Chapter 141: The Secret Edict Is No Secret (Chapter 140's Content and Chapter 139's Madness)

"Fan Wencheng, Hong Chengchou, Zu Dashou... what do you make of this?"

The Qing regent, Prince Rui Dorgon — long-faced, small-eyed, with a great beard running down his cheeks — narrowed his little eyes as he studied the report in his hand. On the table also lay a letter requesting troops to help suppress the bandits, issued in the name of Prince Ding, Zhu Cijiong.

The room fell silent. Only after a long while did Zu Dashou break the stillness: "My lord, my son would not lie to me. Wu Sangui has certainly not left Shanhai Pass, and the Guanning Army has not moved either."

Dorgon's gaze suddenly shot like lightning toward Hong Chengchou, who had a somewhat shifty, rat-like look about him. "Minister Hong, what do you think?"

Hong Chengchou, fifty-one this year, looked older than his years — gaunt and bony, a dried-up old man. Yet this very dried-up old man could be called the pivotal figure on whom the rise and fall of the Ming, the Qing, and the Shun all turned.

Had the Chongzhen Emperor been able to use this Hong Chengchou well, he might not have turned the tide, but he could at least have prolonged the Great Ming's life.

Even if he could not use him, leaving him to the Southern Ming to replace Shi Kefa or Ma Shiying might well have preserved half the realm.

It was a pity that so important a figure had been ruined by Chongzhen and the then Minister of War Chen Xinjia, becoming Hong Taiji's captive, and thereafter a turncoat official — the foremost expert on Ming and Shun affairs in the Qing camp.

Hong Chengchou's earlier series of judgments about the Shun's eastern campaign had all been astonishingly accurate. Li Zicheng's eastern campaign had proceeded almost exactly as he had predicted. And the Ming army's thousand-li collapse had likewise been entirely within his expectations.

He had even foreseen that Wu Sangui would not arrive in time to lift the siege of the capital and that Chongzhen would die for his country or be captured... only on this final point had he made a slight miscalculation.

The Chongzhen Emperor had actually failed to fulfill the duty of "defending the gate of the realm and dying for the altars," and instead fled Beijing. This made Hong Chengchou think somewhat less of his former master — the Ming was already in this state, and wasn't Chongzhen's flight from Beijing merely clinging to a few last gasps? Better to cling no longer and go out once in grand fashion, leaving a fine name in history.

And fleeing in such panic — how many more days could he cling to? So when word of the Battle of Tianjin came, Hong Chengchou had once again misjudged. He had originally reckoned Tianjin could not hold for even a day, yet the result was that the Shun army was defeated!

Hong Chengchou frowned, evidently deep in thought: "My lord, if what Young Master Zu says is true, and Wu Sangui and the Guanning Army have indeed not moved from Shanhai Pass... then this subject dares guarantee that Chongzhen is either already dead or has been sidelined! The one holding power in Tianjin is certainly not the Chongzhen Emperor, but someone ten or a hundred times more formidable than he!"

Fan Wencheng, a Grand Secretary of the Inner Court, a few years younger than Hong Chengchou and with a dignified square face, gave a cold laugh: "Then Brother Hengjiu, tell us — who in the Ming is ten or a hundred times more formidable than the Chongzhen Emperor?"

Hong Chengchou shook his head and said: "Though the Ming has a vast population, and among them no lack of heroes and bold spirits, yet upon the court, among the nobility, within the imperial kin, and inside the palace, there is no one of consequence. Chongzhen still has four sons, but all were raised deep in the palace, lacking experience, and all are young — the eldest, the Crown Prince, is only sixteen, and can hardly be expected to shoulder so great a charge."

It turned out that the news of the palace coup at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy and Zhu Cilang's seizure of power had not been discovered by the Manchu Qing's spies — before the coup at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy, the Qing spies lurking in Beijing's inner city had already withdrawn, because in their view Beijing was certain to fall and there was nothing left worth spying on; better to retire outside the walls and wait out the storm, then re-enter once Beijing changed hands.

So this crucial piece of intelligence was something Hong Chengchou still did not know even now!

"Aiyo, if Minister Hong had not mentioned the Crown Prince, this old man would nearly have forgotten..." Zu Dashou slapped his forehead. "Truly senile. My son told me that the Chongzhen Emperor's Crown Prince received an edict to take command of the army on the sixteenth day of the third month, before the city fell! From the seventeenth onward, the Ming troops inside Beijing were under the command of the Army-Supervising Crown Prince. So the breakout on the twenty-first was also directed by the Crown Prince..."

Zu Dashou was not senile — he simply did not know how to extricate himself from this!

That Wu Sanmei was his own niece!

Good heavens — his niece was about to become Empress of the Great Ming! How was he supposed to carry on his work as a traitor with any peace of mind?

If the Qing masters ever grew suspicious of the Zu family, what then?

"The Crown Prince? A sixteen-year-old Crown Prince..." Hong Chengchou looked stunned. "How is that possible? How could a mere child be so formidable? And the Chongzhen Emperor is obstinate and self-willed by nature — even if he issued an edict for the Crown Prince to command the army, it would be in name only; he would never grant real power."

"Minister Hong speaks truly..." Zu Dashou said.

Cold sweat was already beading on Zu Dashou's forehead. Of course he knew about the coup at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy! But he did not believe it was the work of a mere child like Zhu Cilang. In his mind, the coup at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy must have been engineered behind the scenes by Wu Xiang and his son Wu Sanfu.

Who would have thought it — Wu Xiang, who looked so honest, was actually a cunning villain like Cao Cao! Openly pulling the trick of holding the Son of Heaven to command the feudal lords.

But how was he to report this to his Qing masters?

Wu Xiang was his own brother-in-law!

Dorgon had listened to the three men talk for a long while and still felt thoroughly confused, but by now he was like an arrow already on the string — there was no reason not to let fly.

As early as the third day of the fourth month, Dorgon — then still a Prince Regent — and the other Prince Regent Jirgalang had together announced a great southern campaign to seize Beijing at the opportune moment. At once the whole court was stirred: everyone had long looked forward to this day! For more than ten years now, every time the Qing troops entered the passes it had been like marching through uninhabited land — always returning in triumph, carrying off countless slaves, cattle, horses, and goods, with every warrior who followed the campaign coming home laden. And this time the goal of the expedition was to occupy Beijing!

Beijing was the capital of the Great Ming, where the wealth of all under heaven was gathered! It was said that gold, silver, pearls, and jewels were piled mountain-high within its walls, and beautiful women spread like clouds. If they could take Beijing, every man among them would make a fortune.

And if they could make Beijing their capital and rule all under heaven from it, then their sons and grandsons would enjoy inexhaustible wealth and honor!

So this time the mobilization of the Eight Banners was on an unprecedented scale — every man vying to be first, every one of them brave and eager, afraid only of being left behind. Only Hooge, Hong Taiji's eldest son, knew he would gain little from it, and so showed little enthusiasm, claiming he had never had smallpox as an excuse not to join the campaign. As a result, Dorgon seized on this pretext and gave him a thorough dressing-down, and also secured for himself the title of Prince Regent from the orphan and widow (Shunzhi and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang).

Now that he had just become Prince Regent, how could Dorgon back down? That would make him the enemy of all the Eight Banners! Did he still want to be Prince Regent or not?

So Dorgon laughed heartily a few times, rubbed his nearly shaven scalp, and said: "A sixteen-year-old whelp — even if he is formidable, what of it? Our Eight Banners' crack troops are invincible under heaven. Can a little brat like him stop them?"

He paused. "Since Wang Yongji and Wu Sangui wish to welcome our Qing troops through the pass, then we shall not stand on ceremony. Zu Dashou, this afternoon bring your son to the princely residence. This prince will make a pact with him to jointly attack the roving bandits!

Tomorrow... this prince will personally lead the great army, march on Beijing, and establish our rule over the Central Plains!"

Shanhai Pass, the office of the Governor-General of Ji-Liao.

Wu Sangui, Wang Yongji, and Tian Cunzhi were at this moment likewise stunned by the news they had just received.

The news had been brought by Feng Yuanyang — a great deal of it, and all of it sensational. Had it not come from the mouth of Feng Yuanyang, Governor of Tianjin, in person, they would not have dared believe any of it was true.

"Governor Feng..." Wu Sangui frowned, weighing his words. "Has the Army-Supervising Crown Prince truly, truly taken full power into his own hands? He couldn't be... being controlled by someone, could he?"

Feng Yuanyang smiled bitterly: "The Count Who Pacifies the West wishes to ask whether behind the Army-Supervising Crown Prince stands your esteemed father pulling the strings, does he not?"

Wu Sangui at once looked embarrassed and said hastily: "No, no, no. My father is a loyal subject; he would never be a traitorous minister..."

Wang Yongji and Gao Di, the Regional Commander of Shanhai Pass, both frowned deeply and cast wary sidelong glances at Wu Sangui — this fellow still looked a bit treacherous! Like father, like son... who would have thought your Wu family would produce such a villainous hero for these troubled times!

Feng Yuanyang nodded. "No one knows a father better than his son. Although the old general Wu has been used by His Highness the Crown Prince as a pillar of support, the real power at Dagukou still rests in His Highness's hands... This Thousand Years is exceedingly skilled at winning men's hearts — he grants offices and promises rewards, rouses the soldiers, shares hardship with his officers and men, and at the critical moment can lead the charge himself. He has already won the hearts of the troops and holds a group of senior court officials in his grasp. He is by no means anyone's puppet!"