Chapter 48: The Zhang Family's Obedience and the Kong Family's Mischief

Before long, the letter Zhang Yi wrote to Zhang Zhengchang was already laid out on the emperor’s desk in the imperial study. This was, in every sense, a “family letter,” for the letter came in a thick stack. As Zhu Yuanzhang opened and began to read, he was immediately struck by a rather unpleasant experience.

Zhang Yi’s handwriting truly defied description.

“Did this boy never practice writing properly? Even my own hand looks better than his...” Zhu Yuanzhang found himself wanting to give Zhang Yi a beating just from looking at his writing—his characters were like chicken scratch.

He himself had come from humble beginnings, with little opportunity to read or study as a child. Only after marrying Empress Ma did he begin to learn. Through his own effort, he’d finally become competent enough in literacy. If his own foundation was weak, then Zhang Yi’s was all but nonexistent—utterly neglected.

Despite his irritation, Old Zhu forced himself to finish reading Zhang Yi’s family letter.

The contents were much as he’d expected: Zhang Yi earnestly urged Zhang Zhengchang to present the smallpox vaccination method to the emperor. He listed the benefits of inoculation, the merit that Mount Longhu would gain, and expressed his belief that these reasons would suffice to persuade Zhang Zhengchang.

Zhu Yuanzhang was quite satisfied; at the very least, Zhang Yi had taken his task seriously.

But the thickness of this “family letter” was not just the correspondence itself. Zhang Yi had stayed up all night to write a book—yes, an entire book...

From Ge Hong onward, he traced the history of vaccines, citing sources, describing in detail both the raw and the processed methods of inoculation, and finally introducing cowpox. Zhang Yi included thorough instructions, far more meticulous than when he’d taught Zhu Biao.

He admonished Zhang Zhengchang to memorize the book thoroughly, and to put on a convincing act before appearing at court.

In the letter, Zhang Yi did not forget to poke fun at Old Zhu, remarking that the current emperor was, to put it mildly, difficult to please. Therefore, the book must be memorized before coming to the capital. At the end, Zhang Yi gave Zhang Zhengchang a heads-up, bluntly stating that the emperor liked to praise with words, but he should not expect too much.

Zhu Yuanzhang, long accustomed to Zhang Yi’s jibes, was unfazed by this level of mockery.

What truly caught his attention was the book Zhang Yi sent to Zhang Zhengchang—a medical treatise on vaccines, yet utterly unlike any medical text in the world. There was no mention of vital energies, no yin or yang, but an entirely new theory.

Thanks to Zhang Yi’s straightforward language, Old Zhu found it easy to read.

“Bacteria, microorganisms, parasites... If Father cannot understand, he can substitute with ‘water worms’...”

This book, in a sense, further convinced Old Zhu that this youth could foresee the future, though previous events had already suggested as much.

No genius could, out of thin air, cast aside the entirety of traditional medicine and create a new system.

“This boy is still hiding plenty!”

When Zhu Yuanzhang finished reading, he found a few extra pages with other content. Amused and exasperated, he handed both “books” to Zhu Biao. The two exchanged glances and nodded.

To glimpse the future—even after witnessing Zhang Yi’s marvels countless times, Zhu Yuanzhang and his son could not help but feel a flicker of doubt.

Yet Zhang Yi’s actions once again proved his abilities.

As for the other “book,” Zhu Biao, too, had to laugh.

That Zhang Yi certainly had a knack for mischief!

Zhu Yuanzhang called someone in to have a copy made of Zhang Yi’s treatise, while the original, sealed, was to be sent to Mount Longhu.

“Father has indeed gained something by sharing the merit of promoting inoculation with Mount Longhu!” Zhu Biao remarked to the emperor after the attendants left.

“It is what they deserve. Am I the kind of man who only seizes others’ credit? Justice in rewards and punishments is the way of a ruler!” Old Zhu replied, fingering another memorial. His good mood vanished.

“Father, what’s the matter?” Zhu Biao, sensing the change, asked.

Old Zhu handed him the memorial.

Zhu Biao, upon reading the first two characters at the top—Kong family...

“Kong Kejian really thinks I wouldn’t dare touch his family? My patience has its limits!”

Zhu Biao understood where his father’s anger came from.

The Kong family, the Zhang family...

One Confucian, one Daoist—the only two clans in China worthy of being called aristocratic lineages.

The Zhang family controlled orthodox Daoism, but the Kong family’s influence far surpassed theirs.

The reason was simple: the Kong family were direct descendants of the Sage, Confucius himself. Since Dong Zhongshu ousted the Hundred Schools in favor of Confucianism, Confucianism had reigned supreme in China.

No matter how eccentric previous emperors were, whether they revered Buddhism or Daoism, the status of Confucianism never changed.

Because the scholar-official class, represented by Confucianism, held the reins of power, the Kong family’s Duke Yansheng mansion was placed on a pedestal.

Perhaps the literati did not care much for the Kong family, but should the emperor try to touch them, the whole realm would object.

For the Kong family was, like the Zhou king of old, the spiritual totem of the scholars.

In past ages, had the Kong family chosen to remain mere figureheads, emperors would have shown them due respect for the sake of governance.

But this generation of the Kong family was different—or rather, the entire Yuan dynasty’s Kong family was the same.

The current Duke Yansheng, Kong Kejian, was not just a figurehead in the previous dynasty, but a high official, Minister of Rites.

Even after Zhu Yuanzhang founded Ming, conquered Shandong, and took Jining, when Old Zhu summoned Kong Kejian to court, he feigned illness and would not appear.

Wasn’t this clearly hedging his bets, hoping the Mongols in the north would stage a comeback?

In the past, Zhu Yuanzhang might have tolerated the Kong family a while longer, but now he no longer wished to!

“The Zhang family’s patriarch is much more tactful. Kong Kejian, on the other hand, looks down on me as a peasant emperor and deliberately puts on airs? Crown Prince, draft an imperial edict for me to send to the front. Tell Xu Da, if Duke Yansheng refuses to come, Xu Da is to personally escort him to the capital!”

The emperor’s anger was so great that even Zhu Biao, who was closest to him, felt a chill.

“Compared to that old Daoist on Mount Longhu, Kong Kejian is a wily old fox!” Zhu Yuanzhang’s fury made even the eunuchs outside the imperial study kneel in terror.

“Put it aside. In terms of political acumen, this Duke Yansheng is no match for the patriarch of Mount Longhu...”

Comparison brings out the contrast. In the emperor’s eyes, Zhang Zhengchang’s humility and Zhang Yi’s contributions to the court made the Duke Yansheng of the Kong family seem all the more detestable.

Zhu Biao’s sighs helped soothe Zhu Yuanzhang’s mood for the moment.

However, a plan was already forming in his heart.

“Recently, Li Shanchang in the Secretariat gave his own assessment of the Zhang and Kong families. One of his ideas is worth my consideration.”

With that, Old Zhu summoned an attendant and gave verbal instructions.

Not long after, a chief inspector, carrying Zhang Yi’s family letter and the emperor’s orders, set off for Mount Longhu at top speed.

Several days later, the envoy arrived at Mount Longhu. After announcing his identity, the Daoist priests at the foot of the mountain hurriedly escorted him up.

Just as the gates of the Zhang family estate came into view, and before the envoy could step inside, a piercing wail echoed out:

“Zhang Yi, you bastard!”