Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 256 Governor of Tianjin
After the daily court meetings were canceled, the emperor's rising time was postponed from 1:05 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. After the Lunar New Year holiday, the emperor also changed his usual practice of accompanying the princes in their studies to only occasionally visiting them. However, the emperor did not and did not intend to cancel his morning exercises.

The emperor's morning exercise time was from 6:15 AM to 1:15 PM daily. After completing his morning exercises, he would rest for 15 minutes to catch his breath. In other words, from 1:15 PM onward, the emperor would begin work. To accommodate the emperor's schedule, Wang An sent someone to inform Sun Chengzong to enter the palace at 1:15 PM.

The door to the Southern Study stood wide open. When Sun Chengzong arrived, he found Wei Chao, the powerful Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, helping the Emperor change from his morning exercise clothes into his formal attire, embroidered with five dragons. Meanwhile, Wang An, the Seal-bearing Eunuch, held a large mirror, adjusting his position to follow the Emperor's gait, allowing him to admire his presence at any moment. Only the young Fourth Eunuch, Liu Ruoyu, sat at his desk in the entire Southern Study, sorting the first batch of memorials that had arrived that day.

Sun Chengzong was stunned. He didn't know whether he should go in at this time. But soon, the emperor solved this problem for him.

As their eyes met, Wang An moved the mirror and the emperor, who was facing the palace gate, spotted Sun Chengzong's figure.

Sun Chengzong wore a crimson official uniform. It was meticulously crafted, perfectly in accordance with official regulations. The vibrant crimson fabric was woven with a series of small, 1.5-inch-diameter floral patterns. He wore a golden lychee-patterned belt around his waist and a futou (a traditional Chinese headdress) on his head. While the official uniform lacked patches like regular clothing, anyone familiar with the situation could tell at a glance that he was a fourth-rank official.

Don't be fooled by the old man's stern face, sword-like eyebrows, and protruding beard, which makes him look like a military general on weekdays. But once he puts on this robe, his temperament of a civil servant suddenly emerges.

"Come in." Because they were a little far away, Sun Chengzong did not hear the emperor's greeting, but he had good eyesight and knew that the emperor was gesturing to him to come in.

Sun Chengzong stepped into the hall, came to the central open space, lifted his robe and kowtowed. "Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long, long live the emperor!"

"Master Sun, please sit down and wait for a while." Zhu Changluo turned his head and found that there were no stools on the open space, so he smiled and instructed Liu Ruoyu: "Bring a stool over to Master Sun."

"Yes." Liu Ruoyu immediately put down his work and brought the stool closest to him to Sun Chengzong. He smiled and said kindly, "Master Sun, please sit down."

This was the first time Liu Ruoyu had seen Sun Chengzong since entering the Imperial Household Department. Even if he had met him by chance before, he might not have known who he was. Fourth-rank officials in the outer court were not as numerous as cattle hairs, but they were not rare either. However, Liu Ruoyu now knew that this old man had been treated kindly by the emperor and given a seat, and therefore he needed to be greeted with a smile.

"Thank you, Liu Bingbi." Sun Chengzong didn't recognize Liu Ruoyu's young face. However, he knew that a Bingbi named Liu had been appointed to the Imperial Household Department. This person was Wang An's junior fellow apprentice. He had previously been relatively unknown in the outer court. To prevent Sun Chengzong from being left out in the cold, Liu Ruoyu sensibly pulled the cushion off his chair when he arrived. Sun Chengzong had sharp eyes and noticed this, so his first impression of Liu Ruoyu was quite good.

"Master Sun, you're too polite." Liu Ruoyu didn't try to get too close to him. He returned to his seat and continued to classify and pile up the memorials.

Sun Chengzong sat silently for a while, and only after the emperor changed his clothes with the help of two top eunuchs did he stand up and bow.

"Master Sun, there's no need to be so polite." Zhu Changluo sat down behind the imperial desk. He leaned his hands on the armrests, assuming a relaxed, bare-chested sitting position. "Master Sun, have you heard the news from the cabinet?" Zhu Changluo let out a long, refreshing breath.

"I came to see His Majesty immediately after entering the palace. I have never been to the cabinet." Although Sun Chengzong had always been on good terms with Liu Yirong, Ye Xianggao and others, he rarely took the initiative to interact with cabinet members outside of festivals.

During the initial period following the death of the previous emperor and the ascension of the new emperor, Sun Chengzong had originally wanted to get closer to the powerful Donglin Party to gain their support and reduce their constraints, even though he disliked the overly assertive Zhao Nanxing. However, after the emperor repeatedly rebuked the Donglin Party and suppressed their arrogance, Sun Chengzong no longer felt the need to do so.

After the Donglin Party Case, Liu Yirong tried to get Sun Chengzong to attend a small meeting of the Donglin Party, but he politely declined. He was only willing to maintain a pure friendship with Liu Yirong personally. After all, Liu Yirong had helped him during the Beijing inspection.

"There's a pacification commissioner in Tianjin named Shen who has submitted a petition impeaching various officials of our garrison for various illegal activities. I've decided to assemble a team to investigate this matter thoroughly." Zhu Changluo encountered at least eighty names every day, if not a hundred. He only remembered the Tianjin garrison commissioner's surname simply because "Shen" was so rare. He couldn't help but take a second look. "I've personally written the imperial edict and have instructed the cabinet to select a person. However, the team must have a leader. Master Sun, are you willing to go?"

"I have no objection, but I will obey your Majesty's orders." Sun Chengzong answered immediately without any hesitation.

"Okay." Zhu Changluo nodded with satisfaction. He then pulled a piece of paper from a drawer, written in black ink, and in the only blank space, he wrote the three characters "Sun Chengzong" in red ink. "I order you to serve as the Governor of Tianjin, with the title of Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. You will oversee Tianjin's military affairs, government affairs, military farms, and grain transport. You will also prepare for the opening of Tianjin as a port. The Governor's Office will be directly under my command, and you will not be subject to the control of the Governor-General of Ji and Liao or the Governor of Baoding."

The post of Tianjin Governor was actually a re-establishment. Between the 25th and 27th years of the Wanli reign, while the imperial court was sending troops north to aid Korea, in order to prevent Japanese pirates from landing in Tianjin and harassing the capital region, the post of Tianjin Governor was briefly separated from the Baoding Governor, who was in charge of the Zijing Pass and other passes and also managed the river. This position was then separated from the Baoding Governor, who was solely responsible for maritime defense and had no land jurisdiction. All matters in Tianjin were still handled by the original local officials.

In the 26th year of the Wanli reign, the attack on Ulsan failed, and Yang Hao, the governor of Korea, was dismissed. Wan Shide, the first governor of Tianjin, was transferred to the position of governor of Korea. That same month, the court promoted Wang Yingjiao, then the provincial governor of Shanxi, to the title of Right Censor-in-Chief as governor of Tianjin. In the 27th year of the Wanli reign, the Japanese invaders were pacified, and the Ming Dynasty issued an imperial edict announcing the victory. Wang Yingjiao was transferred to the position of governor of Baoding, and the post of governor of Tianjin was abolished. Currently, Wan Shide has died of illness while in office, and Yang Hao, still imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice after the defeat at Sarhu, is in constant fear. Wang Yingjiao is serving as the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, and had recently hosted a welcome reception for Sun Ruyou upon his arrival.

"I will definitely live up to the trust placed in me by Your Majesty." Sun Chengzong stood up and bowed solemnly.

"Wang An." Zhu Changluo called.

"The servant is here."

"Give the box to Master Sun." Zhu Changluo ordered.

"Yes." Wang An picked up an exquisite long box from the table and handed it to Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong took the box. Just as he was hesitating whether to thank the emperor and accept the reward, the emperor spoke: "If there is anything important, please write a memorial directly to the palace without going through the Ministry of Public Security. If it is not a serious matter, you can also write a letter to chat."

Sun Chengzong felt both advisable and unfavourable about skipping the Ministry of Civil Affairs and writing directly to the emperor. He didn't know whether to refuse. After a pause, Sun Chengzong uttered a single word: "Yes." "Once we get there, arrest those who should be arrested and impeach those who should be impeached, but don't escalate the situation. Confine the matter to the Three Guards." As he spoke, Zhu Changluo folded up the filled-in paper and walked over to Sun Chengzong. "Master Sun, stop by the Cabinet on your way back. Give this to them and have them draft the imperial edict as soon as possible. This will save Wang An from having to make a trip."

"Yes." Sun Chengzong hurriedly put the box away and took the letter of appointment with both hands.

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Soon after, Sun Chengzong arrived at the cabinet duty room. As soon as he entered, he noticed a dull and oppressive atmosphere.

Sun Chengzong noticed that Liu Yirong and Han Yu had very grim expressions. Liu Yirong, in particular, looked as if someone had precisely grabbed a handful of green-headed flies flying around in a toilet, shoved them into a mortar, crushed them, added water, and forced the mixture down his throat.

Sun Chengzong quickly glanced around and guessed that the person who committed such a heinous act was most likely Shen, who was sitting opposite Liu Yirong.

Shen had assumed the emperor would immediately convene a new military, political, or financial meeting to discuss border patrols. But after two days, with no further action, he gave it a small push, instructing the censors to impeach Wen Qiu, the governor of Ji and Liao, for failing to recruit troops and suspected corruption.

This impeachment letter was very cleverly written, and even quoted the debate between Xiong Tingbi and Wen Qiu.

Initially, Xiong Tingbi, recommended for military service following the disastrous defeat at Sarhu, submitted a memorial stating that 180,000 troops were needed to defend Liao and gradually recover the Liao. However, Wen Qiu, then the governor of Datong, claimed that only 120,000 elite troops were needed to defeat the Liao. Wen Qiu's rhetoric, however, sparked a public outcry; he did not submit a memorial opposing Xiong Tingbi's strategy. The controversy was brief and quickly settled. The emperor personally intervened, ordering Xiong Tingbi to march north through Liao. In October of that year, he promoted Wen Qiu to Governor-General of Ji and Liao, tasked with procuring supplies and replenishing troops for Xiong Tingbi.

Shen's move was actually quite malicious. The emperor had already publicly characterized Xiong Tingbi's two years in Liaodong, declaring him meritorious in defending Liao. He had even issued multiple imperial decrees to disburse funds to cover Liao's shortfalls. Since Xiong Tingbi was right, Wen Qiu, who had initially opposed him, could be said to be wrong, even guilty.

Even worse, Xiong Tingbi had repeatedly singled out Wen Qiu for his ineffective recruitment in official documents to the Ministry of War. This was despite Xiong Tingbi dragging the heads of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Ji-Liao Governor's Office into the criticism.

Not only that, Shen also found a way to get this impeachment letter, which was drafted under his personal guidance, into Liu Yirong's hands and asked Liu Yirong to review it first.

The Ministry of War was a mess, and the national treasury was in deficit year after year. If there were floods or droughts anywhere, Beijing couldn't even allocate funds for disaster relief. These unpleasant events had Liu Yirong's mood in a turmoil. So when he read this seemingly mild but murderous impeachment letter, he almost stood up and threw the memorial in Shen's face.

Liu Yirong resisted the urge to start a fight in the cabinet duty room, but the price he paid was that his face turned as dark as if he had drunk fly juice.

When Sun Chengzong closed the door to his duty room, Liu Yirong had just slipped his draft of the impeachment into the memorial. Before the Prime Minister's approval, the drafts of other cabinet members were not valid. Therefore, only after Fang Congzhe reviewed and approved it could Liu Yirong's opinion become the cabinet's opinion and be submitted to the emperor.

"Sun Zhisheng?" The first person to notice Sun Chengzong was, of course, Han Yu, who was closest to the door. "Why are you here?"

"I just came out of the study. The emperor has assigned me a task." Sun Chengzong took out the letter of appointment from his sleeve pocket.

The word "study" immediately caught everyone's attention. The cabinet members put down their work and looked at him with curiosity.

"What job?" Han Yu asked.

"Governor of Tianjin." Sun Chengzong replied.

"Are you going?" Shen's eyebrows raised instinctively.

"Is there any problem?" Sun Chengzong didn't have a good impression of Shen, just like he didn't like Zhao Nanxing.

"How could that be a problem?" Shen quickly changed his smile from defiant to friendly. "You're the perfect person to go. When the cabinet received the imperial edict yesterday, you were the first person I thought of. The Emperor is truly wise." Shen's compliments to three people at once were delivered with remarkable naturalness and without a trace of guilt.

"I didn't expect that Lord Shen thinks so highly of a teacher like me." One should not hit a smiling person. Shen's expression changed quickly, and Sun Chengzong would not be slow either.

He was a consummate pragmatist, never falling out with anyone unless it was a matter of principle. During the assassination attempt, the emperor summoned Wu Daonan, a cabinet minister who had largely remained hidden from cabinet affairs, for questioning. Unsure of what to do, Wu Daonan sought advice from Sun Chengzong. Sun Chengzong replied, "If it concerns the Crown Prince, I must inquire; if it involves the Imperial Concubine, I cannot delve into it. Regarding matters below Pang Bao and Liu Cheng, I must inquire; above them, I cannot delve into it."

Sun Chengzong's handling of the case was in line with both the emperor and the crown prince's wishes. Wu Daonan followed Sun Chengzong's advice and quickly calmed the city's uproar. Sun Chengzong also came into the crown prince's sight.

"I'm also a teacher," Shen continued to praise Sun Chengzong, even subtly disparaging himself. "It's just that I can only teach at the Inner Academy, not the Imperial Palace." Shen now doubled as a lecturer at the Inner Academy, regularly visiting the Imperial Household Department to teach the young eunuchs. He also had a special student: Wei Zhongxian.

"There is no distinction between people in education." Sun Chengzong perfunctorily answered Shen while walking up to Fang Congzhe and handing him the letter of appointment.

(End of this chapter)