Chapter 492: Who Is Below the Bench?

In ancient times, information traveled extremely slowly, especially in a rural backwater like Chenshi Village. So after the meeting at the ancestral hall ended, it took the old scholar Chen Shiai several more days of effort to finally get in touch with a group of his colleagues, ready to go to the county yamen and throw their weight around.

The colleagues an old scholar could contact were, naturally, other scholars. Advanced jinshi or juren degree-holders wouldn't give him the time of day, and lower-level tongsheng students were useless, so scholars it had to be.

Fortunately, scholars were enough. In the widespread moral decay of the late Ming literati class, scholars were precisely the ones responsible for charging into the fray and scraping for dirty money. Monopolizing lawsuits, throwing tantrums in court, mobbing and blockading government offices — all such filthy business was handled by scholars. So this trip to the county yamen was routine; everyone was well-practiced in the trade.

Among the brave souls going to stir up trouble this time, besides another scholar from the clan, most of the others Chen Shiai had contacted were pettifoggers and impoverished pedants from nearby villages, plus two local bullies from within Guangzhou City.

After receiving their going-rate silver, this crew rubbed their hands together, all declaring they would back up their friend Chen, give him a solid boost, and steer the narrative in his favor.

Once this lineup combining insiders and outsiders was assembled, the old scholar Chen Shiai led his band of crooked scholars, along with a gang of household staff and hangers-on tasked with jeering and agitating, onto the road to Guangzhou City on the early morning of June 20th.

Before the Ming Dynasty, Guangzhou City was jointly administered by Panyu and Nanhai counties. The jurisdictions of these two yamens split Guangzhou City exactly in two, with roughly equal areas.

By the Ming Dynasty, due to varying degrees of expansion in both landmass and urban area, Guangzhou City at this point in time, except for the western fifth of its territory, mostly fell under the administration of Panyu County.

Unlike later generations, the administrative jurisdiction of an ancient county was very large. Ming Dynasty Guangzhou Prefecture encompassed nearly the entire Pearl River Delta region and had only thirteen counties in total. In later times, the single city of Guangzhou alone would have eleven districts.

So, which jurisdiction did the new city plot the Transmigrators were building fall under? Sorry to say, it also fell under Panyu County's administration. So in this matter, by reason and by jurisdiction, Panyu County couldn't escape involvement.

When Chen Shiai's group entered the city gate and arrived at the Panyu Xianya, located east of Yushan, the sun was already hanging high in the sky, right at the yamen's complaint-accepting hour — these old scholars naturally wouldn't get the yamen's complaint day wrong.

Then Chen Shiai smoothly submitted the complaint accusing Grand Commandant Cao.

At the same time, in Chen Family Village, the jinshi Chen Shiqi was hopping up and down, letter in hand, shouting, "Send someone quickly to call the Clan Leader back!"

As the saying goes, there's no story without coincidence. Just as Chen Shiai was entering the city, a travel-worn young man dressed as a household servant also stepped into Chenshi Village. After entering the village, the young man asked his way along until he found the gate of Chen Shiqi's residence, and finally handed several letters to Master Chen.

In ancient times, private letters were often entrusted to merchants or fellow townsmen for delivery. Especially for a long-distance route like from Beijing to Guangzhou, unless it was a matter of grave importance, few would dispatch a dedicated messenger — for no other reason than the cost was too high.

What Chen Shiqi received this time was a letter sent over a month ago by an old friend of his in Beijing. This old friend was also a poor capital official, unable to send any express mail, much less an eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch — that would cost a man his head — so he could only entrust a merchant to carry the letter.

The merchant traveled all along the Grand Canal doing business, meandering until he reached Guangzhou. After settling his carts and horses, several more days passed, and it was only this morning that he sent a clerk to deliver the letters.

In other words, Chen Shiai's group had just brushed past that clerk.

And when Chen Shiqi finished reading the letter, he was dumbstruck on the spot: the letter said that the Cao Bandit had actually rendered great service in defending the nation at the border, taking over four thousand heads, and had moreover weathered a round of political storms, being enfeoffed as a Count by the Emperor!

"Send someone quickly to call the Clan Leader back!"

This was Chen Shiqi's sole reaction after reading the letter. Unfortunately, his reaction came a little too late.

Sun Rishao, a man from Jiangxi, was a Tianqi-era jinshi who served as the Magistrate of Panyu County from the first to the fifth year of Chongzhen.

At this moment, Magistrate Sun, striding with measured steps, fully attired in his official robe, emerged from behind the hall. Accompanied by the classic shouts of "Court is in session — awe-inspiring!" from the yamen runners below, he boldly and imposingly seated himself upon the official's armchair in the main hall.

The next moment, the gaunt-faced Grand Magistrate Sun picked up one complaint from the stack beside him, read it through carefully, and then summoned Chen Shiai into the hall.

"Scholar below the bench, you accuse the Zhangchao Regional Commander today of abusing the people and seizing land and homes. Do you have proof?"

At this moment, Chen Shiai's expression was steady and composed.

Because before this, he had already asked someone to meet privately with the Magistrate, presented gifts, and clearly explained his intent: to maintain a low-intensity struggle against the Cao surname's lackeys. When the political situation at court shifted in the future, this springboard could be put to use, and the Chen Family would join the main force to topple Cao. Then, grievances would be redressed, and the losses would ultimately be recovered.

So when he saw Magistrate Sun appear in the main hall as usual, he felt assured in his heart: after all, this was an accusation against a Second-Rank Official. If the Magistrate were unwilling to cooperate, he could perfectly well have feigned illness today and not appeared, or directly replied telling their family to back off and not bring him trouble.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, that Regional Commander surnamed Cao recently sent men to Chenshi Village to proclaim a land purchase. Later, seeing the common folk would not comply, he sent men under cover of night to destroy our good fields and poison our fish ponds, ruining the villagers' years of hard labor in a single night."

"For all the above, I have documents and witnesses here. I beseech Your Excellency to defy the powerful and redress the grievances of the people!"

Hearing this, Magistrate Sun furrowed his brow slightly.

In fact, regarding this land requisition matter, it had been causing a huge uproar for half a year already. He had received many similar complaints, and the County Magistrate naturally knew the ins and outs of the situation.

Originally, for the sake of the gifts and their slight acquaintance, Magistrate Sun had intended to smooth things over with vague platitudes. The Chen Shiai clan was stubbornly locking horns with the Cao surname; though he didn't think much of their chances, as a low-ranking Parent-Official, there was no need for him to intensify the conflict between the two sides.

The Magistrate's information channels were naturally a bit better than those of these country bumpkins. This included recent intelligence he'd received from his superiors, as well as some public content in the court gazette — taken together, it showed that in present-day Guangdong, no one could do anything to the Cao surname, at least not in the short term.

However, the County Magistrate's thinking had now changed. He very much wanted to remind the fool below the bench of one thing: Don't drag me into this muddy water. What do you mean, 'defy the powerful'? That Cao surname was recently summoning wind and rain in Beijing, truly red-hot with favor. Ridiculous that these fools are still trying to stop a chariot with a mantis' arms, vainly attempting to use 'defying the powerful' to pressure me...

"Ah, do whatever you want. This official will serve you no longer."

Thinking this, Magistrate Sun said with a somewhat listless air, "In that case, this complaint shall remain at this yamen. After this official sends a dispatch to the Regional Commander's Office, we shall await the reply before making a decision."

"Many thanks, Your Excellency."

At this point, today's matter could be considered concluded for the time being. Next, Chen Shiai would go back and wait for news — not waiting for some damn reply from the Regional Commander's Office; he could guess what that would say with his heel.

What Chen Shiai was waiting for was news unfavorable to Regional Commander Cao on the broader political stage. This news was basically his last lifeline. If the news failed to come, then the Chen clan would have no choice but to admit defeat and concede, because the clan's remaining savings could not hold out indefinitely.

Just as Chen Shiai was bowing to withdraw from the hall, and Magistrate Sun had already reached for the next complaint, a scene of chaos erupted outside the main hall of the county yamen: a squad of men burst in through the main gate.

This squad wore brand-new bright red mandarin-duck battle coats, copper basin helmets on their heads, and water-buffalo leather battle boots on their feet — clearly elite troops of the Great Ming.

After the elites burst in, they swiftly brandished leather whips and short clubs to drive the onlookers crowding outside the hall entrance aside. Once the path was cleared, these men formed pairs, lining up from the main gate to the main hall to create a human wall.

Next, a squad of personal guards with short guns at their waists escorted a man in a red robe into the county yamen, the procession even including guards carrying Remington five-shot repeaters at the front and rear.

At the same time, the personal guards who had rushed into the main hall had already raised their voices to shout out a long string of titles: "The Loyal and Brave Count, Grand Master for Glorious Happiness, Pillar of State, Vice Minister of War, Left Regional Commander of the Rear Chief Military Commission, Great Ming Regional Commander of Zhangchao and Other Areas, Lord Cao Chuan has arrived..."

Hearing this string of titles, Chen Shiai, already dumbstruck, very nearly jumped up right there in the hall.

Unexpectedly, another person truly did jump up: Sun Rishao, Magistrate of Panyu County, Guangdong, Great Ming.

Jolting up from his chair with a start, Parent-Official Sun hastily rounded his official desk and stepped forward: "Your subordinate Sun Rishao greets Your Excellency Cao. I was unaware of Your Excellency's arrival and failed to welcome you from afar; I beg your forgiveness."

Even though civil officials were esteemed and military officers despised in the late Ming, a Seventh-Rank County Magistrate before a supernumerary Count still had to bow properly. In theory, the Magistrate should even kneel; merely bowing was already quite lenient.

"Haha, I am an uninvited guest. What crime has Magistrate Sun committed?"

Grand Commandant Cao had come to the Panyu Xianya today not to confront the Magistrate, so he didn't make trouble for him. Instead, he smiled and offered a brief explanation: "I just returned from Beijing recently. Today I was originally coming from General Headquarters, but unexpectedly passed by the county yamen and heard someone was accusing me... Magistrate Sun, may this official observe the proceedings?"

"Yes, yes!" When Grand Commandant Cao had entered the yamen earlier, Parent-Official Sun had witnessed the kind of overbearing display that no official in all Guangdong would dare put on. Knowing this was a battlefield general who could turn hostile at the drop of a hat, he wasn't about to court disaster, and hastily nodded his agreement without pause.

"Haha, then many thanks to Parent-Official Sun." After speaking, Grand Commandant Cao turned around and swaggered up to the official desk, seating himself on the Parent-Official's armchair, completely ignoring Parent-Official Sun's face full of embarrassment.

Once seated in the Magistrate's grand chair, Grand Commandant Cao picked up the complaint from the desk, flicked his wrist to toss the paper down, and then asked with a smile: "Who is below the bench, accusing this official?"

Chen Shiai was groaning inwardly, but he was now riding a tiger and couldn't dismount. He couldn't exactly say that complaint wasn't his, could he?

So Chen Shiai lowered his head and stepped out of line, cleared his throat, and habitually bent at the waist, cupping his hands in salute, intending to say something.

The next moment, with a faint "Seize him" from Grand Commandant Cao, Chen Shiai was instantly pinned to the ground by two broad-waisted, round-bellied personal guards.

Chen Shiai was shocked: "Ah!? Your Excellency Cao, why are you arresting me? What crime have I committed?"

"Just now, you bellowed at a superior officer. Can I not seize you for that?"

Not just Chen Shiai — everyone in and around the hall was stunned at that moment: clearing your throat counts as bellowing at a superior officer?

"I refuse to accept this — these are nothing but fabricated charges!"

"A mere Xiucai, not only does he roar and bellow in the Public Hall, he also shows no respect for his superiors — seeing me, an Earl, yet he still refuses to kneel."

Grand Commandant Cao drew the County Magistrate's command tally and cast it down: "Guards."

"Grand Commandant!"

"Strip this man of his square cap and blue robe, lock him in a standing cage, and expose him to public view."

"Order received!"

"Also," Grand Commandant Cao snapped his fingers at this moment, "seize every last one of his accomplices stationed outside the hall, and lock them all in standing cages. And take my card to the Guangdong Xuezheng Yamen — strip this lot of Xiucai of their scholarly rank."

"Order received!"