Chapter 142: Setting the Wind Right

Early the next morning, Tang Tong woke up with a splitting headache.

The moment he came to, he drew his saber without a second thought and looked around with hostility, but found no one—only the empty room.

Tang Tong rushed over to open the door, but it was locked from the outside. The two Wu soldiers standing guard outside heard the commotion and sneered inside:

"Oh, so the Marquis is awake?"

"Our lord left word that when the Marquis wakes, he should first drink some tea to sober up—there are important matters to discuss tonight!" Hearing what the soldier said, Tang Tong turned and indeed saw the bowl of cold tea that had long been set on the table.

Tang Tong had truly been fooled by Wu Sangui's display of loyalty and righteousness yesterday. In a moment of carelessness, he drank a few too many cups and was plied until he collapsed. To be honest, he had not only underestimated Wu Sangui's capacity for liquor but also overestimated his own.

Or perhaps some knockout drug had been slipped into the wine. But no matter how Tang Tong thought about it, he couldn't figure it out—if drugs had been added, Wu Sangui had drunk even more than he had, so why was he fine?

After failing to kick the door open, Tang Tong sat furiously on the table, glaring at that bowl of pale yellow tea. The more he looked at it, the angrier he grew—how could he possibly have any mind to drink it?

In his extreme rage, Tang Tong kicked the table over with a clatter and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Wu Sangui! Just how many men does your Guanning army have, that you can hold both me and Gao Di? There are nearly a hundred thousand troops below loyal to the court—can you damn well hold them all?"

"When the wind blows and you throw out your back, and you anger the Emperor into having the entire Wu household in the capital executed, you won't even have time to cry!!"

All in all, the affairs of this seventeenth year of Chongzhen could still be called smooth sailing. Though it had been bumpy along the way, at least they were nearly through this deadly year.

Although the Chongzhen Emperor had restored the morning court sessions, having grown accustomed to laziness in his later life, it was clearly unlikely he would develop the good habit of diligent early rising in a short time. Thus the Ming dynasty's daily court sessions became one every three days—yet another precedent set.

The court officials had plenty of complaints about this, but the Chongzhen Emperor showed no reaction whatsoever and continued to do as he pleased.

No kidding—he wasn't the historical Chongzhen Emperor, spending all day maneuvering with the Donglin Faction. When would there be any time left to do real work?

The shameless Chongzhen Emperor even thought to himself: the Wanli Emperor didn't hold court for thirty-one years, while he himself only skipped one day out of two—he was practically diligent to a fault.

Around five days later, in the early morning, while holding routine court deliberations with his ministers, the Chongzhen Emperor suddenly received an urgent report from Shanhai Pass and was immediately startled.

The main topic of this court session was the disposition of Liu Zeqing's troops, the Shandong Regional Commander, and the selection of a new Shandong Regional Commander.

Originally the Chongzhen Emperor had wanted Liu Zeqing to die a somewhat miserable death, but unexpectedly he died even more miserably. The Emperor had also wanted to execute the entire Liu household, but now those local people had already taken care of it ahead of him.

Through this, the Chongzhen Emperor saw just how deeply the common people hated these military officers who wielded power arbitrarily in the provinces.

The Shandong region bordered the capital's vicinity and was extremely important, so the choice of the next Regional Commander had to be carefully made. The Chongzhen Emperor had deliberated with his ministers for several days, gathering broad suggestions and not making a hasty decision.

If he carelessly produced another Liu Zeqing, that would be digging his own grave.

In truth, the Chongzhen Emperor already had candidates in mind—both Yang Yufan and Mou Wenshou were fine choices. The reason he deliberated at court was first to follow proper procedure, and second to hear whether he had overlooked any loyal general of talent.

Huang Degong had gone to the Ji Garrison; Zhou Yuji, Bai Guangen, and Gao Jie were all stuck in Shanxi; Tang Tong had been sent to Shanhai Pass to deal with Wu Sangui; and Gao Di and Ma Ke were not even worth mentioning.

Seen this way, the choice of Regional Commander for the Shandong region truly was not so easy.

Yang Yufan and Mou Wenshou could both handle matters independently. Just as the Chongzhen Emperor was carefully deliberating his final decision, he suddenly heard that Wu Sangui's men had detained another military pay convoy—and immediately flew into a rage.

The Chongzhen Emperor was angry first at Wu Sangui's overreaching ambition, and second at Tang Tong for being so damn useless.

Originally, this fellow's rout of Abatai outside military pay and provisions had made the Chongzhen Emperor take notice, leading him to think Tang Tong could be given important duties. That was why he had sent him to Shanhai Pass to contend with Wu Sangui, hoping he could at least cause Wu Sangui some trouble, make him timid and hesitant, and stop him from going head-to-head with the throne. But who would have thought he would be defeated so quickly?

Shocked and enraged, the Chongzhen Emperor simply could not understand it.

Adding in the garrison troops under Gao Di, there were nearly a hundred thousand soldiers within Shanhai Pass loyal to him. How many men did Wu's army have? Could those troops all be eating shit, that they were subdued in a single night?

It seemed that getting through the seventeenth year of Chongzhen smoothly was impossible—this Wu Sangui simply couldn't stand to see anyone do well and insisted on poking holes in things.

A moment later, the Chongzhen Emperor waved his hand and said: "The Directorate of Ceremonial shall draft an edict: promote Mou Wenshou to Regional Commander of Shandong, with the additional posts of Left Commissioner-in-Chief of the Five Military Commissions and Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, leading his troops to relocate to Caozhou. Have Li Fengxiang personally go to Yanzhou."

"Yang Yufan, Regional Commander of Laizhou, rendered merit in suppressing Liu Zeqing. By merit of his service, promote him to Regional Commander of Santun, with the additional post of Right Commissioner-in-Chief of the Five Military Commissions, to assist Huang Degong, Regional Commander of the Ji Garrison, in defending Jizhou."

Before this news had arrived, the court officials had still been heatedly debating the choice of Shandong Regional Commander—this one wouldn't do, that one wouldn't do either. But now it was clear: this benighted sovereign had once again settled the matter with a single stroke.

The Chief Grand Secretary Wei Zaode and Second Grand Secretary Jiang Dejing had originally been members of the Donglin Faction, but now they had both switched allegiance to the Imperial Loyalist Faction and become lackeys of this benighted sovereign.

So now, even if the Chongzhen Emperor issued edicts directly without court deliberation, legally speaking they were still bona fide imperial decrees—no longer mere direct palace edicts.

As for court deliberations, they had become a one-man stage for the Chongzhen Emperor. As for his ministers' suggestions, if he was in a good mood he might adopt some; if in a bad mood, he would simply order people to throw you out of the great hall. There was nothing to be said about it.

"Your Majesty, the matter of the Shandong Regional Commander still requires careful consideration." No one else had anything to say—and even if they did, who would dare step forward before this benighted sovereign?

Just then, Censor Liu Zongzhou suddenly stepped out of the ranks and declared with his chin raised:

"Although Mou Wenshou has considerable military merit, his record is insufficient and he is unequal to such a heavy responsibility. Zuo Liangyu has long been stationed at Wuchang. If Your Majesty promises him the post of Shandong Regional Commander, Zuo Liangyu will surely be deeply grateful to the court and vow to repay Your Majesty's grace."

The ministers at court knew well the Chongzhen Emperor's decisiveness in matters of life and death, and could not help but break out in cold sweat for Liu Zongzhou. Before long, they heard the Chongzhen Emperor say with a cold laugh:

"Censor Liu's words are mistaken! Zuo Liangyu is arrogant and overbearing, his conduct exceeding even Liu Zeqing's. Since I ascended the throne, nearly seventeen years have passed—have I been sparing in courting such power-wielding generals? Has it produced any useful effect?"

Seeing Liu Zongzhou unable to speak, the Chongzhen Emperor waved his hand, rebuking his thinking as conservative and outdated, then continued:

"Zuo Liangyu has received great favor from the court, yet holding heavy troops he acts arrogantly in the provinces, fleeing at the first sign of battle. His crimes outweigh his merits, and he shows no sign of remorse—what use is there in keeping him?"

"That I have not yet executed him is already the greatest grace I could show him. To speak of entrusting the vital Shandong region to his hands—would that not be asking a tiger for its skin? My mind is made up; my minister need not raise it again!"

Liu Zongzhou had not expected that the Chongzhen Emperor, who had always yielded to Zuo Liangyu in the past, would be so resolute this time. And thinking of how the Chongzhen Emperor had dealt with military officers like Jiang Xiang, Wang Chengyin, and Liu Zeqing, he realized the Emperor must have already made up his mind on this matter.

Liu Zongzhou also heard the Chongzhen Emperor's rebuke at court that he was conservative and outdated. After reflecting carefully for a moment, he said no more and retreated back into the ranks.

"Your servant obeys the decree."