Chapter 465: Resolving Doubts

Xue Haiyuan strode up to Wen Tiren, bowed slightly, and cupped his fists in salute. "This person pays respects to the Minister of Rites, and brings greetings from my general to Your Excellency."

"Quickly, dispense with the formalities."

At this moment, Xue Haiyuan's status was equivalent to Cao Jiangjun's; he was a plenipotentiary negotiating representative on equal footing. So despite the visitor being a mere commoner, Wen Tiren had to treat him as if he were Cao Chuan himself.

After personally ushering this man, who spoke with a bizarre accent and dressed like a marketplace commoner, into his study, Wen Tiren nodded to Luo Lishi, who stood to the side smiling. The latter tactfully cupped his fists and slipped away—Old Luo was very busy today; he still had another connection to work on.

And inside Wen Tiren's study, both sides, knowing time was pressing, had shut the door and begun formal negotiations.

First was a situation briefing.

After arriving at the Luo Mansion this morning, the signal corpsman in the team had already used the radio to establish communication with all parties, so Xue Haiyuan had learned the latest news before setting out.

"My general met with Sun Chengzong and Ma Shilong yesterday. By now, the merit-reporting memorials from all forces are already on the way."

Xue Haiyuan deliberately fudged the timing here. In truth, Regional Commander Cao's and Sun Chengzong's memorials were still being written at this very moment, and would depart at the earliest in the afternoon. But this was necessary: he had no time to explain to Wen Tiren what a wireless telegraph was, so he had to move the time forward to provide a reasonable explanation for the express horse couriers.

"However, this person has here a blank document bearing the general's signature and seal. If the Minister of Rites is willing, it can be accomplished in one stroke."

At this, Xue Haiyuan pulled two blank documents and a letter from his bosom.

Wen Tiren expressionlessly picked up the documents and examined the seals and countersigns on them. After this, he rose and left the room, summoned a house guest waiting outside the door, and after whispering a few low words, the guest accepted the order and departed.

Re-entering the room, Wen Tiren remained silent, first reading the letter.

Although the letter's content was not overly explicit, an insider would understand at a glance: it was Regional Commander Cao expressing his willingness to form a marriage alliance with Minister Wen.

After reading the letter, Wen Tiren finally nodded slightly. If the signature and seal on this letter were genuine, then it could already be considered a certain kind of leverage for forming a faction for personal gain. Thus, Old Wen, whose heart was filled with doubts, finally lessened some of his suspicion.

"Is this matter true or false? How am I, this old man, to know?"

After putting down the letter, Wen Tiren finally voiced his greatest doubt: You people suddenly show up to pull off something this big—you wouldn't be playing this old man for a fool, would you?

"This matter rests entirely on the Minister of Rites' judgment." Xue Haiyuan smiled and said, "Your Excellency, the messenger dispatched from Santun Camp is racing along the road, spreading victory announcements all the way. Around tomorrow, or the day after at the latest, he will charge through the Meridian Gate and give His Majesty a great and pleasant surprise."

"If you dare not even take this small risk, then you have wasted my general's painstaking efforts."

Hearing this, Wen Tiren rose and began to pace slowly in the room: he needed to weigh the pros and cons.

The process of the entire matter was already very clear.

If Wen Tiren was willing to take this risk, he could now imitate Cao Chuan's tone and write a brilliantly embellished merit-reporting article on the blank memorial. Most crucially, he would insert himself into the content—no need for heavy, colorful strokes, just a light mention would be OK.

Then this memorial would be taken by Xue Haiyuan's men to wait outside the city. Once the courier dispatched by Regional Commander Cao arrived, the memorial would appear before the Emperor.

Of course, the above was only the basic operation. The true killer move lay in Wen Tiren learning the frontline intelligence in advance—since no one else knew yet, Minister Wen could perfectly coordinate his story with the Transmigrators and, tonight or early tomorrow morning, go ahead of everyone else to the Emperor to announce the good news.

This was a huge, implicit merit.

The first person to run and tell the Emperor explosive good news—for Chongzhen, who had lived under the threat of the northern barbarians since his enthronement and had nearly had his nest raided not long ago—was someone he would never forget for a lifetime.

So what if this matter turned out to be false?

He, Wen Tiren, would certainly become the laughingstock of the entire civil and military court, and it would certainly impact the already white-hot struggle to enter the Cabinet.

Of course, compared to the enormous benefits gained from success, this bit of risk truly didn't seem like much.

It was nothing more than him, Wen Tiren, gullibly believing another's rumors and running to the Emperor to launch a big satellite. Ultimately, it caused no harm to the court, merely adding some amusement for his colleagues.

Moreover, based on Wen Tiren's understanding of the Emperor, even if he fired a blank shot, Chongzhen might not necessarily form a bad impression of him—a pitiful subject, driven mad by the desire for victory, sharing the same affliction as His Majesty.

At this point, what remained was distinguishing truth from falsehood.

After a round of comprehensive consideration, Wen Tiren carefully analyzed the people on Luo Lishi's line once more, and ultimately concluded that the other party truly had no reason to fabricate such a clumsy, hole-riddled lie to deceive him, a Minister of Rites.

One must know, this lie could be exposed in a day or two at most. In that little time, it was impossible to produce any critical advantage for his competitors for the Cabinet.

Wen Tiren, pacing in the room, gradually came to a halt: he had decided to go for it!

Sitting back in his chair, watching Xue Haiyuan, who was drinking tea and conveniently stuffing pastries into his mouth, Minister Wen voiced the second point of confusion in his heart: "Among the many prominent officials and important ministers in the court, this old man merely occupies a sinecure office, not even a Cabinet Minister. Why would your general send such a grand gift?"

"It all comes down to one word: 'gamble'." Xue Haiyuan forcefully swallowed the food in his mouth, washed it down with tea, and cleared his throat. "In the earlier matter of the Court Recommendation, Your Excellency acted decisively, with unmatched wit and discernment. Now, with the court in chaos, Your Excellency still holds a place in the Emperor's heart and can grasp the critical points."

At this, Xue Haiyuan shot a "you know what I mean" look. "My general has always held Your Excellency in admiration. Now that he happens to have some merit in hand, who else would he give it to? Being able to lend Your Excellency, the Minister of Rites, a helping hand is something my general would be happy to see."

"Emmmmmm......"

After hearing these pointed words, Wen Tiren finally resolved another doubt. He now finally understood how Regional Commander Cao, whom he had never met, had found his way to his door.

Back when Chongzhen first took the throne, he swiftly and cleanly swept away the eunuch faction led by Wei Zhongxian. Then this young emperor, only 16 years old, full of ambition, began to assemble his own Cabinet team.

Thus, in November of the year before last, Chongzhen issued an edict for the Court Recommendation of Cabinet Ministers.

And then the young man was slapped in the face—the eunuch faction had fallen too completely, causing the Donglin Party followers to rise overnight on the momentum. The final list of eleven Cabinet candidates pushed out by the circle was a gang of Donglin Party stalwarts and affiliates led by Qian Qianyi, leaving no room for anyone else.

In this list of eleven, not only was Zhou Yanru, whom Chongzhen favored, not selected, but also, the nominally highest-ranking official of the ministries, the Minister of Rites Wen Tiren, had actually failed to make the list?

One must know that Confucianism is rooted in the word "Rites." Throughout the dynasties, the Minister of Rites was always one of the most important court officials, standing first below the Cabinet Ministers in court assembly, and was a natural candidate for the Cabinet.

As a result, not only did Wen Tiren not enter the Cabinet, he didn't even make the candidate list?

One must know that by this time, Wen Tiren had already served through four reigns, a veteran bureaucrat with 30 years of official career. Back when Chongzhen's grandfather was still the emperor, Old Wen had already passed the imperial examination. By all reason, this man absolutely had the seniority to be selected for the list.

It was probably at this moment that Chongzhen began to realize the complexity of court politics: that black-and-white, either-or nonsense was utterly useless; no single faction could be completely uprooted.

At this time, Minister Wen, extremely dissatisfied with the Court Recommendation results, also began to rage.

Wen Tiren, at that time, using his keen political sense, accurately gauged the Emperor's psychology. He precisely grasped the young Emperor's inherently suspicious nature and his hatred for "factional strife," and thus he submitted a memorial impeaching Qian Qianyi for "forming a clique to deceive the sovereign."

This move instantly hit Chongzhen's sweet spot: after reading the memorial, the young Emperor immediately convened a great debate of good guys and bad guys at the Hall of Literary Splendor.

The outcome of the debate was predictable, because the chief judge's bias was skewed from the very start.

So at that time, even though the Donglin Party followers present all furiously attacked Wen Tiren, even though not a single court official stepped forward to speak for the man surnamed Wen, Wen Wolong had precisely seized the Emperor's heart ailment. He debated the crowd of scholars alone, putting on the posture of a lone minister holding the truth in the hands of the few, and declared that "the entire court is all of Qian Qianyi's party."

And then the Donglin Party lost.

Seeing the solitary, lonely Minister Wen besieged, the Emperor became all the more certain that Qian Qianyi and his gang were indeed forming a clique.

The final outcome was: Comrade Water's Too Cold was immediately dismissed from office and investigated, and that entire list of Court Recommendation candidates was rejected wholesale. From then on, Wen Tiren's image in Chongzhen's heart became tall and full... one who does not form cliques for personal gain is surely a good subject.

To this day, due to a series of events like the Later Jin invasion that left the court depleted, the timing for Wen Tiren to enter the Cabinet had matured. In true history, Wen Tiren would, two months later, after intense factional struggle with the Donglin Party, enter the Cabinet as Minister of Rites concurrently holding the post of Grand Secretary of the East Pavilion.

Xue Haiyuan's words just now had implicitly pointed this out: We are optimistic about your political skill in that previous desperate counterattack, fighting the Donglin Party alone; we are even more optimistic about your ability to "take the Emperor's pulse."

Xue Haiyuan's words had reached a point where they could not be more blunt.

And so Wen Tiren understood.

After learning that the other party also had something they sought, Minister Wen finally set aside another doubt in his heart.

And at that moment, the house guest he had sent out earlier happened to return — right outside the door, this man handed a register into Wen Tiren's hands.

This register had been borrowed from the Ministry of War, and on it were the seal and signature registers of officials from both Fujian and Guangdong provinces.

After cross-checking the seal impressions and cipher patterns in the register, Wen Tiren was at last convinced that these letters and Blank Documents had indeed come from the hand of the Zhangchao Regional Commander.

The next moment, the venerable Minister Wen no longer hesitated and immediately agreed to the cooperation terms between Both Sides.

"In that case, allow this old man to first draft One Copy." Having decided to wade into these muddy waters, Old Wen immediately began to act, Intending to first write out a draft of the memorial and then make a fair copy: "Tell this old man, in detail, about these several great battles."

"How dare I not obey?"

"By the way, how did your Commander Cao 'obtain' so many heads? I fear some that shouldn't be there were mixed in?"

"Haha, it seems the Minister of Rites still Believes In not my general's ability." Xue Haiyuan tilted his head back and laughed: "Right outside your esteemed residence's back gate, I have two attendants carrying gray cloth bundles. I must trouble your honored steward to invite them in; we shall let our eyes see the truth."