Chapter 224: Grand Secretariat Ministers

How could Wang Yingxiong fail to see that Wen Tiren was needling him? He shot back, "The world says the Chief Grand Secretary is overly harsh by nature, deeply scheming, never daring to defy the dragon's scales, and accustomed to sycophantic conduct. Today we see it clearly—it's not that he dares not defy the dragon's scales; it's that he has never once harbored the thought of opposing the sovereign! Whenever a major matter arises, the Chief Grand Secretary first sniffs out His Majesty's mood, never showing the backbone a Chief Grand Secretary ought to have. In his daily work at the Grand Secretariat, his sole talent lies in purging those who differ from him, determined that no upright gentleman or useful man of talent may stand beside the sovereign until his heart is satisfied. A Chief Grand Secretary of this sort is a rare official indeed in the Great Ming!"

Seeing the Chief and Second Grand Secretaries tear each other's faces apart right before the Emperor, most of the ministers secretly rejoiced: dogs biting dogs, all fur and feathers. These two old relics had squatted in the Grand Secretariat for years, blocking the path of advancement for the rest of them—and today they were tearing into each other! What a delight! If they annoyed His Majesty enough to be thrown out together, so much the better!

Wen Tiren replied with an unchanged expression, "I, Wen, entered the Hanlin Academy under the shadow of guilt through my writings, and was fortunate enough to be elevated to this high position by a sage sovereign. In my daily duties I have always proceeded with trembling caution, as if treading on thin ice, fearing only that a single misstep might harm the state. Now that the Great Ming has a sage sovereign on the throne, I know full well that my own wisdom and foresight fall far short of His Majesty's. I therefore conduct myself by upholding the sovereign's intent as my standard. And looking at the many brilliant measures His Majesty has taken in recent years, every single one strikes precisely at the ills of the times—their effects are manifest! In my idle hours I have privately pondered: had we ministers proposed the schemes instead, the outcomes would have been far from optimal! How can my conduct be condemned as flattering the sovereign? The Second Grand Secretary has sat in the Grand Secretariat for years—may I ask whether he has ever offered a single wise policy to His Majesty?"

I know my intellect is not as high as His Majesty's, so in my daily affairs I take the sovereign's intent as my guide. In recent years the Great Ming has issued several policies with marked results—these were all His Majesty's ideas. You, Wang Yingxiong, have also been in the Grand Secretariat for years—but have you ever produced a single good idea for the state and the people?

Wang Yingxiong was about to continue refuting Wen Tiren's words when Zhu Youjian impatiently cut him off: "The Chief Grand Secretary is shrewd and capable, incorruptible and self-disciplined; in matters of state he is fair-minded, diligent, and devoted to his duties. I have heard nothing of his purging those who differ from him—the Second Grand Secretary's words go too far! I observe that the Grand Secretariat has only three members, and you gentlemen are all advanced in years; when handling the daily affairs of the court, you inevitably suffer from flagging energy. Therefore, I intend to increase the Grand Secretariat's membership to five, to share the burden of governing among you gentlemen! All of you in this hall are great ministers of the state. After court is dismissed today, you may return to your offices and consider candidates; in a few days, a court nomination will be held at an opportune moment!"

Zhu Youjian did not care whether Wen Tiren was guilty of flattering the sovereign. In his view, purely in terms of ability, old Wen far surpassed the likes of Wang Yingxiong and Zhang Zhifa.

Secret reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard had once noted: whenever the Grand Secretariat drafted rescripts on criminal cases or fiscal matters—with their multitude of names and tangled threads—Wang Yingxiong and Zhang Zhifa would look at each other and frown in consternation. Only Wen Tiren, after a single reading, could swiftly produce the correct disposition, then submit the draft rescript to the Directorate of Ceremonial, where the senior eunuchs would read it and issue the red endorsement—almost never an error or omission.

Zhu Youjian had long known that the three Grand Secretaries were at odds beneath a surface of harmony. Add to that Wang Yingxiong's forceful push today, driven by personal interest in the commercial tax matter, and his disgust deepened—he had already resolved to send the man packing home.

Men who hold office without doing their duty squat in high positions, suppressing the advancement of useful talent—this is no blessing for the altars of state.

Wen Tiren, hearing this, was naturally overjoyed. From the Emperor's words he could tell that whether or not the Emperor added new Grand Secretaries, his own position as Chief Grand Secretary was unshakable—whereas the seats of Wang Yingxiong and Zhang Zhifa were looking rather precarious.

Wang Yingxiong saw the Emperor defending Wen Tiren with all his might, and heard the note of weariness in his words directed at himself—a sudden sense of foreboding seized him.

If his own seat in the Grand Secretariat were lost, that would truly be picking up a sesame seed and dropping a watermelon! The commercial tax wasn't levied on his household alone—why had he stuck his neck out? On the surface the Emperor was increasing the number of Grand Secretaries, but in truth he was scouting reserve candidates; once they grew familiar with the Grand Secretariat's procedures, he would kick the eyesores out of it. What on earth was he to do!

All the ministers' hearts stirred at the great sweet date the Emperor had suddenly tossed out. Those who had been preparing to second Wang Yingxiong and thoroughly smear Wen Tiren before the Emperor hastily tucked their schemes away.

Entering the Grand Secretariat and standing at the pinnacle of officialdom—this was the dream of every scholar under heaven, representing supreme glory and enormous power. Years after the former Grand Secretary Cheng Jiming had retired due to illness, the Emperor had finally ordered the Grand Secretariat's ranks increased—and by two members at once. This meant everyone in the hall had a chance to enter it.

Just then, a young eunuch hurried in from outside the hall clutching a memorial, knelt before the imperial seat, raised the document high with both hands, and announced loudly: "Reporting to His Majesty! A memorial has arrived from the Earl Who Pacifies the Seas and the Governor of Fujian—we humbly request His Majesty's perusal!"

Wang Cheng'en hurried down the imperial steps, took the memorial, returned to Zhu Youjian's side, and presented it to him with both hands.

"Zheng Zhilong submits a memorial? Could the Dutch on Taiwan Island be stirring up trouble?"

Zhu Youjian opened the memorial and scanned it quickly.

"So I was jumping to conclusions! Were it not for the memorials of Zheng Zhilong and Zou Weilian, my policy might well have caused even greater calamity."

Zhu Youjian smiled ruefully at himself and ordered, "Pass it around for all the ministers to read, then discuss the matter!"

"What the Earl Who Pacifies the Seas and the Governor of Fujian state in their memorials is all true—this was a failure of oversight on our part. Fortunately the Shaanxi disaster refugees have not yet been mobilized in large numbers, and there is still time to remedy this! I propose selecting artisans of various trades from among the Shaanxi refugees to be moved to Taiwan first, with Fujian officials dispatching personnel to the island to coordinate and direct, scouting suitable locations to build houses and dwellings, in preparation for the subsequent migration of settlers!"

Wen Tiren had keenly seized upon the crux of the problem.

Since large-scale migration was needed, move the artisans among the refugees over first—there was no need to hire artisans locally from Fujian, which would waste money and grain and add pressure on the court.

Men who could build houses, fire bricks, burn lime, make furniture, or work iron—such artisans were not hard to find among the refugees. The Fujian authorities need only prepare grain and medicine and send men to the island to manage the refugees.

"Minister Wen's words are most reasonable. Later the Grand Secretariat shall send a directive to the Governor's office of Shanxi to handle it accordingly!"

Zhu Youjian praised him.

"The troops of the guard stations in Fujian have long been unpracticed in battle; should the foreign barbarians mentioned in the memorial stir up trouble, they would likely be hard-pressed to resist. The troops of Shaanxi, Xuan–Da, and Liaodong must not be lightly moved. The forces under the Shandong Regional Commander for Suppression and Relief took part in the campaign to exterminate the Dashing bandits and are quite formidable; they are currently farming military land in Shan County. I propose transferring a thousand men from that force to garrison Taiwan, both to guard against and, when the opportunity arises, to exterminate the foreign barbarians on the island!"

Yang Sichang, as Minister of War, naturally knew the Emperor intended to launch large-scale military operations the coming year. Zheng Zhilong's memorial had spoken of the fearsome firepower of the Dutch, hinting that the court should dispatch elite troops to the island to oppose them—and Yang Sichang naturally thought of Huang Degong's forces in Shandong.

"The Minister of War's words accord perfectly with my intent! From what I have heard, though the red barbarians on the island are few in number, their use of firearms is quite exquisite. The fort they have built on the island, Zeelandia, is utterly unlike the fortifications of our Great Ming! The red barbarians call it a bastion fort—truly a place easy to defend and hard to take! Though Huang Degong's forces in Shandong are elite, their firearms are somewhat lacking; if they clashed with the Dutch, long spears and great sabers would likely prove no match. Later the Grand Secretariat shall draft an edict: from the Arsenal, issue a thousand new-style muskets, a quantity of Heaven-Shaking Thunder, and thirty small Folangji cannons; draw corresponding gunners from the Capital Camps to accompany them; have Huang Degong's forces transfer two thousand men under a fierce general to the island—first, to protect the settlers, and second, to seek the opportunity to exterminate the red barbarians on the island or drive them from the soil of our Great Ming!"

Yang Sichang received the edict and returned to his place.

"I propose that the Four Seas Trading Company purchase large numbers of draft oxen from beyond the Great Wall and ship them to the island. Relying on slash-and-burn farming would be far too slow; great quantities of animal power are needed to assist!"

As Minister of Revenue, Hou Xun naturally had no wish to draw silver from the Taicang treasury to buy oxen. He directly suggested the Four Seas Trading Company buy them—that was the Emperor's private property, and no matter how much it cost, Hou Xun would not feel a pang.