Chapter 78: A Sky-Shattering Affair

The Imperial Rear Garden lay due north of the Forbidden City, adjoining Kunning Palace. It was vast in area—eighty meters from south to north and one hundred forty meters from east to west, nearly the size of two standard football fields.

Pavilions and towers stood at the five cardinal positions of the Imperial Rear Garden, while verdant pines, cypresses, and bamboo within the grounds were dotted with rockeries, forming an evergreen garden landscape that embodied the Han Chinese traditional culture of harmony between heaven and man.

In the Wanchun Pavilion on the eastern side of the Imperial Rear Garden, the Chongzhen Emperor, Empress Zhou, and Zhu Cilang sat around a table together. Before long, the Directorate of Imperial Meals presented another dish—stir-fried fresh shrimp.

The Chongzhen Emperor did not touch his chopsticks. He pushed the table's only dish of meat toward Zhu Cilang and said with a smile, "In days past, your late imperial uncle also loved this stir-fried fresh shrimp. Who would have thought you'd favor it too, my son? If your imperial uncle knew, he would surely be pleased."

Zhu Cilang's imperial uncle was that emperor who delighted in tinkering with carpentry—the Tianqi Emperor. Recalling that this imperial uncle's tomb had just been destroyed by the Qing army, Zhu Cilang said, "Father, I have heard that Imperial Uncle's Deling tomb has been destroyed. Your son wishes to contribute one hundred thousand taels of silver for its repair. Might Your Majesty permit this?"

By regulation, repairing an imperial tomb required several million taels of silver. When Deling was originally constructed, because the state treasury was empty, the Ministry of Revenue had said it could provide at most five hundred thousand taels. The newly enthroned Chongzhen had been helpless, forced to wrong his elder imperial brother, the Tianqi Emperor.

Zhu Cilang knew that Chongzhen desperately wanted to repair Deling in his heart of hearts, but because the treasury was perpetually strained, he dared not open his mouth to the Ministry of Revenue. Especially now that Deling had been destroyed and the Tianqi Emperor could not rest in peace, it made Chongzhen feel even more grieved.

The Chongzhen Emperor, however, shook his head and said, "At present the Jianzhou barbarians still run rampant within Beizhili. The court needs vast amounts of grain and fodder for war. If you spent one hundred thousand taels repairing your imperial uncle's tomb, we father and son would surely be cursed and jabbed in the back by outside officials. Better to hold off for now."

At this point, Empress Zhou, though she did not participate in court politics, could not help but say with dissatisfaction, "My son, grain is now scarce in the capital. If you hold so much money and grain in hand, you ought to relieve the court's emergency—how can you keep it clutched in your grasp?"

How could Zhu Cilang not know? But to resolve the crisis around the capital, the Qing army had to be driven off as quickly as possible. Dragging out the war endlessly meant no amount of grain and fodder would suffice for the consumption of an army of over a hundred thousand and a populace of over a million—let alone the fact that the area around the capital had already been stripped nearly clean by the Jianzhou barbarians.

To Empress Zhou's womanly view, Zhu Cilang offered no word—he could hardly rebuke his own mother to her face.

The Chongzhen Emperor, however, said, "In a few more days, the grain transport will bring a great quantity of grain and fodder up from the south. Then the capital's grain problem will resolve itself. Your son should keep his money and grain for emergencies. With so many refugees around the capital, if some mishap should stir a popular uprising, that would only make things worse."

What should have been a happy family gathering had again been clouded by affairs of state.

To ease the atmosphere, Chongzhen said, "My son, the rewards decided by the Ministry of War are about to be issued. Every officer and soldier of the Yongwei Camp will receive commendations. Your reward as Crown Prince is a difficult matter to settle, though. What reward does my son desire?"

Chongzhen's words seemed casual, but they were testing Zhu Cilang—to see whether he harbored any desires.

As the profession most prone to suspicion, an emperor would always find cause for wariness in a Crown Prince who commanded troops and stockpiled grain and materiel on his own turf—especially near the capital—regardless of how young he was.

Zhu Cilang looked at Chongzhen and said earnestly, "Your son wishes for peace under heaven, with no more war. He wishes for Father to toil no longer, and for Father, Mother, and son to often dine together as a family, admiring flowers and gazing at the moon."

Even though Chongzhen harbored some suspicion toward him, his heart softened upon hearing these words. He said, "My son, I know your filial devotion. The matter of rewards can be settled within days. I wish to further postpone the ceremony of presenting captives, and hold it together with Sun Chuanting's ceremony. I intend to stage a grand captive-presentation ceremony in the capital to bolster military morale!"

The two chatted a while longer, and only then did the family of three begin their meal with laughter and cheer.

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In recent days, Minister of War Zhang Fengyi at Tongzhou had grown frantic. He had repeatedly urged Minister of Revenue Hou Xun to supply grain and fodder, yet none had arrived.

The Ministry of Revenue granaries at Tongzhou and elsewhere held little surplus. When soldiers could not even eat their fill, who had any heart for fighting?

Hou Xun was equally frantic. The nine relief armies were guest troops, and by court regulation, their grain and fodder had to be supplied by the capital.

It had just been the Grain in Ear harvest season. Before the court could even dispatch officials to collect the grain, the grain the common folk of the capital region had just brought in was stripped clean by the Qing army.

The capital's stored grain was not even enough for its own consumption—the price of rice had risen to nine taels per shi. Where was there grain for the various relief armies? Without food, the already battle-shy relief armies had even more reason not to march, which infuriated Minister of War Zhang Fengyi.

Hou Xun told Zhang Fengyi, however, that one million shi of grain being shipped north by canal from the southern provinces would reach Tongzhou in three days. Hou Xun promised to allocate half to Zhang Fengyi as military grain.

Zhang Fengyi had no choice but to wait another three days. Yet no one could have imagined that on the very next day, Zhang Fengyi received military intelligence: the grain convoy heading north had been intercepted by the Qing army at Tianjin!

Upon receiving the intelligence, Zhang Fengyi cursed loudly and nearly fainted. This was simply a matter that poked a hole through the heavens!

When the Chongzhen Emperor heard of it, he flew into a thunderous rage and wanted to execute the Tianjin Regional Commander.

For unknown reasons, news that the grain convoy had been seized spread through the entire capital with astonishing speed. The capital's grain merchants began seizing the opportunity to jack up prices, while others secretly bought up the capital's grain at high prices. The whole capital had fallen into panic.

In the main hall of Wenhua Hall, the Chongzhen Emperor had summoned several senior ministers to deliberate on countermeasures.

"Your Majesty, these grain merchants are utterly detestable. Why not let your servant lead troops to seal up and seize all their establishments, so they cannot keep profiting from such heartless money?"

The speaker was Minister of Justice Feng Ying. Ever since Shuntian Prefect Dong Xinghuai had been forced to resign of his own accord by Zhu Cilang, Feng Ying had concurrently served as Shuntian Prefect, in charge of the capital's public order.

Chief Grand Secretary Wen Tiren, however, said, "Your Majesty, your servant sees this matter as not so simple. How did the Jianzhou barbarians learn of the grain being shipped north by canal? And the news of the grain seizure spread through the capital far too quickly. Someone must be manipulating this behind the scenes."

Wen Tiren, as Chief Grand Secretary, ordinarily had no real ability yet always put on an air of one who could plan victory from afar. This time he too was panicked—one million shi of grain seized by the Jianzhou barbarians had thrown the capital into turmoil, and as Chief Grand Secretary he could not escape blame.

Minister of Personnel Xie Sheng said, "Does the Grand Secretary mean that someone is secretly colluding with the Jianzhou barbarians, deliberately driving up the capital's grain prices to profit from it and throw the capital into chaos?"

The others nodded silently, essentially endorsing the views of Wen Tiren and Xie Sheng.

Minister of Revenue Hou Xun's face changed drastically upon hearing this. He glared at the two and roared, "Grand Secretary Wen, Lord Xie, what do you mean by this? Are you suggesting that someone in my Ministry of Revenue is colluding with the Jianzhou barbarians and the grain merchants?"

Wen Tiren glanced at him and said, "Grain transport matters have always been arranged by the Ministry of Revenue. The ministry has so many officials—I am not suspecting only you, Lord Hou. Why are you so nervous?"

Seeing the men about to squabble again, the Chongzhen Emperor hastily interjected, "My lords, cease your speculation. What matters most now is how to resolve the capital's grain problem. Other matters can be investigated slowly another day."

Zhu Cilang, standing beside Chongzhen and listening in, wore a perfectly calm expression. Seeing that the ministers had fallen silent, he said, "Your Majesty, these grain merchants surely all have stored grain. Your son requests permission to arrest all those profiteering merchants, then use their grain to stabilize the capital's grain prices."

These words immediately shocked the assembled senior ministers. If the Crown Prince's plan were truly carried out, his reputation would be thoroughly ruined—and if things went badly, he might even become a sacrifice to pacify the merchants of the realm.

The Chongzhen Emperor rejected him on the spot and rebuked him, saying, "Utter nonsense! Arresting people without cause—do you want to provoke the merchants of the realm into opposing the court?"

Zhu Cilang had long anticipated that his imperial father would not agree, so he pressed on, "In that case, your son is willing to lead the Yongwei Camp into battle once more and seize that one million shi of grain back from those slave bandits! To resolve this problem at its root."

Minister of Rites Jiang Fengyuan said, "Your Highness must not act rashly! According to the Ministry of War's report, the force that seized the grain convoy was the vanguard camp of the barbarian chieftain Ajige, fully ten thousand or more men. Among the slave bandits there is a saying that 'ten thousand strong cannot be opposed.' The matter of retaking the grain must be approached with caution."

Zhu Cilang snorted lightly, "What 'ten thousand strong cannot be opposed'? Your son needs only four thousand men of the Yongwei Camp to slaughter them to the last! I beg Your Majesty to grant permission!"

Though Zhu Cilang was brimming with heroic valor, the Chongzhen Emperor still refused his request to send troops, on the grounds that the barbarian chieftain Ajige's main army was too close.

In the end, after deliberating for some time without finding any good solution, the Chongzhen Emperor finally issued an edict to Zhang Fengyi, ordering him to muster a great army to attack the Qing forces around Tianjin and retake the grain convoy at all costs!

At the same time, the Chongzhen Emperor issued another edict, directing court ministers to help raise military funds to tide over this crisis.

Because this book's title was too impressive, per the above requirements, the title must be changed. The process is currently underway.

The new title is even more impressive than the current one!!