The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 59 Not on the Weighing

a few days later.

Naozhou Island Water Village.

The Guangdong Provincial Governor, the Guangdong Military Commander, the Leizhou Prefect, and the Baigezhai Coastal Defense Advisor gathered together in front of that seditious poem.

Provincial Governor Zheng let out a disdainful snort: "The writing is crude and vulgar, the rules of prosody are broken, and the characters are like those of a child! Ha, if you want to emulate Huang Chao, you should first weigh your own capabilities."

The coastal defense commander of Baige Village said, "Your Excellency is right. These refugees are illiterate and not worth worrying about."

Zheng Fantai laughed in anger, his gaze shooting at him: "What a sharp tongue you have! Even at this point, you still say they are refugees! Are you trying to say that the pearl farmers were coerced into rebellion, and that it has nothing to do with you, right?"

The coastal defense officer of Baige Village immediately knelt down and said, "This humble officer had no such intention. The pearl farm in Naozhou is my defense area. If such a thing happens, whether it is a rebellion by the pearl farmers or an attack by Japanese pirates, this humble officer will not escape responsibility."

Zheng Fantai withdrew his gaze: "It's good that you know. Your crimes aren't urgent. First, think about how to explain to Eunuch Yang and the Minister."

Just then, a man entered from outside the door. All the officials, high and low, bowed and respectfully addressed him as "Eunuch Yang."

The eunuch in charge of maritime trade, Eunuch Yang, looked extremely unwell. As soon as he entered, he asked, "Where is Li Tan? Have they found him?"

No one answered. The soldier standing to the side braced himself and said, "Reporting to Eunuch Yang, Eunuch Li is here."

When Eunuch Yang turned around, he saw the soldier kneeling on the ground, holding a tray with a head covered in dust and blood on it—it was Li Qin's head.

Eunuch Yang's eyes widened in fury: "How dare you! You even kill a court official!"

He looked at the seditious poem and roared, "Good! Good! This is treason! This is outrageous, Commander Zhou!"

The Guangdong Military Commander bowed and said, "Eunuch Yang."

"We've tracked down the rebels. Who's leading them?"

The commander looked troubled: "No one was left alive on the island, and we couldn't get any information out of them. Judging from this poem, the rebels must have gone to the east."

After all, the words written on the wall are "Going east to Penglai and entering the sea", which not only indicates that they are sailing eastward, but also suggests that the rebels have found an island to occupy.

He didn't need to state all of such a simplistic reasoning.

Suppressing his anger, Eunuch Yang said, "Since that's the case, why don't you send the navy to surround and suppress them? This is just one pearl farm. What if the rebels get a taste of success and attack more places, delaying this year's pearl harvesting and preventing the Imperial Concubine's birthday banquet? Who will take responsibility for that?"

Consort Zheng, who held the emperor's favor, was brought out. The commander-in-chief could only agree repeatedly, and then whispered, "What you say is true, but I still have Minister Xu above me. Without his order, I cannot mobilize troops without authorization."

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Commander-in-Chief was responsible for the management of the garrison troops in a province.

As the position of governor-general gradually changed from a temporary to a permanent one, the authority of the military commander was also weakened, and gradually everyone had to obey the governor-general in everything.

Eunuch Yang snorted coldly, changed his target of anger, and asked those around him, "Where is Minister Xu? Such a big thing happened, and he didn't even come over. He really knows how to hide!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a young eunuch respectfully presented him with a letter.

"Eunuch Yang, this was delivered from Guangzhou this morning."

Eunuch Yang took it, glanced at it, and saw that it was a letter from the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, which he had been reading aloud.

He and Minister Xu had never gotten along and had no personal relationship whatsoever. They barely exchanged official documents. So why would he receive a private letter today?
To show his integrity, Eunuch Yang opened the letter in front of everyone. After just one glance, his face turned completely pale.

The provincial officials in the room were terrified by Eunuch Yang's expression. Forgetting all etiquette, they hurriedly asked, "Eunuch Yang, what did the letter say?"

Eunuch Yang didn't speak, but handed the letter to them.

Those who saw it were all stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

The letter contained only one sentence.

On the 21st day of the seventh month of the 48th year of the Wanli reign, the Emperor passed away.

Judging by the time, the imperial gazette from the capital has not yet reached Guangdong, so the minister must have his own information channels.

If it weren't absolutely true, Minister Xu would never have dared to write something like "the capital collapsed."

Has the Emperor passed away?
The officials, having lived in Guangdong for a long time, were not very familiar with the Wanli Emperor's health.

I can't understand it. During the last inspection in the capital, the Emperor was in good health. How could he have suddenly passed away?

The officials looked at each other, wondering whether they should cry a few tears in front of Eunuch Yang, the eunuch.

"Your Majesty! Waaah..." The first to burst into tears was the White Dove Village garrison commander kneeling on the ground.

Then the officials seemed to wake from a dream, and they all began to sob, pretending to wipe their tears with their sleeves.

Eunuch Yang no longer cared about recording who hadn't cried.

His mind was in turmoil, constantly pondering the cause and effect.

Why did the people of Zhuhai rebel?

Because the pearl farm conscripted people for a large-scale pearl harvesting operation.

Why were labor services conscripted?
Because preparations were needed for Consort Zheng's birthday banquet.

Who is Consort Zheng?
That was the emperor's most favored concubine, who gave birth to his second son, Prince Fu. The emperor argued with his court officials for more than a decade to make Prince Fu the crown prince, but ultimately lost and stopped attending court.

Who is the crown prince of our dynasty?
He was Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of Consort Wang.

Consort Wang came from a humble background and was disliked by the Emperor. After giving birth to a child, she was imprisoned.

The Crown Prince had never seen his mother since he was a child. It was not until before Consort Wang died that the mother and son met for the first and last time.

In retrospect, it was Consort Zheng's exclusive favor that caused the Crown Prince to grow up without a mother.

The struggle over the succession to the throne lasted for twenty years, and the crown prince lived in fear for most of his life.

Now that the Crown Prince has finally ascended the throne, what will become of Consort Zheng?
Just thinking about it sent chills down Yang Gonggong's spine.

If Consort Zheng falls from power.

What will become of those who served Consort Zheng?

What will become of the eunuchs of the Maritime Trade Office who levied exorbitant taxes on pearl harvesting, driving the pearl farmers to revolt?

Eunuch Yang was trembling uncontrollably, his vision blurred, and he felt dizzy and disoriented.

"Eunuch Yang?"

Seeing that Eunuch Yang was swaying from side to side, the officials kept expressing their concern.

Forcing himself to stay alert, Eunuch Yang pointed at the wall and said, "Men, smash this wall down!"

"Yes!"

The soldier responded, grabbed a hammer, and smashed the wall down in a few blows.

Not satisfied with that, Eunuch Yang ordered the pieces of the wall to be thrown into the sea and the entire house to be demolished.

As the officials walked out of the room, the soldier carrying the severed head followed behind them.

Upon seeing this, Eunuch Yang reacted as if he had seen a snake or scorpion, angrily shouting, "What kind of filthy thing is this, worthy of being served on a plate? Throw it into the sea to feed the fish!"

The soldier stood there, stunned.

I don't understand how Eunuch Yang changed so much in the time it takes to read a letter.

"Hurry up and go," the provincial governor urged. "Dispose of this man's body as well."

"Yes," the soldier replied, carrying the severed head away.

Those who could pass the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty were geniuses among geniuses; those who could become high-ranking officials were the most astute among the most shrewd people.

At this moment, Zheng Fantai also realized Yang Gonggong's intention.

Unlike eunuchs, civil officials in the Ming Dynasty did not have such strong personal dependence relationships, but the dangers of factionalism and suppression among them were even greater than those of eunuchs.

Zhu Changluo was able to retain his position as crown prince entirely because of the reasoned arguments of the Qingliu faction. Now that the crown prince has ascended the throne, the Qingliu faction will naturally rise in status as well.

The purge of the Zhejiang Party, the Hubei Party, and the Qi Party is imminent.

At this critical juncture, it is natural to sever ties with the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party, and the Qi Party.

Reporting the rebellion drew the attention of the entire nation to Guangdong, providing fodder for factional strife.

That was the most utterly stupid thing imaginable.

If he were to do that, it would be better to cut off his head and send it directly to the capital.

Even if he were to emulate Hai Gangfeng, he might stubbornly cling to outdated ideas and report a rebellion.

The six ministries in the capital were also busy dealing with the deceased emperor's funeral and preparing for the new emperor's ascension to the throne, and had no time to attend to anything else.

Once things calm down, the ministry will complete its procedures, the cabinet will draft the proposal, the Directorate of Ceremonial will approve it, and then it will be sent to the local authorities. It will probably take at least half a year.

These pirates at sea have long since disappeared.

Doesn't the poem say something like "From here I go east to Penglai and into the sea"?

It seems that one would not find "Penglai" without sailing thousands of miles eastward.

Thousands of miles away, it's outside Guangdong's territory and no longer under his jurisdiction.

At this very moment, the civil service and eunuch factions in Guangdong reached an astonishing tacit understanding.

Together they cleaned up the mess left by Lin Qian.

As long as everyone is of one mind in concealing the truth, what does it matter if a few eunuchs die, a few soldiers perish, or a couple of water fortresses are damaged?

In the Ming Dynasty, some things that weighed more than a thousand catties would not weigh four ounces if they were not weighed on a scale.

(End of this chapter)