold it in anymore.

Surveying the entire Great Ming dynasty, if one were to speak of incorruptible officials, aside from Hai Rui, there was no second choice.

Moreover, at that time Yang Lian was merely a lowly county magistrate—who would care whether he was incorruptible?

A single term as magistrate lasted only three years; even if he were incorruptible, so what? With the Great Ming's means of communication, who would know whether a county magistrate was incorruptible?

If this were not the result of certain people's touting, Zhu Youxiao would never believe it. Clearly, this was the outcome of the Donglin Faction licking each other's boots.

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao suddenly had a feeling—that the Donglin Faction's habit of licking each other's boots might be even more severe than he had imagined.

Much of it was blown up by themselves; you praise me, I praise you, and the result was 'all the worthy filling the court.'

In fact, such things were hardly uncommon in later ages, and they even had a very pleasant name for it—mutual commercial flattery.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao smiled even more happily.

Indeed, history was a circle, endlessly repeating itself.

Gently tossing the memorial in his hand back onto the table, Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "Alright, take them all away."

Chen Hong dared not be negligent; he hurried over and took away all the memorials.

In Chen Hong's view, these things were all items that angered His Majesty.

Originally, when His Majesty wanted to read them, Chen Hong had been very worried, fearing His Majesty would grow angry over these things and then implicate him as well.

He never would have imagined that His Majesty not only did not get angry, but seemed to have enjoyed reading them.

Zhu Youxiao naturally paid no heed to what Chen Hong was thinking. These people banding together so tightly instead stirred in Zhu Youxiao's heart a desire to sweep them all away in one stroke.

So many routine memorials, so many personal memorials—all impeaching Wei Zhongxian and Xiong Tingbi, and even impeaching him, Zhu Youxiao.

Not a single memorial focused on the matter itself. For instance, was the frame-up of Xiong Tingbi real? Had those men actually taken money? What was the truth of the matter?

No one asked, and no one wanted to investigate.

Call these people playing deaf and dumb if you will, or say they believed Wei Zhongxian had framed him—but by proper procedure, shouldn't the matter be investigated first?

And what did they do?

They only attacked, attacked Wei Zhongxian.

Zhu Youxiao understood what they were doing; this approach had a saying in later ages too.

That was—since you cannot solve the problem, then solve the person who raised the problem, once and for all.

Once Wei Zhongxian was toppled, or even executed, then all matters would be resolved.

Walking to the entrance of the great hall, Zhu Youxiao stretched lazily, and the expression on his face turned calm.

This was fine too—let everyone lay their cards on the table and fight it out!

"Your Majesty."

At this moment, Chen Hong returned after making his rounds, walked to Zhu Youxiao's side, and said respectfully: "Grand Secretary Han Kuang of the Grand Secretariat requests an audience."

Zhu Youxiao was taken aback. Toward Han Kuang, Zhu Youxiao's impression was different.

Although Han Kuang was also of the Donglin Faction, he was unlike men such as Zou Yuanbiao and Yang Lian—he basically did not engage in empty rhetoric.

In Zhu Youxiao's view, if Han Kuang did not participate in this affair and merely watched quietly from the sidelines, Zhu Youxiao did not intend to drag him in either.

He had not expected that he had not sought Han Kuang out, yet Han Kuang had come to him first. There was some disappointment in Zhu Youxiao's heart.

But this was fine too—talk with Han Kuang and see what he thought.

"Let him in." Zhu Youxiao instructed Chen Hong.

Not long after, the permitted Han Kuang walked in from outside.

Zhu Youxiao was watching Han Kuang, and Han Kuang was also watching Zhu Youxiao.

Though they had not been apart for very long, both felt as if they were meeting again after an age.

Han Kuang in particular clearly remembered what Your Majesty had looked like when he first ascended the throne.

Han Kuang remembered that when his emperor was still an imperial grandson, he had not yet left the palace to study, so Han Kuang had requested that the emperor begin the Classics Colloquium from the twelfth day, and thereafter hold the daily colloquium without cease — and the emperor had accepted.

At that time, the emperor was not what he was now.

Now, though the emperor looked frail, reclining askew on the daybed, Han Kuang nonetheless felt that the man on that daybed was filled with the power of life and death, of granting and taking away.