Chapter 61: Fame Spreads Far and Wide

Song Wenxian entered the courtyard and saw Lu Lvzi and the others already there. Only then did he realize Chen Xin had planned this all along, and all that talk about buying a shop was pure nonsense. But he was already aboard Chen Xin's pirate ship — not only could he not leave now, even if he could, he wouldn't dare report it to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, because if Chen Xin revealed the maritime trade matter, neither Provincial Governor Sun nor Circuit Intendant Zhong would let him off.

Song Wenxian huffily found a stool and sat down. Chen Xin, smiling apologetically, begged his pardon, then pulled Qin Lufang aside and said to him, "Lufang, the neighbors around here recognize you. These next few days, go out and walk around more. The others should stay in as much as possible."

Qin Lufang nodded. "Then I'll head out first thing in the morning and go have tea near Qipan Street."

Chen Xin thought it over. "No need to go to Qipan Street. Stay near Chongwen Gate. Go wherever you usually go. The main thing is, don't do anything out of the ordinary, so no one gets suspicious."

Qin Lufang agreed.

Chen Xin outwardly appeared completely composed, but inwardly he was quite fearful of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot. In some films and literary works he had seen in his later life, these two agencies had an enormous reputation, and they were now in the hands of Wei Zhongxian's faction. Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun were both among the "Five Tigers" — the officials of the capital turned pale at the mention of those two. Of course, diehards like Yang Lian and Qian Jiazheng were not afraid, but Chen Xin was very afraid. So he had proceeded with extreme caution all along, employing nearly every covert-operations method he knew. Still, he felt somewhat uneasy and could only console himself: in a capital city this vast, with over a million people, as long as they weren't conducting a house-to-house search, they probably wouldn't find him.

Over the next two days, Chen Xin did not go out at all. Apart from Qin Lufang, the other grown men stayed shut inside the small courtyard, not even daring to speak loudly, for fear that people outside would know there were people inside. Song Wenxian, whenever he had a moment, would complain to Chen Xin, like a broken record. Chen Xin had nothing else to do anyway, so he just treated it like listening to storytelling.

But once Song Wenxian had questioned him and learned the full sequence of events, he felt as if the sky had fallen. Before cursing the man out, Chen Xin had first submitted his rank-purchase paperwork at the Bureau of Military Appointments and even reported his own name. That meant everyone in the Ministry of War now knew exactly who Chen Xin was. Having offended the Nine Thousand Years, when they came to investigate — the fake military household junior squad leader status he had helped Chen Xin obtain, the rank-purchase paperwork he had helped him file, the introduction he had arranged to Circuit Intendant Zhong... it was over. Song Wenxian could no longer keep smiling. Before, he had still hoped that the Minister might not be entirely clear on Chen Xin's identity. Now it seemed they knew everything. If they followed the trail, he would not escape implication.

Now, the very sight of Chen Xin made him angry. It had been such a good thing — coming to purchase a rank, simple and straightforward, finish up and go home. But he just had to stir up a whole heap of trouble, and now he had dragged him down too.

On the nineteenth, Qin Lufang went out early in the morning to gather news. According to his observations that first day, some men from the Warden's Office were checking various inns, but there was no large-scale, flagrant search. Chen Xin was slightly relieved. It seemed the Embroidered Uniform Guard did not dare to make big moves during this sensitive period, likely also worried that Chongzhen might mistake it for rebellion.

If they were searching quietly, given his own caution, he should be fine. As long as his life was safe, he could just lie low and wait for Wei Zhongxian to fall on his own.

When Qin Lufang returned on the twentieth, he was brimming with excitement. He hurriedly shut the main gate, entered the house, and said to Chen Xin happily, "Big Brother, you're famous! Today the teahouses were all abuzz — they say a Company Commander surnamed Chen from Shandong cursed out Cui Chengxiu in the main hall of the Ministry of War. Over a hundred people in the Ministry of War couldn't out-curse this lowly Company Commander, and in the end Cui Chengxiu was so furious he wanted to resign."

Chen Xin laughed heartily. "So I'm that formidable now."

The despondent Song Wenxian, slumped in his chair, suddenly perked up. He stood and came over to listen closely.

"There's more. After Big Brother cursed Cui Chengxiu at the Ministry of War that day, the news that Cui Chengxiu was suspected of attempting to assassinate Yang Weiyuan also spread. It just so happened that the Warden's Office of the Five Wards found the assassin's clothing outside Cui's residence in Mingyu Ward. The investigating censors of the Chief Surveillance Bureau were seething — many of them began impeaching Cui Chengxiu on the nineteenth, saying he was suspected of hiring assassins. I hear the memorials impeaching him piled up half a man's height. Cui Chengxiu has already submitted a memorial defending himself and again requested resignation to return home for mourning."

Chen Xin asked urgently, "And did the Emperor approve it?"

Qin Lufang shook his head. "I don't know. No news yet. But Big Brother, your fame is enormous. Right now your name has spread throughout the capital. Everyone praises you for bravely saving Investigating Censor Yang and angrily denouncing Cui Chengxiu — both courageous and resourceful, surely a man of loyalty and righteousness."

Chen Xin gave a faint smile. "I am a man of loyalty and righteousness, after all." Though outwardly indifferent, inwardly he was quite pleased. After speaking, he rubbed his hands together in excitement.

Song Wenxian, as if seeing a glimmer of hope, quickly pulled Qin Lufang over and asked, "You say everyone is praising Brother Chen?"

"Of course. There's even storytelling about Brother Chen now."

Song Wenxian's mouth hung open. After a stunned moment, he sighed, "Back then, Yang Lian and the others were praised everywhere too. And what came of it? Brother Chen, you... ah."

Song Wenxian had said all he could say. He hadn't slept for two nights straight. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the Embroidered Uniform Guard, fierce as wolves and tigers, coming to his home in Dengzhou to arrest him.

Chen Xin did not try to console Song Wenxian. Watching this corrupt scholar's face full of anxiety, he secretly gloated. So this corrupt scholar finally got his.

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Chen Xin cursing out the sitting Minister of War in the main hall of the Ministry — such eccentrics were not unheard of in Great Ming history, but they were mostly remonstrating censors. There had been plenty of brawls in the court hall too. But for a mere Company Commander to dare cause a scene in the Ministry of War's main hall — he was the first. Add to that his rescue of Yang Weiyuan, and his name quickly spread throughout the capital, making him a hot topic of street gossip and teahouse debate. Everyone believed that when he rescued Yang Weiyuan, he discovered Cui Chengxiu was the instigator, and so, out of righteous indignation, he went in a fury to the Ministry of War to curse Cui Chengxiu. Everyone felt he neither feared the corrupt and powerful nor hesitated to speak out for justice.

But after that day, he vanished from public view. Everyone was worried he might have been harmed by the eunuch faction. Little did they know that this great hero was cowering in fear, hiding in Zhengdong Ward.

On the twentieth day of the ninth month, one day earlier than in history, Cui Chengxiu submitted a memorial defending himself, claiming no involvement in the assassination attempt on Yang Weiyuan, while simultaneously requesting resignation on the grounds of returning home for mourning. From this moment on, the two butterflies, Chen Xin and Liu Minyou, finally began to subtly influence the course of history.

On the twenty-first day of the ninth month, Chongzhen this time approved Cui Chengxiu's resignation. The two factions seemed to have reached a balance, but a large number of fence-sitters saw this as a signal of the eunuch faction's decline and one after another sided with the imperial power.

On the twenty-third day of the tenth month, Lu Chengyuan impeached Wei Zhongxian.

On the twenty-fourth day of the tenth month, Jia Jichun impeached Wei Zhongxian.

... Guizhou Circuit Investigating Censor Wu Shangmo submitted a memorial demanding severe punishment for Cui Chengxiu.

... Qian Yuanque finally made his move, impeaching over ten members of the eunuch faction.

... Chief Supervising Secretary of the Office of Scrutiny for War Xu Kezheng submitted a memorial impeaching the brothers Cui Chengxiu and Cui Ningxiu. Cui Ningxiu was dismissed.

... Chief Supervising Secretary of the Office of Scrutiny for Revenue Duan Guozhang submitted a memorial impeaching Minister of Personnel Zhou Yingqiu.

... Qian Jiazheng, a tribute student from Jiaxing County, Zhejiang, submitted a memorial listing ten crimes of Eastern Depot Eunuch Wei Zhongxian.

On the twenty-eighth day of the tenth month, Wei Zhongxian requested resignation as Eastern Depot Eunuch. Chongzhen approved it and assigned him to the imperial tombs at Fengyang. On the twenty-ninth day of the tenth month, he left the capital. The eunuch faction collapsed like a tree falling and monkeys scattering. The officials originally listed on the comrade roster submitted memorials requesting resignation one after another.

With the fall of the eunuch faction, Chen Xin's reputation grew even brighter. The Donglin faction also considered him, though merely a military officer, to be exceptionally upright and selfless.

Looking at the intelligence he had compiled over these days, Chen Xin reflected that Wei Zhongxian's loss of power had been so swift that even Chongzhen probably hadn't anticipated it. At its root, it was the literati's ingrained contempt for eunuchs. The moment Wei Zhongxian showed the slightest loss of power, everyone pushed against a falling wall. The eunuch faction itself lacked cohesion. One could say it wasn't really a "faction" at all — merely a group gathered around Wei Zhongxian, bound by power and profit, many of whom had been driven by the Donglin faction into Wei Zhongxian's camp. Even Wei Zhongxian himself had been forced by the Donglin faction into opposing them. Thus the eunuch faction never had any clear political ideology — it was simply about fighting the Donglin faction and then, following Factory Minister Wei, gaining office and wealth.

Chen Xin's understanding of Wei Zhongxian was that he had certainly done plenty of bad things, but not only bad things. On some major state matters, Wei Zhongxian did not decide based on personal preference or factional interest. During the Tianqi reign, after the successive early losses of Liaoshen and Guangning, the Liaodong situation was perilous. In the four years Wei Zhongxian held power, the Liaodong front gradually stabilized, and the fiscal situation was far better than in the later Chongzhen period.

Later historians all denounced Wei Zhongxian's mining supervisors and tax supervisors. What Chen Xin found strangest was that those historians, living in a country ranked second globally on the tax misery index, paying all manner of taxes both known and unknown, would nevertheless believe that Ming dynasty gentry and coal bosses should not have to pay taxes — even claiming that a commercial tax of one-thirtieth would hinder the development of early capitalism. Chen Xin would have liked to show them England and Japan of the same period: what was the annual tax-to-income ratio, what were the total amounts, what were the populations, and did English capitalism develop or not? If they stood before him, Chen Xin would very much like to spit in their faces.

The Donglin partisans who brought down the eunuch faction satisfied their sense of moral superiority, but their talent for governing the country was not necessarily better than that of this illiterate thug — or rather, it was worse than Wei Zhongxian's.

In any case, this Li Jinzhong's legendary life was finally nearing its end. From the day he left the capital, the multitude of remonstrating censors attacked him en masse. Chongzhen then instructed the Ministry of War, casually finding a pretext: "Wei Zhongxian should have been executed in the marketplace to redress the people's grievances. He was leniently sentenced to demotion and banishment to Fengyang. Yet this wicked subject, unrepentant, has dared to gather fugitives, bear lethal blades, and surround himself with an armed escort as if in rebellion. We are greatly displeased. The Embroidered Uniform Guard is hereby ordered to dispatch appropriate officers and banners forthwith..."

On the day Wei Zhongxian left the capital, Chen Xin, who had been hiding for over ten days, could finally re-emerge. By this time, he and Yang Weiyuan had become the heroic figures who had first attacked the eunuch faction. The irony was that both men harbored ulterior motives. Yang Weiyuan had attacked Cui Chengxiu at Wei Zhongxian's behest, while Chen Xin had done it purely to gain fame.

A few people understood this, but under the tidal wave of public opinion against the eunuch faction, no one cared about such minor details. The fame of these two even spread to some other places in the north — naturally growing more exaggerated the further it traveled. Chen Xin was already being described as a figure like Zhang Fei or Li Kui.

"Time to come out of the mountain." Chen Xin rubbed his forehead. After hiding for over ten days, the danger had finally passed. He could see the light of day again.

On the sixth day of the eleventh month of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, after hearing news of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's approach in Fucheng County, Wei Zhongxian hanged himself at an inn. The only one who hanged himself alongside him was a eunuch, Li Chaoqin. But he could never have imagined that seventeen years later, when Chongzhen hanged himself, he too would have only a single eunuch by his side.