Chapter 562: Acceptance (End)

The Chongzhen Emperor silently finished reading the draft rescript attached to the memorial.

Although this memorial had only just been handed to him, its contents had long been known to all. The reason a decision was only made today was that the Cabinet Ministers, after receiving the memorial, needed to gather information and exchange opinions; thus, the "draft rescript" representing the Cabinet's collective opinion was delayed until today for delivery.

However, the content of the draft rescript had actually long been known to the Emperor and the officials. After all, over the past two days, the Cabinet Ministers had openly discussed this memorial with colleagues, disciples, and students before the several Grand Secretaries reached a consensus. Throughout this process, from the Emperor above down to the many concerned officials below, everyone was already clear on the draft rescript's general decision.

And the Emperor's request for the draft rescript today was merely to finalize its content and go through the statutory procedure. The result did not exceed anyone's expectations: on the draft rescript, in response to the memorial's requests, the Cabinet Ministers collectively expressed their agreement.

The ink characters written in regular script by the Grand Secretary were forceful and vigorous. Yet in the Emperor's eyes, this draft rescript always seemed somewhat weak: not that the characters were weak, but that the person who wrote them was weak.

Those who could stand here today were all the highest-level political figures of the Ming Empire. Being at the highest level, they were certainly fully aware of the situation below. And being aware, they should have known that the court had always harbored an intention to suppress the military strongmen in the outer garrisons.

This intention had nothing to do with personal matters; it was purely official business. Although it was inconvenient to state openly, as a normal "capital" bureaucrat, suppressing and checking the outer garrisons to safeguard central authority was the most basic political cultivation. Yet the Emperor did not see this in the draft rescript—not even a slight verbal or textual obstruction?

Sighing softly, Chongzhen, feeling a little disappointed in his heart, raised his head and looked around. He then shook the memorial in his hand and asked quietly, "Do all you ministers have no further objections?"

The ministers knew perfectly well why the Emperor asked this. Yet after the Emperor's words fell, the scene was filled with a somewhat awkward silence. No minister stepped forward to share the sovereign's burden. Even the several Donglin Party members who, in the Emperor's eyes, should have jumped out, were now likewise holding their breath, solemnly staring at the white marble floor in front of the hall, their faces a picture of deep contemplation.

Chongzhen drew in a sharp breath.

To be fair, His Majesty had not intended to do anything drastic with this memorial. After all, the court had previously granted the Governor-General of Liangguang "expedite discretion," and Regional Commander Cao Chuan of Zhangchao was "unparalleled in loyalty and bravery," a man the court relied upon heavily. For a minor matter in Guangzhou, approval was certain.

The reason the Emperor was unwilling to let this memorial pass easily was purely out of inertia: one could never afford to be careless with a military strongman showing centrifugal tendencies; any opportunity must be used to display the court's authority. This was a monarch's instinctive operation. Those who neglected this... well, Li Longji ended up fleeing in defeat, didn't he? Even strangling his own woman.

Thus, when His Majesty discovered that even after dropping hints, not a single one of the civil and military officials in the hall stepped forward for the routine verbal sparring to offer even a slight obstruction, the young emperor's expression immediately darkened. Chongzhen was no longer the clueless youth who had just taken the throne; he now understood the most important thing about being an emperor: balance.

Now, the balance had failed. This was a grave matter.

The Emperor's anger was genuine, but the ministers were also in a difficult position!

It wasn't that everyone didn't know the rules. However, in some matters, once someone has you by the balls, it becomes hard to speak up.

The ministers present today, apart from a few lone wolves just along for the ride, could be roughly divided into three factions.

First, naturally, was the "Cao Faction" led by Grand Secretary and Minister of Rites Wen Tiren.

Of course, the so-called Cao Faction had always been only an obscure alliance, never officially recognized by public opinion. This was because a certain power had deployed strong forces and ample resources in Beijing, so the vast majority of matters were resolved at the Beijing Station level, never needing to trouble Lord Cao's heavyweight allies at court.

For people like Wen Tiren, this model was naturally excellent: they didn't need to step forward to defend their ally on every matter, thus avoiding being caught by political enemies for "forming cliques for personal gain." It must be known that the very reason Old Wen rose to power was precisely by cultivating the persona of a "lone minister" in Chongzhen's mind.

Therefore, the Grand Secretary Wen Tiren present today, Chief Eunuch Fang Zhenghua, Old Wen's new ally Minister of Rites Min Hongxue, and even those who had gradually colluded into a faction over the past year since Old Wen's rise—Vice Minister of War Tang Shiji, Deputy Censor-in-Chief Zhang Jie, Censor Gao Jie, Shi Fan, and others—all de facto members of the "Cao Faction" line, would naturally not speak a word.

Next was the Meritorious Aristocracy Bloc.

Since last year's King's Rescue, Yizhou's Cao Chuan had been formally enfeoffed as the Loyal and Brave Count. From that moment on, whether willing or not, Regional Commander Cao had effectively squeezed his way into the capital's Meritorious Aristocracy Bloc.

Of course, although the Ming's meritorious aristocrats were in daily decline, initially no one looked up to a country bumpkin surnamed Cao.

However, when cart after cart of industrial goods landed at Tianjin and were transported into Beijing, the nobles came flocking one after another. The threshold of the Loyal and Brave Count Residence could not bear the burden of hosting banquets. Overnight, the capital's meritorious aristocrats all became Regional Commander Cao's long-lost "elder brothers" and "younger brothers"; everyone became family.

... What else could they do? Suppressed by the civil officials, their political rights shrinking day by day, the meritorious aristocrats were just like those Kaifeng Military Houses of the Song Dynasty, degenerating into a commercial bloc with eyes only for that bit of gold and silver.

So the Meritorious Aristocracy Bloc would not speak up today. Moreover, if anyone dared to jump out and spout nonsense against "Brother Cao," the elder brothers would even help fend them off a bit—if Brother Chongzhen had the Court Assembly APP, he could actually easily summarize a phenomenon through big data: in the court sessions over the past year, whenever there was an agenda item concerning a certain Cao, the Meritorious Aristocracy Bloc always had the fullest attendance.

Finally, naturally, came the key figures of today's puzzling case: the several Donglin Party followers.

Speaking of which, after Chongzhen took the throne, the Donglin Party did enjoy a brief period of glory. However, ever since the Manchu Qing entered the pass and besieged the capital, Chongzhen, discovering he had been fooled by the Donglin Party, turned his freed-up hands to dealing with these bastards.

After this, Chongzhen first had the Donglin Party's military figurehead Yuan Chonghuan executed by slow slicing, then exiled the Donglin Party's civil official figurehead, Grand Secretary Qian Longxi.

With the fall of the Cabinet represented by Qian Longxi, and with Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren, who were at odds with the Donglin Party, respectively promoted to Senior Grand Secretary and Junior Grand Secretary, the Donglin Party entered a period of decline in the early Chongzhen era: large numbers of followers were purged from the Beijing bureaucracy, and many Donglin heavyweights resigned and returned to their hometowns to "teach and educate," awaiting future days.

Thus, for over a year now, the Donglin Party's position in the capital's political landscape had been greatly unfavorable, its discourse power reduced to its lowest point.

Fortunately, Chongzhen now knew how to be an emperor, so he did not annihilate the Donglin Party completely but retained a few members to maintain court balance. Yet today's scene baffled Chongzhen: where was the balancing role you were supposed to play?

Unfortunately, the Emperor had not yet learned mind-reading. If Chongzhen at this moment could hear the inner thoughts of these silent figures, he probably would not be puzzled.

In this plane of existence, due to the presence of an interloper—specifically, an interloper with considerable technology and ample resources—the original Ming landlord class had finally, among the countless versions across the multiverse, encountered a wealthy regime that did not make their complete eradication its mission.

As early as a year ago, Regional Commander Cao had not only befriended the meritorious aristocrats in Beijing; his venerable self had also publicly promised one thing right there in the Golden Throne Hall: to sell whole fields in Yizhou.

Now, a year had passed, and the great landlord class who had initially shelled out large sums of silver to buy fields and be the first to try, had already tasted the sweetness.

The vast, continuous large estates of Yizhou, crisscrossed with water channels, had by now already yielded two seasons of produce.

After these two seasons of produce were harvested, they were immediately purchased and loaded onto ships by the government in a unified manner, then sent across the strait to Fujian and Guangdong for sale. The landowners did not even need to show their faces before receiving the grain payments disbursed by the Chikan District Government. These grain payments were then used by their stewards to locally purchase industrial goods, which were shipped back to their hometowns for sale.

This crude triangular trade brought the landowners enormous income.

Most importantly, a certain Cao had fulfilled his initial promise: on these sold lands, the Chikan District Government collected no agricultural tax. Apart from necessary service fees for pesticides, fertilizer, and irrigation, the government did not levy a single cent of extra land tax.

Landlords of this era had no concept of the price scissors between industry and agriculture, so they were completely unaware that they were actually being secretly bled by industrial goods. Instead, they found the current cooperation model quite high: they didn't have to worry about anything; everything was handled by the Chikan Government, this "large-scale tenant farmer," providing a full suite of services from plowing to sowing to sales. In the end, the landlords just had to count their silver back in their hometowns.

Through this back-and-forth, the Donglin Party, representing the Jiangnan landlord class, had imperceptibly shifted from a state of drawn swords against Regional Commander Cao to one of gentle breezes and light rain.

And now, these several Donglin stalwarts before the Golden Throne Hall were deeply aware of the inside story. They even knew some other "hidden advanced information": the Annam Great Estate mentioned in the memorial was truly, genuinely fertile soil, far more so than the land in Yizhou! Moreover, the land deeds that Regional Commander Cao had "obtained" from the Franks were far more numerous than those few openly listed.

In other words, this time, everyone's silver buried in the cellars had a new place to be spent.

Thus, in the end, after carefully weighing and considering the implications behind the Cao Clan's memorial, a Donglin heavy minister stepped out of the ranks with measured strides. Under the Emperor's gaze, which shifted from overcast to clear, he spoke the following words: "Your servant, Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud Hou Xun, impeaches Regional Commander Cao Chuan for lacking the propriety of a subject, trapping his sovereign and father in unrighteousness!"

Chongzhen found this somewhat strange upon hearing it; this was not a common charge: "Oh? What is the meaning of this?"

"In the current age, state affairs are difficult, with beacon fires rising everywhere in the northwest. The Ministry of Revenue's treasuries and granaries are utterly empty, a time of urgent need awaiting replenishment."

"Oh... Minister Hou, continue."

"This Cao Chuan, at such a time of turmoil, dares to disregard the court's laws and discipline, openly offering bribes to his superior—truly a sycophantic minister!"

"Ah!?"

"Since ancient times, wise monarchs and virtuous kings have all taken the welfare of the common people below as their own duty. In your servant's opinion, why not transfer those land deeds and properties that Regional Commander Cao Chuan used to curry favor with his superior to the Ministry of Revenue? In this way, it would be like pulling back from the brink, demonstrating the court's earnest and protective heart towards its border generals. Hmm, incidentally, it would also fulfill the great righteousness between sovereign and subject, sparing the sovereign and father from difficulty, and sparing the general from misstep—this is a perfectly safe strategy."

When the court session ended, the Chongzhen Emperor returned to the inner palace and remained silent for a long time.

Finally, at dinner time, the Emperor gave an order: "Someone, summon the Eastern Palace Crown Prince Lecturer to see me."

"Aye!"

Shortly after: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the duty Eastern Palace Crown Prince Lecturer awaits audience."

"Summon him! All others, withdraw."

"Aye!"

"Your servant Bo Daxing pays respects to His Majesty, long live the Emperor."

"Rise."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Bo Daxing, tell Us again about the machine calamity in the south."

"As you command."