Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 56 The First Crack

Liu Yirong was in a bad mood.

Today was supposed to be another ordinary day with nothing to do. But around 2:45 PM, the Emperor, without any prior notice, arrived in person at the Cabinet with a cold expression and tossed several memorials onto Liu Yirong's desk.

From the time he entered to the time he left, the emperor only stayed in the duty room for a turn.

Returning a memorial to the cabinet without any comments is a formal rejection that is much more serious than a soft rejection like "I understand".

There was nothing wrong with rejecting a memorial. Just reject it. Every year, hundreds, if not a thousand, of memorials were rejected. But the fact that the emperor personally came to the duty room to reject a memorial was the first time since the establishment of the cabinet.

When this unique pendant fell on Liu Yirong's head, his face naturally didn't look good.

Liu Yirong didn't even need to open them to know what these memorials were about. Not long ago, the Donglin Party held a deeply unpleasant meeting. During the meeting, a fierce conflict erupted between leader Zhao Nanxing and Xu Guangqi, the Minister of Rites, a new member of the inner circle.

Zhao Nanxing believed that Xiong Tingbi, a member of the Chu Party whose ancestral home was Huguang, should be removed from his position as Liaodong Governor. This would allow Yuan Yingtai, the Right Censor-in-Chief and Governor of Liaodong, to temporarily assume the position. Yuan Yingtai would then only need to secure a few small victories, and with some manipulation by the Donglin Party, he would secure his position as Governor.

Xu Guangqi firmly opposed this. In Xu Guangqi's view, although Yuan Yingtai was indeed an honest, incorruptible, and astute official, and had made considerable achievements in disaster relief, dike reinforcement, and food and fodder logistics, he was even more elegant than "Bear Barbarian".

But the problem was that Yuan Yingtai had never led troops before. He had only done work for the Ministry of Works. His strengths were digging mountains to divert water, repairing rivers and building dams.

It was fine to let Yuan Yingtai be the Liaodong Governor to provide logistics support for Xiong Tingbi. But asking him to replace Xiong Tingbi and personally lead the troops to fight the Jiannu was simply moving the right person from the right position to the wrong position, and the final result could only be his death.

Liu Yirong took Xu Guangqi's advice to heart. From Imperial Academy Reviewer to Cabinet Grand Secretary, Liu Yirong had never worked in the Ministry of War. He was optimistic about Yuan Yingtai's ability and character, but he was unsure whether Yuan Yingtai was capable of managing Liaodong's military affairs.

Even assuming Yuan Yingtai could do a good job, he would simply be replacing a known certainty with an unknown possibility, which is absolutely irrational. After the disastrous defeat at Sarhu, Xiong Tingbi stabilized the Liaodong situation amidst crisis, a fact that everyone witnessed. Putting aside partisanship, Liu Yirong wholeheartedly approved of Xiong Tingbi.

Liu Yirong knew very well that unless Xiong Tingbi suffered a major defeat in Liaodong and lost cities and territories, any impeachment would be ineffective.

The emperor clearly favored Xiong Tingbi. Not only did he demote Yao Zongwen, who had been trying to get close to Xiong Tingbi, to the lowest rank and make him a commoner, he also promoted Xiong Tingbi to a higher rank.

Furthermore, Yang Lian, who had jumped eight ranks and inspected Liaodong, took with him not the imperial sword, which promised "execution first and report later," but a wooden "imperial sword handle." Yang Lian had to borrow Xiong Tingbi's sword when he wanted to execute someone, a clear sign that he didn't want his supervisory activities to interfere with his work as governor.

But he couldn't go against Zhao Nanxing.

Logically speaking, Zhao Nanxing had been offered the position of Junior Minister of the Imperial Household, but he refused to accept it. Now, without official status, he was a far cry from Grand Secretary Liu Yirong. However, he and Han Yu were promoted by the Donglin Party. If they openly opposed the party's spiritual leader, their positions would be shattered.

Liu Yirong suddenly felt a deep envy for Xu Guangqi. Xu Guangqi was considered a member of the Donglin Party, but he had been promoted by the Imperial Tutor. As long as the Imperial Tutor remained in power, Xu Guangqi's position would be extremely unstable.

But how could the imperial teacher fall?

Sun Chengzong, previously the emperor's tutor, now became the tutor of two princes. He only needed to remain neutral on the issue of the nation's foundation to remain in power. Even if the emperor didn't particularly favor Xiong Tingbi, Fang Congzhe was still firmly entrenched in his position as prime minister. There was no way he could move at this point.

Liu Yirong had originally assumed that Fang Congzhe would simply vote to reject the impeachment letter when it reached the cabinet. However, to Liu Yirong's surprise, Fang Congzhe's proposal was not an objection, but rather a vague response like "Leave it to the emperor to commit suicide."

He was still pondering it during lunch break. The answer was revealed in the afternoon.

Old thief! Liu Yirong cursed Fang Congzhe in his heart. But the next sentence he blurted out was: "So you were waiting for me here!"

"Huh?" Zhang Shirui was still searching for her keys in her luggage bag when she was stunned by Liu Ge Lao's shout. "No."

"Hmm?" Liu Yirong's face flushed, but he couldn't explain, so he could only bow and apologize: "Excuse me."

The embarrassment only lasted for a moment, and Liu Yirong quickly came to his senses and thought: Hasn't the opposite side always been empty?
He asked tentatively, "Excuse me, girl?"

"Zhang Shirui of Longhu Mountain. My father is Zhang Xianyong, the 51st Heavenly Master of the Longhu Sect of the Zhengyi Dao." Zhang Shirui clasped his fists and bowed in return. "May I ask who you are?"

"I am Liu Yirong, the Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. Is this the Tianshi Mansion?" Liu Yirong's expression changed slightly.

"Yes."

"Please tell the Heavenly Master, 'I'm sorry I'm on official business today and can't visit you. Please come to my humble abode another day. I'll definitely apologize in person.'" Liu Yirong didn't really want to see Heavenly Master Zhang in Beijing. But Zhang's residence was right across from Liu's, so it would be unreasonable not to visit.

Liu Yirong began to think about what examples he should use to criticize Zhang Tianshi. He wanted to subtly and appropriately let Tianshi know that since ancient times, those who used magic to deceive the emperor would not have a good end.
"Lord Liu. I'm sorry that my father has not arrived in Beijing." Just when Liu Yirong had sorted out the examples of Emperor Xianzong's reign, Zhang Shirui interrupted his thoughts with a regretful tone.

Huh? The emperor ordered Zhang Tianshi to come to the capital, so what's the big deal about a young and beautiful Taoist nun?
Wait! A beautiful Taoist nun, right?
In theory, it wasn't entirely a bad thing for an emperor to be lustful. Since Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao died without an heir, everyone in and outside the court agreed that the emperor should have many concubines to expand his family line and strengthen the foundation of the country.

For example, when Emperor Wanli conferred titles on nine concubines in one day, he received support and approval from the Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng.

If the emperor was not interested in women, the ministers would have to submit memorials to the emperor, tactfully advising him not to worry too much about state affairs and to focus more on the harem.

But the current emperor was good in every way except for his lust. Within ten days of ascending the throne, he had already slept with seven women in one night. He was so exhausted by the end of the night that he nearly frightened the court officials to death.

Could it be that the emperor has returned to his old ways after being quiet for a while?

The anger and resentment that had risen in Liu Yirong's heart because of the "imperial refutation" were transformed by his own wild thoughts into a long sigh: "Alas! What a pity."

"I'm sorry!" Liu Yirong sighed deeply, his voice filled with emotion. Zhang Shirui mistakenly thought he was another believer who had long admired Mount Longhu and hoped to discuss Taoism with the Heavenly Master. However, her father was ill, and she was unable to help, so she could only bow in guilt and apologize.

(End of this chapter)