Chapter 104: 102 Great Unity under Heaven (For the Alliance Leader

The Huang family ancestral residence's reception hall had been converted into the Wuxing Town office meeting room.

Today was the founding meeting of the Great Unity Society.

Twelve people attended: Zhao Han, Pang Chunlai, Zhang Tieniu, Chen Maosheng, Fei Ruhe, Fei Chun, Huang Fei, Huang Fei, Jiang Dashan, Huang Yao, Huang Shun, Huang Shunfu.

Huang Shunfu was that child-student section chief; though of independent-farmer origin, his blood ties to Master Huang were rather distant.

Moreover, while his family had quite a lot of land, they also had many mouths to feed, and Zhao Han had already forced them to divide the household.

In Huang Shunfu's view, splitting the household didn't matter; what mattered was paying less tax — his family could finally eat their fill this year.

As the first scholar in the town to volunteer his allegiance, and one who worked with great zeal and diligence, Zhao Han naturally intended to put him to important use, and permitted him to attend the Great Unity Society's founding assembly.

Zhao Han asked with a smile, "You've all seen The White-Haired Girl, I take it?"

"We have," everyone nodded.

"What do you make of the play?" Zhao Han asked again.

"Not as entertaining as Yiyang opera," Fei Ruhe spoke first, then added, "I saw the villagers were all seething with righteous fury. This play was performed for them, and it must have struck deep into their hearts."

Huang Yao said with feeling, "It's acted so true to life — every time, I can't bear to watch it to the end."

Xiaocui said, "When I was rehearsing, I'd start crying right in the middle of acting."

Fei Chun lamented, "Can we swap someone else in to play Huang Shiren? These last few performances, if the militia camp hadn't been standing guard, I'm afraid I'd get beaten up every single time."

"Hahahaha!"

Everyone burst into loud laughter; even Pang Chunlai couldn't stop laughing.

It was a good thing he wore a fake beard and a hat during the performances, or Fei Chun would get beaten the moment he stepped outside!

Although Pang Chunlai had always wanted to rebel, his rebel thinking was very traditional — nothing more than befriending the gentry and great clans, making connections among all sorts of people, waiting quietly for the realm to fall into chaos, and seizing the moment to rise up.

Only now was Pang Chunlai gradually being influenced by Zhao Han, beginning to accept the path of bottom-up revolution.

Pang Chunlai spoke: "This kind of spoken drama is very good — the common folk understand it at a glance. First perform The White-Haired Girl, then hold grievance-airing assemblies, and the common folk's emotions are stirred up. If the officials dare send troops, the common folk won't stand for it; none of them want to go back to the bitter days of before. In my old opinion, from now on, wherever we go, first distribute land to the peasants, then perform The White-Haired Girl, then hold grievance-airing assemblies. Once the assemblies are done, immediately recruit soldiers and buy horses — the people will surely rush to join the army!"

"Well said, Mr. Pang!" Zhao Han led the applause.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

The others joined in the applause; they already knew that Pang Chunlai was Zhao Han's teacher.

Zhao Han suddenly said, "Yanchu — Huang Shunfu — read out the Great Unity Society's general charter."

Singled out by Zhao Han, Huang Shunfu was extremely excited and hurriedly stood up to intone: "'When the Great Way prevails, all under Heaven is held in common... Thus the outer doors were left unbolted — this is called Great Unity.'"

Zhao Han asked everyone, "Can you all understand it?"

Those who had studied nodded; those who hadn't nodded and then shook their heads — they could probably grasp a small part of it.

Zhao Han instructed, "Yanchu, explain it to everyone in plain speech."

The charter already contained a translation — one into which Zhao Han had smuggled his own ideas — and Huang Shunfu simply read it aloud:

"The greatest principle under Heaven is to possess a public heart; the realm is the realm of all the people. The court is the Emperor's court, the officials' court, the landlords' court, but also the artisans' court, the peasants' court, the court of the countless toiling masses..."

"Since it is everyone's court, when selecting officials and conducting affairs, we should select good men as officials, select capable men as officials."

"The court and the authorities should keep faith, treat the common folk with kindness, and not spend all day thinking only of fleecing the people."

"Officials and commoners, commoners and commoners, should all be as close as one family. Love your own parents and your own children, but also love the parents and children of others."

"The elderly should enjoy their twilight years in peace; when a person grows too old to work, they should still have food and clothing, and children who are filial and see them to the end. The young should have fields to till, trades to work, jobs to do, books to read; those of greater ability should be made officials, to govern the realm even better. Little children must be cared for, allowed to grow up smoothly and properly."

"Old people without children, widows without husbands, orphans without parents — the authorities should relieve them, and neighbors should help them."

"When a man comes of age, he should be able to take a wife, to find work. When a woman comes of age, she should be able to marry into a good household."

"As for goods, money, and grain — earn them by your own hard toil. Do not envy others, do not be wasteful or extravagant; what is not yours, do not take. If others have talent or strength, do not envy them either. Those with talent and those with strength should work diligently, and not rely on their talent or strength to bully others."

"In this way, the common folk will not think of rebelling, nor abandon their homes to become bandits. Even with doors unbolted, no one will come to steal. This is Great Unity!"

Some of the translation Zhao Han had deliberately twisted, and the scholars like Fei Ruhe frowned as they listened.

But Jiang Dashan, Huang Yao, and the other unlettered men listened with boundless yearning.

Huang Yao exclaimed in admiration, "Is this from Confucius's book? It's wonderfully written!"

Zhao Han asked with a smile, "Would you like the realm to become like this?"

Fei Ruhe grumbled, "Who wouldn't? But no sage, ancient or modern, has ever managed it."

"Whether it can be done is one thing; whether one should try to do it is another," Zhao Han sighed. "Great Unity under Heaven is not easily achieved. But if we can draw one step closer, then draw one step closer; if we can achieve one part, then achieve one part!"

Jiang Dashan suddenly said, "The court can't even manage to put good men in office — the county is full of corrupt officials. This Great Unity under Heaven, I fear it won't come easily."

"The big landlords are wicked too," Huang Shun also spoke up. "As long as big landlords exist, Great Unity under Heaven can never be achieved."

Bang!

Zhao Han suddenly slammed the table and stood: "If the court cannot do it, then we shall do it ourselves. If Great Unity under Heaven cannot be achieved, then let us first make Wuxing Town united, then make Xuanhua Township united, then make Luling County united, then make Ji'an Prefecture united!"

The changes in Wuxing Town were plain for all to see; they knew this was rebellion.

But for Zhao Han to personally admit he was rebelling, and to add a whole Great Unity rhetoric on top of it, still left everyone present deeply shaken.

Zhao Han looked at them all and said with ringing force: "To make all under Heaven possess a public heart — it is not just about making others do it. I will start with myself. I am donating the ten thousand mu of land under my name, keeping only one hundred mu."

"This land, from now on, shall be the public property of Wuxing Town, used to do good for the common folk. In the future, whoever renders meritorious service shall be rewarded with land from these ten thousand mu. Any peasant who saves up money may also buy land from it, but only sold to peasants with little land, sold to those who toil bitterly at farming yet still do not have enough to eat!"

The others, hearing this, felt only shock and admiration.

But Fei Ruhe gazed quietly at Zhao Han; he knew these words were most likely spoken for his ears.

They worked. Fei Ruhe took them to heart.

Though those ten thousand mu had been seized, as long as Zhao Han did not continue his rebellion, the authorities would very likely tacitly accept it. Zhao Han had genuinely donated ten thousand mu of land!

If Zhao Han could donate ten thousand mu, what did his own family's land matter?

For the sake of a great cause, it was worth it!

Zhao Han grew more and more impassioned as he spoke, his fighting spirit soaring: "I founded this Great Unity Society precisely to achieve Great Unity under Heaven. To make the fatuous sovereign abdicate, to make the corrupt officials get lost, to let every man, woman, and child eat their fill. Who is willing to follow me and do this work? Who is willing to join the Great Unity Society?"

"Me!"

Chen Maosheng and Huang Yao shouted out at the same time.

The third to respond was, unexpectedly, the Schoolchildren Section Chief Huang Shunfu. Swelling with ambition, he declared, "The classic I have studied is the Book of Rites. Only today do I grasp its true meaning — this is the Great Way of the sages!"

The others chimed in as well, until only Fei Ruhe, Fei Chun, Xiaohong, and Xiaocui remained.

"C-can women join too?" Xiaohong asked, somewhat uncertain.

Zhao Han laughed. "You're already a section chief — are you still afraid you can't join?"

Xiaohong said shyly, "My little post only manages women and children. This Great Unity Society is probably different — in the future it will manage many people."

Zhao Han shook his head. "The Great Unity Society is only an association, not a government office. You won't be an official. There's no salary — in fact, you'll have to pay annual dues. Think it over carefully! Of course, the dues aren't much; even common folk can afford them."

"Then I'll join," Xiaohong said with a smile.

Xiaocui hesitated a moment. "I want to join too."

Fei Chun glanced at Fei Ruhe, waiting for the young master to declare his stance. He dared not join on his own.

Fei Ruhe stood up. "I want to do great things. This Great Unity Society of yours — it's no ordinary great thing, it's a sky-shattering great thing. I'll just throw caution to the wind and gamble with you. Let's see if we can shatter the sky!"

"Very well. Since everyone is willing to join, then we are comrades now," Zhao Han said, smiling.

Fei Ruhe muttered, "That's not exactly a fine word."

Comrade — the term existed in antiquity, originally carrying a positive meaning, referring to people who shared the same aspirations and path.

By the late Ming, it specifically referred to factional allies and had gradually taken on a pejorative shade.

Zhao Han explained, "When factional strife serves private gain, it's not a good word. When we serve the common good, it becomes a good word!"

Having said that, Zhao Han began to announce: "We now have three sets of structures — the Great Unity Society, Wuxing Town, and the Militia Battalion. The principal officers of the Wuxing Town office must be members of the Great Unity Society. The Militia Battalion is renamed the Sons of the People's Army — they are all sons of the common people. Anyone from company commander and above must be a member of the Great Unity Society!"

Pang Chunlai frowned. "If our territory expands in the future, will the Great Unity Society control the civil government and the army too? That's bound to cause chaos!"

Zhao Han explained, "Although the Great Unity Society has internal posts, all members — myself included — have no distinctions of rank or status, and no salary to collect. The Society's internal posts have no authority to interfere with civil or military offices. The civil government operates by its own hierarchy; the army operates by its own hierarchy."

"Impossible," Pang Chunlai said, shaking his head. "You'll understand when the time comes."

Zhao Han sighed. "If it ever develops to that point, I will certainly dissolve the Great Unity Society."

Not dwelling on this further, Zhao Han said directly, "Let us swear our oath and join the Society!"

The oath-taking ceremony had also been modified, adapted to a form the ancients would willingly accept.

A spirit tablet was placed on the table — an uninscribed tablet, representing Heaven and Earth, representing the sages, and representing the myriad people.

Zhao Han led the group in kneeling before the uninscribed tablet, performing the grand rite of nine kowtows, and finally reciting the oath before the tablet.

To accomplish great things, one must have a sense of ritual.

With one performance of the grand nine-kowtow rite and one shout of the Great Unity oath, even Fei Ruhe, who had not taken it very seriously before, felt his blood inexplicably surge with fervor.

It was as if the spirits of Heaven and Earth were watching, as if all the gods and buddhas of the world were blessing them, as if the fate of the realm now rested upon their shoulders.

In the sixth year of Chongzhen, on the ninth day of the seventh month, the Great Unity Society was formally established.

(End of chapter)