Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 154 Charge forward and fight!
Following Cui Wensheng's order, hundreds of Dongchang men wearing cloaks poured out from the side halls on both sides of Qianqing Gate. They held long whips and court sticks and surrounded the civil and military officials present.

"The noon court has been cancelled!" Cui Wensheng held up the imperial edict with both hands and shouted, "Leave!"

"Leave!" The Dongchang men present also shouted along with their supervisor.

During the day, the area around Qianqing Gate was a frequent haunt of eunuchs from various government offices, and it was far from quiet. The clamor of officials even caused some passing eunuchs without urgent work to slow down or even stop to watch. However, once the Dongchang guards appeared, the eunuchs uninvolved fled the area like they were fleeing for their lives.

"Cui Dongchang!" Fang Congzhe remained kneeling because he hadn't received the imperial edict. He stood up and looked up at the imperial edict in his hand, not Cui Wensheng. "What are you going to do?"

"Prime Minister Fang, for your sake, I'll say it again." Cui Wensheng handed the imperial edict to the eunuch at the right rear. This forced Fang Congzhe to either look away or look up at him. "The noon court is over. Take these people and leave immediately. Even if you have something huge to say, you must follow the rules step by step!"

The rule that Cui Wensheng mentioned was that memorials should first be submitted to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and then to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Ceremonies.

"No need to go to so much trouble. Our memorial has been written! It's right here. Your Majesty, please accept our advice!" A kneeling low-ranking official in the crowd suddenly stood up, took out the memorial from his arms, and held it up.

"Your Majesty, please accept my advice!" Seeing someone step forward, dozens of people in one area raised their pre-prepared memorials.

Zou Yuanbiao's obituary was only issued this morning, and the officials who had agreed in advance had not prepared any petitions related to it. The memorials they had were still used to discuss matters for the court meeting.

"I want to see what you said." As the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department, Cui Wensheng was qualified to review memorials.

With a casual gesture, he summoned dozens of Dongchang guards to his side, protecting him. Ming Dynasty civil officials were known for their martial virtues, and there were historical precedents of civil officials beating eunuchs to death. Caution was crucial.

Cui Wensheng not only had a good memory but also good eyesight, and he quickly found the first person who held up the memorial. "Give it to me."

The official remained unmoved and maintained his original posture, only kneeling and holding the memorial in his hand even tighter.

"Give it to me! Even if this thing is sent to the Imperial Household Department, I can still read it!" Cui Wensheng roughly snatched the memorial and unfolded it. He was more concerned with the names than the facts. Therefore, his first glance fell not on the main text but on the signature at the end. "Well! Zhou Chaorui, another jerk who wants me dead. You fleas really can't stop haunting me!"

Cui Wensheng scanned the memorial in a matter of moments. "Get out of here! The imperial edict clearly states the matters concerning the court meeting!" Cui Wensheng's first instinct was to smash the memorial against Zhou Chaorui's head, but then he realized that might be seen as imitating the emperor. After a few breaths, he restrained himself and simply tossed the memorial in front of Zhou Chaorui.

"Let's put aside the court proceedings. The Jinyiwei acted recklessly. We, the officials, are now demanding justice for Lord Nan Gao, who died unjustly in the imperial prison!" Zhou Chaorui put away the memorial and shouted. "Your Majesty, please punish the murderer severely!"

"Your Majesty, please severely punish the Northern Pacification Office!" The person kneeling beside him immediately responded.

"Your Majesty, please severely punish the Embroidered Uniform Guards!" For a moment, everyone shouted in unison, shaking the palace.

If the Emperor handed the task of rectifying the Imperial Guard to the Eastern Depot, Cui Wensheng would naturally be happy to see it. But even if the Imperial Guard was to be rectified, it should be the Emperor's sole decision, not the civil servants'. If this group of people just took whatever they said, that would be disastrous!

Cui Wensheng, escorted by his guards, quickly walked to the open space beside the official column and raised his right hand high. "This is my final warning to you. Go back!"

When the guards of the Eastern Depot heard the signal from the director, they stood up quickly, nervously grasped the whips or court canes in their hands, and prepared to charge.

These guards, temporarily transferred to the Forbidden Palace, were all young men fresh out of training. Most of them had never even seen a county magistrate in their lives, let alone a scene like the shouting of officials. They breathed heavily, even more nervous than the officials kneeling on the ground.

"Bah! Eunuch!" An imperial censor expressed his attitude with the thick phlegm stuck in his throat.

The spit splashed three steps in front of Cui Wensheng, but it was enough to anger him. "Good! Very good!"

"Do you really think you can rebel in the Forbidden City?!" Cui Wensheng slashed down with his raised right hand. "Charge forward and beat them! I'll beat anyone who dares to raise their hand!"

"Yes!" The guards were stunned for a moment, but after the first person rushed out, everyone rushed out.

Under the clear sky, a thin dark cloud floated over, briefly blocking the sunlight on Qianqingmen Square.

In the entire procession of civil officials, this group of people holding memorials and shouting did not even account for one-third. Therefore, after the Dongchang guards surrounded them and separated them from the other officials, they were able to assign each of them a court stick or a whip.

At once, whips and sticks came down, and the trees in the eastern forest collapsed!
Amidst the shouting and cursing, a panicked young man swung his arm and smashed the solid wooden court stick hard on the forearm of an official.

Bang! The official's forearm was broken with a muffled thud. "Ah!" A shrill scream rang out, startling the high-ranking officials still kneeling at the stone steps of Qianqing Gate.

The first person to react was Fang Congzhe. At this point, he no longer cared about the rule of "not rising without an imperial decree." He tried to push himself up, but his old body slowed him down. As soon as he placed his shoe soles on the stone floor, he felt a sudden blackness in his vision.

Xu Guangqi stepped over and tried to help Fang Congzhe up, but Fang Congzhe waved his hand to stop him: "Don't worry about me, go! Go and stop him!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Guangqi quickly stood up and rushed towards the encirclement of the barbarians, shouting as he ran: "Stop! Stop the fighting! Stop it now!"

"Yu Chen! Help these old gentlemen up quickly!" Among the cabinet officials present, in addition to Xu Guangqi, there were two "young people" under the age of sixty, but these two "young people" just looked at each other and did not follow Xu Guangqi.

"I can stand up by myself." Ye Xianggao declined Liu Yirong's kindness and gave him a subtle look.

"I knew it." Left Censor-in-Chief Zhang Wenda scrambled to his feet, gazing at the wall of men from the Eastern Depot from afar. He muttered to himself, "Something big has happened. It's really big."

"Xu Zi went first, so why don't we go too?" Cui Jingrong asked Wang Zuo beside him.

"Lord Zhou and Lord Li haven't moved, so why should we go and join in the fun? The cabinet will handle it." Wang Zuo still rested his forehead on the front of his official robes. "If the cabinet can't handle it, there's no point for us to go up there."

Cui Wensheng only glanced at Xu Guangqi, who practically roared at him, but didn't intend to pay him any attention. The emperor had not only granted him special permission to transfer two general bannermen into the Forbidden City, but had also granted him the power to act at his own discretion. With such an opportunity, he naturally wanted to perform well and avenge this betrayal.

In a flash, Xu Guangqi ran to the crowd. He tried to rush in to save the censors who were being beaten, but was stopped by the wall of people holding hands and linking arms. So he turned around and shouted to Cui Wensheng: "Eunuch Cui! Cui Dongchang! Tell them to stop, they can't do this!"

"As long as they put their hands down and kneel down honestly, the whipping will stop." Cui Wensheng simply replied. At this time, four cabinet members, Fang, Ye, Liu, and Han, also came over.

"Cui Wensheng!" Fang Congzhe shouted angrily, "If you don't stop, you might as well have someone beat me up too!"

"How could that be? Elder Fang is so old, how could he endure such torture? You'd better just watch from the side." Cui Wensheng remained unmoved. "Don't worry, he won't die. At most, he'll just have some minor injuries." He said, pointing to his back.

------

Qianqing Gate Hall.

The emperor sat on the dragon throne in a semi-reclining position with his head supported by his hand. On his left and right stood Wang An, the eunuch in charge of the seal of the Imperial Household Department, and Shang Jingying, the eunuch in charge of the seal of the Imperial Stables. They were like two door gods, guarding the emperor in the center without moving.

Under the Sumeru throne, two eunuchs with the same surname Wei were standing on the left and right next to the incense burner.

"Master, Cui Wensheng is punishing officials without seeking an imperial decree. This is an act of usurpation!" The commotion outside the palace continued for a moment before Wei Zhongxian turned and stepped back to bow to the emperor. He had come directly from the Western Depot to the Qianqing Gate, unaware that the emperor had dictated to Cui Wensheng in the study the right to act at his own discretion.

"Why do you think the Imperial Household Department allowed him to mobilize the Eastern Depot's troops into the palace?" Wang An asked. The emperor remained reclining, seemingly lost in thought, perhaps even asleep.

"But he should at least come in and say hello." Wei Zhongxian was so smart that he guessed what was going on almost exactly with just this one question.

"Would you enter the palace to ask for permission in public, and then go out and beat someone up?" Another rhetorical question, but this time it came from Shang Jingying. Even though Wei Zhongxian looked honest, Shang Jingying instinctively felt aversion to him.

"How about you go out and stop him, to give the civil servants some face?" Wang An raised his voice slightly.

"How dare I!" Wei Zhongxian knelt down immediately.

Wei Chao then knelt as well. "Your Majesty, my two ancestors! This kind of beating is not the solution. This is different from Zou Yuanbiao's suicide in the imperial prison." Although no evidence had been found, the palace had already ruled Zou Yuanbiao's death a suicide out of fear of punishment. "If someone were to die in the Forbidden City, I'm afraid it would ultimately tarnish Your Majesty's virtue." Although he suggested that the emperor punish all officials with caning, Qianqingmen Square was clearly not the place for execution.

"Is Zhang Weixian here?" Zhu Changluo finally opened his eyes.

"My Lord, the Duke of Ying is outside the palace." Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, was the Emperor's primary focus. Therefore, as he was leading a group of military officers in formation at the Meridian Gate, an eunuch came over to announce his arrival.

"Cui Wensheng dares to challenge Fang Congzhe, but he will still give face to Zhang Weixian." Zhu Changluo said.

"This is a matter for the civil servants." Wei Chao kowtowed and said, "I'm afraid the Duke of Ying is unwilling to step forward."

"No. He will definitely come out."

------

Zhang Weixian did not move. Like the other military officers, he still knelt in his original position.

If the civil servants who had caused the disturbance had only been beaten for the court meeting, he would have been fine. However, before they were beaten, they shouted, "Severe punishment for the Jinyiwei." Although as a noble relative, he had never and could never get involved with the Jinyiwei, the Luo and Zhang families had maintained a close but restrained relationship since the Jiajing Emperor entered the Forbidden City.

"Duke!" A figure knelt in front of Zhang Weixian.

"Mr. Xu?" Zhang Weixian moved a little to the side. Even a hereditary duke was not qualified to accept the kneeling worship of an official appointed by the court.

"Now only you can mediate!" Xu Guangqi did not kowtow but just bowed to Zhang Weixian.

He knelt down so as not to look down upon the Duke of England. If he kowtowed again, it would be like putting Zhang Weixian on the stage.

"Cui Wensheng is an important official in the palace. How can I possibly persuade him?" Zhang Weixian politely refused.

"Your Majesty, your word is law. Why be so modest?" Xu Guangqi said earnestly, "If someone were killed here, how would we explain it to the Emperor?"

When Zhang Weixian heard Xu Guangqi mention the emperor, his eyes changed slightly.

"Cui Wensheng is taking the opportunity to take revenge. We can't let him tarnish the emperor's virtue!" Xu Guangqi added fuel to the fire.

"Okay, I'll try." Zhang Weixian agreed. He and Xu Guangqi stood up together and, under the gaze of a group of civil and military officials, walked quickly towards the source of the screams.

"Cui Wensheng!" Zhang Weixian called Cui Wensheng by his name directly, without any concern for the fact that he was a "high-ranking official in the palace."

Cui Wensheng was enjoying the thrill of revenge when he suddenly realized someone was calling him by his given name. He glanced toward the palace gate, but seeing nothing unusual, he angrily turned toward the source of the voice. "You..." The words he was about to pour out were caught in his throat after he saw who it was. "Duke Yingying?"

Over the past two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the only imperial concubine or relative below them who, without military merit, was awarded the rank of First Rank Left Commander-in-Chief was Zheng Guotai, the brother of Concubine Zheng. Even at the height of Concubine Zheng's favor, Zheng Guotai dared not act presumptuously in front of Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian. And as a former lackey of Concubine Zheng, how could Cui Wensheng not recognize Zhang Weixian?

"Cui Wensheng, what are you doing?" Zhang Weixian asked rudely.

Cui Wensheng subconsciously touched his left cheek and said, "These people disobeyed the imperial edict and committed treason. Naturally, I will teach them a lesson on behalf of the emperor."

He tactfully reminded Zhang Weixian that when beating a dog, one must look at the owner. Although I am still a dog, I am no longer the Zheng family's dog, but the emperor's dog.

Zhang Weixian didn't even hum, but said coldly: "Tell them to stop, or I will report you."

(End of this chapter)