Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 402: The order of seniority and the importance of things

Xu Guangqi finally left Qianbu Corridor to the west. But what difference did it make whether he left east or west? As long as Xu Guangqi didn't leave Daming Gate to the south, he could only go west, even if he left from East Chang'an Gate.

After passing through the East Chang'an Gate and the East Gongsheng Gate, one arrives at the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works. But Xu Guangqi paused once again. Standing at the foot of the East Gongsheng Gate, he looked up at the inscription "Gongsheng" on the plaque and was overcome with emotion.

The "Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong Rui" records that in the first year of the Zhengtong reign, two gates, Gongsheng Gate, were built south of the left and right gates of Chang'an. The court named these gates "Gongsheng Gate" because of the statement in Xunzi's "Bugou": "Publicity gives rise to brightness, partiality gives rise to darkness, integrity gives rise to communication, deceit and hypocrisy give rise to obstruction, sincerity gives rise to divinity, and boasting gives rise to delusion." Gentlemen should be cautious of these six things, and this is how Yu and Jie were distinguished.

What Xunzi said was to warn those in power that they must be fair and just and must not have personal prejudices or self-interest, otherwise they might turn Yu into Jie.

Considering that in the first year of the Zhengtong reign, the young emperor Zhu Qizhen was only nine years old and essentially a rubber stamp of supreme power, this warning is unlikely to be a sincere admonition from the emperor to his ministers, who were generally several generations older than him. Instead, it is likely to be the earnest expectation of the emperor from the ruling Three Yangs or the "dominant" Empress Dowager Zhang.

This expectation failed to teach the emperor, but it inexplicably comforted an old minister in his sixties one hundred and eighty-five years later.

Xu Guangqi smiled lightly and resolutely passed under the word "Gongsheng". At about the same time, Yuan Keli also passed through the West Gongsheng Gate with Xu Guangqi's memorial.

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When Xu Guangqi arrived at the Ministry of Rites, most of the officials had already finished lunch and were taking a nap. But when Xu Guangqi walked into the lobby, he found a man in crimson official uniform still working with his head down.

The man did not use the table and chairs originally placed in the hall, but brought in another set and placed it to the right of the main table.

The man heard footsteps and looked up. He saw that it was indeed Xu Guangqi, the Minister of Rites. He put down his pen, stood up, walked to him, and said, "Your humble servant greets Minister Xu."

Xu Guangqi was startled at first when he saw the man's face, but he quickly reacted and said in return, "Greetings, Minister Sheng. Thank you for your hard work these days."

Since Sun Ruyou was demoted and transferred to Nanjing, the Ministry of Rites has been without an assistant minister. The Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Personnel, and even the Ministry of Rites had all proposed recommending an assistant minister to relieve Xu Guangqi's workload. With two vacancies on either side, any one would have been a good option. However, the emperor declined to approve the appointment, following the previous emperor's customary practice of withholding it from the memorial, and so to this day, no appointment has been made.

The Ministry of Rites could certainly do without an assistant minister, or even a minister, but it could not be without someone in charge. So, the day before the imperial examination, at the request of the cabinet, the emperor, as usual, appointed a minister from another ministry to take charge of the Ministry of Rites' printing. Minister of Personnel Zhou Jiamo was the one who took charge of the Ministry of Rites' printing.

However, the Ministry of Personnel also had its own things to do, especially the imminent temporary imperial examination. The reason why it was called a temporary imperial examination was that according to the system established and improved during the Hongzhi and Zhengde years, the imperial examination was conducted every six years, or every "Si" and "Hai" years.

The last imperial inspection was in the 45th year of the Wanli reign, so the current one should be in the 3rd year of the Taichang reign. However, the emperor was above the system, and since the Taichang Emperor explicitly ordered the Ministry of Personnel to conduct the imperial inspection, the rules became secondary.

Zhou Jiamo was completely busy with this "encouraging inspection." Logically, this wasn't his responsibility, as according to the imperial decree, he only had to wait for the Ministry of Examination to produce the list of officials to be demoted or promoted, then work with other examiners appointed by the emperor to review the list, submit a joint memorial, and await the emperor's final decision.

However, in early February, Li Jiuguan, the Shanxi Province Censor of the Ministry of Personnel, impeached Jiang Yicong, a Langzhong (official director) of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Office, for corruption and illegality. Following Jiang Yicong's dismissal, the emperor withheld the petition requesting a vacant position, leaving the Examination and Reward Office with only one director, practically paralyzed. Zhou Jiamo, in accordance with customary practice, had to assume the duties of Langzhong (official director).

Because Li Jiuguan was from Shandong and Jiang Yicong was from Zhejiang, and shortly thereafter, Shen, a cabinet minister from Zhejiang, drafted a collective demotion order for everyone including Qi Party leader Qi Shijiao, so there were rumors of infighting between Zhejiang and Qi in the court and the public.

However, this rumor was quickly suppressed because, shortly after Jiang Yicong was impeached by Li Jiuguan, he was impeached again by Tian Ergeng. Upon receiving this report, the emperor ordered the Northern Pacification Office to arrest Jiang Yicong. During the torture and recovery of stolen goods, they unexpectedly recovered nearly ten thousand taels of silver worth of valuables. "The emperor was enraged," and the proposed sentence of exile and banishment was changed to confiscation of property and exile, with the entire family implicated. In short, Li Jiuguan's impeachment proved to be impartial and selfless, a true testament to the integrity of a loyal official.

More crucially, shortly after rumors of internal strife between Zhejiang and Qi arose, a new rumor circulated in Beijing. This rumor alleged that Fang Congzhe, leader of the Zhejiang faction and Prime Minister, had been reprimanded by the eunuchs in front of other cabinet members for attempting to protect the "upright gentlemen" on the list. It was Shen, acting in a way that aligned him with the powerful, who had forced Fang Congzhe to back down. Furthermore, Fang Congzhe never signed the list, and the emperor accepted the remonstration. Therefore, the emperor was good, the Prime Minister was good, and Shen was the only bad actor. Overall, the Qi and Zhejiang factions remained close.

The Qi and Zhejiang factions were close, but this was a real problem for Donglin scholar Zhou Jiamo. Seventy-five years old, he was busy with the printing of the Ministry of Personnel and his concurrent post as a doctor of examinations. The emperor also asked him to oversee the Ministry of Rites, and he also had to do some work at the Honglu Temple and make announcements during court meetings. He was so busy he was practically on fire.

Zhou Jiamo had no other choice, and unwilling to let Sheng Yihong die of exhaustion in office, so he had no choice but to assign the still-young and energetic Right Vice Minister of Personnel, Sheng Yihong, to the Ministry of Rites as an acting official, handling routine affairs. For example, he sent someone to the Imperial Hospital to oversee the storage of raw medicinal materials. Zhou Jiamo, after office hours, would simply go to the main hall of the Ministry of Rites and use the large seal on Xu Guangqi's desk to stamp Sheng Yihong's decisions. He could do it with a quick glance, demonstrating remarkable efficiency.

Sheng Yihong's background was unique, not only prominent but also unique in the Ming Dynasty. A native of Tongguanwei, Shaanxi Province, his family held a hereditary military commander position. His grandfather, General Zhaoyong Shengde, was the de facto commander of Tongguanwei and died in battle suppressing bandits in Luonan.

His father, Sheng Ne, achieved Jinshi in the fifth year of the Longqing reign, the same year as his current supervisor, Zhou Jiamo, and even better results. Zhou Jiamo ranked 29th in the second class of the Xinwei reign, while Sheng Ne ranked 9th in the second class and was later selected as a Shujishi. Sheng Ne's career was also smooth. In the 21st year of the Wanli reign, he became the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Had he continued in this manner, he might have entered the cabinet one day. However, Sheng Ne had one drawback: he died young. In June of the 22nd year of the Wanli reign, Sheng Ne returned home for his mother's death and died the following October. Locals said that Sheng Ne died because of the grief over his mother's passing.

Three years later, in the 26th year of the Wanli reign, Sheng, having returned from mourning for his father, traveled north to take the imperial examinations, where he passed with flying colors and, like his father, was selected as a Shujishi (a scholar of the imperial court), a rather romantic gesture of a son carrying on his father's aspirations. History records that during the Ming Dynasty, hereditary positions in the military garrisons employed prominent Confucian scholars, but this was only the case with his father and son.

Xu Guangqi and Sheng Yihong were quite familiar with each other, having previously served together in the Imperial Household Department. Sheng Yihong was Xu Guangqi's senior, having been promoted earlier. In the 47th year of the Wanli reign, Xu Guangqi, after submitting a report on military affairs in the Liaodong region, was promoted from Zuo Zanshan of the Imperial Household Department to Shao Zhanshi and concurrently Supervisory Censor of Henan Province. By the time he was sent to Tongzhou for military training, Sheng Yihong had already held the position for over a year. Unexpectedly, Xu Guangqi was summoned to Beijing by the new emperor to serve as Shangshu before completing his training. Sheng Yihong, on the other hand, was promoted to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel only after Xu Guangqi, following the proper procedures. This was his first official position outside of his literary, historical, and teaching positions.

But Sheng Yihong was not envious and continued to do what he was supposed to do.

After the formalities, Sheng Yihong walked to the temporary desk and picked up a booklet with only a few pages. Xu Guangqi followed him, so he handed it to Xu Guangqi and said with a smile: "Minister Xu. This is a summary of some of the affairs handled by this humble official during your presidency examination. The documents related to the summary items are kept separately. If there is anything inappropriate in it, please forgive me. If there is any problem and you need to take responsibility, just push it to me." "No, no." Hearing such refreshing words, Xu Guangqi's face finally had a smile other than bitterness and misery. But when he spoke, he still looked hurt: "Minister Sheng is too modest. Your talent is superior to mine. Compared with you, I am just a mediocre person who has been honored by the emperor's grace."

Sheng Yihong was slightly taken aback by Xu Guangqi's modesty. This had already gone beyond modesty and into self-deprecation. Thinking of the recent events surrounding Xu Guangqi, which hadn't directly affected him due to the isolation of the imperial examination, Sheng Yihong couldn't help but play out a drama in his mind. He consoled him, "The world is full of chaos. As long as one's heart is fair and upright, and one is impartial and unbiased, one will be worthy of Heaven, Earth, the Emperor, one's parents, and one's ancestors. How can one be disgraced or mediocre? Xu Butang, please stop being so self-deprecating."

In order to avoid putting Xu Guangqi in the awkward position of not knowing how to respond to his consolation, after saying this, Sheng Yihong immediately shifted the topic back to the handover of official business.

He picked up the documents he had been working on recently and walked straight to Xu Guangqi's desk. After putting them down, he said, "The matters I haven't been able to complete, and the matters that are inconvenient for me to take over, are all on the desk. Now that you're back, I can safely hand them over to you."

"Okay, thank you." Xu Guangqi was so touched that his nose felt a little sore. "I will come to thank you someday."

"No need for such formalities," Sheng Yihong said, politely declining as usual. He then politely said goodbye without a trace of hesitation. "I will take my leave now."

"Goodbye."

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After Sheng Yihong left, Xu Guangqi did not take a nap, but returned to his long-missed desk and sat down, eating the simple lunch brought by the yamen runners while reading the summary handed to him by Sheng Yihong himself.

This summary is a typical, chronological account. The basic format is a sentence describing a certain person or event on a certain day, followed by one or two words describing the outcome.

Most of the responses were "as usual" or "to be done," with only a very small number being "rejected" with a paragraph explaining the reason. It's safe to say there's no trace of literary refinement; it's the work of a true doer.

Before finishing his simple meal, Xu Guangqi noticed a special item.

The entry read: "On February 23rd of the first year of the Taichang reign, Concubine An Shao gave birth to an unnamed daughter. The Emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites to celebrate according to traditional customs. Zhou Jiamo, acting Minister of Personnel and in charge of the Ministry of Rites' seals, received the order and submitted a petition requesting a postponement, citing his age and lack of familiarity with Ministry affairs. He requested that the celebration be held according to customary procedures after the Ministry's officials had resumed their duties." The order was approved.

Xu Guangqi sipped his tongue and discerned three layers of meaning:
First, upon the birth of a daughter, the Emperor issued an edict to the Ministry of Rites to congratulate the Shao family, but delayed the approval process, and the princess remained unnamed. This suggests the Emperor did not place special importance on this daughter. At least not in the same way that the previous Emperor had treated Princess Chuyunhe, daughters of Consort Zheng Guifei, who immediately rewarded the ministers of the Imperial Court and ordered the collection of 100,000 taels of silver from the Taicang warehouse and 50,000 taels from the Guanglu Temple for celebration. Although the gift was eventually reduced to 100,000 taels after the ministers' persuasion, with the entire amount coming from the Guanglu Temple, it was still excessive.

Secondly, the old rules were not difficult to find. Even if Zhou Jiamo was too old to be familiar with the old rules, he could arrange for Sheng Yihong to dig them up. Zhou Jiamo's request for temporary suspension was essentially a request to leave the matter to Xu Guangqi.

Furthermore, Shao's daughter's birth occurred on February 23rd. By then, the Censorate had already completed its review of the evidence in Liaodong and begun translating and analyzing the correspondence and articles collected by the Northern Pacification Office from the Jesuit headquarters. Yet, even so, the emperor approved the memorial, allowing Xu Guangqi, who had "introduced the thieves," to handle the matter. His attitude was self-evident. Thinking of this, Xu Guangqi felt a strange warmth well up in his heart.

"Someone come here!" After lunch, I finished reading the summary.

"What are your instructions, Minister?" A yamen runner who was serving in the hall came over quickly. It was he who had just brought lunch for Xu Guangqi.

"Let's go," Xu Guangqi said, pointing to the dinner plate. "Grind another inkstone and bring it over."

"Yes." The yamen runner obeyed. But as he took his plate and took a step forward, Xu Guangqi's eyes moved to the desk that Sheng Yihong had added. "Forget it, just bring Minister Sheng's inkstone over here."

The yamen runner nodded and asked, "Minister, is Minister Sheng's desk going to be removed?"

"Let's leave. His mission is finished, and when he comes back he will just sit in the reception room." Xu Guangqi said.

"Yes." The bailiff obeyed the order.

After preparing his pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, Xu Guangqi cleared his mind and began to think about the wording and logic of his first memorial to the Hui people since his return. As for the content of the memorial, he had already thought about it while eating.

He prepared two things in one memorial: one was to propose congratulations for the birth of the princess, and the other was to request the three national ceremonies of enthronement, crowning, and marriage.

Xu Guangqi picked up the pen and the first sentence he wrote on the manuscript paper was: There is an order of seniority, and matters have their priorities.

(End of this chapter)