Chapter 502: When in Dire Straits, Seek Change

Throwing himself into the river to die was out of the question — at least, the juren Peng Ziqin of Anlu County, De'an Prefecture, would never in his life throw himself into a river to die. He was not yet thirty, at the very height of his vigor, still dreaming of passing the jinshi examination and then becoming a high official under the Great Ming, the Great Shun, or the Great Qing. Serving whichever master made no difference to him; being a turncoat twice or three times over meant nothing either. What mattered was having an official post, having money to rake in, and bringing glory to his ancestors!

But what he had never expected was that all three houses — the Great Ming, the Great Shun, and the Great Qing — were all going bad!

Last time, when the Ming court held a special examination in Nanjing, he had gone. He was brimming with learning, with particular expertise in the Book of Rites and the Spring and Autumn Annals among the Five Classics. Ming scholars would often choose one classic from the Five Classics to study intensively as their "specialty classic" for the civil examinations. Some of the more talented scholars would study two classics at once. Peng Ziqin was just such a great talent who had mastered two classics.

But he never imagined that this special examination would not test the Four Books and Five Classics, nor compare eight-legged essays, but would decide everything on the basis of a single policy essay!

Of course he could write policy essays too! He was thoroughly versed in the histories and the classics, and the great principles of the ancients rolled off his tongue.

But the topic of the special examination's policy essay was actually about collecting commercial taxes! This was extortionate taxation! Peng Ziqin had lent his juren status to three Anlu merchants, so how could he tolerate the court producing extortionate, treacherous ministers? He immediately joined a crowd of righteous, indignant examination candidates in raising a ruckus.

As a result, he was seized and given a sound beating by a gang of "scholars who had lost their homes" speaking with northern accents. Truly a disgrace to all men of letters!

Fortunately, he had only been beaten; his juren degree was still intact, and Huguang was for the time being not territory directly under the "black-hearted Crown Prince," so his good days continued for a while longer.

After his setback in Nanjing, Peng Ziqin did not give up his ideal of taking the examinations and becoming an official. Instead, he set his sights on Li Zicheng in neighboring Xiangyang Prefecture. The Ming had a "black-hearted Crown Prince," so it clearly would not last long.

And the Tartars, for some unknown reason, had taken leave of their senses and wanted to topple Confucius himself. That was plainly no good place for a scholar to become an official. So in the end, the realm would surely come to bear the surname Li!

But his fond hopes were dashed once again. The Shun dynasty had actually started equalizing land by headcount! And they were not doing it in the five prefectures they already held — they were coming to Peng Ziqin's home region to do it, to equalize the fields belonging to Peng Ziqin's family.

This was truly a matter of life and death! He could no longer concern himself with taking office, and hurriedly took his family's movable wealth and fled to Hankou. Before he could catch his breath, the Shun heavenly troops arrived right behind him.

So the great juren Peng and his whole extended family arrived empty-handed at the prefectural seat of Wuchang, and only joined the disturbance because they had no money for food. If he had been willing to throw himself into the river, all his problems would have been solved — so why all the fuss?

Now Peng Ziqin and several hundred, even up to a thousand, Hubei juren and xiucai had gathered by the banks of the Yangtze. They were also carrying many banners made of tattered cloth of every color, and the banners had writing on them — not embroidered, but large characters written with brushes. Things like "Comfort the People and Punish the Wicked," "Pacify the Central Plains in the North," "Drive Out the Roving Bandits," "Recover the Xian Mausoleum," "Swear to Kill Li Zicheng," and so on.

So they were not going to throw themselves into the Yangtze, but to cross the Yangtze northward to kill Li Zicheng! Therefore they not only carried banners, but also brought murderous weapons: wooden clubs over two feet long, discipline rulers for striking children's palms, meat cleavers, and bricks for smashing heads! Long weapons and short knives were all present in abundance — enough to start a street brawl in Wuchang.

But to fight Li Zicheng's Shun heavenly troops — no matter how one looked at it, it seemed like courting death!

Guarding the Yangtze bank were soldiers under Liu Kongzhao's command. They were not the Hard-Working New Army, but remnants of the Nanjing garrison troops, all southerners, who held scholars and officials in high regard. Of course they could not stand by and watch a thousand or so scholars go to Hanyang to die! So they blocked them and would not let them go. In truth, even without the blockade, they could not have gone. There were no boats at the Hanyang Gate dock — how were they to cross the river? Swim across?

And once Liu Kongzhao's Jiangdu troops blocked them, Peng Ziqin and his fellows had their chance to perform. One and all they were filled with righteous indignation, impassioned and fervent.

"We scholars of Huguang — in life we shall be heroes among men, in death we shall be mighty among ghosts! How can we turn our backs on the elders north of the river, and on the tomb of Emperor Xingxian?"

"We wish to march north to chastise the rebels. You too are soldiers of the Great Ming. If you will not follow us north to serve the nation, so be it — but why do you block our way?"

The great juren Peng also seized the moment to step forward. He was good-looking — tall and imposing, with a square face, handsome features, and three long strands of beard hanging down to his chest. He looked every inch a famous loyal minister of a generation!

This great loyal minister Peng wore a scholar's robe of Daoist cut, and in each hand he gripped a meat cleaver — who knew where he had "liberated" them from? He was a juren, after all; taking two meat cleavers without asking could hardly be called theft, could it?

"You soldiers all eat the court's pay and provisions! The Roving King's bandit horde is right now in Hanyang Prefecture. Not only do you not step forward to kill the rebels, you even obstruct us from marching north to serve the nation. What are your intentions?"

The great loyal minister Peng raised his cleavers and pointed at a helmeted and armored squad leader of the Wuchang troops, questioning him sternly.

That squad leader looked at the rust-flecked cleavers, then at Peng Ziqin, who looked the very picture of a loyal minister and good general. He truly did not know whether to laugh or cry. He did not order anyone to beat them, and could only say in a kindly tone: "Please stop this fuss, Worthy Sir. Two meat cleavers and you want to kill Li Zicheng? That Li Zicheng is ferocious — he kills without blinking and eats people without spitting out the bones! If Worthy Sir truly wishes to serve the nation, you should pass the jinshi examination, then transfer to a military qualification and attend the Nanjing Military Academy. Afterward you can become an officer in the New Army and lead troops to kill the rebels yourself."

The Nanjing Military Academy was formerly the Nanjing Military School, recently renamed. Zhu Cilang had even issued a special decree praising the academy, mentioning the exemplary deeds of Yan Yingyuan, Xu Ermo, and Qi Yuanbi — three great "scholars" who exchanged the civil for the military and cast aside the brush for the sword.

This squad leader, who came from the Yangtze River Fleet, had some education and had seen this matter in a notice sent down from above, so he brought it up.

Peng Ziqin thought to himself: If I had a jinshi degree, would I be raising a fuss? I'd have long since gone off to be a corrupt official! The reason we're all making trouble together now is simply that we've lost our family property and have no posts, and our livelihoods are gone!

They were not going to kill Li Zicheng — they wanted food! They wanted the great Crown Prince Zhu, living in the Chu Prince's Palace, to grant everyone a good meal!

"Your Highness, you cannot let those scholars keep making trouble."

"Your Highness, let this old subject go and pacify them!"

"Your Highness, the hearts of the scholar-officials still need to be won back."

In the main hall of the Chu Prince's Palace, Yuan Jixian, Qiu Yu, and Fang Gongyue — the three elders — were urging Zhu Cilang to find a way to calm the people. And the newly appointed Jiangdu Garrison Commander Liu Kongzhao stood to one side in silence, his face full of worry. The great Crown Prince Zhu was somewhat moody and unpredictable — what if he next ordered the garrison office to send troops to suppress them?

"They merely want a northern expedition. Why should We pacify them? Why win them back?" Zhu Cilang of course understood what those people were thinking. But he still pretended ignorance while knowing full well. He did not intend to drive the landlords, rich men, and profiteers who had fled to Wuchang to their deaths. They were not good people, but they were among the smarter and more capable people in Huguang.

Smart people were still useful! But Zhu Cilang did not have that many posts to grant them, nor would he recover Huguang's lost territory for their sake. Instead, he wanted to push them toward the market. Even capable people had to be pushed!

"Sanfu!" Zhu Cilang said with a smile. "Where is Wu Sanfu? Go find him and bring him here!"

Wu Sanfu was busy setting up defenses! Zhu Cilang, that great military strategist, commanded him alone — how busy he must be! And it was all busywork besides, with all credit recorded under Zhu Cilang's name.

The guard battalion officers and men stationed outside the main hall also served as messengers, and soon someone was sent to fetch Wu Sanfu from Phoenix Mountain.

Wu Sanfu had gone to Phoenix Mountain to inspect the artillery positions. He had just finished when he was called back to the Chu Prince's Palace. The moment he entered the main hall, before he could even salute, Zhu Cilang asked: "Sanfu, are the cannons set up?"

"Set up!" Wu Sanfu replied.

"Can they fire now?"

"They can!"

Zhu Cilang nodded. "Good! There is trouble now at the Hanyang Gate dock. We need to make use of the great cannons on Phoenix Mountain!"