Chapter 21: If I Cannot Be Hai Rui, Why Must I Be Yan Song?

The Son of Heaven's words struck straight at every heart!

A rustling crash swept the hall as a whole crowd dropped to their knees.

"Your Majesty, quell your wrath! Your subjects deserve death ten thousand times!"

Zhu Youjian ignored their pleas for punishment as if deaf, treating it all as theater.

He slowly picked up the three booklets lying on the imperial desk.

"What is even more laughable is that the crimes you all have charged Cui Chengxiu, Zhou Yingqiu, and the others with are numerous and indeed real."

"Yet in sheer numbers, I fear they still fall short of what We know."

"In Our hands are three name lists."

"One of them... was written by Wei Zhongxian, who hanged himself the day before yesterday."

Boom—!

The moment these words fell, the ranks of officials below the dais erupted!

"What?"

"Three lists of the eunuch faction?!"

"Besides the traitor Wei, who else provided a list?"

"Who else could it be — just look at why those two men are still alive!"

Unsuppressed cries of shock and the sound of sharply indrawn breath mingled into one din.

Among those officials who had just been racing to bring charges, some now wore faces the color of earth.

Zhu Youjian watched their reactions coldly and continued: "These three lists differ from one another in places, yet the names that overlap are by no means few."

"Among them, seven are colossal grafters, fifty-seven are middling grafters, and the remaining two hundred-odd, though not matching those just named, are still... every last one a grafter."

The hall sank once more into a deathlike silence.

Every man felt his mouth go dry and his heart pound like a drum.

Those belonging to the eunuch faction felt their legs quake, but even those outside the faction were gripped by panic.

Who knew just how broad the reach of those three booklets truly was?

And who knew whether that dog-traitor Wei Zhongxian, before he died, had wildly bitten and implicated people at random!

At this juncture, with a new sovereign just ascended the throne and the court being swept clean, even if one protested genuine innocence, what use would it be?

Those three thin booklets, in their eyes at this moment, seemed like the King of Hell's death-summoning register.

The season was already deep autumn, and sunrise came late by nature.

Only now did the first ray of morning light finally break free of the horizon's grip, slanting through the towering doors of Wenhua Hall to pierce inside.

Within the beam, countless dust motes tumbled and spun.

Above the imperial steps, the young Son of Heaven's face was veiled at the boundary of light and shadow, dim and indistinct, impossible to read clearly.

Only those eyes still blazed with startling brightness.

He looked at the ministers below the dais, each face a different expression, and gave a slight nod to the brush-holding eunuch beside him, Gao Shiming.

"Proclaim the edict."

Gao Shiming bowed to receive the command, drew a roll of yellow silk from his sleeve, and slowly unfurled it.

His voice was not shrill; it carried a steady, weighty texture, and in the deathly stillness of Wenhua Hall, every word struck clearly upon every heart.

"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"

"Cui Chengxiu, Minister of War; Zhou Yingqiu, Minister of Personnel; Xue Zhen, Minister of Justice; Tian Ji, Minister of War concurrently managing the affairs of the Court of Judicial Review; Wu Chunfu, Minister of Works concurrently overseeing the Bureau of Operations; Li Kuilong, Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief; Ni Wenhuan, Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices..."

With every name read aloud, the hearts of the hundred officials in the hall plummeted sharply.

Those whose names were called, in particular, turned ashen as the dead, their bodies swaying on the verge of collapse.

"... The above seven persons formed cliques for private gain, took bribes and perverted the law, devoured the state and harmed the people — crimes of the utmost enormity! They are to be seized at once, thrown into the Imperial Prison, and subjected to rigorous interrogation. Thus decreed!"

When the edict was finished, the hall was so silent one could hear a pin drop.

Those two words, "Imperial Prison," struck like a death warrant, making every man shiver with cold dread.

Just as the guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were about to step forward and seize the men, a voice so calm it was nearly ruthless broke the dead silence.

"This subject requests leave to speak in his own defense."

Everyone turned toward the voice — and saw that it was Cui Chengxiu who had stepped forward first.

His face was pale, yet his gaze remained sharp; at this moment he showed no trace of fear at his imminent imprisonment, only an indescribable resolve.

Gao Shiming could not help but look toward Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian waved his hand, signaling the guards to withdraw for the moment.

He rather wanted to see what this foremost civil official of the old era's eunuch faction had to say.

Cui Chengxiu walked to the center of the hall and bowed deeply toward the throne.

"Your Majesty, permit me to explain: your humble subject has never once attached himself to the traitor Wei."

His voice was steady, carrying the measured cadence particular to a scholar-official.

"When the late Emperor reigned, he leaned upon the Depot Director as his right hand, often saying 'We and the Depot Director.' Such favor and honor have rarely been seen from ancient times to the present. The Wei clan's members enfeoffed as dukes or earls were nearly beyond counting. All under Heaven knew that to draw close to the Depot Director was to show solicitude for the imperial will."

"This subject's closeness to Wei Zhongxian was not for private friendship, but truly for the good of the state. This subject was no minister of Wei — he was a minister of the late Emperor!"

Zhu Youjian sighed inwardly. Sure enough, the officials of this Great Ming were no pushovers.

Cui Chengxiu continued in a clear, ringing voice.

"The late Emperor's lifelong wish consisted of two things alone: the magnificence of the Three Great Halls, and peace in Liaodong."

"While serving in the Ministry of Works, this subject rose before dawn and retired after dark for the Three Great Halls project, exhausting mind and body to ensure the great construction never stalled and the state treasury remained solvent."

"When later transferred to the Ministry of War, it was precisely to share His Majesty's burdens, to sweep away the abuses in Liaodong, and to restore the Great Ming's national prestige!"

"Everything this subject has done, above betrays no trust the late Emperor placed in me, below betrays no stipend this court has paid me — I have served the public good with a single heart. What crime is there in that!"

At once a rustle of whispered discussion broke out across the hall; many faces showed strange expressions.

Though everyone understood perfectly well he was talking nonsense, this line of argument, seizing on the late Emperor as its starting point, was vicious beyond measure.

It was not that a new sovereign could not move against him, nor that he should not — it was that he should not move personally. This was fundamentally incompatible with the institutions of the dynasty.

Yet precisely because he had earlier cut himself off from the moral inquest the assembled officials were about to unleash and chosen to step into the arena himself —

— this sword of filial piety and fraternal duty was now one whose thrust he was fated to parry in person.

The four Grand Secretaries, standing close by, watched events unfold this way; the glances they exchanged were all complicated and unreadable.

Yet from the throne above, Zhu Youjian merely laughed softly.

"Who told you that We are seizing you because of your clinging to Wei Zhongxian?"

At these words, Cui Chengxiu's head jerked up; a flicker of bewilderment passed through his eyes.

Zhu Youjian paid him no heed and continued speaking as though to himself.

"When the late Emperor passed, the Depot Official Wei Zhongxian was stricken with grief. He felt deeply that his past conduct had ravaged the affairs of state, until corruption ran rampant through court and countryside alike."

"After he hanged himself, only this roster remained, together with a note expressing his sole wish that the affairs of state be set in order."

He paused, picked up a bound booklet from the imperial desk, and shook it at the assembly, the corner of his mouth curving into a mocking arc.

"What, did all of you suppose this is some so-called 'list of the eunuch faction'?"

"Wrong."

"What is written inside is nothing more than the two words 'corruption and graft.'"

The assembled officials exploded once more!

"What? It is not a list of the eunuch faction?"

"How can that be! That is plainly the eunuch faction roster! Corruption counts for nothing serious these days — what need would there be to record it in a roster?"

"But His Majesty indeed never said earlier that it was a eunuch faction roster. He only said the word 'roster'!"

Cui Chengxiu's expression at last changed utterly.

Only now did he realize: this was no play put on under the title "A New Sovereign Ascends and Sweeps Away the Eunuch Faction."

Wei Zhongxian's death had actually, truly been defined as "suicide by hanging"!

Then did that mean last night's raids on the houses of the Wei clique, the Ke clique, and the Depot and Guard were likewise justified solely on the grounds of corruption and graft?!

His head snapped up toward Tian Ergeng, who had stood in silence at the Emperor's side from the very beginning — but he could detect not the slightest ripple on that cold, indifferent face.

Zhu Youjian, deaf to the officials' clamor, merely shot a glance at Gao Shiming.

Gao Shiming understood. He stepped forward and, facing Cui Chengxiu, gave a cold laugh.

"Minister Cui, what a fine 'single-hearted public servant, guilty of no crime'!"

"If you truly served the public with a single heart, why did you take bribes and embezzle? If you truly wished to get things done, why did you recklessly appoint your own cronies, treating our dynasty's system of official selection as though it did not exist?"

"You keep prating about getting things done — do you dare make a wager with me, here and now? Send men to raid your residence this instant and see whether the gold and silver inside were honestly accumulated over three generations of your forebears!"

Gao Shiming's voice grew colder still. His eyes fixed on Cui Chengxiu, he intoned, weighing every word:

"Cui Chengxiu, registered under Jizhou in the Metropolitan Prefecture."

"Great-grandfather Cui Jing, a stipendiary student."

"Grandfather Cui Rong, held no official rank."

"Father Cui Jiusi, a Confucian instructor."

"In three generations of your Cui lineage, was there a single man who was a wealthy merchant commanding the riches of a region? That vast fortune of yours — where did it come from?"

He paused; the smile at the corner of his mouth was venomous and gleeful.

"Could it be, just as the nursery rhyme circulating in the capital sings — 'The Cui family gate, opens to the south; gold and silver come rolling in'?"

Cui Chengxiu treated Gao Shiming's mockery as though he neither saw nor heard it; his mind was racing furiously.

After only a moment, he drew a deep breath, raised his head, and fixed his gaze directly on Zhu Youjian upon the throne, his voice suddenly rising.

"Your Majesty has newly ascended the great treasure. All subjects under Heaven, in their multitudes, turn to you with longing, every head raised in hope that Your Majesty may cleanse the jade firmament and sweep away the malpractices of the late Emperor's reign — the eunuch faction running rampant and direct palace edicts subverting the law!"

"Yet today, Your Majesty would, on the word of a eunuch lackey, bypass the proper authorities and use a direct palace edict to arrest and interrogate a court official of the second rank!"

"This subject dares to ask Your Majesty: how does this act differ in any way from what the traitor Wei did in his time?!"

"Even if this subject's crimes warrant ten thousand deaths, I should still be subjected to open and proper punishment, handed over to the Three Judicial Offices for a joint trial, so that the law of the realm is made manifest! Only thus can it be shown to all under Heaven that our Great Ming remains a land where statutes shine bright, and not a private domain where a single word from a eunuch lackey can decide all!"

At these words, the entire hall was stunned!

On the faces of not a few civil officials, complicated expressions appeared.

Though Cui Chengxiu spoke to exculpate himself, he had also given voice to the innermost feelings of the whole court — their fear and loathing of direct palace edicts and of the Depot and Guard.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall grew delicate. Several Censors and remonstrance officials were already itching to act, seeming on the verge of stepping out of line to second the motion.

Zhu Youjian shook his head with a cold laugh and made to rise and speak.

At that very moment —

"Insolence!"

A thunderous roar of fury exploded from the ranks of the military officials.

The Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, his hair and beard all white, strode abruptly out of formation, his tiger-like eyes glaring wide as he fixed Cui Chengxiu with a furious stare.

"Traitorous minister Cui Chengxiu! How dare you yap and snarl before His Majesty!"

Though advanced in years, his voice still boomed like a great bell.

"You keep prating of ancestral laws and statutes — do you even know that the greatest statute of our Great Ming is the righteousness between sovereign and subject, the order of superior and inferior!"

"'The sovereign is the guiding principle for the subject' — this is the natural order of Heaven and human relations, the great foundation of the state!"

"Today, with your glib words and ingratiating manner, you invoke law and statute to cloak the reality of defying your sovereign. Do you mean to shake the foundation of the state and overturn the altars of the realm?!"

He swept his gaze around the hall. The bearing of this three-reign veteran entrusted with the late Emperor's charge — a man who looked ready to dash his brains out against the pillars of this very hall — instantly restored clarity to the minds of those civil officials who had begun to waver.

Talk of ancestral laws and institutions, of procedure and justice, of eunuch tyranny — such things can be said at any time.

But today, the very moment the new sovereign first bares his blade, to speak them is simply to throw your life away for nothing!

Death would not even be the end of it — you might still be branded with the name of the eunuch faction, and so miss the next shift in the court's winds forever.

— You must understand, what is more bitter than buying the dip is missing the boat entirely!

The several Censors who moments before had been itching to step forward now all lowered their heads, silent as cicadas in the cold.

Zhang Weixian's gaze swept the hall like a blade, and his voice rang out like a great bell, its authority pressing down on the entire assembly.

"Here in this hall today, while I yet stand here, let me see who still dares to hold to such arguments!"

No one in the hall dared answer.

The Minister of Justice, Xue Zhen, who had just been named, had been thinking of chiming in with a few words of agreement.

Now, battered by the force of Zhang Weixian's presence, his legs simply gave way — with a thud, he collapsed limp to the floor.

The game was lost.

Cui Chengxiu looked at the collapsed Xue Zhen, looked at the hundred officials silent as winter cicadas, then looked at the young Son of Heaven upon the throne, whose face betrayed no expression — and the last glimmer of light in his eyes finally went out.

He reached up, removed the black gauze cap from his head, and laid it gently on the floor.

Then he bowed deeply.

Only when he had done all this did he speak for the last time, his voice holding nothing but profound unwillingness to accept his fate.

"This subject endured the hardships of study by a cold window, and in the forty-first year of Wanli passed the highest imperial examination, the guichou cohort, ranked one hundred and thirty-fifth in the third class."

"At that time, this subject was already forty-two years of age — where was the bookish idealism of a youth of twenty left then…"

"This subject was at first barred from the Hanlin Academy by reason of age."

"Afterward, I observed governance at the Censorate, and upon completing my term was appointed Censor of the Henan Circuit, and later Regional Inspector of Huaiyang…"

"What this subject saw was a court filled with greed, a land everywhere corrupt.

"From the capital to the provinces, there was no man who did not come for gain, no man who did not go for gain."

"Since the realm is thus, how can this criminal subject alone be condemned today?"

At these words, the whole court fell silent.

To grow gray-haired poring over the classics — that is every civil official's nightmare.

Everyone knew the Hanlin were pure and exalted, yet how could every man possibly be a favored son of Heaven?

Most men were merely of middling ability, drifting with the current after passing the examinations, and nothing more.

This last plea of Cui Chengxiu's — seeming to offer no defense — was in truth a defense nonetheless.

Zhu Youjian, at last, made a move.

With a soft sigh, he rose from the dragon throne.

Countless gazes instantly swiveled in unison toward Zhu Youjian upon the throne.

"The corruption of this dynasty is a deep-seated malady of long standing. There is the cause of stipends set too low, there is the cause of the prevailing ethos among the scholar-official class, and there is further… the calamity of human greed."

His voice was very soft, yet it reached every ear with perfect clarity.

"Does His Majesty think I do not know these things?"

He descended the imperial steps, one pace at a time, walking slowly toward Cui Chengxiu in the center of the hall.

"Yet what I do not understand, Cui Chengxiu…"

Zhu Youjian halted before him, looking at him with calm eyes.

"Even if you would not be a Hai Rui, why must you insist on being a Yan Song?"

Zhu Youjian's words were the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Cui Chengxiu's body swayed violently, and his face went as white as paper in an instant.

He wished to argue further, but found every word blocked in his throat — not a single syllable could come out.

Indeed…

So many wallowed in the mire together — why had he alone become the foremost of the Five Tigers, the very core of the eunuch faction?

If one would not be a solitary, upright minister, must one then necessarily be that treacherous, powerful minister whose infamy would stink for ten thousand years?

All his justifications, before this single question, appeared utterly pale and feeble.

A long, long silence.

Cui Chengxiu's spine, which had until now remained ramrod straight, finally buckled.

He faced Zhu Youjian, faced the new young Son of Heaven, prostrated himself and kowtowed, his forehead striking heavily against the cold golden brick.

"Your Majesty is sagely wise… This humble subject admits his guilt."

Zhu Youjian waved his hand.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard surged forward like wolves and tigers and dragged Cui Chengxiu and the other six men away.

The hall fell silent once more.

Zhu Youjian walked slowly back to the imperial desk and picked up the three thin booklets.

At once, a wave of barely suppressed agitation rippled through the hundred officials in the hall.

No longer did the assembled ministers dare underestimate this young Son of Heaven; in their hearts, they now proceeded with the utmost caution.

Every gaze was fixed desperately on those three name lists, as though their own lives and fortunes, their future glory or disgrace, were hidden within.

Was their own name in there?

Or perhaps… was the name of a political foe?