Chapter 135: We Shall Retake the Capital

"Your filial devotion is admirable, Sir — We are truly impressed!" Zhu Cilang said with an earnest expression. "But your home province of Henan is now ravaged by endless warfare. Where would you find a patch of peaceful land to observe mourning? You would do better to remain at court and accept the post of Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, assisting Us in suppressing the bandits and resisting the barbarians. Once the realm is at peace, you may then return to mourn your late father."

Hou Xun was indeed satisfied — to be anything less would be to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!

Moreover, unlike Shi Kefa and Qian Qianyi, he had been released from prison by Zhu Cilang and had accompanied him all the way to Dagukou. That was tantamount to being branded as a member of the Crown Prince's faction! To refuse the Crown Prince's overtures now would be sheer obstinacy.

Hou Xun no longer demurred. He immediately rose to his feet and bowed deeply to Zhu Cilang. "Your Highness speaks most wisely. This subject Hou Xun is willing to render his humble service!"

His declaration happened, by coincidence, to be overheard by Feng Yuanyang, who had just arrived to ask the Chongzhen Emperor when they could depart south for Jinling.

Feng Yuanyang and his brother Feng Yuanbiao were also members of the Donglin Faction and were on quite good terms with Hou Xun, so he recognized Hou Xun's voice at once — and was startled. Was Hou Xun pledging the Donglin Faction's allegiance to the Crown Prince?

Would Shi Kefa and Qian Qianyi agree to this?

"Governor Feng, His Highness the Thousand Years requests your presence."

Just as Feng Yuanyang was weighing whether the Donglin Faction should collectively throw in with the Crown Prince, Huang Xiaobao came out to summon him inside.

Feng Yuanyang hastily followed Huang Xiaobao into the main hall — well, it was really just an ordinary reception room, not large at all.

"This subject, Governor of Tianjin Feng Yuanyang, pays his respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Seeing the old man trembling as he prepared to kneel, Zhu Cilang smiled and waved a hand. "Dispense with the formalities, dispense with them. Governor Feng is a subject of great merit! Had you not arranged a retreat for Us and His Majesty, our Great Ming might well have been destroyed by the Roving Bandit! Once We reach the secondary capital, We shall petition His Majesty to enfeoff you as a count, so that your descendants may share in the dynasty's fortunes forever!"

"All this old subject has done is but his duty; how could I dare claim merit?" Feng Yuanyang spoke the customary courtesies, but inwardly he felt a measure of gratitude toward Zhu Cilang.

"What brings Governor Feng here today?" Zhu Cilang asked with a smile.

"Your Highness, His Majesty sent this old subject to ask when we may set out southward."

In a hurry to go south now? Zhu Cilang thought. He must feel that no one here at Dagukou listens to him, and wants to try his luck in Nanjing.

"The time is not yet right," Zhu Cilang said, his brow furrowing. "At present, tens of thousands of people are gathered here at Dagukou, along with five hundred thousand shi of grain, plus a great many carts, horses, and baggage. The Marshal's Office also holds over four million taels of silver in reserve — all of it must be allocated and shipped.

Moreover, Regional Commander Wu Sangui of Liaodong is still garrisoned at Yongping, and Regional Commander Gao Di holds Shanhai Pass. Between them they command no fewer than fifty thousand troops! If armies rallying to the throne also arrive from the south, we may yet retake the capital!"

What? What did you say? That unfilial Crown Prince says he wants to retake the capital?

When the Chongzhen Emperor heard the words Feng Yuanyang relayed from Zhu Cilang, he could barely restrain himself from jumping up and cursing his unfilial son.

Who was it that was so desperate to flee the capital back then? He even staged a palace coup at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy just to save his own skin — that was outright treason!

Now we've already reached Dagukou, the sea-going ships are ready, we can sail to Denglai at once and reach Nanjing within a month at most — and now he suddenly says he wants to retake the capital!

If you want to retake the capital now, why did you flee Beijing in such a panic in the first place? All this back-and-forth — don't you find it tiresome?

"Your Majesty," Feng Yuanyang continued, "the Crown Prince also wishes this old subject to travel by sea to Shanhai Pass, to meet with Wu Sangui and discuss a joint attack on the capital."

"What is the Crown Prince's plan?" Chongzhen asked.

Feng Yuanyang said, "The Crown Prince believes the eastern barbarians beyond the pass will certainly not pass up the chance to profit from our troubles. It is highly likely they will raise a great army and come by a roundabout route, entering through the various passes of the Yan Mountains along the Great Wall, and strike at Beijing.

Li Zicheng's footing in Beijing is unstable. His wholesale torture and extortion of funds has already cost him the people's hearts, and he would never dare hold the city to the death. If he hears the barbarians are coming, he will either abandon the city and flee, or fight recklessly outside the walls. Whichever the rebel chooses, the capital will fall into the eastern barbarians' hands. Our side need only hold Shanhai Pass firmly, seize the opportunity to recover the Tianjin garrison and adopt a scorched-earth policy, then sail east to re-establish the Dongjiang garrison.

In this way we can block the barbarians' southward route of plunder, control their east-west lines of movement, and constantly raid the Liaodong coast. We can place the barbarians in a position where they cannot advance, cannot maneuver freely, and cannot secure their rear. If this can be drawn out over time, the barbarians will have no choice but to negotiate peace with us. Then, with the promise of annual tribute, we can recover the capital."

"Th-this..." The Chongzhen Emperor was utterly stunned.

This plan might actually work! How did We manage to produce such a brilliant son?

"Your Majesty," Song Quan, the Governor of Shuntian, said quietly from the side, "this plan has a seventy or eighty percent chance of success! If it can be carried out, the restoration of our Great Ming will be within sight!"

Yes, and then We shall be the Retired Emperor! Chongzhen thought. If Chun'er retakes the capital, won't the officials be weeping and clamoring for him to ascend the throne as emperor?

"Your Majesty," Feng Yuanyang said, still somewhat hesitant, looking at Chongzhen, "should this subject make the journey?"

Chongzhen thought for a moment. "Go. If you don't, he'll send someone else." He suddenly lowered his voice. "But We shall issue a secret edict to Wang Yongji, which you will carry for Us. Remember — under no circumstances may the Crown Prince learn of it!"

As if the Crown Prince wouldn't know? Feng Yuanyang thought. That son of yours is sharp as they come. Would he not know that I am close to Your Majesty? Would he not know that Wang Yongji still has two thousand headquarters troops, and that the ten thousand or so men under Gao Di, the Regional Commander at Shanhai Pass, can also be directed?

"This subject accepts the edict."

The Emperor's edict was not something Feng Yuanyang could refuse, so old Feng respectfully accepted the handwritten decree from the Chongzhen Emperor — for by now, handwritten decrees were the only kind Chongzhen could issue. There was no Grand Secretariat draft, and even the Emperor's twenty imperial seals were controlled by Zhu Cilang's trusted man Huang Dabao.

Without Zhu Cilang's command, the Chongzhen Emperor could not possibly issue any formal edict!

"Your Highness, do you truly intend to send Feng Yuanyang to Shanhai Pass?"

"Your Highness, he is His Majesty's man!"

"Your Highness, you need not worry about my son Sangui, but Wang Yongji and Gao Di still have over ten thousand troops..."

"There is no need to worry about that. The sea routes are in my hands, and the land routes are cut off by the roving bandits. They cannot get through."

Inside the Marshal's Office, Wu Xiang, Cao Youyi, Li Ruolian, and Shen Tingyang — four Guard Commanders — were offering counsel to His Highness the Crown Prince.

Zhu Cilang listened to them while looking down at the revenue and expenditure ledgers prepared by Huang Jiang and Su Sheng of the Quartermaster Department.

It was now mid-April, and his newly raised army had just paid out its monthly wages. The pay scale Zhu Cilang had set for his own army was by no means low!

Even the lowliest guard at the Marshal's Office received one tael and five mace per month; a Marshal's Office warrior got two taels; a lieutenant got three; a Squad Leader got four; a Platoon Leader got five; a probationary Centurion got six; a Centurion got seven; a Vice Chiliarch jumped to ten; a Chiliarch got fifteen; a Provost got twenty; an Assistant Guard Commander got thirty; a Vice Guard Commander got forty; a Guard Commander got fifty; a Left or Right Commissioner-in-Chief got one hundred; and Zhu Cilang himself, as Grand Marshal, drew a monthly salary of two hundred taels.

Everyone in the Marshal's Office was now paid according to this scale — including Zhu Cilang's three lecturers, as well as Bi Jiucheng, Huang Xiaobao, and others, all of whom had been granted corresponding military ranks and were paid by the Quartermaster Department according to rank. The only exception was the Naval Guard under Shen Tingyang's command. The Naval Guard was contracted out to the Sand Ship Guild. All personnel, including the former officers and men of the Tianjin garrison naval force, were paid by Shen Tingyang. All vessels, including the sand ships formerly belonging to the Tianjin naval force, were likewise transferred to the Sand Ship Guild.

Moreover, the Sand Ship Guild had been granted the authority to administer maritime trade in the Northern Seas! Without the Sand Ship Guild's consent, no merchant vessel could engage in trade in Northern Seas waters.

The Sand Ship Guild therefore had the right to levy taxes on merchant ships plying the Northern Seas!

In exchange, Shen Tingyang not only had to bear responsibility for naval operations in the Northern Seas, but also had to transport personnel and supplies for Zhu Cilang, and provide a certain quantity of cannons, firearms, and gunpowder free of charge.

In addition, beginning in the eighteenth year of Chongzhen, Shen Tingyang was required to pay the Marshal's Office an annual "tax-farming fee" of three hundred thousand taels of silver — a sum that was no great burden for Shen Tingyang, since what he had previously paid in tribute to various parties actually exceeded that amount!

Shen Tingyang was one of those legendary Ming official-merchants who paid no taxes — but not paying taxes did not mean he could avoid paying tribute to various powerful figures.

Now Chief Shen was the Naval Guard Commander of the Marshal's Office — a substantive military post of the upper third rank, and a trusted confidant of the Crown Prince!

Asking him for bribes was now rather like asking Luo Yangxing, the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander, for money in the old days. And since Zhu Cilang had repeatedly issued orders strictly forbidding anyone from accepting Shen Tingyang's bribes, Shen Tingyang now only needed to pay the Crown Prince himself. Three hundred thousand taels was truly not much at all!

"Wumei," Zhu Cilang said, having finished reviewing the ledgers, addressing Shen Tingyang by his courtesy name, "are the ships arranged? Chen Yuanyuan is going along too — nothing must go wrong."

"Your Highness may rest assured," Shen Tingyang said with a smile. "This humble official will select the finest ships and the finest sailors."

Zhu Cilang nodded. "Also, the seven thousand men of Governor Su's force and the Left Division of the New Army, along with one hundred thousand shi of tribute grain, must be shipped as soon as possible. The sooner they reach Dengzhou, the sooner We can rest easy!"

"This subject has already made arrangements," Shen Tingyang said. "Within three days, as long as the wind is favorable, we can begin shipping."

Because so many people and so much materiel were concentrated at Dagukou, shipping them out posed some difficulty. Although Shen Tingyang now had over a hundred large sand ships, he still could not move everything from Dagukou in a single trip.

Furthermore, Zhu Cilang had to keep a number of sand ships at Dagukou on standby at all times — in case Li Zicheng lost his mind and led his main force to attack Dagukou, Zhu Cilang and Chongzhen would still need ships to flee. So the personnel and supplies had to be shipped out in stages and batches.

"Good!" Zhu Cilang nodded approvingly. "By the way, Wumei, there is something I would like to discuss with you."

"What orders does Thousand Years have?"

Zhu Cilang said, "Could you lend Us the navy's turtle-foot matchlocks and Folangji cannons?"

"How many does Thousand Years require?"

"One thousand turtle-foot matchlocks, and twelve Folangji cannons. Can you spare them?"

Shen Tingyang thought for a moment, then nodded. "I can spare them, though the ships' defenses will be somewhat lacking. But in a month or two they can be made up."

Zhu Cilang thought it over, then added, "If We issued an edict to Zheng Zhilong, ordering him to purchase one thousand matchlock muskets or turtle-foot matchlocks and twelve Hongyi cannons, would he agree?"

Shen Tingyang laughed. "One thousand muskets is too few. Ask the Zheng family for five thousand muskets. A turtle-foot matchlock costs at most four taels of silver, so five thousand would be only twenty thousand taels. Twelve Hongyi cannons would be at most two thousand taels of silver. To the southeast sea merchants, that is no money at all. The difficulty is the supply. Jiangnan does not produce muskets or cannons.

But the Zheng family has a supply. Their Anping Town produces muskets and artillery, and they also control the musket supply in Guangdong. There is also the supply from Japan. Japan produces muskets in abundance — even ten thousand can be bought, it just takes some time."

"Then let it be ten thousand!" Zhu Cilang said to Shen Tingyang. "Wumei, your one thousand turtle-foot matchlocks and twelve Folangji cannons must still be lent to Us.

Because We intend to train troops and set up defenses on Haisha Island, and meet the legendary Eight Banners elite in battle!"

(End of Chapter)