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Chapter 1368 The Intention of a Drunkard
Despite Tan's unfounded speculation and the strong opposition from others, Hong Tao remained neutral, making a promise not to escalate the situation. He then named specific individuals to carry out the task, concluded the temporary imperial meeting, and walked towards the rear hall with his hands behind his back.

"Your Majesty, this is a time when we need manpower. Should we wait until the war has calmed down before we start dealing with the traitors?"

As everyone in the hall gradually withdrew, only Wang Chengen followed him into the back hall. Seeing the emperor leaning back in his reclining chair as usual, intending to take a short nap, he quickly picked up a palm-leaf fan and gently fanned him. After more than ten fannings, he finally couldn't help but offer his suggestion.

He wasn't having any trouble leading the investigation into the traitors. This task would definitely offend many officials, including military generals, but so what if he did?

Having worked diligently and conscientiously in the palace for over thirty years, always standing firmly on the emperor's side in everything, big or small, he was already seen as the emperor's lackey by the court officials and generals. No one wanted to associate with him unless they offended him.

The problem is that everything has its priorities, as the emperor has repeatedly emphasized. Currently, the Ming Empire is fighting on multiple fronts; although the situation at the front is not yet critical, internal chaos is unacceptable.

If any bad news reaches the ears of the soldiers, it could easily trigger a mutiny, which would be a case of losing sight of one side while trying to cover the other.

The safest approach is to remain inactive for now, pretending nothing has been discovered, maintaining a tight internal presence while appearing relaxed externally, and focusing on those who have access to the Eastern Expedition plan. This makes it easier to uncover clues when there are no warning signs.

They would launch a surprise attack once the war had progressed to a certain point or the outcome was decided, and would conduct a rigorous review of the personnel involved, replacing even frontline commanders without hesitation.

"...That's the right way to think! But my goal isn't solely to find the traitor. Even if I communicate the full plan to all the European countries, they still won't have much of a chance of winning this battle."

I've ordered you to investigate not only traitors, but more importantly, those who don't suit my purposes. Over the years, the football team's notebook has been filled with names, but the number of those punished is still relatively small.

I always say there is insufficient evidence, and indeed, many people's actions have not violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty, so it will never be possible to find evidence. But the actions of these people are worse than corruption, and they must be removed from their posts.

However, arbitrarily replacing officials and generals without evidence goes against my consistent principles, creating a dilemma where I can neither intervene nor ignore the situation. If this continues unchecked, the Ming Dynasty, which I have painstakingly built up, will regress within 20 years.

Use your brain. Faced with this situation, what should you do? Go back on your word and contradict yourself? Or turn a blind eye and let it go? No excuses, you must answer!

Hong Tao shifted from side to side on the recliner, finding a more comfortable position. He didn't open his eyes, but his lips moved. He not only answered the question but also raised a very tricky new one.

"Uh... How could this servant compare to His Majesty? I couldn't possibly come up with an answer even if I racked my brains. However, this servant has always respected His Majesty above all else. Whatever His Majesty says is right, and I will do my best to fulfill it, even if it means sacrificing my life!"

Even though the emperor had given a strict order to answer, Wang Chengen still managed to circumvent it. This is what you call a veteran minister from the prince's residence; they had long understood each other's temperaments and personalities, and they knew how to speak and act with tact.

"Using the pretext of an internal traitor, we will secretly investigate everyone on the list through the Advisory Office, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern Depot. Regardless of whether there is solid evidence, as long as their behavior does not conform to my wishes and is not conducive to the long-term stability of the Ming Empire, we will label them as suspected internal traitors. What do you say?"

Wang Chengen was able to understand Hong Tao's temperament, and Hong Tao naturally understood Wang Chengen's character even better. He opened one eye and gave his answer with a strange laugh.

"...This servant understands. Once Wang Datou and Tan Buming submit their plans, we'll start by targeting a less important department. Once we have the results, we'll let His Majesty give his feedback!" The Emperor's voice was soft, but every word was uttered with venom, carrying a chilling aura that instantly lowered the temperature in the sweltering summer hall. Wang Chengen quickly put away his palm-leaf fan, afraid of making the Emperor catch a chill.

What a vicious scheme of using someone else to do the dirty work and calling a deer a horse! If it weren't explicitly stated, most people probably wouldn't have noticed it. At least for the first half, there was no unusual feeling. By the time they did, it was too late.

On the surface, the emperor was letting everyone speak freely, but in reality, he was waiting for such speculation so that he could use it as a pretext to launch a well-justified purge within the organization.

Why wait for the pretext of an internal traitor? Because no other excuse is sufficient to threaten the positions of high-ranking officials and military officers. They can't be dismissed for minor oversights or slight discrepancies in accounts; that would create fear and unease among other officials, damaging the emperor's reputation and the stability of the court.

Only charges like treason and rebellion can silence everyone and prevent accusations of the emperor's harshness. These charges are also relatively easy to implement; a simple statement about state secrets can suppress most rumors.

But why launch a massive purge of the court, the military, and the intelligence agencies? Could it be that someone is actually betraying intelligence and colluding with outsiders to harm the country?
The answer is yes, such people will always exist as long as the benefits are sufficient. The advisory offices and statistics departments can use various methods to recruit locals in different countries to provide intelligence; they're not stupid. They won't fail once, but they'll understand after two or three losses.
Besides, this kind of thing doesn't require much skill; with a little thought, one can learn it in no time. Not every citizen of the Ming Dynasty is utterly loyal and wouldn't sell for a single tael of silver, but what about ten or a hundred taels?

For many ordinary people, this amount of money might be more than they could earn in a lifetime. Simply stating how many troops are stationed nearby and when warships enter and leave port could provide for a family for many years. How many people could resist corruption and remain untainted?
The same applies to officials and generals; without corruption, they certainly can't become rich quickly just through their salaries. However, with economic development, more and more businessmen are making a fortune. Seeing those less knowledgeable and of lower status living a life of luxury and extravagance, some are bound to feel resentful.

If someone were willing to pay a high price for a few words of truth that only heaven, earth, you, and I know, there's a good chance someone would agree to the exchange. Or perhaps it wasn't intentional betrayal, but rather a careless choice of friends, resulting in the unintentional revelation of secrets in casual conversation.

In addition, some officials and generals, for various reasons, gradually lost their ambition from their youth and spent their days just going about their work without much purpose.

They are neither corrupt nor do they form cliques, seemingly harmless, but in reality, they are more dangerous than corrupt officials. Because some corrupt officials are merely greedy, but at least they do some work. These people, however, not only occupy positions without contributing themselves, but also don't want others to use them.

Whether they are traitors, unintentional leakers, or officials and generals who have lost their ambition, ordinary methods are not very effective. There is only one best approach: quickly purge them and then rapidly replenish them with fresh blood to maintain healthy internal competition.

Finding an internal traitor is a golden excuse! If an internal traitor is found, he should be ruthlessly removed, and even those who made unintentional mistakes should be punished accordingly to serve as a warning to others.

If someone is found to be slacking off, they can be treated as a suspected mole. It shouldn't be unfair to just suspend them without convicting them! Then a new person can be promoted to temporarily replace them. Once the new person is familiar with the job and settled in, the investigation results will be available.

Cleared of suspicion and restored to innocence! But I'm sorry, your original position is gone. You'll be temporarily assigned a less demanding role, and we'll see when a new position becomes available.

Whether or not someone is a suspect is ultimately up to the emperor to decide, and in such matters, it's highly unlikely anyone will take it too seriously. It's reasonable for a newly appointed official to replace them; you can't just say someone is suspended and expect the entire department to stop working—that doesn't make sense!
In the eyes of ordinary people, this behavior is called harming people in a roundabout way, but in political activities, this way of not saying what you want to do directly and instead going around in circles to achieve your goal is called political wisdom.

Moreover, this kind of wisdom is very common, and it has been seen countless times throughout history and across the world. Whenever you find that the government is calling for or opposing something or someone, its purpose is most likely not about that thing or person. Anyone who only focuses on the immediate issue and follows along is likely to be misled.

(End of this chapter)