Chapter 696: Rebellion at Last! Verbal Battles
The King of Han has rebelled!
For both the court and the common people, this news caused a great stir at first but quickly settled down. It wasn’t particularly shocking—since the crown prince was designated during the Yongle era, Zhu Gaoxu, the King of Han, had never stopped trying to seize the throne. Even after being exiled to Le’an, he would still occasionally cause trouble, reminding everyone that he still existed as a man eyeing the imperial throne. Yet for many court officials, upon hearing this news, they were both shocked and angry, staying awake all night worried, while some felt relieved.
Everyone knew this man intended to rebel, and now that he had finally done so, they no longer had to worry about it! Moreover, the Duke of Yingguo personally delivering that green token to the palace undoubtedly showed the nobles’ stance, allowing them to feel somewhat at ease.
Zhu Gaoxu had once been the bravest in the army, but no matter how brave he was, he was just one person. Even with the Tiance guards and the strong men from Shandong, it wouldn’t be as daunting as when Zhu Di had established five separate armies. The real concern would be if the military nobles allied with the King of Han, causing all the imperial guards to turn against them—that would be the most serious situation. Now, that major concern no longer existed. Besides Zhang Fu delivering the green token to the emperor, Marquis Anyuan Liu Sheng also openly volunteered for battle; these were two top-notch warriors.
Although Zhu Zhanji nearly encountered danger on his return, he still rewarded the Han and Zhao princely domains generously, following his father’s example—after all, the emperor couldn’t afford to give anyone any leverage. Furthermore, when the King of Han submitted a memorial on state affairs, Zhu Zhanji specially held a court meeting to discuss possible actions, showing respect to this defiant and ambitious uncle. Now that he heard the King of Han had rebelled, though he said nothing outwardly, he was inwardly relieved and immediately ordered a court meeting.
Since this matter involved treason, military affairs, and the governance of princely domains, this time as many as seventy or eighty people attended the meeting. Apart from civil officials above the fourth rank, almost all the nobles from the Five Armies Commanderies and top military officers were present. However, Zhang Fu, who had taken the unexpected action the previous night, remained silent, and the others were even less willing to speak. Only a few nobles like Marquis Ningyang Chen Mao managed to utter a few words. Most of the time, all that could be heard were the verbal battles among the civil officials.
“Once the King of Han raised an army, he seized all the livestock and horses in the neighboring prefectures and counties. He also coordinated with the nearby military garrisons from afar. Given this, not to mention Qingzhou Prefecture, even Jinan Prefecture would be in danger! The top priority is to dispatch troops immediately to stop him from growing stronger!”
“Jinan Prefecture? The King of Han has been ambitious since the Yongle era. He refused to leave Nanjing and was reluctant to go to Yunnan for his fief. He only reluctantly went to Le’an. If he were to raise an army, he would most likely march south to Nanjing, control the south while holding the north, and seek to wage war! Therefore, sending orders to Nanjing to strengthen its defenses is of utmost importance!”
“The coastal garrisons in Shandong that combat Japanese pirates are better equipped than those in the interior. If the King of Han gains control of those elite troops, the entire province of Shandong will fall sooner or later. We must send capable generals there as soon as possible to persuade them, so as to prevent the troops from being corrupted, otherwise the situation will become utterly chaotic!”
At that moment, the ones arguing fiercely were Li Qing, the Minister of War, Lü Zhen, the Minister of Rites, and Wu Zhong, the Minister of Works. All three were elderly officials over sixty years old, yet they were full of energy, almost acting as if no one else was around. Zhang Yue, who stood below the two deputy censors of the Censorate, had listened to their arguments for nearly half an hour, his ears ringing. Seeing that none of the cabinet ministers like Yang Shiqi had spoken yet, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
It was no longer the era when cabinet ministers handled state affairs without official ranks. Among them, Yang Shiqi held the position of Minister of War and concurrently served as Tutor to the Crown Prince, both of first rank; Huang Huai held the position of Minister of Revenue and concurrently served as Protector to the Crown Prince, also of first rank; Yang Rong held the position of Minister of Works and concurrently served as Tutor to the Crown Prince’s son, of second rank; Jin Youzi held the position of Minister of Rites and concurrently served as Protector to the Crown Prince’s son, also of second rank; Du Zhen held the position of Minister of Justice and concurrently served as Protector to the Crown Prince’s son, also of second rank. In terms of rank and favor, these five were on par with the ministers of the six departments. With them all silent, Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji, who led the civil officials based on seniority and prestige, were clearly still deliberating. Even the noble officials had all fallen silent. What was there for these three to argue over?
Perhaps sensing the silence around them, the three ministers gradually stopped arguing and returned to their original positions. At that moment, Jian Yi, who was tasked with presiding over the court meeting alongside Zhang Fu, had just whispered to Zhang Fu for a while before gently coughing. “Ministers Li, Lü, and Wu believe that the King of Han might attack Jinan Prefecture or Nanjing, or seize control of the coastal garrisons. Additionally, they suggest sending troops to suppress him. This is a serious matter. Please write down your opinions on slips of paper, and the two clerks will compile them.”
There had already been debates at first, and later Lu Zhen and the others listed several possibilities. The rest just exchanged glances and decided it was better to say less, each burying themselves in deep thought and writing. Since it was his first time participating in such an event, Zhang Yue originally planned to remain silent, but since Jian Yi had spoken up, he couldn’t just scribble a simple agreement on a piece of paper. Realizing that Zhu Zhanji must have sent secret orders to Liujiagang upon returning to the capital, he knew that even if Zhu Gaoxu did send troops to the coastal defense posts in Shandong, the number of men would not be large, and Zhu Gaoxu himself would not live long. After some deliberation, he wrote only a few words on the paper.
Twenty minutes later, Jian Yi ordered all the notes to be gathered together. In such a short time, most people kept their remarks brief, while among the military officials, aside from a few like Zhang Fu, many handed in blank papers. Having been the head of civil officials since the Yongle era, Jian Yi was used to this and didn’t find it unusual. He spent over half an hour organizing the documents with two officials.
The result was that most people believed Zhu Gaoxu would attack Jinan and take control of Denglai, thus seizing the entire province of Shandong; a small number thought he would gather all his forces to capture Nanjing at once, as it was the capital of the Jinling kingdom and would give him a just cause. After discussing this, he talked briefly with Zhang Fu and immediately decided to go to the Qianqing Palace to report back.
Although Jian Yi and Zhang Fu were leading the court meeting, those who went to the Qianqing Palace also included cabinet ministers like Xia Yuanji and Yang Shiqi, as well as four other governors from the five military regions. Once these important figures left, the others naturally dispersed as well. Zhang Yue, filled with confusion, was about to leave when someone called out to him. Recognizing it as an old acquaintance from earlier—Liu Zhong, the former commander of Shandong—he couldn’t help but smile and say, “General Liu, after wandering around outside for so long, you’ve finally made it to the governor’s office?”
“What ‘finally’? I’d rather eat sand outside Kaiping Pass than muddle along in the capital,” Liu Zhong grumbled irritably before grinning at Zhang Yue and saying, “No more ‘General Liu’—your future looks bright now. If you want to curry favor, it should be me calling you ‘Zhang the Great’! By the way, you seem preoccupied. What did you write on your note just now?”
If the question were directed at someone else, Zhang Yue would naturally evade it vaguely. But Liu Zhong had once helped his boss in Shandong and was quite familiar with the situation there, so he couldn’t afford to deceive him and simply told the truth: “I wrote that the King of Han is fierce on the surface but weak inside; he pretends to be a capable ruler only to make people from all directions think he’s a wise leader so they’ll flock to him. In reality, he isn’t that capable. Emperor Taizong fought against the Mongols in the north for years without stopping, while the King of Han hasn’t been to battle in over twenty years. If a real fight broke out, he wouldn’t be able to show the bravery that made him stand out among his troops back then. So he won’t launch an attack easily; he’ll probably wait for the court to take a step before moving as well.”
“Huh?”
Liu Zhong gave Zhang Yue a strange look before dragging him outside. By now, most people had left, leaving only him and Zhang Yue in the wide corridor. It was then he spoke up: “Many in the Five Armies Command are guessing who will lead the troops on this expedition, considering it a deadly mission in secret. You actually dare to speak up! But after being in Shandong for so many years, I think much the same as you—after not fighting for over twenty years, even the strongest man would be useless!”
“Did Marshal Liu write the same?”
“I don’t have your courage. I just echoed others’ opinions that the King of Han probably wants to seize Shandong as a base to claim the imperial throne,” Liu Zhong replied irritably, then quickly understood why Zhang Yue asked that question, feeling puzzled as well. “Since Minister Jian said nothing just now, he probably thinks your proposal is too bold and has kept it aside. Ah, don’t worry too much. Just look at the expressions of those three ministers today—there are too many who want to claim credit for this!”
Zhang Yue wasn’t surprised by the stark difference in attitude between civil and military officials. He also knew that whether his suggestions were made or not, Zhu Zhanji, who already had his plans, wouldn’t be deceived by Zhu Gaoxu, so he wasn’t worried. After parting with Liu Zhong, he returned to the Censorate. Since Liu Guan had left the capital, Zhu Zhanji had used the matter of the Suzhou governor to reprimand the censors, leaving everyone in the Censorate in awe. Now, with no one bothering to flatter him or exclude him, his life was naturally carefree.
However, at dusk, just as the offices were closing, Chen Wu, who had recently been promoted to eunuch in the imperial household and had his name changed to Wang Jin, hurried over with two young eunuchs. With the Censorate repeatedly reprimanded by the emperor and everyone still in a state of shock and fear, Wang Jin’s arrival naturally caused a stir. The deputy censors in charge of office affairs waited for a long time before learning that Wang Jin had gone straight to look for Zhang Yue. Though they breathed a sigh of relief, they were also filled with concern.
“Lord Zhang, I am here by the emperor’s orders to ask you something,” said Wang Jin, who had now become a prominent figure in the palace. Aside from his changed way of addressing himself, his tone remained as deferential as ever. He gently placed a piece of paper on the table in front of Zhang Yue and asked, “Is this your opinion from the previous court discussion?”
With just one glance, Zhang Yue recognized it as his own writing, so he nodded calmly, “Indeed.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Jin took the paper back. “Minister Jian told the emperor that since you believed the Han King would hide in Le’an—an opinion different from everyone else’s—he didn’t want you to stand out too much, so he didn’t mention it to anyone else and simply presented it to the emperor. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be in line with the emperor’s thoughts. But I’m not here to discuss that. The emperor sent me to ask you: since you proposed lifting the sea ban, you must be quite familiar with maritime affairs. How many days does it take to travel from Liujiagang to Denglai?”
“It takes some time at Liujiagang, and often there isn’t favorable wind for sailing. It takes about fifteen to twenty days to reach Lingshanwei; from there to Weihaiwei and Denglai, it adds another five or six days at most.”
“In that case, the ship should already be halfway through the journey.” Wang Jin let out a long sigh, then began to talk about Emperor Zhu Zhanji’s meeting with the high-ranking military and civil officials that day. “There was no agreement in the court debate. Marquis Anyuan volunteered to lead the expedition, but the emperor intended to send Marquis Ningyang instead. Marquis Ningyang had already gone to the military camp to organize his troops. But just now, because Scholar Yang strongly advocated for the emperor to lead the expedition personally, Minister Xia fully supported this idea, and even Duke of Yingguo and Scholar Du agreed, so the emperor made up his mind. An edict will likely be issued tomorrow for the expedition, which is why the emperor asked me to inform you first.”
Hearing this, Zhang Yue looked at Wang Jin in surprise. If it were any other eunuch, he would surely claim it was his own idea to curry favor, but Wang Jin always put the emperor first, as if he had no own interests at all. Still, in comparison, Zhang Yue naturally preferred dealing with such an eunuch, so he quickly expressed his gratitude.
“By now, someone should have already reported to Le’an that Marquis Ningyang has set out on a campaign. When new news comes out in a few days, it will surely shock them greatly. Lord Zhang, you should also prepare—Duke Yingguo will definitely accompany the entourage, and you must follow as well. Not only that, but your two elder brothers might also be included in the deployment, after all, this is also an opportunity for merit.”
Zhang Yue didn’t really care about such merit, but he couldn’t refuse the opportunity that had fallen from the sky for Zhang Chao and Zhang Qi—even if it wasn’t actually necessary. Sure enough, as soon as he returned home that night, a servant came to inform him that both the Tongzhou Guard led by Zhang Chao and the Yulin Guard led by Zhang Qi were among those being deployed. So he hurriedly went to their residences first. After greeting each other, Zhang Qi spoke excitedly about being selected for the campaign, his words brimming with confidence.
“Second brother, don’t take things too lightly. The commanders of the Tongzhou Guard are all extremely anxious right now; many officers are even arranging their affairs for their families. King Han is no ordinary person—don’t underestimate him.”
After scolding Zhang Qi, seeing that his brother still seemed unconvinced, Zhang Chao sighed and took Zhang Yue outside. After a long silence, he finally spoke with difficulty, “Third brother, it’s unclear whether going on this mission will bring good or bad fortune. I’m entrusting this family to you. With you here, we have nothing to worry about… Third brother, I only have one question for you—has she… died?”
Zhang Yue found Zhang Chao’s tone, as if entrusting his affairs, utterly foolish. Besides, who said he wouldn’t go? When Zhang Chao finally stammered out his last question, Zhang Yue felt both angry and amused: “At this point, are you still thinking about that Feng Ying? I don’t kill women, but I also don’t want such a woman to harm you or our family. So wherever she came from, I sent her there. She’s currently in Dongfan. As for whether she’s alive or dead, I don’t know.”
Hearing this, Zhang Chao’s face turned pale and then blue before he finally let out a deep sigh. Though that woman was full of ulterior motives, it was he who had fallen for her willingly. That face, identical to the girl he had longed for in his dreams, was the biggest burden of his life.