Chapter 144: Mutiny in the Brave Guard Camp

The events at the morning court session spread throughout the capital that very day. Not only were the common people in an uproar, but the generals of the Yongwei Camp—Huang Degong, Sun Yingyuan, and others—were all furious, extremely dissatisfied with the remarks of civil officials like Tang Shiji.

Our soldiers shed blood and fought desperately on the front lines, and this pack of censors wipe away all their merits with a few flapping words? Not only that, these curs actually dare to slander the Crown Prince with accusations of rebellion! Isn't slandering the Crown Prince with rebellion just openly saying the Yongwei Camp is about to revolt?

The more Huang Degong thought about it, the more humiliated he felt. He kicked over the table in his tent and bellowed: "Beat the drums! Pass the order—the entire camp assembles on the parade ground!"

In the Duke of Ying's mansion, a furious roar came from the main hall.

"How is this any different from when Wei the eunuch held power? They're clearly the ones stealing the credit that belongs to Heaven!" Zhang Shize cursed in anger.

After the great victory at Ning-Jin in the seventh year of Tianqi, when the court rewarded merit, the greatest credit of all went to Wei Zhongxian, followed by the supervising eunuchs, then the eunuchs in the palace who had done nothing at all, and after them the eunuch faction ministers at court, such as Gu Bingqian, Cui Chengxiu, and so on.

Even Wei Zhongxian's four-year-old grand-nephew was enfeoffed as a marquis for merit, while Yuan Chonghuan, the Regional Commander of the Ning-Jin victory, was rewarded with a single rank promotion and thirty taels of silver.

"Mind your tongue!" The Duke of Ying, Zhang Zhiji, glared at his eldest son and said: "The Crown Prince's merit overshadows the sovereign, and he has offended the eunuch faction. Being suspected is unavoidable—what matters most is what His Majesty thinks in his heart. Such matters are not for you or me to meddle in!"

Zhang Shize said: "Father, I just can't accept it! Ever since Tumu Fortress, how badly have we meritorious nobles been bullied by the civil officials? Our status was originally equal, but now every civil official looks down on us military men!"

Zhang Zhiji roared: "Even if you can't accept it, what can you do? In those days, our ancestor Duke Zhang Fu followed the Yongle Emperor in the Jingnan campaign, later campaigned three times into the northern deserts, went four times to Jiaozhi (Vietnam), captured false kings three times, and awed the southwest with his might. During the Xuande Emperor's reign he put down the Prince of Han's rebellion, served four reigns, and married into the imperial family—what glory that was! And in the end? He lost the new emperor's trust, was humiliated by eunuchs, and at over seventy years of age accompanied the emperor on the northern campaign—and died at Tumu Fortress!"

Zhang Zhiji said with deep regret: "If the emperor had trusted our ancestor, how could our Great Ming have suffered the disastrous defeat at Tumu Fortress! I tell you these things only so you understand—we meritorious nobles only have the chance to display our abilities if we gain the emperor's trust!"

Seeing the grief on his eldest son's face, Zhang Zhiji sighed and said: "Our Duke of Ying line appears glorious, but for two hundred years it has survived only because our ancestors were cautious and careful. Your father has only a few years left. As the next Duke of Ying, you must learn the principle of keeping a low profile and staying out of harm's way. Most importantly, follow closely in His Majesty's footsteps!"

Zhang Shize listened, every word piercing his heart. Toward those censors and investigating officials, the Duke of Ying line had also suffered greatly—yet there was nothing they could do.

Just then, the Duke of Ying, Zhang Zhiji, suddenly heard shouts shaking the heavens from the imperial city. His heart filled with alarm and suspicion, but he did not know what the sound was.

"That's the Yongwei Camp's battle cry!" Zhang Shize was greatly shocked. Having fought shoulder to shoulder with them for so long, he remembered the Yongwei Camp's battle chants vividly.

"The Yongwei Camp is in trouble!" Zhang Zhiji cried out in alarm, saying frantically: "Shize, hurry back to the Shenji Camp to hold things down!"

At the imperial city garrison, the Yongwei Camp's main tent was already packed with a dark mass of people—all officers of Mobile Corps Commander rank and above were waiting for orders inside the tent.

Since the Yongwei Camp's founding, Huang Degong had always been its top commander, with unrivaled prestige in the camp—even Sun Yingyuan, whose honorary military rank was one grade higher, fell somewhat short of him.

Upon receiving the order for full assembly, all officers rushed to the main tent at once, and outside on the parade ground stood over ten thousand Yongwei Camp soldiers in full armor, weapons in hand.

The moment he saw Huang Degong, Sun Yingyuan pulled him aside and said with a frown: "Old Huang, I know you're feeling wronged, and we're all furious too, but you must think twice—once an arrow is loosed, it can't be taken back!"

Huang Degong shouted: "If it can't be taken back, then so be it! Our Yongwei Camp fought bloody battles for the nation, the Crown Prince has served the country with loyalty, and yet there are people at court denying us and saying we plan to rebel—what kind of damned logic is that?"

"Exactly right! At a time like this, our Yongwei Camp should stand up and show this pack of useless civil officials—if it weren't for our Yongwei Camp, they'd amount to nothing!"

The speaker was Yang Qili. In this round of merit rewards, he had gotten his wish and been promoted to Mobile Corps Commander, also receiving the initial honorary rank of Illustrious Might General. As for that Censor Tang Shiji's slander, he wished he could run him through with a single spear thrust.

Huang Degong swept his gaze over the assembled men in the tent and said in a booming voice: "A pack of idiots at court who chase after rumors! They frame the Crown Prince and slander our loyal and righteous army—who is willing to follow me in surrounding the Censorate and butchering that dog of a Censor, Tang Shiji?"

"This officer is willing!"

"This officer is willing! Kill that Tang bastard!"

Sun Yingyuan gritted his teeth and said: "Count me in!"

Even though Sun Yingyuan was rational enough to think this move unwise, he couldn't afford to think about it too much now. Huang Degong had always been a man who followed principle rather than personal ties, and this was not the time to reason with him.

The Yongwei Camp was built single-handedly by the Crown Prince. In times of difficulty, the commanders must maintain unity—there absolutely could not be internal conflict. Even if it was wrong, they would bear it together!

Huang Degong slapped Sun Yingyuan on the shoulder and laughed heartily: "We brothers have fought side by side for so long—I knew you'd back me! Our Yongwei Camp advances and retreats together!"

"Yongwei Camp—together in advance and retreat!"

"Yongwei Camp—together in advance and retreat!"

""

Inside the main tent, all the generals shouted in unison.

Seeing this scene, the two supervising eunuchs Lu Jiude and Liu Yuanbin were both stricken with terror, and even Zhou Yuji, who had just joined the Yongwei Camp, was frowning deeply. If the Yongwei Camp were to stage a confrontation with the court, it would be a catastrophe of the highest order.

The Yongwei Camp now had nearly twenty thousand troops, with ten thousand stationed in the capital. With their fighting power, they were comparable to a hundred-thousand-strong army. If it came to battle, the Capital Camps' meager numbers wouldn't be enough to fight them—they probably wouldn't even have the strength to put up resistance.

Liu Yuanbin's face turned pale with fear, terrified that after the fact he would be held accountable and lose his head. He said in a trembling voice: "That pack of bastards in the Censorate, framing our loyal and righteous army! This servant will return to the palace right now and impeach them before His Majesty—what does General of Flying Cavalry think of that?"

Huang Degong only gave him a cold look and said not a word.

The more Liu Yuanbin thought about it, the more afraid he became. Grabbing Huang Degong's hand, he said urgently: "General of Flying Cavalry, listen to this servant's advice—don't act rashly!"

Huang Degong pushed his hand away and strode out of the tent with the steps of a tiger.

Liu Yuanbin and Lu Jiude then looked at Sun Yingyuan, pleading: "General Golden Mace, please help persuade the General of Flying Cavalry—"

Sun Yingyuan gave them a faint look and said: "The Yongwei Camp is not something anyone can just splash with filth! And the Crown Prince is even less someone anyone can slander at will!"

Having said this, he strode out, with all the generals behind him following close behind.

On the Yongwei Camp's great parade ground, looking at the neatly arrayed Yongwei Camp soldiers before him, Huang Degong recalled scene after scene of following the Crown Prince on campaign—the first battle at Shijingshan, the bloody battle at Liangxiang, taking Shunyi, attacking Huairou, besieging Miyun, slaying generals at Tongzhou, breaking the enemy at Xincheng, beheading a king at Lengkou—

Such a young and brilliant sovereign, yet framed by petty men; such a daring, battle-hardened, valiant army, yet unjustly branded with the crime of rebellion—is there any justice left in this world?

At this moment, Huang Degong's heart burned with an indescribable fury. He suddenly drew his sword and roared: "Kill!"

Over ten thousand Yongwei Camp soldiers raised their weapons and roared in unison: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

At the Shenji Camp garrison south of Taiye Pool, Wang Wannian heard the shouts coming from the north, and his face changed drastically. He knew something enormous was about to happen.

Wang Wannian murmured: "The ten thousand elite troops of the Yongwei Camp in the capital are worth the Capital Camps' hundred thousand soldiers, and with the nearly ten thousand men stationed at Xincheng, if the Crown Prince gave the order, changing who sits on the throne would be a trivial matter. Those ungrateful censors truly don't know what it means to court death!"

A Mobile Corps Commander of the Shenji Camp said frantically: "General, the Yongwei Camp's army has left camp and is heading this way! What do we do?"

Wang Wannian gave a cold snort and said: "What's there to panic about? They're not coming for us. Pass the order—seal the camp gates tightly and let our Yongwei Camp brothers pass through to Chengtian Gate!"