Chapter 36: Commerce Knows No Boundaries — But Merchants Do!

The first year of Tianqi in the Great Ming, tenth month. Xuanfu, the city gate, afternoon.

Chongzhen had once again come to the gate of Xuanfu. Just a few two-hour periods earlier, while pursuing Hong Taiji, Chongzhen had made a deliberate detour to Xuanfu precisely to seize these Eight Locust Merchants!

Now, with the locust merchants all captured, Chongzhen would conduct their trial right atop this gate tower.

When Chongzhen ascended the gate tower, the commoners below were already bustling and jostling, packed shoulder to shoulder.

The crowd in Xuanfu was truly a bit too large — Chongzhen felt it was about the same as when he had Houge sliced apart in the capital, so he simply dispatched the White Rod troops again to maintain order.

Yet very quickly, Chongzhen was once more beside himself with fury. In Chongzhen's view, all under Heaven belonged to him, and the common people were his very roots.

Only when the commoners were well-off would they hand over their blood-and-sweat money for him to squander, would they keep sending beautiful women for him to enjoy, and would they sell their lives on his behalf.

But these Eight Locust Merchants, colluding with the Jianzhou barbarians — how many innocent subjects of the Great Ming had they caused to die? Those were all his own moneybags!

If he did not publicly try and struggle-session these bastards today, if he did not give justice to the commoners and soldiers who had died unjustly all these years because the Eight Locust Merchants supplied the enemy, then how would they keep sustaining him in the future, letting him enjoy the decadent life of three palaces, six courts, and seventy-two consorts?

Thinking to this point, Chongzhen opened his mouth and said: "Today, many of you know what We intend to do.

That is right — We shall publicly try these traitorous Han sellouts right here! We shall expose their crimes to all under Heaven!"

Having spoken, he said to Lu Xiangsheng beside him: "Bring these dog-whelps forward to stand trial!"

Once the Eight Locust Merchants had been escorted to the foot of the gate tower, Chongzhen said: "Do you admit your guilt? Do you confess?

In the first year of Tianqi, you smuggled a total of over one hundred thousand dan of grain and fodder to the Jianzhou barbarians, and over ten thousand iron implements, mostly long sabers.

In the second year of Tianqi, you again smuggled roughly one hundred thousand dan of grain and fodder to the Jianzhou barbarians, and nearly ten thousand iron implements.

From the third year of Tianqi to the sixth year of Tianqi, it was the same every year! Have We wronged you?"

The other seven all remained silent. Only Fan Yongdou cried out: "Your Majesty, we commoners were merely transporting grain and fodder to the frontier passes according to the regulations of the Open-Certificate Law.

As for what Your Majesty speaks of — smuggling to the Jianzhou barbarians — that was all done by our underlings in secret, keeping us in the dark. We commoners truly knew nothing of it, Your Majesty!"

Upon hearing this, the commoners below the wall exploded first. If you, Grand Lord Fan, knew nothing, would your household slaves dare to deliver goods in secret to the Jianzhou barbarians? Were they not afraid of having their property confiscated and nine degrees of kinship exterminated?

Right then, a man standing nearby cursed: "Fart your mother's fart! If you don't know, who the hell does?!"

Yet an old woman cried out in anguish: "You damnable wretches, you cannot deceive His Sacred Majesty! My poor son — he died at the hands of the Jianzhou barbarians! How can you people be so utterly devoid of human decency!"

Atop the wall, Chongzhen's expression grew increasingly grim. He raged at the Eight Locust Merchants below: "The ancients said: to punish without first teaching is called cruelty!

Today, We shall make you submit in heart as well as in word!" Having spoken, he said to Headman Wu beside him: "Read these several letters aloud!"

Headman Wu hurriedly assented and at once, from atop the wall, loudly read through the correspondence between Fan Yongdou and Fan Wencheng that the Inner Depot had seized from the Fan residence.

Within them, it not only involved the smuggling of grain, fodder, and iron implements, but also laid bare frontier intelligence completely — from the distribution of the border armies down to the names of the commanders at every guard-post, all known to the Jianzhou barbarians.

Fan Yongdou, moreover, filled his letters with the most fawning flattery toward the Jianzhou barbarians, while heaping slander upon the Great Ming.

The commoners below the wall, hearing this, at once erupted in an uproar. Many were shouting: "Kill these dog-traitors!"

Another said: "To kill them with a single stroke — wouldn't that be letting them off cheap? They ought to suffer death by a thousand cuts!"

The noise was so loud that even Chongzhen atop the wall could hear it. Chongzhen's face twitched, however, and he thought to himself: After slicing apart one Houge, We already never want to eat Beijing roast duck again — and now you want Us to slice apart eight more?

In order to quell the faintly rebellious sensation in his stomach sooner, Chongzhen spoke again: "What else have you to say?"

Fan Yongdou, knowing in his heart that death was certain, simply steeled himself and opened his mouth: "Your Majesty, we were merely doing business — there is buying and there is selling, so why distinguish between the Jianzhou barbarians and the Great Ming?! Commerce knows no national boundaries!"

Hearing this, Chongzhen was angered to the point of laughter. In later ages, there were those patients suffering from terminal public-intellectual-elite syndrome, shouting all day long that science knows no national boundaries!

As for such people, if they were in the Chongzhen reign, Chongzhen declared that he would absolutely make them vanish completely from this world.

At once, Chongzhen roared at the several men: "Silence!

Commerce may know no boundaries — but do you merchants have a country? Are you Jianzhou barbarians, or are you subjects of Our Great Ming?

You were born in the Great Ming, raised in the Great Ming! Do not forget — it is the soldiers of the Great Ming who protect you, not the Jianzhou barbarians!

Yet now you earn the Great Ming's money while letting the Jianzhou barbarians slaughter the Great Ming's people! If this can be endured, what cannot?"

Chongzhen's fury surged to his head, and he roared: "Now the evidence is conclusive, and you still dare to argue with twisted logic? Hear your sentence! Today, We shall seek justice for the Great Ming commoners who died unjustly because of you!

Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, Huang Yunfa — the above eight persons, upon investigation, have secretly colluded with the Jianzhou barbarians and betrayed the dynasty. The Embroidered Uniform Guard is ordered to confiscate their properties.

The above eight persons: death by lingchi! Three degrees of kin, above and below: all to be beheaded together! Three clans: exiled to the southwest, to be slaves of the Prince of Mu's estate! Among the nine clans, within three degrees above and below, any who hold office: all dismissed!"

Right then, Zhao Er and the others whom Chongzhen had specially brought from the capital stepped forward to carry out the execution, once again staging the scene of Houge being sliced alive in the capital.

Chongzhen, however, did not even glance at the execution scene below. He addressed the multitude of officials, soldiers, and commoners beneath the wall: "That merchants pursue profit — this is of course permissible. But they must not, like these eight, earn black-hearted money!

The dynasty has heretofore treated you merchants far too leniently, so much so that these eight traitorous bastards have emerged!

It is hereby decreed: All merchants under Heaven must pay commercial tax, assessed at one-fifteenth. Those who fail to pay shall be dealt with according to the law on tax evasion!

The specific rewards and penalties — after We return to the capital, an edict shall naturally be issued and proclaimed to all under Heaven.

Since the Jianzhou barbarians grew strong precisely because of your resources, your commercial taxes shall likewise be applied to this purpose, to compensate the common people of the realm.

It is hereby decreed: All supplementary levies — the Liaodong levy, the border levy, and the like — are suspended. Agricultural taxes are further reduced by half!"

The Eight Locust Merchants below, those not yet dead, upon hearing such a sentence, at once wailed in agony, all crying out: "Your Majesty, show mercy!"

These Eight Locust Merchants understood in their hearts: even if three clans were executed together, so long as the nine clans remained, someone could ultimately slip away, and one day there would still be the possibility of rising again from the ashes.

Now, Chongzhen's sentence had thoroughly sealed off every last hope they had.

From this day forward, every merchant in the entire Great Ming would likely hate them to the marrow of their bones. The commercial tax, which had basically never existed before, was now being levied again because of the eight of them — and at the crushing rate of one-fifteenth.

Most likely, these merchants would wish they could grind the very bones of their nine clans to dust and scatter the ashes!

Atop the wall, Chongzhen sneered coldly in his heart. He thought to himself: "Today, by borrowing your several dog-heads to impose the commercial tax, won't the silver come rolling in from now on? Only when We have money can We be willful!"

Well, went to sleep late last night, forgot to publish...

(End of chapter)