Chapter 57: Calm

The next day Chen Xin sent Lu Lvzi, Hai Gouzi, and a few others out to gather news. Song Wenxian also planned to go out, to visit an old acquaintance he had once served with as a private secretary. Chen Xin had originally wanted to discuss military training with Dai Zhenggang and Zhu Guobin, but with his mind still unsettled about the trip to Jingshi, he had no heart for such matters. He went out with Song Wenxian instead, heading toward Chongwen Gate, intending to see the inner city of Beijing.

The inner city of Beijing had a perimeter of forty-five li and nine gates in total — the later Manchu Qing office of Nine Gate Infantry Commander referred to this inner city. Chongwen Gate lay in the southeast of the inner city and was one of the eight major customs barriers of the Ming dynasty, housing the Tax Office, which collected nearly ninety thousand taels in commercial taxes each year. Jingshi was the hub for all goods under heaven, and the area inside and outside Chongwen Gate was one of the most prosperous commercial districts in the capital. Flanking the main street were colonnaded shop-houses built in the early Ming, leased out to merchants by Street Fighters County. The surrounding alleys mostly housed specialized markets for particular goods, and many alleys took their names from these — Iron Pot Alley, Sow Alley, Boat Plank Alley, and so on.

The main street surged with crowds; carts and horses clogged the road. Chen Xin and his three companions were blocked several times. "Damn it, if only we had city inspectors," Chen Xin cursed inwardly after being blocked by a few more carts. Even back in the Ming dynasty you got traffic jams. The group squeezed through with difficulty on both sides, got stuck again in the gate tunnel for a while, and finally entered the inner city.

They had just breathed a sigh of relief when they found Chongwenmen Street ahead just as packed. Waves of heads gave Chen Xin a headache. He turned and asked Song Wenxian, "Mr. Song, where are you headed?"

Song Wenxian wiped the fine sweat from his forehead. "I'm going to Dongtangzi Alley. I'll have to follow this main street."

Chen Xin had no sense of these alleys. He thought for a moment and asked, "Where do most of the officials gather?"

"If you want to ask about the rank-purchasing matter, you might as well go to Qipan Street. The Ministry of War is just west of Great Ming Gate — that's the area where officials are plentiful." Song Wenxian pointed ahead. "Go west at Dongjiaomi Lane up ahead, and you'll reach Great Ming Gate."

Chen Xin parted ways with Song Wenxian at Dongjiaomi Lane and headed west. This Dongjiaomi Lane was the later famous Dongjiaomin Lane. It was here, just over two hundred years later, that "Our Great Qing," with tremendous creativity, declared war on eleven nations and then sent tens of thousands of men to attack the various foreign legations. Even more creatively, facing a few hundred foreign soldiers, those tens of thousands fought for two months and still failed to take them — and while fighting, they kept delivering water and vegetables to the enemy. Attacking a legation quarter was already unprecedented; failing to take it would likely never be repeated. Every time Chen Xin recalled the disgraceful deeds of "Our Great Qing," he could not contain his fury.

The Dongjiaomi Lane before him now, however, was merely a lane. It got its name because tribute grain had once been received at the riverside here. The road was as wide as Tianjin's main streets, lined on both sides with grain shops, and bustling with people. The group followed Dongjiaomi Lane all the way west, a walk of about two or three li, and when they emerged they were outside Great Ming Gate.

"Damn it, finally here." The several-li walk had left Chen Xin drenched in sweat. They had finally come out of the lane — this was Qipan Street. He looked around. The short Qipan Street was extremely broad. To the south stood the imposing Zhengyang Gate; to the north, the utterly unimposing Great Ming Gate. Both east and west sides were lined with shops. What made Chen Xin's eyes go wide was that there were even more people here than at Chongwen Gate.

"Brother Chen, Qipan Street is the most bustling place in all of Jingshi," Dai Zhenggang said from behind. "Even I heard of it when I was hauling boats — that's how famous it is."

Chen Xin nodded. No wonder Beijing residency was so valuable — there were already this many people in Ming times. He looked at that shabby Great Ming Gate, which resembled nothing so much as an oversized village shrine temple. Behind the gate, red walls enclosed a long, narrow Thousand-Pace Corridor. At the far end of the Thousand-Pace Corridor was what later became Tiananmen, but that was still not the emperor's residence — only the entrance to the imperial city. Flanking the Thousand-Pace Corridor on both sides were the core power organs of the Ming court: the Six Ministries, the Five Chief Military Commissions, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Chen Xin saw that it was nearly lunchtime, so he chose a mid-range restaurant and went in. He took a table by the wall in the main hall. They had not been seated long before officials from the Qipan Street area began getting off duty and coming out for lunch. For a time the streets were filled with official robes — civil officials with bird rank badges, military officials with fierce beast rank badges. Everywhere the eye could see were "birds and beasts in official garb." The restaurant Chen Xin and his group were in quickly filled up, and the hall buzzed with noise.

Two men sat down behind Chen Xin, but they wore no official robes. Chen Xin paid them no mind, listening only to the officials around him talking — but it was all frivolous talk of romance and scenery. Just as he was growing disappointed, he suddenly heard the voices of the two behind him rise a little.

"... When jackals and wolves block the path, how can one simply avoid them and keep one's distance? With a sage Son of Heaven on the throne, if we, disciples of the Son of Heaven, do not speak, then who will? Now that scoundrel Lu Wanling is already in prison, this is the moment to press the attack in one surge."

Chen Xin's attention immediately focused behind him. Dai Zhenggang and Zhu Guobin, however, noticed nothing, earnestly devoting themselves to the food in front of them.

The other man said in a low voice, "Brother Qian, you must not raise your voice. Why have I been so intent on stopping you today? Have you forgotten the affair of the Six Gentlemen of the Donglin? Do you think Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun, who serve that Factory Minister, are ordinary men? Affairs at court — above there are the various gentlemen of the Grand Secretariat, below there are the censors and supervising secretaries. We Imperial College students are not in those positions..."

The man called Brother Qian cut him off: "Wei Zhongxian blots out heaven with one hand. He silences those who speak as he would whip a horse, poisons the scholar-officials, and implicates the entire scholarly class. All sense of shame under heaven has been extinguished. The decline of public morals has never been worse than this."

The other man, his voice urgent with worry, urged, "The whole court knows: on the twenty-fourth of last month, Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Right Yang Suoxiu of the Chief Surveillance Bureau impeached Minister Cui, and His Majesty rebuked him for it."

"Yang Suoxiu impeached four men; Cui Chengxiu was only one of them. Moreover, what he impeached was merely the violation of mourning regulations — scratching an itch through a boot. How could he not be rebuked? Cui Chengxiu serves as Minister of War while his younger brother serves as Regional Commander — since when has our dynasty had such a precedent? What is even more detestable: with the dignity of a Minister, he acknowledges a eunuch as his father. Truly, all decency is lost. If I submit a memorial, I shall strike straight at the dragon's lair and impeach Wei Zhongxian."

"When Lord Zhou and Eunuch Wang requested to resign, His Majesty also retained them one by one. It is evident in every way that His Majesty still intends to rely heavily on the Factory Minister. Brother Qian, if you fail to discern the imperial will and rashly submit a memorial, I fear unspeakable things may happen."

The man called Brother Qian was silent for a moment, then said, "For what purpose do we study the books of the sages? Not to seek glory for our ancestors or the highest official rank, but to establish the heart for heaven and earth, to establish the destiny for the common people, to carry on the lost teachings of past sages, and to open peace for ten thousand generations. Brother Yan, I appreciate your good intentions, but this matter must be done. Say no more."

"Brother Qian, have you considered that we Imperial College students have no right to submit memorials? If you submit a memorial in violation of protocol, even if by heaven's grace you succeed in toppling that man, you will still be unable to escape punishment. Why bring this suffering upon yourself?"

Brother Qian did not hesitate; his tone was resolute. "When tigers and wolves devour men, one must fight even with bare hands. When the whole court is silent, let a man of the wilds speak, to set an example for loyal ministers and righteous men. Even in death, what regret? Mere punishment is hardly worth mentioning!" (Note 1)

Brother Yan sighed and did not try to dissuade him further.

Chen Xin did not turn around to look. This Brother Qian was a man who did not fear death, rather like those censors of the Wanli era — for the convictions in his heart, he would give his life. Against such men, tactics like killing the chicken to warn the monkey were utterly useless. This kind of man could not be dissuaded by ordinary reasoning; no matter how eloquently you, Brother Yan, might speak, you could not stop him.

Today was already the ninth day of the tenth month. Chen Xin knew that Wei Zhongxian would fall this year — which meant time was running short. From what the two had just said, the court officials were targeting Cui Chengxiu. Cui Chengxiu was Wei Zhongxian's greatest ally in the outer court and also the Minister of War. With the winds still uncertain, no one dared to confront Wei Zhongxian directly, so this Cui Chengxiu had become the best target, used to test the emperor's intentions.

The crowd of officials soon finished eating and returned to their respective ministries. Chen Xin had no further interest in lingering. He went outside, saw that Zhengyang Gate was tightly shut, and had no choice but to retrace his steps. He wandered east and west along the way, took a turn through the lantern market near Chongwen Gate, and finally returned to the inn.

Before dinner, Song Wenxian returned, his face relaxed. He came to Chen Xin's room and told him the news he had gathered. "Brother Chen, today I went to see a former colleague. He now serves as a steward for a capital official. He said that before Emperor Xizong passed away, he promoted Lord Cui to Minister of War. Now His Majesty trusts the Nine Thousand Years deeply. It seems Jingshi will be peaceful and untroubled." Song Wenxian spoke with an easy expression.

"His Majesty ascended the throne on the twenty-fourth day of the eighth month. The Factory Minister tendered his resignation on the first day of the ninth month, and His Majesty did not approve it. Minister of War Lord Cui, Minister of Personnel Lord Zhou, and the Director of Ceremonies Eunuch Wang all tendered resignations, and His Majesty did not approve any of them. Not only that, Eunuch Wang and the Factory Minister each had a son granted hereditary appointment as Assistant Guard Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. It is said that before Emperor Xizong passed away, he told His Majesty to rely heavily on the Factory Minister. As things now appear, your worry that the rank-purchasing would be halted should prove unfounded. But since we are here, it would still be best to complete the rank-purchasing quickly."

Chen Xin paced slowly back and forth in the room. The news Song Wenxian had gathered was clearly more reliable than what Qin Lufang had heard in teahouses and markets.

Song Wenxian was very optimistic, but Chen Xin naturally knew that Chongzhen would not let Wei Zhongxian off. Chen Xin's goal was to profit from the purge case, to gain Chongzhen's notice, and then rise in rank and wealth — greatly. But if mishandled, it was also extremely dangerous. Chongzhen's strategy was first to stabilize Wei Zhongxian, then boil the frog slowly. The heat was entirely in Chongzhen's own control. If Chen Xin suddenly went playing with fire, he might disrupt Chongzhen's steps, fail to boil Wei Zhongxian to death, and get himself cooked instead. Emperor Xizong's sudden appointment of Cui Chengxiu as Minister of War on his deathbed was surely at Wei Zhongxian's behest, which showed that Wei Zhongxian had also made preparations — if words went wrong, he was ready to fight Chongzhen to the death.

Originally he had planned to bribe Wen Tiren, sending him a grand gift of several thousand taels of silver, and in passing gain some information on court politics. Wen Tiren served as Senior Grand Secretary the longest during the Chongzhen reign, not stepping down until the tenth year of Chongzhen. Making his acquaintance early would be greatly beneficial in the future. Although this man was later listed among the treacherous ministers, what did that matter to Chen Xin? Sending silver before he rose to power was always a good bargain. Unfortunately, Qin Lufang had not been able to find any trace of this man in Jingshi. Later he had asked Song Wenxian to inquire, and it turned out he was still in Nanzhili.

Chen Xin glanced at Song Wenxian. This unscrupulous scholar was not yet of one heart with him, so he dared not discuss these matters with him. If Song Wenxian were wholeheartedly committed to working for him, he would make a fine military advisor. As things stood, Chen Xin was nothing but a rotten military householder; if not for the profits from the maritime trade, this unscrupulous scholar probably would not even bother to glance at him.

"Mr. Song makes a good point. But since the rank-purchasing is not being halted, we can afford to delay a few days. It is rare for us to visit Jingshi; we might as well tour the vicinity and take our time with the business."

Song Wenxian was no longer in a hurry either. Hearing this, he said, "What is there to tour in Jingshi? If you want to look at shops, just say so plainly."

Chen Xin did not explain, only smiled and said, "I do want to look at shops. In the future I won't take the Japanese dried seafood, and I may not need the Japanese swords either. I might as well see if there are other avenues here in Jingshi." "The profit on that dried seafood is too low, and it sells too slowly — no harm in dropping it. I'll also keep an eye out for you everywhere."

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Note 1: Original words of Qian Jiazheng. It is said this man was a twenty-fourth-generation descendant of the King of Wuyue. After Cui Chengxiu was dismissed, he submitted a memorial as an Imperial College student directly denouncing Wei Zhongxian's ten great crimes, providing Chongzhen with his most important ammunition. He did not rise to any major office during the Chongzhen reign. During the Southern Ming he once served as a ministry secretary, and died a year after returning to his hometown. Whether all the crimes he charged Wei Zhongxian with were accurate is a matter for another time. What is certain is that he had no vested interest driving him. This kind of literati integrity and fearlessness in the face of death deserves some admiration, so I have given him an appearance here.