Chapter Thirteen: An Affront to Decency

Zhang Juzheng watched Yang Bo’s retreating figure. He held Yang Bo in high regard, and his description of him as a "minister of profound virtue" was no mere pleasantry, but a sincere reflection of his heart. When Yang Bo was in Liaodong, the border regions of Ji and Liao were secure; when he was in the capital, the Nine Frontiers remained tranquil. Having served as both a general and a chancellor for over forty years, he had worked tirelessly to safeguard the empire of the Great Ming.

Great power invites destruction; immense achievements invite ruin.

What could have caused a figure as sturdy as a pillar of heaven to have such a hunched back? What forced him to humble himself and come to this Quanchu Guild Hall? What compelled him to plead repeatedly with a man of a younger generation?

It was the Jin Faction, it was human sentiment, and above all, it was interest.

Yang Bo had come to the Quanchu Guild Hall for the sake of the Jin Faction. When Gao Gong had been in power, he had promoted many members of the Jin Faction. If Gao Gong were to be judged for treason, those he had promoted would inevitably be purged or dismissed, and the Jin Faction would suffer a devastating blow.

For the sake of these people, Yang Bo had been forced to come to the Quanchu Guild Hall to speak with Zhang Juzheng face-to-face and lay his cards on the table.

As Yang Bo walked out of the hall, he looked at Ge Shouli, who was following behind him, and said, "Do not worry. Bai Gui has agreed. The Ming is declining day by day; he will not sit idly by. If he wishes to realize the ambitions he holds in his heart, he cannot allow the Ming to fall into chaos."

"Thus, a gentleman may be deceived by what is righteous."

"Sigh."

Yang Bo understood Zhang Juzheng well. He could even see his own shadow in him. When he had first passed the imperial examinations, riding with pride in fine clothes, had he not also possessed such grand ambitions? Yet, as he walked the path of life, he had ended up like this.

Zhang Juzheng’s willingness to intervene was not for the sake of the smooth implementation of the "Assessment of Merit" system, nor was it for the position of Minister of Personnel. With Zhang Juzheng’s methods, he had plenty of ways to handle those matters. He had agreed solely to prevent the Ming from sinking into the quagmire of partisan strife from which it could not extricate itself.

If the investigation continued, the culprit would only be Gao Gong, and all evidence would point toward him. Consequently, those promoted by Gao Gong would have to be purged, and the Jin Faction would inevitably launch a desperate counterattack. A partisan purge sweeping across the entire Ming would exhaust the little vitality the empire had left.

Yang Bo had grasped this exact point, which was why he had come; he knew this deal could be struck.

"Let us go." Yang Bo waved his hand, leaned on his cane, and left the Quanchu Guild Hall.

The next morning, the Wenhua Hall was as noisy as ever. Zhu Yijun continued to read the *Direct Interpretation of the Four Books*, finding it quite rewarding and taking constant notes. The major case of the assassination attempt on the Emperor seemed as if it had never happened.

Luo Zun, a Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, impeached the Minister of War, Tan Lun, and the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Liu Sijie, for holding sinecures and failing to perform their duties. He claimed they were incompetent and demanded their immediate dismissal.

Tan Lun was an outstanding military strategist of the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli eras. Having passed the imperial examination in the twenty-third year of Jiajing, he had organized local militias to repeatedly defeat the Japanese pirates. At Gebu and Nanwan, Tan Lun and Qi Jiguang had fought back-to-back; they were comrades-in-arms, often referred to together as "Tan and Qi."

Upon hearing of the impeachment, Tan Lun did not refute it, but instead directly requested his retirement. After reading the impeachment memorial, Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to send it to the Ministry of Personnel. If the facts were confirmed, the standard procedure would be for the memorial to be sent to the Wenyuan Pavilion for drafting, then to the Directorate of Ceremonial for red-ink approval. Once the process was complete, Tan Lun would have to leave his post and return to his hometown.

The court was filled with gossip, but Zhu Yijun remained silent.

The final item of the court session was the Wang Dachen case.

Ge Shouli was the first to open fire on Feng Bao. He spoke at great length, starting from the era of the Three Dynasties, leading up to the case itself, and finally demanding that Feng Bao be severely punished.

Feng Bao watched Ge Shouli, sat up straight, and said, "The *Liyun: Datong* chapter of Confucius says: 'Now the Great Way has hidden, and the world has become the domain of families. Each treats only their own kin as kin, and their own children as children. Wealth and labor are for personal gain. The powerful pass power down through generations as the established norm. Thus, schemes are born, and wars arise from this.'"

"What does that mean?"

"Confucius is saying that now, the highest order—the Way—has vanished. The world has deviated from the original path. Everyone can only look after their own small family; people treat only their own kin as family and love only their own children. Wealth and labor are all treated as private property. Power, wealth, mountains, and rivers have become entirely hereditary and are considered legitimate ritual."

"At this point, trickery, deceit, treachery, cunning, and backstabbing begin to occur, and wars and chaos arise in the world."

"Chief Censor Ge, you are a learned man, and I am a eunuch. Is my interpretation correct?"

Ge Shouli frowned tightly and said, "It is correct, but do not try to distract from the issue!"

Feng Bao shook his head and said, "How is this a distraction? Chief Censor Ge, as soon as Gao Gong had trouble, you jumped out in such a rush, repeatedly trying to reach your hands into this palace. Is that not 'treating only your own kin as kin'? Right now, the Ming is plagued by partisan collusion and mutual defamation—is that not 'schemes are born, and wars arise from this'?"

"When the world falls into this state, you push all the blame onto us eunuchs; now, regarding the Wang Dachen assassination attempt, you still push all the blame onto us eunuchs."

"It was Gao Gong who colluded with Chen Hong to commit an unforgivable crime, yet you point fingers at me and entangle me in this endlessly."

"Who is really the one distracting from the issue!"

"You!" Ge Shouli pointed at Feng Bao, unable to speak for a moment. Feng Bao’s logic was so tight that he had used Ge’s own words to silence him.

Feng Bao said lazily, "If you had even a shred of respect for the Emperor and the Empress Dowager—if you had even a shred of respect for the Four Books and Five Classics you read, or for Confucius—could you have committed such a crime of great disrespect? Did Confucius teach you to commit treason or to assassinate the Emperor?!"

His expression suddenly shifted, becoming extremely fierce as he said, "Ge Shouli, if you point a finger at me again, I will have that finger chopped off tomorrow! You are a man of letters! Is this how Confucius taught you to treat people with ritual?!"

"It is, quite simply, a disgrace to scholarship!"

A eunuch was berating an imperial scholar and a leader of the censors for being a disgrace to scholarship.

Yang Bo pulled on Ge Shouli, signaling him not to argue with Feng Bao any further. Ge Shouli could not out-argue Feng Bao; it had been months, and when had Ge Shouli ever gained any advantage over him?

Zhang Juzheng looked at Feng Bao with a stern expression. The censors and officials were a headache even for him at times, but only Feng Bao could turn a verbal assault into such a smooth, flowing performance—as effortless as kowtowing.

That was exactly what Feng Bao was for.

During the Chenghua era, the palace eunuch Lin Xiu had written a book titled *The Scripture of Irritation*, specifically teaching how to annoy people. There were many methods in it, but the most superior was "to treat others as they treat you."

Clearly, Feng Bao was well-versed in this, having mastered it to perfection.

"Hahaha!" A burst of laughter echoed, and everyone turned their eyes toward the source.

It was Tan Lun, the Minister of War who had just been impeached by the censors. Tan Lun was an open-minded man who laughed whenever he pleased. He waved his hand repeatedly and said, "Apologies, I really did not want to laugh, but it is just so... Hahaha!"

Ge Shouli’s face flushed red; if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't beat Feng Bao, he would have charged forward already.

Zhang Juzheng closed all the memorials from the court session and said with a stern face, "The villain Wang Dachen is merely a gambler, speaking incoherently; he cannot be trusted. Chen Hong’s attempt to implicate others is also unbelievable. This matter shall be handed over to the Imperial Guard and the Eastern Depot for a strict and thorough investigation. We shall not discuss it further for now."

The court session ended.

Everyone stood up, bowed respectfully toward the young Emperor still reading intently on the dais, and said in unison, "Your ministers take their leave."

Zhang Juzheng began his instruction. He first reviewed the previous day’s lesson, which the young Emperor answered perfectly, and then proceeded to today’s lecture. He discovered that the young Emperor truly understood, rather than merely pretending to.

For example, Confucius said: "The superior man focuses on the roots; when the roots are established, the Way is born. Are filial piety and fraternal respect not the roots of humanity?"

The Emperor explained: "The root of being an Emperor is the common people of the world. If the people prosper, the nation prospers; if the people perish, the nation perishes. When a monarch inherits the throne, the greatest filial piety is to guard the foundation of the empire passed down by the ancestors. To guard that foundation, one must protect the common people of the world with virtue."

"This is called: The root of the monarch is the common people; the filial piety of the monarch is protecting the people with virtue."

Zhu Yijun finished the lesson for the day. Zhang Juzheng was an excellent teacher, and the hour-long session always passed quickly.

"Grand Tutor Feng, are you also a scholar?" Zhu Yijun closed the *Direct Interpretation of the Four Books* and looked at the very respectful Feng Bao.

Feng Bao immediately said with a smile, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this servant is untalented, but has read a few books."

Zhu Yijun said with satisfaction, "If you have only 'read a few,' then does that mean Chief Censor Ge has never read a book at all? You have done well."

Feng Bao was overjoyed and quickly said, "It is my honor to serve Your Majesty. To receive such praise from Your Majesty is enough to make me happy for days."

Zhang Juzheng always felt something was strange; Feng Bao was a bit too respectful, even to the point of being fearful.

"If the Senior Grand Secretary has something to say, speak freely." After praising Feng Bao, Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng, knowing he had something on his mind.

The exchange of interests from the previous night had ended; Zhang Juzheng now had to find a way to deceive his ten-year-old Emperor and suppress the assassination case.

Zhang Juzheng flicked his sleeves, knelt on the ground, and said with a melancholy tone, "The villain Wang Dachen is a man who makes wild accusations. The intelligence agencies have been investigating for days without finding any truth in his claims. It is advisable to ease the proceedings; when people are pressured too hard, they shut down. If the investigation is too rushed, I fear innocent people will be wrongly accused, which would harm the harmony of heaven and earth. I had originally intended to report this, but the court was in an uproar, hence this memorial."

Zhu Yijun more or less understood what Zhang Juzheng meant: the villain had made an attempt on his life and was now spitting wild accusations. The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot had found nothing after days of searching, so the pressure should be eased. The harder they pushed, the more the culprits would hide. If the court stopped pushing so hard, the truth might eventually surface. If they pushed too hard, innocent people might be implicated, which would be bad for the nation. The court was in an uproar, and real work couldn't be done, so he was submitting this memorial.

Zhu Yijun narrowed his eyes and said in a displeased tone, "Is the Senior Grand Secretary trying to fool a child? Keep it simple."

"This servant is incompetent." Zhang Juzheng closed his eyes for a moment, let out a weary breath, and uttered those three words. He was not sure if Zhu Yijun could understand the helplessness behind them; they sounded more like he was saying them to himself.

Zhang Juzheng was a very proud man.

"In the future, when we discuss matters, stand and speak. Do not kneel at every turn. I know what you mean: you want to settle the matter and keep the peace." Zhu Yijun rubbed his fingers and asked, "How much did you trade for it?"

"Huh?" Zhang Juzheng stood up, carefully recalling the Emperor’s words word by word, and only then was he certain he hadn't misheard.

The Emperor was asking how much had been traded away to settle the case of the assassination attempt.