over three
hundred prominent persons, the leaders of the cliques opposed to him. He
filled their posts with his own supporters, until all the higher posts
in every department were in the hands of members of his group. He
collected large sums of money which he quite openly extracted from the
provinces as a special tax for his own benefit. When later his house was
searched there were found 240,000 bars and 57,800 pieces of gold (a bar
was equivalent of ten pieces), 791,800 ounces and 5,000,000 bars of
silver (a bar was five ounces), three bushels of precious stones, two
gold cuirasses, 3,000 gold rings, and much else--of a total value
exceeding the annual budget of the state! The treasure was to have been
used to finance a revolt planned by Liu Chin and his supporters.

Among the people whom Liu Chin had punished were several members of the
former clique of the Yang, and also the philosopher Wang Yang-ming, who
later became so famous, a member of the Wang family which was allied to
the Yang. In 1510 the Yang won over one of the eunuchs in the palace and
so became acquainted with Liu Chin's plans. When a revolt broke out in
western China, this eunuch (whose political allegiance was, of course,
unknown to Liu Chin) secured appointment as army commander. With the
army intended for the crushing of the revolt, Liu Chin's palace was
attacked when he was asleep, and he and all his supporters were
arrested. Thus the other group came into power in the palace, including
the philosopher Wang Yang-ming (1473-1529). Liu Chin's rule had done
great harm to the country, as enormous taxation had been expended for
the private benefit of his clique. On top of this had been the young
emperor's extravagance: his latest pleasures had been the building of
palaces and the carrying out of military games; he constantly assumed
new military titles and was burning to go to war.

11 _Risings_

The emperor might have had a good opportunity for fighting, for his
misrule had resulted in a great popular rising which began in the west,
in Szechwan, and then spread to the east. As always, the rising was
joined by some ruined scholars, and the movement, which had at first
been directed against the gentry as such, was turned into a movement
against the government of the moment. No longer were all the wealthy and
all officials murdered, but only those who did not join the movement. In
1512 the rebels were finally overcome, not so much by any military
cap