Chapter 60: The Great Victory at Shenyang

Zhu Youxiao had already made up his mind—he had been laying his plans for so long that it was nearly time to draw in the net.

He tapped the table lightly with his fingers, his expression growing increasingly grave. What he needed to do was to strike down the Donglin Faction in one fell swoop, crushing them from every direction—whether in the realm of thought or in officialdom, he would wage total war.

He would even crush the Qi, Zhe, and Chu factions all at once. What he intended to employ was a new party—the one he was about to develop.

One should recall that after the Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne, he launched the Great Rites Controversy. What was the so-called Great Rites Controversy, exactly?

On the surface, it was a political dispute over the question of imperial succession—a matter arising from the Jiajing Emperor, who had entered the imperial seat from a regional princedom, seeking to change the titles of his parents.

But was that really what it was? No. In essence, the Jiajing Emperor was playing at political manipulation.

To put it plainly, it meant: it's time for you to pick a side. Whose man are you, and who do you work for—that is what truly matters.

If you're willing to listen to me as your Emperor, willing to work for me, then fine—stand on my side. If not, then I'm afraid I'll have to be sorry.

Zhu Youxiao intended to do the same.

For an emperor, there is no Dao, no justice or evil—there is only whether or not you support my rule.

If you support my rule, then fine—you are my man. If you don't support it, then I can only send you to your death.

This has nothing to do with virtue, nothing to do with learning, and nothing even to do with the individual.

"Summon Wei Zhongxian." Zhu Youxiao thought it over again and again—there was still one step missing in this affair, and that was Wei Zhongxian's end. He had to ensure that no problems arose on Wei Zhongxian's side.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong acknowledged and turned to walk out, his steps swift. He kept feeling that something major was about to happen, and now that feeling was growing ever more urgent.

Wei Zhongxian arrived quickly. Zhu Youxiao looked at the Wei Zhongxian before him and asked with a grim face: "Those men in the Three Judicial Offices—you can still control them, right?"

"To answer Your Majesty, this slave can." Wei Zhongxian replied hastily, his expression not changing in the slightest.

"And getting them to open their mouths and confess?" Zhu Youxiao turned his head to look at Wei Zhongxian again: "You had better speak the truth. If anything goes wrong, I'm afraid you won't even have the chance to go keep vigil at the late Emperor Taizu's tomb."

Wei Zhongxian was startled at these words.

The so-called keeping vigil at Emperor Taizu's tomb was an extremely, extremely cruel punishment for eunuchs.

Having already tasted the flavor of power, how could Wei Zhongxian be willing to go keep vigil? He said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, every word this slave speaks is the truth."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "Very well then—you may go."

Watching Wei Zhongxian leave, Zhu Youxiao stretched. Things had progressed well enough; the remaining matters could now begin.

Liaodong, Shenyang city.

"Great Marshal, the Jianzhou barbarians have withdrawn their troops." Li Guangrong said excitedly: "Shall we pursue them?"

Xiong Tingbi glanced at Li Guangrong, his expression unchanged, and shook his head directly: "No pursuit!"

A flicker of dejection passed over Li Guangrong's face, but he still pressed the matter: "Great Marshal, the Jianzhou barbarians have split their forces—there are barely ten thousand or so outside the city. If our main army in the city charges out, we can surely win in a single battle. That barbarian Nurhaci is still out there—if we can capture him, that would be a great merit, and we might even recover Tieling and other places!"

Glancing at the excited Li Guangrong, Xiong Tingbi shook his head directly. He didn't believe for a moment that these Ming troops in the city could win a battle—holding Shenyang would already be good enough.

Xiong Tingbi even suspected there was an ambush outside. In Xiong Tingbi's view, Nurhaci was not so stupid as to give this old Xiong a chance to pursue.

The so-called splitting forces to attack Liaoyang was surely just a ruse to lie in ambush outside the city. The moment he went out, he would certainly be ambushed—and then not only would this battle be lost, even Shenyang city would fall.

Xiong Tingbi certainly wouldn't do such a thing. He said directly: "You keep watch. Once they've gone far, send out scouts. This Marshal needs to go write a report of victory—this time we've won a great victory, and this Marshal must report the triumph to the court."

Li Guangrong was utterly dumbfounded. Report a victory? A great victory? Great Marshal, have you lost your mind, or did I mishear?

He hurriedly took a few quick steps to catch up, and said with a worried face: "Great Marshal, by now Governor Xue's memorial impeaching you has probably already reached the capital. It will certainly slander you as fearing battle and refusing to advance, as being too cowardly to leave the city. Writing a victory report at this time—I'm afraid it will backfire, won't it?"

Calling a minor victory a great victory, inflating the triumph in the report—this wasn't anything unusual for border troop commanders; it basically counted as standard procedure.

But this time was different. This time they had been hemmed in at home, not even daring to leave the city. And on top of that, the Governor was watching you. Reporting a victory at a time like this—surely that wasn't appropriate?

Xiong Tingbi glanced at Li Guangrong and said irritably: "What do you know? Watch this Marshal win you rewards."

Xiong Tingbi knew full well in his heart that this so-called great victory was nothing but holding the line—but he had to write it this way.

First, to build up his own prestige; second, to establish his authority before the officers and men of Liaodong.

Where does a military commander's authority come from?

The answer is simple: imperial favor. The Emperor's trust is the source of your authority.

If no one listens to what you say, then what authority do you have? Without authority, how can you enforce military discipline? How can you awe your subordinates?

If he could still win rewards under such circumstances, what did that prove? It proved that he was a man favored by His Majesty.

When those below saw that, they would naturally fall in line. Then when he wanted to tighten military discipline, he could—and by killing a few men to make an example, these veteran soldiers would all behave themselves.

Of course, there was difficulty in this as well—namely, whether the Emperor truly trusted him. If not, then he was courting death; if yes, then he could establish his authority.

This was also the third reason Xiong Tingbi wrote this victory report—he wanted to see just how far His Majesty's support for him went.

When a general is in the field, he may decline even the sovereign's orders. If His Majesty could not tolerate him doing something out of line, then this false report of a great victory would probably be enough to get him dismissed and sent home—and he might even be charged with a crime.

As for Xiong Tingbi's reasoning, Li Guangrong naturally didn't understand it.

But seeing Xiong Tingbi so confident, he instinctively believed Xiong Tingbi's words, and then the news spread.

Everyone up and down Liaodong was stunned. This could actually work?

If he could actually get rewards for this, then the Great Marshal must be incredibly favored by His Majesty!

Quite a few people didn't believe Xiong Tingbi could obtain rewards from His Majesty—most of them sneered at the idea.

But no one dared to jump out at this moment. Better safe than sorry! What if this Xiong Tingbi actually pulled it off? What then?

These people adopted a wait-and-see attitude. After all, if Xiong Tingbi failed to get the rewards, he wouldn't have the face to keep his post anyway—might as well wait a bit longer.

However, because Xiong Tingbi did this thing, Liaodong actually stabilized, and everyone began to cooperate with him in his work.