3:30 am!
Outside the Meridian Gate, the cold wind howled.
The capital’s officials arrived at the palace one after another by carriage, then walked to the Meridian Gate.
The howling cold wind was like a blade scraping bone, making the lanterns hanging from the towers and the stone lamps by the roadside sway, and causing the torches in the guards’ hands to tremble violently.
The officials wrapped themselves in thick cloaks and wore windproof hats. Careful observers would notice that regardless of rank or power, everyone dressed very simply.
The cloaks were made of wool, the hats fashioned out of ratskin.
Even families of moderate means in the capital could afford such attire.
The attitude of the officials was clear. Everyone was poor, just struggling to get by, where would they get silver for donations?
There was still half an hour before court assembly. The officials gathered in groups, discussing in low voices.
The censors overseeing order turned a blind eye.
“Every day a morning court! His Majesty is determined to torment us.”
“That’s right. Why don’t we just donate some silver? It’s not even that much…”
“Sir Yang is muddle-headed. He says we only need to donate three months of salary, but in truth, it’s just His Majesty’s ploy. Let me ask you: when the Prime Minister offers to donate a whole year’s salary, will you all follow or not? Do you really think such a small donation would be enough? This is only to get us started talking.”
“This… Sir Zhu makes a good point. I understand now.”
…
“We cannot give in on this, just as we discussed yesterday. As long as we keep pace with the other lords, do not back down or yield, His Majesty can at most pester us for a few more days.”
“Alas, we’re as poor as church mice. I’m still renting my house. Grain is already running short in the capital, if we donate our wages as well, how are we to get by?”
“We are the same as Sir Zhao, poor scholars with nothing to our names.”
…
“Sirs, it’s freezing out and I am not well, I really can’t take it anymore. Why don’t we just donate as His Majesty wishes?”
This was said by an official on the fence, inwardly inclined to donate.
The officials beside him instantly looked furious. “Sir Li, how muddle-headed you are! Disasters plague various regions, there’s a shortage of grain, coal, and silver, how could our meagre stipends possibly fill the treasury?!”
“Sir Li only sees the immediate problem, not the longer view. The reason the other lords grit their teeth is because, once this precedent is set, there will be a second time, then a third. When His Majesty runs out of money again, he’ll call for donations once more. Are we supposed to starve?”
“Such a simple truth, yet even that junior bachelor Xu Xinnian cannot see it?”
“He sees it well enough, he’s only pretending not to, hoping to curry favour with His Majesty.”
“That child thinks too highly of himself, depending on his cousin’s reputation and looking down on others. Now he’s cozying up to the Prime Minister and losing all grounding.”
“Ha, a disgrace.”
One official spat viciously.
Elsewhere, Zhang Xingying, recently promoted to Right Metropolitan Censor, moved close to Liu Hong and sighed:
“Her Highness’s idea is a good one. If she could rally the scholar-officials to donate, and then local governments urge the gentry to do the same, with money and food in hand, disaster relief would be much eased and the refugees curtailed.
“As long as we get through this winter, the people will look forward to spring ploughing and won’t cause trouble everywhere.
“Alas, His Majesty has only just ascended the throne, his reputation and foundation are unsteady. Duke Wei has passed away. If not, had he joined hands with the Prime Minister, the donations would surely have gone through.
“As for now… our own men are not exactly satisfied either.”
Her Highness Huaiqing had prompted Xu Erlang’s memorial, though these former Wei Clique members did not know in advance.
Afterwards, the key members discussed it, and always believed this plan was doomed, sure to meet tremendous resistance.
Firstly, trying to fleece the scholar-officials was extremely difficult. They had all served under Emperor Yuanjing, and knew each other’s character well.
They embezzled and extorted at every turn.
The Great Feng’s weakness was not the fault of the former emperor alone, he might have set a poor example, but those below eagerly followed.
They were always grasping for money. Anyone hoping to squeeze some out of these old gluttons could imagine the resistance they’d face.
Secondly, this bitter cold disaster, almost the last straw, had only just begun. Winter had just started a month ago, the coldest time was yet to come.
What then, if the court still lacked money? Would His Majesty call for donations again?
Finally, this was at heart a struggle at court.
The emperor and his officials were, after all, opposing camps. For a young monarch to demand this right after taking the throne, the civil officials sensed danger.
Whether out of principle or greed, their instinct was to push back.
Forget just Emperor Yongxing, if Emperor Yuanjing had tried this after his enthronement, he’d have faced the same resistance.
Liu Hong glanced at the various clusters of officials, whispering among themselves:
“Perhaps, right now, Her Highness Huaiqing is coolly observing: who openly supports the donation; who agrees in their hearts but dare not cross their peers; who is so miserly they won’t part with a single coin.”
Zhang Xingying’s expression cleared. “So she knows it’s not feasible?”
He frowned. “In that case, isn’t she harming Xu Xinnian?”
Liu Hong smiled. “Not quite. He has the Prime Minister behind him, at worst, he’ll be left out in the cold for a few years.”
Zhang Xingying nodded and sighed:
“I still hope this can be settled. The treasury truly has no silver left, refugees are making trouble everywhere, and chaos threatens the land. If not suppressed soon, disaster will break out.”
Liu Hong gave a meaningful smile. At this moment, some commotion in the distance caught their attention.
Both of them squinted and gazed that way, only to see a young official in an azure robe confronting Xu Xinnian, who was similarly dressed, berating him furiously, spittle flying.
Liu Hong’s eyesight was poor, so he stared for a while and asked:
“Who is that?”
Zhang Xingying laughed. “The tanhua of this year’s exams, Qian Mu.”1
Liu Hong laughed as well.
“The same hothead who wrote a memorial accusing the Ministry of Appointments’ Vice Minister of corruption and exposed half the ministry’s officials?”
“Looks like he couldn’t handle being sidelined any longer, and came to make his allegiance clear.”
Zhang Xingying shook his head. “Letting himself be used. There’s short-term benefit, but in the long run… anger His Majesty, and does he think anything good will come of it?”
Liu Hong smiled. “It doesn’t matter. Once he’s made his allegiance clear and joined the Qing Clique, he can make a good official. As long as he keeps a low profile later, will His Majesty still keep an eye on him?”
While the two bantered, another group was at each other’s throats.
Qian Mu pointed at Xu Xinnian and aggressively declared:
“In this bitter cold, honest officials lack grain and fuel, can all of us live like you, living in luxury with thousands in gold?
“How are our upright colleagues supposed to survive the winter if they must donate three months’ salary?”
Before Xu Xinnian could reply, he snorted and mocked:
“To curry favour with His Majesty, you’d come up with such a ridiculous plan. How shameless. I entered service the same year as you, yet I am thoroughly disgraced.”
The watching officials all voiced their agreement.
Xu Xinnian’s expression did not change. He said, “I do this for the people, my conscience is clear.”
“Well said, your conscience is clear, is it!”
Qian Mu laughed loudly three times and proclaimed, “We are willing to donate all our family property to fill the national treasury and relieve the victims of disaster. Tanhua Xu, since you say you have a clear conscience and are acting for the common people, do you dare, as we do, to donate all your family property?”
When he finished speaking, cheers broke out all around:
“Sir Qian is upright and noble.”
“Sir Qian embodies great righteousness.”
One after another, mocking eyes turned to look at Xu Xinnian.
Xu Xinnian frowned. Qian Mu’s words were shameless. The Xu family owned numerous shops, fertile land, and the income left by his elder brother, while what did the other party have?
Although not completely destitute, after all these years in obscurity, his family probably had only a few measures of grain and a few taels of silver left.
However, he simply could not argue, because neither Qian Mu, nor the people backing him, nor the officials surrounding them, were reasoning with him.
They had come simply to pick a quarrel.
If he ignored it, it was likely that after court, Xu Xinnian would earn himself another reputation as a “hypocrite”.
Just then, Prime Minister Wang walked over. He said nothing, but merely swept a cold glance over the surrounding officials.
Everyone instantly fell silent.
Qian Mu smiled slightly. Regardless of whether Xu Xinnian responded, he had already conveyed what he wanted.
After that, everything fell quiet until the hour of five arrived and the drums began to sound.
The civil and military officials kept silent as they passed through the Meridian Gate, crossed the Jinshui Bridge, and lined up according to rank.
Only a select few were allowed to enter the Jinluan Hall.
As one of the central figures in this incident, Xu Xinnian was also permitted inside, though he had to stand by the entrance of the hall.
Once all the ministers had entered, after a few minutes, Emperor Yongxing arrived.
He took his seat high upon the dragon throne, looked down on his ministers, and declared in a loud voice:
“The disasters across the land are dire. As the ruler of this nation, we are most distressed. Do my lords have any good strategies for relief?”
The officials and nobles exchanged looks that said, “We expected as much,” and offered a few lukewarm suggestions, such as reducing taxes, calling on the gentry to make donations, and so on.
Emperor Yongxing said,
“If donations are to be made, the court should take the lead, and so should my beloved lords. Only then will the local gentry be truly willing, and it will serve as a warning to those in charge to not line their own pockets.”
If only the local gentry were called upon, those silver donations were almost certain to be siphoned away at every level.
Several clique leaders and nobles stepped forward in tacit agreement and shouted, “This cannot be.”
At that moment, the Minister of the High Court stepped forth and said gravely:
“Your Majesty, corruption is rampant at court, and the prevailing winds of greed have emptied the treasury. Donations are a temporary fix, not a cure. If we wish to relieve the disasters, we must first purge this unhealthy climate.”
As soon as he finished, a bellicose official from the Ministry of Revenue stepped forward and loudly declared,
“Your Majesty, this subject wishes to impeach the Hanlin Academy bachelor, Xu Xinnian, for accepting bribes.”
No one in the hall spoke, and no one questioned what sort of bribe a junior compiler could accept, it seemed everyone had expected something like this.
An official from the Ministry of Appointments stepped forward and said loudly,
“Your Majesty, this subject wishes to impeach the Hanlin Academy bachelor, Xu Xinnian, for accepting bribes under the banner of Prime Minister Wang.”
Then, one by one, various officials from the Six Ministries stepped forward to impeach Xu Xinnian.
Every person in the Jinluan Hall was a seasoned veteran and instantly recognised what this was about.
This was their counterattack.
Using Xu Erlang as an opening move, they were resisting Emperor Yongxing and Prime Minister Wang.
By doing so, they would not completely enrage Emperor Yongxing or Prime Minister Wang, while still making their stance clear: telling the Emperor, “We are set to eliminate your vanguards, one after another.”
At the same time, it was a subtle warning to Prime Minister Wang: though the Wang Clique was powerful, it was not omnipotent, and besides, there were dissenters in the Wang Clique regarding this.
Had Xu Xinnian accepted gifts?
The answer was of course he had.
As Prime Minister Wang’s future son-in-law, members of the Wang Clique had frequently sent him presents. In officialdom, receiving gifts meant being accepted as one of their own.
He wished to integrate himself into the Wang Clique as a Cloud Deer Academy scholar, so he could not afford to appear aloof.
Though Xu Xinnian had declined many valuable gifts, this did not change the facts.
In politics, keeping oneself spotless only leads to achieving nothing, while going with the flow risks providing enemies with a handle against you when controversies arise. So, the core issue is not having enough power.
The solution is to win over more allies.
Suddenly, Xu Xinnian understood.
Within the hall, some officials were observing Emperor Yongxing’s expression, others were watching Prime Minister Wang.
They wanted to see how the two would respond.
If the Emperor shielded Xu Xinnian, they had more moves to play. If Prime Minister Wang intervened, they would pull him into the mud as well, jointly impeaching him.
Right now, they were the ones with the upper hand.
No one noticed Liu Hong, who leisurely stepped forward and bowed:
“Your Majesty, your subject believes that the Minister of the High Court has spoken sensibly. The treasury is empty, taxes are hard to collect, all because of embezzlement and bribery.
“Therefore, your subject requests that Your Majesty thoroughly investigate all officials and restore uprightness to the court.”
How interesting… Within the hall, all the ministers and nobles turned to look at Liu Hong.
He was clearly trying to take advantage of the situation. In court, Liu Hong was seen as Wei Yuan’s ‘successor’, inheriting Wei Yuan’s faction. Since the new emperor’s accession, many of the former Wei Clique had been demoted or dismissed, their power halved.
The vacant positions had been split between the Wang Clique and other factions.
This was a suitable retreat in officialdom.
Liu Hong stepping forth now made it clear that with the Censorate and Nightwatchers in the hands of the former Wei Clique, he intended to fish for benefits.
Emperor Yongxing smiled, “Well said, Lord Liu. Continue.”
Liu Hong declared confidently,
“Since Duke Wei’s passing, the Nightwatchers have declined. Your servant has not even an iota of the skill of Duke Wei. I wish to recommend someone to Your Majesty to take over the command of the Nightwatchers from me.
“So as to better supervise all officials.”
Every minister was startled. This was not what they were expecting at all. Liu Hong, at this critical moment, was resigning and offering the position of Nightwatcher up to someone else?
Emperor Yongxing feigned surprise, “Lord Liu, whom do you wish to recommend?”
Liu Hong swept his gaze across the ministers and nobles, some of whom looked puzzled, others wary, and declared in a ringing voice:
“The former Silver Gong of the Nightwatchers, Xu Qi’an!”
Translator: Happy Winter Solstice
Tanhua: number 3 in the imperial exams. Second Bangyan, first Zhuangyuan ↩
Comments for this chapter. You will need a GitHub account. Please follow all terms and conditions of GitHub issues and maintain etiquette in the comments. Cookies are required for this functionality.
If you want to talk with other readers about Nightwatchers (or other cultivation type books) you can join our cultivation groupreading discord server!
I also have a Kofi, which for legal reasons is definitely for supporting my digital art only (promise!): ko-fi.com/yanxin ... plus I guess server space isn't free, and I don't want to put ads/trackers... ever, so thank you if you do!