Chapter 474

April 15th, the hour of the Dragon, Huangji Hall.

Morning court had ended very quickly today, basically wrapping up right after roll call, because everyone knew the real focus was the court assembly after morning court.

After the thousand-odd officials dispersed, only a handful were ultimately qualified to attend the assembly. Excluding the departments just along for the ride, like the Directorate of Ceremonial and such, and also excluding the idle merit-nobles and military officers, in the end fewer than a hundred people in total were qualified to stand inside Huangji Hall.

These hundred people were the core bureaucrats who managed the central operations of the Ming Empire, including the Cabinet, the Directorate of Ceremonial, the ministers and vice ministers of the Six Ministries, the Hanlin Academy and circuit censors, the heads of the five chief courts, and other civil officials of varying official ranks.

Of course, the hall could not be without today's main character: His Excellency the Loyal and Brave Count.

His Excellency the Loyal and Brave Count, dressed in a military officer's regular uniform, stood alone at this moment in the military officers' ranks, with not a soul within two meters around him. Under the gaze of the numerous civil officials, the Loyal and Brave Count had his hands folded over his abdomen, his eyes slightly closed, his feet neither together nor fully apart, looking exactly like a Grand Inner Expert channeling his inner power.

The next moment, accompanied by the long drawn-out cry of "The Emperor arrives—", the assembled ministers all fell to their knees, hailing His Majesty ten thousand years in salute.

Today the Emperor wasted no words. The moment the formalities were over, he immediately tossed a memorial from the imperial desk to a eunuch: "Minister Cao, lately the impeachment memorials have been unceasing, all aimed at you. We grant you leave today to defend yourself."

Following the Emperor's words, the eunuch also handed that initial impeachment memorial into the Loyal and Brave Count's hands.

By common sense, the Emperor so obviously permitting a subject to defend himself already showed very strong favor. But this small advantage was hardly enough to count for anything in the face of the great tide already stirred up by the civil officials.

Over the past five or six days, every official in the capital had learned the ins and outs of the matter, because hastily printed black propaganda about the Loyal and Brave Count was being distributed for free.

In this process, inevitably a few people developed a strong interest in the Loyal and Brave Count's old nest and came up with some ideas. But these people were too few in number, hidden in the crowd and impossible to pick out.

The ones truly making a loud and open clamor were still the Dao Cao Group, formed by the Donglin Party and a group of "self-motivated gentry" with a sense of crisis. And once mainstream opinion had unified, the political tide surged. At this point, posting to impeach that fellow Cao had become political correctness. Even if deep down one sneered with contempt at the matter, so long as one was a civil official, one had to go with the flow and say "I back the OP," or else one was no Ming man... oh, no representative of the landlord class.

To be honest, this sudden political tide had indeed taken the Transmigrators by surprise.

In this plane, the Ming Dynasty had first seen a massive strategic victory appear out of nowhere, heavily mauling the Northern Barbarians. Immediately after, the internal forces of the Ming had actually begun trying to strangle the instigator. Could this be the so-called butterfly effect? Or perhaps an internal "compensation" after the loss of external pressure?

Yet all of this was of no use. Butterfly effect or historical inevitability, the Transmigrators' hand was too strong. This northern expedition had already obtained what they wanted, so they could walk away at any time and feared not the slightest this wave of attacks.

Taking the memorial the eunuch handed over, the Loyal and Brave Count simultaneously bowed and said, "Your subject receives the decree." He then opened that memorial and made a show of glancing over it a few times.

In truth, the very night Wei Xu had submitted this memorial, some ally in the Cabinet had already sent someone to deliver a copy of the memorial to the Loyal and Brave Count, so Regional Commander Cao had long known its contents.

A note here: in this political tide, the only ones who had not posted to curse the Cao Bandit were precisely Wen Tiren and his faction of allies, who were bound to the Cao Bandit. Meanwhile, their own people, including Director of the Ministry of Works Luo Lishi, had all, under the Transmigrators' instructions, posted cursing messages — underground party members must not be exposed.

After reading the memorial, His Excellency the Loyal and Brave Count first threw his head back in a hearty laugh, then pointed at the twelve major crimes listed within and began refuting them one by one.

The first crime: abusing the people.

The so-called abusing of the people, the memorial pointed out, was the Cao Bandit's series of vicious land-grabbing practices in Jiangnan at the start, such as setting fires and burning forests, forcibly seizing civilian fields, and forcibly abducting civilian women. In addition, the matter of the Cao Bandit ordering his ships to fire cannons at the residences of the gentry was also raised as important evidence of abusing the people and plotting rebellion.

Regional Commander Cao began loudly refuting this charge.

According to Cao Chuan, he had previously sent people to Jiangnan to purchase land, build private ports, and buy residences and fields. There was nothing to argue about there — after men of the rivers and lakes received recruitment and amnesty, wasn't it normal to buy land and acquire property on a large scale? Historically, after Zheng Zhilong was recruited, he practically bought up all the land in his entire home county, and the officials didn't so much as fart.

However, during the land acquisition process, Regional Commander Cao stated, he had suffered systematic obstruction: a group of Jiangnan gentry not only refused to sell him land, but also maliciously bought up the land around the port, hoarding it to corner the market, demanding exorbitant prices, and resisting demolition.

Here, Regional Commander Cao explicitly pointed out: the so-called "common people" in the memorial was actually a sleight of hand to play the victim. These landowners were all Jiangnan gentry; there was not a single true commoner among them.

And so the two sides fell out, and so Regional Commander Cao sent people to "use a few small measures" — since you showed no righteousness, I showed no benevolence. I, your father, am also a court-appointed official; how could I tolerate such humiliation from this bunch of gentry?

At this point, Regional Commander Cao stopped speaking, folded his arms across his chest, and cast a sidelong glance at the rafters, with an air that fully said, "What can you do about it?"

The next moment, the original author of the memorial, Supervising Secretary Wei Xu, stepped out of formation and bellowed: "What a glib tongue the treacherous villain has, to speak so righteously of bullying and abusing good citizens!"

At this, Wei Xu turned to face the imperial throne and bowed in salute: "Reporting to His Majesty, since Cao Chuan has already admitted to the matter of abusing the people, I beg that this man be punished."

Seated on the dais, Chongzhen heard this and gave a scornful laugh, his face full of disdain: "When Master Cao and Master Xu fight over land, why should We take your family's side?"

After being mocked by His Majesty, Wei Xu froze for a moment, then instantly flushed red. He turned his head and loudly demanded: "Even so, Cao Chuan, how do you explain first killing an Embroidered Uniform Guard Hundred-Household Officer, and then bombarding the Xu family residence? Raising troops without orders, killing a court-appointed official without an imperial decree in the heartland of the Great Ming — this is ironclad proof of rebellion. The thousands of common people on both banks of the Pu River that day can all bear witness; you cannot wriggle out of this!"

Hearing this, Regional Commander Cao sighed helplessly: "Indeed, raising troops without orders is rebellion. To think you still remember that one."

"Reporting to His Majesty, before your subject arrived in Shanghai at the start of the year, the private port I had established in Jiading County was attacked by bandits on two occasions."

"The first time was by the Taihu Bandits. I won't say much about that. After all, in Jiangnan, the most virtuous land under heaven, over a thousand lake bandits crossing prefectures and counties to reach Jiading to plunder — that can probably be glossed over."

His Excellency the Loyal and Brave Count paused here, casting a faintly mocking smile at Wei Xu: "The second time was peculiar. On the twenty-eighth day of the tenth month last year, by the lunar calendar, Drill Guerilla Commander Wang Deqiao, under Hangjiahu Regional Vice-commander Feng Tong of the Jinshan Guard, personally led 1,500 main soldiers, marched a hundred li from camp, brought two Crouching Tiger Cannons, and besieged the private port for two days before withdrawing."

"Tell me, Wei Xu, just who is it that raised troops without orders in the heartland of the Great Ming? Which family is plotting rebellion?"

"Preposterous! Such a thing actually happened?!" Chongzhen was dumbfounded hearing this: "Where is Liang Tingdong? Did the Ministry of War issue any orders to the Hangjiahu Regional Vice-commander last year?"

The newly appointed Minister of War, Liang Tingdong, was not a member of the Donglin Party. Even if he were, he could not possibly speak recklessly on a matter that could cost him his head. He thus stepped out of formation and replied: "Your Majesty, your subject has only recently taken office and truly knows nothing of this. But to your subject's knowledge, there were no military calamities in Hangjiahu and the surrounding areas last year."

"Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! Relay Our decree: Feng Tong, Wang Deqiao, and the others are to be immediately stripped of their posts and escorted back to the capital for interrogation. We are determined to get to the bottom of this matter!"

Watching the Emperor on the throne seizing the moment to erupt in fury, and the dumbstruck Wei Xu, the Loyal and Brave Count smiled and shook his head: "Minister Wei, you spend your days busily forming cliques to harm me. Did you ever stop to think that the Xu family and their lot were bold enough to wrap the heavens? Heh heh, they didn't inform you about the unauthorized troop movement, did they?"

After this mocking remark aimed at Wei Xu, Regional Commander Cao turned his face and said solemnly to the Emperor: "Your Majesty, that Xu family gang of villainous gentry colluded with the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Nanjing Ministry of War, showed no regard for the law of the land, and privately transferred troops to attack civilian dwellings. Their rebellious traces are already evident. They are truly great traitors to the nation."

At this, the Loyal and Brave Count turned, pointed at a portly middle-aged man among the assembled ministers, and bellowed: "Xu Bengao, when your clansman Xu Jin mobilized the Suzhou Embroidered Uniform Guard and transferred troops without decree to plot rebellion, he was relying on your influence, was he not?"

With a thud, Xu Bengao, whose face had already turned deathly pale, scrambled out of formation and knelt before the Emperor.

Paying absolutely no heed to Cao Chuan standing to the side, Xu Bengao, his face a mask of misery, cried out to the Emperor: "Injustice, Your Majesty! This matter is surely a slanderous frame-up by the Loyal and Brave Count. My family has been loyal and virtuous for generations, utterly devoted to the court. How could we commit such an insane and treacherous act?"

"Hmph, the truth will be known once investigated. You, step down." Chongzhen swept a disgusted glance at Xu Bengao, then turned his gaze to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's proper commander, Luo Yangxing: "Look at the fine deeds your Embroidered Uniform Guard has done!"

In that instant, Luo Yangxing had already cursed Xu Bengao's ancestors back eight generations in his mind. Having taken this stray bullet for no reason whatsoever, Luo Yangxing hurriedly stepped out of formation, knelt to express gratitude for the imperial grace, and swore to send men to escort all the criminals back to the capital for a thorough interrogation to get to the bottom of the matter.

With matters having developed to this point, the originally arrogant ranks of civil officials visibly had their bluster deflate.

Everyone present was an old fox. From the insider-laden words that fellow Cao had just spoken and from Xu Bengao's reaction, they could guess: the matter of privately transferring regular battalion troops to attack a civilian residence in Jiangnan, the heartland of the Great Ming, was probably true.

By common reasoning, a matter like this, which could be blown up or played down, would normally be smoothed over with a bit of collective effort. Yet everyone knew that today, this matter absolutely could not be touched.

Because the assembled ministers knew that the Emperor seated on the throne had come today precisely to tip the scales, and now such a huge handle had actually fallen into the Emperor's grasp... If anyone dared to step forward and speak recklessly now, then once those idiot officers and soldiers from the Jinshan Guard were escorted back to the capital by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and given a round of torture, the Emperor would surely settle scores later — what exactly was the punishment for accomplices to rebellion?

When emperors like Zhengde Era Era and Wanli sat on the throne in the mid-Ming, a pathological phenomenon had once appeared in the court: civil officials would desperately post memorials attacking the Emperor, and then the Emperor would order the official beaten with court rods, and then that official would become famous, henceforth a grandee of the scholarly world, a paragon of uprightness and fearlessness before imperial authority.

This trick was called "scamming a court beating."

However, by this day and age, that whole farce could no longer be pulled off. Late Ming society was riven with violent contradictions, and the political environment had long since shifted from permissive to oppressive. Like the final years of every dynasty past, in the late Ming, from the Emperor above to the ministers below, all had become cruel and vicious. Political struggles routinely ended in the ruin and death of entire families, and the court environment was worsening by the day.

Therefore, if the civil officials in court today were truly caught with a handle by the Emperor, then certainly no one would jump out to scam a court beating — Chongzhen would order that person beaten to death on the spot.

One must know that in Chongzhen's seventeen years on the throne, among the high officials who died at his hands were one Grand Secretary, four Ministers, seven Governors-General and Supreme Commanders, and eleven Grand Coordinators. As for those below the rank of Vice Minister, the officials put to death by imperial decree through various means were simply too numerous to count.

And so at this moment, the court was struck silent with fear. No civil official jumped out again to sell loyalty and buy uprightness, because Chongzhen really would kill people.