Volume Two: Adults and Small Men, Chapter Ninety-One: I Am Certainly Not Emperor Yingzong of Song

Inside the Forbidden City, within the side hall of the Wenhua Hall.

Placed upon the imperial desk was the memorial submitted by Zhang Cong, a document that had already circulated widely among official circles in the capital.

Seated behind the desk, the Jiajing Emperor remained still for a long time. His complexion grew somewhat flushed as his breathing quickened and deepened; he was genuinely excited.

Finally, at long last, someone had officially stepped forward to fight his battles. Though the petitioner was merely a humble observing official in the Ministry of Rites, submitting a memorial in such a manner was more than enough to demonstrate his unswerving loyalty.

What required even greater attention now, however, was the content of the text!

Jiajing suddenly collected himself and commanded in a resonant voice, "Li Fang, Huang Jin, Qin Fu!"

"This servant is here." The three most trusted personal eunuchs stepped forward almost simultaneously to receive his orders.

"Go, retrieve that memorial the Ministry of Rites submitted to the palace a few days ago, and also bring me the section of the History of Song concerning the Puyi Controversy."

The first instruction might have been slightly imprecise, but for these three men, it was of no consequence whatsoever. They were already well aware of what Zhang Cong's memorial contained, and they had already guessed just how thrilled the Emperor would be and what tasks they would be assigned.

Therefore, within the span of a mere moment, the joint memorial presented by the collective officials of the Ministry of Rites urging the Emperor to succeed the lineage of the Xiaozong Emperor, alongside the opened volume of the History of Song, were delivered to Jiajing's desk.

Jiajing immediately placed the three items side by side, carefully cross-referencing them one by one. As he read, the superior precision of Zhang Cong's memorial became starkly evident.

The so-called "Puyi Controversy" took place during the Northern Song Dynasty, in the reign of Emperor Yingzong, who succeeded Emperor Renzong.

As Zhao Zhen—the ruler most admired and favored by the scholar-officials, and honored with the temple name "Renzong"—faced one major dilemma, it was that he failed to produce a surviving adult son.

Consequently, he had been forced to select a nephew from a collateral branch of the imperial clan to adopt and pass the throne to, resulting in the ascension of Emperor Yingzong, Zhao Shu.

This situation bore a striking resemblance to Jiajing's current predicament; both involved an outside feudal prince entering the orthodox lineage. Yet, there were subtle differences between the two cases.

What made it even more similar to Jiajing was that Zhao Shu was likewise a filial son. He had also attempted, through various political maneuvers, to secretly have his biological father, Prince Pu Zhao Yunrang, enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and to push matters further by having his own father recognized as a former emperor.

This naturally provoked fierce opposition from the scholar-officials of that era, sparking the Puyi Controversy.

Compared to the Great Ming of the present day, the scholar-officials of the Northern Song held considerably more political clout and stubbornness in the face of imperial authority. Following a round of intense struggles, the conflict ultimately ended in Yingzong's defeat and concession, forcing him to recognize Renzong as his father while demoting his biological father to the status of an uncle.

It was precisely because of this historical precedent that when Jiajing had the sudden, whimsical desire to elevate his own late father into the Ancestral Temple, the officials naturally followed suit, hoping to replicate the outcome of the Puyi Controversy!

In particular, this joint admonitory memorial regarding the imperial succession submitted by the officials of the Ministry of Rites had filled Jiajing with incandescent rage at first glance, leaving him feeling utterly helpless.

He had almost torn it to shreds on the spot, but ultimately could only cast it aside, letting it gather dust without issuing a response.

Little did he expect that this seemingly flawless theoretical argument possessed a massive loophole, one that had been brutally exposed by a single memorial from Zhang Cong!

That loophole lay in the relationship between Jiajing and Zhao Shu regarding their respective preceding emperors.

Emperor Renzong, who preceded Yingzong, was his paternal uncle; naturally, as a nephew succeeding to the throne, he was expected to address Renzong as his father.

Yet, the Zhengde Emperor, who preceded Jiajing, was his paternal cousin.

Jiajing had succeeded to the throne of his cousin, rather than the throne of the Xiaozong Emperor of Hongzhi. Where on earth was the logic in succeeding a cousin's throne only to be required to address someone else as father?

"Therefore, the transmission of the imperial throne since ancient times follows the order of father-to-son succession or elder-brother-to-younger-brother inheritance. How could there ever be a principle where an uncle transmits his rule through two sons?"

This single sentence brilliantly highlighted the sheer absurdity and ridiculousness of the Ministry of Rites officials attempting to apply the outcome of the Puyi Controversy to the current dispute over succession and lineage.

As for the various other distinctions—such as the fact that Emperor Yingzong had been raised within the palace by Renzong from an early age and thus possessed a quasi-filial bond, whereas Jiajing was selected by court officials only after the Zhengde Emperor's demise and brought from Anlu to the capital to ascend the throne—they were no longer quite as crucial. Nevertheless, they were more than enough to prove one fundamental point: Jiajing and Zhao Shu were entirely different cases.

"Splendid! Splendid! Splendid!"

Having finished cross-referencing the three documents and confirming that every single word Zhang Cong uttered was entirely reasonable without the slightest flaw, Jiajing jumped up from his seat in a surge of excitement, pacing back and forth across the hall.

After a long moment, he asked, "Was this memorial published under Zhang Cong's real name?"

"Your Majesty is wise. Otherwise, this servant fears the memorial would have been intercepted and suppressed at the Office of Transmission long ago."

"He is truly clever, truly meticulous, a genuine talent! No, a grand talent—a pillar of the state!"

In his euphoria, Jiajing temporarily cast aside his imperial composure and quickly declared, "I shall reward him handsomely! I shall make him my trusted confidant and right-hand man! I will bring him into the Grand Secretariat to serve as my arms and legs in governing the realm from now on!"

"Your Majesty is brilliant, but..." Li Fang began, a troubled expression crossing his face.

"What? Is there some difficulty?"

"I have heard that early this morning, the Ministry of Rites expelled Lord Zhang from their offices. Since he was merely an observing official in the ministry with no substantive official post to his name, this means that..."

"I knew not a single soul in the Ministry of Rites had any sense of propriety! Previously, taking advantage of my unfamiliarity with historical texts and ritual protocols, they submitted such a memorial to threaten me, while secretly engaging in all those filthy machinations. If not for Huang Ming, who knows when their true faces would have been exposed... And now, they go so far as to envy and suppress talent. They utterly shame the name of the Ministry of Rites!"

Witnessing Jiajing flare up in sudden wrath, the three eunuchs felt a wave of terror and hurriedly dropped to their knees to counsel him: "Please calm your wrath, Your Majesty. If you genuinely pick a fight with the Ministry of Rites over this, it is to be feared that you will provoke a collective backlash from the court officials. By that time..."

Jiajing's expression shifted through several changes before he finally drew a deep breath and forced down the blazing anger in his heart.

Indeed. At the very least, one thing the officials of the Ministry of Rites had said was true: his current situation bore a striking resemblance to that of Emperor Yingzong of Song, Zhao Shu. Both were isolated figures confined within the imperial palace, forced to confront an entire court of officials whose loyalties lay with the former emperors.

The words Huang Ming had spoken earlier were still the most sensible: if one wished to bend everything to one's own will, the very first task to accomplish was to cultivate officials who were truly of one heart with the sovereign.

As matters stood now, Zhang Cong was one such man, and Huang Ming was another, alongside a select few within the Brocade Guard...

Yet it was still far from enough. Perhaps the time had come to introduce those examinations ahead of schedule, allowing individuals from backgrounds other than the official cliques to enter the court and stir up this stagnant pool of water.

Taking one long, deep breath and slowly exhaling it, Jiajing walked back behind the imperial desk. He carefully and solemnly stowed away Zhang Cong's memorial, his expression turning grave. "As for Zhang Cong's memorial, we shall hold off for the moment. But as for the man himself, I am determined to protect him. I am no Emperor Yingzong of the Song; they will not manipulate me at their whim!"