Chapter 468: Morning Light

Luo Yangxing is the current Jinyiwei Commander, Zhou Yanru is the current Cabinet Senior Grand Secretary, and Wang Zhixin is the current Eastern Depot Director. These three men represent the Three Systems respectively, and Chongzhen must first go through them to investigate and verify the truth of the matter.

After issuing the order, Chongzhen stood there dumbly and read the letter once more, then his face flushed red, the veins on his forehead bulging out one by one; he raised his head, closed his eyes, and began muttering phrases like "ancestors bless us."

What followed were hard-to-understand words, things like "We are so diligent," and "Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang," and so on; the surrounding crowd dared not laugh at this moment... but the terrace was filled with a merry air.

Usually, in later generations, this kind of person would be reported and detained the moment they entered a place like a high-speed rail station.

Fortunately, this was the seventeenth century, and no one in the Imperial City dared to rebel and detain the boss, so Chongzhen just had a fit of hysterics in broad daylight.

In the end, it was Empress Zhang who saw the situation turning bad and stepped forward to interrupt the Emperor's episode: "With such a great victory at the frontier, I congratulate the Emperor! I congratulate the Great Ming!"

As Empress Zhang performed a full blessing curtsy, all the eunuchs, palace maids, guards, and ministers on the terrace uniformly knelt down and shouted in unison: "Your servants and humble ministers congratulate Your Majesty!"

The Emperor jolted awake.

After looking around in astonishment, Chongzhen, returning to his normal channel, hurriedly bowed and extended his arms in a gesture of support: "Imperial Sister-in-law, please rise quickly!"

After his sister-in-law rose, the Emperor then smiled and raised both hands slightly: "All of you may rise. Today is a great joy; We celebrate together with all of you!"

The palace staff, who had never heard the Emperor speak such kind words, could hardly believe it for a moment, so everyone kowtowed once more before rising one after another.

Next, the Emperor, all smiles, said to a certain person: "Since it is a great victory, there must be many details involved. Minister Wen, my beloved minister, quickly tell Us the full story."

The old actor Wen Tiren did not follow the Emperor's wishes at this moment, but instead clearly pointed out the most important thing to do right now: "Your Majesty, the palace gates are about to be locked. This minister believes we should first move the imperial presence."

"Ah, yes, move the presence!" The Emperor, upon hearing this, looked at the sky and found it was already dusk; the palace gates would close before long: "Our joy has disordered Us. Attendants, move the presence to Qianqing... go to Huangji Hall."

Qianqing Palace is the main hall of the Inner Court, the first palace among the so-called "Hou San Gong (Qianqing Palace, Jiaotai Palace, Kunning Palace)."

Because Qianqing Palace is conveniently located—just beyond Qianqing Gate are the Wai Chao San Da Dian—many Ming Dynasty emperors used Qianqing Palace as their bedchamber. Activities including daily governance, receiving ministers and foreign envoys, and holding family banquets all took place in Qianqing Palace.

Just now, Chongzhen was about to return to Qianqing Palace out of habit.

However, he suddenly realized that since such a major event had occurred, he and his ministers would likely have to work through the night, so he could not return to the Inner Court. Otherwise, once the palace gates were locked soon, it would be inconvenient for the ministers to enter and exit.

Therefore, he could only go to Huangji Hall.

Huangji Hall is the Ming Dynasty name; it is the Hall of Supreme Harmony of later generations, the first great hall after the Meridian Gate, and also the largest in volume, a royal symbol normally used for grand court assemblies. Going there, once the palace gates were locked, the Emperor could order a single gate of the Outer Court to remain open for access without disturbing the Inner Court.

Thus, the Emperor, amidst renewed congratulatory calls from the Empress Dowager's palace behind him, hastily set off for Huangji Hall.

Chongzhen's current location was beneath the right side wall of the Forbidden City. From here, going straight west, passing the Imperial Horse Agency, then crossing through the Left Wing Gate, was exactly Huangji Hall. So this time, the Emperor actually arrived faster than the ministers. After the group entered the hall and ascended their seats, they discovered that only Zhou Yanru, who worked at the nearby Wenyuan Pavilion, had arrived first; the rest had not yet come.

The baffled Senior Grand Secretary Zhou Yanru read the letter first.

After reading the letter, Senior Grand Secretary Zhou's instinct told him: this is not true.

In his view, setting aside the Great Ming's consistent weakness against the Later Jin, the figure of 4000 alone was purely fraudulent and a false military report; he had seen too many such battle reports.

Furthermore, considering that Wen Tiren was currently in the critical period of entering the Cabinet, Senior Grand Secretary Zhou had reason to believe: today's spectacle was definitely another moth conjured up by Wen Tiren, using the same routine as his previous verbal battle against a host of scholars—in short, a trick to catch the eye and draw the Emperor's attention.

Having finished his assessment, Senior Grand Secretary Zhou swept a glance at the extremely excited Emperor on the throne, made a couple of bland remarks, and then, calm and composed with his hands folded over his belly, prepared to go with the flow and watch the show.

Yes, the Senior Grand Secretary had no intention of spoiling Wen Tiren's good thing. The answer would be revealed in at most a short while anyway; why jump out and make trouble?

On the contrary, he intended to diligently study the old thespian's methods of deceiving the sovereign. It must be known that Zhou Yanru was the youngest Cabinet Senior Grand Secretary in the entire Ming Dynasty, only 37 years old this year! He still had much to learn from his seniors.

Zhou Yanru, to put it bluntly, was a fence-sitter, a profit-above-all sort of person.

First of all, Zhou Yanru's relationship with the Donglin Party was actually very close—he was a disciple of Ye Xianggao, the first party chief of the Donglin Party.

However, during this Jisi Incident, when Zhou Yanru sensed Chongzhen's disappointment with Yuan Chonghuan and the Donglin Party, he immediately turned hostile and impeached Yuan Chonghuan at the first moment.

What happened afterward was a matter of course: the Donglin Party was certain to seek revenge on a double agent.

So when party chief Qian Qianyi used the lot-drawing method to select Cabinet ministers, he secretly tampered with it, removing the names of Wen Tiren, then Minister of Rites, and Vice Minister Zhou Yanru.

This then triggered a counterattack by Wen Tiren and the Emperor, which knocked Qian Qianyi down into a retired old cadre in one blow.

In the aftermath, Zhou Yanru got his wish and became Senior Grand Secretary.

In real history, after Wen Tiren entered the Cabinet this year, the two sides immediately turned hostile and began tearing at each other, and then Old Wen spent three years knocking Zhou Yanru down into a retired cadre as well.

Yet Zhou Yanru, having returned to his Old Home, became thick as thieves with the Donglin Party again. By the fourteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, with the strong support of the Donglin Party, Zhou Yanru was finally recalled to Beijing once more to contribute his light and heat to the court.

In short, the reaction of going with the flow and watching the show was, for Senior Grand Secretary Zhou at this point in time, consistent with his stance and his fence-sitter persona. Because up to now, there were no major conflicts between him and Wen Tiren; on the contrary, the two sides shared a bit of pressure in dealing with the Donglin Party.

As for Jinyiwei Commander Luo Yangxing and Eastern Depot Director Wang Zhixin, who hurried over later, there was even less need to mention them. These two actually had no political voice; they purely followed the Emperor's orders.

So after everyone gathered in Huangji Hall and discussed briefly, before long, the Three Systems dispatched large numbers of manpower out of Beijing's East Gate, heading straight for Santun Camp to verify the truth.

Immediately after, all officials of Rank Three and above, including the various Ministers and Vice Ministers, were summoned by the Emperor's messengers: an evening court session was to be held.

Normally, the Emperor rarely held evening court. But since the Jisi Incident, Chongzhen had already held evening court twice, so the ministers who received the news rushed to the imperial palace one after another, fearing some great calamity had occurred again.

During this process, the news that 4000 Tartars had been wiped out and Amin beheaded naturally spread unchecked. Thus, all of Beijing was as if electrified; the long-suppressed Ming people rushed to spread the word. Before long, the news turned into rumors, blown more and more fantastical, and the Tartar death toll was quickly multiplied.

And inside Huangji Hall at that moment, it was naturally extremely lively.

A group of Donglin Party members were foaming at the mouth, pointing fingers and glaring angrily, wildly besieging and fiercely criticizing Wen Tiren, with an imposing manner as if they would spray this wretch to death on the spot to repay the imperial grace.

The Donglin Party members, who knew everything under heaven in civil and geographical matters and were masters of all military strategy and formations, had refuted the contents of that letter completely. Not only did they point out N number of errors and omissions, but they also accurately judged Wen Tiren's unconfessable, sinister purpose: this fellow was just a clickbait influencer, fabricating this letter to grab His Majesty's attention.

Under the skeptical gazes filling the hall and the assault of spittle splashing onto his face, Comrade Old Thespian Wen Tiren closed his eyes slightly, tucked his hands into his sleeves, shut his ears to the affairs outside the window, and actually stood there feigning sleep—he had already placed his bet, done everything he could, and was just waiting for the cup to be opened.

As for this bunch of Donglin clowns... let them be. The more viciously they cursed, the more the Emperor would disdain them.

Time passed minute by minute, second by second.

When Chongzhen found that the ministers before him could no longer quarrel out any new tricks, he ordered the expulsion of a bunch of onlookers, leaving only a small number of key ministers to keep watch through the night.

As for the Emperor himself, due to being overly excited, he stayed up until late at night before going to a side hall to rest, and left word: if any military intelligence arrived, they could wake him at any time.

Yet the night passed in a hurry, and nothing happened.

At three in the morning the next day, over a thousand officials had already gathered outside the Meridian Gate, waiting for the morning court drum to sound.

Today was different from other days; every official in the capital qualified to attend morning court, without exception, came to work, and everyone was full of energy. A buzz filled the crowd as they all exchanged that astonishing news.

At 5 a. m., the bell rang, and the palace gates opened.

The hundred officials entered in order, crossing the Jin Shui Bridge to take their positions in the square.

Afterward, the young Emperor, who had only rested for a few hours, arrived outside Huangji Hall. The hundred officials performed the ritual of one kneel and three kowtows. The morning court of April 5, 1630, officially began.

A special note must be made here: Chongzhen was without a doubt the most diligent Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

It was very common for this gentleman to review memorials until one or two in the morning, and he attended morning court every day without fail, even more diligent than the Founding Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. Yet this was of no use; when a great edifice is about to collapse, the more diligent one is, the faster the nation falls.

The main theme of today's morning court was still the fraudster Wen Tiren denunciation assembly.

The Donglin Party's key fighters took turns stepping forward; while denouncing Wen Tiren until he was reviled and disgraced, they also called on colleagues not to spread rumors or believe rumors, and someone incidentally demanded the Emperor banish Wen Tiren to the frontier, "to apologize to those below."

So under the Emperor's helpless gaze, old man Wen silently endured, first being fiercely blasted for a round.

Just as the key fighters were catching their breath, preparing to press on with renewed effort, the east reddened, the sun rose, and a fragment of morning light spilled down.

At the same time, a galloping horse, its rider brandishing a waist token, charged through the Meridian Gate and Jin Shui Bridge, dismounting directly outside the Huangji Gate.

Then this messenger, wearing the uniform of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, under the dense gaze of capital officials lining both sides, sprinted all the way to the vermilion steps, knelt, and shouted: "Reporting to His Majesty, it has now been verified that the Zhangchao Deputy Regional Commander has won a great victory over the Tartar Soldiers, taking more than 4,000 heads!"

In that one moment, the Donglin Party members all turned into toads, their eyeballs bulging out.

In that one moment, old man Wen clutched his forehead, swaying as if about to collapse.

In that one moment, the young Chongzhen Emperor rose from behind the imperial desk, spread his arms, struck the classic Titanic pose, and laughed with utter abandon.