Chapter 1137: Cannot Sit Still and Wait for Death

On Ma Chonghao's side, orders were issued one after another. The messengers who came to receive orders all listened with solemn attention. Whenever an order was given, the Patrol Corps' own clerk would also be present, brush flying as he wrote out each order for Ma Chonghao to confirm before it was sent out.

Although the messengers could all sense from Ma Chonghao's expression and demeanor that this matter was no small affair, none of them knew exactly what was about to happen. The patrolmen responsible for delivering messages were the most well-informed, and to their understanding, while there had been no shortage of disturbances in the city these past few days, none of it warranted mobilizing such a large force.

But doubts in their hearts were just that — doubts in their hearts. Everyone still carried out their orders. Before long, shouts and the sound of hoofbeats rose around Ma Chonghao's residence.

Ma Chonghao's face was grim. He took a deep breath, then sat back down at the dining table and began eating his breakfast. He ate quickly but chewed thoroughly — one could not skip meals just because there was business to attend to. The busy work ahead would surely drain both spirit and strength.

"Corps Commander, are the city gates opening today or not?" Halfway through the meal, another Patrol Corps squad leader came to ask.

"Open them. If we don't, with all this commotion inside and outside the city, even those in the city who don't want to make trouble will start to panic. With the gates open, people can come in and people can go out. Open all the city gates on every side!" Ma Chonghao made his decision swiftly.

By the time he finished his breakfast, Li Can had already hurried over. Knowing of Ma Chonghao's arrangements, Li Can could not afford to take them lightly.

"Brother Ma, is the government army about to attack? Or are the officials targeting our Zhao Character Camp?" Li Can asked, his expression solemn.

"It's the literati and scholars gathering at the academy. They're certain to assemble a crowd and come cause trouble at our Zhao Character Camp's various properties. The common folk hold these people in high regard, thinking they are learned and reasonable. If they gather a crowd to stir up trouble like this, they'll surely incite a wave of unrest. And if chaos breaks out and they stir things up further, drawing in local ruffians and thugs to smash and loot, or even rousing the entire city's populace to loot in the confusion, we'll be in serious trouble!" Ma Chonghao said in a deep voice.

Li Can had originally worn a heavy, solemn expression, even tinged with some alarm. But the moment he heard it was the literati and scholars gathering at the academy, he immediately relaxed. He let out a breath and asked, puzzled, "Old Ma, they're just a bunch of bookworms. Those sour pedants have no strength and no killer instinct — what is there to fear from them?"

Li Can's reaction was within Ma Chonghao's expectations. He spoke with gravity, "You must not look down on these sour pedants. Those with official degrees naturally have power and influence; those without may gain it in the future. The common folk think scholars are noble, and the officials and clerks think these scholars may become officials themselves one day — everyone holds them in high regard. These people have read books and know how to wield lofty principles. Right or wrong, they can always make themselves sound justified. And when they truly do something wrong, they cover for and shield one another. So it goes — one or two of these scholars might not amount to much, but once they gather in numbers, they become utterly unrestrained. When I served in the capital, more than one person was beaten to death by them outside the palace and outside various government offices."

"What? In the capital? Outside the imperial palace and the government offices?"

"Yes. Those pure-stream officials and Imperial Academy students band together, claiming only to be rooting out traitors for the country. Beat a man to death and it's a case of 'the law cannot punish the multitude' — they might even earn a fine reputation for it. Don't be shocked. From the Zhengtong era until now, such incidents have been numerous. How many illustrious figures have been beaten to death by mobs like this? How many shops and residences have these pillars of the nation stormed in and smashed? My fear is that this time will be the same. And these sour pedants have glib tongues — they can spout grand principles and even stir up ordinary folk who have nothing to do with it. When that happens, we won't be able to handle everything at once."

Hearing Ma Chonghao speak this way, Li Can's previously dismissive expression turned serious. He stood up and said, "In that case, then transfer those two logistics training battalions into the city. Given the current situation, the two of us can mobilize them with just our signatures. Those two thousand men can kill — I refuse to believe they can't keep these sour pedants in check. What a nuisance. On our Zhao Character Camp's own turf, there shouldn't be any room for these pedants to stir up trouble. It's just this Jining territory — we still have to put on a show for outsiders. Brother Ma, since..."

Li Can was speaking urgently, but when he looked up, he found Ma Chonghao staring blankly, a smile even surfacing on his face — something utterly out of place given the current situation. Had such a major crisis suddenly driven him mad? Li Can now felt genuinely panicked. Among the few men in Shandong, only two had the ability to control the overall situation: one was Chen Sheng, the other was Ma Chonghao. Now Chen Sheng was away, and Ma Chonghao was in this state.

At that moment, the smile on Ma Chonghao's face grew broader and broader, but it was precisely this smile that made Li Can feel a chill run through his entire body. He's really gone mad, Li Can thought.

"Little Li, you're right. This is our Zhao Character Camp's territory. Here, our rules apply. Since that's the case, what do we have to fear from them? Truly, the older one gets in the jianghu, the smaller one's courage becomes. I've been overthinking this..."

"Brother Ma, Brother Ma, calm yourself! At a time like this, you mustn't lose your clarity. Even if the sky falls, Lord Jin can hold it up for us. Even if we can't hold the line, there's no need for us to fight to the death!"

By the time the scholars in Jining City had gathered at the prefectural academy gates, everyone was somewhat apprehensive. That lot from Xuzhou were brutal and vicious, with a heavy inclination for killing. What if they came and started killing people? Even if they didn't kill, a beating would be hard to endure.

When they had first begun secretly contacting one another, everyone had been impassioned and vehement. But the moment it came time to actually gather and take to the streets, the number of people claiming to be ill or to have family matters suddenly increased. No one had expected that the few zealous scholars organizing the effort would actually produce a roster, saying that whoever failed to show would have their name handed over to the Xuzhou side. When that happened, no one would escape — those who didn't go would all suffer for it.

A scholar need not step outside to know all under heaven — but knowing all under heaven, he dares not step outside. When discoursing grandly, everyone was capable, but the moment they were threatened, they were instantly at a loss. Moreover, the few organizers coaxed and persuaded them earnestly, saying that if many people went, the law could not punish the multitude, and the Zhao Character Camp would not dare move against so many scholars. Besides, if they went, they could later claim to have stood against evil and tyranny — not only would they earn praise, but they would surely reap considerable benefits locally.

One must understand that the local gentry had long suffered under Xuzhou's rule. If everyone could step forward, there would be all manner of advantages, whether in terms of personal fortune and property, or in the path to future official degrees.

Under such threats and enticements, everyone was left with no choice. The young scholars organizing the matter were especially zealous — before the sky was even light, they were already knocking on doors and calling people out. Thinking of that roster, and thinking of their own reputations in scholarly circles, they truly had no choice but to go.

By the time they gathered before the academy gates, seeing familiar and unfamiliar scholars and students alike, everyone's timidity, worry, and agitation gradually dissipated. With so many fellow students, so many comrades of the scholarly world, if they truly raised a ruckus, even the Jining Subprefect and even the Yanzhou Prefect would find their official seats unsteady — let alone mere Xuzhou upstarts. They were all the very foundation of the nation; how would ordinary folk dare lay a hand on them?

One must understand that the Great Ming was founded on the principle of governing the realm together with the scholar-officials. And who were these scholar-officials? Were they not precisely the brothers and fellow students gathered here before the academy gates?

They had begun in dejection, then consoled one another, and finally grew excited. The more they talked, the more righteous indignation swelled within them. Before these Xuzhou upstarts had come, scholars had been a class above others. Beyond status and position, they had enjoyed all manner of privileges. Even a mere certified candidate was already held in high regard. If one could pass the exams to become a licentiate, one could immediately stand before the magistrate without kneeling, enjoy tax exemptions on one's land, and no longer toil like beasts of burden like those common folk. And if one could become a provincial graduate, one would instantly become a local power — how many would come offering their lands and properties in allegiance, and one could monopolize litigation and prey upon the countryside.

In books there are houses of gold; in books there are faces of jade. To study, advance, and seek official rank, wealth, and glory — this was a matter of course. Those who read the sages' books and pursued an official career were naturally far superior to farmers, merchants, and artisans. Even those swaggering military men were considered crude and boorish. This was as natural as the sun rising and setting, the way of things everywhere under heaven, and so it had been since the founding of the Great Ming.

Yet all of this had changed after the Xuzhou men arrived. At present, the scholars here in Jining felt no particular hatred toward the Smelling Incense Sect's heretical rebels, despite the fact that those people had run amok in Jining — how many had been killed, how many families ruined, how many women violated and ravaged. They did not hate those deranged heretical rebels; they hated Zhao Jin of Xuzhou, who had rescued them.

Because the moment the Xuzhou Zhao Character Camp arrived, their own lofty and privileged status ceased to exist. Those they had once looked down upon were now beginning to rise up.

The Zhao Character Camp valued martial prowess, valued commerce, valued crafts, valued agriculture — yet toward literary learning, they were utterly dismissive. And what people found baffling was that the Zhao Character Camp did not actually disregard those who could read and write, but what they wanted was not mastery of the sages' books — they wanted men who could handle the lowly trades and labors of the yamen clerks, who understood the accounting and management of merchant houses and warehouses. The Four Books and Five Classics, poetry and verse — in the eyes of the Xuzhou men, these were not worth a single copper coin.

At first, some scholars had written to Zhao Jin offering their services, discoursing on the art of emperorship and the seizure of the realm, only to discover later that the other party paid them no heed whatsoever. Then came the great promotion of industry and commerce, the solid grounding of agriculture, and the primacy of the warrior.

Toward these measures of the Zhao Character Camp, the Jining scholars felt a deep-seated unease, even dread. Had reading the sages' books truly become so useless?

And yet they knew that in other places beyond the Xuzhou region's periphery, things were not like this. Why was it that scholars elsewhere could still live with dignity as a class above others, while we in Jining must suffer such stifled grievance? If things continued this way, would there be no further chance for any of us to rise again? Would we thus fall from being a class above others to being despised, becoming the very crude laborers we ourselves once scorned?

The scholars gathered at the academy thought it through more and more clearly. They felt they had grasped why they had come here, why the moment someone began organizing, everyone had responded at once, why the slightest threat or enticement had brought everyone rushing here. It was not that everyone was cowardly or weak — it was that they had genuinely felt a sense of crisis.

Even if those Xuzhou upstarts wanted to rebel and overturn the heavens, no one would much care — every dynasty, after all, had always treated scholars with favor. But these Xuzhou upstarts wanted to dig up everyone's very roots, to render the sages' books they studied useless, to sever the path by which they had brought glory to their ancestors for centuries, even a millennium. When things had reached such a point, if they did not fight with all their might, then they would truly be sitting still and waiting for death.

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