Chapter 1712: Even the Ming Dynasty Itself Is in Danger!

"It's over, it's over. His Majesty is in grave danger. He's been surrounded on the east bank of the Yu River by the Tiger Rabbit Dun Khan's hundred-thousand-strong army. All the elite troops in Datong town have gone to his rescue, but the Tartars have a hundred thousand men! How many people are there in Datong town? How could they possibly rescue him?"

Inside the Hunyuan Prefecture office, the muddle-headed old Commandery Prince of Dai, Zhu Dingwei, was committing a crime! The great crime of spreading rumors to mislead the public and cursing the Son of Heaven!

And listening to his rumors and curses was a group of "irrefutable witnesses": Duke of Ying Zhang Weixian, Duke of Cheng Zhu Chunchen, Marquis of Funing Zhu Guobi, Left Commissioner-in-Chief Luo Sigong, and a Guard Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Luo Yangxing. This was truly something else—even the highest-ranking chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was present! This treason case was nailed down far too solidly; there was no way to deny it. With the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander personally testifying, how could there be any mistake?

"Your, Your, Your Highness." Duke of Ying Zhang Weixian had been frightened out of his wits by this prince who very likely had senile dementia, and could barely speak. "Who, who did you hear all this from?"

"Alas, it's spread all over Datong town!" Zhu Dingwei let out a long sigh. "I also had men find Datong sentries and patrol soldiers who had returned from outside the city and question them. They all said His Majesty led over a thousand cavalry to engage the Tartars, won a small victory, and then rashly advanced into enemy territory and crossed the Yu River!"

Zhu Chunchen, Duke of Cheng, who was assisting Zhang Weixian, stamped his foot. His rather heroic face was full of worry as he shook his head and said, "He's fallen for it, fallen for it—this is the Tartars' feigned retreat to lure the enemy!"

Zhang Weixian also shook his head repeatedly. Setting aside whether it was a trap or not, given the exalted status of the Son of Heaven, he should never have led a thousand cavalry deep into dangerous territory! Even if this Son of Heaven truly had the valor to match ten thousand men, he still should not charge into battle and kill enemies like this. This was simply not something a Son of Heaven ought to do!

Luo Sigong, the old commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was extremely shrewd and felt that the old Prince of Dai seemed to have only told half the story! So he asked, "Your Highness, did the Son of Heaven lose or not?"

His son Luo Yangxing was even more wicked, and added, "Your Highness, you are a prince of the blood. How is it that you left the city and came to Hunyuan Prefecture?"

What do you mean by that? Zhu Dingwei also sensed something was wrong. On careful thought, he remembered that Luo Sigong and Luo Yangxing, father and son, were both chiefs of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

"I, I, this prince." Zhu Dingwei hurriedly tried to find an excuse. After thinking hard, he actually found one. "It was His Majesty who ordered me to leave the city! His Majesty was trapped at the Yu River and sent someone with an edict ordering me to lead the Datong imperial clansmen and the household retainers of each family out of the city to join the battle!"

What? There was such a thing? Ordering princes and imperial clansmen out of the city to fight? This Son of Heaven was far too reckless!

Zhang Weixian, Zhu Chunchen, Zhu Guobi, and the others all found it hard to believe. And to prove that his words were true, Zhu Dingwei hurriedly signaled with his eyes to the several Commandery Princes who had fled with him, telling them to speak up.

These Commandery Princes were also full of grievances. They had been living comfortably as princes in Datong city, but this young Son of Heaven must have taken the wrong medicine! He traveled all the way to Datong, and moreover wanted everyone to go with him to be killed by the Tartars. Worst of all, he personally led the charge—did he think he was as brave as his ancestor, the Martial Ancestor? And those two garrison officials, Man Gui and Zhang Yiming, were also scoundrels. Not only did they not stop the Son of Heaven, they joined in the madness. On the eighth day, they transferred all the elite troops out of the city to fight a decisive battle with the Tartars!

The Tartars had a hundred thousand men!

How many elite troops were in Datong city? At most, fewer than ten thousand. They were all transferred out in one go. Then who would defend such a large city as Datong? Could they rely on the several hundred household retainers of the Ma and Ma families and ten or twenty thousand "temporary soldiers"?

So it wasn't that everyone wanted to flee—if they didn't flee, they'd truly lose their lives! Either they'd be done in by this young Son of Heaven, or killed by the Tartars when the city fell!

The princes poured out their grievances one after another. Though their accounts were fragmentary, they could still piece together a "fact."

Luo Sigong, the former Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander and the best storyteller among the capital's military nobility, stroked his beard and began to summarize.

"Your Highnesses, is what happened at Datong like this: His Majesty mistakenly trusted treacherous sycophants, rashly advanced against the enemy, and led only a thousand cavalry out of the city. As a result, he was lured by the Tartars to the east bank of the Yu River and fell into a heavy encirclement. Zhang Yiming and Man Gui led all the elite troops of Datong city to his rescue. Your Highnesses also led your own guards and household retainers out of the city to assist in the battle, but were blocked by the Tartars. At the same time, your retreat route was cut off, and you had no choice but to go around the city and withdraw."

The old veteran commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was truly different! The story he wove was quite polished—it could even go down in the annals of history.

"Yes, yes, yes, that's exactly it!" Zhu Dingwei, Prince of Dai, nodded repeatedly.

Luo Sigong glanced at Zhang Weixian, Duke of Ying—things were dire; you must lead us all in shifting the blame away!

The Duke of Ying sighed, then said to Zhu Dingwei, Prince of Dai, "Your Highness, how about you and the several Commandery Princes who came from Datong jointly write a memorial, and explain what happened at Datong to the court, as well as to Her Majesty the Empress and Her Majesty Empress Yi'an."

"Very well, I shall write it at once!" Zhu Dingwei also knew that abandoning the Emperor and slipping away was a crime. Now he certainly did not dare offend the nobles who had come from the capital, so he agreed readily and wrote the memorial on the spot, and had the several Commandery Princes who had fled with him all sign their names.

Zhang Weixian and the others did not dare delay either. They immediately dispatched messengers riding fast horses to send the memorial of the several unlucky Datong princes to Beijing.

After sending off the messengers, they settled the Prince of Dai and the other princes in Hunyuan Prefecture city, and then gathered together staring at each other in dismay.

The young Son of Heaven had very likely met with disaster. Datong town might not necessarily fall, but it was certainly besieged, and there was surely little military strength inside the city. The best-case scenario was that Zhang Yiming could mobilize some commoners to barely hold the city.

"Duke of Ying." After a long while, it was Zhu Guobi, Marquis of Funing, who spoke first. "If His Majesty is truly gone, what shall we do?"

"Indeed," Zhu Chunchen, Duke of Cheng, frowned deeply. "His Majesty hasn't even left behind a son."

Zhu Guobi, Marquis of Funing, shook his head repeatedly. "If he were truly gone, that would be one thing. What I fear is another seizure of the palace gate."

Luo Sigong glared at Zhu Guobi. "Marquis of Funing, what kind of talk is that?"

Zhu Guobi knew he had somewhat misspoken, but he remained unrepentant and snorted. "The plain truth!"

Zhang Weixian, Duke of Ying, cleared his throat. "This is not something we should meddle in. What we should consider is how to preserve the Ming dynasty!"

"Preserve the Ming dynasty? Surely it won't come to that?" Luo Yangxing was startled by the Duke of Ying's words. "Do the Mongols actually intend to return to the Central Plains?"

"Hard to say!" Zhang Weixian, Duke of Ying, sighed. "The situation at Datong is unclear, but we must prepare for the worst. If Datong city cannot hold, then what we must defend is the Inner Great Wall, especially the Shanxi section of the Inner Great Wall and the passes on the Inner Great Wall leading to the capital, such as Purple Thorn Pass."

Zhu Chunchen said, "Then we must immediately divide our forces to garrison Piantou Pass, Ningwu Pass, Yanmen Pass, Pingxing Pass, Daoma Pass, and Purple Thorn Pass."

The Duke of Ying nodded. "We don't have many troops at hand. Let us first divide our forces to defend the three passes of Ningwu, Yanmen, and Purple Thorn."

Although the Capital Camps had over a hundred thousand men on paper, at the critical moment when troops were truly needed, they could barely muster a few. This time, the forces that Zhang Weixian, Zhu Chunchen, Zhu Guobi, and the others had brought to Datong town totaled only a bit over twenty thousand, including two or three thousand household retainers of the capital's nobles!

He thought for a moment, then said to Zhu Chunchen and Zhu Guobi, "Duke of Cheng, take six thousand men to hold Yanmen Pass. Marquis of Funing, take six thousand men to Ningwu Pass. The remaining men will be commanded by myself and the two Commanders Luo. We will first observe the situation here at Hunyuan Prefecture. If Datong still stands, His Majesty is unharmed, and the Tartars have withdrawn, that would of course be best."

Zhang Weixian's arrangement was actually to avoid the succession struggle that might break out at court—a very satisfactory calculation. Zhu Chunchen and Zhu Guobi were both men of understanding, and immediately accepted their orders, each taking six thousand men to defend Yanmen Pass and Ningwu Pass. Zhang Weixian himself, meanwhile, took over eight thousand men to set up defenses at Hunyuan Prefecture, while also sending out scouts to probe the situation in the direction of Datong.

In the end, before the scouts returned, Zhang Yiming, Governor of Datong, arrived first!

(End of Chapter)