[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers":3,"chapter-restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-31":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Restoring the Mountains and Rivers",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2364300,4623,"Chapter 31: Filing a Complaint","restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-31",31,"\u003Cp>As more officials became entangled, the commotion grew ever larger. Watching the flood of wealth pouring in, Li Mu felt something big was about to happen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Past factional struggles aimed only to destroy rivals. From now on, factional struggles would have a new goal—making money!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was simply too easy to profit. Imprisoned officials had all found wealthy victims to extort, and these fools willingly paid up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The target set by Marquis Wuyang, Li Mu had originally planned to fulfill at a thirty percent discount.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaders always draw bigger pies. Achieving seventy percent in execution is already an outstanding accomplishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now he saw he had been too conservative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Officials of Great Ming were poor, yet officials of Great Ming were also rich.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The key was knowing whom to target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This internal strike was a precise lock-on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The targets chosen were all wealthy households, with incriminating evidence in others’ hands, forcing them to pay to avoid disaster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Notify the Eastern Depot—send men immediately to collect the money!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Mu ordered with a grave expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gold and silver stir the heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Large sums of silver left at the Battalion Command had become a burning coal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If even a single slip occurred, he could not bear the consequences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To guard these treasures, five hundred soldiers had been deployed for round-the-clock duty. Li Mu, as Battalion Commander, had not returned to Hou Fu for two straight days, eating and sleeping in the yamen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, sir!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The personal guard finished speaking and turned to leave the room, when Li Mu added:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First send someone to invite Marquis Wuyang—he must be present as witness during the handover.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a transaction involving over a million taels, he dared not place his trust in the Eastern Depot’s integrity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If those eunuchs, gripped by greed, tried to seize everything at once, Li Mu wasn’t sure he could withstand the pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Avoiding risk is always the first rule of officialdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his superior present, if the Eastern Depot grew greedy, the first to confront them would be Marquis Wuyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The eunuchs emerging from the palace might turn on noble youths for profit, but they would never dare lay hands on Marquis Wuyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he couldn’t handle the Emperor’s nephew, could he not handle the Empress Dowager’s sister? The prohibition against imperial consorts interfering in state affairs applied only to governance—executing a few eunuchs meant nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the top few eunuchs held real weight in Emperor Tianyuan’s eyes. The lower-ranking ones rarely even saw the Emperor; their lives were worthless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qianqing Palace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emperor Tianyuan, feigning illness to avoid affairs, was cornered by cabinet ministers. Spittle flew as they all came to lodge complaints.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bribes were a tacit rule in officialdom—but never before had anyone made such a public spectacle, nearly laying the transactions bare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If word got out, it would disgrace the court—but worse, once the Emperor tasted the sweetness, such operations would surely recur at regular intervals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then officials would suffer: their hard-earned fortunes, amassed at great risk of ruin, would merely be stored for others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the standpoint of the civil official bloc, the cabinet elders must firmly resist and extinguish the Emperor’s notion entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the two cabinet elders branded as eunuch faction members now stepped forward to strongly oppose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This proved how deeply unpopular this scheme was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, neither the pure stream nor the eunuch faction had strong internal discipline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They came together only for shared interests; when group interests clashed with personal ones, opposing each other was no surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fundamentally, they were cooperative, not subordinate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially these cabinet ministers—each had his own base. Even if severed from their original faction, they could still build their own power base.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chaotic factions in Great Ming’s court had all arisen this way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seen together, they appeared as only three forces: eunuch faction, pure stream, and neutrals. But scattered, they formed over a dozen regional political factions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If further subdivided, these factions spawned countless smaller groups based on closeness and distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes cooperating, sometimes opposing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Political stance depended entirely on the issue at hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To push any matter, one usually had to negotiate privately, securing support from most members of the faction before raising it in court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scene where a faction leader gave one order and everyone blindly obeyed was nearly impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If such a scene ever occurred in court, it would mean the imperial succession cycle was about to begin again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Temporary disagreements on policy were not major matters. As long as the broad direction aligned, they remained allies afterward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you all tired? Sit down, have some tea before continuing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zuo Guang’en, why are you standing there? Quickly bring tea for the cabinet elders!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emperor Tianyuan’s words left the ministers speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All their efforts had been wasted—the Emperor hadn’t taken a single word to heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, this concerns the very foundation of the state—we must take it seriously!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cabinet Minister Pang could not help raising his voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the other four, he was already a victim. Even if others paid, being dragged in against his will was unbearable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zuo Guang’en, you heard that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How can you be so careless in your duties!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The cabinet elders have come to block my door—word of this will spread, and the world will call me a foolish ruler.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough. I won’t blame you entirely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Past matters, I shall not mention again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“From now on, you handle it as you see fit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emperor Tianyuan’s response nearly sent Cabinet Minister Pang into a faint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if only for show, he should have at least scolded Zuo Guang’en and fined him several months’ salary as reparation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The outcome clearly showed Emperor Tianyuan had chosen to brush it off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The message sent was practically a public commendation to Zuo Guang’en: “Well done!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, the court is in turmoil—we must calm the officials’ hearts!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chief Minister Song Haidong could not help urging.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor’s constant disdain for officials was unacceptable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had Emperor Tianyuan not skillfully used eunuchs as scapegoats, the conflict between the two sides would have erupted long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His life experience told him this situation, if continued, would inevitably lead to disaster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Chief Minister speaks wisely—let this be the last time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zuo, in your daily duties, consult more with the cabinet elders.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t make every decision on your own.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Had it not been for the cabinet elders stabilizing the situation, who knows what chaos would have erupted!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emperor Tianyuan’s half-hearted reprimand left Song Haidong without any fire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor was too clever—this made the Chief Minister’s job unbearable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old tricks of moral persuasion no longer worked on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, he was nearing retirement. As long as he caused no trouble in his final term, the next man could deal with what came after.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, this servant will learn from this lesson and serve the court with all diligence!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zuo Guang’en said, visibly moved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just now, Emperor Tianyuan had called him “qing”—perhaps unintentionally, but he had memorized it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Great Ming, “qing” was reserved for officials. Its use toward him, a eunuch, was clearly the Emperor’s recognition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1187,"2026-06-21T08:09:02.410Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","2fbc7189f024f8522018480605d808f62c8e473c3a4c598c187b3c97aed9e3a1","restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-32","restoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-chapter-30",391,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frestoring-the-mountains-and-rivers-cover.jpg"]