Chapter 794: The Shunzhi Reformation

The Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

From the imperial study came the sound of porcelain shattering heavily on the floor, followed by the Shunzhi Emperor's roar: "Sonin, you great treacherous minister — get out of Our sight this instant!"

Several "frail scholars" who had just barely escaped with their lives — Songgotu, Nalan Mingzhu, Gao Sai — were all kneeling in a row before the Shunzhi Emperor, pleading with this freshly minted "Governor-General of Zhili" of the Great Qing not to let his rage drive him to have Sonin executed.

Sonin, for his part, wore an air of utter nonchalance. He too knelt on the floor, yet he defied the imperial command and simply refused to leave. The Shunzhi Emperor was beside himself with fury. He pulled out the pistol Dodo had given him, pointed it at Sonin, and squeezed the trigger repeatedly. But the pistol held no ammunition — it was less useful than a fire poker. With his anger finding no outlet, Shunzhi hurled the pistol away, and as luck would have it, it actually struck someone.

"Ouch! What is this thing?" The person struck was a woman — none other than Shunzhi's wife, Meng Guqing.

Following the sound, Shunzhi looked up and saw his plump, round wife stooping down to pick up the pistol.

At the sight of his wife, he thought of Dorgon. His hatred had been simmering, and he had half a mind to string Meng Guqing up and beat her to vent his spleen.

And now he truly wanted to!

Although Imperial Ama had monopolized power and even slept with his mother, Bumbutai, he had at least been able to shield Shunzhi from wind and rain. Now it was Dodo instead. The man had not usurped the throne, true — but he had dumped Shunzhi in an empty city, Beijing, to wait for Zhu Cilang to march his troops in and kill him!

Once he himself was dead, Dodo, as Imperial Uncle, could ascend the throne in perfect order!

And if he fought desperately and held the city, Dodo would march his troops over and pluck the ready-made fruits of victory. For a treacherous minister and rebellious subject to go as far as he had — such a thing had rarely been seen since ancient times!

Just as Shunzhi reached this point in his thoughts, his mother Bumbutai walked in. She had come together with Meng Guqing, and from far off had heard Shunzhi cursing Sonin. Worried that her son might kill someone in his rage, she had told Meng Guqing to hurry ahead and intervene — which was how Meng Guqing ended up "taking a bullet."

"Your son greets his mother."

"This slave Sonin respectfully greets Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."

"This slave and the others respectfully greet—"

One by one, everyone paid their respects to the Empress Dowager. The old lady, broad of heart and plump of body, wore a cheerful expression. She found a chair and seated herself, then waved a hand: "Rise, rise, all of you, rise. Today's situation is not bad at all — not bad!"

Hearing this, the Shunzhi Emperor did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Mother, we are about to die!"

"How are we about to die? I don't like hearing such talk. I'm in fine health — I eat well and everything tastes good. I intend to live a good long life!"

Though the old lady was plump, her health was excellent — no high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high blood sugar. In history she lived to the age of seventy-five; she was now just past forty, with more than thirty years of fine food and drink still ahead of her to enjoy!

"Mother, we won't live!" Shunzhi stamped his foot. "That traitor has gone and hidden himself beyond the passes, and he's taken all the elite troops with him. He's left your son behind in Beijing to wait for death. Once your son is dead, he, as Imperial Uncle, can take the throne!"

"How is it just Beijing?" The old lady was taken aback. "I heard Dodo left us more than half of Zhili. Sonin, is that true?"

"In answer to Her Majesty," Sonin said, "apart from Daming Prefecture, Xuanfu, and Shanhai Garrison in Yongping Prefecture, all the rest of Zhili now belongs to the court — that is, under His Majesty's direct jurisdiction.

In addition, the three prefectures of Zhangde, Weihui, and Huaiqing in Henan Province, and the four prefectures of Zezhou, Liaozhou, Qinzhou, and Lu'an Prefecture in Shanxi Province, are also under His Majesty's direct jurisdiction."

Dodo's withdrawal from within the passes had been on no small scale. The bannermen and booi he planned to take with him numbered over three hundred thousand. Excluding the two Green Banners, the Han troops of the old Eight Banners, and the booi bondservants, the remaining bannermen consisted of only a portion of the Two Yellow Banners, a portion of the Bordered White Banner, the greater part of the Bordered Blue Banner, and the greater part of the Plain Red Banner — in all, just over seventy niru. Even counting the repeatedly padded Han troops, the number of niru came to no more than a hundred and some, and many niru were short of able-bodied men. The total number of fighting men that could be mustered was under twenty thousand.

Although there were still the running dogs of the Plain Green Banner to be driven, with the core armed force so inadequate, just how much fighting strength those running dogs could bring to bear was highly doubtful.

Under such circumstances, contracting and defending became the only realistic choice.

And with that contraction came a situation in which vast territories could no longer be controlled by the Bordered Blue, Bordered White, Plain Red, Plain Green, and other banners.

These territories naturally and logically became lands under the court's direct jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the banner lords of the Bordered Blue, Bordered White, Plain Red, and other banners, along with the princes and dukes admitted to the Eight Privileges, each had to return to their own domains and manage their own territories. Thus the young Shunzhi Emperor became a "true emperor" over Zhili and the lands around it!

"My son," Bumbutai said to Shunzhi, "haven't you been going on every day about carrying out new policies, about learning from Zhu Cilang? Now that so many prefectures are yours, why are you sitting in Beijing waiting to die?"

"But — but your son has no money and no troops. How am I supposed to carry out new policies?"

Bumbutai turned to look at Sonin. Sonin, for his part, was full of confidence, and said with a smile: "His Majesty is mistaken. His Majesty is not especially poor. That so-called empire on which the sun never sets, España, not only has an empty treasury but has also racked up a mountain of usurious debt abroad, amounting to three or four hundred million taels of silver. Compared with the King of España, His Majesty is still wealthy.

As for troops — that is even easier. Our Two Yellow Banners still have twenty-two niru left, after all. The backbone of Suksaha's vanguard battalion and Oboi's firearms battalion also remains with us. This slave has calculated it: five or six thousand elite soldiers are still to be had!

If His Majesty feels that is not enough, we can also go and recruit some more."

"Recruit?" Shunzhi gave a bitter laugh. "Is there money? You are a Grand Minister of the Imperial Household — tell Us, how much silver is left in Our privy purse?"

"There is still over a hundred thousand taels — a bit little, it is true." Sonin smiled. "But no matter — Your Majesty still has land!

Now within Beijing there remain only twenty-two niru, fewer than four thousand bannermen. Naturally there is no need for more than twenty million mu of banner land. Recruit one soldier for every two hundred fifty mu, and we can raise a force of eighty thousand for Your Majesty!"

A force of eighty thousand! Of whom four thousand would be old Manchus — could such a thing be reliable?

Shunzhi asked in a low voice: "Use four thousand to command eighty thousand?"

Sonin smiled. "Why must it be four thousand commanding eighty thousand? At this point, can His Majesty still divide Manchu from Han? If His Majesty does not divide Manchu from Han, but simply uses land to recruit able-bodied men — whatever the long term may bring, within ten years there will be nothing to worry about."

"Right, right, right." Shunzhi pressed a hand to his forehead. "We have truly been muddled! This is no time to worry about the long term. Survive a while, and count each stretch as it comes!"

"His Majesty is sagacious!" Sonin flattered him.

Having at last been sagacious for once, Shunzhi immediately felt his confidence surge. He clapped his hands sharply: "We will reform! We will carry out new policies! We will — how should We reform?"

He was always prattling on about reform, yet at the critical moment, he actually had no idea how to go about it.

"Your Majesty," Sonin prompted, "the urgent tasks at present are several. First, proclaim that Manchu and Han are one family, with no distinction between them. Otherwise, once Dodo and Jirgalang and the rest have left, with only the five or six thousand men in our hands, I fear we could not even keep the territory of Zhili under control!"

"Right, right, right. And the second?"

"The second is to open the civil examinations and select officials!" Sonin said. "The Han people love taking the examinations more than anything — we must let them take them. The twenty million mu of banner land around Beijing cannot all be used for recruiting soldiers. We can set aside several million mu as office fields, which would support two or three thousand officials. With them, there will be men to serve His Majesty and handle affairs!"

"Right, right, right. What is the third?"

"The third is, of course, to put the land in order and encourage cultivation!" Sonin said. "Our territory is actually not so small. There are vast stretches of flatland. If properly organized, there could be sixty million mu. Deducting twenty million mu for office fields, at least forty million mu would remain. If each mu yields half a dou of flour, that is two million shi a year!"

"Good, good. Two million shi is not much, but it is better than nothing! Is there more?"

"There is! The fourth is to establish workshops and manufacture guns and cannon. We cannot compare with the Southern Court, and cannot rely on merchant enterprise — it must be government-run. We can gather the booi of the Two Yellow Banners who specialize in forging weapons, set up an arsenal, and invite skilled craftsmen from España to provide instruction."

"Excellent, excellent. Is there more?"

"There is one more item!" Sonin said. "We must agree to Zhu Cilang's condition of seeking the hand of the Fourteenth Princess in marriage!"

"What condition?"

Sonin said: "Naturally, the condition that the lands of the Central Plain serve as her dowry!"

(End of Chapter)