Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 454: Using Public Opinion as a Knife to Dismantle Filial Piety

When "Young Master" Li Lai Fu found Li Guochen, Li Guochen was sitting, or rather curled up, on a bench in the study.

Upon seeing Li Guochen's state, Li Laifu immediately knew the young master was lost in painful memories. Li Laifu was slightly older than Li Guochen, having long been assigned by the previous Marquis of Wuqing, Li Wenquan, to serve as Li Guochen's personal attendant. As far as he could remember, ever since the birth of the legitimate young Marquis, Li Guorui, the current Marquis, Li Mingcheng, had paid little attention to this impromptu creation of Li Guochen. He was nothing more than a slave girl's bastard child.

Even if the father is not close, the grandfather loves him. Even a lowly child is a descendant of the Li family. Grandfather Li Wenquan didn't much like the maid who gave birth to Li Guochen, but he was still very kind to his eldest grandson. When Li Wenquan was still alive, Li Guochen was considered a young master. Unfortunately, Li Wenquan passed away in the 36th year of the Wanli reign, before Li Guochen was even married.

After Li Mingcheng inherited the title, Li Guochen became more like a servant of a slightly higher rank. Li Mingcheng's beatings and scolding of him were no less severe than those of any other servant the Li family had hired. Aside from not killing him, there were basically no taboos.

Every time he was beaten, or recalled the death of his grandfather or mother, Li Guochen would find a place to curl up, like he was doing now. He didn't cry or make a fuss, not even tears or trembling, he just sat quietly with his eyes closed.

Hearing the shouts, Li Guochen opened his eyes, exhaled a long breath, and went straight to the point: "Is the East Factory also taking action?"

If Li Guochen had a lingering doubt about his judgment when the Censorate unexpectedly impeached Marquis Wuqing, Marquis Yangwu, and the Earl of Pingjiang for their involvement in the Guangning smuggling case, then when the Embroidered Uniform Guard also dug up an old case, impeaching Marquis Wuqing Li Mingcheng for shielding the corrupt official Shen Caiyu, Li Guochen was completely certain of his earlier suspicions. The Eastern Depot must have investigated Li Laicai and his group's actions in Beitang, and Sun Chengzong had led the left wing of the Jinfu Biaoying to arrest them.

"Yes." Li Laifu's voice was trembling, whether from excitement or fear. "As you expected, the East Depot has filed a complaint, accusing the Marquis's Mansion and the Two Earls' Mansion of fabricating the disappearance and attempting to interfere with national policy."

"Submit a report? What report?" Li Guochen slowly lowered his legs, which had been curled up on the bench, to the ground. Li Guochen wouldn't wallow in sorrow and fear; he would always find a way to dispel his resentment and resentment. Planting flowers and trees like a servant was one way; figuring out how to dethrone Li Guorui from his position as heir apparent was another.

Li Laifu explained, "The East Depot submitted its impeachment memorial to the Imperial Court through the Imperial Court. The news came from the Six Departments. I'm afraid it won't be long before the Ministry of Justice follows suit."

"Why would the East Factory take the route of submitting a memorial to the outer court?" Li Guochen was obviously a little surprised.

The Jinyiwei was considered a semi-official branch of the imperial court, so submitting a petition was quite normal. For routine public security or criminal cases, the Jinyiwei would even submit a joint petition with the Imperial Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Metropolitan Censorate. But the Dongchang's filing of a petition through the imperial court was unusual. At least, as far as Li Guochen could remember, this was a first. Even in the highly publicized cases of Zheng Yangxing and Cui Wensheng, the Dongchang was impeached by others. Afterward, Cui Wensheng did not submit a petition to defend himself, but instead went to the Qianqing Palace to beg the emperor for forgiveness.

"I don't know." Li Guochen didn't know, and Li Lai Fu was even more confused.

"Did the East Depot move?" Li Guochen immediately laughed self-deprecatingly after asking this question. He realized he had asked a very foolish question. If the East Depot or the Embroidered Uniform Guard had moved, the Wuqing Marquisate in the capital would have been surrounded before Tsinghua Garden, and Li Laifu would not have been able to bring in the news of the East Depot's report.

"They probably haven't moved." Since Li Guochen had asked, Li Laifu answered. "When I came back, I passed by the Outer East Factory and didn't see any soldiers leaving their station. The streets were very peaceful. When I passed the residences of the Marquis of Pingjiang and the Marquis of Boping, I didn't see either of their houses surrounded."

"Yes." Li Guochen nodded, a solemn expression on his face. "So what does the East Factory's impeachment report say about punishing the Li family or other families?"

"I don't know." Li Lai Fu shook his head.

"How could you not know?" Li Guochen frowned slightly. "You haven't even inquired about something so important?"

"It's not that I didn't ask around," Li Laifu explained hastily, "but there's simply no news circulating on the streets about this. I believe the East Factory's impeachment may not include a request for additional punishment."

Li Laifu's guess was correct. The East Depot's impeachment was merely a mere statement of facts. Of course, the East Depot wouldn't propose any punishment. Wang An had clearly stated in his letter to the East Depot, asking Cui Wensheng to submit his report, that the inner court shouldn't arbitrarily discuss how to punish relatives of the emperor's wife; that was a matter for the civil officials. This, in turn, perfectly suited Cui Wensheng's wishes. Cui Wensheng wasn't someone without political acumen; he clearly understood who could and couldn't be executed, and who would be best left to others to kill.

"Could it be that you haven't found out?" Some inexplicable worry made Li Guochen frown even more tightly.

"It's possible," Li Laifu said, not denying it outright. He hadn't seen the original impeachment letter from the East Depot, nor had he contacted officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the Ministry of Revenue. It was even more unlikely that he would have gone to the cabinet or the palace to inquire about it. "But I think it's unlikely that the East Depot proposed a punishment without me hearing about it."

"Why do you say that?" Li Guochen asked.

"Because I also heard another piece of information related to this case." Li Lai Fu replied.

"What's the news?" Li Guochen interrupted. "Li Changgeng, the Minister of Finance stationed in Beitang, has been dismissed by the cabinet," Li Laifu said. "There are critics outside saying that the cabinet is acting in this way to protect our mansion."

"Protect? No no no no no! Protect your ass!" Li Guochen was shocked and shook his head repeatedly, saying, "Something happened, something serious!"

"Master, what's wrong?" Li Laifu was frightened by the visible anxiety on Li Guochen's face. In an instant, the excitement in his heart dissipated, leaving only the worry of empathy. "The factory guards haven't come yet."

"It's over just because I didn't show up!" Li Guochen's whole body started to heat up due to nervousness, and his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Master, what's going on? Don't scare me." Li Laifu remembered clearly how, yesterday, after hearing about the unexpected Guangning smuggling case, Li Guochen had been completely at ease and composed. After learning that the Imperial Guards had exposed the Li family's cover-up in the Tianjin corruption case, Li Guochen had acted even more complacent. And today's events had clearly been part of Li Guochen's plan, yet the young master's anxiety was palpable.

"Three cases, from light to heavy, were thrown out one by one. The shouting outside gradually increased, but no factory guards came to the door. Do you know what this means?" The house and garden blocked the noise from the outside world, but Li Guochen seemed to hear the shouts of the censors calling for the death penalty for the Li family.

"I don't know." Li Lai Fu shook his head blankly.

"This is letting public opinion run wild." Li Guochen gripped the armrest tightly, trying to calm himself. "If the Emperor truly wanted to protect the Li family, he wouldn't have let these cases see the light of day! Now, not only have things come to light, but the East Depot has also reported them through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, effectively announcing them to the entire nation. After the East Depot's report, the Imperial Guards took no action, while the Cabinet first requested an imperial decree to dismiss Li Changgeng, the Minister of Finance. This shows that the Emperor isn't just waiting for public opinion, he's actually guiding it. What's the opposite of protecting the Li family? Severe punishment!"

As long as the emperor was willing to protect the Li family, no matter how violent public opinion was, it wouldn't kill the nobles. Just like when Li Wenquan married the eunuch Zhang Cheng, public opinion was outraged, but only Zhang Cheng and his vassals suffered. In the end, the Marquis of Wuqing remained the Marquis of Wuqing, not even receiving the symbolic punishment of being demoted to an earl.

Before yesterday, Li Guochen had even considered the possibility that, after the East Factory had fully investigated the matter, the Emperor, due to Empress Dowager Li's connections, would still shield the Wuqing Marquis Li family and suppress the matter. He would then find a way to leak the case, creating a wave of public opinion that would then slowly engulf Li Guorui, the man in charge of the Li family's various businesses. The facts were clear, and Li Guochen hadn't fabricated anything. As long as he was careful enough, avoiding any crude tactics like overtly bribing the censors, he could operate relatively safely from behind the scenes, orchestrating a succession plan that would target Li Guorui without overtly targeting the Li family. If the legitimate eldest son, Li Guorui, were disqualified from the succession due to his illegal activities, he, as the eldest illegitimate son, would become the future Marquis of Wuqing, or even the Earl of Wuqing.

Of course, if His Majesty were wise enough to directly carry out a legal and targeted strike against Li Guorui without any help, that would be even more perfect. He only needed to pretend to be terrified and submissive, sitting in the Wuqing Marquis's mansion and waiting for a thunderbolt to strike Tsinghua Garden outside the city, and then the Wuqing Marquis's hat would automatically float to his head.

But now, the emperor is using means to manipulate and exploit public opinion, and things have become extremely serious and terrifying.

If the emperor wanted to take action against ordinary nobles with military merit, he would simply weigh their merits and crimes. If the merits did not outweigh the crimes, he would punish them according to the law. However, Wuqing Hou was not a noble with military merit, but a typical imperial relative whose status was based on his father's daughter. If the emperor wanted to take action against Wuqing Hou, he didn't need to weigh merits and crimes, but rather his filial piety. Filial piety, unlike merit, is difficult to measure. It is only diluted by time.

If the throne had been passed down for another generation or two, the emperor wouldn't have had to worry about taking action against the Li family. If they were found guilty, they could have been arrested and sentenced harshly, and no one would have said anything. However, the current emperor was the eldest grandson of Empress Dowager Li, and his biological mother, Empress Dowager Wang, had been a maid in Empress Dowager Li's palace. Furthermore, rumors circulated that the emperor's victory in the battle for the throne was thanks to Empress Dowager Li's support.

If the emperor took direct action against the Li family, they could find a way to bring up the deceased Empress Dowager Li and use "filial piety" to oppose the emperor. At that time, as long as the Li family showed relative obedience and threw all the responsibility onto a single person, such as Li Guorui, there would be room for maneuver and the Li family could be saved.

But now, His Majesty the Emperor did not take direct action against the Li family, and the first thing the cabinet did was not to request severe punishment for the main culprit, but to dismiss Li Changgeng, who was relatively innocent and known for his integrity and ability, and quickly obtained the emperor's approval.

To outsiders who did not know the truth, it seemed as if the emperor intended to protect the nobles who were the main culprits and wanted to punish the officials in charge of the Ministry of Finance as scapegoats, so he forced the cabinet to go through with it.

But Li Guochen believed the emperor wasn't seeking to protect the Li family at all; rather, he was determined to crush them and drive them out. The emperor was using a contrarian approach, preemptively exposing the "protection" and the underlying "filial piety" to public criticism. Unable to criticize the emperor directly, the censors resorted to exerting pressure on the cabinet, precisely the pressure the emperor sought.
As long as the pressure accumulates for a period of time, and the nine ministers come to the cabinet to advise or the six departments block the sedan chair to disturb the situation, the cabinet will "not be able to withstand" the pressure, follow the public opinion of the outer court, and be "forced" to represent the public opinion and submit a memorial to the emperor requesting severe punishment for the nobles involved.

Li Guochen seemed to have suddenly thought of something extremely terrifying. He paused and remained silent for a moment. Then he asked Li Laifu in a choked voice, "Has Li Changgeng been bribed by Li Laicai? Has he been bribed?"

"Probably. Probably not." Although Li Lai Fu didn't quite understand, his heart rate was no slower than Li Guochen's.

"It's over, it's over!" Li Guochen's face turned completely pale. "If Li Changgeng is sentenced to death, then it's really all over."

"How could that be?" Li Laifu's face turned pale. "There's no reason why Li Changgeng should be sentenced to death, right?"

Li Guochen seemed to be telling Li Laifu his conjecture, or perhaps he was muttering to himself: "Maybe not, and there's no need for the death penalty, but he can die! He can die! If he dies, can't the Li family be sentenced to death as well?"

In Li Guochen's sudden flash of horrifying inspiration, Li Changgeng, the Minister of Finance, was merely a tool to manipulate public opinion. If the emperor sentenced Li Changgeng to death without conducting a thorough investigation, even if he wasn't executed, he could be thrown into prison. Like Zou Yuanbiao and Zhao Nanxing, he could be secretly executed by using despicable tactics like "suicide out of fear of punishment" or "death of illness in prison." Then, a report would be released showing Li Changgeng's innocence, effectively pinning the blame on the Zhang family. Then, as a wise and sage ruler, the emperor would naturally express sympathy for Li Changgeng and inflict the harshest punishment on the Li family!
(End of this chapter)