Chapter 134: Roping In the Donglin to Endorse It

The Chongzhen Emperor snorted, cutting off Feng Yuanyang, who had been about to request retirement, and asked, "Minister Feng, you are a veteran official and must know the court's officials very well. Tell Us, then — who can shoulder this heavy responsibility?"

Who could shoulder the heavy responsibility? Feng Yuanyang knew perfectly well it was the Army-Supervising Crown Prince! But he also knew about the Crown Prince's palace coup at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy, and he could certainly understand the Chongzhen Emperor's feelings.

Seeing Feng Yuanyang remain silent, Chongzhen sighed again. "Why won't any of you speak your hearts to Us? Are you afraid that if We dislike what We hear, We'll issue an edict to throw you into the Imperial Prison?"

That, at least, was no longer a fear — Chongzhen no longer had the power to arrest and execute people!

Feng Yuanyang looked at his sovereign and father-figure bearing this grievance, and his heart ached. He could only console him: "Your Majesty, the capital has suffered a great upheaval, and more than half the court officials have scattered, leaving no one fit for use. Fortunately, the auxiliary capital also has its Six Ministries, and among them are men capable of governing the realm and quelling disorder. As long as Your Majesty can reach the auxiliary capital, the Great Ming will have hope of restoration."

"Yes, yes, yes — all Our loyal ministers are in Nanjing." Chongzhen seemed to have heard some brilliant stratagem. He clapped his hands and said, "Minister Feng, you are truly Our right-hand man! One word from you has awakened Us from a dream!"

Huh? Feng Yuanyang was stunned. What had he said wrong? Why had the Emperor suddenly become so excited?

Chongzhen was still rubbing his hands together, muttering to himself, "Why didn't We think of it? The auxiliary capital Nanjing also has its Six Ministries, its ennobled families, dozens of guard battalions, and tens of thousands of loyal and brave Capital Camps soldiers. They are all loyal to Us! As long as We reach Nanjing, We can take up the responsibility of restoring the Great Ming!"

"Feng Yuanyang, you are Governor of Tianjin, with responsibility for overseeing the grain transport and sea transport. Go ask the Crown Prince when We can set out southward. We wish to reach the auxiliary capital as soon as possible!"

Feng Yuanyang received Chongzhen's order and went to the Army-Supervising Grand Marshal's Office where Zhu Cilang was staying (right next door to Chongzhen's temporary palace). The Crown Prince was at that moment receiving a disgraced official.

A "disgraced official" was, of course, an official who had committed an offense — and such men were rather numerous in the Chongzhen era. Being a minister under the Chongzhen Emperor was no easy task; one careless slip and you'd be hauled into the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Imperial Prison for punishment.

All that talk about Chongzhen abolishing the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, destroying his own claws and fangs — it was nonsense. Chongzhen wasn't that foolish! He had merely placed the men who ought to have been arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard into important posts, while locking up many officials who could actually get things done.

The disgraced official Zhu Cilang was now receiving was one who could still be of some use — a man named Hou Xun. He was one of the legendary Donglin gentlemen, promoted by Zou Yuanbiao, one of the Three Donglin Worthies. During the "Red Pill" and "Removal from the Palace" cases, he had clashed head-on with Wei Zhongxian and been dismissed. After Chongzhen took the throne, he was restored to office and promoted to Vice Minister of War. While serving in the Ministry of War, he had promoted Zuo Liangyu, raising him from a low-ranking officer to the high post of Vice Regional Commander — a debt of gratitude for recognizing his talent.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Hou Xun, who had served as Minister of Revenue for many years, was impeached by Song Zhipu, the Vice Minister of Revenue whom the Chongzhen Emperor trusted, and others, on charges of wasting funds and harming the nation. He was stripped of office and imprisoned — for seven years. It was not until the sixth month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen that, because no one else could command Zuo Liangyu, he was released and, in his capacity as Vice Minister of War, made Supreme Commander of Baoding and the other seven garrisons. Later, because the relief campaign failed, he went back to prison, where he remained until Zhu Cilang launched the coup at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy. Now he was to be restored and put to important use again!

The Donglin grandees do not have a good image in later internet discussions — some say they were even worse than the eunuch faction. In many people's view, the Donglin Faction bears responsibility for the fall of the Great Ming!

Zhu Cilang in his previous life had also read a great deal of material on this subject and likewise believed that the Donglin Faction bore an inescapable responsibility for the Ming's collapse.

But now, Zhu Cilang still had to promote, employ, and win over a Donglin grandee!

Because he was not Chongzhen, who could not tolerate a grain of sand in his eye, and he would not use a simple "black and white, loyal and treacherous" standard to judge the officials of the Great Ming. In his view, whether loyal minister, treacherous minister, capable minister, or mediocre minister — all of them had their uses. It was only a question of how to use them well!

And Hou Xun, this Donglin grandee whom the Chongzhen Emperor had kept imprisoned for nearly ten years, was precisely an official who could be put to great use.

Because Zhu Cilang did not currently have the strength to destroy the Donglin Faction in one blow. Considering that Li Zicheng would soon collapse and the eastern barbarians would turn south in the blink of an eye, he also had no time to slowly struggle against the deep-rooted Donglin Faction in Jiangnan — at least until he had repelled the eastern barbarians' first wave of attacks, he could not spare the effort to eliminate the Donglin Faction.

Since he temporarily lacked the spare capacity to eliminate the Donglin Faction, it was very necessary to win over a Donglin grandee who could stand as an equal against Shi Kefa and Qian Qianyi. With this Donglin grandee's support, Zhu Cilang's reforms would, to a certain extent, carry the Donglin Faction's endorsement.

Moreover, the Donglin Faction's fortress could also be broken down from within!

Besides cultivating a faction within the Donglin Faction that could contend against Shi Kefa and Qian Qianyi, Zhu Cilang had another reason he had to win over Hou Xun: Zuo Liangyu! Historically, the rapid collapse of the Southern Ming could be said to have had an important cause in the campaign to rally to the throne launched by Zuo Liangyu.

And Hou Xun was a man who could steady Zuo Liangyu! He had shown Zuo Liangyu the kindness of recognizing his talent. With him acting as intermediary, Zuo Liangyu might even become the Imperial Father-in-Law of the Left.

"We have always known that Master Hou was wronged! It was Our Imperial Father who did you wrong, Master. You devoted yourself wholeheartedly to the nation's service; even if you earned no merit, you earned toil and hardship. Our Imperial Father imprisoned you for ten years, preventing you from observing the mourning rites for your late father — truly an injustice to your loyal and devoted heart! We now, on Our Imperial Father's behalf, offer you Our apologies."

"Thousand Years... this old minister... this old minister... sob sob!"

In the great hall of the Army-Supervising Grand Marshal's Office, a scene of sovereign grace and minister's loyalty was being played out. Zhu Cilang called him "Master" at every turn and even apologized to Hou Xun on behalf of the Chongzhen Emperor.

And Hou Xun — whether moved, or feeling aggrieved, or perhaps pretending — was in any case weeping too hard to speak.

Zhu Cilang said gently, "Master, do not weep. We know all of your grievances. Now that We supervise the army, We will no longer permit loyal ministers like you to be thrown into prison without cause. We are about to issue an edict to strip the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard of their investigative powers. No court-appointed official, so long as he is not suspected of plotting rebellion, may be arrested by the Depot or the Guard! Henceforth, when officials break the law, it shall be for the Censors to investigate!"

Was this real?

Hou Xun could hardly believe it. Hadn't everyone said the Crown Prince was fierce, cunning, and killed without blinking? How was he now so reasonable, even going so far as to greatly restrict the power of the Depot and the Guard to investigate officials?

"Thousand Years is benevolent and righteous," Hou Xun said, choosing his words carefully. "It is only that the Depot and Guard's investigation of lawbreaking officials is an ancestral institution..."

Zhu Cilang shook his head and said gravely, "This is not the system of the Great Ancestor. In the twentieth year of Hongwu, the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, ordered the torture instruments of the Embroidered Uniform Guard burned, and the prisoners held by them transferred to the Ministry of Justice for trial. At the same time, he ordered that all prisons, internal and external, be placed under the jurisdiction of the Three Judicial Offices.

We received a dream from the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, charging Us to save the realm in its hour of peril, and We have made it Our duty to restore the Great Ancestor's institutions! Master, you are a Donglin gentleman and a great Confucian scholar of the Central Plain. Would you be willing to serve as a lecturer in the Eastern Palace, to teach and assist Us at all times?"

"This..." Hou Xun's thin, long donkey-like face flickered with uncertainty, and his right hand habitually stroked the goatee at his chin.

Zhu Cilang had been feeding him sweet words for half the day, and now he was finally bringing out the real goods!

Restricting the powers of the Depot and Guard and the Great Ancestor's dream were linked together — that is, the Crown Prince was using the restriction of the Depot and Guard to exchange for the Donglin Faction's acknowledgment of his "dream story."

And this "dream story" was the great moral justification for the Crown Prince's supervision of the army and regency. Having received his mandate from the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, the Crown Prince could naturally stand above the reigning Emperor.

In other words, Zhu Cilang was using the restriction of the Depot and Guard to exchange for the Donglin Faction's recognition of his authority — at least, that was how Hou Xun understood it.

And for Hou Xun personally, Zhu Cilang had also offered a condition of recruitment that was hard to refuse — appointment as a lecturer!

Now that the Crown Prince supervised the army and held power in his hands, the Emperor had been reduced to a figurehead. So the Crown Prince's teacher would be the Imperial Preceptor! And Hou Xun's official career seniority far exceeded that of the three Imperial Preceptors, Chen Rui, Lin Zengzhi, and Li Shichun.

He had served as Minister of Revenue and Supreme Commander of the Seven Garrisons! If he also became a lecturer, then how could the post of Grand Secretary be beyond his reach?

Hou Xun said slowly, "That the Crown Prince has received the mandate of the Great Ancestor, the Exalted Emperor, to save the Great Ming is truly a blessing for the countless common people of the realm. This old minister should exert himself to the utmost in Your service. However, my father passed away in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, and as his son, I ought to observe three years of mourning. Previously I suffered imprisonment and could not fulfill a son's duty. Now that I have been released, I should make up the three-year period..."

Zhu Cilang listened to Hou Xun, nodding repeatedly, but inwardly he gave a cold snort: No wonder later generations disparaged you Donglin people so much — there really are quite a few Donglin treacherous ministers among you! You, Hou Xun, are one of them. And you're putting on airs with Us! Hmph, you want to be Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion? Fine, you can have it!

(End of Chapter)