Chapter 57: When the Sovereign Fails to Act Like a Sovereign and Subjects Fail to Act Like Subjects, Chaos Descends Upon the Realm

Granting a title of nobility to Qi Jiguang was no trivial matter. Yang Bo's objection in the Fengtian Hall and his debate with Zhang Juzheng should have merely been the beginning. Stripped of the All-Chu Guild Hall's tally, the Jin Faction would never rest until they found various pretexts to impeach and bring down this thorn in their side, this redundant and useless obstacle, vowing not to stop until he was destroyed.

However, the Jin Faction was currently overwhelmed with troubles of their own. Huxukou had been easily breached by the Northern Tatars. In the imperial court's deliberations, Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of War Li Le was dispatched with a retinue to Xuanfu and Datong to inspect the border regions, leaving the Jin Faction hard-pressed just to defend themselves.

Sometimes, the best defense is an offense. Factional struggles do not always require exhausting every trick and conspiracy; sometimes, simply waiting for the opponent to make a mistake is also a wise choice.

Yet, the young Emperor of the Great Ming held little optimism regarding this inspection.

After a moment of careful thought, Zhang Juzheng spoke, "In my humble opinion, being able to dispatch a Supervising Secretary not affiliated with any faction to Xuanfu and Datong is already a victory. If anything comes to light through investigations, it will be an unexpected blessing; if we can gain a deeper understanding of the situation, that would be a blessing upon a blessing."

Hearing this, Zhu Yijun understood Zhang Juzheng's meaning. Zhang Juzheng did not truly expect Li Le to uncover major wrongdoings; merely sending an unaffiliated official to the border garrisons of Datong and Xuanfu was a triumph in itself, and any further discoveries would simply be a delightful bonus.

"Learning the new while reviewing the old makes one a master. Senior Grand Secretary, you once said that in undertaking any task, one must strive for a definitive conclusion; this is what is called perseverance," Zhu Yijun said, looking at Zhang Juzheng with a full smile.

To see a matter through to its conclusion is true perseverance. Clearly, Zhang Juzheng's assertion that merely dispatching the official constituted a victory contradicted the very principle he had taught: to see things through to the end.

"I am ashamed," Zhang Juzheng never imagined a day would come when the Emperor would use his own words to leave him speechless, forcing him to offer only an admission of shame.

"No, I believe Senior Grand Secretary has done remarkably well. Advancing like a lone pawn every day—sending an imperial censor today, uncovering something tomorrow, and gaining deeper insight the day after. One walks the road step by step, eats a meal bite by bite. Just like farming, wanting to harvest the very day you plant the seedlings is sheer hypocrisy."

"Keeping one's feet firmly planted on the ground and putting principles into practice is the fundamental duty."

"A gentleman devotes himself to the root." Zhu Yijun firmly rejected Zhang Juzheng's self-deprecation.

These were, after all, the doctrines taught by Zhang Juzheng himself: a gentleman devotes himself to the root, and the foundation lies in practical execution. The reality on the ground was that Xuanfu and Datong had long since become the private garden of the Jin Faction. Managing to dispatch an imperial censor there was already a monumental success; expecting anything more would be utterly unrealistic.

Zhang Juzheng realized that the young Emperor had truly absorbed his studies, for the Majesty was now capable of turning arguments inside out and back again while holding the moral high ground.

The art of "always being right" was a form of self-cultivation for scholars.

It meant remaining perpetually justified, declaring oneself right no matter what transpired—truly, the art of always being right.

And the Emperor had already mastered this basic level of self-cultivation.

The imperial lectures resumed, and Zhu Yijun noticed an interesting phenomenon: Zhang Juzheng did not teach mechanically, nor did he rigidly follow the text chapter by chapter. Instead, he lectured based on current affairs unfolding within the court, using concrete facts to illustrate his points.

Formulating rites in response to events; establishing laws according to the times.

With his hands folded, Zhang Juzheng said with a solemn expression, "Confucius said: When the Way prevails in the world, rites, music, and punitive expeditions issue from the Son of Heaven; when the Way does not prevail, rites, music, and punitive expeditions issue from the feudal lords."

"When they issue from the feudal lords, it is rare for them not to lose their state within ten generations; when they issue from high ministers, it is rare for them not to lose it within five generations; when retainers hold the state's mandates, it is rare for them not to lose it within three generations."

"Rites, music, and punitive expeditions are the ultimate instruments by which a sovereign rules the world. Rare means few. Retainers refer to household ministers and grandees. State mandates refer to the commands of the state."

"The Master meant: When the Way prevails in the world, all rites, music, and punitive expeditions are determined by the Son of Heaven."

"When the Way does not prevail, these issues are decided by the feudal lords. If decided by feudal lords, after at most ten generations, few avoid collapse; if left to high ministers, after five generations, few avoid ruin; if household ministers and grandees seize the commands of the state, after three generations, few escape destruction."

Zhu Yijun remained silent for a long while. When did the state commands of the Great Ming begin to fall entirely into the hands of ministers?

Starting from the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign, the Wanli Emperor began to slack off in governance. If one excludes the Taichang Emperor, who ascended the throne and passed away after merely a month, the Wanli, Tianqi, and Chongzhen emperors spanned precisely three generations before the Great Ming perished.

"Has there ever been a historical precedent for this?" Zhu Yijun asked with a furrowed brow.

Nodding, Zhang Juzheng replied, "During the Spring and Autumn period, the Zhou Son of Heaven grew weak, and the feudal lords vied for hegemony by force. Thus arose Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Mu of Qin, King Zhuang of Chu, and Duke Xiang of Song. These Five Hegemons rose in succession, presiding over alliance assemblies."

"The character for hegemone is pronounced *ba*, meaning a regional lord—the foremost among the feudal lords who convoked the realm, collectively known as the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period."

"Not even ten generations passed before the Spring and Autumn period drew to a close, plunging the realm into the Warring States era."

"When rites, music, and punitive expeditions issue from the feudal lords, it is rare for them not to lose their state within ten generations."

Zhu Yijun understood now that the titles of regional lord and hegemone essentially meant the same thing: the leader of the princes. Once rites, music, and punitive expeditions issued from the lords, the order of the realm collapsed in less than ten generations.

Seeing that the Emperor had diligently taken notes, Zhang Juzheng continued, "After the death of Duke Wen of Jin, the State of Jin entered the era of governance by the Six Ministerial Families—the Fan, Zhonghang, Zhao, Han, Wei, and Zhi clans—who fought among themselves for over a decade."

"The Fan and Zhonghang clans were destroyed, leaving Jin in the chaos of the Four Ministerial Families. This lasted for merely thirty-some years until the Han, Zhao, and Wei clans annihilated the Zhi clan, resulting in the partition of Jin among the three families."

"From the death of Duke Wen to the Partition of Jin was less than a century; within five generations, the State of Jin ceased to exist."

"When rites, music, and punitive expeditions issue from high ministers, it is rare for them not to lose their state within five generations."

Zhu Yijun nodded. Here, "high ministers" did not refer to scholar-bureaucrats in the later sense, but rather to the hereditary nobles of the Jin State who held fiefs—or more accurately, the noble clans of the pre-Qin Spring and Autumn period.

"After the death of Duke Zhuang of Lu, the Three Huan clans monopolized power in Lu—the Jisun, Mengsun, and Shusun families—controlling the state's rites, music, and expeditions. Later, household retainers of these families, such as Nan Kuai and Yang Hu of the Jisun clan, Shuiniu of the Shusun clan, and Gonglian Chufu of the Mengsun clan, successively seized power within their respective houses, imprisoning and banishing their lords. The State of Lu, which had once vied with Qi for hegemony, was ultimately destroyed by Chu."

"When retainers hold the state's mandates, it is rare for them not to lose their state within three generations."

Retainers referred to what later generations called scholar-bureaucrats, literati, or ministers. Examples of this were countless, and Zhang Juzheng could cite many more, such as the downfall of the Qin dynasty within two generations after Zhao Gao and Li Si forged an imperial edict to enthrall the Second Emperor, whose misrule drove the Great Qin to ruin.

"When the Way prevails, rites, music, and punitive expeditions issue from the Son of Heaven. The Master said this out of sorrow for the collapse of the realm's order. Therefore, how can the sovereign's power of awe and favor ever be allowed to spend a single day outside the imperial court?" Zhang Juzheng returned to his starting point, bringing the discourse full circle and tying it tightly to the theme.

Rites, music, and punitive expeditions—the supreme instruments by which a monarch rules the world—must be decided solely by the Son of Heaven, not by feudal lords, not by noble clans, and not by ministers.

They could be, and must only be, the prerogative of the Son of Heaven.

Confucius uttered these words in grief over the disintegration of the societal order. The sovereign's authority to grant rewards and punishments could not be absent from the court for even a single day; otherwise, superiors and subordinates would lose their proper places, the hierarchy would descend into utter chaos, sovereigns would grow weak while ministers waxed strong, inferiors would usurp superiors, regional lords would transgress upon the Son of Heaven, ministers upon lords, and retainers upon ministers, turning such disorder into the norm.

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Yijun realized that Japan operated precisely in this manner. Its political system was defined by inferiors supplanting superiors and layers of usurpation: the shogunate superseded the emperor, domain governors superseded the shogunate, and regional lords superseded the governors, descending into a tangled mass of chaos.

Zhang Juzheng must have genuinely desired for the young Emperor to grow into a capable ruler.

"Senior Grand Secretary, I have a perplexity," Zhu Yijun said, sitting up straight and looking directly at Zhang Juzheng.

Hearing those words, Zhang Juzheng instantly concentrated all his attention. Glancing at the clepsydra water-clock, he breathed an inward sigh of relief, bowed his head, and said, "Your Majesty, the hour is nearly up. To bite off more than one can chew is unwise."

Zhu Yijun smiled and replied, "Rites, music, and punitive expeditions issue from the Son of Heaven. I am the Son of Heaven; extending the session by a quarter of an hour is of no consequence."

"I obey the decree." Zhang Juzheng felt helpless. The Majesty was entirely practicing what he had just preached: the Emperor wanted to extend the lecture, and since Zhang Juzheng had just lectured on how the sovereign's power of awe and favor could not be absent from the court for a single day, the Majesty was already applying that doctrine flexibly and actively.

"Can Xuanfu and Datong be regarded as instances where rites, music, and punitive expeditions issue from feudal lords?" Zhu Yijun asked, posing the question he had longed to voice.

Spelled out in full, the implication was: After more than a decade of mutual strife and warfare, had Xuanfu and Datong formed a tightly knit political faction bound by a privileged economic foundation, hometown ties, and marriage alliances—a faction equivalent to independent feudal lords? More precisely, did modern Xuanfu and Datong already possess all the characteristics of the regional military governors (*jiedushi*) of the mid-to-late Tang dynasty?

Zhu Yijun did not spell it out so bluntly, but he trusted that Zhang Juzheng would understand.

Bracing himself, Zhang Juzheng answered, "Factions exclude outsiders, persisting until they win. The governance and chaos of the border regions both follow the commands of these factions. They may indeed be regarded as rites, music, and punitive expeditions issuing from feudal lords."

"What enables these factions to succeed?" Zhu Yijun probed further.

Looking into the young Emperor's slightly naive-seeming eyes, Zhang Juzheng genuinely wished he could wave his hand and beg the Majesty to stop asking—just stop asking.

Yet, since the Majesty harbored a perplexity, he, as the imperial tutor, was bound to answer.

After deep reflection, he said, "It is because the state is not wealthy and the army is not strong. When the state is not wealthy, it cannot offer rewards, nor even ensure that soldiers are fed well enough to fight, forcing them to rely on local provisions instead, rendering them unable to bestow favors. When the army is not strong, it cannot win battles, suppress violence, or subdue the fierce, rendering it unable to wield awe and punishment."

"When neither rewards nor punishments can be effectively administered, the worthy cannot be advanced, and the unworthy advance without being dismissed. Nothing finds its proper place, contingencies cannot be met, heaven's timing is lost from above, geographical advantage from below, and human harmony from within. Consequently, beyond the bounds of legal principles, the malady of feudal separatism takes root."

Zhang Juzheng left out several historical examples, such as how the origins of the An Lushan Rebellion during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and the subsequent warlord割据 (*gegong*, territorial separation) of the Tang dynasty could largely be attributed to the state's lack of wealth and military strength following the rebellion.

Zhu Yijun understood completely. He now grasped the root cause behind the expansion of factional power, as well as the source of Wang Chonggu's confidence in uttering such unministerial words during the court deliberations.

Rites, music, and punitive expeditions issue from the feudal lords.

With a deep sense of emotion, Zhu Yijun remarked, "When the authority over rites, music, punitive expeditions, rewards, and punishments rests not with the court but with the localities, the Way has been lost."

"The state's rites, music, expeditions, administrative rewards, and punishments must take loyalty to the state and righteousness as their premise, judging right from wrong and merit from demerit based on facts."

"For the monarch, knowledge and action must be unified, words must match deeds, and one must follow one's inner convictions. Whatever is spoken must be done; whatever is done must yield a result. If a minister's words and deeds lack practical execution, he is untrustworthy and dishonest; if his words and actions fail to remain loyal to his inner conscience, he is disloyal, untrustworthy, and unfilial. This is not the moral character a minister ought to possess."

"When the sovereign is not a true sovereign and ministers are not true ministers, the realm falls into chaos."

With a pencil, Zhu Yijun swiftly jotted down a line of text on paper, summarizing the day's lecture.