Chapter 151: Good Tartars? Something Strange Is Going On! (Seeking Recommendations)

On the twenty-fourth day of the fourth month in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Great Ming — two days after the great battle at Yipianshi.

A small sand-ship sailing in from Shanhai Pass dropped anchor at the dock of Haisha Island at Dagu. Coming ashore were Zu Zebo, Wu Sanmei's cousin, and Qiu Zhizhong, Zhu Cilang's former study-companion eunuch. Once off the ship, the two were led by Embroidered Uniform Guard men watching the dock straight to Zhu Cilang's Grand Marshal's Office of the Army-Pacifying Command.

"Your subject Zu Zebo prostrates himself before the Crown Prince, Thousand Years."

"This slave prostrates himself before His Highness, Thousand Years."

The two performed the grand ceremony before Zhu Cilang, who sat upright in the hall. Zhu Cilang, however, stared at the back of Zu Zebo's head and froze for a moment before telling them to rise and granting them seats.

Zhu Cilang had frozen because he noticed that Zu Zebo had not shaved his head!

Not shaving his head meant he had not yet become a traitor to the Han!

Your father is Zu Dashou! Your whole family has turned traitor, yet you have not — why is that? Something strange is going on!

"So the fighting at Shanhai Pass is over?" Zhu Cilang asked.

"It is over!" Zu Zebo said, beaming with delight. "This subject brings Your Highness congratulations. Our allied Ming-Qing army has won a complete victory. The rebel Li Zicheng's old-camp troops, over a hundred thousand strong, have been nearly wiped out; only a few thousand escaped the field."

In truth, Li Zicheng's defeat was not that severe. The Shun army was far better at running away than ordinary Ming troops — they were roving bandits, after all! The old-camp troops Li Zicheng left at Yipianshi numbered about thirty thousand, and his losses had just reached half; his strength remained. Otherwise, in history, he could never have mounted two counterattacks at Zhending and Dingzhou during his later retreat. So Wu Sangui's reported battle merits were certainly inflated; doubling or tripling them would still be a fair accounting.

Qiu Zhizhong, his face likewise full of delight, reported to Zhu Cilang: "Governor-General Wang and the Earl Who Pacifies the West, in the name of Prince Ding, have concluded an alliance with the Qing Prince Regent Dorgon to jointly attack the roving bandits. Once the deed is done, the border will run along Shanhai Pass and the Great Wall — Qing in the north, Ming in the south, brother nations to each other. Moreover, we are to give a million in annual tribute and another three million to reward the Qing troops. Your Highness, it seems the Manchu Tartars are reasonable, good Tartars after all. Our Great Ming's restoration is at hand!"

Huh? Good Tartars? Who are they trying to fool, children? Zhu Cilang thought to himself: We may look young, but Our mental age is past forty, and in Our previous life Our specialty was swindling people! Would We fall for Dorgon's and Hong Chengchou's tricks?

"Oh," Zhu Cilang nodded, and a smile blossomed across his face. "It is fortunate that We were wise enough to protect Imperial Father in breaking out of the capital and taking temporary refuge at Dagu. Otherwise We would not be seeing the Great Ming's restoration now!"

"His Highness is wise!"

"Your subjects congratulate His Highness."

In the great hall were also many officials of the Crown Prince's faction — the four guard commanders Wu Xiang, Cao Youyi, Zhu Chunjie, and Shen Tingyang; five Grand Secretaries; one Minister of War; and Bi Jiucheng, chief clerk of the Grand Marshal's Office, along with several other proofreaders and attendant scribes (all clerks). At this moment they all rose together to congratulate Zhu Cilang.

Needless to say, every one of them was beside himself with joy!

Zhu Cilang had escorted the Emperor out of the city, passed through Tongzhou, fought at Tianjin, and fallen back to hold Dagu. Though he had displayed extraordinary organizational skill and a gift for persuasion, he had not, after all, led the Great Ming to victory. But now the roving bandits had been smashed, Beijing looked about to be recovered, and the eastern barbarians who had fought the Ming for decades had suddenly become reasonable. Was this not the Great Ming's restoration?

And this Great Ming had been restored under the leadership of the Army-Pacifying Crown Prince!

This proved that His Highness the Crown Prince led well and was the sovereign of the Great Ming's restoration. Should the Chongzhen Emperor not abdicate in favor of the worthy and let the sovereign of the restoration take full power?

As long as Beijing could be retaken, Zhu Cilang would command the hearts of all. Not only would the loyal ministers of the Great Ming at the temporary court at Dagu weep and clamor to urge him to the throne, but the turncoat officials in Beijing, the officials of the Six Ministries in Nanjing, and local officials everywhere would all submit memorials urging his accession. Zhu Cilang could not refuse even if he wanted to; the people of the whole realm would not permit it. When the time came, the yellow robe would be forced onto his shoulders!

Once Zhu Cilang became emperor, everyone in this hall would be a meritorious official or close minister of the new sovereign. What need to fear lack of glory, wealth, and rank?

Zhu Cilang rose to his feet and addressed the Grand Secretaries in the hall and the Minister of War, Chen Rui: "Gentlemen Grand Secretaries, Master Chen, let us go together to report this matter to the Emperor.

Dabao, go and invite all the other senior ministers attending the small morning court. We shall all go together!"

The Crown Prince still had filial feeling. During his days at Dagu he went every day to pay his respects to his beautiful mother, yet he rarely saw Chongzhen, his father. Today, with such wonderful news, the first person he thought of was still his old man.

Thereupon he led his retinue out of the Marshal's Office and went to the temporary palace next door — in truth, just two adjoining courtyards.

When the Chongzhen Emperor saw Zhu Cilang arriving with a large crowd, his heart tightened at once — were they coming to force his abdication? Surely not; they had not even reached Dengzhou yet. Was this unfilial son already unable to wait?

He quickly glanced left and right and saw only the two eunuchs Cao Huachun and Wang Zhixin. Oh, and there was Commander Zhu Chunchen edging toward the corner — was he trying to flee, or going to fetch help?

Deeply disappointed, the Chongzhen Emperor could only draw a deep breath, straighten his body on the imperial seat (which was just an armchair), put on an angry look, and prepare to rebuke the Crown Prince who was plotting to usurp the throne.

Zhu Cilang was taken aback at the sight of the Chongzhen Emperor's furious expression. Who had angered Imperial Father? Why was that fellow Zhu Chunchen shrinking into the corner? It must be he who had angered Imperial Father!

Withdrawing his gaze from Zhu Chunchen, Zhu Cilang smiled and bowed to Chongzhen. "Imperial Father, a report has just arrived from Shanhai Pass. The roving bandits' two hundred thousand troops have been defeated by our allied army with the Qing. The Li rebel's elite are utterly lost, and he has fled in panic with a few thousand horsemen. Beijing may be recovered within days. Our Great Ming's restoration is at hand."

What? Li Zicheng already defeated, and the Great Ming about to be restored? How was that possible?

The Chongzhen Emperor was so shocked he even forgot his anger, leaving only astonishment and wonder. He, so wise and so diligent a sovereign, had labored conscientiously over the realm for seventeen years, only to end up on the verge of losing the nation.

Yet this unfilial and rebellious Crown Prince, Chunge, had usurped power barely a month ago, and the Great Ming was already restored. Was that not too fast? Even Li Shimin had not been that fast!

"This subject congratulates Your Majesty, and congratulates His Highness the Army-Pacifying Crown Prince!"

"This subject congratulates the Great Ming for ten thousand generations."

The hall again filled with voices of congratulation. The ministers and eunuchs attending Chongzhen, and the inner attendants and outer officials who had come with Zhu Cilang, all congratulated the Chongzhen Emperor and Zhu Cilang together.

The Chongzhen Emperor could no longer lose his temper, could no longer even curse Zhu Cilang as an unfilial son, nor question Zhu Cilang's claim that the Exalted Emperor had spoken to him in a dream. Without the Exalted Emperor Taizu's guidance in a dream, how could a boy of sixteen be so formidable?

And why had the Exalted Emperor Taizu not sent a dream to Us? Chongzhen thought: could it be that We are too diligent and sleep too little, leaving no time for dreams?

By now Zhu Cilang had found a chair and seated himself with an air of assurance. Smiling, he produced the memorial Zu Zebo had brought and handed it to Cao Huachun, asking Eunuch Cao to pass it to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen hastily took the memorial, opened it, and read it word by word. His brow, which had begun to smooth out, gradually knitted again.

"Chunge, it is one thing for the eastern barbarians to take the Great Wall as the border. But this million in annual tribute and three million in troop-reward silver — how is the court to produce it? Moreover, Wu Sangui and the others have rendered such great service; they too must be richly rewarded. How much silver does the court have now? Can it pay?"

Zhu Cilang smiled and thought: Pay my foot. The Tartars and the traitors are swindling you, and you actually believe it!

"Imperial Father, the court has over five million taels of silver on hand," Zhu Cilang said. "Of that, over four million is here at Dagu, and the rest is at Dengzhou. But this silver must not be given to the Qing!"

"Must not be given?" Chongzhen was startled. "Chunge, this is no time for stinginess! If we do not pay, how will the Qing be willing to withdraw? Compared with the million lives in the capital, silver is nothing."

Zhu Cilang did not answer the Chongzhen Emperor's question. Instead he said coolly: "The roving rebels have suffered a great defeat. The Qing troops will very likely seize control of the throat of Shanhai Pass. We must take precautions."

Wu Xiang asked: "Your Highness, do you fear the Qing people harbor ill intentions?"

Zhu Cilang smiled. "One must always guard against others!"

Wu Xiang asked again: "Your Highness, how do you wish to guard against them?"

Zhu Cilang said: "We must formally re-enfeoff Prince Ding as Prince Dai, to command the great stronghold of Datong. Enfeoff Wu Sangui as Duke of Jin, to command Taiyuan Prefecture. Enfeoff Gao Di as Duke of Xuan, to command Xuanfu. Appoint Wang Yongji as Governor-General of the Three Frontiers of Datong, Xuanfu, and Taiyuan, with the concurrent titles of Grand Secretary and Minister of War.

There is also one more person who must be richly rewarded and given important employment!"

(End of Chapter)