Chapter 2: The Hidden Enemy

  Settling foreign enemies is also a glorious tradition of Chinese civilization, and soon the members of the "Hometown Association" began to follow this tradition and started a fierce internal struggle.

  It's a bit ironic that the cause of the struggle is not the uneven distribution of spoils, but rather a mismatch in personality. Because Xu Youzhen was a complex talent with ideals, no morals, culture, and no discipline, although he had a black heart, ruthless hands, and an extremely thick skin, he still wanted to do things, he had aspirations.

  But Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang, these two gentlemen, apart from having ambition and greed, have nothing else. If bad people can be categorized, Xuyou Zhen is a high-end bad person, while Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang are the dregs of bad people.

  A husband and wife with incompatible personalities can divorce, but politicians with incompatible personalities ultimately have only one outcome - a life-and-death struggle.

  Then, the struggle between the bad guys began.

  Your quality is too low!

  Xu Youzhen and Shi Hen, Cao Jixiang's contradictions began shortly after the "Door Change", they were originally a good relationship on the same rope, but after their success, Xu Youzhen found that his two partners' qualities were really too low.

  After Xu Youzhen entered the cabinet, he began to take charge of state affairs and was busy with various tasks every day. After all, he was still a man with aspirations. However, Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang were completely different. After they became prominent, they were only enthusiastic about one thing - corruption and bribery. Not only that, but they also continued to plant their own people in the court, confusing the imperial order.

  For example, Comrade Shi Hen made several reports to Zhu Qi Town, requesting rewards for the meritorious personnel who seized the gate. In total, there were as many as 4,000 people! Heaven knows where these people came from. I estimate that he even included his own mother who cooked dinner in his kitchen that night (she should have been guaranteed logistical support).

  Cao Jixiang was not willing to be inferior to others, his adopted sons, nephews and even distant relatives who were not closely related to him were all granted official titles, which made people sigh in amazement.

  Xu Youzhen couldn't help but feel increasingly ashamed every time she saw such a scene of thick smoke and haze.

  How did I end up with these people back then? What kind of quality is this?

  Although I am a conspirator, those two gentlemen are at most just two rascals. If I continue to mix with them, it's really too humiliating.

  Having made up his mind, Xu Youzhen began to keep a distance from Cao and Shi, and even when they met, he didn't greet them. He wanted to establish his own brilliant image.

  Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang finally discovered that this highly educated brother wanted to wash his hands and break with them.

  Let's have a clean break then, I'm afraid you won't make it!

  In May of the first year of Tianshun (1457), the internal struggle within the "Returning to the Countryside Corps" officially began.

  On this day, Xu Youzhen, Cao Jixiang and others were discussing matters in the imperial court when Zhu Qizhen suddenly took out a memorial and read it aloud to the assembly. The contents were as follows: Cao Jixiang, Shi Heng and others were guilty of corruption, bribery, tyranny, deceiving their superiors and deluding their inferiors, and eliminating dissenters, and should be punished accordingly.

  Mr. Cao Jixiang was stunned at that time, he was at a loss, opened his mouth wanting to argue back, but didn't know what to say.

  Zhu Qizhen did not look at him, but smiled and said to Xu Youzhen: "The censor dares to speak the truth, it is a blessing for the country."

  Xu Youzhen glanced at Cao Jixiang with an awkward expression and also smiled.

  The author of this memorial is Yang Xuan, a minor official from the Office of Scrutiny. According to the first law of thick and black politics, a small person dares to impeach a big leader, excluding personal mental disorders, the only conclusion is that someone has instructed him.

  The person who instructed him is Xu Youzhen, which everyone knows without me saying it.

  The Downfall of Xu Youzhen

  Xu Youzhen ignored the humiliated Cao Jixiang and walked out of the grand hall with great satisfaction. He had every reason to be satisfied, as the chief assistant of the Grand Council, he could mobilize all the resources of the civil official group to fight against his enemies, he had countless henchmen (speech officials), in his view this was a war without suspense.

  But he was wrong.

  Because his opponent was the eunuch group, the only one in Ming Dynasty history that could confront the civil officer group.

  Although that was the case, at that time the eunuch group did not have too much power, and Cao Jixiang, the head of the Department of Ceremonial Affairs, found it difficult to contend with Xu Youzhen, the chief grand councilor.

  To deal with Xu Youzhen, Cao Jixiang thought day and night, and after a long time of studying the art of dark and vicious business tactics, he finally found Xu Youzhen's weakness and came up with a brilliant idea.

  One day soon after, Cao Jixiang entered the palace to see Zhu Qizhen. The two chatted with a harmonious and pleasant atmosphere. Suddenly, Cao Jixiang changed the subject and seemingly casually mentioned an incident in the palace, discussing it with relish. However, his conversation partner Zhu Qizhen's face suddenly changed, and he was shocked and lost color.

  Why did such a scene appear?

  Because Zhu Qizhen was very clear about this matter, he had only told one person - Xuyou Zhen.

  He hastily interrupted Cao Jixiang and asked him how he knew.

  "It was Xu Youzhen who told me."

  Then Cao Jixiang added with a questioning expression:

  "Doesn't Your Majesty know yet? Everyone outside already knows!"

  This sentence also announced the end of Xu Youzhen: he was completely finished.

  Betrayal and leakage are what the emperor absolutely cannot tolerate. From then on, Zhu Qizhen gradually distanced himself from Xu Youzhen and no longer regarded him as his confidant.

  Xu Youzhen was also puzzled by the emperor's cold treatment, and no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't understand where he had offended the emperor. Facing Zhu Qizhen's indifferent gaze, he had nothing to say in his defense and could not defend himself.

  Cao Jixiang won, he finally achieved his goal, and gave Xu Youzhen a beautiful counterattack. Xu Youzhen would not tell him those secret things, so how did he know the content of the conversation?

  The secret of this trick lies in the fact that when Xu Youzhen entered the palace to see Zhu Qizhen, they were indeed the only two people talking, but there were three people who heard it, and the extra listener was the eunuch.

  These eunuchs close to the emperor were instructed by Cao Jixiang, and they would tell him the content of each conversation. Then Cao Jixiang would casually mention these things that only heaven and earth knew, portraying Xu Youzhen as a treacherous minister with a loose tongue.

  Cao Jixiang was over the moon and celebrated with Shi Heng, from then on he became even more arrogant. This is not surprising, it's his turn after all, but what Cao Jixiang didn't expect was that he wasn't the only one celebrating this victory, there was someone else secretly rejoicing in their own triumph.

  The Schemer in Hiding

  Cao Jixiang and Shi Hen did not know that the impeachment in May was not planned by Xu Youzhen alone, but the actual organizer of this attack was another person - Li Xian.

  In Xu Youzhen's view, this man named Li Xian was someone he had promoted with his own hands and was absolutely loyal to him. In fact, this person was indeed extremely intelligent and capable, and could be of great help to Xu Youzhen (Historical records:

  He then jointly planned with Li Xian an attack on Cao, Shi, etc., and achieved a certain effect, which also made Xu Youzhen more determined that Li Xian was a very reliable person.

  But what Xu Youzhen didn't know was that this Mr. Li Xian, apart from being his subordinate and confidant, was also an outstanding social activist who liked to make friends widely, and among his friends there was a man named Shi Hen.

  Even before Xu Youzhen's recruitment, the relationship between Li Xian and Shi Hen had been very close. Shi Hen had once persuaded Li Xian to participate in the coup d'etat, but was rejected by Li Xian. Later, when the Minister of Personnel Wang Zhi retired, his successor Wang Chao was also a man with a strong background, who did not buy into Shi Hen's account at all. Shi Hen was very dissatisfied and privately told Li Xian, who was then serving as the Vice Minister of Personnel, that he planned to drive out the current Minister who refused to listen to him and take over the position himself.

  The Ministry of Personnel is the first of the six ministries, and the Minister of Personnel is called Tian Guan. The position is prestigious, and Shi Heng was willing to give this position to Li Xian, which shows that in Shi Heng's eyes, Li Xian is also "one of his own people".

  However, unexpectedly, Li Xian refused, humbly stating that he was not yet capable of taking on this great responsibility and it would be better to let the original Premier remain in office.

  Li Xian's move made Shi Heng feel deeply moved. In his opinion, Li Xian was a different kind of person from others. Not only did he not fight for fame and profit, but he also didn't want the high-ranking official position that had been offered to him. He was truly a rare talent, and Shi Heng couldn't help but have an even better impression of him.

  But Shi Heng absolutely did not expect that Li Xian's refusal of his kindness was because he had a deeper scheme, and in order to achieve this scheme, he had already formulated an intricate plan, and was secretly spying on his prey, ready to strike at any moment.

  And on his list of targets were three names: Xu Youzhen, Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang.

  Xu Youzhen had already been alienated by the Emperor, but he was not aware of his own situation. Every day, he still regarded himself as the chief assistant and did not put Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng in his eyes. This also made the contradictions between them bigger and bigger. And the last time he instructed the censor to impeach, Xu Youzhen had a taste of sweetness, so he decided to do it again.

  This time he found the imperial historian Zhang Peng and collected a large amount of evidence of Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang's illegal activities, preparing to impeach Zhu Qizhen. As before, he still consulted with Li Xian and made specific arrangements for action.

  Xu Youzhen's cleverness had finally reached its limit, the emperor no longer trusted him, but he didn't have the self-awareness. However, it was strange that although Xu Youzhen didn't understand the underlying mysteries, Li Xian did know about them. Not only did he not stop Xu Youzhen's actions, but he also actively participated in the planning, which made Xu Youzhen feel even more intimate with him.

  Because Li Xian knew that the first step of his plan was about to be realized, and soon after, he would strike a person's name off his list.

  Xu Youzhen took action and ordered Zhang Peng to submit a memorial to the emperor impeaching Shi Heng. The timing was good, as Shi Heng was currently on an expedition outside the capital, making it possible to strike at both Cao and Shi separately. This plan seemed well thought out, but he did not anticipate that his own plan would be ruined before it could even be implemented.

  Shi Heng was not a fool, he had already arranged his own eyes and ears among the officials, just the day before Zhang Peng was about to submit his memorial, he had received the news, so he rushed back overnight and found Cao Jixiang to discuss countermeasures.

  Cao Jixiang told Shi Heng, the matter of reporting to the emperor is already set in stone and cannot be changed. However, if you follow me into the palace to do one thing, I guarantee that tomorrow everything will be fine.

  Then he led Shi Heng into the palace to meet Zhu Qizhen, and before the emperor had time to recover, Cao Jixiang gave Shi Heng a wink and began to do what they had previously agreed upon - weeping bitterly.

  Looking at the two people in front of him with tears and snot coming down together, Zhu Qizhen was at a loss for what to do, and hastily asked what had happened. Cao Jixiang then sorrowfully said: "The imperial censor Zhang Peng has been instructed by someone to plot against us two, wanting to put us to death. We have no way out, we can only ask the Emperor to take charge of this matter for us!"

  Zhu Qizhen listened and didn't have much of a reaction, after all this was a conflict between ministers and had nothing to do with him. So he remained very calm.

  But Shi Heng continued with a sentence that was exactly what moved him and ultimately decided Xu Youzhen's fate:

  "How dare an imperial censor act like this? Now that the cabinet is in power, there's no room for us!"

  Despotism?

  That's right, it's authoritarianism.

  Shi Heng's seemingly careless words struck a chord with Zhu Qizhen, who might be a good person or a magnanimous one, but if anyone dared to touch his power, not even the King of Heaven could negotiate!

  Zhu Qizhen decided to take action. He wanted to use actual actions to show his authority and tell everyone that he was the ruler of this empire.

  The next morning, Zhu Qizhen ordered the arrest of Zhang Peng and Yang Xuan, who had previously submitted a memorial, directly targeting Xu Youzhen.

  At this time, Shi Heng had already learned that Li Xian was also one of the plotters who attacked him. He was extremely surprised and angry, deciding to get rid of both Li Xian and Xu Youzhen together. Afterwards, he constantly attacked them in front of the Emperor, eventually prompting Zhu Qizhen to make up his mind and throw Xu Youzhen and Li Xian into prison.

  Xu Youzhen was thoroughly finished, he was locked up in the place where Yu Qian had stayed before - the imperial prison, sighing and reflecting on himself every day in the dark and damp cell, everything seemed like a dream. He used all his thoughts and skills, daring to be reckless, and finally defeated Yu Qian, but only rejoiced for four months, and became a prisoner. Life for him had already fallen into darkness.

  But Li Xian, who was also in prison, had a clear mind. In fact, he was the only winner in this struggle. He did his best to assist Xu Youzhen and used Xu's power to attack Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang. Moreover, he fully played the role of Xu's shield and avoided the counterattack of Shi Heng and others.

  However, it seems that he has miscalculated again. After all, he was also imprisoned and waiting for him is an unknown fate, beheading, exile, or banishment?

  But Li Xian was not seen to be flustered at all, the arrival of this day had long been expected by him, and he had prepared for a very long time.

  Not long after, the penalty decision came down. Fortunately, the Emperor showed mercy, and Xu Youzhen was demoted to Guangdong's participation in government, while Li Xian was demoted to Fujian's participation in government. At that time, these two places were remote areas, which could also be considered a dignified exile.

  Xu Youzhen walked out of the prison cell, looked up at the long-awaited sky, let out a sigh of relief. No matter what, he had managed to keep his life intact. However, deep down in his heart, he still felt guilty towards one person - Li Xian.

  In Xuyou's view, Li Xian was his close comrade-in-arms and also the reason why he had ended up in this predicament. So before leaving, he specially sought out Li Xian and said to him with a deep sense of apology: "Things have turned out like this, I really didn't expect it. Now we'll have to go our separate ways, leave the capital, and just take care of yourself."

  Li Xian's reaction was unexpected, he wasn't disappointed at all, but instead very politely chatted with Xu Youzhen, saying that he didn't mind, and even personally escorted him out the door.

  Xu Youzhen walked away with a guilty conscience, and as he disappeared into the distance, Li Xian revealed a smile.

  "Xu Youzhen, it's just you who has to leave."

  The True Face of Li Xian

  Xu Youzhen went to Guangdong honestly and quietly, but Li Xian didn't, because just at the moment of departure, an unexpected person stood up and spoke.

  This man was none other than Wang Chao, the Minister of Personnel who had almost been dismissed from office. At this critical moment, he stepped forward and spoke on behalf of Li Xian, who was about to leave for his new post. Thanks to Wang's vigorous lobbying, Zhu Qizhen finally showed mercy and allowed Li Xian to stay in the capital, restoring him to his position as Vice Minister of Personnel not long afterwards.

  The answer was finally revealed.

  Li Xian did not squeeze out Wang Fan and did not take the post of Shangshu, just to wait for this day.

  Because he needs Wang Fan's help.

  Xu Youzhen was extremely intelligent and thought Li Xian was his trusted confidant, but he was wrong.

  Shi Heng held a high position and wielded great power. He offered Li Xian an official post, thinking he could win him over, but he was wrong too.

  They all thought that this person named Li Xian would obediently listen to them and do things for them, but they never thought that in Li Xian's eyes, they were nothing more than prey.

  He could have joined the "Hometown Gang" and become a high-ranking official with a fat salary, but he didn't. Instead, during the days when the "Hometown Gang" was rampant, he quietly hid himself and learned from those plotters the art of intrigue and deception, only to use these weapons to bring them down in the end. But what was his purpose in doing so?

  The answer can be found in his later words and deeds: justice.

  Xu Youzhen is not Li Xian's friend, Shi Heng is also not Li Xian's friend, even Wang Zhi is not his friend. Li Xian socializes among these people, seemingly an unpredictable person, but in my opinion, he has a true friend whose name is Yu Qian.

  In fact, Li Xian and Yu Qian did not have a close relationship, and there were also political differences between them. On the issue of succession, Li Xian advocated for Zhu Qizhen to be restored to the throne, while Yu Qian seemed uninterested in this emperor and instead advocated for his son Zhu Jianshen to succeed him.

  Due to different political views, the relationship between the two was once relatively cold, but in that intense Battle of Beijing, Li Xian was thoroughly moved by this man who stood up and saved the country from danger. His bravery, tenacity, integrity, and incorruptibility left a deep impression on Li Xian.

  Li Xian, who had been in the official circle for many years, was moved. For the first time, he realized that in this dirty place, there were still people like Yu Qian who dared to take responsibility and be upright and unyielding.

  But in the blink of an eye, the situation changed dramatically, and that group of speculators - "Huxiangtuan" suddenly emerged, making the government chaotic and killing Yu Qian who had exhausted his heart for the country.

  On the day Yu Qian was killed, Li Xian made an important decision in his life. He wanted to seek justice for this man who had given everything to the country and worked tirelessly until he died.

  He didn't stand out to openly oppose the evil deeds of those people, because he knew it was useless. To defeat those treacherous villains, one must be more cunning and have more power and strategy than them. He quietly hid himself, carefully observing the movements of his opponents, using the contradictions between them to strike them down one by one.

  In such a treacherous environment, he gradually became mature and astute. Although he had also experienced hardships and been in precarious situations, he never gave up his own beliefs.

  Now he has finally gotten rid of Xuyou Zhen, next it's the second person's turn.

  Xu Youzhen's Final Outcome

  There's a saying: "Good fortune rotates, next year it will be your turn." Xu Youzhen should deeply understand this phrase. Just four months ago, when he was in power, he put Yu Qian in prison and still wouldn't let up, determined to bring about his downfall. But he never expected that now the situation would be applied unchanged to himself.

  He had given up all hope and only wanted to go to Guangdong as a poverty alleviation cadre, but Shi Heng insisted that the prisoner's identity was more suitable for this brother. So he launched another impeachment against Xu Youzhen, and every day he went to Zhu Qizhen's face to make trouble. Zhu Qizhen was annoyed by him and added that he himself really disliked Xu Youzhen, so he sent someone to catch Xu Youzhen who was on the road at night.

  Xu Youzhen, who had been imprisoned again, returned to a familiar place - the Jin Yiwei prison, and performed in "Prison Storm" Part 2 with great passion. Here, he reunited with those "kind-hearted" guards, lived in damp rooms every day, ate moldy prison food, and probably took quite a few beatings (the commander of the Jin Yiwei was Shi Heng's man), and spent his days crying.

  But for Shi Heng, these were not enough. He had to kill Xu Youzhen. In the end, Zhu Qizhen also agreed to his request and prepared to choose a auspicious day to execute Xu Youzhen.

  It was at this time that an event in Beijing saved Xu Youzhen's life.

  Just as the executioner was sharpening his knife at home, a sudden heavy rainstorm hit the capital city, causing many buildings to be destroyed by strong winds, and Shi Heng's house was also flooded. In ancient times, people attached great importance to auspiciousness in doing things, including weddings and funerals, which had to be checked against the imperial calendar, and killing people was no exception. With such a major disaster occurring, everyone was nervous and thought it was unlucky to kill someone at this time, so Xu Youzhen managed to escape with his life.

  However, the death penalty can be exempted, but the living penalty is difficult to forgive. In the spirit of punishing the past and warning the future, curing the disease and saving people, Shi Heng arranged Xu Youzhen, who was already over 50 years old, to join the army in Yunnan, giving full play to his remaining energy and achieving something in his old age.

  This is also a good arrangement, if Xu Youzhen was sent to Liaodong to join the army, he would likely meet Jiang Yuan, who was arranged by himself to be exiled three months ago, and become his comrade-in-arms. And according to the order of new and old soldiers, Xu Youzhen might even have to help Jiang Yuan wash his socks.

  After that, Xu Youzhen shouldered a long spear in the picturesque tourist resort for four years. In the fourth year of Tianshun (1460), he was released and returned to his hometown Suzhou, where he lived a humble life for more than ten years before dying.

  Xu Youzhen, a jinshi in the 8th year of Xuande (1433), spent 16 years in officialdom without achieving anything. In the 14th year of Zhengtong (1449), he was ridiculed for saying something wrong and hid his name for seven years. In the first month of Tianshun (1457), he made a successful comeback, but soon became arrogant and framed Yu Qian, leading to his death. Four months later, he was imprisoned, spared from death and exiled to Yunnan, eventually returning to his hometown where he died in contempt and ridicule.

  I have nothing more to say about this person.