Chapter 1354: Your Majesty, You've Been Promoted!

Three or four thousand Shun imperial guard soldiers in motley uniforms and tattered banners sat gathered in the middle of their own camp.

Calling it a camp was generous — it was so scattered it hardly deserved the name, with barely a few tents! They had dug trenches, set up palisades, and piled breastworks according to Shun army regulations, but the trenches were so shallow they only reached a man's knees, the palisade stakes were sparse and few, and the breastworks were so low one could step over them with a single stride.

Defenses like these — let alone the Shun imperial guard — even the newly raised Sichuan village militia on the Ming side could not have thrown up such a shoddy camp!

Yet this crack force, personally forged by Li Zicheng and which had followed three generations of Shun emperors — Li Zicheng, Li Guo, and Li Laiheng — through campaigns north and south, piling up merit after merit, had this time followed Li Laiheng into disaster and fallen to such a state.

After fleeing Chongqing Prefecture, they had become homeless dogs. Not only were they hotly pursued by Ming elite troops, they were also constantly ambushed by spontaneously organized Sichuan local militia!

When they first withdrew from Chongqing, they could still trade blows with the various pursuing and ambushing forces, but the endless fighting day and night kept grinding down their numbers, and they grew more exhausted with every battle, while their grain and supplies dwindled — because with the withdrawal of the military household troops, the Shun local administrations in Chongqing, Luzhou, Xuzhou, Wumeng, Dongchuan, and other prefectures had all vanished along with them. The troops that followed Li Laiheng and Tian Jianxiu out of Chongqing and Luzhou Prefectures could hardly obtain supplies, and could only scrape together a bit of food and drink by plundering along the way. The more they fled, the more ragged they became, and they lost most of their baggage, cannons, carts, horses, and camp equipment. That they could still barely throw up a camp at all was truly not bad.

This army was now encamped before Ma'an Mountain, the strategic pass on the road from Sichuan's Dongchuan Prefecture retreating toward Yunnan's Xundian Prefecture. Ma'an Mountain guarded the southern end of the Dongchuan valley. This region was dense with mountain ridges, with no broad official roads — only winding paths along the valley floors between the great mountains. The slopes on either side were not steep and had been terraced into many fields. Along the way one could still see all sorts of debris recently abandoned by people — tattered household goods and carts — and from time to time corpses lying by the roadside, all of them the old, the weak, women, and children!

These must be the bodies of the military household troops heading south — they had not yet made it out of Sichuan before dying on the road to Yunnan!

Such scenes were no longer a first sight for Li Laiheng's imperial guard on their flight — every time they saw one, the army's morale dropped another notch!

These people were the fathers and elders of the imperial guard soldiers! They could have withdrawn to Yunnan in good order, but now, because Li Laiheng abandoned Chongqing and fled, they had met such a miserable end.

When it came down to it, this was all Li Laiheng's fault!

He had been emperor for barely any time at all, and already the Shun dynasty had lost Sichuan. The good days everyone had been living had come to an end — what were they to do from now on? With only Yunnan and Burma left, could the Shun dynasty even survive?

When Li Laiheng's imperial guard reached the foot of Ma'an Mountain in Dongchuan Prefecture, they finally encountered a Shun administration that was still functioning. The Dongchuan Military Commissioner's office, originally stationed in the Dongchuan valley, had withdrawn to Ma'an Mountain. Hearing that the emperor had fled their way, they had at least sent some soldiers with grain and supplies, allowing them to camp there temporarily — but they would not let them cross Hengshan to advance on Kunming.

In the past, Li Laiheng would have long since treated this as rebellion and called up troops to attack the Ma'an Mountain fortress! But now the atmosphere was wrong!

Not only did the Shun troops coming down from Ma'an Mountain seem off, even the imperial guard protecting Li Laiheng looked wrong too — so he could only wait uneasily for news from Kunming.

Now it was mealtime again. Cooking stoves had been set up, and the fragrance of boiling rice drifted across the hillside, but Li Laiheng had no appetite at all, just sitting dazed in his tent.

He had risen from the roving bandits and excelled at mobile warfare. Back in the day he had followed Li Zicheng and Li Guo on campaigns east and west, and it was by mobile operations that they had smashed the Ming's grip on the Central Plains to pieces. So in his mind, the shift to Yunnan should not have been too difficult.

But as it turned out, the Shun, after more than twenty years as entrenched bandits, had largely forgotten how to move!

The withdrawal from Sichuan seemed to have been organized into utter chaos! Especially after he retreated from Chongqing, everywhere had turned into a rout — who knew how many people had been killed or captured in the course of it!

Of the more than four hundred thousand military household troops in Sichuan, who knew whether even half would make it alive to Yunnan!

Catastrophic losses!

At this thought, tears welled up in Li Laiheng's eyes. Just as he was weeping, a commotion arose outside the tent.

Li Laiheng pricked up his ears and listened — it sounded like Li Zijing had arrived!

"The Prince of Changle is here!"

"The Prince of Changle has brought us food!"

"The Prince of Changle is too kind — thank you, Prince of Changle!"

What was Li Zijing doing here? Li Laiheng was a bit puzzled. Why was it not Li Jicheng? Even if he could not get away, it should have been Sun Kewang and Liu Zongmin! How could it be the Prince of Changle, Li Zijing? He never concerned himself with any affairs!

Just as he was wondering, the tent flap was lifted, and in came Tian Jianxiu, Niu Jinxing, and Gu Junen, clustering around Li Laiheng's grand-uncle Li Zijing.

Although Li Zijing was Li Laiheng's grand-uncle, he was only a few years older than Li Laiheng. Because he had always lived in comfort, he still looked young — he seemed more like Li Laiheng's younger brother.

After entering the great tent, this Li Zijing first kowtowed with the utmost respect and said, "The Prince of Changle, Zijing, respectfully inquires after the Retired Emperor's sacred well-being, and offers congratulations to the Retired Emperor."

"Wait — what did you call me?" Li Laiheng was somewhat bewildered. "And what are you congratulating me for?"

"I called you the Retired Emperor!" Li Zijing said. "And I congratulate you on becoming the Retired Emperor. You were originally the Emperor, and now you have risen another rank to become the Retired Emperor — that is surely a happy occasion."

The Emperor got a promotion?

What was going on?

Li Laiheng was so shocked he could not speak! Since ancient times, men who became emperor generally had no ambition for advancement — none of them wanted a promotion; they all wanted to stay in that post forever. Li Laiheng was, of course, no exception.

Niu Jinxing, who had entered with Li Zijing, now smiled and explained: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is filial. When he heard in Yunnan that you had suffered defeat at Chongqing, he was frantic with worry. To demonstrate his filial piety, at the urging of the Long March military households and the ministers remaining in Kunming, he ascended the throne and became Emperor, and has honored you as Retired Emperor, inviting you to return to Kunming to enjoy your remaining years in peace. From now on, you will be like the Chongzhen Retired Emperor of the remnant Ming — eating, drinking, and amusing yourself every day, with no more worries about affairs of state."

Tian Jianxiu also said: "Your Majesty, you are truly blessed to have such a filial son — how wonderful! I truly envy you. My eldest son is already well past thirty and still cannot shoulder great responsibility — he cannot even handle a prefectural magistrate's post properly."

Li Laiheng then looked at Gu Junen. Gu Junen gave a bitter smile: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is, after all, your own flesh and blood. Your throne was always going to be his sooner or later. He has merely taken the throne a bit early — do try to take it in stride. After all, you have already been Emperor; being Retired Emperor now is also quite good."

Li Laiheng nearly choked with rage. He had only been Emperor for a little over a year — he had not yet had his fill of it! That unfilial wretch Li Jicheng was only in his twenties — what was his hurry? Could he not just be Crown Prince for another forty or fifty years?

Seeing Li Laiheng remain silent, Gu Junen and Tian Jianxiu hurriedly signaled Li Zijing with their eyes — the imperial family was the most ruthless of all! And the Shun dynasty had modeled itself on the Tang — in Tang history, were there ever few cases of fathers and sons contending, mothers and sons destroying each other, brothers killing one another? If Li Laiheng refused to yield, the filial son Li Jicheng might well turn hostile, and then none of them would keep their lives!

This muddle-headed prince Li Zijing did, at the critical moment, still have his wits about him. He put on a mournful face and said: "The new Emperor has over ten thousand Long March military household troops in Kunming, all fed full with silver rupees. His Highness the Prince of Han is also in league with the new Emperor, and he has several thousand troops near Kunming as well. Moreover, many of the military household troops who fled from Sichuan have been taken in by the new Emperor, and they all obey him. The Prince of Qin has already been placed under house arrest in his residence, and his soldiers have all been disarmed. And — and within Kunming city, the story of Mawei Slope is being spread, saying the Prince of Qin is Yang Guozhong and the Retired Empress is Yang Noble Consort! Retired Emperor, what do you make of this..."

Li Laiheng drew a sharp breath. If he did not agree to this, Empress Sun and the children she had borne him would probably all end up as ghosts under the blade!

"So be it!" Li Laiheng sighed. "I shall be the Retired Emperor then... I want to see how this filial son of mine contends with the Zhu filial son of the remnant Ming!"

(End of Chapter)