Chapter 2522: Continuing Empty Talk

Sensing Chen Bangyan's urgency, Li Suiqiu asked, "Lingbin, you have sharp insight. Do you see any countermeasures available to us?"

"The best time to oppose the Kun was when the thieves first entered the city," Chen Bangyan replied. "Their foundation was still unstable then, and Governor Xiong had not yet been defeated. Had we rallied righteous soldiers to coordinate with the Governor from within and without, we might have stood a chance."

Kuang Lu shook his head. "The Australians' firearms are devastating—far superior to ours. I've heard a single cannon shot can ravage tens of li. How could we possibly fight them?"

"The state has nurtured scholars for three hundred years, yet those ministers willing to die for their integrity are few and far between!" Li Suiqiu cursed. "An entire city of government troops surrendered Guangzhou without lifting a finger. Hateful!"

"Among the gentry in Guangzhou, most have already acknowledged Kun rule," Chen Zisheng observed. "Prime Minister He Wuzhou has visited Prefect Liu. He attended the Luo Tian Grand Ritual at the Temple of the Five Immortals, and didn't even decline the collective wedding the Kun people held for prostitutes. As for Minister Li Daiwen—his clan cousin Li Kuozhong once tyrannized the countryside and was punished by the Kun, so now the Li family is thoroughly submissive. The Huo family is said to be cooperating with the Kun to open an iron factory, and their Loyalty Battalion was reorganized into the National Army, earning considerable merit in bandit suppression. The Liang family has always been on good terms with the Kun people; indeed, the Kun's initial foothold here was inseparable from the Liang family's patronage. Strangely, though, after the Kun entered the city, the Liangs have kept their distance—they've made no move to curry favor."

"At least Liang Cunhou still has some sense of shame!" Li Suiqiu said.

"Alas." Kuang Lu sighed. "No reinforcements outside, no loyal men inside. Can we only lie low and wait for an opportunity?"

Indeed, against absolute strength, no conspiracy or trickery could stir any waves. The handful of them talked in circles but could devise no countermeasures to expel the giant bandits.

Li Suiqiu turned to Chen Zizhuang, hoping his teacher might have some insight. "Teacher, do you think the imperial court has any plan for a punitive expedition?"

Chen Zizhuang said little, for his heart was like a bright mirror: the Kun thieves' separatist power was already established. Today's Great Ming was a court full of factional disputes and foul atmosphere, where frontier officials were executed on a whim. Externally, Liaodong crumbled day by day, and officials there feared the enemy like tigers. Internally, natural disasters struck continuously while peasant uprisings blazed in every direction. The Emperor's ancestral grave had been dug up by hungry rebels just days ago, and the memorial urging His Majesty to issue a Penitential Edict had been written by Chen Zizhuang himself. With the Kun thieves now occupying Lingnan, the Great Ming was like a leaking ship with yet another hole—when one is already covered in lice, one stops worrying about the biting. Could there truly be any so-called interaction between heaven and man?

Chen Zizhuang rose and walked over to Chen Bangyan. "Lingbin, in your estimation, which is stronger—the Kun people's Fubo Army or the Eastern Barbarians' soldiers?"

Chen Bangyan considered the question. "The Fubo Army should be considered stronger."

"Correct." Chen Zizhuang stroked his goatee and nodded with approval.

Chen Bangyan continued, "Nowadays, the only troops capable of fighting are the border forces, all stationed at Guanning and impossible to redeploy. The inland troops have long been out of battle—they lack siege capability and are short of provisions and pay. They're barely adequate for suppressing roving bandits like Li and Zhang. Wang Zunde first lost Guangdong's standing army, so the province has no usable forces. The Kun thieves' military might far exceeds even the Jurchens. Only by mobilizing troops from several provinces and besieging them with ten times our numbers might we accomplish something. It's just..."

"Just what?" Kuang Lu pressed.

"If anyone in our dynasty could repel the Kun thieves' army, why would we have let the Eastern Barbarians rampage along the Nine Borders, entering our lands as though they were uninhabited?"

"If the Emperor hadn't executed Governor Yuan Chonghuan—even if he had merely been dismissed and sent home—with Governor Yuan sitting in Guangzhou Prefecture, things would never have come to this." Kuang Lu's voice carried regret, a shred of hopeful what-if lingering in his words.

"The matter of Lord Yuan has indeed disheartened many loyal men," Li Suiqiu said. "Yanke Li Yunlong, Zhifu Zhang Erguo, Lizhong Zeng Qishen, Weiyang Liang Chaozhong, Zuxin Han Zonglai, and others often met with me at Jizuo Luo Binwang's Sanmu Hall on Fangcao Street, east of the city. We talked freely about current affairs, taking the salvation of the world as our own responsibility. Yanke once served on Lord Yuan's staff and followed him to fight in Liaodong. After Lord Yuan's execution, Yanke saw through the red dust, took Zen Master Kongyin as his teacher, and shaved his head to become a monk. Once Yanke passed through the emptiness gate, the rest of us began harboring similar thoughts. Zhifu and Lizhong intended to travel to Huangyan Temple in Jiangxi to pay respects to Zen Master Kongyin, but alas—the Kun thieves entered the city, and they never made the journey."

A heavy breath escaped Chen Zizhuang. The blow of Yuan Chonghuan's death to Guangzhou's scholars had been immense. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Meizhou, you are on good terms with the gentlemen of the Fu Society. Do you know if anyone there has dealings with the Kun people?"

Li Suiqiu thought carefully. "The gentlemen of the Fu Society associate with scholars of brilliant literary talent. I've never heard of them consorting with coarse characters like the Kun people. However..." He paused. "I have seen quite a few Australian foreign goods in Tianru Zhang Pu's home. What is Teacher getting at?"

"A distinguished guest stayed at the Liang residence. Lord Liang didn't say who it was, but this old man can guess with reasonable certainty." Chen Zizhuang stroked his beard. "If it were merely a local relative or friend, there would be no need for such secrecy. Lord Liang comes from a family of officials, and his family friends are mostly in Jiangnan. I suspect the visitor was someone from the Fu Society."

Li Suiqiu's eyes widened with sudden realization. "I recall Yan Zian and Yan Rengong of the Hangzhou Reading Society mentioning that a Wanbi Book Society opened in the city some years ago. The proprietor is a Sanshui scholar who built a Phoenix Villa on the old site of the Southern Song Imperial City. Besides the book business, he also runs a substantial silk trade—but the books sold are said to be unlike anything ordinary. Especially that set of Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics..." He stopped short. "That's right—the Commentaries and Subcommentaries on the Thirteen Classics are Australian goods! And later, a black ship belching dark smoke appeared outside Hangzhou City!"

Chen Zizhuang recalled his own observations from the capital. In recent years, Australian foreign goods had become commonplace there, even appearing in the imperial palace. Many high officials and nobles deposited silver in the Delong Bank—the very name revealed it shared backing with the Delong Bank in Guangzhou. The Australians' reach clearly extended far beyond Lingnan.

"Master Gao—Gao Ju, who is now a favorite before the Australian Prefect—is said to have connections inside the Palace!" Kuang Lu added.

As these pieces of information from different sources came together, a vast network of tentacles slowly revealed itself before their eyes. From the capital above to Suzhou and Hangzhou below, and south to Qiongzhou, the Kun thieves had long been infiltrating. They were forced to acknowledge that this group of maritime merchants claiming descent from the Great Song was indeed dreaming the Spring and Autumn dream of "restoring the country"—and implementing their plan step by step.

"I never imagined..." Li Suiqiu's voice rose to a roar. "For so many years, among all the gentlemen at court, not a single one exposed the Australians' conspiracy! Deceiving the sovereign and defying their superiors! My Great Ming's three hundred years of rivers and mountains are finished!"

"If we had known," Chen Bangyan said, his voice thick with anguish, "Governor Wang should have gathered soldiers from five provinces back then, while the Kun's wings were not yet full, and crushed them with three armies. We would not be facing today's disaster."

"When Governor Wang moved to suppress the Kun thieves," Li Suiqiu said bitterly, "plenty of officials in Guangzhou, great and small, opposed him. Some even accused him of recklessly provoking border conflicts. In reality, which of them hadn't taken bribes from the Kun thieves?"

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded from outside. The rear hall fell instantly silent.

"Master! Master!" It was Chen Zizhuang's eldest son, Chen Shangyong.

Chen Zizhuang's voice turned stern. "Did I not say that no one is to come to the rear hall without my permission?"

"Master! Mr. Lv has been waiting in the front hall for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. He says he has a matter requiring a face-to-face meeting." Chen Shangyong's tone was urgent.

"Which Mr. Lv?" Kuang Lu asked.

"Lv Yizhong, the Kun thieves' Guangdong Region Councilor," Chen Zisheng answered quietly. "The one who used to be Governor Wang's staff member..."

Li Suiqiu snorted with disdain. "Shameless wretch. He still has the face to come see Teacher!"

Since being captured by the Senate in the Battle of Chengmai, Lv Yizhong had surrendered and become Guo Yi's staff member. After Liu Xiang took over Guo Yi's work, Lv Yizhong had offered many strategies to Liu Xiang, trading on his familiarity with Guangzhou officialdom. He was now the right-hand man of "Prefect Liu" and held the formal title of Councilor. The sour scholars in the city had made up a joke about him: he never became a Councilor in the Great Ming, but managed to become one in the "Kun Song."

Jokes aside, Lv Yizhong's tireless efforts had played no small role in quickly pacifying the city's gentry. It was just that Chen Zizhuang had never given him a good face, leaving him rather embarrassed.

In the past, whenever Lv Yizhong came to visit, Chen Zizhuang had avoided him with various excuses—sometimes even leaving Guangzhou entirely to escape the many watching eyes. Yet now the man had found his way to Shabei Village. Chen Zizhuang knew that avoidance was no permanent solution. Since Lv had come, he would meet this skillful broker.

"Shangyong, ask Lv Yizhong to wait a moment. I'll be there shortly."

Before long, Chen Zizhuang passed through the winding corridor and arrived at the front hall.

Lv Yizhong sat calm and composed, sipping tea. Hearing footsteps and finally laying eyes on Master Qiutao—who had repeatedly left him hitting walls—he quickly set down the cup, rose, and bowed with a smile. "Master Qiutao, I trust you have been well since we last parted!"

Chen Zizhuang's face remained expressionless. He neither returned the bow nor exchanged pleasantries. He lowered himself heavily into his seat and answered in a cold tone, "What business brings Mr. Lv here?"

"Hehe." Lv Yizhong maintained his pleasant demeanor. "This student comes firstly to pay respects to the old master, and secondly, under orders from Mayor Liu of the Municipal Government..."

"If you are here to persuade me to defect to the Australians and accept some puppet position, save your breath." Chen Zizhuang cut him off.

Lv Yizhong thought to himself: You are the foremost gentry in Lingnan. Had you offered your services when the Senate first entered the city, they might have placed you in an important position. But I requested audiences with you time and again, only to be turned away—clearly you disdain being a guest of honor to the Senate. Now that Guangdong and Guangxi are settled and no one can stir up waves, never mind whether you want to serve—whether the Senate even wants you is another question entirely.

Nevertheless, Lv Yizhong maintained his composure and offered the expected flattery. "The old master possesses both literary talent and military strategy. If you are willing to serve the Great Song and benefit your hometown, that is naturally excellent. If the old master wishes to live leisurely among the forests, my Great Song Senate will not force anyone." He smiled. "I came this time on Mayor Liu's special instructions to meet you in person and convey a certain matter face-to-face."

"Whatever the matter, tell the servants." Chen Zizhuang merely lifted his eyelids. "Why must you see me?"

"This matter is of great importance. If I speak only to servants, I fear there may be errors or misunderstandings. That is why I requested a face-to-face meeting."

(End of Chapter)