Chapter 11: Reform
The capital became hotter and hotter.
Even though every day there was an unending stream of ice being brought in on carts from as far as the icehouse in the capital's suburbs to the Palace, the inside of the Imperial Palace still remained very hot. Jiang Changbai spent the overwhelming majority of the day hunched over the table responding to memorials, but the person fanning her had changed from Xun Zhu into a new palace maid. And Xun Zhu was only employed to stand and attend at her side, waiting for Jiang Changbai's instructions prompted by sudden impulse.
But it seemed as if these instructions wouldn't emerge at all within a day. Jiang Changbai had wholeheartedly thrown herself into the memorials on the table.
The Great Li hadn't appointed a Grand Chancellor; when the past few generations of emperors had been on the throne, they'd all specially appointed ministers to constitute a cabinet, to first attend to the memorials that had been sent in and read them over, and then send them to the empror for the final decision. But Emperor Tai had, early on, come to the preposterous belief that the cabinet ministers were conspiring against him, and so Emperor Tai had abolished the cabinet, attending to everything personally.
Song Juguang, in the past few years, as State Preceptor, had replaced the duties of the cabinet, and assumed full responsibility for all matters great and small of the court. But when it came to now, this person who had already been the State Preceptor had the state of unrestrained clouds and wild cranes, not asking about matters of the state, and no matter how many times Jiang Changbai probed, she wasn't willing to "share the tribulations for the state" as before. As a result, the depths of Jiang Changbai's mind had been utterly bewildered. At first, she'd always thought that Song Juguang would take all the power and wealth into her hand, and she herself would only be nominally placed on the imperial throne as a mascot. That was to say, she would only be a puppet emperor.
In the end, Song Juguang had slept on brushwood and tasted gall in her hard work for five years, and had taken a terrifying risk to raise an army to march from the border to the capital; if she wasn't wanting to be the emperor herself, then that truly was too unjustified.
But from the time she'd risen to the throne, all of Song Juguang's actions had also truly caused Jiang Changbai to be at a loss. Although she had the rank of Prince Regent, Song Juguang hadn't shown any opinions towards the court or politics; regardless of what decisions Jiang Changbai made, she would only support them. Even if Jiang Changbai were to break up her Cangwei army, have one portion enter the city's guards, and assign one the other portion to various defensive posts, Song Juguang wouldn't contradict her in the slightest, and actually, would cheerfully recommend high-ranking military officers to her.
Even in this bit of Song Juguang recommending officers, there was the person whom Jiang Changbai had personally cultivated. Jiang Changbai occasionally felt that Song Juguang truly did mean to let her be emperor.
But a person's mind was the matter which was most indescribable. Jiang Changbai had remembered this from the beginning, and so she always warned herself to remain guarded against Song Juguang. Being a bit more careful was never a bad thing; this was what Jiang Changbai told herself.
But the might and position were actually, truly held in her hand; spread before her was the memorial sent from the Director of Board of Rites, waiting for the decision from this recently-ascended Emperor on the matter of the dianshi[1] exams held once every three years. The cinnabar ink-dipped writing brush in Jiang Changbai's hand rose and fell, yet she still didn't know how to put it down.
"Bixia!"
Song Juguang's voice suddenly came from a distance; Jiang Changbai, hearing it, raised her head, and saw Song Juguan, dust-covered and travel-worn, walking towards her. In her hand, a parchment letter was held, and the folding fan she always held in her hand no longer hung at her waist. She truly still comes as she pleases, Jiang Changbai thought.
"A Guang, how have you come?"
"Wei-jiangjun travelled west from the capital, and en-route, wound across the various counties of the North; three days ago, she arrived at the western border. This is the letter she sent back while on the route, and this minister thinks that Bixia ought to see it." As she spoke, Song Juguang placed the letter on the table before Jiang Changbai. Her gaze incidentally flitted across the memorial spread before her, and she couldn't help but reminisce. "It ought to be about the dianshi now."
"En," Jiang Changbai said, raising her brows, and set the cinnabar-covered brush to the side. "As a matter of fact, Sun-daren is urging me to determine an examiner."
Song Juguang nodded, and it seemed as if her roving gaze was pondering something. Jiang Changbai took note of her expression, yet didn't say anything, only lowering her head to open that letter.
Wei Xiren must not have practiced writing much; her handwriting was crooked and staggering, and it required a lot of effort to be able to understand it. But within its contents was more or less the same as they'd expected before; the citizenry were living in peace and working happily, not at all having been affected much by the conflict.
It was only that—
Jiang Changbai furrowed her brows, and asked, "From the capital to the western border, it seems as if one wouldn't pass by these places."
"Yes," Song Juguang nodded, not covering it up at all, "this minister had her take a circuitous route."
Jiang Changbai raised her head, her gaze looking at Song Juguang having a degree of puzzlement. Song Juguang didn't have the intent to conceal it, and quickly explained, "The information that those prefectural magistrates sent were untrue, btu we ought to know the true situation. Wei Xiren would never decieve me, and so I sent her especially to go see."
Jiang Changbai sighed, and placed that letter back in its envelope. She cursed softly, "What bullshit."
Song Juguang clicked her tongue, declining to comment, and then said, "Isn't it just about the dianshi? Pick some new people to replace them and it'll be fine."
Yet Jiang Changbai shook her head, only saying, "I want to delay the dianshi for half a year."
This raised Song Juguang's suspicions, and she blinked, looking at Jiang Changbai, her expression that of bewilderment. Jiang Changbai seemed to have some hesitance, and only said after thinking for a while, "These officials deceptively reporting calamities were also selected through the keju,[2] revealing their talents as excellent, yet now, they're only paying attention to receiving benefits to themselves. If the jeju were to be held on schedule this time, I'd suspect that those who emerged would also be these sorts of goods."
Song Juguang clearly approved entirely, and added, "Liu Zihe was the second-rank Hanlin candidate then, and now he's become like this."
Jiang Changbai said, "Continuing like this isn't the way."
Song Juguang's eyes suddenly filled with expectation. "Bixia, is your meaning that you intend a reform?"
Jiang Changbai nodded. "In the past, it was only men who could participate in the keju; this time, I want women to be able to participate as well." As she spoke, she became more excited. "Among this group, I'd guess that there probably couldn't be any talent taken from them. Even more, now that I'm the empror, why do I have to be restricted by those baseless ancestral regulations? In the past, I could study, you could study, Qianbing could study; others also ought to be able to study. I can be the empror, you can be an official, then other women also ought to be able to be officials; there's no difference between all of us. A Guang, tell me, isn't that right?"
It was only that, as she poke, Jiang Changbai didn't forget to monitor Song Juguang's expression, fearing that her face would show some impatience or other expression. In the end, if it were Song Juguang who didn't agree, then Jiang Changbai, even as Emperor, would have a hard time accomplishing these reforms. Although she'd had intentions to break apart the Cangwei army, but its setup was still more or less as retained as before. That was to say, as long as Song Juguang agreed, switching someone else to be the emperor would also be acceptable.
Fortunately, hearing this, Song Juguang smiled, walking over to Jiang Changbai's side; she picked up the brush that she'd just set aside, and on the spread memorial, wrote a great big cross.
The distance between the two was suddenly diminished; Jiang Changbai only felt that the room had become even hotter; she could even sense the broiling heat of the leather belt at Song Juguang's waist. As for Song Juguang, however, there wasn't even a single fine bead of sweat on her forehead.
When Jiang Changbai's spirit returned, she only saw Song Juguang looking at her with a smile, simply pushing that brush into her hand, and saying, "Regardless of what decision you make, this minister will support you forever. It's just that this minister's handwriting doesn't have any difference from Xiren's, and the crimson seal must be written by yourself."
It was only at this that Jiang Changbai let out a breath, thinking briefly before taking the brush and writing on the memorial, moving clouds and flowing water without the slightest stagnation.
Where she couldn't notice it, Song Juguang also let out a breath.
Translator's notes:
[1]: 殿试, the highest level of the Imperial Examinations, held in the palace and often overseen by the emperor personally.
[2]: 科举, the Imperial Examinations.
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