CH 56

Continuously suppressing his troops, indulging in his harem, neglecting law and order, standing apart from his officials, the Ming Dynasty headed towards its ruin, beginning with Shenzong12.

This was a description written about Zhu Yijun in modern day history books. But at this moment, this little kid who was unaware of his own future destiny was staring up at Zhao Su with two bright eyes and with an expectant look on his face which had “quick give me a compliment” written all over it.

As Zhao Su looked through those hundred sheets of paper varying in calligraphy ability, each one with a slightly differently ‘Su’ character written upon it, he was still a little speechless.

No one was born with a heart of stone, it was the influence of one’s environment, and the people one grows up with, that makes someone slowly change their character. Yan Song was like this, Xu Jie was like this, Zhang Juzheng was like this, perhaps Zhu Yijun would also be like this in the future, therefore, since ancient times, there have been many things that started well but did not end well.

Zhao Su stared blankly for a long time and then took a deep breath in, crouched down and then embraced him.

If you need me, then I’ll always be by your side.

I will do everything in my power to change your fate, to assist you in becoming a virtuous Emperor. Even if you cannot leave a good reputation for the ages, you will at least not wear the cap of having destroyed the Ming Dynasty.

“Susu?” The little child did not understand why he had suddenly become so serious, and reached out with his hand to stroke his face.

“It’s nothing. Shaoyong will remember the little princely heir’s gesture of goodwill.” He smiled and carefully put away those sheets of paper. “I’ll count these as a gift from you.”

Zhu Yijun nodded instantly: “These were for you anyway.”

Everyone in the Yan faction all received their just retribution, many of those who had nothing to do with the Yan faction also seized the opportunity to take them down. Like Hu Zongxian, Qi Jiguang, and others who had indeed once attached themselves to the Yan faction, were either escorted back to the Capital for questioning or directly dismissed from post.

Following Yan Shifan’s death, those who had a previous grievance with the Yan faction, didn’t want to miss the opportunity to fish in troubled water4, to act in self-interest, there was no way that any one would give up this opportunity to beat a dog whilst its down. In short, there was a large-scale clean up, the memorials written by the imperial censors appeared case after case in front of the Emperor and the Grand Secretariat.

Jiajing did not seem to harbour any lingering old feelings for the Yan faction, as long as the memorial was presented with genuine facts, it was investigated without fail, and without lenience, immediately indirectly inciting a new wave of impeachments.

Compared with the ongoing large-scale political struggle going on, when Gao Gong entered the Grand Secretariat it was not particularly noticed. The forty-fifth year of Jiajing, thanks to the recommendation of Xu Jie, he formally entered the Grand Secretariat to become Zaifu5 of the Great Ming, and the relationship between the two of them had also entered into the honeymoon period. The couple of times that Zhao Su saw them together, they were laughing and chatting happily, it seemed that they were very close, to the extent that outsiders were saying that, from now on, the Grand Secretariat would be the Grand Secretariat of the Xu clan and could be considered as being run by Xu Jie alone.

Only Zhao Su knew that this kind of harmony would not last long, as Gao Gong was not the type of person who could stand being suppressed under someone else, and the Emperor would also not let Xu Jie hold so much power. He had once supported Yan Song but had also helped Xu Jie take the former down, and to this reasoning, the Emperor was a calculating person, more specifically he knew how to check and balance power.

Qi Jiguang had been transferred back to the Northeast, and was ordered to come back to the Capital, the new decree had not yet fallen, so he could only stay in Beijing, running around waiting for the news to drop.

Because he was once part of the Yan faction, and he was also a military General, many people steered clear of him, and were not willing to see him. Only Zhao Su often went to see him because of the fact that he had protected Changle back then. After a good few times meeting, the two of them got to know each other well, and both had personalities that were easy to get along with, so naturally they got on better and better. When they were both bored with nothing to do, they would pick up a few jugs of wine and some small dishes, and sit in the courtyard sitting with each other and drinking. Zhao Su had even taken Zhu Yijun to his place a few times, he’d purposefully done that for Qi Jiguang to tell the child more about being on the battlefield, in case, the child grew up to not know how to use his own hands and feet, only aware of military tactics on paper.

“Zhang da-ren!”

“Shaoyong?” Zhang Juzheng was a little taken aback, he and Qi Jiguang quickly cupped their hands together to greet and pay their respects to Zhu Yijun, and then turned to Zhao Su to say: “Why have you come here?”

Zhao Su stroked his nose as he smiled with embarrassment without speaking, he couldn’t say that he had skipped out of work early.

Zhang Juzheng thought about it and understood well, he looked over at him and winked and unexpectedly didn’t inquire any further, and only took his leave and quickly left.