Except for Fan Jingwen, everyone else was in a panic. This was because Fan Jingwen was the only one who had spoken the truth.
Wei Zaode and Minister of War Zhang Jinyan simultaneously stepped out of line and knelt. Before they could plead their case, Emperor Chongzhen raised a hand to stop them. "Do not be anxious, gentlemen. We shall start with Vice Minister Wang. The Brocade Guard and the Eastern Depot work with great efficiency; I estimate they will return within an hour. At that time, we will see justice served for Vice Minister Wang."
Justice? Wang Zhengzhi’s heart turned to ash.
Wei Zaode squinted, finally grasping the Emperor’s intent. Regardless of whether the Imperial Court was truly short on funds, Chongzhen would use this as a pretext to raid their homes and punish them. Since that was the case, he would take a step back. He would forfeit his wealth and resign to return to his hometown. He first exchanged a glance with his henchmen, then kowtowed to Chongzhen. "Your Majesty, since you insist on raiding our homes, I am willing to surrender all my assets and resign from office to return to my hometown."
Zhang Jinyan knelt down as well, echoing the same sentiment.
"Denied!" Chongzhen rejected the request without a moment’s hesitation. "I must ascertain the truth to ensure you receive justice. It will not be too late to resign once that is done!"
Seeing this, Li Banghua decided to stoke the flames. He stepped forward, cupping his hands. "I, Li Banghua, impeach Senior Grand Secretary Wei Zaode. He is unworthy of his position, forms factions for personal gain, embezzles military pay, and deceives his sovereign! I implore Your Majesty to investigate."
"I second the motion!"
"I also second the motion!"
Following Li Banghua’s lead, over twenty officials echoed the call, requesting that Wei Zaode be investigated and prosecuted.
Wei Zaode’s face turned ghastly. He had thought that offering to resign would save his skin, but he hadn’t expected Chongzhen to be so ruthless. What now? Wei Zaode scanned the court, searching for any power he could consolidate. He would not surrender so easily; the more desperate the situation, the more he needed to find a way to survive.
When he caught sight of Duke of Cheng Zhu Chunchen kneeling on the floor, he was overjoyed. The Great Ming Dynasty had countless marquises and earls, but dukes were exceedingly rare. Aside from the six founding dukes, the rest had mostly been ennobled by Prince Yan, Zhu Di, during his campaign to "purge those around the Emperor." Duke of Cheng Zhu Chunchen was a hereditary duke; his family had deep foundations and an intricate web of relationships within the court. With him standing in the way, Chongzhen would never dare to escalate the matter.
Thinking this, he cast a glance at Zhu Chunchen. Zhu Chunchen, having also been named by the Emperor and worrying about how to respond, was delighted to see the Senior Grand Secretary signaling him.
Having formed a unified front, the two stood up together. Wei Zaode cupped his hands and addressed the officials, both those who had been named and those who had not. "Gentlemen, the rebel bandits are encroaching on our borders, and the Capital is in crisis—it is precisely the time when we should be utilizing talent. Yet, who would have thought that the Emperor would choose to raid our homes to raise military funds?"
"If one seeks a pretext to condemn, one will always find one!"
"Today he raids our homes because he lacks funds; tomorrow, he will raid yours. Once every official in the court has been stripped bare, will he move on to desecrate our ancestral tombs?"
"If the sovereign creates chaos above and the ministers fail to govern below, if we do not avert this disaster, we are doomed!"
"How pathetic, how miserable, how laughable!"
"My death is of little consequence, but I hope all you lords and ministers record this day; future generations shall judge who was in the right!"
Wei Zaode possessed no real talent, yet because he had a silver tongue, he had managed to rise to the position of Senior Grand Secretary during the reign of Chongzhen. Was it not laughable?
"Audacious! Guards, seize Wei Zaode!" Wang Chengen was the first to step forward. As an inner court official to Chongzhen, he had to defend the Emperor’s dignity.
The Brocade Guard outside the doors pushed their way in, but upon seeing that the man Wang Chengen ordered them to arrest was the Senior Grand Secretary, they hesitated, looking toward Chongzhen. This matter was of grave importance; without the Emperor’s explicit command, they dared not act rashly. They could ignore Wang Chengen, and they could ignore Wu Mengming and Li Ruolian, but they had to be absolutely obedient to that one man.
The gazes of the court officials also wandered between Chongzhen and Wei Zaode. They were waiting. These men did not necessarily care about Wei Zaode being raided; they cared about whether Chongzhen would go down the line raiding every official to raise funds. If that were the case, it would be better to unite and resist early.
Chongzhen knew they were waiting. In the feudal era, the Emperor possessed supreme power; he could strip his ministers and subjects of everything at any time, including their lives. But there was one prerequisite: a formal charge! As long as the charge was reasonable, he could silence the officials, the scholars, and the people of the world.
Having realized this, Chongzhen smiled coldly. He was well-versed in the art of pinning labels on people. He flicked his sleeves, placed his hands behind his back, and scanned the faces of the crowd with a piercing gaze.
"Gentlemen, you are all officials of my Great Ming."
"Among you, some are known for their courage, some for their eloquence, some are sycophantic by nature, and some are treacherous. Some love wealth, some are lecherous, some cling to power, and some covet fame."
"I am but one man; whom should I trust?"
"To gain my favor, some of you unite to deceive me; others, to protect themselves, are forced to unite as well—and thus, we have factional strife!"
"The Eunuch Faction, the Donglin Faction, the Qi, Chu, Zhe, and Xuan factions—I know them all. As long as you get things done for me and are truly committed to the good of the Great Ming, I can pretend to be blind to your personal intrigues."
The gathered officials were all clever men; they understood the subtext of the Emperor’s words. In the eyes of the Emperor, there was not a single clean person among them. If he wished, he could punish any one of them. At this thought, the entire court lowered their heads in unison.
"However!" Chongzhen’s tone shifted.
"Wei Zaode, since you entered the Cabinet in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, you have contributed nothing, proposing only that the officials make donations. A man of such lack of talent and virtue, who can neither shoulder the burdens of the world nor offer strategies to govern, who occupies a position without performing its duties—you have misled your sovereign and the nation. Do you not deserve to die?"
"After being promoted to Senior Grand Secretary, you formed factions for personal gain, embezzled military funds, deceived your sovereign, and spouted wild, treasonous rhetoric. You deserve to be executed by slow slicing! Out of consideration for your years of service—if not for your merits, then for your toils—I gave you a chance." Chongzhen continued to list the crimes of the Senior Grand Secretary.
"I asked you to donate funds; when you would not, I let it pass. I asked to borrow money from you; when you would not, I let that pass, too."
"I asked you how much liquid silver you had in your home. And what was your reply?"
"'I have no money!'"
"I neither intended to rob you nor seize your property. What were you afraid of?"
"The annual salary of a Senior Grand Secretary is less than a hundred taels of silver. You have been in court for only four years; where did your tens of thousands in assets come from?" Chongzhen flicked his sleeve violently, his eyes locked onto Wei Zaode.
Wei Zaode’s complexion shifted dramatically. For him, his wealth was the greatest—and only—problem. He did not need the Brocade Guard; any two eunuchs could prove that his assets did not match his salary. But every official in the Ming Dynasty was corrupt; if he were not, he would be an outcast, unable to blend in, let alone reach the position of Senior Grand Secretary.
Chongzhen continued, "A ruler is like a father! As a minister, you should be relieving the worries of your sovereign and father. You disregard your sovereign and father; what use do I have for you?"
"In normal times, I would merely strip you of your rank and dismiss you from office."
"But now..." Chongzhen gave a cold, thin smile. "Your crimes are punishable by death!"
"Guards!" Chongzhen turned his back to them, his eyes filled with killing intent. "Drag Wei Zaode out, hang him, then behead him to show to the public! Exterminate his three clans, and seize all his property for the state treasury!"