Chapter 351: Petition for Enfeoffment

What Zhu Youjian and the others had not expected was that the speaker was once again Zhang Guowei, Minister of Rites.

This fellow had just been slapped in the face by the Chief Grand Secretary—how dare he pop up again? Was he afraid he wasn't dying fast enough?

"If you have something to report, speak!"

Amidst the gloating gazes of the assembled ministers, Zhu Youjian spoke with an expressionless face, his tone devoid of any emotional coloring.

"Reporting to His Majesty, the late Duke Yansheng's eldest son Kong Xingxie has submitted repeated memorials to the Ministry of Rites, petitioning for the succession of the next Duke Yansheng to be conferred. His petition for enfeoffment was presented before Your Majesty over a month ago. The position of Duke Yansheng is the standard-bearer of our Confucian order; if it remains vacant for long, it may provoke discord among the scholarly community and cause unease among the empire's literati. This matter concerns the rise and fall of the empire's moral cultivation and the allegiance of scholarly hearts—it is truly a matter of utmost urgency. I beg Your Majesty to issue an edict granting the succession at the earliest opportunity, so as to reassure the scholars of the empire!"

More than several months had passed since Kong Yanzhi had been drowned by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and his eldest son Kong Xingxie had submitted a memorial to the court two months prior, requesting that the matter of enfeoffment and succession be handled as quickly as possible.

The Ministry of Rites had long since forwarded Kong Xingxie's petition into the palace, but to this day no response of any kind had come from within.

Kong Xingxie mistakenly believed it was because he had not greased the right palms. After entreating several renowned scholars to write letters to numerous important court officials, he also dispatched trusted confidants to the capital, bearing lavish gifts to entreat Zhang Guowei and others to mention the matter when granted an audience with His Majesty, hoping to secure the succession to the Dukeship of Yansheng as soon as possible.

After accepting the two thousand taels of silver and several antique paintings and calligraphy pieces sent by the Kong family, Zhang Guowei, in the name of the Ministry of Rites and bypassing the Office of Transmission, submitted a ministry memorial directly to the Emperor, enumerating the importance of the Duke of Yansheng's title and the legitimacy of Kong Xingxie's succession, requesting that the Emperor grant the enfeoffment promptly to avoid provoking dissatisfaction among the scholarly community.

Unexpectedly, even after the ministry memorial entered the palace, there was still no response whatsoever.

Having been entrusted with a task, one must be faithful to it.

Although Zhang Guowei knew his own prospects were bleak, in order to win a favorable reputation among the scholarly community and leave some connections for his descendants, he steeled himself to stand forward and raise the matter again, even after being outmaneuvered twice in a row by Wen Tiren.

"As I understand it, the Kong family has committed all manner of unlawful acts in their home district under the name of the Duke of Yansheng. Over the past two hundred years, through extortion, coercion, and other means, they have forcibly purchased good farmland from commoners during times of natural disaster and hardship, claiming it as their own—and during this period there have even been suspicions of injury and loss of life. According to investigation, the lands under the Duke of Yansheng's mansion amount to several thousand qing, all of them irrigated fertile fields, the majority originally belonging to local farming households. After being forcibly purchased by the Kong mansion, the grain produced was hoarded and stockpiled, sold at exorbitant prices during times of famine for ill-gotten profit! Such conduct runs completely contrary to the Sage's teachings on righteousness and benefit; such deeds have betrayed the Sage's original intentions. By what virtue does this family merit succession to the title? I believe that the Northern Branch of the Kong family is gravely deficient in the great principles of the Confucian order. Compared with the Southern Branch of the Kong family, which has passed down a tradition of farming and scholarship through the generations, they ought to repent and reflect before anything else can be discussed! This matter need not be raised again! I shall make my own decision!"

Zhu Youjian, with a cold expression, rejected Zhang Guowei's petition.

The details of Kong Xingxie sending men to the capital with gifts had long since been reported to the palace by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Zhu Youjian had not taken it to heart—no matter who accepted the gifts, it was useless; all the routine memorials mentioning the matter had been cast aside by him.

He was simply waiting for someone to stand up and openly speak for the Kong family, at which point he would expose the Kong family's disgraceful deeds and reveal to the world the true face of the Northern Branch of the Kong mansion—greedy and shameless—thereby striking at the ugly visages of those false Confucians and true petty men.

Once the Kong family's scandals came to light, it would certainly provoke controversy and criticism of the Kong family among the scholarly community, and would also cause the world to redefine how Confucian classics serve as personal standards of self-cultivation.

And in the end, he himself would, in the name of the court, re-establish Confucian standards, promoting a new Confucian doctrine throughout the Great Ming, taking benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness as the most fundamental principles of Confucian learning, so as to restrain the words and deeds of more people.

Zhu Youjian believed that his remarks today would soon spread far and wide. By then, if the Embroidered Uniform Guard took the opportunity to secretly fan the flames and produced some hard evidence to corroborate the matter, it would be enough to make all thinking people in the empire look upon the Kong family with skeptical eyes—and the Confucian doctrine as interpreted by the Kong family would likewise become a topic of discussion among the scholarly community.

As long as there was doubt, that was enough. Zhu Youjian had no intention of completely negating Confucianism—he merely wanted to discard its dregs and retain its essence. But this would be a long-drawn-out affair of great magnitude, and Zhu Youjian did not have much energy to devote to it. When the time came, he would leave it to Old Wen to handle—he was confident Wen would be happy to take the blame on his behalf.

Zhang Guowei sat down with an embarrassed expression, a thick sense of frustration rising in his heart.

Whatever the Kong family had done had nothing to do with him—he had merely wanted to use this opportunity to reap some private benefit, and the Emperor's impatience with him filled him with despair. It seemed his days in the capital could now be counted down. But what Zhang Guowei could not fathom no matter how he racked his brain was this: no matter how hard he tried, the Emperor simply could not stand him. What on earth was the reason?

"Report~~~! Reporting to His Majesty! Urgent military intelligence from beyond the passes has arrived!"

Just then, a young eunuch outside the hall rushed in clutching a red-lacquered wooden box and knelt loudly to report.

Wang Cheng'en hurried over at a trot to receive the wooden box, and the young eunuch bowed and withdrew outside the hall.

"Ministers Wen, Yang, Sun, and Chen, remain. The rest of you, return to your respective offices and attend to your official duties!"

At Zhu Youjian's command, aside from the few who had been named to stay, all the others—both inner court and outer court personnel, including Luo Yangxing—bowed and withdrew from the hall.

After verifying that the seal on the wooden box had not been tampered with, Wang Cheng'en melted the beeswax seal with a tinder lighter, opened the box, took out the report within, and handed it to Zhu Youjian.

Hong Chengchou's report was not lengthy. Zhu Youjian took the letter, glanced at it, and was first slightly startled, then wore a pensive expression.

Before long, the several men in the hall had passed the report around for reading, and Wang Cheng'en retrieved it and placed it on the imperial desk.

"Gentlemen, let us deliberate. Although the full story behind this matter is unknown, it is certainly beneficial and not harmful to the court. Is there any opportunity here to be exploited? Do give it careful consideration! Companion, go give the order—I shall keep these ministers for a meal at midday!"

Zhu Youjian spoke a few words with a smile, then turned to address Wang Cheng'en. Wang Cheng'en hurriedly nodded in assent, then went to the entrance of the rear hall, summoned a young eunuch, and gave him a few instructions. The young eunuch immediately ran off at full speed.

Seeing the assembled ministers all frowning in thought, a young eunuch in the hall quietly refilled the tea for the several grandees.

Zhu Youjian did not urge them on, but instead stood up, stretched, and worked his legs.

Before he knew it, it was already the end of the wei hour—having sat for so long, he did indeed feel somewhat weary.

In the few years since he had crossed over, he had been constantly busy with all manner of affairs, lacking sufficient exercise, to the point that his energy sometimes felt insufficient. It seemed he would need to be more active from now on.

Zhu Youjian's stretching and limb-flexing was just then caught squarely by the returning Wang Cheng'en. Wang Cheng'en hurried over at a trot and asked in a lowered voice: "Your Majesty, are you tired? This matter is unlikely to yield a good solution from the Grand Secretaries anytime soon. Perhaps you might retire to the inner palace for a rest. This old servant will stay here with the several Grand Secretaries in quiet contemplation. When the imperial meal is prepared, you and the Grand Secretaries can discuss the matter after dining—how would that be?"

"The Companion is thoughtful. I merely stood up to loosen up a bit—it is still early for the meal, so let us wait a while! By the way, Companion, has your family matter been properly settled?"

Zhu Youjian asked in a low voice with a smile.

As early as the year before last, he had had Wang Cheng'en adopt a son from among his own nephews, so that he might carry on the family line while also allowing his name to be restored to the clan genealogy.

For although Wang Cheng'en held high position and great power, he was after all a eunuch without descendants. Because his line had ended, no matter how high an official you were, you would be struck from the clan genealogy, and upon death you could not be buried in the ancestral graves—for doing so would bring shame upon one's ancestors. This matter had long been a deep-seated worry of Wang Cheng'en's.

"In answer to Your Majesty, this old servant's nephew arrived in the capital a few days ago and has now moved into the residence this old servant purchased for him in the eastern part of the city. Once an auspicious day is selected, this old servant will hold a kowtow banquet—from then on, this old servant too will be a man with a child of his own!"

At this moment, Wang Cheng'en's face was radiant. His usually stooped frame straightened up as well, and his tone was filled with pride and gratification.