The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 296 Trust
Lee Hyun-mok declared his stance in the most forceful tone!

The anxious look on Yang Rong's face immediately vanished.

Yang Shiqi narrowed his eyes slightly, and Yang Pu stopped looking around. The atmosphere in the cabinet became solemn. They had not seen such a serious expression on Li Xianmu for a long time.

Everyone watched as Li Xianmu left Wenyuan Pavilion.

The pavilion remained silent; no one spoke.

After a long silence, Jin Youzi finally spoke with a smile: "I didn't expect the Grand Secretary to value this matter so much."

"No one can be an enemy of the Prime Minister."

Yang Rong spoke coldly, then looked around at everyone, "This time will be no exception."

“We have all worked with the Grand Secretary since the Yongle era, and we have been through thick and thin together. We should know the Grand Secretary’s abilities best. There are some things we should not do, and we cannot even think about them. Let us work together to safeguard the peace and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, as the current cabinet does.”

That’s all I have to say.”

After speaking, Yang Rong buried himself in the memorials again and instructed the officials in the cabinet to send all the rejected memorials back to the Office of Transmission.

The events that had occurred were as if they had never happened, and no one mentioned them again.

But everyone knows that the wind has already stirred up unstoppable waves on the calm lake surface.

The cabinet could live in peace, but the outside world was not so peaceful. No secrets stay hidden forever, and even within the palace, rumors began to circulate.

Like a virus spreading, it spread throughout the palace within a few days, with the Empress and Consort, who were at the center of the storm, naturally being the most affected.

Zhu Zhanji was also overwhelmed with worry, never expecting such a strong reaction from the foreign court.

Feeling somewhat agitated, he didn't stay in the Huagai Hall but went to Consort Sun's palace. As soon as he stepped into the outer hall, he heard the sound of weeping coming from inside.

Zhu Zhanji's heart tightened immediately, and he quickly walked into the hall. Sure enough, it was Consort Sun secretly shedding tears.

Upon hearing the footsteps entering the palace, Consort Sun raised her face, which was streaked with tears and looked somewhat broken.

Her shoulders swayed slightly, and the tears that had not yet fallen rolled slowly down her fair, porcelain-like cheeks, dripping onto her clothes and spreading out wet patches.

Her reddened nose reminded him of a crabapple tree wet with spring rain. Zhu Zhanji was immediately filled with a protective instinct and quickly stepped forward to pull Consort Sun into his arms, saying gently, "My beloved consort, don't cry. It breaks my heart to see you like this."

Consort Sun nestled gracefully in the Emperor's arms, weeping as she said, "Your Majesty, I have heard rumors circulating in the outer court. They are attacking Your Majesty. It is all my fault."

If you can overcome the strong with the weak, then you will succeed in everything.

Hearing the beauty's whispers, Zhu Zhanji felt even more distressed and immediately assured her in a deep voice, "My beloved consort, don't worry, I will definitely get this done, even if the court officials oppose it."

Consort Sun naturally believed that an emperor like Zhu Zhanji, who held such great power, would not be so incapable of even making his beloved woman empress. However, Consort Sun hesitated and said, "I already know Your Majesty's intentions, but I am worried that doing so will damage your virtue. You are a wise ruler, and if this damages your wisdom, I will be guilty of a thousand deaths."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhanji immediately recalled Li Xianmu's words: "Humans are not plants or trees, how can they be without feelings? Your Majesty and Consort Sun grew up together since childhood, and their deep affection is evident to all under heaven."

People often say that the hatred of killing one's father or stealing one's wife is irreconcilable, which shows that the beloved woman is of utmost importance to a man.

As a man, if you can't even protect the woman you love, how can you face the world?

These words echoed in his mind again and again. He then gently inhaled the fragrance emanating from the beauty and felt even more at ease. He comforted her, saying, "My beloved concubine, I just met my teacher in the Hall of Literary Glory before I came to the inner palace. He supports me. Besides, this matter is not really directed at you."

Consort Sun raised her head, puzzled, and asked, "What does Your Majesty mean?"

"Just now..."

……

Let’s turn back time a little.

After leaving the Wenyuan Pavilion, Li Xianmu quickly sent a token to the palace and then headed towards the Huagai Hall. When Zhu Zhanji saw Li Xianmu, he had a eunuch bring him a chair. "Teacher, you've come about the matter of deposing the empress, haven't you?"
"I truly didn't expect this. What are your thoughts, Teacher?"

Li Xianmu's opening statement was earth-shattering: "Your Majesty, this is no longer a simple matter of deposing the empress; it has become a political war. If this war is lost, then the reform will be completely over."

Zhu Zhanji immediately sat up straight.

"Your Majesty's trust in me has turned into jealousy that fills the hearts of those people. The establishment of the Anti-Corruption Bureau makes people uneasy. The development of the School of Mind has made the School of Neo-Confucianism tremble with fear. Furthermore, Your Majesty's attitude of seeking innovation and change has made them feel terrified. The world has become different from what they imagined. They cannot accept this change, so they want to return everything to its original state."

"I have become the target because everyone knows that I am an extension of Your Majesty's will. Everything now is the result of our discussions. To overthrow me is to destroy Your Majesty's plans. They are engaging in a treacherous act, their true aim is Your Majesty."

With just a few simple words, Li Xianmu bound himself to the emperor and the Ming Dynasty, which in some ways wasn't wrong, since he was genuinely fighting for the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Zhu Zhanji was not stupid, and he could see that those who were truly harmed were Li Xianmu and his school of thought.

This is a calculated move to target Li Xianmu by using the deposition of the empress as a pretext, and Li Xianmu must have his own reasons for coming here.

But Zhu Zhanji didn't care. Among emperors, he was considered a man of strong character; otherwise, he wouldn't have done the deposed empress.

"Teacher, what do you intend to do? Do you require my intervention? We, as ruler and subject, should share the same fate."

Zhu Zhanji's statement completely put Li Xianmu at ease.

"Your Majesty need only stand by and watch, so as not to damage your virtuous reputation. I will take care of these matters."

"Teacher, aren't you afraid of getting your hands dirty? You are a renowned scholar, a man of integrity. If you do this kind of thing too often, you will inevitably be criticized."

Li Xianmu exclaimed, “As a subject, if one is eager for personal fame and seeks to gain reputation, it can be considered disloyal!”

Zhu Zhanji remained silent for a long time before finally sighing and saying, "My teacher is truly a loyal minister. With my teacher, I can say that I have gained the empire."

……

As Li Xianmu stepped out of the Huagai Hall, another thought flashed through his mind.

"Father, won't doing this tarnish your reputation?"

"Mu'er, if you were only a high-ranking official, you would indeed cherish every feather, forever like the snow on the high mountain or the moon in the vast sea, untouched by the dust of the world, just like your father."

But if one wants to be a powerful minister, a minister who can change the world, then one must inspire fear and have blood on one's hands.

"Father, why must it be this way? Can't we achieve great things through prestige?"

“Mu’er, that is the righteous path that only the emperor can take. The emperor is the Son of Heaven, born to hold power. Faced with an emperor who holds great power, his subjects can only submit. But powerful ministers control the nine provinces, which is to usurp the emperor’s power. People are born with resentment and are very likely to have the idea of ​​‘I can take his place’. They are always watching. Therefore, without thunderous means, you can’t deter the wolves.”

Li Xianmu looked up at the heavens and murmured to himself, "Father, my hands will be stained with a lot of blood this time. Will I have to cross the two realms, the clear stream and the turbid stream, to rule the world?"

"Great loyalty can appear as treachery, and great treachery can appear as loyalty; so is the son loyal or treachery?"

Li Xianmu could sense that the emperor's trust in him had increased significantly after their conversation in the palace today, and now he could act with greater freedom.

……

After hearing Zhu Zhanji's explanation, Consort Sun was somewhat bewildered. "Does the Grand Secretary mean that he is going to handle this matter? Without His Majesty's involvement?"

"Yes."

"Like you, Teacher, you are concerned about my reputation and do not want me to clash with the ministers, so you have taken the initiative to take the blame yourself."

Upon hearing that the emperor did not need to personally intervene, Consort Sun was immediately delighted and even praised Li Xianmu, which was rare for her. "The Grand Secretary is indeed a loyal minister. This is very good. However, the Grand Secretary is, after all, a minister. Can he really handle this matter?"
I have heard that among those ministers who submitted memorials, many are high-ranking officials, including many great Confucian scholars of outstanding prestige; even the Grand Secretary would find them difficult to deal with.

There is one significant difference between ancient and modern officialdom.

In modern officialdom, the difference between each level is like an insurmountable chasm; those who insubordinate defy their superiors are almost always doomed.

Because in modern officialdom, one can basically only rise in rank and not fall in rank; at worst, one is marginalized, and only a very small number end up in prison.

It is a political system that is abnormally stable.

There's a joke in the official article: "You just need to start a team fight, and the system will naturally match you with an equally matched opponent." The key is the phrase "equally matched," meaning that only opponents of the same level can defeat each other.

It is absolutely impossible for a subordinate to overthrow a superior.

This is the nature of a democratic system, where everyone's power is not without limits, but is checked and balanced by others.

But the situation was different in ancient times under monarchical autocracy.

A high-ranking official could suddenly be demoted to the wilderness to guard a reservoir or a post station. Officials could be promoted or demoted very quickly, and there was not much constraint between officials of different levels.

As long as they are all Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), even if they are several ranks apart, they can still be friends, because no one knows what changes will happen the next day, who will rise to prominence, and who will fall into ruin.

In the Ming Dynasty, officials starting from the third rank in local areas and the fourth rank in the capital were considered high-ranking officials. Because of the difference in power, there was naturally a distinction between superiors and inferiors. However, if they became enemies, their attacks could be quite terrifying.

The fundamental reason why these differences from modern times is the existence of the emperor as the supreme arbiter.

This leads to most political struggles essentially being about using various methods to get the emperor on one's side.

This is why those eunuchs could make nobles and high-ranking officials grovel and easily torture and kill high-ranking officials of the second or third rank, and even make them willingly become their adopted sons or grandsons.

Because these eunuchs wielded far more influence over the emperor than ministers, and ministers might never even see the emperor in their entire lives.

The struggle between the Yan faction and the Qingliu faction during the Jiajing reign was similar, as it was a battle for the emperor's favor. This was also the case with Zhang Juzheng's downfall of Gao Gong.

This time was no different. Li Xianmu's opponents essentially wanted the emperor to act according to their wishes, but they overlooked the most important thing: Li Xianmu's influence over the emperor was far greater than theirs.

Furthermore, Li Xianmu had an easier way to meet the emperor, without even needing to submit memorials, but could do so face-to-face.

In fact, Li Xianmu was quite talented at persuading people and could always convince the emperor to accept his advice.

Their plan to use Consort Sun to sow discord between the Emperor and Li Xianmu was completely miscalculated.

Instead, Li Xianmu took this opportunity to take all the responsibilities upon himself, further deepening the mutual benefit and trust between him and the emperor.

It even slightly eased the relationship with Consort Sun.

To put it bluntly, if Li Xianmu hadn't planned to take matters into his own hands to build up his power, they would have collapsed this time, facing the wrath of a powerful emperor and a cabinet minister with immense political influence.

After leaving the palace, Li Xianmu immediately summoned his generals to prepare for the next counterattack.

Upon hearing Li Xianmu's summons, everyone immediately knew it was about this matter and gathered at his residence. The number of people was basically the same as last time, the only difference being that Zhao Zhen was the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief last time, while this time he was the Right Censor-in-Chief, becoming one of the two heads of the Censorate.

The current Right Censor-in-Chief is quite different from before. In the past, he was simply an assistant to the Left Censor-in-Chief, but in reality, it was difficult for him to check and balance the Left Censor-in-Chief.

Although he is still not as powerful as the Left Censor-in-Chief, he controls the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which extends throughout the capital and the provinces. He can rival the nineteen circuit censors and has supervisory power, so he cannot be ignored.

As for the previous Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, he was naturally ousted. In officialdom, he neither took sides nor had any backing, and he even blocked people's way. It was impossible for him to keep such an important position.

Li Xianmu reiterated his previous analysis to everyone, and suddenly, the somewhat confused crowd felt that everything became clear.

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines, never expecting such a hidden conspiracy to exist.

They actually took advantage of the emperor's favor towards the imperial concubine to make the emperor vent his anger on the ministers.

It sounds simple, but it directly hits the mark on human nature and the human heart.

If there had been a mishap, or even if the emperor had been someone else who didn't care as much, this matter might have actually come to fruition.

fortunately.

The Grand Secretary was deeply trusted by His Majesty the Emperor, so this tactic of sowing discord was ineffective.

"I have already spoken with His Majesty. This matter should not involve His Majesty. We will resolve it ourselves, share His Majesty's burdens, and also build our own prestige and influence."

Are you confident?

"Give the order, Minister."

"The anti-corruption bureaus of the two capitals and nineteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty are all waiting for the Grand Secretary's summons."

Right Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhao Zhenlang said in a loud voice.

He knew in his heart that this time the Anti-Corruption Bureau would definitely take strong measures.

"it is good!"

"If we work together with one heart and one mind, what great things cannot be accomplished?"

(End of this chapter)