Chapter 75: You Are All Truly Too Loyal and Righteous (Seeking Collections, Seeking Recommendations)

"Don't kill me, I'm Wang Dehua..."

Wang Dehua, brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and concurrently Superintendent of the Eastern Depot, came weeping across the moat's stone bridge outside Zhengyang Gate, which was strewn with corpses, holding a wooden pole with a white flag tied to it, and shouting at the top of his lungs for people not to kill him.

With Du Xun's fate as a warning, he dared not let down his guard... this time he might well be going and never coming back!

Not going was out of the question either. The Son of Heaven of the Shun had given the order — how many heads did he, Wang Dehua, have to dare refuse?

But his present predicament was, in truth, of his own making. Who told him to busy himself taking over the Eastern Depot's affairs after Wang Zhixin fled, and not go in time to "buy an edict"? Later he was ordered to take command of the Purified Army, and became, to all appearances, a major card in the Chongzhen Emperor's hand against Zhu Cilang. Only, when Zhu Cilang staged his "palace coup," he, the Superintendent of the Eastern Depot and Commander of the Purified Army, did not dare show his face even once. Then he was stripped of office by an edict from Zhu Cilang, and afterward was casually handed a post as Garrison Commander of the imperial city, left inside Beijing as cannon fodder!

But that was not what depressed Wang Dehua most. What depressed him most was that he, the Superintendent of the Eastern Depot, did not even know whether the Chongzhen Emperor had actually left Beijing!

So he had no choice but to steel himself and go to Zhengyang Gate to urge surrender upon a Chongzhen Emperor who might or might not even be in Beijing... this errand, in his view, was certain death ten times over. If Chongzhen really was atop Zhengyang Gate, then he must surely be resolved to die. Going up there would be delivering himself to death!

If Chongzhen was not up there... then death was even more certain! Because any minister who impersonated the Chongzhen Emperor atop Zhengyang Gate to draw Li Zicheng's army would unquestionably be a great loyal subject, loyal beyond all measure!

A loyal subject who went that far sought only to have his name inscribed in history. Such a man was destined for the "Biographies of Loyal Subjects." Even Li Zicheng would have to put on a show of boundless admiration, give the man a grand funeral, and grant office to the loyal subject's descendants... this was called the magnanimity of an emperor, this was called buying a horse's bones with a thousand gold. If Li Zicheng wanted to be a famed sovereign whose name endured for ages, he had to perform.

But what about him, Wang Dehua? Dead, he would still be a turncoat, a petty man, a eunuch traitor, fit only to stink for ten thousand years... just thinking about it made him feel wronged!

Just as Wang Dehua was nursing his grievance, a basket was at last lowered from the parapet of the Zhengyang Gate arrow tower.

Wang Dehua gritted his teeth, plopped himself down into the basket, then shut his eyes and began muttering: "Amitabha Buddha, Boundless Celestial Venerable, God bless, the True God is greatest..."

He no longer knew which deity was real, so he might as well worship them all!

The basket was hauled up bit by bit, and soon a particularly powerful hand seized Wang Dehua by his python robe and yanked him out of the basket. The suddenness of it caught Wang Dehua off guard; his legs went weak, he collapsed to the ground, and he cried out: "Don't kill me, don't kill me..."

A voice in the capital accent sounded by his ear: "Do not panic, Eunuch. No one is going to kill you just yet..."

"Ah... not kill me just yet?" Wang Dehua's heart pounded. Not now — kill me later, then?

"Is it Superintendent Wang? We have been waiting for you!"

Wang Dehua heard a familiar voice. He hurriedly opened his eyes and saw Luo Yangxing, his face blackened by gunpowder smoke, standing before him with a grin.

Only, to Wang Dehua, that grin had something rather sinister about it...

Gao Yushun stood right beside Luo Yangxing, with a mirthless smile that made one's hair stand on end.

"Chief Censor Luo, Eunuch Gao, accept this bow from Wang!" Before Luo Yangxing and Gao Yushun, Wang Dehua did not dare remain standing, but knelt and kowtowed with utmost respect. It was not entirely fear of death; there was also admiration from the bottom of his heart.

The battle of Zhengyang Gate was certain to be recorded in the histories! Luo Yangxing and Gao Yushun, needless to say, would be praised to the skies by the Shun dynasty's historians... they were great and loyal subjects indeed!

While he himself was nothing but a treacherous, sycophantic petty man, who now could only beg not to be killed by loyal subjects.

"Eunuch Wang, what is the meaning of this?" Luo Yangxing was a little embarrassed by Wang Dehua's prostration.

He knew why Wang Dehua was bowing to him... it was admiration for his loyalty!

But in truth he was not that loyal. He had been coaxed step by step into this position by that unscrupulous, smoke-belching Crown Prince Zhu Cilang.

This Crown Prince Zhu was the complete opposite of his father. The Chongzhen Emperor could drive loyal subjects into becoming turncoats — Hong Chengchou, for instance, or Shang Kexi, Geng Zhongming, and Kong Youde under Mao Wenlong. Had they met with any ordinary enlightened sovereign, they would assuredly have been loyal subjects or martyrs of the Great Ming!

But this Crown Prince Zhu Cilang was more formidable than any ordinary enlightened sovereign. He was an exceedingly cunning and treacherous enlightened sovereign! He was more cunning than any ordinary treacherous minister — cunning to the point where treacherous ministers had no choice but to become loyal subjects.

Because being a loyal subject to Zhu Cilang paid! The longer one served him loyally, the more valuable one became — and one did not even have to die a martyr...

"Get up, quickly, get up." Gao Yushun was also a little embarrassed, and reached out to help Wang Dehua to his feet.

How could Wang Dehua dare rise? A petty man like him — did he dare sit as an equal with loyal and righteous men whose names would go down in history?

"No, no. Before the two of you, there is no place for this humble one to stand. This humble one had better remain kneeling while speaking."

In history, after surrendering to Li Zicheng, Wang Dehua had shamelessly reviled a group of civil officials who had become turncoats. But now, facing loyal and righteous men like Luo Yangxing and Gao Yushun, he did not even dare to stand.

"Then... then what do you have to say?" Luo Yangxing asked gently.

At his question, the loyal Ming soldiers and officers around them, who had fought all day and were so exhausted they could barely stand, leaning against the parapet to rest, all braced themselves against the wall and rose to their feet, then gathered around.

Seeing them all utterly exhausted, some of them wounded, Wang Dehua felt the righteous aura of loyalty surging toward him!

Wang Dehua, who had already cast himself as a treacherous petty man, asked timidly: "Is His Majesty, the Great Ming's sacred sovereign, atop Zhengyang Gate?"

"He is not," Luo Yangxing answered truthfully. "His Majesty has already left the city. Here at Zhengyang Gate there are only this old man, Eunuch Gao, and Guang Tongcheng."

"What? Just the three of you?"

At these words, not only was Wang Dehua greatly shocked, but the "loyal soldiers" atop the Zhengyang Gate parapet were all astonished as well, and an immediate uproar broke out.

"His Majesty is not here? Then who has been impersonating His Majesty?"

"If His Majesty is not here, then for whom have we been fighting?"

"How can this be?"

Their reactions had long been anticipated by Gao Yushun. He said loudly: "Gentlemen, do not be alarmed. Though His Majesty is not here, your names for loyalty and righteousness will surely be handed down in history... The Roving King, too, wishes to be a benevolent and righteous sovereign, and will surely treat us loyal and righteous men well. He will not make things difficult for you."

Then he turned to Wang Dehua. "Eunuch Wang, is that not so?"

Wang Dehua was nearly prostrate on the ground, because the people before him were simply too loyal! More loyal than even Li Zicheng could have imagined.

To cover the Chongzhen Emperor's escape, they had pretended Chongzhen was at Zhengyang Gate, drawn Li Zicheng's attention, and fought to the death, killing and wounding Shun officers and soldiers by the thousand in all... if such loyal and righteous men did not have their names inscribed in history, then what was history even for?

Wang Dehua hastily replied: "Your loyalty and righteousness have long since won the Roving King's admiration. The Roving King sent this servant here precisely to urge surrender... only, he never imagined that you would be even more loyal and righteous than he thought. Truly, this servant is ashamed before you!"

Luo Yangxing and Gao Yushun exchanged a glance, sighed, and each drew from his bosom a "Certificate of Loyalty" from Zhu Cilang, then handed them to Wang Dehua with both hands.

"Eunuch Wang, we must trouble you to deliver these to the Roving King."

"These are... instruments of surrender?" Wang Dehua was a little puzzled. How could loyal and righteous men have prepared instruments of surrender in advance? How degrading would that be?

"They are not instruments of surrender," Luo Yangxing said with a tragic expression. "Eunuch Gao and I have both resolved to die for the Great Ming's realm. We would rather die than surrender!"

"Right, we would rather die than surrender!" Gao Yushun said with righteous solemnity.

Luo Yangxing said: "But the Crown Prince, who soothes the army, is too benevolent. He was unwilling to let loyal and righteous men sacrifice themselves in vain after doing their duty. So he issued an edict to us and to Guang Hanwan, commanding us to surrender to the Roving King after delaying his army for more than a day, in order to preserve the lives of all the loyal and righteous men atop Zhengyang Gate."

"Ah..." Wang Dehua was stunned. Loyal and righteous men could be like this? Keeping both their lives and their loyalty? Crown Prince, why did you not tell me? Even at two hundred thousand taels of silver apiece, I would have bought one!

(End of Chapter)