Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 33 Unexpected Opposition

Compared to the lazy and indolent Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun, the new emperor Zhu Changluo, who had yet to change his reign, was remarkably decisive. The day after Censor Zuo Guangdou submitted a memorial impeaching East Depot Commander Cui Wensheng for "embezzlement of imperial funds and torture and extortion," the imperial edict (a decree from the cabinet) arrived.

However, after the emperor's decree was issued, instead of calming the turbulent court debate, it made the political situation even more bizarre.

Imperial order: We will stop going to court today.

Imperial decree: Order the Jinyiwei's Northern Pacification Division to immediately arrest Zou Kaiyun, Yan Guo, Wen Dezhang, and 46 other individuals implicated in the case, and imprison them in the Imperial Prison. Order the Southern Pacification Division to conduct a rigorous investigation of the case.

Although the cabinet did not receive the imperial edict, the Grand Secretaries were still the first to get the news.

"Jinyiwei!?" After learning the content of the imperial edict, Liu Yirong thought he had misheard.

"It seems your prediction has unfortunately come true." Deputy Minister Ye Xianggao looked at Han Yu with a wry smile, shook his head and sighed. As a senior official who headed the cabinet during Emperor Shenzong's reign, he was all too familiar with this kind of situation.

There was nothing wrong with the Emperor ordering the Jinyiwei's Northern Pacification Division to arrest those involved in the Dongchang case. The problem was that the Jinyiwei's Southern Pacification Division shouldn't have been handling the case.

The Dongchang's organizational structure was unique. Below the factory director, the highest-ranking administrative personnel were the "Chief of Criminal Affairs" and the "Hundred-House Criminal Affairs Officer," known as "Tiexingguan." Since the Dongchang's inception, these positions had been held by the "Chief of Imperial Guards" and "Hundred-House Guards."

In addition, all the civil servants including the head of the rank, foreman, and secretary, as well as the military officers such as the chief of staff and the guard, who were responsible for investigating cases, were appointed by the Jinyiwei.

In other words, except for the highest administrative officer, the eunuch who worked in the official school of the Eastern Depot and was concurrently the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department, all other management personnel of the Eastern Depot came from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Although the Southern Pacification Division is responsible for internal affairs and is responsible for the law, discipline, and military rectification of the guard (the Pacification Division is not unique to the Jinyiwei), there are too many areas that can be manipulated.

This group could have easily claimed they hadn't embezzled the money, but had simply temporarily deposited it in the Dongchang treasury, without disbursing it to the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of War. If the Imperial Guard had cooperated, they could have "found" the money inside the Dongchang yamen, even if there wasn't a single penny in the treasury. Furthermore, the Dongchang yamen actually had money.

The Jinyiwei can arrest people from the Dongchang and kill them, but they cannot interrogate them.

"Everyone, let's make up our minds. What will happen if we let the Embroidered Uniform Guards interrogate the Eastern Depot?" Prime Minister Fang Congzhe was reluctant to get involved in this matter, but now that things have come to this, he must stand up.

"What other ideas can we have? The emperor issued an imperial decree, and we have nothing to refute even if we want to." Shen still held the mentality of "less trouble is worse than more."

"We must fight for this matter! If we let go of this anger, we will die next time." Han Yu was hinting at the possible revenge of the East Factory.

"We should first find out what the emperor is thinking. If the emperor really wants to protect the East Factory, then we can only unite the six ministries and nine ministers to submit a petition of opposition." Shi Jixie, the runner-up in the imperial examination in the 20th year of Wanli, once knelt in front of Wenhua Gate for a whole day because of the disastrous defeat at Sarhu, just to ask the emperor to attend the court.

"The emperor may not want to protect the East Factory. The new monarch has only been on the throne for a short time and has lived in the deep palace for a long time. It is possible that he does not know the tricks involved and only understands the affairs of the factory and guards on the surface." Because Wang An had personally informed the Donglin Party, Han Yu did not think that the emperor would protect the East Factory.

"Then why did the emperor suspend court?" Shen asked.

"With nearly three hundred impeachment memorials submitted in one day, it's normal for the emperor not to want to attend court," Han Yu replied.

"Then we will immediately draft the cabinet's opinions and explain the pros and cons to the emperor." Fang Congzhe pulled out a piece of white paper and picked up the pen to write.

"We have one more thing to do before that." Liu Yirong thought for a moment and said. "What is it?" Fang Congzhe raised his head.

"Signed by/Fu Li!" Liu Yirong and Ye Xianggao said at the same time.

Fu Li was a seventh-rank official. Normally, someone of his rank wouldn't be qualified to directly participate in such a major event, but his position was so special that he could not only participate in the matter but even influence its course.

According to the ancient rule, the Jinyiwei needed to obtain a warrant before they could arrest someone. In other words, the Jinyiwei had to obtain the signature of the Criminal Department's Jieshizhong before they could arrest someone. Without this arrest warrant, the Jinyiwei would not dare to arrest anyone.

During the Wanli reign, Emperor Shenzong neglected his duties and failed to fill vacancies among officials throughout the country. As a result, when the "imperial edict" was issued, there was no official in the criminal department to "sign it", so the Jinyiwei rarely arrested people, and the morale of the country became relaxed.

Fu Li was the Censor of the Criminal Department who filled the vacancy after the new emperor ascended the throne.

"Your Majesty, Cui Wensheng has been kneeling outside for almost a whole day." Wang An reminded softly.

"You mean to let him get up?" Zhu Changluo was a little surprised.

"What I mean is that he should kneel somewhere else and stop bothering the emperor here." Wang An poured a cup of tea for Zhu Changluo and another for Mi Cairen who was sitting next to him.

"Hehe." Mi Mengshang, who had been handling the account books in front of her with a radiant look on her face, suddenly burst into laughter when she heard Wang An's words. But the emperor still had a stern face, so she could only hold it in with great difficulty.

"Just let him kneel here. Remember to bring him food, don't let him starve to death, he still has other uses." Zhu Changluo ordered.

"I obey your command." Wang An bowed and accepted the order.

The division of labor in the account-clearing team was very clear. Zhu Changluo asked Mi Mengshang and another relatively not-so-smart eunuch to form a "translation team" to be responsible for adding Arabic numerals to the Chinese numbers in the account book.

Then, a "filling-in team" also consisting of two people was responsible for comparing the annotated original account books and filling in the numbers on the latest printed form book of the Silijian Jingchang.

Once the spreadsheets were completed, they were handed over to the "accounting team," consisting of two eunuchs skilled in quick calculations. They were responsible for re-compil- ing the new books using the debit-and-credit method. The remaining eunuch, who could read ten lines quickly, would repeatedly check the work of all the teams throughout the process.

After becoming familiar with the workflow, the accounting team became much more efficient. However, even so, the mountains of original account books were still overwhelming.

"Go back and rest if you're tired. This job can't be finished in a day or two." Zhu Changluo habitually put his hand on Mi Mengshang's head and rubbed it gently.

He felt that this girl was very similar to the cat he had kept in his previous apartment: quiet, obedient, not very smart but a little cunning.

"I'm not tired. It's my honor to share the emperor's worries." Mi Mengshang smiled.

"You'd better go back. You can bear it, but they can't." Zhu Changluo keenly sensed the six eunuchs' anticipation for the end of their shift. "Wang An, send them back."

"Your Majesty!" A young eunuch ran past Cui Wensheng, who was kneeling at the door, and knelt to report, "Your Majesty! Fu Li, the Criminal Affairs Department's Censor, refused to sign for the Imperial Guard!"

(End of this chapter)