Chapter 911: Household Matters Are Hard to Cleanse

The Censorate, located on Jingji Road, was adjacent to the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishments, making it a crucial institution in the legal system. Over the years, however, due to the reestablishment and rise of the Jinyiwei, a significant portion of the power to decide on punishments was taken away from them. As a result, the Censorate gradually became focused solely on the imperial court rather than the common people, with most censors concentrating their attention on high-ranking officials in the court. It was easier to impeach these nobles compared to the highly favored ministers in the government. The reason was simple: although these nobles were meritorious, they were usually from the second or third generation, and their favor with the emperor was not as great as before. If they were impeached, their reputations would be damaged; even if not, they would at least gain a reputation for integrity. As for whether these nobles would retaliate later, that depended on their own capabilities.

After all, while seeking fame, one also had to protect oneself—a skill in itself.

Although Gu Zuo was dissatisfied with this practice, he had no choice. After all, the evaluation of censors differed from that of other government offices. Since tangible achievements could not be used as a basis for assessment, fulfilling the duty of impeachment became the only criterion. At least under his supervision, there was no such excesses as those seen under Liu Guan before.

So one day, after carefully considering recommending four officials to attend the lectures at the Hongwen Pavilion, he casually flipped through the excerpts of imperial memorials sent by the General Administration of Communications. This had become a routine over the years. Though he did not interfere with the submissions of imperial memorials, he still needed to be aware of their contents. He wouldn’t take any credit for others’ work, but if someone caused a major problem, knowing about it in advance would allow him to find a way to remedy it and prevent bigger disasters.

Although this didn’t earn him gratitude, and some censors even spoke ill of him behind his back, he didn’t care. As the Left Censor-in-Chief, he wasn’t meant to be thanked. He held this position only to rectify the atmosphere in the Censorate, living up to Yang Shiji’s recommendation and the emperor’s trust and expectations.

When he reached one of the entries, he immediately frowned. He read those few brief lines carefully, even tapping his fingers thoughtfully on the armrest. Finally, he copied down those lines, called over a scribe, handed him the paper, gave a few quiet instructions, and sent the man away. Those lines kept him uneasy until an hour later, when the scribe rushed back with another document, at which point he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, it would have been better not to read it at all. After reading it from start to finish, even though Gu Zuo had already anticipated this, his expression remained grave. He sat there in thought for a while before asking the scribe waiting below what time it was, then suddenly stood up. “Go prepare a carriage—go…” The word “go” left his lips, but the next two words were cut off mid-sentence. After hesitating for a long time, he finally waved his hand and said, “It’s fine. Go back to your work.” It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that Gu Zuo suppressed his urge to summon the censor who had submitted the report and headed out. Having served as an official for many years, he had mostly relied on his salary to live, and he also had to support the poor members of his family each year. Thus, even though he held a high official position, his means of transportation was just an ordinary mule cart with black paint and a rough cloth cover, looking even more shabby than that of ordinary scholars. On his way home from the office, he had the driver take the cart on a small circuit around the streets of the capital before finally making up his mind. “Go to the Du family’s residence in Wugong Hutong.” Ever since Lady Du Qiu was attacked last time, Wugong Hutong had become a bit more bustling than before. As soon as Gu Zuo’s cart turned into the hutong, the driver noticed a few officials wandering around. After getting off the cart in front of the Du family’s residence, Gu Zuo merely frowned slightly upon seeing this scene. He had heard that the Du father and son had refused the inspection by officials from Wanping County in Shuntian Prefecture and the Southern City Military Command, but given what had happened, it wasn’t strange for the three major government agencies to send people to keep an eye on them in turn. So, after the driver went forward to introduce himself at the gate, the gatekeeper bowed politely and invited him to sit inside the gatehouse, then rushed inside to report the news—Gu Zuo wasn’t displeased by this. After all, the Du family’s residence was usually deserted, and it wasn’t surprising that they didn’t recognize him, aside from during court meetings when he met Du Zhen at the Yang family’s residence. Yet, after waiting for a short while, the person who came in through the curtain surprised him—it was none other than Zhang Yue! Upon seeing Gu Zuo, Zhang Yue bowed immediately and then explained, “I happened to finish work early today. Knowing that my father-in-law might not be back, I came over first. I didn’t expect to run into Governor Gu. Are you here to look for your father-in-law? He never has a fixed schedule for returning home. If possible, please come inside; it’s the same as talking to me. If not, you might as well leave a note; he will come to see you when he returns.”

On ordinary days, interactions between them were always based on official ranks. But now that Zhang Yue acted in a thoroughly subordinate manner, Gu Zuo found himself in a dilemma. He had originally thought that since Du Zhen had Zhang Yue as his son-in-law, he must be well-informed about the Zhang family’s affairs, so he wanted to verify this indirectly. Thus, after looking at Zhang Yue for a moment, he nodded hesitantly.
“Very well. It’s no different if I ask you.”
Only then did Zhang Yue realize that Gu Zuo had come for matters related to him. His heart stirred, and he gestured for Gu Zuo to follow as he led the way. Upon arriving at the main hall, Mingxin Hall, he invited Gu Zuo to sit down and ordered tea to be served. Once everyone else had left, he asked, “Governor Gu mentioned earlier that he had something to ask. Since there are no distractions now, feel free to ask.”
After a brief thought, Gu Zuo asked directly, “Since Yuan Jie has spoken thus, I’ll get straight to the point… Among the brothers of the Duke of Yingguo, is there anyone who has taken self-castrated servants?”
At these words, Zhang Yue was instantly stunned. By “self-castrated servants,” he meant those who castrated themselves without official permission in order to enter the palace and become eunuchs. Although eunuchs were considered incomplete people, at least they could find food in the palace. If lucky, like Wang Jin, Fan Hong, or Jin Ying, they might even earn the respect of ordinary officials—a path to rising above ordinary people. Yet, among those who castrated themselves, only a few managed to enter the palace, while the rest were rejected. As a result, this group naturally ended up in a worse situation than the poor, despite repeated attempts to ban such practices.
After all, it wasn’t his own household. Even though he knew Lady Wang of the Duke of Yingguo’s residence was strict in managing household affairs, he still couldn’t guarantee anything. So Zhang Yue carefully recalled and finally shook his head, saying, “The Duke of Yingguo’s residence and garden in the capital probably don’t have any self-castrated servants. But as for Uncle Zhang Fu and Uncle Zhang Jie, I can’t be sure. Could it be that Governor Gu has heard some rumors?”
“It’s not just a rumor; someone has already submitted a complaint,” Gu Zuo said emphatically, adding gravely, “The Duke of Yingguo is a key official in the country, always acting fairly and strictly. If he loses his composure over such trivial matters, it would be meaningless. Even if it wasn’t the Duke who did it but Zhang Fu or Zhang Jie, spreading the news would still damage the reputation of the Zhang family.”

Gu Zuo spoke these words with deep sincerity, and Zhang Yue quickly got up to thank him. Since what needed to be said had been said, Gu Zuo did not stay any longer. He said a few more words before taking his leave. Zhang Yue personally saw him to the door. Once the carriage left, he stood there with a frown, thinking that he had originally planned to send Zhang Jue far away, only to find that someone else had taken action first. He believed that Zhang Fu would not leave anything behind that could be used against him, but it was hard to say the same about those two brothers.

However, everyone with even a bit of insight in the court knew about the character of Zhang Jue and Zhang Jue. Moreover, it was not the first time those two had tarnished the reputation of the Zhang family. Anyone with eyes could easily distinguish between Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu and those two brothers. But having such trouble right in front of one’s eyes was certainly not comforting. So, after standing at the door for a while, he turned back, gave a few instructions to Yue Shan, then called for his attendants and mounted his horse to leave.

After leaving Xiao Shi Yong Fang, they headed north along Xuanwu Gate Street, then east along Huangqiang North Street, until they reached the British Park in Tieshi Zi Hutong, where they dismounted. A sharp-eyed servant had already come forward to greet them, and those inside had gone in ahead to give notice. Thus, when Zhang Yue stepped behind the screen, the old steward Rong Shan came forward with a smile.

“If Young Master Yue has come to see his wife, she is currently in the garden with the Third Madam and several ladies watching a play. If he has come to see his father, after dinner, the father is in the garden teaching the Eldest Young Master archery.”

Hearing that his mother was there, Zhang Yue was not surprised. He nodded and said, “I have some matters to discuss with my great-uncle.”

It was darker now than in winter, but for ordinary families, most still went to bed right after dinner, as they couldn’t afford to waste lamp oil. Of course, the prestigious residence of the Duke Yingguo could hardly be so frugal. Besides, Zhang Fu now only attended court on designated days and was ordered to focus solely on military matters. If there were no such matters, he could simply sit at home and enjoy his life. Therefore, he didn’t care much about the additional troupe added to the household. Hearing the sounds of music and singing from inside, he couldn’t help but shake his head.

Ten lanterns along the straight road burned with resin torches. Though they didn’t illuminate the area as brightly as daylight, they were still quite bright. Seeing Tian Ci hesitating on horseback, Zhang Fu shouted sharply, “There are not only daytime battles in the army but also night battles. It’s already very bright here. If you can’t hit more than six out of ten arrows, your archery skills are still not up to par!”

At his father’s shout, Tian Ci immediately gritted his teeth, took an arrow from his quiver, nocked it with his left hand, then squeezed his thighs against the horse’s flanks and spurred it forward at full speed. Just then, Zhang Yue arrived here under Rong Shan’s guidance and saw a rider speeding along the straight path, with the sound of drawing bows and arrows hitting targets echoing continuously. After a while, the sound of horse hooves gradually faded, and he stepped forward, clapping his hands gently a few times. “To hit six out of ten arrows in such dim light—what excellent marksmanship!” It was then that Zhang Fu turned around and saw it was Zhang Yue. He smiled and nodded, then said, “Don’t just praise him. Only if he could hit six out of ten arrows even when more than half of those torches have gone out would that be considered decent. But to reach that level, he still needs at least five or six more years of hard practice.” “Your uncle sets too high a standard for Tian Ci… But as the saying goes, a tiger’s son is still a dog—only he can carry on your legacy, so that the Zhang family name can endure.” Seeing Tian Ci return at full speed, he happily dismounted and rushed forward, but before reaching him, he glanced at Zhang Fu first before calling out, “Third Brother Yue.” Zhang Yue couldn’t help but smile, give him a thumbs up, and say, “I went to the armory earlier. They’ve made a new batch of fine bows. I’ll pick one out and give it to you later. The emperor ordered these to be made, so they must be of top quality—almost masterfully crafted.” “Don’t dote on him all the time.” Seeing Tian Ci so overjoyed, Zhang Fu couldn’t help but dampen his enthusiasm. When he saw Zhang Yue pulling him aside to talk, he shook his head and waved him away before saying, “As an elder brother, you’re too indulgent with him. He was born into a noble family and already has everything. He needs to go through some trials. By the way, it’s so late—why didn’t you go home to be with your wife? What brings you here?” “There is something.” Zhang Yue briefly recounted what Gu Zuo had said earlier. Seeing Zhang Fu’s expression change under the light of the torches, he grew uncertain: “Could it be that your uncle really took in Zi Jing as a slave?”

“There shouldn’t be any at home, but there should be some on the farmland. The field managers mentioned before that there are few tenant farmers in the north, and the land isn’t enough for cultivation, so they hired some self-cleansing servants. But they aren’t proper tenant farmers—more like laborers. Since these people were those the palace didn’t want anymore, the field managers said it was better to give them food than to watch them starve. So your aunt thought compassion was important and agreed. I knew about this too, but I didn’t expect it to be exposed. As for your second uncle and third uncle…”
Zhang Fu paused for a moment before finally telling the truth: “Those two families probably also keep people working on their farmland, probably even more harshly than us. They treat them as slaves who sold themselves for protection, even including their families. I’ve warned them, but they either refuse to listen or claim it’s their choice. I can only let them do as they wish. To be honest, since the capital was moved, at least a thousand or two thousand self-cleansing people from places like Baoding Prefecture haven’t been able to enter the palace and mostly work on the lands of various nobles. Your family’s land is mostly under your uncle’s name, with some being sacrificial land. Besides, your family doesn’t own much land, so they don’t owe any taxes or fees. That’s why no one thought this was a big deal. It’s no wonder you didn’t know.”
Since last year when the land was surveyed, Zhang Yue had instructed Zhang Qi and Zhang Jiu to keep an eye on the farmland, making sure not to tamper with the taxes due, and to check for any occupation of commoners’ land. He always thought the land matters were clear and free of problems. But now he realized that perfection in one aspect didn’t mean there were no flaws in another. So, he pressed his forehead and said with a bitter smile, “What should we do then?”
“Let them file accusations. We can just submit a memorial to apologize later. As for those self-cleansing people… once the truth comes out, they surely won’t be able to stay. They’ll probably be sent to guard the borders.”
At this moment, Zhang Yue felt a heavy weight in his heart. Everyone was at fault, but those who would suffer the most were the poor people who had castrated themselves and were now forced to leave their homes. Shaking his head and sighing, he had accompanied Zhang Fu back to the study, revealing a bit more about what he had planned earlier, until he finally got Zhang Fu’s approval.
“Since that’s the case, go ahead and do it. Don’t worry about the rest. I’ll take care of everything.”