Chapter 87: The King’s Sweeping Reforms

Sun Wukong sprang straight over to the monk, his bright monkey eyes rolling as he grinned and said, “Heh heh, then let me put it to you like this. You can hire me, Old Sun, as your bodyguard. I’ll escort you all the way west to fetch the scriptures, you pay me my fee, and I’ll handle all the demons, ghosts, and foul spirits you run into along the way. What do you say?”

“Uh... pay you? But this humble monk is a man of the cloth. Aside from a few changes of clothes for the four seasons, I have nothing else on me.”

The monkey’s proposal was not bad at all.

Thinking back to the chilling events of the day, when a gang of weasel spirits in human guise had actually abducted him to force a marriage, it was clear that this road to the western lands would be fraught with hardships.

Without a capable helper at his side, it would be impossible to take even a single step.

Seeing the monk wear such a troubled, constipated expression, Sun Wukong laughed and said, “As for the money, well, if you don’t have any now, you can run up a tab first. It doesn’t matter. When you have money later, you can pay then. Besides, on this journey, you will continue to receive—”

“Receive what? Why did Immortal Sun stop speaking?”

“Cannot say, cannot say. This is heaven’s secret, and heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed.”

Sun Wukong hurriedly clapped a hand over his mouth and shook his head.

The Immortal had warned him in advance, and had especially instructed him not to reveal it to a third party, lest unnecessary trouble arise.

He had almost slipped just now. How damn troublesome!

“Monk, let me put it to you plainly. Because of the special circumstances of your past life, your journey west to fetch the scriptures is destined to be full of difficulties. If you do not have a few excellent and capable helpers at your side, you will never complete this arduous task. You should consider it carefully.”

A tiny butterfly’s flutter had already thrown the original script into disarray.

Now Sun Wukong did not need to become the monk’s disciple. Instead, they would deal with each other as employer and employee.

You pay me to be your bodyguard, and I’ll clear the road ahead for you all the way.

After enduring eighty-one tribulations and bringing back the true scriptures, the merit will be complete.

Such a deal would be more than worthwhile.

“Monk, there’s no need to keep worrying over it. It’s late. Rest first. Old Sun will give you the night to think it over, and by the time dawn breaks tomorrow, you can answer me.”

Sun Wukong kept adding wood to the campfire, feeding it until the blaze burned as bright as day.

...

The sonorous sound of reading filled the air.

Education must begin with the young.

After returning to the capital, King Zhou never forgot the guidance of Master Chu Xiaoyu, and had received the primer for children, the Classic of Three Characters.

King Zhou summoned all his ministers and launched a major reform in education.

With land reform already successful, and a nationwide expansion of sweet potato and potato planting completed, now another sweeping change was underway: the spread of universal education across the realm.

The world was instantly in an uproar.

When the young are strong, the nation is strong!

Every time King Zhou thought of those words, he grew excited beyond measure, feeling a fierce fire burning in his chest, his whole body filled with momentum and drive.

He assigned each of his ministers a separate task.

Wen Zhong, Su Hu, and Huang Feihu would take charge of military training, while the royal kinsmen Weizi Qi, Bigan, and Prince Jizi would oversee the spread of education.

From the officials in every department of the court to the common people in every village and town, any household with children between the ages of three and five was required to send them to school for early instruction.

Anyone who dared refuse would be punished according to the laws of the court.

Reading could enlighten the mind and open the intellect. It was a blessing for all under heaven.

The greatest obstacle to the promotion of universal education came from the opposition of the scholar-gentry families.

For generations, they had controlled discourse and knowledge. If the rough-handed peasants and common folk were allowed to study, to awaken their minds, and to understand the many great truths of life, then their own interests would surely be threatened.

The rich cake had been cut open with a blade, and their former lofty masters would no longer be respected, followed, or adored.

Hmph!

Why should those bumpkins stand on equal footing with them? What were they worthy of?

They were only fit to sow in the muddy fields, to labor as oxen and horses from generation to generation, to live forever as servants and slaves.

Faced with such a situation, the scholar-gentry families would never agree.

The king had issued an order, and it had to be completed within a set time.

Weizi Qi, Bigan, Prince Jizi, and the other royal uncles in charge of education had also wavered and hesitated under the fierce opposition of the scholar-gentry families.

But above their heads hung a bloodless sword.

The king’s command could not be defied.

In the end, Bigan threw caution to the wind and became the first to launch a fierce counterattack.

Though Bigan was a civil official, he was bold as a lion.

Faced with the scholar-gentry families’ organized resistance, Bigan did not hesitate in the slightest. He sent Wen Zhong to act at once, and many heads of the clan leaders were severed.

Anyone still unwilling to submit, anyone continuing to stir up trouble and resist, would lose their heads as well.

What began as a reform to spread education quickly turned into a scene of blood and turmoil, and the people of the capital were thrown into fear and unease.

Man is the butcher’s knife; we are the fish and flesh.

Those who dared openly challenge the court ended in misery. Either they were beheaded, or sentenced to hard labor and punishment.

The wooden stakes in the autumn field were hung with one severed head after another from the scholar-gentry families.

At last, the reform to spread education proceeded smoothly, and the voices of opposition from those families could no longer be heard.

The campaign for educational reform lasted nearly three months. Under the court’s sweeping and forceful measures, the storm of resistance was finally suppressed.

At the same time, Fei Zhong, You Hun, Bo An, Ji Sui, and the other ministers imprisoned in the dungeon were one by one dragged to the autumn execution ground for final judgment.

That day, the execution grounds were surrounded by dense crowds of onlookers.

Fei Zhong, You Hun, and the others had long been infamous in the eyes of the common people.

At last the day of punishment had come.

Rotten eggs, spoiled vegetable leaves, mud, and even chicken, duck, cattle, and sheep dung flew at them in a relentless barrage, the crowd showing not the slightest mercy.

“Beat them to death! Beat these villains to death!”

“Waaah... Heaven has finally opened its eyes! That vile, damned Fei Zhong seized my family’s land and drove my old man and my son to their deaths! That bastard is finally going to lose his head!”

The cursing from the crowd made the scene at the execution ground nearly spiral out of control. Had court soldiers not stood guard and held the people back, the men on the scaffold would likely already have been bludgeoned to death by the enraged masses.

When the supervising official read out, one by one, the crimes of corruption, bribery, and abuse of power committed by Fei Zhong, You Hun, and the other treacherous ministers, the final sentence was pronounced: immediate execution.

The sky was crisp and clear, and the autumn wind rushed sharply.

Blood stained the entire execution ground red, soaking it in crimson.

Crying, pleading, shrill screams, and solemn cries all rang in the ears.

At last, the wicked and the thieves received the punishment they deserved.