Chapter 85: Shut Them Up

Ever since the first issue of the newspaper was published, it began to show the power of modern print media, spreading outward from the capital, slowly radiating into the surrounding regions.

First the area around the capital, then gradually southward — like a spark setting a prairie ablaze, once started it could not be stopped.

The daily paper Chongzhen had originally envisioned was out of the question; given the printing costs and speed of distribution at this time, they had to adopt a weekly format.

Now, seven days later, the second issue was delivered to every Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion station, and from there the Centurion stations distributed the papers to the appointed public readers, ordering them to go to the teahouses and read them aloud.

As for the other papers meant for sale, they sent the supernumerary guardsmen of the Embroidered Uniform Guard out into the streets to sell them — not expensive, five coppers for one paper, to take home, brew a pot of tea, and peruse at leisure.

But in this second issue, a piece of earth-shattering news had broken.

Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai of Taicang Subprefecture in Suzhou Prefecture — together known as the "Two Zhangs" — along with Zhang Pu's student Wu Weiye, had secretly plotted rebellion; all three men's entire families, to the ninth degree of kinship, had been thrown into the Imperial Prison.

Yet the public reaction was somewhat strange. Ordinarily, if scholars were thrown into the Imperial Prison, countless people, from the common folk to the court, would start cursing the Embroidered Uniform Guard for framing them, crying out against the injustice done to these government students.

Only this time, from court to common folk, it was as quiet as the stillness before a volcanic eruption — eerily, frighteningly quiet.

The commoners of the capital figured that if the Two Zhangs really were plotting rebellion, then their deaths were deserved. Compared to the Two Zhangs, they were actually more willing to trust the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Yet in the Two Zhangs' home of Taicang Subprefecture in Suzhou Prefecture, the surging outrage at the time of their arrest had also given way to utter calm, as if the men arrested were not the Two Zhangs of Taicang but two ordinary commoners — a shift that left people somewhat baffled.

The Returning Swallows Pavilion in Taicang city was a famous den of luxury throughout the Suzhou-Hangzhou region; every girl there was multi-talented, most of them virgin entertainers, and though they could not match the fame of the Yangzhou courtesans, they were the darlings of the rich lords of Suzhou and Hangzhou.

The Returning Swallows Pavilion, normally buzzing with voices, had closed its doors early today; the usual clamor was gone. Inside the main hall, a few tables had been set, and the great merchant magnates of the Suzhou-Hangzhou region were all gathered here.

Every last teapot-boy in the Returning Swallows Pavilion had been chased out — no need for their service. Even the tea-pourers were the pavilion's most renowned girls, and the food and wine had been personally prepared by Liu Yishou, a descendant of imperial chefs famed throughout Suzhou city.

After three rounds of wine, they dismissed the girls. In the entire hall, aside from these rich merchants and lords, there was not a single servant.

The madam had long since dragged a chair over and planted herself at the top of the stairs, forbidding even the girls from coming down, lest the honored guests be disturbed.

Seeing that silence had fallen, Xu Fan, president of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce, raised his wine cup and said, "Young Master Li has come a thousand li from Tongzhou; our entire Suzhou Chamber of Commerce is deeply honored.

Come — on behalf of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce, I humbly toast Young Master Li. Please!"

With that, he drained the wine in his cup in one gulp.

The man addressed as Young Master Li smiled and said, "President Xu flatters me. Please."

He too drained his wine in one gulp; the two exchanged a glance and burst into hearty laughter.

Xu Fan set down his cup and spoke first: "Has Young Master Li come regarding that matter of grain and cloth?"

Young Master Li replied, "Indeed. I, Li, will not deceive you, President Xu. Now that winter has set in, and those eight old skinflints in the west have all had their homes confiscated — in the north right now, grain is a very fine commodity."

Xu Fan, with an air of taking it all upon himself, said, "Young Master Li, rest assured — however much you need, just name the figure. I, Xu, will see it properly arranged for you."

Young Master Li nodded in thanks: "Then I am much obliged to President Xu."

He then sighed ruefully: "The fickleness of the world. Since my father passed away, you, President Xu, are the only one who still treats me, Li, as someone of consequence. Ah."

Xu Fan, however, said, "What is Young Master Li saying? In his day, Grand Secretary Li bore a spotless reputation — who among us did not receive Grand Secretary Li's kindness? Rest assured, Young Master Li, your affairs are the affairs of our entire Suzhou Chamber of Commerce!"

Young Master Li, hearing this, sighed again at length before continuing: "On the road, I, Li, encountered the Two Zhangs of Taicang being escorted to the capital by those hawks and hounds of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Has something happened?"

At this, Xu Fan's face showed a flash of embarrassment. He said, "You can know a man's face, but not his heart!

That Zhang Pu — a beast in human form — was secretly plotting rebellion, planning to divide our fields among those brainless wretches so he could mount the throne himself and let his Zhang clan's rule endure ten thousand years!"

Young Master Li, hearing this, smiled and said, "That simplifies matters. Since those hawks and hounds of the Embroidered Uniform Guard have already seized him, we need only leave him be."

President Xu, however, said, "No, no. It is not a matter of leaving him be — it is a matter of making him die faster."

Young Master Li asked curiously, "What do you mean by that?"

President Xu said, "That scoundrel Zhang Pu wrote his land-division scheme in a little booklet. On the day of the confiscation, it happened that the Suzhou Prefect was also present; right at the Zhang family gate, we saw with our own eyes His Excellency the Prefect leafing through that booklet."

Young Master Li, unconcerned, said, "So he leafed through it — what is there to worry about? Has Kou Shen's own family holdings shrunk by even a fraction?

Are you, President Xu, worried that Prefect Kou would deliberately submit a memorial about it? Besides, even if the Embroidered Uniform Guard has already gotten that booklet, the Emperor may never even see it.

Do not forget — whether it is the grand ministers at court or those hawks and hounds of the Depot and the Guard, whose family holdings have shrunk? Who among them would dare let the Emperor see this?"

Xu Fan, hearing this, gave a bitter laugh. No wonder this Li Jiaguo was a failure — his father, Li Sancai, had been a full-fledged Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, yet the son could only be a merchant.

He had no choice but to explain: "True, no one would present this thing to the Emperor — but a long night brings many dreams.

This is the first major case of government students plotting rebellion in three hundred years of our dynasty! What if the Emperor's curiosity is piqued, and he sends the Eastern Depot or the Western Depot to interrogate them?

Those ball-less eunuchs — all their wealth and rank hang upon the Emperor alone. They care nothing for what happens outside. If they extract something and report it up to the Emperor, then…

To guard against any mishap, it is best to make Zhang Pu shut his mouth, and soon."

Only after Xu Fan had explained it clearly did Young Master Li say, with sudden understanding, "In that case, once I, Li, return, I shall write to my late father's old friends and associates. Zhang Pu will certainly shut his mouth sooner.

It is just that I, Li, have come this time for the grain and cloth matter — you, President Xu, must still devote your utmost care to it."

Xu Fan, seeing Young Master Li use the grain and cloth matter as a bargaining chip, cursed inwardly: this Li Jiaguo would throw his life away for money! He said aloud, "Young Master Li, rest assured — however much you need, just say the word.

It can all be ready by tomorrow night; your important affairs will certainly not be delayed."

Only then did Young Master Li raise his wine cup and say, "In that case, my thanks to President Xu. Please!"

I truly envy those big shots who can churn out ten thousand updates a day....

(End of chapter)