Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 327: Disease, You See It

Fang Congzhe was naturally aware of Han Yu's subtle scheme. He deliberately glanced at Shi Jikai's empty seat, then paused for a moment before asking Shen Dao, "Mingzhen, what do you think?"

Shen understood what he meant. He stood up, put on a righteous expression, and said with a stern face, "Prime Minister, this happened suddenly, and I can't recommend a good minister at the moment. If I do so rashly, it might harm state affairs. Moreover, the emperor has ordered the cabinet to work with the Ministry of Justice to recommend ministers. Now Lord Shi is still in charge of the Imperial Examination, and the cabinet is not fully staffed. I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to make such a hasty recommendation."

Shen paused, and seeing no one agreeing with him, he continued, "Besides, the Ministry of Revenue has Wang Weili in charge of the seal affairs, so I don't think anything will go wrong. So I think we should wait for Lord Shi to return to the cabinet before discussing this matter."

Fang Congzhe scratched his beard, pretending to think. After a long pause, he said, "That's right." He pulled out a piece of white paper and wrote the names of Li Sancai and Wang Ji on it. "Let's tentatively propose Li Daofu and Wang Weili. We'll discuss the rest of the matter after the imperial examination is over and Shicheng returns to the ministry."

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In front of Dong'an Gate, the sedan chairs coming to pick up the cabinet members had already stopped.

Han Yu glanced at the Fang family's sedan chair heading north to Chongjiaofang, then watched Shen's sedan chair go away. Then he got into his own sedan chair and whispered to the bearer, "Go to the residence of Lord Liu."

"Yes."

Soon, two large sedan chairs landed in front of the Liu residence. Liu Yirong knew Han Yu was following him, so after getting out of the sedan, he turned around and stood still. When Han Yu approached, Liu Yirong took the initiative to ask, "Yu Chen, do you want to come to my house for a cup of tea?"

"Yes, I'm a little thirsty." Han Yu nodded.

"Then come in." Liu Yirong nodded slightly, and then took Han Yu into his home.

The two of them sat down in the quiet room. Without Liu Yirong's instructions, the servants set up a stove, kettle, and a complete set of tea utensils. Liu Yirong opened the teapot, picked up the teaspoon, and turned to Han Yu, "Two spoons?"

Han Yu glanced towards the door, making sure all the servants had left before saying, "Ji Hui, something terrible has happened!"

"It's just that Prime Minister Fang doesn't like Li Daofu. It's not a big deal." Without waiting for Han Yu's denial, Liu Yirong, as usual, added two teaspoons of tea leaves to the teacup. "When the water boils, pour it yourself." Liu Yirong placed the teacup in front of Han Yu.

"what?"

"Didn't you see?" Liu Yirong made himself another cup of tea.

"What are you looking at?" Liu Yirong's words disrupted Han Yu's original thoughts. "Didn't the Prime Minister list Li Daofu and Wang Weili?"

"Minister Fang asked us to nominate a minister, but then he gave Elder Shen a wink before he said so. Between these two moves, the three of us made up our minds, yet neither Minister Fang nor Elder Shen expressed their true stance. Yu Chen, why do you think he didn't say anything?"

Liu Yirong listened to the sizzling sound in the kettle, and his mind became clearer. At this time, Liu Yirong could even recall the changes in Fang Congzhe and Shen's expressions and the eye contact. "You are worthy of being the Prime Minister." The only thing that made him feel
"Who does the Prime Minister want to push to the top?" Han Yu asked.

"How could I know what he's thinking? He just doesn't like Li Daofu." Liu Yirong snorted, "Hmph. True, a 'traitor.'" Li Sancai was a man of ideas and actions. Aside from persuading Emperor Shenzong to stop the mining tax, there was nothing he couldn't accomplish. His many shady and even shady tactics not only made him a traitor outside the Donglin clan, but even within the Donglin clan, many honest men with simple minds disliked Li Sancai's approach. However, Liu Yirong greatly appreciated Li Sancai's pragmatic approach.

The water boiled. Liu Yirong picked up the kettle and poured a cup for Han Yu first, then for himself. "I don't think there's any need to worry too much. Prime Minister Fang is still being feared by the Emperor. It's unclear whether he would dare to speak loudly in front of the Emperor until his anger subsides. Besides, after those guys are banished from the capital, the overall volume of their opposition will be much smaller."

Liu Yirong thought of the reason for the "lack" and couldn't help but sigh: "It's just a pity for Li Hubu, he was such a good person."

"I think," Han Yu said with a frown, pulling the teacup in front of him, "that group of people will probably stay in the capital."

"How is that possible? Even the Imperial Seal Master Wang has come in person," Liu Yirong shrugged. "If you continue to resist, I'm afraid the Emperor will send out the Imperial Guards. As for the Civil Service Bureau, our Emperor won't listen."

"No! You're absolutely right." Han Yu slowly raised his head, his gaze fixed on Liu Yirong's. "But with this happening, the Emperor will likely use the Ministry of Personnel's advice as a pretext and keep Qi Shijiao and his men in the capital."

"What's the matter? Don't scare me." Liu Yirong felt uneasy when Han Yu stared at him.

"Before you returned to your duty room, the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent over the last batch of memorials. Among them was a letter from the Liaodong General Headquarters." Han Yu thought for a moment and said, "The memorial stated that Father Mendoza, the Jesuit interpreter sent to Liaodong, was beheaded by Xiong Feibai. The head and evidence should have reached the Censorate by now."

"What!" Liu Yirong's eyes widened. "Why did Xiong Feibai want to kill him?!"

Han Yu replied, "Xiong Feibai reported that Mendoza openly spread rebellious rhetoric among the troops, misleading them and disrupting their morale. He was caught red-handed by the central army under He Shixian, the general of Shenyang."

"Spreading evil words to confuse the people?" Liu Yirong was silent for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Could he be preaching in the army?"

"The memorial doesn't mention proselytizing or the specific details of the evil propaganda, but I imagine it's probably true," Han Yu sighed. "The incident was reported to Liaoyang by the Shenyang Inspector General Sun Chuanting. Xiong Feibai, upon receiving the report, authorized Yang Wenru to investigate with the royal banner. The memorial stated that there were numerous witnesses, and Mendoza himself had confessed. So Yang Wenru had him executed. Besides Xiong Feibai's signature, the memorial also bears Yang Wenru's."

Because Xiong Tingbi insisted on writing his own name before Yang Lian's, Han Yu naturally believed that this memorial was drafted by Xiong Tingbi.

"Damn it! This Mendoza deserves to die. Not only did he seek death himself, but he also dragged others into it!" If only Xiong Tingbi's signature was on the memorial, Liu Yirong might have doubted its authenticity. But since Yang Lian also signed it, there was no doubt about it.

Liu Yirong's anger came quickly and faded even faster. Within a few breaths, he regained his composure. "Have you drafted the memorial?"

"Not yet." Han Yu knew Liu Yirong's personality and wasn't surprised by this change. In his memory, Liu Yirong had only completely lost his composure when Xu Guangqi had poked his lungs.

"I gave the memorial to Ye Ci Fu, so the news should be kept secret for another night. But the more I think about it, the more I feel that the imperial edict drafted by Lord Shen was probably written in vain." Han Yu said.

"You are right." Liu Yirong had to admit it.

Han Yu's face showed no sign of joy. He continued, "Once this news gets out, Shen will definitely intervene personally, bringing up old issues and mixing up the Nanjing and Shenyang incidents. Xu Zixian, who brought these people to Beijing, will be the first to bear the brunt of the consequences."

Liu Yirong leaned back against the chair, sighing wearily, "Does it have to be now?"

From the start of the joint examination to the announcement of the results, the entire Imperial Examination Hall will be under semi-military control. In addition to the officials who will enter the examination hall to supervise the examination, the Jinyiwei will also send patrol officers to maintain order in the examination hall. During this period, the two chief examiners and 18 co-examiners can only stay in the Imperial Examination Hall. They are not allowed to accept or release any information. In other words, unless the emperor specifically issues an edict, Xu Guangqi will not even have the opportunity to submit a memorial to defend himself. Liu Yirong forced himself to eliminate distracting thoughts and concentrate all his energy on this matter. "It's not just Xu Zixian, but also Ye Ci Fu. When he was working in Nanjing, the old man had a close relationship with the Jesuit Order. After the former president Li died of illness, Ye Ci Fu submitted a memorial to the late emperor requesting land for burial. These things are well known to everyone. Lord Shen is likely to use this incident to blame Ye Ci Fu."

"Why don't we send someone to Chaofang to ask Ye Ci Fu what he thinks?" Han Yu suggested.

Ye Xianggao was on duty at noon and in court at night, and had to be on duty all day long.

"Forget it. Sending someone to the imperial court right now would be too conspicuous," Liu Yirong shook his head. "We can't be too obvious about our stance. Since Ye Cifu has already read the memorial, he must have his own plans. We won't worry about how Ye Cifu handles matters for Xu Zixian or for ourselves. We should just try to provide support from the flanks. Don't let him get himself in trouble if he fails to save anyone."

"That's right. Otherwise, the Jesuit case would have expanded into a Donglin case," Han Yu agreed. Neither he nor Liu Yirong cared much about the fate of the Jesuits themselves. If these foreigners hadn't been recommended by Xu Guangqi and implicated Ye Xianggao, they would likely have simply stood by and watched.

"It's easy for me to say it, but how can we provide support on the flank?" Liu Yirong fell into deep thought.

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That evening, as dusk fell, the servants of the Li Mansion came out to hang lanterns. They saw a sedan chair parked steadily in front of their door.

The old servant accompanying the sedan chair lifted the curtain for his master and said softly, "Master, we've arrived."

"Yes." A tall middle-aged man bowed and got out of the sedan chair.

Although it was not his job to greet guests, the leading servant of the Li Mansion still went to greet him. Seeing that the visitor looked very unfamiliar, he asked, "Excuse me, who are you from?"

"My surname is Zhu. I work in the palace." The middle-aged man said solemnly, "I heard from Envoy Liu that your master is ill, so I came to visit."

When the Li family servant heard the word "palace", he didn't ask any more questions and simply waved his hand and said, "Please come in. I will take you in."

"Okay. Please lead the way." The middle-aged man and the old servant followed the servant into the Li Mansion. Just after entering the door and taking a few steps, he smelled a strong smell of medicine.

"Is this the medicine that Liu Yuanshi prescribed for Li Hubu?" the man asked.

"Yes," the servant nodded in response. "We've hired several doctors, but since Court Envoy Liu is here, we'll just follow his instructions and prescribe the medicine."

"What do the other doctors say?" the man asked again.

"I don't know about this little one." The servant shook his head.

The man nodded silently and said nothing more.

The master and servant were not taken to Li Ruhua's bedroom by the Li family's servants, but were instead led to the central hall of the living room. "Please wait here, both of you. I will go and report immediately," the servant waved his hand towards the guest seat.

"Yeah. You go ahead."

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"Master, a guest is waiting in the main hall," the servant announced as he arrived at the master bedroom. By then, Li Ruhua had regained consciousness and was leaning against the bed, nibbling at his first meal of the day.

Li Tingyuan wanted to feed his father, but Li Ruhua was stubborn and insisted on eating by himself, so Li Tingyuan could only sit on the edge of the bed and watch over him.

"Whose guest is this?" Li Tingyuan asked.

"His surname is Zhu. He said he works in the palace." Li Ruhua's face changed before the servant finished speaking.

In an instant, a variety of emotions, including anticipation, joy, and guilt, appeared on Li Ruhua's face at the same time. "What does the guest look like?" Li Ruhua asked hurriedly.

"He's quite tall, with a beard like this." The servant thought for a moment and gestured on his face.

"Hurry, hurry, help me up!" Li Ruhua was so excited that he started coughing violently again. "Cough, cough, cough! And my official uniform, oh no! My court uniform, bring me my court uniform."

"What's going on?" Li Tingyuan took the bowl of porridge from Li Ruhua's hand and handed it to the servant, then reached out to pat Li Ruhua on the back to calm him down. "You should rest, I'll go and receive the guests."

Apart from the doctor, Li Tingyuan didn't think there was anyone else who needed to be personally received by his seriously ill father. Even when Lord Liu came to visit his home, it was Li Tingyuan who came out to receive him.

"Silly boy!" Li Ruhua paused for a while, gasping for breath and said, "His surname is Zhu, he works in the palace, and he has a beard. This is the emperor, it must be the emperor coming." What Li Ruhua said was not entirely true. The person who meets the above description could be the emperor or a general of the Han Dynasty.

"No way?" Li Tingyuan's eye muscles twitched unconsciously. The servant leading the way felt as if a cool breeze had blown on him, and all the hair on his body stood up.

"Stop talking nonsense. Go get my court robes. I can't go to see the emperor dressed like this." Li Ruhua's face flushed with excitement, and his eyes were filled with turbid tears.

The emperor had twice sent imperial physicians to treat Li Ruhua, a gesture that had already touched him deeply. Yet, at this moment, Li Ruhua still wished it were the emperor himself. A monarch attending to his minister's illness was an honor etched on his epitaph, a mark he could carry to his grave.

"Okay, okay, I'll go right away." Li Tingyuan was infected by Li Ruhua's mood. Although he was not a scholar, he also knew that it was clearly written in "The Analects of Confucius: Xiangdang": "If a person is ill, the king will look at him, turn his head east, put on court clothes, and drag his robes."

This passage means that when Confucius was seriously ill, the monarch came to visit him. Confucius still faced east, covered himself with court robes, and wore a large belt around his waist to show respect to the monarch.

(End of this chapter)