Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 140 Jinyiwei's Ball
"Ah!" A shrill scream echoed in the dark torture chamber. Blood gushed out, dripping onto the dark red bricks, adding another touch of brutality to the sticky ground.

In the past, Xu Xianchun would have thoroughly enjoyed the execution. For him, listening to the screams was like listening to beautiful music. Compared to the honed skills of musicians, the wails from the depths of the soul possessed a primal, melodious quality that was captivating. Sometimes, to liven things up, Xu Xianchun would even drink while overseeing the execution. But now, he felt no interest at all.

"Sir, do you want to continue?" The Jinyiwei strongman who was carrying out the execution had already pulled out all the nails on Zou Yuanbiao's left foot.

Xu Xianchun raised his hand to signal the wrestlers to pause, then squatted beside Zou Yuanbiao's tilted head, took out a fine silk scarf, and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. When the sweat subsided, Xu Xianchun asked, "Master Zou, we already know. You were only an accomplice to the forced abdication on Dongyue Eleven, not the mastermind. The real mastermind was a revolutionary named Zhao Nanxing, correct?"

"." Zou Yuanbiao didn't say anything, but just gritted his teeth to fight the pain.

"Every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor. Lord Zou, as long as you sign and seal your confession, I will immediately send you out of the torture chamber." Xu Xianchun said gently.

The Imperial Guards didn't immediately arrest Zhao Nanxing and the other non-official Donglin Party members. Firstly, they weren't eligible to attend court, so they didn't rally to force the emperor to abdicate on the eleventh day of the winter month. Secondly, Tian Ergeng wanted to use the confessions of captured officials to establish the "control of the court by the masses" before arresting them. In any case, Zhao Nanxing, Liu Yirong, Han Yu, Zhou Jiamo, Xu Guangqi, and other individuals considered core Donglin Party members were under the Imperial Guard's tight surveillance and could be captured at any time.

"We are just upholding the ancestral system, not forcing the emperor to abdicate!" Zou Yuanbiao's dazed eyes flashed with determination.

"Master Zou, you can just lie to others with this kind of talk." Xu Xianchun scoffed. "If we really follow the established laws of our ancestors, we'll skin you alive. Master Zou, even if you're such an honest official, you can't help but accept some tributes, right?"

"You can investigate as you like. I, Zou Yuanbiao, never give or take bribes!" Zou Yuanbiao is a typical gentleman, and even in basic interpersonal relationships, there is rarely any glitz and glamour.

"Sir Zou. This humble official is doing this for your own good. There's no need to suffer this punishment. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has arrested many officials who forced the emperor to abdicate. Even if you don't tell others, they will." Xu Xianchun was still smiling, but he was already very impatient in his heart.

"Captain Xu, you've already said this. Use some other words." Zou Yuanbiao tried his best to make a mocking expression, but the pain made it impossible for him to move the muscles at the corners of his mouth normally.

"Alright. I like tough guys like you the most." Xu Xianchun stood up with a sullen face and turned to the executioner and said, "Give Lord Zou some salt. The finest fine salt."

"As you command." The Jinyiwei strongman clenched his fists and dared not breathe.

------

On the other side, the East Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Jinyiwei East and West Offices were established during the Chenghua period. Initially, the East Office was simply a room east of the main hall of the Jinyiwei Commandery, with no direct enforcement personnel. When exercising its power to investigate cases, it simply issued orders to the North and South Pacification Offices or a specific Qianhu Suo.

Things changed during the Jiajing reign. The Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houzhao, ascended the throne as a vassal prince, following the law of succession from elder brother to younger brother. Having encountered the "Great Ceremony Controversy" at the outset of his reign, the Jiajing Emperor became suspicious of everyone except the former officials of Prince Xingxian's palace. This included the Jinyiwei headquarters and even the Northern and Southern Pacification Offices.

In the 16th year of Zhengde's reign, Empress Dowager Zhaosheng Cishou joined forces with the powerful prime minister Yang Tinghe to execute Jiang Bin, the left commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guard, and appointed Zhu Chen as the new commander-in-chief.

That same year, Emperor Jiajing promoted Luo An, a Qianhu of the Imperial Guard, to the rank of hereditary associate commander of the Jinyiwei (Jinyiwei), a third-rank official. In reality, he was granted the rank of assistant commander of the fourth-rank Jinyiwei, holding the seal of the Eastern Office and overseeing the defense of the capital. At Luo An's suggestion, the Eastern Office was established as a headquarters and directly subordinated to the military, retaining the authority to mobilize the Southern and Northern Pacification Offices and other Qianhu detachments. As a result, Luo An's power rivaled that of Zhu Chen, the head of the Imperial Guard.

At the end of the first year of the Jiajing reign, Zhu Chen, the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, knew that he would surely die if he became an enemy of the emperor, so he defiled himself with wine, women, money and anger, giving Luo An a handle.

At the beginning of the second year of the Jiajing reign, Zhu Chen, then in his prime, petitioned for his ashes and recommended Luo An to take charge of the seal-carving affairs. The emperor approved his request, bestowing upon Zhu Chen a dragon robe and a sword, and granting him the title of Grand Protector. The following month, the emperor appointed Luo An as the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei.

After Luo An was promoted to the position of Chief Guard, the East Office transferred the authority of supervising the defense of the capital to the West Office, but still retained its directly affiliated troops and changed the authority of the Pacification Office or the Thousand Households Office to supervisory power.

At this time, the Grand Ceremony Debate had not yet concluded, and the emperor still did not trust the Southern and Northern Pacification Offices and the various Thousand Households Offices.

On July 12, the third year of the Jiajing reign, Emperor Shizong issued an edict to the Ministry of Rites, removing the character "本生" (meaning "born") from his parents' titles. On the fourteenth, the emperor submitted a memorial to his parents and offered sacrifices to heaven, earth, the ancestral temple, and the altar of state. This caused an uproar among the court officials. Subsequently, led by Yang Shen, the son of Yang Tinghe and a Hanlin Academy editor, over two hundred court officials knelt at Zuoshunmen, pleading with the emperor to change his decree, a presumptuous act of forcing the emperor to abdicate.

The emperor, in Wenhua Hall, heard deafening cries outside and ordered eunuchs to dismiss the court. However, the officials remained prostrate until noon, attempting to force the emperor to surrender. Furious, the emperor ordered the Northern Pacification Office to arrest the eight ringleaders and imprison them. He also ordered the Eastern Office to oversee the operation and the Northern Pacification Office to obey his orders.

Afterwards, the emperor removed the supervision of the Eastern Office over the Northern Pacification Office and ordered the Northern Pacification Office to imprison and torture a total of 134 officials. The Northern Pacification Office still obeyed the order.

On July 20th, the Northern Pacification Office took the initiative to petition the emperor to severely punish the ministers involved in the case. The emperor accepted the advice and ordered the officials to be beaten to death in court. A total of 16 officials were beaten to death.

At the end of the same year, the emperor ordered the abolition of the Dongsifang's supervisory authority over the Zhenfusi and Qianhusuo, and the internal supervision was transferred to the Southern Zhenfusi. Although the Dongsifang's supervisory power was reduced, its headquarters and directly affiliated troops were retained.

"Mr. Luo. Why are you here?" Yin Haizhentao, the fourth-rank commander in charge of the Eastern Office, didn't know why Luo Yangxing suddenly visited the Eastern Office.

"Mr. Hai, I'm here to give you a share of the credit." Luo Yangxing smiled, but his heart was bleeding: What a pity.

Luo Sigong told Luo Yangxing to stop there and not make a fuss about Sun Ruyou. Luo Yangxing went straight to the point and simply sent him away.

He thought it through thoroughly. If he couldn't expand the scope of his crimes, even a thorough investigation would only yield a small amount of credit, and a large portion would be taken by the Northern Pacification Office, which had discovered Sun Ruyou. Rather than risking his father giving up his fight for such a small gain, it was better to just let it go.

After much deliberation, he finally chose the Dongsifang, which had the power to investigate cases.

"Merit? What merit?" Hai Zhentao became alert instinctively.

"Sun Ruyou, Minister Sun, you know him, right?" Luo Yangxing said with a smile.

"I know." Hai Zhentao was also smiling, but his slightly frowned brows suggested that he was not happy.

"The change of reign is imminent, and the Ministry of Experience needs to classify and compile all the documents from the Wanli period and report them to Wei Bingbi, the Supervisor of Ceremonies." Luo Yangxing noticed Hai Zhentao's mood, but he didn't care.

"." Hai Zhentao's eyes twitched slightly. He had roughly guessed what Luo Yangxing was going to say.

Sure enough, Luo Yangxing went on to say: "You also know that the Northern Pacification Office has received an imperial commission and is currently handling the Donglin Party's case. But they are short of manpower, so they come to the Experience Office for secondment. I originally wanted to take on the work of the Experience Office and get more credit, but I overestimated myself and simply cannot spare enough energy to take care of things on both sides." "So?" Hai Bokang, the eldest son of Hai Zhentao, directly interrupted Luo Yangxing's speech.

"General Hai, the Experience Department naturally prioritizes the affairs of this department." Even though he was interrupted by Hai Bokang, Luo Yangxing remained expressionless. "So I thought of giving this credit to the East Department."

"Mr. Luo, you are so kind?" Hai Bokang said with a chuckle.

"Everyone gets what they need and helps each other." Luo Yangxing said, "The East Office will get more credit for the work, and the Experience Office can also free up some time to concentrate on sorting out the documents."

"This is against the rules. You should think about it yourself." Hai Bokang was about to refuse Luo Yangxing when he was stopped by his father.

Hai Zhentao smiled brightly, even the wrinkles on his brow disappeared. "General Luo is so kind. I, the East Office, would like to thank you very much."

"We're all brothers in the Imperial Guards, so why bother thanking them?" Luo Yangxing waved to the accompanying captain. "Bring the criminal here."

"Yes, sir!" In just a moment, the captain brought Sun Ruyou in the prison car to the main hall of the East Office.

"From now on, Minister Sun is a prisoner of the East Office." Luo Yangxing waved his hand, and the captain immediately pulled out a formal document from his pocket. "It's already stamped with the seal of this department." Luo Yangxing took it and placed it directly on the desk at the main seat. "Please."

"Haha. General Luo is really efficient. He is worthy of being the son of the chief guard." Hai Zhentao looked at the two seals at the end of the document and nodded vigorously.

"Haha." Luo Yangxing didn't respond, just laughed dryly twice.

"Father!" Hai Bokang was stunned, thinking that his father had become senile and confused.

"Shut up! Send the criminal to jail." Hai Zhentao said to Hai Bokang. "Go!"

"My son doesn't know what's good for him and has no future. Please don't take it to heart, General Luo." Hai Zhentao didn't look at Hai Bokang, but stared at Luo Yangxing with smiling eyes.

"You're so polite." Luo Yangxing first performed a standard bow, then clasped his fingers together and pointed towards the clerk. "Please."

"Why would you be so polite? We're just following the rules." Hai Zhentao stamped the document with the East Office seal, then took out his personal seal. "Alright."

Luo Yangxing had achieved his goal, so he didn't stay any longer. "Officer Hai, the prisoners have been handed over, and I'm leaving now."

"General Luo, please do as you please." Hai Zhentao nodded.

Not long after Luo Yangxing left, Hai Bokang, who had settled Sun Ruyou, returned from prison.

"Father, the Donglin Party's mission must have gone awry!" Hai Bokang was so anxious that he scratched his head. "There's something fishy going on here!"

"You tell me." Hai Zhentao's fake smile vanished. "If I can't even see past this, I'm done with this job. Before, I was desperately trying to get a job with the Donglin Party, but I couldn't. Tian Ergeng's minions ate it all up. Now the only big fish that was 'co-sponsored' has jumped into the Donglin Party's pool. Who knows how big a ripple this will cause."

"Then why are you going to return it?" Haibokang was puzzled.

"Bullshit." Hai Zhentao looked at the paperwork. "Young Master Luo has already brought the people and the paperwork. It's obvious he's leaving us no room for negotiation. 'The Northern Pacification Office is short-staffed,' 'Luo Yangxing is greedy for merit and took on the case,' 'but the Experience Office is busy,' 'The Eastern Office has the authority to investigate and will definitely handle this.'"

"He even took the initiative to admit his own faults in the document. I haven't seen such a well-written co-organizer transfer document in a long time. He's in the right when this document is sent to the Imperial Household Department. He truly deserves to be in charge of the case."

"You're praising that bitch." Hai Bokang wanted to curse. "Really? Are you so afraid of Luo Zhangwei?"

"Lord Luo has been very kind to our Hai family." Hai Zhentao patted the back of the main seat. "If it weren't for his recommendation, your father wouldn't have been able to sit in this chair."

"Then you can't be so flattering." Hai Bokang muttered softly.

"That's all you can do!" Hai Zhentao sighed, his tone rather iron-willed. "It can't be turned down, so it's better to make it look good on the surface. If losing your temper worked, your father would have done it long ago."

"I" Hai Bokang didn't expect his father to hear so clearly.

Hai Zhentao ignored his son and returned to the main seat, pulling out a well-formed and complete order. He then removed the brush from the pen holder and rolled the tip of it twice in the inkstone.

"Is this what you want?"

"I don't know what went wrong with the Donglin Party case, and I don't want to know. The Dongsifang is simply accepting a normal co-sponsorship assignment." Hai Zhentao filled in the blank name and assignment fields. "Now that this assignment has been handed to the Dongsifang, no matter who is assigned, they will be implicated if something goes wrong. Rather than being timid, it's better to take a chance and assign someone we know well, who is obedient and useful." Hai Zhentao looked at Hai Bokang.

"Dad, I won't do this job." Hai Bokang shook his head repeatedly. "You can't expect your son to die knowing it's going to go wrong."

"Who said you should do it? Are you any good? You're so stubborn, you can't handle this kind of thing. You're bound to mess it up." After the ink dried, Hai Zhentao produced two more seals and stamped them at the end of the document. "Send it to your brother-in-law. We're family. Don't try to make things sound better than Luo Yangxing did." Hai Zhentao handed the written order to Hai Bokang.

"Lu Wenzhao?" Hai Bokang looked at his father in confusion.

"Do you have another brother-in-law?" Hai Zhentao took back the document. He sighed and said, "Forget it. I'll go there myself. He's more promising than you. And if he gets into trouble, I can still help him."

(End of this chapter)