Chapter 173: The Table of Power

The atmosphere in Wuying Hall tightened abruptly.

Except for the ennobled nobles, who seemed largely indifferent, and the New Policy faction, who felt secure in their strength.

Everyone else's gaze, consciously or not, converged on a single focal point — the Minister of Justice, Qiao Yunsheng.

This Donglin elder was now stepping out from the ranks, his frame ramrod straight, like a solitary pine bracing for an oncoming storm.

From the preceding three matters concerning the Ministry of Rites and the people's hearts, the assembled ministers had already taken the measure of this new sovereign's caliber.

And they had come to truly believe in his competence and credibility.

— Even though this new sovereign had yet to actually bestow any rewards.

But...

At the table of power, who gets a seat at the table, and whose bowl gets an extra piece of meat — that was the far more critical reality.

Otherwise, even if the Great Ming truly ushered in a restoration, even if His Majesty were to enfeoff twenty-four meritorious officials at Lingyan Pavilion, what would that have to do with you, a rustic elder dismissed and sent home?

The Sleeping Dragon himself only became Chancellor Zhuge after he left his mountain retreat.

Had he spent his whole life stranded in Nanyang, he would ultimately have been nothing more than a village bumpkin; a thousand years later, who would remember who he was?

This was the bedrock of court factional strife!

This was not something Zhu Youjian could resolve simply by restoring the dynasty's credibility.

— In fact, the more credible the dynasty became, and the more His Majesty showed the makings of a sage ruler, the more fiercely this crowd would scramble!

The factional strife of the Great Ming, running unbroken from the Wanli era to the present, was all for that tiny patch of ground at the dinner table.

Whether for fame, for power, or for profit, one had to fight for it.

And the capital evaluation and major court cases were the two sharpest blades in this arena of power.

The capital evaluation came once every six years, and its outcome was merely dismissal; there would eventually be a chance to return.

Major cases were the truly lethal means.

Once the case record was settled, moral lines were drawn, and the victors could crush the vanquished so thoroughly they could never turn over.

The Wanli era saw the "Two Shens' Rivalry," the "Case of Li Sancai," and the "Struggle over the Foundation of the State."

Later, these directly entangled the inner court, giving rise to the three cases of the "Red Pills," the "Removal from the Palace," and the "Bludgeoning."

Throughout this process, the various factions rose and fell in turn; though some met defeat, it was still relatively decorous — merely banishment to one's home village, with the prospect of a comeback someday.

But from the fourth year of Tianqi onward, after Yang Lian submitted that earth-shaking impeachment listing twenty-four major crimes, the factional strife turned abruptly savage.

The case of Wang Wenyan, the case of Yang Lian, the case of Wu Huaixian, the case of Zhou Yingyuan, the case of Huangshan... one after another, rivers of blood flowed.

Wei Zhongxian and the Tianqi Emperor, using the most brutal methods, seized the administrative power of the entire court firmly in their grasp: those who submitted flourished, those who opposed perished.

But so long as this stage of power remained, the struggle would never cease.

The Donglin fell, and within the eunuch faction itself there was the struggle between Feng Quan and Cui Chengxiu, the conflict between Sun Rulie and Xu Xianchun.

The cake on this table was only so large; if you took one extra bite, someone else had to take one less. How could they not fight? How could they not struggle?

Seated high behind the imperial desk, Zhu Youjian took in every expression on the faces of those below the throne.

He knew that, after putting it off for so long, his final decision on the various Donglin cases would once again define the prevailing wind at court.

Even though he had repeatedly, time and again, declared that the prevailing wind he intended to set lay elsewhere entirely.

Yet these old foxes, having fought for so many years in the old version, probably still believed this was the true weathervane!

It was also the crucial signal they had been tangled in hesitation over, waiting for all this time!

Damn, a bunch of stubborn old men who never listen to a word anyone says!

At last, Zhu Youjian spoke.

"Minister Qiao, I have read all the case opinions you submitted."

He paused, his gaze settling on Qiao Yunsheng's weathered face.

"But it seems you have never grasped my key point."

"What I seek is a Zhang Juzheng, a Qi Shaobao — I am not seeking some 'court brimming with righteous men.'"

His voice suddenly sharpened, like a blade drawn from its scabbard, its edge fully bared.

"What is righteous? What is wicked?"

"Every one of you claims to be a loyal minister and a good general, yet when it comes to action, every one of you is accused of forming cliques for private gain!"

"Whom am I to trust? Whom can I trust?!"

Zhu Youjian's eyes swept across the face of every minister in the hall, his words growing sharper with each sentence.

"In the first year of Tianqi, they also said the court brimmed with righteous men. And then what? We had the defeat at Liao-Shen, the defeat at Guangning!"

"After the fourth year of Tianqi, they again said the court brimmed with righteous men. And then what? We had the defeat at Liuhe, the defeat in Joseon, the peril at Zhenyang County in Runing Prefecture!"

"And now, scholarly morale declines by the day, corruption among officials is endemic, and the court's fiscal revenues worsen year after year! Whose fault is this, after all?!"

"Whenever any matter fails, it is said that a cabal of traitors has emerged in court, and they must be driven out before all is well. Once driven out, then what? Did the country improve?!"

"Setting aside comparisons with the dynasty's founding, even compared to the Wanli era, has it improved?!"

"This 'court brimming with righteous men' has been brimming from the first year of Tianqi to now, seven full years, and the Liao affair has dragged on for seven years too! Since the founding of our Great Ming, where has there ever been a military campaign that remained unresolved for seven years?!"

The barrage of questions hammered at everyone's heart like a heavy mallet.

The face of the Minister of Justice, Qiao Yunsheng, flushed red and then turned pale; his lips quivered a few times, but not a single word came out. He could only stiffen his body and stand there, enduring this merciless reprimand.

Yet Zhu Youjian had not said enough. His tone grew increasingly caustic and biting, laced with undisguised sarcasm.

"Do you take me for some fatuous and foolish sovereign who asks why they don't just eat meat?"

"And you still dare to come before me day after day, clattering on about such worthless matters?!"

"Native place, disciples, in-laws, old acquaintances — in this world, where is there not a faction, where is there not a clique!"

"Do I need you to come and tell me such things?"

This blistering torrent of mockery and scorn dropped the temperature of the entire Wuying Hall to a freezing point.

Only then did many of the officials jolt awake from the illusion of "benevolence" and "the manner of Han Gaozu" that the Emperor had so carefully cultivated before.

No matter how well this new sovereign imitated the posture of a humane ruler, the blood of the Zhu family emperors still flowed in his veins!

Zhu Youjian's gaze was cold.

Factional strife? Strife my ass!

Whether you are Donglin or the eunuch faction, if you can carry out the new policies, you stay; if you cannot, then get out!

If you want a bigger slice of the cake at the table of power, then put your strength into the new policies.

Go attack your political enemies' corruption, go attack their feigned compliance, go attack their abuse of the people and deception of the throne!

The Yongchang New Policies did not mean no struggle — it meant struggling within the boundaries that he, Zhu Youjian, had drawn!

By now, since his enthronement, he was no longer that new sovereign who would rush out with his sandals on backwards to welcome every visitor.

Nor could just anyone receive his handclasp of regard or a personally bestowed plaque anymore.

The cards in his hand were growing ever more numerous; he was no longer that new sovereign who could only play the roles of humbly honoring the worthy and emulating Han Gaozu!

Henceforth, his benevolence and his solicitude would be reserved only for those who could draw close to him and support him.

— regardless of whether they were loyal or treacherous!

Zhu Youjian's gaze locked onto Qiao Yunsheng once more, his tone cold as ice.

"Today, We have but one opinion on all the past cases: judge them impartially, regardless of loyalty or treachery."

"If the Ministry of Justice can handle it, then handle it. If it cannot, then We shall replace those who handle it!"

He leaned forward slightly and asked, word by word:

"Qiao Yunsheng, Minister of Justice — can you handle this matter, or can you not?!"

This was no longer consultation, but naked coercion.

Everyone was stunned into silence by the Emperor's overbearing and imperious approach.

Qiao Yunsheng stood pinned in place, feeling a surge of blood rush to his head, almost unable to resist the urge to emulate the ancients, tear off his official cap on the spot, and beg leave to retire.

Yet from the corner of his eye he caught, amidst the gloating looks of the eunuch faction, a few glints of greed as well.

He thought of his close friend of many years, tortured to death in the Imperial Prison, who to this day could not even have a spirit tablet openly venerated.

He thought of how, among all the civil and military officials of the court, among the Grand Secretaries and the heads of the Six Ministries, he alone remained as the last solitary seedling that could barely be counted as Donglin.

If he left, whom would the Emperor choose to succeed him?

Did that even need thinking about?

A man grown old no longer acts with such reckless abandon.

The unbending ardor in Qiao Yunsheng's chest dissolved into a helpless, drawn-out sigh.

Qiao Yunsheng slowly bent his body forward and answered in a hoarse voice: "Reporting to Your Majesty… this matter, the Ministry of Justice can handle."

Zhu Youjian looked at him expressionlessly, as if he had not seen the utterly mortified look on his face.

He sat back on the imperial throne and spoke directly, his voice cold and clear.

"Among the cases submitted by the Ministry of Justice: first, the case of Xiong Tingbi."

"He lost his army and disgraced the state, forfeited the borders and lost territory — beheading is beyond doubt."

"Wang Huazhen and Yang Hao shall also be joined to this case and sentenced to execution together, as a warning to others."

He looked around at all present and asked coldly: "My ministers, do you have any objections?"

No one spoke.

Everyone was rapidly calculating in their own minds, deducing the political direction signaled by this order.

Wang Huazhen was a protégé of Ye Xianggao, initially a key champion pushed by the Donglin, but after the Liaodong disaster, he defected to Wei Zhongxian and turned against his former allies.

Thus, as things stood now, the Donglin wanted him dead, and the eunuch faction wanted him alive.

But the eunuch faction of today did not necessarily have much inclination to protect a mediocre turncoat who had joined midway; they merely regarded him as a political signal.

Xiong Tingbi was even more complicated — of Chu faction origin, yet exceedingly self-regarding and too proud to curry favor.

When he was Governor of Liaodong, he was especially stubborn, giving no face to anyone.

When the Liaodong campaign failed, the Donglin bickered endlessly over whether to save him or not, and Xiong Tingbi, to save his own life, sought out Wei Zhongxian's connections.

In the end, Wei Zhongxian seized on this very matter to crush the Donglin — an utter mess of a case.

But the man was already dead, and for the Emperor to drag him out and sentence him to death all over again was truly baffling.

As for Yang Hao, the chief culprit of the Battle of Sarhu, he had long been sentenced to imprisonment awaiting execution and had been locked in prison for seven years. He had little connection to either faction, and no one wanted to touch such ill luck.

In that case…

Which way was this first wind of the new reign truly blowing?

For the moment, no one could see clearly, and all remained silent.

Seeing no opposition, Zhu Youjian then continued:

"However, though the crime of losing the army is established, it must still be judged with due reason."

"Xiong Tingbi twice served as Military Commissioner of Liaodong. He could expose corruption and reorganize the ranks; his heart was sincere. Why must his head be paraded through the nine border garrisons?"

"Order the Ministry of Rites to deliberate a posthumous name, permit him sacrificial rites, and restore his hereditary privileges — that will suffice!"

Lai Zongdao, Minister of Rites, was taken aback upon hearing this, then stepped out from the ranks to receive the decree.

Qiao Yunsheng also breathed a sigh of relief and cupped his hands in obedience.

First to fix the crime, then to grant honor — strange as this procedure was, it had at least preserved Xiong Tingbi's final dignity.

Zhu Youjian nodded, then looked at Qiao Yunsheng again.

"Second: the Huangshan case. Confessions extracted under torture, property seized and families ruined, implicating a great many."

"The great Wu clan of She County, since the Wanli era, has contributed no less than several hundred thousand taels to the state — truly merchants of loyalty and righteousness."

"With such cruel and harsh laws, how can the loyal and upright hearts of the realm not be driven to alienation and despair?"

"Order the Ministry of Justice to reverse the verdicts at once. All confiscated silver is to be returned in full."

"For those clansmen still living, specially confer one Secretary of the Central Drafting Office, and summon him to the capital for an audience."

In Zhu Youjian's mind, this case ranked highest in importance among all the cases — higher even than the rest.

For its sake, he had even thrown Wu Kongjia to the wolves.

The three Xiong Tingbi cases were meant to set the standard for rewards and punishments across the Nine Frontiers. Yet with the earlier bestowal of noble titles dangling before them, frontier affairs had, in truth, merely been patched with a "punishment" clause.

As for the remaining Donglin cases, they were meant to win over Donglin hearts. But those Donglin hearts — for his present governance, the advantages and drawbacks balanced each other out, and the matter could not be rushed.

The Mount Huang case, however, was the opening move by which he would extend his hand into the merchant class.

Under the second phase of the capital's road-building policy, there was a provision that a donation of ten thousand taels of silver could earn one the post of Secretary of the Central Drafting Office — yet those who responded were few and far between.

— Not merely few and far between: for the time being, there was not a single one.

How could this be allowed?

You merchants can attach yourselves to the ennobled aristocracy, to the palace eunuchs, to the civil officials — so why on earth can you not attach yourselves to His Majesty?

The Mount Huang case was precisely the new benchmark that he, Zhu Youjian, intended to set for this purpose.

If one Wu clan of She County was not enough, then let there be a few more — five, ten — until, in the end, a tide of merchant allegiance could be shaped.

The Eight Imperial Merchant Houses?

If your Manchu Qing could have them, can I, the Yongchang Emperor Zhu Youjian, not have them too?

Yet among the assembled ministers, not a single one had discerned this move in the Emperor's game.

Matters of merchants were, in the eyes of these grand ministers, mere trifles, and naturally no one raised any objection.

Qiao Yunsheng cupped his hands once more. "This matter, the Ministry of Justice can handle."

Zhu Youjian nodded with satisfaction, and only then did he speak to the point that concerned everyone most:

"As for the cases of Wang Wenyan, Yang Lian, Zhou Yingyuan, and the rest…"

His voice drew long, and Qiao Yunsheng's heart instantly leapt into his throat.

"…Everything the Ministry of Justice has requested is denied."

"Your Majesty!"

Qiao Yunsheng's heart sank. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he cupped his hands and stepped forward, ready to remonstrate.

But Zhu Youjian merely raised a hand, and stopped every word he had.

"Ever since those dismissed in the factional purges began to be restored to office, partisan strife has flared anew at court."

"Of the memorials submitted each day, a full three in ten are devoted to mutual attacks. Those that can speak to matters of state are pitifully few."

"And every matter impeached is invariably brought under the charge of 'forming a clique.'"

"Forming a clique, forming a clique… Such preposterous charges — as We have already said, is there anyone at court who does not have such ties? Is there anyone who is not implicated?!"

"With such displays before Us, how are We to discern the true merits and flaws of these cases?"

"And how can We guarantee that these cases will not become the wellspring of yet another round of partisan strife?!"

Zhu Youjian's voice turned icy once more.

"Here before Us, at this moment of life and death, whoever can shore up the collapsing heavens — he is a loyal minister! Whoever stirs up factional strife again and makes internal warfare his business — he is a treacherous minister!"

"The line between loyalty and treachery is not drawn upon this factional strife, but upon the affairs of the realm!"

"The New Policies are about to begin. We shall watch the conduct of every one of you."

"By this time next year, loyalty and treachery will reveal themselves."

"When that time comes, then we may speak of these cases again!"

"When deeds prove a man worthy, his person will be vindicated of itself. Then, the cases We ought to reverse and the men We ought to seize — not a single one will be let slip!"

Zhu Youjian slammed his hand upon the desk, and every heart in the hall shuddered as one.

"The words have been spoken. The roads ahead are many — let each gentleman choose his own!"

With that, Zhu Youjian, his face utterly expressionless, looked toward Qiao Yunsheng.

"Does the Ministry of Justice have any objection to this?"

Qiao Yunsheng stood frozen in place, his aged face alternating between red and white, as though struck by lightning.

He sensed, to his left, the Hanlin Academy Chancellor Cheng Jiming shake his head, almost imperceptibly.

Within him, heaven and man warred; he was torn beyond measure.

In the end, all the unwillingness, the fury, the desolation — all of it dissolved into a silent sigh within his breast.

Slowly, deeply, he bent his waist, and his voice held not a trace of spirit anymore.

"This subject… has no objection."

Zhu Youjian waved a hand, gesturing for him to sit, and breathed a slight inward sigh of relief.

If Qiao Yunsheng refused to go along, he would simply replace him with a more level-headed Donglin man.

And if the newly appointed Donglin man still dared to show him no face, then he would have no choice but to let the eunuch faction step up.

But that would cause the power balance he had established to slip slightly out of control, which was, after all, not ideal.

Power, power!

The eunuchs' power comes from the Emperor — but does the civil officials' power not also come from the Emperor?

Through all the dynasties, through all the ages, which great case, which partisan struggle, when fought to the end, did not come down to a contest over the Emperor's opinion?

Toward the eunuch faction, he must give them hope of survival, so that they would transfer their allegiance from Wei Zhongxian and Tianqi onto himself.

And toward the Donglin, he must keep them pressed down — he could not let them clear their grievances so quickly.

— Even though those cases were indeed cruel and merciless, and would fill later generations with sympathy.

Yet in politics there is no right or wrong, only advantage and disadvantage.

The grievances of a few civil officials — how could they compare to the wailing of the countless millions of common folk when a dynasty falls?

Once these cases are given a definitive character, moral superiority and inferiority are fixed.

And in the political ecology of the Great Ming, whoever occupies the moral high ground holds power.

How could that be allowed?

On the high ground of morality, only We may stand alone!

Zhu Youjian swept his gaze over the assembly. He could read every expression, but not what lay in their hearts.

In his previous life, he had never been some wily old hand at bureaucratic infighting, after all.

Office politics at an internet company certainly existed, but how could they compare to this arena of power and fame, where reputation and authority intertwine and every step is life or death?

He was therefore truly unskilled in such fine-grained factional manipulation and could only strive, from the broadest perspective, to maintain equilibrium among the various forces.

But no matter — every man has his strengths and weaknesses, and his own strengths lay elsewhere.

Zhu Youjian turned his head and looked to the next man, the ice on his face melting in an instant:

"Minister Yang, We heard you caught a slight chill a few days ago. Are you feeling better now?"

Treat enemies with the pitiless cruelty of deep winter; treat comrades with the warmth of spring.

And as it happened, among his many skills, the one he, Zhu Youjian, excelled at most was telling them apart clearly —

— who exactly is the enemy, and who is the friend!