Chapter Forty: To Bend is to Remain Whole, to Yield is to be Preserved

Hai Rui is the idol of the "pure stream" faction! A benchmark! A model! He is the personification of what the pure stream literati wish they could be, yet dare not become.

Back when Gao Gong sought to force Hai Rui to resign, he merely merged the duties of the Jiangnan Grain Intendant into the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, leaving Hai Rui with nothing to do. Even as the Senior Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty, Gao Gong had to act with such extreme caution just to deal with one Hai Rui, and even then, he was subjected to the vitriolic condemnation of the pure stream.

Now that Hai Rui is returning to the capital, the censors have risen one after another, gathering together to converse with great excitement.

"His Majesty is wise! With ethics and discipline in tatters, the common people can barely survive! Hai Rui’s return to the court brings clear skies and fresh air! Good, good, truly excellent!"

"Alas! How can one ignore him because he is always there? Oh! How can one replace him because he is not as expected? Sigh! And how can one compare him to the surging tides!"

"Since His Majesty has no intention of blaming the remonstrating officials or harming his eyes and ears, and even went so far as to forcefully summon Hai Gangfeng back to court from the hands of that powerful minister, does this not mean that Luo Zun, Jing Song, and Han Bixian truly deserved their punishment?"

"That is true. The Beijing Garrison is a matter of great importance; if it all falls to the Shanxi faction, how could His Majesty sleep soundly for even one night? The impeachment on these grounds was indeed lawless and undisciplined."

"I said before that there were hidden circumstances regarding the ritual error at the Sun Altar, but you wouldn't believe me, insisting that the Senior Grand Secretary was obstructing things. Is Senior Grand Secretary Zhang really a basket that can be filled with anything?"

...

Ge Shouli stood before the Chengtian Gate, watching as most of the censors and remonstrating officials began to leave. His expression was rather desolate. Despite his best efforts to persuade them, these officials refused to listen to his words; yet, the moment Hai Rui was mentioned, they all began to believe.

His tenure as the Censor-in-Chief was truly suffocating.

Jia Sanjin, a Supervising Secretary, looked left and right. As the crowd grew thinner, he gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and departed.

The rules of the game at this "Prostrating at the Heavenly Gate" were simple: the law does not punish the masses. Since His Majesty had allowed Hai Gangfeng to return to court, appeasing the public anger, there were fewer and fewer officials left at the gate. If Jia Sanjin had stayed any longer, he would have stood out, and he feared he would not fare well.

Finally, nothing remained before the Chengtian Gate but the patrolling cavalry of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; no remonstrating officials lingered there.

The primary reason the censors and remonstrating officials were dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng was that so many had recommended Hai Rui, and when Zhang Juzheng could not resist, he sent the Qiongzhou Circuit Censor to examine Hai Rui.

When the Censor arrived at Hai Rui’s home, he found it truly barren: the walls were bare, the furniture was sparse, and there was no wealth to be found. Hai Rui possessed only books and a spirit of uprightness. Hainan was warm, but had he been in the north, Hai Rui would have frozen to death in winter relying solely on his spirit.

Despite such integrity, Zhang Juzheng had always refused to employ him. The censors claimed that the Senior Grand Secretary was afraid of Hai Rui’s stern uprightness.

Feng Bao, seeing Ge Shouli’s desolate expression, smiled and said, "Old Master Ge, if I were you, I would just stop being the Censor-in-Chief and retire."

"Look at you—in the Wenhua Palace, you suffer my temper; in the Censorate, you suffer the temper of these officials. If it were me, I wouldn't take this 'sandwich' of abuse. Let whoever wants it have it!"

"Nonsense!" Ge Shouli flicked his sleeves and headed toward the Wenhua Palace. He did not argue, because what Feng Bao said was the truth.

The ritual error of Tan Lun had been impeached by the Censorate's Jing Song and Han Bixian, but when they spoke to Ge Shouli, they failed to mention that Lu Shusheng had also erred. Otherwise, Ge Shouli would not have made such a fool of himself in the Wenhua Palace nor fallen into such a passive position.

Feng Bao, mastering the "Art of Irritation," was driving people mad—was this not exactly that "sandwich" of abuse?

This type of pressure was the most difficult to bear.

Feng Bao and Ge Shouli returned to the Wenhua Palace and reported the events outside the Chengtian Gate in minute detail.

"Hold the court discussion," Zhu Yijun waved his hand, shaking his head with slight disappointment, signaling that the ministers didn't need to stand there any longer. They should go about their business; he would continue his studies, and the ministers would continue their bickering.

This dazzling series of exchanges was, in essence, a trade: Hai Rui’s return to court in exchange for the censors dropping their harassment of Tan Lun, effectively ending the factional strife.

What if the censors had refused to back down even after hearing of Hai Rui’s return?

Zhu Yijun would have looked to Zhang Juzheng for a solution. If Zhang had none, Zhu Yijun would have stepped in himself, ordering the cavalry to make arrests and find the bastard who was stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

***

"Launching large-scale prison purges and igniting factional strife!"

"Hai Rui is returning to the capital. Does anyone have any objections?" After taking his seat, Zhang Juzheng asked the first question.

For Zhang Juzheng, when he left the blank voting slips yesterday, he had already anticipated this outcome. He was certain this was not the idea of Feng Bao or Empress Dowager Li; Feng Bao had been the "Old Ancestor" for only six months, and the Empress Dowager had resided in the Qianqing Palace for less than five.

Hai Rui’s return was, Zhang Juzheng was certain, the Emperor's own idea. Zhang had long ago recognized the true face hidden beneath the young Emperor’s sunny, cheerful smile.

Of the three people in charge of the palace, only the young Emperor could orchestrate such a logical and self-evident exchange of interests.

Zhang Juzheng even saw a glimmer of anticipation in the Emperor's eyes, which, after Feng Bao and Ge Shouli returned, turned into disappointment and boredom.

Disappointment that everyone had returned to their offices? Boredom because he had wanted to see bloodshed?

The court ministers looked at one another, saying nothing. Previously, as the head of the government, Zhang Juzheng had refused to let Hai Rui return. Since he himself no longer objected, the ministers had even less to say.

"To be bent is to be preserved; to be crooked is to be straightened," Zhang Juzheng said calmly, seeing no opposition.

These were the words of Laozi from Chapter 22 of the *Tao Te Ching*. Being flexible and adapting to circumstances allows one to achieve one's ends. Zhang Juzheng was not optimistic about Hai Rui’s return; if Hai Rui were to speak bluntly again and cause the Empress Dowager or the Emperor to misunderstand, he might not even have the chance to retire to his hometown.

Nevertheless, Zhang Juzheng produced the memorial recommending Hai Rui, smoothed it out, and stamped his seal before handing it to the eunuch Zhang Hong of the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Yijun took the "Wanli Treasure" seal and stamped the memorial. It was then returned to the long table of the court discussion and handed to the Ministry of Personnel. This was the formal issuance, meaning the memorial had become an official decree to be processed by the Six Ministries.

Yang Bo had no objections to Hai Rui’s return and affixed his own seal.

Later, the Wenyuan Pavilion would draft an imperial edict, listing Hai Rui’s past deeds and the names of those who recommended him, before sending it by swift horse to Hainan. Only then could Hai Rui begin his journey back to the capital.

It would take Hai Rui at least 180 days—half a year—to reach the capital, as the journey from Hainan was long.

Zhu Yijun continued his studies. He did not blame the censors for their "prostrating at the Heavenly Gate."

Supervising secretaries and investigating censors were mostly young men who had just finished observing politics at the Hanlin Academy. They were enthusiastic, passionate, hot-blooded, and impulsive. They were willing to express their opinions on state affairs and could not tolerate evil, which made them easily manipulated.

Were all those censors in the Censorate members of the Shanxi faction? No. But a small group of rotten, malicious scoundrels stirred up trouble everywhere, and these censors were easily incited.

Public opinion and critical discourse were often like this.

Zhu Yijun did not blame them. If young people were not passionate, if they were not hot-blooded, would they still be young? If their blood went cold, the Ming Dynasty would be a stagnant pool, beyond saving, waiting only for death.

However, after this event, Zhu Yijun realized that Ge Shouli likely really did not know about Lu Shusheng’s ritual error; he had been firmly trapped in an "information cocoon" woven by the censors.

Would Hai Rui also be trapped by an information cocoon upon his return, becoming a blade in the hands of factional cliques?

Zhu Yijun read and wrote with a calm face. When Hai Rui returned to the capital, this blade would be firmly held in his own hands.

Zhang Juzheng sat up straight and began the second item of the court discussion: Qi Jiguang’s return to the capital.

Qi Jiguang was returning, and he would be received in the Fengtian Palace to receive his rewards.

Zhang Juzheng’s attitude was extremely serious, setting specific and clear requirements for the exact timing and rituals for Qi Jiguang’s arrival at the Northern Earth City, and his entry through the Desheng Gate, the East Chang'an Gate, and the Chengtian Gate.

***

As Zhang Juzheng spoke, he kept his eyes on the Minister of Rites, Lu Shusheng, hoping that Lu would not ruin himself over this matter.

"Factionalism and exclusion will not cease until they have caused total destruction. His Majesty is deeply worried, and the Empress Dowager is anxious. The impeachment of the minister by the three censors—Luo Zun, Jing Song, and Han Bixian—has concluded. You should cleanse your hearts, focus on your duties, and do not lead yourselves astray." Zhang Juzheng closed the memorial in his hand, delivering the gravest of threats in an extremely flat tone.

"Enriching the nation and strengthening the military" was Zhang Juzheng’s primary policy for governing. His memorial on the five affairs was the first step of his reforms.

To enrich the nation, one must secure tax revenue, and to secure tax revenue, one must secure the administration. Hence, he promoted the "Performance Assessment System." Only with clean administration, where the top influences the bottom and orders are carried out, could taxes be collected. Without clean administration, talking about tax collection was as laughable as a courtesan selling her body but not her talents.

As for strengthening the military, it centered on the Southern troops of the Jiliao Commander-in-Chief, Qi Jiguang.

This did not conform to the Ming Dynasty’s institutional design or the ancestral laws.

Qi Jiguang’s 100,000 elite troops, centered on his Southern soldiers, were the Ming Dynasty’s rapid-response support force; whether there was conflict in the northeast or the southwest, they could be deployed.

This should have been the duty of the Beijing Garrison.

No matter how strong Qi Jiguang’s Jiliao army was, they were border troops, not capital troops. Without a legitimate name, the cause was not righteous. Zhang Juzheng allowing Qi Jiguang to control the three border regions was extremely dangerous.

Border troops could easily become an uncontrollable disaster. This process would not be determined by Qi Jiguang’s own will; more precisely, the Jiliao army would be turned into a threat, and others would turn them into rebels.

If he could grant Qi Jiguang a title, even a non-hereditary one, he could transfer Qi Jiguang to the capital to become the Commander-in-Chief of the Beijing Garrison. Then, the state of the Garrison would not be so rotten, and the strengthening of the military would become legitimate.

Because the Beijing Garrison was the Emperor’s own army.

In the early Ming, the Yongle Emperor had issued an edict requiring his then-Crown Prince, Zhu Gaochi, to review the troops of the Beijing Garrison regardless of wind, frost, or snow.

Border troops guarding the borders and the Beijing Garrison engaging in campaigns was the ancestral law of the Ming. However, after the Beijing Garrison was disbanded during the restoration of the Tianshun Emperor and reorganized after the Chenghua Emperor took the throne, it had never regained the glory and majesty of the Ming military.

Zhang Juzheng was testing the waters, attempting to use merit to grant Qi Jiguang a title, so that Qi could legitimately return to the capital to serve as Commander-in-Chief. Only in this way could the core task of strengthening the military be achieved.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Minister of Rites Lu Shusheng, already growing impatient. If there were any more mishaps regarding Qi Jiguang’s entry into the capital, he would not be so polite.

Zhang Juzheng had many methods. Smearing someone's reputation was the simplest. If Lu Shusheng dared to stir up trouble on a matter already passed by the court, Zhang would not hesitate to play the villain.

For instance, he could find dozens of children to run to Lu Shusheng’s mansion claiming to be his kin. Regardless of whether Lu’s character was noble or not, he would have no choice but to retire.

The court discussion continued, the ministers kept bickering, and Zhu Yijun continued to read with great focus, saying nothing more.

After speaking about Qi Jiguang’s entry into the capital, Zhang Juzheng also became preoccupied. He was worried that His Majesty might develop misunderstandings about the censors.

Censors were like the "eunuch faction"—universally disliked. Zhang Juzheng was also annoyed by these people. Ge Shouli called him by his name and attacked the Senior Grand Secretary; what could Zhang do? There was nothing he could do.

The censors were truly necessary. Although they were often used as knives to attack ministers, if the court were stripped of these knives, it would be pure chaos.

The censors were a core part of the Ming Dynasty’s error-correction mechanism, even though this mechanism had gradually deteriorated under the exploitation of factional cliques.

"Prostrating at the Heavenly Gate" had become a tool for political struggle rather than a mechanism to correct the Emperor's erroneous edicts. Just as the Shanxi faction had initially come together to solve border problems, they had now become a faction whose core interest was monopolizing the tribute trade and smuggling with the Tatars.

"Your subjects take their leave." The ministers bowed respectfully and left the Wenhua Palace.

Zhang Juzheng flicked his sleeves, preparing to kneel and speak formally. He said in a clear voice, "Your Majesty, I have a petition."