Chapter 97: Summoning Yu Maoheng

After taking a stroll through the Hundred Crafts Institute and returning, Zhu Youxiao instructed Chen Hong: "Go to the Censorate and bring the Right Vice Censor Yu Maoheng to me."

Chen Hong hastily replied, "This servant will go at once." With that, he turned and ran out.

Watching Chen Hong's retreating figure, Zhu Youxiao's smile slowly faded from his face.

This Right Vice Censor Yu Maoheng was, in fact, the man Zhu Youxiao had chosen to succeed Zou Yuanbiao.

To put it plainly, Zhu Youxiao intended for this man to take over the Censorate.

One must understand that the Censorate was an extremely important institution—it was the court's supervisory body, and its function was beyond question.

Back in the day, when Zhu Yuanzhang established the Censorate, his purpose was to make it the Son of Heaven's eyes and ears, the arbiter of conduct—in plain terms, the goal was for the Censorate to monitor the hundred officials on his behalf.

But as everyone later came to know, the Censorate had changed its character.

The officials of the Censorate began fixing their gaze on the Emperor, submitting impeachments against him, caring nothing for anything in their pursuit of fame, and the entire atmosphere was turned into a foul mess.

Especially after the Donglin Faction rose to power, the Censorate became the headquarters of these mudslingers.

This time, having removed them, Zhu Youxiao naturally needed to install his own people in the Censorate.

This Yu Maoheng was the successor Zhu Youxiao had selected.

Since Wei Zhongxian's side had already begun, his own side could begin as well—in plain terms, he could start arranging his people.

Zhu Youxiao had looked into this Yu Maoheng. His courtesy name was Chiguo, and he was a native of Wuyuan, Jiangxi. He passed the jinshi examination in the twentieth year of Wanli, was appointed County Magistrate of Yongxin, and was later promoted to Censor.

At that time, because of the construction of the great halls, mining tax commissioners had been dispatched to various regions and behaved with extreme arrogance. Yu Maoheng submitted a memorial saying: "Rather than harassing the common people, levying taxes down to their chickens and pigs, it would be better to plainly tell the world that we are slightly increasing the land tax to jointly fund the great hall project. Now, avoiding the reputation of raising taxes while in reality pursuing a method of draining the pond to catch the fish—the harm of this is ten times greater than raising taxes."

Because he had defied the imperial decree, Yu Maoheng's salary was suspended for one year.

The reason Zhu Youxiao wanted to employ him was precisely because he had seen this matter.

This man was somewhat interesting—his views on taxation greatly appealed to Zhu Youxiao.

Taxes could be reformed, but imperial authority must not be used to collect private levies.

In this, Zhu Youxiao saw his defense of and adherence to the system. This man was worth cultivating—though he wondered what this man thought about the matter of officials and gentry paying taxes alongside commoners.

But for now it didn't matter much; he could be tested first, and if unsuitable, they could simply change personnel.

At present, life in the Censorate was not easy—it could be described as a state of panic, as everyone feared this case might implicate them.

So when Chen Hong arrived, he drew the attention of the entire Censorate.

This entire affair revolved around the Censorate—from the initial case of framing Xiong Tingbi to the later-discovered case of forming cliques for private gain, everything had unfolded from within the Censorate.

Rumors were now flying thick and fast inside the Censorate; no one knew what the truth of the matter really was.

Some said those people had accepted bribes, that they had colluded with frontier generals, and that their current plight was well-deserved; others said the whole affair was a fabrication by the Eastern Depot, invented out of thin air to drive them to their deaths.

All sorts of claims circulated. At first, when the matter began, no one was particularly flustered, but as events developed and grew increasingly serious—as Zou Yuanbiao and Yang Lian were suspended and sent home—everyone in the Censorate realized the situation was dire, and panic set in.

Though everyone ordinarily slung mud at this person and that person, all knew this was merely a path to promotion. No one truly wanted to spend their whole career in the Censorate, and no one truly wanted to offend people desperately. What everyone wanted was simply promotion, promotion, promotion.

Now that the Censorate had encountered such a major affair and both big shots had been suspended, it should have had nothing to do with the rest of them.

After all, if someone was suspended or dismissed from office, it was no loss to anyone else.

It wasn't me, after all—on the contrary, there was even a chance for oneself to climb a step higher. For many, this was a good thing; normally, such positions never opened up.

But this time, the affair was simply too enormous—so enormous that it implicated the entire Censorate.

If this matter were confirmed, what trust would His Majesty still have in the Censorate? These people could be said to be the fish in the pond caught when the city gate catches fire.

Thus, divisions appeared within the Censorate itself, essentially splitting into two factions.

The hardline faction believed all of this was a fabrication by the Eastern Depot and insisted on fighting to the bitter end to preserve their reputations and positions.

The opposition believed those people deserved to die—they had colluded with frontier generals, framed court ministers, accepted bribes, and embezzled military pay, committing crimes of the gravest magnitude—and held that what the Censorate needed to do now was to cut itself off from them, claiming, "We were all deceived."

This faction advocated submitting to His Majesty, thereby winning His Majesty's favor and preserving their own official posts.

Neither side could convince the other, and so fierce infighting erupted within the Censorate.

Though for now no one had taken this struggle outside, that was because no one knew how the matter would ultimately turn out.

Because Zou Yuanbiao and Yang Lian had only been suspended, not dismissed, and certainly not charged with crimes.

If a turn for the better occurred and these two were restored to their posts, the fate of the opposition could well be imagined. So the opposition dared not go too far either.

Within the entire Censorate, the hardline faction still held the upper hand for now.

But everyone knew that a turning point would eventually come.

Under such circumstances, His Majesty's personal eunuch Chen Hong arrived at the Censorate—anyone with half a brain could figure out that this might be the turning point in the affair.

Everyone was worried, and all eyes followed Chen Hong's movements.

Chen Hong paid no attention to the others in the Censorate but walked straight toward the duty room of Right Vice Censor Yu Maoheng.

No one had expected that His Majesty's personal eunuch had come specifically to see Yu Maoheng.

Though Yu Maoheng was considered one of the big shots in the Censorate, everyone in fact knew that he had already been pushed to the margins.

Though no one said it openly, everyone knew in their hearts that the Donglin Faction now ran the Censorate. That was forming cliques for private gain.

Yu Maoheng was not a member of the Donglin Faction, so his position in the Censorate could well be imagined. No one had expected that at such a moment, he would suddenly come to the fore.

Could it be that His Majesty was about to give him an important post?

Everyone understood in their hearts what this signified—once Yu Maoheng was given an important post, it meant the Donglin Faction had completely fallen in the Censorate.

Everyone watched the conversation between Chen Hong and Yu Maoheng, all wanting to know what they were saying.

Chen Hong seemed to have no intention of hiding anything. Upon seeing Yu Maoheng, he smiled and clasped his hands in greeting.

Though he didn't know why His Majesty wanted to summon this man, Chen Hong could tell that His Majesty thought highly of this Yu Maoheng.

He had had no prior dealings with the man, which meant that though they had no friendship, they also had no enmity. This left room for building a good relationship.

What Wei Zhongxian was about to do, Chen Hong knew well.