Chapter 181: Upheaval at the Guard Stations

Seeing the old master take his seat, everyone wore beaming smiles. Wang Yumin, the eunuch Garrison Commander of Fengyang, was the backbone of all eight guards—with him present, even Governor-General Zhu Dadian of the Grain Transport had to behave himself.

The Guard Commanders of the eight guards attended to him with great care, personally serving tea and water, and gave Wang Yumin a detailed report on the Crown Prince's land survey.

Gao Chi, Guard Commander of the Fengyang Guard, said, "Godfather, the hundred thousand mu of fine farmland under your name is on that list too—you can't just sit by and do nothing!"

Wang Yumin said leisurely, "The Crown Prince is still young, easily misled by petty men, and bound to make some small mistakes. As the court-appointed eunuch Garrison Commander of Fengyang, I shall offer counsel to the Crown Prince and restore peace to Fengyang Prefecture!"

The men were pleased to hear this, but Gao Chi said, "Godfather, what if His Highness insists on going through with it? How should we deal with that?"

Wang Yumin shot him a glance and said, "What do you propose we do?"

Gao Chi mused, "This is what I think, son—if His Highness insists on the land survey, we can have people make a fuss. The gentry make a fuss, and the hereditary military households make a fuss too!"

Zhuang Hongchang, Prefect of Fengyang, glared at Gao Chi and said angrily, "Lord Gao, what is the meaning of this? Aren't you trying to ruin me with this scheme?"

Gao Chi chuckled and said, "Lord Zhuang, don't you worry. The guards aren't causing trouble for no reason—it's all because of the Crown Prince's decree. Everyone opposes the land survey, and you, Prefect, find it hard to handle too, don't you? Once things kick off, you and Godfather only need to explain the situation in Fengyang Prefecture to the Crown Prince. I think the Crown Prince won't want to blow things out of proportion, and the matter will simply fizzle out."

Zhuang Hongchang snorted coldly, "Your plan carries too much risk. If those above us lay blame, what then?"

"Don't you have Governor Zhu Dadian of Fengyang above you? If blame falls, it lands on him first—what's there to fear?" Gao Chi then looked at Wang Yumin and said with a fawning smile, "Don't you agree, Godfather?"

Wang Yumin hesitated endlessly. If not for the Crown Prince being here, no one would dare act so recklessly on his turf—but His Highness just happened to be present.

The eight guards were too deeply tied to him. If their lands were surveyed, his own worth would shrink by at least half!

Thinking of this, Wang Yumin nodded and said, "My son speaks sense. Once you get things going, I'll go with little Zhuang to the palace to see the Crown Prince."

Based on past experience, the imperial house feared military mutiny most of all. The Yongwei Camp had mutinied before, and in the end His Majesty merely had a batch of censors beaten to death, while the Yongwei Camp got off scot-free. Therefore, Wang Yumin decided to give it a try.

After settling the matter, at Wang Yumin's signal they began to eat, drink, and make merry. Maidservants started performing their arts—playing instruments, singing, and dancing gracefully.

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On the second day of the new round of survey work, Yang Tinglin and other survey officials from the Grain Transport Office met fierce resistance from local gentry and landlords, making the survey extremely difficult.

Large numbers of household retainers and many guard station soldiers appeared in the cities of the eight guards. Wielding clubs, staves, and blades, they raised banners claiming the authorities were forcibly seizing land under the pretext of the survey.

A huge crowd noisily paraded through the streets of each city, shouting demands that the Crown Prince stop the land survey and cease destroying the peaceful lives of soldiers and civilians!

Many landlords and gentry were delighted at the sight and seized the opportunity to send their own household retainers to join the tide of petitioners, adding fuel to the fire.

Some guard station soldiers in mandarin-duck jackets and landlords' household retainers found the officials who had come to survey the land. They hurled stones at them and even attacked them with clubs, driving the survey officials out of the cities.

The survey officials were beaten until blood flowed from their noses and mouths, utterly disheveled—some even lost their boots while fleeing.

These mutinous soldiers and retainers found attacking officials immensely satisfying. Emboldened, they grew reckless and began looting shops in the cities amid the chaos.

With such outrageous incidents occurring in every guard, the prefectural and county officials all fell silent. No one came forward to stop it—one by one they claimed illness and stayed home, shutting out the world.

The Guard Commanders of each guard closed the city gates under the pretext of maintaining order, and furiously incited landlords and gentry to cause trouble within the cities. Even Fengyang city itself saw outbreaks of unrest.

After receiving reports from all quarters in the Governor-General's residence, Zhu Dadian furrowed his brow and let out a long sigh. The Crown Prince was still young—facing such a situation, he would likely be unable to cope. It seemed he would have to go himself to placate the Guard Commanders.

Zhu Dadian had no choice but to personally step in to quell the matter. He only prayed that the Crown Prince would not be harmed, or he would have no way to answer to the court.

In the palace halls of Fengyang's imperial city, Yang Tinglin reported with a flushed face: "Your Highness, these people have gone too far! First they incited the landlords to organize their retainers into making trouble and manufacturing public opinion, and then they dared to have soldiers beat officials—they simply hold the court in utter contempt!"

Zhu Cilang lounged on the dragon throne and laughed: "How splendid!"

Seeing the Crown Prince in such an unusual state, Yang Tinglin hesitated and asked, "Your Highness, how should we respond? Should we abandon the survey?"

Zhu Cilang gave a cold smile: "Abandon? What are the eight guards of Fengyang anyway? Do they truly think I am young and easily bullied?"

With that, he rose from the dragon throne and declared in a loud voice: "Transmit the order—the Tianwu Army's Royal First Brigade is to enter the Fengyang Guard, the Fengyang Central Guard, and the Fengyang Right Guard, and execute the mutinous soldiers and troublemakers!"

"The Tianwu Army's Royal Second Brigade is to enter the Imperial Mausoleum Guard, the Left Garrison Guard, and the Central Garrison Guard!"

"The Tianwu Army's Royal Third Brigade is to enter the Huaiyuan Guard and the Hongtang Chiliarchy!"

"The Tianwu Army's Royal Cavalry Regiment is to launch a lightning strike on the Changhuai Guard!"

"If you encounter closed city gates and the Embroidered Uniform Guard's insiders cannot open them, breach the walls with cannon fire directly. Anyone found resisting with weapons in hand is to be killed—not a single one spared!"

Order after order was issued from the imperial city and transmitted in the shortest possible time to the various units of the Tianwu Army stationed in Fengyang.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

At the Million Granary Grand Drill Ground of the Central Capital, the war drums of the Tianwu Army camp thundered as soldiers of every battalion began assembling rapidly.

Wang Yumin, the eunuch Garrison Commander of Fengyang, and the Prefect of Fengyang Prefecture, who had come to the imperial city to see Zhu Cilang, both turned pale. What was the Tianwu Army doing? Suppressing the unrest by force?

Wang Yumin's face was grim, and Zhuang Hongchang, Prefect of Fengyang, was drenched in cold sweat. The two hurried to the front of the hall and bowed to Zhu Cilang.

Wang Yumin said in a shrill voice, "Your Highness, what are you doing?"

The Prefect of Fengyang also said urgently, "Your Highness, you must not raise troops! These guard stations and gentry are the very foundation of the dynasty! If you move against them—"

Zhu Cilang looked at the two and said coldly, "Wang Yumin, you ask what I am doing? I should be asking you that! As the eunuch Garrison Commander of Fengyang, you have the authority to supervise civil and military officials, drill the troops of the eight guards and one chiliarchy under the Central Capital Garrison Command, dispatch guard station forces to suppress resistance, put down powerful local clans, and arrest fugitives. The court gave you such vast power—and what have you done with it?"

Zhu Cilang pointed at him and said with venom: "As a eunuch of the inner court, you colluded with guard station officers, annexed the lands of hereditary military households, accepted bribes, drove out good civilian households, and registered tax-exempt land for wealthy merchants—one crime after another. Do you think I know nothing of this?"

As each crime was exposed before the assembly, Wang Yumin collapsed to the ground in terror, trembling uncontrollably. No matter how he tried, he could not understand how the Crown Prince knew so much.

Zhu Cilang then turned to the Prefect of Fengyang, whose forehead was beaded with cold sweat, and said: "And you! Charged with governing this land on heaven's behalf—and this is the very cradle of our Great Ming! How have you been discharging your duties? You are worse than Wang Yumin, if anything!"

The Prefect of Fengyang hastily kowtowed and said, "Your Highness, your subject is wronged!"

Zhu Cilang roared in fury: "Wronged my arse! Guards, drag these two curs down and throw them into the death cell to await execution!"

Two burly personal guards in the hall grabbed the two men, who had curled up into balls, and hauled them out like chickens.