Chapter 346

Wang Dou's words startled everyone — wasn't this move far too drastic? The Bakufu had only just arrived in the Eastern Circuit; if their methods were excessively harsh, it might harm future governance.

Bakufu Document Office Chief Feng Dachang said, "General, in this student's humble opinion, it would be better to punish only a few and grant leniency to the rest. That way, we would not overly offend the Eastern Circuit's scholars and merchants, and leave room to maneuver later. It would also display the General's benevolent heart. After all, a market and school strike is not the same as that day's military mutiny in the prefectural city — it is difficult to pursue with full severity."

Civil Affairs Commissioner Zhang Gui also pondered aloud, "Judging by the Intelligence Bureau's roster, most of the Eastern Circuit's officials, generals, and merchants were involved in the conspiracy. The plotters are numerous, many of them influential figures in the Eastern Circuit. Perhaps we should select a few to execute as a warning to the rest? That Zhang Wanshan is the clan uncle of Vice Regional Commander Zhang Guowei. In this humble official's view, for the time being, this man..."

Wang Dou said flatly, "Commissioner Zhang and Chief Feng worry too much. I do not even fear Hong Tai — why would I fear a few petty clowns jumping on the beam?"

He slowly swept his gaze over the assembly. "Without employing the methods of a thunderbolt, how can one manifest the heart of a bodhisattva? The Eastern Circuit's accumulated ills have festered too long. Only the force of a thunderclap can shatter the clouds and restore a clear, bright universe to the Eastern Circuit."

He raised his voice. "If we kill, then kill the most powerful among the merchant faction! If we kill, then kill the most renowned among the literati! If we kill, then kill the most numerous among the military men! I want every soldier and commoner in the Eastern Circuit to see what fate awaits those who dare oppose our General's Office!"

Wang Dou's words set everyone's blood boiling. Indeed — they had been too hesitant, too cautious. They could not match the General's boldness of spirit.

Our Shunxiang Army has fought its way here since its founding — whom have we ever feared? They exchanged smiles; following behind the General was always exhilarating.

Ye Xi spoke loudly, "For our Shunxiang Army to act with thunderous force, we must have just cause."

Wang Dou said dismissively, "The entire lot of school and market strikers — they funded the slaves and colluded with the caitiffs. Treason!"

He barked, "My orders!"

Instantly, everyone in the hall stood ramrod straight.

Wang Dou said, "Intelligence Bureau Commissioner Wen Daxing, immediately arrest the Eastern slave spies. Interrogate them and produce records to serve as irrefutable proof of these traitors' collusion with the slaves!"

"Civil Affairs Commissioner Zhang Gui, issue a proclamation: all market strikers have gathered mobs to insult officials — a crime of the utmost evil. Within three days, they shall surrender themselves to the General's Office, or face doubled punishment upon conviction. All shops under their names shall open for business immediately. To compensate the common people for losses incurred during the strike, for a half-month period, all goods from striking merchants shall be priced at a seventy-percent reduction. No extensions — severe punishment without leniency!"

"Finance Commissioner Zhong Rong, transport grain and rice from Shunbao and begin selling it in all cities three days from now to relieve the market shortage. The prefectural city merchants Zheng Jinglun and Lai Mancheng, who understand the greater good and refuse to wallow in the mire with these traitors, are ordered to assist from the side. The Staff Department shall dispatch one regiment of troops to protect all grain shops. Any ill-intentioned scoundrels who dare assault the grain shops — execute them on the spot!"

Wang Dou issued order after order, each one clear and precise, showing he had long deliberated thoroughly. Everyone in the hall listened with rapt attention, and those who received orders acknowledged them in booming voices.

"The Staff Department shall prepare for pacification operations. Three days from now, troops shall march into the cities, clear the streets, and arrest the following persons: Eastern Circuit merchant Zhang Wanshan; Guanshan Academy Principal Ceng Youxian of Yanqing Prefecture and his son Ceng Fuyang; Wu Lue, son of the Yanqing Department Magistrate, and his concubine Wan Meier; Yanqing Garrison Commander Chen Enchong; Huailai Garrison Commander Huang Changyi; Jinghubao Garrison Commander Song Jiaxuan; Zhousigoubao Drill Officer Chen Qinluan; Heihanlingbao Garrison Commander Ding Fangming; Liubinbao Garrison Commander Guo Cairong!"

"All their lands and commercial properties shall be confiscated in full. All merchants still participating in the strike shall be arrested en masse, and their shops sealed."

"Any who dare resist arrest or rise up in armed rebellion — kill without mercy!"

Everyone in the hall shouted in unison, "We respectfully obey the General's orders!"

A surge of fierce killing intent spread through the air. After Wang Dou finished issuing orders, the Bakufu personnel poured out. Gao Shiyin laughed heartily, exclaiming repeatedly, "Satisfying! Satisfying!"

Wen Fangliang also sneered coldly, "A pack of fools who don't know when they're courting death!"

Two days after the market strike began, the Yongning City Sub-Pacification Commissioner's Office, which everyone had been watching intently, finally made its move — and the moment it acted, it left people dumbstruck. Far from compromising, it issued a proclamation posted in every city... not a negotiation, but an order. The proclamation demanded all strikers resume business immediately, or face severe punishment.

The proclamation also employed the phrasing "Do not say we did not warn you," which sent chills through those who read it. It recalled the recent bandit suppression — under those very words, the bandit scourge that had plagued the Eastern Circuit for a century had been reduced to ashes. What action would the State-Settling General take? Every participant in the school and market strikes felt their heart pound with dread.

Recalling Wang Dou's past conduct in all matters, it seemed this man could not be coerced by force and was ruthless in his methods. For everyone to act this way...

Seeing that the proclamation threatened to collapse the various strike alliances, Zhang Wanshan, Wu Lue, and the others hastily summoned the merchants and students again for discussions. The advisors behind them also mobilized en masse. After a round of morale-boosting, the crowd resolved to fight to the death and hold out to the end.

Moreover, one section of Wang Dou's proclamation infuriated the merchants. Not only must they resume business immediately and surrender to the General's Office, but for half a month after reopening, all merchants must reduce prices by seventy percent... How could anyone tolerate this?

So after a round of secret deliberations, the market strikes in each city continued. Large numbers of their shop assistants, household servants, and tenant farmers were dispatched everywhere, joined by student marches, swelling the petitioning crowds in every city to even greater proportions. They either sat in silent protest all along the streets or gathered weeping before the various government offices. Even all manner of local ruffians seized the chance to stir up trouble, and the scene descended into utter chaos.

Faced with this situation, the officials in each city either were at a loss or secretly gloated, while the local commoners merely watched coldly from the sidelines.

They and the local gentry and merchant classes inhabited two entirely different worlds. In normal times, they deeply resented how the military officers and gentry threw their weight around in the villages, and how the merchants within their clans hoarded goods to corner the market and drove up prices — yet they could only endure in silence. After the State-Settling General arrived, hope stirred in everyone's hearts.

They especially welcomed the General's Office proclamation ordering all merchants to open immediately, and in particular the seventy-percent price reduction on goods within half a month. These profiteering merchants' strike had caused everyone considerable losses these past days; if prices could drop by several tenths, they might recoup some of it. They all hoped Wang Dou would adopt even harsher measures.

The two sides remained deadlocked, seemingly irreconcilable, on the verge of open conflict.

On the afternoon of the seventeenth, a man, trussed up tightly, blindfolded with black cloth, and gagged with a rag, was carried off a horse cart and escorted into an unremarkable-looking residence within Yongning City.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself in a gloomy room. Several people stood silently inside; facing the light, he could not make out their features.

But the sinister atmosphere of the room, and the walls covered with a dazzling array of torture instruments, made his hair stand on end. A faint, elusive scent of blood hung in the air, making his body tremble more and more violently. Had someone not been holding him up, he would have collapsed to the ground.

A sinister, chilling laugh rang out. "Before the methods of your lord Qiang, no one dares refuse to confess."

The speaker was hard to see clearly; he only seemed very tall and very thin, a pair of viper-like eyes glaring at him from the darkness, making the man dizzy in waves.

The sinister voice continued, "Perhaps you, sir, have heard the great name of the Embroidered Uniform Guard." He toyed with the objects in his hands one by one. "These are the Embroidered Uniform Guard's instruments of torture. This is the finger-piercer, this the skull-crusher, this the flesh-scraper... If you do not confess, you will be stripped naked and pinned to the iron bed. Boiling water will be poured over your body, and then while it's still hot, this iron brush studded with iron nails will scrub forcefully over the scalded areas, slowly scraping until white bone is revealed." The man's trembling grew more violent. With a slap, an account book was thrown before him, and a stern voice said, "As the clerk to Jinghubao Garrison Commander Song Jiaxuan, you should have served the nation loyally, yet you aided the tyrant in his crimes, assisting him in colluding with the caitiffs and supplying the enemy. Every transaction is recorded clearly in this ledger. If you... confess truthfully and expose others to atone for your crimes, the State-Settling General is merciful and will surely spare your wretched life. If you dare resist — heh heh. Will you abandon darkness for the light, or stubbornly resist and throw your life away? You have one quarter-hour to consider."

The moment the voice fell, the man had already thrown himself to the ground, kowtowing desperately. "This lowly one will confess! This lowly one will confess!"

Not long after, Liu Benshen, who had been standing silently in the shadows, received a detailed written confession. Expressionlessly, he glanced over it and ordered the man transferred to the Judicial Office. Unlike the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Wang Dou's Intelligence Bureau personnel only had the power to investigate and interrogate; conviction was handled by Judicial Office officials — a system of mutual checks and balances to prevent excessive power and a tail too big to wag the dog.

After the man was led away, Lord Qiang said, "Next."

Not long after, another man, obese and trembling all over, was escorted into the room. That day, those in the room had already interrogated over a dozen traitors colluding with the slaves. In the coming days, they would likely be busy until late at night before resting.

That same day in Huailai City, Huailai Garrison Commander Huang Changyi paced back and forth in his residence like an ant on a hot pan. His trusted personal accountant had vanished, and some important account books had disappeared as well — this made Huang Changyi feel with dread that something was terribly wrong.

Since he and the others had conspired to join the market strike, the General's Office had remained very calm. But the calmer Wang Dou was, the more anxious Huang Changyi became. It was always calm before the storm, but what followed was raging wind and torrential rain. Huang Changyi had long navigated officialdom by reading expressions and gauging moods; he faintly sensed the immense power lurking behind the General's Office's calm facade.

The State-Settling General was not moving now, but once he did... Even with such an overwhelming and majestic display of power...

He was suddenly overcome with regret — why had he waded into these murky waters? Given Wang Dou's ruthless cruelty and utter lack of scruples, it would be a blessing if his own family escaped ruin and death in the days to come.

He paced in circles inside the room for a long while, then suddenly gritted his teeth, a savage look appearing on his face: "Better a dead fellow Daoist than a dead me. Chen Enchong, Song Jiaxuan — in the future, do not blame me."

He shouted for a servant: "Ready my horse at once."

That very evening, Huang Changyi secretly went to the General of Yongning's mansion and saw Wang Dou. He knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly: "General, this lowly one's heart was blinded by lard. This lowly one deserves death, deserves death... This lowly one wishes to atone for his crimes with merit. I want to report, I want to report!"

The morning of the twentieth day of the seventh month of the twelfth year of the Chongzhen reign, at Yanzhou.

The deadline set by the General's mansion's proclamation had passed, yet not a single shop in the city had opened for business, nor had any merchant submitted a bid to the General's mansion... In truth, a few small shops, fearing the General's mansion's proclamation, had secretly opened their doors, but they were subsequently robbed and smashed by what seemed to be ruffians and local thugs, and the shopkeepers were beaten.

After several such incidents, the storefronts within the city remained utterly desolate, every door tightly shut.

Of course, the various streets of the city were still filled with people. A discerning eye could see that most of them were servants, retainers, and hired hands of the various officers, generals, and merchants, along with large numbers of local thugs and idlers. They gathered in groups of three or five, some shouting loudly, others carrying thick stacks of anonymous posters, continuing to paste them everywhere throughout the city.

In front of the Department administration and the Garrison Commander's residence, vast crowds had again gathered, with large numbers of merchants petitioning. Ceng Youxian, the Director of the Guanshan Academy, and others once more mobilized, leading several hundred students alongside Wu Lue and his group in fiercely denouncing the calamity of the commercial tax.

After several days of orchestration, the strike and petition participants had fallen into a routine. The grounds before the two government offices were decked with a great many banners, and numerous tables, chairs, and hot tea were provided for the students and merchants to sit and enjoy at their leisure. A theatrical troupe was even stationed beside the grounds, to help relieve the stress and drowsiness of the participants when they grew weary.

As before, no soldiers were seen on any of the streets, nor did any official come out to call for the markets to open or to persuade the populace. When the petitioning crowds surged before the Department administration and the Garrison Commander's residence, the Magistrate of Yanzhou, Wu Zhi, and the Garrison Commander, Chen Enchong, merely reiterated their opinions from the previous days before returning to their offices to rest.

The market strike had already lasted five days. The Military Defense Circuit Intendant of Huailai City, Ma Guolei, was "gravely ill," and the General's mansion in Yongning City remained utterly silent. Its proclamation had spoken with murderous fury, yet only words were heard, with no sign of action. The strike participants secretly breathed a sigh of relief — it seemed that Wang Dou was merely talking and did not dare to do anything to them after all.

And indeed, this was a joint action by all the merchants and gentry of the Eastern Circuit, representing the hearts and popular will of the Eastern Circuit. No matter how utterly unscrupulous Wang Dou might be, how could he dare to oppose the entire scholar and merchant class of the Eastern Circuit?

Zhang Wanshan, Wu Lue, and the others swelled with pride. If everyone just held out for a few more days, Wang Dou would surely yield.

At this moment, Wu Lue was delivering an oration. He spoke with impassioned eloquence, rousing wave after wave of cheers and shouts of approval from the assembled crowd.

Wu Lue spoke for half a shichen without pause, his mouth dry and tongue parched; he drank some tea to moisten his throat, gave a light cough, and was about to continue his speech.

Just then, from the east of the city suddenly came a sound like mountains roaring and seas surging: "Ten thousand victories!"

The sound rang through the entire city, instantly silencing it.

Then the ground seemed to tremble faintly, as if from the orderly march of a large body of troops.