Chapter 12: The Crown Prince Runs the Bank (Da Luoluo Begs for Votes)

At this thought, Wu Xiang said to Zhu Cilang and Wang Cheng'en, "Your Highness, Director Wang, the secret edict ordering my son to escort His Majesty south has not yet been issued, has it?"

Zhu Cilang said, "Not yet. This secret edict is also a palace edict, not issued through the Grand Secretariat and the Ministry of War. We fear it would put Regional Commander Wu in a difficult position."

According to Ming dynasty institutions, an imperial edict required both a draft rescript and an imperial endorsement in red ink to take effect. If there was no draft rescript, only the emperor's red endorsement, it was what was called a palace edict — practically a private letter from the emperor.

If Wu Sangui received a palace edict ordering him to escort His Majesty south, whether he would carry it out was truly hard to say. For if he carried out a palace edict, he would offend the Grand Secretariat and the civil official bloc. If he did not carry it out, he would offend the emperor. Neither side was easy to offend, and it did indeed put Wu Sangui in something of a bind!

Wu Xiang patted his chest. "Your Highness, set your mind at ease. This old man will write to my son at once and tell him to muster five thousand picked troops immediately and march day and night to relieve the capital, to receive the Son of Heaven as he journeys south."

"Good, good!" Zhu Cilang nodded repeatedly, his face full of delight, as though some palace edict really were about to be issued... Of course there was no palace edict. The Chongzhen Emperor was a wise sovereign; how could he bypass the Grand Secretariat and act on his own?

But Wu Xiang's personal letter was still useful! Tomorrow, when Li Zicheng's great army reached the vicinity of Beijing, Zhu Cilang intended to take this letter to Chongzhen. By then the fire would be singeing their eyebrows, and Chongzhen would probably break through his bottom line and begin using palace edicts to move troops.

That way, when Zhu Cilang broke out of Beijing, he would be able to receive support from Wu Sangui's forces, and his hopes of escaping safely would be considerably greater.

Moreover, holding Wu Xiang's personal letter in his hand, Zhu Cilang would also have the capital to bargain with the Chongzhen Emperor — this was what was called catching a white wolf with empty hands!

Paper and brush were kept ready in the main hall of the inner parade ground, so Wu Xiang wrote a letter on the spot and handed it to Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang carefully put away his father-in-law's letter, then smilingly instructed Wang Cheng'en to prepare food and wine. It was already getting late, nearly mealtime, and Zhu Cilang still had to keep stringing along Wu Xiang and Wu Sanfu, so he would have to eat, drink, and string them along all at once.

The food and wine would still be a while in coming, so Zhu Cilang and Wang Cheng'en continued talking with Wu Xiang and his son. It was no idle chatter either — they turned the conversation directly to reorganizing the troops and breaking out.

Honest Wang Cheng'en did have a certain efficiency in getting things done. He had not slept all night, and had gathered a crowd of adopted sons and adopted grandsons to round up manpower all over Beijing.

From the Nanhaizi Purified Troops — a eunuch army of about three thousand men — he selected three hundred sturdy matchlock eunuchs. He also summoned some veterans of the Valiant Guard Camp who were in the capital — mostly older soldiers no longer fit for continued military service, along with a few officers and men who had recovered from wounds while recuperating in the capital; there were not many, only two or three hundred. In addition, there were the Eastern Depot riders under Wang Cheng'en's own command, of whom he gathered over a hundred. Beyond that, there were assorted sturdy fellows — servants from the households of Wang Cheng'en and his "sons" and "grandsons." In the end he managed to scrape together about a thousand, and now they were gathered loosely in a corner of the inner parade ground waiting to be fed.

Before Zhu Cilang arrived, Wu Xiang and his son Wu Sanfu had already gone over to take a look.

"Not bad at all. Quite sturdy and strong — far better than the soldiers guarding the various city gates."

That was the assessment of Wu Xiang, a man who had led troops for many years, of the rabble Wang Cheng'en had hastily assembled.

Wu Xiang said, "There are quite a few old soldiers among them, all with fierce looks that make even the Purified Troops and the Depot riders deeply wary. One look tells you they have been through killing fields. If my household retainers can serve as officers, they should be able to organize them into a proper unit. As long as armor, weapons, and equipment are sufficient, they will have the strength to fight a battle."

The household retainers this father-in-law had brought were, in truth, the force Zhu Cilang valued most!

Right now in Beijing, soldiers were easy to come by, but officers were hard to find!

Because all the combat-capable units of the Capital Camps had been transferred out — which is to say, there was no organized elite force left.

But there were still plenty of sturdy, able-bodied men, for these had been years of chaos and war, and there was no shortage of men who had been on battlefields, served as soldiers, and then for various reasons drifted to Beijing to seek a living.

Moreover, the Valiant Guard Camp's headquarters was also in Beijing. The formed units had marched off, but the scattered troops left behind, or old soldiers whose places had been filled by sons and nephews, were certainly not few.

In addition, many official and noble households in the capital had gone to every length, sparing no expense, to recruit battle-hardened veterans and picked men from the Capital Camps to protect themselves. This too provided a livelihood for these crafty old soldiers.

Now, as long as Wang Cheng'en could put up a bit more money, he would always be able to recruit some. And when it came to getting money, Zhu Cilang still had a few tricks.

But with brave men alone, and no officers to organize them and no military discipline to restrain them, they were nothing but a mob, incapable of defeating the great army of the Roving Bandit.

Yet in this moment of urgency, where was Zhu Cilang to find a group of officers who could truly organize an army? There were plenty of men in Beijing holding military rank, but how many of them could actually take the field?

Even if there were some, most were scattered officers with no organization, and within a few days they simply could not organize an army... In this age, armies were not standardized, nor were there officer schools producing standardized officers. A group of officers from different units thrown together could not lead troops at all without a period of working together.

But the household retainers Wu Xiang had brought from Ningyuan were a group that was both organized and battle-hardened, and among them there were surely old retainers who had served as junior officers. Moreover, Wu Xiang was their old master, who had led them through life-and-death battles for half a lifetime — did old Wu not know exactly what each man was capable of?

So with the household retainers Wu Xiang had brought, plus the able-bodied men Wang Cheng'en had hired, and with suitable weapons, an army could be formed immediately.

It could not fight a hard battle, but with Wu Xiang, that expert at running away, leading them, escorting the Chongzhen Emperor's family in flight should pose no great problem...

"Companion Wang, how much are you paying them per day?" Zhu Cilang asked Wang Cheng'en with a smile.

He had not seen that mob — probably the eunuchs in charge, fearing they would startle His Highness, had made them keep their distance.

"In reply to Thousand Years, apart from the Eastern Depot and Purified Troops men, this old slave gives everyone else two hundred copper cash per day, plus two meals."

In the late Ming, copper coins were minted recklessly, so their value was very low; only standard coins made from fine copper were relatively expensive. But Wang Cheng'en was not that generous — what he handed out were all ordinary small coins, about 5,500 of them to a tael of silver. Two hundred cash was thus 0.036 of a tael of silver; calculated monthly, that came to about one tael. It was lower than the Guanning Army's one tael four mace, and about the same as the pay of an ordinary Ming soldier.

"Come, let's go take a look!"

Whether by prior design or on a sudden whim, Zhu Cilang actually stood up and had Wang Cheng'en lead the way to see the brave men.

...

These so-called brave men did not look like much at first glance. Three hundred were Purified Troop eunuchs, broken in body and unsteady in resolve. Over a hundred were old fellows from the Valiant Guard Camp, many with hair already white. Another hundred-odd were Eastern Depot riders — that is, secret agents, picked men selected from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, though not the sort for close combat either. Apart from these old fellows, Purified Troops, and secret agents, the remaining three or four hundred at least looked somewhat more like able-bodied men.

When Zhu Cilang arrived under Wang Cheng'en's guidance, these so-called "brave men" were gathered together wolfing down flatbread. They were clustered in knots. Several of Wang Cheng'en's "grandsons" were calling out among them: "Thousand Years has arrived — come quickly to greet him!"

The brave men all lived at the foot of the imperial city walls, so of course they knew that "Thousand Years" referred to Zhu Cilang and his brothers — figures of the most exalted rank. At once they stopped eating their flatbread and came swarming over, kneeling to pay their respects.

"We humble ones pay our respects to Thousand Years!"

A loud-voiced eunuch led the shout, and then everyone followed in unison — quite a lively scene.

Zhu Cilang was in good spirits and said with a smile, "Rise, all of you, rise... Still eating, are you? Is there any meat?"

The loud-voiced eunuch immediately replied, "In reply to Thousand Years, this humble one has not prepared any meat for them."

"Then go and prepare some at once... These are brave men who defend our Great Ming's realm. How can they be without meat to eat?"

"Yes! This humble one will send men outside the palace at once to buy some," the eunuch answered immediately.

"Companion Wang," Zhu Cilang turned and said to Wang Cheng'en, "Two hundred copper cash is too little. Give each man one mace of silver."

Wang Cheng'en was taken aback. This Crown Prince certainly put on grand airs — giving them meat to eat, and now raising their pay... Was he not a little too good at squandering money?

"Thousand Years, one mace of silver a day — that is three taels a month..."

"Pay it!" Zhu Cilang waved his hand grandly. "Companion Wang, go fetch the money and give it out in Our presence. Everyone gets a share... the Purified Troops and the Depot riders too, every one of them."

"We thank Thousand Years for his reward!"

"We thank Thousand Years..."

How delighted that bunch of "brave men" was! They had done nothing at all and yet received a mace of silver, and there was meat to eat besides. Where could one find such a fine thing?

Right now, standing guard on the inner and outer walls of Beijing paid only a hundred copper cash a day, and no meals were provided!

Wang Cheng'en could hardly defy the order in front of Zhu Cilang, so he could only send men to fetch the silver and, in Zhu Cilang's presence, hand out one tael per ten men and let them divide it among themselves. The "brave men" were of course all delighted, but those accompanying Zhu Cilang were frowning deeply.

This was far too much money to be giving out... The Crown Prince did not know how to manage a household!

(End of Chapter)