Chapter 257: Joint Memorial Submitted, the Imperial Son-in-law Falls into Peril

The salt workers were anxious because one of their opponents had escaped. After a brief discussion, they felt it was safer to stay in their own Jiaozhou territory. They hastily buried the remaining Embroidered Uniform Guard corpses and decided to rush back to the patrol station without stopping to report the news.

Although the patrol station personnel were usually overbearing in the locality, they still tended to show some deference when encountering government officials or military personnel, after all, they were not proper imperial officials, and the title of "salt worker" did not sound good either.

This was their first time dealing with an organization at the level of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and who would have thought that their first contact would end in mutual destruction — only one Guard member escaped, while over half of the salt worker force was lost.

In fact, this delivery was originally made by Patrol Chief Zhang Yan specifically as a larger shipment for self-preservation, intending to do one final job and deliver it to Wang Gongbi's men no matter what — a desperate measure of treating a dead horse as if it were still alive.

Shandong Governor Wang Gongbi had also held high office for many years. Although he ordinarily had a close relationship with the Jiaozhou patrol station, in these troubled times he naturally did not dare to accept goods in such a conspicuous manner. He was just discussing with Li Meng about having him take a back road for another delivery when, unexpectedly, heaven worked in his favor — Li Meng was about to leave when he happened to run into the Embroidered Uniform Guard arriving to make an arrest.

No one had expected the Embroidered Uniform Guard to come so quickly. Li Meng hacked and slashed his way through, then dusted off his hands and left, leaving the restless Wang Gongbi behind with no idea what to do.

Normally, the Embroidered Uniform Guard making arrests directly required an imperial warrant approved by the Emperor, but starting last year this rule had been very capriciously abolished by the current Emperor with a single edict.

Nowadays, the Embroidered Uniform Guard not only needed no imperial warrant when going out to make arrests, but as long as they had evidence, they could even seize agents of the Three Depots.

Wang Gongbi was not only someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong, but he was also somewhat indecisive. He was just pondering that since these Embroidered Uniform Guard members dared to come directly to arrest him, they must have gathered evidence of his crimes — and as for what crimes, he knew perfectly well in his own heart.

Originally, by his own intention, although the salt smuggling trade was enormously profitable, it was tied to his very life and property. Last year, the scene of the Chongzhen Emperor killing people in the court had truly made Wang Gongbi's little heart thump-thump uncontrollably, and he had been planning to do one final job and then quit for good.

Besides his anxiety, Wang Gongbi also felt some relief.

If not for those Embroidered Uniform Guard members coming to take him to the capital for the Imperial Prison having run into the salt workers led by Li Meng, he would probably be on the road to the capital under escort right now — how could he instead be sitting leisurely in his study savoring fine Longjing tea?

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had obtained evidence, but Wang Gongbi was not stupid either; he had his own methods for self-preservation.

Officialdom is like a battlefield — situations change in the blink of an eye. Today the Embroidered Uniform Guard could arrest someone, but perhaps tomorrow the Emperor would personally issue an edict pardoning him of capital crimes. None of this could be predicted; it all hung on a single thought. Wang Gongbi, who prided himself on years of experience navigating officialdom, believed he understood this principle deeply.

The trump card Wang Gongbi held in his hand was actually the same one as Patrol Chief Zhang Yan's — their primary lifeline for survival was the man Gong Yonggu.

Gong Yonggu was an Imperial Son-in-law of the previous reign, senior in generation even to Zhang Huangyan. Moreover, Princess Yong'an had died young, and after the Chongzhen Emperor abolished the ancestral rule that Imperial Sons-in-law could not hold office last year, Gong Yonggu became the first Imperial Son-in-law to wield real power.

At present, Gong Yonggu even held partial military command over the defense forces of the capital's outer city — one could say he was deeply favored.

Wang Gongbi had a weak disposition, and his first thought was to minimize a major issue into a minor one, but now that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had come directly to arrest him, the conflict had clearly reached an irreconcilable point — the Embroidered Uniform Guard had set their sights on him.

As the saying goes, even a rabbit will bite when cornered. Holding such a shocking piece of information in his hands, if he didn't try to use it, Wang Gongbi would remain unreconciled even if he were thrown into the Imperial Prison and charged with crimes.

That very night, Wang Gongbi finally made up his mind.

While he was still Shandong's Governor and before the matter had spread, Wang Gongbi planned to mobilize his entire network of connections built up over the years, beginning to contact old friends, disciples, and former subordinates everywhere.

Within just a few days, he was able to stir up a group of civil officials to jointly submit an impeachment memorial against Imperial Son-in-law Gong Yonggu, accusing him of abusing his private authority over other local officials, coercing Wang Gongbi and many others into helping him reap enormous profits from the salt trade. In any case, there was only one guiding principle — pile all the crimes onto Gong Yonggu.

At this moment, forcibly dragging Gong Yonggu into the water was the best means of self-preservation for Wang Gongbi and the batch of officials about to be implicated.

After all, Gong Yonggu was an Imperial Son-in-law of the previous reign and an imperial relative of the Great Ming. Even if the Emperor wanted to strike, he would likely have to consider many factors. Only by taking a desperate risk could there be a glimmer of hope for survival.

There had been precedents for this before — the Chongzhen Emperor had often heeded the words of his ministers out of fear of public opinion. Wang Gongbi's desperate gamble this time was staking his entire fortune.

On the Embroidered Uniform Guard's side, the surviving Colonel was still burning with indignation.

Resistance encountered when going to make arrests was nothing new, and even violent refusal to submit was common. In these times, it was hardly unusual for Embroidered Uniform Guard members to suffer casualties when making arrests in the provinces — but something like today, openly and flagrantly fighting a pitched battle against the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was truly a first.

The surviving Colonel fled out of Jinan through the night, certain that the Shandong provincial government and the Jinan prefectural government were in league and would surely have set up an ambush along the road. He didn't even dare return to the Chiliarch's office. Leaving the city, he rested for a day at a farmer's home, took off his clothes, left a few taels of loose silver, and carrying only his waist token, headed north into the capital region, intending to go directly to the Northern Town Fu Si office to find Li Ruolian.

Throughout his desperate journey, this Colonel was filled with resentment. Clenching his fists, he thought: Centurion Tian and the brothers absolutely must not have died in vain, and the wounds covering his own body must also be avenged. He had heard that Guard Commander Li was a good commander and that His Majesty was supremely wise and enlightened — this time, entering the capital, he would surely reclaim this grievance on behalf of the dead.

In the eighteenth year of Chongzhen, the year Yiyou, on a certain day in late October, the Chongzhen Emperor had just walked out of the Winter Warm Pavilion when he saw Tuoya, dressed in imperial consort attire, walking toward him, muttering something under her breath as she walked.

Having grown accustomed to those dashing and spirited grassland garments, putting on these seemingly elegant and noble yet actually bloated and cumbersome consort robes made Tuoya lose all interest in even walking around — these past few days she had been quite subdued.

The Chongzhen Emperor looked at the aggrieved expression on Tuoya's face and for the moment held back from saying anything.

After the Inner Depot had been established, although it also conducted detective operations outside, its main focus remained on monitoring within the imperial palace itself. So the Chongzhen Emperor naturally knew about the incident a few days earlier when Tuoya had been punished by Empress Zhou for disrespectful conduct.

The Great Ming's harem needed to maintain proper standards. Since Tuoya was already an imperial consort of the Great Ming dynasty, she naturally could no longer be as unfettered as she had been on the grasslands in the old days. On this point, the Chongzhen Emperor was actually protecting her.

The harem appeared calm on the surface, but beneath it lurked undercurrents. Though not as exaggerated as the queue-wearing dramas of later generations, verbal jabs between consorts and concubines over competing for favor were always common occurrences within the palace.

If Tuoya could not quickly adapt to the role of a Great Ming imperial consort, she would likely be at even greater disadvantage in the future — after all, he could not watch over her every moment.

At this time, it was the hour when the Chongzhen Emperor had promised Empress Zhou to appreciate flowers in the Imperial Garden. The Chongzhen Emperor checked that the sky was just right, then asked Li Chun, who stood respectfully at his side:

"Has the Empress arrived at the Imperial Garden?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Empress arrived some time ago," Li Chun said.

The Chongzhen Emperor nodded, signaled for someone to lead the way, and began strolling slowly along the stone paths.

Gazing at the scene of strange rocks scattered about and lush fine trees all around, the Chongzhen Emperor felt somewhat moved. Since he had crossed over, every time he passed through here it had been in haste — once even while fleeing for his life — and he had never really taken the time to carefully appreciate his own back garden.