Chapter 304: When a Man Is Shameless Enough, He Is Invincible

By the time Dorgon's headache set in, Zu Kefa was almost home. He had originally belonged to the Han Chinese troops of the Plain Yellow Banner, so he owned a residence in the inner city of Beijing, not far from the Forbidden City — a very good location. Moreover, the mansions of Zu Dashou and Zu Dale stood on the same hutong as Zu Kefa's house, only much larger.

When Zu Kefa arrived home, the hutong where the Zu family lived was packed inside and out with people who had come to watch, most of them old, weak, women, and children of the Han Chinese troops of the Eight Banners — Manchu and Han as one family.

What a novelty this was! Zu Kefa, the valiant and mighty, who had only recently been given a grand funeral, was alive again — and not just alive, but alive with relish, alive in full color.

When he left home he had worn the court hat and peacock feather, every inch a high minister of the Great Qing. Coming home he wore a python robe and black gauze cap, the full bearing of a high official of the Great Ming. One departure, one return — a twice-turncoat had become a four-time turncoat. What tremendous progress! How could anyone resist coming to gawk at something this fresh?

Zu Kefa was thick-skinned. Could a man who had risen to four-time turncoat have a thin face? Of course it was as thick as a city wall. He rode a tall, fine horse, surrounded by attendants, thoroughly pleased with himself, and when he spotted an acquaintance he would greet them from the saddle.

"Heh heh, I'm alive again!"

Someone asked, "How come you're wearing Ming clothes again?"

Zu Kefa laughed heartily. "Surrendered back again! I'm a four-time turncoat now!"

Someone was puzzled. "How does that make four? Shouldn't it be three?"

Zu Kefa gave a wry smile. "Ah, don't ask. In between I surrendered once more — to Li Zicheng!"

Another person asked, "Then will you surrender back to the Great Qing?"

Zu Kefa smiled. "That I don't know. If the Prince Regent wants me to surrender, I'll surrender. Four-time, five-time — what's the difference?"

When a man is shameless enough, he is invincible! If Zhu Cilang had sent a civil-official heavyweight like Zuo Maodi (the Southern Ming envoy to the Qing in history) as his emissary, Dorgon would most likely have detained him under the pretense of honoring the worthy and forcing him to surrender — the forced surrender was staged for the northern literati to see, to show how highly the Great Qing valued Han scholar-officials. Even if Zuo Maodi had been forced to his death, the hearts of the northern literati would still have been warmed.

But Zhu Cilang refused to play by the usual rules and sent a four-time turncoat, Zu Kefa, as his envoy. Do you want him, Dorgon?

If you take him, he becomes a five-time turncoat — who are you putting on that show for? As for executing him — ha! You killed Hong Chengchou, a good and loyal slave with utter devotion, and now you'd kill Zu Kefa, a dog of a slave who clings to life and fears death? Do you still want people to be proper slaves? If this goes on, who will still come over to the Great Qing?

And if you neither take him nor kill him, then this Zu Kefa becomes a shining model for Han traitors — so being a four-time turncoat is acceptable after all! Everyone here is only a two-time turncoat; they can still surrender twice more. So everyone can rest easy: if the Great Qing ever fails, just surrender back again!

Oh, and in fact there was already another four-time turncoat in Beijing — Zu Kefa's adoptive father, Zu Dashou. At the Battle of Dalinghe he had been surrounded, and with no way out he surrendered to Hong Taiji. But later he found a chance to flee back to the Great Ming. Then he was surrounded again at Jinzhou, and after the Songshan-Jinzhou campaign he surrendered back to the Great Qing. So he too was a four-time turncoat!

Now Zu Kefa the valiant and mighty was also a four-time turncoat. Like father, like son indeed!

Zu Dashou stood at the gate of his own residence, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, as he welcomed his adopted son. The ceremony was of course elaborate, but Zu Kefa's status was now different.

He was the envoy sent to the Great Qing by the Great Ming's Crown Prince, the Pacifying Army Commander. Other people sent envoys of iron backbone; Zhu Cilang, of all things, sent a four-time turncoat! What was this supposed to mean? Did he think highly of the Zu family?

"Adoptive Father, your son has returned. Your son has let you down! Wuwu..."

The moment Zu Kefa saw his adoptive father, he immediately swung down from the horse and kowtowed to the old man. The expression on his face changed as fast as flipping a page — a moment ago he had been grinning cheerfully, and now he was wailing at the top of his lungs.

Watching his adopted son weep until he looked like a figure of tears, Zu Dashou's own eyes grew moist. He hurriedly bent down and helped Zu Kefa to his feet. Then father and son, sobbing and sniffling, passed through the gate of the Zu family mansion. The moment the gate closed behind them, Zu Dashou let out a cold snort and shoved Zu Kefa away.

Zu Dashou roared, "What have you come back for?"

Zu Kefa dropped to his knees with a thud. "Father, your son has thought of you every day in the south..."

"Enough, enough, spare me the nauseating talk!" Zu Dashou waved his hand. "What have you come back for? To anger me to death, or to anger the Prince Regent?"

Seeing that the old man was not buying it, Zu Kefa could only smile bitterly and say, "Father, it is not that your son wanted to come back. The Crown Prince, the Pacifying Army Commander, insisted that I come to Beijing. Wasn't his whole point just to make trouble for the Prince Regent?"

"Then couldn't you have just stayed put in Nanjing?"

"Stay put in Nanjing?" Zu Kefa shook his head. "Father, you don't know how fearsome the Southern Provost Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is."

"What? You were beaten?"

"Beaten half to death!"

"Isn't the Crown Prince your cousin-in-law? Didn't Sanmei help you?"

"She did," Zu Kefa nodded. "Otherwise I'd have been beaten to death. Where would I have gotten the life to be a four-time turncoat?"

"You..." Zu Dashou thought to himself: You'd have been better off beaten to death! Then you'd have been a loyal subject of the Great Qing. But now? You're a four-time turncoat! With you in it, the old Zu family has lost all face.

Zu Kefa suddenly lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Father, this is no place to talk..."

There was secret talk to be had?

Zu Dashou glanced left and right, then cleared his throat. "Zepu stays. Everyone else, leave us."

Having dismissed the idle onlookers, Zu Dashou went into the study with his adopted son and his own son.

Once inside, Zu Dashou seated himself in a grand tutor's chair and asked, "Speak. What does the Crown Prince want our family to do?"

"Father, the Crown Prince told me to pass on a message to you. If the sea trade at Tianjin's Dagu port gets going, it is certain to make a fortune. The Zu family has people on both sides, north and south — why keep on as military officers? Going onto the battlefield is too awkward. Better to change profession and go into business."

What? The old Zu family change profession and become merchants?

Would Dorgon agree? Would he not suspect the Zu family of using commerce as a cover to collude with the Great Ming and plot against the Great Qing?

Zu Kefa said, "Right now the Prince Regent still has use for Wu Changbo. This is also our family's opportunity. If we don't seize it firmly, disaster may fall at any moment!"

"And changing profession to become merchants will do it?" Zu Dashou looked at Zu Kefa.

"The Crown Prince said it doesn't matter whether our family are four-time or five-time turncoats. In chaotic times, being a weathervane is no crime. But being a useless weathervane is not very safe!" Zu Kefa said. "The Crown Prince also said that the Manchus rose to power in the Wanli years, and by now they are in their third generation. It is about time they began to care about food, drink, and pleasure. But the north has few such pleasures — how can it compare with the south? And now there are also fine goods from the Western Ocean and the Eastern Ocean. Father, think it over carefully."

"This..." Zu Dashou understood at once. This was asking his family to lead the Eight Banners' sons astray!

This Crown Prince was truly cunning — there was no dirty trick he would not use. But even if the Eight Banners' sons could be led astray, it would not happen that quickly, would it? It would take twenty or thirty years at least. Could the Great Ming in the southeast hold out that long?

(End of Chapter)