Chapter 692: Unwilling to Accept It!

Upon receiving news from Nanjing and along the way, the HanWangfu immediately took urgent action, organizing all the inspection stations along the official road in Shandong to conduct thorough checks, aiming to intercept Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji. Thus, Wang Bin was greatly impressed by Mei Qing’s foresight. After all, he hadn’t expected those inspection officers, who only commanded a few dozen archers and were of the ninth rank, to be so useful at such a critical juncture.

The more he believed in this arrangement, the more incredulous he became. After a moment of shock, he snapped at his bodyguards in frustration, “There are two routes from Dezhou to the capital: one goes from Dezhou to Jinghai and Tianjin before reaching the capital; the other goes from Dezhou to Zhuozhou before reaching the capital. But both routes must pass through Dezhou! With such strict inspections along the way, not even a mosquito can get through! Even if he takes a detour through Henan, they’ve already set up a tight net there! Besides, Liu Guan, the Left Censor-in-Chief, took the canal route. If that man were to take the water route, he would surely notice if someone preceded him!”

“But that’s news sent by the Jinyiwei’s insiders—there can be no lies! They also said that the crown prince intends to use Zhang Yue as a scapegoat. Even if they capture him, the court won’t care about his fate. Instead, we’ll offend the Duke of Ying!”

Hearing the words “Jinyiwei’s insiders,” Wang Bin was momentarily speechless. But upon hearing about the scapegoat and offending the Duke of Ying, he suddenly understood and snorted in anger, deeply unwilling to accept it. Seeing Zhang Yue standing with his arms crossed, he finally managed to force a smile: “It seems Lord Zhang won’t be visiting the mansion this time. Since that’s the case, I won’t insist. But I do have one piece of advice: Your Zhang family already holds great power. No matter how loyal you are, the greater your achievements, the more suspicion the higher-ups will have. Don’t end up working hard for nothing! That’s all I have to say. Consider it carefully.”

With that, he shouted, “Leave behind your belongings! Let’s head back to the mansion!”

In just a moment, these men in black armor left behind a few boxes of items before retreating as swiftly as they had arrived. The servants, who had been on high alert, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Peng Shisan clapped his horse’s rump and rode over. Seeing Zhang Yue still lost in thought, he chuckled and said, “Well, has the young master been persuaded by his words?”

“I’m not that useless!” Zhang Yue sneered, then said without looking back, “In dealing with people, those who are content are often happy. He doesn’t even know my plans, so how could his advice meant for mediocre people reach my ears? It’s getting late. Go and get everyone ready; we must set off soon!”
“Should we go through Tianjin or Zhuozhou?”
“Zhuozhou.”
With just three concise words, Zhang Yue calculated the time it would take to go there and back, guessing that Zhu Zhanji must have already joined forces with the large contingent sent from the capital. The route via Tianjin was much shorter, but since the shrewd Yuan Fang had chosen the latter route for Zhu Zhanji, he likely had already uncovered some clues—such as officers in the Tianjin garrisons colluding with the Prince of Han.
Not only in the Tianjin garrisons, but probably among the over hundred thousand troops in the capital guard as well, many might already be supporting the Prince of Han. With two emperors dying in less than a year, countless people in the court and among the common folk would be filled with fear. Since signs of unrest were already appearing, it was necessary to act swiftly to quell them. She only hoped the Prince of Han would act decisively this time and not drag things on.
As Zhang Yue had predicted, when he arrived in Baoding Prefecture, news had already reached them: Xia Yuanji was waiting in Liangxiang under the imperial edict. The Crown Prince, having received the late emperor’s last orders, was rushing back to the capital at full speed, and everyone was safe.
Emperor Zhu Gaochi died leaving behind an edict. Although Empress Zhang was heartbroken, life in the Qianqing Palace continued as usual, with no signs indicating the death of the emperor. Zhu Ning took care of the palace affairs, and she had no time to worry about the concubines, focusing instead on state affairs. Before his death, Zhu Gaochi had instructed her to handle government affairs until the Crown Prince returned, but what concerned her most was whether the area bordering North Zhili and Shandong-Henan was peaceful and whether the Crown Prince could return safely. It wasn’t until she received a letter sent by Zhu Zhanji and had Xia Yuanji escorted to Liangxiang by the Jinyiwei that her worries finally subsided, allowing her some leisure to focus on other matters.

At this moment, on the large desk in front of her lay several thin memorials. The first concerned the fact that since Huang Fu’s return, Jiaozhi had once again fallen into turmoil, with frequent uprisings by local tribes that could not be quelled despite repeated military campaigns. The second related to the ongoing battles among various Mongol tribes beyond the borders—first, the three Oirat tribes engaged in continuous fighting, and then the remnants of Arutai tried to take advantage of the chaos. After the situation became utterly chaotic, four tribes jointly approached the Ming envoys, asking them to mediate. The third issue was a rebellion by barbarians in Dateng Gorge in Guangxi, prompting the local governor to request troops and aid from the imperial court. While the first two issues might not require additional troops from the court, the third definitely did.

However, it should be noted that the court’s most urgent military needs were elsewhere—discontent among the Han vassal states made it difficult to maintain peace in the realm. Thinking of this, she ordered that these military matters be discussed by the five provincial administrations.

All three military matters had been reported by the Ministry of War and simultaneously copied to the five military governorates. Recently, the five administrations had been busy dealing with matters related to the capital’s military forces, leaving no time to address external issues. Now, upon seeing these reports, Liu Sheng, the most straightforward-minded among them, frowned deeply and said irritably, “What time is it? Do we still have time to deal with such trivial matters?”

Seeing that no one, including Zhang Fu, spoke up, he angrily stood up and said, “We’re all men who have fought on the battlefield. Don’t imitate those sly civil officials! I bet everyone here has had lobbyists come to their homes these past few days! I just drove them away. What kind of famous or brave generals are they? Those who haven’t been to battle in twenty years—how much skill do they still have left? What’s there to fear? It’s because of your ambiguous attitudes that the emperor trusts those civil officials and ignores us!”

While others kept their thoughts to themselves, Liu Sheng’s outburst left everyone, including Zhang Fu, extremely embarrassed. Chen Mao, the Marquis of Ningyang, seeing that Zhang Fu remained silent, stood up to defuse the situation. After a brief discussion, they came up with a rough strategy: send the veteran minister Huang Fu back to Jiaozhi to restore order; regarding the situation beyond the borders, wait until the imperial envoys returned; as for the barbarians in Dateng Gorge, a place that had been unstable since the Hongwu era, it would be sufficient to send Gu Xingzu, the Marquis of Zhenyuan who had previously governed Guizhou, to lead troops to suppress them.

As they parted ways, Zhang Fu noticed Liu Sheng’s displeased expression and called him back. The two had been colleagues for many years—one a hereditary duke, the top hero of the four campaigns in Jiaozhi, and the other a hereditary marquis, highly favored and ranking among the nobles after the five expeditions beyond the Great Wall. In the new dynasty, one served as Grand Tutor in charge of the Central Palace, while the other served as Tutor to the Crown Prince, in charge of the Right Palace—both holding positions at the pinnacle of official rank. Now, as they rode in the sedan together, Liu Sheng, once he sat down, snapped out an annoyed remark.

“Duke Yingguo, you’re just over fifty now, at the prime of your life. Why do you resort to the ways of those old civil officials?” Seeing Zhang Fu remain calm, he couldn’t suppress his anger any longer. He pressed down on the table in the sedan, almost standing up. “Just now, news came that the Crown Prince received the imperial edict in Liangxiang and is now on his way back. I won’t say anything else, but why weren’t any of us military officials present during the emperor’s critical illness? You were entrusted with a vital mission when the emperor was seriously ill and led everyone to defend the entire capital like an iron fortress. Yet, at that crucial moment, they still couldn’t trust us…”

“Stop saying these things,” Zhang Fu interrupted as Liu Sheng grew more impassioned. Seeing the once most trusted Marquis of Anyuan’s defiance, he raised his voice. “There’s no need for you to test me with these words. Times have changed. We’ve been nobles for over twenty years and have reached the pinnacle of our careers. Are those civil officials who haven’t reached the top and don’t hold military power more trustworthy, or are we military officials who command powerful forces and enjoy great prestige?”

“Do you mean our good days are over?” Liu Sheng, though rough-spoken, was astute enough to assess the situation. That’s how he had risen from a mere hundred-household commander to his current position. But that didn’t mean he was willing to be a noble without real power like the Duke of Weiguo or the Duke of Dingguo. Sitting down resentfully, he gritted his teeth. “I still say what I said today—when it comes to taking down that man, I’ll volunteer! I refuse to believe that after achieving such military feats, I’d be inferior to those civil officials!”

Zhang Fu hadn’t expected Liu Sheng to have such thoughts—but it was also a notion he had once harbored. Since the Han and Tang dynasties, the drawbacks of military rule had been well known, which was why Emperor Hongwu had carried out mass purges of meritorious officials. They were fortunate to have met an emperor like Zhu Di who knew how to appoint capable people. But the problem was that families had to be passed down. He could give up power, but if his descendants could only hold nominal titles with no real chance for advancement, that was something he could never tolerate.

After Liu Sheng got out of the sedan chair, Zhang Fu did not order a return to his own mansion but instead instructed them to head to the Yangwu Bo’s residence in Wu’an Hou Hutong. The large eight-pole sedan chair came to a stop in front of the west gate, and immediately a doorkeeper rushed out to greet them. Under the ban prohibiting military officials from using sedan chairs, the only person in the entire capital who could ride such a large chair was Zhang Fu, to whom the emperor had granted both a heated and a cooled sedan chair.

“Duke Yingguo, the eldest and second young masters are still in the army, and the fourth young master has become a Hanlin scholar and is also not here…”

“Is Zhang Zhuo at home?”

The young doorkeeper was one of the long-serving servants sent from the Zhang family’s old home in Kaifeng by Zhang Xin. He assumed that Zhang Fu must be here to discuss matters with one of the young masters, so he was stunned upon hearing this question. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and quickly nodded, saying, “The third young master is definitely at home. His illness has only just improved slightly; he’s probably in his study right now.”

Zhang Fu nodded and waved his hand, indicating that no guidance was needed. He walked around the large screen wall in front of him and headed straight down the bluestone path. After passing through several corridors, he entered the courtyard, where he saw a servant dozing off under the veranda of the study. Without making a sound, he climbed the steps, lifted the bamboo curtain in front of the door, and then coughed softly.

Zhang Zhuo, who was standing with his back to the door, lost in thought in front of the bookshelf, immediately turned around at the sound of the cough. Seeing it was Zhang Fu, he was greatly surprised and quickly stepped forward, saying, “Brother Fu, how did you come here?”

“Gao Quan isn’t here, and those servants in this house are quite cunning. I told them no need for an announcement, yet they remained silent. If someone else had come in and discovered the truth about your so-called serious illness, it would have been disastrous.” Seeing Zhang Zhuo sigh bitterly and invite him to sit, Zhang Fu sighed and said, “I understand your difficulties. Although our aunt made many arrangements before she passed away, hoping that the three of you wouldn’t split up the family, no gathering lasts forever. You can’t just interfere in everything so openly.”

Zhang Zhuo didn’t want to bring up this topic and quickly changed the subject, asking, “What important matter brought you here today, Brother Fu? Yue still doesn’t know when he’ll return, and Jiu and the others are also outside these days; they might not be back tonight.”

“Today, I’m not here to seek your son or nephews; I just want to talk to you.” Seeing Zhang Zhuo’s unexpected reaction, Zhang Fu couldn’t help but laugh. “What, is it so strange that I want to talk to you? Everyone else sees only your son. As his father, you passed the imperial examinations alongside him yet remain obscure, while only you act as if nothing’s wrong. Yue Ge is indeed intelligent and capable, but without a father like you to support him, he wouldn’t have had such an easy path. It’s truly rare to find a father like you.”

Having experienced days of being looked down upon for achieving nothing, Zhang Zhuo had always maintained a calm mindset. He simply smiled indifferently and said, “I have only this one son. He knows to strive for success on his own. Since I’m not even satisfied with him, I naturally must do my utmost to remove all obstacles from his path. Besides, with my own abilities, how could I rise to the fifth rank so quickly before the period of mourning?”

“Good, as long as you, as a father, are content with this! Previously, to keep it secret, I had to use the excuse of your serious illness. I really feel guilty about that.” Zhang Fu chuckled awkwardly before seriously revealing the truth about the emperor’s death. Seeing Zhang Zhuo stunned, he shared all his concerns and thoughts one by one. Finally, he sighed and said, “When the crown prince returns to the capital, Yue Ge will surely have played a crucial role. After he ascends the throne, he will trust Yue Ge even more. I plan to volunteer to hand over command of the troops at that time, but before that… if the King of Han rebels, I want to lead troops to suppress him.”

“Absolutely not!”

Zhang Zhuo, who had always obeyed Zhang Fu without question, instinctively spoke up to stop him this time. When Zhang Fu stared at him, he lowered his head and after a long while, explained earnestly, “Brother Fu, the King of Han was once a comrade of the nobles. Leading troops against him out of personal motives would be inappropriate. From a public perspective, civil officials will surely be suspicious of military commanders. Changing commanders mid-battle or doubting them in battle is inevitable. Wouldn’t that create an even more awkward situation? Permit me to say this: once the crown prince ascends the throne, there will inevitably be those with ulterior motives, both inside and outside. A personal campaign is necessary to intimidate them. You might as well ask the emperor to lead the campaign himself!”

These days, this thought had been plaguing Zhang Fu. It was only today, because of Liu Sheng’s mention, that he spoke of it for the first time. Yet, after carefully considering what Zhang Zhuo had said, he shook his head in frustration: “It seems I was indeed wrong. I still can’t shake my military habits, always preferring to prove myself through such fights… Today, Marquis Anyuan Liu Sheng asked if anyone had come to persuade us. I really wanted to tell him that none had. At this point, as the Duke of Yingguo and Grand Tutor as well as Commander of the Central Garrison, what more powerful argument could I offer even if someone tried to persuade me? It’s not for myself—I just can’t bear it! Watching Yue Ge progress step by step, I really don’t want to end up as a wealthy but idle person in the future…”
Just as the two cousins sat in silence, a figure suddenly pushed aside the bamboo curtain and rushed in—it was the servant who had dozed off in the corridor earlier. Seeing Zhang Fu there, his eyes widened instantly, and he quickly reported, “My lord, the Duke of Yingguo, the streets are in an uproar—the Jinyiwei is protecting the Crown Prince as he enters the capital!”