Chapter 930 Survival of the Fittest, Might Makes Right

Time flew by in a hurry.

As for the changes taking place on the grasslands, within the whole of Kyushu, no one paid them the slightest heed.

Perhaps it was confidence in Kyushu’s own strength, or perhaps it truly was the arrogance Ironwood Zhen spoke of—none of this drew any attention from others.

Except... the Gu Clan!

...

Set aside what they did not use—for a clan like the Gu Clan, which had accumulated for a full thousand years, once it truly began to exert all of its centralized power, its terrifying side was completely laid bare.

On the imperial court, undercurrents shifted course.

Gu Yan’s scheme, its first step was not to deploy troops, but to "rectify names" and "fix positions."

The first move came from the seemingly inconspicuous "vacant posts" and "transfers."

The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel suddenly "left office to observe mourning"; this key post in charge of selecting mid- to lower-level officials was, before Elder Chen Kang could even react, filled by a "pure-stream" official whose seniority was sufficient, whose usual demeanor was low-key, yet whose ties with the Gu Clan ran deep.

Almost at the same time, a routine memorial from the Imperial Censorate regarding "verification of military equipment and funds at the border garrisons" was swiftly approved; the name lists of several inspection groups composed of Imperial Censors and officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works were quietly drawn up, and among their leaders or key members were no shortage of students of the Gu Clan or people with close private ties to Gu Qing, men who were both pragmatic and daresay.

They rushed to the border garrisons, checked accounts and inspected weaponry; the process was open and rigorous, and the problems they uncovered turned into memorials with increasingly harsh wording, flying toward the Cabinet and the Emperor’s desk.

All these actions lay within the regulations, even flying under banners like "rectifying official conduct" and "removing longstanding abuses," leaving pure-stream figures like Tang Situ unable to oppose them, and making it difficult for practical men like Elder Chen Kang to obstruct.

—After all, who could oppose investigations into possible corruption or negligence?

Yet it was precisely through these "compliant" operations that the Gu Clan’s influence began to substantively seep into the channels of official promotion and the oversight system of the border garrisons.

This was the subtle power of rules.

When imperial power is fettered, when all struggles still remain confined within the rules—

It is exactly clans like the Gu Clan that possess the strength to overturn everything!

Especially the Gu Academy!

At the start, it was only scattered rumor-memorials from the Imperial Censorate, mentioning that conflicts among the grassland tribes had affected the border commoners.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Communication began receiving more and more petitions from northern gentry and merchants, their contents ranging from obstructed trade routes to villages being disturbed.

Then, those few officials "arranged" to inspect the border garrisons sent in their reports upon arrival, using rigorous data and scenes they witnessed personally—"slackened border preparedness," "rotting armaments," "low morale"—to provide "conclusive" footnotes to the previous rumors.

These pieces of information did not come as a single bombardment, but as a slow, steady stream, never ceasing.

The proportion of memorials about the Northern Border on the Emperor’s desk quietly rose.

Over tea and meals, in officials’ private conversations, words like "northern barbarians," "Ironwood Zhen," and "border affairs worrying" began to appear with increasing frequency.

A subtle sense of anxiety started to germinate in the hearts of certain keen court ministers.

Voices opposing raising troops still remained strong, but the notion that "the Northern Border may not be absolutely peaceful" had already been planted like a seed.

Gu Qing, as Grand Tutor, appeared all the more silent and steady in public; he no longer openly called for conquest, instead placing greater emphasis on "being prepared against unforeseen troubles" and "strengthening the borders at their roots."

He cleverly guided the court’s growing unease about the Northern Border toward a review of the existing border defense system, and toward the hidden danger that the Cao Sea General Control Department, by overly relying on commercial taxes, might be neglecting strategic material reserves.

These topics precisely struck the concerns of different factions.

And within the "border-affairs faction" to which Yu Yunwen belonged, internal rifts began to appear.

Some generals and officials who had past ties with the Gu Clan or who truly worried about border defense resonated with Gu Qing’s proposal to "strengthen war preparedness," and gradually grew estranged from colleagues who staunchly opposed any form of military adventurism.

Elder Chen Kang’s "practical faction" was not monolithic either. Some officials began to worry: if the Northern Border truly experiences a great upheaval, can the lifeline of grain transport and maritime trade really remain free of trouble?

The Gu Clan’s covertly influenced public opinion, at the right time, amplified the risk that "trade routes may be cut off by border troubles," touching many people’s nerves of self-interest.

As for Tang Situ’s "pure-discourse" circle, under the moral pressure of "border people suffering" and "the royal civilizing influence failing to reach them," their purely anti-war stance also met internal questioning.

—This is the strength that public opinion brings.

The Gu Academy is already the foremost institution of scholars under heaven; now, as its members speak out one after another—

The whole of Kyushu naturally underwent changes in a short span of time.

The same was true among the common people.

The Emperor is not to be trusted;

The Cabinet is not to be trusted;

Only the Gu Clan can be trusted.

This is their most simple, pure belief—and at times like this, such belief will come into play!

Yingtian Prefecture, the Cabinet.

"What exactly is the Gu Clan trying to do!"

Elder Chen Kang’s expression was grave as he looked at Gu Qing seated inside, and he asked in a very serious tone, "Are you truly going to disregard the policies of Marquis Wenzhong back then, and stir up strife once more?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the entire Cabinet changed in an instant.

Yu Yunwen’s brows knitted tight; his fingers unconsciously rubbed along the rim of his teacup. Tang Situ twisted his beard, his gaze shifting back and forth between Gu Qing and Elder Chen Kang, trying to catch more information. Qian Duanli lowered his eyelids as though studying the embroidery on his own robe, yet his ears were pricked up.

Everyone present was an old fox.

And each one had considerable forces behind him.

As for the various changes that had taken place recently, they were all perfectly clear in their hearts.

Yet they still would not say much.

The Gu Clan’s foundations were too terrifying; this current wave had only just begun to rise, and already they sensed considerable pressure. Naturally, they did not dare say too much.