Chapter Thirty-Nine: Matters Concerning the Ministry of Rites

  The tragic fate of Gu Xing and Dong Shiwen enraged everyone, the flames of revenge burning higher and higher. Moreover, Lin Chunhong, the mainstay of the Lin Group, was almost on the verge of collapse. Originally, Lin Chunhong had planned to personally lead the archers to Shuangmiao Mountain, but was dissuaded by the steady Zhou Wang and Li Chongde. Zhou Wang deeply feared that others would make things irretrievable, and asked for permission to lead the archers to Shuangmiao Mountain, which was approved by Lin Chunhong. In addition, Lin Chunhong submitted a memorial to the Jingzhou Prefecture, stating that Prince Hui was acting lawlessly, interfering with local affairs, wantonly destroying the property of good citizens, and had injured the archers, whose lives hung in the balance.

  Zhou Wang and Li Guangzu led thirty archers, taking a boat from Baili Island. Before half a day had passed, they arrived at Shuangmiao Mountain. The boat docked beside the simple wharf built by Gu Xing, Zhou Wang gazed out, seeing that not far from the wharf were only ruins and broken walls, all charred black by flames. Some heavy beams still emitted scattered smoke, silently telling of Chen Kesin's evil deeds.

  Chen Kesin regained control of Shuangmiaoshan Village and immediately targeted Shi Wa Zi and other archers. Some archers, seeing the situation was not good, fled to distant places to seek refuge with relatives, while Shi Wa Zi and four others were caught off guard by Chen Kesin. In addition, Chen Kesin ordered his servants to pressure the villagers to pay last year's unpaid rent and also demanded that they return the grain that Gu Xiu Xing had originally taken out for disaster relief. For a time, Shuangmiaoshan Village was in an uproar, with the villagers living in fear every day.

  In the south of the village, there was a threshing ground about ten zhang square. On the threshing ground, more than thirty men were tied up, ranging in age from their teens to over fifty. These men naturally included Shi Wa Zi and five other archers, as well as villagers who could not pay their rent.

  The whip cracked loudly, the miserable cries were endless, and many villagers couldn't bear to watch anymore, covering their faces with their hands, silently cursing Chen Kesin to be struck by lightning. The relatives of the man being tortured were all filled with rage, clenching their fists tightly, as if they wanted to swallow Chen Kesin whole.

  Chen Kexin stood in the middle of the threshing ground, looking at the villagers with contempt and shouted: "I've said it before, whoever pays enough rent will be released. If you can't pay up, I'll keep extracting until you can't take it anymore, let's see how long you bunch of cheap bones can hold on!"

  The villagers were in an uproar, and several more people clenched their fists. But now, in the lean month of March when no one had any surplus grain to pay rent, who would dare to speak out? Chen Kesin saw that the villagers were silent, gritting their teeth, and said fiercely: "Take it! Take it from me!"

  The whip cracked again, and several older ones had already hung their heads, unsure whether they were dead or alive.

  Suddenly a teenager burst into loud wails, shouting "Dad" and rushed towards the man tied up in the middle of the scene. With his tender hands, he grabbed the whip and wouldn't let it continue to lash down. His dad exerted himself to lift his head and roared: "San'ge, don't come over! Go back home! Home!...Home..." The roar from his dad was hoarse and exhausted, making people unbearable to listen any further.

  Chen Kesin kicked the little kid with one foot and reached out to grab the whip with both hands. The little kid held on to the whip tightly, refusing to let go. Chen Kesin kicked the little kid in the chest again, sending him flying a few feet away, where he lay motionless on the ground. He picked up the whip and lashed at his father fiercely. His father struggled with all his might, ignoring the lashes that fell on his body, his eyes fixed intently on the little kid, looking like a fierce ghost, shouting: "Third son! Third son! Third son... wake up!"

  The little kid finally lifted his head, with fresh blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. He slowly got up from the ground and stared at Chen Kesin with an extremely resentful gaze. This gaze made Chen Kesin's heart feel a chill, just as he was about to step forward and grab the kid, but then he heard his father shout: "Third son! Run quickly, run quickly, go to the county town and find Governor Shi, Governor Shi will take our side!"

  Chen Kexin was furious when he heard the words of Dian Shi, and his anger burned like fire. He didn't care about the child anymore, picked up the whip and lashed at his father fiercely, shouting: "You want me to call Lin San! I want you to call Lin San!"

  The little boy listened to his father's words, turned around and ran away, but he couldn't run fast enough, was caught by the slave owner, slapped him with a loud slap, and fainted from the blow.

  "Three little pigs..." A mournful howl echoed from Father on the threshing floor...

  "He's killed someone, Chen Pao-p'i has killed someone..." Someone in the crowd shouted, and the already enraged villagers could no longer hold back, surging forward to surround Chen Pao-p'i.

  Chen Bogu was really scared this time, holding his whip and shouting: "Don't come any closer, you guys don't come any closer, my whip doesn't recognize people!"

  Someone shouted again: "Beat him!" The villagers rushed up, fists and feet waving towards Chen Kesin, Chen Kesin let out a miserable cry like a slaughtered pig! The hooligans and thugs tried to stop them, but the number of villagers was too large, they didn't listen to them, and even waved their fists at them. Seeing that things were not going well, the hooligans covered their heads and fled...

  On the threshing ground, the bodies of Chen Kesin and two slaves were covered with white cloth. Zhou Wang stared at the three corpses for a long time, unable to speak. They had arrived late, and when they reached the threshing ground, the villagers had already beaten Chen Kesin to death and were marching towards his home, preparing to take out their anger on his family members and move Chen Kesin's belongings back to their own homes. Zhou Wang ordered the archers to stop the villagers, but some local ruffians mixed in with the crowd shouted for revenge, refusing to spare Chen Kesin's family. It wasn't until Zhou Wang got angry and prepared to arrest these ruffians on charges of inciting a riot that they finally quieted down. Zhou Wang ordered the archers to take control of these ruffians, preparing for any future need.

  But now Chen Kexin is dead, and it has become a life-and-death situation with King Hui. This is the result that Zhou Wang least wants to see. Although Zhou Wang is steady, he is not timid or afraid of trouble. He ordered Li Guangzu to lead the archers to guard the order of Shuangmiao Mountain, and he rode back to Zhijiang alone to discuss a good plan with Lin Chunhong.

  Due to the affairs of the Imperial Clan Court being managed by the Ministry of Rites, the appeal of King Hui and the memorial submitted by Tang Hui, the Governor of Huguang, arrived at the Ministry of Rites one after another. Tang Hui was able to submit a memorial to the Ministry of Rites, which was certainly due to Zhang Daohan's efforts. However, the Ming court was in turmoil at that time, and Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren were busy dealing with the Wuqiao mutiny. Zhou Yanru had always been close to the Donglin Party, and when Sun Yuanhua was arrested by the Northern Town Patrol, Zhou Yanru and Xu Guangqi, the Minister of Rites, were busy rescuing Sun Yuanhua, and they didn't have the energy to deal with the trivial matters in Zhijiang. As a result, this matter was dragged on. Unexpectedly, after some time, King Hui and Tang Hui's memorials arrived at the Ministry of Rites again one after another. King Hui claimed that Lin Chunhong allowed his archers to kill three members of his family and falsely accused innocent people. Lin Chunhong, on the other hand, claimed that King Hui allowed his slaves to be corrupt and cruelly beat innocent people, causing a riot, but fortunately, the archers arrived in time and prevented a bigger disaster. Both sides stuck to their words and accused each other. However, these matters still did not receive enough attention from the Ministry of Rites and were left unhandled.

  This matter was known to Yu Yingui, the imperial historian, who was overjoyed. Yu Yingui had always been dissatisfied with Zhou Yanru's protection of his relatives and had repeatedly impeached him. This time, he did not hesitate and immediately impeached the Ministry of Rites for dragging its feet in handling the matter, which led to the uprising in Zhijiang. After all, Zhou Yanru and Xu Guangqi had formed an alliance in rescuing Sun Yuanhua, and the Ministry of Rites was considered to be within Zhou's sphere of influence.

  Wen Tianren was naturally delighted to see Yu Yingui's impeachment succeed. Since the Wuqiao mutiny, memorials impeaching Zhou Yanru had been pouring into the palace like water, and this was certainly due to Wen Tianren's efforts. Zhou Yanru submitted several memorials in self-defense, but although Chongzhen spoke kindly to him and tried to comfort him, he still harbored some doubts. Wen Tianren knew that if impeachments continued, Zhou would eventually lose imperial favor. Moreover, with the current peasant uprisings throughout the Ming dynasty and the recent Wuqiao mutiny, Chongzhen had already been dissatisfied with Zhou Yanru for some time, and now was the perfect opportunity to add fuel to the fire.

  Yu Yinggui's impeachment caused the Ministry of Rites to panic, and they immediately dealt with the matter. Through a cabinet vote, they sentenced Prince Hui and Lin Chunrong to 50 blows each. They ordered Prince Hui to restrain his family slaves and not interfere with local government affairs. They also ordered the Zhijiang County authorities to thoroughly investigate the leaders of the rebellion and not show any leniency. Wen Tiaren did not intend to get entangled in this matter, so the vote passed smoothly.

  This small matter was insignificant to the entire Ming dynasty, but when Emperor Chongzhen reviewed it, he saw the civilian uprising and his sensitive nerves were touched. Seeing Lin Chunhong lead the bowmen to strangle the civilian uprising in its infancy, he was very satisfied and couldn't help asking the eunuchs beside him who Lin Chunhong was. The eunuchs inquired and presented their findings to Chongzhen, causing the emperor to sigh repeatedly: What a pity that he is not an official! Then, with a stroke of his vermilion brush, it became an official order of the Ming dynasty.

  Since Lin Chunhong reported to the emperor, he sentenced several local rascals as the leaders of the rebellion. Bao Zhedong did not object, after all, a rebellion must find someone to blame and punish, and these local rascals were the best choice. After handling them properly, they anxiously waited for the imperial court's decision. When the imperial edict arrived in Zhijiang, Lin Chunhong clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "It was indeed wise of Governor Zhou to think ahead and capture those rascals on the spot, otherwise things would have been difficult to handle!"

  Zhou Wang burst into loud laughter: "The imperial court's decision is quite wise, seemingly meting out fifty blows to each side, but actually beneficial to us. Let's see if King Hui dares to challenge us in a magic duel at the Twin Temple Mountain again!"

  "Shuangmiao Mountain is just a village, the land under the Da Ming royal family's flag is vast, how can it be easily resolved? Shuangmiao Mountain is just an exception, yet it has caused such a big commotion... Alas, these corrupt officials..."

  Zhou Wang looked at Lin Chunhong, who was frowning with worry, and smiled: "Don't think too much about it. This time we can get rid of Chen Kesin, this pest, which is a lesson for the future. According to King Hui's five-year rent, tenants can barely survive, but with Chen Kesin and Zhang Shi in between, they are exploited even more. From now on, when it comes to governing the land of the vassal kings, we should start from here."

  Lin Chunhong nodded in agreement with Zhou Wang's summary, and said: "The root cause is that the imperial court does not allow vassal kings to plot against the people. One day, I will eradicate these parasites! Ah, never mind, Xiaodou has woken up, let's go take a look? That kid's spirit isn't bad..."