Chapter 1517: A Body Like an Unmoored Boat

Listening to Hai Rui curse Zhao Zhenji for quite some time, Wang Yan smiled and said, "Zhao Zhenji is still passable; after all, he did not forcibly order us to confiscate raw silk to fulfill his grand plan of producing five hundred thousand bolts of silk."

"Hmph, it is not that he did not want to, but that he dared not," Hai Rui said irritably. "You previously memorialized Your Majesty to exempt taxes for three years, and Your Majesty agreed. Furthermore, you share the profits from Your Majesty's commercial ventures; Your Majesty even specially sent someone to deliver one thousand taels of silver to you. Zhao Zhenji is a perfectionist; would he dare to cause you trouble?"

Zhao Zhenji also differs somewhat in this drama; during the Jiajing Emperor's lifetime, he did not enter the Grand Secretariat, only joining during the Longqing era. Moreover, his personality is different. On another note, although he was a disciple of the School of Mind, he was not Xu Jie's student, yet in the drama, he has become Xu Jie's student.

Hai Rui said, "Even if I do not submit my resignation, Zhao Zhenji will not tolerate me and will surely transfer me to another province. You likely cannot stay here long either; after we leave, this excellent situation probably will not last much longer."

"It can be preserved; we can only say there will be some temporary unrest, but in the long run, there will be no problem. Did we not discuss this before? The higher my official rank climbs, the less I believe anyone will dare to cause me trouble."

"A provincial graduate, no matter how high he rises, what can he achieve?"

"You yourself are a provincial graduate."

"Precisely because I am a provincial graduate, I know one cannot rise high."

Wang Yan smiled and said, "It is fine; I am only twenty years old and still have a chance to take the exams. Besides, what if one day Your Majesty is in a good mood and directly grants me the status of a presented scholar? Would that not solve everything?"

"Have you not heard the saying regarding a 'like-wife'?"

"So what? Who would dare say such things before me?"

Hai Rui said, "You have the potential to be a treacherous minister."

Wang Yan laughed heartily, "If one can get things done and satisfy all parties, what does it matter if one is a treacherous minister? My lord, so-called treacherous ministers and pure officials are merely tools of factional strife. Are treacherous ministers truly treacherous? Are pure officials truly pure? I know not of others, but I know that once one becomes an official, it is difficult to remain a good person. Not everyone can maintain self-control like you, my lord."

Hai Rui spoke no more, for he finally saw the common people waiting patiently nearby, waiting for Wang Yan to treat their illnesses.

"I am fine; I will go home to see my old mother. Come, all of you come over; let the Third Master examine you properly." Hai Rui waved to the common people, then turned and entered the yamen, fanning himself as he returned home...

The following afternoon, Tian Youlu, looking as if he were about to die, led some Yamen Runners, pushing along a young man who was bound and had a rag stuffed in his mouth.

This young man glared furiously, struggling continuously, staring fixedly at Wang Yan and Hai Rui before him, while being firmly restrained by the Yamen Runners, formerly local militia, on the side, who even slapped the back of his head...

"Hall Master, Third Master, this is the Second Young Master of Minister Hu," Tian Youlu introduced.

Hai Rui glared and said, "A swindler who cheats for food and drink, yet dares to impersonate Minister Hu's Young Master?"

The Second Young Master struggled even more violently, making muffled sounds.

Wang Yan laughed heartily, "Enough, my lord; stop teasing him. Who would truly dare to impersonate a minister's son? Come, remove the cloth from his mouth."

"Just you wait; I am not finished with you! If you are sensible, release this Grandpa immediately, kowtow, and apologize; otherwise, this Grandpa will make you suffer." As soon as the cloth was removed, the Second Young Master erupted.

With two crisp slapping sounds, the Second Young Master looked at the smiling Wang Yan before him in disbelief.

"The Second Young Master still does not understand: Minister Hu is Minister Hu, and you are you. Glaring? Try glaring again, and let me see?"

Hearing Wang Yan's words and seeing the Yamen Runners nearby preparing to act, the Second Young Master became obedient, tears even welling up in his eyes.

"You see, is this not proof you can understand human speech?" Wang Yan reached out and patted the Second Young Master's shoulder. "You simply will not shed tears until you see the coffin; have you not been accustomed to wielding authority daily, so that no one dares to offend your face anywhere? It seems Minister Hu's family education still lacks somewhat."

Tian Youlu, standing nearby, felt as if the sky had collapsed; he was the one who captured the man, so the Second Young Master would surely bear a grudge against him, and now Wang Yan had beaten him as well—it was simply disastrous...

What kind of person was Minister Hu? The third-in-command of the Yan Faction, the foremost figure below Grand Secretary Yan and the Young Grand Secretary, a flagship figure of the Yan Faction, and a new core of power destined to enter the Grand Secretariat once the Japanese pirates were defeated.

With such a figure as his father, what could prevent the son from being arrogant? Was there anything wrong with showing off a little? Yet he was slapped by Wang Yan; was this slapping the Second Young Master's face? No!

This was slapping Hu Zongxian's face!

Wang Yan shook his head, put his arm around Tian Youlu's shoulders, and said, "Good brother, look how frightened you are; what is there to make a fuss about? I was the one who beat him, so he will surely seek trouble with me. Think about it: if he does not deal with me first but instead targets you, would he not be waiting for my retaliation?"

"He is not a fool; would anyone else dare to slap him? Even Zhao Zhenji would not dare. But I dared to slap him; will he not go back and ask Minister Hu? Even if I slapped his family's Second Young Master right before Minister Hu's face today, Minister Hu would only say it was well done."

"Leave this matter to you; in a moment, I will write a letter, and you will deliver the person to Minister Hu. Is it not time to collect this month's raw silk again? Communicate with the Imperial Textile Bureau as well; have them bring money and grain to collect. Once there, feel free to speak ill of me; push everything onto my shoulders. It is no big deal."

Thus, Wang Yan indeed wrote a letter, Hai Rui also added his name, and they sent Tian Youlu off to handle the matter...

"Since when does one resort to violence at the slightest disagreement?" Hai Rui complained dissatisfiedly.

"That is because others dare not, or even if they dared, they lack the capability. Did my lord not know that as soon as I arrived to take up my post, I punched the former Registrar Zhang Song so hard he flew?"

Wang Yan smiled cheerfully, acting exceedingly proud, "I can fight, I dare to fight, and I have His Majesty's favor; what do I have to fear? If Minister Hu's Second Young Master is arrogant, then I will be even more arrogant. We govern the region on behalf of Heaven and serve Your Majesty; naturally, we cannot diminish Your Majesty's dignity. What does the Second Young Master amount to? Even if Yan Song were arrogant within my jurisdiction in Chun'an, I would make him suffer."

"If these words spread, you will have much to endure; this does not seem like your style."

"What is my style? My lord, I have offended many people; have you seen me cling to anyone? Alas, your misunderstanding of me is truly too deep."

"I have never seen anyone state so plainly that becoming an official is solely for scooping up silver."

"I am a straightforward person; others are hypocrites who appear dignified on the surface but are filthy and shameless in private. I am different; I am a true villain. Whoever opposes me, I will retaliate against; whoever blocks my path, I will eliminate. Not only eliminate, but do so with increased severity; ideally, I will pull up the weeds and dig out the roots."

Hai Rui fell silent again and turned to move away from Wang Yan. He had indeed developed some immunity to the outrageous statements Wang Yan routinely made...

A month passed, and Hu Zongxian achieved another great victory, striking the Japanese pirates along the southeastern coast so severely that their vitality was greatly damaged, rendering them incapable of posing a greater threat; naturally, the blow to those armed smuggling groups was equally severe.

Hu Zongxian had long been afflicted by illness due to being entangled in various matters, and warfare consumes the most energy; he truly needed rest. Thus, Hu Zongxian departed from Taizhou, passing through Chun'an as a transit point to return to his hometown to recuperate.

At the Chun'an County Yamen, Hu Zongxian looked at the politely behaving Wang Yan and said, "I have long heard of your deeds; you are a man of courage."

"Minister, you overpraise me; this subordinate is extremely timid; everything I do is merely to seek survival. There is also a bit of luck involved; having received His Majesty's favor, I have managed to secure my footing. That a great figure like Minister has even heard this subordinate's name."

Hu Zongxian lay weakly on a reclining chair and said, "Regarding the matter of my second son, you did nothing wrong; striking him was even more correct; I have also had someone cane him."

Wang Yan glanced at the Second Young Master serving nearby, who obviously remained unconvinced, and smiled cheerfully, saying, "Minister, you are magnanimous; this subordinate offers his thanks."

"I know you do not agree, so there is no need for such pretense. My family members have indeed been neglected in their upbringing; this is truly the root of disaster."

"Minister, you are mistaken; the root of the Hu family's disaster lies in the Yan Faction."

"You all believe I am part of the Yan Faction?" Hu Zongxian looked at Wang Yan and Hai Rui sitting before him.

Hai Rui stated stiffly, "Yan Song is Minister's mentor; how can you escape involvement?"

Wang Yan smiled and said, "What impact does it have if we believe Minister is part of the Yan Faction? It is the Prince of Yu, Grand Secretary Xu, and others who believe Minister is part of the Yan Faction; it is that Minister has not brought down the Yan Faction."

"If the Yan Faction falls, does that mean I am no longer part of it? For an official, the greatest taboo is to be indecisive. Things have come to this; I have no choice, and neither do you."

Hu Zongxian looked at Wang Yan and said, "You probably do not know yet; Grand Secretary Yan has memorialized Your Majesty, accusing you and Qi Dazhu of colluding with the Japanese pirates, and demands you be taken into custody for interrogation."

"What?" Hai Rui jumped up anxiously, "This is outrageous! The Yan Faction turns black into white, excludes dissidents, and harms both the nation and the people!"

"Enough; I am not panicked, so why are you? Rest assured, I will not die." Wang Yan waved his hand and said, "It is nothing more than the fact that Yan Song's plan to convert rice fields to mulberry fields was ruined, and Zheng Michang, He Maocai, and the rest can no longer be protected. Having lost cities and territory in Zhejiang, they need to use us as scapegoats to save face, ultimately dragging Grand Secretary Xu and others down with them."

Wang Yan raised an eyebrow at Hai Rui, smiling mischievously, "Think about it: I hold a share of the profits in His Majesty's commercial ventures; I have opened two major revenue streams for His Majesty. If managed well, we can earn over a million taels of silver annually. Given that His Majesty values loyalty and righteousness so highly, how could he possibly have me executed? This trip of mine is actually a promotion."

"You are a perceptive person," Hu Zongxian said, "but this hurdle will not be easy to cross. Converting rice fields to mulberry fields is not only Grand Secretary Yan's project but also His Majesty's. You have stubbornly resisted in this matter; even though the Imperial Textile Bureau has now produced five hundred thousand bolts of silk, it has not earned seven million taels of silver. A significant portion of that credit belongs to you."

"If we cannot earn it in one year, we certainly can in two or three years. Did not Minister also oppose the plan? Now that the Japanese pirates are greatly defeated, the common people can peacefully raise silkworms and reel silk; after three years, the tax revenue here will double compared to before. In the long run, the court has profited, and His Majesty has profited. This year's deficit sounds severe, but which year has not had a deficit? Have we not survived them all?"

Hu Zongxian smiled slightly: "Well said. The court has already dispatched Yan Maoqing to tour and inspect the salt administration. The Yan faction has been operating for decades; this time, the salt taxes from Liangzhe, Lianghuai, and other regions will surely be collected."

"Not only will they be collected, I fear they will collect even more than that."

Wang Yan naturally knew this point; Jiajing's famous remark was, "It is all my money. They collect two million taels of silver, I collect one million taels of silver; should I also thank them for it?"

Hu Zongxian neither affirmed nor denied this, but instead turned to speak with Hai Rui, also mentioning those words of his that had shaken the court.

Afterwards, he helplessly shook his head; Hai Rui's ideas were too upright, his mind too rigid, and many matters simply could not be reasoned through with him.

He waved his hand, ceasing to speak of these things; seeing his subordinate decocting medicine for him, he said, "Xu Ziyan, I hear you are a master of the medical arts. Several prescriptions you wrote circulated outward, and even Li Shizhen praised them endlessly after reading them. My illness—he examined it but failed to cure me. Will you examine me?"

"Please extend both hands, my lord."

Wang Yan did not refuse; he stepped forward, gripped the wrists of Hu Zongxian's hands, examined his tongue, and inquired about his symptoms.

"My lord's illness is not severe; any Physician with some experience could cure it. The main issue is depletion of the body and exhaustion of vitality; if you carefully nurture and tonify yourself for a while, you will recover completely. The reason you did not heal before is that you, my lord, were commanding military campaigns, neglecting sleep and food, daring not to relax for even a moment. Now that you, my lord, have thoroughly defeated the Japanese pirates, returning home to recuperate for three to five months will suffice."

"Where can there be true leisure and ease?" Hu Zongxian asked. "How do you perceive my current situation?"

"Su Shi wrote a fine line of poetry: 'The heart is like wood already turned to ash; the body is like an untethered boat.' If you, my lord, are unwilling to betray your teacher, then you are disloyal to the sovereign; yet if you, my lord, are unwilling to betray Your Majesty, then you are disobedient to your teacher."

In the struggles of the current court, Hu Zongxian's stance was extremely important. He presided over the overall campaign against the Japanese pirates; once he assumed his position, he became indispensable.

If he had determined to follow Yan Song wholeheartedly, he would have fought the Japanese pirates half-heartedly, staging a scheme of nurturing the enemy to bolster his own importance, dragging out the fighting for amusement; Jiajing would have been disgusted to death. If he had resolutely followed Jiajing's lead, he should have directly severed ties with Yan Song and turned to act against him.

Anyone could see that, at present, Jiajing's attitude toward Yan Song was also ambiguous; otherwise, this vigorous upheaval to topple the Yan faction would never have occurred in the first place.

Yan Song had precisely seen these signs and thus began stirring up trouble, beginning to demonstrate his importance.

Cornered from both sides, Hu Zongxian, after hearing Wang Yan's words, gave no response; instead, he let out a long sigh and changed the subject: "Write me a prescription. I hear you presented Your Majesty with a painting of Laozi departing westward through Hangu Pass, inscribed with the Dao De Jing, which greatly pleased Your Majesty."

"Grand Secretary Yan, Grand Secretary Xu, and others have all praised your calligraphy and paintings, saying you are already a master of your generation, possessing the bearing of a grand master. When I return, I will have someone mount your prescription as a scroll; it may also serve as a legacy for future generations."

"My lord insults me most harshly."

Wang Yan shook his head with a smile, then rose to write out the prescription; he also copied out that poem by Su Shi once more and handed it to Hu Zongxian's attendant.

"If you, my lord, remain here for two days, I will teach you a set of guiding-and-pulling exercises for nurturing the body; if you practice them diligently henceforth, I guarantee all your illnesses will vanish and you will live to a hundred years."

Hu Zongxian uttered an "Oh": "There exists such a miraculous skill?"

"This humble official merely speaks thus; how can birth, aging, sickness, and death be controlled by man? It is but a beautiful wish. However, one point is indeed true: when the mood is good, illnesses are few; my lord, you should still adopt a more open perspective."

"This old man is very open-minded."

Hu Zongxian was being stubborn...

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