Primer on your Personal Situation

Fifth Prince? Your Highness? I am dreadfully sorry to wake you. His Majesty has sent down a few memorials for the throne - he expressly wants you to read through them, and give your opinion on how best to proceed.

I have gotten the servants to prepare some ginseng tea to invigorate you. Is there anything else you'd like?

... well, His Majesty wants to see the memorials at dawn tomorrow, but I suppose there is still time. If you wish, sir, let us talk.

Family Matters
The Imperial House - where else can be more fortunate for a soul to be born therein? Or at least, that's what everyone thinks... you may agree, your Highness, based on the luxuries and the joys of living here in the Palace - or do you really?

Your Father
Long may His Majesty, the Son of Heaven, reign! Now, do not speak of these matters in the presence of others.

I was there, you know, when his Majesty was enthroned, before the hundred officials, in Yuanguang Hall. That was 13 years ago! He was almost 30, then - and what a dashing figure! Tall, stately - even if one did not know him, one would surmise that his Majesty was a ruler, someone placed by Heaven over other men.

That was... that was then, though. Ruling is a terrible burden - and harder still are the temptations to ease that burden of labour. His Majesty is not particularly lustful, but the bottle... to drink a whole flask of baijiu every morning, and another flask over dinner! That will do nothing but harm one's body.

Then there is his Majesty's fascination with Taoism, with those priests who tell of divination, and transcendance into immortality... Heaven will punish them for their deceit! Ah, your Highness, it was only three years ago that these things came to a head, and could no longer be concealed. But they have been going on for a long while - perhaps two or three years into His Majesty's reign.

And then... the accident, yes. It was good you were not around to witness it, being too young to join the hunt. That boar was so ferocious that it took eight Imperial Guards, with their boar spears, to drag that beast away from His Majesty. It is truly a sign of favour that the Emperor even survived - survived falling off his horse, and being gored in his leg by that boar.

But since then - and it's been two years since then - His Majesty has just not been the same. It pains him to walk, and you can tell. He has retreated from his duties, farther into the study of those esoteric Taoist texts, and also into his drinking and feasting. The Dynastic Court rarely sees His Majesty now, which is understandable given the leg injuries; Imperial Conferences - meant to be held at least thrice a month - have not been held since the hunting accident, except during the New Year.

One... cannot help but wonder what might happen soon...

Your Maternal Family
I do not pretend to know a lot about the affairs of the Rear Palace, sir, but I do know a little. Your birth mother, Consort Shen, is a well-read and gentle lady - one who keeps to herself, and knows her place. Having given the Emperor one daughter and one son, her position is secure enough.

But there is another person who helps keep you safe, sir. You would do well not to forget the beneficence of Her Majesty, Empress Shen - your maternal aunt, your mother's elder sister. In temperament, the two are dramatically different, and let us just say that Consort Shen is easygoing, generally forgiving, and not particularly ambitious. Let's just leave it at that.

The Empress actually wanted to adopt you as her own son a few years ago, when she had just been appointed to her exalted position. After all, she only has two daughters who survived to adulthood; both her princes died very young. As Empress, she felt it would be best if she had a son, but His Majesty furiously rejected the suggestion. Perhaps it was a matter of timing - it was only a few months after His Majesty's terrible injury.

What would it have meant if you had become the adoptive son of the Empress, one wonders? That would have made you a Di offspring, a son of the Central Room. By the hallowed system of succession that our ancestors have set forth, that would have made you among the first choices as the heir to the realm itself. But this is not to be - and it might be for the best. Either way, it's perhaps unproductive to dwell on this...

The Matter of Succession
This is a matter that has worried the Court for a long time.

His Majesty does not like to discuss matters of... grave import, and part of that has been the matter of succession. Convinced that to set up an heir means to admit somehow that one is nearing their end, His Majesty has been sternly refusing to say anything about even appointing a Crown Prince.

This has had a corrosive impact on the Dynastic Court. Without any certainty coming from the highest master, the servants are dithering without direction. Most of the officials simply live in fear and uncertainty, trying not to offend His Majesty. Last year (12 Chengyuan), Gu Youtu, then Minister of Rites, submitted a memorial to urge that a decision be made; in response, he and two of his brothers were all stripped of their ranks, reduced to commoner status and exiled to Zhuya.

Ever since then, there has been silence in public - and movement beneath. The more ambitious of the powerful officials are beginning to form cliques around their favoured candidates, and creating factions with which to struggle for power and the eventual succession. This is a time of great danger...

Your Upcoming Matters
Ah... well, I suppose it is your Highness's right to know. Allow me to be forthright, then...

Your position right now has made you very much in demand where the Great Clans are concerned. The main factions at court all have something they would like from you - whether or not your Highness eventually chooses their daughters as your consort.

Dynastic Court
In my analysis, your Highness, there are three major problems now that are festering in the Dynastic Court.

The first, as we have discussed, is the issue of succession. And pray tell absolutely no one about what we discussed, sir!

The second issue, or rather the second group of issues, revolves around war or peace. The court is divided over whether now is the time to attempt to regain our territories, and whether we should attack the western Kingdom of Zhang, or the Kingdom of Thuong Xuan in the south.

As for the third... this concerns a little bit of history. The Datong era, when your grandfather Emperor Mingxuan of Zheng reigned, had been riven by conflict over what is called the Datong Reforms. His Majesty's accession had settled the argument, in favour of the ways of the ancestors that had delivered the Mandate of Heaven into the hands of the Zheng; but there are still rumblings of dissatisfaction and some clamour for reform. This is beginning to reach the ears of senior officers in the Court...

Of course, all this is laid over the usual partisan squabbles, the conflict between Refugee and Local clans, the jostling between the army and the newly formed navy, and myriad other issues.

Important Figures
The situation in the Dynastic Court has been in flux, given the arguments over these issues. In the 6th year of Chengyuan, then Secretary of the Silver Pavilion Yan Lingyun 颜灵运 retired from his post; two years after that in 8 Chengyuan, two other senior officials - Grand Censor Du An 杜安 and Chief Minister Kou Qi 寇琦 - also retired. Previously, these three officials had held the court steady; as good personal friends, they managed to keep factional conflicts down between them.

In the years since they've been gone, however - and especially after His Majesty's injury, and retreat from court affairs - factionalism is now rearing its ugly head. These days, there are perhaps three main factions, mostly composed of different family groups.


 * The Shen faction (申党), also known as the Deer Garden faction (鹿苑党) after the academy founded by the Shen family
 * The Yue faction (岳党), also known as the Bluestone faction (青岩党), after the academy founded by the Yue family
 * The Lu faction (卢党), also known as the Easterner faction (东党), owing to the Lu family's origins

How do these factions match up with the policy conflicts above, your Highness? Honestly, it's hard to say. The factions are bound by bonds of personal loyalty, and their stances can change according to how their struggles against each other are going. This has made government in the last few years a bit of a nightmare; any policy being discussed is just as likely to gain a powerful faction of officials who are bitterly opposed, and another faction which is heavily supportive.

Shen Faction
The Shen faction, as the name suggests, is headed prominently by the Shen family, your Highness's maternal clan.

With Her Majesty being from the Shen family, His Majesty has been... rather suspicious of the Shen faction's power in the Dynastic Court. As such, the Shen faction is actually the weakest of the three right now in the Dynastic court; the Gu brothers being stripped of rank and exiled has been an extreme form of this, but many other pro-Shen officials have been pressured into retirement. This has gotten to the point where not a single of the four Chancellor Posts are occupied by Shen faction members. Prominent members of the Shen faction right now are:


 * Shen Yizhi 申祎之, currently the Deputy Chief Minister (Rank 2a)
 * Shen Can 申灿, currently the Minister of War (Rank 2b)
 * Tan Yan 谭演, currently one of the Senior Remonstrators (Rank 3a)
 * Yan Kai 颜闿, currently Overseer of the Granaries (Rank 3a)
 * Gu Chang 辜昶, currently Vice-Minister of Works (Rank 3a)

Yue Faction
The Emperor's suppression of the Shen faction has led to the rise of the Yue faction, though His Majesty has also become suspicious of their rapid expansion. As such, to promote a balance of power, His Majesty has promoted the Lu faction as well.

Nonetheless, the established power of the Yue faction is no joke, and they are now by far the most powerful of the three factions. Two of the four Chancellor posts are occupied by them, for instance. Prominent members of the Yue faction are:


 * Yue Sengzhang 岳僧章, currently the Secretary of the Silver Pavilion (Rank 1b, Chancellor Post)
 * Du Xun 杜勋, currently the Chief Minister (Rank 1b, Chancellor Post)
 * Yu Guang 余光, currently Assistant Grand Censor (Rank 2a)
 * Yu Deng 余登, currently one of the Remonstrators in Attendance (Rank 3a)

Lu Faction
The Lu family is a rare example of a local clan that has managed to squeeze into the Dynastic Court, and their presence has been a relatively recent thing. It was during the reign of Emperor Mingxuan of Zheng, your grandfather, that they were first appointed to central posts.

Their true rise to power has happened only in the last few years, however, with the suppression of the Shen faction. His Majesty has sought to use the Lu faction as a means of counterbalancing the Yue faction without strengthening the hand of the Empress. As such, the Local Clans now have a much wider door to the heart of Imperial power - and they're not about to yield it easily.

The extraordinary expansion of representation from the Lu faction means they currently have two of the four Chancellor posts. Prominent Lu faction members include:


 * Lu Anshi 卢安世, currently Secretary of the Onyx Pavilion (Rank 1b, Chancellor Post)
 * Ning Yu 甯预, currently Grand Censor (Rank 1b, Chancellor Post)