The rise of the poor

In the days that followed, Zhu Pingan and Mao Haifeng's allied forces split up and marched out in all directions, achieving victory after victory, and eliminating Japanese pirate strongholds along the coast one by one.
While Zhu Ping'an was sweeping all before him, the political center of the Ming Dynasty—the Western Garden of the capital—was once again flooded with memorials.

At the center of this wave of memorials were two people: Zhang Jing, the Governor-General of Jiangnan, and Zhu Ping'an, the Governor of Zhejiang.

Both of them faced impeachment, a mountain of impeachments. Zhang Jing faced the most impeachments, while Zhu Ping'an faced fewer, but still considerable ones.

"Why are there so many impeachments against Governor Zhang and Lord Zhu? It's one thing for them to impeach Governor Zhang, but why are there so many impeachments against Lord Zhu? What are they thinking? Don't they know that His Majesty's good mood and appetite lately are all thanks to Lord Zhu? If it weren't for the memorials and secret reports that Lord Zhu frequently sends, bringing so many good news and victories, would His Majesty be in such a good mood?"

After delivering the memorial to the main hall, the eunuchs retreated to the tea room, where they whispered amongst themselves as they brewed tea.

"That's right. The Imperial Kitchen has been like it's New Year's these days. Every imperial chef is vying to show off, and they're all vying to cook their signature dishes. They're bringing out their best dishes one after another. It's rare that His Majesty has such a good appetite. They never had the chance to show off before."

"The Imperial Kitchen is so eager to erect a longevity tablet for Lord Zhu and burn incense three times a day. They are all hoping that Lord Zhu will send his memorials to the West Garden. Last time I went to serve him a meal, they whispered to me that if I could get the news of Lord Zhu's memorials arriving as soon as possible, they would give me special meals for a month."

"Those heartless people, Lord Zhu is so good, winning battle after battle, yet they still want to impeach him."

Several eunuchs were whispering in the tea room, expressing their strong sympathy for Zhu Ping'an regarding the memorial impeaching him.

Within the inner court, Zhu Ping'an had an excellent reputation. The Huang Jin faction, the Feng Bao faction, the Imperial Kitchen faction, and others all had a good impression of Zhu Ping'an and were willing to be close to him. In particular, the Feng Bao faction regarded Zhu Ping'an as one of their own.

"How many memorials have been submitted today impeaching Lord Zhu?" a young eunuch asked in a low voice.

There are eight books.

"Ah, there's one more book than the day before yesterday. These people from the outer court really don't know how to do anything right."

"Shh, keep your voice down. Your words have condemned everyone in the outer court. If those with ill intentions hear this, and it gets back to the ears of the officials in the outer court, they'll have plenty of ways to make things difficult for us nobody."

Just then, footsteps sounded outside, abruptly ending the whispers in the tea room.

Inside the main hall, Emperor Jiajing, dressed in a blue Taoist robe with only a white sleeping garment underneath, walked to the window. The window was wide open, and a cold wind was blowing in. Emperor Jiajing opened his arms with a look of enjoyment.

This is Emperor Jiajing, who has just taken the elixir he personally concocted and is currently taking a decoction.

Beside him, Huang Jin, wrapped in a cotton coat, shivered, looking like a grouse unable to withstand the cold in the snow.

"Hehe, Huang Ban, your constitution isn't good. Next time I'll refine a couple more pills and give you one to take."

When Emperor Jiajing saw Huang Jin cowering like a grouse, he couldn't help but chuckle and wave his sleeve, then slowly said...

"This old servant thanks the True Lord for the reward." Huang Jin quickly knelt down and bowed in gratitude.

"Rise. I have completed two cycles of meditation. It is time to attend to state affairs. Present today's memorials."

Emperor Jiajing waved his hand, walked slowly to the table, and sat down.

"Yes, sir." Huang Jin stood up, bowed, and slowly retreated until he was two meters away before turning around to retrieve the memorial.

Soon, two piles of memorials, one high and one low, were stacked on the table in front of Emperor Jiajing.

The Jiajing Emperor casually picked up a book from the lower part of the mountain of memorials, slowly opened it, and began to peruse it.

"Oh, this is yet another memorial impeaching Zhu Ping'an." Emperor Jiajing glanced at it and immediately noticed that it was yet another memorial impeaching Zhu Ping'an. "There have been quite a few memorials impeaching Zhu Ping'an lately."

Huang Jin kept his eyes down, quietly bowing and serving, like a wooden puppet.

“Luo Longwen? That name sounds familiar. Huang Ban?” Emperor Jiajing looked at the signature on the memorial and squinted at Huang Jin.

“True Lord, he is a secretary in the Imperial Secretariat and is quite skilled in ink making,” Huang Jin replied in a low voice.

"Oh, it's him. I remember now. It was Wei Zhong who recommended him. I knew I had a vague impression of him." Emperor Jiajing suddenly remembered, and then curiously muttered to himself, "I want to see what he wants to impeach Zhu Ping'an for."

After speaking, the Jiajing Emperor continued reading the memorial.

Huang Jin caught a glimpse of the memorial out of the corner of his eye. He read it quickly and discreetly, listing the contents of the memorial. Luo Longwen impeached Zhu Ping'an for neglecting the construction of the city wall, disregarding the lives of the people of Zhejiang, and failing to fulfill his duties, which allowed the Japanese pirates to easily breach the county town and commit arson, murder, and looting, causing enormous losses to the lives and property of the local people.

In his memorial, Luo Longwen listed detailed data, stating that Zhejiang had ten prefectures and thirty-seven counties, of which only twelve had city walls, the remaining twenty-five had no city walls, eight were under construction, and seventeen had not yet begun construction. Based on this evidence, he impeached Zhu Ping'an, the governor of Zhejiang, for being irresponsible, disregarding the lives of the people, and neglecting the construction of city walls.

When the Japanese pirates attacked, the county towns with city walls could close their gates in time, mobilize soldiers and able-bodied men to defend the city, and barely manage to hold out. At least seven or eight out of ten county towns with city walls were able to hold out.

Without city walls, the county town would be like the Japanese pirates' backyard, where they could come and go as they pleased.

The people in the city suffered terribly. When the Japanese pirates came, they killed and burned, committing all sorts of atrocities. The people in the city were extremely unlucky and suffered terribly. Their wives, children, cattle, and livestock all fell victim to the Japanese pirates' cruelty.

So many counties in Zhejiang still lack city walls; this demonstrates Zhu Ping'an's dereliction of duty, irresponsibility, and disregard for the lives of the people.
Based on this, Luo Longwen impeached Zhu Pingan, demanding that Zhu Pingan be punished for dereliction of duty, negligence, and disregard for the lives of ordinary people.

"Making a mountain out of a molehill." After reading the memorial, Emperor Jiajing expressionlessly tossed it at his feet.

"This is no small matter," Huang Jin thought to himself. "How long does it take to build a city wall? Raising grain and funds, selecting a site and designing, preparing bricks and stones—it would take at least a year and a half to see any results. How long has Zhu Yuanzhang served as the governor of Zhejiang?"

Moreover, in the Jiangnan region, far from the border areas, county towns generally do not have city walls.

Of the three prefectures and twenty-seven counties in Zhejiang, twelve have city walls, and eight are under construction. This indicates that Zhejiang is actively building city walls in the Jiangnan region.

His Majesty's criticism of Luo Longwen for making a mountain out of a molehill is absolutely correct.

Huang Jin also understood why Luo Longwen impeached Zhu Ping'an. Luo Longwen was recommended by Yan Song, and he was Yan Shifan's henchman. Because the matter of Zhu Ping'an helping Yang Jisheng revise the memorial impeaching Yan Song was exposed last time, Yan Shifan harbored resentment towards Zhu Ping'an and wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. It was perfectly normal for Luo Longwen to impeach Zhu Ping'an. (End of this chapter)