After the morning audience and the accession petition, Zhu Yijun retired early for once.
The reason was simple: today was the day Ciqing Palace was to be packed up.
Starting tonight, Zhu Yijun would move into Qianqing Palace.
Over the past several days, Qianqing Palace had already been prepared, and the late emperor's imperial casket, which had been resting there, was to be moved to another hall today.
Similarly, the belongings in Ciqing Palace were to be packed away one by one, either sealed as sacred relics or brought along to Qianqing Palace.
"You've already outgrown this padded jacket. Why take it to Qianqing Palace?" Noble Consort Li asked, looking at Zhu Yijun with a puzzled expression.
Zhu Yijun took the jacket from her hands and rubbed the fabric between his fingers.
"Mother sewed this jacket for me with her own hands. Whenever I wore it, I felt your warm, loving care. Even if I can no longer wear it, it will serve well to warm my feet at night."
He deftly deployed the trump card of mother-son affection to win Noble Consort Li over.
Noble Consort Li reached out and pinched her son's cheek, saying softly, "Winter is still far off. Mother will simply make you another one this year."
With that, she nonetheless instructed a palace maid to store the jacket away for safekeeping.
Zhu Yijun beamed. "Thank you, Mother."
Warmth filled Noble Consort Li's heart, though she tried not to show it too openly. Instead, she pointed toward another pile of items. "Does my son intend to seal these away or take them to Qianqing Palace?"
Zhu Yijun looked in that direction.
Before him lay a clutter of children's toys—spinning tops, mechanical contraptions, and the like.
Most had been presented by junior eunuchs acting on someone's hints, but Zhu Yijun had hardly spared them a glance lately and had nearly forgotten they existed.
Zhu Yijun shook his head. "My mind is occupied with the nine provinces and the ten thousand realms of our realm. I have no heart left for playing with such trifles."
Noble Consort Li nodded in satisfaction and directed the palace staff to seal them all away.
"Come, walk with Mother to see Qianqing Palace."
Taking Zhu Yijun by the hand, she led him out of Ciqing Palace.
As soon as they stepped outside, Feng Bao approached with attendants carrying a palanquin. "Your Ladyship, Master."
Just as Noble Consort Li was about to speak, Zhu Yijun gave her hand a gentle tug. "Mother, it has been quite a while since we strolled together. Why not walk?"
With her son making such a request, how could a mother refuse? Noble Consort Li turned to Feng Bao. "Great Eunuch Feng, dismiss the palanquin. I shall take a stroll with my son."
Feng Bao hurriedly signaled with his eyes to dismiss the palanquin, arranged for attendants ahead to clear the path, and respectfully followed behind them.
Summer had only just begun, and the air was not yet sweltering.
Mother and son, both dressed in ordinary robes, walked leisurely through the Forbidden City.
The imperial palace stood magnificent and imposing, its avenues broad and immaculate. The two chatted and bantered along the way, occasionally prompting Noble Consort Li to cover her mouth in laughter as she relished this rare taste of domestic bliss.
Zhu Yijun feigned nonchalance as he looked back and said, "Companion Feng, hang back a bit. I wish to speak privately with Mother, and it is not meant for your ears."
Feng Bao had been trailing them like thin air with his ears pricked. Suddenly called out, he froze for a moment, not moving immediately, and instead looked toward Noble Consort Li.
Noble Consort Li was in high spirits; upon hearing this, she merely waved a hand casually, signaling him to keep his distance.
Helpless, Feng Bao could only slow his pace.
Seeing him fall back, Zhu Yijun finally felt at ease.
He turned to Noble Consort Li and picked up where they had left off: "I have talked so much; if Mother has anything weighing on her mind, why not share it with me? I have learned quite a few principles from the tutors lately!"
Noble Consort Li shook her head with an amused smile. "As long as you study diligently and cultivate your virtue, what worries could Mother have? Even if there were any, they are state affairs. Explaining them to you would be beyond your understanding."
Zhu Yijun countered indignantly, "How could I not understand? Is Mother troubled over the Evaluation Law, and over the Ministry of Revenue refusing to allocate the one hundred thousand taels of silver to the palace treasury?"
Noble Consort Li gave him an astonished glance.
Curiosity sparked in her voice. "Oh? Even if that were so, what reasoning does my son have to share with Mother?"
She did not flare with anger at the mention of the matter in which her decree had been rejected; instead, she looked at Zhu Yijun with keen interest, curious to see what he thought.
In truth, the matter had already been thoroughly sorted out over the past few days.
For one thing, the late emperor had repeatedly taken silver from the Taicang Treasury and the treasury of the Court of Imperial Entertainments without ever paying it back, blurring the line between public and private; thus, the palace lacked moral standing from the start.
For another, the Ministry of Revenue was genuinely strapped for funds.
The late emperor had passed away suddenly, and both the construction of the imperial mausoleum and the funeral rites represented massive, unexpected expenses. Moreover, as the Yellow River's summer flood season had arrived, a portion had been drawn by the Ministry of Works, not to mention the military payroll and official salaries that were already in arrears from borrowing against future revenues.
When Gao Gong stepped forward to block the palace's grasping hand, he was not acting alone; he had the backing or tacit consent of most ministers across the Ministry of Works, Ministry of War, Ministry of Rites, and Ministry of Revenue.
Noble Consort Li understood what was at stake and had not escalated the dispute.
With the Embroidered Uniform Guard serving as his eyes and ears, none of this had escaped Zhu Yijun.
Weighing his words and finding the right angle of approach, he said slowly, "Let us speak of the silver first.
"Mother is a benevolent elder and surely has no petty greed for those one hundred thousand taels. Rather, you fear setting a precedent that repeatedly erodes the authority of the palace treasury, leaving you unable to hand over a full treasury to your son. Is that not so?"
Right or wrong, flatter her first, then steer her thinking off course—setting aside the fact that the outer ministries had withheld the funds, if the question was how to fill the palace treasury, he had an idea.
Noble Consort Li thought about it. Even if she had harbored some desire for the funds, the rest of his words were close enough to the mark. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded.
Zhu Yijun said calmly, "If the goal is to replenish the palace treasury... Mother, your son happens to have a method that satisfies both ends."
Noble Consort Li was taken aback. "Satisfies both ends?"
Zhu Yijun paused. Meeting her puzzled gaze, he spoke: "Mother, allow me to explain with an example.
"Does Mother know how much tribute tea the palace consumed last year?"
Though Noble Consort Li held an exalted position, she seldom paid attention to such matters. After racking her memory, she answered, "Fourteen thousand jin?"
That was what the late emperor had mentioned in casual conversation with her; tribute tea was supposedly capped at that figure, never to exceed it.
That quota even included imperial rewards, sacrificial offerings, the Ministry of Revenue, and provisions for Nanjing.
Yet Zhu Yijun shook his head. "Mother, last year, it amounted to a full eighty thousand jin."
Noble Consort Li was stunned. "Eighty thousand jin?! How could the palace possibly consume so much?!"
Zhu Yijun sighed. "Mother, during the Hongwu reign of Emperor Taizu, the tribute quota for tea was merely four thousand-odd jin. Because Emperor Taizu deemed it burdensome to the common people, he established five hundred dedicated tea-farming households, exempting them from corvée labor so they could focus solely on production—the so-called official gardens and official kilns.
"Yet apart from those official gardens and kilns, the tea households in other provinces produced on their own, and the levy was commuted into silver at six fen per jin to be paid into the inner treasury.
"During the late imperial father's reign, although the quota was fixed at fourteen thousand jin, according to the ledgers of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, the inner treasury's tea consumption actually increased year by year. By last year, it reached eighty thousand jin in a single year!
"Those surplus sixty-odd thousand jin translate to a solid thirty-six thousand taels of silver!"
Zhu Yijun glanced back at the attendants and eunuchs following behind.
Noble Consort Li was no fool. She immediately understood: the palace staff were skimming a fortune from this.
With inflated tea consumption and everyone taking a cut, the figure had multiplied several times over.
After a brief silence, she remarked, "No wonder the palace treasury is always short of silver."
Noble Consort Li did not bring up conducting a thorough investigation. One could not investigate everything; what if they actually uncovered something catastrophic?
Having previously remarked that the dynasty's officials made their living through corruption, she naturally held no high hopes for the eunuchs.
Still, she had never imagined the numbers would be so outrageous!
If the palace maids and eunuchs pocketed twenty or even thirty percent, she might have turned a blind eye. But she had never expected... that her own imperial household was only getting twenty percent!
If tribute tea alone had thirty-six thousand taels of inflated water, what about golden-flower silver, coin and paper currency, grain, silks, tea, wax, and pigments?
The over one million taels flowing into the palace treasury each year was drained down to the last drop!
Zhu Yijun nodded. "Mother, that is not all. Those are merely the underhanded dealings.
"There are open thefts as well. As for the paintings, calligraphy, and rare manuscripts in Wenyuan Hall, I fear half of them have already been swapped for fakes.
"Those with bolder nerve simply steal them outright."
From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Feng Bao.
In modern times, the treasured masterpiece Along the River During the Qingming Festival preserved in the Palace Museum still bore the personal seal of this Great Eunuch Feng.
Upon it was brazenly inscribed, 'Though pearls of Sui and jade discs of He, they are not prized as precious; this is truly a rare treasure of the ages, worthy of cherished preservation'—words that revealed just how rampant the thievery had grown.
Noble Consort Li fell increasingly silent. Only now did she realize how difficult it was to manage this household.
Striking while the iron was hot, Zhu Yijun continued, "If this goes on, even if Mother forcibly pressures the Ministry of Revenue to deliver silver to the palace treasury year after year, it will never be enough to satisfy the appetites below. And on top of that, we will earn ourselves the reputation of villains.
"Mother, as for the Ministry of Revenue diverting revenue meant for the palace treasury, your son will address that shortly. But if Mother wishes to replenish the treasury, we truly must curtail our expenditures."
His tone was calm, guiding her step by step.
Suddenly, however, a thought struck Noble Consort Li. She looked at him with furrowed brows. "How does my son know all of this?"
Her frown deepened. "Who has been wagging their tongues in secret within the palace?"
Even she was unaware of these matters; how could her young, inexperienced son know every detail inside and out?
The court debates, the tea regulations, the stolen books—these spanned the Ministry of Revenue, the Court of Imperial Entertainments, and the inner court. None of this was something anyone would mention in passing.
Could it be Gao Gong...?
Noble Consort Li feared that outer court ministers had bewitched her son, sending him as an emissary to lobby her.
Zhu Yijun did not answer directly.
Instead, unhurried and composed, he shook his head with firm resolve. "Mother, the Book of Changes states: 'If the sovereign is not discreet, he loses his ministers.' Since I am the sovereign and have received the trust of my subjects, I must never lack discretion. As for what Mother asks, please forgive your son for not being able to answer."
If he were foolish enough to imitate the Hegemon-King and blurt out, "This was told to me by Marshal of the Left Cao Wushang," his brain would truly be fried.
A ruler had to be someone who could stand firm and protect his people.
Noble Consort Li's expression immediately darkened.
Seeing her displeased face, Zhu Yijun did not back down in the slightest.
Gripping her hand tightly, he said, word by word, with deep earnestness, "Imperial Mother, I am the new sovereign of the Great Ming."
Noble Consort Li's eyes narrowed.
Her son's reaction was entirely beyond her expectations.
In a momentary daze, the image of the timid, fragile boy who used to weep while admitting his faults blurred, replaced by a new ruler of the Great Ming who was gentle on the surface yet steel within, his tone unwavering.
Before this, she had merely felt that her son was growing wiser, more poised, filially devoted, and quick-witted, which had brought her comfort.
Now, she suddenly realized: how would the inner court eunuchs and the ministers outside react when faced with a new monarch like this?
Was this the rallying of hearts? Was this the convergence of public hope?
Right beneath her nose, he had quietly gathered his own loyal core of followers—something she had never anticipated.
When her son had been inept, she had fretted; now that he had suddenly matured, her feelings were tangled with endless complexity.
She abruptly caught a glimpse of what Empress Chen must have felt watching her reign over the inner palace.
Her thoughts swirled. After pondering for a long time, Noble Consort Li proved not yet wholly steeped in the lust for power. Her expression finally softened, and she let the matter drop: "My son truly has grown up."
Zhu Yijun breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
He had partly intended this as a test, a preemptive vaccination for Noble Consort Li.
If she acquired a taste for power and became intoxicated by it, the situation would grow perilous. Fortunately, from the looks of it, she could still see reason.
Seeing her demeanor soften, he immediately tightened his grip on her hand with an endearing smile. "Mother, only by growing up can your son serve you all the better."
Looking at her son acting affectionately, Noble Consort Li shook her head helplessly. "Go on, then. What does curtailing expenses have to do with the Evaluation Law, and how does it satisfy both ends?"
Zhu Yijun tactfully let the previous subject drop. "Mother, the Evaluation Law need not apply only to civil and military officials."
The Evaluation Law did more than simply urge officials to complete their duties; it carried an innate anti-corruption function.
Zhang Juzheng's Evaluation Law required the Six Ministries and the Censorate to register the deadlines for all affairs under their subordinate officials and to establish three sets of ledgers.
These ledgers recorded the scheduled completion date for each task: one was kept by the Six Ministries and Censorate, one was sent to the Six Offices of Scrutiny, and the last was submitted to the Grand Secretariat.
According to the ledgers, the Six Ministries and Censorate were required to check officials' performance month by month, registering each completed task upon fulfillment and truthfully reporting any incomplete tasks, under penalty of punishment.
It seemed on the surface to have little to do with anti-corruption, but in truth, it inherently possessed two functions: clear division of responsibility and systematic record-keeping!
In other words, job demarcation and ledger tracking.
With these two mechanisms, those above could trace every trail, and those below could be held accountable.
Had sixty thousand extra jin of tribute tea been consumed?
Who was responsible? Where had it all gone?
Previously, management had been chaotic, with no records and no way to investigate.
Once evaluation was instituted and responsibilities were clearly demarcated, one could immediately identify who oversaw the affair. Anyone caught swimming naked would be exposed on the spot, unable to shirk responsibility.
Likewise, with ledgers, every transfer and disbursement left a clear trail: through whose hands it passed and how much was spent, making any discrepancy evident at a glance.
If something went wrong, whether the higher-ups held someone accountable could be decided with a single word.
This was the sword hanging over the heads of the officials, and precisely one of the reasons resistance was so fierce today.
Even if the method could hardly be called perfect, it was at least an institutional first step toward fighting corruption and rectifying governance. As for going further... taking too big a stride at once invited disaster.
This was enough. Rectifying officialdom was never a finished task; so long as he lived, it would never cease.
When evil rose a foot, righteousness would rise two; if evil rose another three, they would spiral upward together.
Noble Consort Li caught on at once. "You wish to implement the Evaluation Law in the palace as well?!"
Zhu Yijun shook his head.
Playing such a game in core departments right away might get him strangled in his sleep before he even knew what hit him. Naturally, he had to start around the edges.
He weighed his words: "Mother, this system would be far too harsh for the inner court. Rushing into it would tarnish Mother's sagacious virtue.
"Mother already fears causing unrest, and your son wishes to ease your burdens, not add to them."
This was precisely what worried Noble Consort Li.
She was already hesitant about applying the Evaluation Law to the outer court, so how could she ever agree to roll it out across the palace?
Therefore, Zhu Yijun needed to dispel her apprehensions.
She asked in confusion, "Then what does my son propose?"
Zhu Yijun said slowly, "Mother, your son has an idea.
"First, the scope is too vast for an abrupt rollout. Why not select one or two places to trial it for a period, proceeding step by step?"
Noble Consort Li pressed, "How step by step?"
Zhu Yijun answered frankly, "Outside the palace, let the Evaluation Law be implemented only within the boundary of Shuntian Prefecture, touching nowhere else for now.
"Inside the palace, let us take the Needlework Bureau as a trial and place it concurrently under Zhang Hong's charge. With Mother keeping watch, we can see for ourselves whether it works, sparing us from being deceived by outer court ministers.
"Your son can also learn to oversee it from the sidelines and gain some experience.
"Though this approach takes more time, it will allow us to identify shortcomings and errors while training a cadre of experienced hands, making future expansion far easier.
"If it proves ineffective, we halt it immediately. If it works, it will curb wasteful spending for the palace treasury."
Noble Consort Li had always favored compromise.
To roll out the Evaluation Law across the two capitals and thirteen provinces would leave her wavering in indecision.
But restricting it to the modest Needlework Bureau and the single prefecture of Shuntian was far easier for her to accept.
Chapter 21