Chapter 53: Clouds in the Blue Sky

"Who says the officers and men of the Fushan Front Garrison are without fault?"

"How is it that I heard Lord Zhao of the Office of Transmission state only that the Lingshan Garrison remained inactive?"

"Vice Minister Zhan, when sea bandits invade, the local government may indeed be unaware, but the Lingshan Garrison has no excuse to cower and watch the enemy approach under the cover of night without making a move! Furthermore, has the Shandong Regional Military Commission made any deployments to pursue and annihilate the bandits this time? Has the Provincial Administration Commission allocated any grain to provide disaster relief for the people? Has the Provincial Surveillance Commission investigated the officials of Jiaozhou, great and small, for the crime of losing both granaries?"

It must be said that Yan Shifan's words struck right at the most vulnerable spot.

Hearing this, Zhan Rong's expression turned anxious, and he subconsciously looked toward Wen Yuan, Lü Ben, and the others.

Without caring in the least, Yan Shifan wore a mocking, cold sneer on his face. "In my view, every department in Shandong's provincial administration is deeply implicated! Corrupt officials hold sway, which is precisely what led to the sea bandit invasion and harmed the soldiers and citizens of Jiaozhou! Yet here in the imperial court, there are still a handful of wretched individuals actually shielding these derelict officials from justice and colluding with them!"

The aggressiveness of these words was considerable.

He was practically pointing at the faces of Zhan Rong and his faction, cursing them as treacherous ministers.

And the one hurling such fierce abuse was none other than the successor to the Yan faction, the Junior Grand Secretary of the Great Ming Dynasty, Yan Shifan himself.

So subversive to common perception and so blunt in his insults, Zhan Rong and the others were truly left dumbfounded.

Their entire bodies trembled.

Having completely forgotten court decorum, Zhan Rong swept his arm to point straight at Yan Shifan. "Yan Shifan! Who is a treacherous minister? Whom are you calling a treacherous minister? Just who the treacherous ministers of our Great Ming are is hardly something for you to define!"

Yan Shifan showed not a shred of fear. Looking composed, he let out a cold hum, his side-glance filled with a measure of disdain.

"Whoever is anxious, whoever covers and shields the guilty, whoever disregards the soldiers and citizens of Jiaozhou—that person is a treacherous minister of our Great Ming!"

Zhan Rong's face instantly flushed crimson.

"You!"

*Clang.*

The sound of the bronze chime rang out once again.

Everyone's heart gave a jolt. Even Zhan Rong, whose face was flushed red from anger, was forced to bow his head and cast cautious glances toward the inner hall.

At that moment, footsteps approached from the inner hall.

Following the footsteps came the emperor's familiar voice.

"I have trained my physique until it resembles a crane's,"

"Amidst a thousand pine trees, two scrolls of scriptures lie."

As the opening lines of the poem were recited, Jiajing, accompanied by Zhu Zaiyan, stepped out from the inner hall, their figures appearing vaguely through the heavy curtains into the sight of those gathered.

"I came to ask about the Way, but had nothing more to say,"

"Clouds are in the blue sky, water is in the pitcher."

With the recitation of the final lines, Jiajing arrived before the imperial throne, and Zhu Zaiyan smoothly took his place on the side opposite Huang Jin.

The officials hurriedly bowed and made obeisance, while Yan Song also braced his knees against his soft stool and stood up.

"We ministers..."

"Pay homage to Your Majesty."

"Pay homage to the Imperial Crown Prince."

Jiajing sat serenely upon the imperial throne, one hand resting on the armrest of the dragon chair. With slightly knitted brows, his gaze swept across the ministers before him.

He spoke slowly, his tone deep. "The poem I recited just now is Master Li Ao of the Tang Dynasty inquiring about the Way, and my favorite part is the very last line."

As he spoke, the emperor slowly raised his head, chin held high, gazing down at the people below.

"Clouds are in the blue sky, water is in the pitcher."

"Among you people, some are clouds, and some are water—you merely perform different tasks."

At this point, Jiajing looked directly at Yan Shifan.

His voice grew somewhat heavier. "You are all loyal ministers; there are no treacherous ones."

Seeing this, Yan Shifan's body sank slightly. He glanced at Lü Ben, Wen Yuan, Zhan Rong, and the others, and then immediately looked up at the emperor. "Your Majesty, the statements made just now by Wen Yuan and Zhan Rong disregarded the laws of the state and ignored the statutes. The three provincial offices of Shandong are incompetent, the Laizhou Prefecture is utterly ruined, and the soldiers and citizens of Jiaozhou have suffered countless casualties. Yet the government provides no relief or solace, and the officials give no thought to protecting their borders and pacifying the people. In the mouths of Wen Yuan and Zhan Rong, not a single official in Shandong is at fault! Such words truly display a total disregard for the living people, and they are cut from the exact same cloth as the invading sea bandits!"

Hearing Yan Shifan's words, Jiajing glanced sideways at his son.

Zhu Zaiyan met his gaze.

Jiajing's expression seemed to say: *Look, even a factional partisan like Yan Shifan, when sent to fight against others, can appear utterly loyal.*

Naturally, Zhu Zaiyan offered a look of boundless admiration in return.

Relishing the adoration in his son's eyes, Jiajing smiled and turned his gaze back to the ministers before him.

"Wen Yuan and Zhan Rong hold office at the center, managing the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, and they have made no major errors over the years. When sea bandits invade, slaughtering our people and seizing their wealth, how can that be considered cut from the same cloth?"

Yan Shifan's brows tightened.

What he had said and what the emperor was saying were clearly two entirely different matters.

However, since the emperor had not yet finished speaking, he could only swallow his anger and hold his breath within his chest.

Jiajing shifted his gaze to Wen Yuan and Zhan Rong. "Officials in the capital do not understand local affairs, but local prefectural and county officials are the parents of the people. I have heard that countless people in Fengmeng Town have suffered casualties, and the entire garrison of the Fushan Front has been wiped out."

At this, he let out a soft sigh, a trace of sorrow clouding his face.

"Behind every single man is a whole family of old and young."

"Now that so many have died, how many households, how many elderly dependents and young children are left henceforth with no one to rely upon?"

Seeing this, Zhan Rong immediately spoke up. "Your Majesty, this minister has heard that the reason Shandong failed to provide disaster relief this time is entirely because the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission has recently been transferring the summer grain to the capital granaries. Since the soldiers and men of the Fushan Front Garrison have all perished, the imperial court could issue an order for Shandong to retain a portion of that summer grain being transferred to the capital, using it to comfort the widows and orphans of the fallen soldiers of the Fushan Front Garrison. Furthermore, Laizhou Prefecture's autumn grain this year could also be remitted to provide disaster relief for the people of Fengmeng Town."

Up above, the corner of Zhu Zaiyan's eye twitched instantly.

This idea could never, under any circumstances, be approved.

Sure enough, the very next second, before Jiajing could speak, Minister of Revenue Xia Bangmo stepped forward.

"The grain stored in the capital granaries is a matter of state importance! Since the transport has already begun, how can it be detained? Accounts and transit records are complex and obscure; when grain turns up missing later on, will that responsibility be pinned on our Ministry of Revenue?"

This was precisely why Zhu Zaiyan had concluded it could never be approved.

If they were to detain the grain being transported to the capital granaries at a time like this, who knew how the subordinates down below would manipulate the accounts?

This Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Zhan Rong, harbored malicious intentions beyond a doubt.

However, Minister of Personnel Wen Yuan on the other side immediately cried out, "Your Ministry?! Minister Xia, since when did the Ministry of Revenue of our Great Ming Dynasty become *your* ministry? Since Minister Xia puts it that way, the people of Jiaozhou need not look to Shandong for relief—it should be your Ministry of Revenue that goes to provide it!"

Xia Bangmo's expression grew anxious, and he hurriedly glanced sideways to steal a look at the emperor.

Yan Shifan, who had been resting for quite a while over on this side, wore a furious expression.

He immediately turned, stepped out of the ranks, and glared at Wen Yuan and Zhan Rong.

"Xia Bangmo is the Minister of Revenue. That was decided through imperial court recommendation and permitted by His Majesty. He is the principal official of the Ministry of Revenue; what is wrong with him referring to it as *their* ministry?"

"Right now, the soldiers and people of Laizhou have just been plundered and slaughtered by sea bandits. Instead of pressing the Shandong officials to provide relief for the people, you two are here nitpicking over a few words."

"For the sake of His Majesty and the laws of the Great Ming, we will bear the infamy of severely calling officials to account."

"Yet what I fail to understand is: we are all working for the affairs of the court, so why is it that those who do the most always receive the greatest grievances?"

"It is clearly the local officials who are incompetent; why do you people constantly shield and cover for them?"

Wen Yuan's expression darkened. "I never said I wanted to shield or cover for anyone."

Yan Shifan let out a cold snort. "Then who was it just now who claimed that the three Shandong offices, the Prefect of Laizhou, and the Magistrate of Jiaozhou were without fault?!"

Zhan Rong spoke up once more. "Junior Grand Secretary, if you put it that way, then because the sea bandits invaded Laizhou, do the hundreds of officials in the center of our Great Ming also bear fault? Does the Ministry of War bear fault? Does the Ministry of Personnel bear fault in its selection and appointment of officials?"

"Stop dragging other matters into this!"

With a grand sweep of his sleeve, Yan Shifan glared angrily at the two of them.

"I see it is not just you, Zhan Rong."

He first glared fiercely at Zhan Rong, and then turned his gaze to Wen Yuan. "And you, Wen Yuan!"

At this moment, Yan Shifan's aura was truly fully unleashed as he hurled abuse left and right.

"There are others who are the backers and protectors enabling the sea bandits to invade our borders while the officials of Shandong, great and small, ignore the casualties of the people!"

"The transport of the summer grain—not sent early, not sent late, but dispatched precisely after the sea bandits arrived."

"Who gave them the audacity?!"

"And who became their backing?!"

"I was puzzled at the time, but now I finally understand."

"It is some among us sitting right here who gave them that audacity!"

The furious reprimands of this newly appointed Junior Administrator of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices echoed continuously within the Wuyi Palace.

Yan Shifan kept turning from side to side, his gaze so piercing that Wen Yuan and Zhan Rong were each forced to turn their heads away.

At that moment, Yan Shifan let out a cold huff and heavily stamped his foot.

"What?!"

"You dare to do it, but you don't dare to own up to it?!"