Chapter 16: Killing Requires a Sharp Blade

If the majority of the Great Ming's officials were of Zhang Juzheng's style, focusing on pragmatism, then Zhu Yijun would naturally dare to send troops to Xinzheng, bring Gao Gong to the capital, hold him accountable, and launch a continuous pursuit of the Shanxi Faction.

Zhu Yijun would not hold a pessimistic attitude toward the Great Ming's national affairs, as if the Great Ming were truly declining and nearing its end.

Would arresting Gao Gong and dismissing the Shanxi Faction members promoted by him really provoke a backlash from the Shanxi Faction?

Yes, it certainly would.

The Shanxi Faction in the court was deeply rooted and intertwined, holding power in military, political, personnel, and public opinion matters. This was the Shanxi Faction's strength, and the Shanxi Faction was a small political collective with a strong regional character that sought to steal the country for private gain.

This collective controlled the smuggling of goods to the Tatars, which was their fundamental economic interest, and the border troops in Xuanfu and Datong, which were their fundamental military interest.

Would the Shanxi Faction care about the little remaining vitality of the Great Ming and offer their necks to the slaughter, sacrificing their own interests as a premise for the Great Ming's revival?

The root of the Shanxi Faction was a monopoly economy. Their monopoly economy included the tribute trade with Altan Khan, smuggling in border trade, and mines. The essence of this monopoly economy lay in using powerful political means to monopolize a link in the industrial chain, thereby seeking exorbitant profits.

This monopoly economy, which was based on harming the collective interest to seek private gain, determined that the superstructure of this small political collective would not make the slightest concession for the interest of the Great Ming as a large collective.

When imperial power insisted on punishing Gao Gong and then dismissing the Shanxi Faction, it would inevitably provoke a powerful opposition from the Shanxi Faction.

Illness comes like a mountain, but goes like pulling silk.

The Great Ming had been ill for too long. To cure the illness, one had to take it one step at a time.

Zhu Yijun returned to the Qianqing Palace. He didn't take out the *Direct Explanation of the Four Books* but instead took out a sheet of draft paper. This was the content he had doodled while slacking off in the Wenhua Hall.

Yang Bo, the name of the Minister of Personnel, had been crossed out.

Replacing Yang Bo was Zhang Siwei, a two-faced fellow.

Zhu Yijun suspected that the assassination case was orchestrated by Zhang Siwei, because Zhang Siwei was from a merchant family, generations of merchants. Merchants pursue profit; as long as the price is right, they would even sell the rope to hang themselves.

Moreover, his family was a Shanxi merchant family—the very Shanxi merchants who would go to receive rewards from the Qing Emperor Shunzhi after the Qing entered the pass.

And the relationship between Wang Chonggu and Zhang Siwei was that of uncle and nephew. The Shanxi Faction was still a political collective with strong marriage and regional ties.

And another person, the Minister of Revenue Wang Guoguang, was annotated on the side as a 'traitor to the Shanxi Faction.'

There are only individuals who betray class interests, not classes that betray class interests. Wang Guoguang was an individual who betrayed the Shanxi Faction; he was more like a member of Zhang Juzheng's faction, and after Zhang Juzheng died, he was liquidated by Zhang Siwei as a party member of Zhang Juzheng.

This was a traitor recognized by the Shanxi Faction!

Yang Bo said Wang Guoguang was 'self-disciplined,' meaning he was independent. Zhu Yijun read books; 'independent' comes from the *Book of Rites*, meaning: a person's character is noble, not following the vulgar customs, only suitable for righteousness, only willing to follow their own heart to do things.

What Wang Guoguang wanted to do was the same as Zhang Juzheng; he was a comrade and fellow traveler of Zhang Juzheng.

Zhu Yijun was figuring out who were the fellow travelers, who were worthy of being fellow travelers, who were the enemies, and who should be sent to the Dissection Institute for dissection.

"Your Majesty, Grand Eunuch Feng is requesting an audience outside the palace, saying that the hard-tipped pens Your Majesty wanted are ready and have been delivered." Zhang Jing hurried in, reporting Feng Bao's request for an audience.

"Announce him." Zhu Yijun nodded.

"Your Majesty, the hard-tipped pens Your Majesty ordered this subject to make are ready. I present them for Your Majesty's inspection."

"The wood is pine. In Wanping County of the capital, there is Huamei Mountain. The mountain produces stone, black and not hard. When ground, it is like ink. The ink color is floating and greasy. Palace maids often use it to paint their eyebrows." Feng Bao hurried into the Qianqing Palace from outside the palace and presented the finished hard-tipped pens to the Emperor.

A bundle of pencils, about a *zha* long. There was no lead in the pencil; it was a graphite core with a wooden barrel. It belonged to the category of hard-tipped pens, not soft-tipped pens—it was the kind of pencil that primary school students in later generations used and needed to be sharpened.

Graphite was ground into powder, washed with water to filter out impurities, mixed with clay, and fired. A black lead core was embedded in a wooden strip with grooves, and then two wooden strips were glued together to make it.

The reason Zhu Yijun wanted to make this pencil was that writing with a brush was cumbersome and quite troublesome.

The Chinese pen was also a hard-tipped pen at the very beginning.

The idiom 'carrying lead and bamboo slips' refers to the ancient times when people still used bamboo slips and often carried hard pens made of lead and tin to engrave on the bamboo slips. Later, it was found to be inconvenient and too slow to engrave characters, so it gradually changed to using soft brush heads dipped in lacquer ink to write on bamboo slips.

The pencil in Zhu Yijun's hand was only a *zha* long, and one continuous writing could exceed forty-five thousand characters. It didn't need grinding, didn't need a red-sleeved beauty to add fragrance, and this was the greatest advantage of this pen: convenience.

It writes fast.

Zhu Yijun wrote a few characters earnestly on the desk and nodded, saying, "Hmm, well done. A top-quality item. This thing is very good. Send it to the Senior Grand Secretary for his use."

"This subject obeys the decree." Feng Bao breathed a sigh of relief. The task the Emperor had entrusted to him had been successfully completed.

Zhu Yijun put down the pen in his hand, looked at Feng Bao, and asked, "Grand Eunuch Feng, We have heard that during the Zheng-tong years of the Great Ming, the Yingzong Emperor had a Grand Eunuch named Wang Zhen. Does Grand Eunuch Feng know him?"

"This subject knows him." Feng Bao hurriedly replied. The Tumu Crisis of the Great Ming, the Beijing Garrison was wiped out, and the eunuch Wang Zhen became the culprit for everything.

Zhu Yijun continued, "Wang Zhen fooled the Yingzong Emperor in the palace. When Wang Zhen went out of the palace to handle affairs, he could have returned to the palace before the palace gates were locked, but he refused, insisting on asking for a handwritten note from the Emperor to open the palace gates after they were locked."

"Wang Zhen entered the imperial palace at night, and the court officials heard the news and attacked him in groups. Wang Zhen knelt and cried, saying he was doing his best for the Emperor, yet was criticized like this. Such tricks are countless."

"This subject has heard of it." Feng Bao knelt on the ground, trembling. Who on earth told the Emperor this story?

It must be that eunuch Zhang Hong of the Qianqing Palace!

"The ministers of the Outer Court are not submissive. We are very clear about this." Zhu Yijun's tone gradually became severe. The ministers of the Great Ming had long since lost their sense of submission by the Wanli years. The strict ritual laws of 'ruler is ruler, subject is subject' that had existed for thousands of years had long been forgotten.

"If the Grand Eunuch of the palace takes the lead in violating palace rules, the palace security of the Great Ming will become a mere formality. Anyone can mix sand into the palace. Something happens in the palace at this moment, and the entire capital knows it the next moment. Then the Outer Court ministers naturally extend their hands into the palace. This is the root cause of 'those who govern people doing evil, small evil becoming great evil.'"

"As the Grand Eunuch of the palace, if you rot a little here, the palace will rot in pieces. When you go out of the palace to handle affairs, you are the face of the royal family. You must keep this in mind."

Feng Bao said quite respectfully, "This subject will respectfully follow the holy instruction."

"This subject withdraws."

Feng Bao stood up, bent his waist, and slowly retreated to the door before turning to leave. This story must have been told to the Emperor by Zhang Hong, but what the Emperor said made sense. The Great Ming's palace security was a mess, and the ministers had treated the palace as another place for them to fight, which was why so many strange things happened in the palace.

Feng Bao took a few pencils and headed toward the Quanchu Guild Hall. This was the Emperor's new stationery, extremely convenient for writing.

A yellow-robed envoy came to the palace, and the Quanchu Guild Hall did not dare to be negligent. Zhang Juzheng personally went to the main gate to welcome Feng Bao and greeted him, saying, "Grand Eunuch Feng."

"His Majesty's oral decree: This item is very good. Send it to the Senior Grand Secretary for his use. Respect this." Feng Bao did not enter the gate and handed the imperial gift to Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng was a very intelligent person, and the situation where he had brilliant ideas but forgot them after a while appeared.

A good memory is not as good as a bad pen. It was most convenient to use this item to record flashes of inspiration. Using a brush to write required grinding ink and calming one's spirit. He only took this as a stationery item designed and made by the palace eunuchs who racked their brains to please the little Emperor.

"As for the assassination case, what did the Empress Dowager say?" Zhang Juzheng flicked his sleeves, and several salt permits fell into his hands. He handed the salt permits to Feng Bao quite casually.

The Great Ming's treasure notes were a pile of waste paper, but the Great Ming's salt permits were extremely strong. A small salt permit was for 120 catties, worth about 1.5 taels of silver; a large salt permit was for 400 catties, worth 5 taels of silver. This stack of large salt permits Zhang Juzheng handed over was at least twenty sheets, worth over a hundred taels.

The "carbon tribute" and "ice tribute" during the spring and autumn seasons amounted to no more than a thousand taels of silver. As a subordinate of Zhang Juzheng, Qi Jiguang only sent filial tributes twice a year, totaling no more than two thousand taels.

Giving away a hundred taels of silver was already extremely generous.

Feng Bao, however, did not accept the salt permits as he had in the past. Instead, he pushed them away and said, "The Empress Dowager's intention is that she hopes the Grand Secretary Jiangling will not learn from Gao Gong and ruin himself. The Empress Dowager's greatest hope is that the Emperor can inherit the ancestors' foundation. This is the top priority. But if there is a next time, the Empress Dowager will not be able to care about so much."

"The palace is about to lock its gates. I will not stay long. Farewell."

Zhang Juzheng stood in the cold wind of early spring, feeling a bit messy.

Was the sun really rising from the west?!

This Grand Eunuch of the palace actually didn't accept bribes, and this Grand Eunuch of the palace actually started to follow palace rules? It was truly rare.

Yang Bo came knocking again.

Zhang Juzheng mentioned the Dissection Institute. He didn't say it was the little Emperor who wanted to establish this heaven-defying and god-forsaken Dissection Institute, because he was the one who submitted the memorial, he was the one who led it, he was the one who handled it, and he was the one who gained the benefits. Such a devious idea—even if Zhang Juzheng said the little Emperor wanted to establish it, Yang Bo would have to believe it.

Zhang Juzheng knew clearly that the Shanxi Faction would compromise, because in a full-scale conflict, Zhang Juzheng would not win, and the Great Ming would not win, but the Shanxi Faction would definitely lose.

Sending people to the Dissection Institute to be sliced to death was a way to vent for the people in the imperial palace. As for the winds in the court, the leader of the Shanxi Faction and the Senior Grand Secretary had reached a deal, so it could naturally be suppressed.

With this, the interest exchange for Wang Dachen's case was completely completed.

The little Emperor got a Dissection Institute, a few eunuchs and palace maids of his own, and completed the sorting out of the three-zhang radius;

Zhang Juzheng got the Minister of Personnel, the promotion of the 'Examination of Merit' law, and Yang Bo's retirement;

And the Shanxi Faction once again demonstrated the influence of their political small collective in the court, temporarily stabilizing the precarious and panic-stricken situation after the downfall of Senior Grand Secretary Gao Gong.

Before leaving, Yang Bo looked at Zhang Juzheng with a complex expression and said, "Bai Gui, I am old. 'The words of a dying man are good.' Listen to my advice. I know you have high ambitions and even look down on me in your heart, but now I can still retire and retreat safely. What about you?"

"Your 'Examination of Merit' law has offended all the bureaucrats in the world. Think about it carefully. It's not too late before I retire."

"See the Minister off." Zhang Juzheng only sent the guest away.

"Has this matter finally come to an end?" Ge Shouli was still sitting at a table with the children, listening to the opera in the theater. Until Yang Bo and Zhang Juzheng finished talking, Ge Shouli followed Yang Bo out of the Quanchu Guild Hall and said with trepidation.

If they really continued to investigate and really pinned the crime on Gao Gong, the entire Shanxi Faction would be in trouble.

Yang Bo looked at Ge Shouli and shook his head. "It's just a stage, not the end."

Had Wang Dachen's case really come to an end? The little Emperor was still young, and imperial prestige was not manifest. When the little Emperor was a bit older, would he really not bring up the old matter and continue the investigation?

The Emperor is the principal!

Yang Bo had heard from the Vice Minister of Revenue Wang Xielie about the little Emperor's studies. After such a major event, the little Emperor seemed to have grown up overnight. The exhibition officials, readers, and lecturers would only withdraw after the classics lecture.

These document officials would follow Zhang Juzheng throughout the lecture. The little Emperor's insights were quite unique and definitely not something eunuchs could teach.

Yang Bo still looked down on Feng Bao, until he heard today that Feng Bao no longer accepted bribes and followed palace rules, which made him look at Feng Bao with a bit more respect, but only a bit.

Judging by the little Emperor's talent, a little Emperor who was no longer lazy would definitely be a master who would seek revenge for the slightest grievance when he grew up.

Because what Zhang Juzheng believed in was 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.' How could a student taught by such a teacher be a master who settles matters and keeps the peace?

Yang Bo was extremely worried about the Shanxi Faction's future situation. Ge Shouli actually thought this matter was completely over?

The next afternoon, after finishing his lunch, Zhu Yijun did not immediately head to the martial arts training ground but instead headed toward the Chengtian Gate. He was going to watch the execution.

"Did the knives I ordered the Grand Eunuch to have made get made?" Zhu Yijun stood before the Chengtian Gate, asking Feng Bao beside him.

Feng Bao hurriedly replied, "They are made."

Zhu Yijun walked out of the Chengtian Gate toward the East Suburb Rice Lane. That was the south gate of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, now the main gate of the Dissection Institute. Chen Shigong's medical advice was to control his mouth and move his legs, so the sedan chair still followed behind, but Zhu Yijun chose to walk.

He said as he walked, "Killing requires a sharp blade."

If the blade isn't sharp, what kind of person are you killing? ===== CHAPTER 17 =====