Top Scholar

Chapter 611 There's nothing new under the sun

In the study of the Prime Minister's residence.

Su Lu listened attentively as Li Dongyang explained the truth about power.

His "Su-style violent theories" contain elements of verbatim reading, hearsay, and his own insights, so I cannot guarantee their accuracy.

But Master's outrageous theories are the result of the most brilliant mind in the Ming Dynasty, which he came to understand after reading extensively and rising to the highest position in the government. They are absolutely true!
Then Li Dongyang continued, "Let me give you another example—why is there always bloodshed when a new emperor takes the throne after the previous one passes away? It's because the powerful monarch has been ruling for a long time, his abilities have matured, and after years of struggle, he has already seized most of the imperial power."

"The new emperor is young, his foundation is shallow, and he has no experience as a ruler, so his real power is naturally pitifully small. He can take the throne from his father, but he cannot inherit all of his father's power. Therefore, the large amount of power that is left vacant will be quickly filled by someone. This group of people may be relatives of the empress, members of the imperial family, or eunuchs. In this dynasty, they will become civil officials."

Li Dongyang's voice was so soft it was like a mosquito's hum, yet Su Lu heard every word clearly, each sentence startling:

"So the fierce power struggle in the palace a few years ago was essentially the civil officials trying to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the late emperor's passing to seize as much of the power he left behind as possible." He said with a self-deprecating smile, "In fact, when the late emperor was alive, his power had already been almost completely usurped. Although he was mild-mannered, he was very dissatisfied with this, so he decided to take back his power, and then he passed away the following year."

Su Lu nodded slightly, not surprised at all. How could a 'good man' who had been ridden on by a tigress possibly handle a group of ravenous cabinet ministers?

"But they didn't expect that although the current emperor was young at the time, he was someone who was unwilling to submit to his fate. He actually withstood the pressure that even the late emperor couldn't withstand. Not only did he not give in, but he also brought in eunuchs, allowing the Eight Tigers to seize this power."

He sighed softly and said, "The emperor was extremely disgusted by the civil officials' attempts to force the emperor to abdicate. Therefore, the emperor would rather let the eunuchs arbitrarily exercise imperial power than let the civil officials have any of his power. This is the truth behind the court struggles since the Zhengde era. This is also why the civil officials, who consider themselves the elite, could not defeat a group of eunuchs who had not studied much."

Li Dongyang's mouth was dry from talking, and he coughed twice. Su Lu quickly brought him water and fed him. Then he said in a deep voice, "The civil officials' wishful thinking is very simple. They think that Liu Jin and others will abuse their power and eventually cause a disaster—to the point that the country can no longer bear it. Then the emperor will have to replace them with someone else to take charge of the government, and they can regain everything they have lost. But now the Court of Imperial Sacrifices has risen unexpectedly, and they are really afraid."

He then sneered, "Yes, you bunch of greenhorns who haven't even been officials for a year have actually made a group of old fogies who call themselves 'scholars of the world' feel threatened."

Su Lu smiled wryly and said, "Our Court of Imperial Sacrifices is nothing more than the Emperor's secretaries."

"The cabinet members were also Emperor Wen's secretaries back then!" Li Dongyang raised his voice:
"Therefore you must answer directly the question of where the Court of Imperial Sacrifices is headed—this relates to whether you are seen as friend or foe in their eyes."

He paused for a moment, then gave Su Lu a mock test: "Now, imagine I'm Yang Tinghe, and tell me, how would you answer?"

Su Lu thought for a moment and said, "Of course I can't say that I am the enemy, so I can only be the friend."

Li Dongyang immediately adopted Yang Tinghe's persona, still lying there in an unseemly manner, but his tone was condescending: "Since you're one of us, can't you listen to us?"

Su Lu bluntly stated, "I must listen to the Emperor."

Li Dongyang's face darkened. "Then you're not one of us!"

Upon hearing this, Su Lu said helplessly, "Isn't this a bit too domineering?"

"Didn't I just say that? They're either our own people or our enemies; there's no third possibility," Li Dongyang said firmly.

"What kind of trash are you?!" Su Lu spat, then smiled ingratiatingly, "Master, please teach me how to say it?"

~~
After having a nerve-wracking lunch at his master's house, Su Lu realized he hadn't been poisoned. He happily bid farewell to his master and his wife, crossed the Silver Ingot Bridge, and arrived at Guanghua Temple Street, where Yang Gelao's residence was located.

It's a pity that Guanghua Temple had already been confiscated by him, otherwise Grand Secretary Yang could have gone out to enjoy the temple fair...

Upon arriving at the residence, Xiaoyuer presented his invitation. The gatekeeper, clearly having received prior instructions, immediately sent someone in to deliver the message while leading Su Lu directly inside.

Grand Secretary Yang also received Su Lu in his study, clearly indicating that they were going to discuss serious matters.

Su Lu had no reason to kowtow and wish Yang a Happy New Year, and of course Yang wouldn't give him a red envelope either.

After taking their seats and serving tea, the two exchanged pleasantries, and their common topic was naturally the pitiful Yang Yongxiu.

"I wonder how Brother Yongxiu is doing? If I had known there would be war in the province, I would have preferred him to stay in the capital to study. It makes me so worried," Su Lu said awkwardly. Yang Tinghe was even more awkward: "The main reason I sent him back was to marry Miss Wang."

Even Su Lu was at a loss for words. Could he possibly say, 'Why doesn't he marry Miss Huang? Is it because he can't find a wife?'

Then Yang Tinghe continued, "The current chaos of war may not be a bad thing for him; at least it forces him to stay home and study in peace."

“Okay…” Su Lu nodded, still unable to respond. Could it be that ‘the top scholar in the next imperial examination is your son’?
Fortunately, Yang Tinghe himself couldn't stand the awkwardness anymore, so he changed the subject to the matter of suppressing the rebellion in his hometown. "I just received an urgent report from Wang Zhongcheng. He has arrived safely in Chengdu, and I estimate that good news will come soon."

Su Lu was far more well-informed than him; he already knew that his grandfather and father had arrived safely in Chengdu, having traveled day and night for only a month…

He sighed softly and replied, "Then I'll have to come to the Grand Secretary's place more often to hear news. I'm really worried about you."

“It is an honor for my humble abode that Hongzhi is willing to come.” Yang Tinghe blew on the soybean skin in his hand and chuckled, “However, you have the silver seal for secret reports and the channels of the Imperial Workshop. Your information from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices is probably much more reliable than that of us old folks.”

"Your Excellency has misunderstood," Su Lu cried out, "The secret report with the silver seal is never used. The Imperial Workshop reports to Eunuch Zhang, and it has nothing to do with us..."

As Yang Tinghe listened to his attempt to disclaim responsibility, he munched on his fried soybeans. After Su Lu finished speaking, he didn't refute him, but instead calmly began to recount ancient tales:
"After the Jingnan Rebellion was successfully completed, Emperor Wen did two major things to consolidate his power: first, he moved the capital to Beijing; second, he established the Grand Secretariat. Thus, an institution dedicated to advising the emperor was formally established."

He looked at Su Lu and smiled faintly, "Doesn't this approach sound remarkably similar to your Court of Imperial Sacrifices? In fact, when the Grand Secretariat was first established, it was nothing more than the Emperor's secretariat."

"It does look somewhat similar." Su Lu nodded.

"The Grand Secretariat was actually a replacement for the Secretariat. Before the Secretariat was abolished, the prime minister held decision-making, deliberation, and administrative power second only to the emperor. After Emperor Wen established the Grand Secretariat, he took the opportunity to strip the prime minister of his decision-making power, assigning only the power of deliberation to the Grand Secretariat, while delegating administrative power to the Six Ministries."

"Under the wise rule of Emperor Wen, the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries each performed their duties. Decrees were issued from the Forbidden City, passing through 1,936 post stations and 287,400 li of post roads throughout the country, reaching every inch of the Ming Dynasty's territory." After Yang Tinghe finished speaking, he stared intently at Su Lu and said, "Do you know why I'm telling you all this?"

Su Lu shook his head.

"The Ming Dynasty did not have a prime minister wielding absolute power; its entire system was at its healthiest. Civil officials closely surrounded the emperor, ensuring that his will was translated into decrees and effectively implemented." Yang Tinghe paused, then said quietly:

“In this healthy system, there should be no eunuchs. Their presence will only disrupt a well-functioning system and lead everything to destruction.”

"..." Su Lu wasn't here to debate scriptures, but to pass a test, so he asked, "Then why were we utterly defeated in front of the eunuchs?"

Hearing Su Lu use the word "we," Yang Tinghe's expression softened, and the sound of him eating beans became less loud and crisp.

"The cabinet had neither decision-making power nor administrative power, which is why it was so easily suppressed by Liu Jin—ultimately, it was Liu Jin who tricked the emperor into seizing his decision-making power." He said this with a pained expression.

"Even though the cabinet was suppressed in every way, we Grand Secretaries still put the overall situation first, worked hard without complaint, and made up for the situation... To put it bluntly, we were cleaning up Liu Jin's mess."

As he spoke, his eyes reddened slightly as he looked at Su Lu: "The Cabinet is already so humble, yet the Emperor is still not satisfied and insists on building another Court of Imperial Sacrifices to replace it?"

Su Lu sighed, cupped his hands, and said solemnly, "Grand Secretary, there is nothing new under the sun... During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the Shangshu Office was established, with the Shangshu, an official under the Shaofu, serving as the emperor's secretary. Later, as its power grew, the Eastern Han Dynasty upgraded it to the Shangshu Tai, which became an outer court office; later emperors, for the same purpose as Emperor Wu of Han, established new secretariats, which eventually evolved into the Zhongshu Sheng and Menxia Sheng."

As he spoke, he bowed slightly, emphasizing his words, and used the phrases his master had taught him to reassure Yang Tinghe:
"Therefore, the establishment of the Secretariat and the Chancellery was not to replace the externalized Ministers, but rather a new group of secretaries established by emperors of different dynasties in order to better exercise their power. Moreover, the two coexisted and balanced with the Ministers for a long time, rather than 'the new wave of the Yangtze River pushes the old wave over the old wave, and the old wave dies on the beach.' I think the Cabinet and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices should be the same."

After hearing his words, Yang Tinghe remained silent for a long time, even forgetting to put the rubbed soybeans into his mouth.

Su Lu's words, or rather, Li Dongyang's words, had three layers of meaning. First, although the Court of Imperial Sacrifices had temporarily become an inner court institution, it would eventually become an outer court institution. Therefore, there was no need to worry about the Court of Imperial Sacrifices' stance.

Secondly, even if the Court of Imperial Sacrifices successfully evolves, it will simply become a new Secretariat, so there is no need to worry that the Cabinet will be replaced by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

Thirdly, even if the Court of Imperial Sacrifices successfully evolves, it will only strengthen the power of the civil service. This point is somewhat subtle, but given Yang Tinghe's penchant for grand strategies, he must have realized it.

(End of this chapter)