Chapter 1661: Even Eunuchs Fear Choosing the Wrong Line of Work!

In the Nanhaizi park south of Beijing — enclosed by a wall one hundred twenty li long and covering more than three hundred thousand mu — inside a military camp ringed by a high red wall, the place was boiling over today. In the morning, after Tu Wenfu returned from his audience with the Emperor in the Forbidden City, bringing with him a crowd of eunuchs large and small from the Directorate of the Imperial Horses system, this camp, already full of jittery nerves, turned into a squawking duck pond, a noisy, tangled mess. The more than twenty thousand disarmed eunuch soldiers — the best fighters the Great Ming had — all discovered they now stood on the edge of unemployment and starvation. How could they sit quietly in their barracks? They all gathered on the great parade ground, clamoring for the chief eunuch Tu Wenfu, Governor-General of Nanhaizi, to show himself at once and give everyone an explanation!

Although these Nanhaizi eunuch soldiers had all once been under Wei Zhongxian, and had taken turns going to the Forbidden City to take part in the "inner drills" — in practice serving as Wei Zhongxian's and Madam Ke's bodyguards — they were not Wei Zhongxian's eunuchs. They were the Great Ming's eunuchs!

They obeyed Wei Zhongxian because Wei Zhongxian held the office of "Governor-General of Nanhaizi" — and that office was not one Wei Zhongxian had conferred on himself, but one conferred by the late Emperor, whose tablet now rested in the Hall of Imperial Longevity.

The late Emperor had appointed Wei Zhongxian Governor-General of Nanhaizi, so of course these military eunuchs, loyal to the Great Ming, had to obey Wei Zhongxian's orders. If the late Emperor had not appointed Wei Zhongxian Governor-General of Nanhaizi, would they have followed Wei Zhongxian in anything?

And besides, they had never followed Wei Zhongxian in doing anything wicked or unconscionable!

They never had the standing for that. They were merely the Nanhaizi Pure Army — at the very bottom of the Great Ming's eunuch hierarchy, without power or influence, and performing the harshest duties. Not only did they have to undergo all kinds of military training like ordinary soldiers, they also had to clear land and farm inside Nanhaizi.

Furthermore, because the Nanhaizi Pure Army and the Directorate of the Imperial Horses had not been part of the same system in the past, the chief eunuchs of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses did not rely on the Pure Army to uphold their standing. So eunuchs of Pure Army origin found it very hard to enter the Directorate of the Imperial Horses and become professional military eunuchs. As military eunuchs, if they could not get into the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, they naturally had no good prospects.

So the Nanhaizi eunuchs were basically the most wretched lot in the entire eunuch population!

In the past, eunuchs who had committed offenses or lost out in factional struggles were banished to serve in the Pure Army — in earlier years, Wang An, the chief eunuch who had once kept Wei Zhongxian down, was punished after his fall by being made a Nanhaizi Pure Army soldier. Later, here at Nanhaizi, he was murdered by Liu Chao, the former Superintendent of Nanhaizi.

And this group of eunuchs at the very bottom had little opportunity to do evil. Few people do evil purely for evil's sake; ordinarily, evil brings benefits. Which of the vicious, utterly depraved running dogs and claws under Wei Zhongxian had not raked in overflowing riches? Which of them did not sit on a fortune of ten thousand strings of cash?

Which of the military eunuchs of Nanhaizi had a fortune of ten thousand strings? Most of them could not even draw their full monthly ration of rice. If they got five or six dou, enough to fill their own bellies, that was already a favor from above! Thinking about it, it was pitiful — every one of them had cut off his manhood and spent silver just to get the chance to enter the palace and serve.

They had thought that one day they too might rise to glory, let their families live a few comfortable years, and themselves become somebody above others. But the Great Ming's eunuchs numbered in the tens of thousands — how many truly rose to prominence?

Only after entering the palace did these men learn that the eunuch profession had so many hidden intricacies, and that there was such a trap of a posting. But entering the palace to be a eunuch was not like other jobs, where if you felt it wasn't right you could jump ship! Even if a eunuch jumped ship, his manhood would not grow back!

So these Pure Army men had no choice but to grit their teeth and carry on. They had thought their whole lives were ruined, that they would grow old and die in Nanhaizi — and then something even more unlucky happened!

Their superiors mistakenly took them for Wei Zhongxian's faction and wanted to expel them from the palace, to stop letting them be eunuchs!

What a terrible injustice!

When the Pure Army eunuchs got word of this, none of them could sit still. They all poured out of the barracks and gathered on the parade ground, blocking the entrance to the Superintendent Eunuch's yamen, shouting that they wanted an explanation.

We've already been castrated — can you make our manhood grow back? If it can't grow back, then you have to give us all a bowl of rice to eat!

Fortunately, Tu Wenfu had not come from Beijing alone. He had come together with Cao Huachun, who had just been appointed Superintendent Eunuch of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses — Cao Huachun had once been Zhu Youjian's study companion eunuch, and was one of the Son of Heaven's trusted confidants!

His Majesty probably knew that these Pure Army eunuchs, driven to desperation, might make trouble, so he had sent Cao Huachun with five hundred Directorate of the Imperial Horses camp soldiers just back from Shanhai Pass to accompany Tu Wenfu to Nanhaizi.

These five hundred Directorate of the Imperial Horses camp soldiers had all originally belonged to the Loyal and Brave Battalion, and had gone to Shanhai Pass as army supervisors with Liu Yingkun, the former Superintendent Eunuch of the Loyal and Brave Battalion — Liu Yingkun had earlier been sent by the Tianqi Emperor to serve as the eunuch guarding Liaodong, stationed at Shanhai Pass.

After Zhu Youjian executed Wei Zhongxian, Liu Yingkun and the Loyal and Brave Battalion soldiers he had taken to Shanhai Pass were all ordered back to the capital.

Liu Yingkun waited at home for orders, while the Loyal and Brave Battalion soldiers were temporarily placed under Cao Huachun's command — Cao Huachun had returned a few days earlier than Liu Yingkun, and because he was Zhu Youjian's trusted confidant, he was immediately given important responsibilities.

"Eunuch Cao, what do you think..." Tu Wenfu, at his wit's end, could only humbly seek Cao Huachun's help.

Cao Huachun had already received word from Zhu Youjian and knew the inside story, so he appeared fully confident. He said to Tu Wenfu, "Those men below just want to see the two of us. What is there to it? We're not maidens — are we afraid of being looked at?"

"True, true."

Cao Huachun rose to his feet, and together with Tu Wenfu, the two of them walked out of the yamen.

Outside the yamen it was truly a sea of people — all Pure Army eunuchs with empty hands.

When they saw the two chief eunuchs, Tu Wenfu and Cao Huachun, emerge from the yamen with a group of fully armed Directorate of the Imperial Horses armored soldiers, the noisy Pure Army eunuchs outside all fell silent at once, and involuntarily shrank back.

After another moment, seeing that the fully armed soldiers showed no intention of cutting anyone down, a group of older Pure Army veterans standing at the yamen gate all dropped to their knees and began wailing loudly — looking utterly wronged!

Tu Wenfu glanced back at Cao Huachun. Only then did Cao Huachun sigh softly and raise a hand. "Children, stop crying. We know how wronged you feel! You chose the wrong line of work when you became eunuchs! In our eunuch trade, the Nanhaizi Pure Army has it the hardest! You're rootless slaves, yet you drill like camp soldiers, and on top of that you have to farm your own land."

The old Pure Army veterans began weeping again — so wronged! The moment they entered Nanhaizi, their whole lives had been ruined!

And now they could not even stay in Nanhaizi. What were they to do from now on? Were they to starve to death?

"Don't cry, don't cry." Cao Huachun waved his hand. "The matter of disbanding Nanhaizi has not been finally settled yet! For now, it is only Empress Yi'an who has raised the matter with His Majesty. His Majesty has not yet made a final decision."

"Venerable Ancestor, you must speak well on our behalf to His Majesty..."

"You must not drive us out!"

"Yes, we've all been castrated. If we can't even be eunuchs anymore, what are we to do!"

Cao Huachun sighed as well. "We know your suffering. We know it all! In our line of work, there is no way back! If a family had any property at all, would they let a son take that cut? If you can't even be eunuchs anymore, what will you do?"

"Right, right."

"Venerable Ancestor, we suffer!"

Cao Huachun nodded repeatedly. "All right, all right. We know your suffering. Fortunately, His Majesty is soft-hearted. But you must not make trouble for His Majesty. You can see for yourselves that We have come with five hundred Directorate of the Imperial Horses camp soldiers. If this really blows up, will you come out of it well?"

The old Pure Army eunuchs glanced at the group of fully armed household troops of the Son of Heaven — they looked ferocious!

Cao Huachun continued, "How about this: choose a few men to come with Us to the Forbidden City and plead with His Majesty. We will also speak on your behalf. Nanhaizi may not be able to keep you, but there will always be a bowl of rice for you!"

(End of Chapter)