Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 242: General Wei visits the Duke

The work of the Experience Office was already complex and tedious, and recently it had been expanded to include the inspection and reporting of the performance of the 100 households. So when Luo Yangxing returned home, the hour of You had already struck.

Luo Yangxing walked into the house, regardless of his fatigue, and immediately found his father. At this time, Luo Sigong had already finished his dinner and was half-leaning on a chair made of huanghuali wood, closing his eyes to rest.

"Father, I heard that you were called in for questioning by the Western Factory? Are you okay?" Luo Yangxing asked worriedly.

"You came back just now? Have you eaten?" Luo Sigong opened his eyes and asked calmly.

"Oh! You still care about whether I have eaten or not." Although the time for the yamen to close is fixed, it is difficult for the Luo family's father and son to get off work at the same time. It is possible that someone has to work overtime sometimes, so they basically eat in separate kitchens.

Luo Sigong chuckled and sighed, saying, "It wasn't a big deal. It was Junior Supervisor Li who sent me in for questioning. It was just a routine matter. But then Director Wei suddenly came back from the Southern Study. He was so angry he pulled me over and gave me another beating."

Upon hearing this, Luo Yangxing's brows furrowed. "Nanshufang? Did Supervisor Wei report this to the Emperor?" Everyone in the inner and outer courts knew that the Emperor resided in the Nanshufang. Therefore, "going to the Nanshufang" meant going to see the Emperor.

"Probably." Luo Sigong leaned his elbows against the armrests of his chair and supported his forehead with his palms. It was obvious that he was not as calm as he said.

"And then?" Luo Yangxing asked after Luo Sigong let out a long sigh.

"For now, it's all talk and no action." Luo Sigong thought for a moment and said, "Supervisor Wei is probably going to the Emperor to poke holes in our system, but since the Emperor still gave us the case to investigate, it probably hasn't been solved. However, the Western Depot has sent someone to supervise the case."

"Who is it?" Luo Sigong asked immediately.

"Wang Chengen." Luo Sigong used his free hand to touch the corner of his mouth. He had been feeling a bit irritated recently and had a hidden pimple at the corner of his mouth.

"The Director of the Western Factory's External Inspection Department?" Luo Yangxing's already tense brows furrowed even tighter.

"It's actually quite interesting." Luo Sigong said inexplicably, "I've seen him a few times. He's just a kid, only this tall." As he spoke, Luo Sigong gestured at his chest. "He looks much smaller than Yangzhi."

In addition to Luo Yangxing, Luo Sigong also had two sons, Yangxin and Yangzhi. However, among these three sons, only the eldest son, Yangxing, was born to his legitimate wife, Zhao Yinxiu. His legitimate wife, who has passed away, was also quite influential. Zhao Yinxiu's father, Zhao Mengyou, had twice served as the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei, but both times were short-lived, less than a year in total. Although Luo Sigong's current position was mainly due to his own efforts, and Zhao Mengyou's help to him was not significant, Luo Sigong did not remarry after Zhao Yinxiu's death.

"Don't underestimate Wang Chengen, he's a real jerk. And wasn't he the one who oversaw the case of Director Cui embezzling the Zheng family's stolen funds?" Luo Yangxing was disgusted by the fact that he and Zheng Yangxing shared the same name. So whenever he mentioned Zheng Yangxing, he would refer to him as "Zheng family." "And there's also news that he's responsible for the recent turmoil in the palace."

The Luo family had been very good to the previous eunuchs in charge of ceremonies and the eunuchs in charge of the Eastern Depot. However, because these eunuchs had landed safely beforehand, the turmoil in the palace really did not affect the Jinyiwei at all.

"Haha. No one brings about wind and rain. Whether it is windy and rainy, or lightning and thunder, what is supposed to happen will always happen." Luo Sigong said meaningfully.

Luo Yangxing was startled. He stopped talking and asked, "Who do you think should be assigned this task?"

"What do you think?" Luo Sigong narrowed his eyes and asked back.

In the past, if Luo Sigong had been granted this kind of assignment, he would have most likely handed it directly to the Northern Pacification Office for investigation. However, now that Tian Ergeng had broken with the Luo family and had defected to the Western Factory Supervisor, becoming Wei Zhongxian's "big brother," the Northern Pacification Office became a government office that was avoided whenever possible.

Luo Yangxing also considered this and suggested, "This is a serious matter. I think we should use someone we can trust. How about sending Hai Tongzhi to investigate?"

Luo Sigong shook his head and said, "No. The Southern Division is responsible for internal purges. Asking the Southern Division to investigate would only put the blame on oneself." Hai Zhentao had been promoted to the Southern Pacification Division, and now the position of Governor of the Eastern Division was still vacant.

"What should we do then?" Luo Yangxing asked.

Luo Sigong opened his slightly narrowed eyes and said intently, "I want you to check."

"Me?" Luo Yangxing pointed to his chest and said hesitantly, "The Lishi Department is, after all, a government office that manages documents. Right now, just by overseeing the performance reports of the various Hundred Household Offices, there are already censors impeaching the Lishi Department for exceeding its authority. If I were to also take on the task of investigating, I'm afraid censors would impeach me, or even you, when you're old."

"We won't investigate in the name of the Experience Department." Luo Sigong said.

"Then in the name of which government office?" Luo Yangxing asked doubtfully.

A trace of solemnity flashed across Luo Sigong's eyes. "It's still the East Office."

"You want to transfer me to the East Office?" Luo Yangxing was shocked.

"It's not a transfer, but a temporary concurrent posting." Luo Sigong explained, "Didn't you get promoted to Qianhu? Since this Qianhu title is nominal and not yet registered with the government, I will temporarily register it under the name of the East Office and concurrently take on the actual post of Jishi Qianhu. Once this post is completed, I will immediately resign."

Luo Sigong hadn't considered promoting Luo Yangxing to a higher position yet. This was primarily because the Experience Department was highly confidential, and he couldn't find anyone better than Luo Yangxing to fill the position. Secondly, Luo Yangxing was too young and lacked any significant achievements. The mere fact that he'd been promoted to a thousand households without inheriting a hereditary title was enough to terrify Luo Sigong. If he were to be given a high-ranking official position, regardless of whether he could be suppressed, he wouldn't have any chance of rebuttal if he were to be criticized by the censors or even the Western Depot.

Although impeachment and criticism were meaningless in the face of the "Sheng Favor Longwang", Luo Sigong was not Luo An and lacked the trust of the Emperor's attendant. Not only did he not have the support of Longwang's Holy Favor, he had even been rebuked twice by the Emperor. Therefore, this assignment could only be taken concurrently, and it also required approval.

"Okay. I'll listen to you." Luo Yangxing nodded solemnly, then added, "But father, I have no experience in investigating cases. What if I mess up?"

"Don't worry, there's always a first time for everything. Besides, Jingcai hasn't been away from the East Office for long, so the detectives there are all trustworthy veterans. Just take charge of the overall situation, keep it under control, and leave the details to them. Besides, this case isn't difficult to investigate." Luo Sigong stood up, smiled, and patted Luo Yangxing on the shoulder. Hai Zhentao, courtesy name Jingcai.

Luo Yangxing smiled back, "I know. You said that initially, only the eunuchs in charge of ceremonies, the cabinet ministers, and the officials of the six ministries knew about this. Later, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of War's Chariot and Imperial Guards, and the Rear Army Commander-in-Chief's Office also became aware of this."

The Criminal Department was responsible for signing the imperial edict, the Ministry of War's Chariot and Imperial Vehicle Department was responsible for issuing the postal token, and the Military Governor's Office and the Ministry of War jointly provided the legal basis for the Jinyiwei to take over the Tianjin Guard.

"The Imperial Household Department won't intervene. If the incident really happened in the palace, it's beyond our control. The emperor will make his own decision. And the Imperial Guards can also be ruled out. Regardless of whether the Imperial Guards were responsible, judging by the news from Tianjin, it couldn't have been the Imperial Guards. Shen Caiyu escaped on the seventh day of the first lunar month. And the Imperial Guards didn't issue the post order until the tenth. The timing doesn't match." Luo Sigong not only investigated the case, but also participated in the three major expeditions, engaging in subversion and sabotage behind enemy lines. He is an extremely experienced veteran. When he knew that this task would fall to the Jinyiwei again, he began to think.

Luo Sigong sighed. "But we can only rule out the Imperial Guards. The Criminal Division's signature and the order to take over the three guards in Tianjin were obtained years ago."

"If we talk about people, who is most likely to leak the information to Shen Caiyu?" Luo Yangxing asked.

"Generally speaking, when something goes wrong in a garrison, officials from the Ministry of War, especially the court officials, are the most likely suspects. Tsk! But..." Luo Sigong immediately shook his head and dismissed the idea. "If it was Yang Zhiyin who was in charge of the Ministry of War, then I would first suspect him of leaking the secrets. But Yang Zhiyin died of exhaustion in office last March. The current Minister of War is Cui Ziqiang."

"Is there any difference between them? I remember that Yang Zuotang and Cui Butang were both Jinshi in the 11th year of Wanli?" Luo Yangxing had a basic understanding of the ministers and vice ministers of various ministries.

Luo Sigong said, "Although Yang Zhiyin and Cui Ziqiang were both Jinshi in the 11th year of the Wanli reign, and were mostly involved in the Ministry of War, Yang Zhiyin served twice as a minister in the Ministry of War."

While the Military Selection and Clearing Office of the Ministry of War managed the selection, appointment, rank, bestowal, and inheritance of military officials, as well as the succession and bestowal of titles and titles to local chieftains, the authority to judge the merits and demerits of military officials, however, lay squarely in the hands of the Officials' Clearing Office. If a military officer failed to achieve merit, even if he inherited his ancestral position, he would not be able to claim the position. Luo Sigong criticized Yang Yingpin precisely because his tenure as Director and then Doctor of the Officials' Clearing Office overlapped closely with the time period when Shen Caiyu was conducting merit assessments and appointing officials.

"Cui Ziqiang spent most of his time in the border areas. Even when serving in the capital, he was mostly involved in military affairs. He had little to do with Tianjin. Unless Cui Ziqiang immediately accepted bribes from the military officers in the capital after taking over, he wouldn't have had much contact with Shen Caiyu." Luo Sigong took a sip of herbal tea to moisten his throat. "Let's put it another way. Even if Cui Ziqiang took money from Tianjin, it was probably indirect. He wouldn't have taken the risk of notifying Shen Caiyu to flee."

While Luo Yangxing was thinking, Luo Sigong said, "Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that the information was accidentally leaked by Cui Ziqiang and then flowed to the criminal through some channel. But in this case, the Ministry of War is no longer special!"

At this point, the figure that had been lingering in Luo Sigong's mind for a long time suddenly solidified. "You eat first, I need to go out for a while."

"Now?" Luo Yangxing was momentarily stunned. He looked at Luo Sigong's receding figure and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Zhang Mansion." Luo Sigong raised his hand and waved to the relatives who followed him, "Prepare the car!"

------

Less than a quarter of an hour later, the carriage with the Luo Mansion lantern hanging on it arrived at the gate of the Zhang Mansion and stopped steadily.

As the coachman opened the curtain for Luo Sigong, a servant who was accompanying the coachman quickly ran under the eaves and knocked on the door of Zhang's mansion.

Luo Sigong stepped out of the carriage and looked up at the bright red lanterns, his anxiety growing even greater. He strode up the steps and reached the door. At that moment, the doorman opened the door a crack and walked out.

The rules of the Zhang Mansion are extremely strict. No matter who comes to visit, whether the host sees him or not, the doorman must come out to greet him.

As soon as the doorman came out, he immediately recognized the person. His eyes lit up, and he took three steps to Luo Sigong and bowed deeply: "Greetings, General Luo."

"Is the Duke at home?" Luo Sigong smiled and nodded and asked.

"Yes. Please come in." The doorman smiled and waved his hand.

Luo Sigong was one of the few people whom Zhang Weixian, the Duke of England, considered a guest of honor. Zhang Weixian had specifically instructed that no matter what time it was, whether he was there or not, or what he was doing, as long as Luo Sigong came to visit, he should be invited in immediately without further questioning.

"Thank you." Luo Sigong also knew about this, but every time he visited, he would ask politely and wait for the doorman to take him in.

The doorman led Luo Sigong directly to the small reception room in the back hall of the Zhang Mansion. Luo Sigong sat for a while before being served light tea and cakes. These items were always available, requiring no instructions. As long as the small reception room was used, the corresponding servants would take care of everything.

Despite the excellent hospitality, the host, Duke of England Zhang Weixian, would not come over immediately. This was certainly not because Zhang Weixian was deliberately being pretentious or being inconsiderate. Rather, it was because he was too particular.

If it was a formal meeting with an official, Zhang Weixian would change into his official uniform. If it was a visit from a relative, he would wear a gorgeous brocade robe. Of course, if it was the emperor himself, he would wear the dragon robe bestowed upon him.

However, since he inherited the title in the 26th year of the Wanli reign, he had never encountered such a major event as the emperor's presence, and the extremely expensive robes he was bestowed upon him were rarely used. If he had to say, Zhang Weixian had only met the Wanli Emperor once in his life, and that was on July 21st of the previous year, when the emperor was seriously ill.

Soon, Duke of England Zhang Weixian, wearing a black robe with purple edges and cloud patterns, came to the reception room in the back hall.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Luo Sigong immediately stood up. When he confirmed that it was Zhang Weixian coming in, he immediately went to greet him, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Duke."

Jinyiwei officials were only allowed to greet officials one rank higher than theirs, as were officials from other provinces and lower-ranking officials in the capital. For high-ranking officials like the Ministers and the Nine Ministers, they generally performed according to their rank, unless the Jinyiwei were carrying orders from the emperor to arrest someone. Therefore, even though Luo Sigong was the highest-ranking officer in the Jinyiwei, he still had to greet the Duke of Yingguo, a high-ranking official, with the courtesy of a lower official.

(End of this chapter)