Chapter 1263: Southward or Northward?

"A big disturbance?" Zhu Cilang frowned. "How big could it get? Would it inflict heavy losses on the roving bandits? It won't spread into our territory, will it?"

That was the question!

The White Lotus Sect!

This was a professional rebellion outfit that had given the Great Ming headaches for over two hundred years. The most recent large-scale White Lotus uprising had occurred in the second year of Tianqi, when the Shandong White Lotus leader Xu Hongru gathered a crowd and rose in revolt around Caozhou, storming quite a few prefectural and county cities, and even styling himself the Zhongxing Fulie Emperor (which sounded like a posthumous title), proclaiming the reign era Dacheng Xingsheng. This White Lotus uprising had begun in the fifth month of the second year of Tianqi and kept churning until the ninth month of that same year before it was basically put down, spreading across more than half of Shandong and dealing a severe blow to the reactionary rule of the Ming dynasty.

Now Zhu Cilang was the supreme head of the Ming dynasty, and he had no wish to see a great White Lotus uprising spread from Shun territory into Ming territory.

In history, hadn't the Qing dynasty also suffered a great Sichuan-Hubei White Lotus uprising? He certainly didn't want it moved up to erupt during the Hongxing years of the Great Ming!

"Your Majesty," Zhu Chunjie replied, "the White Lotus Sect should be able to stir up some commotion on the roving bandits' ground. The White Lotus Sect is a spark, and only when it meets dry tinder can it start a great fire. The roving bandits have pressed the people of Sichuan too hard, so an eruption is only a matter of time. However, although the White Lotus Sect can make trouble, it still won't inflict too great a loss on the roving bandits."

"It won't inflict too great a loss?" Zhu Cilang asked. "Why is that?"

Zhu Chunjie said, "Because although the roving bandits have lost the hearts of the Sichuan people, their strength is still intact, and moreover at its very peak. It is simply not something the likes of the White Lotus Sect can overturn."

Zhu Cilang nodded. He knew Zhu Chunjie's analysis was sound. During this period of the Ming, this bunch of troublemakers from the White Lotus Sect had made a great deal of noise, but their combat strength was truly nothing much. Even the Ming of the Tianqi years had been able to suppress them with a secondary force of weak troops, let alone the powerful roving bandits.

"If it won't inflict too great a loss, then what's the point?" Zhu Cilang seemed somewhat hesitant. He remained highly wary of this professional rebellion outfit.

"Of course there's a point," Zhu Chunjie said with a smile. "Even if it doesn't grow big, it can still cause the roving bandits plenty of trouble. Since ancient times, disturbances have mostly erupted where people gather, and places where corvée laborers are assembled are the most prone to trouble. Right now the roving bandits are fighting a great battle with us in Shaanxi, so their logistics and transport are bound to be difficult, and the civilian porters, worn out by toil, are certain to be resentful. Once an uprising takes hold, it will inevitably leave the roving bandits at the front with no way to advance or retreat.

Secondly, the supply of grain and cloth in the roving bandits' territory is currently rather tight. If the White Lotus Sect stirs things up again, it will inevitably worsen the supply shortage, and the roving bandits' silver and copper cash won't be able to buy much of anything.

Furthermore, once the White Lotus Sect rises up, it can also make the roving bandits clean out this pack of demonic villains and petty scoundrels for us. These scoundrels are bound to cause trouble sooner or later; if they don't stir now, they will in the future. Better to let the roving bandits wipe them out for us."

This was killing with a borrowed knife! What a ruthless spymaster! Zhu Cilang glanced at Zhu Chunjie with approval. The fellow had finally made progress. This was exactly how to deal with a professional rebellion outfit like the White Lotus Sect! Let them taste the iron fist of the Shun's fubing dictatorship!

"We must indeed let the roving bandits wipe out all the White Lotus Sect in Sichuan!" Zhu Cilang said in a deep voice. "Evil cults harm others and themselves. If they grow big, the losses would be staggering!"

"Your Majesty is sagacious!" Zhu Chunjie said. "There is another matter. We also have a use for the White Lotus Sect in Sichuan. Our Great Ming's 'no land tax, no corvée labor, no conscription, and civil examinations to welcome the Great Ming' must be spread through them on Sichuan's ground! Otherwise, how would the people of Sichuan ever learn of these things?"

Zhu Cilang nodded. "That is true enough!"

As he spoke, he glanced again at Pan Yuchen, the Director of the Eastern Depot.

"Your Majesty," said Pan Yuchen, who superintended the Eastern Depot and knew that the latter question Zhu Cilang had raised was directed at him, "there are also some White Lotus petty scoundrels on the court's territory, but their strength is limited. They have not reached the point of being able to rise in open revolt. They are merely swindling money and deceiving people."

The flourishing of the White Lotus Sect on Shun territory was, to a certain extent, connected with the decline of the three teachings of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism — especially Confucianism!

Although the Shun did not exterminate Confucianism, neither did it support it, and it gave no particular backing to Buddhism or Daoism either. It even strictly limited the numbers of monks and Daoist priests, and through land equalization it confiscated a great deal of temple property.

Thus within Shun territory, the traditional three teachings had fallen into decline, and the White Lotus Sect, a rebellion cult with tremendous vitality, had naturally rushed in to fill the void.

Zhu Cilang, by contrast, had used the "Zilun Gewu Pian" to bring about a great flourishing of Confucianism, and he had not abolished the super-weapon for spreading Confucianism that was examination-based official appointment. Instead, he had replaced the civil examinations, in which only a tiny handful ever won, with official examinations and the high examinations, which had far broader coverage.

A Confucianism armed with the "Zilun Gewu Pian" would of course suppress the likes of the White Lotus Sect and make it difficult for them to flourish.

Moreover, while there were certainly plenty of poor people on the Ming side, they still had something to strive for — although most people's struggles ultimately yielded little, striving was still permitted, after all. So not too many people went in for a "struggle religion" like the White Lotus Sect.

"Swindling money and deceiving people is not permitted either!" Zhu Cilang's tone was stern. "The Great Ming Celestial Dynasty, under bright and clear heavens — how can the White Lotus Sect be allowed to swindle money and deceive people? They must be severely punished!"

Indeed, there were so many ways to swindle money and deceive people — why insist on the White Lotus Sect? It sounded so frightening, and more importantly, it couldn't even swindle much money. Better to go to California and pan for gold!

"This subject receives the decree!" Pan Yuchen addressed Zhu Cilang as "this subject" rather than "this slave," because the Eastern Depot was no longer an office run by an inner-court eunuch, and Pan Yuchen was not the Zhu emperor's household slave, but a disabled merit-official who had endured hardship.

Zhu Cilang nodded and added, "The roving bandits have always been sinister and crafty, so we must guard against them too! We must not let the White Lotus Sect on the roving bandits' ground fail to rise while some disturbance breaks out on the court's own territory!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured," Pan Yuchen said. "This subject will certainly urge the runners and secret agents below to maintain strict vigilance and will never allow the roving bandits' treacherous schemes to succeed!"

Zhu Cilang thought for a moment and said, "This matter cannot rest on your Eastern Depot alone. The Ministry of Justice must cooperate in sweeping the great cities of the Four Rivers, the Two Lakes, Fujian, Guangdong, and elsewhere, arresting more lawbreakers and sending them all to the northwestern front to serve and atone for their crimes, so as to keep them from causing trouble!"

Zhu Cilang was not worried about peasant uprisings now. His Great Ming had already taken the capitalist path, the cities were growing larger by the day, and while industry and commerce flourished, the population was also massing together in great numbers.

If a large, concentrated population was poorly managed, it could easily erupt into turmoil!

Now the Great Ming and the Shun were on the verge of a life-and-death battle. Emperor Zhu had to set a fire in Li Laiheng's backyard on one hand, while keeping a firm watch on his own courtyard on the other!

While Zhu Cilang was pondering how to use underhanded tricks against the Shun dynasty, the Shun side had fallen into a dispute over whether to advance north or march south.

This debate had been stirred up by Li Dingguo, who had returned to Kunming from the front. On his way back to Kunming, he had submitted a memorial to Li Laiheng setting forth five reasons for opposing a southern campaign.

First, the previous southern advance into India had succeeded only by catching people off guard and winning by luck. Going again would not be so easy, and they might even sink deeper and deeper into India.

Second, marching south into India would shake the morale and fighting spirit of the troops on the Shaanxi front. If everyone wanted to go to India to get rich, who would still be willing to fight bitterly against Zhu Ming in Shaanxi?

Third, the gold and silver, fine horses, and foreign beauties obtained from India were of little help to the Shun's military strength. On the contrary, they would cause the Shun's fubing households to sink into corruption and luxury, thereby losing their combat effectiveness.

Fourth, the Zhu Ming emperor Zhu Cilang had already moved his headquarters to Wuhan and announced that he would personally lead the campaign. A great battle between Shun and Ming was about to break out. At such a time, the Shun must resist with all its strength and absolutely must not make any move of retreat or strategic withdrawal, or the people's hearts would surely fall into chaos!

Fifth, the Shun had always taken farmland as its foundation, emphasized agriculture over commerce, and channeled all profit through a single opening. But since returning from the plunder of India, gold and silver had become abundant, merchants had been rushing about, the fubing had begun to scorn the land, and the common people had begun to neglect farming. If this continued, the Shun would inevitably come to lack food and clothing, and all its gold and silver would be of no use!

The five points raised by Li Dingguo immediately provoked enormous controversy in Kunming. Supporters held that Li Dingguo was the pillar of the Shun and that his proposals were all sound policies for the benefit of the state. Opponents, however, held that the Shun was now trapped in Sichuan and Yunnan and could hardly hold out against Zhu Ming for long; only by expanding southward could it survive in the long term.

(End of Chapter)