A blazing sun hung high in the sky.
Holding a memorial in both hands, Zhang Shouyue knelt outside the Meridian Gate with an air of righteous indignation.
Not far away, two eunuchs held an umbrella to shade Feng Bao and fanned him as he sat on a chair.
Feng Bao fixed Zhang Shouyue with a piercing stare. "Who taught you to say these things?"
An inexplicable sense of déjà vu lent an extra edge of cold hardness to his voice.
Without so much as glancing at him, Zhang Shouyue let out a cold snort. "I am a censor of the Great Ming! I am merely performing my duty. Unlike certain contemptible castrates, I do not rely on others to speak or act."
Naturally, this was not the answer Feng Bao wanted.
As if hard of hearing, Feng Bao murmured, "Oh, Song Zhihan, was it? Hardly surprising, given that you two were fellow jinshi graduates."
He beckoned a eunuch over and commanded, "Record this in the file."
Seeing his brazen antics, Zhang Shouyue turned purple with rage. "Feng Bao! How dare you call a stag a horse to my very face! Do you intend to play Zhao Gao?!"
Feng Bao nodded. "Very good, very good. So Zhang Xiao is in league with you as well. Come, write it down."
The young eunuch beside him scribbled furiously with his brush.
After putting on this show a while longer, Feng Bao felt the stage was set. Assuming a look of profound astonishment, he blurted out, "What?! It was all done at Gao Gong's direction?!"
"You dare form a faction?!"
Rising in apparent shock, he grabbed his godson. "Quick! Write it down! I must take this to the Empress Dowager at once!"
Factional collusion!
A catastrophic transgression!
No matter how much Feng Bao's array of appointments violated ancestral precedents, they were still gracious favors bestowed by the imperial house.
For Gao Gong and his cohort to brazenly form a faction was the ultimate taboo.
Never mind that the court was currently rife with various factions, both open and hidden—just let them try stepping out into the open and admitting it!
Some matters weighed nothing until placed upon the scales; once weighed, not even a thousand jin could balance them!
Forming factions? When had an upheaval over factional conspiracy in the imperial court ever failed to result in a bloodbath?
Just look at the current state of affairs: of the hundred and forty censors, more than twenty were impeaching Feng Bao.
Of the forty-eight supervising secretaries across the Six Offices, half of them took turns finding fault with the inner court every few days.
Gao Gong claimed that Feng Bao had incited the wrath of both gods and men, stirring universal grievance. By the same token, Feng Bao could just as well claim that Gao Gong was banding together with partisans to attack loyal officials!
Ignoring Zhang Shouyue's curses behind him, Feng Bao clutched the newly recorded notes and rushed straight for Empress Dowager Li's palace quarters.
He had absolute confidence in besting Gao Gong.
Why did a eunuch hold sway? Because he had someone standing behind him!
Throughout history, those who could bring down a eunuch either did so because his backer had abandoned him, or because their attacks were aimed directly at the backer behind him.
Expecting to topple him by picking at petty faults? Laughable!
If Empress Dowager Li were isolated and without support, she truly would not be able to withstand the barrage of joint memorials from the remonstrance officials, and she might well discard him.
And yet... colluding behind the scenes? Did Gao Gong really believe all the court officials shared a single mind with him?!
By the time Gao Gong realized that not everyone saw things his way, it would be far too late.
Had Empress Dowager Li not undergone that inexplicable change of heart—insisting on waiting for Gao Gong to submit his own request for retirement in the name of political stability—Gao Gong would already have been dismissed and sent packing by now!
Ah well, keeping him around wasn't bad either; it offered an ideal opportunity to prune away Gao Gong's wings.
As long as the standoff continued, treacherous ministers would leap out on their own.
Censors and supervising secretaries were mere pawns. He wanted to see who else among the high officials of the Six Ministries and Nine Courts would show their hands.
Once they all exposed themselves, he would join hands with Zhang Juzheng to sweep them up in one fell swoop!
Gao Gong and his partisans—not a single one would be spared!
***
Just as Zhu Yijun arrived outside Cining Palace, he heard a lively chatter mingled with children's shouts from within; the place was bustling with excitement.
With an odd look on his face, he stepped into the hall and indeed saw his younger brother and sister, Zhu Yiliu and Zhu Yaoying, dashing back and forth across the room.
Both children were born of the same mother, Empress Dowager Li.
Zhu Yiliu was four, and Zhu Yaoying was five.
Seeing the Emperor arrive, Empress Dowager Li hurried the palace attendants to catch the two little ones. "Come here and pay your respects."
The two children had clearly been coached.
Zhu Yiliu bowed clumsily, his speech slurred: "Your younger brother Yiliu pays respects to Imperial Elder Brother, His Majesty the Emperor."
Being a year older, Zhu Yaoying spoke more fluently, though she still hesitated: "Your younger sister Yaoying pays respects to Imperial Elder Brother, His Majesty the Emperor."
Though flustered, halting, and forgetting their lines, they completed the full etiquette in decent fashion before being permitted to rise.
Zhu Yijun did not wave off their formalities with any notions of modern egalitarianism.
In this era, establishing hierarchy and precedence early on was the kindest thing he could do for them.
Had no one heard of how the Earl of Zheng defeated Duan at Yan?
Taking his sister Zhu Yaoying by the hand, he walked over to Empress Dowager Li. "I haven't seen Yiliu and Yaoying for a little while, yet they seem to have grown taller already."
To think he had reached the point where his only compliment upon seeing children was that they had grown taller.
Beholding her children gathered around her knees, Empress Dowager Li smiled with gratification.
Lifting Zhu Yiliu into her arms, she said to Zhu Yijun, "In the future, you will have to look after these younger brothers and sisters of yours."
Zhu Yijun was teasing Zhu Yaoying. Hearing this, he could not help but glance at Zhu Yiliu, then looked down at his little sister's innocent eyes.
In history, Zhu Yiliu had been well cared for, but Zhu Yaoying's fate had been miserable.
Emperor Taizu had left an ancestral instruction requiring imperial sons-in-law to be chosen from commoner or low-ranking official families, and once a son was selected, his close relatives were barred from serving as civil court officials, generally receiving only honorary noble titles instead.
As a result, scholarly families with even the slightest ambition in the civil examinations refused to marry princesses.
Who was left willing to do so? Upstarts eager to buy their way into nobility!
As recorded in the Veritable Records of Emperor Yingzong: "Sons of wealthy families colluded with matchmaking officials and astrologers for protection; those with money sought favors, even if their character and appearance were base and vulgar."
What did this mean? It meant that recruiting an imperial son-in-law was more like selling titles to line the pockets of matchmaking officials and eunuchs.
A stark example was the very sister before him, Zhu Yaoying.
In history, around the tenth year of Wanli, when Zhu Yaoying reached marriageable age, an upstart named Liang Bangrui, a sickly consumptive wreck, secured her hand simply by bribing Feng Bao.
At the wedding, blood poured from the sickly wretch's nose, soaking his ceremonial robe to the point where he nearly swooned dead on the spot, yet the eunuchs hailed it as an auspicious omen of 'hanging red'!
A scoundrel who died of illness just two months after the wedding ended up ruining a princess's entire life.
*Look after them? Very well, let me take full power first, and then she won't be bullied by Feng Bao as you were.*
Naturally, such words could not be spoken aloud.
Zhu Yijun had to find another angle. After a moment's thought, he said, "Mother, we share the same blood, so of course I hold them in my heart."
"It is just that affairs in the imperial family are not like ordinary households, where one can simply make one's own decisions."
Hearing this, Empress Dowager Li's expression dimmed.
Her son's lament was clearly not without cause.
It was born of real frustration, perhaps even carrying a pointed meaning.
After a long pause, she finally said, "My son, you must have been unsettled by recent events as well."
She knew that people's hearts were rallying around her son, and many officials and eunuchs were gathering at his side.
Zhu Yijun nodded. "The court deliberations are filled with impeachments against Companion Feng. Even during the daily lectures, the explications take Companion Feng as a negative example; there is simply no escaping it."
"Only now does your son realize that holding the supreme throne of the realm does not mean one can decide everything at will."
Empress Dowager Li let out a cold snort. "They are all taking advantage of our helpless mother-and-son state!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Zhu Yijun sat down beside Consort Li.
In a conversational, homey tone, he remarked, "At first, I thought it was merely because I am young and Mother cannot hold court."
"It wasn't until yesterday, when I flipped through the memorials from my late imperial father's reign..."
"In the first year of Longqing, the late emperor wished to employ Gao Gong, yet because Xu Jie opposed it, he had no choice but to let Gao Gong retire."
"In the second year of Longqing, my imperial father requested silver from the Ministry of Revenue, only to be rebuffed by Minister Ma Sen, who claimed that imperial approvals must be issued through the Grand Secretariat and could not be transmitted directly by the Directorate of Ceremonial."
"In the fourth year of Longqing, censors submitted memorial after memorial reviling my imperial father, accusing him of indulging in sensual pleasures and neglecting state affairs, claiming the empire was beyond salvation. When my imperial father wished to punish those censors, the Grand Secretariat dissuaded him every single time and even lectured him in the process."
"Such examples are too numerous to recount, and my imperial father was an emperor in the prime of his life."
"Mother, you ask me to look after my brother and sister, and of course I cherish our natural kinship."
"Yet... the late emperor also promised my imperial grandfather that he would protect Lu Bing's family, and in the end, unable to withstand the censure of the court officials, he still had their property confiscated."
"The very Zhang Shouyue who submitted a memorial back then demanding Lu Bing's corpse be desecrated is kneeling outside the Meridian Gate right now to present a petition."
Having said this, he closed his mouth, seeming downcast. Without looking at Empress Dowager Li's reaction, he lowered his head to tease his little sister.
These words were not intended to hype up some threat posed by the court officials; they were meant to subtly enlighten Empress Dowager Li.
Power was much like an artifact of cultivation, for it was the truest form of 'borrowing the false to cultivate the real.'
How great power was depended entirely on how great people imagined it to be.
If the court officials believed imperial authority was supreme, then the emperor truly held the celestial mandate, and his every word was law.
If the court officials believed imperial authority amounted to very little, someone might well strike the emperor three times and spit in his face before walking away.
Put plainly, the source of power was nothing more than the obedience of those below.
A Son of Heaven was not ordained by divine right.
A Son of Heaven was made by whoever held the strongest troops and horses.
Even an emperor had to make as many friends as possible and make as few enemies as possible.
Without people bowing their heads in complete submission to carry out decrees, how could imperial authority be asserted?
What did this widowed mother and orphan son have right now? Eunuchs? They might manage to kill a person or two, but how could they govern an empire?
When civil officials banded together, imperial authority was like a balloon; fighting between the inner and outer courts risked popping that balloon.
A person must never lose their temper easily, for once anger flared, they were forced to show their true hand, making it easy for others to see that they were outwardly formidable but inwardly weak.
Yi Yin banishing Taijia, Huo Guang deposing and enthroning sovereigns, Emperor Taizong of Tang overcoming his father, Zhang Juzheng acting as regent for ten years—all followed this principle. Popular sentiment and court opinion were shared by all sides, and it was simply a matter of who suppressed whom. Imperial authority was by no means an unbreakable golden mantle.
Those who should fear someone seeing through this layer most of all were precisely this mother and son.
Even the late emperor, an adult ruler in his prime, had been unable to make his word absolute law.
How could his mother, a mere woman confined to the deep palace, dare ignite an open clash between the inner and outer courts just for Feng Bao's sake?
If she sowed seeds of disaster too deeply, her son could hardly guarantee the safety of this entire household.
Emperor Shizong had certainly wielded immense authority, but had no one noticed how wretchedly his offspring had suffered?
Zhu Yijun did not know whether Empress Dowager Li could comprehend things at such depth, but having spoken this far, he could say no more.
Empress Dowager Li remained silent for a long while, and it was hard to tell whether she had taken it in.
Without picking up his thread, she merely asked, "What is Zhang Shouyue... kneeling outside the Meridian Gate to petition about?"
Her voice was low, her mood clearly foul.
Zhu Yijun took a handkerchief to wipe Zhu Yiliu's drool, answering as he did so, "He is still impeaching Great Eunuch Feng."
"He says that Emperor Taizu established the initial statutes declaring that palace officials are forbidden from meddling in external affairs, and those who violate this shall face no pardon."
"He also says that successive holy sons and divine grandsons have observed this without daring to alter it; even when arrogant and tyrannical figures like Wang Zhen and Liu Jin appeared, they were swiftly executed."
"He urges Mother not to tarnish the Emperor's renown as a sage ruler like Yao and Shun, nor brew endless hidden calamities for the dynastic altars, only to leave a foul name in the annals of history for nothing."
Empress Dowager Li looked up in disbelief.
Raising a trembling finger toward the direction of the Meridian Gate, her lips parted slightly as she stared at Zhu Yijun.
Her voice shook: "How dare he! How dare he insult and threaten me like this?!"
Zhu Yijun quickly stood up to gently pat her back and soothe her breathing.
There was no helping it; the words of these literati were devastatingly potent.
Every sentence was paired in neat antithesis and rolled off the tongue so smoothly that even the target could not help but turn it over repeatedly in their mind.
Zhang Shouyue's words not only accused Empress Dowager Li of violating ancestral statutes—effectively labeling her an unfilial daughter-in-law—but also claimed that her meddling from the inner palace harmed the Emperor's reputation, warning her to beware of leaving a stench that would linger for ten thousand years.
Any ordinary person would be incandescent with rage upon hearing such things, to say nothing of a young woman wielding supreme power.
Laughing in pure fury, Empress Dowager Li exclaimed, "Fine! What a Zhang Shouyue! I refuse to believe I cannot execute him!"
Zhu Yijun sighed. "Mother, he has already sent away his parents, wife, and children, and prepared a coffin in his home. He is simply waiting for Mother to punish him."
Remonstrance officials were never fools. Though they droned on all day about omens from Heaven and the sage mandate, their minds were crystal clear.
It was merely that their pursuits were different.
Most of those who served as remonstrance officials sought a reputation for outspoken righteousness, wanting nothing more than to smash their heads against the golden throne room pillars and leave their names in the histories.
This chance to emulate Hai Rui was likely an opportunity Zhang Shouyue had elbowed his way through the crowd to seize.
The secret to courting viral acclaim—the ancients understood it just as well.
Empress Dowager Li's outstretched hand froze in midair.
Looking around in disbelief, she asked, "What does that mean? Does it mean the entire realm believes I am wrong and he is right?!"
Unless he had the backing of the scholarly elite, he could never carry himself with such bravado.
Courting fame required the applause of the entire world to succeed.
Zhu Yijun had no choice but to temper his mother's agitation, offering soothing words: "Mother, you and I know full well that Gao Gong must be behind this."
"Yet the barrier of ancestral precedent is truly difficult to overcome; it is the shared consensus of the scholars and court officials."
"Right now, we cannot afford to bear the reputation of 'treating ancestral laws as insufficient.'"
What was precedent? Precedent was political consensus.
If the emperor refused to observe precedent today, tomorrow the hundreds of officials would ask whether the imperial throne itself was rooted in ancestral precedent.
If you did not respect political consensus, on what basis could you demand the court officials' loyalty? Without relying on ritual institutions, were you going to make the court officials swear oaths pointing at the Luo River?
Emperors Taizu and Chengzu were warrior sovereigns who took the throne on horseback; aside from civil officials, their core base included the grand armies.
Just as the Qing dynasty could treat court officials as household slaves because its core base was the Eight Banners.
Power could not oppose the bedrock of that power. As for his imperial throne, beneath his seat sat only the bureaucracy.
Everything had to be negotiated, and he needed at least a faction of supporters.
Until... he managed to build up his own core base.
Empress Dowager Li had witnessed the ferocity of the remonstrance officials over the past few days and had felt the deep unease of not having a single civil minister submit a memorial in her defense.
Hearing this, she grew all the more listless.
Zhu Yijun was playing a game of timing: taking advantage of the window before Zhang Juzheng revealed his hand, he used Gao Gong to pile pressure onto Empress Dowager Li and carve a piece of flesh off Feng Bao.
Seeing that Empress Dowager Li remained silent, he spoke plainly: "Mother, during a transition between old and new, stability must come first."
"I hear that Grand Secretary Gao and Grand Secretary Zhang's memorials requesting retirement have already been submitted. Gao Gong cannot hold out for more than a few days; why clash with them head-on right now?"
"In your son's view, rather than entangling yourself with these remonstrance officials, it is better to maintain calm and simply wait for Gao Gong to retire."
"At most, it will only take three to five days."
Taking Empress Dowager Li's hand, he pleaded earnestly, "Mother, let us smooth things over for now. First strip Companion Feng of his post in the Eastern Depot; we can always reinstate him later."
This was merely advising Empress Dowager Li to yield temporarily. In substance, she would lose nothing, and the Eastern Depot would certainly not fall into the hands of the outer court—though once relinquished, the Eastern Depot would hardly be something Feng Bao could reclaim with ease.
His purpose today was precisely to strip Feng Bao of his role as supervisor of the Eastern Depot.
No matter what, he had to ride the momentum of the remonstrance officials to secure this milestone.
Empress Dowager Li was still unreconciled. "Is there truly no precedent in our dynasty for the Seal-Holding Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial to supervise the Eastern Depot?"
Zhu Yijun shook his head. "Your son has not even finished studying the Four Books and Five Classics; where would I find the time to read the Veritable Records of the ancestral emperors?"
"Mother might as well summon the academicians to ask."
Empress Dowager Li snorted. "They are all birds of a feather with Gao Gong!"
Zhu Yijun remarked impassively, "Mother, Gao Gong is the Senior Grand Secretary after all, the head of the empire's civil ministers. The officials naturally lean toward him."
"However, if the civil ministers cannot be trusted... why doesn't Mother consult the titled noblewomen?"
"Look at the Duke of Chengguo—isn't he one of the Three Excellencies while simultaneously serving as Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard? In terms of holding multiple vital offices, is he not far more prominent than Great Eunuch Feng? Perhaps there are other precedents."
Empress Dowager Li froze for a moment.
Framed this way by her son, though something felt slightly off, it also seemed to make sense.
Unable to make heads or tails of it after a moment's thought, she simply brushed it aside: "I will ask the Duke of Chengguo tomorrow."
"However, this matter with Zhang Shouyue cannot be let go so easily."
"Demote him to Daozhou at once!"
Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly.
He did not pursue the matter further; pushing too hard would only trigger her contrarian streak.
He then offered a few affectionate remarks to soothe Empress Dowager Li's temper.
"Mother, there is one more thing."
Empress Dowager Li looked at him.
Zhu Yijun said, "Tomorrow, Grand Secretary Zhang is departing to survey the imperial mausoleum, and Grand Secretary Gao has also claimed poor health, asking for a few days of leave."
"Your son's thought is that since Gao Gong will be the sole grand secretary left in the Grand Secretariat, why not let me suspend the daily lectures and attend court to oversee affairs for a few days, so as to keep a lid on Gao Gong?"
"As for my studies, your son has already completed the Classic of History, so taking a few days of respite is fitting."
This was playing both sides against the middle—selling arms while the two sides fought.
Given Empress Dowager Li's deep suspicion of Gao Gong, she was bound to agree.
Empress Dowager Li asked in surprise, "You have already finished the Classic of History?"
That was coursework projected to last until the ninth month.
Zhu Yijun nodded.
Since his academic progress was so gratifying, Empress Dowager Li agreed readily: "Very well. With Gao Gong left alone in the Grand Secretariat—humph! Who knows if he is waiting for this exact opportunity to make trouble for me!"
"Keep a close eye on Gao Gong while you attend court these next few days."
Zhu Yijun rubbed his nose. His mother had unwittingly hit the nail right on the head—Gao Gong was indeed waiting for this opportunity.
Unfortunately, her son was going there to lend Gao Gong an assist.
Not daring to pursue the topic, he simply lowered his head to play with his little brother and sister.
Before long, Feng Bao came trotting in from outside, breathless and frantic.
Seeing this, Zhu Yijun had no desire to linger and make himself a glaring presence.
Pleading an excuse to pay his respects to Empress Dowager Chen, he took his leave.
Just as he stepped out of the hall, he heard Empress Dowager Li's shocked exclamation: "What?! Colluding in a faction?!"
Followed by Feng Bao's broken, hurried voice: "Temporarily... freeze... Ministry of Personnel... one hundred... and ten... appointments of officials..."
Zhu Yijun listened intently for a moment, shook his head, and strode away.
Fight on, fight on; it is only right that the fisherman reaps the spoils.
As for the counsel he had just offered... the heat was still missing one final spark.
Before Gao Gong retired, he had to seize this opportunity to strip Feng Bao of his post over the Eastern Depot!
Chapter 31