Chapter 705: Each Side Has Its Own Reason

Past the hour of the Sheep, Pan Yun and Master Qian finally came out of the county office. Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He had also returned; the two silently took their places behind Pan Yun and saw Master Qian back to the Qian residence together with her.

Master Qian sized them up with a glance and sighed: "You've all grown up…"

Pan Yun raised her head; a golden gleam flashed through her eyes, and the qi of the Qian residence had nowhere to hide before her.

Compared with the thriving scene she had seen in the first two years, the qi she saw this time, though vigorous, was deathly still, bearing every sign of a plunge into the abyss.

Pan Yun pressed her lips together and asked Master Qian: "Where is Qian Dalang?"

"You mean Dahong?" Master Qian gave a bitter smile. "In just half a year, County Magistrate Cai has come demanding we repair bridges and pave roads, take stock of the fields, waive the corvée money, provide disaster relief, pacify the people — already five visits, each time he took the money and left. My household truly cannot bear it any longer. A few days ago I had him hide away, and I myself pleaded illness and shut the door against visitors."

He said: "If not for your request this time, I would not have come to the county office."

Pan Yun was full of apologies upon hearing this: "When the rebel army entered the city, was your household all right?"

"All right, just lost some money and goods," Master Qian paused, then said: "The leader of the band, that Wang Xiaojing — he had followed in your retinue before and had seen me, and spoke many good words on my behalf."

Pan Yun hurriedly asked: "In your eyes, what kind of person is he?"

Master Qian sighed: "Very loyal to his bonds, a good child with a kind heart — only too young, too impetuous!"

If he were not impetuous, he would not have done something like rebellion.

Master Qian looked at her and said: "If you want him to submit, you'll need the consent of the one at the head."

"Do you know who the bandit chief is?"

"I hear his name is Song Dalin, a mine foreman," Master Qian said. "The mine they were working — it was originally an illegal mine. The silver they extracted went to the owners above; the foreman would secretly stash some away, then distribute it among the miners. On top of that, since those people were mining illegally and feared the miners would cause trouble, they paid wages generously."

Pan Yun nodded: "I guessed as much — otherwise Wang Xiaojing wouldn't have become a miner just because he was short of money."

It must be because the miner's earnings were still decent.

"But then the imperial court sent officials down, who uncovered this illegal mine and took it over directly. To raise efficiency, they made the miners work day and night without rest. Wages were set according to regulation and were cut by a third on the spot; the overseers then withheld portions under various pretexts, so what each person actually received in hand each month was less than half of before.

With overseers present, the foreman couldn't secretly stash anything either — even his private profits were gone — so naturally the miners were unwilling."

Pan Yun: "Did the overseers not let them leave?"

"Yes," Master Qian sighed. "If the overseers had let the miners leave, this rebellion might never have started. After all, common folk are most adept at endurance!"

"They couldn't get away, and they couldn't earn money — everyone was already seething with grievance. At that moment, Jiangnan was battered by great wind and rain; they too suffered disaster, and the mine shaft nearly flooded. Yet the overseers ignored the danger and insisted they go down into the shaft… Once news of the Ninghua rebellion in Fujian reached them, their mine went into total chaos as well." Master Qian said: "So, even without Song Dalin and Wang Xiaojing, there would have been a Wu Dalin and a Zhang Xiaojing. This rebellion was unavoidable."

Pan Yun was silent.

Master Qian said gently: "You have already rescued those caught up in the collateral punishment, and that is enough. To my mind, the matter of the rebel army is far too complicated. Behind them there may well be the former mine owners and those officials sowing discord — otherwise, how could it be that the court resumed the mine one moment and the miners revolted the next?"

What a coincidence — the Emperor thought exactly the same.

Looking at the dispatches from Jiangnan arriving one after another, the Emperor was so angry he flung the memorials to the floor: "Infuriating! Absolutely infuriating! I want to reopen the silver mines, and the miners rebel! If I were to re-examine the military lands and provisions, would the army rebel too!?"

Chen Xun frowned slightly, stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, the gathering rebellion of Jiangnan miners is not a matter of silver mines alone. From the composition of the Ninghua rebel army, there are silver miners, but also copper and iron miners, and even Jiangnan silk-reeling and cloth-dyeing workers.

Ice three feet thick is not the work of a single day. Their wages are low, they have suffered grievances for years — this is not a problem of reopening the silver mines. In this minister's view, it is a matter of inequity."

The Emperor said nothing, but his expression was very ugly.

Wang Zhen had been watching his expression all along; seeing this, he gave a cold snort and said: "Does Lord Chen mean that Your Majesty treated them poorly, and so they rebelled?"

Chen Xun hurriedly said: "This minister does not mean that. It is simply that the miners' wages have indeed been pressed very low, and prices in the realm have risen — relying on that meager wage alone, it is hard to support a family, so…"

"Enough of this nonsense!" Wang Zhen said sharply: "The salaries and wages of court officials and of every trade and profession under heaven were personally calculated by the Founding Emperor himself. The money disbursed is only more, never less. So long as one is diligent and frugal, there is no question of it being insufficient to support a family!

If there is, then it must be that those wretches are lazy and their households extravagant. As for saying this band of rebels was not stirred up by people with ulterior motives — I absolutely refuse to believe it. Otherwise, why did they not rebel earlier, nor later, but precisely when the court reopened the silver mines?"

Chen Xun, who had been about to suggest raising the wages of workers at every level to pacify the people and resolve the rebellion, was instantly struck dumb and could only argue with Wang Zhen first over whether some evil force truly lurked behind these miners' revolt.

Cao Nai listened and grew furious, blurting out: "What's the use of pursuing this now? Whether to suppress or to pardon — a decision must be made quickly. Today's military report: Deng Maoqi has already taken eight cities; Jiangxi's Guangxin Prefecture has also risen in response; that Yushan County was once broken into by miners. If we keep arguing, half of Jiangnan will be lost."

Wang Wen: "To cure a disease one must find the cause; without finding the cause, how can one treat it?"

Cao Nai retorted: "Then tell me, what is the cause?"

Wang Wen immediately stepped out of rank: "Your Majesty, this minister requests that the Jiangnan Investigating Censor be summoned back to the capital for questioning. He is the censor; he should know the root of the matter."

Cao Nai gave a cold laugh: "Speaking of which — Your Majesty, this minister impeaches the Jiangnan Investigating Censor for dereliction of duty. The Jiangnan rebellion's military reports have been submitted five times, yet the censor's memorial has still not been delivered — that is one dereliction. Two: regarding the wind and flood disasters in Jiangnan, the specific circumstances vary in the accounts of each prefecture and county, so the court does not know the situation in Jiangnan…"

After Cao Nai finished, he cast another glance at the composed Wang Wen and said coldly: "This minister further impeaches the Censor-in-Chief Wang Wen — his subordinate censors have been so derelict, yet he has not dispatched anyone to Jiangnan in time to investigate the details…"

Chen Xun: "Your Majesty, there has been no word from the Jiangnan Investigating Censor to this day; this minister fears he may have met with harm in Jiangnan."

Cao Nai frowned, turned his head and asked: "Who is the Jiangnan Investigating Censor?"

Chen Xun said helplessly: "He is Xue Shao, nephew of the former Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Xue Xuan."

"Oh," Cao Nai fell silent at once. At the beginning of the year he had been away on assignment; by the time he returned, the Xue Pan rehabilitation case was already over. He had only later heard a rough account. He frowned and said: "Then it is indeed possible he met with harm."

The Emperor: "…"

He had not — the Brocaded Guard had already escorted the man back.

The thought had barely flashed when Yun Yan stepped out of rank and said: "Your Majesty, Xue Shao requests an audience outside."

The Emperor's face chilled; he swept a glance across the entire great hall and said in a low voice: "Summon him!" (End of chapter)