Chapter 65

Qi Jiguang killed and repelled Dong Huli at Xifengkou and captured Bu Hachu alive. Datong Regional Commander Ma Fang had his pass broken at Huyukou, and the Hu barbarians plundered and returned. Regarding this matter, Zhang Juzheng originally only intended to send censors led by Li Le, who was not from the Jin Party, to investigate. Being able to extend the power of supervision from the court to Xuanfu and Datong was, in Zhang Juzheng's view, a success in itself.

However, Zhang Siwei insisted on painting legs on a snake, insisting on corrupting Li Le, using all kinds of methods, threats, and inducements to force Li Le to kneel and serve as an official.

This violated Zhang Juzheng's taboo. He is vengeful. Li Le played a trick of "being in the Cao camp but thinking of the Han," fooling Zhang Siwei, which led to Zhang Juzheng's offensive phase.

"Zhang Chucheng, Right Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of War, discusses the golden-letter imperial decree used by Viceroy and Minister Wang Chonggu, which is inappropriate, and submits a memorial requesting its revocation," Zhang Juzheng said, bringing up the first matter. The golden-letter decree used by Wang Chonggu's daughter was from when Gao Gong was in power; not many people knew about it, but Zhang Juzheng happened to be one of those who did. Not bringing it up before did not mean Zhang Juzheng had forgotten.

Golden seals are for the use of princes, while golden-letter decrees are for the use of princesses. Wang Chonggu holds no noble title; using golden letters is an act of overstepping.

You are surnamed Wang, but you are not a prince; how dare you use a golden-letter decree?!

Upon hearing this, Wang Chonggu's face changed drastically. He looked at Yang Bo with a pleading gaze, hoping Yang Bo would come out and say something to quell this impeachment.

Wang Chonggu's daughter married Yang Bo's son, Yang Junqing. Yang Junqing was the top scholar in the martial arts examination in the fourth year of Longqing and served in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Northern Depot, acting as a judge under the Commandant Zhu Xizhong.

Hearing Zhang Juzheng say this, Yang Bo was full of emotion, but finally bowed and said, "Your Majesty, your subject is ashamed. My son Yang Junqing's actions—when the Duke of Xinzheng was in power, my son overstepped. I beg Your Majesty to punish him, revoke his achievements, strip him of his official position, and send him back to his hometown to live in leisure."

Yang Bo did not nag Zhang Juzheng, but directly confessed his guilt to His Majesty reading on the platform. This is a solid charge; quibbling would only put him in an even more awkward position.

Yang Bo chose to surrender.

Zhu Yijun put down his pencil, sat up straight, and asked Yang Bo calmly, "When did the Minister of Personnel know his son overstepped the rites and laws?"

"I only knew after the fact. I beg Your Majesty to see clearly." By this point, Yang Bo chose to tell the truth. Such details were fundamentally unimportant; his son committed the great crime of overstepping rites and laws, and he failed to teach his son, so he should be implicated.

"Who overstepped?" Zhu Yijun looked at Yang Bo and asked again.

Yang Bo bowed and said, "My son Yang Junqing, Grand Guardian Wang, former Grand Secretary Gao Gong, and the eunuch Chen Hong of the Directorate of Ceremonial—these four are responsible. This is a great crime of usurpation. I beg Your Majesty to punish them severely without leniency."

"In this case, what does the Grand Secretary think should be done?" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked.

Zhang Juzheng bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, your subject believes it is appropriate to revoke the golden-letter decree of Yang Junqing's wife, and that Yang Junqing and Grand Guardian Wang should be fined one year's salary."

"Hmm." Zhu Yijun was stunned. Is Zhang Juzheng so easy to talk to?

Just revoke the golden-letter decree and fine them one year's salary? That's it?!

This punishment is truly too light.

Yang Bo stood up tremblingly, shook his sleeves, knelt on the ground, buried his head very deep, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, your subject is ashamed. Your subject failed to teach his son and even formed cliques, destroyed relationships with relatives, and usurped power. Your subject begs Your Majesty to dismiss this old subject."

"What does the Minister of Personnel mean? Are you unwilling to even revoke the golden-letter decree?" Zhu Yijun's tone changed upon hearing this, and he asked coldly.

"Your subject dares not. Your subject believes that those who govern others, having been favored by the late Emperor, have had minor achievements. I often boasted of being clear in danger and not overflowing in prosperity, serving as general and minister, managing civil and military affairs, and being a minister the world relies on for peace. Occasionally boasting of 'exhausting my heart and strength,' today I see it is just a joke, adding to the mockery. Your subject begs to retire, sincerely hoping Your Majesty will grant my request to return home." Yang Bo's voice trembled.

Just yesterday, he was telling Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu at his mansion that his old face would sooner or later be dragged down, thrown to the ground, and stomped on a few times.

And now, the ten-year-old ruler is asking if Yang Bo is retreating to advance, forcing the court not to punish Yang Junqing. Revoking the decree is like spitting a mouthful of thick phlegm into Yang Bo's face.

Yang Bo was highly valued by the Jiajing Emperor, relying on him for border affairs, and Yang Bo did not disappoint the Jiajing Emperor, doing quite well. However, the Jin Party has changed; the glory of the past is now matched by the shame of the present.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Juzheng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to speak. Minister Yang is a minister of great virtue. In Xuan-Da, there was the Xuan-Da case; in Ji-Liao, there was the peace of Ji-Liao; in the Ministry of War, the nine borders were all at peace; in the Ministry of Personnel, the Method of Examination and Assessment was implemented. I beg Your Majesty to show leniency in light of his achievements in resolving crises."

Zhang Juzheng meant that in light of Yang Bo's past achievements, he should not be scolded further. His Majesty's words were as sharp as a knife, piercing Yang Bo's proudest points.

Moreover, the Ministry of Personnel still needs Yang Bo to preside over the Method of Examination and Assessment.

Zhu Yijun looked at Yang Bo and then at Zhang Juzheng, only to realize that Yang Bo was playing for real—not retreating to advance, nor using his seniority to force the Emperor to make concessions, but simply unable to bear the shame and intending to slip away.

Feng Bao, who had intended to speak, also saw the situation clearly and chose to keep his mouth shut. When His Majesty is speaking, Feng Bao will never interrupt.

Zhu Yijun became much gentler, smiled, and said, "The Minister of Personnel speaks too seriously. The state relies on you for many things. I am young and lack virtue, relying on civil and military officials inside and outside to assist me. How can the Minister of Personnel disregard the late Emperor's last wishes and abandon me?"

"This..." Yang Bo was speechless, remaining silent for a long time before saying, "Grateful for Your Majesty's not abandoning me, your subject is moved to tears."

Yang Bo did not know how to continue. The young Emperor's words had blocked his path; he had already been disloyal, and if he defied the imperial order and insisted on leaving, he would be even more disloyal and unfilial.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "The Minister of Personnel may rise."

It is not so disgusting for Yang Bo to be the leader of the Jin Party; replacing him with Zhang Siwei would be truly disgusting.

Since the Jin Party must have a leader, it is better for Yang Bo to be in the Wenhua Hall; at least it is less annoying for everyone.

Zhang Juzheng's main firepower was aimed at Wang Chonggu. Wang Chonggu's daughter using a golden-letter decree was from when Gao Gong was in power; not many people knew about it, but Zhang Juzheng happened to be one of those who did. Not bringing it up before did not mean Zhang Juzheng had forgotten.

The one impeaching Wang Chonggu for overstepping with the golden-letter decree was the Censor Chen Tang of the Hubei Circuit, who was from Jiangling, Jingzhou, and was a fellow townsman of Zhang Juzheng, a staunch member of the Chu Party.

"Your Majesty has an order: revoke the golden-letter decree of Yang Junqing's wife, and fine Yang Junqing and Grand Guardian Wang one year's salary. Do you have any objections?" Zhang Juzheng looked at Wang Chonggu and asked word by word.

Wang Chonggu finally did not flare up.

This matter involved Yang Bo, and Yang Bo, with his achievements in resolving crises, had managed to press the matter down. A more severe punishment would easily hurt the innocent, and this disposition was already very good for Wang Chonggu.

Zhang Juzheng signed the memorial and handed it to Zhang Hong, who presented it to the Emperor. Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and stamped the Wanli Seal, then looked at Zhang Juzheng.

Impeaching Wang Chonggu for the golden-letter decree was just the beginning.

Zhang Juzheng picked up the fourth memorial and said, "Chen Tang, Censor of the Hubei Circuit in Nanjing, submits a memorial impeaching Ma Fang, Regional Commander of Datong and Left Regional Commander, for fearing the inspection of the border regions and the review of construction, and for bribing Lin Shaohua, Director of the Armory, and Wu Zhe, Assistant Regional Commander of the Ministry of War, with a total of 76,432 taels of gold-flower silver. Both the people and the stolen goods have been captured."

As soon as Zhang Juzheng spoke, Wang Chonggu was shocked to the extreme. This matter was extremely confidential. The Huyukou pass was just one of the Great Wall construction projects. Since the peace talks, there had been many similar cases. Lin Shaohua and Wu Zhe were core pillars of the Jin Party. How was this case discovered, and why was there no news yesterday?!

When did it happen? When were the people and stolen goods captured?

Whether it was the Shuntian Prefecture government office or the Ministry of Justice, there were eyes and ears of the Jin Party. How could it have been captured without a sound!

"Commandant?" Zhang Juzheng looked at Zhu Xixiao, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, standing at the end.

"At the fifth watch this morning, the palace gates opened. Your subject received Your Majesty's imperial order, led troops to search and seize two houses, capturing both the people and the stolen goods. A total of over 65,400 taels of silver were seized, and everyone has been taken into the Northern Depot to await interrogation," Zhu Xixiao reported to the Emperor on the platform.

Zhu Yijun knew about this matter; the imperial order was written by his own hand, and the seal was stamped by his own hand. Lin Shaohua and Wu Zhe were pillars of the Jin Party.

And yesterday, You Qi took a pile of evidence and gave it to Xu Jue, who handed all the incriminating evidence to Feng Bao. Feng Bao, in his capacity as the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and Head of the Eastern Depot, requested to investigate.

"Minister Wang, I heard that there is no 'driving permit' (Ministry of Justice official document), no imperial order is a 'white paper case,' no driving permit but only an imperial order is a 'yellow paper case,' and only with both an imperial order and a driving permit is it a 'formal case.' I don't know if the Ministry of Justice can sign the real imperial order?" Zhu Yijun asked, not starting with the corruption case, but with supplementing the procedures.

He bit the words "real" very hard; the imperial order was written by his own hand!

If the Ministry of Justice dared to block the procedures with such matters, Zhu Yijun would definitely make a note against Wang Zhi'gao.

For the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest people, they must have a driving permit, which is a note written by the Emperor with specific reasons. This note, without the signature of the Ministry of Justice, is just an imperial order.

If the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrests people at will without the Emperor's imperial order, it is called a "white paper case" and is not recognized by court officials; the Embroidered Uniform Guard would be impeached by censors.

If there is an imperial order but no signature from the Ministry of Justice, it is a case handled personally by the Emperor, called a "yellow paper case."

If there is an imperial order and a signature from the Ministry of Justice, it is a case supervised by the Emperor and recognized by the Ministry of Justice, called a "formal case."

Zhu Yijun was asking the Minister of Justice, Wang Zhi'gao, whether the Ministry of Justice recognized this case.

If the Ministry of Justice did not recognize it, it would only be a "yellow paper case," and there would still be room for quibbling.

Wang Zhi'gao saw that the Zhang Party and the Jin Party were fighting to the death. If he, a Minister of Justice, were to get involved, he would be ground to powder by the two behemoths!

Zhu Yijun gestured, and the Commandant Zhu Xixiao handed the driving permit and the case files to Wang Zhi'gao.

Wang Zhi'gao carefully read the case files, then signed the imperial order, turning the Emperor's imperial order into a driving permit. With the Embroidered Uniform Guard arresting people, it was both by the Emperor's order and presided over by Censor Chen Tang of the Censorate, and recognized by the Ministry of Justice, so it was not a "white paper case" or a "yellow paper case," but a "formal case," an ironclad case.

"The state's rituals, music, military expeditions, and the rewards and punishments of governance should be based on loyalty to the country and loyalty to the great righteousness, judging right and wrong based on facts."

"For the ruler, it is the unity of knowledge and action, consistency in words and deeds, following the heart. Since you have said it, you must do it; since you have done it, there must be a result. If a minister's words and deeds have no down-to-earth practice, it is untrustworthy and untrue. If words and deeds do not follow the heart, hiding faults and falsely claiming ability, it is even more disloyal. Being disloyal and untrustworthy is not the virtue a minister should have."

"If the ruler is not a ruler and the minister is not a minister, the world will be in chaos."

Zhu Yijun wrote a line of words on the paper with a pencil, summarizing today's lecture. ===== CHAPTER 58 =====