The struggle for the throne during the Jiajing reign

Chapter 93 The Madman (Bonus Chapter)

Xu Wei stood at the end of the Imperial Street, looking up at the majestic palace with its layered eaves and towering red walls, the yellow tiles reflecting the sunlight.

The smooth, hard bluestone slabs beneath his feet led straight to the palace gates guarded by armored soldiers. The solemn and dignified atmosphere made him slow his pace.

As a boy, I would study by lamplight at night and imagine what the Forbidden City would look like countless times, silently reciting the saying, "In the morning, a peasant; in the evening, an emperor."

He imagined himself standing in the Fengtian Hall wearing a blue silk robe, listening to the officials of the Court of State Ceremonial announce his name, and from then on, he would be a disciple of the emperor, shedding his common clothes overnight.

If one is fortunate enough to rank first, adorned with gold flowers and wearing a red robe, one can ride a horse through the streets, led by drums and music, surrounded by thousands of onlookers, riding with the spring breeze in high spirits—

But the reality is that he was just a poor, uneducated scholar. If he hadn't been lucky enough to be noticed by Prince Jing, he might never have had the chance to stand here in his entire life.

Zhou Zheng urged from the front, "Mr. Xu, this way please."

Xu Wei finally came to his senses, unconsciously straightened his sleeves, and then gripped the official seal book tightly. This was issued by the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs. Without this, trespassing through the palace gates would mean testing the guards' waist knives to see if they had sharpened them last night.

This was Zhou Zheng's first time being ordered to do this task, and he was a little anxious, wanting to bring the person to His Highness as soon as possible. However, not knowing His Highness's attitude towards this person, he could not urge him any further and could only slow down.

The two headed straight for the Wenhua Hall, undergoing several interrogations along the way. Fortunately, their paperwork was complete, and the arrangements were personally made by Huang Jin, the Grand Secretary of the Directorate of Ceremonial, so no one gave them any trouble. Thus, they arrived smoothly.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng was giving a lecture. Xu Wei walked into the hall in a daze. He had only experienced a few years of wealth in his childhood, and that was compared with the wealth of ordinary people. He had never seen the wealth of the royal family.

The floor is paved with gold bricks, polished so smooth that one can see their reflection. Looking up, the colorful paintings on the beams and rafters are layered upon each other, and the dragon patterns outlined in gold thread gleam faintly even in the dark.

Inside the hall, a lecture hall was set up, and a distinguished Hanlin scholar dressed in a blue silk robe was standing in front of the lecture table, lecturing on a passage from the Book of Documents.

He was tall and upright, with a sharp look between his brows. When he spoke, he was unhurried and clear, and you could feel the weight contained in each sentence.

Beneath the lecture table was a large sandalwood chair, upon which sat a young man, dressed in black robes and a jade belt, with a calm and composed demeanor.

As Xu Wei was pondering how to pay his respects and whether he should disturb the lecture, he saw King Jing turn to look at him, smile, and point to a spot not far to his side.

This place used to be where many princes studied together, but now only I am left.

Zhang Juzheng's voice did not stop speaking, but his eyes quickly swept over the person who came over. He was fair-skinned, tall, with phoenix eyes and slightly raised eyebrows. Although he was dressed in plain clothes, he had an air of arrogance.

Xu Wei didn't know whose seat it was, but when King Jing pointed to him, he went over and sat down. However, it was clear that his steps were a little stiff and unnatural, indicating that he was still somewhat nervous.

"If you are making a soup, you are the only one who needs salt and plum." This sentence from the "Shuoming" chapter is what King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty said to Fu Yue. It is not about cooking, but about the mutual assistance between the ruler and his minister.

Salt and plums are both common things, but without salt, soup will be bland and tasteless, and without plums, the fishy and muttony smell will not be suppressed. Therefore, when a ruler employs a virtuous person, he does not seek high fame or prominent position, but only talent that matches the job.

The same principle applies to a court, a prefecture, a county, and even an army or a squad. There are no perfect ministers in the world, only those placed in the right positions.

Zhu Zaizhen nodded, then turned to Xu Wei and asked, "Mr. Xu, you have long been a part of the common people and have tasted all the flavors of life. I wonder what your insights are on this?"

A normal person, upon hearing this, would humbly reply that he was just a lowly scholar and could not possibly have any insights.

But Xu Wei was different. He said, "A good talent is not concerned with his background, and a virtuous person is not bound by social status. Salt and plum grow in the fields and are not made of gold and jade, but they can harmonize all flavors. Fu Yue rose from the ranks of mortar workers and was not from a noble family, but he was able to assist a wise ruler."

Nowadays, there are many officials in the imperial court who hold their positions without performing their duties, while few are truly loyal to their duties. The root cause is that the powerful and wealthy prefer glitz and glamour, despise practical and capable people like salt and plum, pursue empty fame, and abandon true ministers who can govern the country.

In today's world, even those with extraordinary talent will be trapped in obscurity if they lack the money to bribe officials or the connections of powerful figures.

Meanwhile, those pampered and wealthy people, who are illiterate, either rely on gold and silver to curry favor with powerful families or enter officialdom through the favor of their fathers and grandfathers, and can easily seize high-ranking positions and occupy important posts.

If this continues, how can the court be enlightened, and how can the world be at peace?

After speaking in one breath, Xu Wei's eyebrows relaxed, his back straightened quietly, and the restraint and awkwardness he had shown when he first entered the palace disappeared completely.

"Over the years, I have seen all kinds of people. I have seen learned old scholars set up stalls on the street to write letters for people, and the copper coins they earn in a day are not enough to buy half a liter of rice."

I once met the son of a salt merchant who was illiterate. He spent three thousand taels of silver to buy a position as a student in the Imperial Academy, and within three years he was granted a real post. He then spent three months earning back his investment.

I've seen the county magistrate doze off in court, too lazy to even flip through the legal documents, yet he still managed to extract a bribe from each of the two lawsuits and return home to acquire a hundred acres of land.

Having witnessed the Yellow River breach its banks and famine ravaged the land, the imperial court allocated 100,000 taels of silver for disaster relief. However, the funds passed through the hands of various levels of government, from the prefecture to the county, and in the end, all that reached the disaster victims was a bowl of porridge.

One person felt that this wasn't the way of the world; it was rotten to the core.

Zhu Zaizhen remained calm and simply said, "That's how the world is; what can be done?"

"The deep-seated ills of the world are neither predetermined by fate, nor are they unchangeable!"

These words were spoken with decisiveness and conviction, so powerful that even Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but raise his eyes. His gaze fell upon Xu Wei, no longer with the previous impassive scrutiny, but with a touch of solemnity.

A poor scholar who hadn't even passed the provincial examination stood before the prince's lecture hall, in front of the Hanlin scholars, and declared that the world could be changed. Not everyone has that kind of courage.

However, Zhang Juzheng still spoke up, saying, "Knowing is easy, doing is hard. The deep-seated problems in the world are well known. What practical reform measures do you have, sir?"

""

Xu Wei seemed to have shed something, his brows furrowed with indignation: "This one?"

"I am Zhang Juzheng, a compiler at the Hanlin Academy."

"Editor Zhang, are you willing to listen to the words of a mere scholar like myself?"

"I'm all ears."

Zhang Juzheng remained unmoved. If this person was a great talent, he would naturally listen respectfully; if this person was merely a resentful and arrogant individual, then he would simply treat it as the barking of a dog.

Xu Wei walked up to King Jing, whose expression had hardly changed, and bowed. King Jing, at such a young age, had shown such composure and magnanimity after hearing Xu Wei's impassioned words, which Xu Wei had not expected.

After he finished speaking, he thought that even if he wasn't flogged, he would be banished from the palace, just like the other powerful and influential people he had encountered before.

"When Your Highness asked what to do, I dared not offer empty words as an excuse."

Xu Wei's voice was lower than before, but deeper, "The state of the world is not something that happened overnight, nor can it be broken in a day. But if we do not break it because it is difficult to break, then the world will remain like this forever."

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