Recaps

Song Yue and Kou Yuan confronted Fang Qi over a memorial alleging that 47,000 shi of grain had vanished from the Southern Capital Ever-Normal Granary. Fang Qi failed to delay its submission, and the three Grand Secretariat duty ministers agreed to send it to the emperor for review.

• Song Yue backed Kou Yuan’s demand to investigate the missing grain and challenged Fang Qi to explain the shortfall.
• Song Yue recalled that three censors who reported granary problems had been demoted or died after being sent far from the capital.
• Fang Qi argued that the investigation’s scope and procedures should be settled before the memorial reached the emperor, but Song Yue insisted it be presented that night.
• Fang Qi tried to silence Song Yue by claiming the Minister of War had no role in the deliberation, but Kou Yuan defended Song Yue’s authority and pointed out that granary stores could serve as military grain.
• Song Yue marked the memorial for imperial review, and Kou Yuan urged Fang Qi to state his reasons if he wanted it withheld.
• Unable to block the memorial with the other two duty ministers against him, Fang Qi wrote “Submit” in the recommendation field.

Fang Qi warned Shen Duan that a memorial exposing grain-reserve discrepancies had passed through the Grand Secretariat and was likely to reach the emperor. Shen Duan recognized it as a coordinated attack on his authority and ordered Fang Qi to alter or seal the response before he faced the memorial at morning court.

• Fang Qi rushed to Shen Duan's residence with a transcript of the memorial submitted by Wei Nisheng and Wang Kan.
• Fang Qi explained that Song Yue and Kou Yuan had invoked precedent and rules to push the memorial through the Grand Secretariat.
• Shen Duan identified the memorial as a joint move by Feng Yan, the Upright Officials, and the Hanlin Academy against him and the Ministry of Revenue.
• Shen Duan rebuked Fang Qi for calling Kou Yuan a quail, then realized Kou Yuan had waited years for a chance to strike.
• Shen Duan ordered Fang Qi to uncover information and alter or seal the Grand Secretariat's drafted response before it reached him.
• Shen Duan resolved to face the memorial himself at the next morning court.

After Fang Qi left the Shen Residence, Shen Duan summoned Wu Daoqing and ordered him to retrieve the Southern Capital Ever-Normal Granary’s original accounts and transfer the officials who handled them. He framed the orders as a legitimate investigation into the missing grain and warned Wu Daoqing to keep their discussion secret.

• Fang Qi slipped out through the Shen Residence’s back gate in a covered sedan chair and traveled through secluded streets.
• Shen Duan summoned Wu Daoqing to his study and showed him Fang Qi’s transcript about the granary shortfall.
• Shen Duan ordered Wu Daoqing to bring the original granary accounts to the Capital and transfer the granary officials to Fengyang Prefecture.
• Wu Daoqing questioned the usefulness of retrieving the accounts, noting that the evidence had already reached the Emperor and copies might exist.
• Shen Duan told Wu Daoqing to investigate the missing forty-seven thousand shi of grain and make the granary officials bear responsibility.
• Shen Duan warned Wu Daoqing to keep the matter secret, and Wu Daoqing agreed to carry out the orders.

Wu Daoqing feared Shen Duan would make him the scapegoat for the Ever-Normal Granary grain shortfall, and He Chong warned that transferring the records could hand Shen the means to destroy him. Wu Daoqing was left unsure whether Shen had meant to protect him or set a noose around his neck.

• Wu Daoqing realized that the forty-seven-thousand-shi grain shortfall implicated him because he had manipulated the granary accounts.
• Wu Daoqing summoned He Chong to his study and recounted Shen Duan's orders to transfer the records and everyone who handled them.
• He Chong argued that Shen Duan had told Wu Daoqing everything because the scandal could no longer be hidden and he wanted Wu to risk his life for him.
• He Chong explained that the manipulated accounts linked Wu Daoqing to Shen Duan, but Wu had no written proof that Shen had ordered the fraud.
• He Chong warned that transferring the records would give Shen the means to abandon Wu, while refusing the order could get Wu killed even sooner.

Wang Cheng submitted Wei Nisheng and Wang Kan’s memorial about the Ever-Normal Granaries to Emperor Jing of Zhou, who questioned him about missing grain, suppressed inspections, and Feng Yan’s silence. The emperor ordered the memorial read aloud at morning court, where he would hear the officials’ responses.

• Wang Cheng decided to submit the memorial that night despite the risk Shen Duan might intercept it.
• Wang Cheng told Emperor Jing of Zhou that Wei Nisheng and Wang Kan had submitted the memorial and that Song Yue, Kou Yuan, and Fang Qi had recommended presenting it.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou read the memorial and asked Wang Cheng whether the missing grain had gone to officials’ bellies or the treasury.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou questioned why earlier reports by Zhang Mao, Li Han, and Zhao Ding had not reached him, and Wang Cheng said the Grand Secretariat had retained or referred them.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou asked whether Feng Yan was ill or had sent his student to speak while he stayed silent.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou placed the memorial with the papers for morning court and ordered Wang Cheng to read it aloud to all the officials.

At morning court, Emperor Jing of Zhou heard a Hanlin memorial exposing false grain reserves in the Southern Capital Ever-Normal Granary and questioned the officials responsible. Kou Yuan and Lu Jing revealed that earlier warnings had been obstructed, directly accusing someone in the Grand Secretariat of suppressing memorials as the court erupted.

• Shen Duan, Song Yue, and Kou Yuan arrived at court amid heightened attention, while Wei Nisheng tried to temper Wang Kan’s resolve to make a dramatic remonstrance.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou ordered Wang Cheng to read Wei Nisheng’s memorial, which detailed discrepancies between the Ministry of Revenue’s grain records and actual reserves.
• Kou Yuan pleaded guilty to failing to oversee the granaries and said repeated requests to inspect the original accounts had been obstructed.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou questioned the Censorate about three censors whose warnings had been ignored, and Lu Jing recounted how the Grand Secretariat’s draft responses had buried their reports.
• Lu Jing accused someone of deliberately suppressing the censors’ memorials, and Yao Zhen demanded a thorough investigation and punishment for the culprit.

At court, Shen Duan tried to limit the Southern Capital Ever-Normal Granary inquiry, but Emperor Jing of Zhou ordered a joint investigation led by Kou Yuan and Song Jing, with the Ministry of Revenue also under scrutiny. The decree launched the inquiry, though Wei Nisheng warned that whether the records and witnesses could safely reach the capital remained uncertain.

• Shen Duan admitted responsibility for failing to oversee the granary but urged the court to confine the inquiry to its officials and have the Ministry of Revenue lead it.
• Wei Nisheng told Emperor Jing of Zhou that deciding how to investigate was the emperor’s responsibility, while Wang Kan held back his planned objection.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou appointed Song Jing Left Vice Censor-in-Chief and ordered the Three Judicial Offices to investigate the granary deficit, retrieve records dating from Jinghe Year Eleven, and examine Ministry of Revenue officials.
• Shen Duan accepted the decree without showing a reaction, while Kou Yuan and Lu Jing formally accepted their roles in the inquiry.
• After court, Wei Nisheng told Wang Kan that the decree was only the first step and that the case files and witnesses might not reach the capital safely.

After morning court, Wei Nisheng reported the proceedings to Feng Yan, who judged that the emperor wanted an impartial investigation rather than Feng Faction dominance. Feng Yan devised a plan to help Song Jing reopen the cases of three censors who had exposed corruption in the Ever-Normal Granary, leaving Wei to retrieve their original memorials and deliver copies to Song.

• Wei Nisheng left court and went to the Feng Residence to recount the morning's events to Feng Yan.
• Wei Nisheng explained that the emperor had excluded Feng Faction members from the inquiry to prevent them from exploiting the case.
• Feng Yan agreed that the Upright Officials needed help and gave Wei a dossier containing copies of three old memorials by Zhang Mao, Li Han, and Zhao Ding.
• Feng Yan told Wei to request the original memorials from the Hanlin Academy archives, make two copies, and have Wang Kan take one set to Song Jing.
• Wei understood that the memorials would give Song Jing evidence to question the handling of the three censors' accusations against Shen Duan.

Song Jing examined three old censorial memorials that exposed grain-reserve fraud and the Ministry of Revenue’s suppression of reports. He accepted the duty of leading the joint hearing, vowing to investigate both the missing grain and the persecution of the censors.

• Song Jing received Wei Nisheng, who presented three copied memorials as historical sources for the Hanlin Academy’s compilation.
• Song Jing read Zhang Mao’s memorial describing ruined granaries and the Ministry of Revenue’s repeated rejection of reports.
• Song Jing read Li Han’s account of fictitious grain surpluses and Zhao Ding’s evidence that officials had stuffed granaries with chaff and husks.
• Song Jing recognized that Feng Yan had sent Wei Nisheng to place the memorials before him, but pledged to conduct the hearing impartially.
• Song Jing said the hearing would examine both the missing grain and how the three censors had been suppressed, adding that obstructing remonstrance was as grave as deceiving the sovereign.

After Wei Nisheng’s memorial exposed the grain embezzlement, his colleagues at the Hanlin Academy began avoiding him and Wang Kan. Wei Nisheng urged Wang Kan to stay focused on their historical duties, and they secured approval to include three censors’ memorials in their compilation, leaving Wang Kan to reflect that everyone understood what was at stake.

• Wei Nisheng found his Hanlin colleagues avoiding him after his memorial against the grain embezzlement was read in court.
• Wang Kan complained that Compiler Sun, Reviewer Zhao, and Compiler Qian had turned against them, while Wei Nisheng told him not to seek praise or argue with them.
• Wei Nisheng explained that they needed to avoid appearing to claim credit for the grain case and should focus on compiling the Treatise on the State's Economy.
• Wei Nisheng and Wang Kan asked Director Academician Liu Chongyan to include the memorials of Zhang Mao, Li Han, and Zhao Ding in their Granary Textual Collations.
• Liu Chongyan approved their request, and Wang Kan concluded as they left that the Director—and everyone else—knew what was happening.

After the Three Judicial Offices began investigating the Ever-Normal Granary case, Shen Duan arranged to silence witnesses and planned to counterattack Feng Yan over a six-year-old diversion of military funds. He gambled that the emperor still needed him while Feng Yan and the three Gansu garrisons remained unresolved.

• Fang Qi told Shen Duan that Song Jing had taken control of the Censorate’s case files and that Wu Daoqing’s dispatches had been blocked.
• Shen Duan concluded that the emperor was testing his ability to contain the case and Feng Yan’s reaction, then decided the investigation could not reveal the truth.
• Zou Mo proposed framing nine granary officials as the responsible parties, recording their deaths as suicides, and sending Wu Daoqing out of the Capital; Shen Duan ordered Zou Mo to handle it.
• Shen Duan gave Fang Qi an old file about Feng Yan diverting funds for the Gansu garrisons to repair the Yellow River embankment and planned to demand a thorough investigation of that case.
• Fang Qi prepared to raise the Gansu military funds case at morning court, while Shen Duan stayed behind and gambled that the emperor still needed him.

Wei Nisheng attended a private dinner at Shen Duan’s invitation, where the Chief Minister tried to recruit him away from Feng Yan’s faction. Shen Duan offered him a senior post and a path to the Grand Secretariat, and the chapter ended as he waited for Wei Nisheng’s answer.

• Wei Nisheng returned home and learned that Shen Duan had sent a printed card inviting him to dinner.
• Cui Fu warned Wei Nisheng that the invitation might be a Hongmen banquet, but Wei Nisheng ordered a carriage and went to the Shen Residence.
• Shen Duan welcomed Wei Nisheng to a private dinner and dismissed all attendants.
• Shen Duan argued that Feng Yan was old and that Wei Nisheng would lose his protection after Feng Yan’s death.
• Shen Duan offered Wei Nisheng a choice of vice-minister posts and promised him a place in the Grand Secretariat within three years.
• Shen Duan waited for Wei Nisheng to respond, expecting him to hesitate or waver.

Wei Nisheng rejected Shen Duan’s offer of advancement and declared his loyalty to his teacher, sovereign, and principles. After Wei left, Shen Duan concluded that Feng Yan had orchestrated the memorials and planned to use that connection to turn the grain case against the Feng Faction at court.

• Wei Nisheng refused Shen Duan’s attempt to recruit him, defending his teacher and arguing that justice and righteousness offered truer support than powerful allies.
• Wei cited the fate of Zhang Mao, Li Han, and Zhao Ding, then rejected Shen’s offer and refused the evening banquet so he could return to his work at the Hanlin Academy.
• At the door, Wei declared that he would rely on himself and serve his country, sovereign, and the truth even after his teacher was gone.
• After Wei left, Fang Qi discussed the encounter with Shen Duan, who dismissed the idea of approaching Wei’s associates and identified Feng Yan as the force behind the three memorials.
• Shen Duan decided that Feng Yan’s role could be exposed as a political attack disguised as an upright remonstrance, making the next court session a spectacle.

Wu Daoqing realized Shen Duan had made him the scapegoat for the Southern Capital Ever-Normal Granary scandal, so he prepared a memorial blaming nine dead officials and entrusted evidence against Shen Duan to He Chong. Alone in the Ministry of Revenue offices, he looked back on his corruption and resolved to become a good official as Wu Ruihai.

• Wu Daoqing understood that Shen Duan intended the memorial to close the investigation and leave him as the final witness to be eliminated.
• Wu Daoqing drafted the memorial stating that nine granary officials had died by suicide out of fear of punishment, and He Chong asked whether he still had the private ledger.
• Wu Daoqing handed He Chong the ledger recording the granary’s true transfers and disbursements, which could implicate Shen Duan.
• He Chong took the memorial and ledger, saying he would submit the memorial and deliver the ledger to the back gate of the Feng Residence.
• Wu Daoqing asked He Chong to care for his illegitimate son in Hangzhou and, after recalling his youthful ambitions, resolved to become a good official.

Emperor Jing of Zhou read the Imperial Guards’ account of Wei Nisheng refusing Shen Duan’s bribe and reaffirming his loyalty to the throne. Moved by Wei Nisheng’s words, the emperor marked his memorial and claimed him as a man under imperial protection.

• Empress Zhou urged Emperor Jing of Zhou to rest, but he remained awake awaiting a confidential report.
• Wang Cheng delivered the Imperial Guards’ detailed account of Shen Duan’s meeting with Wei Nisheng.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou read how Wei Nisheng had rejected Shen Duan’s offers and declared himself a Son of Heaven’s Disciple.
• Wang Cheng told the emperor that Wei Nisheng had rebuked Shen Duan on the emperor’s behalf and regarded him as his true master.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou circled Wei Nisheng’s name on the grain reserves memorial, placing him under the emperor’s protection.

At morning court, Shen Duan admitted responsibility for failing to oversee the Southern Capital Ever-Normal Granary and blamed nine dead officials for its missing grain. Fang Qi redirected the dispute toward Feng Yan and accused Wei Nisheng and Wang Kan of being used to attack political rivals, while Song Jing and Kou Yuan defended the investigation; Emperor Jing of Zhou had yet to rule.

• Shen Duan knelt before Emperor Jing of Zhou, confessed to failing in his oversight, and presented the Ministry of Revenue’s report blaming nine officials who had died by suicide for stealing the grain.
• Fang Qi cited Feng Yan’s unauthorized diversion of 200,000 shi of military provisions for flood relief and called for that old case to be investigated.
• Song Jing argued that Feng Yan’s emergency relief effort was unrelated to the granary theft and warned that Fang Qi was trying to derail the investigation.
• Shen Duan praised Wei Nisheng’s memorial, then questioned whether someone had instigated it, and Fang Qi suggested Wei Nisheng and Wang Kan were being used to attack rivals.
• Kou Yuan defended the Hanlin scholars’ right to submit memorials and urged Emperor Jing of Zhou to focus the investigation on the missing grain and false accounts.
• The court waited for Emperor Jing of Zhou to decide between the factions.

Wei Nisheng defended his memorial accusing the Granary Depot of corruption against Fang Qi’s claim that he was acting as Feng Yan’s factional proxy. He supported the Three Accounts with records from multiple sources and left Fang Qi facing a direct challenge over who could verify the figures.

• Emperor Jing of Zhou asked Wei Nisheng to answer Fang Qi’s accusation that his memorial served Feng Yan’s faction.
• Wei Nisheng admitted Feng Yan was connected to the memorial as his teacher, but said Feng had taught him to record facts faithfully.
• Wei Nisheng cited discrepancies in the Three Accounts and challenged Fang Qi to say whether the figures were true or false.
• Fang Qi questioned whether old records and unverified figures could prove corruption, trying to shift the argument to their accuracy.
• Wei Nisheng said he had cross-checked Ministry of Revenue reports, Censor Granary Inspection Records, and local ledgers, all of which showed the accounts did not match the actual stores.
• Wei Nisheng cited three successive Censors’ memorials and challenged Fang Qi to explain who qualified to verify the accounts.

Wei Nisheng and Wang Kan defended their memorial accusing officials of grain theft, while Song Jing produced records supporting Wei Nisheng’s figures. Wang Kan’s dramatic attempt to die before the Coiling Dragon Pillar stunned the court, and Wei Nisheng urged Emperor Jing of Zhou to judge his claims on their merits.

• Song Jing told Emperor Jing of Zhou that the original memorials from Zhang Mao, Li Han, and Zhao Ding matched Wei Nisheng’s figures exactly, refuting Fang Qi’s doubts.
• Wang Kan accused Fang Qi of ignoring evidence and declared that forty percent of the grain had vanished from the granaries.
• Wei Nisheng defended Wang Kan against Fang Qi’s charge of seeking fame through candor and cited the fate of the three censors.
• Wang Kan tried to charge into the Coiling Dragon Pillar, but Wei Nisheng, Song Jing, and Kou Yuan restrained him.
• Wei Nisheng told Emperor Jing of Zhou that he had submitted his memorial after finding discrepancies in the grain accounts and urged him to judge words by whether they benefited the state.

After Wei Nisheng and Wang Kan were promoted for their public stand against Fang Qi, Song Jing and Kou Yuan concluded that Shen Duan could not be toppled while Emperor Jing of Zhou still relied on him. They submitted paired memorials attacking Shen’s control of the Ministry of Revenue and his persecution of censors, aiming to force the emperor to make concessions.

• Emperor Jing of Zhou promoted Wei Nisheng and Wang Kan to Expositors, dismissed the unwell Fang Qi, and warned Shen Duan and the Feng Faction that he understood their motives.
• Song Jing’s inquiry found that Southern Capital Ever-Normal Granary records had been falsified, but Shen Duan’s trail had been erased and the evidence implicated only petty clerks.
• At the Ministry of Revenue, Kou Yuan showed Song Jing a resignation memorial accusing Shen Duan of stripping the ministry of its authority.
• Song Jing prepared a second memorial requesting an investigation into the deaths of Zhang Mao and two other demoted censors, and proposed submitting it alongside Kou Yuan’s.
• Kou Yuan and Song Jing sent their memorials through separate channels, pressing Emperor Jing of Zhou to confront Shen Duan over both ministry abuses and the persecution of loyal officials.

Emperor Jing of Zhou granted Kou Yuan authority to investigate the Ever-Normal Granaries as pressure mounted to investigate Shen Duan. At the Feng Residence, Feng Yan refused to hand over Wu Daoqing’s ledger and warned Wei Nisheng that his sympathy for the Upright Officials had drawn him into the political struggle.

• Emperor Jing of Zhou weighed Kou Yuan’s resignation memorial against Song Jing’s call for a thorough investigation and recognized that protecting Shen Duan had become politically costly.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou ordered that Kou Yuan receive full authority over Ever-Normal Granary investigations and access to the necessary files, prisoners, seals, and keys.
• Wei Nisheng told Feng Yan that Wu Daoqing’s ledger could provide evidence against Shen Duan, but Feng Yan stopped him from proposing that it be given to Kou Yuan.
• Feng Yan cautioned Wei Nisheng that the Upright Officials were a political blade and said Wei Nisheng had shifted from watching the struggle to taking part in it.
• Feng Yan observed that Wei Nisheng regarded ordinary people as equals, and Wei Nisheng recognized this as the fundamental difference between himself and his era.

Feng Yan explained why Kou Yuan would close the grain case and why the Feng Faction would return Wu Daoqing's ledger to Shen Duan. He planned to use the exchange to secure Wei Nisheng a promotion and a place in the capital, while warning him that the Upright Officials' struggle was not over.

• Feng Yan told Wei Nisheng that Kou Yuan had won authority over the Ministry of Revenue and would likely blame minor Granary Depot clerks to close the grain case rather than risk a deadly fight with Shen Duan.
• Feng Yan warned that submitting the ledger would not recover the missing grain and could leave Wei Nisheng exposed to Shen Duan's faction without support from the Upright Officials.
• Feng Yan revealed that he had copied Wu Daoqing's ledger and would send the original to Shen Duan, intending to ask him to recommend Wei Nisheng for promotion in return.
• Feng Yan urged Wei Nisheng to remain in the capital and build his own strength, explaining that his future career depended on how he acted after the memorial he had presented.
• Feng Yan told Wei Nisheng to watch the Upright Officials pressure the Palace for recognition and warned that they must never be allowed to wield the realm's governing power.

Kou Yuan’s resignation threat, the Imperial College students’ petition, and the remonstrance officials’ impeachments forced Emperor Jing of Zhou to remove Shen Duan from handling the Grain Embezzlement Case and order him home to await impeachment. Wei Nisheng watched Shen Duan leave and concluded that the Upright Officials must never wield the state’s great power.

• More than three hundred Imperial College students marched to submit a petition calling for corrupt officials to be punished, and scholars joined their procession.
• Kou Yuan renewed his request to resign, while Song Jing and the remonstrance officials presented the students’ petition and a series of impeachment memorials.
• Shen Duan defended himself by warning that public censure could ruin the nation, and Fang Qi urged the emperor to discipline the students.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou ordered a three-day investigation into the granary shortfall and the demotion of three censors, kept Kou Yuan in office, and required implicated Ministry of Revenue officials to follow the Three Judicial Offices.
• Emperor Jing of Zhou ordered Shen Duan to recuse himself, assigned Feng Yan to handle the Chief Minister’s affairs and Fang Qi to administer the Ministry of Works, and sent Shen Duan home to await impeachment.
• Wei Nisheng watched Shen Duan leave and resolved that the Upright Officials must never wield the great power of the state.

After Feng Yan returned Wu Daoqing’s private ledger to Shen Duan, Shen recognized the gesture as a chance to end the case in exchange for allowing Wei Nisheng into the Ministry of Personnel’s Selection Bureau. Shen agreed to the condition and focused on preserving his faction’s remaining influence.

• During a heavy snowfall, an unfamiliar young man delivered a blue bundle from the Feng Residence to Shen Duan.
• Shen opened the bundle and found Wu Daoqing’s private ledger detailing three years of grain transfers and implicating the Ministry of Revenue.
• Shen summoned Fang Qi and Zou Mo and told them Feng Yan had returned the ledger, would pursue the case no further, and wanted Wei Nisheng placed in the Selection Bureau.
• Fang Qi warned that Wei Nisheng’s appointment could give Feng Yan a powerful ally, but Shen agreed to let him enter the bureau and prioritized ending the impeachment proceedings and protecting the Ministry of Works.
• After Fang Qi and Zou Mo left, Shen burned the ledger by the stove.

Song Jing submitted a memorial closing the Ever-Normal Granary investigation with no conclusive evidence against Shen Duan, prompting Wang Kan to confront him over abandoning the principles he had taught. Wang Kan left the Censorate, while Song Jing remained behind in silence.

• Song Jing's memorial reported the theft by nine granary officials and suspicions about Wu Daoqing, but concluded that the evidence could not establish further wrongdoing.
• Wang Kan confronted Song Jing over closing the case and described Shen Duan's plea for punishment, which omitted the granary scandal.
• Song Jing argued that Wu Daoqing's death, the missing summons reply, and the absent written order left them without evidence to prosecute Shen Duan safely.
• Wang Kan invoked the upright officials and scholars Song Jing had taught him about, insisting that honest remonstrance mattered more than self-preservation.
• Wang Kan told Song Jing that he could not accept the memorial's conclusion and asked who would investigate if Song Jing stopped.
• Wang Kan left the duty room, and Song Jing quietly admitted that he had learned those principles too.

After Wang Kan learned that his teacher’s case had been closed without reaching Shen Duan, Wei Nisheng explained what their memorial had achieved and urged him to focus on accomplishing practical reforms. Wang Kan chose to act for himself, and the two planned to build influence among the Upright Officials so they could wield power themselves.

• Wang Kan visited Wei Nisheng in the snow and confronted him over the inconclusive closure of his teacher’s case.
• Wei Nisheng explained that the memorial had exposed grain shortages, advanced allies, and secured recognition for Zhao Ding, while earlier investigators had died without seeing results.
• Wang Kan questioned how many compromises turned an Upright Official into a man who no longer spoke, and asked whether to preserve conviction or accomplish something.
• Wei Nisheng said Wang Kan already knew his answer, and Wang Kan declared that he wished to act for himself.
• Wei Nisheng advised Wang Kan to remain in the Censorate, prove he could get things done, and gradually draw practical-minded Upright Officials to them.
• Wei Nisheng proposed that they build enough influence to wield power themselves rather than serve as anyone’s blade.