Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 103: A panoramic view of history reveals almost no one comparable.

The walls of the Forbidden City are like a huge dike that isolates people from the hustle and bustle of the world.

Sun Chuanting stood in the square outside the Meridian Gate, dressed in a faded blue cloth robe, which stood out from the brocade and fine clothes that were everywhere, yet he was also unique.

He was tall and stood straight, like a javelin.

Although the years have etched fine lines around his eyes, they have not diminished the sharpness in them; instead, they have made them even more profound and composed.

He had been waiting here for almost half an hour, but he showed no impatience whatsoever.

However, while waiting, my thoughts drifted back to the old house in Daixian County a few days ago.

It was an ordinary afternoon. He was dressed in a coarse cloth outfit and dusty cloth shoes. He was squatting on the edge of his own farm, discussing this year's harvest with a dark-skinned old farmer beside him.

"...There has been very little rain this year, and the plants are smaller than in previous years. I'm afraid the yield will be reduced by several percent." The old farmer puffed on his pipe, his face full of worry.

Sun Chuanting rubbed the wheat grains in his palm, feeling their firm texture, and pondered, "It's alright. I read the county annals a few days ago. After a major drought in Dai County in the last twenty years, there have always been three to five years of good harvests. This year, let's plant more drought-resistant beans and sorghum to improve the soil fertility. The next year or the year after will be better."

His tone was calm, yet carried an inexplicable authority. In the years since he resigned from his official post and returned to his hometown, he had long been accustomed to this life of dealing with the land, working at sunrise and resting at sunset. The turbulent events in the court seemed like a thing of the past.

However, Sun Chuanting knew very well that he was never a real farmer.

His heart was filled with the public sentiment and the fate of the entire Ming Dynasty.
He would study every letter from his old friends in the capital, and every official report that traveled from the border, word by word, and then sit in his study late at night, staring at the map for a long time.

As he chatted with the old farmer, an unusual silence quietly enveloped the entire farm.

The farmers who were working in the fields stopped what they were doing at some point and looked in alarm toward the village entrance. The barking of dogs in the distance also stopped abruptly.

Sun Chuanting slowly stood up, patted the dirt off his hands, and looked into the distance.

A group of people was silently approaching along the country path.

They rode tall, strong northern horses, and the leaders wore a color that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him. It was not the uniform of government officials or the uniform of the army, but a somber black flying fish robe, with the embroidered spring knife hanging at their waist, a weapon that struck fear into the hearts of all officials.

The Western Depot, the Imperial Guards.

The entire farm was instantly enveloped by this chilling atmosphere. The simple farmers had never seen such a scene before, and they were all so frightened that they turned pale and dared not utter a sound.

Sun Chuanting's face remained expressionless.

He watched quietly as the group of people stopped ten paces in front of him, dismounted, and moved in perfect unison.

The leader was a middle-aged foreman with a fair complexion, but he showed none of the arrogance and ferocity of ordinary imperial guards. Instead, he stepped forward and bowed very formally to Sun Chuanting, who was dressed as a farmer.

His posture was exceptionally respectful.

"Could it be Mr. Sun Boya of Daizhou?"

Sun Chuanting nodded and said calmly, "I am Sun Chuanting."

The foreman straightened up, took out a round cylinder made of brass and sealed with sealing wax from his bosom, and presented it with both hands.

“Mr. Sun, His Majesty requests your presence.” His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly throughout the entire estate.

There were no cold chains, no loud shouts, only the words, "His Majesty requests your presence."

This doesn't look like an arrest; it looks more like an invitation.

But everyone understood the undeniable force behind those four words—the coercive power of the Empire's highest will. You could walk on your own, or you could be carried, but in any case, you had to come with me!
When Sun Chuanting's family arrived, their faces were filled with panic, but he simply waved his hand, indicating that they should not panic.

Based on his understanding and guessing from the events of the past few months, the Western Depot's imperial guards had only ever left the capital for two purposes: to capture people and to kill them.

Although the leader of the guards today had sharp eyes, he was extremely humble, addressing the guards as "sir" and behaving like a junior. Although the dozens of guards behind him concealed their murderous intent, they reined in their horses ten paces away and did not step into the estate.

Use the fiercest hounds to extend the most polite invitation.

This is a highly contradictory yet extremely telling situation.

If the new emperor wants to settle scores with him, or if he is suspicious of him because of past events, he only needs an imperial edict to have the local government put him in prison. Why would he need to use the Western Depot in the capital?
Even if the factory guards were to be used, they should have kicked down the door, locked up, and interrogated the suspect.
There is probably only one explanation for this.

Having figured this out, Sun Chuanting's inner turmoil gradually subsided. All his previous observations and speculations about the new emperor were now completely confirmed by this strange team!

He slowly waved his hand, signaling his panicked family members to leave, and even had the leisure to gently reassure his wife, "It's alright, it's a good thing. Go and prepare a clean robe for me."

Only then did he calmly face the head of the Western Depot alone, his eyes no longer showing any panic, but only a calm understanding.

Yes, he had actually been waiting for this day for a long time.

Since the new emperor ascended the throne, he has been closely monitoring every move in the capital through various channels.

From dismissing the eunuch faction and relatives of the emperor to swiftly eliminating the eight major Shanxi merchants who colluded with the Jurchens in Shanxi, each and every event gave him a long-lost sense of exhilaration.

Especially regarding the case of the Shanxi merchants, as a native of Shanxi, he knew better than anyone in the court how those big merchants were "a cancerous growth on the country, an ant sucking the marrow of the nation." He had talked with his friends late into the night by candlelight, lamenting the harm they caused, but he could only sigh in vain. Unfortunately, the court was deeply entrenched and no one dared to touch them, nor did anyone want to.

Unexpectedly, less than half a year after the young emperor ascended the throne, he swiftly and decisively eradicated this deep-seated cancer!

The cruelty of the methods used is certainly alarming.

However, the clear purpose and unparalleled courage behind it made Sun Chuanting unable to help but applaud in admiration in his remote study in Daixian County.

In a private letter to a friend, he wrote: "The new emperor acts without regard to convention, much like Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong who swept away the world. His suppression of the Shanxi merchants is like Emperor Gaozu slaying the white snake; his use of the secret police is like Emperor Taizong wielding the Xuanjia. His ambition is not to eliminate dissidents, but to revitalize the Ming Dynasty! This is a great fortune for our dynasty!"

An emperor with such ambition, such methods, and such unconventional behavior would never tolerate a person he considers useful spending their entire life peacefully farming in the countryside!
Sun Chuanting had absolute confidence in himself.

After wasting several years and retiring to the countryside, he seemed to have a calm mind, but in reality, he was restless!
What he was waiting for was a great ruler who could build a golden terrace to attract scholars from all over the world.
What he longed for was nothing more than an opportunity to "serve the emperor with his jade dragon and die for him, to repay the emperor's kindness on the golden platform."
Sun Chuanting calmly accepted the bronze tube, his voice understated yet resolute:

"No need to look any further. Please wait a moment while I change my clothes, and then I will accompany you all to the capital."

……

My thoughts drifted away from the memories and returned to the cold palace walls.

From Daixian to the capital, it was a long journey of thousands of miles.

Throughout the journey, he enjoyed the finest food and lodging. The guards responsible for escorting him not only kept a close watch on him but also treated him with utmost respect, always addressing him as "sir."

The enclosed carriage became Sun Chuanting's best space for contemplation.

He meticulously analyzed and reconstructed all the actions taken by the new emperor after his ascension to the throne, attempting to sketch out the true nature of this young ruler.

First son, Wei Zhongxian

This was the step that alarmed Sun Chuanting the most.

Contrary to popular belief, the emperor did not kill Wei Zhongxian, but spared his life.

Sun Chuanting's disgust and hatred for eunuchs like Wei Zhongxian had long been ingrained in his bones.

This hatred stemmed partly from the natural indignation of scholars across the land against the eunuch faction's misrule, but more importantly from his own painful personal experience! Back in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, when he was a senior official in the Ministry of Personnel, his career was on the rise, but because he refused to bow to this powerful eunuch and disdained to associate with him, he resolutely chose to resign and return to his hometown!
This journey almost single-handedly ruined half of his future. The humiliation and resentment of being bullied by powerful forces and having no way to serve his country were already deeply imprinted on his soul.

But on the carriage journey to the capital, after countless deductions and reviews, he had to forcefully suppress the raging storm in his heart and admit with an almost terrifying rationality that keeping Wei Zhongxian alive was, so far, the most brilliant and ruthless move this young emperor had made.

Who is Wei Zhongxian?
In the eyes of the people, he was a traitor to the country; in Sun Chuanting's eyes, he was a living devil who ruined his own career and trampled on the dignity of scholars.

But in the hands of the new emperor, Wei Zhongxian was no longer a person, but a whip and a mirror that revealed his true nature!

This is a whip that strikes the face of all civil officials, especially those self-righteous gentlemen who engage in empty talk and harm the country!
This is a mirror placed in the imperial court, so that they can see their ugly faces at all times!

But... is it merely a matter of attacking the spirit?

No, it's more than that!

Looking back on these cases, whether it was the Shanxi merchants' treason case, for which irrefutable evidence led to bloodshed throughout northern China, or the grain merchants' hoarding case that shocked the Jiangnan region.
Which of these achievements was accomplished based on the eloquent words of those wise ministers in the court?
Which of these was driven by the bureaucratic red tape of layers of approvals that hindered each other?
neither!
Although Sun Chuanting didn't want to admit it, that was the truth.

It was all achieved through the brutal, direct, and efficient methods employed by the Eastern Depot, the Western Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard—those henchmen of the emperor despised by the literati—who fought their way out of nothing!
Sun Chuanting was horrified to realize that when the emperor had just ascended the throne and his power base was not yet stable, and the court was full of entrenched factions, who else could His Majesty use to quickly bleed out these rotten parts, besides Wei Zhongxian and the dirty knife in his hand that everyone hated but was also incredibly sharp? Who else was worthy of His Majesty's use?

Thinking of this, Sun Chuanting could even imagine that even seasoned and shrewd ministers like Sun Chengzong and Zhang Weixian would probably only be able to let out a long sigh in the face of this situation.

Therefore, even though Sun Chengzong still harbored resentment towards the emperor for using the eunuch faction deep down, he had to be shocked by such ruthless methods and sincerely admire the young emperor's decisiveness in wielding the dirty knife to cure the deep-seated disease!

The ruthlessness of their methods and the depth of their intentions sent a chill down Sun Chuanting's spine.

The second son was born in Shanxi.

Sweep away the Shanxi merchants.

When Sun Chuanting heard about this, he was immediately shocked to the point of suffocation.

A stroke of genius!

When all eyes in the world, whether friend or foe, were focused on Wei Zhongxian, and everyone was speculating how the new emperor would sharpen his sword and splatter blood on him in order to gain a reputation for integrity.

The young emperor on the dragon throne seemed not to see Wei Zhongxian at all.

With a backhand slash, he avoided the most conspicuous tiger in the court, but precisely stabbed the malignant tumor hidden deep within the empire's body, which was frantically supplying blood to the Jurchens beyond the Great Wall!
What are Shanxi merchants?
They are not officials, not a party, but a dark network that has infiltrated the court, the border, the banks, and the grain transport, and is so deeply entrenched that it is almost integrated into the very fabric of the empire!

Its secrets are so deep and its connections so extensive that even Sun Chuanting himself, who once served in the Ministry of Personnel and knew the intricate workings of the imperial bureaucracy, admitted that he could not possibly grasp the whole picture, let alone take action against it!
What meticulous planning, what vast amount of information, and what astonishing courage would be needed to deal with them?

But the emperor did it.

He not only saw it and understood it, but also acted with overwhelming force, leaving the incredibly wealthy and influential Shanxi merchant group no room to struggle before it collapsed!

On his long journey to the capital, Sun Chuanting's mind was filled with thoughts of the founding emperors and restorers of dynasties throughout history.

Some may endure for years before launching a sudden attack; others may rely on veteran officials and plot slowly.

But a new emperor, upon ascending the throne, is able to see through the superficial appearances of the court with such a detached perspective, directly targeting the empire's hidden and fatal flaws. Moreover, his decisiveness and ruthlessness in taking action are as if he had accumulated ten years of strength and accomplished it all in one battle.

Throughout history, there is almost no one who can compare!
The third son, Jiangnan.

Along the way, news of the bloodshed and turmoil surrounding the Jiangnan grain merchants' case kept coming through official gazettes and various other channels. The heads of those once high-ranking gentry and wealthy families rolled around, and their property was confiscated. The cruelty of the methods used was even greater than that of the Shanxi merchants' case.

Sun Chuanting felt that among his friends in the court, there must be some who thought this action was too tyrannical and harmful to the foundation of the country.

But for Sun Chuanting, this move brought him a completely different sound—the cries of countless starving people on the verge of death from his hometown of Shanxi and neighboring Shaanxi!
As a native of Shanxi, Sun Chuanting knew better than anyone in the court what was happening on those two lands!
In Yan'an Prefecture, "there was no rain for a year, and the grass and trees withered and scorched"; in Yulin Guard, "the dead lay piled up, and the living became thieves"; even more tragically, there was a living hell where "human bones were used as firewood and human flesh was cooked for food"!

He knew that if the disaster relief efforts were ineffective, the only way out for these people who had been driven to the brink of despair would be "popular uprising" and "banditry"!
At that time, Liaodong was in turmoil, and war broke out in the heartland. The Ming Dynasty was in grave danger!
At that moment, a grand and vivid picture suddenly unfolded in Sun Chuanting's mind:

The emperor used swift and decisive measures to confiscate the wealth of Shanxi merchants, obtaining his first sum of money; he then used equally ruthless methods to massacre the Jiangnan region, also obtaining a considerable amount of money and grain; at the same time, a piece of news that had already been circulating came to mind—His Majesty had made up for the long-overdue military pay of the border troops!

Steady the gun, grip the money bag tightly, and fill the granary...

These three moves are increasingly ruthless and dangerous, yet they are all interconnected, with a logic so clear it's chilling!
It's already quite obvious where this new ruler will make his next move!

Upon reviewing the events, Sun Chuanting felt the chill he had felt due to the emperor's schemes instantly replaced by a scorching torrent!

It was the thrill of meeting a worthy opponent, and even more so, the ecstasy of a wise bird choosing a good tree and a virtuous minister meeting a worthy master!

This young emperor, who sits regally within the nine-layered palace, is by no means a madman who kills people based on his likes and dislikes!

He is a highly purposeful, rule-averse, and ruthless man with terrifying methods, yet he is also down-to-earth and works step by step to prolong the life of this crumbling empire... a top-level chess player and a lone, courageous patcher!

Every step he took seemed to stir up bloodshed, but in reality, they all landed precisely on the most painful and fatal acupoints of the Ming Dynasty!

At this moment, Sun Chuanting was once again certain that the emperor's summons to the capital was definitely not to settle any old scores.

His initial unease shifted from slight worry about his safety to a much higher level of anxiety—

Can I keep up with this new emperor?

Could his vast knowledge and burning passion for serving the country help the emperor realize his grand vision of national revival?
……

"Mr. Sun?"

A gentle voice roused Sun Chuanting from his reverie.

He looked up and saw a young eunuch dressed in the robes of the Directorate of Ceremonial, standing respectfully before him with a smile that was humble to the core.

“His Majesty’s decree,” the young eunuch bowed, his voice low but clear, “is that today’s court affairs are complicated, so the examination will not be conducted in the hall. Please move to the Wenhua Hall, where His Majesty is waiting and wishes to speak with you alone.”

"Wenhua Hall...for a private conversation?"

Sun Chuanting was completely stunned, as if a string in his mind had been suddenly plucked, making a buzzing sound.

What is the Wenhua Hall?
That was where the Crown Prince lectured, where the Emperor held daily lectures and discussed state affairs with the Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet! Normally, even a Grand Secretary had to go through layers of formalities and strictly adhere to etiquette to enter.

And now His Majesty is actually there, waiting for him to have a private talk?
Without going through the bureaucratic procedures of the imperial court, without asking about his resume or merits, and even without the most basic public examination, this young emperor bypassed all the formalities with an almost arrogant attitude and chose to summon him in a form that was almost a private conversation.

This is no longer just a simple courtesy.

This is an undisguised, almost urgent political stance, a domineering will that says, "I want to use you, and I want to use you immediately, and no one else should say anything!"

This letter, so weighty and unconventional, struck Sun Chuanting's heart, hardened by the ups and downs of officialdom, with an indescribable surge of emotion. The warmth and shock intertwined, leaving him momentarily lost in thought.

Then, the pent-up frustration and the tranquility of retiring to the countryside that had been building up in my heart for so long were swept away at this moment.

Sun Chuanting took a deep breath, straightened his javelin-like spine, and at this moment, his eyes, which had become even more profound from waiting for so long, suddenly ignited a long-suppressed fire and light!

He nodded slightly to the eunuch who came to deliver the message, his voice steady and powerful, each word resounding.

"Sun Chuanting, as you command."

Having said that, he didn't hesitate any longer and took a step.

That step he took seemed to transcend years of frustration and silence, and he strode confidently toward the palace that symbolized the center of imperial power and carried his lifelong aspirations!
(End of this chapter)