Chapter 39 Leak

There are no secrets in the Cabinet. As soon as the memorial and the draft were delivered to the palace, the news that Prince Mu had forced important officials to draft the bill spread like wildfire. The news was so vivid and sensational that it aroused endless fear in the hearts of the bigwigs:

...Is there still a way of doing things?

But soon after, an even greater shock came. The absurd and forced draft was approved by the Imperial Household Department and submitted, but Master Feixuan did not even throw it out with a letter of imprisonment, saying that he would never be employed again. Although he immediately sent eunuchs to scold the Prince of Mu for his arrogance, he still sent the memorial down in the end.

Although it still needs to be reviewed and examined by the Imperial Censorate, how could the censors criticize a policy that would increase their own benefits? As long as the process is completed, the imperial edict will be finalized.

The whole process was so smooth that the eunuch Huang, who was ordered to announce the decree, was extremely surprised. He read the contents carefully several times but ultimately could not find any mistakes. Therefore, the incredible feeling is truly beyond words!

To be honest, when Eunuch Huang had insisted on recommending the Crown Prince, his original intention was just to curry favor with the Duke's Mansion out of consideration for their past cooperation, and to set the stage for arranging Wu Cheng'en's affairs. He had never thought that the situation today would be like this - based on his past thoughts, not to mention that the Crown Prince had a very slim chance of passing the selection, even if he really passed the selection and entered the cabinet, how could he possibly compete with the experienced old ministers in government affairs? For such a young and energetic character, it is a stroke of luck to be able to gain a foothold in the cabinet. At best, he is just a side job.

But judging from the current situation, Prince Mu has done more than just gain a foothold! This is directly a matter of seizing power in the cabinet and covering up everything!

I originally thought that Liu Jin and Zhang Yong were invincible, but I didn't expect that there was someone more domineering and tyrannical than them. Who are these people?

Eunuch Huang had mixed feelings. After announcing the decree, he stood there in a daze, unable to speak. The prince was very knowledgeable about the ways of the world. He first knelt down skillfully to express his gratitude and plead guilty, and then quickly performed a series of smooth moves. Then he invited Eunuch Huang to sit down and have some tea, and affectionately called him "Bao Bao" and "Master Chang" - the Duke's Mansion had its own information channels, and had already found out that the list was advocated by Eunuch Huang. Now that his wish had come true, of course he had to thank Eunuch Huang very much.

Eunuch Huang was thanked warmly: …………

...Really, what does the prince want him to do? He should call the prince "living daddy" - living daddy, living daddy, living daddy, please put away your magical powers! My family has been working in the central government for decades, and I have never seen anyone engage in political struggles like this!

Perhaps because he was weighed down with worries, Eunuch Huang said little the entire time. He just listened blankly to what Prince Mu had to say. When the prince euphemistically mentioned "I don't know how to thank you", he suddenly shuddered and quickly held the prince's hand:

"Why thank you or not? I only ask for one thing from you, Your Highness. If you do anything in the future, please don't mention my name..."

Prince: “…Ah?”

·

Although Eunuch Huang's tone was indeed strange, the complacent prince was not at all shocked. In order to show his courage and sense of responsibility, Prince Mu, a pillar of the country, did not stop and rushed back to the cabinet after lunch to continue looking through memorials.

Of course, the prince still knows his limits. He did not dare to touch the important official documents of the court, but only sorted out the trivial official business along the coast and selected the long-pending memorials one by one.

The Cabinet is the core of the country, in charge of all important affairs of the two capitals and thirteen provinces. It has a heavy schedule and strict regulations. Some matters, not big or small, will be put aside and turned into waste paper that will be forever covered with dust in the duty room. They are called "broken morning newspapers" in the market.

If it were just an ordinary trivial matter, it would be fine. However, considering the current situation, the news reported from the coastal areas might involve key points such as smuggling and coastal defense. Even if it was a torn morning report, it would still contain a lot of intelligence value.

Mu Qi selected a dozen memorials and stuffed them into his sleeves. He looked around and found that there was no one around except Mr. Gao, who was also on shift and was still diligently writing minutes. He raised the document and said:

"Good teaching, Master, I will take these memorials home to draft them first!"

Mr. Gao: …………

The short-sighted Mr. Gao was stunned and stared at the prince registering in the list of people coming in and out. Not to mention that the cabinet's power to draft bills cannot be monopolized by anyone, even according to the long-standing practice of the court, political affairs should be discussed in the central office, and there is no reason to go home and discuss them privately. Over the hundreds of years since the establishment of the cabinet, only former prime ministers such as Zhang Cong and Yang Tinghe were deeply favored by the emperor and sometimes had the qualifications to act arbitrarily. How could the rest of them dare to be so presumptuous!

There is no doubt that this is a textbook example of corrupt behavior, usurping cabinet power and bullying important officials to control government affairs. This is the most tyrannical thing to do! It is said that the country has nurtured scholars for two hundred years. As a minister of the court, Mr. Gao should stand up and fight to the death with the corrupt officials!

But Master Gao... Master Gao was stunned for a moment and still didn't say a word.

After all, even the Minister of Justice Zhao Juqing, who was involved in the maintenance of the army, was defeated and had to obey against his will; what do you expect a young, simple, and uneducated bachelor of the imperial court to do?

So, Mr. Gao just sat there, watching the prince walk away, and ran into the eunuch who was guarding the cabinet.

...Then, these eunuchs who were ordered to monitor the inside and outside of the country remained indifferent and just let the prince leave!

Having witnessed the behavior of this powerful official that no one dared to stop, the young and simple Mr. Gao was so shocked that he was unable to react for a while. And in this incredible shock, a vague thought also arose. This idea was so naive and vague that even he himself could not distinguish it. But if I force an explanation, there is probably only one vague voice:

【...This is what a man should do! 】

·

The arrogant and powerful official Prince Mu returned home, dismissed the idlers, and carefully read the memorials. He soon discovered the trouble:

He basically cannot understand these professional documents.

This is also normal. The cabinet handles affairs from easy to difficult, from important to trivial, and the memorials that have been shelved for so long by the cabinet elders are basically trivial and difficult matters. The ministers were too lazy to send a letter to ask detailed questions, but were unwilling to reject it directly, so it was delayed for a long time.

Mu Qi certainly did not have the abilities of the elders, let alone the ability to settle this mess of old accounts. But he thought about it, picked out several memorials involving the southeast, and ordered his servants to pass on the message immediately:

"Please ask Mr. Hai Gangfeng to come to the study to see me immediately!"

Mr. Gangfeng has lived in Guangdong for a long time and is quite familiar with the affairs of the southeast. With such a wise counselor to give him advice at any time, he doesn't have to worry about anything going wrong.

An SSR is an SSR. Even an SSR who has not grown up is not comparable to ordinary officials. If the two of us join hands to govern the country, won’t we be invincible?

Mr. Hai Gangfeng arrived as scheduled, but after listening to the prince's request, he was slightly stunned, and after a moment he politely declined:

"After all, I am just a scholar without official status. If I rashly interfere in the affairs of the government, I am afraid it will go against the rules..."

Can the cabinet's draft and the court's affairs be touched by outsiders at will?

The prince disagreed: "Sir, you worry too much. These are not confidential matters, otherwise they would not be piled up in the cabinet without anyone to deal with them. Besides, since I can bring the memorials out, I must have considered the issue of regulations."

Hai Gangfeng was shocked: "Does the cabinet still allow outsiders to discuss government affairs at will?"

"Whether it is allowed or not, I don't know either." The prince was very frank: "In fact, not only do I not know, Mr. Gangfeng even if you ask all the senior ministers in the cabinet, they will not know the answer. As for the so-called 'cabinet regulations'... Mr. Gangfeng, up to now, I am afraid that the cabinet has no written 'regulations'!"

Hundreds of years have passed since Emperor Taizong founded the Cabinet. Although its power has grown over time and it has now become the absolute center above the six ministries, in reality, the Cabinet has always been a temporary organization without a name and clear status. The rise and fall of its status depends entirely on the emperor's will and lacks institutional guarantees.

Without status and legal position, there will certainly be no written rules. Today, most of the systems that keep the cabinet running are just "customs" that have been developed over hundreds of years and are tacitly understood by the monarch and his subjects. But if there is a strong party that dares to break the convention... then there will basically be no consequences.

Hai Gangfeng was stunned: "...Ah?"

Perhaps it was because of the remote location and lack of communication; before Hai Gangfeng came to Beijing, he still had some rosy dreams about the entire court. He always believed that the ministers in the court were shrewd and experienced, with every possible plan, the central institutions and systems were clear and operated in an orderly manner, and the entire state machinery was operating rigorously and efficiently in a well-organized system, executing the emperor's wise and accurate decisions. But now...now the prince's few words undoubtedly hit the mark, dealing a heavy blow to the fledgling Hai Gangfeng.

Is this the cabinet's procedure? Is this how the national center works? Why does it feel like it’s not much different from the pig farms and cloth dyeing workshops in my hometown?

Hai Gangfeng was stunned and couldn't utter a word.

But the impact he will face is far more than just this. The prince felt in his sleeve and took out a booklet with a handwritten title on it: "On Worrying about Dangers and Crisis".

"This is a handwritten copy that has been handed down from Yunnan. It is said to be a privately compiled unofficial history note. The author is unknown, with only a pseudonym 'Mu Yi'." Mu Qi calmly explained to Mr. Hai: "However, although it is an unofficial history, it records a lot of cabinet documents, especially the major events during the reign of Emperor Wuzong of the previous dynasty. They are vivid and seem to be witnessed in person; therefore, they are very popular among the common people."

Hai Gangfeng: …………

It’s “Mu Yi” and Yunnan, and he is so well-informed about the major events of the Wuzong Dynasty - now the only famous person who has fallen into Yunnan is Yang Shen, the son of the former Yang Tinghe cabinet minister, right? What is the difference between this so-called pseudonym and public appearance?

But then again, Yang Shen was exiled to Yunnan, right? The criminals who are hated by the current emperor can actually write the cabinet's documents into notes, and the notes can be copied and circulated throughout the world. Isn't this exile system too outrageous?

Yang Shen was a man of great talent, and was highly praised by the literati. However, he was too proud and arrogant, which did not please the emperor. From beginning to end, he never stepped into the cabinet and only served in the imperial lectures. How did an ordinary minister who wandered around the outer court and had a mediocre character get in touch with the court's confidential affairs and even be able to recite the cabinet documents by heart and not forget them even after decades?

——"My Prime Minister Father", right?

Of course, the story of Yang Shen and his son is not an isolated case. If we dig deeper, there are always several fathers who are cabinet ministers in every dynasty. Since the ministers of every dynasty can confide their secrets to their families at ease, why can't the prince of Duke Mu do the same? If any blind civil servant dares to make trouble on this issue, all the living ministers will be furious.

The reasons were sufficient and logical, the old examples were rich and the arguments were rigorous, and Hai Gangfeng was speechless.

But after a moment of silence, he still spoke with difficulty:

"If unofficial historical notes are spread like this, wouldn't the court's secrets be..."

Wouldn't it just become a big shower head that can be seen at a glance?

Mu Qi smiled slightly, thinking that Mr. Gangfeng had finally understood the first law of political activities in this dynasty: the imperial court was the only ship that leaked from the top; no one could keep any secrets in this ship.

Of course, he still had to defend his unofficial historical notes:

"That's too much. A scholar's notes may not reveal many secrets."

"What?"

Hai Gangfeng looked confused. He had just flipped through a few pages of Mr. Mu Yi's masterpiece and found that it was thoroughly detailed and rich in information. It even recorded the process of how the important ministers wrote (edited) the Emperor Wuzong's last will and testament when he was dying. Even such a secret concerning the origin of the current emperor's throne could be directly revealed. How could you say that they might not be able to leak much?

"More and less are relative terms." Mu Qi said calmly, "Sir, if you only look at these notebooks, you will certainly think that the leaked information is very rich; but after retiring, the ministers of every dynasty also had to write their memoirs and autobiographies. How can a mere notebook of hearsay be compared with the memoirs written by the person concerned!"

If the secrets revealed by unofficial history can only be regarded as a tiny leak in the information pipeline, then the collections of essays and autobiographies written by the ministers after retirement are the real floodgates that are opened and gushing out, like the so-called Yellow River that comes from the sky, rushes to the sea and never comes back - how much information can unofficial history have, how much material can unofficial history have? When some ministers wrote collections of essays, they dared to compile and publish their own confidential memorials and important draft documents!

This is called fighting speed with speed, using the majority to bully the minority, and being the first to reveal secrets so that the literati in the market have no secrets to disclose. He is indeed a senior official in the cabinet, and his wisdom is unmatched.

Again, the court is the only ship that is leaking from the top. If the bottom is just a trickle, the top is like a big fountain. What's wrong with Yang Shen writing his last will in books? Later, when Minister Gao Suqing, Minister Ye Jinqing, and others published masterpieces, they directly revealed all the dirty words that the emperors had used in private to curse others, which really brought shame to the Zhu family.

Of course, the cabinet ministers have been in power for a long time and did not intend to leak secrets. The reason why I have been tirelessly writing my autobiography and collection of essays, apart from wanting to leave my name to posterity because of my literary weakness, is mainly because I have been forced to do so by reality - since the founding of this dynasty, rumors in the market have been constantly emerging and have never stopped. Important cabinet officials are at the core and are the focus of political rumors. If you don't want to lose your reputation and bring shame to future generations in the midst of public opinion, you must publish your essay first and occupy the ecological niche of public opinion in time. Otherwise, if negative information becomes popular in the future, it will be dangerous.

This is also a lesson learned by important officials of all generations with blood and tears, and it cannot be taken lightly. Wasn't it because Zhang Taiyue, the Shezong of later generations, kicked his legs too early and too hastily that he didn't have time to publish his autobiographical essay, and that his reputation almost went downhill after his death, heading straight towards the direction of a world-class traitor? Gao Suqing, the elder Gao, was well aware of this. Even if he was too sick to get up, he would still dictate his "Last Words on the Sickbed" and launch a defensive attack, first passing the buck...

——In a nutshell, this is not due to the selfishness of the ministers, but is forced by the overall environment. Since the emperor can't control the rumors flying all over the sky, he certainly can't think of turning off the big shower that is spraying everywhere from the center.

I don’t know if Hai Gangfeng could understand the difficulties he had to overcome, but he was dumbfounded and couldn’t utter a word.

And Mu Qi... Mu Qi smiled slightly, but did not express any further comfort.

The imperial court is nothing more than an oversized makeshift team. If you want to serve in this dynasty, it would be better for you to understand this rule as early as possible.