Chapter 285: 283 The Restoration Society

If I just say the name Zhang Pu, I'm afraid most people won't have any impression of him.

But "The Gravestone Record of the Five Men" is enormously famous — and Zhang Pu is precisely the author of that essay.

This whole affair, actually, is very simple.

Just factional strife, nothing more.

Governor Zhou Qiyuan of Suzhou-Songjiang (Donglin Faction) impeached the Suzhou-Hangzhou Textile Intendant Eunuch Li Shi (eunuch faction), accusing Li Shi of extortionate levies and brutal oppression of the people.

For this he offended Wei Zhongxian; Zhou Qiyuan was stripped of office and reduced to commoner status, but the eunuch faction still wanted to press the attack.

Li Shi (eunuch faction) then impeached Zhou Qiyuan (Donglin Faction), accusing Zhou Qiyuan of defying imperial edicts, arbitrarily reducing the quota of dragon robes, using robe-silver to mint counterfeit coins, manipulating robe prices, lining his own pockets, and driving the weaving households deep into debt.

Both sides' impeachments were entirely true.

Corrupt Donglin officials, corrupt eunuch-faction officials — putting on a fine show of dogs biting dogs.

There were also all sorts of details in between, implicating many officials on both sides; Zhou Shunchang was one of the Donglin men dragged in.

Because the eunuch faction was deeply hated by the local populace, when they came to arrest Zhou Shunchang it triggered a disturbance — nothing that blew up, not even rising to the level of a riot.

Most of the onlookers were just there for the spectacle, mere bystanders eating melon seeds; the fight between the eunuch faction and the Donglin Faction was none of their damn business.

Afterward, five men were arrested and beheaded. Apart from one who was Zhou Shunchang's household slave, the other four were just busybodies. Some say these four were street toughs from hired-thug gangs, but that's pure fabrication by netizens — no historical source for it can be found at all.

"The Gravestone Record of the Five Men" has absolutely nothing to do with tax resistance.

When Zhang Pu wrote this essay, he was also subtly mocking the gentry and merchants. The gist was: if five righteous commoners dared to stand up, how is it that you gentry and merchants all shrank back like cowards?

Suzhou, Taicang.

Zhang Pu received Liu Rushi's letter and casually tossed it aside.

At the moment his aged mother was gravely ill, his wife was pregnant, and the Restoration Society was mired in a heap of messy troubles — what mood did he have to go keep an appointment with a famous courtesan?

Several days later, a household servant reported: "Master, another letter has been delivered."

Zhang Pu opened the letter and read it — still from Liu Rushi. This time the content was very short; summed up in one line: "A righteous gentleman invites you; please come to the Lou River to discuss matters."

A righteous gentleman?

Zhang Pu understood at once: this famous courtesan Liu Rushi was acting as a go-between for someone else seeking to entertain him.

The third month of spring.

Zhang Pu kept the appointment and arrived at the Lou River dock. A maidservant immediately came forward to greet him: "Master Ximing, please come aboard."

It was a passenger boat, quite large, easily capable of carrying several dozen people.

Zhang Pu entered the cabin and saw Liu Rushi reading a book, while a young scholar was drinking tea.

"Huang Ying of Yanshan, paying respects to Master Ximing!" Xu Ying rose and cupped his hands.

Liu Rushi had just stood up when she heard Zhang Pu say: "Huang Ying of the Great Unity Society?"

Xu Ying smiled. "A trifling, insignificant name — to be remembered by you, sir, is truly a blessing of three lifetimes."

"Do you believe I'll report you to the authorities and have you arrested?" Zhang Pu said with a cold laugh.

Xu Ying smiled. "If you, sir, can ban The Great Unity Collection, then naturally you can dispatch troops to seize this junior. Who doesn't know, who hasn't heard, that the prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, and Huzhou are in truth your domain, sir?"

"Words meant to damn a man — do you think that frightens me?" Zhang Pu's expression remained sour. "You have sought an audience repeatedly. Now that we have finally met, if you have something to say, say it quickly!"

Xu Ying sat down unhurriedly. "Why has the gentleman banned The Great Unity Collection?"

Zhang Pu also entered the cabin and sat. "The government authorities seize and suppress rebel books — what does that have to do with a commoner like me?"

"Sir, why be so modest?" Xu Ying said with a slight smile.

Although Zhang Pu held no office, his influence was terrifying.

Far away in Beijing, he could control the grading of the metropolitan examination, tilting the essay-judging standards toward practical learning and toward members of the Restoration Society. When Wen Tiren served as Chief Grand Secretary, in order to offset Zhang Pu's influence, he had no choice but to use cheating methods in grading the papers.

Close at hand in Jiangnan, Wen Tiren's younger brother wanted to join the Restoration Society and was ruthlessly rejected, so he wrote a novel slandering the society. Zhang Pu gave a single order and actually mobilized official forces to ban that novel.

The Great Unity book series circulated freely in the Huai-Yang region, yet in Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, and Huzhou it was banned.

"Is this just about that one matter?" Zhang Pu asked.

Xu Ying countered: "Has the gentleman read The Great Unity Collection?"

Zhang Pu laughed coldly. "A rebel's presumptuous book — what benefit is there in reading it?"

"So you haven't read it," Xu Ying said. "This junior, however, has read the gentleman's books. The gentleman upholds Confucian orthodoxy, advocates active engagement with the world, rejects empty talk, and champions practical learning. Is that correct?"

Zhang Pu said, "It is."

Xu Ying continued, "The gentleman advocates serving the sovereign and benefiting the people, taking the people as the foundation. He advocates appointing the worthy and expelling the corrupt, promoting what is beneficial and eliminating what is harmful. Is that correct?"

"It is," Zhang Pu said.

Xu Ying went on, "The gentleman advocates respect for the individual and promotes equality between men and women. Is that correct?"

"It is," Zhang Pu said.

Xu Ying pressed on, "The gentleman advocates honoring the classics and esteeming history, reviving the ancient Way, while at the same time keeping pace with the times. The gentleman advocates categorized scholarship, strengthening the root and securing the foundation, and advocates suppressing the two teachings of Buddhism and Daoism. Is that correct?"

"It is," Zhang Pu said.

Xu Ying said with a smile, "The gentleman advocates that writing should convey the Dao, dwelling in the present age and speaking for the present age. Is that correct?"

"It is," Zhang Pu said.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Xu Ying suddenly burst out laughing. "These very things are also what that Heavenly King Zhao in Jiangxi advocates."

Zhang Pu frowned. "A rebel — what could he understand?"

Xu Ying asked, "Do you know what sort of background that Mr. Zhao of Jiangxi comes from?"

"Some say a xiucai, some say a household slave," Zhang Pu said.

Xu Ying explained, "Mr. Zhao was originally the son of a Confucian household in Hebei. Natural disasters and famine destroyed his family. While wandering and begging, he was taken in as a servant boy by a Jiangxi juren. At just fourteen years of age, he put forth the theory of categorization and refuted everyone at the Pearl-Containing Academy. The Jiangxi Director of Education, Master Cai, astonished by his learning, wished to take him as a disciple, but Mr. Zhao declined. Is a man like that an ordinary rebel?"

Zhang Pu knew Cai Maode and understood Cai Maode's scholarly attainments.

Cai Maode, as Jiangxi's Provincial Education Commissioner, had actually taken the initiative to accept a disciple — and the other party was a fourteen-year-old household slave. If this were true, then that rebel Zhao of Jiangxi absolutely deserved to be called a child prodigy.

"I hear that in Jiangxi they forcibly divide up the landlords' fields — is that true?" Zhang Pu asked.

Xu Ying explained in detail: "Jiangxi's land policy takes paddy fields as the baseline, with each person allotted four mu of land. If the land under one's name is all barren mountain land, each person is allotted twenty mu. That is the basic land distribution. If one performs great deeds, one can obtain additional land, with paddy fields as the baseline, up to a maximum of one hundred mu per person."

Zhang Pu pressed for confirmation: "Which is to say, if it were applied to my Zhang clan, I could only keep four mu of paddy land under my name. If I wished to possess one hundred mu of paddy land, I would still have to perform deeds to obtain it?"

"Landlords may keep twenty mu," Xu Ying said, smiling. "Furthermore, only persons twelve years of age and older are counted, regardless of sex. Any household exceeding ten persons must divide the family."

Zhang Pu said angrily: "Forcibly dividing families, tearing apart flesh and blood — this tramples upon human relationships!"

Xu Ying countered: "Does it truly trample upon human relationships? I fear that if the land were distributed to the Zhang clan, many of the Zhang clan's sons of concubines would clap their hands and cheer. Because those sons of concubines would not only each receive twenty mu of land, but also a share of the Zhang clan's property. You, sir, are also a son of a concubine. Had you not been a heaven-sent genius, I fear your days would not have been easy."

Zhang Pu fell silent.

He was born of a maidservant, and from childhood suffered endless scorn, even being nicknamed "Worn-out Straw Sandal" by the household slaves — meaning a base-born wretch with no future.

Even the household slaves bullied him!

It was precisely because of such circumstances that Zhang Pu threw himself into his studies, ultimately passing the jinshi examination and becoming the Zhang clan's thousand-li colt.

Yes — if he had not won an official degree, he would likely be living in misery and destitution now, wishing that the rebel Zhao would come and help divide the family property.

Zhang Pu was inwardly shaken. He could picture the scene: the rebel Zhao leading his troops against Taicang, countless Zhang clan bastards and branch-line members cheering and leaping to welcome the bandits, noisily and merrily carving up the Zhang clan's holdings.

"Why families must be divided, why land must be divided — the Datong Collection explains it very clearly. You, sir, may read it yourself."

Xu Ying suddenly clapped his hands. A sword-bearing scholar stepped forward, bearing a set of the Datong series.

Zhang Pu accepted it but did not leaf through it.

Xu Ying asked: "You, sir, know the situation under Heaven deeply — I surely need not elaborate. In two or three years at most, the Jiangxi troops will be able to attack and seize this place. Do you, sir, agree?"

Zhang Pu found it hard to answer.

"Please, sir, make your plans early," Xu Ying said, smiling. "I ask nothing else, only that you, sir, do not ban the Datong Collection, and do not obstruct the Great Unity Society from recruiting members in Jiangnan. Should you provoke Mr. Zhao, after this year's summer harvest, he will directly dispatch troops to attack Nanjing!"

At these words, Zhang Pu was badly startled.

It was now the spring of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, and the northern provinces were in utter chaos from the fighting. If Zhao Han did send troops against Nanjing, the court would have no soldiers to redeploy, and the probability of Nanjing being taken would be extremely high.

If Nanjing fell, Zhang Pu's old home would be lost as well.

Zhang Pu glanced sidelong at the sword-bearing scholar who had delivered the books: "Is this man a member of my Restoration Society?"

"He is now a member of the Great Unity Society," Xu Ying said, smiling.

In the prefectures of Jiangnan and the Huai region, most hot-blooded scholars had already joined the Restoration Society.

If Xu Ying wished to expand, he had to poach from the Restoration Society's ranks.

Scholars from small merchant, small landlord, and yeoman-farmer backgrounds made up a very high proportion of the Restoration Society, and could be won over with ease — because the Great Unity Society was more advanced than the Restoration Society, more actionable, and could bring these lower-stratum scholars greater benefits!

Zhang Pu sighed: "Allow me to finish reading these books before we speak further."

Xu Ying smiled: "As you please, sir. But do be quick. I have resolved to expand in Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, and Huzhou, and I do not wish to come into conflict with Restoration Society members again."

There had already been a clash in Yangzhou, where Great Unity Society members had been beaten in a group assault by Restoration Society members.

They had been badly defeated that time, and Xu Ying had therefore resolved to drill. He had asked the Jiangxi merchant guild to forge iron swords. Every core member carried one, they trained on a fixed schedule each month, and they had even hired a master swordsman as an instructor.

After just over a month of training, they had no equal among the scholars, and from then on embarked upon the path of convincing others through reason.

Zhang Pu returned home and spent half a month finally finishing the Datong series. When he was done, his whole mind reeled.

The theories on Zhao Han's side were very close to the Restoration Society's theories.

But Zhao Han was more radical than the Restoration Society. Zhao Han was a revolutionary faction; the Restoration Society was a reformist faction — yet their general direction was roughly the same.

Protecting merchants, equality between men and women, advocating pragmatism, including the introduction of Western learning — all these were things the Restoration Society promoted.

The core difference between the two sides was dividing families and dividing land.

Yet Zhao Han would sooner or later strike into Jiangnan, and when that time came, however unwilling one might be, one would have to yield to the sword.

Moreover, facts had proven that top-down reform was a road that could no longer be walked.

The Restoration Society's goal in previous years had been to bring down the treacherous minister Wen Tiren, then seize control of the court and carry out reforms. But after Wen Tiren fell from power, the politics only grew more chaotic, and the Restoration Society members discovered that their greatest enemy was in fact... the Chongzhen Emperor.

Consequently, some scholars within the Restoration Society began to put forward the idea of "lightening the sovereign."

As it developed further, they even produced theories resembling a constitutional monarchy, and the Restoration Society began moving toward becoming a political party. The Restoration Society's organizational structure and theoretical slogans far surpassed the embryonic form of England's political parties!

Zhang Pu held the Datong Collection in his hands, torn for a long while, when a thought suddenly arose.

Since Chongzhen could not be propped up, and court reform was impossible, why could the Restoration Society not turn toward Zhao Han? Join the regime in Jiangxi, then gradually seize control of the court, and in time govern the realm according to their own vision!

(This chapter required checking a lot of sources, so the update was slow — my apologies.)

(End of chapter)