Chapter 910 – Sun Chun

Zhang Dai and his companions savored their visit to Wanbi Bookshop for quite some time afterward, particularly the books they'd purchased. Sun Chun specifically requested the copy of A Record of Four Continents, saying he wished to study it carefully.

Sun Chun's family hailed from Jiaxing, where he was enrolled as a student of the Prefectural Academy. But he spent most of his time residing in Wujiang, and occasionally stayed at the Meiwan Residence villa in Nanxun Town, Wucheng County, Huzhou. Though he looked unremarkable and dressed plainly, and though his scholarship amounted only to "one who passed the five-classics essay"—leaving him without high standing in the eyes of many Restoration Society scholars—his family was actually quite wealthy. Moreover, he was a genuine core member of the Society.

In terms of reputation, he certainly couldn't compare to Zhang Pu, Zhang Cai, and others; he was far less famous than the "Four Young Masters" who were already making names for themselves, and he couldn't match Huang Zongxi. But he was truly a key figure within the Society's inner workings. The Restoration Society, though nominally an academic organization, was a political association with genuine organizational structure—one might even say it already possessed certain characteristics of a modern political party. If Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai were the Society's "leaders," then Sun Chun effectively served as its "head of organization."

Whenever scholars from around the country held literary views and political opinions aligned with the Society's ideals, Sun Chun would tirelessly write them letters or personally visit them, persuading them to join. The Society's entire organizational work was essentially handled by him single-handedly. He was also directly responsible for vetting applicants—examining scholars who sought membership. Furthermore, nearly all liaison work and gatherings among Society members passed through his hands.

He didn't have his own villa in Hangzhou; he was staying at Zhang Dai's residence. After dinner, the friends gathered again to browse their newly purchased books. Over cups of the finest Yunnan "daughter tea," they chatted and offered commentary. Zhang Dai had always been interested in Australian affairs; now, having been so thoroughly enticed by Zhao Yingong at Wanbi Bookshop, he was developing a genuine desire to make a trip to Guangzhou.

"Brother Zongzi, are you really planning to go to Guangzhou?" Wen Huai asked.

"I've long wished to—though not for the Australians' sake alone. I've heard that Guangdong's customs differ markedly from the heartland, and are even more different from Jiangnan. There are many exotic people and goods from overseas. I've long wanted to go and see the sights, experience something new, and sample the local specialties. Now that the Australians are there, I'm even more eager to take a look." Zhang Dai reclined on a couch, dressed in loose Buddhist robes. Two exceptionally pretty maids, no older than fourteen or fifteen, attended him—one serving tea, the other using her delicate hands to peel the skin from tangerines.

"Alas, I didn't pass last year's provincial examination. I still have to stay home and study. Otherwise, I'd love nothing more than to accompany you to Guangzhou." Wen Huai smiled as he spoke, though his gaze drifted toward the two maids.

"Ha," Zhang Dai laughed. "Brother Liaoshi, I hear plenty of people pulled strings in last year's examination. Why didn't you ask someone to put in a word? A few hundred taels of silver at most—why keep grinding away at this chewed-over chaff? What can the eight-legged essay really accomplish in the end?"

Wen Huai's smile faded. "I wouldn't dare even think of such a thing!" Then he added with a wry expression: "It's not that I'm being self-righteous. To pull strings, you first need connections with powerful people, and second, you need ready silver. I have neither. Even if I sold my fields, without someone to broker the deal, it would all be in vain."

Sun Chun smiled. "Tianru passed this session and was appointed a reader at the Hanlin Academy. Senior Grand Secretary Zhou was strongly recommended by our Society and the Donglin. Brother Liaoshi, why worry about your future prospects?"

Zhang Pu, the Restoration Society's leader, had indeed passed this session and been appointed a reader at the Hanlin Academy. In both the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Hanlin Academy was the training ground for high officials. The rank wasn't high, but the political status was elevated, with unlimited prospects.

"Hopefully so." Wen Huai wore the forlorn expression of unrecognized talent. Sun Chun understood that Wen Huai was intensely eager to become an official. His family was of middling means, without much property, and he couldn't claim outstanding talent. If not for his old acquaintance with Zhang Dai, he probably couldn't have squeezed into this circle at all. Having gotten in, the intense sense of disparity only made him more anxious to gain office and change his circumstances.

Sun Chun didn't dislike such people. In his view, at least this man possessed ambition and was willing to work. If such a person could successfully enter officialdom and join the bureaucracy at central and local levels, it would steadily expand the Society's influence and advance its political agenda in practical matters.

He silently considered whether to add Wen Huai to the recommendation list for the next Nanjing provincial examination. Sun Chun couldn't make that decision alone, but he had considerable say in the matter.

That evening, Sun Chun returned to his room and had his page bring over an additional lamp. He immediately ground ink, spread paper, and composed a letter to Zhang Pu, recounting the meeting in full, including his views on the Australians' books and their scholarship.

In the Jiangnan literary world, understanding of the Australians remained quite superficial. The exotic Australian goods arriving from afar certainly caused a sensation, but what the Australians actually looked like and what they were doing around Qiongzhou remained vague concepts for most people. Although word had spread—dimly—about the imperial army's great defeat in Qiongzhou and the Australians' raids near Guangzhou, in the end everything had merely fizzled out. There were no reports of large Australian forces in action, nor of any prefecture or county falling. Compared to the She-An Rebellion now entering its final stages, the impact on Jiangnan's literati was even smaller. To those with better access to information, the Australians seemed to be the same sort of people as Zheng Zhilong or the Red-Haired Men.

Though the Restoration Society was a political body centered on Jiangnan scholars, it still included scholars from all over the country. Through this nationwide network, Sun Chun effectively served as the Society's intelligence chief.

Nanxun was an important distribution center for raw silk produced south of Lake Tai. Commerce flourished there. Through the commercial networks he controlled, Sun Chun had formed his own system for gathering intelligence and relaying messages. Through regular correspondence with merchants, he kept track of local conditions, official circles, public opinion, and bandit activity in many regions. Hence his nickname among Society members: "Sun the Shop Manager."

Regarding Guangdong, he knew somewhat more than most.

Liu Shidou—a former juren from Nanhai County in Guangzhou who had just passed the metropolitan examination this spring and earned the jinshi degree—had always been friendly with the Restoration Society and maintained close contact with Zhang Pu and others. The Australians' every move outside Guangzhou, including their various actions in Qiongzhou, flowed to Sun Chun through Liu Shidou's letters.

Though the Restoration Society's inner circle occasionally discussed the Australians' doings, on the whole the Society maintained no specific attitude or position toward them. Their current mission was to "advance the gentleman and expel the petty man," to purify court politics and establish a government of virtuous men. Whether Red-Haired Men, Australians, the Jurchen enemy, or the increasingly ferocious bandits—these were not their primary concerns. In the view of many scholars, once the petty men were expelled and the upright filled the court, the root would be rectified. With the root cleansed, these internal and external troubles would prove easy to resolve.

But the current political situation for the Donglin was far from promising. Though Chongzhen had launched a massive political purge to expel the Eunuch Clique after ascending the throne, the Yuan Chonghuan case in the second year of his reign had dealt the Donglin a heavy blow. The Eunuch Clique seized the opportunity to counterattack: Yuan Chonghuan was executed, Qian Longxi was exiled to Dinghai, and Yuan Chonghuan's old teacher Han Kuang was forced to resign. The Donglin faction lost two Grand Secretaries in short order. The men who subsequently entered the cabinet were Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren.

Of these two, Zhou Yanru was friendly with the Donglin but also maintained deep ties to the Eunuch Clique. As for Wen Tiren, he'd once built a shrine to Wei Zhongxian in Hangzhou and written poems praising Wei. He was an authentic Eunuch Clique member through and through. But he was cautious and profoundly cunning; during the Tianqi era, he'd had no conspicuous political activities and thus escaped the purge in the early Chongzhen years. He then exploited his relationship with Zhou Yanru to smoothly enter the cabinet.

News of all these maneuvers reached Sun Chun through letters from Donglin officials and Restoration Society scholars in Beijing—sometimes arriving even faster than the court gazette.

The Restoration Society was naturally dissatisfied that Zhou Yanru had brought the "Eunuch Clique" member Wen Tiren into the cabinet. But Zhou Yanru was, after all, friendly to the Donglin. Now that the Donglin had lost central power, winning Zhou Yanru's support was crucial.

At present, the Society's main energy was focused on this year's metropolitan examination. Following the Jinling provincial examination in the third year of Chongzhen, the Restoration Society's Jinling Grand Assembly had been held—the second since the Yinshan Grand Assembly in the first year of Chongzhen.

In the Jinling provincial examination, one of the Society's central figures, Yang Tingshu, had won the jieyuan title, and the Society's leader Zhang Pu had also passed as a juren. This batch of Society core members subsequently passed the metropolitan examination this spring, becoming jinshi, and the Society's prestige and power surged. Though there'd been an incident where Xue Guoguan—a member of Wen Tiren's faction—had used the censor to challenge Zhou Yanru over Wu Weiye's appointment as second-place graduate, that had now basically blown over. Moreover, the Society had emerged looking good: the Emperor himself had reviewed Wu Weiye's palace examination paper and praised his essay highly.

How to capitalize on this opportunity, expand the Society's and Donglin's influence at court, work to exclude "Eunuch Clique remnant" Wen Tiren while securing Zhou Yanru's "friendship"—these were the Society's current preoccupations. Sun Chun too had been busy with these matters lately. He hadn't initially paid much attention to the curious episode at Wanbi Bookshop. But after returning and reflecting, he felt he should inform the Society's key figures of the situation.

Australian books had entered the Ming. Sun Chun cared nothing for erotic picture albums—those were mere idle diversions, not critical matters. But from A Record of Four Continents and Elementary Optics, he perceived that a new body of learning—one comparable to the "Western methods" the Red-Haired missionaries and their convert-scholars so loudly promoted, and perhaps even superior—was quietly knocking at the Great Ming's door.

Notes: 1. "Tianru" is Zhang Pu's courtesy name. 2. The founding of the Restoration Society is variously dated; this account follows the first year of Chongzhen.