Chapter 101: Turncoat Officials (Please Add to Favorites, Please Recommend)

The first year of the Shun's Yongchang era, the twenty-seventh day of the third month.

The heavy rain fell on Beijing as well. Luo Xiushen, who had been a turncoat official for several days now, wore a blue long robe and a square scholar's cap, held an umbrella, and walked from his home to outside the Left Chang'an Gate. He had surrendered and become a turncoat official together with his elder brother Luo Yangxing, who possessed a "Loyalty and Righteousness Certificate," so he too basked in the reflected glory and was treated as a loyal and righteous turncoat. Immediately after surrendering, he was given the rank of Colonel and put in charge of guarding the gates of the imperial city. The Shun Gate (the former Great Ming Gate), the Chengtian Gate, and the two side gates — the Left Chang'an Gate and the Right Chang'an Gate (the two city gates on Chang'an Avenue outside the Chengtian Gate) — all fell under his responsibility as gate-keeping Colonel.

As for the Meridian Gate, it was guarded by Li Zicheng's imperial guard troops, and a turncoat like Luo Xiushen had no authority over it.

Yet Luo Xiushen, who had become a gate officer of the imperial city the moment he surrendered, was the envy of all the surrendered officials in Beijing who wished to serve the new dynasty... being a turncoat was not something just anyone could manage!

And to be a turncoat without losing one's loyalty and righteousness was even more admirable! He was truly the finest among turncoats!

The rain falling on Beijing today was no small matter, pouring down from the sky in sheets and weaving a wall of rain that blurred the scenery on both sides of Chang'an Avenue.

The great trend of the realm seemed to be like this rain-soaked world — anything a little farther off became impossible to see clearly... Was Heaven deliberately making trouble for the Great Ming? Before the Chongzhen Emperor fled Beijing, there had been drought year after year, and from the start of spring this year almost no rain had fallen. Yet the moment he left, the rain came down in torrents, heaven and earth connected! The drought in Northern Zhili might be greatly relieved!

At this moment Luo Xiushen thought of the Crown Prince Zhu Cilang, and of the special mission Zhu Cilang had entrusted to him.

This young Crown Prince Zhu Cilang seemed able to see clearly into the distant future — at least that was what Luo Xiushen believed. In the future that Zhu Cilang had described to him, the Shun dynasty, at the height of its power, was merely a flash in the pan. By the beginning of the fifth month at the latest it would lose Beijing and flee in disgrace. Not only would it cease to be the ruler of all under heaven, but because it abandoned vast territories and Beijing to the eastern barbarians, it would become a rat that everyone wanted to beat in the street.

And during its brief stay of just over a month in Beijing, the Shun dynasty would also commit an atrocity that offended all the scholar-officials of the realm — the torture and extortion of military funds!

Every Ming official, ennobled noble, and powerful eunuch who remained in Beijing, or who for various reasons had failed to flee, would inevitably be tortured and have their wealth confiscated by the Shun dynasty. The merchants and wealthier commoners of Beijing would also, for the most part, be plundered by the Shun troops...

And these evil deeds — abandoning the city to the barbarians and torturing and extorting officials and merchants — would cause the Shun dynasty to lose the people's hearts and forfeit its claim to legitimacy.

Therefore, the realm from now on would be a Northern and Southern Dynasties situation: the Northern Qing against the Southern Ming.

And Luo Xiushen's duty was to buy more time for the Southern Ming and gather a bit more intelligence...

"Is that Commander Luo?"

Luo Xiushen suddenly heard a voice calling him and quickly turned his head — then was startled. It turned out he was not alone on Chang'an Avenue; there was a long line of officials queuing in the rain along the roadside, stretching from outside the Left Chang'an Gate all the way to Xuanwu Gate Street — no fewer than two thousand people!

Oh, they were former dynasty officials who had come to register their names and posts, waiting to be summoned!

There were actually that many!

Luo Xiushen followed the voice and saw a civil official wearing a bright red Ming python robe, holding a somewhat damaged oil-paper umbrella. More than half of his python robe was soaked, and he was shivering from the cold — truly pitiable. But when Luo Xiushen looked more closely, he froze on the spot.

"Aren't you Grand Secretary Chen?" Luo Xiushen exclaimed.

"No, not Grand Secretary — a guilty subject of the former dynasty now..." The speaker was none other than Chen Yan, the former Chief Grand Secretary of the Great Ming.

He had been dismissed in the second month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen. He could have slipped away with full justification, but because his family assets were considerable and he had not had time to dispose of them, he had missed his chance to leave.

Luo Xiushen stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Grand Secretary Chen, this humble officer recalls that the Zhu family's Crown Prince specifically named you to be taken along when he left. Why are you still in Beijing?"

Luo Xiushen thought to himself: The Crown Prince did mention that if Li Jiantai could not be found, you would be made Grand Secretary again... How did you end up staying behind?

"Hmph, who would want to go along?" Chen Yan's face was full of disdain. His face had little flesh on it to begin with and looked mean-spirited; now it was simply repulsive.

Of course he did not know what Zhu Cilang had in mind, and even if he had known, he would not have dared to go along. Because during his tenure as Chief Grand Secretary he had first blocked the move south, then blocked the summoning of Wu Sangui to relieve Beijing, wasting a great deal of time. Later, when Chongzhen expelled him from the Grand Secretariat, the Emperor had said in fury: "Your death would not expiate your crimes!"

A Chief Grand Secretary whose death would not expiate his crimes — how could he dare to flee with Zhu Cilang?

Of course, Wei Zaode, who succeeded him as Chief Grand Secretary, was no good person either. If one truly pursued the matter, he too deserved death a thousand times over!

But Zhu Cilang would certainly not touch Wei Zaode, because the imperial edict that sent Zhu Cilang out of the palace to command the army and take overall charge of Zhili military affairs had been drafted under Wei Zaode's leadership. In other words, Wei Zaode could attest to the legitimacy of Zhu Cilang's military command. Killing him would be silencing a witness, would it not?

Moreover, during the Incident at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy, Wei Zaode, out of fear for his life, had taken the lead in urging the enthronement — political struggle is about taking sides, and taking the correct side is the greatest correctness of all!

So Zhu Cilang would absolutely never kill Wei Zaode. At least until his power was fully consolidated, Wei Zaode would have to continue serving as a rubber-stamp Grand Secretary... Therefore Wei Zaode stuck very close to Zhu Cilang and was not at all worried that the Crown Prince would settle old scores with him.

But Chen Yan was different. He had not drafted the edict authorizing Zhu Cilang's military command, and he had no merit in urging the enthronement during the Incident at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy. If he went along with Zhu Cilang, he might serve as Grand Secretary for a few more days, but once he had been used up, he might well become the chicken killed to warn the monkeys.

Furthermore, because Chen Yan had stepped down somewhat early, he had not had the chance to witness Zhu Cilang's brilliant performance up close, and did not know how formidable this Crown Prince was. So he had completely lost faith in the Great Ming's future — why would he go along with Zhu Cilang?

"Commander Luo," Chen Yan put on a fawning expression, "you are now a trusted confidant of the Shun Son of Heaven... surely you know something of the new dynasty's affairs?"

"Oh," Luo Xiushen nodded, "I know a little."

Chen Yan smiled. "What has the Son of Heaven been busy with these past two days? Could you tell me a thing or two?"

"There's no harm in telling you, Grand Secretary," Luo Xiushen said with a smile. "As far as I know, the Son of Heaven is busy with only two matters: first, hunting down the Zhu traitor's Emperor and Crown Prince; second, his enthronement."

"Enthronement?" Chen Yan was taken aback. "Didn't the Son of Heaven already ascend the throne once in Xi'an?"

Luo Xiushen shook his head. "What the Son of Heaven is thinking, this humble officer cannot say. But yesterday Chancellor Niu and Military Advisor Song discussed with my elder brother the security arrangements inside and outside Beijing for the enthronement — so it seems he intends to ascend once more."

Luo Yangxing, that loyal and righteous turncoat, had of course also been given important responsibilities by Li Zicheng, being made Prefect of Shuntian, with jurisdiction over security inside and outside Beijing.

"Oh..." Chen Yan nodded, then said ingratiatingly to Luo Xiushen, "Commander, could you do me a favor and lend me a place where this old man might write a memorial?"

"A memorial? What kind of memorial?"

"Naturally, a memorial urging the enthronement."

Luo Xiushen nodded. "The Grand Secretary is as thorough as ever... Very well, please follow me."

...

"That damned Zheng Yiguan, he doesn't know what's good for him, daring to make an enemy of Us! Sooner or later We will have his head!"

Inside the Hall of Martial Valor, Li Zicheng was cursing Zheng Chenggong's father, Zheng Zhilong... It turned out that Li Guo had sent a field report stating that Zheng Zhilong had dispatched a fleet to Tianjin to deliver grain.

From Tianjin to Dagukou was still nearly a hundred li, and the route was all flat ground. Without ships, traveling on foot while carrying large amounts of supplies and family dependents was extremely dangerous. Li Guo had two or three thousand cavalry at hand, perfectly suited for pursuing such a large fleeing column.

Even with the protection of Wu Sangui's barbarian cavalry, the fleeing party of the Zhu Emperor and Crown Prince would have suffered catastrophic losses.

But now, with the hundred-plus seagoing ships provided by the Zheng family, twenty or thirty thousand people could all sail to Dagukou.

How could Li Zicheng not be furious? He had originally planned to first discuss the second enthronement and then receive the turncoat officials. Now he had no mood for any of it; just thinking about it made him angry.

"Your Majesty, that Zheng Yiguan was never a decent sort to begin with," General of Authority Liu Zongmin bellowed. "When we raised the righteous banner and launched our righteous army against the Zhu traitor, all he knew was accepting amnesty and being the Zhu traitor's running dog. Utterly hateful."

"Hmph!" Li Zicheng ground his teeth. "We'll settle accounts with him later... Lock-Sky Sparrowhawk, urge One-Eyed Tiger and Li Guo again — tell them to strike as soon as the sky clears. The Zhu traitor and his son must not be allowed to escape!"

"This subject obeys the decree!" Tian Jianxiu bowed respectfully and accepted the order.

"Yellow Tiger!" Li Zicheng then called Liu Zongmin by name. "You go to the Meridian Gate and meet that pack of turncoat officials... Remember, speak to them nicely, and don't let those old foxes see anything amiss. Officials of the sixth rank and below, We won't bother with. Those of the sixth rank and above are certain to have money — make sure to find out their addresses so we can arrange their arrest! As for those who entered the Grand Secretariat, served as Ministers, or were ennobled at the rank of Count or above, or the great eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Directorate of the Imperial Horses — keep them all and invite them to dinner!"

Liu Zongmin was overjoyed at these words and bowed with a grin. "This subject obeys the decree!"

(End of Chapter)