Inside Huagai Hall, Li Shanchang suddenly felt a thin layer of sweat forming on his back.
He could clearly sense that quite a few gazes inside the hall were covertly glancing at him. Even the look from the Grand General beside him, Xu Da, carried a trace of curiosity.
At the same time, he heard very clearly the voice of Li Wenzhong beside him, a man who always feared the world was not chaotic enough.
"Your Majesty, it seems Hu Weiyong is rather wealthy as well."
Wealthy my foot.
Li Shanchang cursed inwardly.
Perhaps in earlier years it might have been possible. But later, once this Hu fellow had become Chancellor and enjoyed immense prestige, the details of his family background had long been thoroughly known.
After all, when visiting someone, one must cater to his preferences.
To put it plainly, if Hu's family could truly produce two hundred taels of gold, he would probably not have thrown his lot in with His Majesty in the first place. More likely he would have used that gold as travel funds to flee south and avoid the war.
At that moment Li Shanchang did not even need to deliberate. The instinct he had cultivated through so many years in officialdom immediately drove him to step forward. Facing the center of the hall, he bowed deeply.
"This old minister…"
Before he finished speaking, tears had already begun to glimmer at the corners of his eyes.
Everyone watched as the Grand Censor lowered his head even further. His voice, however, grew even more sorrowful and subdued.
"This old minister will present gold to make up the deficit."
For a moment, Li Wenzhong was utterly astonished.
He neither admitted fault nor pleaded for mercy. He only said he would make up the amount, yet did not specify whether it was compensation for a crime or something else entirely.
Most importantly, based on Li Wenzhong's understanding of his imperial uncle, this move was extremely effective.
After all, the Grand Censor had truly followed his uncle for more than twenty years. That fact could never be erased. Whether out of old affection or consideration for their shared homeland, it counted for a great deal.
Besides, did he not possess even more Iron Certificates of Immunity than the rest of them?
Of course, it was also true that the Emperor's favor toward the Grand Censor was no longer what it once had been. But the matter of Hu Weiyong had only passed a year ago. Now Yunnan was preparing for military action, and the northern Hu tribes were stirring again.
At such a time, the court could hardly afford another massive upheaval.
Sure enough, Li Wenzhong saw his uncle give a cold snort.
"This matter was already recorded in last year's memorial of offenses. What need is there to speak of it again? Rise."
Li Shanchang felt no ripple of emotion in his heart.
He knew the Emperor's temperament very well. His Majesty disliked hesitation and drawn out proceedings above all else.
Thus Li Shanchang rose at once. Yet as he stood, he deliberately cast a measuring glance at Li Wenzhong.
Li Wenzhong, however, paid little attention. Seeing that there was no more spectacle to watch from Li Shanchang's side, he simply turned to speak with Xu Da.
"Later generations praise Uncle as the Great Wall of Ten Thousand Li upon the frontier. It seems that Shanhai Pass will soon be completed. I congratulate the General in advance for another great achievement."
Xu Da was usually a man of few words. Hearing this, however, he sighed softly and shook his head.
"In the end, it cannot compare with personally charging into battle and destroying the enemy beyond the frontier."
He was most likely thinking again of the late General Chang.
Li Wenzhong did not feel discouraged. He shook his head seriously.
"In war, there is nothing more than attack or defense. If Uncle builds a mighty pass and earns the title of Great Wall upon the frontier, it means the remnants of Yuan will no longer succeed in their raids."
"In that case, when our soldiers strike the Hu tribes, they will have no worries behind them. So long as Uncle avoids illness, that Great Wall upon the frontier will sooner or later become the wall that crushes the remnant Yuan."
Hearing Li Wenzhong speak so frankly, a faint smile appeared on Xu Da's face. He nodded.
"General Li now devotes himself to maritime affairs. With the strange assistance of that light screen, the elimination of the Japanese pirates will surely not be far off."
"However, General Li must remember that the beginning of war must always be approached with the utmost caution. The matters of Yunnan and Shanhai Pass alike cannot be settled within a single year."
Li Wenzhong could not help feeling a little helpless.
He knew very well his Uncle Xu's habit of upright conduct. The man never spoke of personal feelings and always spoke only of affairs of state. Yet he also liked to offer guidance in the tone of an elder.
Thus the situation before him had come about. In fact, Li Wenzhong could already guess what his uncle would say next.
Nothing more than reminding him that Xu Da would soon leave the capital, and that Li Wenzhong must wholeheartedly assist the Emperor.
But such things hardly needed to be said.
That was his own uncle, after all.
Especially an uncle who was even willing to consider plans for dealing with Japan.
...
Inside Guangzheng Hall, Zhao Kuangyin showed little interest in this sort of struggle for power.
Instead, he felt deep admiration for the deeds of the Hongwu Emperor that could be gleaned between the lines.
"To raise an army with twenty four men and ultimately pacify the realm. Such heroic talent has rarely been seen since antiquity."
From what he gathered, the Ming emperor had originally served under another leader. Later some conflict arose, and he departed with twenty four companions, eventually seizing Chuzhou.
These few brief lines likely described the true beginnings of the Hongwu Emperor's rise.
While Zhao Kuangyin admired his military achievements, Zhao Pu focused on another matter.
"This Ming dynasty still follows the institutions of Yuan?"
For Zhao Pu, one of the achievements he was most proud of was assisting the emperor in establishing the official system of the Song dynasty.
The Privy Council controlled military affairs.
The Three Departments of Finance controlled revenue.
And the Participating Councilors served as vice chancellors to divide the authority of the chief minister.
By setting these powers to restrain one another, the threat of regional warlords had finally been eliminated. That system was both the misfortune and the foundation of the Song dynasty.
But judging from Hu Weiyong's promotion, the enlightened system of Ming seemed closer to the reforms made by Kublai Khan in Yuan.
This left Zhao Pu somewhat discouraged.
"Changes in official institutions must always be handled with great caution. Ming stands nearly four hundred years after our time, so there is no need for them to imitate antiquity in every matter."
"We should instead use the Ming history shown in this light screen as reference, extracting its strengths to refine the institutions of Song."
Zhao Kuangyin's words made Zhao Pu nod.
He then fell silent, intending to see what sort of great cases would emerge in Ming history.
[Lightscreen]
[For Hu Weiyong, fifteen years had passed in which he could never match the stature of his fellow townsman Li Shanchang.
But after being promoted to Vice Chancellor, Hu Weiyong seemed to glimpse the possibility of overtaking him on the curve.
Perhaps it was because the Yuan dynasty had inherited the Mongol Empire's foundation as a state built through martial strength. To replace Yuan therefore required even greater martial virtue.
From this perspective, it explained why among Zhu Yuanzhang's old companions there were so few scholars.
Among the Six Dukes and Twenty Eight Marquises granted in the third year of Hongwu, there was only one civil official.
That was Li Shanchang.
Of course, there was also a small possibility that it was simply because Old Zhu had risen from humble origins. His companions from earlier days had been much the same.
Most of them simply could not afford an education.
In any case, the arrogance of the early Ming nobles came not only from Zhu Yuanzhang's excessive tolerance toward them. It also stemmed from the fact that there were too many military men among them, men who had absorbed the rough spirit of the Yuan era.
After all, the overall caliber of these nobles was not particularly high.
Though they had become the new aristocracy of Great Ming, in essence they had grown up under the rule of Mongol nobles.
Once they themselves became lords, it was only natural that they imitated what they had seen.
Even Li Shanchang was inevitably affected by this atmosphere and developed a measure of arrogance.
After all, he only needed to recall that the entire framework of Zhu Yuanzhang's campaigns had been designed by him.
When Zhu Yuanzhang led troops personally on campaign, the rear had been guarded by him.
After the founding of Ming, the administrative structure of the new state was also established by him.
If Old Zhu were separated from Old Li, how could he possibly manage?
Thus, whenever a consulting official spoke to him with the slightest lack of respect, Li Shanchang would immediately dismiss him from office.
When Liu Ji reported one of Li Shanchang's arrogant retainers to the emperor and had him executed, Li Shanchang retaliated by scolding Liu Ji mercilessly during discussions of legal codes.
Liu Ji responded quite simply.
He requested retirement and returned home.
That decision immediately allowed the sharp minded Li Shanchang to sense something.
Perhaps it was better if he took the initiative himself.
Perhaps it was better to leave with a little dignity.]