Chapter 190: Cleaning Out the Fushe Thoroughly

Even a fool could understand what Li Youcheng meant by that last remark.

The Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard both maintained outposts and Chiliarch offices in Nanjing, but in truth, ever since Wei Zhongxian's downfall these had existed in name only. The Depot's agents in particular had become pariahs throughout the Nanjing region, and it had been a long time since anyone had seen hide or hair of them.

Even during the Tianqi reign, when Wei Zhongxian was at the very height of his power, the Jiangnan region had seen numerous incidents of violent resistance to arrest and tax refusal like the one recorded in the Five Men's Tombstone Inscription — let alone in these late Ming days.

Wu Weiye had already withdrawn by this point, and none of the other great scholars came forward to say anything either. Everyone knew the truth that a scholar arguing with a soldier will never win his point, and moreover, these men before them were agents trusted by a benighted sovereign.

Li Youcheng glanced at the sky, then at the crowd of scholars surrounding him, and swallowed the words that had been on the tip of his tongue. The two sides remained locked in stalemate. Before long, an agent came running in, dragging along a man everyone present knew well — and when Zhang Cai saw him, his face changed dramatically.

It turned out this man was Zhou Zhong, who had slipped out through the back door moments earlier.

Once out the door, the fellow had shed all the righteous indignation he had shown in the academy, skulking about with a shifty, rat-faced look. An Embroidered Uniform Guard patrol on the street spotted him at a glance, and after a few probing questions he gave himself away completely — so they seized him and brought him in.

The agent reached inside Zhou Zhong's robes and, besides a small box, pulled out a letter. Li Youcheng took it in hand, looked at it, and sneered coldly as he asked:

"What is this? What's this letter all about, and what's this little box about?"

"That letter isn't mine!" Zhou Zhong's face went pale with shock. He had no idea how an extra letter had appeared on him. After struggling for a moment, he suddenly realized what had happened and shouted: "You're framing me! Mr. Nan Guo, these hounds planted that letter on me! It's not mine — they're framing me!"

"Enough noise — slap his mouth!" Li Youcheng rose and delivered a backhand across Zhou Zhong's face, then followed up by kicking him in the knee while shouting: "Kneel!"

Zhou Zhong cried out in pain and collapsed uncontrollably to his knees, his face twisted in agony.

"How dare you!" Zhang Cai could no longer sit still. He slammed the table and rose: "We scholars don't even kneel before county magistrates — how could we kneel to you eunuch-faction hounds? This is an affront to all human decency and the bonds of propriety!"

Since his goal of stalling for time had already been achieved, Li Youcheng spread his hands with an indifferent smile and said: "Everyone here is a man of letters. We agents are crude fellows — no comparison, no comparison."

"There are only a dozen or so of them — don't be afraid!"

"We have them outnumbered — don't fear these hounds!"

Soon, many of the scholars and government students present realized that Li Youcheng and his Eastern Depot agents were merely putting up a bluff. So far, aside from seizing Zhou Zhong, he hadn't dared make any further move.

Once they understood this, the scholars and government students began closing in with hostile intent, as if reenacting the Five Men's Tombstone Inscription incident. For a moment, the dozen or so Eastern Depot agents found themselves facing a grave threat, each instinctively gripping his sword hilt, ready to draw and fight at any moment.

Just then, another burst of clamorous footsteps sounded from outside the door — it was Zhou Jingwu, armored from head to toe, finally arriving with his Divine Martial Army soldiers.

"Commissioner Zhou, you've come at last." Li Youcheng breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over to greet him, pointing at Zhang Cai and the others: "These scholars were just about to reenact the Five Men's Tombstone Inscription affair. We can't afford to let our guard down."

Hearing this, Zhou Jingwu showed no sign of fear or concern. He gave a cold laugh, strode forward, and asked: "Who else dares to make a move? Step forward — this Commissioner guarantees you a quick end!"

With that, the brightly armored, sharp-weaponed Divine Martial Army soldiers filed in and surrounded them, leveling spears and steel blades at the scholars as if ready to strike at any moment, showing no fear whatsoever of bloodshed.

Before long, even more Divine Martial Army men rushed in, with still more standing outside, completely sealing off the entire academy. Those scholars and government students who had been so eager to act moments before now dared not even raise their voices in rebuke at the sight of so many soldiers.

It was said that this Commissioner Zhou had been personally promoted by the Chongzhen Emperor himself, and the name "Divine Martial Army" was likewise bestowed by the Chongzhen Emperor's own vermilion brush. The Divine Martial Army's fighting prowess might not have been the strongest among the capital forces, but they possessed one advantage no other troops in the realm could match.

Including Commissioner Zhou Jingwu himself, every member of the Divine Martial Army came from families that had guarded the Xiaoling Mausoleum for generation after generation. Most were descended from the Huai-Xi men who had helped Old Master Zhu's family conquer the realm, giving them a status nearly equal to the Son of Heaven's own personal troops.

That the Chongzhen Emperor had personally named this force the Divine Martial Army surely carried deep meaning.

Seeing the bearing of these soldiers, Zhang Cai understood that coming to blows with them would yield nothing good. He said: "I address you respectfully as Commissioner Zhou. Commissioner Zhou, can you not see that these agents are brazenly framing us innocent scholars! I ask you — is there no law left under heaven?"

Facing Zhang Cai's conciliatory words, Zhou Jingwu showed no appreciation. He picked up the small box and the letter, examined them, and snorted coldly: "The evidence is conclusive, the proof is ironclad. I'm afraid I cannot show favoritism! Men, take them all away — not one left behind!"

Li Youcheng laughed heartily and likewise waved to the agents around him: "Come now, dig this so-called academy three feet down! Pack up all the evidence — we may have use for it later!"

If it had been only these dozen or so agents, the government students would certainly not have submitted meekly at a time like this. But now there were not just them — there were also numerous soldiers present. To resist would be to court death without even knowing how it happened.

These Divine Martial Army soldiers, who had been on real battlefields and even cut down roving bandits, showed not a moment's hesitation before the scholars gathered in the academy. They stepped forward one after another, seized them, and marched them one by one into the rear courtyard.

Seeing Zhou Jingwu personally approach and stare at him with menacing eyes, Zhang Cai's heart quailed. He retreated several steps but still refused to concede, crying out: "Hounds! Do you know the backbone of us Fushe scholars? The two of you have conspired together, brazenly framing us innocent scholars — is there no regard for the laws of the Great Ming in your eyes!?"

"Even if you are an imperially appointed Divine Martial Army Commissioner, you cannot simply seize people and throw them in prison at will! Do you have an arrest warrant? Show it to us! Otherwise, how is this any different from a military commander abusing his authority in the provinces!"

Hearing this, Zhou Jingwu had no interest in wasting words with him. He stepped forward, seized him firmly with one hand, and only then said with a cold smile: "My Divine Martial Army has no authority to arrest people and throw them in prison — but the Eastern Depot does!"

With that, Zhou Jingwu turned and asked: "Chiliarch Li, did these scholars and government students commit the crime of assembling a crowd to resist arrest?"

"They did!" Li Youcheng immediately shouted: "Commissioner Zhou, if you hadn't arrived with your troops in time, this Chiliarch would likely already be dead at the hands of these so-called men of letters."

Zhou Jingwu chuckled and turned back: "If it were someone else, this Commissioner would indeed have a hard time handling it. But Zhang Cai — this time you've truly stepped in it!"

Seeing the confusion on Zhang Cai's face, Zhou Jingwu collected himself and asked in return: "You still don't know? Then let this Commissioner tell you plainly! In this matter of taking you, even those big Donglin officials at court haven't dared let out so much as a single fart. So don't expect anyone to speak up for you. And even if one or two dared to, this Commissioner suspects they've likely already had their heads chopped off by His Majesty by now!"

Anger rose on Zhou Jingwu's face as he continued:

"Zhang Cai, this time there is no escape for you! When you wrote that so-called book, you should have known this would be your end! Your Fushe has truly gone too far this time!"

"His Majesty is furious and has already deemed your Fushe a heretical cult! An arrest warrant? Without a warrant, this Commissioner will still clean out your Fushe completely!"

"Enough talk — bring me Zhang Cai's wife, children, and entire household, every last one of them!"