Chapter 1647: The Traitor Is in the Xian'an Palace

"Long live! Long live! Long live ten thousand years!"

The cry of "Long live!" resounded across the Li Grass Parade Ground. Three thousand Tiger Guards, already fully armored, each carrying long spears, swords, bows and arrows, stood drawn up in three square formations. Every man held aloft a tallow torch and shouted at the top of his lungs.

And the object of their acclamation was the Great Ming Emperor, Zhu Youjian, standing atop a high wooden platform.

Zhu Youjian was likewise fully armored, wearing a long golden fish-scale coat of mail and a golden phoenix-wing helmet, looking every inch the emperor about to lead his troops in person.

He was tall and slender, and once in armor he looked like an iron tower — awe-inspiring and majestic. The torchlight around him fell upon his golden armor and reflected back a brilliant golden radiance, making him seem a golden-armored divine general descended from heaven.

Gazing down at the three thousand Tiger Guards hailing him with "Long live!", Zhu Youjian felt his heart surge with emotion!

After all these years!

At last he once again possessed an army of his own!

Of course, this force could not compare with that unfilial son's New Army or his Guard Corps. But within the present city of Beijing, it could absolutely walk sideways.

An army that could walk sideways was the capital upon which his emperorship rested! With these three thousand Tiger Guards, no one in Beijing would dare challenge him again. And only by completely controlling Beijing could he squeeze as much oil and water as possible out of Wei Zhongxian's eunuch faction.

Back then, when Li Zicheng tortured officials for contributions in Beijing, he extracted a full thirty million taels! And that was only ready silver — not counting debts, shares, houses, land, curios, and bondservants. If one could conduct a serious confiscation, a hundred million would be no problem at all!

With that hundred million — even with fifty million — the days ahead would be much easier!

At the very thought of so much wealth, Zhu Youjian's mouth nearly watered. His spirits soared to the utmost, and his breathing grew a little rapid.

He abruptly raised both hands, and the cheering gradually died down. Soon the entire Li Grass Parade Ground fell silent. More than three thousand iron-clad men stood in solemn stillness without a word, the murderous air so thick it seemed about to congeal into a solid mass.

Zhu Youjian drew a deep breath, then opened his throat and shouted: "Gentlemen, you are all loyal and true men of our Great Ming! Today the traitor Wei has risen in rebellion, scheming to seize the realm of Great Ming. Are you willing to follow Us in a joint campaign against the traitorous villain, and together defend Great Ming?"

"We swear to follow Your Majesty unto death!"

"Defend Great Ming, kill the traitor Wei!"

"Long live, long live, long live ten thousand years!"

The officers and soldiers below once again burst into loud cheers! This fellow Wei Zhongxian was plainly a traitor at a glance! He had already reached nine thousand nine hundred years — one hundred more and he would be ten thousand. Was that not a traitor?

Moreover, Wei Zhongxian's comings and goings were so grand in display that they looked almost the same as an imperial progress!

Wei Zhongxian had even conferred upon himself some title of "Supreme Duke" to show that his status was higher than all the dukes. And the edict granting him that dukedom had actually been written in imitation of the "Nine Bestowals" text by which Emperor Xian of Han had praised Cao Cao. With all that, anyone who called Wei Zhongxian a loyal subject was lying through his teeth.

Furthermore, Wei Zhongxian's offices were absurd. He was a eunuch! Yet he had conferred upon himself the posts of Minister of War and Left Chief Censor, with the additional title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, holding both seals at once and grasping military authority and the reins of discipline.

That was seizing everything, inside and out, and controlling military power both within and without. If he was not a traitor, who was?

Even the pale-faced Cao Cao of old was not so insolent. Cao Cao never styled himself "Grandfather of Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Years"! And Cao Cao was only a powerful minister in the outer court; he never went off to become a "Palace Attendant," did he?

So although Wei Zhongxian truly had no intention of rebelling, and no strength to rebel, his conduct made him look exactly like a traitor — and a very rich traitor at that, one who could not fight. If not you, who else should be suppressed?

Zhu Youjian began issuing orders!

"Lu Jiude, attend!"

"This slave is here!"

Sun Yingyuan, Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong, Shang Fuming, Pang Tianshou, Lu Jiude, and the others were already fully armored and standing below the wooden platform. Hearing Zhu Youjian call his name, the eunuch Lu Jiude at once stepped forward and bowed.

"We command you to take five hundred picked men of the Brave Warriors Battalion to seize the Directorate of Ceremonial and the offices of the Inner and Outer Eastern Depots, and to seal the East Peace Gate and the North Peace Gate!"

"This slave obeys the imperial decree!"

The Directorate of Ceremonial and the Inner and Outer Eastern Depots were all critical offices, and the East Peace and North Peace Gates were vital thoroughfares for entering and leaving the Imperial City, so they had to be controlled.

"Pang Tianshou, attend!" Zhu Youjian said again.

"This slave is here!"

"We command you to take five hundred picked men of the Four Guards Battalion to seize the Gate of Heavenly Succession, the Great Ming Gate, and the offices of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

The Gate of Heavenly Succession and the Great Ming Gate were the main gates of the Imperial City, and naturally of the utmost importance. As for the Embroidered Uniform Guard offices, no explanation was needed. Wei Zhongxian's "Five Tigers" — Tian Ergeng, Xu Xianchun, Sun Yunhe, Yang Huan, Cui Yingyuan, and the rest — were all heads of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. So the Guard's offices should naturally be brought under control at the very first moment!

"Where is Shang Fuming?"

"This slave is here!"

Zhu Youjian shouted: "We command you to take five hundred picked men of the Loyal and Brave Battalion out through the North Peace Gate to seize the Supreme Duke's residence and the Suning mansion in the Zhaohui Jinggong Ward. Be sure to restrain your officers and men — no looting, no wanton killing! Any of the traitor Wei's sons, brothers, and household who can be taken alive must not be killed — not one!"

"This slave obeys the imperial decree!"

"Huang Degong, attend!" Zhu Youjian then called upon the general Huang Degong.

"This subordinate general is here!"

"We command you to take five hundred picked men of the Brave Warriors Battalion to seize the West Peace Gate and seal the West Prosperity Gate. Do not allow the eunuch Wei and Madam Ke to escape through the West Prosperity Gate or the West Peace Gate!"

It turned out that Wei Zhongxian had gone the previous night to sleep at the Xian'an Palace, where Madam Ke resided — which conveniently made it easier for Zhu Youjian to send troops to seize him!

"This subordinate general receives the order!"

Huang Degong also loudly acknowledged the command.

At this point Zhu Youjian raised his voice again and shouted: "All remaining generals, follow Us to march forth and slay the traitors. The traitor is in the Xian'an Palace!"

"Orders received!"

Again came a united shout.

As order after order was issued, the more than 3,500 picked troops assembled at the Li Grass Parade Ground divided into five columns and began striking out toward their respective objectives.

Zhu Youjian himself led the main force of more than 1,500 men, charging with murderous intent toward the East Prosperity Gate. The East Prosperity Gate had already been seized by Zhu Youjian and was still in the hands of his trusted men. Seeing Zhu Youjian arrive with troops, they immediately opened the gate and welcomed the great host inside.

After that, the troops who had entered the Forbidden City passed before the Hall of Literary Splendor and surged toward the Gate of Assembled Extremity. The Gate of Assembled Extremity was also guarded by Wei Zhongxian's trusted men, but they already knew something had gone wrong at the Directorate of the Imperial Horses' main camp, so they had immediately sent someone to the Hall of Literary Splendor to investigate. Finding that Zhu Youjian had already left, they knew the situation was dire. They hurriedly sealed the Gate of Assembled Extremity and went to report the emergency to the Grandfather of Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Years in the Xian'an Palace.

But they did not set up a defense at the Gate of Assembled Extremity. With the troops of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses all on the move, how would they dare resist?

And an undefended Gate of Assembled Extremity naturally could not stop Zhu Youjian's soldiers. Agile men immediately climbed over the wall and opened the gate, letting the great host into the plaza before the Gate of Imperial Supremacy.

Zhu Youjian did not pause, but led his troops on toward the Gate of Returning Supremacy. By this time, the Xian'an Palace had already fallen into utter chaos.

The Grandfather of Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Years, Wei Zhongxian, and the Lady of Fengsheng, Ke Yinyue, sat dumbly in the main hall of the Xian'an Palace like wooden chickens, merely watching a swarm of eunuchs and Purified Troops running about before them like headless flies.

A eunuch who appeared to be an officer of the Purified Troops from the Southern Lake came up to Wei Zhongxian: "Grandfather of Nine Thousand Nine Hundred Years, the situation is dire! The troops of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses have broken through the Gate of Returning Supremacy and will soon reach the Xian'an Palace. You and the Old Ancestress, Her Ladyship of a Thousand Years, must leave the palace at once and take temporary refuge at the Southern Lake!"

The Southern Lake was not inside Beijing but south of the city. It was a royal hunting preserve enclosed by a brick wall one hundred twenty li around, and the Southern Lake Purified Troops were garrisoned there — numbering as many as twenty thousand, the strongest armed force Wei Zhongxian had on paper.

But what was on paper was one thing, and actual fighting strength was another. Although the Southern Lake Purified Troops had decent armor and weapons, they were utterly incapable of combat, let alone of resisting the Emperor.

Faced with the situation before him, Wei Zhongxian was completely stunned. It was Ke who still had some presence of mind. She said urgently to Wei Zhongxian: "Death is at hand. Will you sit and wait for it, or fight with all your might? Make up your mind!"

What ideas could Wei Zhongxian have? He only shook his head.

Madame Ke stamped her foot. "Even an ant clings to life. Even if we cannot resist the heavenly troops, surely we should flee the Forbidden City?"

Wei Zhongxian sighed and shook his head. "Where could we flee to? If even the Directorate of the Imperial Horses has moved, would the Capital Camps troops not move as well? There is no path of survival left for us!"

(End of Chapter)