Chapter 286: Planning

Once this idea took hold, Zhang Pu immediately summoned the members of the Ji Society for a meeting.

The Ji Society was a small group under the Restoration Society, one Zhang Pu had used with great ease these past years.

"Greetings, Brother Tianru!"

Zhou Lixun, Peng Bin, Xu Fuyuan, Li Wen, and the others arrived swiftly upon receiving the summons.

Xia Yunyi and Chen Zilong had both gone off to take official posts and certainly could not come.

"Sit."

Zhang Pu bade everyone be seated, and once the serving maids had poured tea, he asked with a smile, "Who has read The Great Unity Collection?"

The Great Unity Collection?

The men looked at one another.

Xu Fuyuan cupped his hands and said, "I have read it."

Li Wen said, "I have read it."

"I have read it too," Zhou Lixun said.

Zhang Pu was utterly speechless — so he was the only one who had not read it?

The main reason was that Xu Ying had stirred up trouble in the Huai-Yang region and clashed repeatedly with the Restoration Society, which gave Zhang Pu a terrible impression of the Great Unity Society. He had also heard that the Great Unity Society forcibly redistributed land, and he regarded Zhao Han as a traditional rebel of the "equalize the land" sort; therefore Zhang Pu had directly ordered the Great Unity series banned.

Zhang Pu asked, "What do you gentlemen make of it?"

Xu Fuyuan replied, "The Great Unity Society's tenets are fairly close to those of the Restoration Society. However, forcibly dividing households and land will turn every gentry family under heaven against them. The rebel Zhao cannot last long."

Xu Fuyuan was the great-grandson of Xu Jie's youngest brother; he steadfastly resisted the Qing and eventually followed Zheng Chenggong to Taiwan.

"Quite right. Do not be fooled by the rebel Zhao's occupation of several provinces — he will be destroyed sooner or later. Without the court even needing to send troops, the great gentry clans under his rule will surely conspire and cause internal strife," Li Wen said.

Li Wen later surrendered to the Manchu Qing and served as Dorgon's ghostwriter, composing the Letter to Shi Kefa.

The Great Ming fell because of Li Zicheng; the Manchu Qing bore the Ming no enmity. Moved by Wu Sangui's loyalty, the Qing therefore entered the pass to help the Ming exterminate the Li bandits — this argument was Li Wen's invention!

The direct cause of his surrender to the Qing was that his father had been beaten to death by Li Zicheng's extortion of funds, and he himself nearly starved to death inside Beijing. When the Qing troops entered the city, Li Wen was already too weak from hunger to move, guarding his father's corpse amid the marauding soldiers. Once the Qing gave him an official post, his nature changed utterly, and he turned from a patriot into a collaborator with the foreign enemy.

Zhou Lixun said, "The rebel Zhao is a great calamity for the realm, but the court has no troops to suppress him!"

Xu Zhiyuan suddenly blurted out, "The rebel Zhao may well sweep through the south; we ought to make plans early."

Xu Zhiyuan was Xu Fuyuan's third brother, responsible for managing the family's business affairs, and he was more sensitive to such matters.

Historically, Xu Fuyuan moved from place to place resisting the Qing, while Xu Zhiyuan stayed home to protect the clan, relayed messages for the loyalist forces, and lobbied to win over Qing-defecting commanders.

"Make plans early? What sort of plans!"

Song Zhengyu immediately said angrily, "The rebel Zhao divides households and land. Your Xu family's landholdings are even larger than my Song family's — are you willing to give them away?"

Xu Zhiyuan was an honest and steady man; he promptly shut his mouth, unwilling to quarrel with a friend.

Zhang Pu, however, smiled and said, "Worthy Brother the Five Classics, go ahead and speak your own thoughts."

Xu Zhiyuan cupped his hands toward Song Zhengyu and said, "The north is now in chaos, yet Jiangxi is in excellent order. My Xu family runs looms, and while I know little else, I understand the cloth trade well. Jiangxi merchants shipped vast quantities of cotton yarn and cotton cloth north last year. Though all of it was coarse yarn and coarse cloth, the volume was enormous, and the prices were low."

Du Linzheng laughed and said, "the Five Classics, we are discussing the great affairs of the realm — why are you dragging in matters of trade?"

Xu Zhiyuan countered, "The Restoration Society advocates practical learning and insists on applying knowledge to real problems. Is doing business not a form of learning? That Jiangxi can produce cheap yarn and cloth in such quantities shows that Jiangxi is extremely stable and free of harsh taxes and levies. Otherwise, Jiangxi's cotton yarn and cotton cloth could never be sold so cheaply!"

At these words, everyone nodded.

"It seems this rebel Zhao can truly implement the policies recorded in The Great Unity Collection," Xu Fuyuan said with a frown. "If that is the case, I fear Jiangxi will not descend into internal chaos, but will instead present a scene of thriving prosperity. The one who wins the realm will surely be this man!"

Zhou Lixun said, "Last year the north suffered a crushing defeat; Northern Zhili and Shandong were both smashed to pieces. With troops lost and generals fallen, the court imposed the additional training levy. Once this levy appeared, the Great Ming's collapse became only a matter of time. Our Restoration Society truly must consider the rebel Zhao."

Song Zhengyu slumped into his seat and murmured, "What is to be done? Must we really wait to have our land divided?"

"If we helped the rebel Zhao seize Jiangnan, we would have rendered great service — could we not negotiate some accommodation?" Du Linzheng could not help saying.

Xu Fuyuan suddenly asked Zhang Pu, "Brother Tianru summoned us here — surely you already have a plan in mind?"

Zhang Pu sighed. "A few days ago, the rebel Zhao sent someone to make contact with me."

Xu Zhiyuan said delightedly, "That is excellent news!"

"It is not what you imagine. He was not urging me to join the rebels, but telling me to stop obstructing the Great Unity Society," Zhang Pu said. "Within two or three years, the rebel Zhao will certainly sweep through Jiangnan. When that time comes, whether we want to divide the land or not, we will have to. That being so, why should we still cling to those estates?"

Song Zhengyu asked, "How do you think we should respond, elder brother?"

Zhang Pu said, "Before the rebel Zhao attacks Jiangnan, each family should voluntarily divide its land. Distribute the fields to clan relatives, village neighbors, tenant farmers, and household slaves. If we do this, the people's hearts will not turn toward the rebel Zhao, but will instead feel gratitude for our benevolence."

"What sort of absurd idea is that?" Du Linzheng gave a bitter laugh. "Never mind actually giving the land away — if I even proposed this, the clan elders would strike my name from the genealogy."

Xu Zhiyuan also said, "Indeed. Although I manage the family property, I do not have the authority, much less the ability to persuade the clan elders. Until the rebel Zhao's troops are at the city walls, no one will be willing to give up their land."

"I was just tossing out an idea," Zhang Pu said with a smile. "Then forget the land. The Restoration Society will henceforth align itself with the rebel Zhao. The Restoration Society is brimming with talent — in ten or twenty years, do we need to fear being unable to establish ourselves in a new dynasty? One day, when the rebel Zhao dies, the Restoration Society will step forward to plan anew and govern the realm according to our methods!"

Peng Bin asked, "How old is the rebel Zhao?"

Zhang Pu said, "He seems to be only twenty or thirty."

Peng Bin did not know whether to laugh or cry. "So young — I fear we will all be dead, and the rebel Zhao still will not have died."

Zhang Pu shook his head. "Men die; the Restoration Society will not die. My thought is this: the Restoration Society helps the rebel Zhao seize the realm, and gradually gains a firm foothold in the new dynasty. At the same time, we write books and establish doctrines, give lectures and take on disciples, spreading the Restoration Society's thought to the four seas. A hundred years from now, you and I will long be dust, yet the Restoration Society will still be in its prime. By then, even if those in court and the provinces are not Restoration Society men themselves, they will be influenced by the Restoration Society and will govern the realm according to our methods!"

"This is a hundred-year grand strategy!" Xu Fuyuan said excitedly.

These men were indulging in sheer fantasy.

The core disagreement between the Great Unity Society and the Restoration Society was precisely the division of households and land. If they threw in their lot with Zhao Han, that would mean total capitulation; there would be no more ideological conflict between the two sides at all.

When that time came, the Restoration Society would be entirely converted into believers in Great Unity.

Even if a hundred years passed and Zhao Han was dead, among the officials of that era, who would still distinguish between Great Unity and Restoration Society?

It would simply be that everyone's descendants, perhaps even Chen Maosheng's descendants, having occupied high positions, would want to gain more. For instance, abolishing the land policy Zhao Han had established, breaking the upper limit of one hundred mu of land per person.

Li Wen cautioned, "The Restoration Society has many members. Once we pledge allegiance to the rebel Zhao, some will certainly refuse, and the Restoration Society will disintegrate."

Zhang Pu explained, "That is why I have invited only you gentlemen here, so that we may first reach a consensus. Next month, I will go to Nanjing to visit friends like Gu Zifang, Chen Dingsheng, Wu Ciwei, and Huang Taichong."

"Will they agree?" Peng Bin voiced his doubt.

Zhang Pu said, "First, let us sound them out a little."

Peng Bin suddenly said, "Since we intend to follow the rebel, we must not delay. I am willing to take my son and go to Jiangxi."

The crowd fell silent; no one had anything to say.

Zhang Pu clapped his hands and said, "Good! Muru shall be our vanguard general, blazing a trail for the Restoration Society in Jiangxi!"

"I shall spare no effort!" Peng Bin cupped his hands and bowed to everyone.

All this high-minded talk — it was pure nonsense.

Although Peng Bin came from a great clan, he himself was dirt poor.

His grandfather's generation divided the family property once, and his grandfather squandered the entire fortune!

By the time of Peng Bin's father, the house was bare, and they even relied on his grandmother's embroidery and weaving to make ends meet.

Historically, more than ten years after the Qing armies crossed into China proper, seeing that the Southern Ming was utterly hopeless, Peng Bin ended up becoming a Qing official after all.

But here and now, Peng Bin had no such dilemma, nor did he need to wait another ten-plus years — Zhao Han was no foreign race. His own family had no land to divide, not a single mu of fields. By joining Zhao Han, he would gain land instead!

He had a son and a daughter, both already in their teens, each skilled in poetry and rhapsodies — truly a dragon and a phoenix.

He would take his son to Jiangxi to become an official. As for his daughter, she was both talented and beautiful; marrying Zhao Han would be ideal, but marrying some other Jiangxi magnate would do as well.

In truth, Peng Bin had harbored this plan for some time; he simply could not bring himself to act on it.

Now that even Zhang Pu was going to join Zhao Han, what scruples did he have left?

Leaving the Zhang residence, Peng Bin said to Xu Zhiyuan, "The road to Jiangxi is long. Worthy brother, could you lend me some traveling funds?"

Xu Zhiyuan had some silver on him; he stuffed it all into Peng Bin's hands and asked, "Will this be enough?"

"More than enough," Peng Bin said happily.

The fellow went home and told his family he had found a post in Nanjing. He took his mother, wife, son, and daughter — the whole lot — and left with them all at once. Fearing mishaps, he simply moved the entire family to Jiangxi to join the rebels.

The grand house had long been sold by his grandfather; only a small dwelling remained, and they could not even afford servants.

A situation like this was practically tailor-made for joining the rebels. Once he got to Jiangxi, after a few years of settling in, he would probably forget the Restoration Society entirely.

Now, the brothers Xu Fuyuan and Xu Zhiyuan took a carriage home.

Passing through Qingpu County, they saw five sword-bearing scholars, each carrying a bundle of books on his back, walking openly into the county seat.

On the covers of those books, the words Collected Works of Great Unity and the like were plainly visible.

Curious, the two brothers followed on foot for a while. They saw the five sword-bearing scholars arrive at the county school gate, where they began handing out books for free to any government student they saw.

Some government students looked terrified; others leafed through the books with curiosity.

Before long, the County Magistrate came running with his bailiffs, and the five sword-bearing scholars promptly slipped away.

As they passed the Xu brothers, they still had a few books left undistributed and stuffed them all into Xu Zhiyuan's arms.

"This, this, this… utterly audacious!" Xu Fuyuan exclaimed in shock.

Xu Zhiyuan sighed, "I fear that even before the rebel Zhao arrives, the lands south of the Yangtze will be turned upside down."

After resting the night, the brothers continued their journey.

Returning to their old home in Yunjian, Xu Zhiyuan first paid his respects to his mother, then took the Collected Works of Great Unity to his concubine's courtyard to read.

His concubine Zhao Lianjun greeted him with a smile: "My husband, you are back?"

"I'm back." Xu Zhiyuan tossed the Collected Works of Great Unity casually onto the table.

Zhao Lianjun instructed the maidservant to bring tea, then idly opened the title page — and her eyes instantly went wide.

On the title page was a portrait, with a line of small characters beside it: Zhao Han, Regional Commander of Jiangxi. Zhao Zhenlan, return at once.

(End of chapter)