Chapter 28: Good News, All Good News (Seeking Favorites, Seeking Recommendations)

The guard officers responsible for defending Beijing's sixteen city gates — nine inner and seven outer — heard there were five thousand taels of silver to be had, so naturally none of them stayed away. By the time they arrived one after another, it happened to be exactly mealtime in the Hard-Struggle Camp.

In the Ming dynasty, ordinary people ate two meals a day. The first meal was called the morning meal, generally finished before the hour of si. The second was called the evening meal, eaten by the hour of you — and the army was no exception.

But Zhu Cilang's Hard-Struggle Camp now ate three meals a day. This morning, as soon as the camp's soldiers entered, they were given a breakfast of white-flour steamed buns stuffed with meat, and the Crown Prince himself ate together with everyone.

After breakfast came the soldiers' formal entry into camp. The tents had long since been set up by the Purified Army, and the padded uniforms and battle robes had also been taken from the Purified Army's storehouses, so entry into camp and the issuing of uniforms and battle robes were completed very quickly. Next, Zhu Cilang went from tent to tent, distributing silver as a reward and issuing appointment edicts — and at the same time it was the soldiers' lunch hour, another meal of white flour and meat.

In the afternoon, part of the Hard-Struggle Camp's troops moved out. Wu Sanfu led men to take over the defense of Chaoyang Gate, and another squad followed Zhu Cilang on a tour of Desheng Gate. Most of the soldiers, meanwhile, were issued weapons and armor by Wu Xiang. These too had all been looted from the Purified Army's barracks. Everyone got a weapon — most were long spears, and the rest were saber-and-shield sets and firelocks.

Of these, there were only three hundred firelocks, all belonging to the firelock soldiers transferred from the Purified Army into the Hard-Struggle Camp. They were an intact unit and needed no extra time to reorganize. But on the afternoon of the sixteenth, this group of firelock eunuchs was quite busy — busy making fixed cartridges: wrapping powder and lead balls in letter paper, rolling them into a long strip, and then packing them in a small cloth pouch. This was all a method Zhu Cilang had taught them at breakfast. These three hundred firelock eunuchs were the strongest fighting force in Zhu Cilang's hands! Without them, the Hard-Struggle Camp would be a toothless tiger, good only for frightening people. That was why the tactics Wu Xiang and his son Wu Sanfu had drawn up for the Hard-Struggle Camp were built entirely around the three hundred firelock eunuchs!

Their firelocks and powder were all top-grade goods, far better than the equipment in the Guanning Army. Because the eunuchs who carried the firelocks had trained for a long time, they could load and fire proficiently. The problem was that these eunuchs had never been on a battlefield, lacked nerve, and were prone to firing wildly.

Wu Xiang's countermeasure was to form a special Firelock-Supervision Bureau, made up of veterans who had seen battle — some of whom had also served in firelock units and could step in as replacements for the eunuchs at any time. Their task was to supervise the firelock eunuchs one-on-one, to keep them from firing wildly or running away, and they also had the duty of protecting the firelock soldiers.

Besides these two bureaus, Wu Sanfu and Zu Dashou's second son Zu Zepu had also successfully organized a cavalry bureau of some three hundred men, now stationed in the barbican of Chaoyang Gate and personally commanded by Wu Sanfu — this cavalry was the guarantee of escape in the worst case!

One firelock bureau, one firelock-supervision bureau, one cavalry bureau, plus the officers commanding the various company and banner units, and Zhu Cilang's personal bodyguards — altogether just over a thousand men. That was the main fighting strength of Zhu Cilang's Hard-Struggle Camp. The other two thousand men were there merely to swell the numbers.

And when night fell on the sixteenth, whether they were the elite soldiers of the three bureaus serving as the main combat force or the remaining makeweight troops, all of them — bureau by bureau — sat around basins of steamed buns, great chunks of fatty meat, and jars of wine, eating and drinking to their hearts' content.

This food and drink had not been prepared by the palace eunuchs. Zhu Cilang had sent Huang Dabao to buy it from Fried-Bean Alley outside the palace wall. On Fried-Bean Alley there was a sauce shop run by a Cantonese family, which sold not only all kinds of sauces but also steamed buns, braised meat, and yellow wine. Because the shop was very close to the Bei'an Gate, the palace eunuchs and maids were regular customers, and the volume of business was large. The sauce shop's owner was also surnamed Huang — nobody knew his given name, and everyone just called him Soy-Sauce Huang. Because he shared a surname with Huang Dabao, the two had become quite familiar and had even sworn kinship. So the Hard-Struggle Camp's provisions had been contracted out to Soy-Sauce Huang by Huang Dabao.

The reason Zhu Cilang entrusted something as critical as the troops' food to Huang Dabao was not that he trusted the eunuch Dabao all that much, but rather that he had made it clear to Dabao beforehand: from today on, he himself would eat together with the brothers of the Hard-Struggle Camp.

Whatever the soldiers of the Hard-Struggle Camp ate, His Highness the Crown Prince would eat! No separate preparations were needed, and the Crown Prince would also eat with the soldiers of the various bureaus at random, in order to build rapport.

If Huang Dabao wanted to take kickbacks, he was free to do so — but Zhu Cilang would not need to ask for the Imperial Sword to take his head.

By the time the gate officers of Beijing's sixteen gates arrived one after another, Zhu Cilang was eating white-flour steamed buns stuffed with fatty meat together with the eunuchs of the firelock bureau.

And they were sitting out in the open on the ground, eating while chatting with the eunuchs about life and ideals.

Eunuchs have lives too, and ideals too!

And likewise, they have human rights too!

Inside Zhu Cilang's body was a soul from the twenty-first century, so he did not discriminate against the "third gender."

Therefore the eunuchs of the firelock bureau, like the soldiers of every other bureau, were all "Hard-Struggle Heroes," drew the same pay, ate the same food, and had also received Jiangnan land "options."

Beyond that, the firelock eunuchs had other benefits as well, because they were eunuchs who had fought alongside Zhu Cilang.

"All of you have escorted Us south in Our imperial progress. You are not only heroes of our Great Ming, but also Our comrades-in-arms. When We reach Nanjing, if We cannot trust you, whom can We trust? So for now you are the Purified Army, but once we reach Jiangnan, the great eunuchs of the Twelve Directorates, Four Offices, and Eight Bureaus will all be selected from among you and the other meritorious eunuchs of the Hard-Struggle Camp. Now you are the Purified Army; in the future you will be seal-holding eunuchs, brush-holding eunuchs, eunuch superintendents, eunuch directors-general…"

Hearing Zhu Cilang's promise, the firelock eunuchs were overjoyed. Every one of them felt that a nobody was about to rise against the odds.

In the Ming palace system, the Purified Army had always been the lowest of the low. Generally, when a eunuch got into trouble, as long as he was not put to death, the heaviest punishment was to be assigned to the Purified Army. Although the Nanhaizi Purified Army was somewhat higher in status than this kind of "penal Purified Army," the great eunuchs of the Twenty-Four Offices were still never chosen from among them.

But this time the Crown Prince had spoken — he trusted these firelock eunuchs!

Once they reached Jiangnan, they would rise in the world!

"We thank the Young Master for his grace!"

"This humble one is willing to die for Thousand Years!"

"This humble one swears to follow to the death…"

No one knew who started it, but in any case the cheering erupted all at once. Not only were the firelock eunuchs cheering — the able-bodied soldiers of the Hard-Struggle Camp all around joined in the shouting too.

The sixteen gate officers who had just arrived happened to walk right into this scene, and every one of them was dumbstruck.

What was going on here?

Li Zicheng was about to attack, so why was this rabble so happy? What had the Crown Prince promised them?

But the Great Ming was on the verge of collapse — what benefits could he possibly promise?

Zhu Cilang had also been informed by his guards that the sixteen gate officers had all arrived. He did not receive them separately, but had them brought over to the circle of people formed by the firelock eunuchs.

"Your subordinate officers pay their respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

The gate officers all saluted Zhu Cilang.

"Sit, all of you sit. Haven't eaten yet? Eat something with us… Soy-Sauce Huang's steamed buns and braised meat — all you can eat."

What? Eat here? Sit on the ground? Together with a bunch of stinking Purified Army men?

The gate officers were either Capital Camps officers or Embroidered Uniform Guard officials — all men of standing, many of them from noble and meritorious families. When had they ever eaten and drunk with common soldiers? Let alone with the Purified Army.

But the Crown Prince's edict could not be disobeyed! The palace attendant who had come to deliver the order had said that the Crown Prince had now left the palace to command the army, was Governor-General of Zhili military affairs, Superintendent of the Nine Gates, and held an Imperial Sword with the power of execution!

Who wanted to test the Imperial Sword?

Not wanting to be cut down by the Imperial Sword, they could only hold their noses and sit — but they could not sit too close to the Purified Army, so they all crowded around Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang did not shoo anyone away. He simply chuckled and announced: "Gentlemen, We have good news!"

Good news?

The imperial tombs at Changping had been burned — how could there still be good news?

"We are going to take a consort!" Zhu Cilang said. "The bride is the youngest sister of Pingxi Earl Wu Sangui."

What? Everyone was startled. Marrying Wu Sangui's sister? That violated the ancestral regulations!

Zhu Cilang swept his gaze over the surrounding gate officers, raised his voice, and continued: "Wu Sangui has already led forty thousand men of the Guanning Army, traveling day and night, and is on his way!"

(End of Chapter)