Chapter 199: The Sweet and Fragrant Sweet Potato

The first few issues of the newspaper had been nothing special — the content was mostly Eastern Depot agents digging up long-buried dirt to smear the Donglin Faction, and since it was meant to be gradual, there had never been any intention of dropping some earth-shattering bombshell right from the start.

But the situation recently had become very different — this issue's content had shocked half the sky.

The Donglin men the agents usually smeared were mostly men of modest talent and officials in the bureaucracy, but this time it was different — Zhang Cai, one of the era's "Two Zhangs of Loudong," one of the founders of the Fushe Society and an elder of the Donglin Faction, had been exposed in a shocking scandal.

The heretical book that condemned men with every word had been banned by the authorities not long after publication, and even the academies and book societies that had published it were ordered shut down. That the heretical book was written by Zhang Cai had been reported in earlier issues of the newspaper and was nothing new.

But this time, Zhang Cai and many scholars of the Fushe Society were accused of plotting to install a new sovereign and seeking merit through rebellion — while the current Emperor still sat on the throne, they could not wait to set up a new ruler. That was a crime punishable by decapitation and the extermination of nine generations of kin.

Such deeds did not match the image of loyal and righteous scholars that the common folk knew well — rather, they were the sort of thing only the so-called eunuch faction's petty men would do. Oh, right — was it not said that the late Tianqi Emperor had been killed by the eunuch faction? Could it be that...

Setting aside the common folk's wild speculations and hypotheses, Zhang Cai himself was executed at Caishikou in Nanjing by slow slicing — one thousand three hundred and ninety-six cuts, a heavy sentence. Besides him, several renowned scholars of the age, including the famed Song Zhengyu of Yunjian, were also beheaded at Caishikou, and the entire nine generations of kin of these chief culprits had all been thrown into the Imperial Prison in Nanjing.

It was said that the punishments for these nine generations afterward were no light matter either, though the authorities had given no official explanation.

Caishikou was originally a place where the common folk bought their vegetables, but this Emperor lately — no one knew what he meant by it — always insisted on carrying out executions at Caishikou, leaving many people shaken. Damn it all, could the vegetables they bought and brought home still be eaten?

In times past, if scholars were executed and imprisoned on a large scale, dragging in a number of so-called innocent government students, such affairs would inevitably provoke endless curses from the common folk — talk of how the era of eunuch faction tyranny had returned, how the depot and guard were framing and slandering these good men who served the public, and so on and so forth.

But this time the reaction among the people was somewhat strange — what many eagerly discussed was not whether the scholars deserved to die, nor the tyranny of the depot and guard, but rather how the nine generations of kin locked in the Imperial Prison would be dealt with.

That the male members would not be left alive was as certain as nails in a board — there was no dispute about it, for even a beggar by the roadside understood that reasoning. But the women were another matter — they might be executed outright, but the greater likelihood was that they would be dealt with leniently, because women's uses were far too great, as any man understood.

Those who were pretty of face, fair of skin, with big breasts and big backsides would be sent to the Music Bureau in Nanjing to serve as official courtesans — this could satisfy the officials' curiosity and also extract wealth from their criminal persons, which was naturally far more worthwhile than simply chopping them with a single stroke. Even for the younger ones with the makings of beauties, the agents and eunuchs could secretly make contact with the madams of the various brothels in Nanjing and turn a handsome profit.

For the Chongzhen Emperor, as long as the male members were all killed off, there was no fear of them taking revenge on him — and besides, if he ate the meat, he had to let his hawks and hounds below drink the soup, did he not? If the people were killed off entirely, what would the hawks and hounds have to line their pockets with?

If there was no money to be had, who the hell would risk being beaten to death by scholars' clubs when stepping out the door, just to carry the black pot and risk their lives for you, the Emperor? Were they idle with nothing better to do?

So regarding these matters, the Chongzhen Emperor at most made a few vague, half-hearted probing remarks to the three eunuch directors of the three depots and one guard, and one Guard Commander — then turned a blind eye.

The Zhang Cai affair was only the beginning; the great events that followed came surging in like a tide, and the common folk said, slow down, our little hearts can't quite take it.

First came the movements of the Zheng family fleet.

Among the people there had long been the saying "In the eight Min provinces, the Zheng clan is the Great Wall." This Zheng family fleet was said to possess over a thousand great ships, mightier than the court's own navy — a veritable leviathan that had produced no word of activity for a very long time.

But this time their movements were very great indeed. Zheng Zhilong, in his capacity as Governor-General of Fujian's maritime defense, went to the Portuguese leased territory at Macau to discuss affairs with the Governor of Macau. Judging by the look of things, the talks had not gone well, because only a few days later, the Zheng family dispatched a full three hundred-odd ships and several thousand soldiers, and simply seized the Portuguese-leased Macau by force. It was said the two sides fought fiercely at Macau for nearly eight hours.

When this happened, virtually all the court's offices, yamen, and local authorities turned a blind eye to it — some soldiers and officials even went out of their way to accommodate the Zheng family, directly opening the city gates and water gates to let the Zheng people and their fleet in, then stood by watching the show, ready to take over.

The Zheng family also knew how to behave — after crippling the Portuguese fleet and garrison forces at Macau, they did not linger there at all, but rolled up their mats and left. What they took with them need not be discussed in detail; in any case, no one had the guts to ask too many questions.

After Zheng Zhilong left Macau, Shen Yulong, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, personally led soldiers and officials to the Portuguese leased territory, spouted a heap of nonsense expressing regret over the affair, and declared that the Portuguese no longer had the ability to protect themselves — henceforth, the territory would be taken over by the yamen of the Ming court.

Of course, to the Portuguese's furious and humiliated accusations, Shen Yulong merely spread his hands and refused to answer, indicating: your homeland back home is about to be finished, and you still dare to act arrogant on my own turf before this official?

Beyond that, Shen Yulong immediately sent troops to occupy the Bocarro cannon foundry the Portuguese had in Macau, and without caring one way or another, ignoring Portuguese protests, he directly trampled the Portuguese flag underfoot and replaced it with the official flag designated by the Ming court at the grand review in the capital — the Black Bird Banner.

Are you convinced or not? If not, this official will leave and let the Zheng family come for a stroll, then ask again.

In reality, the Portuguese homeland knew nothing of this at all — and even if they had known, they would have been powerless to do anything about it.

In Europe, Portugal was deeply caught in the pincer of Spain, England, the Netherlands, and others, already stretched thin and on the verge of national ruin. In the Far East, who would have thought that the always well-behaved Ming would also seize the chance to loot a burning house and directly occupy their colony at Macau.

After the Zheng family's stir, of Portugal's colonies in the Far East, the only one they could actually control was East Timor, and their only remaining military force was the fleet and garrison troops of East Timor. As for the whereabouts of that Governor of Macau, Chongzhen did not ask much, and Zheng Zhilong did not say much — the two understood each other without words, and so he simply vanished from the world.

According to the memorial of Shen Yulong, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Zheng Zhilong's way of doing things was somewhat hard to fathom — he had crippled the Portuguese army at Macau and destroyed their fleet, yet he had not touched the Portuguese populace.

Likewise, Zheng Zhilong had made the Portuguese Governor of Macau and the garrison commander disappear, but he had left the Portuguese Senate in Macau intact for the Ming.

What did this fellow mean?

Shen Yulong thought for a long time, then added this single sentence to his memorial to Chongzhen: "According to the provisions of Portuguese law, when the Governor's whereabouts are unknown, the Senate may appoint a Governor on its own to temporarily manage the military and civil affairs of the leased territory."

The Chongzhen Emperor understood at once upon seeing this sentence — it seemed Zheng Zhilong also understood that this leased territory was a matter between two nations, the Ming and Portugal. Though his Zheng family had fought for it, it was a hot potato that could not be forcibly held; this time he had thrown the hot potato back for him to handle.

After all, with the Zheng family's vast enterprise, there was truly little about the place of Macau that could catch their eye.

Why Zheng Zhilong had not killed off the Senate — Shen Yulong had not figured that out, but he had thought of another principle, and told the Chongzhen Emperor that this potato that had fallen into their hands was not hot at all — on the contrary, it was very sweet and fragrant.