Chapter 43: The Qing Army Enters the Passes

On the thirtieth day of the fifth month of the ninth year of Chongzhen, Hong Taiji dispatched Doruo Prince of Wuying Commandery Ajige, Beile of Raoyu Abatai, and Imperial Son-in-Law Yang Guli to lead one hundred thousand troops of the Eight Banners around through Mongol territory in a massive invasion of Ming.

On the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month, Ajige split his forces into three routes and breached the forts of Xifeng Pass, Regional Commander Pass, and Beijing Ridge.

On the fourth day of the seventh month, the Qing army assembled at Yanqing County near Beijing, defeating the Ming army seven times in succession. Wang Zhaokun, the Ming Censor of Pass Inspection, refused to surrender and died in battle. The Ming forces fell back to hold Changping.

Wherever the Qing army passed, they plundered every town and city they encountered, capturing thirteen thousand two hundred thirty people and livestock, with grain, fodder, and valuables beyond count. When news of the Qing army's entry through the passes reached the capital, the entire court was shaken.

Upon learning that Hong Taiji had proclaimed himself emperor, the Chongzhen Emperor was so furious his nose twisted askew. When he further heard that the Jianzhou barbarians were about to attack Changping and drive straight for the capital, he hastily convened a court council, and even Zhu Cilang, as Crown Prince, was summoned into the palace.

On the road back to the palace, Zhu Cilang inquired about the situation with the young eunuch who had delivered the summons, but the eunuch only knew it concerned border military affairs and nothing more.

Entering the Forbidden City, after being announced, Zhu Cilang was summoned into Huangji Hall. Ordinary court sessions were held before the Huangji Gate in open audience, but today the council was convened inside Huangji Hall—a clear sign of the gravity of the matter.

At this moment, the court was filled with senior ministers: the Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat, the ministers of the Six Ministries and Nine Chief Offices—some whose names Zhu Cilang knew, and others he could not name.

The council had already been underway for some time. The atmosphere in the great hall was oppressive; the Chongzhen Emperor sat on the dragon throne with a face of iron.

This time Zhu Cilang received no special treatment. He obediently stood at the very front of the assembled officials. Some ministers occasionally cast glances his way, already accustomed to seeing the Crown Prince attending court.

Ever since Zhu Cilang had successfully resolved the capital's refugee crisis by imperial order to pacify the people, the Chongzhen Emperor had been greatly pleased, bestowed lavish praise, and permitted Zhu Cilang to participate in court sessions, standing aside to listen and learn.

After entering the hall and standing for a while, Zhu Cilang saw many with faces flushed red, evidently having just engaged in fierce debate. But now no one was speaking—it seemed an awkward lull had fallen.

He was just about to quietly ask Jiang Feng, the Minister of Rites standing not far away, what had been discussed, when the Chongzhen Emperor said with a gloomy face: "What, have you all gone mute? The Jianzhou barbarians are about to attack Changping—less than a hundred li from this Huangji Hall—and none of you can offer a plan?"

The assembled civil and military officials all shrank their heads, stammering and afraid to speak up again. Wen Tiren, the Chief Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, narrowed his eyes as if asleep, with an air of complete unconcern. Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Cheng, also shrank his head with a cowardly look, terrified of being named by the Chongzhen Emperor to lead the Capital Camps into battle.

Zhu Cilang frowned, thinking to himself: This pack of useless fools—when it comes to factional infighting they submit memorial after memorial with all their might, but the moment real matters arise they immediately lose their nerve. Above they cannot correct their sovereign, below they cannot benefit the people—all of them are spineless sacks occupying their posts without doing a thing. What a pity that this great land will be buried in the hands of these useless wretches.

Slightly angered, Zhu Cilang stepped forward from the ranks and memorialized: "Your son requests the command to lead the Yongwei Camp north to Changping, to exterminate the slave rebels!"

The assembled civil and military officials looked in surprise at this young Crown Prince, then fell silent again. The Chongzhen Emperor's eyes rarely showed a look of approval. He was just about to say something when a civil official coughed, stepped forward, and memorialized:

"I report to Your Majesty: The sage said, 'Weapons are instruments of ill omen, which the virtuous do not employ. The gentleman honors the left when at home, but honors the right when at war.' Yet the state treasury is not full, and the costs of war are exceedingly great—it is not worth dispatching troops for a full-scale campaign."

Some clueless, shameless civil official—not seeing that the Chongzhen Emperor's face was growing darker and darker—was still there pedantically chewing over his words, declaring that troops should not be used.

Before the Chongzhen Emperor could respond, Zhu Cilang flared up in an instant, pointing at this unknown pedantic scholar and cursing: "The slave rebels are almost at the capital and you're still spouting dog farts here—a truly state-betraying mediocrity!"

"You—you—you, Your Highness the Crown Prince, how dare you utter foul language before me—this is an insult to all learning!" That civil official's face flushed crimson as he pointed a trembling finger at Zhu Cilang.

The assembled ministers also looked at the Crown Prince in astonishment, thinking to themselves that this young master was no easy lamp to save oil.

Wen Tiren's face was crisscrossed with wrinkles, his eyelids drooping low, looking as though he were dozing off. When he heard the Crown Prince's outburst, his eyelids parted for an instant, sharp light flashing, and he imperceptibly shot a glance at Tang Shiji, the Left Chief Censor.

Tang Shiji understood the signal, stepped forward, and memorialized: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has committed a breach of decorum before the throne. I request that Your Majesty order him back to the palace to reflect on his faults."

The moment Tang Shiji finished speaking, several ministers immediately seconded the motion.

"Enough!" The Chongzhen Emperor on the dragon throne slammed the imperial desk violently and bellowed, startling everyone.

As if worried that Zhu Cilang's breach of decorum would incur punishment, Jiang Fengyuan, the Minister of Rites, immediately stepped forward and memorialized: "I suggest ordering the Ministry of War to issue dispatches to all Regional Commanders to lead their troops swiftly to the capital for reinforcement."

Military intelligence was urgent as fire. The Chongzhen Emperor had no desire to deal with other messy affairs. Amid his anger, he thought for a moment and ultimately approved Jiang Fengyuan's suggestion.

At present, capable commanders like Lu Xiangsheng and Hong Chengchou were all suppressing bandits in the Central Plains and could not be recalled easily. The only option was to select Regional Commanders near the capital to dispatch troops to defend the throne.

At the mention of the Regional Commanders, Zhu Cilang seethed inwardly. The Jianzhou barbarians' hundred-thousand-strong army had circled thousands of li through Mongol territory, breached Regional Commander Pass, and was now through the passes and directly into the capital region. By the speed of their march, they must have set out at the end of the fifth month—yet a full month or more had passed before news reached the capital. What the hell were the Regional Commanders of the Nine Border Garrisons doing?

When it came to the matter of defending the throne, the ministers finally found a topic to discuss. After a round of heated debate, a proposal was finally settled upon, and an imperial edict was issued on the spot.

The Ministry of War was ordered to dispatch dispatches to all Regional Commanders to bring troops to the capital to defend the throne. Meanwhile, the capital was placed under martial law. The Crown Prince Zhu Cilang was ordered to strictly guard the capital; Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Cheng, was to inspect Juyong Pass; the inner court eunuch Li Guofu was to guard Zijing Pass; Xu Jinzhong was to guard Daoma Pass; Zhang Yuanheng was to guard Longquan Pass; and Cui Liangyong was to guard Gu Pass.

Having himself ordered to guard the city while the utterly useless Zhu Chunchen was sent to inspect the border passes—it was truly exasperating. Zhu Cilang was deeply dissatisfied with the Chongzhen Emperor's arrangements, but he could not object on the spot. He was very agitated.

Zhu Chunchen was equally agitated. He had shrunk away like a grandson, never expecting to be named by the Chongzhen Emperor anyway. Though he wasn't being sent to lead troops in battle, it was still the front lines.

On the fourth day of the seventh month, the Ministry of War issued urgent dispatches ordering Wang Pu, Regional Commander of Datong; Dong Yongwen, Regional Commander of Baoding; Zu Dashou, Regional Commander of Shanyong; Liu Zeqing, Regional Commander of Shandong; Meng Ruhu, Regional Commander of Shanxi; and the Regional Commanders of Guan, Ning, Ji, and Mi—Zu Dale, Li Zhongzhen, and Ma Rulong—to all lead their troops to the capital for reinforcement.

They were required to arrive in the capital within eight days of the dispatch's receipt. If they failed to arrive within the time limit, both governors and commanders would be subject to punishment by imperial decree!

Returning to Zhongcui Palace, Zhu Cilang summoned Li Tingbiao and gave him a severe dressing-down, demanding to know how it was that with such a great movement by the Jianzhou barbarians beyond the passes, he had heard no intelligence from his Embroidered Uniform Guard. Hadn't he previously intercepted the four hundred thousand taels of silver confiscated from Ma Xianxiang's household by the Armory Bureau, using it for Li Tingbiao to develop intelligence? And this was the result?

Li Tingbiao knelt prostrate on the ground and hastily explained. He was equally frustrated. Recently he had been focusing all his energy on the capital, coordinating with Zhu Cilang's pacification of the people, and had come to know the situation within the capital like the back of his hand.

It had only been half a month since he had begun deploying people to the provinces plagued by roving bandits and the Liaodong region. His intelligence network had only just begun to spread. Who could have known the Jianzhou barbarians would circle thousands of li through Mongol territory to strike directly at the capital?

Zhu Cilang knew of the Qing army's six incursions through the passes and roughly knew the years, just not the exact months and days. Thinking about it, he couldn't really blame Li Tingbiao—there simply hadn't been enough time to make arrangements. Li Tingbiao had done quite well since throwing in his lot with him.

Zhu Cilang strove to calm his emotions before saying: "Send people to scout out the movements of the Jianzhou barbarian army. I want detailed intelligence!"

After Li Tingbiao took his leave, Zhu Cilang issued another order to the Longxiang Night Scouts to move toward the Changping area and reconnoiter military intelligence.

Zhu Cilang understood very well that whether in military or political affairs, to defeat the enemy and stand invincible, knowing both oneself and the enemy was the most fundamental method.