Chapter 4

This Great Ming imperial palace was leaking wind everywhere, no different from a sieve.

The Great Ming Emperor who lived the longest was the founding Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, at seventy-one. The second was the Chengzu Emperor Wen, Zhu Di, at sixty-five. The third was Zhu Yijun's grandfather, the Great Ming's 'immortal' emperor, the Jiajing Emperor, who spent his days taking various elixirs, at sixty.

None of the other emperors lived past sixty.

With the Jiajing Emperor's level of palace intrigue, there was even an incident where palace maids attempted to assassinate the 'old Daoist' but failed.

What kind of dangerous place was this imperial palace?

The other emperors all had their own ways of dying; some drank poisonous concoctions with wine, some fell into the water because they couldn't swim, and others died in unexplained ways. Few had a peaceful end. Was the Great Ming Emperor so absurd that he couldn't even have a peaceful end?

And there were those that even the historians couldn't write about, like the Ming Daizong, Zhu Qiyu; the history books could only give a 'death' and leave it at that.

In this Great Ming imperial palace, nothing strange or bizarre was considered strange.

"Mother, Mother, the hour is late, child is sleepy, and there are lessons and the classics lecture tomorrow." Zhu Yijun's eyes were innocent as he signaled that if the two Empress Dowagers kept chatting, dawn would break.

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Li and Empress Dowager Chen both stood up. Empress Dowager Li checked Zhu Yijun's forehead again, then said with reddened eyes: "Lessons must be done, and the classics lecture must be attended. It is hard on my child. Go to sleep quickly."

Empress Dowager Chen said with an unbearable expression: "Why not stop for a day tomorrow? The Emperor has suffered such a shock, resting for a day would be no harm. Could the court officials criticize the Emperor for this? A bunch of pedants who only know how to hold onto their 'zhi, hu, zhe, ye' and cage the Emperor in those frameworks, saying he can't do this and can't do that."

Empress Dowager Li was silent for a long time, looking at Zhu Yijun, and said extremely helplessly: "Sister, we cannot rest."

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Chen was also silent. She knew Empress Dowager Li was speaking the truth. With a young master and a suspicious state, being the young Emperor was not an easy task.

"Sigh." The two Empress Dowagers looked at each other without words, only two sighs. Even after suffering such a disaster, the young Son of Heaven still had to attend daily lessons and classics lectures.

Zhu Yijun, however, remained full of innocence. This small skin-bag was very good at disguising itself. In this Great Ming Dynasty, where monsters were everywhere, one had to be cautious and even more cautious in everything.

Actually, he had another way of living, which was to be like the Wanli Emperor in history and just muddle through everything.

Zhu Yijun was unwilling to muddle through, nor would he. Being bullied by eunuchs, bullied by civil officials, and even bullied by the Jianzhou Jurchens—if that was the case, it was better not to be the Emperor.

He was unwilling, simply unwilling; his thoughts were not clear.

After the two Empress Dowagers left, Zhu Yijun stared at the plaque hanging high in the Qianqing Palace, which bore the four characters 'Jing Tian Fa Zu' (Revere Heaven and Follow the Ancestors). This was the ancestral teaching left by the Great Ming Dynasty.

'Jing' means to revere; 'Fa' means to follow. The meaning of these four characters is: to act according to the way of Heaven is called revering Heaven; to learn from the wisdom of the ancestors is called following the ancestors.

Zhu Yijun learning martial arts was naturally seen as being unlearned and neglecting his proper duties, not the right path. But by bringing out the laws of the ancestors, he had finally touched the edges of military power.

It was just that this signboard of 'Revere Heaven and Follow the Ancestors' would be replaced in a few decades by the 'Zheng Da Guang Ming' (Upright and Bright) written in both Manchu and Chinese by the Qing Jianzhou Jurchens.

Zhu Yijun stood straight, staring at that plaque.

Calculating the time, the Battle of Sarhu was still forty-one years away; the time was completely sufficient. He had accepted his identity as the young Emperor and set a bottom line for himself: even if he only had one breath left, even if he had to crawl, even if he had to bite with his teeth, he would smash the Jianzhou Jurchens to pieces.

This Great Ming could perish for the sake of the people, but it could not perish at the hands of the Jianzhou Jurchens.

To make the Great Ming great again, the path was long and obstructed. The road had to be walked step by step, and the rice had to be eaten mouthful by mouthful. Compared to the grand goal of making the Great Ming great again, first, he had to clean up his own surroundings.

"Zhang Hong." Zhu Yijun looked at the four characters 'Revere Heaven and Follow the Ancestors' and suddenly spoke.

"This subject is here." Zhang Hong hurriedly replied.

The young Emperor's performance today was all in Zhang Hong's eyes. Feng Bao, who was usually highly trusted, had actually been beaten to such a state, and had only narrowly passed the test after almost kowtowing to death. Feng Bao was severely injured; if a little more force had been used, he might have died directly.

Empress Dowager Li had always trusted Feng Bao; whatever Feng Bao said, she believed. If it had only been Feng Bao and Empress Dowager Li, Feng Bao's glib tongue might have allowed him to pass the test with a few slaps.

The events that happened today were clearly related to the young Emperor before him. The young Emperor, who was usually somewhat timid, was already completely different today from the past.

"Wipe the floor; it's all blood." Zhu Yijun said somewhat indifferently.

Several young eunuchs behind Zhang Hong immediately began to wipe the floor, wishing they could lick the bloodstains off the ground with their tongues. These young eunuchs had all taken Zhang Hong as their foster father and all took the surname Zhang.

Zhu Yijun looked at the plaque of 'Revere Heaven and Follow the Ancestors' and said coldly: "You deliberately endured the pain and refused to be bandaged so you could come to see the Emperor, all to gamble for a chance to get ahead. You won the gamble."

Zhang Hong's heart trembled, and he said even more respectfully: "Your Majesty is divinely wise; this subject's small actions could not escape Your Majesty's wise eyes!"

Although the young Emperor was young, it did not mean he was easy to fool.

Zhu Yijun continued: "I saw it, the Empress Dowager saw it, and Great Eunuch Feng naturally saw it too. You are now a eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, which is equivalent to openly pointing a weapon at Great Eunuch Feng. That is his power, and you used the pretext of capturing the assassin to carve out a large piece from him. Do you think he will spare you afterward?"

"Great Eunuch Feng is my 'Great Eunuch,' and you are also an old servant from the former residence, and also one of my 'Great Eunuchs.' Great Eunuch Feng is the master of the palace, and you were originally a master too. Great Eunuch Feng is currently in the Qianqing Palace, and I have also assigned you to the Qianqing Palace."

"You have received my imperial order; do you know what to do?"

'Master' is a political relationship, similar to a 'master teacher.' More colloquially, the master in the palace is a high-ranking eunuch acting as a father to a low-ranking eunuch, a community of interests maintained by benefits. If one prospers, all prosper; if one suffers, all suffer. Zhang Hong was an old servant from the former residence, so naturally, there were people who would defect to him.

"This subject knows, but if the Empress Dowager finds out, I fear..." Zhang Hong hesitated slightly, clearly still worried about the Empress Dowager's reaction.

Zhu Yijun interrupted Zhang Hong's words and asked quite calmly: "Whose claw and tooth are you?"

"Your Majesty's claw and tooth." Zhang Hong replied without any hesitation. The Emperor was still young, but his back looked exceptionally steady.

Ambition does not depend on youth. Empress Dowager Li had also said to let Zhang Hong follow the Emperor in the future, so Zhang Hong had only one master, and that was the Emperor before him.

Zhu Yijun turned around, looked at Zhang Hong, and said extremely solemnly: "If the Empress Dowager blames you, I will explain it to her. You are my claw and tooth; even if the Empress Dowager blames you, she will blame me first. I will take the scolding first, and then you will be punished. Do you understand?"

"This subject understands!" Zhang Hong finally understood what the Emperor meant by 'whose claw and tooth.'

The Emperor was not very old, but he saw things more clearly than he did. Zhang Hong understood his identity: he was the Emperor's claw and tooth, a subordinate relationship.

The Emperor's meaning was very clear: if the Empress Dowager really blamed him, the Emperor would come forward to explain. Regardless of whether the Emperor would actually come forward, the fact that he had said it was enough.

At the very least, the Emperor was willing to give a promise and willing to speak.

As for whether he would fulfill it, Zhang Hong had never expected his master to fulfill promises.

Zhu Yijun walked to the bed, rummaged through it, handed a letter tablet to Zhang Hong, and said: "I do not wish for the palace maids who comb my hair tomorrow, the eunuchs who attend to my daily life and studies, or the young eunuchs who lead the way for me to be Feng's people. Do you understand?"

"Go find my martial arts teacher, Commander Zhu Xixiao, and mobilize fifty Embroidered Uniform Guards to clean the palace. Anyone who dares to resist the order will be charged with treason and executed without mercy! Do you understand?"

"This subject understands! This subject understands!" Zhang Hong gripped the letter tablet tightly and said forcefully.

Only then did Zhang Hong know why his master insisted on finding Commander Zhu Xixiao to learn martial arts—it was to use him here!

Zhang Hong gripped the letter tablet in his hand and left to accept the order. This master of his was easy to serve; he was willing to take responsibility, gave specific and clear goals, and provided specific methods for execution. He only needed to execute them.

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Hong's back, his face showing contemplation.

Zhang Hong could endure severe pain and come all the way to the Qianqing Palace dripping with blood; he was a ruthless man. If he supported him, the task he was handling was not difficult. If he couldn't even handle this with the Emperor's letter tablet, then Zhang Hong shouldn't think about fighting Feng Bao or becoming a 'great ancestor'; he should just go to the back mountain, find a rope, and hang himself.

As for the scope of cleaning the palace, it was neither large nor small, only the people around him. If Empress Dowager Li wouldn't even allow this, Zhu Yijun would have to make other plans.

Zhu Yijun stood behind the indestructible shield of imperial power, cautiously testing the limits of his power.

He had to take the initiative and had to fight.

If he didn't fight, there was only one outcome: after Zhang Juzheng died, the court officials would launch a counter-reckoning against Zhang Juzheng, and he, the supreme Emperor of the Great Ming, would only be able to follow the opinions of the court officials, liquidate Zhang Juzheng and his new policies, and then wait for the court officials to throw a 'Memorial on Wine, Lust, Wealth, and Temper' in his face, helpless.

In the fifteenth year of Wanli, Luo Yuren, a left appraiser of the Dali Temple, submitted a 'Memorial on Wine, Lust, Wealth, and Temper,' cursing the Wanli Emperor for being full of the five poisons.

Did the Wanli Emperor have any way to deal with it?

No.

If he didn't fight, the consequence would be: becoming a puppet, sitting on the Fengtian Hall where the divine artifact of the world was located, and being a rubber stamp.

If he didn't fight, the consequence would be: facing the crumbling national situation of the Great Ming, helpless, becoming a coward, hiding in the inner palace, and saying nothing.

If he didn't fight, the consequence would be: even the dogs of the Great Ming would dare to bare their teeth at the Great Ming, and the people of the Great Ming would be bullied by anyone.

He had to fight.

He also wanted to see whether the iron triangle of Zhang Juzheng, Feng Bao, and Empress Dowager Li dared to defy the world and depose him, the Emperor!

Zhang Hong took his few foster sons to the Wufeng Tower of the Chengtian Gate, found Commander Zhu Xixiao, showed the letter tablet, and said: "His Majesty has a decree to mobilize fifty Embroidered Uniform Guards to clean the Qianqing Palace!"

"How dare you?" Zhu Xixiao was stunned, his expression changing drastically as he asked.

Only then did he realize that the young Emperor's learning martial arts was intended to drag him into the water.

When Zhu Xixiao realized he was on a pirate ship, it was too late to regret. He had thought His Majesty just wanted to practice martial arts because of the assassination attempt. Why did such a young child have so many thoughts!

Should he mobilize the Embroidered Uniform Guard or not?

Zhang Hong raised the Emperor's letter tablet with his injured hand and said sternly: "How dare I? It is authorized by imperial power!"

"Commander, do you intend to resist the imperial decree!"

Did Zhu Xixiao dare to resist the imperial decree?