Chapter 10: Eighteen Sons (Part 1)

While Li You complained in the depths of Mount Daba, ten thousand li away, on the northwestern edge of the North China Plain, backed by the foothills of the Taihang Mountains and the Yanshan Range, stood a golden city, trembling in the autumn wind like a dying old man.

South of the great city stood a three-story wooden archway with yellow tiles and flying eaves, open to the wind on all four sides through five arches; high in the center of the archway hung a plaque reading "Gate of Heaven's Mandate."

On both sides of the gate hung couplets written by Scholar Xie: "Sun and moon illuminate the Emperor's virtue; mountains and rivers fortify the Imperial dwelling." This proclaimed that within the Meridian Gate lay the Great Ming's nine-fold Imperial residence!

In the morning, a large crowd of eunuchs and palace maids surrounded the imperial carriage, exiting from Xuanwu Gate and proceeding along the Imperial Road on the north bank of the moat.

Crossing the Golden Ape and Jade Bridge, on the left and right lay the Taiye Pool, its waters vast and green, flowing lightly and smoothly, presenting a scene of clear autumn.

A cool breeze blew, striking the four dragon-and-phoenix carriages, gently caressing the face of a middle-aged man...

The middle-aged man was named Zhu Youjian, grandson of the Wanli Emperor and younger brother of the Tianqi Emperor.

Although he was still a youth under thirty, long years of toil had already made him appear old.

His face, once graceful and spirited like a melon seed, now showed extremely high cheekbones; his pale cheeks, in the cool autumn wind, appeared wan and haggard; fine crow's feet had already formed at the corners of his small eyes, deep and disordered, connecting to his darkened eye sockets.

The autumn wind caressed his face; Chongzhen's mind suddenly cleared, and he opened his eyes wide to gaze at Qionghua Island, but then suddenly remembered a mountain of annoying memorials, and could only sigh inwardly in sorrow.

"After we finish offering incense at Great Brightness Hall, we might as well rest for a while at Tuan Cheng, take in the full view of the Western Gardens, and then proceed to Yingtai for a meal."

Chongzhen thought to himself, then quickly turned his thoughts to the matter of offering incense and drawing lots, and could not help but sigh again: "Alas, when will the winds and rains be timely? If I can just cultivate peace for two years, what are the Eastern Slaves and rebel leaders worth?"

Two years into Chongzhen's reign, state affairs had long since left him with a burning head and aching heart; the ambition he held when ascending the throne to become a sage ruler like Yao and Shun had gradually faded.

However, from the eleventh year of Chongzhen, when Li Zicheng was defeated and died in Mount Shangluo, and Zhang Xianzhong submitted at Gucheng, he finally gained a moment's respite, and that aspiration for sage rulership hidden in his heart began to quietly grow again.

In fact, at the very beginning of his reign, although the nation suffered internal chaos and external threats, the overall situation had not yet rotted away; at that time, his confidence in becoming a "restorer of the dynasty" was quite strong.

Especially after ascending the throne at the age of seventeen, he swiftly expelled villains like Wei Zhongxian and supported the Donglin Party, a group of upright gentlemen, resulting in a court filled with virtuous men.

According to the Confucian theories of that time, was this not the brilliant opening stroke of a "wise emperor"?

This made him, regarding earthquakes, great droughts, floods, solar eclipses, stellar changes, strange winds, and incessant rains—abnormal natural phenomena—feel the awe common to his contemporaries, but not fear.

After the Jisi Incident, his methods gradually became harsh; court officials unanimously believed that any abnormal natural disaster was a Five Elements anomaly, a warning from Heaven to the Emperor.

Who would have thought that one word struck the mark; for these ten years, disasters had indeed been unceasing.

Especially recently, an earthquake struck Yanjing; everyone believed Yanjing was the capital of Great Ming, right beneath the feet of the current Emperor, yet since his accession, Yanjing had suffered two earthquakes; was this not an omen that the Jiangshan beneath his feet was unstable?

This immediately made him tremble with fear and lie sleepless in perplexity.

Although previously he had not been obsessed with Buddhism or Daoism, having been influenced by Xu Guangqi, the Minister of Rites at the time, and leaning somewhat toward Catholicism, in recent days he had become increasingly superstitious regarding Buddhas, Daoist deities, ghosts, and gods.

It even reached the point where, as long as it was a god, whether Eastern or Western, he believed in it.

While Chongzhen was lost in thought, the imperial carriage had already passed the jade archway and was not far from Great Brightness Hall.

Today he was going to Great Brightness Hall to burn incense and draw lots; a few days ago, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he had exempted all officials and titled ladies from paying court greetings; fearing the inner palace would be dull, he had brought along Empress Zhou and Consorts Tian and Yuan, and had specially approved bringing the Fifth Imperial Prince and Princess Zhaoren.

Chongzhen now had five sons and two daughters.

Among the five sons, the Crown Prince and the Third Imperial Prince were born of Empress Zhou, while the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Imperial Princes were all born of Consort Tian.

The Second Imperial Prince was nine years old this year, and the Fourth was seven. They already understood etiquette, had been made very rigid by court education, and most importantly, through their interactions with palace maids and eunuchs, deeply understood the Emperor's wrath and were very fearful of Chongzhen.

In contrast, the Fifth Imperial Prince, not yet five years old, was born with a tiger-like head and bold spirit, fearless of heaven or earth, very lively; Chongzhen liked him very much in daily life.

Besides them, there was Princess Zhaoren, nominally six years old, who looked extremely like Empress Zhou, naturally beautiful, with a very innocent nature. Every time Chongzhen saw her, he would personally hold her, placing her on his lap to play for a while.

Therefore, only these two were unafraid of the Emperor, allowing Chongzhen to truly experience the joy of family life.

The Imperial Road had already been swept extremely clean; although it was not paved with brocade red carpets, all the potholes along the route had been filled with yellow sand and repaired very smoothly; three or five hundred eunuchs, palace maids, attendants, and actors of various ranks had already begun to receive the Imperial arrival.

Regarding the crowd receiving the Imperial arrival, Empress Zhou paid them no mind; her gaze occasionally fell upon Chongzhen.

Her name was Zhou Yufeng, a native of Suzhou, possessing the graceful physique of a southern woman, with dignified eyebrows and eyes; seeing Chongzhen in good spirits, she then raised her head to look at the magnificent and towering Great Brightness Hall before her, and could not help but stare in a daze...

Within the vast palace complex, the main axis featured the Great Brightness Hall, which was circular, several zhang high, topped with yellow glazed tiles in a circular pyramidal roof with two tiers (the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at the Temple of Heaven has three tiers); between the upper and lower eaves hung a square plaque reading "Great Brightness Hall." Inside the hall were set seven treasures cloud-dragon tablets for worshipping the Jade Emperor.

This hall was built during the Jiajing reign; the Jiajing Emperor, following the Daoist priest Tao Zhenren, practiced alchemy and cultivated immortality here. 【Note】

Since Jiajing, successive emperors have personally come every year to burn incense or to erect altars and perform Taoist rituals.

Amidst the crowd's cries of "Ten Thousand Years," Chongzhen and the consorts descended from the carriages; after the affairs were concluded, they proceeded to Tuan Cheng.

On top of Tuan Cheng stood a hall called Golden Yuan Hall; sitting there allowed one to overlook the full view of the Western Gardens.

Perhaps having drawn a good lot from the incense offering, Chongzhen was in high spirits; holding Princess Zhaoren in one arm, he chatted and laughed with the consorts about the autumn scenery, with bursts of laughter and joy occasionally ringing out.

The Fifth Imperial Prince was only five years old; the mountain scenery and water did not interest him much; suddenly seeing an eunuch leading an imperial horse at the foot of the mountain, he could not help but tug at Chongzhen's sleeve and, with a bold tiger-like expression, say: "Father Emperor, look... there's a horse!"

Chongzhen pinched his small face and smiled: "Heh, truly my son; how is it that at such a young age you already wish to ride a horse?"

The Fifth Imperial Prince rarely saw Chongzhen in such high spirits; although Consort Tian had instructed him on many court rules, at this moment he could not help but jump and clap his hands, exclaiming: "Yes, Father Emperor, I want to ride a horse!"

Consort Tian chimed in from the side: "Is it because you wish to grow up and sweep away the Hu barbarians for Father Emperor, pacifying the borderlands?"

The Fifth Imperial Prince clenched his fists, puffed out his chest, and said: "Of course!"

Chongzhen did not mind the impropriety in Consort Tian's words regarding an Imperial Prince leading troops; he spoke openly: "Haha, if you want to ride, then ride; let's go!"

He then led the consorts down from Tuan Cheng.

Beside him, Consort Tian secretly rejoiced; her name was Tian Xiuying, her beauty surpassed all in the six palaces, her talents overshadowed the multitude, and she repeatedly displayed abilities different from others; of course, what she was most skilled at was horse riding. She originally came from Shaanxi; her father, Tian Hongyu, had once been a horse merchant, before the whole family moved to Yangzhou.

As Empress Zhou passed her, she glanced at her faintly, as if seeing her or not.

Consort Tian's heart suddenly startled; she immediately pressed her lips together, her face full of deference.

At the foot of the mountain, the eunuch preparing the horses was Wang Dehua, on duty today. He was the Brush-Holding Eunuch among the Twelve Bureaus of the Directorate of Ceremonials, holding the greatest power. He had followed Chongzhen since the Prince of Xin's Wang Fu, so naturally he knew Chongzhen's temper and had prepared everything thoroughly.

He had already saddled several imperial horses that Chongzhen loved most and had been waiting under a willow tree not far down the mountain to attend; suddenly, a small eunuch came and whispered in his ear...

Instantly his face turned ashen, as if he had learned some earth-shattering news; he could not help but mutter: "Heavens, heavens! Li Zicheng truly did not die? He has even broken out of Mount Shangluo? Such a world-shaking event, and this border report only just arrived now? Damn it, damn it, all of them deserve to die!"

In fact, he knew even deeper in his heart that, given how lax and shirking the court officials were nowadays, pushing blame onto one another, the event likely occurred even earlier.

But currently, since Zheng Chongjian dared to affix his seal, it must undoubtedly be the Rebel Li Zicheng; the problem is, at this critical juncture, Zhang Xianzhong has rebelled again and has not yet been pacified, and now another great rebel leader appears; can His Majesty endure this? Even if he can endure it, can I endure the wrath of the Son of Heaven?

"Your Lordship, please calm your anger... the urgent memorial has just arrived at the Yangxin Hall duty room; Wang Cheng'en of the accompanying hall has ordered it to be transmitted." The small eunuch, terrified, prostrated himself on the ground.

Wang Dehua coldly snorted in his heart: "Wang Cheng'en? What a huge dog's gall, ordering me to transmit? Hmph, such an inauspicious matter, why doesn't he come himself?"

Seeing Chongzhen leading the Fifth Imperial Prince down the mountain, he hurriedly dismissed the small eunuch beside him, and his expression changed drastically...

【Note】: A Daoist temple located south of Xi'an Gate Street in the Xicheng District of Yanjing, west of Guangming Hutong (originally Guangming Dian Hutong). Nearly 500 years of history, later destroyed during the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China.