Chapter 1654: Lie Still and Eat Fat Sheep

First, put the inner court in order; second, put the Embroidered Uniform Guard in order. But what about the civil officials and military officers of the outer court, the supreme commanders and warlords on the frontiers, and that Capital Camps outfit that can eat but cannot fight — do they still need to be straightened out?

The several Grand Secretaries, along with Zhang Weixian, Commander of the Capital Camps, could hardly believe their ears!

This young Son of Heaven, newly on the throne, would truly spend his first year or two dealing only with the imperial guard and the eunuchs, and would not purge the civil officials, the military officers, or the frontier officials? In truth, among the Ming's civil officials, military officers, and frontier officials, there were also plenty of traitors and scoundrels!

"Your Majesty," the Grand Secretary Li Guo submitted, "in the outer court there are also not a few men who attached themselves to the traitor Wei and committed every kind of evil. This cannot be left unexamined!"

The old minister Zhang Weixian also submitted: "Your Majesty, among the military officers too there are running dogs of the traitor Wei! Moreover, the eastern barbarians are growing ever more insolent, rebels are stirring in the southwest, the Tartar caitiffs on the northern frontier are restless and ready to move, and on the southeastern seas the red-haired Franks are wreaking havoc. Every front requires Your Majesty to exert himself in governance and strive with all his might!"

Zhu Youjian sighed: "We ascended the throne in Our youth, and grew up deep within the palace and princely mansions, knowing nothing of affairs of state. How dare We lightly speak of exerting Ourself in governance? As for whether the officials of the outer court are loyal or treacherous, how is We to tell them apart? Can We know everything merely by reading the memorials and impeachments of the censors and supervising secretaries? If loyal and treacherous were so easy to distinguish, what use would the depots, the guards, and the mounted inspectors be?

We first set the inner court and the Embroidered Uniform Guard in order precisely so that We may clearly discern loyalty and treachery, within and without. The loyal can naturally be put to great use; the treacherous should of course be severely punished.

But until the inner court and the imperial guard have been fully reorganized, We dare not, and cannot, rashly bestir Ourself, lest We drive south while the carriage points north, and labor twice for no result.

Therefore Our meaning is this: for two years, the outer court must seek stability!"

The lessons of the previous life were too deeply etched! Before the affairs of his own household were even settled, he had rushed off to sweep away the treacherous ministers of the outer court, had employed a pack of upright gentlemen who could only chant high-sounding slogans, had employed that braggart Yuan Chonghuan, and had even stuffed himself full and gone off to fight a pointless war with Ligdan Khan!

As a result, within two years Hong Taiji had burst through the Great Wall and fought his way to the outskirts of Beijing, burning, killing, and plundering!

And to drive Hong Taiji off, the whole realm had to be summoned to rally to the throne. In the end, the great armies that rallied to the throne did not dare fight the Tartars, but instead rose in revolt themselves — that was when Li Zicheng turned from a Ming officer into a rebel!

So when it came to actually getting things done, that pack of upright gentlemen was even less reliable than the eunuch faction that had attached itself to Wei Zhongxian! His own reckless exertions had also been less safe than his brother's playing at carpentry.

"But the traitor Wei's claws and teeth — the Five Tigers, Five Bravos, Ten Dogs, Ten Children, Forty Grandsons, and the rest — are mostly still at court. How can this be allowed?" said Zhang Weixian, Commander of the Capital Camps. "Does Your Majesty not fear that they will collude, raise troops in rebellion, and avenge the traitor Wei?"

Raise troops for revenge?

Zhu Youjian thought to himself: If this lot really did such a thing, would they still be traitors and scoundrels? Would they not have become righteous heroes avenging their master!

"Your Majesty," said Huang Liji, Chief Grand Secretary, "the Five Tigers, Five Bravos, Ten Dogs, Ten Children, and Forty Grandsons are universally acknowledged as the traitor Wei's claws and teeth! If they are allowed to remain in office, all upright men under heaven will be chilled to the heart!"

Shi Fenglai, one of the four Grand Secretaries the Tianqi Emperor had left to his young brother, also stepped out of line and submitted: "Your Majesty, this subject seconds the proposal!"

Another Grand Secretary, Zhang Ruitu, also said: "Your Majesty, these seventy men are truly the traitor Wei's sworn partisans and must not be lightly forgiven!"

Zhu Youjian of course could not let the Five Tigers, Five Bravos, Ten Dogs, Ten Children, and Forty Grandsons go — how could he possibly let them go? These were seventy fat sheep! He was counting on them to pay for indulgences! At least one or two hundred thousand taels of silver from each man, and seventy men would make ten million taels. They might not have that much in ready silver, but counting land, mansions, and debts owed to them, it would certainly exceed that figure.

However, Zhu Youjian could not send all these men to the Imperial Prison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. That Embroidered Uniform Guard crowd was no good at doing proper work, but their skill at extortion, blackmail, and devouring fat sheep was better than anyone's. Once seventy fat sheep entered the Imperial Prison, Zhu Youjian would not even get a tuft of wool!

So Zhu Youjian wanted to cut out the Embroidered Uniform Guard as middleman and deal directly with the fat sheep. That was why he had held back from seizing the fat sheep of the outer court, and instead set about reorganizing the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard first.

Of course, Zhu Youjian could not let the fat sheep run away either. Outside the gates of the Five Tigers, Five Bravos, Ten Dogs, Ten Children, and Forty Grandsons, troops of the three battalions of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses had long since been posted by imperial order to keep watch.

Only to keep watch — they could not go in, arrest people, or seize goods — because Zhu Youjian had not yet issued an edict stripping those men of their offices, but had merely ordered them to shut their doors and reflect on their errors!

However fierce the soldiers of the three battalions of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses might be, they were still only soldiers — at most petty officers no bigger than a sesame seed or a green bean — and they did not dare challenge the dignity of officials.

Now, hearing the four Grand Secretaries speak with one voice in favor of taking the knife to the seventy fat sheep, Zhu Youjian knew the time to arrest them had ripened — but the men could not be taken into the Embroidered Uniform Guard or the Eastern Depot.

"These seventy villains should indeed be arrested," Zhu Youjian mused, "but the depot and the guard themselves must be reorganized, so how can they hold so many traitors? What if remnants of the traitor Wei within the depot and the guard let these villains escape — what then?"

Let them escape? How could that be possible?

Luo Sigong and his son Luo Yangxing thought to themselves: Without eighty or a hundred thousand, how could they possibly be allowed to go?

"Your Majesty," Xu Yingyuan, brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and concurrently Superintendent of the Eastern Depot, now spoke up with a suggestion, "in the Taiye Pool of the Western Garden there are Qionghua Island and the South Island (Yingtai), which would serve perfectly to hold this pack of traitors. Once the Northern Provost Office and the Eastern Depot have been reorganized, they can be handed over to the depot and the guard."

Zhu Youjian nodded, then asked Luo Yangxing, "Left Commissioner-in-Chief, what do you think?"

"This subject thinks the plan is a good one," Luo Yangxing replied. "Give this subject one month, and he will certainly have the Northern Provost Office reorganized first."

Zhu Youjian laughed: "Good — one month it is!"

One month later — apart from those who had died, all seventy fat sheep had turned over a new leaf and bought their indulgences!

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment, then added: "Among the Five Tigers, Cui Chengxiu is Minister of War, and Wu Chunfu is Minister of Works — both are critical posts! The post of Minister of War in particular must be filled by the right man!"

Chief Grand Secretary Huang Liji at once suggested: "Yan Mingtai, Governor-General of Ji-Liao, understands military affairs and might temporarily take over the Ministry of War in Cui Chengxiu's place."

"Then what of the Ji-Liao front? Let Yan Mingtai remain at his post!" Zhu Youjian had in fact long had a candidate in mind. "We think Wang Zaijin, Minister of War at the Southern Capital, can come and serve as Minister of War."

Hearing Zhu Youjian propose Wang Zaijin for the Ministry of War, the ministers present could not help frowning — Wang Zaijin was no good man! Among those who had served as Liaodong Military Commissioner, Xiong Tingbi had been the most "wicked," lashing out at heaven, earth, and even the Emperor! During his first command in Liaodong he had lashed out at the Wanli Emperor. During his second command in Liaodong he had fought Wang Huazhen until feathers flew and dogs jumped, and in the end so offended the Tianqi Emperor that his head was moved from its home.

And this Wang Zaijin was the second most "wicked" man. When he replaced Xiong Tingbi in command of Liaodong military affairs, he counted the troops at Shanhai Pass — and more than a hundred thousand men were counted by him down to just over fifty thousand. How many people he offended!

Later he had vigorously advocated "fortifying the passes, holding Shanhai, and thereby guarding the capital" — which in practice meant abandoning Liaoxi and defending Shanhai Pass to the death. The Liaodong armies had been "counted" by him down to just over fifty thousand men; a glance at the books showed that a counteroffensive was impossible! The Later Jin army now outnumbered the Liao army — could the Liao army still attack?

So Wang Zaijin had not lasted long in the post of Liaodong Military Commissioner before he was driven from office and replaced by Sun Chengzong, that "great good man." The Liao troops were "expanded" back to over a hundred thousand, and one great fortress project followed another — what a good man!

And now Zhu Youjian actually wanted Wang Zaijin to head the Ministry of War. That meant the Ming army's strategy in Liaodong and Liaoxi would undoubtedly shift wholesale toward the defensive.

"As for the Ministry of Works," Zhu Youjian continued, "We have heard there is a certain Xu Guangqi who is quite capable, and knows many of the Westerners' ingenious crafts and curious techniques. He can be put in charge of the Ministry of Works.

Furthermore, Yuan Keli did well when he governed Dengzhou and Laizhou. Can he be appointed Governor of Deng-Lai again, with overall command of the military affairs of Dongjiang and southern Liaoning?"

Hearing that Zhu Youjian wanted to bring the already-retired Yuan Keli out of retirement once more, everyone understood — His Majesty meant to pull back in Liaoxi while holding Lüshun and Jinzhou in southern Liaoning, and maintaining a containing force where Joseon and Jianzhou met.

This was to be a prolonged struggle with the eastern barbarians!

Zhu Youjian then said to Luo Yangxing: "There is also a certain Yang Gao, who has been held in the Imperial Prison for quite a few years now. Have him brought to the Hall of Literary Splendor tomorrow — We have questions for him!"

(End of Chapter)