Chapter 1272: We Need to Catch More Rebels!

Jingzhou Prefecture, Yiling Department, Huya Town.

The Ding family mansion, which had been bustling for days, finally quieted down. After several days of open-table feasting, it all came to an end on the fifth day of the first month, the day for welcoming the God of Wealth.

The day after the feasting ended, Ding Shixiang—Ding the Skinner's—former master, the son of the Great Benefactor Zhang, Scholar Zhang, that drunkard Zhang, suddenly paid a visit at dusk.

Ding the Skinner was rather surprised by Scholar Zhang's visit. He knew that although this former master of his was drunk as mud all day long, he was not the sort to accept charity. No matter how straitened his circumstances, he could never bring himself to beg from his former servant—and besides, the fellow had his own means of earning a living!

The man wrote a fine hand, could imitate the genuine works of famous calligraphers, and even knew how to age paper. That was a trade that could bring in money. Never mind that he seemed to have no source of income, drinking himself senseless all day—one good job was enough to keep him in wine for years.

So the man's family would never prosper—he had drunk too much these past years, his craft had not improved, and he could no longer swindle any real money! But he still scraped by, and so he could keep putting on his airs.

In his own words, he never once looked Ding the Skinner, that upstart, straight in the eye. If he wouldn't even look at him, then what was he doing here today?

Though his head was full of questions, Ding the Skinner still went out to greet him personally.

That was proper etiquette!

No matter how down-and-out Scholar Zhang might be, he was still a former master. Even if Ding the Skinner became an official, he would still show him some respect—let alone now, when Ding the Skinner was still a commoner with no rank.

"I have an important matter to discuss!" Scholar Zhang had, for once, not been drinking, and had even tidied himself up. He was a clean, neat, pale-faced old scholar—where was any trace of Drunkard Zhang?

"Please come in, Eldest Young Master!" Ding the Skinner's manners were impeccable. He addressed him as "Eldest Young Master" and respectfully ushered him into the central hall—people who moved in such circles all observed proper etiquette, or they would be looked down upon.

Scholar Zhang did not stand on ceremony either. Still bearing himself with an air of dignity, he entered the central hall of the Ding residence and seated himself grandly in the seat of honor.

Though he was a guest, he was Ding the Skinner's former master, so he deserved the seat of honor.

Ding the Skinner immediately ordered a banquet prepared, had the servants brew the finest green tea in the house, and then seated himself in the lower seat.

Scholar Zhang glanced at the maidservant attending nearby, and Ding the Skinner at once waved her away. In the central hall, only he and Scholar Zhang remained.

Only then did Scholar Zhang speak: "Ziquan"—Ding the Skinner's courtesy name—"there are rebels in town! Someone is planning to answer the call of the roving bandits!"

"What?" Ding the Skinner was startled.

Huya Town was close to Sichuan, and had once been the site of Li Zicheng's main camp. Li Zicheng had dispensed no small amount of favor here, and many people still remembered him kindly.

Moreover, quite a few roving-bandit scouts came and went around Huya Mountain!

These past few months, because Li Laiheng had been putting on a show of force, making as if to march east against Jingzhou, the area around Huya Mountain had grown even more unsettled.

As the richest man in Huya Town—and possibly the second or third richest in all of Yiling Department—how could Ding the Skinner not be on edge?

If someone really did rise up on Huya Mountain in support of the Shun, he, Ding the Skinner, would certainly be the first to suffer!

"Eldest Young Master," Ding the Skinner's face had gone a little green, "how—how did you learn that someone means to answer the roving bandits?"

Scholar Zhang smiled. "I happened to overhear it in that wineshop by the dock—from that boatman Wang Sihu! He has most likely already gone over to the roving bandits in Sichuan!"

"Gone over to the Sichuan roving bandits? That can't be." Ding the Skinner knew Wang Sihu too. "He's just a boatman—how could he have any connection with roving bandits?"

"Why couldn't he?" Scholar Zhang laughed. "The boatmen on the Jing River are organized into many gangs, and some of those gangs have dealings with the roving bandits. Surely you know that, Ziquan?"

"Gangs..." Ding the Skinner thought to himself: How would a scholar like you know about the affairs of these underworld gangs? Ah, of course—you forge paintings and calligraphy, so you must have dealings with such people!

Scholar Zhang said, "Ziquan, do you know who that scoundrel Wang Sihu was talking to about answering the roving bandits?"

"W-with whom?" Ding the Skinner asked.

"With your hired hand Yang Sanbao!"

"With Yang San?" Ding the Skinner drew a sharp breath. "But he's an honest man!"

"An honest man pushed too far is all the more dangerous. Think about it—how long must Yang Sanbao labor under a ten-year indenture? Can he really be content with that?" Scholar Zhang said. "Ziquan! You must think this through clearly. This matter can be made big or small, turned to good or ill. If it turns ill, your whole family will be sent to open wasteland in the Southern Seas!"

"My whole family..." Ding the Skinner's face went pale. He looked at his former master, clasped his hands, and said, "Eldest Young Master, I, old Ding, am but a merchant and do not know how to handle this. I beg you to instruct me. If this calamity can be turned to good fortune, I will surely reward you handsomely afterward."

Scholar Zhang stroked his goatee and smiled smugly.

For the Ding family, this affair was certainly no good thing—but for him, Scholar Zhang, it was truly the last opportunity of his life!

So after he had happened to overhear what Wang Sihu and Yang Sanbao said that day, he had spent the past several days shadowing Wang Sihu.

And he had indeed uncovered a few clues!

Wang Sihu was clearly spending far too freely. The money he was throwing around was not something a mere boatman could earn!

And besides dragging Yang Sanbao off to drink at the wineshop by the dock, he had also, together with Yang Sanbao, been taking other poor unmarried men from town out drinking and talking.

Furthermore, ever since Wang Sihu returned to Huya Town, handbills welcoming the Roving King had been slipped under the doors of many poor households in town!

But after all, Wang Sihu and Yang Sanbao were small fry. How big a stir could they raise? And even if they were caught, how great a merit would that be? Probably not enough to earn an official post, surely?

If he wanted to become an official, he would have to let Wang Sihu blow the matter up bigger—best of all, lure the big fish behind the scenes to Huya Mountain and catch them all in one net!

At that thought, Scholar Zhang smiled. "Ziquan, do you have any reliable men you could plant beside Wang Sihu and Yang Sanbao?"

Ding the Skinner thought for a moment, then nodded. "I do have two. They're also hired hands of mine, have followed me for many years, and both have families now."

"Excellent!" Scholar Zhang laughed. "Ziquan, now we can earn ourselves a merit that can be exchanged for official rank!"

Wuchang Prefecture, Wuchang County, the Ministry of Justice yamen.

When Minister of Justice Ma Shiying returned to his yamen after the New Year and took his seat in court, he received still more reports from the police patrol offices of Jingzhou Prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture, Chengtian Prefecture, and De'an Prefecture concerning "plots to rebel and welcome the bandits"!

The Ming Ministry of Justice at present was something like a combination of the later ministries of justice and public security. It oversaw two lines—police patrols and prisons—and did not handle trials. Trials were the responsibility of the Court of Judicial Review and local judges, and enjoyed a certain independence.

And the police patrol division under the Ministry of Justice also bore the responsibility of arresting rebels and pacifying the localities!

So when the police patrols of Jingzhou Prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture, Chengtian Prefecture, and De'an Prefecture discovered that rebel activity was intensifying, they reported it up to the Ministry of Justice one after another.

After reading these reports, Ma Shiying immediately sent word to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, inviting both Zhu Chunjie and Pan Yuchen to the Ministry of Justice to discuss countermeasures together.

"Your Grace, to be frank, my Embroidered Uniform Guard has also received much word of rebel activity these past days. It seems there are still many remnants of the roving bandits in the Jing-Chu region, all stirring restlessly!"

The speaker was Zhu Chunjie. Over the Spring Festival just past, he had not slept a single peaceful night. Besides the unrest in the four prefectures of Jingzhou, Xiangyang, Chengtian, and De'an, shocking news had also come from the territory of the Shun—considerable disorder had broken out in Sichuan, which the Shun controlled, the most serious being the Great Sword Mountain uprising!

The trouble at Great Sword Mountain seemed to be on a large scale. Even the grain route to Shaanxi had been cut! Who knew whether it would bring about the collapse of the roving bandits in Shaanxi?

In addition, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had dispatched large numbers of agents to Guizhou Province, Shizhou Guard, and western Guangxi Province to secretly monitor the trade routes there!

If any local official still dared defy Zhu Cilang's imperial edict and allow supplies to pass through his jurisdiction to be sold into bandit territory, it would no longer be the Censorate's censors investigating corruption—it would be the Embroidered Uniform Guard arresting traitors in league with the enemy!

(End of Chapter)