Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 474: Mistake of the Ministry of War?
It was approaching dusk, and the bell for dismissing the court had long since rung. However, it wasn't until the gates of the imperial city were closed and the palace was under martial law that the sedan chair carrying the deputy minister, Ye Xianggao, returned to the Ye family residence near the Lantern Festival.

As the sedan chair landed and the curtain was lifted, the old doorman of the Ye family came to greet him. "Master, there are guests at home."

"Who's here?" Ye Xianggao instinctively frowned upon hearing this. Meeting guests during the imperial examination could easily lead to a bad smell. To avoid getting into trouble, he had previously told the old doorman in front of him to only accept visiting cards and not to greet guests.

The old doorman heard the questioning tone in his master's voice, but he remained calm. "It's Mr. Shen from Ninghai. There are also two seventh-rank officials accompanying him." The old doorman naturally mistook Yuan Jin and Li Zhong for Shen Yourong's personal attendants.

"Ning Hai, Shen Shihong!" Ye Xianggao was stunned for a moment. After a moment's hesitation, a look of surprise appeared on his face, but it didn't last long before it turned to confusion.

"It's him." As usual, the old doorman reached out and held Ye Xianggao's arm, helping him out of the sedan chair.

"When did he come?" Ye Xianggao took a step forward.

"It's almost time to dismiss the court." said the old doorman.

"Have you treated him to a meal?" Ye Xianggao hurriedly stepped over the threshold.

"The young master has already had dinner with his master." The old doorman stopped at the door with hanging flowers.

"Very good." Just as the old doorman expected, Shen Yourong was not within the scope of Ye Xianggao's "refusal to receive".

Ye Xianggao walked quickly to the reception room, where he found Shen Yourong, Yuan Jin, Li Zhong, and the accompanying second son of the Ye family, Ye Chengmin.

Seeing Ye Xianggao coming, the four people immediately stood up.

"Shi Hong! Shi Hong!" Before Shen Yourong could greet him, Ye Xianggao stepped forward and held onto his strong arm. "Oh! It's been a long time!"

"Lord!" Shen Yourong was also very excited.

"What do you mean by 'Gate'?" Ye Xianggao's smile immediately fell. He feigned anger and said, "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Jin Qing!" Shen Yourong changed his words.

"Dad!" Ye Chengmin also came to pay his respects.

"Is this silly boy not neglecting you?" Ye Xianggao didn't even look at Ye Chengmin.

"How can I be negligent? The second young master is very enthusiastic." Shen Yourong said with a smile.

"What young master? You're just a fool. You have nothing to do here," Ye Xianggao said, waving his son away and leading Shen Yourong to the right side of the main seat. "Alright, alright, my home is your home. Stop standing there and sit down! Sit down!"

Ignored, Yuan Jin and Li Zhong stared in disbelief. It wasn't surprising to them that Shen Yourong and Ye Xianggao knew each other. After all, Ye and Shen, like them, were from Fujian, and both were high-ranking officials in the imperial court. It was natural for them to have some connections. But Yuan and Zhong hadn't anticipated how close Ye and Shen's relationship was.

Shen Yourong and Ye Xianggao met in the eighth year of Wanli.

In the seventh year of Wanli, Shen Yourong ranked fourth in the Yingtian military examination and became a military candidate, while Ye Xianggao ranked 21st in the Fujian provincial examination and became a civil candidate.

The following year, twenty-five-year-old Shen Yourong and twenty-one-year-old Ye Xianggao traveled to Beijing to take the imperial examinations, both seeking to pass them together. The two ambitious young men met on their way and struck up a friendly rapport. That same year, Shen Yourong, a military candidate, had failed, and Ye Xianggao, a civil candidate, had also failed, creating a new bond between the two men, a bond born of unfulfilled ambition and shared suffering.

A scholar without the literary talent has no future, but a military commander who kills the enemy is also a meritorious service. After a drunken bout, Ye Xianggao returned home to study, preparing for his second attempt at the imperial examination. Meanwhile, Shen Yourong forgoes the military examination and heads north to the battlefield, joining the army of Liang Menglong, the Governor of Ji and Liao, where he was appointed flag bearer. Forty-one years later, Ye and Shen achieved both literary and military success, each making their own mark.

"Why is Shihong here in the capital?" Ye Xianggao gestured to Yuan and Li, telling them to take their seats without formalities. It might seem like a simple gesture, but for a military officer of this rank, Ye Xianggao's gesture was already a sign of courtesy. If Shen Yourong hadn't brought them here, the two wouldn't even be able to enter the Ye family's house, let alone take a seat.

"Lord." Shen Yourong respected Ye Xianggao very much and was so used to calling him "Lord" that he forgot to change his tone. However, Ye Xianggao really didn't like the unfamiliarity and insisted on forcing him to change, so he glared at Shen Yourong with dissatisfaction.

Shen Yourong changed her tone awkwardly. "Jin Qing doesn't know about me, either?"

"I only know that you wouldn't violate the court's rules." Ye Xianggao asked, "Who sent you the official letter?"

"Of course it's the Ministry of War," Shen Yourong took out the letter from his pocket asking him to report to the capital and handed it to Ye Xianggao. "It's only the Ministry of War."

Shen Yourong wasn't entirely right. Besides the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and even the Ministry of Justice could also mobilize local military officers to handle specific matters within their respective departments, provided they received approval. For example, if a disaster struck a certain region and the Ministry of Revenue needed to allocate food and money across provinces for disaster relief, or if the Ministry of Works needed materials for a major project but lacked manpower, they could submit a petition requesting the mobilization of local troops to assist. While this would require notification to the Ministry of War, it wasn't the Ministry of War who sent the letter.

"Report on my duties." Ye Xianggao fell into deep thought upon seeing the official letter from the Ministry of War. But after thinking for a long time, he could only utter a question: "Report on what duties?"

"I thought you knew." Shen Yourong sighed.

"I really don't know." Ye Xianggao put the official letter on the coffee table beside him. "Have you been to the Ministry of War?"

"I have been there," Shen Yourong said. "I arrived this afternoon as a Jinshi. Before coming here, I went to the Ministry of War. Only Zhang Shao Sima was there. But judging by his expression, he probably didn't know anything about this either."

"That's strange." Ye Xianggao's eyes were filled with a certain solemnity. "Logically speaking, summoning the deputy commander stationed in the town to the capital alone, while not as serious as mobilizing troops, is no small matter. As a senior official in the Ministry of War, Zhang Weicai should have known about it. What did he tell you?"

Shen Yourong shook her head. "Young Master Zhang didn't say anything. After checking the list, he said Grand Master Cui wouldn't be going to the Ministry of War today, and told me to find a place to stay. I should go to the Ministry of War after the ceremony and see Grand Master Cui in person."

"Booklet, what booklet, what's on it?" Ye Xianggao asked again.

"He didn't show it to me." Shen Yourong's face darkened. "I suspect it was a memorandum for sending and receiving official correspondence, but my affairs were not mentioned on it."

"Yeah." Ye Xianggao nodded. "You guessed right. Zhang Weicai knows nothing, and there's no record of this incident in the booklet. If it was written, he would have at least told you a few words and wouldn't have just let you go like that."

"Could it be that someone forged an official letter to play a trick on me?" Shen Yourong guessed.

"The official letter should not be forged. This is indeed the seal of the Ministry of War." Ye Xianggao patted the official letter on the coffee table, pointed to an inconspicuous flaw on the seal and said, "Look, there is a small gap on this continuous seal. All the seals of the Ministry of War have this small gap. It should be a small flaw made by the craftsman when the seal was made 250 years ago. And this signature is indeed Cui Ziqiang's own. I just saw his signature this afternoon, there can be no mistake. I think either Cui Ziqiang forgot to write it down in the memorandum, or someone stole his blank seal to play a trick on you. Or," Ye Xianggao paused, his eyes became sharper, "the matter of summoning you to Beijing needs to be kept secret so much that even I, the deputy minister of the cabinet, have to hide it from you." Shen Yourong nodded. "Jin Qing, what do you think it is?"

"You ask me?" Ye Xianggao asked back.

"Not really?" Shen Yourong turned her head to look at Yuan Jin and Li Zhong.

"Do you think it has something to do with them?" Ye Xianggao then turned his attention to Yuan and Li.

Yuan Jin and Li Zhong's scalps tingled at what they heard. These two old men were truly terrifying, able to explain everything so thoroughly with just one conversation. Under the gaze of these two old men, Yuan and Li felt as if they were naked.

"That's all I can think of." Shen Yourong said.

"Who are these two?" Ye Xianggao looked at them.

"The black one is Yuan Lao Ba, and the slightly whiter one is Li Lao Yao." Shen Yourong pointed and introduced.

"Old Eight Yuan" Ye Xianggao had some impression of this name.

"He calls himself Yuan Ba ​​Lao."

"Is it that bandit?" Ye Xianggao raised his eyebrows.

"Hehe." Yuan Jin smiled timidly.

Shen Yourong said, "They were bandits before, but now that they have been recruited, they are now captains of the imperial court."

Yuan and Li nodded immediately. "I've completely changed my ways! I'm loyal to the court and have no evil intentions!"

In May of the 47th year of the Wanli reign, Yuan Jin, the eighth son of the Yuan family, who styled himself "Yuan Ba ​​Lao," led over a thousand of his men on a rampage along the Fujian coast. Reports of looting and burning were widespread, leading to reports from prefectures and counties along the way that the bandits were rampant. To swiftly eliminate the threat, Wang Shichang, then Fujian Governor, issued a letter to Ji Yuanxian, Deputy General of the Southern Route, and Shen Yourong, Deputy General of Dinghai, to lead troops to suppress the bandits. Under Wang Shichang's command, the two generals employed a strategy of both suppression and appeasement, initially winning several battles before sending out envoys to pacify the bandits. That autumn, they were granted two seventh-rank official titles and incorporated into the bandit group.

In the autumn of the 48th year of the Wanli reign, Shen Yourong received an order to relocate his garrison to Dengzhou. The locals were concerned about these former bandits, fearing they would cause further trouble without a stabilizing force. However, the imperial court had ordered a transfer of generals, and the locals could not afford to leave Shen Yourong alone. So, they requested that he take these soldiers with him to Dengzhou. Shen Yourong readily complied, taking with him all the elite troops, led by Yuan and Li.

While Wang, Shen, and Ji certainly played a significant role in this matter, many details are inappropriate. For example, Yuan and Li were bandits with a lot of blood on their hands. To quickly pacify them, Wang Shichang and Generals Shen and Ji resorted to some tactics to turn a blind eye. So, upon receiving the official letter from the Ministry of War, Shen Yourong's first reaction was that the imperial court would question the pacification process.

"So Shi Hong thinks," Ye Xianggao retracted his gaze and looked at Shen Yourong. "The Ministry of War summoned you to the capital to inquire about the amnesty?"

"Yes." Shen Yourong nodded.

"I don't think so," Ye Xianggao glanced at the two of them and said with disdain, "The disturbance these people caused might be a big deal in the countryside, but in Beijing it's just a few official documents. The Ministry of War can't possibly make such a secret about their affairs. Even if they need to report on your work, there's no need to ask you to come to the capital in person at this time. Think about it, have you encountered any other major events recently?"

"I really don't know." Shen Yourong shook his head.

"I'll go ask Fang Zhonghan tomorrow. If there's nothing wrong with the Ministry of War, he'll definitely know." Ye Xianggao sighed.

If there really was a mistake made by the Ministry of War, it would be another major case.

--------

On March 17th, the first year of the Taichang reign, at 1:05 a.m., within the courtyard enclosed by Dong'an Gate and Dong'anli Gate, seventeen examiners, including a cabinet minister, were being frisked by Jinwu guards. Because the officials present were all trusted and important, the frisks were standard procedures. They'd feel around their waists, pat their chests, and remove their hats to check for anything unusual underneath. Once the inspection was complete, they'd cross the bridge.

"Zhonghan!" As soon as he crossed the bridge, Ye Xianggao came close to Fang Congzhe.

"What's wrong?" Fang Congzhe turned around and saw Ye Xianggao approaching him, almost as if to hug him. He couldn't help but take a step back. "What are you doing?"

"Your hat is worn crookedly." Ye Xianggao stretched out his hand and pretended to help him straighten the crown of his hat.

"Well. Thank you for your help." Fang Congzhe also lowered his head and looked at his robe.

"Do you know that the Ministry of War sent a letter to summon Shandong Coast Defense Deputy Commander-in-Chief Shen Yourong to Beijing to report on his work?" Ye Xianggao whispered in Fang Congzhe's ear.

"Summon Shen Shihong to the capital?" Fang Congzhe was stunned for a moment, subconsciously lowering his voice. "When has there never been such an order?"

"You don't know either." Ye Xianggao frowned.

"What should I know?" Fang Congzhe didn't even understand what Ye Xianggao was talking about.

Ye Xianggao patted Fang Congzhe on the shoulder, motioning him to continue walking. "Yesterday afternoon, Shen Shihong arrived in Beijing with an official letter from the Ministry of War and is now staying at my house. I've carefully examined the Ministry's seal and Cui Ziqiang's signature, and there's no problem. So I suspect someone stole Cui Ziqiang's blank seal and pulled this prank."

"How could such a thing happen?" Fang Congzhe turned around and looked at Cui Jingrong, the Minister of War, who was being searched. "Who knows about this now?"

"It can't be hidden," Ye Xianggao immediately understood that Fang Congzhe was trying to suppress the matter. "Shen Shihong went to the Ministry of War yesterday and met with Zhang Weicai. On his way to Beijing, he also happened to run into Bi Jingzeng, who was heading south to Tianjin, and the eunuchs from the East Depot who were traveling with him."

Fang Congzhe quickly made a judgment. "I know I can't hide it, but I still have to suppress it. Judging from the newspapers over the past two weeks, the bandits' massive westward raids are a foregone conclusion. Fighting might have already broken out in Shenyang. If this happens, Cui Ziqiang will definitely be finished. There's no way he can be saved. But right now, as the Minister of War, he can't withdraw. He has to get through this month at the very least."

Ye Xianggao nodded in agreement. "As for the Emperor, should we wait for the Eastern Depot to report the news first, or should we take the initiative to report it?"

"This matter is completely different from that one. Now that you know about it, you can't pretend not to know. Moreover, Shen Shihong is still living in your house. Once the reading is finished, submit a secret report immediately, stating the whole story and my thoughts." Fang Congzhe said, "I will sign it with you."

"it is good!"

(End of this chapter)