Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 36 Discussion on the New and Old Western Factories
From the moment they saw Cui Wensheng after entering the Qianqing Gate, all the officials began to guess why the emperor asked him to kneel down in advance.

Some speculated that it was to punish the crime, while others speculated that it was to show mercy. But no one could have imagined that Cui Wensheng was lying there to propose the reopening of the Western Factory.

The Western Depot, also known as the Western Investigation and Supervision Depot, was a Taoist priest known as Li Zilong in the 1476th year of the Chenghua Emperor's reign (). He used talismans to secretly entangle the eunuch Wei She, who was bewitched by Li Zilong and brought him into the imperial palace. This allowed Li Zilong to ascend Wansui Mountain (located directly north of the Forbidden City, across a river) and observe the inner palace.

How could the Jinyiwei's spying hide the fact that an outsider climbed Wansui Mountain? Thus, the case of the "evil Taoist climbing the mountain" was exposed, and Li Zilong was executed.

Upon learning of this incident, the naturally suspicious Emperor Xianzong, Zhu Jianshen, became extremely nervous and paranoid, feeling that the East Depot had failed in its duties. To prevent a similar incident from happening again, in the 13th year of the Chenghua reign, Emperor Xianzong ordered the eunuch Wang Zhi to select elite members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to form the West Depot.

The Western Factory during the Xianzong Dynasty was basically a "highly malicious upgraded version" of the Eastern Factory.

The Western Depot commanded twice as many Tiqi (Jinyiwei) as the Eastern Depot, assuming the responsibilities of both. Theoretically, it could investigate the words and deeds of all officials and detain and torture suspects. The Western Depot could even make its own decisions to arrest mid- and low-ranking officials, without having to petition the emperor.

Execute first, report later, imperial authorization. The Western Factory existed for only five years, but it caused panic and suspicion among the people throughout the country.

[People were punished severely for trivial matters such as fighting and cursing at chickens and dogs, causing great disturbance to people. The power of the East Factory came from this.]

Therefore, when Cui Wensheng proposed to reopen the West Factory on the grounds of "handling the case of corruption and extortion in the East Investigation Factory and putting an end to such things forever", almost all officials were shocked.

The most shocked among them was Fang Congzhe, who was closest to Cui Wensheng.

This suggestion couldn't have come at a better time. Just as Prime Minister Fang Congzhe, on behalf of the cabinet, petitioned to "transfer the case to the Ministry of Internal Affairs," Cui Wensheng immediately proposed reopening the Western Depot. Furthermore, these two individuals, one after the other and in close proximity, made it hard not to suspect a connection between them.

But the question is, why did Cui Wensheng collude with Fang Congzhe? Was it to put the nail in his coffin? If the case had simply been handed over to the Imperial Household Department for trial, Cui Wensheng might have been able to secure a glimmer of hope from Wang An. But if the Western Factory were truly established, it would have to be extremely focused on completing this first deal.

Cui Wensheng, capable of such a massive corruption scheme, was certainly not a noble man willing to sacrifice himself to "put an end to such corruption." He must have done so at someone's expense. Either the designated commander of the new Western Factory promised to spare him, or the emperor, sitting on the throne, instructed him to do so. Clearly, the latter was far more likely.

The answer is clear. It wasn't Cui Wensheng colluding with Fang Congzhe to put the nail in his coffin, but rather the cabinet cooperating with the emperor, using the "East Factory embezzlement and extortion case" to stage a grand show called "reopening the West Factory" for all civil and military officials.

"No wonder the Emperor asked me to raise this case at court on behalf of the Cabinet!" Fang Congzhe suddenly felt that his tenure as Prime Minister was almost over. The Emperor had played a trick on them, dragging the Cabinet into the "open the Western Depot" camp.

But what kind of person is the West Factory? Even if it is put into the factory and guard system, the West Factory is a very explosive existence. The West Factory will control what the East Factory can control, and will control what the East Factory cannot control even more. They dare to arrest anyone and kill anyone. The West Factory must not be allowed to be released again! Fang Congzhe knows that as the head of all officials, he has no choice but to oppose it sternly. But yesterday, the cabinet instructed Fu Li, the criminal department's secretary, to reject the emperor's order by refusing to "jointly sign". Now, if he wants to intervene in such a situation, he may have to resign.

Fang Congzhe made up his mind, but after a little thought, he found it difficult to come up with a legitimate reason to oppose Cui Wensheng's request.

Admiral Cui's words were too high-sounding. Far from protesting his injustice, he instead feigned a clean slate and, bearing the weight of his guilt, petitioned the Emperor to establish a special agency to severely punish the department he led.

Fang Congzhe was stuck there.

Censor Zuo Guangdou, standing at the end of the line of civil servants, took a deep breath and prepared to step forward to oppose Cui Wensheng's proposal. He knew that Cui Wensheng must have received instructions from the emperor; it was the emperor, not Cui Wensheng, who wanted to open the Western Factory. And like Fang Congzhe, he was unsure how to refute Cui Wensheng. But as a censor, he had to speak out.

Finally, he decided to bypass Cui Wensheng and persuade the emperor by directly stating the evils of the Western Factory: "Your Majesty! From the 1477th to the 1482th year of the Chenghua reign (-), Wang Zhi was in charge of the Western Factory. He was arrogant and tyrannical, setting up prisons privately and killing officials at will. In just five years, he caused great unrest among the people!"

"From the first to the fifth year of the Zhengde reign (1506-1510), Gu Dayong supervised the Western Factory, exercising arbitrary power and authority. The imperial guards were dispatched everywhere, causing unrest throughout the country. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider this."

Seeing someone step forward, the other censors also became eager to try, and they all prepared to persuade the emperor to give up this dangerous idea.

Just as the second censor was about to speak, the host of the court meeting, Xu Guangqi, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, stepped forward first and knelt down to say, "I think what Censor Zuo Guangdou said is very true."

He also jumped out to sing a different tune from the emperor? All the officials were puzzled.

Thanks to the release of "Illustrated Elementary Mathematics," Xu Guangqi instantly became a prominent figure in the capital. Within a month, he was on par with the renowned Donglin Party leaders Zhao Nanxing and Zou Yuanbiao. This success was largely due to Sun Chengzong's portrait of Xu Guangqi. Honestly, it's quite handsome.

Xu Guangqi repeated the harms of the Western Depot that Zuo Guangdou had just listed, but at the end he changed the subject and said, "Therefore, I believe that the newly reopened Western Depot should not be similar to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot. The Embroidered Uniform Guard is responsible for guarding the emperor's direct carriages and conducting patrols and arrests; the Eastern Depot is responsible for apprehending traitors and evildoers, suppressing counter-rebellions and purging rebellions. The newly opened Western Depot should not be involved in either of these matters, but should be superior to them, specializing in cases of embezzlement and tax evasion."

Fang Congzhe, still kneeling before the Emperor, nodded repeatedly as he listened to Xu Guangqi's proposal. "Yes, the Emperor hasn't yet said what the Western Factory should do. If the Emperor agrees to this proposal and limits the new Western Factory's duties to combating corruption and investigating leaks, then for the time being, there won't be any need to worry about the chaos of the old Western Factory, and the censors will also be silenced. If the Emperor disagrees and still wants to reopen the Western Factory as before, then the Cabinet won't be breaking its promise if they raise objections."

So when Xu Guangqi finished his speech, Fang Congzhe immediately said, "I second the motion!"

(End of this chapter)