Chapter 204: Hello, Brother-in-Law! (Third Update)

"... They have destroyed our Confucian Grove and torn down our Confucian temples, sweeping away in one stroke China's millennia of rites, ethics, poetry, books, and laws. This is not merely a catastrophe for our Great Ming — it is the greatest catastrophe to the Confucian teaching since the dawn of creation. Our Confucius and Mencius weep in their graves. How can any man who reads and writes sit idly by with folded arms and not think of doing something about it!

Good! Good! Good! What fine writing — bold and unrestrained, stirring the heart and soul, enough to rouse the spirit of all under Heaven!"

In the headquarters of Shi Kefa in Yanzhou, someone had just finished reading aloud the "Proclamation Against the Eastern Barbarians," issued in the name of Kong Yinzhi, and was now loudly praising it.

But Shi Kefa, the Nanjing Minister of War, frowned deeply. He looked at the praising Qian Qianyi with an expression that seemed to want to speak but held back.

Gao Hongtu, the Nanjing Minister of Revenue, shook his head and said, "Shouzhi, do you truly believe the Tartars have come to Shandong to destroy the Confucian Grove and tear down the Confucian temples?"

Qian Qianyi nodded emphatically. His gaze swept across the headquarters hall, taking in the grave expressions of the five Nanjing ministers, the dozen or so vice ministers, and the other high officials.

"The eastern barbarians are beasts. Wherever their blades pass, they slaughter and plunder — there is no evil they will not do! When they seized our Liaodong, they slaughtered millions of its people. Even those who did not die were carried off as slaves, their heads shaved and their clothes changed, never again to wear the dress of China! And when the eastern barbarians invaded within the passes, they killed and plundered all in their path — the old and weak were all slain, the strong were all made slaves, the women were all made maidservants and concubines, every one of them carried off to Liaodong. Since the Jisi Incident, they have entered the passes six times, killing our people by the tens of millions! Destroying our ancestral shrines and temples by the thousands! If the Sage were reborn and saw these beastly barbarians, would he not climb to a height and cry out, summoning all the scholars of the world to resist the Tartar caitiffs and defend home and country?"

As expected of the leader of the Donglin Faction — when he opened his mouth to argue, he was truly formidable. Even Shi Kefa and Gao Hongtu were left with nothing to say.

"Even if we are to resist the Tartar caitiffs and defend home and country, we must do so under the command of the sacred Son of Heaven in chastising the rebels and repelling the barbarians! Now the Son of Heaven is held hostage by others, and great power has fallen from his hands. Are we, his subjects, to sit by and watch without acting?"

The speaker was a civil official of forty or fifty, with a small mustache, prominent cheekbones, and hardly any flesh on his face. Qian Qianyi glanced at him and could not help frowning.

This man was called Huang Shu, and he held the post of Regional Inspector of Huguang. He should not have been in Yanzhou at all, but Zhu Cilang was in a hurry to reform the Censorate and had summoned all the regional inspectors dispatched across the provinces to Yanzhou. So this Huang Shu had come all the way from Huguang to Yanzhou.

Once in Yanzhou, this fellow did not stay put. He was a member of the Donglin Faction, after all, so of course he had to mingle with Shi Kefa, Qian Qianyi, and the rest, running about and agitating to rescue the Chongzhen Emperor. After only a few days of this agitation, he had agitated away a Duke for Fulfilling the Sage. Two days later, the "Proclamation Against the Eastern Barbarians," drafted in the name of the Duke for Fulfilling the Sage, was posted at every city gate of Yanzhou, and was also distributed in the form of the Capital Gazette to the loyal subjects gathered in Yanzhou.

Qian Qianyi, that leader of the Donglin Faction, had indeed been led by the nose by Zhu Cilang. The moment he arrived at the headquarters hall today, he said nothing about rescuing the sovereign and father, speaking only of defending the Confucian teaching and protecting Confucius — Qian Qianyi had been stripped of his rank and sent home, which is to say dismissed from public office! Naturally he was no longer a subject of the Chongzhen Emperor, but he was still a scholar, and so he would not sit idly by with folded arms, watching the Confucian Grove be destroyed.

His impassioned speech had been intended to shift the tide of opinion in Yanzhou, but he had not expected that a fellow Donglin member, Huang Shu, would go mad for some unknown reason and actually contradict him.

Seeing Huang Shu's righteous and indignant manner, Qian Qianyi was somewhat speechless. He knew this fellow before him simply wanted to contend with him for the position of Donglin leader!

The Donglin Faction, after all, had to plead on behalf of the scholar-officials and oppose an imperial power that competed with the people for profit! Whether this Crown Prince Zhu Cilang intended to usurp the throne was really none of Donglin's concern, but his actions in Shandong — reorganizing the guard stations and vigorously organizing local militia — had already crossed the red line of the scholar-officials' interests.

At a time like this, a successor from Donglin needed to step forward! Whoever dared to stand up could replace Qian Qianyi, who had compromised with imperial power, and become the new Donglin leader!

Of course, Huang Shu could not directly speak in defense of the appropriation of guard-station land. That would forfeit the moral high ground — the Donglin Faction fought imperial power precisely by means of morality.

So he had to make an issue of "honoring the Emperor" — even though what the Donglin Faction actually wanted to do was fundamentally to limit imperial power.

By the same token, Zhu Cilang did not make an issue of land either, but instead raised the banner of "defending the Confucian teaching and guarding Confucius and Mencius" — truth be told, that banner seemed better suited to the Donglin Faction.

Qian Qianyi snorted and glared at Huang Shu: "Brother Zhonglin, do not recklessly claim that the Son of Heaven is being held hostage..."

Jinan.

In the official residence of Gao Jie, Regional Commander of the reinforcement and suppression forces, messengers came and went in a constant stream, every man's face ashen. Order after order was issued from Gao Jie and sent flying out. Inside and outside the residence, security was extremely tight, and every soldier was wound taut with tension.

The reason was simple: Gao Jie's night patrols had suddenly discovered large formations of the new Kainan Army, flying the banner of the Crown Prince Who Soothes the Army, advancing on Jinan from the east! The small detachments Gao Jie had posted at Zouping and Zhangqiu had all been driven back by the approaching host. Gao Jie's subordinate officers, who had come running back with mournful faces, reported in lingering shock that the Crown Prince's approaching army numbered no fewer than forty thousand, and that their equipment was sharp and excellent, their men strong and their horses fierce!

Although Gao Jie's force was nominally thirty thousand strong, the only men truly capable of fighting were his two thousand household retainers, all troops he had brought over from the roving bandits. Their combat strength was not weak, but they could not defeat three thousand Tartars either!

But Zhu Cilang's Kainan New Army was an elite force that had taken nearly three thousand Tartar heads!

That record alone had kept Gao Jie in a state of dread these past days — had he known the great victory at Dagukou was real, he would never have followed Shi Kefa in any so-called loyalist campaign! If he was going to be loyal, he should be loyal to the Crown Prince!

These days, word of how Zhu Cilang was reorganizing the guard stations in Denglai and how the Kainan New Army was madly drilling had reached Jinan. Gao Jie was an expert, and one look told him the Kainan New Army had gone insane. In war, one does not fear meeting strong troops — one fears meeting madmen. A maddened enemy is the most terrifying!

Because strong troops are only ruthless toward the enemy, while madmen are ruthless toward both themselves and the enemy — an army that fears neither hardship nor death.

But Gao Jie was not a man to be pushed around. His entire force immediately sprang into action. Soldiers were posted at every crenel on the walls, and defensive equipment was manufactured in as great a quantity as possible. The moat outside the city was cleared out, and water from the Daqing River was diverted in, restoring the long-dry moat.

Group after group of night patrols was sent out, and at the same time the gentry of Jinan were dispatched with cattle, wine, and money to welcome the Crown Prince's army and, along the way, to seek a definite answer — why had His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly brought troops here?

But none of the gentry sent out ever returned, and Gao Jie's night patrols could only watch helplessly as Zhu Cilang's army advanced rapidly — it would likely be encamped outside Jinan before long.

Inside the government office, Gao Jie sat behind his commander's desk, one hand propped on it, staring blankly without speaking. His trusted generals Li Chengdong and Li Benshen sat in the two armchairs to his left and right. Seeing him like this, Li Chengdong could not help snorting: "Commander, should we abandon the city and leave? Jinan has long since been ruined by the Tartars and the roving bandits — there's no more profit to be had here."

Gao Jie's whole body jolted, and he glared fiercely at Li Chengdong: "Go where? To the north are the Tartars, to the west is Li Zicheng — which one do you want me to surrender to?"

Gao Jie could not surrender to Li Zicheng — he had run off with Li Zicheng's wife, so surrendering to Li Zicheng would be seeking death. And surrendering to the Tartars to become a traitor was not within Gao Jie's consideration either.

"Then go south, to Yanzhou!" Li Benshen said. "The Tartars to the north may march south at any time, and this Jinan of ours cannot be defended. Better to leave while we can. Once we reach Yanzhou, we'll see what Minister Shi has to say. In any case, if the sky falls, Minister Shi and his people will hold it up."

Li Chengdong nodded and said, "We have troops and officers in our hands — nothing to fear. Besides, Minister Shi still has that Yellow Scrapper over there... If things really blow up, we'll be the ones both sides have to court."

"That's the best plan!" Gao Jie stroked his beard and let out a breath. "Damn it all, I hear the Crown Prince has money to spare. We won't ask for much — three or five hundred thousand taels would satisfy me."

In truth, the whole point of his agitation alongside Shi Kefa was silver! Shi Kefa had paid him to march north, and if he could also get a share from Zhu Cilang, he would not mind selling out Shi Kefa.

Just as Gao Jie had made up his mind, one of his trusted household retainers suddenly came in from outside, saluted, and reported: "Commander, the lady has arrived in Jinan."

"Good," Gao Jie nodded. "I was just about to discuss matters with her."

"But the lady did not enter the city," the retainer continued, and his next words left Gao Jie stunned again and again. "She has gone to Yantou Town, east of the prefectural seat of Jinan."