Chapter 88: The Enemy Is at Tianjin Garrison, Part 5 (Please Add to Favorites, Please Recommend)

"Jin Bin and Lou Guangxian have betrayed the nation! Follow His Highness to seize the traitors and rescue the Emperor!"

At the same moment the sounds of slaughter erupted inside Tianjin, outside the city walls, among the troops under Jin and Lou who had just received their ten taels of silver, someone had already begun shouting.

"We follow His Highness to seize the traitors!"

"We obey His Highness..."

The answering shouts at once resounded outside Tianjin's west gate. The Tianjin garrison soldiers who had taken Zhu Cilang's ten taels of silver had, in this instant, all transformed into loyal subjects and righteous men of the Great Ming.

Seeing so many loyal and righteous men, Zhu Cilang recovered from the sudden upheaval, his expression returning to normal, and shouted, "Soldiers of the Tianjin army, hear this: whoever takes Jin Bin or Lou Guangxian shall be made Vice Regional Commander of the Tianjin garrison, with a reward of ten thousand taels of silver!"

The loud-voiced men around Zhu Cilang at once opened their throats and repeated his order.

This was a lavish reward! The battalion commanders, company commanders, and banner leaders who had belonged to Jin Bin and Lou Guangxian all grew eager. The battalion commander who had been first to betray Jin Bin and Lou Guangxian, a fellow named Zhang Wenjue, had already become a Vice Regional Commander!

This was a chance to rise to the heavens in a single bound!

After announcing the reward, Zhu Cilang did not take the field to command in person. Instead he loudly summoned "Wu Sangui" — in reality Wu Sanfu — before him: "Wu Sangui, it is yours! These Tianjin garrison brothers are all under your command. Get Us into the city at once!"

As he spoke, Zhu Cilang unbuckled his own sword and handed it to Wu Sanfu: "If any disobey orders, execute first and report after!"

"Your subject Sangui receives the decree!" Wu Sanfu, having spent these days following Zhu Cilang, had considerably improved his acting. He now called himself Wu Sangui and grandly accepted the "imperial sword."

With the famous "Wu Sangui" in command, the fearsome "Yi Ding cavalry" holding the line, and an unprecedented reward on offer, these weak soldiers of the Tianjin garrison suddenly found their spirit. First the archers, shielded by sword-and-shield men, advanced close to the wall and began loosing volley after volley of arrows up at it. Then several dozen strong men, hugging a log obtained from who knew where, began ramming the portcullis.

Still others split into squads and, together with the "Great Han Generals" disguised as Yi Ding cavalry, circled the city to attack the other gates.

The rebels inside Tianjin were not many. Even counting Hao Yaoqi's three or four hundred veteran Shun troops, at most they numbered fifteen hundred. They had struggled to deal with Cao Youyi and Cao Huachun's three thousand men, and had no strength to spare for garrisoning the walls.

So it was certain that Zhu Cilang's troops would break through Tianjin. The only question now was whether the Chongzhen Emperor could be saved.

The Chongzhen Emperor's life now hung by a thread!

And he had already prepared himself to die for his country — even though his son Zhu Cilang was outside the city with seven thousand troops. But Zhu Cilang was a treacherous, cunning, unfilial son, surely bent on usurping the throne. If he himself were killed by the rebels and the Roving Bandit, that great traitor Zhu could then ascend the throne with perfect legitimacy...

Yet Chongzhen no longer feared death, because he knew the degree of his unfilial son Cilang's treachery and cunning — it nearly matched such treacherous heroes of chaotic times as Cao Cao and Sima Yi. Now that the Great Ming had lost Beijing, the realm had entered an age of chaos. A sage ruler like himself could not manage it; it would take a treacherous hero like Cilang to act.

Reckoning it all up, though Chongzhen might die, he could still face his ancestors in the underworld.

At this moment, the fearless Chongzhen had been fitted with a bloodstained cloth-faced iron cuirass, an iron helmet on his head, and a treasured sword in his hand. Guarded by Cao Huachun and several Cao family retainers, he had withdrawn into a large courtyard facing the street. He did not hide inside the house but stood in the courtyard. From within the house came the weeping of several women — it was Empress Zhou, Wei Qinghui, and Wu Wanrong inside, clutching one another and wailing.

Around the courtyard, the fighting had turned it into a slaughterhouse of blood and flesh. Cao Youyi, with several hundred remnant soldiers, held the courtyard wall and the gate. Commander Cao himself was drenched in blood from head to face, still roaring in the heat of battle, leading his men in desperate resistance against Hao Yaoqi's assault.

Though Hao Yaoqi had only three or four hundred men, he had scattered Cao Youyi and Cao Huachun's nearly three thousand soldiers and braves without much effort. The imperial relatives, eunuchs, palace women, and officials who had followed Chongzhen into the city had been slaughtered, their corpses strewn everywhere; the survivors had fled to who knew where. Only Cao Huachun remained at Chongzhen's side.

In Tianjin, songs welcoming the Roving King had already risen, along with wave after wave of firecrackers! Clearly the common folk of Tianjin were spontaneously welcoming the Roving King. This great upheaval at the end of the Ming, in a certain sense, truly had something of a social revolution about it! The poor commoners who could not make a living under Ming rule had placed enormous hopes in the Roving King, Li Zicheng.

Order in the city had also collapsed. Many poor commoners had seized weapons — some went to loot the homes of the rich, while others organized themselves to attack the government offices and several of the city gates. They attacked the gates because the people of Tianjin did not know that the Roving King's army was now inside and the Zhu traitor's army outside...

At this moment, the shouts of battle from outside the city also rose. Though they seemed distant and faint compared to the din within the walls, Hao Yaoqi and his warriors had all fought their way out of great armies, and they could hear ill omens in those distant, faint sounds. The great army led by Li Guo and Tang Tong could not have reached Tianjin so quickly! These sounds must be the Zhu traitor's troops outside attacking the city.

Hao Yaoqi's subordinate leaders gathered around, all opening their throats to shout.

"Commander, the Zhu traitors outside look set to break in! What do we do?"

"Commander, let's charge in first and take the head of the Zhu traitor emperor!"

"Commander, our men in the city are few — only a thousand and several hundred. If we still have to fight the Zhu traitor troops entering the city, there will be no one defending the four gates. If the Zhu traitors outside break in, we'll be wiped out!"

Hao Yaoqi was momentarily caught in a dilemma. The bait before him was simply too tempting! The Chongzhen Emperor! Beijing had already fallen to the Shun. If they killed the Chongzhen Emperor as well, the Ming dynasty would be finished. But what had happened to Jin Bin's and Lou Guangxian's forces outside? They had somehow failed to hold even for a short while.

Listening carefully to the distant shouts, they all seemed to be crying "Kill the traitors!" — no one was shouting "Kill the Zhu traitor!"... And the shouts were coming from the south, north, and east gates.

There seemed to be no one defending those places, was there?

"One last attack!" Hao Yaoqi thought it over and finally hardened his resolve, roaring, "Brothers, follow me! Kill the Zhu traitor dog emperor!"

"Kill the dog emperor!"

"Brothers, kill the dog emperor and our Shun will win the realm!"

"Kill the dog emperor and the realm will know peace!"

Hao Yaoqi's men likewise steeled themselves. Though they numbered only three hundred and more, they somehow produced the momentum of a vast host.

Cao Youyi hardened his resolve too, shouting, "Defend the Great Ming! Defend His Majesty!" He raised a long spear and led the countercharge.

The warriors of both sides crashed together like torrents at the gate of the courtyard, grappling into a single mass. The shlick of blades piercing flesh mingled with heart-rending screams, rising unceasingly, as lives were spent as if worthless. Cao Youyi and Hao Yaoqi finally met face to face. Commander Cao wielded a long spear, whirling it up and down; in that one exchange alone he had skewered four or five Shun soldiers in white caps and blue coats.

Hao Yaoqi was even more ferocious. A three-pointed, double-edged pole blade in hand, he had fought his way through without meeting an opponent who could withstand more than a few blows. His blade was long and broad, heavy and solid, fully twenty-four or five jin; whether thrusting or slashing, it was hard for any opponent to parry.

Moreover, Hao Yaoqi wore three layers of heavy armor — a long coat of plate, a layer of mail, and a layer of cotton armor next to the skin. Several dozen jin hung on his body, yet his movements remained nimble. After fighting for nearly a full hour, he was barely even breathing hard. His physical stamina was evident at a glance.

Though Cao Youyi was also a veteran general, he was old and weakened, and a general of his rank naturally enjoyed more comfort than training. How could he compare to a stout fellow like Hao Yaoqi, who had fought his way out of piles of corpses? The moment their weapons crossed, he knew he was outmatched. Flustered, he retreated hastily. Fortunately, a household retainer who owed him a great debt threw himself forward recklessly and blocked several blows for him. Though the man was cut down on the spot in an instant, he allowed Cao Youyi to fall back to the Chongzhen Emperor's side. Cao Youyi did not waste words on the ashen-faced sovereign; he seized him and dragged him back toward the house. The old eunuch Cao Huachun reacted quickly too, hastily calling several able-bodied men of the Cao clan to retreat into the house as well, then ordering them to shut the doors and windows and move furniture against the door, barely holding back the death-god-like Hao Yaoqi.

They had just barricaded the doors and windows, and Eunuch Cao had not yet caught his breath, when he suddenly realized the Chongzhen Emperor was gone!

This frightened the old eunuch badly. His voice trembling, he asked, "Where is His Majesty? Where is His Majesty? Don't tell me he was left outside..."

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(End of Chapter)