After Li Ben’s report, Emperor Jiajing waved his hand and said indifferently, “The punishment is waived. Before this, Zhu Ping’an submitted a secret memorial to Us requesting to pardon Wang Zhi. We were just about to hand it over to you in the Cabinet for discussion. Unexpectedly, Zhu Ping’an started trying so quickly. We summoned you today to discuss whether to pardon Wang Zhi or not.”
Upon hearing Emperor Jiajing’s words, Xu Jie breathed a sigh of relief. Since the Emperor said the punishment was waived, there was no need to worry anymore.
As for whether to pardon Wang Zhi, Xu Jie narrowed his eyes.
Zhu Ping’an wanted to pardon Wang Zhi. It seemed they had already discussed a rough outline, otherwise Wang Zhi would not have sent his subordinate Mao Haifeng to lead the Japanese pirates under his command to follow Zhu Ping’an’s orders, joining forces to eliminate the Japanese pirate strongholds along the Zhejiang coast.
Wang Zhi was the leader of the largest Japanese pirate group in Jiangnan, with nearly 100,000 direct and affiliated Japanese pirates under his command.
If Wang Zhi could be pardoned, then the Japanese pirate troubles in Jiangnan would be pacified by more than half.
After pardoning Wang Zhi, he could be ordered to join forces to exterminate other Japanese pirate groups like Xu Hai’s, and the pacification of Jiangnan’s Japanese pirates would be imminent.
From the current perspective, this was the fastest way to pacify the Japanese pirates in Jiangnan.
While Xu Jie was pondering, Li Ben stepped forward once again. He bowed and saluted Emperor Jiajing, “Your Majesty, I humbly believe that Wang Zhi should not be pardoned.”
Li Ben dared not offend Yan Song. In front of Yan Song, he always followed orders obediently and was known in the court and among the people as a “dining companion prime minister.”
Li Ben was well aware of the enmity between Zhu Ping’an and Yan Song and his son. Zhu Ping’an had offended Yan Song and his son in the Yang Jisheng impeachment case, making them mortal enemies.
Moreover, Li Ben was considered a member of the Yan faction. He knew of the Yan faction’s ambitions for military power. If Wang Zhi were pardoned now, quickly pacifying the Japanese pirates in Jiangnan, it would be difficult for the Yan faction to interfere with military affairs.
Not to mention that Yan Song had already hinted to him to attack Zhu Ping’an for arbitrarily pardoning Wang Zhi.
So why wait? Since he had to be pushed out to state his position, why not take the initiative?
Li Ben had been in the court for so many years and naturally had this level of awareness and discernment.
Therefore, after Emperor Jiajing finished speaking, Li Ben pondered for a few seconds and took the initiative to step forward and express opposition.
“Why?” Emperor Jiajing asked.
Faced with Emperor Jiajing’s question, Li Ben naturally would not use the above reasons. After a brief thought, he replied logically, “Your Majesty, Wang Zhi is a Japanese pirate chieftain. The Japanese pirates under his command frequently invade our southeast, attacking the inland, capturing counties and prefectures, burning, killing, and plundering. His crimes are heinous, and tens of millions of people in Jiangnan have suffered greatly. If we pardon Wang Zhi, how can we face the suffering elders of Jiangnan, and where does that leave the court’s laws? This is the first reason. Wang Zhi has tens of thousands of Japanese pirates under him, nearly 100,000. If we pardon them, how to resettle Wang Zhi and his nearly 100,000 Japanese pirates, and what position to assign to Wang Zhi? If a heinous criminal can be pardoned, wouldn’t it encourage people across the land to become Japanese pirates and commit evil, since they can be pardoned, exempted from punishment, and even promoted? This is the second reason. Wang Zhi is cunning, treacherous, disloyal, untrustworthy, without father or mother, and cannot be trusted. This is the third reason. A few months ago, Wang Zhi boldly demanded the opening of seas for trade. When it failed, he ordered his Japanese pirates to strike everywhere, attacking various places in Jiangnan, burning, killing, and plundering, attempting to ‘coerce the government to open ports for trade’. If we pardon Wang Zhi now, wouldn’t it be equivalent to our grand court bowing to him, achieving his goal of ‘coercing the government to open ports for trade’? Where would the court’s dignity be? This is the fourth reason.”
Li Ben argued against pardoning Wang Zhi from four aspects, speaking passionately and logically.
After listening, Emperor Jiajing neither approved nor disapproved, turned to Xu Jie, and asked indifferently, “Huating, what is your opinion?”
“Your Majesty, there are no absolutes in the world. When weighing two benefits, take the greater; when weighing two harms, take the lesser. Currently, Japanese pirates are ravaging Jiangnan, and the people are suffering miserably. For the sake of the common people under heaven, pardoning Wang Zhi is not a bad method for quickly pacifying the pirate troubles.”
Xu Jie bowed and replied. He did not deny Li Ben’s four arguments but analysed from the perspective of pros and cons. Pardoning Wang Zhi had advantages and disadvantages, but it was a method to quickly pacify the pirates. For the sake of the common people, the benefits of pardoning Wang Zhi outweighed the harms, so it could be considered to pardon him and quickly pacify the troubles.
Xu Jie supported Zhu Ping’an’s bold action to pardon Wang Zhi, not only because Zhu Ping’an was his student, but also because if Wang Zhi could really be pardoned, the speed of pacifying Jiangnan’s Japanese pirates would greatly increase.
Wang Zhi was the largest Japanese pirate in Jiangnan, luring false and true Japanese pirates to join, with nearly 100,000 under his command.
Once Wang Zhi was recruited, at least half of Jiangnan would be pacified. Then, Wang Zhi’s Japanese pirates could be sent to exterminate other pirates, achieving two goals at once: eliminating the pirates and reducing Wang Zhi’s strength.
Since Zhu Ping’an wanted to pardon Wang Zhi, Xu Jie, as his teacher, naturally had to help.
Emperor Jiajing neither approved nor disapproved, then looked at Yan Song and asked for his opinion, “Weizhong, what do you think?”
“Your Majesty, since Zhu Ping’an has already started pardoning Wang Zhi, uniting with the Japanese pirates under Wang Zhi to jointly suppress the pirates and achieving remarkable results, I believe we might as well let him continue to try. I am quite optimistic about this young man Zhu Ping’an. He is a top scholar in literature and can pacify pirates in martial affairs. He always plans before acting and would not proceed to pardon Wang Zhi without the Emperor’s decree unless he had full confidence. The young man is full of confidence, so we might as well let him continue to try.”
Yan Song bowed, cupped his hands, and said slowly.
What?!
Li Ben, standing nearby, was so shocked by Yan Song’s words that his eyes nearly popped out. Wait, what happened? Did I hear wrong due to old age?!
What did Cabinet Elder Yan say?!
Cabinet Elder Yan actually supported Zhu Ping’an, letting him continue to try?! And said he was optimistic about Zhu Ping’an?
Did I mishear?! Or has Cabinet Elder Yan gone senile?! Cabinet Elder, did you forget that just a second ago you hinted to me to impeach Zhu Ping’an for arbitrarily pardoning Wang Zhi? How can you now support him to continue pardoning Wang Zhi?! This is a 180-degree turn. And, sir, don’t you want to interfere with military power anymore?!
I was charging into battle here, but when I looked back, my commander was shaking hands and making peace with the other side.
Li Ben fell into deep confusion, his brows furrowed enough to crush a fly.
Even Xu Jie was surprised. He did not expect Yan Song to support Zhu Ping’an in continuing to pardon Wang Zhi. This greatly exceeded Xu Jie’s expectations; he had never imagined Yan Song would support Zhu Ping’an.
After the meeting ended and they left the hall, Li Ben could not wait and invited Yan Song to a private corner, asking puzzledly, “Cabinet Elder, please forgive my rudeness, but why did you recommend letting Zhu Ping’an continue to try pardoning Wang Zhi?”
