Chapter 165: Borrowing Momentum

The Loyal Martyrs Shrine took several months to complete, and the Chongzhen Emperor even replaced a Minister of Works over it, dismissing Xue Fengxiang from office and placing him under investigation—this also marked the beginning of Feng Quan's return to the Grand Secretariat as a grand secretary.

After the little incident outside, the crowd no longer felt that the Chongzhen Emperor and Empress Zhou were as unapproachable as they had initially seemed. Even without the runners deliberately holding people back, no one would have rashly rushed out to startle the emperor.

The Loyal Martyrs Shrine included such main structures as the memorial archway, the mountain gate, the front hall, and the main hall. In addition, to meet special needs, the craftsmen had also selected other sites to build pavilions, gardens, and other landscaping features.

Upon arriving before the shrine gate, the first thing one saw was a pair of extremely imposing stone lions. Couplets were pasted on both the left and right sides. The left one read, "Sharing bitter suffering and hearing of dreadful deeds, their steadfast resolve and firm integrity truly make them rare under Heaven for the Han dynasty," and the right one read, "Bloodstained staves mark the green annals; their loyal hearts know no fear, comparable to the He family jade, rare in this world."

Since the Loyal Martyrs Shrine was newly built, with brick walls and wooden beams, everything inside that had risen from the ground was clearly demarcated. After passing the stone lions and couplets outside the door and entering the main hall, a commemorative archway first came into view.

On the archway was written in neat, balanced running-cursive script: "Loyal martyrs protect the sovereign, alas they died beneath the blade; their famed names hang immortal, earning a single stick of incense." It was said that Feng Quan had specially sought out Secretariat Drafter Li Daiwen to write it, and for this matter, the Chongzhen Emperor had praised Feng Quan lavishly.

This Li Daiwen was, in later ages, a renowned anti-Qing patriot celebrated by all, but in the present era he had another identity—that of a world-famous calligraphy master. He was said to excel at prose, be skilled in calligraphy, and especially adept at running-cursive script, with a reputation that shook the age.

At the time, Li Daiwen was frustrated and unrecognized. Upon hearing of this matter, although he felt some contempt and disgust toward Feng Quan, who belonged to the eunuch faction, he understood the greater righteousness and felt it was a correct act beneficial to the state. He quickly let go of his reservations and came happily.

Once the Chongzhen Emperor learned of Li Daiwen as a person, he naturally could not leave this loyal minister unused, and issued an edict to promote him.

Li Daiwen, having been promoted to Bureau Director of the Ministry of Revenue for his merit in writing the Loyal Martyrs Shrine archway, could now display his talents to the full.

When some civil officials learned that Li Daiwen had been promoted to Bureau Director of the Ministry of Revenue for writing the shrine's archway, they immediately beat their chests and stamped their feet in deep regret, all feeling they had missed a fine opportunity to climb the ranks.

In reality, promoting Li Daiwen was the Chongzhen Emperor's own idea; the Ministry of Personnel merely followed the imperial will. As for the "merit of writing the archway," that was simply a pretext needed to achieve the goal.

The crowd entered the Loyal Martyrs Shrine and came to the front hall, where they faced two bronze statues. On the west side stood the famed Western Han general, Marquis of Changping Wei Qing, glaring with round, wide eyes; on the east side stood the Western Han Champion Marquis Huo Qubing, who had performed the Feng Shan ceremony at Wolf Xu Mountain at seventeen and outshone the entire army in valor.

Wei Qing held a gleaming green treasured sword with an exposed edge, while Huo Qubing carried a cold-glinting long spear. The two complemented each other, guarding and protecting the entire Loyal Martyrs Shrine—a feeling worlds apart from the scene outside.

Before Wei Qing's bronze statue stood a plaque reading "Merits towering above the age," and before Huo Qubing's statue stood another plaque reading "Immortal and everlasting."

After the Chongzhen Emperor entered and glanced around, he looked up and saw that at the very top of the front hall—that is, above the heads of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing—was painted a lifelike mural of heavenly palace divine generals. He was immediately filled with admiration for the profound and magnificent artistry of Han architecture.

Seeing this scene, the military officers and soldiers all felt a solemn awe, much as Christians feel upon entering a church. Although this place lacked the splendor of the imperial palace, it still allowed everyone to sense the majesty that permeated every corner of the Loyal Martyrs Shrine.

After all, it enshrined the loyal spirits of the Ming martyrs who had died in battle the previous year, so no one dared show the slightest disrespect or irreverence.

The civil officials and the military men held diametrically opposed views. For the former, this damned Loyal Martyrs Shrine was utterly useless—nothing but the current benighted sovereign's wasteful expenditure of labor and money, competing with the people for profit—and it ought to be torn down outright.

Wen Guan turned back for a look and immediately wore a face full of contempt. Look at those crude military men, all excited—it was just a few shabby bronze statues and spirit tablets set up here. Was such a reaction really warranted?

All those enshrined in the Loyal Martyrs Shrine had spirit tablets set up, and the style and dimensions of the tablets all followed fixed regulations.

After repeated verification and deliberation by Ministry of Works officials, the matter was reported to the Chongzhen Emperor for his inspection. It was finally decided that all enshrined spirit tablets would have blue backgrounds with gold lettering, patterned borders, a plaque header on top, and a tablet base below.

On the tablets, those with modest calligraphic skill wrote the names of the enshrined in small seal script. Those with official rank had their ranks recorded; on the left side were written the age, birthplace, and native place, while the right side described the circumstances of their martyrdom.

According to Ministry of Works regulations, the spirit tablets in the Loyal Martyrs Shrine were uniformly one foot four inches in length and six inches in width, with each side four inches wide. The placement of the tablets also varied by rank, divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers, the two sides, and the very center.

Ordinary soldiers were uniformly placed in one area, those who fell in regular combat in another, junior officers in yet another, while those with special meritorious deeds were selected and placed separately in a small hall.

In addition, there were dedicated rooms for displaying the armor, weapons, and other belongings left behind by fallen officers and soldiers, for later generations to view with reverence.

The tablets were divided according to the official position and rank the holder had held in life, and there were cases of one person having his own tablet or several people sharing a single tablet.

When the spirit tablets of fallen soldiers were brought into the Loyal Martyrs Shrine, a dedicated government office generally held the established "enshrinement" ceremony according to fixed procedures.

To guard against any omissions, Minister of Works Feng Quan had once suggested in a memorial the establishment of a small office staffed by only five people, to handle cases of martyrs reported by the people who had not yet been enshrined. The Chongzhen Emperor had accepted this without much deliberation, gladly approving it.

In practice, this five-man office proved quite useful. Its workplace was located a few dozen paces east of the Loyal Martyrs Shrine, and its main responsibility was to tally and collect various data on omissions.

As for handling and investigating cases, generally after they had compiled and summarized the information, the Ministry of Works and the relevant offices would then review and adjudicate.

The Chongzhen Emperor took Empress Zhou's hand and stepped forward a few paces, silently offering incense. Though the emperor and empress did not bow, their reverence appeared utterly sincere in the eyes of ordinary onlookers.

While the Chongzhen Emperor and Empress Zhou, along with the assembled consorts, offered incense, Wang Cheng'en and Fang Zhenghua stood in attendance at the side. Gazing up at the spirit tablets and the arrangement of the front hall, they saw the bronze statues with lifelike countenances and felt inwardly shaken. They silently prayed that the Marquis of Changping and the Champion Marquis would surely protect the Great Ming in the coming year with favorable weather and national peace—and above all, never allow the roving bandits to seize the realm.

When the other consorts finished offering incense and looked up to see the hall filled with the martyrs of the Great Ming, tears streamed down their faces. Not daring to weep aloud, they hurriedly wiped their eyes as they walked.

The Chongzhen Emperor, Empress Zhou, and the consorts had already entered the main hall to view the fallen officers and soldiers with special merit. Though inwardly reluctant, the assembled ministers all stepped forward one after another to offer incense and pay homage, then hastily followed into the main hall.

Unexpectedly, the moment they entered the hall, they saw the Chongzhen Emperor standing in the center, speaking:

"My ministers, do you see anything different about this main hall?"

Upon hearing this, the ministers first exchanged glances with one another, then looked around the hall, discussed for a while, and finally shook their heads in unison, saying in low voices:

"Your subjects do not know."

"Good. Since you do not know, then I shall tell you!" The Chongzhen Emperor gave a cold smile and signaled with his eyes. Wang Cheng'en, being extremely shrewd, received the Son of Heaven's instruction and immediately raised his hand and shouted: "Men, seize them!"

The ministers' faces turned fearful, not knowing what new scheme the Chongzhen Emperor was up to now.

At that moment, the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers who had been standing in a circle around the hall stepped forward and arrested three ministers, including Censor Luo Yuanbin. Without a word of explanation, they delivered vicious kicks, forcing the men to kneel before the Chongzhen Emperor.

"Your Majesty, your subjects are innocent!"

"Silence! Do not try to argue!" the Chongzhen Emperor roared. "The Great Ming of today was bought with the blood and flesh of the loyal martyrs filling this hall! You, as high ministers of the court, secretly collude with the Jianzhou barbarians abroad and respond to the Fushe Society at home—what do you take the efforts and hopes of our soldiers and people for?"

"This... Your Majesty, please reconsider. Your subject has not colluded with the Jianzhou barbarians!" Luo Yuanbin and the others were greatly alarmed and kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy.

The Chongzhen Emperor, who had long since resolved on killing them, would not listen to these sophistries from the Donglin Faction. He directly waved his hand and shouted:

"Drag them out! Behead these three traitors before the Loyal Martyrs Shrine as a public example!"

Having said this, the Chongzhen Emperor addressed the ministers and everyone around:

"The traitorous Fushe Society members compiled heretical books and defiled the imperial family's reputation—this crime alone already merits death! Now these villains even dare to collude with the Jianzhou barbarians and plot rebellion—Heaven and earth will not tolerate it!"

"For the sake of the hard-won stability, to defend the victory our soldiers won with their lives, I have resolved to dispatch Eastern Depot Chief Executioner Chiliarch Li Youcheng and Shenwu Army Commissioner-in-Chief Zhou Jingwu to Nanjing to specially hunt down the Fushe Society traitors—there will be no leniency!"