Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 257 Shen Caiyu’s body?

"How is your Majesty?" Fang Congzhe took the petition and immediately recognized it as the emperor's handwriting.

Fang Congzhe asked Sun Chengzong how the emperor was doing, which made Sun Chengzong a little confused. After a moment of hesitation, Sun Chengzong still said, "How is the emperor doing?"

"That's good, that's good." Fang Congzhe looked relieved. Sun Chengzong didn't understand what was going on, but he couldn't ask directly, so he could only lower his brows, narrow his right eye slightly, and express his confusion with his expression.

"The Emperor's comments yesterday were very harsh. He was clearly angry." It wasn't Fang Congzhe who explained Sun Chengzong's confusion, but Ye Xianggao, the deputy assistant sitting in the second seat. "When Wang Zhangyin came to the cabinet, his face wasn't looking good either."

Sun Chengzong asked, "Is the problem in Tianjin serious?" He had no idea what the emperor meant by "officials of this guard" and "illegal matters." He also didn't notice any sadness or anger on the emperor's face.

"Almost everyone in Tianjin is dishonest. Including Shen Zhengping, who wrote this memorial." Fang Congzhe took the memorial with the imperial edict and the imperial seal from a convenient place and placed it in front of Sun Chengzong. "Take a look for yourself."

Sun Chengzong silently accepted it, and with a single glance, the last vestiges of a smile vanished from his face. "The military farms are neglected, more than half the salaries are unpaid, the tax bureau is extorting money, and they are arbitrarily instituting criminal justice, acting as accomplices to the evil. This person who submitted the petition even impeached himself."

"Perhaps his conscience has awakened." Fang Congzhe chuckled, interrupted the conversation, and asked, "Does Zhisheng have any recommendations?"

"Let the cabinet allocate it. The imperial edict is clearly written." Sun Chengzong returned the imperial edict to Fang Congzhe.

Fang Congzhe opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. But in the end, he swallowed the words that were about to roll into his throat. "When are you planning to leave?"

Sun Chengzong replied, "If possible, I would like to leave today. Tianjin is not far away anyway."

"Okay." Fang Congzhe casually wrote a note to Sun Chengzong. "Go to the Censorate and the Imperial Household Department first to get the documents. Once these things are done, the imperial edict should also be in place."

Processes can be fast or slow.

"Thank you all for your hard work. I'll take my leave now." Before leaving, Sun Chengzong glanced at Liu Yirong. Liu Yirong gave him a forced smile in return.

--------

Sun Chengzong certainly couldn't guess what happened in the cabinet, but the gloomy atmosphere in the duty room that seemed to have condensed into something still affected Sun Chengzong. He began to have wild thoughts. The matter in Tianjin couldn't be that simple. He could think of everything that Zhao Xingbang could think of. He knew the inside story better than Zhao Xingbang. This Shen Zhengping had gone against his usual behavior, cut off his own escape route, and recklessly impeached his colleagues in the guard. This must be related to the opening of Tianjin and the Jinyiwei who went to investigate the case, but what exactly was the relationship? More importantly, the emperor had said not long ago that it was not to involve anyone other than the three guards. What did this "other" mean?

"Master Sun!"

Carrying the imperially bestowed wooden box, Sun Chengzong walked silently to the intersection between the riverside office and the billiard room. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice calling him from afar. He turned and focused, recognizing the person who called him at a glance. "Cui Dongchang?"

When Cui Wensheng approached, Sun Chengzong formally saluted him. "Greetings, Cui Dongchang."

"Are you going back now?" Cui Wensheng politely returned the greeting with a student's formality. His arrogance and insolence were also directed at others. Cui Wensheng felt that, in a sense, the position of Sun Chengzong, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household, was even higher than that of Fang Congzhe, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet.

"I will go to the Censorate to get the documents and try to leave the capital today." Sun Chengzong put away the solemnity on his face, cooperated with Cui Wensheng's flattery, and showed a warm smile.

Sun Chengzong's impression of Cui Wensheng was neither good nor bad. His only certainty was that he was a man of few scruples and extreme ruthlessness. Sun Chengzong clearly remembered that Cui Wensheng had beaten Pang and Liu to death with only ten strokes of the cane. Regardless of the tortuous process, Cui Wensheng had put an end to the crime with blood.

Sun Chengzong believed that while Cui Wensheng was dangerous, he was ultimately just a spearhead. As long as he wasn't pointed at by the spear, there was nothing to worry about. If he could side with the spearhead, he might even be protected by the spearhead. In comparison, he keenly felt that the seemingly honest Wei Zhongxian was more like an unpredictable venomous snake, even though, until now, Wei Zhongxian had not done anything out of the ordinary.

"Are you leaving Beijing?" Cui Wensheng was a little surprised.

"Don't you know?" Sun Chengzong asked back.

"You also know that although I am honored to be the secretary of the Imperial Household Department, I do not work in the study." Cui Wensheng sighed.

Although Cui Wensheng liked the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Depot, a prestigious position that allowed him to order thousands of people around, he always felt an unpredictable sense of crisis when he was not by the emperor's side.

"The emperor trusts me and sent me to Tianjin to do some cleaning work." Sun Chengzong said with a smile.

"Oh!" Cui Wensheng suddenly understood. "Congratulations, sir. Congratulations, sir." He bowed twice, then said with a grin, "I want to ask you a question."

"Mr. Cui, please feel free to speak." Sun Chengzong waved his hand and nodded.

"How is the emperor feeling this morning?" Cui Wensheng asked.

"It's okay. What's wrong?" Sun Chengzong was puzzled.

"I made a small mistake and upset the old man." Cui Wensheng's mood yesterday was like riding a carriage on a muddy road, up and down. First he claimed credit, then he was scolded. At dusk, Wang An sent someone to tell him that the emperor had rewarded him with silver and allowed him to renovate his mansion outside the palace. This was certainly a good thing, and he should have thanked him immediately. But by then, the palace gates were already closed, and no one except the emperor could be summoned. He could only spend the night in anxiety and tossing, unable to sleep.

Sun Chengzong couldn't guess what was going on in Cui Wensheng's mind, but he didn't ask what his mistake was. Like a forgiving teacher, he gently said, "Mencius said, 'People make mistakes before they can correct them.' It doesn't matter if you make mistakes. As long as the East Factory is loyal to the emperor, works diligently, and doesn't make them again, the emperor will certainly forgive you."

Cui Wensheng also came from the Inner Academy, so he had certainly heard all these things before. However, Sun Chengzong's gentle words seemed to have some kind of magical power, instantly soothing his anxiety. "Thank you, Master Sun, for your teachings. I appreciate your guidance."

"You're welcome." Sun Chengzong bowed and said goodbye. "Cui Dongchang, goodbye. After I get the documents, I will go to the Grand Prince to say hello."

"Goodbye, sir." Cui Wensheng bowed deeply towards Sun Chengzong's back.

————————In order to facilitate personnel to come in and out and report at any time, the door of the lobby of the Jinyiwei East Office is always open.

To minimize criticism, Luo Yangxing refused to sit at the main desk, instead having a separate table placed next to it for handling routine East Office affairs. However, even with this lowered profile, many of the East Office's senior officials remained dissatisfied, including Liu Chengxi, the Chief Thousand Householder of the East Office.

When Hai Zhentao was still serving as the governor of the Eastern Office, Liu Chengxi was his deputy, assisting him in handling the office's miscellaneous affairs. During the period from Hai Zhentao's apparent promotion to the Southern Office of Seal to Luo Yangxing's arrival, he was also in charge of the Eastern Office's printing affairs.

Liu Chengxi had thought that after Hai Zhentao's promotion, he would have a chance to take the top position, and he had even begun to raise money and find people to smooth things over. But he never expected that Luo Yangxing, a second-generation who had done nothing, would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Liu Chengxi was deeply dissatisfied with this. If Luo Yangxing was the second generation of an Imperial Guard official, then so was Liu Chengxi. It was just that his father, Liu Shouyou, had bad luck, having been swept away by the anti-Zhang movement in the 11th year of the Wanli reign. But now that the emperor had rehabilitated Mr. Zhang, his family might have another chance to rise to prominence.

But no matter how dissatisfied he was, he couldn't delay his work. After all, Luo Sigong was still in that position, and he had neither the ability nor the interest to compete with him. He had to endure it, because it was still a question whether Luo Yangxing could hold on to that position firmly.

"Hmm?" Liu Chengxi spotted a name that had been mentioned frequently recently in the latest emergency report. After confirming he wasn't mistaken, he abruptly stood up and approached Luo Yangxing. "Commander Luo, the Southern City Military Command reports that they've found a body near Chongfu Temple." Liu Chengxi deliberately left his words unfinished.

"Corpses?" Luo Yangxing clutched the work report in his hand, unconcerned. "What's so strange about that? People die every day in Beijing. Just have them drag them to the public cemetery and bury them." Luo Yangxing was a little annoyed. He had to do the work of three government offices, and the pressure of each was greater than the others. It was practically driving him bald. He could sense that, with the exception of the group left behind by Lu Wenzhao, the entire East Office disliked him.

"The military department found a waist badge on the deceased." Liu Chengxi continued to keep the secret.

Luo Yangxing finally put down what he was doing and looked Liu Chengxi in the face. "What badge? Whose badge is it?"

"Tianjin Wei Commander, Shen Caiyu." Liu Chengxi placed the report in front of Luo Yangxing and said with a smile, "Admiral, you should read it yourself."

"Shen Caiyu is dead?" What surprised Liu Chengxi was that Luo Yangxing just frowned, without any surprise on his face.

Luo Yangxing picked up the report and scanned it, quickly finishing it. It briefly recorded the time and location of the body's discovery, its basic condition, and a rough estimate of the time of death.

"Go to the rear palace and invite Wang Sizheng." Luo Yangxing ordered. Just like he did when he was in the Ministry of Justice.

"Please come over?" Liu Chengxi was secretly delighted. He instinctively thought that Luo Yangxing had messed up his job.

Luo Yangxing stared at Liu Chengxi for a moment. "Forget it, you should just take a rest. I'll go by myself."

"Take care." Liu Chengxi bowed slightly.

After Luo Yangxing left, Liu Chengxi straightened his somewhat unsteady back. "Tsk. Admiral? Go kick a dog."

"Captain Liu." Hearing Liu Chengxi's complaints, Zou Zhiyou, who had inherited the rank of Captain of the Imperial Guard shortly before the late emperor's death, immediately came forward and flattered him, "His title is in vain; you are the true Captain. You've jumped four ranks without any merit. I'm afraid the commander-in-chief won't be able to hold the seal for much longer."

Liu Chengxi glanced around, finding no one around to speak with, so he raised his voice slightly. "He's just looking for a position for his son before he leaves. He's not afraid of getting into trouble. He's just a third-rank official in a local government position, but he's making such a big fuss in the capital. I'd think the Luo family had caught a traitor."

"It might be a trick. Didn't that guy surnamed Shen slip away from Deputy Captain Lu's hands?" Zou Zhiyou said.

"It can't be blamed on Lu Wenzhao. I've seen the report from Tianjin, and the man ran away on the seventh day of the first lunar month. The Western Factory also acknowledged this statement." Liu Chengxi shook his head.

"How do you know what the Western Factory said?" Zou Zhiyou asked in surprise.

"After Luo Zhangwei retires, who do you think is most likely to take over?" Liu Chengxi asked in return.

"It's hard to say." It's not that Zou Zhiyou couldn't say it, but he didn't know whether the person he was thinking of was the same person Liu Chengxi had set his sights on.

"I think it's easy to say." Liu Chengxi smiled lightly. "Who else could it be? Tian Beizhen."

The fact that the Experience Department had previously taken away the precious opportunity to "obtain tribute" from the various thousand households had already caused great controversy within the Jinyiwei. Now that Luo Yangxing had used such a trivial case to stir up trouble in the East Office, it had directly led many people to start leaning towards Tian Ergeng. Liu Chengxi was naturally no exception.

"He is lucky enough to be the son of Wei, the popular eunuch in the Western Factory." Zou Zhiyou's eyes actually flashed with envy.

It was hard not to be envious. The Northern Pacification Office had previously caused such a huge scandal that it had caused a public break between Tian Ergeng and Luo Sigong. But in the end, not only did Tian Ergeng get away with nothing, but Xu Xianchun, who had a grudge against him, even died inexplicably on the first day of the Lunar New Year. After all, Xu Xianchun was the second-in-command of the Northern Pacification Office. After his death, no one investigated or cared about him, as if he had never existed. Afterwards, some people brought generous gifts to pay their respects to the dock of Weixichang, but no one from Weixichang was there. Everyone had no choice but to pay their respects to the dock of Tian Tongzhi.

Liu Chengxi didn't respond. His father, Liu Shouyou, was still alive.

Liu Chengxi was silent for a moment, then said with some regret: "Lu Wenzhao is also confused. He is eager to marry into the Luo family at this time."

"I heard that he spent one thousand taels to buy a concubine. With this money, he could have married ten wives." Zou Zhiyou said, "I don't know where he got so much money." The entire Dongsifang knew about Lu Wenzhao's financial situation.

"I borrowed it from Admiral Hai." Liu Chengxi shrugged. "This kind of thing is not uncommon."

"Now Admiral Hai has gone, and Captain Luo will be gone soon. Deputy Captain Lu's marriage is arranged." Zou Zhiyou sighed.

"Yes." Liu Chengxi nodded silently, his eyes flickering with an inexplicable understanding.

(End of this chapter)