Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 368 Routine Court Meetings and Extraordinary Reports

It was not yet the hour of Mao, the sun was still hanging below the horizon, and only a faint layer of sunlight floated on the horizon.

Zhu Changluo awoke in the Qianqing Palace, his bed empty. He instinctively turned his head, but the wall was still empty. As he sat up, a slender figure in a light silk dress, accompanied by a wisp of enchanting fragrance, approached him. It was the Yikun Palace's sole resident, Consort Kang Li Zhulan.

A few days ago, after the renovations of Chengqian Palace and Yikun Palace were completed, the emperor moved her and the Dong Li to new palaces. Following the "two Li" pattern of Dongzhuang and Xikang, Li Qinfang and Li Zhulan were moved to Chengqian Palace on the east side of Qianqing Palace and Yikun Palace on the west side of Qianqing Palace, respectively.

Li Zhulan was deeply dissatisfied with this arrangement. When the eunuchs came to her door and asked her to move to another palace, Li Zhulan did not immediately comply. Instead, she ran to the Southern Study to plead with the emperor, saying that she wished to remain in the Qianqing Palace so that she could serve him closely. However, her protests were clearly no match for the emperor's decision, and the emperor simply gave her a smiling gaze to convince her otherwise.

Last night was Li Zhulan's first night with the emperor after her relocation. Despite a minor disturbance in the Southern Study, she had obediently not mentioned returning to the Palace of Heavenly Purity when she returned. It was as if the incident had never occurred. As always, Li Zhulan devoted herself wholeheartedly to the emperor's service, ensuring his physical and emotional fulfillment and release.

Li Zhulan was born in the 22nd year of the Wanli reign. By her late twenties, her mind, body, and skills were already fully mature, far surpassing those of younger women with little experience. Not only could she single-handedly satisfy the emperor's every need, but she also perfectly adjusted her sleep schedule to the emperor's biological clock. Whenever she attended the emperor's bedchamber, she would fall asleep after him and wake up before him.

"Master," Li Zhulan came over, holding a teacup half-filled with water. "Please have some."

Although she said "please enjoy", Li Zhulan did not immediately hand the cup of water to the emperor. Instead, she picked up the teacup, kissed the wall with her lips, and then slightly extended her tongue to lightly touch the water surface. "Sir, this water is just the right temperature, not too hot or too cold."

Li Zhulan deliberately adjusted the light red kiss mark to a prominent position before handing over the water. A quarter of an hour was not enough for her to put on the whole outfit, but it was enough for her to rinse her mouth and put the touch of vermilion on her lips.

"Where did you learn these tricks?" Zhu Changluo did not avoid it and followed Li Zhulan's wishes and drank the water in the cup.

"Water, just blow on it and it'll cool down. Why would you need to learn it?" Li Zhulan pretended not to understand and gently exhaled a breath of fragrance tinged with the scent of flowers. The breath ruffled Zhu Changluo's hair and made him tremble slightly.

"Okay!" Zhu Changluo put down the teacup casually, then held Li Zhulan's cheeks and gave her a deep kiss in revenge that did not last too long.

Li Zhulan was so aroused by this aggressive kiss that her entire body went limp. She knew the emperor wouldn't want her in the morning, but she couldn't help but ask. "Master, do you want it now?"

"you think?"

"Ah."

"I don't want it." Zhu Changluo calmed down. He let go of Li Zhulan and stared at her face, which was so red that it looked like water could be squeezed out. "You can go back now."

"Master," Li Zhulan tenderly tapped his chest and said angrily, "You have such a bad heart. At least let us have breakfast before leaving."

"Then eat quickly. I don't want to see you anymore." Zhu Changluo rolled his eyes at her, then leaned over to put on his socks.

"Really?" Li Zhulan immediately moved closer, picked up the boots embroidered with dragon patterns and put them on the emperor.

"What do you think?" Zhu Changluo found it really hard to hate her.

Li Zhulan didn't agree with what he said, but walked to the clothes rack and said with a giggle: "I will help you put on the clothes."

"Come on." Zhu Changluo walked up to the clothes rack, stood straight in front of the big mirror, waved his arms, and posed as if waiting to be dressed.

Today, he was going to court, so Shi Fuming had hung up a set of bright yellow imperial uniforms on the rack in advance, not the casual clothes that were convenient for exercise. Zhu Changluo rarely wore this set of clothes, and would change out of it quickly after finishing his work.

As the clothes and accessories were put on Zhu Changluo one by one, the emperor's aura gradually increased from bottom to top. Li Zhulan silently dressed the emperor, feeling the lines of his body with her fingertips from time to time.

After the jade belt was fastened and the emperor personally placed the crown on his head, the dragon robe was complete. Li Zhulan wanted to reach out and hug him from behind, but she involuntarily took a half step back. Standing beside the emperor, she stared at her reflection in the mirror, as if she were seeing a stranger who was becoming increasingly familiar.

Li Zhulan keenly sensed that in some ways, the current Emperor Taichang was increasingly resembling the former Crown Prince Wanli. The current emperor certainly seemed like a good man, but to Li Zhulan, it was more like a routine matter. A few days ago, the emperor, following the female physician's advice, summoned the imperial physician to treat Concubine Shao, and indeed, they had spent the night in Jingren Palace.

But that was the only night the emperor paid any attention to Concubine Shao because she might give birth prematurely. He continued to govern as usual, summoning other concubines to the Qianqing Palace to sleep with him, and caring about the studies of his eldest son, Zhu Youxiao.

"What's wrong? Doesn't it look good?" Zhu Changluo turned around and looked at Li Zhulan.

"Beautiful, truly beautiful." Li Zhulan continued to move closer. She leaned in close to the emperor, her hands lingering from his waist up to his sturdy chest. Feeling his steady, powerful heartbeat, she spoke slowly, "This is how an emperor should look."

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After breakfast, the emperor walked out of the Qianqing Palace first.

By this time, Wang An, the four eunuchs in charge of the Imperial Household Department, and the chief eunuch of the Palace of Heavenly Purity had already arrived at the main hall entrance and were quietly waiting. Upon seeing the emperor, the six eunuchs knelt in unison and performed the solemn ritual of five bows and three kowtows. "Your servants bow to the emperor. Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!"

"Everyone, get up." Zhu Changluo was already wearing a black gauze winged hat with two golden dragons playing with a pearl on his head.

This Yishan crown, modeled after the Wanli Yishan crown, was custom-made for the Taichang Emperor by the Jinmao Bureau. Zhu Changluo did not normally wear this crown, instead opting for a lighter, plain black Yishan crown without any ornamentation. Separately, the Bureau's most skilled craftsmen were working on a pure gold, wire-wrapped Yishan crown for the Emperor. This crown, also modeled after the Shenzong crown, would weigh over a pound of gold alone. According to the Imperial Household Department's plan, the pure gold crown would be worn on the Emperor's head on the first Christmas of the Taichang year, when he, along with His Majesty, would receive the congratulations of his courtiers.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The eunuchs kowtowed and stood up.

"Have all the officials arrived?" Zhu Changluo walked down the stairs and headed straight towards the Qianqing Gate along the imperial road.

"They are all here and are lining up in the main hall." Wang An and the four eunuchs immediately followed, while Shi Fuming stayed where he was and bowed to the group's backs.

Soon, the emperor, accompanied by his eunuchs, arrived at the Qianqing Gate Hall. As soon as the emperor took his seat on the dragon throne, all the officials knelt and chanted, "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!"

"Gentlemen, please stand up." Zhu Changluo put his hands on his legs and sat up straight.

Because Xu Guangqi, the Minister of Rites and Minister of the Ministry of Rites, was still reviewing papers in the Imperial Examination Hall, today's court meeting was presided over by Zhou Jiamo, the Minister of Personnel who was in charge of the Ministry of Rites' printing affairs.

"Report something!" Compared with Xu Guangqi, a "young man" who was less than sixty years old, Zhou Jiamo, an old man in his seventies, was obviously lacking in strength.

The first person to come forward to report was the Cabinet's Chief Minister Fang Congzhe. He first announced that the Minister of Revenue, Li Ruhua, had resigned due to illness and had left Beijing. He then proposed that the emperor appoint a new Minister of Revenue. The emperor agreed and ordered the Cabinet to work with the Ministry of Justice to recommend an official.

The next person to come forward to present his report was Minister of War Cui Jingrong, who reported the victories at Fengji and Hupi and requested that the officers and soldiers who participated in the battle be commended. The emperor agreed and ordered the Ministry of War to commend the officers and soldiers according to the usual practice, without delay or partiality.

In fact, on February 16, the fifth day after the failed attack on Fengji on February 11, the Nu chieftain Nurhaci led most of the Eight Banners to bypass Fengji and directly launched an invasion of the Hubi Post guarded by the deputy general Zhu Wanliang. The invasion was equally large-scale, but still lasted only one day.

Zhu Wanliang adopted an extremely conservative defensive strategy throughout this offensive and defensive battle. He himself did not even leave Hupibao. After seeing the beacon fire, he only sent a lieutenant general with 3,000 cavalrymen out of the city as a symbolic move. After discovering the movements of most of the Jin troops, his cavalrymen immediately withdrew and dispatched messengers to inform allied forces in the city of the enemy's situation.

Thanks to Zhu Wanliang's conservative approach, no large-scale field battles broke out between the Ming and Jin sides, limited to small-scale clashes between cavalry and scouts. Subsequently, the Jin army attacked the city, while the Ming army defended it under the cover of firearms. Then, reinforcements arrived, and the Jin army retreated, taking most of the bodies with them as usual to reduce the Ming army's losses. Thus ended the Battle of Hupiyibao.

After a brief tug-of-war, neither the Ming nor the Jin sides suffered heavy casualties, and Zhu Wanliang's troops achieved far less than Li Bingcheng's troops.

Although the events reported by Fang Congzhe and Cui Jingrong were significant, they had long been known to the court and the public. Their presentation now was merely a formality at court. The editors compiling the Taichang Annals in the future might not necessarily include this date in the records.

But when the third person stepped forward, this court meeting was no longer ordinary.

After Minister of War Cui Jingrong withdrew, Jinyiwei Chief Luo Sigong, under Zhou Jiamo's suspicious gaze, stepped out from the front of the military officer line, walked to the emperor's front, and knelt to report, "Your Majesty, I, Luo Sigong, respectfully request that the emperor dismiss 911 redundant officers from the Jinyiwei who have no official positions or responsibilities, and dismiss 332 military officers from all levels of the Five Thousand Households who have neglected their duties due to issues such as unpaid salaries."

Luo Sigong then began to read aloud the ornate essay Hai Zhentao had commissioned. It began by discussing the harm of redundant officials during the Song Dynasty, then briefly listed the measures taken by successive emperors to reduce overstaffing, particularly the abolition and rectification of the Jinyiwei's subordinate yamen during the early years of Emperor Jiajing's reign. Finally, Luo Sigong returned to the beginning of his petition, requesting that the emperor eliminate redundant officials, dismiss those who were incompetent, and appoint virtuous and loyal men to replace them. As was customary, Luo Sigong also requested his dismissal for dereliction of duty.

When Luo Sigong stepped out, only Zhou Jiamo, who was presiding over the court, cast a skeptical look at him. But when Luo Sigong got to the point and announced the elimination of redundant Jinyiwei personnel, the hall erupted in whispers. By the time Luo Sigong finished speaking, the entire Qianqing Gate Hall had become extremely noisy.

The emperor sat on the dragon throne, observing the expressions of the officials in the hall with great interest.

Aside from Luo Sigong, the head of the Imperial Guard, who knelt at the center of the discussion, the one who received the most stares was Cui Jingrong, the Minister of War, who had just come forward to report. Almost all the high-ranking officials, both civil and military, cast doubtful, even questioning glances at him. Since the Jinyiwei belonged to the broad military government, the Ministry of War had a role in its assessment and recruitment. But Cui Jingrong had no idea what was going on here. During this period, recruiting troops and transporting military equipment for Liaodong alone consumed a great deal of his energy. Furthermore, the disbanding of the Jinyiwei had been carried out in secrecy, and few, not even within the Jinyiwei, knew about it. He could only shake his head repeatedly in response.

Zhu Changluo gave Wang An a look, who immediately understood and shouted, "Silence!"

Wang An's shout first woke Zhou Jiamo up. He also cooperated with Wang An to maintain order in the hall.

When the hall was quiet again, Zhu Changluo first looked at the Prime Minister Fang Congzhe: "Lord Fang."

"I'm here." Fang Congzhe was startled and hurried out.

"Since I first ascended the throne, I have repeatedly emphasized the solemnity of court etiquette. I have also instructed the Cabinet to instruct the Nine Ministers, including the Imperial Censors and other officials, to exercise extreme caution whenever attending court. However, some officials still act with impunity, disregarding my rules and regulations. Those who caused noise in the palace today are to be reported by the ceremonial officials by name. The Cabinet will consider severe punishment." Zhu Changluo's voice was slow and powerful, as if a thunderbolt was brewing. Before he had even finished speaking, all the civil and military officials were so frightened that they all knelt down. Even the two princes, sitting behind him listening, were so affected that they dared not breathe.

"The cabinet will follow the emperor's will." Fang Congzhe did not defend the officials and directly accepted the order.

Zhu Changluo did not ask the officials to stand up. He turned to look at Luo Sigong and called out, "Mr. Luo."

"I'm here!" The emperor's cordial address made Luo Sigong happy both physically and mentally. For a moment, he felt that his old arms and legs were much more relaxed.

"Your memorial must be substantial. Instruct the Embroidered Uniform Guard to work with the Ministry of War to quickly draft a regulation for the reduction and replacement of personnel. Your refusal will not be accepted, so just focus on the work." Zhu Changluo said slowly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Luo Sigong kowtowed first, then said, "Jinyiwei Commander, I obey your orders."

"The Ministry of War accepts the order." Cui Jingrong also walked to Luo Sigong and kowtowed to accept the order.

(End of this chapter)