Chapter 827: Contact

The second day of the twelfth month, in the sixteenth year of the Chongzhen reign.

The capital in the twelfth month was bitterly cold; all day long the north wind howled, the bone-piercing chill striking to the very marrow.

Colder still than the weather were men’s hearts. The shock of Sun Chuanting’s defeat had not yet faded when word that Kaifeng had been flooded spread like wildfire, throwing the capital into an uproar and stirring fierce public debate. Beyond denouncing the bandits as deranged fiends bereft of human decency, many were also stricken with dread.

The government troops had been annihilated, the prefectures and counties laid waste — was the Great Ming truly sick beyond all cure?

The twelfth month had arrived, and ordinarily the common folk of the capital would be preparing for the New Year: stocking up, celebrating, exchanging New Year greetings, the Laba Festival, the Little New Year, sweeping the house, grinding bean curd, going to buy meat, pasting up New Year prints. Throughout the whole twelfth month the people should have been frantically busy, rushing to lay in New Year goods and make every sort of preparation for the holiday; those away from home would be hurrying back.

Yet now the entire capital held not a trace of festive New Year cheer. The sky was frigid, the ground frozen, the air parched and cold; the plague that had raged some time before had at last subsided. This was due partly to the weather, and partly to the large number of physicians sent in aid by the Protectorate, though the flood of refugees pouring into the capital was still immense.

The weather this year had been bizarre: a great drought followed by a great flood. The combination of drought and deluge had produced a vast multitude of refugees. Huge numbers of the displaced crowded the outskirts of the capital, beyond the government’s ability to relieve, and in the bitter cold every day great numbers of common folk froze or starved to death.

The harvests grew worse year by year, and of late the bad tidings had come without pause — each one news that shook the whole realm. Even the least sensitive soul could feel that the great edifice was about to collapse, that catastrophe loomed.

Inside the Eastern Warm Pavilion, the Chongzhen Emperor stared blankly at the memorial in his hands; for a long while he did not so much as shift his gaze. Below him, the Senior Grand Secretary Zhou Yanru and the Minister of War Chen Xinjia stood equally stupefied; the oppressive atmosphere was profoundly unsettling.

Compared to days past, the Emperor’s face and head bore even more wrinkles and white hairs; his complexion was frighteningly pallid.

After a long, long silence, he asked in a feeble voice, “Has Sun Chuanting’s posthumous title been decided?”

Zhou Yanru steadied himself and replied, “In reply to Your Majesty, the Ministry of Rites has already deliberated and resolved to confer upon Sun Chuanting the posthumous title ‘Loyal and Ardent.’ His loyal servant Ma Weizhong is to be granted the cap and girdle of a Platoon Leader.”

He spoke with the utmost caution. The previous year, after he had memorialized requesting that the investigatory powers of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard be curtailed, the Guard had set its sights on him, incessantly probing into his private affairs and then endlessly lodging petty complaints before the Emperor, which had greatly soured His Majesty’s opinion of him.

Although he still occupied the post of Senior Grand Secretary, in the Emperor’s mind he was no longer the towering, righteous figure he had once been; the imperial favor was gradually slipping away, and even his everyday speech had grown careful.

The Chongzhen Emperor grunted in acknowledgment. He sat there utterly drained, a profound helplessness in his eyes, and within it a faint, barely perceptible flicker of remorse.

He regretted it. He should not have pressed Sun Chuanting to march south. The situation at the time had already been quite favorable; it was his own impatience that had — otherwise…

When word of Sun Chuanting’s defeat had first arrived, the Chongzhen Emperor had been beside himself with fury and grief, pouring all his rage onto the man’s head. But now, looking back, deep within he was filled with bitter regret — only, these were words he would never, under any circumstances, speak to his ministers.

At the same time, Kaifeng had fallen as well. Truly, whatever one feared most was precisely what came to pass.

Even now, he still could not quite bring himself to believe it. He murmured, “Was Kaifeng truly flooded?”

Zhou Yanru replied, “In reply to Your Majesty, the reports from the relay stations that Biancheng was inundated are indeed true. The roving bandits drove tens of thousands of refugees to breach the Yellow River; the river waters entered through the north gate and poured out through the southeast gate, the roar of the current like thunder, its force like a mountain. Several hundred thousand gentry and commoners were drowned. Only the Prince of Zhou, his consort, his heir, and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner — fewer than twenty thousand persons in all — managed to escape. Kaifeng, whose beauty was the finest in the Central Plains, has now vanished entirely beneath the waters. After the Prince of Zhou’s residence was submerged, he led the official family members and the various princes to shelter atop the city walls for several days and nights. The Grand Coordinator Hou Xun came with a boat force to receive the Prince, and they fled to the north bank of the Yellow River.”

The Chongzhen Emperor said in a low, heavy voice, “The common people, every living soul, have all become subjects of the river god — my several hundred thousand gentry and commoners…”

His words carried an indescribable weight of grief. Silence filled the pavilion; Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia both kept him company in wordless tears.

After a long while, the Chongzhen Emperor rallied his spirits: “It is a great mercy that our uncle the Prince of Zhou was not lost — a stroke of fortune amid calamity. Hou Xun may use this merit to atone for his offenses.”

He continued, “Shaanxi must not be lost. Though the roving bandits have not yet advanced west through Tongguan, we cannot afford to let down our guard. Since Sun Chuanting is gone, let Hou Xun, as Vice Minister of War, be Viceroy in charge of reinforcing Shaanxi. Chen Yongfu is to go as well, escorting the Prince of Zhou into Qin. Appoint him as Regional Commander for reinforcement operations, bearing the seal of General Who Sweeps Away the Brigands. The two of them must defend the pass with all diligence, striving for merit to redeem themselves. Should they allow the bandits to enter Qin, all their crimes shall be judged together!”

At this point his tone hardened; Zhou Yanru hurriedly and deferentially acknowledged the order.

After a moment’s thought, the Chongzhen Emperor added, “Gao Mingheng lost the city and broke out of the encirclement — a crime that cannot be pardoned. Yet in consideration of the toil and hardship of his defense, he shall not be severely punished. Strip Gao Mingheng of his office and let him return to his home village.”

Zhou Yanru again deferentially assented.

Finally the Chongzhen Emperor picked up one memorial and said through gritted teeth, “The roving bandits have moved east again. Their aim is Xuzhou — they even mean to sever our grain transport!”

Chen Xinjia now spoke up, his face full of worry: “Liu Liangzuo has over ten thousand troops, but with several hundred thousand bandits attacking, I fear he cannot hold Xuzhou.”

At the end of the previous year, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo had brought sixty thousand troops to surrender to the Fengyang Viceroy Ma Shiying. The Chongzhen Emperor had been overjoyed at the report and immediately appointed Sun Kewang as Regional Commander of Shouzhou and Li Dingguo as Vice Regional Commander, while the original Shouzhou Regional Commander Liu Liangzuo was transferred to Xuzhou as Regional Commander.

Though Liu Liangzuo was known for ferocity and had long led troops against the bandits in the Susong, Luzhou, and Liuan regions, rising by accumulated merit to the rank of Regional Commander — in the tenth year of Chongzhen he had even joined with Regional Commander Mou Wenshou to smash over two hundred thousand of Luo Rucai’s subordinate Yao Tiandong’s men —

and though he could be considered richly experienced in fighting the bandits and had accumulated considerable merit, one renowned commander and high minister after another had been destroyed before him. Liu Liangzuo could not exactly be called a famous general, and no one had any confidence whether he could hold Xuzhou.

Moreover, if Xuzhou fell, the grain transport route itself might be threatened.

Grain transport had always been a matter of paramount military and state importance to the Great Ming. All the southern goods required by the capital depended entirely on the Jiangnan grain barges to carry them north, just as the northern goods needed by Jiangnan depended on those same barges to carry them back. Every year as many as eleven thousand grain barges traveled north along the Grand Canal, transporting over four million shi of tribute grain. The very lifeline of the realm was truly bound up in this.

As for the Great Ming’s grain transport schedule, generally after the eleventh month of the lunar calendar and before the third month of the following year, the grain barges had to first reach Huaian, where the Viceroy of Grain Transport would personally inspect them and issue tallies, after which they would pass through the four locks near Qingjiangpu to enter the Huai River and then the Yellow River.

Every year in the third and fourth months was also when the grain barges, stern after prow, journeyed north — continuing until the first part of the sixth month, when the dam at the Huaian Tongji Lock was raised to block the Yellow River. This was to prevent summer floods from bursting forth and the Yellow River from backflowing, which would silt up the inner river and make dredging difficult; therefore, after the sixth month the Huaian grain barges generally did not travel.

Meanwhile, along the section of the canal from Shandong’s Nanwang to Linqing, a dam was also raised every year on the fifteenth day of the tenth month to carry out the major and minor dredging of the channel, and it was not opened again until the first day of the second month of the following year. Any tribute or fresh-produce vessels arriving there during that period had to find alternative means to proceed; all other official and civilian boats were entirely suspended, waiting for the dam to be opened for passage.

For this reason, when Great Ming officials traveled north to take up their posts, they rarely went by boat; most traveled by the post roads.

At this moment, although the season for shipping tribute grain had not yet arrived, a great many grain barges were already massed at Huaian, waiting only for the third or fourth month of the coming year to head north.

It was true that in the thirty-second year of the Wanli reign, Li Hualong had opened the Jia Canal, bypassing over two hundred li of treacherous rapids at the Two Rapids of Xuzhou, so that the grain barges no longer passed through the Xu and Lü rapids to transport grain north but instead went via Pizhou.

Yet the city of Xuzhou lay not far from the canal. To occupy Xuzhou was tantamount to occupying the canal and severing the tribute grain supply.

Even if the roving bandits ultimately failed to take Xuzhou, with their main force massed there and plundering in all directions, the grain barges would be forced to halt at Huaian and go no further, which would still delay the grain transport.

The Chongzhen Emperor dared not imagine what the capital would become the following year without the four million shi of grain and rice shipped up from the south.

He declared resolutely, “Xuzhou must be relieved. I hear that under the Fengyang Viceroy Ma Shiying, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo have many crack troops — ten thousand horses and mules, fifty thousand infantry — they can be ordered to the rescue. Luzhou Regional Commander Huang Degong is also known for his ferocity; order him to join the relief. Let Ma Shiying be Viceroy and Lu Jiude be Army Supervisor. And Liu Zeqing in Shandong — the Ministry of War is to instruct him to march south as well.”

Chen Xinjia hesitated and said, “I only fear this is again the bandits’ tactic of besieging a point to strike the reinforcements.”

The Chongzhen Emperor said sharply, “Am I to simply watch with open eyes as Xuzhou falls?”

Chen Xinjia fell silent as a cicada in winter; Zhou Yanru likewise stared at the tips of his shoes and said nothing.

The Chongzhen Emperor thought for a moment, worried that the bandits might ignore Xuzhou entirely and strike east straight for Shandong and the capital. He said with heavy emphasis, “The Ministry of War must instruct the four Provincial Governors of Shanxi, Henan, Baoding, and Shandong to each put their troops in order, personally station themselves along the riverbanks, and coordinate their defense. Not a single bandit is to be permitted to attempt a crossing; otherwise they shall be severely punished.”

“Furthermore, order the Grand Coordinator of Huaiyang and Viceroy of Grain Transport, Lu Zhenfei, to hold the Two Rivers securely. He must not allow the roving bandits to follow the Yellow River and the Grand Canal downstream and strike straight for Huaian!”

In the seventh month of this year, Shi Kefa had been promoted to Minister of War in Nanjing, and the court had then elevated Lu Zhenfei to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and Viceroy of Grain Transport, stationed at Huaian.

When the Chongzhen Emperor had summoned him for an audience, Lu Zhenfei had laid out his plans in person; at the time the Emperor had felt he was a high official who devoted himself sincerely to his duties. Sure enough, as soon as Lu Zhenfei reached Huaian, he had exterminated the local bandits Cheng Jikong, Wang Daoshan, and Zhang Fangzao who had been plaguing the region. Holding Huaian should be no problem.

After Chen Xinjia and Zhou Yanru had departed, the Chongzhen Emperor sat down weakly in his chair. He could not understand why, despite all his painstaking efforts, the Great Ming only grew worse by the day.

…

Three days later — that is, on the fifth day of the twelfth month — Dorgon was carefully studying an intelligence report sent from the Barbarian City, which recorded the news of Sun Chuanting’s defeat, the flooding of Kaifeng, Li Zicheng’s eastward advance, and more.

This “Barbarian City” was a spy establishment that had been lavishly funded ever since the time of Nurhaci, specializing in gathering intelligence on the Great Ming, spreading rumors, and planting agents. The Later Jin and the Great Qing were extremely willing to spend money in this area; in the case of the captured spy Wang Maofang alone, the Ming court had confiscated 2,530 taels of silver deposited in various shops.

Yet the Later Jin and Great Qing’s training of spies and establishment of intelligence networks had also yielded enormous returns. The fall of the various cities and strongholds in Liaodong, the Ming generals Zhang Pan and Zhu Guochang who had been tricked to their deaths, and even Regional Commander Ma Shilong — all were among the fruits of their labors.

A contemporary, Wang Zaijin, had remarked: “Today in Chang’an, who knows how many men like Liu Bao there are; the very men charged with catching traitors are themselves the traitors.”

The words sent a chill down one’s spine.

Through the placement of spies, the Later Jin and Great Qing had a thorough grasp of every movement and weakness within the Great Ming’s borders — except, of course, for Xuanfu Garrison and the Protectorate, where any spy they sent died as fast as they were dispatched. And they died in hideous fashion: flayed alive, cut in two at the waist, or put to death by slow slicing.

The fearsome reputation of Intelligence Department Chief Wen Daxing struck terror into the Barbarian City.

In early eleventh month, the Manchu Qing had already withdrawn their troops from Japan. Although the combined fleet formed by Zheng Zhilong and the European nations was formidable, on land they could do nothing against the Qing army. The castle-town structure of Japanese cities allowed the Qing troops to plunder everywhere, yet cutting off their grain and fodder supplies proved impossible, and the two sides thus reached a stalemate.

Moreover, plague had broken out in Japan, and the shogunate was even less willing to continue fighting. Both sides began peace negotiations.

In the end, the Qing side agreed to release a portion of the captured Nagasaki civilians and was also willing to open trade with the Zheng clan and the various nations. This also counted as a very large market, sufficient to compensate for the losses at Nagasaki, so those greedy Europeans ceased their efforts.

The shogunate also gained a way to save face and signed a peace agreement with the Qing state. The two sides addressed each other as brotherly nations and pledged non-aggression. Upon departure, the Qing army took the Eight Banners Japanese troops with them, along with some southwestern domain daimyo who felt they would face reprisals, thus removing a heartache for the Tokugawa shogunate. The Japan matter was thus concluded.

Although this campaign against Japan had minor setbacks, they gained over a hundred thousand people, vast amounts of wealth and goods, and also learned the vastness of the world. For the Qing side, the gains were still very great.

However, looking east was no longer possible, so Dorgon turned his greedy gaze back upon the Great Ming.

The widespread spy network allowed the Qing state to obtain intelligence perhaps even faster than the Great Ming court, only lagging by some days due to the long distances. Thus Dorgon very quickly learned of Sun Chuanting's great defeat, the flooding of Kaifeng City, and Li Zicheng's great army rolling eastward to press upon Xuzhou City.

He looked at the intelligence in his hands, and then at the map on his desk, and looked for a long, long time…

On the sixth day of the twelfth month, after convening Manchu and Han ministers to deliberate and a day of fierce quarreling, a messenger bearing a personal letter from Dorgon left Shengjing. He would travel to Xuzhou to make contact with the Chuang army.

In the letter he wrote: "The Emperor of the Great Qing State sends this letter to the various commanders occupying Ming territory in the south: We now send this letter desiring to plan together and combine efforts with you, lords, to jointly seize the Central Plains. Should we unify all under heaven, wealth and honor shall be shared together. We know not what your esteemed intentions may be. Only send a swift envoy, pour out your thoughts and inform us — this is truly our utmost wish…"