Chapter 200: The Price of Meeting Expectations

The Great Ming had been established for over fifty years. For its subjects, it was easy to become one of the Three Dukes or Three Teachers, but difficult to obtain a title, even more so to secure an hereditary one. Yet Zhang Fu had all of these: the highest rank of duke, the emperor’s highest favor, and outstanding achievements. If there was any regret, it was perhaps that, despite being over forty, he still had no descendants. Now that Lady Wang had given birth to a daughter, though he appeared happy in public, he couldn’t help but sigh in secret.

Yet, seeing the current state of the court, he couldn’t help but think that having too many sons was also a problem—especially for the emperor. The crown prince was in Nanjing, Prince Zhao in Beijing, and Prince Han in Le’an. These three princes, born of the same mother, were like a triangle firmly fixed on the map of the Great Ming. The usually cautious crown prince was one thing, but Prince Han sent letters to the Duke of Ying every three days, while Prince Zhao often sent his wife to visit Lady Wang, keeping the civil officials constantly watching him.

Since returning from his fourth expedition to Jiaozhi three years ago, he had not served in the Five Armies Command Office, only occasionally responding to the emperor’s summons to discuss important military and state affairs. But lately, these occasional summons had turned into daily ones, leaving even Yang Rong and Jian Yi with less time to accompany him, yet he still didn’t seem to be involved in any major decisions. That evening, he returned home in the snowstorm, removed his half-wet cloak, and sat cross-legged on the kang. After taking a deep breath, he realized he had no strength left in his body.

“I’m old!”
“Sir, are you joking? If you say you’re old, what about those ministers and scholars in the court?”

Xi Yu directed a few maids to arrange dishes on the kang table and said with a smile, “It’s snowing heavily outside. After a day of hard work, you must be too tired to eat after riding through the snow. But at least you need something to eat. This is stir-fried leek greens with bean sprouts from the warm room, shredded radish mixed with sesame oil, cucumbers pickled earlier, cornmeal buns, and the spicy sauce I prepared myself. Plus, this steaming oil tea—everything is light and delicious.”

Zhang Fu originally had no appetite at all, but seeing the table full of vegetarian dishes, he couldn’t help but smile. “You really know how to think. If you brought me a table full of fatty duck and venison sauce at this time, I probably wouldn’t even want to look at it. Give me a bowl of this oil tea. I really can’t eat anything else. Take the rest to Lady Wang.”

Xi Yu hurriedly poured a bowl of oil tea from the pot, then added crushed sesame seeds, diced radish, mashed peanuts, pepper salt, scallions, and red oil, before handing it to Zhang Fu. Seeing him drink it bit by bit while it was still hot, she explained further, “I went to the kitchen this afternoon to check on the lady’s dinner and arranged it to be delivered early. The lady is still resting on her couch and can’t have such a light meal as the master does. By the way, a letter was delivered at noon; Manager Rong has already taken it to the master’s study.”
“Letters! That’s what bothers me the most right now!”
Blurting out in annoyance, Zhang Fu angrily set down the bowl, feeling another dull pain in his head. Seeing Xi Yu shrinking back in silence, he asked listlessly, “Where did this letter come from? Did it say anything important?”
“It’s a letter from Nanjing. Manager Rong said it was sent by Yang Shiqi.”
Yang Shiqi? Zhang Fu was stunned. He had nothing to do with Yang Shiqi, let alone someone who was so cautious as to never show any flaws and worked diligently to assist the crown prince. Why would he think of writing to Zhang Fu, not fearing that the Jinyiwei might discover it? As he frowned in confusion, a girl’s voice came from outside again.
“Master, someone is here to see you. It’s Lord Yang Rong, the Hanlin Academician.”
If Yang Shiqi’s letter was already unusual, Yang Rong’s personal visit made Zhang Fu even more uneasy. Traditionally, civil and military officials did not interact; even though Zhang Yue was Du Zhen’s student, he himself had never had any private contact with Du Zhen, let alone with cabinet ministers like Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong. Yang Shiqi sent a letter, and now Yang Rong came in person—what exactly were they planning?
However, since they had already come to his door, Zhang Fu couldn’t simply turn them away. Though he really didn’t want to leave his room, it was unreasonable to receive guests in the inner courtyard. So he asked Xi Yu to find him a slightly old but dry cloak, which he put on along with his camphorwood clogs as he braved the snow to go to the small garden hall in the front yard. Upon arriving, he took off his cloak and clogs under the porch. As soon as he entered, he saw Yang Rong approaching with a deep bow, greeting him with a smile.

In the past, Yang Rong had always valued appearance and demeanor. Now, though his sky-blue cloak was mostly soaked by the snow, he seemed unaware of it at all. As soon as he sat down, he got straight to the point: “I wouldn’t have bothered to visit in this snowy night unless it were absolutely necessary. There are matters that can no longer be delayed. The Duke of Britain, who accompanies the emperor daily, must be aware of the situation in Shandong. Currently, the inspector general, deputy inspectors, and other officials in Shandong have all been taken to the capital, leaving the entire province without anyone in charge of judicial affairs. On top of that, the position of governor of Qingzhou remains unfilled. With such heavy snowfall and frequent natural disasters, further delays could lead to serious chaos.”

Although Zhang Fu accompanied the emperor every day these past few days, the emperor, who often suffered from paralysis, did not discuss state affairs with him. Most of the time, they reminisced about the days of war. Moreover, since Zhang Yue’s letter only mentioned investigating cases by imperial order, he had only just learned that the positions he had been consulted about were still vacant. Though he was a military officer, he could imagine the chaos in Qingzhou without a leader, and his expression gradually darkened.

“This matter falls under the responsibility of Minister Jian Yi of the Ministry of Personnel. Why has Scholar Yang come to see me?”

“Minister Jian has selected three groups of candidates so far. The first group was deemed insufficiently experienced by the emperor; the second group was considered too old; and the third group was said to not have come through proper channels! In short, it seems the emperor is quite dissatisfied with the civil officials in Shandong, and moreover…”

At this point, Yang Rong didn’t know what else to say. The current emperor had seized the throne through the Jingnan Campaign, after which he executed Fang Xiaoru and his entire family, as well as countless others like Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai. As a result, aside from people like him, Yang Shiqi, Jian Yi, and Xia Yuanji, most of the civil officials from those earlier years were either convicted or forced into hiding. Few, like Du Zhen, were willing to reappear in public. Although several batches of imperial examinations had produced many civil officials, officials were often still selected from among students or scholars, or even from commoners. With so many high-ranking positions suddenly vacant in Shandong, the Ministry of Personnel was already struggling—how could they withstand the emperor’s picky demands?

Even if Yang Rong hadn’t spoken outright, Zhang Fu understood. Zhu Di had always been lenient toward military officials; even for serious crimes, punishment was usually just exile, and many were later reinstated. But for civil officials, execution was an easy option. Moreover, many scholars still supported Emperor Jianwen. Those willing to serve might not be talented, and those who were talented might not be willing to serve—this was indeed a difficult problem.

Seeing Zhang Fu show some interest, Yang Rong felt slightly relieved. Under normal circumstances, he could always persuade Zhu Di by trying his best, but now that Zhu Di was ill, he couldn’t even see him, so he had to turn to Zhang Fu. Though he was prepared for the worst, he still hoped Zhang Fu would offer some advice at this critical moment.
“Don’t worry, Scholar Yang. I will definitely bring this up when I meet the emperor tomorrow.”
Everyone knew Zhang Fu was someone whose words carried weight, so Yang Rong immediately felt relieved and quickly stood up to bow deeply. With this matter settled, he knew staying any longer would arouse suspicion, so he hurriedly took his leave. Zhang Fu personally escorted him to the entrance of the flower hall and then had Rong Shan send him to the main gate. Without even taking the time to put on his cloak, Zhang Fu rushed back to his study.
Taking out Yang Shiqi’s letter and reading it in a flash, Zhang Fu couldn’t help but smile bitterly. It was said that the two Yangs in the cabinet often agreed on things without consulting each other, and it seemed true now—Yang Shiqi, who was assisting the regent prince in Nanjing, had also written a letter regarding Shandong. In the letter, he also inquired about Zhang Yue’s situation. Clearly, the memorials sent to Nanjing wouldn’t pay attention to a minor county magistrate like Anqiu, so Yang Shiqi didn’t know that Zhang Yue had already taken on a troublesome task.
As he pondered, he suddenly noticed something under the paperweight beside him. Moving it aside, he saw several more letters. Remembering his previous complaints in front of Xi Yu, he had no choice but to sit down in the armchair and reluctantly open each letter one by one. When he saw the familiar bold handwriting of Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu, his brows furrowed deeply.
Recommend a supervisor for Shandong and a magistrate for Qingzhou? Ridiculous! If he wanted to recommend someone, he would have recommended his cousin Zhang Xin long ago—why wait until now? If it weren’t for Zhang Xin’s somewhat close relationship with Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu, why would the Jinyiwei have to get involved in such a trivial case of corruption? And despite his efforts to help, Zhang Xin still ended up being exiled to Jiaozhi.
He casually threw the letter into the charcoal brazier to burn it. Suddenly, he remembered that his brothers Zhang Chao and Zhang Qi had joined the army and were steadily making progress, which was safer than Zhang Yue’s situation outside. He felt somewhat helpless. With him, a duke, in the way, it was hard to predict what Zhang Yue’s future would hold. If it were his own son…

Shaking his head, he drove this unrealistic idea out of his mind and picked up another letter. Seeing it was signed by Zhang Zhuo, he was quite surprised. After reading its contents, his expression became uncertain. Zhang Zhuo mentioned using a staff member from Hainan and said that this person claimed the Qiu family members of the former Qi State had lived a miserable life in Hainan.

It had been almost ten years, and Zhang Fu thought he had completely forgotten about it, yet just one mention was enough to bring back so many memories. When he first helped establish the dynasty, he was merely the Marquis of Xinan. It was only through the persistent persuasion of Qiu Fu and Zhu Neng that he was granted the title of Marquis of Xincheng. However, Zhu Neng died of illness in the army, Qiu Fu suffered a crushing defeat in his northern campaign and died, losing his title. Now, among those who had contributed to the Jingnan Campaign and held the title of duke, only Marquis Zhu Yong remained. He still remembered Zhu Di’s unparalleled fury when news of Qiu Fu’s defeat reached him. For this reason, when Zhu Di later vented his anger on the entire Qiu family, neither he nor the other military officials dared to advise against it.

After all, Qiu Fu’s defeat was a shame for all the military officials who had supported the Jingnan Campaign with loyalty and effort! And yet, it was the emperor himself who ultimately redressed this humiliation! The Qiu family had once reaped glory and wealth because of Qiu Fu, so naturally, his defeat affected the entire family. If Zhang Fu had made a mistake during his campaign in Jiaozhi, the Zhang family would also not be mentioned among the prominent families of the Ming Dynasty!

Just like Zhang Yue today—bearing the expectations of everyone, he probably couldn’t yet fathom the price he would have to pay.