Chapter 69: A Name of Terror

"Abolishing the relief homes, establishing the Three Depots, persecuting innocent scholars, and competing with the people for profit — the Son of Heaven today is a tyrant as benighted as Jie and Zhou!"

"That Chongzhen whelp is muddle-headed and cowardly, doting on eunuch slaves while ignoring the chaos wrought by the Depots and Guard — he is unworthy to be the Son of Heaven!"

"At a time when the state is collapsing, why does the court repeatedly persecute us scholars — what is the meaning of this?"

"We scholars remonstrated at the cost of our lives, only to meet with bloody disaster outside the Chengtian Gate — that scene is still vivid before our eyes! It is a wound in our hearts!"

"The Depots and Guard persecute literati and scholars — their outrages that outrage both gods and men are too numerous to count. Unless the three Depots' powerful eunuchs are executed and the Eastern, Western, and Inner Depots are abolished, we shall never rest!"

Countless scholars and literati in blue gowns and white robes, wearing hairnets, walked throughout the city, clutching slips of paper in their hands, filthy words insulting the sovereign spewing endlessly from their mouths, nearly mad with fury.

"How hateful! The court deceives us, cheats us — it abolished the relief homes, leaving refugees with nowhere to go and disaster spreading across the land. Even here beneath the imperial city walls, at the very feet of the Son of Heaven, we who beg for alms are ignored by all — how miserable!"

"Today, this old man will stake his very life to demand justice for all the common people under heaven. Let us see whether there remains any place in this realm for us poor folk to call home!"

At the same time, refugees of unknown origin and beggars in tattered rags, their bodies filthy beyond measure, roamed the city shouting one phrase or another — and a group of more than twenty even blocked the main gate of the Northern City Troops and Horses Office.

"Scatter, scatter — go beg somewhere else! This is the Troops and Horses Office — how dare you beggars spout nonsense here!"

A squad of constables lined up before the gate, faces full of disgust at the refugees before them, yet with the office right behind them, not one of them stepped outside.

Inside the Troops and Horses Office, constables and clerks ran back and forth everywhere; no one knew what had happened today, only that this normally stable capital had suddenly fallen into chaos — and great chaos at that.

"Old Wang, the Depots and Guard have seized the Li family by imperial order — they say even the Guard Commander himself was beaten!"

"How could that be?"

Hearing this, Old Wang at first snorted in disdain — after all, these were the Embroidered Uniform Guard! Those three words might not carry much weight in the south, but here in the capital region, they thundered in one's ears!

The Embroidered Uniform Guard's fearsome reputation was second only to that of the Three Depots' agents.

Later, as events developed, even the constables of the Five Cities Troops and Horses Offices in the capital were gradually pulled back. Old Wang sensed that things were not simple, dared not remain outside alone, and hurried back with the others.

This Northern City Troops and Horses Office, as one of the Five Cities offices, found all its constables barred from setting foot outside the gate by a stern order from the Patrolling Censor amid this chaos — even if the constables wanted to go out and arrest criminals, they could not.

Since Emperor Chengzu moved the capital here, Beijing had never fallen into such disorder as now — one might have thought the roving bandits had arrived early. Fear was written on the faces of commoners and small peddlers alike.

"That was the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Regional Military Commissioner — who would dare such a thing?"

Hearing Old Wang's question, the constable who had spoken first wore an incredulous look. "You haven't heard? They say the Li family conspired with Minister Zheng of the Ministry of Personnel to poison His Majesty, so in a rage His Majesty issued an edict deposing Consort Kang and ordering the Li and Zheng families seized!"

"Exactly so — the Li family's nine kin are to be executed, and the Zheng family's ten!"

Old Wang had been assigned to patrol West Street today, but since the squad leaders patrolling the other three routes had all slipped home to their wives amid the chaos, he had covered those routes as well, and happened to return just as this was unfolding.

Now hearing these rumors that seemed utterly genuine, Old Wang stood dumbfounded, not knowing what to do — after a moment's stunned silence he opened his mouth to ask:

"When did this happen?"

None of the squad leaders answered, but one man, with good intentions, warned him:

"Old Wang, you just married that pretty young wife of yours, didn't you? You'd best hurry home and check on her! With those ruffians outside, if anything were to happen... well, it would be—"

At these words, Old Wang suddenly remembered something. Forgetting to press his questions further, he made a dash for the door — only to be stopped by the other constables grabbing hold of him together.

"What, have you lost your head, charging out like that? Those beggars would beat you to death!" One squad leader held back the frantic Old Wang, thought for a moment, and said:

"Old Wang, go out the back gate. The rest of us are bachelors with no families to worry about — whatever silver we'd saved has all gone to that madam at Spring Fragrance House anyway, so there's no rush for us to get home!"

"That's right, Old Wang — we'll cover for you here. Go now!"

"Brothers, I, Wang Ping, will never forget your great kindness!"

Wang Ping wanted to say more, but the squad leaders joked that they had no wish to hear him mince words like those scholars, and shoved him out the back gate.

Filled with boundless gratitude, Wang Ping slung his waist saber and rushed straight for home. Along the way he witnessed the most chaotic scene this Ming capital had ever seen in his memory.

Everywhere in the streets, commoners fled screaming; refugees in ragged clothes were like the roving bandits of the northwest — with no constables or soldiers to stop them, they began kicking in doors house by house, looting everything in sight.

Shortly after Wang Ping left, the Patrolling Censor received a report from a trusted subordinate. Furious, he strode to the gate and, without a word, kicked one of the squad leaders out the door, bellowing:

"I gave an order — no one leaves this office without permission! It seems you lot truly don't take me seriously. Come, seize him and throw him out!"

This Patrolling Censor was a man of the Donglin Faction, placed in this position on a whim by Chen Yan, the Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. Though he looked refined, in the eyes of these Troops and Horses constables, he did not seem much like a scholar.

The Patrolling Censor's face flushed red. After giving the order, however, the surrounding constables only exchanged glances, and not one of them moved an inch.

Seeing this, the Patrolling Censor felt his dignity slighted. He stepped forward at once, snatched a saber from one constable's hand, and drove it straight into the chest of the squad leader before him.

In an instant, blood sprayed forth. The squad leader stared wide-eyed at the Patrolling Censor in disbelief, then toppled with a crash like a great mountain falling.

At that moment, the Censor burst into loud laughter and shouted:

"What — does anyone else dare defy me? Seize these criminals at once!"

The other squad leaders who were close to Wang Ping clenched their fists, seemingly holding back something with all their might. One dark-faced squad leader was about to step forward when the others grabbed him and held him fast.

"Are you mad? Striking a superior is a grave crime!"

"If you touch him, none of our families will come to any good!"

"Then is Erzi to die in vain at this dog official's hands?"

The dark-faced squad leader was no fool. He knew the Patrolling Censor had powerful backers — the Donglin Faction stood together as one, and pulling one strand moves the whole web. With his own lack of connections, a mere lowly constable, he had no choice but to endure.

He stood there for a long while, then finally unclenched his fists in defeat.

The constables breathed sighs of relief. After exchanging glances, they stepped forward one after another, about to seize the squad leaders — when suddenly the sound of footsteps came from behind.

Everyone turned to look, and saw several agents wearing pointed caps and white-tiger leather boots appear before them, led by a section chief.

Though few in number, these agents carried great presence — each wore twin sabers at his waist, the standard equipment of the Eastern Depot.

The section chief had been watching the show from behind for some time, and only now, at the opportune moment, stepped out with a cold sneer on his face, saying:

"Censor Dong, what a grand display of authority you have!"

"What — have you forgotten how Che Shen of the Western City died?"

At these words, cold sweat broke out on the Patrolling Censor's forehead. Before he could make any move, the Eastern Depot section chief lunged like a hunting leopard — twin sabers cleared their sheaths, and in an instant a flash of cold light swept across the Censor's neck.

The Eastern Depot section chief spat at the corpse, clapped his hands, and said:

"Patrolling Censor Dong Liang, who murdered a Troops and Horses squad leader and governed without benevolence, has now been executed!"

With that, the Eastern Depot section chief pointed at the squad leaders who were close to Wang Ping and said viciously:

"You lot — take the Troops and Horses constables out at once to quell the unrest. If you delay and great disaster results, beware — I'll have your dogs' lives!"