Chapter 25: The Fall of a Nation, the People Enslaved in Woe

The young Emperor was personally attending to farming and sericulture, and had begun to have doubts. The two Empress Dowagers were all smiles; virtue lies in the implementation of the Way and what is gained therefrom. To have doubts while doing things meant he was truly working and truly thinking—this was virtue itself.

Empress Dowager Chen asked with a smile, "Tell us about it."

Zhu Yijun pointed to a thick stack of books on his desk and said, "I had Zhang Hong bring many agricultural texts from the Imperial Library, such as the *Classic of Sericulture*, the *Miscellaneous Books of the Five Elements*, the *Essential Arts for the People’s Welfare*, and *Must-Reads for Scholars and Farmers*. These agricultural texts are all written in classical Chinese, without punctuation, caesurae, or annotations. They are not written in common, accessible language."

"They are obscure and difficult to comprehend."

The agricultural books Zhu Yijun was reading lacked even a single punctuation mark. Official memorials at least had some caesurae for parsing, but these agricultural texts had nothing, making them truly laborious to read.

Zhu Yijun continued, "Furthermore, there are differences in temperature and climate between the north and the south, yet the records in these books are not comprehensive; they cannot be adapted to local conditions."

"If these books are meant for farmers, the farmers cannot read them. If they are meant for scholar-officials, since there are almost no annotations, they are rarely read. So, for whom were these books written? And who is supposed to read them?"

Empress Dowager Li and Empress Dowager Chen were stunned for a moment and exchanged glances. The little Emperor’s question was extremely sharp and unconventional.

Agricultural books were not meant for farmers because they were illiterate. Scholar-officials were fixated on the Four Books and Five Classics; most would merely skim these practical reference books, if they bothered to open them at all, viewing them as heterodox pursuits. Who would be obsessed with such things? Some even regarded agricultural studies as heresy.

Zhu Yijun continued to ask: "Grand Secretary Zhang taught me that agriculture is the great foundation of the world, what the people rely on for survival, and that to enrich the country, one must prioritize the essential occupation."

"But so many agricultural books sit on the shelves gathering dust, unread and unannotated. It is hard to even find an annotated edition. How, then, can we solidify the foundation and enrich the country?"

"Empty talk misleads the state. If these books are written in such pedantic language that even the farmers cannot understand them, is that not a departure from reality? And how are local officials, who do not even glance at such texts, supposed to encourage farming and sericulture? How are they to act on behalf of the Emperor to settle the people and shepherd the populace? Is this not merely hollow, idle chatter?"

Empress Dowager Li thought for a long time and said, "Since the Emperor wishes to read them, I shall find someone to annotate them for you."

"It is getting late; you should rest," Empress Dowager Chen added as they rose. They had no answers to the little Emperor’s somewhat incisive questions, nor did they know how to respond. When two adults could not answer the questions of a ten-year-old child, the conversation could not continue.

The child was asking the adults for guidance, but the adults could only mumble and change the subject. How could they then justify lecturing the child? Better not to lecture at all!

After seeing the two Empress Dowagers off, Zhu Yijun sat at his desk, continuing to flip through the agricultural books. Obscure and difficult did not mean impossible to understand. Within these books, a single sentence, if stumbled upon, might save countless lives.

Since no one would annotate them and no scholars would read them, he would annotate them himself. He would read them, correct them, and test their theories through practice. It was indeed arduous, but Zhu Yijun always kept one thing in mind: he who toils for the masses is the King of the masses.

After a long while, he set down his brush and paper, feeling quite satisfied.

"Early to bed, early to rise, helps one grow tall." Zhu Yijun stretched and signaled for Zhang Hong to extinguish the lamps.

Zhang Hong was also reading. Before leaving, having sought the Emperor's permission, he had taken a volume of agricultural texts with him. If the Emperor were to ask about it, he could not afford to be completely ignorant.

The next day, the Wenhua Hall was as noisy as ever. The little Emperor was busy writing and drawing at his desk on the platform, diligently studying the Four Books and Five Classics. The examinations held on the nineteenth of every month were the source of his confidence to act as he pleased; only after passing the examinations could he continue his "neglect" of proper duties.

"Zhang Juzheng!" Ge Shouli was beyond furious!

After practicing martial arts yesterday, what did the little Emperor of the Great Ming do?

He went to Jingshan to till the earth!

Zhang Juzheng looked at Ge Shouli, his eyes narrowing slightly as he said, "Grand Censor Ge, this is the Wenhua Hall. Regardless of how you address me in private, since we are sitting in a court session here, please address me as the Grand Secretary."

Work requires professional titles.

Ge Shouli said angrily, "You first expelled the Grand Secretaries and monopolized these lectures. Your grasp of power is enough to shake the throne! You dare to monopolize the lectures now; what will you dare to do in the future? Do you intend to seize absolute authority?"

When Ge Shouli reached this point, a smile actually appeared on the face of the somewhat grim-looking Zhang Juzheng. The smile immediately dissipated, and Zhang Juzheng said with a beaming face, "Oh?"

"Speaking of the Emperor’s studies..."

"The readers, lecturers, book-expositors, and ministers have been exchanging ideas, and the Emperor’s progress in his studies is extremely rapid. To be honest, even the Four Books and Five Classics I have annotated cannot keep up with the speed at which the Emperor reads. Recently, I have been burning the midnight oil to annotate them, fearing only that I might fail the trust of the late Emperor, the earnestness of the Empress Dowagers, and the expectations of the Emperor."

Zhang Juzheng was smiling—not a superficial or mocking smile, but one that was genuine and from the heart.

Ge Shouli was attacking the Senior Grand Secretary, yet the Senior Grand Secretary did not seem to mind; instead, he praised the Emperor's studies highly.

After finishing his remarks on the Emperor’s academics, Zhang Juzheng continued, "Ah, yes, Grand Censor Ge mentioned my monopolization of the Imperial Lectures. That is the point, is it not?"

"Does Grand Censor Ge's statement not show too little regard for the other Grand Secretaries?"

"Every nineteenth of the month, there is an examination. Does the Grand Censor believe the Grand Secretaries are merely occupying their posts without doing their jobs, unwilling to properly examine the Emperor’s lessons? Or are you trying to erase the contributions of the Grand Secretaries?"

Wang Xilie looked at Ge Shouli with slight confusion. Zhang Juzheng was indeed responsible for teaching, but the examinations were the responsibility of the previous lecturers and Grand Secretaries. What was Ge Shouli talking about? Were the Grand Secretaries refusing to put in their best effort in the Emperor’s education, or had they achieved nothing?

"Grand Censor Ge, do not harm the virtuous," Wang Xilie said with a stern expression, tapping the table. The Jin Party and Zhang Juzheng could fight, but they should not hurt the innocent.

Zhang Juzheng was not unskilled in dealing with the censorate officials; it was just that his previous duties were complex and chaotic. In particular, the little Emperor’s lessons had left him feeling somewhat at a loss—he couldn't exactly pull out a cane and strike his palms. After all, he was the Emperor.

Since the case of the assassination attempt, the Emperor had truly realized that being an Emperor was not so simple and was finally willing to put his heart into his studies. For Zhang Juzheng, this was the greatest news possible.

Whether it was the power of the Jin Party, the northern barbarians invading the south, the six evils in the Autopsy Bureau, or the Emperor personally engaging in farming and challenging the established assertions of Mencius—none of these were the most important things. In Zhang Juzheng's heart, the most important thing was that the ten-year-old Emperor of the Ming grow up to be a capable ruler.

Zhang Juzheng did not fear court officials, censorate officials, or the Jin Party. Since taking the helm, his greatest worry was that the little Emperor would fail to develop, and the poor results of the lectures in the first six months had left him deeply anxious.

Only recently had the knot in his heart been fully untied, though two small clouds remained. One was the Emperor’s tendency to neglect his proper duties for things like martial arts and agricultural science. The second was that the Emperor was studying too well.

Zhang Juzheng was extremely gratified by the Emperor's progress. The Ming system needed a wise ruler to lead the country to a resurgence. As long as the Emperor did not neglect the principles of governing the world, Zhang Juzheng would not interfere excessively. Therefore, studying too well was only a small cloud.

Studying does not guarantee a well-governed country, but not studying guarantees a poorly governed one.

Ge Shouli took a deep breath before speaking sharply, "The Emperor went to Jingshan yesterday—not to climb heights, admire flowers, feast, or shoot arrows, but to hoe the earth! The Emperor’s golden body is personally attending to farming! Grand Secretary Zhang! You are the Imperial Tutor and Senior Grand Secretary; such power shaking the throne, the seeds of disaster are sown! You will not live long before humiliation and execution follow!"

Ge Shouli’s words were malicious, implying that Zhang Juzheng was forcing the monarch to do such arduous tasks, and that after his death, humiliation and slaughter would soon follow.

Hearing Ge Shouli attack Zhang Juzheng because of the farming in Jingshan, Zhu Yijun suddenly spoke up: "What I wanted to do, Grand Secretary Zhang tried to stop, but he failed."

As soon as the little Emperor spoke, everyone looked at Zhu Yijun on the platform. It was the first time the Ming Emperor had spoken on court affairs. Almost all the court officials believed that Zhang Juzheng’s goal was to degrade imperial power and inflate his own authority to push through his decrees. But looking at the Emperor’s statement, it did not seem so.

Zhu Yijun looked at the confused faces of everyone and revealed a bright, sunny smile. "I am of tender age and rely on you ministers to assist the state. Since I was idle, I felt a spark of interest. Luo Gongchen offered an auspicious omen, and if it is true, it will provide the people with crops to survive famine. That, I believe, is a virtuous deed."

Ge Shouli became even more grief-stricken. Gritting his teeth and closing his eyes for a long time, he finally said, "This man from Jing is truly arrogant, deceiving the monarch! It is the disaster that will topple the country and enslave the people. The loyal ministers in the court are silenced by fear! We must restore the state and rectify the court’s discipline!"

"Today, I will do my utmost to remonstrate. With me here, I shall support the great burdens of the state!"

"Man from Jing" was the derogatory term Gao Gong used for Zhang Juzheng. No one dared to call him that to his face, not even Gao Gong. Had Ge Shouli not been beyond furious, he would never have used such a term. In Ge Shouli’s view, the Emperor’s words were spoken entirely out of fear of Zhang Juzheng! What was this if not power shaking the throne?

If a minister usurps the authority of the divine vessels, is this not the precursor to the country’s collapse and the enslavement of the people? The Southern Song monarchs could not defend the realm, the country fell, and the Han people were reduced to slaves, forced to carve characters on their faces to survive. That was the disaster of being reduced to a race of slaves.

Zhu Yijun understood Ge Shouli’s words and asked with some confusion, "Grand Censor Ge, was I not clear enough?"

"I wanted to do it, and Grand Secretary Zhang did not stop me. At the time, the lectures mentioned Emperor Renzong of Song valuing the five grains over pearls and jade. The readers, lecturers, and book-expositors all heard the discussion. I assume Grand Censor Ge has also heard of it."

"Are you not turning black and white upside down and reversing cause and effect?"

Ge Shouli opened his eyes and said with extreme sorrow, "Your Majesty, this is precisely the danger of the man from Jing! He had Luo Gongchen present an auspicious omen, and then separately brought up these two examples for the lectures. This is how he is hoodwinking and deceiving Your Majesty's youth!"

Zhu Yijun watched Ge Shouli, his eyes dark and unreadable. He was judging whether Ge Shouli was sophistically arguing or if he truly believed Zhang Juzheng was usurping power.

When facts favor one, talk about facts; when rules favor one, talk about rules. This was a typical, common sophistic approach. Whether facts are important or rules are important—for court officials, the standard was extremely flexible. Just as the curfew only constrained the commoners, for those with even a bit of power, it was a mere formality. Even the security of the Ming Imperial Palace was, in the eyes of the Ming officials, no more than a sheet of window paper; even the eunuchs dared to trample upon it, using palace security to plot for wealth.

Zhu Yijun watched Ge Shouli for a long time before concluding one thing: this man was not playing a role; he was genuinely worried.

Feng Bao, the great eunuch, was the ultimate actor, but Ge Shouli was not. Zhu Yijun watched for a long time and realized Ge Shouli was not acting; he truly believed it.

Yang Bo had told Zhang Juzheng that Ge Shouli was honest and straightforward—a typical remonstrating official. When the Emperor opened the Baoqi Palace for "monarch and people farming together," the first thing Ge Shouli thought of was not that the little Emperor had violated the teachings of Mencius, but that Zhang Juzheng was overbearing, using glib tongue to deceive the Emperor, and even degrading the little Emperor.

In Ge Shouli’s view, or in the view of the majority of court officials, this was the truth.

The Jin Party and Zhang Juzheng had finally begun a head-on conflict over the issue of the Emperor's education. Yang Bo, the leader of the Jin Party, remained silent. If Ge Shouli won, it would be for the best; if he lost, it didn't matter. He had to remind Zhang Juzheng that his reforms, combined with his refusal to form a faction, would lead to only one outcome.

Zhu Yijun was deep in thought. All suspicions and all inquiries should have a starting point, and this base point was something the little Emperor figured out in two breaths.

"Grand Censor Ge..."