Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 445: Past Events and Today's Observations

"Oh my! How can I explain this if nothing happened?" Li Laicai was getting really anxious. In his opinion, Cui Wensheng's current state was very similar to that of the Li family father and son. He had just identified a truth that didn't exist, and yet he insisted on getting others to admit their mistakes. If they couldn't explain it, he would use violence to force them to admit it. "If you don't believe me, you can check it out yourself."

"Humph." Cui Wensheng sneered, "Of course we will investigate, whether you confess or not. But if you are willing to confess voluntarily, we can all save some trouble. Don't think you can hide it. We have already found out that you have two properties in Beijing. Your wife is in the south of the city, and your concubine is in the north. One of your two concubines gave birth to a son, and the other gave birth to a daughter. In addition to these things, you have 32 acres of fertile land in Yutian, your hometown. It seems that my East Factory has not arrested anyone and tortured them yet. If we arrest your wives, concubines, and children and torture them, we may find even more."

"This matter has nothing to do with them." Li Laicai's expression changed drastically. "Besides, I've already confessed everything I should! Let them go!"

"It's up to us to decide whether they have a relationship or not. Don't think that the people behind you can protect them!" Cui Wensheng was a little impatient.

"Cui Dongchang, Grandpa Cui! I really don't have that many twists and turns in my mind, and I'm certainly not a gentleman willing to sacrifice my life." If he could, Li Laicai would have knelt down and kowtowed to Cui Wensheng. But he couldn't move at all, so he could only struggle and beg for mercy, "I really just died so quickly because I didn't want to suffer any physical pain!"

"Okay! Even if you don't want to suffer physical pain," Cui Wensheng stared at Li Laicai, "but there's no need for you to trample your master to death, right?"

"Little one, little one," Li Laicai said bluntly, "I just want to crush them to death!"

"What good will it do you if you trample them to death? Who did it happen to you? What good did they promise you?" Cui Wensheng's voice rose two degrees.

Li Laicai said lamentingly, "Only if the Li family collapses completely can I possibly preserve this little bit of family fortune."

"Very good." Cui Wensheng smiled. "If you explain the situation clearly, I can turn a blind eye to these things."

Li Laicai lowered his head slightly and sighed. "Have you ever personally killed a brother you've been with day and night?"

Cui Wensheng's pupils shrank suddenly. Behind him, Cui Zhongqing's expression also changed. "What do you mean?"

Li Laicai didn't notice Cui Wensheng's abnormality and continued to talk to himself: "You probably haven't done it, but I have."

"What are you trying to say?" Cui Wensheng's expression brightened slightly. "Is it related to this case?"

Li Laicai said: "That was 24 years ago, oh no, it's been 25 years since the 24th year of Wanli. That year, the Li family wanted to marry their children to the Zhang family. But the Zhang family declined. So they had to settle for the second best and marry Zhang Laowu."

"What do you mean the Zhang family declined and then married Zhang Laowu? Explain yourself clearly." Cui Wensheng interrupted.

"You're from the palace, so you should have at least heard of this." Li Laicai explained, "It's about the marriage between Zhang Cheng, the Zhang Dongchang, and the previous Marquis of Wuqing, Li Wenquan. Zhang Xun is Zhang Dongchang's fifth brother, so everyone calls him Zhang Laowu."

Cui Wensheng nodded. "So that's what happened." When the marriage proposal was revealed, Cui Wensheng was just a humble eunuch under Concubine Zheng. Though not young anymore, he was still a minor figure, expected to kowtow to everyone he met. This incident was a major event, but it had nothing to do with the Zheng family, nor did it involve the foundation of the nation, so Cui Wensheng's knowledge of it was limited.

"Who is the other 'Zhang'?" Cui Wensheng asked.

"The Zhang family of Duke Yingguo." Li Laicai said, "Li Wenquan wanted to marry into their family at first, but Mr. Zhang found an excuse to shirk the matter. Otherwise, there would be no follow-up." Because the military merits of the Ming Dynasty have always had limited power, the emperor is usually not so sensitive to marriages between meritorious officials and relatives. For example, the marriage between Marquis Wuqing and Earl Pingjiang was not asked by the late Emperor Wanli, and no disturbance was caused.

Cui Wensheng decided to listen. "Go on."

"I can't remember what sparked this incident back then," Li Laicai said, the wrinkles on his face beginning to tremble. "It seems a servant of Zhang Dongchang was promoted to the Imperial Guard after taking advantage of his merits, and was reported. The Xiantai and Bingke investigated, first implicating Zhang Dongchang, then Zhang Laowu, and finally Zhang Laowu to the young lady. After the secret marriage was discovered, the late Emperor decreed that the Zhang and Li families should be separated, and executed many people, including Zhang Xun."

"Among them," Cui Wensheng asked quietly, "is your brother among them?" Li Laicai's description reminded Cui Wensheng of the "Piercing Case" that occurred in the 43rd year of the Wanli reign. This case also led back to the Zheng family, and the emperor ordered the execution of a group of people involved in the case, hastily closing it.

"Hehehe" Li Laicai seemed to be laughing, but also crying. "That would be great, we don't have to do anything."

"What do you mean?" Cui Wensheng asked.

"The late emperor was merciful and didn't punish the Li family too harshly. The only people executed were Zhang Cheng's brother Zhang Xun and those who depended on Zhang Cheng. But Li Wenquan insisted on sacrificing a few lives to demonstrate the Li family's sincerity in reforming! Bullshit sincerity!" Li Laicai roared like an animal. If the dungeon was bright enough, Cui Wensheng would have noticed that Li Laicai's face was completely red. "Damn it! This is insane!"

"The person who handled this matter at that time was the young marquis, that is, Li Mingcheng. In the courtyard, he learned from Sun Zongzai of the Ministry of Personnel a method of drawing lots, and called all the low-level servants to draw lots. Whoever drew the lot was the mastermind of this case! He was the treacherous person who instigated the marriage between the Li family and the eunuchs!" Li Laicai became more and more agitated, and even the execution platform that tied him began to tremble.

"It was clearly him, it was clearly the Li family who insisted on reaching out to where they shouldn't have, and in the end, they blamed us! This time, this time too! It was clearly Li Guorui who didn't detect the changes in the situation in Liaodong, and in the end, he put the 'loss' on me. And there wasn't any loss at all! After all, I've worked for the Li family for decades. Even if I'm raising dogs, I should have some feelings for them, right? I just made a little less money, just a little less money! Li Guorui whipped me dozens of times in front of everyone! I didn't even dare to scream or beg for mercy. If I did that, Li Guorui would even beat me to death!"

"He wants me to redeem myself for meritorious service! What crime? What merit?" Li Laicai vented his anger. "These three generations of Li family lords are all fucking sick! Li Wenquan is a half-witted idiot! Li Mingcheng is a vicious dog that bites at the slightest provocation! And this young marquis is a bloodthirsty lunatic! I want them dead! I want them dead. Only when they die will I... woooo!" After a few furious roars, Li Laicai burst into tears. Decades of grievances and fear of impending death melted into drops of turbid tears that flowed from his eyes, condensing and sliding down the furrows of his face before finally dripping onto the blood-soaked stone slab.

Cui Wensheng looked at Li Laicai quietly, a rare look of pity in his eyes. Cui Wensheng would not comfort him, but at the end of the dungeon of the Ministry of Justice, being able to cry freely was itself a kind of kindness.

————————The brief interrogation ended, and Cui Wensheng and Cui Zhongqing left the dungeon. It was dawn, and the bright sunlight poured in from all directions, making it difficult to open your eyes.

Cui Zhongqing covered his brow with his hands and walked over to Cui Wensheng. "Godfather, do you want to torture him and try him again?"

"No need." Cui Wensheng blinked several times. "Let's do this for now."

"Sir," Cui Zhongqing asked cautiously, "will you pity him?"

"Why should I feel sorry for him? This case is bound to come to light. They might even be sent to the Ministry of Justice or the Dali Temple for a joint trial. If we torture him, it'll be hard to explain later," Cui Wensheng said. "And even if we torture him, there's no guarantee we'll uncover anything new."

"Godfather is wise." Cui Zhongqing's eyes moved slightly and he asked no more questions.

"Also," Cui Wensheng said, "Send someone to investigate further into what Li Laicai just said."

"Yes!" Cui Zhongqing responded very decisively.

"Godfather, when are we going to arrest the person?" Cui Zhongqing asked again.

"Who to arrest?" Cui Wensheng asked back.

"Of course it's those barons and dukes." Cui Zhongqing leaned close to Cui Wensheng's ear and whispered, "Now that these people have arrived in Beijing, there's no telling when the news will leak out. My son is worried that something like Shen Caiyu will happen again."

"That's not something I can decide," Cui Wensheng shook his head. "Hurry up and verify Cui Yuan's new confession. After the bell rings, I'll go to the Imperial Household Department and ask."

"Yes." Cui Zhongqing replied.

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During the Ming Dynasty, especially after the Hongzheng and Zhengqing reigns, the imperial examinations were the most important tool for examining the performance of civil servants in Beijing in order to clarify administration and consolidate rule.

However, just as a hammer can be used to forge iron or to kill someone by hitting them on the head, the imperial examination, as a tool, can also be subject to various deviations and alienations depending on who wields it. For example, the temporary Renshen Imperial Examination in the sixth year of the Longqing reign was a thoroughgoing political purge.

In June of the sixth year of the Longqing reign, Zhang Juzheng joined forces with Feng Bao to persuade Empress Dowager Li to remove Gao Gong. In July, he directed the Ministry of Personnel to launch a major inspection. That same month, the Ministry of Personnel investigated and deposed thirty-three officials, including Deputy Minister Mu Wenxi, Deputy Secretary Song Zhihan, and Cheng Wen. Fifty-three officials, including Director Xu Fuyuan, Censor Li Chunpu, and Du Huazhong, were transferred elsewhere. Subsequently, the Ministry of Personnel and the Imperial Academy also investigated six officials. Through this triple assault of demotions, transfers, and investigations, Zhang Juzheng had dismissed a total of 105 serving officials. Within a month, he had extinguished all opposition within the central government and firmly grasped power. Thus began his ten-year reign.

After Zhang Juzheng, the power of the Prime Minister declined significantly, and the cabinet's control over the Ministry of Personnel gradually weakened. Against the backdrop of the emperor's inaction and refusal to take responsibility, the imperial examinations devolved from a tool for centralizing power into a tool for factional disputes within the cabinet and within factions, leading to increasingly intensified conflicts within the court.

To prevent a relapse of the old ways, the emperor adopted the cabinet's advice when launching the imperial examinations in the first year of the Taichang reign. He decided to take the final decision-making power and ultimate responsibility into his own hands. If a conflict arose between officials, the emperor would intervene promptly and make the final call.

Under the emperor, officials were selected to form a temporary president's council directly under the emperor. The president's council was responsible for reviewing the layoff list after the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate came up with a specific layoff list to ensure that the laid-off employees did indeed have one of the eight reasons for layoffs, such as "corruption, cruelty, impetuousness, incompetence, old age, illness, dismissal, and carelessness", to avoid injustice.

In fact, avoiding injustice is secondary. The Ming Dynasty never lacked scholars waiting for official positions. Even if all the important vacancies in various government offices in Beijing were cleared, enough substitute officials could be found to fill them. The reason for setting up such a president's meeting was mainly to reduce the scope of the quarrel to this small meeting. After the quarrel was over, the court would be quiet.

Although the imperial examination is still in its early stages, it is generally expected within the government and the public that the yet-to-be-established presidential council will eventually be composed of leaders or key members of various factions.

As the saying goes, it's difficult to know a person's merit or not. To fully assess them, imperial inspections often took a considerable amount of time. From preparation to completion, they could take as little as six months, and as much as eight or nine months. The whirlwind imperial inspections of the early years of Zhang Juzheng's administration, designed to crack down on corruption and purge officials, which concluded with assessments and demotions in a short period of time, were rare exceptions.

Generally speaking, the imperial examination can be divided into four parts in order: suggestions, self-report, consultation, and impeachment.

The so-called "jianjian" (meaning "recommendation") is a memorial submitted by officials at all levels, headed by the Ministry of Personnel, to the emperor, requesting the opening of a Jingcha (imperial examination). Jianjian is usually considered the official start of a Jingcha (imperial examination), but because this Jingcha was initiated by the emperor, the "jianjian" part was skipped.

As for the self-resignation, "civil officials in the two capitals who had been impeached by the Ministry of Personnel, were too old to perform their duties, or were unworthy of their talents and virtues were to submit their own petitions for retirement, and the case would be decided by the emperor." Specifically, the chief inspector was the first to submit a petition, followed by the Grand Chancellor of the Ministry of Personnel and the Grand Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, and then the assistant officials of the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Censorate. After the chief inspector and the officials of the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Censorate submitted their petitions, civil officials of the fourth rank and above in the capital would submit their own petitions one by one, one level higher, and wait for the emperor's decision.

In previous imperial examinations, the chief inspector was often an official from the Ministry of Personnel's Department of Examination and Rectification, also known as a "Gonglang." For example, the chief inspector of the seminal Guisi Imperial Examination in the 21st year of the Wanli reign was Zhao Nanxing, then a Langzhong in the Ministry of Personnel's Department of Examination and Rectification. In that inspection, Zhao Nanxing immediately dismissed both Lu Yinchang, a nephew of the Minister of Personnel Sun Yu and a Deputy Director of the Ministry of Personnel's Department of Selection, and Wang Sanyu, a relative of his own and a Deputy Censor of the Ministry of Personnel.

However, this year, before he could even file his own confession, Jiang Yicong had been impeached by Li Jiuguan, the Shanxi Province Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate. To recover the stolen money, Jiang Yicong was currently being carefully treated by Tian Ergeng in the Northern Pacification Office's prison. Therefore, the Chief Censor's confession was skipped, and the case proceeded directly to the confessions of the Ministry of Personnel and the Chief Censorate officials.

(End of this chapter)