Chapter 1353: The Shun Has Filial Sons Too!

In the last ten days of the twelfth month of the first year of Dongping Daxing of the Shun, in Kunming Prefecture.

The news that the three kings Li Dingguo, Ai Nengqi, and Liu Wenxiu had defected to the enemy, and the disastrous tidings that the Dongxing Emperor had abandoned Chongqing Prefecture, arrived one after another — like two bolts from a clear sky crashing down upon Kunming, the plateau capital of the Shun dynasty. Kunming, the Spring City, where the sky had always seemed high and the clouds faint, was suddenly pressed down by black clouds, so oppressive that one could scarcely breathe!

The Shun — how had it become so un-smooth?

On the streets of Kunming, few people were about; everyone crouched uneasily at home. The highland sunlight poured down, but the once bustling markets of Kunming lay cold and deserted. Only the Long March Prefecture troops, come up from Burma, patrolled back and forth through the streets.

These soldiers of the Shun, the best equipped, the best paid, and the strongest in battle, all had their brows tightly knit, every one of them wearing an expression of concern for the state and the people.

These days, their officers had been telling them, day after day, the story of the Mutiny at Mawei Slope and the death of Noble Consort Yang. These Long March Prefecture troops were no illiterates — they were second-generation and third-generation prefecture men! They had been to school, and they knew exactly what the Mutiny at Mawei Slope was all about!

The Shun dynasty modeled itself on the Tang, and naturally attached particular importance to Tang history. These second- and third-generation prefecture men all knew how Emperor Minghuang of Tang doted on Noble Consort Yang, entrusted power to the treacherous minister Yang Guozhong, and indulged the rebel An Lushan, until at last "the war-drums of Yuyang thundered forth, shattering the Rainbow Skirt and Feathered Coat melody. Smoke and dust rose from the nine-tiered palace gates; a thousand chariots and ten thousand horsemen journeyed southwest. The emerald banners swayed, the procession halted; west of the capital gates, a hundred li and more. The six armies would not advance, and nothing could be done; the moth-browed beauty perished before the horses."

But during this period, when the officers of the Long March Prefecture troops told the story of the Mutiny at Mawei Slope, the protagonist was not Emperor Minghuang of Tang, nor Noble Consort Yang, still less An Lushan — it was the foremost filial son of the Great Tang, Emperor Suzong of Tang, Li Heng!

The Great Tang was fortunate to have the filial son Li Heng, who ascended the throne at Lingwu in the hour of peril and shouldered the thousand-jin burden of reviving the Great Tang! Under his brilliant leadership, the fortunes of the Great Tang were prolonged, and the two capitals, Chang'an and Luoyang, were recovered. Therefore Li Heng was the second-greatest enlightened sovereign in Tang history, second only to Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin — and his filial conduct even surpassed Li Shimin's, making him the foremost filial son of the Great Tang. Li Shimin was the second filial son of the Great Tang! Both of these were great filial sons beyond all words!

Having finished the story of the filial sons of the Great Tang, the officers of the Long March Prefecture troops, for the first time ever, began telling the story of the foremost filial son of the Great Ming!

It turned out that the present Hongxing Emperor of the remnant Ming was also a great filial son, comparable to Li Shimin and Li Heng!

Back then, had he not led troops into the palace, sword in hand, chasing after Chongzhen to be a filial son, the Great Ming would long since have perished. By now the Shun would have unified the realm!

So the Great Tang could achieve restoration because it had the filial son Li Heng; the Great Ming could achieve restoration because it had the filial son Zhu Cilang. And if the Shun wished to achieve restoration, what should it do? Should it not also have a filial son?

If so, who in the Shun court at present looks most like a filial son?

This was a multiple-choice question posed to the soldiers of the Long March Prefecture troops. Of course there was only one candidate answer — of course it was the Shun's Army-Pacifying Crown Prince, Li Jicheng!

On the twenty-second day of the twelfth month, the officers of the Long March Prefecture troops began assembling their subordinates early in the morning, taking out the long-prepared "Petition to Assume the Throne" and writing brushes, and having everyone sign their names upon it!

Before the signing, of course, there was no shortage of mobilization.

"Brothers, all of you tell me — who has treated us Long March Prefecture troops the best?"

"The Crown Prince has treated us the best!"

"Have all of you gotten rich following the Crown Prince?"

"We've all gotten rich!"

"Then now that our Shun is in mortal peril, tell me — who can save our Shun dynasty?"

"Only the Crown Prince! Only the Crown Prince can save the Shun!"

"Good! Here I have a 'Petition to Assume the Throne.' All of you come and sign your names. Together we will urge the Crown Prince to become Emperor!"

"Good! Together we will urge the Crown Prince to become Emperor!"

"Long live the Crown Prince! Long live! Long live ten thousand years!"

"Long live."

Very soon, more than fifteen thousand Long March Prefecture troops garrisoned in Kunming city had signed the "Petition to Assume the Throne." After signing, they did not simply disperse; instead, led by their officers, they shouldered flintlock muskets, matchlock muskets, and pikes (after the Long March Prefecture troops expanded, they were mixed units of flintlocks, matchlocks, and pikes), formed company columns, and marched in vast, imposing ranks toward Wuhua Mountain outside the north gate of Kunming!

They were going to "petition."

The Crown Prince must today take one step further.

On Wuhua Mountain, the two Deliberative Kings left to guard Kunming, Sun Kewang and Liu Zongmin, along with Song Xiance, who had just returned from Dragon Valley in Yunnan, and the senior elder of the Shun imperial clan, the Grand Empress Dowager Gao, and Li Zicheng's younger brother, the Prince of Changle, Li Zijing, and Li Laiheng's Empress Sun — all were utterly dumbfounded. At this moment they were all crowded into the throne hall, each one frantic and drenched in sweat. Sun Kewang and his daughter, Empress Sun, in particular, were so frantic they were weeping!

The two of them, of course, knew that the story of the Mutiny at Mawei Slope was circulating among the Long March Prefecture troops in Kunming. Matching roles to people, Emperor Minghuang of Tang was none other than the Dongxing Emperor Li Laiheng, who had vanished to who-knew-where; the foremost filial son of the Great Tang, Li Heng, was none other than the present Army-Pacifying Crown Prince of the Shun, Li Jicheng. And the missing Noble Consort Yang and Yang Guozhong — who could they be? Who else but Empress Sun and Sun Kewang?

This was a matter of life and death!

Sun Kewang's own household troops could not fight. Among the Xi faction, the fighters were Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi; the skilled strategist was Liu Wenxiu. Sun Kewang was merely a "chief steward," capable at most of a little palace intrigue. He had originally thought that by relying on Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi, who commanded troops in the field, and on Empress Sun and Li Laiheng's several young sons, he could contend with Li Jicheng and perhaps even replace the Crown Prince.

But who could have imagined that Li Jicheng was also a filial son in the mold of Li Shimin, Li Heng, and Zhu Cilang!

With his father's fate unknown, he was already busy forcing the palace and seizing the throne — and he was about to stage the great drama of Mawei Slope. What was to be done? Li Jicheng had more than ten thousand Long March Prefecture troops in Kunming!

"Grand Empress Dowager, Prince of Han, Prince of Changle — you must save me and the Empress! I, Sun Kewang, am utterly loyal to the Shun dynasty, and I am absolutely no Yang Guozhong! And my daughter is no Noble Consort Yang — just look at her, she doesn't even resemble her. She's not that beautiful, and she's not fat!"

The Grand Empress Dowager Gao sighed again and again. She was not Li Jicheng's own great-grandmother, and after Li Zicheng's death, she, as Empress Dowager, was merely a person enjoying a life of leisure. What could she say now? If Li Jicheng truly set his mind on killing, she would have to keep her distance, lest she be caught up in the disaster with them!

Liu Zongmin narrowed his eyes and said not a word. He was not close to Sun Kewang, nor of the same faction, and he had long felt that Sun Kewang was no good — stuffing his daughter into the Emperor's bed, and even wanting to depose the Crown Prince and set up his own grandson as the new Crown Prince. Now he knew the consequences, didn't he?

Li Zicheng's younger brother Li Zijing understood nothing and had the softest heart of all. Seeing the pitiful state of Sun Kewang and his daughter, he sighed and said, "How about I make a trip to the Eastern Palace and ask the Crown Prince to come out and calm the situation?"

"To ask the Crown Prince to become Emperor?" the old Grand Empress Dowager asked at that moment.

Li Zijing was stunned and did not dare decide on his own. He turned and looked at Liu Zongmin. Liu Zongmin said, "The Crown Prince is a filial son; of course he must take up the great responsibility on the Emperor's behalf."

As he spoke, he glanced again at Sun Kewang and his daughter. Father and daughter were already weeping uncontrollably. Sun Kewang nodded and said, "The Crown Prince is benevolent and filial beyond compare; he should have become Emperor long ago. I ask only to be a wealthy commoner — that is enough!"

Liu Zongmin nodded to Li Zijing.

The old Grand Empress Dowager also nodded. "This old body is of the same mind!"

Li Zijing let out a breath, rose, and left the great hall, heading for Li Jicheng's Eastern Palace. By this time, Li Jicheng's troops had already entered Wuhua Palace, and all the key points within the palace were occupied by them.

Some Long March officers and men stepped forward to block Li Zijing. Li Zijing hastily shouted, "I am the Imperial Grand-Uncle, the Prince of Changle! By the decree of the Grand Empress Dowager, I have come to invite the Crown Prince to ascend the imperial throne!"

Hearing his words, men immediately began shouting, "By the decree of the Grand Empress Dowager, invite the Crown Prince to ascend the imperial throne!"

Very soon, their shouts reached Li Jicheng's Eastern Palace. Li Jicheng, surrounded by his trusted officials Luo Hu, Gao Yidao, Niu Quan, and Song Yaowen, let out a long breath and said to those around him, "I am a filial son. How could I stand by and watch my father ruin the foundation our ancestors built? I have no choice but to reluctantly take up the position of Emperor."

(End of Chapter)