Chapter 425: Imperial Father, Shall We Go on Campaign Together?

The Imperial City of Nanjing, Fengtian Gate.

The restoration project for the Hall of Fengtian, one of the three great halls of Nanjing's Forbidden City — in truth, the building of a new one — was still creeping along, but the Fengtian Gate in front of the hall had already been completed. Its towering gate tower stood upon a lofty stone platform, and seen from afar it was magnificent and solemn, with quite an air of imperial majesty.

This place was not merely a great gate; it was where the founding ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang had held court from the gate!

That meant hauling over a thousand civil and military officials out of their beds before dawn and assembling them in the square before Fengtian Gate for a grand assembly — exposed to wind, rain, and sun. It was outdoor work, and truly grueling!

Moreover, the Son of Heaven seated high above was a moody, murderous tyrant, and serving as his official could cost you your life at any moment.

The Chongzhen Emperor was now sitting for the first time in his life in the place where the founding ancestor had once sat, on display for all to see — he no longer had any power, so naturally there was no government for him to hear, and the regular midday court had nothing to do with him. Only on the first and fifteenth of the month, when the grand court assembly was held, did they still have to haul him out and set him in a conspicuous place, so that everyone could see that the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming still existed and that the Regent Crown Prince was still filial.

Everyone would look upon Chongzhen, then bow once more, and the eunuch would shout: "Those with memorials, present them; those without, the court is dismissed!"

And then, of course, nothing happened. The Crown Prince was now regent, so what business did the fatuous ruler have? He could go back and sulk with his consorts about the Crown Prince, that was all.

Today was the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the eighteenth year of Chongzhen of the Great Ming — an auspicious day! It was the auspicious day on which Fengtian Gate was put back into use.

And so the Chongzhen Emperor, heedless of the sweltering heat, donned the full everyday robes of the Son of Heaven and sat high upon the imperial seat beneath the gate tower of Fengtian Gate, gazing down at the one or two hundred listless officials below, his heart filled with a thousand tangled emotions!

He thought back to those distant years, when the Exalted Emperor, the Great Founder, had sat right here issuing commands to all under heaven, his might extending across the realm, his gaze commanding the four directions — and now it was his own turn to sit here!

"Imperial Father, back in the day, the Abdicated Emperor sat exactly where Your Majesty now sits." Zhu Cilang, seated beside the Chongzhen Emperor, looked at his bargain-bin Imperial Father and delivered this line in a tone that was neither warm nor cold.

"The — the Abdicated Emperor also sat here?" At these words, Chongzhen's face immediately turned ugly.

The Abdicated Emperor was that unlucky wretch the Jianwen Emperor, who brought disaster on himself by reducing the princedoms, and was "pacified" by Prince of Yan Zhu Di, and in the end set fire to the Hall of Fengtian and the Gate of Fengtian and vanished without a trace.

The Chongzhen Emperor, though angered by his filial son Zhu Cilang, did not dare show it, and merely shot a glance at Huang Dabao, the seal-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Huang Dabao then bowed and walked to the front of the imperial seat, opened his throat, and bellowed: "Those with memorials, present them; those without, the court is dismissed."

The seal-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial now mainly handled this sort of thing. Besides shouting that one line, he also managed the grand court assembly and all the miscellaneous affairs of the regular courts — such as who came and who did not, who was on time and who was late, who asked for leave and who skipped court. Oh, and he also had to manage the meals! The early morning court included breakfast, and dining halls had been built inside the Right Gate of Chang'an and the Left Gate of Chang'an, supplying a free imperial breakfast — flatbread, fried dough sticks, soy milk, rice porridge, and salted duck eggs.

If it was the midday court, then he had to manage lunch!

Usually two tables were set in the Hall of Literary Splendor, and a group of Grand Secretaries, Guard Commanders, Hanlin scholars, and other high officials ate together with Zhu Cilang. This, too, was a matter for the Directorate of Ceremonial.

In addition, places such as Fengtian Gate, the Hall of Literary Splendor, and the Hall of Overcoming Hardship were also under the Directorate of Ceremonial's responsibility for cleaning and repair. The eunuchs, palace maids, and servants working there also fell under the Directorate of Ceremonial's jurisdiction.

By the way, there were now male servants in the imperial palace of the Great Ming!

Although Zhu Cilang had not abolished the eunuch system, he had begun to strictly control the number of eunuchs — this did not mean that the Crown Prince did not trust eunuchs, but rather that he knew the usefulness of eunuchs had nothing to do with their numbers.

The Ming had many eunuchs, the Song had few, yet among all those Ming eunuchs, how many could compare with Qin Han, Li Xian, or Tong Guan? Zheng He perhaps could; as for the rest, Zhu Cilang truly could not think of any.

Therefore Zhu Cilang's eunuch policy was "few but elite": eunuchs had to be educated, capable in both civil and military affairs, and professionalized. For menial labor in the palace, ordinary servants would suffice; as long as they were kept from entering the designated inner palace areas, there would be no problem.

In short, Huang Dabao, this "great eunuch," was now a bureaucratic eunuch.

Today he had merely gone through the routine of shouting "Those with memorials, present them; those without, the court is dismissed," and after shouting it he was about to call for the court to be dismissed.

But at that very moment, someone actually stepped out of the ranks to present a memorial!

The man who stepped out was a military officer — none other than Zhu Cilang's trusted confidant, Li Yan, Guard Commander of the Military Orders Guard of the Grand Marshal's Office.

After kowtowing and performing the rites, Li Yan said in a loud voice: "Long live His Majesty! This subject, Li Yan, Guard Commander of the Military Orders Guard of the Grand Marshal's Office, Left Commissioner-in-Chief, and Earl of Qixian, has a memorial to present!"

A memorial? The Chongzhen Emperor could scarcely believe his ears!

For so many days it had always been "no memorials, court dismissed" — what day was today? There was actually a memorial? What kind of memorial? Surely it was not a respectful request for this enlightened ruler to abdicate in favor of the traitor?

At this thought, Chongzhen immediately tensed up: "Minister Li, what matter do you have to memorialize? Speak quickly!"

Li Yan said: "Reporting to His Majesty, the Grand Marshal's Office has received an urgent six-hundred-li express report from the Central Capital Garrison Command: the Tartar caitiffs' Grave-Raising Beile, Hooge, is personally leading a great army of one hundred thousand to invade Fengyang Prefecture. His vanguard, the forces of Shang Kexi and Bai Guang'en, numbering more than twenty thousand, already captured Yimen Town in Bozhou on the fourteenth day of the sixth month!"

What? The Grave-Raising Beile has come to Fengyang Prefecture? The Chongzhen Emperor drew a sharp breath. Whose grave was he going to raise? Could it be the imperial tombs of Fengyang Prefecture — the graves of Zhu Yuanzhang's parents?

"Imperial Father." Zhu Cilang's voice cut off the Chongzhen Emperor's train of thought. Chongzhen turned to look at his son, and saw that the unfilial wretch wore a worried expression. Could he actually be worried that the Fengyang imperial tombs might be dug up? No, he was an unfilial wretch; he would not worry about the ancestral tombs!

"Our son," the Chongzhen Emperor asked with a frown, "the Tartar caitiffs' Grave-Raising Beile has come with a great army. How do you plan to respond?"

Zhu Cilang said: "Hooge is known in the north as the Grave-Raising Beile. The troops under his command are the most savage; wherever they pass, they not only burn, kill, and plunder, but also delight in excavating graves and taking the possessions of the dead. This time he has brought a hundred thousand troops south, and he will not only slaughter the people of the Jianghuai region, but will also dig up graves. The Fengyang imperial tombs are surely what Hooge covets. It may not necessarily be for the burial goods in the Fengyang imperial tombs, but rather to sever the dragon vein of our Great Ming!"

If Hooge had heard these words, he would most likely have cursed Zhu Cilang furiously as a slanderer! To say that Hooge burned, killed, and plundered was not unjust — he had indeed done plenty of that. But as for grave-raising, Hooge had truly never done it.

Perhaps some of his subordinates had profited from the dead, but he was a dignified Prince of the Great Qing — how could he personally do such a thing?

The Chongzhen Emperor, of course, was an enlightened ruler easily deceived. Hearing Zhu Cilang say this, he took it as truth and hastily asked: "Then what is to be done?"

"Imperial Father," Zhu Cilang said with a solemn face, "You have already lost the ancestral tombs at Mount Tianshou in Shuntian Prefecture. No matter what, you cannot allow the Fengyang imperial tombs to fall again."

The Fengyang imperial tombs had already fallen once before — it was Gao Yingxiang who did it, together with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, and they dug them up from top to bottom!

Zhu Cilang shook his head: "If the Fengyang imperial tombs fall again, Imperial Father, you would be far too unfilial."

"You—" Chongzhen's face flushed red, but he gritted his teeth and did not lose his temper.

He was in the wrong on this matter. So many ancestral graves had nearly all been dug up by others — what kind of emperor was he? Why did he not step down?

Given how often he lost ancestral graves, his future posthumous title probably would not even be "Ming Huizong," but only "Ming Nizong" — the Unfilial Emperor!

"Imperial Father," Zhu Cilang said, "why don't we, father and son, go on campaign together to the north of the Yangtze and defend the ancestral tombs!"

"Go on campaign together?" The Chongzhen Emperor always felt his son had no good intentions, but he could not well refuse.

This was to defend the Fengyang imperial tombs. If he did not go, that would be unfilial! Could an unfilial son remain emperor? Certainly not! And so he would have to abdicate in favor of the universally acknowledged foremost filial son of the Great Ming, Zhu Cilang.

"Chun Ge'er," Chongzhen said thoughtfully, "do you have certain victory?"

"I do!" Zhu Cilang nodded emphatically. "With your son here, the ancestral tombs can never fall again!"

Chongzhen let out a breath of relief. "Then — then we, father and son, shall — shall go on campaign together!"

"Imperial Father," Zhu Cilang naturally wanted to strike while the iron was hot, and quickly said, "There is no time to lose. Why don't we set out tomorrow!"

"To — tomorrow?" The Chongzhen Emperor was startled. "Isn't that too soon?"

"Speed is the soul of war!" Zhu Cilang said. "If we delay, the Fengyang imperial tombs will be dug up by the eastern barbarians!"

"Then — then what about Nanjing?" the Chongzhen Emperor asked. "Who can hold the city?"

"Leave Nanjing in the joint care of Chief Grand Secretary Wei and Minister Wu," Zhu Cilang said, pausing briefly. "In addition, we can have Vice Minister of War Wang Zhiren transferred to Yingtian Prefecture, and have Guard Commander Zhang Dingbian of the Xiaoling Guard take command of the Capital Camps. In this way, all will be secure!"

Wang Zhiren was the younger brother of the great eunuch Wang Zhixin. Wang Zhixin had now become an imperial merchant, managing the properties of the Shanghai trading port for Zhu Cilang.

And Wang Zhiren, after Li Yan was transferred to the Military Orders Guard, had become Vice Minister of War in charge of the Military Colonization Division — formerly the Military Colonization Guard, now incorporated into the Ministry of War.

Wang Zhiren and Zhang Dingbian were both trusted confidants of Zhu Cilang. With the two of them controlling Yingtian Prefecture, that is, the defenses of the city of Nanjing, plus Chief Grand Secretary Wei Zaode and Minister of War Wu Xiang, Nanjing would be absolutely secure.

Of course, the premise of "absolutely no mishaps" was that Zhu Cilang had to take Chongzhen away with him!

Otherwise, once Chongzhen kicked up a fuss, how could Wu Xiang, Wei Zaode, Wang Zhiren, Zhang Dingbian and the rest make their move? Could they really kill the Emperor?

(End of Chapter)