Chapter 40

Hence Hai Rui is the idol of the pure stream! The benchmark! The model! He is the person the pure stream wants to live as but dares not!

Back then, when Gao Gong wanted to force Hence Hai Rui to resign, he only merged the duties of the Jiangnan Grain Supervisor into the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, leaving Hence Hai Rui with nothing to do. As the Great Ming's Senior Grand Secretary, Gao Gong had to be so cautious and careful in dealing with one Hence Hai Rui, and even then, he was subjected to verbal attacks by the pure stream.

Now that Hence Hai Rui was returning to the court, the censors stood up one after another and gathered together, all chatting with extreme excitement.

"His Majesty is wise! The principles of discipline and ethics are gone, and it is not just the common people who cannot survive! With Hence Hai Rui returning to the court, the sky will be clear and the air will be fresh! Good, good, good, great!"

"Alas! How can one ignore it just because it is common! Oh! How can one change it just because it is not as desired! Oh! And how can one compare it just because it is overwhelming!"

"Since His Majesty has no intention of harming officials who serve as his eyes and ears, and even managed to summon Hai Gangfeng back to the court to handle affairs from the hands of that powerful minister, doesn't that mean Luo Zun, Jing Song, and Han Bixian really deserve their punishment?"

"That is also true. The capital garrison is a major matter, and it all went to the Jin people. Could His Majesty still sleep peacefully? Impeaching based on this is indeed somewhat lacking in order and discipline?"

"I said before that there was a hidden story behind the lack of decorum at the Altar of the Sun, but you all wouldn't believe me, insisting on saying that the Senior Grand Secretary was obstructing things behind the scenes. Could it be that Senior Grand Secretary Zhang is a basket where everything can be dumped?"

Ge Shouli stood before the Chengtian Gate, watching most of the remonstrating officials begin to leave. His expression was instead somewhat lonely. He tried to persuade them in every way, but these remonstrating officials just wouldn't believe his words; once Hence Hai Rui was mentioned, they all started to believe.

His time as Chief Censor was truly stifling.

Supervising Secretary Jia Sanjin looked left and right. With fewer and fewer people, he gritted his teeth, finally stamped his foot, and left.

In this game of storming the palace gates at the Chengtian Gate, the rule of the game is that the law does not punish the masses. Since His Majesty let Hai Gangfeng return to the court and calmed the public anger, the number of officials storming the palace gates became fewer and fewer. If Jia Sanjin continued, he would be exposed, and he feared he wouldn't have a good ending.

Finally, before the Chengtian Gate, only the Embroidered Uniform Guard agents remained, with no more remonstrating officials lingering there.

The biggest reason the remonstrating officials were dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng was that many people recommended Hence Hai Rui, but Zhang Juzheng wouldn't budge, so he let the Qiongzhou Censor go to investigate Hence Hai Rui.

As a result, when the Censor arrived at Hence Hai Rui's home, it was truly a place with bare walls, the house was cold and simple, and there was no surplus wealth. All Hence Hai Rui had were books and a body full of integrity. The weather in Hainan was warm, but if it were in the north, Hence Hai Rui would have frozen to death in winter relying only on his integrity.

With such integrity, Zhang Juzheng still refused to employ Hence Hai Rui. The remonstrating officials all said: Senior Grand Secretary Zhang is afraid of Hence Hai Rui's strictness and uprightness, which is why he refuses to employ him.

Feng Bao looked at Ge Shouli's lonely face, thought for a moment, and said with a smile, "Old Ge, if you ask me, you should just stop being Chief Censor and retire."

"Look at you—in the Zhao Wenhua Hall, you take my anger; in the Censorate, you take the anger of these remonstrating officials. If it were me, I wouldn't take this double-sided anger; I'd just let whoever wants to deal with it deal with it!"

"Nonsense!" Ge Shouli flicked his sleeve and headed toward the Zhao Wenhua Hall. Ge Shouli did not argue because what Feng Bao said was the truth.

This matter of Tan Lun's lack of decorum was impeached by Jing Song and Han Bixian of the Censorate, but when they spoke to Ge Shouli, they didn't mention that Lu Shusheng also lacked decorum. Otherwise, Ge Shouli wouldn't have made such a fool of himself in the Zhao Wenhua Hall and wouldn't have fallen into such a passive position.

This head of the department, Feng Bao, practiced the "Classic of Irritating People" to make people die of anger—isn't this exactly that double-sided anger?

This double-sided anger is the most uncomfortable.

Feng Bao and Ge Shouli returned to the Zhao Wenhua Hall and reported the matter outside the Chengtian Gate in every detail.

"Let's have the court discussion." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, shaking his head with slight disappointment, signaling that the ministers didn't need to stand there anymore; they should do whatever they needed to do. He continued to read, and the court officials continued to argue.

This dazzling exchange was actually, in essence, using Hence Hai Rui's return to the court to trade for the remonstrating officials giving up their entanglement and impeachment of Tan Lun, stopping the factional strife.

What if the remonstrating officials still refused to retreat after hearing that Hence Hai Rui was returning to the court?

Zhu Yijun would have looked at Zhang Juzheng's methods. If Zhang Juzheng had no methods, Zhu Yijun would have had to enter the fray himself and have the agents arrest people, finding the bastard who was stirring up trouble inside.

A massive purge, a massive factional strife!

"Hence Hai Rui is returning to the capital. Does anyone have any objections?" After Zhang Juzheng sat down, he asked the first question: Hence Hai Rui's return to the court.

For Zhang Juzheng, he had actually thought of this result when he left the blank floating vote yesterday. Zhang Juzheng was very certain that this was not Feng Bao's or the Empress Dowager's idea. Feng Bao had been the "Old Ancestor" for only six months, and the Empress Dowager had been living in the Kunning Palace for less than five months.

Hence Hai Rui's return to the court—Zhang Juzheng was very certain it was His Majesty's idea. Zhang Juzheng had long since seen through what kind of face was hidden beneath the young Emperor's sunny and cheerful smile.

Of the three people in charge in the palace, only the young Emperor could make such a logical and natural interest exchange.

Zhang Juzheng even saw a kind of anticipation in the Emperor's eyes. After Feng Bao and Ge Shouli returned, that anticipation turned into a kind of disappointment and boredom.

Disappointment that the people had left and returned to their offices? Boredom to the point of wanting to see blood flowing like a river?!

The court officials looked at each other, all silent. Before this, as the Senior Grand Secretary in charge of the state, he had refused to let Hence Hai Rui return to the capital. Since Zhang Juzheng himself did not object, the court officials had even less to say.

"To bend is to be preserved; to be crooked is to be straightened." Seeing no one object, Zhang Juzheng said very calmly.

This is a sentence from Chapter 22 of Laozi's "Tao Te Ching." Being able to adapt flexibly means being able to preserve oneself. Zhang Juzheng was not optimistic about Hence Hai Rui's return to the capital. If Hence Hai Rui were to remonstrate bluntly again and cause the Empress Dowager and the Emperor to have misunderstandings, he feared he wouldn't even have the chance to be sent back to his hometown to live in leisure.

But Zhang Juzheng still took out the memorial recommending Hence Hai Rui, rubbed it slightly, pressed his seal on the seam, and handed the memorial of recommendation to the Qianqing Palace eunuch Zhang Hong.

Zhu Yijun took out the "Wanli Treasure" seal and stamped it on the memorial. This memorial was taken back to the court discussion table and handed to the Ministry of Personnel. This is called "issuing the decree"—the memorial becomes an imperial decree after being stamped and is issued to the Six Ministries for specific handling.

Yang Bo had no objections to Hence Hai Rui's return to the capital; he pressed his seal and also pressed his own seal.

Afterwards, the Wenyuan Pavilion would draft an imperial decree, counting the things Hence Hai Rui had done in the past, writing the names of the people who recommended him into the decree, and then sending it to Hainan at a gallop before Hence Hai Rui could set off to return to the capital.

It would take at least one hundred and eighty days, or half a year, for Hence Hai Rui to return to the capital. The road from the Northern Yamen to Qiongzhou was long.

Zhu Yijun was reading. He did not blame those remonstrating officials for storming the palace gates.

Supervising secretaries and censors were mostly officials who had just graduated from the Hanlin Academy. They were young people—they were enthusiastic, passionate, hot-blooded, and impulsive. They were willing to express their opinions on state affairs, could not tolerate evil, and were also easily used by others.

Were all the censors in the Censorate people of the Jin Party?

But a small group of rotten-to-the-core bastards were fanning the flames everywhere, and these censors were easily incited.

Public opinion and pure discussion were mostly like this.

Zhu Yijun did not blame them. If young people weren't hot-blooded, would they still be young people? If their blood went cold, then the Great Ming would be a stagnant pool with no hope, and they could just wait to die.

It was just that after this incident, Zhu Yijun discovered that Ge Shouli probably really didn't know about Lu Shusheng's lack of decorum; he had been firmly controlled by the information cocoon woven by the censors.

Would Hence Hai Rui also be firmly controlled by an information cocoon after returning to the capital and then become a sharp blade in the hands of the factions?

Zhu Yijun read and wrote with an indifferent face. When Hence Hai Rui returned to the capital, this blade would definitely be firmly held in his own hands.

Zhang Juzheng sat up straight and began the second item of the court discussion.

Qi Jiguang's return to the capital.

Qi Jiguang was about to return to the capital, and it would be to receive rewards in the Fengtian Hall.

Zhang Juzheng's attitude was very serious. He made specific and clear requirements for the specific time and etiquette for Qi Jiguang to station at the Northern Tucheng, enter the Desheng Gate, enter the Eastern Changan Gate, and enter the Chengtian Gate.

When Zhang Juzheng said this, he kept looking at the Minister of Rites, Lu Shusheng. He hoped that Lu Shusheng would not make a mistake in this matter.

"Factional strife and exclusion are endless. His Majesty is deeply worried, and the Empress Dowager is anxious. The impeachment of a minister by the three remonstrating officials Luo Zun, Jing Song, and Han Bixian has already concluded. You should cleanse your hearts and minds, work diligently, and do not make mistakes." Zhang Juzheng closed the memorial in his hand and spoke with an extremely flat tone, saying the most threatening words.

Enriching the state and strengthening the military was Zhang Juzheng's general policy for governing the state. The "Five Matters Memorial" was the first step of his reform.

To enrich the state, one must grasp taxes; to grasp taxes, one must grasp the administration of officials. Therefore, he promoted the "Examination and Evaluation Law." Only when the administration of officials is clear, when superiors act and inferiors follow, and when government orders are communicated, can taxes be collected. Without clean administration, talking about collecting taxes is as ridiculous as talking about a courtesan selling her body but not her art.

As for strengthening the military, it was mainly focused on strengthening the military with the Southern troops of the Jiliao Regional Commander Qi Jiguang as the core.

This did not conform to the Great Ming's institutional design and did not conform to the laws of the ancestors.

The one hundred thousand elite troops with Qi Jiguang's Southern troops as the core were the Great Ming Dynasty's rapid response support force. Whether there was warfare in the northeast or southwest, they could be dispatched.

This should have been the duty of the capital garrison.

No matter how strong Qi Jiguang's Jiliao army was, they were only border troops, not capital troops. If the name is not correct, the words will not be smooth. Zhang Juzheng letting Qi Jiguang hold the land of the three towns—doing this was extremely dangerous.

Because border troops easily become a disaster that is too big to be controlled. This process does not shift according to Qi Jiguang's own wishes. More accurately, the Jiliao army would be turned into a disaster, and someone would turn them into rebels.

If Qi Jiguang could be granted a title, even if it were only a non-hereditary one, he could be transferred to the capital to become the capital garrison's Regional Commander. Then the matter of the capital garrison would not be so rotten, and the matter of strengthening the military would become legitimate.

Because the capital garrison is the Son of Heaven's personal army.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Ming Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di once issued an imperial edict, letting the then-Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi, regardless of wind, frost, rain, or snow, go to the capital garrison to drill troops and horses.

Border troops guarding the border and the capital garrison conquering—this was the Great Ming's ancestral law. But after the Great Ming capital garrison was disbanded upon the restoration of the Ming Emperor Yingzong and reorganized after the Ming Emperor Xianzong ascended the throne, it never again restored the Great Ming's military might to awe the world.

Zhang Juzheng was testing step by step, attempting to grant Qi Jiguang a title based on his merits, and then Qi Jiguang could legitimately return to the capital to be the Regional Commander. Only in this way would strengthening the military be the fundamental duty.

Zhang Juzheng looked at the Minister of Rites, Lu Shusheng, already somewhat impatient. If there were any more mishaps in this matter of Qi Jiguang entering the capital, then he could not be blamed for being impolite.

Whether Zhang Juzheng had means—he had many means. But splashing dirty water on people was the simplest thing. If Lu Shusheng dared to make trouble in matters passed by such a court discussion, then he could not be blamed for Zhang Juzheng acting like a petty man.

For example, finding dozens of children to run to Lu Shusheng's mansion to seek relatives—regardless of whether Lu Shusheng's character was noble or not, he would only be able to retire.

The court discussion continued, the court officials were still arguing, and Zhu Yijun was still reading quite seriously, never speaking again.

After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking about Qi Jiguang entering the capital, he also became full of worries. He was actually somewhat worried that His Majesty would harbor resentment toward the remonstrating officials.

Remonstrating officials, like the eunuch faction, were existences that people hated and dogs disliked; they were not well-liked. Zhang Juzheng was also annoyed by these people. Ge Shouli called him by his name and attacked the Senior Grand Secretary—what could Zhang Juzheng do? He couldn't do anything either.

Remonstrating officials really had a necessity to exist. Although they were often used as blades to attack ministers, if there were no such blades in the court, that would be the real mess.

Remonstrating officials were an extremely core part of the Great Ming's error-correction mechanism, although this error-correction mechanism had gradually degenerated under the use of factions.

Storming the palace gates had already become a means of political struggle, not a mechanism for correcting the Emperor's erroneous government orders. Just as the Jin Party gathered together in the beginning to solve the border threat, now it had become a faction whose core interest was monopolizing the tribute trade and smuggling with the Tatars.

"We, your subjects, take our leave." The assembled officials bowed respectfully and left the Great Ming Dynasty's Zhao Wenhua Hall.

Zhang Juzheng flicked his sleeves, prepared to perform a great bow to kneel and speak. He said loudly, "Your Majesty, your subject has advice."