Chapter 25: The Conspiracy Unveiled, the Tribute Students Riot

"Audacious!"

Seeing Li Ruolian break into the Huangji Hall, Meng Shaoyu, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, roared, "Li Ruolian, are you unaware that during the morning court session, no one is permitted to enter the Huangji Hall without a summons?"

The Chongzhen Emperor also furrowed his brows. However, he knew Li Ruolian’s character well; if it were not for a matter of grave importance, he would never have charged into the Huangji Hall, sword at his side, during an ongoing court session.

"Li Ruolian, speak!"

"Your Majesty, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has just received reports that hundreds of scholars have gathered in the square before the Imperial Academy. They are fiercely criticizing the government, impeaching Master Wei, the Commander of the Eastern Depot, and others. They even say..."

"Speak freely!"

"They say that Your Majesty is foolish and inept, destroying your own Great Wall and executing loyal ministers who offered blunt remonstrance. They ask, who will dare to offer counsel from now on?"

After Li Ruolian finished repeating these words, the assembled officials trembled in terror. To speak of the Emperor in such a manner was nothing short of treasonous.

Chongzhen stood up abruptly and walked to the edge of the nine-tiered dais, staring at Li Ruolian. "Have you identified who these people are?"

"Your Majesty, the specific list of names has not yet been confirmed, but based on current intelligence, they are all tribute students and scholars from the Jiangnan region currently at the Imperial Academy."

Upon hearing Li Ruolian’s report, the officials exchanged knowing glances.

Chongzhen narrowed his eyes. He now understood why Li Ruolian had ignored court protocol to deliver an urgent report.

Since the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty had favored the military over the scholarly, even enacting a policy that forbade the granting of titles without military merit, effectively cutting off all avenues for scholars to attain nobility. Yet, scholars were still granted certain privileges. From the rank of *xiucai* (cultivated talent) onward, they were exempt from military service and grain taxes, permitted to employ maids, granted legal leniency, allowed special attire, and exempted from kneeling.

The legal leniency was particularly notable. Early Ming law dictated that even those who committed capital crimes could be pardoned three times. Although this was later repealed, special treatment remained—for instance, they could not be arrested or interrogated at will, nor could they be subjected to torture; even to punish them, their titles had to be revoked first.

"Li Ruolian, take your men, surround these people, and do not let a single one escape. If any dare to resist, execute them without mercy!"

Chongzhen delivered the cold order, then turned to the assembled officials. "Let us go. Having stayed in this Huangji Hall for so long, let us go out and get some fresh air!"

"Your Majesty, you intend to go to the Imperial Academy?" The Duke of Cheng exclaimed, "Your Majesty, it is not safe outside the palace, this..."

"This what?"

Chongzhen turned sharply, his eyes burning as he stared at the Duke of Cheng. "In this city of Beijing, are you telling me that with so many military generals present, you cannot secure your Emperor's safety?"

Facing the Emperor’s oppressive gaze, the Duke of Cheng braced himself. "Your Majesty, please grant me half a quarter of an hour to prepare." He then turned to the nobles standing nearby: "Marquis of Xinle, Marquis of Wuding, you two, go immediately to the Capital Battalion and bring one thousand elite guards to escort the Emperor!"

The two men departed as ordered. Chongzhen stood at the entrance of the Huangji Hall. "The Carriage Department need not prepare the imperial palanquin; use the dragon carriage instead."

After waiting for half a quarter of an hour, he stepped out of the hall. The officials exchanged glances and had no choice but to follow. Their expressions varied; aside from the Donglin faction, the ministers involved in other political rivalries wore looks of schadenfreude. They were all cunning foxes; they saw through the scholars' charade instantly as an orchestration of the Donglin faction.

The Donglin faction members looked deathly pale. It was their misfortune that this happened just as news of the Shaanxi peasant uprising had reached the Emperor's ears. Many ministers had already been executed, and the Emperor was at the height of his fury—they had walked straight into the line of fire.

"Move aside, all of you, move aside!"

Having received his orders, Li Ruolian led a group of Embroidered Uniform Guards charging into the square outside the Imperial Academy.

"Surround them!"

"Anyone who dares to resist, kill them!"

*Clang... clatter...*

The guards drew their long sabers, the blades gleaming brightly in the sun, instantly silencing the noisy square.

"Who are you? We are..."

"Seize him, drag him out, and give him twenty lashes to the mouth!"

Li Ruolian roared. Two guards stepped forward, grabbing the man like a chick and dragging him away, before delivering heavy blows to his mouth. Li Ruolian’s men were unlike those under other commanders; they were all burly, with hands as thick as floor cushions. One blow was enough to make the man howl in agony.

Seeing this gruesome sight, several other scholars could not help but cry out. Li Ruolian showed no mercy; he snatched them up one by one and beat them. What did it matter if they held scholarly degrees? With the Emperor’s backing, he feared no one.

After dozens of scholars had been beaten, they lay on the ground, groaning—partly from pain, and partly from the shame of being beaten in such a public place. Faced with the sabers of hundreds of guards, these scholars, who were accustomed to criticizing the Emperor and berating street vendors alike, panicked. They wanted to speak, but seeing those lying on the ground, they dared not move.

The wait was long.

After an unknown amount of time, a rhythmic sound of marching feet approached from the distance, faintly accompanied by the clatter of weapons and armor. The entire Imperial Academy was placed under martial law.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and a commotion broke out again. The crowd looked toward the sound to see the dragon banners unfurling in the distance. The onlookers and the hundreds of scholars felt a jolt of shock: the Emperor had arrived.

Indeed, as the thought crossed their minds, they heard the sharp announcement of the Emperor’s arrival. Everyone knelt in unison, including the scholars groaning on the ground.

A thunderous chorus of "Long live the Emperor, long live, long live!" rang out.

Chongzhen stepped down from his carriage, escorted by Fang Zhenghua and Li Ruolian. He scanned the crowd, walked before the hundreds of scholars, and stared at them coldly.

"Aside from the students gathered here, everyone else may rise!"

The ministers who had followed trembled, the thought occurring to them that these scholars were finished. The hundreds of kneeling students felt their hearts sink.

"Who organized this gathering?"

"I am Qian Rulin, a tribute student from Haiyan County. I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

"Why hold this gathering?"

At this point, Qian Rulin had nothing left to lose. He gritted his teeth, stood up, and roared at Chongzhen, "To seek justice for Master Qian and others, and to urge Your Majesty to draw near to virtuous ministers and keep the sycophants at bay!"

"Presumptuous!"

Fang Zhenghua bellowed, reaching out to grab Qian Rulin by the throat. He lifted him like a chicken. Qian Rulin’s face turned purple, his hands clawing at Fang Zhenghua’s arm, his legs flailing in the air.

"Fang Zhenghua, put him down. Let him continue. I want to see exactly how he intends to seek justice for Qian Qianyi and the others."

Fang Zhenghua threw Qian Rulin to the ground with such force that it took the scholar a long while to stand up again.

"Your Majesty, Master Qian impeached Lady Ke with concrete evidence. Why did you execute him and the others? You have killed men who dared to offer blunt advice; who will dare to remonstrate in the future?"

Chongzhen laughed. "It was they who insisted on death-remonstrance; I merely granted their wish."

"A death-remonstrance is a remonstrance offered at the risk of death, not a literal death!"

"Risking death means there is a possibility of dying. I simply magnified that possibility. Is that not acceptable?"

"If one merely speaks of death-remonstrance but has no intention of dying, using it only to gain fame, that is the crime of deceiving the sovereign—a capital offense all the same. You shout daily that 'if the monarch commands a subject to die, the subject must die,' yet when I truly execute them, you start whining and complaining. Do you truly think I have no temper?"

"You..."

"And as for your talk of drawing near to the virtuous and keeping away the sycophants, I must ask you: who are these virtuous ministers you speak of? Qian Qianyi? Do you know what it means to be a beast in human clothing, a hypocrite, or someone whose appearance contradicts their reality? That is exactly what Qian Qianyi is."

Chongzhen’s words instantly enraged Qian Rulin and the hundreds of other scholars. Just as they were about to erupt, Li Ruolian waved his hand. The guards standing by did not hesitate, pressing their long sabers against the necks of the nearby scholars.

"Enough. I have no patience for your nonsense."

Chongzhen cut Qian Rulin off. "Tell me, who is the person behind this gathering?"