The Empire wasn’t the only one experiencing rapid changes.
Its immediate neighbors, Ming and Japan, were also moving busily.
However, the directions these two countries were moving in were completely opposite.
***
The direction Ming chose was ‘consolidation.’
Emperor Chenghua[1], who ascended to the throne following Emperor Jingtai, earned the nickname ‘Goryeo Emperor.’
There were several reasons why he received the nickname ‘Goryeo Emperor.’
First and foremost was the fact that he had grown up in the Empire.
Emperor Chenghua had grown up in the Empire after the defeat in the Liaodong War.
As a result, there were some issues with Emperor Chenghua’s Chinese. While there were no problems with conversation, his accent gave the impression of being heavily mixed with dialect.
The second reason was that he had taken an empress from the Empire. The bigger problem was that he had no concubines besides the empress.
According to traditional Chinese customs, an emperor should have ‘3 palaces, 6 courts, and 72 consorts’ as a baseline.
“You must not ignore the customs that follow tradition!”
“Having many descendants is also a duty that Your Majesty must fulfill!”
Ming’s ministers pleaded with him to take concubines, citing both custom and practical reasons. Emperor Chenghua glared at the ministers pleading for him to take concubines.
“Are you ministers petitioning solely for those reasons?”
“We petition only out of loyalty!”
“It is absolutely necessary for the stability of the empire!”
When the ministers pressured him by even bringing up ‘the stability of the empire,’ Emperor Chenghua ultimately had no choice but to take a step back.
“Fine! I will follow your wishes!”
“Your grace is boundless!”
According to unofficial histories, on the day this decision was made, Emperor Chenghua visited the empress and begged on his hands and knees.
“Geum-soon-ah~. This really isn’t something I wanted to do! Really! Believe me! I really only have you, Geum-soon! Hey! Put down that neck pillow! Put it down! If you’re going to throw something, throw something other than the pillow!”
And the next day, the imperial physician of the Ming court reportedly had to apply many needles to Emperor Chenghua’s lower back and prepare medicine to replenish his qi.
***
Once Emperor Chenghua gave his permission, Ming’s ministers moved busily.
First, they sent people throughout the country to select 5,000 beautiful maidens and send them to Nanjing.
Of the 5,000 beautiful maidens who entered the palace, 4,000 failed the physical examination and had to return home. Next, after examining their ‘private parts,’ 300 remained.
These remaining 300 were sent to Emperor Chenghua for ‘practice,’ and after a month, only 50 remained to be appointed as consorts.
In a way, it seemed like a thoroughly objective and fair procedure, but the problem was that about 100 of the 300 who entered were daughters of key ministers.
Their calculation was simple:
-If we can gain the emperor’s favor and rise to the position of consort or concubine, pushing aside the empress from the Empire will be child’s play!
-The current emperor has a weak power base. If I can become the emperor’s father-in-law, the empire’s power will be mine!
-If my daughter only bears sons, my family can enjoy power as imperial in-laws for generations!
Ministers who pushed their daughters forward with such ambitions spread large amounts of bribes.
However, Emperor Chenghua defied their expectations.
“I have taken concubines according to your words. But what follows is my heart’s decision.”
Emperor Chenghua did not continue to sleep with the 300 beautiful maidens who had entered.
“Your Majesty! For the empire’s well-being, there must be many princes to continue the line!”
“Ah? Don’t worry about that problem. The empress and I are working hard on it.”
As Emperor Chenghua said, he and the empress already had three sons and two daughters.
Eventually, several ministers who couldn’t bear it any longer rose up.
“Your Majesty! This is a matter of legitimacy! A prince born to a woman from Joseon must never inherit the throne! Joseon’s culture must not seep into the imperial family!”
“So you’re saying a prince born between me and the empress cannot inherit the throne?”
“That is correct! How can Joseon blood be mixed into the imperial family?”
“Among the concubines taken by Emperor Yongle, there were women from the Empire—no, from Joseon. The imperial family already has Joseon blood mixed in, so what’s the problem?”
“They were far from the throne! The circumstances are different! Please understand!”
“Joseon influence must never mix with the thickest blood of the imperial family! Please understand!”
Emperor Chenghua’s expression turned fierce at the sight of ministers adamantly opposing the princes born between him and the empress.
“What? Joseon influence can’t mix with the imperial family’s thickest blood? By that logic, even I wouldn’t be emperor to you, would I? In this imperial family, who has been exposed to the Empire’s—no, Joseon’s—influence the most while growing up in the Empire but me? Guards! Arrest these men immediately and throw them in prison for interrogation! For the crime of insulting me! Interrogate them thoroughly to reveal exactly who they conspired with to insult me!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Following Emperor Chenghua’s orders, the Embroidered Uniform Guards dragged out the problematic ministers.
Even as they were dragged away by the guards’ rough hands, the ministers desperately cried out:
“Your Majesty! This is unjust! Do not doubt our loyalty!”
“This is unjust! Please recognize our loyalty!”
However, what awaited the ministers who were dragged away was torture from the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
The Eastern Depot’s torture, in particular, was vicious and persistent.
The head of the Eastern Depot was Wang Chong, who had returned from Seoul with Emperor Chenghua.
***
A few days after entering Nanjing, Emperor Chenghua summoned Wang Chong along with his inner circle, the Hidden Dragon Society.
“Eunuch Wang. You’ve worked hard taking care of me in Seoul all this time. I won’t forget your service.”
“You praise me too highly. I merely did what I had to do.”
“I have something to ask of you. No, only you can do it.”
“Please entrust it to me. I will complete it even at the cost of my life.”
“Take control of the Eastern Depot.”
“The Eastern Depot?”
Seeing Wang Chong’s surprised expression, Emperor Chenghua got straight to the point.
“Although I became emperor at the request of the ministers here in Nanjing, you and I both know well that we’re in a situation where we don’t know when we might die.”
At Emperor Chenghua’s words, Wang Chong unconsciously nodded.
During the journey from Seoul to here, and during the few days of recovering from travel fatigue after entering the palace, Wang Chong had also experienced the reality firsthand.
‘I was so confident when we first left Seoul…’
Those already established in Nanjing had built their own strong fortresses and were thoroughly excluding Wang Chong.
Watching Wang Chong nod, Emperor Chenghua continued:
“For both you and me to survive and seize power here, we must move together until the end. The moment either of us has a change of heart, we both perish. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At Wang Chong’s answer, Emperor Chenghua continued:
“I will give you the power of life and death over the eunuchs. Sort them out as you see fit and take control of the eunuchs and Eastern Depot. How long will it take?”
“I will complete it as quickly as possible.”
“Please give me an exact timeframe. Would one or two months suffice?”
“…Please give me 100 days.”
“Understood. I’ll give you 100 days.”
Thus, Emperor Chenghua, the Hidden Dragon Society, and Wang Chong became tightly bound together. They were bound together for survival and power—no, for survival itself.
The next day, Wang Chong received two edicts from Emperor Chenghua.
One appointed Wang Chong as the Chief Eunuch of the Eastern Depot, and the other was an order to purge the eunuch organization over 100 days.
The problem was the content written in the second edict:
-If necessary, executing first and reporting later is permitted.
-The targets of the purge include all eunuchs regardless of rank.
Simply put, it meant to kill if things went wrong, and the targets could be of higher rank than Wang Chong.
The moment Wang Chong read Emperor Chenghua’s edict aloud, all the eunuchs present froze and began to break out in cold sweat.
Afterward, Wang Chong selected young and ambitious eunuchs from all eunuch organizations including the Eastern Depot to serve as his hands and feet.
He didn’t only insist on young eunuchs. He gathered capable eunuchs who had been pushed out in factional fights and eunuchs who were friendly with him but had been pushed out of the mainstream, making them his power base.
With the power base thus created, Wang Chong caused a bloodbath within the eunuch organization. Because the emperor was his backing, even the Director of Ceremonial, the head of the eunuchs, had to watch Wang Chong’s mood as the second-in-command.
After this bloodbath, Wang Chong was able to completely control not only the eunuch organization but also the Eastern Depot within 80 days.
Once Wang Chong had taken control of the eunuch organization and Eastern Depot, Emperor Chenghua withdrew the authority to execute first and report later that he had granted.
“Don’t feel disappointed. This is for our mutual safety and trust.”
“I understand well.”
“You know this is just the beginning, right?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Having taken control of the Eastern Depot, Wang Chong secretly began surveillance of the remaining imperial family members and ministers.
***
Because survival was at stake, the bond between Emperor Chenghua, the empress, the Hidden Dragon Society, and Wang Chong was exceptionally strong.
To avoid the danger of poisoning, Emperor Chenghua’s food was personally prepared by the empress and the court ladies from the Empire who had been sent with her.
The ingredients also had to pass inspection by the court ladies and physicians sent by the Empire, as well as the Imperial Army.
And the food prepared with ingredients that passed this way was eaten together by Emperor Chenghua, the empress, members of the Hidden Dragon Society, Wang Chong, and Emperor Chenghua’s mother Lady Zhu—who had been elevated to Empress Dowager.
The atmosphere among those who gathered to eat like this was harmonious.
Of course, there were more than a few ministers who took issue with this. And whenever such talk arose, Emperor Chenghua answered with a smile:
“I apologize. Since I lived in the Empire for so long, I still find Nanjing’s food disagreeable. I’m continuing to make efforts, so this won’t happen for much longer.”
At the time, only a very few understood the real hidden meaning of these words. But those few felt chills run down their spines.
‘Dangerous! I can smell blood!’
‘We must never act rashly!’
***
For Emperor Chenghua, who had been preparing carefully like this, this ‘bloodline issue’ was an excellent opportunity.
The Eastern Depot led by Wang Chong persistently tortured the problematic ministers, making them confess why these words had come up and who was implicated. No, rather than confessions, they fabricated testimonies implicating their political allies.
And based on these testimonies, even more people were captured by the Eastern Depot.
As the number of people captured by the Eastern Depot greatly increased, the Embroidered Uniform Guard stepped forward.
“The number of criminals is too great for the Eastern Depot to handle alone. Please give us at the Embroidered Uniform Guard an opportunity.”
“Do so. I have high expectations.”
At Emperor Chenghua’s words, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard prostrated himself on the floor and answered loudly:
“We will not disappoint Your Majesty’s expectations! Ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!”
This was the beginning of the great purge that would later be called the ‘Chenghua Prison.’