Chapter 142: Sun Chun

Zhang Dai and his friends savored their visit to the Wanbi Bookstore for a long time, especially the books they had purchased. Sun Chun had specifically requested the “Gazetteer of the Four Continents,” saying he wanted to study it carefully.

Sun Chun’s home was in Jiaxing, and he was a student at the Jiaxing prefectural school, but he had lived in Wujiang for many years and sometimes stayed at his villa, the Meiguanju, in Nanxun Town, Wucheng County, Huzhou. Although he was plain in appearance, dressed simply, and his scholarship was only that of “a person who has studied the Five Classics,” which was not highly regarded by many Fu She scholars, his family was actually quite wealthy, and he was a true core member of the society.

In terms of fame, he certainly could not compare with Zhang Pu, Zhang Cai, and others, and was far less famous than the “Four Young Masters” who were already well-known at the time, or even Huang Zongxi. But he was indeed a key figure in the society. The Fu She, as a political society under the guise of scholarship, had a certain degree of organization. It could even be said that it already possessed some of the characteristics of a modern political party. If Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai were the “leaders” of the Fu She, then the “organization minister” of the Fu She was Sun Chun.

For scholars from all over the country, as long as their literary and political views were in line with the Fu She’s ideals, Sun Chun would spare no effort to write to them or visit them personally to persuade them to join. It could be said that he single-handedly managed the entire organizational activities of the Fu She. He was also directly responsible for vetting the qualifications of new members, reviewing the applications of those scholars who applied to join. And almost all the affairs of communication and gatherings among the Fu She members passed through his hands.

He did not have his own villa in Hangzhou and was staying at Zhang Dai’s villa. After dinner, the friends once again gathered to look at the newly purchased books, sipping the best Yunnan daughter tea to aid digestion, and chatting and laughing. Zhang Dai, who was already interested in Australian things, was now even more tempted by Zhao Yingong’s enticements at the Wanbi Bookstore and began to think of making a trip to Guangzhou.

“Is Brother Zongzi really going to Guangzhou?” Wen Huai asked.

“I have long had this wish—not for the Australians. I have heard that the customs of Guangzhou are different from those of the Central Plains, and even more so from those of Jiangnan. There are also many strange people and exotic goods from overseas. I have long wanted to go and broaden my horizons, see something new, and taste the local specialties. Now with the Australians there, of course, I am even more eager to go and see.” Zhang Dai leaned against a couch, wearing a loose Zen robe. Two exceptionally beautiful maids, no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, one served him tea while the other was peeling a mandarin orange with her delicate hands.

“It’s a pity I didn’t pass the provincial examination last year. I still have to study behind closed doors. Otherwise, I would have liked to accompany you to Guangzhou to have a look,” Wen Huai said with a smile, his eyes wandering over the two maids.

“Hehe,” Zhang Dai laughed. “Brother Liaoshi, I heard that many people used connections in last year’s provincial examination. Why didn’t you ask someone to put in a good word for you? At most, it would have cost a few hundred taels of silver. Why do you have to keep studying this stuff that has been chewed over and over again? What’s the point of the eight-legged essay?”

Wen Huai’s smile vanished. “I wouldn’t even dare to think of such a thing!” he said with a bitter smile. “It’s not that I’m being pretentious. To use connections, you first need the favor of a powerful person, and second, you need a lot of silver. I lack both. Even if I sold my land, without someone to act as an intermediary, it would be all in vain.”

Sun Chun smiled. “Tianru was appointed a Hanlin Academy scholar in this examination, and Minister Zhou was strongly recommended by our Fu She and the Donglin Party. Why should Brother Liaoshi worry about his future career?”

After Zhang Pu, one of the leaders of the Fu She, passed the metropolitan examination, he was appointed a Hanlin Academy scholar. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Hanlin Academy was the training ground for high-ranking officials. Although the official rank was not high, the political status was very high, and the future prospects were immeasurable.

“I hope so.” Wen Huai had a look of dejection, like a man whose talents were not recognized. Sun Chun knew that Wen Huai was very eager to become an official. His family was of moderate means, with not much property, and he was not exceptionally talented. If it weren’t for his past acquaintance with Zhang Dai, he probably wouldn’t have been able to squeeze into this circle. After squeezing in, the strong sense of disparity made him even more eager to become an official to change his circumstances.

Sun Chun did not dislike such people. In his opinion, at least this person was ambitious and willing to do things. If such a person could successfully enter officialdom and join the central and local bureaucracy, he could continuously expand the influence of the Fu She and then promote the political主張 of the Fu She in practical matters.

He silently considered whether to include him in the list of recommendations for the next Nanjing provincial examination. Of course, Sun Chun could not make the final decision, but he had a great say in the matter.

Returning to his room, Sun Chun asked his book-boy to bring another lamp. He immediately ground ink, spread out paper, and wrote a letter to Zhang Pu. In the letter, he mentioned this meeting in detail, including his views on the Australian books and their scholarship.

The gentry of Jiangnan, in general, still had a very superficial understanding of the Australians. Although the rare Australian goods that came from afar caused a sensation for a time, what the Australians were really like, what they were doing in the Qiongzhou area, and so on, were still very vague concepts for many people. Although the news of the imperial army’s major defeat in Qiongzhou and the Australian invasion near Guangzhou had spread faintly, the final results were all inconclusive. There was no news of large Australian armies on the move, nor of any prefectures or counties being lost. The impact on the Jiangnan gentry was even smaller than that of the She-An Rebellion, which was about to end. For some well-informed people, the Australians seemed to be in the same category as Zheng Zhilong or the Dutch.

Although the Fu She was a political group dominated by Jiangnan scholars, it also included scholars from all over the country. Through this nationwide network, Sun Chun actually served as the intelligence chief of the Fu She.

Nanxun was an important distribution center for raw silk from the areas south of Lake Tai. Its commerce and trade were very developed. Sun Chun had established his own intelligence gathering and message transmission system through his business connections. Through regular correspondence with merchants, he kept abreast of the people’s livelihood, officialdom, public opinion, and banditry in many places. Therefore, he was also known as “Director Sun” among the members of the society. He knew more about the situation in Guangdong than others.

Liu Shidou, a former Juren from Nanhai County, Guangzhou, who had just passed the metropolitan examination this spring, had always been friendly with the Fu She and had maintained close contact with Zhang Pu and others for a long time. The every move of the Australians outside Guangzhou city, including their various activities in Qiongzhou, were continuously transmitted to Sun Chun through Liu Shidou’s letters.

Although the various actions of the Australians were sometimes discussed in the core circle of the Fu She, in general, the Fu She had no specific attitude or position towards the Australians. After all, their current task was to “promote gentlemen and dismiss petty men,” to clarify the court’s administration, and to establish a court of gentlemen. Therefore, whether it was the Dutch, the Australians, the Jurchens, or the increasingly rampant bandits, they were not their main concern. In the eyes of many scholars, as long as the petty men were dismissed and the upright were in power, the foundation would be rectified. Once the foundation was clear, these minor internal and external troubles would not be difficult to cure.

However, the current political situation of the Donglin Party was very unfavorable. Although Chongzhen had expelled the eunuch faction through a large-scale political purge after his accession, the case of Yuan Chonghuan in the second year of Chongzhen was a major blow to the Donglin Party. The eunuch faction took the opportunity to counterattack. As a result, Yuan Chonghuan was executed, Qian Longxi was exiled to Dinghai, and Yuan Chonghuan’s mentor, Han Kuang, was forced to resign. The Donglin Party lost two grand secretaries. Subsequently, Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren entered the cabinet.

Of these two, Zhou Yanru was friendly with the Donglin Party but also had deep connections with the eunuch faction. As for Wen Tiren, he had once built a living shrine for Wei Zhongxian in Hangzhou and had written poems praising him. He could be said to be a genuine member of the eunuch faction, but he was cautious and shrewd, so he had not engaged in any eye-catching political activities during the Tianqi era and thus escaped the purge of the eunuch faction in the early years of Chongzhen. Subsequently, he used his relationship with Zhou Yanru to successfully enter the cabinet.

News of these activities was continuously transmitted to Sun Chun through letters from Donglin officials and Fu She scholars in Beijing—some news arrived even faster than the court gazette.

The Fu She was certainly dissatisfied with Zhou Yanru’s recruitment of Wen Tiren, a “eunuch faction” member. However, Zhou Yanru was after all friendly to the Donglin Party, and at a time when the Donglin Party had lost its central power, gaining Zhou Yanru’s support was a matter of crucial importance.

At present, the Fu She’s main energy was focused on this year’s metropolitan examination. After the Jinling provincial examination in the third year of Chongzhen, the Fu She held the Jinling Conference, which was the second major conference of the Fu She after the Yinshan Conference in the first year of Chongzhen.

In the Jinling provincial examination, Yang Tingshu, one of the central figures of the Fu She, won the top honor, and Zhang Pu, the leader of the Fu She, also passed the examination. This group of Fu She core members then successively passed the metropolitan examination this spring, and for a time, the prestige and power of the Fu She greatly increased. Although there was an incident where Xue Guoguan of Wen Tiren’s faction used Wu Weiye’s success in the examination to instigate the censors to attack Zhou Yanru, it had now basically subsided—and the Fu She had gained great prestige: the emperor personally reviewed Wu Weiye’s palace examination paper and was extremely appreciative of his essay.

How to use this opportunity to expand the influence of the Fu She and the Donglin Party in the court, find ways to exclude the “remnant evil of the eunuch faction” Wen Tiren, and ensure Zhou Yanru’s “friendship” with the Fu She was the most pressing matter for the Fu She group at present. Sun Chun had also been busy with this matter recently. He had not paid much attention to the strange encounter at Wanbi Bookstore at first, but after returning, he thought about it for a while and felt that he should still inform the main figures of the society about this situation.

Australian books had flowed into the Ming Dynasty. Sun Chun didn’t care about things like erotic books—they were just trivial playthings, not a vital matter. But from books like the “Gazetteer of the Four Continents” and “An Introduction to Optics,” he saw that a school of “Australian learning,” on par with or even superior to the “Western methods” touted by the Dutch missionaries and Christian Confucian scholars, was quietly knocking on the door of the Ming Dynasty.