Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 452 There is no cure
To facilitate his trips to the yamen, Bi Ziyan settled down in Xiaoshiyongfang, where the Taifu Temple yamen was located, after he was promoted and moved to Beijing. Since the yamen was very close to his home and it didn't take long to walk there, even though Bi Ziyan could afford a donkey or a cart, he still walked to and from the yamen.

After returning home, Bi Ziyan took off his official uniform and changed into casual clothes. He said hello to the servants, asked them to prepare dinner and send it directly to his study, and then went to present his article.

In fact, Bi Ziyan's evasive remarks about Ding Maoxun were not pure fabrications. He really didn't know how to write such a self-deprecating article.

Unlike the perfunctory self-deprecations of high-ranking officials like Bi Ziyan, who often pleaded for resignation and were persuaded to stay, self-deprecation was a profound art form. Too harsh a criticism might make the emperor think the official was useless, while too mild a criticism might make the emperor think they were dishonest. Furthermore, the current emperor was far from the lazy predecessor. He truly read memorials.

Therefore, considering the content and choosing the words became something that Bi Ziyan needed to spend a lot of energy thinking about.

But Bi Ziyan's energy clearly yielded little results. From the time the imperial examination was announced until now, he had managed only a few paragraphs, a task even more taxing than the eight-part essays he wrote during the imperial examinations. In agony, Bi Ziyan even considered paying someone to write for him. However, the consequences of ghostwriting during the imperial examinations would be severe if discovered. If he were caught, he could lose his official title.

Beneath, bee, bee.

Just as Bi Ziyan was staring at the manuscript again in agony, the old servant who had been with him for nearly forty years knocked on the door of the study.

"Master!" The old servant's voice seemed to tremble a little.

"Come in." Bi Ziyan was so angry that he threw the pen away.

"Master," the old servant opened the door, walked straight to Bi Ziyan, and handed over a business card in a panic. "This..."

"Whose?" Bi Ziyan rubbed his Jingming acupoint, still thinking about Zichen's matter.

"This is a visiting card from Prime Minister Fang!" After being silent for a long time, the old servant finally said it.

"What?" Bi Ziyan stood up suddenly. "Who!?"

"Prime Minister Fang!" the old servant repeated.

"Where does the Prime Minister want me to go to meet him?" Bi Ziyan hurriedly took the visiting card, but when he opened it, he saw only some formatted text, without any content telling him where to go.

"No." The old servant shook his head and said, "Prime Minister Fang is at the door."

"Oh! How do you do things? Just come in." Bi Ziyan was about to go out to greet him, but he stopped hastily at the door of the study. "Please ask the Prime Minister to go to the reception room. I need to change my clothes."

"Yes!" the old servant boy answered and ran out quickly.

Soon, Bi Ziyan, who had changed into his official uniform again, came to the reception room.

As soon as he saw Fang Congzhe, he bowed and made a long salutation. "I, Bi Ziyan, pay my respects to Prime Minister Fang." Bi Ziyan was a little nervous. He had no idea why Fang Congzhe came to him.

According to the etiquette specified in the "Da Ming Hui Dian", Fang Congzhe, who held a first-rank title, did not need to stand up to greet Bi Ziyan, even though this was Bi Ziyan's home. So Fang Congzhe just sat in his seat and bowed to Bi Ziyan. "Jing Zeng, there is no need to be so polite. Sit down and talk."

"Yes." This was Bi Ziyan's first one-on-one meeting with the Prime Minister in decades, and he and Fang Congzhe didn't have much interaction, so he was particularly cautious. After taking his seat, he didn't ask any questions. Instead, he sat with his head bowed and legs crossed, like a student, waiting for instruction.

The "teaching" came quickly. Fang Congzhe took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Bi Ziyan. "Take a look at this first."

"Yes." Bi Ziyan leaned forward and took it with both hands. After a quick glance, he only saw a few names, and his was the first one. Bi Ziyan looked at Fang Congzhe in confusion and asked, "What is this?"

Fang Congzhe didn't keep him in suspense. He met his gaze and explained, "This is the list of candidates recommended by the Ministry of Personnel."

"Recommended by the court," Bi Ziyan asked cautiously, "May I ask which government office the Prime Minister has transferred me to?" Bi Ziyan was worried. There were indeed many vacancies waiting to be filled in the various departments of the capital, but even if the appointment was made by recommendation by the court, there was no need to seek the opinions of the officials themselves, and he had never heard of the Prime Minister coming to their door in person.

"Tianjin, the special supervisor of Liaojiang's military supplies, the Ministry of Revenue, the yamen is in Beitang. It's also known as the Ministry of Revenue." Fang Congzhe smiled. "I don't know if you've been there before."

Bi Ziyan shook his head blankly and said, "Isn't Minister Li in charge of the Ministry of Finance? What happened to him?"

Fang Congzhe slowly stopped smiling and said, "Li Changgeng has been dismissed from his post. This afternoon."

"Why!?" Bi Ziyan was stunned.

"Don't be impatient, this cannot be explained in just a few words." Fang Congzhe planned to start from the beginning.

"Yes." Bi Ziyan picked up the teacup and took a shaky sip to moisten his throat. Although he didn't know the inside story at this time, the tension in his heart was slightly relieved. At least Fang Congzhe didn't seem to be playing tricks on him.

"You know Zhang Quan, the deputy envoy of Jin Fuhai's military preparations, right?" Fang Congzhe was influenced by him and also took a sip of tea.

"You always talk about Zhang Yuheng from Shanxi?" Bi Ziyan suddenly remembered.

"Do you know him?" Fang Congzhe asked back.

"Yes," Bi Ziyan nodded. "I worked with him when I was in Shaanxi."

"Oh? There's such a past?" Fang Congzhe was a little surprised. Although he was the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, it was difficult to accurately understand the career history of an official without careful investigation.

"At that time," Bi Ziyan explained, "I was serving as the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner for Military Preparations in Yulin, and he was serving as the Censor-in-Chief inspecting tea and horse production in Shaanxi. We worked together for about six months." Their work together was, to put it mildly, a collaboration, but more bluntly, a relationship of supervisor and supervised. Zhang Quan's assignment, similar to that of a provincial inspector with specific duties, primarily involved visiting border towns to criticize military and political officials like Bi Ziyan, who were in charge of military preparations. If Bi Ziyan committed a serious offense, such as illegally smuggling tea and horses, Zhang Quan could remove him from office with a single impeachment letter.

"What do you think of him?" Fang Congzhe asked.

"Zhang Yuheng is a very upright and capable person." Bi Ziyan gave Zhang Quan a very high evaluation.

"Yeah," Fang Congzhe nodded slightly. "I believe you two should be able to get along well."

"Prime Minister Fang," Bi Ziyan frowned and asked, "Could it be that Zhang Yuheng impeached Li Youqing?" Since Fang Congzhe said that Li Changgeng had been dismissed, he could no longer refer to him by his position, so Bi Ziyan used his courtesy name to refer to Li Changgeng.

"It's not an impeachment. It can only be said that this matter was caused by him. Jin Fuhai was in charge of receiving military pay and rations transferred by the Ministry of Pay. Zhang Quan discovered this after taking office." Fang Congzhe recounted the events from Zhang Quan's proposal, to the Silijian ordering the East Factory to secretly visit the Ministry of Pay, and then to the East Factory's discovery that Wuqing Hou and other nobles had deliberately created the disaster in an attempt to interfere with national policy.

"There is actually such a thing!" Bi Ziyan's first reaction after hearing this was almost identical to Fang Congzhe's reaction after reading the report.

Suddenly, Bi Ziyan seemed to have thought of something and asked in a shuddering voice, "May I ask, Prime Minister, the impeachment reports filed by the various censors of the Censorate today against Marquis Wuqing, Marquis Yangwu, and Earl Pingjiang are also related to this matter?"

"You heard about it too?" Fang Congzhe's eyes moved slightly.

"The matter has become so serious that even if I don't want to hear about it, I can't hide away." Bi Ziyan is not a censor, and he would not rashly get involved in a case where there is only public opinion and the facts are still unclear, but he cannot resist the censors running around to create momentum and propaganda.

After the Jinyiwei were dismissed, the already high spirits of the censors intensified. This meant not only new evidence, but also the ability to use more radical methods to promote the conspiracy without risking hostility or impeachment from the Jinyiwei. Many radical young censors were just about to write notices and post them on the bulletin boards in various markets.

"That rooster crows really loudly." Fang Congzhe said something that left Bi Ziyan puzzled. "What's that rooster crowed?"

"Nothing," Fang Congzhe said. "Of course the Zhongwei case, Beitang case, and Guangning case are related. After all, they all have the same mastermind. But that's probably the only connection. There's no chain reaction involved."

"Prime Minister," Bi Ziyan asked, his tone becoming more serious. "Li Youqing isn't like Wan Youfu and Shen Caiyu, colluding with the treacherous Marquis Wuqing, right?"

"I don't know yet, but I personally think," Fang Congzhe shook his head. "Li Changgeng probably didn't actively participate in this."

"If that's the case," Bi Ziyan said anxiously, "then why didn't the Prime Minister rescue Li Youqing?"

Fang Congzhe said with regret, "If I could save him, I would, but Li Changgeng's career is beyond redemption. Even if I don't ask for his dismissal, the six departments and thirteen provinces will not tolerate him anymore."

"Regardless of whether he participated in this like Wan Youfu and Shen Caiyu, or colluded with them, as long as he remains in that position, someone will definitely drag the three of them together and accuse them of the same crime. As the saying goes, three people can make a tiger, and many mouths can melt gold. The King of Wei is hesitant. By then, even if Li Changgeng is innocent, he will be guilty. Before the matter is fully unraveled, requesting an imperial decree to dismiss him in advance will help him avoid being criticized." Fang Congzhe paused and hesitated, but finally said, "Besides, the emperor has already given Li Changgeng one chance."

"What opportunity?" Bi Ziyan asked.

"Shortly after Zhang Quan submitted his report, the Emperor issued an edict summoning Li Changgeng to the capital to make an appearance." Fang Congzhe asked, "Did you know about this?"

Bi Ziyan shook his head woodenly.

Fang Congzhe's tone gradually intensified, a tone that sounded both a complaint and an admonition. "If Li Changgeng had been more vigilant, and after receiving the Emperor's instructions, had he thoroughly investigated the past embezzlements, he might have been able to prevent those two embezzlements. If he had succeeded in preventing them, perhaps this case would have stopped with him. But not only did he fail to prevent them, he didn't even bother investigating the reasons behind the two new embezzlements. He simply sent someone to conduct a hasty review, then hastily recorded the embezzlements in the embezzlement register and issued the victims compensation. In the end, it was the East Depot who 'helped him' uncover the truth."

"At the time, even though the imperial decree for the interrogation was issued through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, no one deliberately publicized it, and not many people knew about it. But once the Beitang case was exposed, people would undoubtedly use it to impeach Li Changgeng, attempting to anger the emperor and convict him. If the emperor was truly enraged by this matter, I'm afraid Li Changgeng wouldn't even be able to maintain his dignity. Now, at least he can go to the Censorate and 'state his case' on his own."

"Oh, these guys are really harmful!" Bi Ziyan sighed with regret. "What a pity for such a good official like Li Youqing!"

Between the 44th and 47th years of the Wanli reign, Li Changgeng served as the Governor of Shandong. Upon assuming office, Li Changgeng, along with his own inspectors and a group of military censors, launched a comprehensive inspection of officials at all levels of Shandong, including the provincial, prefectural, state, and county levels. Following the rectification, Li Changgeng commissioned officials to investigate the barren land along the coast and recruit tenants to cultivate it. The harvest from these fields not only provided a livelihood for the tenants but also significantly alleviated the shortage of military pay for Shandong's defense against the Japanese pirates and reduced the local tax burden. For these efforts, Li Changgeng was recognized by the Ministry of Revenue with the euphoria of "dedicated to famine relief, and the people benefited from it."

Without these achievements, even if Li Changgeng had initiated the shift from land transport to sea transport, Fang Congzhe and Li Ruhua would not have gone to such lengths to negotiate with the late emperor and send him to Tianjin to oversee Liao military expenditures. As a native of Shandong, Bi Ziyan was naturally well aware of these matters.

"If you feel sorry for him, tell him face to face when you see him." Fang Congzhe quickly calmed down. "You only have until tomorrow to prepare. You must leave by the morning of the day after tomorrow at the latest."

"So urgent?"

"Yes. The Liao situation is tense, the front lines are in turmoil every day, and the transportation cannot be stopped. This deadline was set by His Majesty," Fang Congzhe bowed toward the Forbidden City. "In His Majesty's words, the imperial decree is just a formality. The imperial edict has been drafted and will be delivered to the palace for use tomorrow morning. The people behind you didn't even know about this imperial decree until you left."

Bi Ziyan asked again, "Why this humble official?"

Fang Congzhe didn't respond immediately. Instead, he reached out and took Bi Ziyan's hand, patting it gently before saying, "After all, I've worked in the cabinet for so many years, so I do have some ability to judge people. The burden of the Ministry of Finance is one of the heaviest in the world, not only concerning Liaodong, but also the entire country. I think you are a rare talent, so I recommended you to the emperor to take on this responsibility."

"Okay, I'll go." Bi Ziyan nodded seriously, and then said, "But I would also like to take the liberty to make a request to the Prime Minister."

"Whether you want money, power or people, I will help you ask the emperor for it." Fang Congzhe agreed directly.

Bi Ziyan shook his head, looked Fang Congzhe straight in the eye, and said seriously: "This humble official would like to ask the Prime Minister to argue with the Emperor and give the Wuqing Marquis and his men the punishment they deserve!"

Fang Congzhe shuddered and slowly lowered his head. "Okay, I'll petition the Emperor to remove Marquis Wuqing from his title."

"The Prime Minister is righteous!" Bi Ziyan praised sincerely.

(End of this chapter)