Chapter 30: Execute His Nine Clans

"Today, all of you must be willing to sacrifice yourselves to admonish His Majesty to abolish the Eastern Depot and execute all the eunuch slaves to apologize to the world!"

"Well said! The Son of Heaven is currently deceived by eunuchs. Our pure and loyal hearts are witnessed by the heavens and reflected by the sun and moon. I am willing to lead the charge. Even if His Majesty remains obstinate, I would smash the petition drum to pieces without hesitation!"

"Well spoken! Brother, you are truly a rare hero in this world!"

As the situation outside the Chengtian Gate grew increasingly intense, the Chongzhen Emperor finally emerged with a group of attendants. Zhang Shize and Li Ruolian led camp soldiers of the Capital Camps and the Embroidered Uniform Guard in carefully guarding his flanks, fearful that the assassination attempt on the emperor from a few days prior might repeat itself.

Fang Zhenghua, who had initially hoped to smooth things over and let the matter fade away, stepped forward to admonish them:

"Why aren't you lot studying properly in your academies instead of running to the Chengtian Gate to beat the petition drum? Do you not know that this thing costs lives!"

Although the Chongzhen Emperor had long harbored thoughts of bloodshed, since Fang Zhenghua had this intention, letting him go knock some sense into them was fine as well. After Fang Zhenghua finished speaking, the government students and scholars showed no gratitude—they shoved Fang Zhenghua aside in disgust and cheered.

"His Majesty has come!"

"Surely heaven has shown its will, allowing His Majesty to hear our cries!"

After all these events, the Chongzhen Emperor had finally shown his face. Though the Emperor's expression was so dark it seemed water could drip from it, this did not dampen the scholars' desire to display their 'sincere loyal hearts.'

An Imperial Academy student hastily jumped down from the petition drum and bowed, saying:

"Your Majesty has long dwelt within the palace. The recent deeds of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot in the city—you have never known of them within the palace. Of their countless acts of deception, which of them do you know?"

"A Son of Heaven so muddled cannot rule over the realm!"

Another government student shouted: "Well said! Since Wang Cheng'en took charge as Director of the Eastern Depot, he has persecuted hundreds of us scholars. Today the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot even wielded weapons and committed violence in the streets—their hearts deserve death!"

"Your Majesty, unless you execute Wang Cheng'en, Li Ruolian, and Fang Zhenghua, the people's hearts cannot be settled!"

"If you do not execute these three, how can you govern the realm!"

"The deeds of these three villains bring no benefit to the state. If Your Majesty insists on shielding them, you will be a ruler like King Zhou of Shang, and will surely incur heaven's punishment!"

The government students could truly be described as newborn calves unafraid of tigers—for the sake of so-called reputation, they all strove desperately to display themselves in public, shouting words that would not have been heard even once during the rule of the Tartar Qing.

The reason for this was that they believed the law could not punish the many—that the Ming emperor would not dare do anything to them. But the Tartar emperors cared nothing for such considerations: those who refused to submit were killed, and those who submitted were employed.

Say what you will—when had this world ever lacked people willing to be officials?

Fang Zhenghua, who had just been offering words of comfort, heard this twisting of blame and immediately widened his eyes. I've been staying properly in the palace managing the Directorate of the Imperial Horses for His Majesty—could I have unintentionally incurred some public wrath?

Hearing it all to the end, Fang Zhenghua finally understood completely: he had not unintentionally incurred public wrath. These literati and scholars had classified all those without roots like himself into the categories of the eunuch faction and eunuch slaves.

In their eyes, eunuchs were all treacherous villains who deceived the Son of Heaven. They would never care whether you had your own hardships. Thinking this, Fang Zhenghua let out a cold laugh and reached out to stop the men of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses who wanted to step forward and offer comfort.

The Chongzhen Emperor said not a word, watching the scene before him while feeling boundless sorrow in his heart. Li Ruolian had once been merely a minor official and understood the hardships of the common people.

The Chongzhen Emperor had even exempted the three surtaxes and a full year of tax silver for the entire realm—when had he ever persecuted any commoner? He had heard that many commoners praised the Chongzhen Emperor as a rare enlightened ruler, nothing like the cruel tyrant comparable to King Zhou of Shang that these government students and scholars claimed.

"How can you speak against your own consciences? Has the Emperor persecuted you? Has the Emperor persecuted your families?"

Li Ruolian's indignant shouts were quickly drowned in the tide of government students and scholars. The Duke of Ying, Zhang Shize, stepped forward and patted his shoulder, then pointed at the Chongzhen Emperor ahead, whose fists were clenched tightly.

Clearly, the Chongzhen Emperor was already on the verge of fury. Though he had not spoken a single word, one could already predict that the next moment would surely bring a violent storm.

If only the Confucian scholars and government students bewitched by the Donglin Faction had been the ones shouting, it would have been tolerable—but it was not only them. Among them were also many Imperial Academy students. One must know that the Ming dynasty's bureaucracy was selected from among these very people—the roots themselves were rotten through!

These people were all top students selected from across the realm through various methods by the court, supported by all kinds of privileges, fed and housed well, all so they would study diligently and repay the motherland.

Who would have thought that even these Imperial Academy students' minds were filled with the corrupt practices of officialdom? It seemed the Donglin Faction truly was one fish spoiling the whole pot.

The Chongzhen Emperor's expression was extremely dark. Zhang Shize, Li Ruolian, and the others guarding beside him all trembled with fear—yet these drum-beating government students and scholars simply could not see it.

After a long while, the Chongzhen Emperor finally spoke in a flat tone:

"Say whatever else you have to say all at once—soon there will be no chance to speak."

Che Shen, the Censor of the City Patrol, gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, the late Tianqi Emperor spent his days within the palace indulging in clever contrivances, which gave rise to Wei Zhongxian's chaos in governance and the eunuch faction's disruption of the court. Now Your Majesty does not take this as a warning—in the past half month you have appeared at court only three times. Are you perhaps imitating the late Wanli Emperor's thirty years of refusing to hold court!?"

"How dare you!" Hearing this, the Chongzhen Emperor flew into a rage. "Che Shen, have you forgotten the way of ruler and minister? Li Ruolian, put him in chains for me!"

Li Ruolian, the Regional Military Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, stepped forward in response. To prevent the government students from interfering, he deliberately selected several burly Embroidered Uniform Guard officers to advance with drawn blades, directly hanging the heavy chains upon Che Shen, the Censor of the City Patrol.

"Your Majesty refuses to heed loyal and righteous words—truly a benighted ruler!!"

Che Shen, unwilling to be chained and taken to the Eastern Depot's prison, opened his mouth and cried out sharply. The Chongzhen Emperor merely smiled coldly and said:

"Wang Cheng'en, tell the world a few of Censor Che's scandalous anecdotes!"

Wang Cheng'en acknowledged the decree and raised his head to shout:

"Che Shen, a jinshi of the thirty-second year of Wanli. Upon investigation, his household possesses surplus wealth of over six hundred thousand taels..."

"In the third year of Chongzhen, he purchased over three hundred mu of fine farmland in Pangu Town, Jishui, Jiangxi, his hometown, causing dozens of households to be displaced. Seven tenant farmers refused to leave and were instead beaten to death in the street. Afterwards, to quell the matter, he privately gifted one hundred twenty taels of silver to County Magistrate Lu Zhi, who concealed the matter and did not report it. Upon secret memorial from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern Depot of Jiangxi, the former County Magistrate Lu Zhi has confessed to his deeds—the ironclad evidence stands like a mountain!"

Hearing the words Wang Cheng'en shouted in his sonorous voice, the government students and scholars who had been clamoring like a vegetable market gradually fell silent. Che Shen, the Censor of the City Patrol, broke out in cold sweat on his forehead and collapsed weakly to his knees:

"Stop reading—I beg you, stop reading!"

Wang Cheng'en naturally paid him no mind and continued:

"In the fifth year of Chongzhen, he toured the Qinhuai River. Seeing a tea-selling girl by the roadside whose beauty stirred his lust, he violated her and killed her husband..."

"Look—this is my fine Censor! This is the loyal and righteous man you all speak of as serving the state and the people!" Hearing this much, the Chongzhen Emperor waved his hand in disgust, truly having no heart to continue listening, and said in a deep voice:

"Draft the edict: Che Shen, Censor of the City Patrol, guilty of accepting bribes and perverting the law, persecuting virtuous women, and seizing farmland—utterly detestable! Order the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot to confiscate his property and execute his nine clans!"