[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-stealing-ming":3,"chapter-stealing-ming-stealing-ming-chapter-313":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Stealing Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1220930,1614,"Chapter 313: Section Sixty: Opening the Pass (Part Two) (II)","stealing-ming-chapter-313",313,"\u003Cp>That same day, in the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor urgently summoned Zhang Heming, Grand Secretary of the Hall of Martial Valor. Ever since the border was breached, Zhang Heming had been urging the Emperor to stay calm and act only after careful planning. From the twenty-eighth to the second, four days had passed without any further military action from the Later Jin army, so the Emperor’s suspended heart had gradually settled. Loyalist troops from around the capital region were on their way, and it seemed the breach in the border wall would soon be sealed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the last two days the situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse. Wang Yuanya, Provincial Governor of Jizhen, had committed suicide. Zhao Lujiao, Regional Commander of Shanhai Pass, had fallen in battle. Zunhua and Santunying had both been completely overrun, and the situation around Xifengkou was rapidly collapsing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment Zhang Heming entered the chamber, before the old man could slowly kneel and perform his obeisance, the Chongzhen Emperor urgently shouted, “Elder Zhang, dispense with the formalities! Grant him a seat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I thank—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Heming had barely begun to speak when the Chongzhen Emperor cried out impatiently, “Elder Zhang, how has the situation become so dire?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before this audience, Zhang Heming had already read some of the memorials. Alarms from the border wall region were flying in like snowflakes. Everywhere there were cries for reinforcements, and every local official believed his own jurisdiction would be the next target of the Later Jin army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Zhang Heming began to stroke his beard, the Chongzhen Emperor called out again anxiously, “Elder Zhang!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, the art of war says: One skilled in battle stands on invulnerable ground and does not miss the enemy’s moment of defeat. Thus, a victorious army first secures victory, then seeks battle; a defeated army first seeks battle, then hopes for victory. Therefore, this old minister believes that the only course at present is to respond to all changes by remaining unchanged. For the time being, we should quietly observe how things develop.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor had originally stood up to hear Zhang Heming speak. After hearing this answer, he slowly walked back to the imperial throne, sat down gradually, and then asked, “Now that the eastern caitiffs are raiding the border, Viceroy Yuan may not yet have entered the pass. Would Elder Zhang be willing to share my burdens and temporarily take command of Jizhen?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This…” Zhang Heming again stroked his beard. “Your Majesty, this minister has heard that the art of war says…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sun Chengzong, Grand Secretary of the Hall of Martial Valor, has arrived.” Outside the door, a eunuch announced in a drawn-out voice. Before the sound had faded, a dignified old man in a red robe strode into the hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chengzong entered the hall and knelt with crisp efficiency. “Long live His Majesty…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Minister Sun, rise!” the Chongzhen Emperor called out hastily. He had also sent someone urgently to summon Sun Chengzong. In the Chongzhen Emperor’s mind, he believed that among the three — Yuan Chonghuan, Zhang Heming, and Sun Chengzong — Yuan Chonghuan was the most capable, Zhang Heming was slightly inferior, but Sun Chengzong’s opinions could still be listened to as a makeshift measure. After all, Sun Chengzong had once taken command in Liaodong for several years and was not entirely ignorant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Long live His Majesty, long live, long live, ten thousand long lives.” Sun Chengzong, as if deaf to the Emperor’s words, kept his head lowered and shouted the full acclamation. Only after finishing did he say in a ringing voice, “I thank His Majesty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Sun Chengzong rose to his feet, the Chongzhen Emperor ordered again, “Grant Minister Sun a seat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I thank His Majesty!” Sun Chengzong shook his sleeve and brandished his right fist, his voice booming like a great bell. “Your Majesty! The art of war says: Attack and you will surely take it — attack what they do not defend. Defend and you will surely hold firm — defend what they must attack!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now the young eunuch had already placed a stool behind Sun Chengzong, but he could not be bothered to sit down. Fixing his gaze on the Emperor upon the throne, he spoke with sonorous force: “The Jianzhou caitiffs have raided the capital region this time. Jimen, Sanhe, and Tongzhou are the three places they must attack. If we wish to defend and hold firm, we must station heavy forces separately at Jimen, Sanhe, and Tongzhou. Defend what the Jianzhou caitiffs must attack, and the capital region will surely be free of worry.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then raised it and asked Zhang Heming, “What does Elder Zhang think?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Minister Sun’s words are most excellent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm.” After hearing this, the Chongzhen Emperor lowered his head again, as if thinking something over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty!” Sun Chengzong thought the Emperor was still hesitating over whether to commit fully to defending the official road from Xifengkou to the capital. He cried out again urgently, “Your Majesty, this minister is willing to go to Jimen and urge the Ji garrison and the loyalist troops into battle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not so.” The Chongzhen Emperor seemed to have made up his mind. He loudly rejected Sun Chengzong’s proposal. “If Minister Sun leaves the capital, who can assist me in planning military affairs?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the fifth day of the eleventh month of the second year of the Chongzhen reign, Sun Chengzong deployed troops on the Emperor’s behalf. He ordered the famous Regional Commander You Shiwei to march urgently toward Tongzhou, organize a defensive line along the river, and simultaneously send scouts to probe both flanks, reconnoitering every crossing point between Shunyi and Xianghe, while mobilizing local militia to prepare to coordinate martial law with the regular troops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the day Liu Ce took office as Viceroy of Ji-Liao, Yuan Chonghuan had forbidden him from meddling in the military affairs of Jizhen. So for these seven months, Liu Ce had stayed in Baoding and never once gone north to Jizhen. Upon hearing that the Later Jin army had entered the pass through Jizhen, Liu Ce felt that this was his defense zone, so he hastily mustered the troops around Baoding and Xinle and rushed day and night toward the capital to serve the King.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Chengzong ordered Liu Ce to immediately lead his army to Jimen, hold it firmly, and atone for his past failures. At the same time, he was to detach forces to garrison Sanhe and organize another river defense line in front of the Tongzhou line. Sun Chengzong also specifically instructed him to send out reconnaissance riders to search the crossings between Pinggu and Baodi. Sun Chengzong further instructed that if Jimen had not yet fallen, Liu Ce should lead his main force to hold Jimen firmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After receiving his orders, Liu Ce hurried east to deploy defenses at Jimen and Sanhe. Once Sun Chengzong had arranged everything, the Chongzhen Emperor let out a great sigh. “Thanks to you, my beloved minister. You have not failed my expectations.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To share Your Majesty’s burdens is this minister’s duty. However, deploying troops and arranging formations is truly not this minister’s forte, nor do I know whether this is entirely appropriate.” Sun Chengzong looked at the map again with a solemn expression and said honestly to the Chongzhen Emperor, “Your Majesty, this minister dares not say that Jimen can certainly be held or cannot be held, nor do I know whether the Sanhe defense line is secure. Therefore, I have arranged several lines. Though this disperses our forces somewhat, I believe defense will still be easier, and with three consecutive defense lines, even if the worst happens, we will not be caught off guard.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mm. Then does my beloved minister Sun know who is skilled in the use of troops?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, this minister recommends Ma Shilong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he heard Sun Chengzong mention this name, the Chongzhen Emperor’s face immediately showed some displeasure. Back in the Yaozhou defeat, Ma Shilong could be said to have dragged Sun Chengzong down bitterly, even causing him to lose his post over it. Sun Chengzong, to preserve Ma Shilong’s life and official rank, had not hesitated to resign from office. But after Sun Chengzong fell from power, Ma Shilong immediately switched patrons and ran to join Wei Zhongxian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Shilong not only bribed Wei Zhongxian but also colluded with other generals to erect living shrines for Wei Zhongxian. What was particularly despicable was that when Ma Shilong saw Sun Chengzong seemed about to meet misfortune, he turned and bit the hand of his benefactor, shifting all the blame for the defeats at Yaozhou and elsewhere onto Sun Chengzong’s head. This served as a pledge of allegiance to Wei Zhongxian, thereby preserving his own position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tianqi Emperor died unexpectedly early. When the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, Ma Shilong was immediately stripped of his military post. The Embroidered Uniform Guard was ordered to arrest him and bring him to the capital, where he was thrown into the imperial prison to be thoroughly investigated for his crimes of battlefield defeat, corruption, bribery, and shrine-building. In the end, he was sentenced to beheading after the autumn assizes and was now waiting to die in prison. Once the Emperor marked his name in vermilion, Ma Shilong would be sent to the execution ground and beheaded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How can Minister Sun recommend such a man of no virtue?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, Ma Shilong comes from a military family and has not received the teachings of the sages. Even countless scholar-officials threw themselves into the eunuch faction — how can we harshly demand otherwise of a mere military officer?” Sun Chengzong paused, then continued with earnest persuasion, “Your Majesty, the Yaozhou campaign was truly not Ma Shilong’s fault. The main cause was this old minister’s incompetence, which allowed discord and division to arise within the army. Ma Shilong is a veteran general of Ningxia, who accumulated merit to the rank of Vice Commissioner-in-Chief. Later, this old minister personally requested for him the posts of Right Commissioner-in-Chief and the Imperial Sword, valuing his talent, not his moral character.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In that case, I shall follow Minister Sun’s counsel. Let Ma Shilong be released to atone for his crimes through service.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This old minister thanks Your Majesty on Ma Shilong’s behalf for this imperial grace. He will surely exert himself for the nation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In history, Ma Shilong would indeed never again disappoint Sun Chengzong. After leaving prison, he quickly began to offer counsel to Sun Chengzong and contributed much to re-stabilizing the situation in the capital region. After the Zun-Yong campaign ended, Sun Chengzong again recommended Ma Shilong to return to Gansu to resist Mongol incursions. There, Ma Shilong repeatedly achieved great merit, once reporting three major victories in a single year, with a total of over eighteen hundred heads taken. Several years later, when Ma Shilong died of illness, he had accumulated merit to the ranks of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Left Commissioner-in-Chief. Had Sun Chengzong lacked such breadth of mind and magnanimity, how could Commander Ma have restored his official reputation and enjoyed his natural span of years?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the fifth day of the eleventh month, the Chongzhen Emperor issued an edict ordering the armies of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Shandong to serve the King.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time in Dengzhou, the Funing Army’s fleet was arriving in succession. Ten thousand marine troops had already landed. Huang Shi, using the pretext of replenishing supplies, remained in Dengzhou awaiting news from Zhili.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Yang, do you still doubt the Staff Department’s deduction?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In private, Jin Qiude had brought up this question again. Yang Zhiyuan smiled wryly. “It is simply too unbelievable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How about a wager? I bet Yuan Chonghuan will open the pass and let the enemy through.” Jin Qiude laughed. He had also heard something of the bet between Yang Zhiyuan and Zhang Zaidi. Jin Qiude wagged a finger. “If you truly don’t believe it, do you dare bet a hundred taels of silver?”\u003C\u002Fp>",2017,"2026-06-04T07:54:54.057Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","b2596e923bc147f4ded161aa7121c9f337a8c83f24e03def49d6c18334e2c0fe","stealing-ming-chapter-314","stealing-ming-chapter-312",323,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstealing-ming-cover.jpg"]