Chapter 651: Your Majesty, Someone Wants to Harm You

The Forbidden City, the Gate of Supreme Harmony.

The eleven-year-old Shunzhi Emperor of the Great Qing, dressed in a bright-yellow riding jacket, one hand on his sword hilt, was strolling along the white marble terrace in front of the Gate of Supreme Harmony's gate tower.

The Gate of Supreme Harmony was originally the Gate of Imperial Supremacy, where the Ming emperors had held court behind jade screens. Four years earlier, the little Shunzhi Emperor's idol, the world's foremost filial son Zhu Cilang, had stood right here with a sharp sword in hand, chasing the fatuous Chongzhen Emperor, and in that moment of crisis had taken the crushing burden of the Ming realm from his Imperial Father Chongzhen's shoulders. What a hero!

Whenever the Shunzhi Emperor thought of Zhu Cilang's gallant bearing that day, he could not help but heave a long sigh. When would he himself be able, like Zhu Cilang, to take up a sharp blade and hunt down Dorgon, the Imperial Father who bullied him and his mother?

Although Dorgon was a sickly man, he was far more cautious than the Chongzhen Emperor. He never entered or left the Forbidden City alone, but always brought along a squad of Plain White Banner bayara soldiers. These were all battle-hardened baturu, and the little emperor feared he could not beat them.

If he could not beat them, then of course he had to find help. But inside and outside the palace, how many people could he still trust?

This morning the little Shunzhi Emperor had gone roundabout and hinted to his mother about the principle that a loyal subject does not serve two masters and a filial son does not serve two fathers. He had ended up getting a thorough scolding, and was made to copy the Classic of Filial Piety three times as punishment. His hand was sore by the time he had barely finished, and when he brought it to Bumbutai to look over, the little emperor only then remembered that his mother could not read Chinese characters at all. How stupid of him!

After handing in his "homework," the little emperor picked up his treasured sword and called for Sonin, the Great Qing's last-ranked baturu, to go practice swordsmanship outside the Gate of Supreme Harmony together.

Sonin had now been released and sent back. Gone was Grand Secretary Sonin; he had been demoted to a First-Class Bodyguard, a military post of the senior third rank, whose duty was to follow the little emperor around like a shadow.

The little emperor still trusted Sonin deeply. He was, after all, a loyal subject left behind by his own father and elder brother.

There had also been Oboi, the Manchu's foremost baturu, but now he too seemed to have gone over to Dorgon. So the only people the little emperor could trust now were Sonin and his trusted eunuch Wu Liangfu, and a scant few others.

Therefore, whenever he got the chance, he would send away the large crowd of eunuchs and palace maids around him and be alone with these few loyal slaves. Today was no exception. Right now, here at the Gate of Imperial Supremacy, there were only Shunzhi and Sonin.

The little emperor glanced at Sonin, remembering that he had been released by Zhu Cilang and had even met Zhu Cilang, so he asked, "Sonin! Tell me, is the Southern Dynasty's emperor a hero? How does he compare to Our Imperial Father?"

"The Southern Dynasty's emperor is of course a hero. Compared to—" Sonin paused here. "Your Majesty, which Imperial Father do you mean?"

"You—" The little emperor nearly choked with rage, but on second thought, he had only himself to blame for not being clear.

Who told him to have so many fathers?

"The late emperor, of course!"

"Oh," Sonin said. "He does not measure up to the late emperor."

As Sonin spoke, he thought to himself: How had the late emperor won over Hong Chengchou? His own abilities were far greater than Hong Chengchou's, yet Zhu Cilang had never once shown any intention of recruiting him.

On that point alone, the gap was vast.

"And compared to Dorgon?" Shunzhi asked.

"They are roughly on par," Sonin said. "The Imperial Father excels at military command and can win by force. The Southern Dynasty's emperor excels at stratagem and can win by wit."

"Then what if—" Shunzhi asked, "what if Zhu Cilang were in Our position? How would he deal with Dorgon?"

What? Sonin was startled by Shunzhi's words. The little emperor was only eleven years old, and already possessed such grand vision and strategic genius?

"Your, Your Majesty," Sonin looked left and right, and only after confirming there were no idle persons about did he lower his voice. "Your Majesty, if Zhu Cilang were in your position, he would do two things. First, endure. Dorgon is not so easily dealt with, and his health is poor; he does not look like a man destined for long life.

Second, build up strength! While Dorgon lives, Your Majesty need not worry about anything, nor can you do anything. But when he dies, that will be the moment for Your Majesty to strike with thunderous force! Therefore Your Majesty must make preparations!"

Sonin was, after all, one of the few cultured men among the Great Qing's founding meritorious officials. He knew that the past could illuminate the present. The Great Qing's current situation somewhat resembled the Western Wei of history. Of course, it was not exactly the same, because Shunzhi was not entirely without strength. Shunzhi possessed the two Yellow Banners passed down from Hong Taiji. He was a weak sovereign, and a child sovereign at that.

But he was not a puppet that Dorgon could casually "eliminate" either, and he was an important force maintaining the internal balance of power in the Great Qing.

Likewise, Dorgon was also an important force maintaining the internal balance of power in the Great Qing, comparable to Yuwen Tai of the Western Wei.

As long as both Dorgon and Shunzhi existed, the Great Qing could maintain the delicate balance of a strong minister and a weak sovereign.

If either Dorgon or Shunzhi were to disappear, then a storm of blood and wind would descend!

If Shunzhi did not want to gain yet another Imperial Father, he would have to seize power at the right moment.

If Dodo or Ajige wanted to replace Dorgon and become Shunzhi's new Imperial Father, then they too would have to act quickly!

"How should We build up strength?" Shunzhi had not thought it through so thoroughly, but he did know that he needed something to rely on.

"Allow this slave to think," Sonin pondered. "Your Majesty could do this: you could select a group of bookish, frail youths from the two Yellow Banners who are good at reading and writing, and bring them into the palace to study with you..."

"Retired Emperor, Retired Emperor, please rest a moment."

At the same time, in the rear garden of the Hot Spring Palace outside Nanjing, the chief eunuch Pang Tianshou had at some point arrived at the rear garden where the Chongzhen Retired Emperor practiced martial arts.

Chongzhen had a robust constitution and had trained in both civil and martial arts since childhood. In his youth he could draw a stiff bow and ride fierce horses, and was extraordinarily valiant.

But later, because government affairs were too burdensome, he had neglected his martial skills. By the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the pressure had become so great that he could not eat or sleep, and his body had grown extremely weak. That was what had allowed the unfilial son to succeed.

So after arriving in Jiangnan, the Chongzhen Emperor, stripped of real power, had begun to take up martial arts again. Every day, apart from debauchery, he spent his time tempering his strength. After three or four years, his body had recovered to its peak condition.

If he were to have a contest of manhood with the Great Qing's Imperial Father, he could absolutely beat Dorgon until the man was spitting out teeth all over the ground.

But now, for all his martial prowess, he had nowhere to put it to use.

Because the Chongzhen Retired Emperor had strength, while the Hongxing Emperor had money!

And he was especially rich.

Chen Rui's "annual report" to Zhu Cilang had also been given to the Chongzhen Retired Emperor, and he had read it with tears streaming down his face.

A surplus of 6.55 million taels, and that was after "setting aside provisions" or whatever it was called — otherwise it would have been fifteen or sixteen million taels!

Even more outrageous was that the Military Farms Office's books still showed twenty million shi of grain unsold.

And even more outrageous still, Zhu Cilang's privy purse was also extraordinarily full! Not counting those immovable assets, just the ready silver that could be used at any time amounted to at least several million taels.

Just on the first day of the first month this year alone, Empress Wu Sanmei had presented the Chongzhen Retired Emperor with three hundred thousand taels of silver as New Year money!

How could he possibly squeeze out so much?

The Chongzhen Retired Emperor simply could not understand. Zhu Cilang squeezed money like this, yet there was no case of officials driving the people to rebellion, nor much widespread misery. Of course the poor were not well off; there were always those who starved or froze to death. But the court nowadays truly had the resources to distribute large-scale relief. The relief grain distributed in a year — mainly to refugees from the north — amounted to over ten million shi, something utterly unthinkable in the past.

If the court had been able to open the granaries and distribute grain like this back then, the roving-bandit rebellion would have been put down long ago.

So the Chongzhen Retired Emperor, for all his martial prowess, no longer knew what he could do.

Could it really be that the only thing left was to sire more sons to spite that unfilial son?

Just as Chongzhen was so furious he nearly snapped an eight-dou bow, Pang Tianshou walked over to Chongzhen's side with a mysterious air, having already dismissed all the attendants.

"Pang Tianshou, what are you doing?" Chongzhen asked, a little puzzled.

"Retired Emperor," Pang Tianshou tremblingly produced an envelope and handed it to the Chongzhen Retired Emperor, saying in a voice so faint it was barely audible, "The Fifth Prince has escaped from the roving bandits. He is now contacting heroes from all quarters, preparing to support your restoration!"

"What? What? Pang Tianshou, what are you saying?"

(End of Chapter)