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The East Market was in chaos. The examinees were furious that Xie Ziyun’s name appeared on the exam list.
After extreme anger, they all headed to Xie Ziyun’s residence, their words full of grievance and resentment towards him.
“All the chaos in the world is for profit. If they truly understood justice, where were they when the principality was in danger? To deal with these hypocrites who are weak outside but preach morality inside, all it takes is to throw a bone and they will fight among themselves, divided and conquered,” Xiao Ming said lightly to Pang Yukun with a smile.
Pang Yukun nodded, “Your Highness speaks wisely. If the officialdom is filled with these people, our principality will soon be no different from other places in the Great Yu Empire. But will Doctor Sun’s death end here?”
“Of course not. Whether for Doctor Sun or for Bowen Academy, we will use this opportunity to strike at the rotten thinking in the principality,” Xiao Ming said thoughtfully. “Discuss with Fan Zeng in the next two days. Use the newspapers to harshly criticize Dong Haoran and Xie Ziyun — the incompetent doctors and corrupt Confucians. The harsher the better. Emphasize how serious this is for the people’s interests. This way, these people will become outcasts, hated by all.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I am very skilled at this,” Pang Yukun said confidently. He used to be a censor and was excellent at criticizing without using vulgar language.
After making plans, the two returned to the government office. Pang Yukun called Fan Zeng to draft articles denouncing Dong Haoran and Xie Ziyun, clearly intending to throw them into the ocean of public wrath.
While beating him, they shouted, “Traitor! Traitor!”
“Ouch!” Xie Ziyun lay on the ground, beaten all over, unable to understand what was happening or defend himself.
The usual constables did not appear today. Only after the scholars nearly beat him to death did they seem to stop.
The customers in the teahouse were shocked, whispering among themselves.
“What’s going on? Why is this man being beaten?” a merchant asked.
Qingzhou was small, and news traveled fast. Someone seemed to know the background and said, “Do you know about the scholars causing trouble at the government office yesterday?”
“Of course. These scholars have gone too far, demanding the release of a man from the government office. Who do they think they are? In other principalities, they’d be beheaded immediately. Only our prince is merciful, allowing these scholars to run wild.”
“That’s right. This man is Xie Ziyun, the ringleader of the trouble. He used Doctor Sun’s suicide to criticize the prince’s policies in Qingzhou. He demanded the prince shut down Bowen Academy and, it’s said, even wants the prince to declare us merchants as low class!” The merchant’s face flushed with anger.
“Serves him right to be beaten to death!” another merchant shouted. “Our prince is the wisest ruler I’ve seen, always considering the people. Merchants and craftsmen have gained status now. These stingy scholars want us back in hard times? I spit on that!”
The teahouse merchants erupted in cheers, “These Confucians are too much. Who wants to go finish him off?”
The merchants all stood and delivered a harsh beating to Xie Ziyun, who was barely getting up again.
One merchant shouted, “Friends, even if we kill this Xie Ziyun, there’ll be a second, a third. The real problem is these corrupt Confucians want Qingzhou back under the old rule of the aristocrats. We barely escaped those hard days. Who wants to go back? We merchants should unite under the guild to push these corrupt scholars out.”
“Exactly. Let’s go to the prince’s residence and ask him to punish these corrupt scholars severely. They’re treacherous and deserve a thousand cuts!”
“Let’s go, let’s go. We can’t let these bookworms trample us anymore. They must leave Qingzhou!”
One shouted and many responded. The merchants stopped drinking tea and gathered to march toward the prince’s residence. They spread the word and soon dozens became hundreds, hundreds became thousands.
At the governor’s residence, Xiao Ming had already learned of the situation as it developed.
He was slightly surprised. To him, after the deeply rooted Confucian class, a new capitalist class seemed to be emerging in Qingzhou. Merchants would never have gathered before.
Now the Confucians had touched their fundamental interests, sparking their dissatisfaction.
“Your Highness, this is perfect. We can guide these merchants to vent their anger on the corrupt Confucians, crushing their arrogance and weakening Confucian prestige among the people. This will pave the way for a hundred schools of thought in Qingzhou,” Pang Yukun said excitedly.
Xiao Ming smiled and nodded. A wave of relief washed over him. He had been too influenced by the aristocratic class and had taken this too seriously.
Unknowingly, he had already cultivated new interest groups in his territory. The first was the common people, the second merchants, the third craftsmen, and the fourth Bowen Academy students.
He said, “Then this time, let’s make these Confucians afraid to mention the old system. Since their claims harm both merchants and the people, emphasize this in the newspapers.”
Pang Yukun nodded thoughtfully.
Xiao Ming continued, “Take this chance to make it clear: anyone who hasn’t studied in the public schools or Bowen Academy has no right to take any exams in the territory.”
With that, Xiao Ming ordered Pang Yukun and Fan Zeng to continue drafting articles.
The next day, the Qingzhou newspaper’s front page was entirely filled by an article titled “Whose Fault Is Doctor Sun’s Death?”
In it, Pang Yukun harshly condemned Dong Haoran for selfishly pressuring Doctor Sun, causing his suicide. The article also listed and rebutted the claims made by Xie Ziyun and the other Confucians, emphasizing the harm these claims would bring to the territory.
Finally, it declared that from now on, anyone not studying in the public schools or Bowen Academy would be barred from all local exams.
Once published, the article caused an uproar throughout the territory.