Chapter 113: Verifying the Severed Heads

Because Wang Pu's Datong troops had no fixed garrison since arriving to reinforce the capital, and with the Jianzhou barbarians running rampant in the capital region, the Ministry of War officials had never had a chance to verify the severed heads each unit had taken. The heads Wang Pu's army had captured were also transported with the main force to Tongzhou.

A crowd of officers escorted Zhu Cilang and Cao Huachun to Wang Pu's main camp. Though Cao Huachun was the army supervisor, he did not interfere in the slightest with Zhu Cilang's military operations. He had watched Zhu Cilang grow up and knew this Crown Prince's abilities better than anyone — the boy was practically a prodigy.

Cao Huachun brought several Ministry of War officials to verify the heads. Because the weather was too hot, all of the more than one thousand heads in Wang Pu's camp had been preserved with lime to prevent them from rotting beyond recognition.

Though Cao Huachun found it utterly disgusting, he endured the nausea and carefully examined each one, with three professional Ministry of War officials beside him studying them closely as well.

They inspected every head with great care, examining the braided hair, facial features, teeth, and other aspects from every angle. They even picked the heads up and turned them this way and that, looking extremely professional.

Some officers who had never seen Jianzhou barbarian heads before looked on with curiosity, while several Regional Commanders and Assistant Regional Commanders paid no attention at all — they had climbed up from the bottom ranks and were long accustomed to head verification. Only Wang Pu felt somewhat nervous inside.

As more heads were examined, the Ministry of War officials' brows furrowed deeper. One official had several large buckets of water brought in and threw some of the heads into them.

This Ministry of War official leaned over the wooden bucket, carefully observing the heads floating in the water, waiting for the lime on them to dissolve.

Before long, the Ministry of War official spoke up: "These two heads are facing upward — they are women's heads. Men's heads float face down."

Hearing this, all the officers were greatly shocked. The Ministry of War official's meaning was clear: many of the Tartar heads in Wang Pu's army were actually the heads of innocent women, substituted to claim false merit for killing civilians.

Wang Pu stood there dumbfounded. He hadn't expected these Ministry of War officials to expose him to his face. Normally, even if false merit was discovered, a bit of silver slipped to them would seal their mouths.

These Ministry of War officials would have liked to take some silver and smooth things over, but their heads mattered more. This Crown Prince was not to be trifled with — just a while ago, several dozen officials of their rank had been disposed of in a single night.

Wang Pu pointed at the Ministry of War official who had spoken and said urgently: "You're full of shit! How dare you frame me!"

The Ministry of War official ignored him, picked up another head, and said: "The braid at the scalp is stiff — this was shaved not long ago. This is not a Jianzhou barbarian head either."

Wang Pu flew into a rage. With a clang, he drew his sword and charged forward to cut down this Ministry of War official.

Cao Huachun shouted sternly: "What is the meaning of this, Regional Commander Wang? Do you not put the Crown Prince and this old servant in your eyes?"

Hearing that shrill voice, Wang Pu sobered up considerably. He sheathed his sword sheepishly and offered his apologies to Zhu Cilang and Cao Huachun.

Though the Ministry of War officials had been frightened, they continued their verification. When all the heads had been examined, of the one thousand one hundred and four heads, the vast majority were found to be substitutes — heads of women or innocent civilians.

Wang Pu's heart trembled upon hearing this, and he cried out: "Your Highness, you cannot believe their one-sided account!"

Zhu Cilang had long been dissatisfied with Wang Pu. He flew into a thunderous rage: "The heads are in your camp, and all the officers here know what Jianzhou barbarians look like. Who could possibly wrong you? Guards, seize Wang Pu!"

Men from both sides came forward and bound Wang Pu. Wang Pu shouted that he was innocent, but Zhu Cilang had no interest in paying him any mind. A personal guard brought Zhu Cilang a chair, and he sat down.

At this moment, Xu Sheng waved his hand, and several Longxianging Night Scouts brought in some women. He said: "This is the Crown Prince of the current dynasty, on campaign in place of the Son of Heaven himself. Whatever grievances you have, speak them freely — His Highness will see justice done for you!"

At first, these women were very timid seeing so many generals. But after hearing that the young man before them was the Crown Prince, and seeing Wang Pu bound up, one woman who was slightly braver began to speak tearfully:

"This humble woman is from Zhuozhou. Last month, when the Tartars first took Zhuozhou, my family took the chance to flee to the countryside to hide. After the Tartars withdrew, my family was able to return to Zhuozhou. But who would have thought — no sooner had the Tartars left than the officers arrived. On the road we encountered a group of soldiers slaughtering common folk. My husband grabbed me and ran, but a soldier caught up and struck him with one blow of his blade, cutting off my husband's head. He even said my husband was a Tartar. They wanted to cut off my head too, but fortunately these kind military gentlemen happened to pass by and saved this humble woman."

As she spoke, the woman pointed at the several Longxianging Night Scouts beside her.

Then the other women also tearfully recounted how their family members had been harmed, and on the spot identified several officers in Wang Pu's army.

The faces of the other generals showed little reaction upon hearing this. They were long accustomed to killing innocents to claim merit — some had even done such wicked deeds themselves. Now they just wanted to see how this young Crown Prince would handle it.

Zhu Cilang stared at Wang Pu and said coldly: "Wang Pu, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Wang Pu's heart was already half cold, but he still struggled to defend himself with dying breaths, putting on an innocent face: "Your Highness, please investigate clearly. This general knew nothing of this — it was done by those below, behind this general's back. This general does bear the guilt of negligence and lax discipline over his troops."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang let out a cold laugh and said sternly: "A fine excuse — negligence and lax discipline! The Son of Heaven ordered you to enter the capital and defend the throne, yet you used the heads of local civilians to fraudulently claim military merit. Did you think there could be a wall that the wind cannot pass through? You feared the enemy and shrank from battle, you corrupted the military discipline of the Great Ming, and still you try to argue your way out?"

Alarm showed on Wang Pu's face. Knowing he could not escape this calamity, he steeled his nerve and said: "Your Highness's victory report claimed over ten thousand heads cut in a few days — were all of those truly Jianzhou barbarian heads?"

Zhu Cilang sneered: "The ten thousand-odd heads this prince took are still piled into a pyramid of skulls in the western market of the capital city right now, witnessed by a million citizens! And this prince slew four thousand Jianzhou barbarians at Miyun — their heads are in the camp. So that you may die with full understanding, this prince will take you to see them today!"

Hearing the Crown Prince say this, the generals who had come along could hardly wait to see the Yongwei Camp's trophies, wanting to see just how far this Crown Prince's boasting would go. So the crowd braved the scorching heat and entered the Yongwei Camp's military encampment nearby.

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Regarding the verification of severed heads in the Ming dynasty, the *Shuyuan Miscellaneous Records* states: In all military merit accounting at the front, three heads of southern barbarians counted as one merit, one head of a northern barbarian counted as one merit. Heads of women received reward only, but no promotion in rank.

Northern barbarian women's faces were no different from beardless men's, so those reporting merit often mixed in women's heads to pad the count, and none could tell the difference. I once met Commissioner-in-Chief Ma Yi and discussed this matter. Ma Yi said: "There is a way to distinguish them. Most merit recorders are civil officials who do not know this method. Simply throw the heads into water — those floating face up are women, those face down are men."

I had heard that among corpses floating in water, men float face down and women face up — this is the wondrous principle of yin and yang fixed in nature. Though human force may turn them over, they always return to their original position. I did not know that severed heads behaved the same way. Ma Yi had spent the longest time at the frontier, so he must have tested this and known it to be true.