[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties":3,"chapter-i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-48":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Really Am Not Neglecting My Duties",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2363317,4622,"Chapter 48","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-48",48,"\u003Cp>Loyalty means loyalty to the state, loyalty to the Emperor, loyalty to the cosmic order, and loyalty to one’s own heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cosmic order is filial piety; all dynasties have governed the realm through filial piety, where filial piety means obedience to elders, respect for hierarchy, and each person fulfilling their proper role.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Son of Heaven is the ruler of all under heaven and the father of all people—this has been true since antiquity. The Spring and Autumn Annals says: ‘Though the acts of subjects and sons betraying their lord and father differ, their nature is the same.’ The Zuo Commentary states: ‘The commands of lord and father are not to be questioned.’ The Records of the Grand Historian also says: ‘Even the supreme dignity of lord and father cannot override the cherished desires of subject and son; even a common man’s resolve cannot be taken from him.’” Zhang Juzheng first explained the origin of lord and father, which has existed since ancient times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the Spring and Autumn Annals to the Records of the Grand Historian, and further to the Book of Han, the Later Han Book, the Book of Wei, the Book of Jin, the Book of Sui, the Old Book of Tang, the New Book of Tang, the History of Song, and the Veritable Records, all have recorded this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This touches upon the fundamental logic of how the realm operates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng answered the Emperor’s question on the origin of lord and father, then continued: “Benevolence is humanity; kinship is paramount. Righteousness is appropriateness; honoring the worthy is paramount. The gradations of kinship and the ranks of honoring the worthy give rise to ritual.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Filial piety, reverence, loyalty, and integrity—these are what lord and father find peace in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Filial piety means respect for age and hierarchy; reverence means awe and veneration; loyalty means fulfilling one’s inner duty; integrity means unwavering steadfastness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lord and father dwell above the ninefold heavens; if all under heaven adheres to filial piety, reverence, loyalty, and integrity, then the lord and father will find peace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason past dynasties governed through filial piety now became clear: if everyone respects age and hierarchy, the supreme Emperor will never be as ignorant as Louis XVI.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng bowed deeply and said respectfully: “The father is the household lord; the ruler is the state father. To make the father the lord and the lord the father—lord and father are two, yet one; one, yet two; lord and father are one entity.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, he could say no more. No matter what the Emperor asked or said, Zhang Juzheng would not continue, for the topics ahead were truly beyond utterance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng feared the Emperor might blurt out: “Can a ten-year-old sovereign be both household lord and state father?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun smiled and said: “Master Yuanfu, one is one, two is two.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty is wise,” Zhang Juzheng replied, instantly shuddering. The Emperor saying this was worse than asking how a ten-year-old could be household lord and state father! At least Zhang Juzheng could answer why a ten-year-old could become the realm’s household lord and state father!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor’s “one is one, two is two” left Zhang Juzheng without an answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This phrase must go in one ear and out the other; he must pretend he never heard it. But now that he had heard it, it was etched into his heart like a brand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One is one: the sovereign is the sovereign. Two is two: the father is the father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once split apart, the cosmic order collapses instantly! The gradations of honoring the worthy arise from ritual—if separated, where then is ritual?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How can the two identities of sovereign and father be distinguished?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet one is one, two is two: two identities are two identities, and cannot be conflated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some questions, if left unasked, bring no doubt; but once someone breaks this taboo and raises the question, reflection becomes strange—and there is no return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun did not press further. Overdoing it yields poor results; better to let it flow gently, inch by inch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The hundred-commanders, platoon leaders, and soldiers of the Capital Garrison are disloyal and unfilial,” Zhu Yijun said, voicing his view as Emperor on today’s events.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Indeed,” Zhang Juzheng sighed in relief. The Emperor had not continued discussing how to merge lord and father into one and two, but instead spoke of the harassment Qi Jiguang endured from the hundred-commanders of the Capital Garrison outside Beitu City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was easy to judge: right and wrong were clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Disloyalty means disloyalty to the sovereign, disloyalty to the state, and disloyalty to oneself—because of the grand trend of promoting civil over military affairs and the great success of civilizing distant lands through culture, the status of warriors is declining. Yet soldiers of the Capital Garrison, themselves warriors, now turn against frontier troops. This is disloyalty to themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfilial conduct means violating age and hierarchy, with inferiors defying superiors. Qi Jiguang is a hereditary battalion commander and now holds the rank of second-rank Regional Commander of three frontier commands. These hundred-commanders are at most sixth-rank. This is unfilial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Disloyal and unfilial—indeed so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng hoped the simple-minded young Emperor would ask more such questions—simple ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lecture continued; time flowed slowly. The grueling lecture finally ended as the Emperor slightly leaned forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Juzheng bowed farewell to the Emperor, stood beneath the midday sun, slightly dazed. He glanced back at the Wenhua Hall, then headed toward the Wenyuan Pavilion. As Grand Secretary, he must draft responses to countless memorials daily. The Examination System was now being implemented in the capital; the Six Censorates had sent piles of ledgers for him to verify.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Examination System: the Grand Secretariat supervises the Six Censorates, who in turn supervise the Six Ministries, and the Six Ministries oversee civil and military officials and local administrators. Yet in this tight system, no one seemed to supervise the Grand Secretariat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Zhang Juzheng’s design, the Grand Secretariat was to be supervised by the Emperor—or rather, imperial authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the young Emperor was still a child, Empress Dowager Li presided over the Qianqing Palace, exercising imperial authority—thus supervision existed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After lunch, martial practice, Empress Dowager Li’s lesson inspection, and tilling the fields, Zhu Yijun walked toward the towering palace as the sun set, saying to Feng Bao and Zhang Hong: “Feng Daban, Zhang Daban, do you know what we are doing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tilling? Your humble servant is foolish,” Feng Bao replied, puzzled. Hadn’t they just finished tilling? What now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Hong thought and said: “Tilling, to ensure the seedlings of potatoes and sweet potatoes survive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun said precisely: “Yes. To make the potatoes and sweet potatoes survive—planting, rooting, sprouting, flowering, pinching blooms, pruning, removing excess roots, then months later, digging them up from the soil—that is harvest.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Feng Daban, I am tilling—truly tilling. I hope these potatoes and sweet potatoes will truly nourish countless lives. So do not engage in deceit. Do not have the Maritime Trade Office eunuchs in Yuegang buy potatoes and sweet potatoes just to fake numbers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“One is one, two is two. Only with facts can we discover problems, find causes, identify possible solutions, then test repeatedly to find answers. If from the start the phenomenon is false, deceitful, then everything is false.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Yuanfu taught me: scholars are merely empty words and ears, not actual practice; those who act but lack loyalty within, their knowledge and actions are all deceitful—and ultimately gain nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Virtue: practicing the Dao and gaining insight—it is grounded, actual practice. Feng Daban, you deceive me with false appearances. How can I cultivate virtue? Practice alone is the sole standard for testing knowledge.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun learned perseverance, loyalty and filial piety, sincerity, and benevolence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If appearances are false, then everything is false.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your servant obeys the decree,” Feng Bao understood: speak with facts, do not let him buy potatoes and sweet potatoes to bring into the capital as false omens to deceive the Emperor, the ministers, or the realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun had issued a clear order. If Feng Bao disobeyed, his position as Chief Eunuch was over. The iron box for sons to denounce fathers and fathers to denounce sons—his tool for purging the inner palace—was also the sword at his brow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Bao fully grasped the Emperor’s intent: protecting Baoqi Palace was the paramount duty; everything else was nonsense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Yijun walked into the Great Ming Palace as the sun sank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Chonggu, Commander of the Capital Garrison, was also rarely seen within the city—he had gone to Beitu City. The hundred-commanders, platoon leaders, and soldiers who had barked at General Qi the day before were now bound and dragged to the city gate. Regional Commander and Duke of Cheng, Zhu Xixiao, came as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Xixiao, a military noble, had these soldiers under his command. He failed to discipline them. Had he been capable, during the Gengxu Incident of Jiajing 29, he would have led troops out the nine gates to defend civilian homes—not stayed within the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Tumu Crisis, the Capital Garrison was destroyed. Yu Qian, as Grand Coordinator of Military Affairs, and Shi Heng, as Commander of the Capital Garrison, rebuilt it under the orders of Emperor Jing of Ming. In October of Zhengtong 14, the newly formed Capital Garrison marched out to defend civilian homes beyond the walls, pinning the Oirat leader Esen firmly outside Xizhimen and Deshengmen on the Western and Northern Earth Walls, ultimately repelling the Oirats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Xixiao, a military noble, led a Capital Garrison that could only cling to the city walls, relying on their strength, waiting as Altan Khan looted the capital for eight full days before retreating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Xixiao could not control the Capital Garrison. Even though he stood above other nobles and enjoyed the Emperor’s trust, he was still a military noble—and military nobles had declined. The Capital Garrison’s affairs were beyond Zhu Xixiao’s control. Who could control it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Chonggu, Commander of Military Affairs of the Capital Garrison, could.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes Zhu Xixiao envied Qi Jiguang. Qi Jiguang ambushed and annihilated Dong Huazi’s entire force at Gubeikou; when Dong Huazi’s nephew came to reinforce, he too was captured. Liang Menglong, Grand Coordinator of Jizhou, did not submit a memorial accusing Qi Jiguang—instead, he lavished praise on Qi’s valor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Jiguang could train troops, fight battles, win victories, and after winning, no one sabotaged him. Zhu Xixiao had none of those conditions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“General Qi, cough… cough…” Zhu Xixiao coughed violently. His injury from the defense of the capital during Jiajing 29 had never fully healed. The cold dampness of the Qingming rains now triggered relentless coughing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Excellency Duke of Cheng, Your Excellency Wang,” Qi Jiguang bowed respectfully, though he did not kneel—only bowed deeply, as proper greeting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Great Ming, two sharply divided schools emerged on whether ministers must kneel: the first, led by Hai Rui the “Standing Brush,” refused to kneel—kneeling only to Heaven, Earth, parents, and sovereign, never to superiors; the second, the mainstream, insisted on full prostration—every meeting meant prostrating oneself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Hai Rui served as Director of Education in Nanping County, Fujian, a superior inspector came to visit. Hai Rui arrived with two deputy officials. Upon meeting, the two deputies knelt, but Hai Rui stood firm—forming a “mountain” shape like a brush rest. Hence he earned the name “Hai Brush Rest.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Jiguang was Regional Commander of three frontier commands. He did not wish to kneel, nor did he care to. Zhang Juzheng himself had exempted him from kneeling—why should he kneel to Wang Chonggu?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“General Qi, you have greatly uplifted the prestige of our Great Ming army. Excellent, excellent!” Zhu Xixiao said with deep emotion. A soldier’s dignity is won through one victory after another. Qi Jiguang had already earned dignity through his fierce victories against the Japanese pirates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Chonggu looked at Qi Jiguang’s robust frame and said helplessly: “I have brought these sightless fools before you. Do with them as you will.”\u003C\u002Fp>",2001,"2026-06-21T07:55:54.218Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","79cfec3560ff5f23ced0f2e193bac13c41d5840fe8f97bab31afb6006c9f5a8c","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-49","i-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-chapter-47",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-really-am-not-neglecting-my-duties-cover.jpg"]