The Ming Dynasty: Starting with Emperor Chongzhen's crackdown on factionalism

The Ministry of Works, the Grand Canal Administration, and even the spies stationed in the capital by various towns all sprang into action.

Those who should collude should do so, those who should be destroyed should be destroyed, and those who should be bribed should be bribed.

Everyone knew what Chen Zhiyuan was going to do.

Everyone knows that we can't let him succeed.

On the morning of the third day, the Office of Transmission received seven impeachment memorials, all targeting the same person—Chen Zhiyuan.

The first document came from Wu Zhiyu, a supervising secretary in the Ministry of War.

The memorial stated that Chen Zhiyuan "used the pretext of investigating cases to seize power," "arbitrarily accessed confidential files from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, disrupting the routine work of various government offices," and that "his intentions were unfathomable and his actions were arbitrary."

The second document came from Mao Yujian, the Imperial Censor of Shanxi Province.

He was from Shanxi, and in his memorial, he directly accused Chen Zhiyuan of "using the pretext of military funds to carry out factional strife" and "wanting to use this case to attack officials from Shanxi and advocate for Jiangnan."

The third memorial came from Zhou Shipu, a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. The memorial listed Chen Zhiyuan's "three crimes": first, overstepping his authority; second, interfering with government affairs; and third, deliberately provoking a court dispute.

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth...

The seven memorials, though worded differently, all shared the same core message: Chen Zhiyuan should be dismissed.

The old clerk of the Office of Transmission began to tremble again as he looked at these memorials.

He registered and categorized them according to the rules, and then sent them to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial glanced at it and put it directly into the "urgent document" box.

Before noon, these memorials had arrived at the Cabinet Office.

Grand Secretary Cheng Jiming sat in the main seat, looking at the seven memorials spread out on the table, remaining silent for a long time.

Vice Minister Zhou Yanru sat opposite him, slowly sipping his tea.

The other two cabinet ministers, Qian Shisheng and He Wuzhou, sat on either side, their expressions solemn.

"Have you all seen it?" Cheng Jiming finally spoke.

"I've seen it." Zhou Yanru put down his teacup. "The meaning is very clear: Chen Zhiyuan must be dismissed."

"What do you gentlemen think?"

Qian Shisheng spoke first.

"Chen Zhiyuan definitely went too far. Investigate the Yuan case if you want, but why tamper with the military expenditure accounts?"

"Military spending involves nine border regions and hundreds of thousands of troops. How can we act rashly? If it arouses suspicion among the border generals and leads to a mutiny, who will take responsibility?"

He Wuzhou nodded.

"Indeed. Bandits are rampant in Shanxi, and the Jurchens in Liaodong are eyeing us covetously. The court needs stability. Chen Zhiyuan's actions are tantamount to adding fuel to the fire."

Zhou Yanru didn't rush to express his opinion, but instead looked at Cheng Jiming: "What is the Prime Minister's opinion?"

Cheng Jiming was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Chen Zhiyuan is investigating the case by imperial decree."

"I was ordered to investigate the Yuan case, not the military expenditures," Zhou Yanru continued.

"He's just using this as an excuse to make a fuss. The Emperor is young and has been blinded by his words about 'courage' and 'responsibility,' but we, as his subjects, have to keep a close eye on things for the Emperor."

The words were spoken subtly, but the meaning was clear—the emperor was wrong, and we must correct him.

Cheng Jiming closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

He feels like he's walking on thin ice every day in this position.

The emperor is suspicious, court officials are embroiled in factional strife, the border is in dire straits, and bandits are rampant...

Trouble has come knocking on our door.

"If Chen Zhiyuan is dismissed, what will happen to the Emperor..." He opened his eyes.

"His Majesty will understand," Zhou Yanru said.

"The seven impeachment memorials came from the Six Ministries, the Censorate, and the Ministry of Revenue, representing a consensus within the court. Even if the Emperor trusts Chen Zhiyuan, he must consider the overall situation."

He paused, then added, "Moreover, Chen Zhiyuan's investigation into military spending has affected more than just the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue. People in Jiangnan... have already sent word to us."

This makes it even clearer.

Where does military funding come from?

Additional taxes were levied on Liaodong, the suppression of rebellions, and the training of soldiers.

These additional taxes levied on the gentry of Jiangnan the heaviest burden.

They spent money, but saw no results—Liaodong still lost cities and territories, and the number of bandits continued to increase despite their efforts to suppress them.

They had been holding back their anger for a long time.

Now that Chen Zhiyuan is investigating military spending, what he finds will surely be rampant corruption and full of loopholes.

What will the gentry of Jiangnan think then?

We spent so much money, and it turns out it was all embezzled?

Then why should we pay any more money?

Jiangnan is a vital source of revenue for the imperial court, and the emperor cannot ignore the attitude of the gentry there.

Cheng Jiming finally made up his mind.

"Draft a motion," he said. "Chen Zhiyuan has abused his power and disrupted the court. He is hereby removed from his post as Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and sent back to the Hanlin Academy to await further investigation."

Zhou Yanru picked up his pen and wrote these words on the draft paper.

Qian Shisheng and He Wuzhou both nodded.

The four people were in complete agreement.

The draft proposal was quickly sent to the Directorate of Ceremonial, which approved it and then sent it to the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Youjian saw the draft of the document at Shenshi (3-5 PM).

He had just finished approving a memorial from the Ministry of War regarding the suppression of bandits in Shanxi, and leaned wearily back in his chair.

When Wang Chengen presented the draft of the cabinet proposal, he was somewhat impatient—it was just another set of insignificant personnel appointments and removals.

But when he saw Chen Zhiyuan's name, he sat up straight.

"Remove him from his post as Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and return him to the Hanlin Academy to await further investigation..."

Zhu Youjian read the words on the draft proposal in a low voice, and a smile slowly crept onto his lips.

sneer.

Wang Chengen stood aside, not daring to utter a sound.

"Seven impeachment memorials, the cabinet is highly unified..." Zhu Youjian threw the draft votes on the imperial desk. "Chen Zhiyuan was absolutely right."

He recalled what Chen Zhiyuan had said in the Qianqing Palace three days earlier.

"Some people oppose for the sake of opposing. If the Donglin faction supports Yuan Shikai, they attack Yuan. If the Donglin faction supports the audit of military expenditures, they oppose the audit. And vice versa. At this point, the factional strife has stopped about right and wrong and has become a matter of personal feelings."

At the time, he felt that Chen Zhiyuan's statement was too absolute.

Looking back now, it's absolutely true.

These seven impeachment memorials came from different government departments and different factions.

Wu Zhiyu, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, was a member of the Donglin Party; Mao Yujian, an imperial censor of Shanxi Province, was a member of the Jin Party; Zhou Shipu, a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue, was... Who knows which faction he belonged to?

These people usually attack each other and are like oil and water.

But they were more united than ever on the issue of removing Chen Zhiyuan from office.

Why?

Because Chen Zhiyuan threatened their interests.

The military budget is a piece of cheese; the Ministry of War takes a bite, the Ministry of Revenue takes a bite, the Ministry of Works takes a bite, the Grand Canal transport takes a bite, local governments take a bite, border generals take a bite… from top to bottom, everyone gets a piece of the pie.

Now Chen Zhiyuan is going to bring out this piece of cheese and see how badly it's been bitten.

Will they agree?

No.

Therefore, they need to unite and get rid of Chen Zhiyuan.

Zhu Youjian leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

He felt tired, yet strangely clear-headed.

Three years into his reign, for the first time he saw so clearly the power structure of the court and the true nature of the factional struggles.

In the past, those ministers would argue back and forth in front of him, talking about "loyalty and treachery," "right and wrong," "ancestral rules," and "etiquette," and he thought they really cared about these things.

Now he understands.

What they care about is profit.

Chen Zhiyuan wanted to cut off their interests, so they wanted to kill Chen Zhiyuan.

It's that simple.

"Your Majesty..." Wang Chengen asked cautiously.

"Should this vote be approved or not?"

Zhu Youjian opened his eyes and stared at the draft document on his desk for a long time.

Then he picked up his vermilion pen and wrote two characters on the draft.

"Not permitted."

The characters were written very heavily, and the ink almost seeped through to the back of the paper.

Wang Chengen was stunned for a moment.

"Your Majesty, all four cabinet ministers have signed their names, this..."

"Then let them discuss it again." Zhu Youjian put down his pen, his voice calm.

"Tell them that Chen Zhiyuan is investigating the case by imperial decree, and that the files he accesses and the accounts he audits are all authorized by me. Anyone who has objections should come to the Qianqing Palace and speak to me."

Wang Chengen bowed: "Yes."