The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 295 The Great Tide
"Gao Xu, a commoner of the Han Dynasty, was the second son of Emperor Taizong. Relying on his merits in the Jingnan Campaign, he stirred up the Eastern Court. Emperor Taizong was almost misled by him. He secretly plotted to seize the throne, spread rumors that threatened the country, privately manufactured weapons, secretly raised assassins, and slandered the officials of the Eastern Palace. He compared himself to the General of Heavenly Strategy. Thanks to the loyal ministers of the late emperor who used their lives and wisdom to break through the deceitful schemes, the throne was restored."

The common people, especially, do not think, but rebel. They are without wisdom, without kindness, without benevolence, and without goodness. They do not know the will of Heaven and are falsely accused of being ghosts and evil spirits. Under the majesty of Heaven, they are terrified and scattered. Therefore, they are caught in a dilemma, sitting and guarding their lonely city. Within their left and right, within five steps, everyone is an enemy of the country!
"Zhanji, in my humble form, has served the ancestors and the state. Now I appeal to the Imperial Ancestral Temple: commoners are unrighteous, but I am righteous. Out of consideration for the spirits of Emperor Taizong and the late Emperor, I hereby remove him from the imperial clan register, demote him to commoner status, and along with the Han King's relatives, send him to Fengyang, to be confined within high walls, never to be seen again until the day he dies!"

The resounding voice echoed before the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Behind him knelt the court officials, some of whom were naturally uneasy. The Prince of Han dared to rebel, so he must have connections in the capital, especially with the noble families. Although they might not rebel directly, they must have been secretly exerting their influence. It's just that Zhu Zhanji hadn't investigated.

Many people also focused their attention on Li Xianmu. In the sky of the Ming Dynasty, there was only one sun, which was the emperor. But next to the sun was an extremely bright star. When the sun and moon alternated, it emitted endless light, which no one could ignore.

Having climbed to the pinnacle of power by stepping on the three stepping stones of Empress, Imperial Concubine, and Prince, Li Xianmu's current prestige is almost on par with that of the powerful Wei Zhongxian. The only difference is that Li Xianmu is reasonable, so his subjects do not fear him like a tiger.

Within the realm, perhaps only Li Xianmu could maintain his composure. He was well aware that most of the power he held came from imperial authority, and it was because of his good relationship and deep trust with the emperor that he was where he was today.

Politically speaking, everyone is responsible for the source of their power. The more powerful Li Xianmu was, the more cautious he was in dealing with imperial authority.

Therefore, he was not arrogant in the slightest, but continued to do his job diligently, so that the emperor would not feel that his power was slipping away.

……

Many major events occurred in the first year of the Xuande reign: the court reformed its system, the rebellion of the Prince of Han was quelled, and the Anti-Corruption Bureau gradually submitted some cases. The court dealt with many officials swiftly and decisively. Now, local officials are trembling with fear, on edge, and seeing enemies everywhere. The officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau are called "Shura" to describe their terrifying nature.

However, those who are observant can see that the Anti-Corruption Bureau has not yet fully expanded its operations; this is merely a trial run. The real push will come when Grand Secretary Li Xianmu makes a major move.

It's just unknown what Li Xianmu will use as a trigger.

In the second year of the Xuande reign, an event of great significance to the Ming Dynasty occurred: Consort Sun gave birth to the eldest son of the emperor. The emperor immediately declared a general amnesty and bestowed additional favors upon Consort Sun, making her honor and favor equivalent to that of the empress in all aspects.

One month after Zhu Qizhen's birth, at the full-moon banquet, Zhu Zhanji announced another piece of news to his subjects: he would make his eldest son, Zhu Qizhen, the crown prince.

Since the emperor had no legitimate son, it was perfectly acceptable to establish Zhu Qizhen as the crown prince according to the rule of primogeniture. Zhu Qizhen had just been born and could not have made any mistakes or shown any talent. There was no fault to be found in him at all. It was the most appropriate time to establish a crown prince at this time.

Once these matters were announced, naturally no one objected, and everything was settled smoothly.

But everyone in the court and the public knew that this was just a prelude for the emperor. His real target was the crown prince's mother, and the emperor's intention to depose the empress was obvious!

In April of the second year of the Xuande reign, just one month after the crown prince was established, the emperor began to test the waters. He asked to depose Empress Hu on the grounds that she had no children. His reason was quite high-sounding: "I am over thirty years old, but I have never had a son. The country is in turmoil. Now that Consort Sun has a son, it is a service to the country and also the will of Heaven. Since ancient times, there have been cases where a mother's status rose with her son's. I think Consort Sun should be made empress, and Empress Hu should be moved to another palace."

This matter could not be kept secret and quickly spread throughout the court and the public. As the most powerful and prestigious minister in the Ming Dynasty, Li Xianmu was naturally the first to be affected. Following his previous plan, he tactfully stated, "Your Majesty's words are reasonable. Your Majesty may decide for yourself."

This is consent.

Zhu Zhanji was very satisfied with Li Xianmu's statement.

Logically speaking, if the emperor wanted to implement it and Li Xianmu did not object, then it would be difficult to refute this matter, especially since the selection of empresses in the Ming Dynasty was done by minor officials and the influence of maternal relatives was weak.

The imperial concubines relied entirely on the emperor's favor and had no powerful backers in the outer court.

In addition to the previous incident involving Hu Rong, theoretically, not many people would speak up for Empress Hu. After all, it was clear to everyone that the emperor was quite determined to depose the empress.

Moreover, Consort Sun also has the Crown Prince as a powerful tool; opposing such matters would certainly not end well for her.

But what happened afterward far exceeded their expectations.

The opposition from both the government and the public was incredibly powerful!
Not only were court officials in the capital submitting petitions against the deposition, but many local officials also submitted petitions opposing the deposition of the empress. They believed that Empress Hu had done nothing wrong and should not be deposed. Although Consort Sun had a son, there were many concubines with sons throughout history, and many of them were made crown princes. How could she be made empress because of this?

Moreover, in common society, one can only take a concubine if one is childless by the age of forty. The empress is currently in her prime. If she is childless today, she may not be childless tomorrow. Such a decision to depose the empress is truly illogical.

If the emperor were to depose the empress, wouldn't that only fuel the arrogance of the people?

With such a commotion, the Office of Transmission was overwhelmed with memorials, which were being carried to the Cabinet in batches. The faces of the Cabinet members were quite grim, and they then secretly glanced at Li Xianmu.

These memorials were not only against the emperor's deposition of the empress, but a large part of them were also attacks on Li Xianmu, saying that he "acted as prime minister and assisted the monarch, but he could not offer advice and only obeyed, flattering the emperor and being treacherous and cruel." They also said that he "could not uphold the right path and disregarded the proper relations between the principal wife and concubines. Wouldn't that be turning the world upside down?"

The atmosphere in the Wenyuan Pavilion was tense. Now, being inside a deep glacier where you could hear a pin drop, Yang Shiqi finally spoke with a questioning tone: "Mingda, what do you think we should do with these memorials?"

Countless causes and consequences flashed through Li Xianmu's mind. This matter was even somewhat unexpected. When Yang Shiqi asked, he raised his eyes and asked in a cryptic tone, "What do you think, Shiqi?"

Yang Shiqi tentatively suggested, "These memorials are not entirely without merit. This matter is of great importance; perhaps we should consult His Majesty before making a decision?"

Li Xianmu's eyes deepened as he looked at Yang Shiqi, making Yang Shiqi tremble as if his innermost thoughts had been read.

Li Xianmu then looked at the others. Yang Rong's face and eyes showed anxiety. Yang Pu seemed to be deep in thought, but it was unclear what he was thinking. Huang Huai looked worried. Jin Youzi looked anxious and kept glancing at the others.

This small cabinet is filled with people with complex thoughts and different interests, so their attitudes toward today's events are naturally different as well.

"What do you think?"

"That's not appropriate!" Yang Rong was the first to speak, saying in a deep voice, "Asking His Majesty would be tantamount to shifting the blame onto His Majesty, wouldn't it?"

If His Majesty has to face the opposition of his ministers, what is the point of having a cabinet?
Gentlemen, we have served as cabinet ministers since the Yongle era. If the cabinet is weak, we will share both prosperity and adversity!
This must never be said again.

Yang Shiqi lowered his eyes and said, “Zirong is right. I was out of my mind just now. However, this matter has become extremely powerful, and I’m afraid our cabinet cannot suppress it. If we are later accused of obstructing the inner and outer and blocking the Emperor’s hearing, that would be bad.”

The cabinet members' expressions changed repeatedly, much like the Sichuan face-changing performance.

Yang Rong's words make a lot of sense. The cabinet's power is currently immense. Grand Secretaries, even in the public eye, are virtually above ministers and enjoy outstanding prestige among scholars. But precisely because of this, they need prestige to sustain them. If their reputation is ruined, they will inevitably find it difficult to move forward in the future.

The mental storm in Li Xianmu's mind finally subsided. This whole thing was strange from beginning to end. Normally, something that doesn't involve interests wouldn't cause such a big commotion.

His analysis revealed numerous suspicious points regarding this matter.

First of all, Zhu Zhanji had a very good relationship with his ministers. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, he increased the salaries of officials, and unlike Emperor Hongwu, he did not do so strictly. Later, during the reign of Emperor Renzong, he increased the salary level again. After Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he further improved the status of civil officials.

The relationship between the emperor and his ministers was quite good.

From a political perspective, there is a high level of mutual trust between the two sides.

People are generally empathetic; if they encountered an emperor like this, they wouldn't necessarily be loyal to the death, but they wouldn't cause the emperor any trouble in many matters.

Therefore, this matter could not possibly be aimed at opposing the emperor.

Secondly, Empress Hu did not have the prestige and power to mobilize so many court officials to speak out for her, and Consort Sun, a woman in the harem, was not so bad as to attract so much opposition. Therefore, although this matter revolved around the deposition of the empress, it had little to do with the two parties involved.

Third, was it really because the emperor favored his concubines over his wife? Was it really because the ministers suddenly wanted to uphold ethical principles and were willing to go against the emperor?

Anyone who believes that is a fool. In history, the deposition of empresses and crown princes was always due to power struggles between two interest groups. There has never been a large-scale confrontation between the emperor and his ministers to defend the established order. This time will be no exception, so this argument is invalid.

There's only one explanation for this!

Li Xianmu's gaze sharpened slightly as he casually swept over the memorials. These people were like Xiang Zhuang performing a sword dance, their real intention being to take advantage of Liu Bang.

Who is Liu Bang?

It was him, Li Xianmu!
On the surface, they were opposing Consort Sun, but in reality, they were opposing themselves who supported Consort Sun.

This is a political attack against oneself.

There have always been subtle signs of factional strife within the court and among the people. However, Li Xianmu rose to prominence too quickly and too high. Furthermore, Li Xianmu was too clean in all aspects, never leaving any room for criticism, and always occupying the moral high ground, leaving his opponents helpless.

This was the only incident that gave his political enemies an opportunity, because, theoretically speaking, Li Xianmu was indeed in the wrong.

Thus, emotions that had been suppressed for more than ten years found an outlet in an instant, and the opposition factions between the government and the public realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.

It will be ages before we find such a great opportunity again.

Once he realized this, Li Xianmu's doubts vanished instantly. A single event in this world might be accidental, completely illogical, or just someone's whim.

But this overwhelming trend must have been accumulating power beforehand, which is logical.

Now that he had figured out the logic, he could explain everything. After the analysis, he felt a sense of relief.

Now that we know the cause, we can find a solution.

Li Xianmu glanced at the cabinet members again. These were all extremely intelligent people, especially Yang Shiqi. Could it be that he had also thought of this?
If he really did think of that, then why did Yang Shiqi want the emperor to make the decision earlier?

A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier; a deputy prime minister who doesn't want to be the chief minister is not a good deputy prime minister.

Although he had gotten along fairly well with Yang Shiqi over the years, Li Xianmu always remembered that he and Yang Shiqi were not from the same faction.

What about the rest of the cabinet?
What are you thinking?
As the Grand Secretary, he wields immense power and influence within the cabinet. Are they truly content to be mere yes-men?

Everyone has their own ulterior motives, and even Yang Rong's eagerness is partly due to his own interests.

With Li Xianmu in the cabinet, Yang Rong, as an ally, was even comparable to Yang Shiqi. If Li Xianmu were not in the cabinet, Yang Rong would not be able to defeat Yang Shiqi.

What exactly were the demands of the ministers in the outer court who opposed the deposition of the empress?

Li Xianmu immediately understood—they wanted to make the emperor hesitate.

Ask yourself honestly, if you were able to accomplish something, but were implicated by someone else, causing a huge upheaval and leaving your future uncertain, how would you treat that person?

The matter of deposing the empress was originally a foregone conclusion, but because of Li Xianmu, it has caused such a big turmoil, even implicating Consort Sun and the crown prince. What will the emperor choose?
Who is closer to whom?

In this situation, the emperor faced a choice—if he replaced Li Xianmu, who was at the center of the storm, the offensive against the deposed empress would immediately weaken.

What choice would the emperor make?
The heaviness in Li Xianmu's heart completely dissipated; in fact, he was also quite curious about what the emperor would choose.

Now that those people have made their move, it's time for him to make his too.

I never expected that he would one day defend Consort Sun. Times have changed, and anything can happen.

"Immediately reject all these memorials in the sternest tone. Afterwards, I will go to the Hall of Literary Glory to report this matter to His Majesty."

Li Xianmu said sternly, "Since these people oppose me, I will insist on going all the way!"

(End of this chapter)