Chapter 19: Now It All Depends on Who Can Bamboozle Whom (Please Recommend, Please Collect)

"The Crown Prince has said: any stout fellow who has ties and attachments in Beijing may go home!"

A group of loud-voiced eunuch troops selected by Wang Cheng'en went out through the North Peace Gate and marched along the avenue north of the Imperial City wall, shouting as they went.

The sturdy men who had been queuing for quite some time began discussing the terms among themselves.

"Why must we be free of ties and attachments? What does a job paying one qian of silver a day have to do with that? Are they afraid that if we die fighting the Roving Bandit, there'll be no one at home to look after the family?"

"Who cares! Only a fool turns down money... one qian of silver a day! The Roving Bandit hasn't even come yet, has he?"

"Right! The Roving Bandit hasn't come, so why shouldn't we earn this silver?"

"Exactly. Worst comes to worst, once the Roving Bandit does come, we just hole up at home and don't come out."

"True enough. And who knows when the Roving Bandit will come... I've heard that once the Roving Bandit comes, the common folk will have good days!"

"What good days?"

"Equal land, no taxes, three years without levies..."

"Is that true?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Don't you see where you are? Do you still want to earn the Crown Prince's silver or not?"

"Right, right, right, mustn't talk nonsense..."

These stout fellows here were not Wu Xiang's household retainers. Wu Xiang's retainers each owned several hundred mu of farmland — by class classification they belonged to the landlord class. Naturally they would not approve of "equal land," and since they paid no taxes or grain levies in the first place, three years without levies held no appeal for them. But the sturdy men of Beijing were mostly working people, some of them peasants recently bankrupted, and the slogan "when the Roving King comes, no grain levies" naturally held appeal for them.

But the Roving King had not come today... and since he had not come, then of course they would still fleece the Crown Prince's "wool."

As for whether they would still be able to walk back out of the North Peace Gate after fleecing the Crown Prince's wool, no one gave it serious thought.

Besides, Beijing was after all at the foot of the Son of Heaven's throne, and far more orderly than the rest of the Great Ming. No one had ever dared forcibly conscript able-bodied men in Beijing! Nor was this the first time Beijing had faced an enemy — the Tartar caitiffs had come and gone several times. When had the court ever used trickery to deceive men into soldiering against the Tartar caitiffs?

And so the final chance to flee that Zhu Cilang had given the assembled "loose recruits" was essentially wasted.

Zhu Cilang, already standing beneath the gate tower of the North Peace Gate, saw that not many of the queued men had left, and said with a smile to Wu Xiang beside him: "Commander, have the Company Commanders and Centurions pick their own men."

"Aye!" Wu Xiang received the order, turned, and went off to arrange for his household retainers to select men.

Zhu Cilang then said to Wang Cheng'en: "Companion Wang, tell Us — what are your plans for the new escort army?"

Wang Cheng'en replied: "Reporting to Thousand Years, this old slave and Commander Wu intend to organize three battalions, nine bureaus, twenty-seven companies, and seventy-two banners. Each banner will have two banner commanders — one from the Wu family retainers and one from the Embroidered Guard cavalry. The banner commander drawn from the retainers will also serve as squad leader. In addition, each banner will select two men from the eunuch troops or from today's chosen stout recruits to serve as squad leaders..."

"A banner does not need two banner commanders," Zhu Cilang shook his head. "And the Embroidered Guard cavalry cannot lead troops — what business have they being banner commanders? Withdraw them all and form a separate battle-supervision company."

Wang Cheng'en lowered his voice in reminder: "But in that case, would not Thousand Years' three battalions be entirely in Commander Wu's grasp..."

"We have Our own measure!" Zhu Cilang said. "But what matters most now is the escort and the departure... let us not go looking for trouble."

In truth, Zhu Cilang was not afraid of trouble — he was afraid of Wang Cheng'en controlling this new army! Wang Cheng'en was Chongzhen's diehard loyalist. If this army fell under the control of Eunuch Wang's Embroidered Guard cavalry, would not the Crown Prince remain squeezed in the palm of that stubborn old "father-trap" Chongzhen?

Wang Cheng'en was also a man of no firm opinions, and said at once: "Thousand Years' considerations are indeed thorough."

Zhu Cilang asked again: "The stout recruits are here — are there weapons and armor for them all?"

Wang Cheng'en said: "There are. Both the Capital Camps and the Southern Lake eunuch troops have reserves. In particular, the Southern Lake eunuch troops' storehouses still hold many fine things, all procured back when the traitor Wei was building up the eunuch troops on a grand scale. Though most was transferred to the Capital Camps and the Guanning Army, the very best equipment we kept for ourselves."

Zhu Cilang thought to himself: And they say you're no match for Wei Zhongxian? Now you still have to live off Wei Zhongxian's old stock — have you no shame!

Zhu Cilang asked again: "Are the carts, carters, fodder, and dry rations all prepared?"

Horses, carts, carters, fodder, and dry rations — all were prepared for the flight!

Wang Cheng'en answered in a low voice: "Reporting to Thousand Years, this old slave has already sent men to make preparations."

"Everything must be ready tonight!" Zhu Cilang enjoined. "All of it is to enter the Imperial City and be placed in the inner parade ground, with eunuch troops posted to guard it... nothing must go wrong!"

"This old slave understands. This old slave will arrange everything properly. Thousand Years may set his mind at ease."

Wang Cheng'en did have ability in getting things done — otherwise he could never have reached his present position. His problem was that he had no capacity for decision-making; he dared not take responsibility for anything. Now that Zhu Cilang was making the decisions, he moved at once, sending his trusted eunuchs to scour up horses, carters, and carts, and to prepare dry rations and fodder.

And on the fifteenth and sixteenth, with the Roving King's great army still not arrived outside Beijing, Wang Cheng'en was naturally still a figure of towering authority, and such small matters he could certainly handle. But after the seventeenth, Wang Cheng'en's and Chongzhen's authority would rapidly decline, and by the nineteenth, they would cry to heaven and get no answer, cry to earth and find no aid.

Zhu Cilang's mind was far more meticulous than Wang Cheng'en's, which was why he had instructed Wang Cheng'en yesterday to begin preparations.

"And the city gates!" Zhu Cilang said. "The Sunward Gate and the East Straight Gate, which open eastward from the inner city, must be in the hands of reliable men."

Wang Cheng'en was now Commander of the Nine Gates — the so-called Nine Gates being the nine gates of Beijing's inner city. And Beijing's inner city was not enclosed by the outer city; rather, the outer city lay south of the inner city. On the inner city's east, north, and west sides, six gates opened directly to the outside of the city.

And the Roving King's great army would certainly come from the northwest, so it would be very difficult for Zhu Cilang to flee through the gates on the west and north sides. Only the Sunward Gate and the East Straight Gate offered a way out.

Therefore Zhu Cilang had to place these two gates in the hands of reliable men, lest when the time came the gates could not be opened and they could not get out.

"This old slave will send his adopted sons to hold these two gates!"

"No." Zhu Cilang shook his head. "Send your adopted son to the East Straight Gate. The Sunward Gate goes to Wu Sanfu."

Compared with Wang Cheng'en's adopted sons, Zhu Cilang trusted Wu Xiang's own son more.

He paused. "If my Imperial Father does not leave tonight, then order men to block up all the inner and outer city gates except the East Straight Gate, the Sunward Gate, and the Central Gate! The areas around those three gates must also be cordoned off by the eunuch troops."

Beijing's wall had a circumference of forty-eight li. The walls were tall and solid, the base seven to eight zhang wide and four zhang high, of rammed earth faced with brick — extremely sturdy. The red-coated cannons in the hands of the Roving Army or the Qing army could not destroy city defenses this strong. Moreover, Li Zicheng had come in haste and could not possibly have brought heavy artillery.

So the Roving Army could enter the city only by scaling the walls or seizing a gate. And in history, Li Zicheng's great army had entered Beijing because officials and eunuchs inside the city voluntarily opened the gates. Therefore Zhu Cilang simply decided to block the gates!

Once the gates were blocked, even if someone wanted to sell a gate, it would be far more troublesome — they would have to dig for a good long while. If the earth, bricks, and stones blocking the gates were not dug out, then Li Zicheng's great army would have to scale the walls. They would at least have to build many scaling ladders over four zhang tall, and build a great many of them — that would be a great deal of effort. And scaling walls was troublesome too, and made a poor show. Li Zicheng could forget about riding into Beijing on a tall, fine horse, swaggering and vaunting — he could just climb in instead!

Zhu Cilang paused, then added: "The Imperial City and the Forbidden City must also have men assigned to block the gates. We must delay as long as possible!"

If Zhu Cilang was to break out together with Chongzhen, then men would have to be left inside Beijing to hold to the death and buy time, and the Imperial City and the Forbidden City would be the final bastions.

"This old slave understands," Wang Cheng'en replied. "This old slave will go at once to see to it!"

After Wang Cheng'en turned and left, Zhu Cilang cast his gaze beyond the city. By now the household retainers Wu Xiang had sent out were coming in one after another, leading the stout recruits who had been "locked in" without knowing it through the North Peace Gate and toward the inner parade ground.

Zhu Cilang let out a breath and said to those around him: "Come, let us go to the main hall of the inner parade ground... today will be busy."

Busy with what? With bamboozling, of course! Keep bamboozling, keep on bamboozling — make those fellows who had been locked in believe that the Great Ming still had "investment value," that they had not been trapped but were making a "value investment" that would bring rich returns in the future...

(End of Chapter)