Chapter 152: Remonstrating Ministers and a Remonstrating Son — a Court Filled with Upright Men (Please Add to Favorites, Please Recom

A Prince of Dai, a Duke of Jin, and a Duke of Xuan — that makes three feudatories!

Although Zhu Cilang's upper, middle, and lower strategies for Wu Sangui did include a plan to enfeoff frontier commands, times have changed. Now that the situation seems to have greatly improved, is there still any need to honor that promise?

Besides, Datong, Xuanfu, and Taiyuan are three of the Nine Frontier Garrisons — are those places where frontier commands can be established?

If frontier commands were set up in those three places, could Beijing still serve as the capital?

"My boy," the Chongzhen Emperor finally could not help asking, "if you want to enfeoff frontier commands, you needn't do so near the capital. It would not be too late to wait until Shaanxi and Henan are recovered."

He still wants to recover Henan and Shaanxi. Zhu Cilang had nothing more to say. How could anyone so naive be emperor? And to have been one for seventeen years at that — it must have been hard on you!

"Imperial Father," Zhu Cilang said, "the establishment of the Dai, Jin, and Xuan feudatories is to reward merit! This victory over the Roving Bandit, this turning of our Great Ming's fortunes, was entirely thanks to the Earl Who Pacifies the West and Gao Di, and to the Guanning troops who fought with desperate courage. For such achievements, the court ought to have rewarded them richly. But the court is now in exile, the state treasury is empty, and we must also raise annual tribute and rewards for the Qing state — we truly cannot produce the money. So your son has prepared to establish frontier commands to reward great merit, and to set up the Dai, Jin, and Xuan feudatories.

Moreover, this matter cannot be delayed; it must be handled as quickly as possible. Otherwise it will chill the hearts of the meritorious officers and men!"

These words were of course a deception. The sole purpose of establishing the Dai, Jin, and Xuan feudatories was to delay the Manchu Qing's advance against the whole country.

As long as even one of the three feudatories was successfully established and stood on the side of the Great Ming, Zhu Cilang could gain at least a year. With that year, he would be able to make arrangements in the south.

"In addition, there is one more man who has rendered great service to the Great Ming's restoration and must be richly rewarded." A cold smile flickered at the corner of Zhu Cilang's mouth. "That man is Hong Chengchou!"

"Hong Chengchou?" Chongzhen nodded. "Though this man went over to the Qing, he was able to lead Qing troops through the pass to help the court crush the roving bandits. That is indeed meritorious — merit enough to offset his crime of surrendering to the enemy after defeat."

Zhu Cilang sighed. "What crime did he commit? He committed no crime at all. In the Song-Jin campaign, he led an army of one hundred thirty thousand, advancing steadily and fortifying every step. Even if he could not win, it would not have been difficult to withdraw intact. If Imperial Father had not been persuaded by Chen Xinjia and issued an edict urging Hong Chengchou to advance by a set date, and then sent Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi — two bookish scholars — into the army to press for a decisive battle, how could there have been the disaster at Song-Jin? And if the Song-Jin campaign had been won, how could there have been the fall of the capital and the court's wandering?"

"You—" Chongzhen was furious. "Then why did you say last time that Chen Xinjia should not have been killed?"

Zhu Cilang said, "Chen Xinjia of course should not have been killed! He was merely not talented enough for the Ministry of War. But among the officials of this dynasty today, there are plenty whose abilities do not match their posts, and not a few who have botched their tasks. Must they all be punished and executed?"

His burning gaze swept over the ministers in the hall. "If that were so, then today there would probably be only a crowd of ghosts discussing state affairs with Us and Imperial Father!"

What an unfilial son. Chongzhen was so angry he could not even speak. In his seventeen years in power, who had dared to rebuke him like this?

Yet the ministers present all thought Zhu Cilang's words were right. The affairs of the Great Ming were inherently difficult to manage, and none of them truly had such great ability — they were merely doing their best to cope. But you, the emperor, regardless of how hard the situation was, threw officials into prison at the slightest provocation, and in serious cases even had them beheaded! Was there any reason in that? If you were allowed to wield great power again, could state affairs still be salvaged? Perhaps you should abdicate and yield to a worthier man!

"And Yuan Chonghuan was wronged too," Zhu Cilang sighed again. "Though he lacked the great talent to pacify Liaodong, and his boasting was somewhat excessive, and he did unjustly kill Mao Wenlong — still, since Imperial Father trusted him and granted him a five-year term, he should not have had him sliced to death before the term expired. Even if Imperial Father discovered his ability was insufficient, his words exceeded the reality, and he had killed a great general without authorization, he still should not have been put to death by cruel torture. Even if he had to die, a quiet grant of death would have sufficed. Death by slow slicing — that was clearly venting rage after discovering one had been deceived!"

Zhu Cilang was very sympathetic toward Yuan Chonghuan, because in his previous life, was not the focus of his work precisely boasting and listening to others boast? In this life, had he not reached where he was today precisely by relying on the word "boast"? In a sense, Yuan Chonghuan and Zhu Cilang were colleagues!

To boast a little and get oneself killed for it — and then to be sliced over three thousand times, one cut at a time. Chongzhen, do you have any humanity at all?

Besides, was not the Ming system of selecting officials "founded on boasting"? In the civil examinations, apart from writing eight-legged essays, there were the imperial rescript, the proclamation, the memorial, the judgment, and the policy question — and the policy question carried great weight. What did a bunch of scholars with no practical work experience rely on to write policy questions? Was it not boasting? You select boasters as officials, so how can the officials not love to boast? Therefore, an emperor must be able to distinguish truth from falsehood. He cannot believe everything others boast, and then, when he later discovers he was deceived, have the man sliced to death to vent his rage. That is unreasonable!

Zhu Cilang continued, "And then there is Sun Chuanting — what a loyal and diligent minister. Not only was he thrown into prison without cause, but after being released and put back to work, he was not trusted, and was constantly urged to march out of the Qin passes to fight, driving him step by step onto a dead end. Yuan Chonghuan loved to boast, and Imperial Father wanted to kill him; Sun Chuanting spoke the truth, and Imperial Father did not believe him. Even now he has not been given posthumous honors or mourning gifts — how chilling!"

Exactly! The thirty-odd ministers in the hall all felt this deeply. With an emperor like Chongzhen, if you told him nonsense he believed it, and if you told him the truth he did not believe it. And such a sovereign still considered himself wise and brilliant — truly putting his subordinates in a difficult position! Better to step down, and step down quickly!

"Th-this — can this be blamed on Us? It is the ministers who are too treacherous! One moment true, the next false — how is We to tell them apart?" Chongzhen, dazed by his son's rebukes, blurted out his true feelings in his agitation.

"Imperial Father, how can you not know how to tell them apart? To be emperor, one must know how to distinguish loyal from treacherous, true from false among one's ministers. How can you not know?" Zhu Cilang shook his head repeatedly. "Fortunately, you have your son to assist you. Otherwise the Great Ming realm would truly have been lost at Imperial Father's hands!"

"You — you — do you want to anger your father to death?" Chongzhen was so furious his face reddened and his neck thickened, but he could not out-argue his son, and he did not dare strike him — Zhu Cilang killed without blinking, and Chongzhen was afraid of him too!

But Zhu Cilang stood up and bowed to Chongzhen. "Imperial Father misunderstands your son. Your son is remonstrating with Imperial Father! The New Book of Tang says: If the Son of Heaven has a remonstrating minister, though he lacks the Way, he will not lose his realm; if a father has a remonstrating son, though he lacks the Way, he will not fall into unrighteousness. Thus it is said: a son must not fail to remonstrate with his father, and a minister must not fail to remonstrate with his lord. Your son is precisely a remonstrating son and a remonstrating minister!"

You are a remonstrating son and remonstrating minister? Chongzhen thought to himself: Then We must be that sovereign and father who lacks the Way?

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is filial, righteous, loyal, and generous — he is precisely Your Majesty's remonstrating son!"

"For Your Majesty to have such a remonstrating son is truly a blessing for the altars of state and a blessing for Your Majesty."

"This old minister congratulates Your Majesty, and congratulates the Great Ming."

Before Chongzhen could even lose his temper, the ministers in the hall were already offering him congratulations one after another. Hearing this chorus of praise for himself, Zhu Cilang was also quite gratified. The Great Ming of today was indeed a court filled with upright men — the great work of restoration had hope!

"Fine, you are all remonstrating sons and remonstrating ministers," the Chongzhen Emperor said, nearly weeping with rage. "Only We are a tyrant without the Way — is that it? Once the capital is recovered, We shall abdicate and yield to a worthier man!" He pointed at Zhu Cilang. "And let you, this remonstrating son, be emperor!"

The remonstrating ministers immediately said in one voice: "Your Majesty is sage and wise — the Great Ming's restoration has hope!"

Zhu Cilang, however, sighed and bowed to the Chongzhen Emperor. "If Imperial Father truly wishes to abdicate, he may wait until the court reaches Nanjing and all matters are settled, and then perform the rites at the Xiao Mausoleum and report to the Exalted Emperor Taizu before carrying it out."

"What?" The Chongzhen Emperor was startled. "The capital is about to be recovered — is there still any need for the court to go south?"

Zhu Cilang sighed and shook his head. "Imperial Father, most of the ministers at court love to boast. Are the Tartars of Liaodong honest men? The Tartars are deceiving us! We cannot return to the capital — that is a Tartar trap! If we go to Beijing, we will die without a whole corpse!"

(End of Chapter)