Huangming

Chapter 157: The crown quenches the blade, Cao Qu cuts the drama

The Nine Ministers were on duty.

Yang Lian, dressed in the robes of the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, awaited the emperor's summons in the court room.

His once lean and refined civil official face had been worn down by the river winds and scorching sun, leaving it with sharp, angular features.

When he left Beijing two months ago, he carried "Ten Policies to Clean Up the Abuses of the Grain Transport System" in his sleeve, full of vigor, as if he could tear open the festering sores of this corrupt officialdom with just one impeachment.

But how much has been achieved so far?
He couldn't overturn the darkness of the canal transport system, nor could he even save the starving refugees.

The faces of those refugees lingered in his mind: emaciated children gnawing on tree bark, old women kneeling by the canal boats begging for a single grain of moldy rice, while the canalmen's whips lashed more fiercely than the cold wind.

Ironically, when he confronted the Tongzhou granary official with the account books, the official simply smiled and offered him a cup of tea: "Imperial Censor Yang, the officials in the Ministry of Justice may not be interested in reading this memorial."

The Junshan Silver Needle tea floating in this cup is worth more than a refugee's life.

He suddenly remembered that he had once spoken eloquently in the imperial court, cursing the Ministry of Revenue for "corrupting the country and harming the people" and the Grand Canal Commissioner for "holding a position without doing any work."

Only now do I realize that those resounding impeachments were nothing more than a pebble thrown into a deep pool, not even causing a ripple.

In the Grand Canal Transport Office, from clerks to governors, everyone had Shanxi bank drafts hidden in their sleeves, and the numbers on the ledgers changed faster than the changing faces on a theatrical stage.

He arrested several minor officials and interrogated them, but the next day they swaggered out of the jail—it is said that the steward of a certain Grand Secretary's residence personally went to greet them.

The palace clock outside the window hummed, but Yang Lian felt that the sound was as distant as if it were from another lifetime.

He looked down at the dark back of his hand, where the veins bulged like earthworms.

These are the marks of two months of wind and sun exposure, but beneath his tanned skin, he ultimately failed to develop the strength to overturn giant waves.

"Lord Yang, His Majesty summons you to an audience." The eunuch's shrill voice pierced the eardrums.

He straightened his scarlet robe, and the memorial impeaching the canal transport officials in his sleeve pocket suddenly felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Only now do I understand that the most painful blow is not when you strike the enemy, but the dull pain when you realize you can no longer wield the sword.

He was not Hai Gangfeng after all, nor was he worthy of being called the Great Ming Divine Sword.

Seeing Yang Lian's somewhat absent-minded state, Liu Yiju frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Wenru, you must be careful with your words when you meet the Emperor this time. The political climate in the court has changed, unlike two months ago."

Upon hearing this, Yang Lian's gaze darkened slightly, but he merely bowed and said, "I will remember your teachings, Your Excellency. However, the political situation is not what it used to be, and Yang Lian is not the same person he used to be."

Having said that, he said no more and turned to step into the deep corridor of the Qianqing Palace.

The scarlet official robes stood out starkly against the vermilion palace walls, yet seemed to be swallowed up inch by inch by the shadows of the palace.

As Yang Lian stepped into the East Warm Pavilion, the dim scent of agarwood filled the air.

He lowered his head and walked quickly for a few steps, then suddenly stopped three zhang away from the imperial desk and knelt down.

"Your Majesty, I, Yang Lian, Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, respectfully wish Your Majesty good health!"

His forehead slammed heavily against the cold gold bricks. The sideburns that had been neatly tied up when he left Beijing two months ago were now streaked with a few glaring whites.

The emperor tapped his fingertip lightly on the dragon-embroidered armrest and said softly, "Peace be with you."

Wei Chao had already prepared a brocade stool and stood respectfully to one side.

Yang Lian remained kneeling on the ground, his forehead pressed against the gold brick, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper had been rubbed against it:
"Your Majesty, I have failed in your grace. During this hundred-day inspection of the grain transport system, I only executed seven corrupt officials and recovered three thousand taels of embezzled silver. Yet the ills of the grain transport system are as deep as an abyss."

Zhu Youxiao was not surprised by this result.

The methods used by civil officials to inspect the grain transport system had limited effectiveness.

In reality, during the Wanli era, the imperial inspection teams only achieved temporary smooth transport of grain and reduced losses.

Yang Lian's trip to inspect the grain transport also ended in the same way.

The problems with the canal transport system are deeply rooted, like the gnarled roots of an old tree, interconnected from top to bottom, forming an impenetrable wall.

Although the censors wield the imperial sword, they can only cut off a few superficial branches. The officials who are investigated and punished are just the lowest pawns in a huge chain of interests.

The powerful local magnates and officials in the river prefectures and counties had long since formed an impenetrable network with the canal transport authorities.

Whenever the imperial censors made their inspections, local officials would appear respectful on the surface, but secretly they would disobey and even collude to resist.

Account books can be rewritten overnight, witnesses can "die suddenly from illness" before trial, and even corrupt officials imprisoned may swagger out of jail the next day thanks to the "favor" of some important minister.

By the mid-to-late Wanli period, corruption in the grain transport system had reached a critical point.

Killing a few corrupt officials is like cutting off a thin scab from a festering sore; new parasites will soon fill the void, and may even become more rampant.

This is the despairing phenomenon of "corruption following corruption."

Three different governors of the Grand Canal came and went, yet the silver notes from Shanxi banks continued to circulate among officials; the granary commissioners were dismissed and investigated, but the practice of passing off moldy rice as good grain never ceased.

Even more terrifying is that this rotten system became a distorted breeding ground for the livelihoods of millions of canal workers.

The withheld grain and embezzled silver, after being exploited at every level, became the last means of survival for the poor people along the river.

This created an absurd reality: honest officials who wanted to eradicate corruption in the grain transport system had to first face the tragedy of widespread starvation.

Such a stubborn disease can only be cured by scraping the bone to remove the poison.

But how many powerful and wealthy people are connected to this 'bone'?
How many government departments have been poisoned by this 'poison'?

Zhu Youxiao understood that a heavy crackdown on the grain transport system was necessary.

The old trick of civil officials conforming to the world is completely ineffective now.

"Did Minister Yang achieve any other results during this inspection of the grain transport?"

Yang Lian took a small booklet from his sleeve, held it above his head with both hands, and Wei Chao took it and presented it to the emperor. Zhu Youxiao opened the booklet and saw that it was filled with densely packed records:

The authorities investigated and prosecuted twelve clerks from seven canal transport offices, including Tongzhou warehouse and Linqing sluice gate, and recovered more than 3,000 taels of embezzled silver.

However, those involved were all minor officials, and the next day, the steward of Grand Secretary Fang's residence pleaded for their release, and half of the guilty officials were released.

The report details nine corrupt practices, including falsely reporting shipwrecks, using sand to replace grain, and siphoning silver from empty warehouses. Among these, two-thirds of the grain transported from the Tongzhou warehouse was replaced with moldy rice, and the account books were covered up with water stains.

The accompanying document contains the bloody fingerprints of thirty-seven dying refugees as evidence, detailing atrocities such as canal workers whipping starving people and forcibly collecting tolls for crossing the river.

However, only three of the canal soldiers involved were punished; the rest were not prosecuted because they were part of the canal governor's personal guards.

Three silver notes (totaling 20,000 taels of silver) bearing the private seal of the Grand Canal Governor were seized. The manager of the bank confessed that he laundered silver for the officials every quarter.

However, the list of officials involved was covered up with ink, indicating that it was intercepted by higher-ups.

Zhu Youxiao closed the booklet with a blank expression.

Yang Lian prostrated himself on the ground, choking back tears, and said, "Your Majesty, I am incompetent and beg you to punish me!"

Zhu Youxiao looked at Yang Lian, who was prostrating himself in apology, and asked, "Minister Yang, you wish to emulate Hai Gangfeng, but knowing how corrupt the grain transport system is, why do you dare not use force to purge the wicked? If you request the mobilization of troops, how could I refuse?"

Yang Lian touched the ground with his forehead, his voice hoarse and heavy:
“Your Majesty is wise. It is not that I am cowardly. Firstly, the Grand Canal Administration is entangled in a web of interests with the Six Ministries and local governments. If I insist on investigating to the end, I fear that half of the court will be implicated. At that time, the foundation of the country will be shaken, and it will only allow villains to take the opportunity to cause trouble.”

He clutched the ink-stained list in his sleeve and continued:
"Secondly, the millions of boatmen, granary workers, and sluice gate workers on both sides of the Grand Canal depend on this route for their livelihood. The embezzled moldy rice ultimately ends up in the bellies of the starving people; the embezzled silver ultimately feeds the families of the boatmen. If this rotten vine is suddenly severed..."

As Yang Lian's Adam's apple bobbed, the image of Tongzhou Wharf flashed before his eyes again:
"I have personally witnessed how starving people ate mud around the granaries when the grain transport ships were not operating. If we thoroughly clean up the corruption in the grain transport system, I fear that before we can even eliminate the corrupt officials, we will first force hundreds of thousands of displaced people to rise up in rebellion. This is not governing the country, but rather brewing disaster!"

Your Highness of the East Warm Pavilion, Yang Lian, her face deathly pale, said half-cryingly:

"In the end, I became the kind of person I hated most. Knowing that a serious illness requires strong medicine, I had no choice but to learn from those old foxes and say 'take it slow'."

"Yet, every day, countless people are reduced to bones under the whips and canes. I plead guilty, not out of fear of death, but out of hatred for myself for having begun to settle this blood debt!"

The emperor stared at Yang Lian, who was trembling on the ground, tapped his fingertips lightly on the imperial desk, and suddenly let out a cold laugh:
"It seems that Minister Yang has learned the Grand Secretaries' skill of 'throwing a stone at a rat for fear of breaking the vase' during his inspection of the grain transport. But I must ask, when the grain transport workers are starving, have those parasites who have emptied the national treasury ever thought about the livelihood of millions of grain transport workers?"

"Two-thirds of the grain tribute was replaced with moldy rice! Twenty thousand taels of silver in privately printed banknotes! If this money were really used to support the grain transport workers, why would an old woman be forced to kneel and gnaw on tree bark?"

The emperor's voice was like a knife chilled to the bone.

"The so-called gradual approach is nothing but a fig leaf for those who have already benefited!"

Yang Lian suddenly looked up and saw a flame burning in the Emperor's eyes that was unfamiliar to him; that gaze was full of murderous intent!
Zhu Youxiao said to Yang Lian, "I want you to go on another inspection of the grain transport, with three thousand soldiers from the Beijing Garrison. Don't worry about the wide-ranging implications or the foundation of the nation. My Great Ming Dynasty has plenty of officials; we don't need these parasites. And don't worry about the livelihood of the millions of canal workers. I'm giving you one last chance to thoroughly investigate the grain transport administration and let me see if you are truly Hai Gangfeng."

Zhu Youxiao's voice echoed in the East Warm Pavilion of Qianqing Palace, each word like iron, striking Yang Lian's heart.

"Yang Lian, heed the imperial decree!"

Zhu Youxiao stood with his back to the dragon-carved screen, his eyes blazing in the shadows.

"I hereby dispatch three thousand elite troops from the Beijing Garrison to accompany you on your inspection tour. Take back the imperial edict and banner that you returned. If you encounter any corrupt officials below the fifth rank, you may execute them first and report later! The Office of Transmission and the Six Ministries shall not withhold your memorials; they shall be delivered directly to the Directorate of Ceremonial!"

Yang Lian's scarlet robe trembled violently as his forehead slammed heavily against the gold brick.

"I accept the decree."

He responded in a hoarse voice, a sudden glint of light flashing in his eyes. At this moment, he had no other choice.

"If I fail His Majesty's grace once again, I shall drown myself in the Cao River to atone for my sins!"

If he fails to achieve results during his second inspection of the grain transport, he will have no face to face His Majesty or the people of the world.

Since His Majesty has said that he is not afraid of being implicated in a wide-ranging manner, what is he afraid of?
Let's risk our lives and give it a shot!

Zhu Youxiao looked intently at Yang Lian and said, "Remember, my patience has its limits. If you make any more excuses next time, I will not let you off the hook!"

bang bang bang~
Yang Lian kowtowed three times and declared, "This time, if I, Yang Lian, die in Tongzhou, the Tongzhou grain transport administration will be completely pacified!"

"I will trust you one last time, Minister Yang. I only care about results, not the process! If there are no results within three months, I can forgive you, but the laws of our ancestors will not tolerate it!"

If he couldn't even handle the trivial matter of grain transport, how could Zhu Youxiao dare to send Yang Lian to the border regions to investigate the corrupt practices of the military families of the nine border regions?
No matter how arrogant the officials in charge of the grain transport are, can they be more arrogant than the generals of the nine border regions?

The generals of the Nine Border Regions were truly capable of killing, and they even dared to kill the imperial envoy.

Zhu Youxiao gazed at Yang Lian's departing figure, his fingertips slowly tracing the memorial on his desk.

"Yang Lian."

The emperor murmured softly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

This person's nature is as cold as iron, but ultimately he is not a divine weapon like Hai Gangfeng, capable of cutting through iron like mud.

But it doesn’t matter.

Now that this sword has fallen into Zhu Youxiao's hands, it must be tempered with the fiercest fire and sharpened with the hardest stone.

Either forge it into a 'Great Ming Divine Sword' to cut through the accumulated evils of the court.

Either
With a crisp 'snap', the wolf-hair brush in Zhu Youxiao's hand snapped.

Looking at the pen that had broken in two, the young emperor suddenly chuckled.

If it breaks, it proves that it is nothing more than a piece of ordinary iron that cannot be crafted.

At that time, we can simply change the sword.

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(End of this chapter)