Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 494 Scapegoat

In the duty room of the Inner East Factory, Wang An, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, was resting quietly in the chair that had once belonged to Cui Wensheng, his head propped up and his eyes closed. On the desk before him lay a cup of steaming fragrant tea and a plate of cold snacks.

The door was open, and Cui Wensheng walked in directly with his men. Seeing Wang An's appearance, let alone disturbing him, Cui Wensheng even thought of leaving and waiting for a while.

However, Wang An didn't fall asleep. The sound of the group's approaching footsteps had already disturbed Wang An. He opened his eyes and waved to Cui Wensheng. "Come here."

"Yes," Cui Wensheng said, standing up and waving to the eunuchs who had followed him. "All of you, get out and close the door." Wang An had tea and snacks in front of him, but no one was around to serve him. It was obvious that he had sent everyone away so that he could have a private conversation with him. Cui Wensheng also had this in mind.

"Yes." The eunuchs took the order and retreated.

"I, Cui Wensheng, pay my respects to the ancestor." Arriving before Wang An, Cui Wensheng knelt without hesitation. The events of the past two days had fully demonstrated that Wang An's position as the foremost official in the inner court remained unshakable, with only Han Benyong of the Imperial Stables barely matching his status. As for the others, just being able to even approach his height was a feat.

"Please sit down." Wang An pointed to the first guest seat without any hesitation, as if he was the host here.

"Thank you, ancestor, for the invitation." Cui Wensheng had to thank him.

"Have you had your meal?" Wang An leaned forward and reached for the cup of tea.

"Thank you for your concern, old ancestor," Cui Wensheng smiled, holding up the teacup and holding it respectfully before passing it to Wang An. "I've already used it and had a simple meal in the dungeon."

"Dungeon? Is that where you eat?" Wang An didn't take the tea and just sat back. "No matter how heavy the work is, you don't have to eat there. It's too rude."

Cui Wensheng was stunned. He thought Wang An was annoyed that he had to express his hard work right away.

"Haha," Wang An said with a smile, "After such a long interrogation, your mouth must be dry. Why don't you drink it?"

"Oh my!" Cui Wensheng breathed a sigh of relief. "How dare I share a teacup with the old ancestor? It's okay. I'm not thirsty."

"Drink it, I haven't used it yet. I saved it specially for you." Wang An's smile became more and more warm.

"Then I will be honored to refuse your offer." Cui Wensheng took a sip of tea with a feeling of half joy and half worry.

In the palace, sharing a cup of tea was considered a high level of courtesy among eunuchs. It often meant that the person who drank tea first considered the person who drank tea later to be a close relative. It was certainly a good thing for a superior to offer tea to a subordinate, as it at least held the meaning of honor. However, this was the East Depot, not the Imperial Household Department. In other words, Wang An's offer of tea presupposed that he hadn't drunk the East Depot's tea, which was a bit tricky.

Is there any other meaning in it?

Cui Wensheng felt a little guilty. He put down his teacup and glanced at the tray of cold snacks, only to find that the one on top was gone. Just as he felt a little relieved, Wang An spoke again: "Tell me, how is the task I gave you yesterday going?"

"In reply to the ancestor," Cui Wensheng quickly straightened his posture. "In compliance with the master's order, the East Depot has already arrested Marquis Wuqing, Marquis Yangwu, Marquis Pingjiang, Marquis Boping, and their legitimate sons and eldest sons. Only Marquis Wuqing's eldest son, Li Guochen, remains incarcerated in the Ministry of Justice." At this point, Cui Wensheng paused and glanced cautiously at Wang An.

"Go on." Wang An's expression didn't change at all.

Cui Wensheng continued, "Their main house, villas, and gold vaults—everything we've verified has been surrounded. Those key servants, including the housekeeper and treasurer, have also been arrested." Cui Wensheng swallowed nervously. "But after all this interrogation overnight, they all claimed ignorance of that disrespectful, false prophecy."

"Didn't you torture them?" Wang An was a little disappointed. He frowned slightly and his tone became a little harsher.

"Of course," Cui Wensheng said quickly, "We've used every trick in the factory. The only thing missing is slicing the meat with a knife."

"They've been tortured and still haven't found anything?" Wang An stared at Cui Wensheng. "Is there really no clue at all?"

"It's not completely absent." Cui Wensheng took out the conversation record from his pocket, which had many details missing but was still quite detailed, and placed it in front of Wang An.

"What is this?" Wang An asked.

"This is the record of the conversation between me and the father and son of Wuqing Hou. It has their signatures on it, which can be regarded as a confession." Cui Wensheng showed Wang An the signatures of Li Mingcheng and Li Guorui.

"That's what you said." Wang An just glanced at the two signatures.

Cui Wensheng said, "Marquis Wuqing and his son suspect this case may be a conspiracy orchestrated by Li Guochen, who is currently imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, to seize the throne. Their goal is to provoke the Emperor so he can severely punish Marquis Wuqing and his son. If the Emperor deposes Li Guorui from the throne, Li Guochen will be able to become the new Marquis Wuqing after his death."

"After this incident," Wang An lowered his head, a subtle and complex look in his eyes. "I'm afraid the hereditary title of Marquis of Wuqing will no longer exist in our Ming Dynasty."

"Their relationship between father and son and brother is not good. Even if the title of 'Marquis of Wuqing' is stripped, it may not be a bad thing for Li Guochen." Upon hearing that the title of Marquis of Wuqing might be stripped, Cui Wensheng's eyes brightened. "Grandfather, how about we continue with this idea?"

"You want to proceed along these lines," Wang An said, quickly gathering his composure. "But how do you explain the inconsistencies in the East Depot's report?"

"What contradiction is this? Please enlighten me, ancestor." Cui Wensheng didn't quite understand.

"Since last month, your East Factory has been closely monitoring the movements of the Li family, and even every servant entering and leaving the Li Mansion. But before that, your reports to the Imperial Household Department never showed that any servants of the Li family spread rumors in various districts of the capital. Now you suddenly say that Li Guochen sent people to spread rumors, aren't you slapping yourself in the face?" Wang An said.

"That..." Cui Wensheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly said with a flash of inspiration, "Yes, yes! Li Guochen had a male servant named Li Laifu, and we got intelligence from him before. You could even say that the East Factory learned from him in the beginning that the reason why the Marquis of Wuqing summoned the nobles and relatives to the Qinghua Garden was to discuss the fluctuations in grain prices in Liaodong. It was precisely because of this intelligence that the East Factory was able to track down the case all the way to this point."

"Logically speaking, this man named Li Lai Fu works beside Li Guochen, and Li Guochen did not follow Wu Qinghou to Tsinghua Garden. This man has been staying in Beijing for a long time, how could he know the reason why Wu Qinghou summoned the nobles and relatives? Even if we take a step back and assume that he heard the news from other servants. But why was he the first one to be bribed?" "In addition, our people also found that this Li Lai Fu is very active. After Li Guochen was arrested, he and many servants around Li Guochen have been spreading the word that Li Mingcheng treated Li Guochen badly, but Li Guochen is still willing to cover up for his relatives and act like a filial son covering up his father's evil. Bullshit filial son! With such a snake-and-rat-nest relationship between father and son and brothers, it's impossible for a filial son to come out! This Li Guochen obviously has ulterior motives!" Cui Wensheng became more and more excited as he spoke, and did not realize that he had openly cursed in front of Wang An.

"Why don't I remember seeing any relevant reports?"

"This matter is so trivial. If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have even thought of it. Who knew Li Guochen would go so far in his rebellion?" Cui Wensheng practically patted his chest. "But, Grandfather, everything I just said is recorded! You can check it anytime."

"What if," Wang An closed his eyes. "What if Li Guochen didn't do this?"

"My dear ancestors," Cui Wensheng said, his words a double entendre. "Who would voluntarily admit guilt these days? Especially when it's such a heinous crime of disrespect? As you said before, our top priority now is to solve the case as quickly as possible so that our Lord can appease this bitter anger."

"." Wang An did not respond this time, as if he was lost in thought.

Cui Wensheng half-persuaded, half-asked, "Are there any new clues from the Pacification Office? If so, please let me know so I can investigate further. Otherwise, I can only follow this line of thought."

"That's right," Wang An opened his eyes, his expression no longer filled with any strange emotions. "Send someone this afternoon, or go to the Ministry of Justice and bring someone over yourself."

"Will the Ministry of Justice just hand him over to us?" Cui Wensheng muttered to Wei Chao inwardly. If he hadn't sent him to the Ministry of Justice, there wouldn't be all this trouble now. But then again, if Wei Chao had brought Li Guochen to the East Depot from the beginning, Cui Wensheng might not have dared to accept him.

"Who knows?" Wang An said calmly. "However, this case was originally designated by the Eastern Depot for investigation. There's no reason to detain the suspect somewhere else. Take this confession with you and speak politely. Don't be alarmed. Minister Huang is a reasonable man. He should give the person to you. If he refuses to release him and insists on an imperial decree, then come back. I'll report what you've said to the master later."

"Yes." Cui Wensheng replied.

"Anything else?" Wang An had been working non-stop for several days and couldn't help but yawn loudly.

"We also got new confessions from other servants regarding the three previous cases. But there wasn't much new, mostly supporting evidence," said Cui Wensheng.

Wang An took out his imperially bestowed pocket watch and checked the time. "Since there's nothing new, I won't listen. Just get the honest confessions out of those lords as quickly as possible. As long as you don't torture them directly, anything is fine."

"Yes." Cui Wensheng nodded and asked with concern, "Old Ancestor, why don't you rest here with me for a while? You haven't had a good night's sleep these days, have you?"

"No more rest," Wang An stood up. "Tomorrow those newly minted scholars will come to the palace to express their gratitude. There are still many things waiting for me to arrange in the palace."

"Then I will escort the old ancestor out of the yamen." Cui Wensheng showed a respectful gesture of seeing him off.

"Come on, walk with me for a bit." Wang An smiled at Cui Wensheng again. His smile carried a hint of regret that Cui Wensheng couldn't see or understand.

--------

More than half an hour later, Wang An, who had inquired about and arranged everything, returned to the Southern Study of the Qianqing Palace. As soon as he entered, he noticed something strange in this small hall.

The emperor and the chief eunuch, Wei Chao, were both seated in the hall, but Liu Ruoyu, who sat at the very end of the table, was not in his seat. Meanwhile, a new set of tables and chairs appeared opposite Liu Ruoyu's lonely seat at the end of the table.

Wang An was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized that they were going to add another eunuch to hold the pen!
It goes without saying why, but who could this person be?

Wang An didn't have time to think about it, let alone take the initiative to ask.

"Your servant bows to the master, long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!" Wang An quickly walked to the emperor's desk, lifted his robe, knelt, and kowtowed. His words flowed smoothly and in one breath.

"Get up." The emperor's voice revealed obvious uneasiness and depression.

Wang An's heart sank. From what he knew of the emperor, there was only one place in the world where something could make the emperor express such emotion. "Master, are there new ponds and dams in Liaodong?"

"The Nu chieftain has indeed begun clearing out the surrounding area and laying siege to Shenyang." Zhu Changluo pointed to the report in front of him and said, "The Puhe and Yilu Thousand Households, as well as the surrounding castles, large and small, north of Shenyang have been abandoned. The local garrisons and nearby civilians have retreated to the vicinity of Shenyang. This should be the first time Liaodong has experienced such a large-scale direct conflict since the fall of Kai and Tie." Zhu Changluo sighed, "I really don't know if Sun Chuanting and He Shixian can hold on."

During the reign of Emperor Tianqi, He Shixian, the commander of the city, was drunken and reckless, underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly. He fell into Nurhaci's trap and was surrounded and killed by a cavalry many times his size, outnumbering him. His deputy, You Shigong, fled the city to rescue him, but was also killed in battle. Upon hearing of the commander's death, the Mongol refugees He Shixian had gathered before the battle immediately became corrupt officials and opened the east gate of Shenyang from the inside, inviting the invaders in. Shenyang thus fell.

From the time Nurhaci besieged Shenyang to the time it fell, it took only three days, but the actual fighting lasted less than a day.

Zhu Changluo analyzed this battle based on historical materials and concluded that there were three reasons why the Ming army lost the city.

First, He Shixian was an alcoholic, easily becoming intoxicated. Second, after Xiong Tingbi left office, no one could control He Shixian, least of all his successor, Yuan Yingtai. Third, the Mongol refugees were untrustworthy, at least not to be used to defend the city.

Zhu Changluo had already made arrangements to address these issues. Needless to say, Xiong Tingbi would continue to govern Liaodong. He Shixian was a heavy drinker, and it was impossible for Xiong Tingbi to constantly monitor him in Shenyang. So, he assigned a junior but talented inspector to guard Shenyang. As for the Mongols, Zhu Changluo had originally planned to issue an imperial edict, ordering the Liaozhen garrison to gather all refugees and relocate them away from the front lines.

Zhu Changluo ultimately did not issue this decree, as Xiong Tingbi's current actions were strikingly similar. While Zhu Changluo did not relocate the Mongol refugees to the rear, he also refused to allow his generals to settle them in the city. Under his direction, several camps were established between Liaoning and Shenyang specifically to house and accommodate the Mongol refugees. Apart from the necessary food and labor tools, the Liaodong authorities provided nothing.

But even after doing all this, Zhu Changluo still felt uncertain. After all, the few words in the history books could not record the ever-changing battlefield.

(End of this chapter)