Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 481: Two Yuans jointly sign a memorial

"Lord Jie Huan, don't worry. I am not afraid of any trouble or offending anyone." Yuan Huazhong picked up the pen and wrote his full name under the title of the memorial.

With this, the first stage of the memorial process was complete. Yuan Keli could then review the contents and have a copy sent out. If it was simply a simple petition, only one copy would be sent to the relevant department for review and correction. If the memorial was not retained, even if the emperor's reply was simply "I understand," it would eventually be returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for archiving. However, if it was an impeachment, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would send a copy of the memorial to the person being impeached, so that they would be aware of it.

"Alas," Yuan Keli sighed, retracting his brush and booklet. "Some things have little impact on the overall national situation. If you can avoid following others' lead, then don't get involved."

"There is no trivial matter in the palace. I have my own scale in my heart." How could Yuan Huazhong not understand that Yuan Keli was talking about a question he had written a few days ago.

That question was also a follow-up to the case of Zou, Zhao, and Sun conspiring to revolt against the court.

Although Yuan Huazhong personally accompanied a group of civil and military officials in the prison of the Northern Pacification Office to examine the circumstances of Zhao Nanxing's death, he still felt that there was something strange about this death.

This matter became even more bizarre after Xu Xianchun, the second-in-command of the Northern Pacification Office and the deputy captain in charge of criminal justice, also inexplicably "committed suicide".

Yuan Huazhong did not think that this was done at the emperor's instruction because it was completely unnecessary.

After all, one of the masterminds, Sun Ruyou, the Minister of Rites, confessed to conspiracy and incitement in court without being tortured. Such a confession could not be false. With such a confession, the emperor did not even need to use the imperial caning to execute Zhao Nanxing. He could just have the Ministry of Justice sentence him to death.

Subsequent verdicts also proved that the emperor had no intention of killing anyone. Despite the simultaneous beatings of so many people, no one was ultimately killed. This was clearly a sign of the emperor's grace and benevolence, a special act of his will. Furthermore, the punishment following the massive beatings was a mere one-year salary fine, which was subsequently dismissed on a random pretext. Even Sun Ruyou survived his dismissal, and there have been recent calls for him to succeed Wang Yingjiao as the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing.

After much thought, Yuan Huazhong found the answer to this question by relying on the analytical method of "whoever benefits from the matter is the mastermind behind the scenes."

Zhao Nanxing's death was obviously related to Xu Xianchun, who was guarding him, otherwise Xu Xianchun would not have "committed suicide" inexplicably. But why did Xu Xianchun kill Zhao Nanxing?

Yuan Huazhong still didn't know the answer to this question. After all, he couldn't go down to the underworld in his dreams to ask questions about the dead, as the legendary Lord Bao did. But he was 90% sure that Xu Xianchun's death was definitely related to his immediate superior, Tian Ergeng.

Either Tian Ergeng killed him personally, or someone helped him do it. Moreover, the possibility that Tian Ergeng did it himself was very high.

Multiple sources of information indicate that after Zou Yuanbiao committed suicide, Xu Xianchun accused Tian Ergeng of being responsible for Zou Yuanbiao's suicide in front of Wei Zhongxian, the governor of the Western Factory, and a group of officials from the Pacification Office. There was no room for reconciliation between the two, and it could be said that they were at war until one side died.

Yuan Huazhong even speculated that Xu Xianchun's original intention to murder Zhao Nanxing was probably to further frame Tian Ergeng and completely bring him down, thus eliminating future troubles and also helping him gain power.

Yuan Huazhong made this judgment because he later heard that Tian Ergeng was so frightened by Zhao Nanxing's death that he trembled all over and cried loudly, almost urinating in front of the emperor. Although there is some exaggeration in this story, it is probably also true.

However, framing Tian Ergeng by assassinating Zhao Nanxing was too foolish. Even if Xu Xianchun, as the deputy chief of the Northern Pacification Division, could easily murder a prisoner and disguise the murder as suicide, it was still too foolish.

Because whatever the Northern Pacification Office could do to the criminal, the Western Factory could also do to him. Under torture, disguise was meaningless. Unless, before launching the operation, Xu Xianchun was sure that the Western Factory would not do this to him.

And there was only one person who could make such a promise to Xu Xianchun and make him believe it, and that was the eunuch admiral Wei Zhongxian!

Therefore, Yuan Huazhong speculated that the person who arranged this drama was Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch commander-in-chief of the Western Investigation Factory!
Tian Ergeng, who was between Xu Xianchun and Wei Zhongxian, was Wei Zhongxian's goal.

Therefore, regarding the untimely deaths of Zhao Nanxing and Xu Xianchun, Yuan Huazhong's theory is that Wei Zhongxian first instructed Xu Xianchun to murder Zhao Nanxing, telling him that by doing so, he could not only completely blame Tian Ergeng for Zou Yuanbiao's death but also help him defeat Tian Ergeng. However, Xu Xianchun was merely a pawn in Wei Zhongxian's scheme to subjugate Tian Ergeng. After Xu Xianchun complied, the Western Factory, under imperial order, detained both Xu Xianchun and Tian Ergeng. At this point, Wei Zhongxian approached Tian Ergeng and told him that if he acknowledged him as his godfather and pledged his loyalty, he would spare his life and permanently eliminate the scourge of Xu Xianchun.

At this point, Tian Ergeng was completely flustered. Who would be convicted and how the sentence would be determined depended entirely on Wei Zhongxian's dictates. Tian Ergeng had to agree if he didn't want to die. Even though he knew or guessed that Zhao Nanxing was assassinated by Xu Xianchun at Wei Zhongxian's behest, he was still a traitor.

Tian Ergeng wasn't a perfect gentleman. Of course, he would have agreed. To be on the safe side, Wei Zhongxian likely wouldn't have killed the person himself, but instead had Tian Ergeng do the killing. This way, not only would the threat be eliminated, but Wei Zhongxian would also have an additional lever to use to manipulate Tian Ergeng and the Northern Pacification Office under his jurisdiction. This also explains why Xu Xianchun wasn't executed for his crimes, but rather committed suicide.

In this way, Wei Zhongxian adopted Tian Le and Tian Dongzhou's son as his godson, and then took control of the Northern Pacification Office.

This previously unknown eunuch first used the East Factory case to establish the West Factory's reputation, and then used the "Huo Ting" case to take control of the Northern Pacification Office. His scheming was indeed profound. If the matter had only stopped there, Yuan Huazhong would not have been horrified and felt a deep sense of crisis.

After making inquiries from many sources and careful deductions, he discovered a deeper problem, a problem that made him shudder.

How could Wei Zhongxian, a gangster who turned into a eunuch, compete with a group of virtuous eunuchs from the inner court, appear before the emperor, and jump to such an important position?
The answer to the question is obvious. Wei Zhongxian is an old friend of Concubine Kang Li, and Li is the most favored concubine in the entire harem!
It was clear as day that this was not only a story of treacherous conspiracy and abuse of power for personal gain, but also a story of imperial harem meddling in government affairs and hens roaming the streets! After realizing this, Yuan Huazhong immediately submitted a memorial, directly targeting Consort Kang Li, comparing her to the Yang family of the previous Tang Dynasty and the Zheng family of the previous emperor. He hoped that the emperor would be discerning and stay away from the alluring concubines, refraining from being seduced by women and thus undermining his wisdom. He proposed reopening the Zhao and Xu cases, ordering the three judicial departments to conduct a thorough investigation into the deaths of Zhao Nanxing and Xu Xianchun, and questioning the judges. This would expose the treacherous plot of Li and Wei. He also subtly mentioned Tian Ergeng in his memorial, hoping that he would repent, confess his mistakes, and not repeat them.

Unfortunately, Li's charm was so coquettish that she had ensnared the emperor. A 2,000-word analysis and petition was submitted to the palace, but ultimately yielded nothing. It was simply "unreported." Days passed, and the emperor ignored her, as if the petition had never existed.

"I'm afraid your scale isn't accurate." Yuan Keli shook his head meaningfully. He didn't know as much as Yuan Huazhong, but after the Shenyang Incident, Yuan Keli realized something crucial: the emperor's heart is in his own hands. The emperor doesn't care about the means to accomplish a goal. The emperor carefully selects those who can achieve the desired outcome. If they can't, he decisively replaces them, just like how Xu Guangqi replaced Sun Ruyou and Bi Ziyan replaced Li Changgeng. If something reported to the emperor seems unusual, then the unusualness itself is likely what the emperor wants, not to mention the things around him.

"Is there something behind what Lord Jie Huan said?" Yuan Huazhong looked at Yuan Keli deeply.

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. This door to all wonders still depends on you to figure it out." Yuan Keli let Yuan Huazhong figure it out himself, but he couldn't help but remind him, "Some things are like that, and maybe they should be like that. No one can change it. That's all I have to say, you can go." Yuan Keli lowered his head and waved his hand.

Yuan Huazhong didn't have a deep understanding of Laozi and Zhuangzi's teachings, and he had little understanding of the terms "Dao, Ming, Miao, and Xuan." He only understood them vaguely. Yuan Huazhong also disliked the argument that "no one can change it." He wanted to use Yuan Keli's past deeds to engage in a "using yesterday's self to attack today's self" debate with Yuan Keli, but since Yuan Keli had already ordered him to leave, he had no choice but to leave. "I'll take my leave."

"Wait!" Yuan Huazhong had just turned around when Yuan Keli called him again.

"Does Lord Ji Huan have any further instructions?" Yuan Huazhong turned around.

"Do you really want to publish this one?" On the desk in front of Yuan Keli, Yuan Huazhong's "Petition to Calm the Rumors in the Capital" had been opened.

"Hasn't this humble subject already submitted it? Could it be that Lord Jie Huan wants this humble subject to take it back?" Yuan Huazhong said.

"There are no trivial matters in the palace. You said that yourself." Yuan Keli first acted out the drama of "using yesterday's self to attack today's self".

"Precisely because no matter how trivial matters are in the imperial palace, and because the Emperor's dignity is respected, I am submitting this memorial to Your Majesty, requesting an investigation into the facts and quelling the rumors circulating in the capital," Yuan Huazhong said. "Furthermore, it's clear that someone is attempting to exploit the Li family's eldest son's transfer to the Ministry of Justice by the Imperial Household Department, the recent death of the Emperor's youngest daughter, and Xiao Ding's conversion to Buddhism to fabricate prophecies and coerce the Emperor and the court into abandoning the investigation of the three cases. How can such a disloyal, unfilial, and unjust conspiracy go unpunished?"

Yuan Keli frowned and nodded slightly. "But there's no need for you to start so fiercely accusing Yangwu Hou, Pingjiang Bo, Boping Bo, and the others. Do you have any evidence?"

"I have no evidence. But I am a censor, and I can report on rumors." Yuan Huazhong finally explained, "As for motive, these treacherous marquises and nobles directly implicated in the Guangning smuggling and Tanggu disappearance cases are most likely using this to fabricate false prophecies and coerce the Emperor into abandoning the investigation of the three cases. Furthermore, I named them to define the scope of the investigation. If this matter were to be dragged out recklessly, I'm afraid there would be many casualties in the capital. Does Lord Jiehuan know that the Northern Pacification Office has already been dispatched?"

"When?" Yuan Keli shook his head. Although the Ministry of Public Administration's information sources were widespread, they were mostly passive. Censors like Yuan Huazhong from the Metropolitan Censorate not only actively collected information but also shared it with one another.

"It's during these two days of the palace examination." Yuan Huazhong said.

"Doesn't that just mean the Emperor has already ordered the Imperial Guards to investigate?" Yuan Keli stared at Yuan Huazhong intently. "If you knew about this, why did you bother to get this book?"

"Hehe, Lord Jie Huan, do you suspect that I am using criticism as an excuse to gain fame and personal gain?" Yuan Huazhong chuckled.

"Yes." Yuan Keli nodded solemnly.

Yuan Keli had previously assumed that even if the outer court remained silent on such a major matter, the inner court would report it. Therefore, he worried that Yuan Huazhong's rash reporting, combined with his widespread attacks, would easily lead to a widespread encirclement and suppression. Furthermore, if Yuan Huazhong's baseless accusations were proven false, the accused treacherous dukes and wicked nobles could use them to protest their innocence, spurring public opinion to attack Yuan Huazhong and the entire Censorate, thereby negating their original guilt to some extent. However, if Yuan Huazhong, knowing that the Imperial Household Department had already begun an investigation, still filed a report, his intentions were questionable.

"But what if the emperor doesn't know about this yet?" Yuan Huazhong stopped smiling.

"Contradictory!" Yuan Keli had completely forgotten that the signing room also had two clerks responsible for communicating and transferring documents within the yamen. "Since the Northern Pacification Office's cavalry is out in force, how could the emperor not know about this?"

"I guess Lord Jie Huan doesn't know yet that the Northern Pacification Office hasn't sent a warrant to the Criminal Department. They've arrested people without a warrant, and it seems they've arrested sixty or seventy people in a single day. And now, all of them have been sent to the Northern Pacification Office for torture." Yuan Huazhong flipped two pages back for Yuan Keli, pointing to a few lines of text. "That's why I'm still impeaching the Northern Pacification Office!"

"Could it be that you don't know?" Yuan Keli's face changed slightly. Even though the "sending the letter to the Ministry of Justice" process had once again become an insignificant "routine" after Fu Li was promoted to the position of Chief of the Criminal Affairs Department and took charge of the Ministry of Justice's seal, the Jinyiwei still went through this formality every time they went on an arrest or interrogation mission.

"This morning, I asked the criminal department to confirm. Otherwise, I would have put this book back." Yuan Huazhong said solemnly, "I dare to assert that there is a master in the palace who suppressed this matter and forced the Northern Pacification Division to arrest people without a warrant. As for why this master wanted to arrest and interrogate people without telling the emperor, I don't know. But if the Pacification Division is allowed to try for a few more days, he might produce a confession that is earth-shattering." Yuan Huazhong had already sketched out the image of the "master" in his mind, that is, the hypocritical Western Factory Governor Wei Zhongxian.

Yuan Keli was silent for a long time, then finally picked up the brush. "I'll sign your name."

(End of this chapter)