prosperous age

"My lord, what's going on with this case of the Prince of Liao?"

"Hey, that was more than ten years ago. Back then, I was working hard in the Public Works Department, serving tea and water to the officials. I had no idea that the inside story was so complicated, and that it involved the Grand Secretary Zhang."

"This memorial states that the Prince of Liao killed Zhang's grandfather, thus creating enmity between the two families. I don't know if it's true or not."

As soon as Yang Keli submitted his memorial impeaching Zhang Juzheng, the news spread throughout the major government offices in the capital.

At this moment, in the duty rooms of various government offices, the young scholars were all surrounding their superiors, asking them all sorts of questions.

It's normal that many people don't know about this case, which is from more than ten years ago.

At that time, officials in the court would have been promoted two or three times over more than ten years, and at the very least, they would have become heads of departments.

However, most people can't really explain the reasoning behind this case.

The reason is simple: at that time, the officialdom in Huguang (Hubei and Hunan provinces) held a unified attitude.

The Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's decision to send troops to quell the rebellion after the Prince of Liao erected a large banner in his palace was an impeccable act, in accordance with the "Great Ming Code".

As for Yang Keli's impeachment, most officials were actually quite bewildered when they heard about it.

Regarding Zhang Juzheng, they mostly talked about his usurpation of power and his extravagant and licentious lifestyle. Some of this was spread in private, while some was just their own wishful thinking.

After all, you've already reached that position, shouldn't you enjoy yourself a bit?

If I were in that position, I probably would have done the same.

As for important matters of state, they should be handled according to the established rules.

If it's something that hasn't happened before and there's no precedent, then we should all work together to research it and find a solution.

In fact, for most people, the position of prime minister is not that difficult to obtain.

Ultimately, it was a single exam that determined one's fate, and the results of the provincial examination ruined his life.

If they do well in the provincial examination, their performance in the palace examination will be good. If they can then pass the examination to enter the Hanlin Academy and stay on after completing three years, they will have the opportunity to reach the core of power at the very top of the Ming Dynasty court.

The younger generation of scholars were inquiring about the details of the Liao King case from years ago, while mid- to high-ranking officials were discussing it privately.

Fortunately, there was nothing urgent at the yamen at that moment, so there was plenty of time.

However, for most people, their impression is only of the Liao King raising the "Cowardly Banner," and nothing else.

However, within the Censorate, a group of censors, guided by some interested individuals, were engaged in a heated debate about the meaning of the phrase "suppressing injustice."

What great injustice must the King of Liao have suffered to erect such a large banner in his palace? Did he not know that the banner could not be erected casually?
Therefore, although many censors continued to offer advice, a seed of doubt was sown in the hearts of many other censors.

Those who experienced that incident are unlikely to still be in the Censorate; they have all been transferred to other places, with only a small number remaining in the capital.

These later censors, of course, also wanted to leave their mark, and impeaching high-ranking officials was undoubtedly the best way to make a name for themselves.

Even though Zhang Juzheng was already dead, he was posthumously honored with extremely high honors.

As for whether it was appropriate or not, most of the officials here were actually dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng's administrative strategies, so they naturally felt that since someone was impeaching him, it wouldn't hurt to impeach him as well.

Censors, too, have quotas for impeachment.

Regardless of whether the impeachment succeeds or not, as long as you participate, you can boast about it and leave an impression of being fearless of the powerful.

Everyone knows that Zhang Juzheng was the emperor's tutor, and he wasn't even afraid of the emperor's tutor.

Even if I venture out into the world in the future, others will have to think twice before I do so.

Just as various government offices were abuzz with discussion about the old case of the Prince of Liao, and some scheming individuals were already planning to submit memorials to impeach him, Wei Guangde, along with the cabinet ministers and the Nine Ministers, hurriedly rushed to the Qianqing Palace.

It was still the warm pavilion, with more than a dozen officials crammed into the less than 20-square-meter warm room, making the small space seem somewhat crowded.

However, the Wanli Emperor was accustomed to living here, so he did not go to the more spacious outer hall to receive them.

"Everyone loves you."

Emperor Wanli sat on the dragon throne and, after everyone rose, smiled and said, "It's the New Year, and the Lantern Festival holiday isn't even over yet. Why are you all here? Has something major happened in the court?"

His tone was somewhat sarcastic, but Wei Guangde didn't believe that the Wanli Emperor was unaware of their purpose in coming here.

Perhaps, when the memorial was sent to the palace, someone had already sent a message here.

"Your Majesty, the Cabinet received a memorial today from the Censorate, impeaching [the emperor]."

Wei Guangde presented Yang Keli's memorial with both hands. Liu Ruoyu, who was accompanying the emperor today, immediately came over, took the memorial from him, and then delivered it to the emperor.

While reviewing the memorials, he listened to his trusted ministers report on the situation, but his focus was still on the final decision-making.

"Shouldn't this matter be discussed in the court? Why are we just sending people down to investigate like this?"

Emperor Wanli's facial expression control was quite good, from initial surprise to current hesitation.

In fact, when Emperor Wanli heard about this, he had mixed feelings.

He didn't know what he wanted to do.

If he had initially felt a secret delight upon hearing that someone had reported Zhang Juzheng's faults, he would have felt it was inappropriate once he thought about the imperial court.

After all, the person is gone; what's the point of saying anything now?

While revoking the posthumous honors bestowed upon him might severely damage his reputation, what practical significance would that have?

Emperor Wanli, or rather all young emperors, actually wanted to be a wise and virtuous ruler.

This can be seen from the fact that he fully agreed when Wei Guangde proposed to conquer Japan.

A prudent emperor often does not want war, especially a war with foreign powers, which seems unlikely to be won.

However, he still issued the decree according to Wei Guangde's request, because he was also annoyed by the evil deeds of the Japanese pirates and even more furious at the Japanese's long-standing disrespect for the Ming Dynasty.

As for those so-called "countries not to be conquered," they were already neglected during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who had previously conquered Burma, which is now part of the Ming Dynasty's territory.

The new map of the Ming Dynasty has included Myanmar, and the Ming Dynasty will change from two capitals and thirteen provinces to fourteen provinces in the future. This was decided long ago by the cabinet and the court.

Myanmar will be established as a separate province, no longer under the jurisdiction of the Yunnan Provincial Administration Commission.

At this time, Emperor Wanli wanted to become a wise, powerful, and outstanding emperor, and he naturally understood the importance of stability in the court.

Stirring up controversy against Zhang Juzheng seems to be detrimental to the court, especially since the court's top priority is still the war against Japan, making it even more difficult to settle scores with the former chief minister.

If this memorial had appeared in the latter half of last year, he might have chosen to proceed with it due to concerns about the imperial clan.

But now, of course not.

"We believe this matter should not be delayed any longer. We should establish a plan as soon as possible to reassure the officials."

Wei Guangde offered an explanation for this matter, which naturally echoed the emperor's concerns.

"Ruoyu, go and summon Chen Ju to see me."

Emperor Wanli considered Wei Guangde's arrangements for the officials who were to travel south to Huguang to be quite reasonable.

In particular, the censors recommended by the Censorate entrusted Hai Rui with the important task of investigation, which made Emperor Wanli very confident in the Censorate.

He had heard many rumors about the Left Censor-in-Chief and the Grand Secretary secretly colluding, but because of his trust in Wei Guangde, he didn't take them to heart.

However, some reservations remained. Seeing that Hai Rui, recommended by the Censorate, was directly approved by Wei Guangde, he naturally felt more at ease.

Everyone knows that Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui had a strained relationship. Under such circumstances, Wei Guangde's willingness to support Hai Rui in handling the case shows that he had no ulterior motives.

He was actually worried that the entanglement between Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng might implicate his mentor in the attack on Zhang Juzheng.

After all, Zhang Juzheng taught him the virtues of an emperor, while Wei Guangde taught him how to be an emperor.

Just like now, he knows everything about the palace and the court, which is what Wei Guangde taught him.

Even if you don't plan to do anything, you must keep your eyes wide open.

While it's permissible for subordinates to engage in underhanded tactics, the principles governing such power struggles must always remain firmly in one's own hands.

I will let you fight, so that you may fight.

If we don't want you to compete, then you should step aside and not have any improper thoughts.

In fact, Emperor Wanli naturally found this principle more applicable, and it was far more useful than the grand theories preached by Zhang Juzheng.

When Emperor Wanli first learned of this, he intended to have Zhang Cheng handle the matter.

Because Zhang Cheng was more obedient, unlike Chen Ju, who would sometimes remind him what he couldn't do.

Although these reminders are brief and to the point.

But in the end, Emperor Wanli felt that Chen Ju had his own thoughts and was somewhat like Zhang Hong, unlike Zhang Cheng and Zhang Jing who were obedient.

However, Wei Guangde had already agreed to let Hai Rui preside over the trial, and Chen Ju in the inner court was also behaving himself and would not show favoritism because of Wei Guangde's relationship. With other people supervising, he felt that the cabinet's decision this time was very prudent.

Before long, Chen Ju entered the warm pavilion and quickly figured out why he had been summoned.

He actually knew about it a long time ago; Wei Guangde had also sent him a note about it, and he didn't object.

So, after the Wanli Emperor said it, he readily knelt down to accept the decree.

"Then let's leave it at that. The cabinet and the nine ministers have no intention of doing this, so let's do it as you say. Hai Rui will be the chief envoy, and the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Justice will appoint deputy envoys today. Chen Ju will then take the palace archives to Huguang to investigate the matter of Yang Keli's impeachment."

Your Excellency must diligently perform your duties and investigate the case as soon as possible.

With the issuance of Emperor Wanli's decree, what could have been a turmoil in the court was quelled by the cabinet's swift response.

The fact that the results came so quickly was somewhat unexpected by Zhang Jing, Li Zhi, and the others.

After all, under normal circumstances, the draft would not fall into the hands of the Wanli Emperor until the next day after the cabinet had drafted it.

Even if Zhang Hong expedites the process and delivers it to the palace on the same day, the emperor will still take a day or two to consider it.

In their calculations, their opportunity would arise as long as the emperor was weighing the options.

They had already arranged for people to continue submitting memorials tomorrow, and they would also gather those around them to submit memorials together and discuss the matter.

However, Wei Guangde immediately summoned the Nine Ministers, set the tone for the matter, and obtained the emperor's permission directly, causing them to lose what they thought was the initiative.

The cabinet was unusually efficient this time, producing results in just half a day.

In the afternoon, the news spread throughout the officialdom of the capital, and the cabinet's decision to select Hai Rui, the left vice censor-in-chief of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, as the instigator, silenced Li Zhi, Jiang Dongzhi, and others.

What can they say when they directly unleash Hai Rui, this ultimate weapon?
Hai Rui's reputation as an upright official is so great that no one can shake it.

Even if Zhang Juzheng were alive and served as the Grand Secretary, he would have been powerless against Hai Rui if Hai Rui were still in office.

It was only thanks to the powerful Gao Gong that Hai Rui was forced to retire.

If Zhang Juzheng was powerful in administration, Gao Gong was even more so.

They truly did not expect that Wei Guangde would agree to let Hai Rui try Zhang Juzheng's case, and that the court would end this upheaval in the court so efficiently, which they thought would cause a major upheaval.

After the court session ended, none of them went home. Instead, they gathered at Li Zhi's house in their official robes to discuss countermeasures.

In fact, they spend all their time thinking about how to proceed with this.

However, to their disappointment, they couldn't think of a way to continue their attack under these circumstances.

Yes, after the imperial court sent Hai Rui to handle the case, all the reasons they could think of for attacking him fell silent.

Everyone knows the relationship between Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui. With this relationship in place, their idea of ​​creating a bigger storm by attacking the imperial envoy simply had no chance.

"I had no choice. Who would have thought they would put forward Hai Rui to handle this matter?"

Jiang Dongzhi sat in the armchair and sighed. They had originally thought that the cabinet represented by Wei Guangde would have a hard time dealing with this.

Regardless of who they choose to handle this matter in the court, they can impeach them through officials of different ranks, unless they themselves are involved.

Then, naturally, they would try every means to fabricate charges to substantiate Zhang Juzheng's illegal acts, thereby completely negating Zhang Juzheng and ultimately leading to the collapse of the cabinet and the rejection of previous central government policies.

If they succeed this time, their prestige will undoubtedly grow, and it will also severely damage the reputation of the current prime minister.

The benefits of one rising and one falling are self-evident.

In the Ming Dynasty, reputation was a very important thing for officials.

Just like Hai Rui, he was both respected and resented by the court and the public, but no one dared to do anything to him.

After Jiang Dongzhi's complaint, the room fell silent.

After a long while, Li Zhi finally spoke up: "Don't worry, they're probably pushing Hai Rui out with the intention of bringing down Zhang Jiangling."

I heard that the cabinet was discussing before the end of the day that they would abolish the decree that banned the academy in Zhangjiangling and that the academy would be restored soon.

Isn't this what we've always wanted to do?

Restoring the academy is just the beginning; with further encouragement, even greater waves can be created to negate all of Zhang Jiangling's policies.

When Hai Rui has thoroughly investigated the Zhang family, that will be the time for us to lay our cards on the table.

At that time, both the imperial court and the countryside will support us, after all, we are speaking out for the gentry and fighting for their interests.

"The key question is whether the Zhang family has any problems."

Jiang Dongzhi reminded him.

"Of course there are. Even if he can control himself and his son, I don't believe that the rest of the Zhang family are well-behaved."

Now that the case is in Hai Rui's hands, I refuse to believe that he can't find a single piece of evidence of illegality.

Even if it's just a matter of lax discipline, we can still force it onto him.

Moreover, we're also betting on that person's will; even the smallest mistake can be magnified infinitely, ultimately leading to the complete rejection of him as a person.

Li Zhi said.

He contacted Zhang Jing today, but Zhang Jing was busy calculating the benefits he had received from the lantern festival.

As for the case of the Prince of Liao, we simply left it to them to handle themselves.

Although there were no instructions from the palace, Zhang Jing was certain of one thing: the emperor's dissatisfaction with Zhang Juzheng was simply a matter of waiting for an opportunity. (End of Chapter)