Chapter 131: Arrival at Dagukou (Please Collect, Please Recommend)

Dagukou.

Two mounted couriers belonging to the Tianjin Guard naval squadron galloped like the wind straight into the Dagukou fortress. Both riders were dressed as common folk, looking like a pair of jianghu bodyguards. Only after they had exchanged passwords and secret signs outside the Dagukou fortress were they let in through a crack in the gate. And the moment these two riders entered the city gate, they stirred up a huge commotion inside Dagukou, where the air was so heavy it was hard to breathe.

"The Emperor and the Army-Inspecting Crown Prince have arrived!"

Dagukou was now a camp for Ming officials in distress — all of them officials who had fled Beijing on the sixteenth and seventeenth of the third month like refugees. They had all brought their families along, traveling by boat and cart in droves. Upon reaching Dagukou, they sought out Su Guansheng, the Dengzhou-Laizhou Circuit Intendant in command of the Tianjin Guard naval squadron stationed here, to ask for ships, wanting to sail across the sea to Dengzhou and Laizhou to take refuge.

This Su Guansheng was also one of the few capable men left in the Ming official world, and like Shen Tingyang, he was a product of the Imperial Academy in Nanjing. But his family had no money; he was a proper scholar, and as an official he was utterly incorruptible, known as "the master who wants no office, no money, and no life." In official circles he was also something of a thorn in everyone's side.

In a time of peace and prosperity, a man like this would most likely have been kicked out of the game long ago. But Su Guansheng had met with the chaos of the late Ming, and there were plenty of troublesome posts available for settling a "no office, no money, no life" master. The post of Dengzhou-Laizhou Circuit Intendant overseeing the Tianjin Guard naval squadron was just such a thankless assignment.

The Ming Tianjin Guard naval squadron had originally been stationed at Dagukou in Tianjin, and later moved to Dengzhou and Laizhou. The name was not changed; it was still called the Tianjin Guard naval squadron, and it still kept its port and fortress here at Dagukou.

And unlike other naval squadrons elsewhere in the Ming, which were rich in perks and existed mainly to protect smuggling, the Tianjin Guard naval squadron not only had no perks, but also carried the constant risk of death — for the Tianjin Guard naval squadron bore the double mission of protecting the Liaodong supply route and supporting the Guanning Army in battle!

A large part of the naval force that had earlier been annihilated on Juehua Island had been drawn from the Tianjin Guard naval squadron.

So the post of supervising the Tianjin Guard naval squadron had never been much sought after, and it was simply dumped on the equally unpopular Su Guansheng. After all, he was a man who did not care for his own life.

Yet Su Guansheng's style of "no office, no money, no life" turned out to be exactly right for the Tianjin Guard naval squadron, and with the help of the chief of the Sand Ship Gang, who ran transport with armed vessels, over the past few years he had actually managed the business of escorting supplies to Liaodong in perfect order, never once letting the eastern barbarians or the Joseon navy that had submitted to them gain any advantage.

By the spring of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, when the army commanders on land were all keeping as far away as possible from the besieged city of Beijing, Su Guansheng and Shen Tingyang showed not the slightest fear. They brought their naval warships and their transport ships, which were even more formidable than the warships, to Dagukou, ready to receive the Chongzhen Emperor and his son and take them south by sea.

As for the requests for ships made by the crowd of officials and nobles who had fled Beijing in panic to Dagukou, Su Guansheng refused them all on the grounds of contrary winds.

At the same time, he made the officials and nobles who had come to Dagukou for refuge contribute money and men to strengthen Dagukou's defenses. He also imposed martial law inside Dagukou: the city gates were kept shut all day, the streets were full of armed naval officers and men, and the docks of Dagukou were likewise manned by soldiers on duty — without an order from Circuit Intendant Su himself, no one was allowed anywhere near the squadron's ships.

After nearly twenty days of such strict guard and defense, on the tenth day of the fourth month, word finally arrived that Zhu Cilang and his father had reached the area!

When the news reached the naval yamen, Su Guansheng was making desultory conversation with Wang Zhixin, the earliest "refugee official" to arrive here, when they heard hurried footsteps outside — not just one or two people coming, but a whole crowd swarming in. Before the people themselves arrived, their voices came first.

"The Emperor has come! The heir apparent has come too! This official must go and escort His Majesty!"

"This noble must go and escort His Majesty. Circuit Intendant Su, have someone open the gate at once!"

"Circuit Intendant Su, open the city gate quickly! This official must take his household retainers and rally to the throne!"

Su Guansheng and Wang Zhixin exchanged a glance, both wearing expressions of helpless amusement. Before today, every official in Dagukou, high and low, had been praying for a northwest wind — so they could set sail south and leave the dangerous territory of Northern Zhili. Why was it that today every one of them was scrambling to escort His Majesty and rally to the throne? The imperial party was already out of danger.

Firecrackers crackled and drums and music sounded as the sand ship carrying Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang finally reached the Dagukou sea transport dock. On the dock, Su Guansheng and Wang Zhixin had long since had a painted ceremonial archway erected and a band arranged to play, giving the scene at least some semblance of the pomp of the Son of Heaven on tour.

Several high-ranking officials and nobles, all in proper robes and gowns, came forward with solemn faces. The musicians standing beneath the archway played with redoubled vigor, and amid the drums and music, the filial son Zhu Cilang supported the Chongzhen Emperor as they stepped out of the cabin of a large sand ship. Su Guansheng and Wang Zhixin hastily ordered the gangplank to be set up.

The nobles and officials waiting on the dock, led by Duke Dingguo Xu Yunzhen, Marquis Wuqing Li Guorui, and Marquis Wuding Guo Peimin, all performed the grand kowtow ceremony together toward Chongzhen and Zhu Cilang as they descended the gangplank.

Seeing these loyal ministers who had paid money to buy "escape edicts" from Zhu Cilang and legally slipped away, the Chongzhen Emperor could not contain his fury. You are all treacherous sycophants! We begged you bitterly to contribute military funds, and every one of you wept poverty and played pitiful, deceiving even a wise sovereign like Us. And then that unfilial son of Ours, with a single edict permitting you to flee the city, exposed every one of you for what you truly are!

Chongzhen was a perspicacious sovereign who could not tolerate sand in his eyes, and seeing a pack of corrupt officials and treacherous sycophants, he naturally showed them no pleasant face. Zhu Cilang, however, smiled and nodded, then said loudly: "All of you, rise! No need to keep kneeling. We have two matters to announce to you.

First, We have received an imperial decree to inspect the armies, exercise overall command of all military affairs, and administer the government. Therefore We shall reorganize the court here at Dagukou, so as to issue orders to all quarters and jointly suppress the rebel caitiffs.

Second, while We were in Tianjin, We received word that after the rebel Li Zicheng entered the capital, he began torturing and extorting funds. He has ordered the construction of five thousand sets of ankle presses, fitted with ridges and connected iron spikes; all who refuse to comply will have their hands and feet crushed! In addition, he has had two pillars erected outside the gate of the Northern Provost's office, to be used for death by slow slicing!

According to reliable information, the Roving Bandit has personally set the contribution rates: anyone who has served in the Grand Secretariat must pay one hundred thousand taels, and the great eunuchs of the twenty-four directorates must also pay one hundred thousand taels!"

When he finished speaking, all the wise and loyal Ming subjects on the Dagukou sea transport dock stood stunned.

They had more or less expected Li Zicheng's cruelty — otherwise they would not have paid for the edicts to flee the city.

But that Zhu Cilang, a sixteen-year-old Crown Prince, had actually received an imperial decree to command all military affairs and administer the government was far beyond the expectations of the subjects on the Dagukou dock.

What was going on here?

The Chongzhen Emperor looked perfectly healthy. Why was he not handling military and state affairs, and instead handing all the great matters of state to his son?

Could it be that the Emperor wished to imitate Emperor Huizong of Song? But he had not abdicated and passed the throne to his son!

Since there had been no abdication, and he was still capable of personally handling government affairs, why had he let his son administer the government? This matter... surely it violated the ancestral system?

Moreover, quite a few important ministers seemed to have come along with His Majesty and the Crown Prince. Why were none of them doing anything about it?

This matter... there was something strange about it!

The scene suddenly became somewhat awkward, and the subjects' gazes shifted back and forth between the faces of the Chongzhen Emperor and Crown Prince Zhu Cilang.

After a while, Zhu Cilang cleared his throat and broke the awkwardness: "We and Our Imperial Father and Imperial Mother are weary from the journey. Let Us first be settled in; other matters can be discussed later. Where is Su Guansheng?"

"This subject is here!" Su Guansheng hurried forward.

Zhu Cilang looked him over: not old, around forty, with high cheekbones, dark skin, not tall, and thin of build — a typical Lingnan appearance.

Zhu Cilang nodded and asked with a smile: "Circuit Intendant Su, has the temporary imperial residence been prepared?"

(End of Chapter)