Chapter 180: Secret Scheming

At the residence of Gao Chi, Guard Commander of the Fengyang Guard, lanterns blazed brightly. The top commanders of all eight guards and one station had gathered together, and a table of men were eating and chatting.

Gao Chi, Guard Commander of the Fengyang Guard, said: "Have you all heard? The Crown Prince has ordered Zhu Dadian to audit the land."

At the table, the Guard Commanders of Fengyang's eight guards and one station wore grim expressions, all feeling that this Crown Prince was far too ignorant of the ways of the world—stirring up trouble the moment he arrived!

The Guard Commander of the Huaiyuan Guard mused: "I've heard of it. The Crown Prince isn't really going to take the land from our hands, is he?"

The Guard Commander of the Fengyang Left Guard also spoke: "I don't believe it. In the Imperial Ming, who would dare do such a thing besides the roving bandits? He is the Crown Prince—he represents our interests. If he offends us, can he really keep staying in Fengyang Prefecture?"

The crowd secretly nodded in agreement, chattering away: "Right! If he can't even stay in our Fengyang Prefecture, let alone anywhere else in Jiangnan—those nobles and gentry in Nanjing are even more troublesome than us."

The Guard Commander of the Changhuai Guard shook his head: "Hard to say. The Crown Prince killed so many officials in Suzhou that the entire officialdom there was nearly cleaned out from top to bottom. Even one of my subordinate chiliarch stations was wiped out—over a hundred thousand mu of land gone just like that. No one should take this lightly!"

Gao Chi, Guard Commander of the Fengyang Guard, nodded. His brother-in-law, the Prefect of Suzhou, had been flayed with his skin stuffed with straw, and the woman of the house had been crying herself half to death over it every day since.

The Guard Commander of the Imperial Tomb Guard frowned: "Believe it or not, the Crown Prince's decree has already been issued. The auditing officials are about to start in every region. How should we respond? That's the real question."

Gao Chi said with a dark face: "The Crown Prince is still young and has no governing experience. The men under him are basically a bunch of military officers—fierce in battle, sure, but when it comes to governing the land and dealing with the gentry, they won't get anywhere."

The crowd nodded slowly: "Then what does Big Brother suggest?"

Gao Chi chuckled: "This guard station land—can they really audit it just because they want to? The officials at every level across five prefectures and thirteen counties are mostly our own people. Just send them some favors to go through the motions. If anyone doesn't know what's good for them, throw them out the door!"

"Big Brother's plan is brilliant!" the Guard Commanders praised.

Gao Chi continued: "Through this test, if the Crown Prince is at a loss and backs off, then so be it. But if he insists on forcing the audit through, then we'll have no choice but to fight to the death!"

The other Guard Commanders were startled at this: "Big Brother, are we going to—"

Gao Chi snorted coldly: "Everyone here is connected by blood or marriage to some degree—when one prospers, all prosper; when one falls, all fall. Today I'll speak plainly: let's first send people to contact the Huoshan side, open with generous terms, then negotiate with them slowly. If the Crown Prince truly makes his move, we'll have no road left but this one!"

Each man drank a cup of wine, and for a moment there was silence. This was the worst-case plan. If someone wanted their very lifeline, then they would have to fight with everything they had.

"Good! Let's go with Big Brother's plan!"

"Let's do it!"

"Come, brothers, drink a cup! We share honor and disgrace!"

"Cheers!"

""

A few days after the land audit order was issued, officials of the various prefectures and counties began auditing the land of the local guard stations. Calling it an audit was more like calling it a drinking party.

Arranged by the guard officers, the civil officials who came to audit lived very comfortably—fine wine every day, women without end. They never even set foot on the fields, planning to simply hand in the old registration records to close the matter.

As for the guard station officers and soldiers encroaching on the lands of hereditary military households, many officials who knew the truth simply turned a blind eye. Even if Governor-General Zhu Dadian of the grain transport wanted to deal with them, he would have to weigh the consequences carefully, lest he provoke an incident and spark a mutiny.

If a guard station mutinied and the soldiers rioted in force, it would be these civil officials who suffered in the end. Dismissal was the standard outcome—who would willingly offend these brutish soldiers for no reason? Besides, these guard officers paid them generous tribute every year. Only a fool would make such a losing bargain.

Though military officers of the Great Ming held low status, most of them lived quite comfortably. Especially the military officers of local guard stations—many relied on hereditary positions passed down from their ancestors. As long as they didn't actively stir up trouble, they were born into wealth and glory, and generation after generation of inheritance turned them into local powers.

Civil officials, though noble, found promotion difficult and were more prone to disaster. When guard station military officers encountered local civil officials, they merely bowed their heads, nodded, and offered some bribes. The two sides didn't interfere with each other—I won't cause you trouble, and you don't make problems for me.

Only Liu Shijing, the County Magistrate of Xiao County, didn't know what was good for him. He refused the guard station's banquet and insisted on inspecting the fish-scale land registers directly, embarrassing the local Guard Commander so badly that he ordered him beaten out the door, nearly crippling his legs.

Just one day after this situation, Zhu Cilang received a report from secret agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. After a cold snort, he ordered Zhu Dadian to transfer officials from the grain transport office to audit the eight guards, and also sent Yang Tinglin to lead the Imperial Academy students who had previously joined the army to assist in the audit.

Under the Governor-General of grain transport were over two hundred and seventy civil and military officials—including the grain transport Assistant Administrator, the grain transport Censor, Bureau Directors, grain supervisors, judicial officers, and Bureau Secretaries—plus grain transport soldiers and over twenty thousand men of the naval camp. Truly, whatever officials or soldiers were needed, they had them.

Though Zhu Dadian was reluctant to offend the eight guards, he had no choice at this point. He could only steel himself and go conduct the audit—after all, who made him concurrently the Governor of Fengyang?

The Crown Prince sending officials to audit once again infuriated the military officers of the eight guards. Several Guard Commanders gathered once more to discuss the matter.

In Linhuai County of Fengyang Prefecture, inside a luxurious and exquisite mansion, rows of beautiful maidservants stood inside and outside the hall, pouring tea and massaging backs for the assembled men.

The Guard Commanders of the eight guards had gathered together and were murmuring about something, when a Chiliarch announced in a loud voice: "Eunuch Wang has arrived!"

An old eunuch wearing a three-peak hat and a jade-belted python robe walked in slowly, supported by several lovely maidservants. His hair was half white, even his eyebrows frosted with white, yet his brow carried an air of authority—clearly a man long accustomed to holding high position.

This old eunuch was Wang Yumin, the Garrison Eunuch of Fengyang. As a regional garrison eunuch, he represented the dignity of the imperial house and wielded enormous power—whether in local governance or military affairs, there was almost nothing he couldn't stick his hand into.

The moment Wang Yumin arrived, the Guard Commanders of the eight guards hastily rose to their feet with utmost respect. Gao Chi, Guard Commander of the Fengyang Guard, went even further, hurrying forward to meet him, saying carefully: "Godfather, please take your time."

Behind Wang Yumin followed Zhuang Hongchang, the Prefect of Fengyang Prefecture, dressed in a bright red official robe, his head lowered like a dog at his side.

Ever since Fengyang was overrun by the roving bandits two years ago, the previous garrison eunuch had been fought over like a treasure by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong—the two even fell out with each other over the contest for the eunuch.

Though Wang Yumin didn't know why the two bandit chiefs Li and Zhang fought over a eunuch, he knew that it was precisely because of those two bandits that he'd had the chance to leave the Directorate of Imperial Meals in the Forbidden City, come here, and reach the pinnacle of his life.

Only after arriving in Fengyang did Wang Yumin realize how wonderful being a eunuch could be! Not only did he enjoy treatment like a prince of the blood, but there were even civil and military officials of the third and fourth rank vying to become his adopted sons!

Wang Yumin would often sigh with emotion when alone: I didn't get my balls chopped off for nothing after all—this is what you call living, goddammit!

Seeing his adopted son hurrying up to greet him, and the others in the hall showing such deference, Wang Yumin put on full airs, gave a light grunt of acknowledgment, and said flatly: "Everyone, sit down!"

Thanks to readers for their tips: Dongfang Changhe, Jiucai Chao Changyu, BUCK, Alexls, Jianjian a Biaobiao, Xun Yue, Reader 20170119100937927