Chapter 168: The Dragon Soars in the Heavens — It Is Auspicious to Behold the Great Man

In the Hall of Earnest Reflection, Zhu Youjian sat upright and solemn, unable to stop himself from growing serious.

A nearly congealed silence was soundlessly shrouding this small warming chamber.

For no other reason than that the single Grade-A memorial today was simply too shocking.

Censor Gao Hongtu stated:

"Those who endanger the altars of state and shake the palace precincts — the three villains Liu Zhao, Liu Zhixuan, and Liang Menghuan — their crimes in truth exceed those of the 'Five Tigers' and 'Five Fierce Leopards,' yet Heaven's punishment has not been applied…"

This was not the key point.

These days, he had long grown numb to similar rhetoric; memorials of mutual attack between the eunuch faction and the Donglin flew in like snowflakes — by his count, no fewer than three hundred.

Yet as his gaze continued downward, his heart gave a sudden lurch.

"It is further heard that when the late Emperor lay dying, Liu Zhao straightaway assembled three thousand troops, replaced the commanding officers, and installed Cui Chengxiu's confidant Xiao Weizhong in charge of the mounted couriers, advancing directly upon the capital gates. What could his intent have been?"

After the memorial text, following the latest standardized format for statecraft documents, it meticulously listed the events, locations, the names of the officers who relayed the orders, and even the seal records of the Ministry of War's transfer orders — the chronology interlocking flawlessly, the evidence irrefutable.

Thereafter, Gao Hongtu recommended four men of unbending character who had been suppressed by the eunuch faction:

"This subject requests the execution of these three, and further submits that there are four men of unbending character: first, Geng Ruji, Administration Vice Commissioner of Henan, who was framed for corruption because he refused to kneel to Wei Zhongxian; second, Prefect Wang Yaomin, who from first to last would not bow his head or bend his knee to Cui Wensheng and Li Mingdao, and was impeached by Wu Chunfu for it; third, Circuit Intendant Liang Tingdong, who at the height of the birthday-ceremony flattery brushed his sleeves and retired to care for his parents; fourth, County Magistrate Mao Jiuhua, who was impeached by Ni Wenhuan for refusing to submit a detailed proposal for building a shrine."

Zhu Youjian's gaze paused briefly on the somewhat familiar names Geng Ruji and Liang Tingdong, but he paid them no mind.

His fingertip traced absently along the edge of the memorial, while within his heart, waves were already surging.

Gao Shiming stood to one side with hands lowered; Wang Tiqian and Tian Ergeng, just restored to favor, now stood in attendance like two clay statues, even their breathing deliberately hushed.

Everyone understood that a storm capable of shaking the court and the realm was brewing within this thin memorial — brewing beneath the silence of this young Son of Heaven.

Yet what lay in Zhu Youjian's heart was not quite what they imagined — "rage"?

It was more a sense of being caught between laughter and tears.

Wait… did something like this actually happen in history?

The loyalty of men like Cui Chengxiu and Liu Zhao to Wei Zhongxian could reach such an extreme?

For the sake of a eunuch, to undertake an act tantamount to rebellion — had they gone mad?

Three thousand troops from the Ji Garrison — was that a lot?

Not a lot.

The military forces in the capital were interwoven in a complex grid; no single person could control all military authority.

The Capital Camps, the Imperial Guard, the eunuch corps, the Valiant Guard Camp, and the rest were arrayed everywhere. Even if the rebels seized the gate defenses of the Nine Gates, once they entered the capital, the Palace Guard could easily crush them.

These three thousand Ji Garrison soldiers were, after all, not the elite Western Liang cavalry under Dong Zhuo at the end of the Han, who could each fight ten men.

But, in truth, it was also a great deal.

At the Xuanwu Gate Incident back then, Li Shimin had relied on no more than eight hundred private soldiers.

In such extraordinary affairs, the loyalty and resolve of the executors have always mattered far more than the numbers.

But then again, the Great Ming had stood for over two hundred years; the majesty of the Son of Heaven was etched deep into men's hearts. Would these three thousand weak soldiers truly dare to draw their swords against a new sovereign?

Zhu Youjian's brows furrowed slightly.

Reality, it turned out, was far more bizarre than he had ever imagined.

Cui Chengxiu was already on the road to Hainan; at this moment he would be just about reaching the Jiangxi border.

But men like Liu Zhao and Xiao Weizhong were right there in the Ji Garrison. Send men to arrest them, and they could reach the capital within ten days.

Under the wooden collar, cangue, and leg-press, if he, Zhu Youjian, said this was rebellion, then rebellion it was.

In that case… should he launch a major case?

The very instant this thought arose, Zhu Youjian's heart skipped a beat.

Act, or not act?

The pros and cons flashed through his mind like lightning, yet for the moment he could not decide.

He slowly closed the memorial, producing a soft "snap" that rang out with startling clarity in the silent warming chamber.

The bodies of both Wang Tiqian and Tian Ergeng gave an involuntary slight shiver.

"How many memorials today were specially marked 'Discipline'?" Zhu Youjian finally spoke, his voice betraying neither pleasure nor anger.

Gao Shiming immediately bowed and answered: "In reply to Your Majesty, a total of four hundred and twelve memorials were received today. After sorting by the Grand Secretariat and the Directorate of Ceremonial according to Your Majesty's method, those specially marked 'Discipline' number thirty-seven in all — far fewer than in previous days. Among them, not a single one impeaches the new policies."

"Mm." Zhu Youjian nodded. "Pick them all out. We shall read them first."

The so-called special marks were a third category of label, newly added after the original A-B-C-D grading system and the color-coding by hereditary military household, commoner, official, and so on.

At present there were only three special marks: "New Policies," "Statecraft Document," and "Discipline."

The ecology of officialdom in the Great Ming boiled down to two things: doing things, or going after people.

And memorials that went after people were essentially all classified under "Discipline."

In Zhu Youjian's view, if out of a hundred memorials in this category, ten were genuinely motivated by public spirit, he would count himself mistaken.

In days past, he had reviewed these memorials purely as practice for his ability to parse the tangled web of interest groups, teacher-student ties, and native-place loyalties within the court.

In a sense, they could be regarded as a set of exercises for "Three Years of Chongzhen, Five Years of Mock Exams."

(Gentlemen, listen to the question.)

Vice Bureau Director of the Ministry of Revenue Wang Shoulü impeaches: Chen Erji, Yang Suoxiu, and Huo Weihua for forming a faction for private gain, and recommends the former Grand Secretary Han Kuang and others.

This is a free-point question.

What private gain? No details given — in short, they formed a faction.

But in Zhu Youjian's eyes, the prompt for this question read as follows:

Vice Bureau Director of the Ministry of Revenue, "a native of Fenzhou Prefecture, Shanxi," Wang Shoulü impeaches: xxxx, and recommends the former Grand Secretary, "a native of Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi," Han Kuang.

The answer was clear at a glance: a Shanxi-born official was paving the way for his Shanxi compatriot, the former Chief Grand Secretary Han Kuang, to return to the court.

Very well. Wang Shoulü is tentatively assigned to Han Kuang's faction; if similar memorials taking this stance appear later, then the connection will be even more firmly established.

Next question, difficulty level 2.

Supervising Secretary of the Revenue Section Duan Guozhang impeached Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review Xu Zhiji, and recommended Jiang Yueguang, Chen Renxi, and others.

For this particular question, looking at native place alone was useless.

Duan Guozhang was a Henan man, while the men he recommended, Jiang Yueguang and Chen Renxi, were from Jiangxi and South Zhili respectively — no connection whatsoever.

But in the "official dossiers" Zhu Youjian had opened, it was clearly recorded: Duan Guozhang, in the fourth year of Tianqi during Yang Lian's "Twenty-Four Crimes" case, had once spoken in Yang Lian's defense. After the fourth year of Tianqi, however, this man had sunk into obscurity, and had also submitted a memorial praising Wei Zhongxian.

And so the answer emerged: a former Donglin sympathizer, who had bent the knee when the eunuch faction held power, and now that the wind had shifted, was in a hurry to present his pledge of allegiance to the Donglin once more.

Finally, one last major question, Level 3 difficulty.

Ruan Dacheng's memorial, "The Crafty Traitors Colluding with the Inner Court over Seven Years."

In the memorial, Ruan Dacheng unleashed full firepower, striking left and right.

He said that Wang Wenyan bringing Zuo Guangdou into Wang An's private staff was the beginning of collusion between the inner and outer courts to factionalize the palace.

He said that Jia Jichun inciting Censorate officials to fawn upon Wang An was the beginning of collusion between the inner and outer courts to murder supervising censors.

He said that Minister of Personnel Zhou Jiamo's heavy reliance on Xiong Tingbi was the beginning of collusion between the inner and outer courts to endanger the frontiers.

He said that Wei Zhongxian's expulsion of imperial in-laws and his shaking of the empress's position was likewise modeled on the old stratagems of Wang Wenyan and his ilk.

This speech practically threw the ascendant eunuch faction and the fallen Donglin Faction into the same pot and stewed them all together.

Between the lines, it exuded the one-hundred-percent air of an upright gentleman, and it coincided almost perfectly with the tone Zhu Youjian now wished to set — the elimination of factional strife.

And yet... would Ruan Dacheng really have this kind of nerve?

Zhu Youjian rather doubted it... Besides, did the man have a teleportation gate or something?

He turned his head and asked Gao Shiming, "Hasn't Ruan Dacheng already resigned and returned home? I recall he is a man of Tongcheng. How did this memorial reach the capital so quickly?"

Gao Shiming bowed and replied, "Your Majesty is sagaciously perceptive. This memorial was submitted on his behalf by Yang Weiyuan, Censor of the Yunnan Circuit."

"Yang Weiyuan?"

Zhu Youjian had some impression of this name. The man had impeached four or five high officials of the eunuch faction, yet also bore three or four impeachment memorials from Donglin supervising censors himself — a hedgehog bristling with spines on every side.

"Companion Gao, bring me the official dossiers of Yang Weiyuan and Ruan Dacheng for my inspection."

"As commanded."

Gao Shiming quickly fetched two thin booklets from the bookshelf.

Zhu Youjian opened them and read carefully. A moment later, a smile of understanding spread across his face.

Two key pieces of information:

First, Yang Weiyuan and Ruan Dacheng were men of the same examination year, both jinshi of the forty-fourth year of Wanli, and after their probationary appointments both served in the Messenger Office — a genuinely old connection.

Second, judging from Yang Weiyuan's memorials during the Tianqi years, he was plainly and unmistakably a member of the eunuch faction.

Third, Ruan Dacheng, that spineless opportunist in Zhu Youjian's recollection, had actually been affiliated with the Donglin in his early years, and was a fellow townsman of Zuo Guangdou. He had later fallen out with Wei Dazhong over the post of Chief Supervising Secretary of the Personnel Section, and only then switched allegiance to Wei Zhongxian's camp.

In sum, a marginal figure who had repeatedly flip-flopped between the Donglin and the eunuch faction, ultimately trusted by neither side, had now entrusted a man who was once of the eunuch faction but now sought to sever ties with Cui Chengxiu and his ilk, to submit this memorial firing cannons in both directions.

Zhu Youjian let out a satisfied sigh, as happy as if he had just solved the final problem on a mathematics exam.

"Look to his deeds, observe his motives, examine where he rests content. How can a man conceal himself? How can a man conceal himself?"

When Confucius assessed a man, he looked at his conduct, his motivations, and where he found his peace and purpose.

Once those are clearly seen, how could his character possibly hide?

Yet now, what Zhu Youjian himself examined was native place, examination records, same-year cohorts, teacher-student ties, and entanglements of interest.

Different approaches, but equally effective — equally effective!

Whether open-book (consulting the dossiers) or closed-book (relying on memory), Zhu Youjian swiftly reviewed and annotated all thirty-odd specially marked "disciplinary" memorials, one by one.

Among them, some directly attacked him personally, saying he should not have instituted secret memorials, that grading memorials violated fairness, and even Lü Tunan, the Commissioner of the Office of Transmission, had weakly raised the issue of the ownership of the Great Ming Times.

The greater number, however, were mutual recriminations between the eunuch faction and the Donglin.

Some firepower was concentrated on Tian Ergeng and Wang Tiqian, some on Huo Weihua and Xue Fengxiang, and there were even two impeachment memorials denouncing Qian Qianyi — this future Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat had not yet entered the capital but was already saddled with a lawsuit.

Impeaching back and forth, the charges were mostly "forming cliques for private gain."

Those truly involving corruption were few and far between.

And a direct impeachment for "plotting rebellion," like Gao Hongtu's, was absolutely unique.

As for Wei Zhongxian, Cui Chengxiu, and the others he had long since made clear he intended to purge, they had become rats scurrying across the street, with everyone crying out to beat them.

Whether Donglin or eunuch faction, all piled on with memorials, as if failing to curse them was insufficient to prove their own political correctness.

The Great Ming court, at least at the beginning of this winter, presented just such a chaotic spectacle.

Traditional policy matters drew almost no attention; the hottest topics were forever only two: statecraft essays, and disciplinary purges.

There were those who wished to accomplish things, and those who wished to purge people.

To accomplish things, one must first purge people; to purge people was to better accomplish things.

The justifications were always high-sounding; within, it was all an exchange of interests.

Zhu Youjian gently closed the last memorial, a hint of contentment between his brows.

Days of effort had at last borne visible fruit.

It had not been in vain that he had set aside his beloved Practical Record of Troop Training and gnawed on these "official dossiers" for so long.

His speed at "solving problems" was growing faster and faster.

Three years of Chongzhen, five years of mock exams — no idle jest.

The Huanggang sea-of-questions tactic was indeed effective.

Without a sufficient volume of practice problems, how could he match wits and courage against this court full of vermin?

That Chongzhen in the history books — he simply did far too few practice problems!

Zhu Youjian lightly patted the memorials on the desk. In his heart, a decision had already formed.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the assembled attendants standing in solemn silence, and spoke: "Companion Gao."

"This subject is here." Gao Shiming bowed and acknowledged the command.

Wang Tiqian and Tian Ergeng's hearts instantly leapt into their throats.

Zhu Youjian's gaze swept across their faces, and he spoke slowly:

"First, the matter of Liu Zhao, as memorialized by Gao Hongtu."

"The talk of plotting rebellion is utterly baseless. The Great Ming has nurtured its officials for nearly three hundred years — how could there be such treasonous ministers?"

"The Depot Minister's loyalty is witnessed by all under Heaven. He merely grieved so deeply for the Late Emperor that he hanged himself and departed — what talk of rebellion can there be?"

"As for the building of living shrines, the reckless bestowal of titles and ranks, and other acts of presumption — have I not already issued orders to correct them? Let this matter never be raised again."

At these words, Wang Tiqian and Tian Ergeng almost simultaneously let out a long breath of relief.

Then Zhu Youjian's tone shifted.

"However, Liu Zhao, as a general charged with guarding a region, rashly moved his military tallies — in the end, he has violated the law of the land. Let him be given ten green marks, his household property confiscated, his degree stripped, his name struck from the rolls, and reduced to commoner status."

He looked again at Wang Tiqian. "Liu Zhixuan and Liang Menghuan — I recall that neither of them ever submitted a single policy memorial on statecraft. When the roads were being repaired, how much did each contribute?"

Wang Tiqian hurriedly stepped forward and replied, "In reply to Your Majesty, Liu Zhixuan donated five hundred taels of silver, and Liang Menghuan donated seven thousand taels."

Zhu Youjian raised his eyebrows.

Wang Tiqian immediately understood and added, "According to the list, both men fall into the category of middling corruption, with household assets likely between several thousand and over ten thousand taels."

Zhu Youjian nodded and said, "Liu Zhixuan…"

He pondered for a moment, sighed, and still said, "Give him nine green marks and reduce him to commoner status."

The money — Zhu Youjian certainly wanted it.

But he could not take it in this way.

In politics, the most important thing is credibility. In rewards and punishments, the most important thing is clarity.

The matter of corruption had been spoken of and settled — so it was settled.

Ten thousand taels was not worth damaging his own political credibility.

As for Liu Zhao, he could only count himself unlucky — he actually dared to involve himself in the moving of troops. Confiscating his property and striking him from the rolls was already mercy beyond the law; it could not be counted as breaking a promise.

"As for Liang Menghuan…"

"The charges memorialized are not substantiated. This proposal is denied."

Having spoken, Zhu Youjian paid no heed to the expressions on Wang Tiqian's and Tian Ergeng's faces.

In any case, these two were constantly at his side, and when it came to gauging his attitude and behavior, they were probably without peer in the entire court.

Zhu Youjian ignored them, gathered together the several dozen "disciplinary" memorials on the desk, casually pulled one out, and pushed all the rest aside.

"Except for this one, all the rest are to be held in the palace and not issued. Record the impeachments contained within them into each person's floating file, to await future verification."

"As for this one…"

Zhu Youjian rubbed the memorial in his hand, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Let it be ordered: Lu Chengyuan, Bureau Secretary of the Ministry of Works, is to be given one red mark, entered into the first tier of new policy officials, and assessed together with them. Additionally, bestow upon him an imperially inscribed plaque, to be inscribed with… the four characters 'Loyal, Upright, Pure, and Incorruptible.'"

"This slave obeys the decree." Gao Shiming received the memorial and held it carefully in both hands.

Zhu Youjian clapped his hands and rose to his feet.

"Very well. Have the meal brought in."

"Also, notify the people on the list: at the hour of Shen, they are to assemble at Wuying Hall for a meeting."

An hour later, inside the duty room of the Eastern Depot.

"Old Ancestor, the memorial has been obtained." A junior eunuch hurried in and presented a transcribed copy of the memorial.

Wang Tiqian opened his eyes and snatched it from him.

He skimmed past the lengthy opening passages of self-justification, and his gaze quickly fell upon the crucial part.

Lu Chengyuan memorializes: He begs His Majesty to command all ministers to do real work and seek real results, not to discourse emptily on morality while slighting wealth and strength; not to prate idly about human nature and destiny while neglecting official duties; not to practice bribery, manipulate power, and play the hypocrite; not to form cliques for private gain and act the sanctimonious villager.

The scholar-gentry should cooperate with reverence, not seek revenge and harm the foundations of the state; officials should keep to their proper duties, not use recommendations as a ladder for personal advancement.

Those who monopolize court governance, even if they are Donglin, are still petty men — do not drag out Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou as talismans. Those who act alone and fulfill their duties, even if they are not Donglin, are still gentlemen — do not use Cui Chengxiu and Wei Zhongxian to frame them.

If this is done, then court governance will be clear and bright, and the affairs of state can be managed…

Wang Tiqian's eyes narrowed. He read it through carefully several more times, and finally set the memorial down.

He waved his hand and said to the junior eunuch, "Leave. I need a moment of quiet."

The junior eunuch withdrew silently, pulling the door shut behind him.

The light inside the duty room was dim. Wang Tiqian did not light a lamp; he merely turned over and over in his mind all the events that had occurred during this period.

After a long while, he walked with heavy steps to the window, reached out, and with a creak pushed open the carved wooden window.

An icy blast of wind swept in, instantly clearing his muddled mind.

He raised his head and gazed in the direction of Wuying Hall, but his line of sight was blocked by the towering palace wall.

"The clouds follow the dragon, the wind follows the tiger; when the sage arises, all things behold him."

"The words of the fifth line, nine in the Qian hexagram — how true they are!"

Only a moment later, the carved wooden window slammed shut with a bang.

No other reason — it was simply too cold.