(No main character, purchase with caution) At fifty, one understands their destiny.
The lamps in the Wenyuan Pavilion shone brightly.
Stacks of memorials were brought in, those unimportant or that could be temporarily set aside were pushed to one side by the attendant scholars, leaving only the memorials reporting disasters and emergencies.
While everyone was busy, they glanced at the expressions of the two prime ministers sitting at the head of the room.
Prime Minister Jiang coughed from time to time, his brows furrowed, reading the memorials with the aid of a crystal lens.
Prime Minister Zhang appeared utterly relaxed, looking very leisurely.
“This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous!”
Prime Minister Jiang suddenly slapped a memorial on the table, his beard quivering with anger.
Everyone was startled and turned their eyes to Minister Jiang’s side, where Minister Jiang picked up the memorial, his expression turning very ugly. He then loudly said, “The northern border troops only received half of last winter’s grain supply, and now the soldiers have no rice to cook, forced to drink porridge every day?”
Prime Minister Zhang stared at an attendant scholar distributing the memorials, his gaze filled with scrutiny.
This memorial should have been withheld, but now it ended up on Prime Minister Jiang’s desk.
The Minister of War went to mediate the conflict between the Imperial Guards and the Jinyiwei, leaving only the Minister of Revenue bearing the pressure. He chuckled dryly, barely managing to say, “The military in the border areas, don’t all the prime ministers know? They never stop complaining of poverty all year round, and in the recent two years, there has been no recruitment of troops in the northern border, the number of soldiers can only decrease, not increase. Yet, the demands for money and grain from the northern border have increased by thirty percent compared to two years ago, this… isn’t right!”
“So you just withheld it?”
Minister Jiang wasn’t fooled by the Minister of Revenue’s words, suppressing his anger, he said, “Last year’s grain for the northern border, the two prime ministers had already approved, to first give eighty percent according to the memorial’s amount. When spring arrives, if the Khitans invade, then along with the military needs, send the remaining over, after the summer grain is harvested, the treasury will be more comfortable. Now, who took it upon themselves to withhold all the money and grain?”
The Minister of Revenue was naturally unwilling to take the blame, he suddenly stood up, directly shouting, “What do you mean by embezzling the military grain? How many guts do I have, to dare embezzle military grain? Yongzhou has been suffering from severe drought for three years. We need to provide relief to the disaster victims, the treasury has been empty not just for a day or two. The issue of ghost payrolls in the northern military is severe, and there have been no major battles in these years. We could only temporarily use this portion of grain, otherwise, what should we do? Watch the people starve to death?”
“You!”
Minister Jiang knew the truth was not so simple, yet without evidence, and with the Minister of Revenue’s words sounding confident, he was momentarily unable to refute.
Prime Minister Jiang’s face was stern and silent, his gaze meeting Prime Minister Zhang’s, who unexpectedly as if nothing was amiss, picked up his tea cup, used the lid to push aside the tea leaves, and took a sip.
The Minister of Revenue was a person from Prime Minister Zhang’s faction, these matters must have all been approved by Prime Minister Zhang.
Even if this was revealed in the Wenyuan Pavilion, or even on the court, it would be a trivial matter to Prime Minister Zhang. Evidence would definitely not be found, the accounts of the Revenue Ministry were neat, and the excuses were one after another, even the emperor could not punish his subjects without cause.
Even if Prime Minister Jiang’s faction made a move, targeting the Minister of Revenue, it would be hard to affect Prime Minister Zhang.
—If they removed the current Minister and replaced him with another from Prime Minister Zhang’s faction, then their efforts would have been in vain.
Initially full of anger, Prime Minister Jiang was furious at Prime Minister Zhang’s overreach, his unregulated looting of money, he has always despised him for it, yet he did not expect Prime Minister Zhang to dare to tamper with the northern border’s military grain.
After his anger subsided, Prime Minister Jiang listened as his disciples and officials from his faction took turns to argue fiercely with the Minister of Revenue and his allies, as if they were about to dissect last year’s national treasury expenditures.
One by one, line by line, everyone was thoroughly familiar.
It wasn’t that they were particularly diligent, but each time a dispute arose, these issues had to be brought up and discussed in circles.
They argued fiercely, the two prime ministers remained silent, coldly watching each other.
Letting disciples and officials aligned with oneself take the lead was a common practice in the court, without the full assurance of defeating a political rival, prime ministers would not speak up.
Yet, it was this practice that Prime Minister Jiang felt somewhat disillusioned with today.
This pavilion, located in the imperial city and symbolizing power, was supposed to be filled with ministers respected by all under heaven, but what about now?
The elderly prime minister sighed deeply, utterly exhausted.
He set down his pen, silently, with hands clasped behind his back, he walked away.
The argument came to an end, and everyone thought Prime Minister Jiang left in a huff of uncontainable anger. His disciples were immediately anxious. At this time, staying in the palace could firmly grasp power. Although everyone wanted to support the third prince’s ascent to the throne, it mattered who the future emperor remembered and favored.
How could one walk away in a huff at such a critical moment?
Prime Minister Zhang watched Minister Jiang chase after Prime Minister Jiang and couldn’t help but snort coldly, setting his tea cup heavily on the low table.
Wenyuan Pavilion fell silent for a while before Prime Minister Zhang got up to change his clothes, and gradually people started talking again.
“The military pay is not a small amount…”
“They say it’s for disaster relief, what, they want to slander us?!”
The guards and palace staff of Wenyuan Pavilion listened with trepidation.
It wasn’t rare for officials to come to blows over disagreements.
The Chen dynasty even had a terrifying incident where ministers collectively beat someone during a court session.
The attendant scholar who previously handled Prime Minister Jiang’s memorials and brought up the memorial about the northern border’s military pay silently retreated to the side, unnoticed.
Speaking of Prime Minister Zhang, after leaving the duty room, he walked along the corridor to the changing room.
Of course, no one followed him into the changing room. The guards and palace eunuchs saw him from afar and only bowed their heads in greeting. Prime Minister Zhang entered the room, not going behind the screen for the toilet, but instead picked up a warm towel and casually wiped his hands.
Judging that enough time had passed, he left the room.
He met the Minister of War, who whispered, “The net at Yiguang Gate has been set.”
Prime Minister Zhang squinted his eyes but didn’t speak.
Distant thunder rumbled from the horizon, clouds obscured the moon, and soon the wind picked up, causing the copper bells hanging from the palace eaves to chime rapidly.
“How are things at Nanzhen Fusi?”
“They heard His Majesty is too ill to get up, so they’ve all behaved.”
Prime Minister Zhang suddenly asked, “Is the grain and fodder issue in the northern border handled?”
“It’s the same as always, Prime Minister Zhang need not worry. Besides, last year wasn’t only about the severe drought in Yongzhou, there was also the earthquake in Pingzhou’s Qiuling County that required funds and grain from the national treasury…”
He hadn’t finished speaking when a gust of wind blew the guards’ cloaks away.
Chaos ensued outside Wenyuan Pavilion, caught off guard by the wind, even the lanterns were skewed.
The Minister of War, taking advantage of the strong wind, which he thought prevented others from hearing their conversation, couldn’t help asking, “Forgive my ignorance, but what evidence does General Liu Dan have in his possession? If it falls into someone else’s hands, wouldn’t that be bad?”
Prime Minister Zhang glanced at him disdainfully and said, “I have my plans, don’t ask what you shouldn’t, don’t talk too much.”
At that moment, a group of guards hurried towards a distant spot, gathering in an open space in front of a palace.
“What happened?”
Prime Minister Jiang’s sedan had overturned.
The small bridges used in the palace were like slippery slides, unprotected from all sides. In such an open area in front of the palace, the wind was exceptionally strong. Prime Minister Jiang’s sedan happened to catch such a wicked gust, the bearers were blinded by the wind, nearly dropping Prime Minister Jiang.
If not for the quick reactions of two disciples who followed, Prime Minister Jiang might have had to see the imperial physician while lying down.
Minister Jiang was blinded by the wind, and scared stiff by the accident involving Prime Minister Jiang.
“Prime Minister Jiang, anyone can retreat at this moment, but you cannot! In this court and country, besides you, who else can Prime Minister Zhang be wary of?” Minister Jiang insisted, struggling against the strong wind.
Prime Minister Jiang remained silent.
Thinking he was swaying, Minister Jiang quickly continued, “The northern border’s military pay must not be compromised. With internal strife and external threats, and His Majesty bedridden, the third prince is indecisive. The welfare of all citizens rests on your shoulders…”
“Enough!”
Prime Minister Jiang interrupted, his hair and beard tousled by the wind.
At fifty, one understands their destiny; at sixty, one’s ears are attuned.
Prime Minister Jiang, now sixty-eight, lacks such attunement. The words of his political rivals could never be pleasing to his ears, and now, even the advice of his disciples and old friends falls on deaf ears.
“I once said, I am ashamed to serve in the court with certain people! Now, I wonder, how am I any different from Prime Minister Zhang?” Prime Minister Jiang closed his eyes, his voice filled with bitterness.
The Third Prince is clearly unsuitable to be emperor, precisely because he is weak and ineffectual, unable to interfere in court affairs. Thus, he too favored having such a figurehead emperor.
The military stipends for the northern border were tampered with behind the scenes, and both the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of War are to blame. To rid the court of these corrupt worms, one must engage in party strife.
One tries every means to repel and defeat political rivals, then replace those positions with people from one’s own side. If those people make a mistake, every effort is made to protect them, because one firmly believes that their own people, even those who err, have more conscience and capability to govern the country than those aligned with Prime Minister Zhang.
Everything is about official positions; keeping the positions of one’s own people secure, suppressing and seizing the positions of those allied with the opponent.
Once an official is demoted, efforts are made to insert one’s own people into their position, or, if that’s not possible, prefer to give the advantage to neutral parties like Minister Jiang, seizing young talents and the emperor’s trust.
After a lifetime of such scrambling, fighting like a cornered rat.
Prime Minister Jiang stumbled a few steps, then suddenly as if remembering something, turned and asked, “Where is the Sixth Prince?”
Minister Jiang was startled, then his face showed difficulty.
“The Sixth Prince has not returned to the palace; he has quietly run away.”
“Run away?” Prime Minister Jiang repeated, quite surprised.
By this time, people in the corridor of the Wenyuan Pavilion had already heard about Prime Minister Jiang’s palanquin overturning.
Some were secretly pleased, others were anxious. Prime Minister Zhang’s smile was ambiguous, yet he ordered someone to summon the imperial physician and to lend a hand where the palanquin had overturned, among other things.
The attendant scholar who had silently delivered the memorial was anxious.
His delivery of the memorial had disrupted the already fragile alliance among the court officials. Now, with Prime Minister Jiang’s accident and Prime Minister Zhang consolidating power, the future of the Qi Dynasty was either doomed to fall to power-hungry officials or to be ruined by the exploited people and soldiers who had their resources withheld!
While anxious, an inner servant who was cleaning the Wenyuan Pavilion came over amidst the chaos and whispered, “His Highness the Crown Prince is preparing to make a move. Please, Hanlin Scholar Hao, keep an eye on Prime Minister Zhang.”
The attendant scholar’s eyes widened, joy appearing on his face.
Could it be that the Crown Prince’s health has improved?
