Chapter 132: 130: Even Assassins Must Bring Wedding Gifts

In the Ming dynasty, an Assistant Regional Commander wielded great authority, often leading an independent column, with the most outstanding among them comparable to a Vice Regional Commander.

A Garrison Commander was far weaker, perhaps defending a route or a single city, and was frequently placed under the command of an Assistant Regional Commander.

Ji'an Prefecture, however, was particularly interesting, having a post called "Ji'an Garrison-Assistant Regional Commander."

This was a holdover from the mid-Ming, before the roles of Assistant Regional Commander and Garrison Commander were strictly differentiated. It showed that Ji'an had seen no warfare for a very long time, and the court could not even be bothered to make changes, leaving an obsolete office lingering to this day.

The Ji'an Garrison-Assistant Regional Commander was a rotating military appointment, with his office at the Assistant Regional Commander's headquarters.

This fellow did not even have household retainers, only a few common soldiers under him, with combat power comparable to that of yamen runners, and his main income came from embezzling payrolls.

Last winter, when Zhao Han seized the prefectural seat, he cut down the Garrison-Assistant Regional Commander with a single stroke of his blade.

Civil officials trickled in one after another to take up their posts, but the Garrison-Assistant Regional Commander's position remained unfilled, and the headquarters had been commandeered by the eunuch Zhang Yin.

Zhang Yin no longer dared to live outside the city, terrified of being captured by the rebels again. Moreover, the customs post had recently disbanded as well, because peasant uprisings had appeared in its vicinity.

Wang Tiaoding waited a while at the headquarters, and Zhang Yin finally appeared.

"Greetings, Defender Zhang." Wang Tiaoding offered no pleasant expression; he detested eunuchs.

Zhang Yin laughed. "I know you civil officials all look down on us ball-less ones. Rest assured, soon you won't have to look anymore."

Wang Tiaoding was somewhat surprised. "Why does Defender Zhang say such a thing?"

Zhang Yin sighed. "I have already received the imperial command and will return to the capital on a chosen day. Eunuchs everywhere are to be recalled. You big-hatted ones have won."

Wang Tiaoding was stunned, then overjoyed, wanting to cry out "Your Majesty is sagely wise!"

The Chongzhen Emperor, no matter what he did, always acted in fits and starts.

When civil and military officials proved ineffective, he employed eunuchs on a grand scale, even letting them control the army, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Revenue.

Now, three years later, the eunuchs had made a complete mess of things, and official resentment and popular fury had accumulated to a breaking point.

And so, the Chongzhen Emperor slashed with one stroke again, recalling the eunuchs dispatched across the realm. Eunuch army supervisors on the front lines, eunuch ministry supervisors in the Ministries of Works and Revenue, and eunuch tax supervisors in every province—all were abolished wholesale, indiscriminately!

Of course, the recall of the eunuchs was only temporary. Once he discovered the civil and military officials were still ineffective, he would dispatch the eunuchs again the very next year.

And he would do so with redoubled intensity, raising the authority of eunuch army supervisors to its highest peak since the founding of the Great Ming!

Utter madness.

Governing a great state is like cooking a small fish; Chongzhen's governance was all raging flame. The moment he found it scorched, he shut it off; once the pot cooled, he blasted the flame again.

Zhang Yin said bitterly, "That rebel Zhao broke one of my legs. It took two months of convalescence to recover, and it still aches dully on rainy days. Since I am to be transferred back to the capital, I must vent this spite before I go!"

"Does Defender Zhang intend to suppress the bandits?" Wang Tiaoding asked.

"How would I have the ability to suppress bandits? I merely act the Jing Ke," Zhang Yin revealed a venomous grin. "Since the end of last year, I have been scouting for an assassin. Governor Li has exterminated the Lake Poyang water bandits, and I used my connections to fish one out. Come!"

An attendant brought out a box and carefully placed it on the table.

Zhang Yin pointed at the wooden box. "Inside are three hundred taels of silver. When the assassin succeeds, you will give him the silver."

Wang Tiaoding asked, puzzled, "Why entrust the silver to me?"

Zhang Yin explained, "In the entire prefectural seat, only you, Magistrate Wang, are actively organizing bandit suppression. I trust you will not embezzle the silver. The assassin was a great brigand of Lake Poyang. So long as he kills the rebel Zhao, his crimes will be redeemed by merit, and he will also receive reward money. Take the silver, and the assassin, back with you. I shall take a boat back to the capital tomorrow."

Zhao Han still had use for the eunuch, but alas, he could not fathom Chongzhen's mind, and the eunuchs were recalled in one sweep.

The most frustrated of all was undoubtedly Wang Heng, the tax eunuch of Yanshan.

This eunuch had rallied his forces and driven the demonic priest Zhang Puwei deep into the mountains. Just as he was about to deliver the final blow, he suddenly received a transfer order demanding his immediate return to the capital to report... With Wang Heng gone, Zhang Puwei would surely come sweeping back, and the Yanshan gentry desperately wished the eunuch could stay.

Of course, viewed nationally, the gentry and merchants were overjoyed—the damnable eunuchs were finally getting lost!

Wang Tiaoding took the silver back to the county yamen, and at dusk, the assassin finally came to see him.

"What is your name?" Wang Tiaoding asked.

The assassin replied, "Gu Jianshan."

It was obviously a false name at a single hearing. Wang Tiaoding could not be bothered to ask further and simply said, "The rebel Zhao thirsts for talent as if parched. You may falsely claim to seek refuge with him, then seize a chance to strike. Once you succeed, not only will you have silver, I can also guarantee you a military post in this county."

"I shall not fail this trust!" Gu Jianshan cupped his fists.

The next day, Gu Jianshan took a boat to Yongyang Town, a two-handed war sword strapped diagonally across his back.

His original name was Gu Shan, a native of Sichuan and the son of a military household.

He had not only studied the classics but had also passed the xiucai examination, and he traveled throughout Sichuan visiting famous mountains. Once, he spent half a year studying the Dao on Mount Qingcheng, only to return home and find his family gone—implicated in a mutiny over pay arrears, his father and brothers were all imprisoned and sentenced to death, and the womenfolk were all consigned to the Court of Imperial Entertainers.

Gu Shan thus changed his name to Gu Jianshan and lived as a wandering swordsman in eastern Sichuan for several years. Fleeing official arrest, he drifted all the way to Lake Poyang and very cheerfully became a water bandit.

Recently, when Li Maofang and Wang Siren swept through Lake Poyang, Gu Jianshan was betrayed by his own men and captured.

He was originally to be beheaded, but the eunuch spent money to fish him out, sending him to assassinate the Luling great bandit Zhao Yan. Once the assassination succeeded, he could clear his name and become a law-abiding citizen, ending his years-long career as a brigand.

He disembarked and went ashore. Gu Jianshan arrived at the inn to inquire, "May I ask where Mr. Zhao is? I have come, admiring his fame, to seek refuge."

The head manager was about to answer when Xu Ying suddenly came over and asked, "Where are you from, sir?"

Gu Jianshan said, "I am Gu Jianshan, formerly a water bandit of Lake Poyang. Defeated and fleeing in recent days, I have long heard of Mr. Zhao of Luling's great name and have come specially to serve under his banner."

"Stay at the inn for now, and go to the Regional Commander's residence tomorrow. Mr. Zhao has no time today," Xu Ying said.

Gu Jianshan asked, "Is Mr. Zhao not here?"

Xu Ying laughed. "Today is Mr. Zhao's wedding day. How would he have time to see you?"

Gu Jianshan could only take a room at the inn. Restless and unable to sit still after much thought, he strapped on his long sword and went out to case the area.

Xu Ying was already gone from the inn; he was going to attend Zhao Han's wedding feast.

As he walked, Gu Jianshan noticed many commoners, all carrying things and surging toward the Regional Commander's residence.

Gu Jianshan approached a man. "Cousin, are all of you people going to drink at Mr. Zhao's wedding feast?"

The man said, "Mr. Zhao is getting married. We're all going to give gifts."

"What do you plan to give?" Gu Jianshan asked.

The man laughed. "I'm a potter. I'm giving Mr. Zhao a pottery jar, so the gentleman can pickle vegetables to eat."

Gu Jianshan glanced over; inside the bamboo basket the man carried on his back was presumably that pottery jar. He could not help sneering inwardly, thinking this rebel Zhao truly despicable, using his wedding to fleece the common people, not even letting a trifle like a pottery jar slip by.

Only, Gu Jianshan gradually noticed something odd. Because all the commoners he saw along the way were thoroughly happy, without the misery of those being fleeced.

They soon arrived outside the Regional Commander's residence. The four gates were heavily guarded, and countless common folk were blocked outside, unable to enter.

Fei Chun picked up a paper megaphone and patiently explained, "Fellow villagers and elders, Mr. Zhao has said he doesn't want anyone sending gifts. Everyone should go home and tend to your fields. Mr. Zhao never intended to disturb the people; we don't know who spread the word. Especially those holding public duties — according to discipline, giving gifts to superiors is forbidden! Fellow villagers, please all go back!"

A peasant woman carrying a bamboo basket stepped forward and said, "Sir, Mr. Zhao's wedding is a joyous occasion. My family has nothing much, just a few eggs, saved for the lady to eat during her month of confinement after childbirth."

"Take them back, take everything back," Fei Chun had already talked himself hoarse. "If you send gifts like this and I take it upon myself to accept them, I'll be making a mistake!"

The peasants coming to deliver gifts kept gathering in greater numbers. Some from remote areas had even received word yesterday and set out in the middle of the night, bringing their gifts.

By nearly noon, several thousand people had gathered around the Regional Commander's residence, and the crowd was still growing. Even the distant field ridges were lined with people.

Gu Jianshan watched, somewhat dazed. He found another peasant and asked, "Friend, if one doesn't send Mr. Zhao a gift, will one be resented for it?"

"Isn't that so?"

That peasant laughed. "Mr. Zhao is getting married, and if you don't offer a gift, once word gets out, won't people point fingers at your back? Look at this cradle — I just made it for my grandson. When I heard Mr. Zhao was marrying, I brought it out just in time as a gift. If the lady bears a big, healthy boy and he grows up sleeping in the cradle made by Old Li here, the ancestral graves of my Li family will be sending up green smoke."

Gu Jianshan finally understood completely: these gift-bearing peasants had not been coerced; they had gathered here from the sincerity of their hearts.

Suddenly, one peasant shouted, "Mr. Zhao won't accept them, but we can't just not give. I'm leaving mine right here!"

These words alerted the other peasants, and one after another they placed their gifts in the open ground before the gate. What's more, they were very orderly — setting their things down, then withdrawing far back, not obstructing others from coming forward.

In the blink of an eye, all manner of humble gifts had piled up into a mountain at the entrance.

There were cloth shoes stitched by villagers, fowl such as chickens and ducks, freshly caught fish, eggs packed in bamboo baskets, furniture like stools and chairs, pastries steamed from new wheat, and many daily necessities… none of them valuable, yet they represented the most precious things under heaven.

Gu Jianshan stood there watching. He had come to assassinate Zhao Han, yet at this moment he felt utterly contemptible.

How could one kill a man like this?

If he truly carried out the deed, after death he would surely fall into the eighteenth level of hell!

"Long life to Mr. Zhao, may he live a hundred years!"

"Bodhisattva bless Mr. Zhao, free from illness and misfortune!"

"May the lady soon bear a noble son!"

"…"

Many peasants set down their gifts, then knelt and bowed from a distance toward the Regional Commander's residence, their mouths calling out every kind of blessing.

Gu Jianshan had already forgotten his mission. He searched his whole body but could find no suitable gift. Suddenly, he unfastened his weapon — a two-handed battle sword forged of fine steel — and carried it over to place it among the villagers' gifts.

Gu Jianshan withdrew to a distance, straightened his collar, and facing the gate, bowed formally with hands clasped: "Gu Shan, xiucai of Xuzhou, respectfully congratulates Mr. Zhao on his new marriage!"

"Creak—"

Abruptly, the main gate of the Regional Commander's residence was pushed open. Zhao Han, leading his new wife by the hand, walked out together beyond the gate.

"Bodhisattva bless you, Mr. Zhao, with many sons and much fortune!"

"Long life to Mr. Zhao, may he live a hundred years!"

In an instant, a great swath of people knelt. Many peasants who had just stood up knelt again the moment they saw Zhao Han.

(End of Chapter)