Chapter 421: Zhuang Yuanzhou's Deliberations and Choice

As the mooring ropes tied to the iron bollards on the dock were hauled in, a few thick bamboo poles gave light pushes, and the double-decked passenger boat carrying more than sixty passengers slowly pulled away from the Tongzhou dock, heading south with the current.

Zhuang Yuanzhou, dressed in a blue straight robe with a square scholar's cap on his head, sat upright in the second-floor cabin, eyes closed and brows furrowed in deep thought.

The not-so-spacious cabin was simply furnished, with only a couch, a chair, and a small table—and even a room like this cost five qian of silver per day.

Zhuang Cheng, the steward who was past fifty, quietly slipped into the cabin, glanced at the teacup on the small table beside Zhuang Yuanzhou, lifted the teapot to refill it halfway, then tiptoed out of the cabin, turning back to gently close the door behind him.

Since passing the spring examination in the tenth year of Chongzhen, Zhuang Yuanzhou had completed his one-year observation period at the Ministry of Rites. He would originally have been assigned to the Hanlin Academy as a Junior Compiler, but under Zhu Youjian's advocated requirement that "new jinshi must serve in prefectures and counties," the Ministry of Personnel arranged for him to become the County Magistrate of Qufu.

During his observation period at the Ministry of Rites, as Sun Chuanting led the Qin army to the capital, the two of them would frequently gather for drinks at Sun's residence, exchanging views on current affairs and proposed responses—among these discussions, they had also touched upon the vacancy of the Ducal title left by the death of the Duke Yansheng.

As for the truth behind Kong Yinzhi's death, even someone as perceptive and clear-sighted as Sun Chuanting had not detected that it was man-made; he only discussed the reasons why the Emperor had left the Duke Yansheng title vacant.

Because the Embroidered Uniform Guard, at Zhu Youjian's direction, intermittently leaked scandals of the Kong Mansion, the two men's impression of the Kong family deteriorated greatly as well. Rumors that the Sage's residence was full of filth and squalor gradually stripped away the halo of sanctity that the Kong Mansion had worn for two thousand years.

Zhuang Yuanzhou believed that if the Qufu Kong family could not summon the determination and boldness to cut off their own arm, and repent and reform from those rumored acts of extortion, murder, and exploiting the people for self-enrichment, then the Kong Mansion's image in the eyes of the world would plummet, and might even damage the dominant position of the Sage's teachings among the scholarly community.

Sun Chuanting, meanwhile, had keenly observed that the Emperor was already deeply dissatisfied with Confucian doctrine, but he did not know that this was Zhu Youjian's preemptive reaction to the series of servile and shameless behaviors the Kong family would display in his previous life.

As a scion of an established aristocratic family, Sun Chuanting did not entirely approve of the Emperor's approach of striking at the Kong family to lower the status of Confucianism, but since the Emperor had not yet revealed which ideology he intended to promote, Sun, like most officials, adopted a wait-and-see attitude for the time being.

But he and Zhuang Yuanzhou agreed that the Kong family's conduct had already departed from the basic scope of the Sage's benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom, and that they were no different from those local tyrants without any cultural foundation—the court must take measures to punish them accordingly.

What Zhuang Yuanzhou had not expected was that half a year later, he himself would be facing the Kong family directly in the capacity of County Magistrate of Qufu.

Thinking of this, the calm-faced Zhuang Yuanzhou's lips twitched, revealing a faint bitter smile.

He had already heard that this appointment had come at the Emperor's personal direction, and the implications contained within it gave rise to boundless speculation.

"One who reaches the Sacred Ear directly, a man favored by the Emperor"—this was the most intuitive understanding officialdom had of his appointment.

All the court's senior ministers knew which close associates Sun Chuanting had kept around him during his years serving in Shaanxi, and Zhuang Yuanzhou was the most famous among them.

Though he was merely a newcomer just entering officialdom, he had already been labeled as a member of the Sun faction.

The Emperor's trust in and reliance upon Sun Chuanting was already common knowledge. On various occasions, the Emperor would frequently cite Sun Chuanting as an example to express his favor toward him.

Although this caused many court officials to feel both envious and jealous of Sun Chuanting, to this day no one had yet dared to leap out and attack him.

Because they truly could not find any handle on Sun.

The man had gone boldly to Shaanxi, and from there had wiped out several major bandit forces plaguing the province, and in the process had even personally captured Gao Yingxiang, the great bandit whose might shook the realm—not to mention the major achievements in military farmland and pacifying the people he had accomplished over the years.

He had destroyed countless bandits and likewise saved countless lives; these achievements were plain for all to see, and not a single flaw could be found in them.

Because Sun Chuanting had already departed for beyond the passes to command the fighting against Jianzhou, Zhuang Yuanzhou had no time to write and seek his counsel, so after making brief preparations, he set out on his journey.

Although his family was quite wealthy, Zhuang Yuanzhou did not spend fifty taels of silver to charter the entire passenger boat; instead, he chose to mingle with all sorts of people aboard one vessel in the guise of an ordinary scholar.

When the road ahead was uncertain, one could not be too conspicuous, lest he be ridiculed later for having no impressive achievements to show after taking office.

As for this appointment of his, Zhuang Yuanzhou did not have much confidence in his heart.

The Emperor's intention was already very clear—the County Magistrate of Qufu was meant to suppress the Kong family. He was bearing a heavy trust this time, yet the Emperor had given him no hint whatsoever.

No matter what happened in Qufu in the future, it would be his personal conduct, with no connection whatsoever to the Emperor.

The sovereign of a nation would not personally step forward to back a seventh-rank County Magistrate, even if he were Sun Chuanting's man.

Zhuang Yuanzhou knew clearly in his heart that he was not yet qualified to attract the Emperor's full attention—unless he performed exceptionally well in dealing with the Kong family, only then could he earn a higher regard from the Emperor.

Qufu was both the starting point of his official career and possibly its ending point as well.

He had discussed the Kong family's conduct with Sun Chuanting; though it was contemptible, it did not seem to provoke excessive outrage.

Many gentry and great households had done the same things, and no particular reaction from the Emperor had been seen.

It was only that beneath the Sage's banner of putting people first and benevolence foremost, the Kong family committed so many unjust deeds—this point truly made people look down on them considerably.

Suppressing the Kong family and leaving the Duke Yansheng title vacant—the target was aimed squarely at Confucianism.

Rumors were rife among the populace: the Emperor seemed to rather approve of the Southern Branch of the Kong family, which had always passed down farming and scholarship through the generations without ever contracting the bad habits of great aristocratic houses—could it be that he intended to force the Northern Branch to yield the Duke Yansheng position and let the Southern Branch return north to their ancestral home?

Extremely possible!

Thinking of this, Zhuang Yuanzhou's heart stirred involuntarily.

If his judgment was correct, then this was not a simple matter of suppressing the Qufu Kong family, but of utterly crushing them.

The Emperor was testing his courage and boldness.

Because if he fought the Kong family to the death, he would face dual pressure from both officialdom and the scholarly community.

This was tantamount to making enemies of most of officialdom and the scholarly world.

If he lacked sufficient courage and perseverance, and after some tentative probing, retreated in the face of battle because he could not bear such immense pressure, then his official career would absolutely end right there.

If you were not of one heart with the Emperor, then why would the Emperor use you?

Even with Sun Chuanting's face as a consideration, he would only be able to muddle along at the lower levels for the rest of his life—as long as the current Emperor sat on the throne, he would have no possibility of rising again.

Then again, he was serving as an official of the Zhu family. As long as the Emperor was satisfied, wealth and honor were also bestowed by the Emperor. No matter how good one's reputation among the scholars was, who would give you those things?

Fight for it!

Actually, it wasn't really a fight.

As long as he firmly stood on the Emperor's side, even if he made enemies of the entire officialdom and scholarly community, his future prospects would be a smooth road.

The Emperor's actions in recent years had grown increasingly assertive, and no one in or out of court dared to meet his edge head-on.

All of this was built upon the foundation of pacifying the roving bandits within and sweeping away enemy invaders without.

Zhuang Yuanzhou had full confidence in the imperial army's campaigns beyond the passes.

Holding elite troops of absolute loyalty, reducing taxes and corvée, and winning the hearts of the people across the realm—if anyone in this world still dared to be disobedient, they would truly be seeking their own death.

He was going to Qufu to break the deadlock; there was no need to worry about success or failure, for in the end the Emperor would clean up the mess.

Having thought through the crux of the matter, Zhuang Yuanzhou finally revealed a smile that had been absent for a long time.