Chapter 633: The Great Western Republic

Zhang Xianzhong is dead!

Dead in the most irresponsible way possible!

He wouldn't learn from Li Zicheng and play dead, but he did learn from Li Zicheng about not producing a son. Having no son of his own would have been one thing, but he didn't even have a grown nephew who'd watched him rise!

Even more irresponsible was that Zhang Xianzhong didn't even have a proper wife! When he proclaimed himself emperor in Chengdu, he did take a wife and make her empress — the daughter of that Grand Secretary Chen Yan, the one who tried to defect to Li Zicheng, failed, and got slaughtered as a sacrifice to the war banner. A teenage girl, fresh and tender. If she were still alive, she could have been a "Western Empress Dowager." But that fiend Zhang Xianzhong got tired of her after playing with her for a dozen or so days and had Empress Chen strangled.

And that still wasn't the most irresponsible part. The most irresponsible part was that Zhang Xianzhong didn't designate a successor before he died!

With the Western Founding Emperor dead, who was to become the Western Second Emperor? He had four adopted sons, each one a man of real ability, and each with his own following of troops.

Watching Zhang Xianzhong breathe his last like that, the four adopted sons were all dumbstruck. They looked at one another, and no one knew what to do.

The Xi state was now tottering on the brink, about to collapse at any moment — the brothers didn't even dare start infighting!

"How about we first kowtow to the old His Majesty and see him off," Zhang Kewang spoke first, "then call that Wu Xiaolian in to find a coffin and lay the old His Majesty to rest, and after that we brothers can have a proper discussion?"

"I suppose that's all we can do."

"We'll do whatever you say, Brother."

"Then let's kowtow to the old His Majesty, Ama."

Zhang Dingguo, Zhang Wenxiu, and Zhang Nengqi — the three of them — had no objections, so the four men lined up in a row before Zhang Xianzhong's corpse and performed the full three kneelings and nine prostrations. Once the kowtowing was done, they called in Wu Xiaolian, who was standing guard outside, and ordered him to find a fine coffin and get Zhang Xianzhong placed in it first — Zhang Xianzhong was now a deceased emperor, so a grand funeral was certain, but he couldn't be buried in Luoyang. Luoyang was about to fall, and Dorgon was skilled at grave-robbing and tomb-raiding.

While Wu Xiaolian went off to find a coffin, the four brothers began their discussion in front of the old His Majesty Zhang's still-warm corpse.

Zhang Kewang again spoke first: "Since the old His Majesty said not to play dead, we can't put the old man through any more hardship. But a state cannot go a single day without a ruler! Now that the old His Majesty is gone, who is to take charge of our Xi state?"

What he was really doing was waiting for the others to acclaim him!

He was the eldest of the four adopted sons — an elder brother stands in for a father.

But the room was dead silent. Zhang Dingguo, Zhang Wenxiu, and Zhang Nengqi — the three of them — said nothing!

Zhang Kewang's face grew darker and darker, and the atmosphere grew more and more oppressive. No one knew how much time passed before they heard Zhang Dingguo say in a low voice: "How about the four of us brothers take charge together?"

What?

"Take charge together?" Zhang Kewang's face darkened. "Four emperors? That'd be First Emperor, Second Emperor, Third Emperor, Fourth Emperor?"

Zhang Wenxiu shook his head: "Four emperors wouldn't be proper, would it?"

"Improper, absolutely improper!" Zhang Kewang nodded repeatedly, looking at his good brother Zhang Wenxiu with expectant eyes.

Zhang Wenxiu continued: "How about... we just don't have an emperor at all. Not a single one."

No emperor? Zhang Kewang's face was so grim it looked about to drip water.

Zhang Kewang asked coldly: "No emperor — then do we still want the Xi state?"

"We do!" Zhang Nengqi nodded. "How could we not want the Xi state? It's what the old His Majesty left us."

"Then what's the head of the Xi state called?" Zhang Kewang asked.

"Call him State Lord!" Zhang Dingguo said. "First State Lord, Second State Lord, Third State Lord, Fourth State Lord."

Still four. Zhang Kewang remained displeased, his face iron-blue and silent.

Zhang Wenxiu glanced at Zhang Kewang, then at Zhang Dingguo, and said quietly: "How about one lord and three kings? Big Brother, you become Lord of the Great Xi, and the three of us remain King Who Pacifies the North, King Who Stabilizes the West, and King Who Soothes the South. For military and state affairs, we brothers decide together."

When Zhang Xianzhong first proclaimed himself emperor, he had enfeoffed his four adopted sons as kings: Zhang Kewang as King Who Pacifies the East, Zhang Dingguo as King Who Stabilizes the West, Zhang Wenxiu as King Who Soothes the South, and Zhang Nengqi as King Who Pacifies the North. Among them, Zhang Kewang also held the offices of Pillar of State, Grand Preceptor, Army Supervisor, and Controller of Civil and Military Affairs, placing him above all the kings and ministers.

In addition, the four kings each held the titles of General Who Pacifies the East, General Who Stabilizes the West, General Who Soothes the South, and General Who Pacifies the North, making them the four supreme commanders of the Great Western Army.

At the same time he enfeoffed the four adopted sons, Zhang Xianzhong also established Five Army Commissioners-in-Chief and three Naval Commissioners-in-Chief, divided the army into one hundred twenty battalions, and set up four palace guard battalions to divide the four adopted sons' military power.

But as the Great Western Army marched out of Sichuan into Shaanxi, the military situation grew increasingly dire, and Zhang Xianzhong had no choice but to let the four adopted sons wield more power. Thus more than half of the Xi's military power had now fallen back into the hands of the four adopted sons.

Zhang Dingguo nodded: "That's a good plan. The world now has three emperors, one Retired Emperor, one Imperial Ama, and one Crown Prince Regent. Our Xi should do something different too — four kings ruling jointly, one king primary and three kings supporting."

Zhang Nengqi added: "Four kings ruling jointly is good. When there's a matter, we discuss it together. It can't be like when the old His Majesty was alive."

Zhang Kewang let out a breath. There was nothing he could do! Zhang Dingguo, Zhang Wenxiu, and Zhang Nengqi all held heavy troop commands. If they wouldn't unite with him, the Xi state would fall apart.

"Then where do we go next?" Zhang Kewang asked. "Luoyang probably can't be held."

"Back to Guanzhong!" Zhang Dingguo said. "Didn't the old His Majesty say before he left? He wanted us brothers to band together with Li Guo."

The present situation was completely different from the historical one in which Zhang Xianzhong died at Phoenix Mountain. Back then, the Southern Ming was already at its last gasp, the Shun had already collapsed, and the Qing had the look of a dynasty about to unite the realm.

For the Xi remnants to establish a base in the southwest, cooperating with the Southern Ming was the first choice. On one hand, the Southern Ming still held considerable influence among the native chieftains and powerful clans of the southwest; on the other, the Southern Ming no longer had a strong military and had to rely on the Xi remnants just to survive.

But now, the Southern Ming and the northern Qing were still roughly evenly matched — the Southern Ming even had the upper hand. If the Xi remnants submitted to the Southern Ming, it would be very hard to maintain independence and hold territory.

Meanwhile, the Shun, after retreating into Sichuan, still occupied considerable territory, and had gradually stabilized its position while the main Ming forces were locked in battle with the Qing.

Under these circumstances, it was only natural for the Xi remnants to choose to throw in their lot with the Shun.

Zhang Kewang frowned: "Back to Guanzhong? To fight Wu Sangui again?"

"We'll fight him to the death!" Zhang Nengqi gritted his teeth. "I'll lead the vanguard. Worst case, I die!"

Zhang Dingguo shook his head: "Don't be rash. We still need to think this through. Wu Sangui is powerful — brute force alone won't work."

Zhang Wenxiu said: "How about a feigned surrender?"

"Feigned surrender?" Zhang Dingguo frowned. "Would he believe us?"

Zhang Xianzhong had a bad record of feigned surrenders — could Wu Sangui still fall for it? Besides, Zhang Xianzhong's crew had robbed the imperial tombs at Fengyang! The current Ming emperor was a twenty-five-fold filial emperor — how could he spare the remnants of Zhang Xianzhong?

Furthermore, Wu Sangui was up to his neck in usurious debts and was counting on robbing the robbers — swallowing up everything Zhang Xianzhong had plundered over the years to balance his books. How could he possibly agree to let the Xi remnants surrender?

"Then we ask for passage!" Liu Wenxiu had another idea.

"Passage?" Zhang Kewang asked. "Passage to where?"

"To Sichuan, to join Li Guo — no, to join Li Zicheng." Zhang Wenxiu said. "We'll have to enter Hanzhong through Dasan Pass... so we ask Wu Sangui for passage, and Xi'an Prefecture will be his payment."

Zhang Kewang said: "Aren't you afraid that fellow Wu will scheme against us?"

Zhang Wenxiu said: "I'm afraid he won't scheme!"

"What do you mean?" Zhang Kewang asked.

Zhang Wenxiu snorted: "Wu Sangui won't dare leave Xi'an Prefecture untaken. He has to seal off Tong Pass before he can safely play King of the Northwest. Otherwise, if the eastern barbarians squeeze through Tong Pass again, he'll have to go back to being their grandson. And now his sister is the Ming Empress — would Dorgon still tolerate him as the Ming Emperor's brother-in-law?

So he'll have to split off his elite troops to take Xi'an and Tong Pass, which means he'll have far fewer men available to scheme against us!"

(End of Chapter)