Chapter 1719: Beijing Is Too Hot, Escape the Heat in Datong

Once Zhao Zhilong and Li Zunzu entered Beijing, they naturally each went back to their own homes, each to find their own mothers.

Zhao Zhilong was an old-line noble of merit. When Wei Zhongxian held power, he had sided with the Donglin and opposed the eunuch faction, so by rights he should have stood together with Sun Chengzong and the rest. But the Donglin Faction had now gone bad — they had actually taken over the salt transport office's business from the Son of Heaven and wanted to fully restore the kaizhong system. Although Sun Chengzong, for the sake of stability in the salt trade, had not swallowed up all the nobles' interests in one gulp.

But since the Donglin Faction had taken over the salt affairs, they had made enemies of the nobles of both the northern and southern capitals!

Because of this matter, Zhao Zhilong had already seen through the true face of the Donglin Faction, and so over these past months his relations with the Donglin traitors had rapidly cooled. Now they were enemies, not friends.

After breaking with the Donglin Faction, a noble like Zhao Zhilong naturally had to seek new allies at court. And the ones who could ally with them were, of course, Huang Liji, Shi Fenglai, Zhang Ruitu, and that bunch of eunuch-faction remnants who considered themselves "not eunuchs."

After parting from Li Zunzu, Zhao Zhilong did not return to his residence to rest a little, but went straight to the Ministry of Personnel yamen, where the Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat held their small meetings. In the main hall of the Ministry of Personnel, sure enough, he saw several Grand Secretaries and Ministers gathered together, staring at one another in dismay.

Seeing Zhao Zhilong come in travel-worn, Chief Grand Secretary Huang Liji hurried forward to greet him, took Zhao Zhilong by the hand, and asked, "Earl of Xincheng, have you come back from Datong? How exactly is the fighting going over there? Did the Son of Heaven truly win, or..."

His way of speaking was still quite skillful — he dared not say the Son of Heaven had falsely reported a great victory or anything of the sort. The crime of slandering the Son of Heaven was very great, and one would have to buy many indulgences to atone for it.

To one side, the Minister of War, Wang Zaijin, counted as an "independent" — actually he was a fox-like character. During the earlier "dispute over the foundation of the state," he had not said a single word! Now he was at ease, and with a smiling face he too came over: "Over at Datong, of course it was a great victory. The personal troops before the imperial tent are an elite force, far more capable in battle than the men of Khutuktu Khan. Even Khutuktu Khan's iron-lance cavalry could not defeat the tent-front army!"

You old fox... why didn't you say so earlier!

In the main hall of the Ministry of Personnel, several resentful gazes shot fiercely at Wang Zaijin — Wang Zaijin had never been a good man. He had counted more than a hundred thousand Liaodong troops down to a little over sixty thousand. Could such a man be any good?

Huang Liji did not lower himself to Wang Zaijin's level. A man like Wang Zaijin was called a "solitary subject" — no faction, no party, disdaining to ally with others, and always doing things that made his colleagues gnash their teeth.

For the Ming court, such a villain was necessary, but he could never become Chief Grand Secretary — he offended too many people! So Huang Liji did not particularly fear Wang Zaijin. What worried him was Sun Chengzong. Sun Chengzong was skilled at using the Ming court's silver to win over his faction — a man who could smooth things over on all sides.

Chief Grand Secretary Huang ignored Wang Zaijin and only looked at Zhao Zhilong. Zhao Zhilong said, "A great victory! The Son of Heaven's valor surpassed the whole army. He led the charge himself and slew the foremost warrior of the Mongols, Guiyingqia, in battle! He routed the Chahar tribe so badly they could not form ranks, leaving corpses strewn for dozens of li, and fled in defeat all the way out beyond the Datong border wall."

What?

The Son of Heaven slew the foremost warrior of the Mongols, and even led the charge himself? Is this true? It doesn't sound like it! Huang Liji had lost his ability to judge, and turned his head to look at Wang Zaijin.

Wang Zaijin frowned and said, "The Datong garrison's report to the Ministry of War also mentioned the Son of Heaven leading troops out to attack and winning a complete victory. But if there truly was such a great victory, why has the Son of Heaven not returned to court in triumph?"

So Wang Zaijin did not quite believe the battle report of the great victory at Baideng Mountain either — it looked too fake. How could the Son of Heaven possibly go into battle to seek single combat? How could he personally charge into the fray? How could he possibly use a cannon?

Hearing Wang Zaijin's words, Zhao Zhilong gave a sigh: "The Son of Heaven remains in Datong, nominally to campaign west against the Tumed, but in truth it is to reorganize the Datong garrison's eight guards, sixty-four forts, and the affairs of the various princely estates."

"What?" Huang Liji did not understand. "His Majesty intends to..."

Wang Zaijin at his side understood better, and immediately pressed the question: "Could the Son of Heaven be investigating fields and mustering troops?"

Zhao Zhilong sighed: "The Son of Heaven wants to investigate the military colony fields of Datong, so that he can collect more grain tax. In addition, he wants to reorganize the various armies of Datong. He does not believe in the figure of over a hundred thirty thousand troops. The Son of Heaven wants real troops, crack troops — he wants to reorganize forty to fifty thousand picked troops in Datong, and also wants to recruit another 1,500 imperial household retainers."

Wang Zaijin frowned and said, "The Datong garrison's military colony fields amount to at least more than two million mu. Even if only two million mu can be found, collecting one dou and two sheng of grain per mu would yield roughly two hundred fifty thousand shi! If the money and grain sent from the court and Shanxi to Datong remains unchanged, then the Datong garrison's pay and provisions would amount to at least one and a half million or more — enough to support fifty thousand picked troops." He stroked his beard and nodded. "If fifty thousand picked troops are properly maintained, then the Xuan-Da sector will be absolutely secure!"

Zhao Zhilong smiled bitterly: "I only fear the Son of Heaven wants to make Datong into a garrison capital like the one at Xuanfu!"

Huang Liji was startled: "What do you mean?"

Wang Zaijin also asked, "What is this about?"

Zhao Zhilong said, "When I left Datong Prefecture, His Majesty said that Beijing was too hot, and Datong was cool — a fine place to escape the heat and pass the summer."

The Imperial City, the Directorate of Ceremonial.

"What? His Majesty wants to go to Datong to escape the heat? And he even wants the Empress and the two Noble Consorts to go along?"

At this moment Li Zunzu was conveying the Emperor's handwritten edict to Xu Yingyuan, the brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and concurrently the handling eunuch of the Eastern Depot.

After reading the handwritten edict, Eunuch Xu was also greatly startled.

In the handwritten edict, Zhu Youjian instructed Xu Yingyuan to immediately prepare to move the rear palace to Datong. However, he did not say anything about establishing a garrison capital, still less about establishing a western capital. He only said it was "to escape the heat," because the weather was hot!

"But summer is almost over now!" Shang Fuming, the seal-holder of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, had also come to the Directorate of Ceremonial. Hearing Xu Yingyuan's words, he put in a remark.

It was already the end of the sixth month by the lunar calendar, and autumn was about to arrive — what heat was there left to escape?

Xu Yingyuan shot Shang Fuming a glance. "Old Shang, perhaps the Son of Heaven feels that autumn in Beijing is also hot?"

Reminded by him, Shang Fuming also realized he had just spoken out of turn, and immediately pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat. "That's true enough. It's almost the seventh month and still so hot — indeed we must go escape the heat."

Xu Yingyuan nodded and said to Li Zunzu, "Earl of Ningyuan, I and Seal-holder Shang must hurry to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility to report to the Empress."

Li Zunzu quickly rose. "This humble official must go home and see to his family. I take my leave first."

Xu Yingyuan said "I won't see you out," then also stood, and together with Shang Fuming went to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility to report to Empress Zhou.

As for Li Zunzu, he did not go home either. Leaving through the West Flower Gate, he went straight to Sun Chengzong's residence. Sun Chengzong now controlled the salt transport office, holding several million in salt profits in his hands — he was truly red-hot. Many Donglin Faction members who had been driven out of Beijing by Wei Zhongxian were gradually gathering under his banner. Some had been assigned by him to manage salt in Huaiyang, while others were still in Beijing awaiting appointments.

When Li Zunzu arrived, Sun Chengzong happened to have two visitors from Jiangnan at his home. One was Qian Qianyi, the Donglin leader of Jiangnan; the other was an Imperial Academy student named Shen Tingyang. The two had come to Beijing together. Qian Qianyi had come seeking office. As the head of the Donglin, he had been pushed out by Wei Zhongxian and had stayed at home for several years. He had thought that once Wei Zhongxian was dead he could turn things around, but he never expected Zhu Youjian to pay him no attention at all — so he had no choice but to shamelessly come to Beijing to lobby.

Shen Tingyang, for his part, had come for the kaizhong system — the Shen family was a great sea-merchant house of Jiangnan, the head of the Sea Sand Gang. This Sea Sand Gang, unlike Zheng Yiguan's Eighteen Zhi, did not sail the distant seas, did not go down to the Southern Ocean, and did not go to Japan. Instead, they worked the northern routes, going as far as Joseon. The current Pingliao Regional Commander, Mao Wenlong, was cooperating with them, trading in Joseon ginseng and furs. Needless to say, they had certainly stolen business from quite a few people!

In addition, the Sea Sand Gang had always wanted to seize the Grand Canal's business, wanting to ship tribute grain north by sea — in fact, most of the landlords and unscrupulous merchants of Huai'an and Yangzhou wanted to abandon the canal and switch to sea transport. Because to keep the canal open, the Yellow River had to be allowed to seize the Huai's course, and the Yellow River seizing the Huai's course would in turn cause siltation in the lower reaches of the Huai, thereby affecting the Huai's flood-discharge capacity. Because of this, the Huai flooded once every two or three years.

And abolishing the grain transport would in turn affect the livelihoods and sources of income of a great many people!

(End of Chapter)