Chapter 1234: The Donglin Purists

Ever since Wei Zhongxian was recalled to the capital, word had spread across the realm that "the righteous now fill the court," and the pure-stream civil officials began to hold their heads high. Of course, this "multitude of righteous" and "pure stream" referred mainly to the Donglin partisans and their affiliates who hailed from the prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, and Changzhou; others could hardly bask in any of that glory.

But this "righteous filling the court" was far less splendid than the outside world imagined. The influence of the eunuch faction at court had indeed weakened, but only weakened. Those implicated in the joint campaign against Xuzhou had merely been demoted or censured; not a single one had yet been convicted and imprisoned. Some high officials had even only received a reprimand and a fine of their salaries—their official posts remained, their power unaffected.

The reason for this was that Wei Zhongxian had not fallen. Although he had suffered a severe setback in the joint campaign against Xuzhou, the imperial favor remained. When it became clear the situation was beyond salvaging, the Tianqi Emperor dispatched his own teacher, Sun Chengzong, to Hejian Prefecture to recall Wei Zhongxian. After returning to the capital, Wei Zhongxian did not lose his post as Supervisor-in-Chief of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs; he was merely far more low-key than before.

Anyone could see the Tianqi Emperor's intent to shield him. Although Sun Chengzong, Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion and Supreme Commander of Liaodong, had no personal ties with Wei Zhongxian, there was also no enmity between them. Moreover, as the Emperor's teacher, he could carry out the imperial decree to the letter. Had the Tianqi Emperor directly dispatched someone from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs or the Grand Secretariat, the decree might have been the same, but Wei Zhongxian would likely have hanged himself in Hejian Prefecture.

Because of this arrangement, Wei Zhongxian's partisans retained some confidence. The Donglin partisans in the Grand Secretariat, the Six Ministries, and the various oversight offices understood that the Son of Heaven had not abandoned Wei Zhongxian, so they could not utterly exterminate him or root out his faction. Thus, the Office of Transmission now grew weary just from receiving memorials every day. The censors spent their days attacking Wei Zhongxian's clique for bringing calamity to the state, arguing that a joint campaign against local powerful bandits could end in such a disastrous defeat was a humiliation to the nation's dignity and a shaking of the state's foundation. They also claimed that massing troops in Hejian Prefecture harbored sinister intentions. If one wished to change this situation, the only way was to dismiss the treacherous and wicked, allowing the pure and upright to hold power, thereby sweeping away the decline and restoring national prestige.

Yet these memorials were utterly useless. Wei Zhongxian had indeed returned utterly disgraced, but his foundation was undamaged, and the Tianqi Emperor's trust in him remained as before. This made it very difficult to shake the eunuch faction's power, not to mention that the eunuch faction had its own censors, who spent their days arguing that certain partisans were exploiting the nation's crisis to coerce the Son of Heaven—that was the true sinister intent.

Ye Xianggao, the Senior Grand Secretary, whose stance had always been ambiguous, now showed a clear inclination toward the Donglin faction. He spent his days entangled with Zhao Nanxing, the Minister of Personnel. Word had already spread that Zhao Nanxing was preparing to initiate a capital evaluation, using this assessment to purge the officialdom of the capital and replace everyone with Donglin partisans, then launch a general offensive against the eunuch faction.

At present, the de facto leader of the Donglin at court was this very Zhao Nanxing. Outsiders assumed he was at the height of his influence, but they did not know that Zhao Nanxing was now utterly overwhelmed, to the point that he dared not even open and read his letters, having to entrust the task to his wives and concubines. After Wei Zhongxian was recalled to the capital, some positions indeed opened up at court. These positions were quickly filled by Donglin partisans according to seniority and rank. Zhao Nanxing, who oversaw the appointment of officials, naturally put considerable effort into this and accrued many favors and benefits, but it was far from enough.

Ever since Wei Zhongxian rose to power, he had been suppressing the Donglin partisans. How many had resigned and returned home, how many had been dismissed or stripped of office? While everyone spoke of refusing to wallow in the mire with the wicked, in reality, they were desperately longing for a comeback. Now that an opportunity had finally arisen, how could they not frantically maneuver? All this pressure fell upon Zhao Nanxing and those associated with him.

The Donglin partisans' foundation was not in the capital but in Jiangnan. The main force of the Donglin partisans was not the Grand Secretaries or the heads of the Six Ministries and Nine Courts, but the pure-stream officials in the oversight and remonstrance offices. If Zhao Nanxing could not satisfy the demands of those people, his own position would become untenable. The officialdom of the Great Ming placed immense weight on the judgment of one's native-place associations. If an uproar arose in Jiangnan, the memorials currently attacking Wei Zhongxian would immediately turn toward Zhao Nanxing.

Yet there were simply not enough positions to vacate. The eunuch faction under Wei Zhongxian still retained its vitality. Attempting to forcibly push through a capital evaluation and selection would likely meet with enormous backlash; the risk was simply too great. However, Zhao Nanxing knew that the current situation probably no longer allowed him a choice. The post of Minister of Personnel, the Heavenly Official of the Ministry, was inherently coveted. Not to mention others, even within the Donglin faction itself, there were senior figures eager to try their hand. The slightest hesitation, and he would likely have to resign and retire.

Minister of Personnel Zhao Nanxing had no choice but to push forward this capital evaluation, and the grand secretaries in the capital were also urgently pressing him to do so. Aside from a few individuals attached to Wei Zhongxian who remained silent throughout, Senior Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao was the most anxious. While Zhao Nanxing feared the pressure from within the Donglin, Senior Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao feared Sun Chengzong.

According to the conventions of the Great Ming, the teacher of the Eastern Palace heir was a guaranteed candidate for entry into the Grand Secretariat. Sun Chengzong was upright in character, renowned in reputation, and truly commanded universal respect. Even rarer was that even Wei Zhongxian's faction held Sun Chengzong in awe. If he were to become Senior Grand Secretary, it would seem almost a matter of course. When Sun Chengzong was in the capital, Ye Xianggao and the others in the Grand Secretariat constantly felt as if a thorn were in their backs, feeling that their positions were utterly insecure. It was not until Sun Chengzong volunteered to go to Liaodong as Supreme Commander that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Throughout the Ming dynasty, capital officials were valued above all else. Remaining in the capital for over twenty years without leaving and entering the Grand Secretariat was considered an ideal career. Once an official was sent out to the provinces and began handling practical matters, oversights and errors were inevitable. Moreover, being so far from the capital, cut off by distance, made it impossible to maintain constant contact. Even the deepest bonds of affection would gradually fade. No matter how much the Son of Heaven respected and loved Sun Chengzong, his influence would slowly wane into ordinariness. Besides, Sun Chengzong was no longer young; it was estimated that he would simply retire and return to his hometown.

Originally, there was no cause for worry, but then the Tianqi Emperor suddenly bypassed all the grand secretaries in the capital and instead sent Sun Chengzong, far away in Ji Garrison and Liaodong, to recall Wei Zhongxian. What did this signify? It signified that in the Son of Heaven's heart, the highest-ranking, most trusted minister was still Sun Chengzong. The man still had a chance to return to the Grand Secretariat and ascend to the seat of Senior Grand Secretary. This made Ye Xianggao like an ant on a hot pan.

Rumor had it that Ye Xianggao had even cursed the Jianzhou Jurchens, asking why they had ceased hostilities at this moment, making that old man Sun Chengzong appear meritorious in his command of Liaodong. These were all tales from the streets and marketplaces, but Ye Xianggao's urgency was plain for anyone to judge. The reason he was so anxious about the capital evaluation was to use this rotation and reshuffling of officials to insert his own followers and protégés, or to elevate as many Donglin partisans as possible.

Sun Chengzong was a native of Baoding Prefecture in Northern Zhili, and naturally was incompatible with the Donglin partisans who hailed from various places in Jiangnan. As long as the Donglin flourished, given their propensity for stirring up trouble, it would likely be extremely difficult for Sun Chengzong to return to the capital and re-enter the central government.

Some people did voice grievances on Sun Chengzong's behalf. This Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion and Supreme Commander of Liaodong had grown weary of the exclusion by the Grand Secretariat members and the groundless attacks by the Donglin partisans, which was why he had voluntarily requested to go to Liaodong to command the troops. He clearly had little to do with the overall situation in the capital, yet he was constantly dragged into it. But these voices of grievance were very faint and were easily attacked as coming from the eunuch faction or treacherous villains.

The commoners of the capital were well-informed, and they had also learned very early of the news that Zhao Jin of Xuzhou had routed several routes of government troops. At the time, the capital was gripped by panic, and there had even been disturbances caused by people shouting that the Xuzhou bandits were attacking. Yet now, the capital's residents were even beginning to doubt the truth of the rumors about the Xuzhou bandits, because they saw no sign of tension whatsoever, nor heard of any troop movements. All they knew was the political infighting at court: you call me a eunuch partisan, I call you treacherous and wicked. The situation was a complete mess, and meanwhile, no further news came from Xuzhou.

It was no wonder the commoners were skeptical. After a great victory, would rebels simply shrink back? Shouldn't they be fighting their way toward the capital? How could they have fallen so completely silent? It was in this atmosphere that the jointly signed memorial and official dispatch from Zhao Yan and Cui Wensheng arrived in the capital...

Normally, any news or developments regarding the pacification of a great bandit like the one in Xuzhou would have to be rushed to the capital by express relay at several hundred li per day. But after their discussions concluded, Zhao Yan and Cui Wensheng were truly disheartened. Moreover, not wanting to be made scapegoats while standing in the teeth of the storm, they simply resorted to a strategy of delay. This urgent document traveled only thirty li a day, and thus it dawdled its way to the capital.

The memorial was to be presented before the imperial presence of the Son of Heaven, while the dispatch was to notify the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries. Accompanying these two official documents were several jointly signed personal letters from Cui Wensheng and Zhao Yan. What the letters conveyed were their personal judgments: none of the Xuzhou bandits' demands were actually excessive, because they were merely formalizing the power they already held. The demands regarding the several ports could also be agreed to, because if the Xuzhou bandits wanted to do something, they would not need to go through those ports.

"The bandits' momentum is fierce and brutal; they cannot be opposed by force. We should delay and temporize, in hopes of future results." Cui Wensheng wrote very earnestly in his letter, and Zhao Yan expressed a similar sentiment. With troops deployed everywhere across the realm, pulling one thread could set the whole thing in motion. Since these Xuzhou bandits were so short-sighted, they should simply be strung along for now, and the matter reconsidered after some time had passed. By then, either the bandits would have collapsed from internal discord, or the Great Ming would have pacified all quarters and freed up its hands; it would not be too late to deal with them then.

"What that Zhao Jin said is actually not wrong. To live one more day is one more day; to live one more year is one more year. At our age, we ought to understand this principle." This was a private conversation between Cui Wensheng and Zhao Yan, and naturally, it would not be written down on paper.

Yet given the political situation in the capital, the words of two has-been scapegoats like Cui Wensheng and Zhao Yan would be heeded by no one. Everyone only saw the content reported in the dispatch: a powerful bandit from a remote backwater like Xuzhou actually dared to bark orders at the imperial court, actually dared to restrict the movement of government troops, actually dared to dictate tax increases and decreases, and even wanted access to a port near the capital. This was truly audacious in the extreme, truly a case of forgetting one's place. Where was the court's dignity? Where was the Great Ming's honor? If not for the eunuch faction bringing calamity to the state, how could there be such an insolent and rampant bandit!

"The eunuch faction's misrule only knows how to oppress the gentry and commoners and embezzle military pay. The people's hearts are restless; how can the officers and soldiers be willing to fight bravely forward!"

"That eunuch Wei harbored sinister intentions from the start. Every day, he only knows to let his troops plunder the populace. How could he possibly win battles? He must be afraid of the enemy and unwilling to advance, retreating in the face of battle, or even colluding with that powerful bandit!"

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