Chapter 25: The Art of Sovereignty
The sky gradually darkened, yet still no news arrived.
Realizing something was amiss, Yue Shufeng rose to leave, but was blocked by Eastern Depot eunuchs who burst in.
This scene was all too familiar.
Not long ago, his trusted aides had been seized in exactly this manner.
“Commissioner Yue, kindly come with us.”
The lead eunuch spoke with mocking tone.
No matter how exalted your status once was, once you fell into their hands, you became a prisoner at once.
“Damn it!”
“I am the Left Censor-in-Chief of this court—how dare you lowly scoundrels lay hands on me!
Even if I am to be charged, it must be approved by the Grand Secretariat and His Majesty!”
Yue Shufeng spat out in disdainful rage.
As a rank-two official, he commanded the Censorate, the most ferocious rhetorical force in Great Ming, his authority rivaling even the lesser ministers of the Six Ministries.
In past factional struggles, fire had never reached him—Great Ming had the unwritten rule that high officials were not subject to criminal punishment.
Flip back through history: the ancient title for Left Censor-in-Chief was Censor-in-Chief, precisely among those privileged class.
“Commissioner Yue, please do not be angered. We have not come to charge you, but to request your cooperation in an investigation—
And it is a case of high treason!”
The young eunuch smiled without warmth.
Once a boundary is crossed, it can be crossed again.
Ordinary charges could not touch a high-ranking Left Censor-in-Chief, but treason was an exception.
Looking across Great Ming’s history, nearly all second-rank and above officials executed were tied to treason cases.
Whether anyone actually rebelled didn’t matter—the eunuch faction now needed a treason case to strike a crushing blow against the Pure Stream faction.
“You… you are framing loyal ministers!”
Yue Shufeng turned livid with rage, his speech now halting.
Treason—anyone who touches it dies.
He admitted he had done many vile things, many harming the state’s interests, but he had never once considered rebellion.
“Commissioner Yue, such words must not be spoken lightly.
We have merely asked you to cooperate in the investigation—we have not accused you of treason. How can this be called framing?”
The young eunuch’s words made Yue Shufeng stomp his feet in fury.
Verbal combat had always been his strength; he never imagined one day he’d be so easily broken by a few simple sentences.
The Imperial Prison—what a hellish place, he knew better than anyone.
No matter how innocent you were, once you entered, the charges were entirely up to them.
The only ones who could save him now were a few Grand Secretaries and the Emperor.
If they spoke up, the Eastern Depot would dare not use heavy torture—there would still be room to maneuver.
After a brief mental whirl, Yue Shufeng’s illusions shattered.
Of the five Grand Secretaries, two belonged to the Pure Stream faction, two to the eunuch faction, and one was neutral.
The eunuch faction and the neutral Grand Secretary would never intervene to save him.
His own faction’s Grand Secretary, Pang, now lay unconscious.
Whether truly ill or feigning sickness, since he had stepped out of the storm, he would not re-enter it.
The other Pure Stream Grand Secretary, due to a dispute over promotion two years prior, held a grudge against him.
At this moment, not throwing him under the bus was already considered acting in the greater interest.
To expect him to risk his political future to pull Yue Shufeng out was plainly impossible.
The Grand Secretaries would not act—and the Emperor was even less likely to.
Think of how many memorials he had submitted condemning the Emperor during his tenure as Left Censor-in-Chief—Tianyuan Emperor’s impression of him was clear.
…
In the palace, Zuo Guang’en knelt before Tianyuan Emperor, begging for forgiveness.
Though the Eastern Depot had handled today’s affairs well on the surface, many hidden dangers remained.
The “pointing at a deer and calling it a horse” tactic had suppressed the scholar petitions without causing major unrest.
It should have been a great achievement, yet such a tactic was inherently taboo.
The arrest of Yue Shufeng was even more brutal.
He had purged two-thirds of the Censorate’s officials, even capturing the Left Censor-in-Chief himself.
The remaining staff now faced triple the workload, forced to clean up their colleagues’ messes.
For a long time to come, the Censorate would be unable to function normally.
This level of strike far exceeded the bounds of factional struggle.
“Hmph!”
“You’ve got quite the nerve—my Censorate has been crippled by you.
Now you dare arrest the Left Censor-in-Chief—next, will you drag the Grand Secretaries into the Imperial Prison too?”
Tianyuan Emperor sounded furious, yet he was not truly enraged.
Disrupting other offices endangered the realm; crippling the Censorate, however, gave him peace for a few days.
Had he wished to stop it, he would have intervened long ago—he wouldn’t have waited until after Yue Shufeng was dragged into the Imperial Prison to summon Zuo Guang’en for a reprimand.
“Your Majesty, your servant is wronged!”
“Those censors draw imperial salaries yet do nothing but evil.
I cannot claim every man I arrested deserves death—but under Great Ming law, executing them all would be entirely justified.
These men publicly pose as moral gentlemen, yet secretly conspire for personal gain—they are the empire’s greatest plague.
The illicit cash I’ve uncovered alone exceeds four million taels.
Plus over two hundred thousand taels of gold, over two million mu of land, ten thousand shops and properties, countless ancient texts, paintings, and rare treasures.
The Directorate of Ceremonial estimates that if all confessions are collected, the total value equals at least one year of imperial revenue.
With their paltry salaries, even after three thousand years, they could never have amassed such wealth!”
Hearing the stolen wealth figures, Tianyuan Emperor’s anger vanished.
Had he known these men were so greedy, he should have released the eunuchs sooner—he needn’t have suffered financial shortages for so long.
If he had known these people were so greedy, he should have released the eunuchs sooner and not endured prolonged financial hardship.
“You’ve done well, Guang’en.”
Tianyuan Emperor’s tone softened.
With this money, the empire’s external threats dissolved instantly.
Though Liaodong suffered heavy losses, with sufficient funds, a new army could be raised at once.
Great Ming’s military strength has always been tied to qianliang—give enough money, and combat power surges.
The massive stolen wealth stemmed from the Eastern Depot’s habit of not distinguishing legal from illegal assets.
Whether ancestral property or land falsely registered under the corrupt official’s name, all became illicit gains.
The enormous sum became damning evidence to crush these officials—any future attempt to overturn their cases would be blocked by this mountain of stolen wealth.
Tianyuan Emperor was no fool—he understood the truth—but gold and silver moved hearts.
Let it be a sealed case.
Sacrificing a group of corrupt officials who only knew factional struggle, to rescue the empire’s collapsing finances—this was clearly worth it.
An emperor must be foolish when necessary.
After all, the eunuchs did it, and the stolen wealth went into the treasury—what has it to do with him, the Emperor?
“Your Majesty, these are merely your servant’s duties.”
Knowing he had passed this trial, Zuo Guang’en exhaled in relief.
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