Chapter 18: The Wool-Clipper Is About to Get Fleeced (Desperately Begging for Recommendation Tickets)

"Several thousand of them, all able-bodied men! Since early morning they've been lining up on the main street north of the Imperial City wall, waiting to enlist! Our ancestors must be watching over us — the Great Ming is saved at last..."

The old eunuch was nearly weeping with joy, wiping his tears as he reported the good news to Zhu Cilang.

Hearing this old eunuch — whose hair and eyebrows were already white, and who was at least sixty — speak of the ancestors' blessing, Zhu Cilang couldn't help frowning.

What blessing from the ancestors? It was plainly the ancestors screwing people over!

"Let's go — to Bei'an Gate!"

When Li Jizhou arrived, Zhu Cilang was just having breakfast, so he grabbed two steamed buns and made to head out the door.

The palace attendants and guards of Duanben Palace had more or less gotten used to this, and no one dared remonstrate; they all packed up and prepared to follow. But the old eunuch Li Jizhou was startled by Zhu Cilang's behavior. What did he mean, going to Bei'an Gate?

Bei'an Gate was still within the bounds of the Imperial City, but once you stepped through it, you were outside the Imperial City! Was that a place the Crown Prince could just casually go?

And the Crown Prince still had to attend court, study, and listen to lectures! Physician Zeng had reported yesterday that the Crown Prince was unwell and needed several days of quiet rest. But Li Jizhou had only approved one day; whether he could take leave today would have to be decided after he personally saw Zhu Cilang.

The Crown Prince was going to be emperor one day, so his studies could not be neglected... If he didn't study hard now, how would he be emperor in the future? What if he turned into a fatuous ruler — wouldn't the Great Ming realm suffer for it?

And besides, how could this Crown Prince be holding a meat bun in one hand, gnawing on it as he walked? What sort of decorum was that? Since when did the Great Ming have a sovereign who ate while walking? If the outer court found out, wouldn't they impeach the Eastern Palace lecturers and the Six Bureaus of the Eastern Palace?

"Your Highness! Your Highness, where are you going?" Li Jizhou had meant to stop Zhu Cilang, but Zhu Cilang moved faster, sweeping out the gates of Duanjing Hall like the wind. The old eunuch had no choice but to trot along behind, remonstrating as he followed.

"To Bei'an Gate!" Zhu Cilang said. "Bureau Director Li, you come along too."

"Thousand Years, you still have morning court today, and this afternoon you must listen to the lecturers. You took leave yesterday — you cannot miss it again today..."

Because Zhu Cilang was still young, he did not have to attend court every day. The Chongzhen Emperor had him attend court once every three days; on days without court, he practiced martial arts in the morning and studied civil subjects in the afternoon. Today happened to be a day for attending court and observing governance.

"Not going, not going..." Zhu Cilang shook his head. "We have urgent matters and no time for court. Bureau Director Li, didn't We request three days of leave yesterday? Don't you know?"

Asking for three days of leave all at once... It simply couldn't compare with the Chongzhen Emperor's diligence!

The old eunuch sighed inwardly. What was wrong with the Crown Prince? Was he developing in the direction of a fatuous ruler?

Zhu Cilang ignored him and simply walked faster, as if trying to shake off this muddle-headed old eunuch. But although Li Jizhou was old, his legs were in fine shape, and he kept up the whole way without falling behind in the slightest.

"Thousand Years, seeing you like this, you can't be ill. This old slave wouldn't dare cover up for you..."

What do you mean, not ill? It's just that your medical skills are poor! Zhu Cilang thought to himself: My very soul has been swapped — how can that not be an illness? In later ages, replacing an organ was already a grave illness; could an illness of a swapped soul be any smaller?

Still, Zhu Cilang didn't want this old eunuch ruining his plans. No matter how he carried on, the Chongzhen Emperor would find out soon enough. But the imperial palace was not like an ordinary household — even a casual circuit took the better part of an hour! And the web of personal relationships within it was tangled and complex; anything involving the Crown Prince was a case of pulling one hair and moving the whole body, so it was very hard for the Chongzhen Emperor to grasp the full situation at the first moment.

Besides, these were extraordinary times. Who could say Zhu Cilang's actions weren't actually the Emperor's secret decree? Anyone who failed to read the situation and went running off to tattle might well throw away his own fine life.

So Zhu Cilang reckoned the Chongzhen Emperor would still need some time before he detected the conspiracy between himself and Wang Cheng'en... By then, the Chongzhen Emperor probably wouldn't be able to do much about him.

"Wang Qi, take Bureau Director Li along with us." Hearing that the old eunuch meant to expose him, Zhu Cilang promptly ordered his Eastern Palace guard Wang Qi to get the old man under control.

Wang Qi was a burly giant of a man, a full six chi and more in height — that is, around one meter eighty-six or eighty-seven. He wasn't a lanky sort, but broad in frame; seen head-on, he looked like a door plank.

He had started out in the Han General Corps and had been chosen as an Eastern Palace guard because of his imposing looks. Now that Zhu Chunjie had been sent out of the palace on business, Zhu Cilang had assigned him as head of the Eastern Palace guards.

Hearing Zhu Cilang's order, Wang Qi first froze. What was this about? What was His Highness the Crown Prince up to?

"Wang Qi! What are you standing there gaping for?" Seeing the big fellow hesitate, Zhu Cilang barked at once.

Only then did Wang Qi snap to his senses. He hastily acknowledged the order, stepped forward, said "My apologies," and clamped a big hand around the old eunuch's wrist.

With his wrist seized, Li Jizhou was at a loss. What was this? What was the Crown Prince doing? Was skipping one class worth all this?

Zhu Cilang wasted no more words on Li Jizhou. Striding briskly, he left Duanben Palace, headed north, passed through Xuanwu Gate, crossed Longevity Hill, and arrived at Bei'an Gate, the north gate of the Imperial City.

Wang Cheng'en and Wu Xiang had already arrived and were discussing something by the half-open Bei'an Gate, surrounded by a large crowd of Wu family retainers, Eastern Depot riders, and South Lake Purified Troops. Seeing Zhu Cilang approach, the two men broke off their conversation at once and came forward to bow deeply in salute.

"Companion Wang, how goes it? Has Juyong Pass fallen?"

Li Jizhou, who had been dragged along the whole way by Wang Qi, heard Zhu Cilang's words and his mouth dropped open in astonishment.

Wang Cheng'en replied: "The founding emperor's dream-visitation was indeed efficacious. The relay dispatch arrived yesterday afternoon — that traitor Tang Tong has indeed surrendered the pass and gone over to the Roving Bandit."

Now Li Jizhou was even more shocked, his old eyes wide as he stared at Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang ignored him and simply asked on: "How many have come from outside? Has a count been taken? Are they able-bodied?"

Wu Xiang answered: "Reporting to Your Highness the Crown Prince, this subject has already sent men to make a rough count. More than four or five thousand have gathered outside, and more keep arriving. Those who come are not necessarily all able-bodied, but they are serviceable enough."

"That's quite a number already." Zhu Cilang nodded.

The figure was within his expectations. Beijing's population in this era was quite large — it had passed 1.2 million during the Tianqi years. But in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen a massive plague had broken out and killed many people. On top of that, the surrounding situation was bad and grain prices in the city were exorbitant, so many had left. Now there were probably still five or six hundred thousand residents. Because plague and famine culled the old and weak first, the proportion of able-bodied men in the city should be higher — no fewer than a hundred thousand.

Moreover, there were no ways to make money in Beijing right now — at least no one was hiring able-bodied laborers at one qian of silver a day. So the "sky-high wages" offered by a "sucker" like Zhu Cilang were sure to dupe plenty of people today.

"Four or five thousand and counting..." Zhu Cilang smiled. "Commissioner Wu, Companion Wang, how many do you two think we can actually use? And how do you plan to use them?"

If there were time enough, more troops would of course be better. But time was short now — there was no chance to train them, and there weren't many officers available. So they couldn't ask for too many; they had to recruit within a controllable range.

"Reporting to Your Highness the Crown Prince," Wu Xiang replied, "this subject has discussed it with Eunuch Director Wang. We feel that recruiting three full war battalions of a little over 1,000 men each would be just right; any more would be hard to command. This subject's household retainers plus the Zu family's retainers amount to only a little over a hundred men. According to Qi Wuyi's military system, those who can serve as Banner Commanders and Company Commanders number barely over a hundred. Add the palace officers and riders drawn from the Purified Troops and the Eastern Depot, and at most we can manage one battalion of troops. The Wu family, the Zu family, the Purified Troops, and the Eastern Depot can produce several hundred men; recruiting another 2,500 will be enough."

The organization Qi Jiguang used when commanding the armies of Ji and Liao was roughly: twelve men to a squad, three squads to a banner, three banners to a company, three companies to a bureau, three bureaus to a battalion. These were commanded respectively by Squad Leader, Banner Commander, Company Commander, and Battalion Commander.

Not counting officers and their attached attendants and combat servants, that came to 972 men; counting officers and attendants, it was just over 1,000. Three thousand men was roughly three battalions. But in the view of Wu Xiang and Wu Sanfu, not all of those 3,000 would necessarily be able to fight. So they concentrated the true fighting strength in the Central Army Battalion. It included one firearms bureau, one bureau for close combat and supervising the gunners, and one cavalry bureau — about a thousand men in all. If the situation turned critical, this battalion would be the one to escort the Chongzhen Emperor and Zhu Cilang in breaking through the encirclement and escaping!

"Good!" Zhu Cilang nodded. "In that case, pass the word down: take 2,500 men today. Those with family ties in Beijing may leave on their own; only those with no attachments may come and earn this one qian of silver a day."

(End of Chapter)