Chapter 266: Where Did All the People Go?

"Your Majesty, good news, wonderful news!"

Niu Jinxing's voice carried from afar into the great hall of what had been the Prince of Jin's residence and was now the Shun imperial palace, reaching the ears of Li Zicheng, who sat with one eye narrowed, reading a military dispatch that Yuan Zongdi had sent from Xiangyang.

Li Zicheng raised his eyes and saw Niu Jinxing striding in at a flying pace, then kneeling and kowtowing: "Your Majesty, the Ming Prince of Dai at Datong has agreed to join hands with us! Now we can give those Tartars a proper lesson!"

"What?" Li Zicheng's brow creased slightly. "He agreed just like that? Did he set any conditions?"

"None, according to Luo Xiushen. The Prince of Dai had just received a wax-sealed decree from the Zhu family's little Crown Prince, and the decree ordered the Prince of Dai to ally with our Shun against the Qing!"

Li Zicheng fell silent for a moment, then suddenly turned his gaze to Song Xiance at his side: "Military Advisor, what do you make of this?"

Song Xiance said, "Your Majesty, did not Lord Yuan's dispatch say that the Zhu Crown Prince sent a marquis to Taiping Prefecture to receive Military Advisor Gu?"

Li Zicheng nodded: "It seems the Zhu family's little Crown Prince is no longer willing to fight us to the death either!"

"In addition, today we also received a dispatch sent by General Ma's men, and the dispatch reports that Zhang Xianzhong has stormed Chengdu Prefecture." Song Xiance continued, "Zhang Xianzhong has always harbored ambitions to proclaim himself emperor. If he declares himself emperor in Chengdu, his next move will most likely be an eastward campaign against Huguang."

"Hmph!" Li Zicheng snorted, clearly displeased that Zhang Xianzhong had entered Sichuan, for he too wanted to seize that land of abundance for himself. Early in the ninth month, he had already dispatched General Ma Ke with troops to enter Sichuan and grab territory, and by now they had probably already clashed with Zhang Xianzhong. But Li Zicheng's main attention was currently fixed on Shanxi, and he had little energy to spare for Sichuan. Whether Ma Ke could win, he had no confidence either.

Song Xiance continued his analysis: "Earlier, the Zhu Crown Prince even took up arms against the Jiangnan nobles and meritorious officials in Nanjing — that was a complete break! And that scoundrel Zuo Liangyu was mixed up in it too. Therefore, this subject believes the Zhu Crown Prince will not so easily gain control of the southeast, and next the remnant Ming will very likely fall into internal strife!"

"Well said!" Li Zicheng stroked his great beard and let out a breath. "He can barely look after himself, so he won't make trouble for Us. We don't expect their help either — as long as they don't stab Us in the back while We are locked in a bloody battle with the Tartars, that's enough!"

"They won't," Song Xiance said with a smile. "The principle that when the lips are gone the teeth will feel the cold — a child like Zhu Cijiong may not understand it, but would three old foxes like Wang Yongji, Jiang Xiang, and Gao Di not know it?"

Li Zicheng nodded, and was just about to continue discussing with Song Xiance when another man came to report that Luo Hu, the Resolute General garrisoning Gu Pass, had arrived in Taiyuan by imperial summons and was now waiting outside the palace for an audience.

"Quickly, summon the Count of Tong Pass!" The smile on Li Zicheng's face deepened.

This Luo Hu was a general who had come out of the Children's Battalion, a man Li Zicheng had watched grow up — one could say they were as close as father and son. Moreover, because the backbone of Luo Hu's troops were all "children" who had followed Li Zicheng from childhood in the conquest of the realm, they were especially loyal to the Shun. They fought with extraordinary ferocity and feared not death, making them the most reliable force among all the battalions today.

It was precisely for this reason that Li Zicheng had assigned Luo Hu to guard Gu Pass and hold the narrow route from Jingxing into Shanxi.

Luo Hu was quickly brought before Li Zicheng. He performed a salute, and when he raised his head, Li Zicheng saw a face full of fury and resentment.

Li Zicheng looked at Luo Hu and asked in the tone of an elder: "Xiaohu, what's the matter? Has someone bullied you?"

"Your Majesty, it is not your child who has been bullied — it is the Tartars who have gone too far!" Luo Hu said. "These days, every day refugees from Northern Zhili come to Gu Pass, supporting the old and leading the young. They are all Han people whose houses and lands were seized by the Tartars and who refuse to become slaves."

"What is going on?"

Luo Hu said, "Your child asked them. It turns out the Tartars moved their capital from beyond the passes to Beijing, and brought with them great numbers of officials, soldiers, and their families. To settle them, starting in the ninth month, the Tartars have been riding around Beijing staking out land. Any fertile field is directly claimed by riding around it. They do not farm it themselves, but force the original owners or tenants to submit and become slaves!

At the same time as staking out land, the Tartars have also been seizing houses inside Beijing. They drive the Han commoners of Beijing out of their homes, and the houses and all their furnishings are given over to Tartar soldiers and officers to live in!"

"Is this true?" Li Zicheng blinked his single eye in disbelief.

Fierce as he, Li Zicheng, was, he had only seized some Ming officials and nobles for torture and plunder. He had never thought of driving all the common people of Beijing out to wander homeless!

This was uprooting the several hundred thousand commoners of Beijing, every last one of them.

"There is no mistake!" Luo Hu said through gritted teeth. "Every day over a thousand people come into Gu Pass, which your child guards. All of them lack clothing and food, every one of them grief-stricken to the point of despair. Your child personally questioned over a hundred of them, and all said the Tartars had ruined them! They also said that now south of Beijing, everywhere there are people at the end of their rope, dragging their families along, begging for food as they travel south, and the dead lying by the roadside are beyond counting!"

"The Tartars are beasts indeed!" A strange light shone from Li Zicheng's single eye.

He who wins the people's hearts wins the realm! The way the eastern barbarians were carrying on, they surely could not win the people's hearts!

And Li Zicheng firmly believed that he had won the people's hearts more than the cunning, vicious, and cruel Zhu Cilang!

The realm still belonged to the Shun dynasty!

"Your Majesty," Song Xiance also grew excited, "the Tartars have brought this upon themselves — those who do evil cannot escape! They gained power by luck, and now they torment the common people like this. This is our Shun's chance to counterattack Beijing!"

Li Zicheng nodded. "It is indeed a chance! But We cannot rashly counterattack Beijing. We will fight the Tartars to the death at Gu Pass. If We can win, then We can return to Beijing!"

Luo Hu said, "Your Majesty, your child is willing to be the vanguard!"

Li Zicheng smiled: "Do not be impatient. Wait until We have met with Luo Xiushen and settled the terms, then we will discuss how to deal with those Tartars who have lost the people's hearts!"

Beijing had never been as orderly as it was now, nor had it ever been as cold and grim.

Luo Yangxing, just back from Datong Prefecture, was stunned by the changes this city had undergone in less than a month.

When he had left Beijing, it had still been a great city of at least five hundred thousand people. The inner city had been especially prosperous, its streets bustling and crowded, its shops standing row upon row. The moment one entered any of the nine gates of Beijing's inner city, one immediately felt the lively bustle of the marketplace, and one's ears were filled with the cries of hawkers and peddlers.

But now, as he entered through Desheng Gate, what he saw was a completely unfamiliar city, devoid of human presence, even more desolate than Datong Prefecture.

Where had all the people gone?

"They've all been driven away!"

Luo Yangxing had not asked, yet someone answered.

The one who answered him was Guang Shiheng, a man who had served three masters. Today he was the only one outside Desheng Gate to welcome Luo Yangxing and Zuo Maotai.

Under Li Zicheng he was a turncoat official who had kept his loyalty; under the Qing he was a third-time turncoat merely muddling through his days. Like Luo Yangxing, he had won no trust from his masters and was despised by the other Han traitors — the two of them were very likely serving as traitors by imperial decree! If the cunning, vicious, and cruel Crown Prince Zhu came back, they could transform in an instant into loyal heroes. How could such an identity not make others hate them?

So Guang Shiheng simply drifted through his days with an air of nonchalance, yet at this moment he appeared deeply troubled.

"Driven away by whom?" asked Zuo Maotai, who had returned together with Luo Yangxing.

"Who else?" Guang Shiheng's voice dropped very low. "The higher-ups, of course. They have to make room for the princes and soldiers coming from the east!"

"The whole of Beijing..."

"Is emptied out!" Guang Shiheng said. "The only Han left are us Han officials." He smiled bitterly. "If anyone comes to attack Beijing again, there will certainly be no one left to open the gates for them!"

Zuo Maotai, too, could hardly believe it. He widened his eyes and looked around at the empty streets. Guang Shiheng beside him spoke again: "Hurry into the palace and report your business, so you can go find a house and move."

"Move?" Luo Yangxing was taken aback. "We have to move too?"

His family had lived in Beijing for over two hundred years — and now they had lost their residency just like that?

"Move!" Guang Shiheng said. "By the grace of the Prince Regent, we may for the time being seek lodging in the outer city. The houses of the inner city have all been vacated for the Eight Banners. Your family is large, so you'll need to find a bigger courtyard in the outer city."

(End of Chapter)