Chapter 167: The Battle of Gaizhou

"Do you think this alone can make me submit?" Xu Shilin remained unmoved, rising to leave.

Seeing this, Li Ke'an panicked, stepping forward to block the door and saying with a smile: "Minister Xu, please stay. If you go to see His Majesty like this, the capital is sure to see another storm of blood."

"What do you mean by that?" Xu Shilin stopped and turned back to ask: "If I go to see His Majesty, he will only punish the two of you. Even if I am punished for negligence as well, what do I have to fear!?"

"That's not how it works." Wang Fang sneered and said in a strange, sarcastic tone: "Even if Minister Xu is truly cold-blooded, willing to disregard his family's safety for the sake of his reputation, surely you still need to consider the high officials and nobles of the capital, and still need to care about the peaceful days in the capital, right?"

Xu Shilin didn't react at first, but after hearing these words his expression changed drastically. He walked back to his seat and plopped down, saying in a trembling voice: "What you mean is—?"

"The matter of the capital's great prison has never been just the affair of us two, nor is it the affair of the Ministry of Justice alone—it is the affair of the entire capital, and even of Nanjing!"

In truth, no one had expected that the Chongzhen Emperor, in the middle of organizing the military review, would suddenly go to inspect the capital's great prison and the supply depot.

As for the supply depot, since he arrived later, the civil officials gave a few instructions and the men below frantically sorted everything out. But the capital's great prison was visited suddenly—there had been no time to cover up anything.

That old man who leaked the secret was also a variable no one had anticipated. In the end, it was the Chongzhen Emperor suddenly pulling this move, combined with the negligence of the officials at the capital's great prison in their haste, that led to today's disaster.

In truth, Li Ke'an was also panicking badly inside, but no matter how panicked he was, he had to keep Xu Shilin steady—otherwise everything would be completely ruined.

Li Ke'an continued: "If Minister Xu exposes this, setting aside the fact that the three of us will be the first to be killed by the Emperor to vent his anger, given the Emperor's methods, he is certain to launch a thorough investigation. When that time comes, the capital will face a great purge, and countless upright officials will have their families executed and clans wiped out—those implicated will number more than a hundred."

"Heads will roll, and blood will flow like a river, Minister Xu."

"As for Nanjing, the mountains are high and the Emperor is far away—half of China lies between. Old Master Qian naturally has his own ways there. But after this, the Great Ming will never know peace again, and all of that will be thanks to you, Minister Xu of the Ministry of Justice!"

Hearing these words, Xu Shilin shook his head, slumping dejectedly against his chair, all trace of his earlier righteous conviction gone. He said:

"Speak, then. What must be done to cover this up?"

"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:

The Restoration Society traitors have compiled heretical books, bringing shame upon the royal reputation. The Eastern Depot's Punishment Chiliarch Li Youcheng is hereby ordered to proceed to Nanjing to take charge of arresting these traitors, establish a branch office of the Eastern Depot, and uphold the royal reputation. By imperial order!"

Early that morning, Li Youcheng, the Eastern Depot's Punishment Chiliarch, was still sound asleep at home with his wife when he suddenly heard a commotion outside the door. He hastily threw on an outer robe and rushed out to see—it turned out eunuchs and mounted guards had arrived with the imperial decree.

Li Youcheng couldn't believe his ears. After receiving the decree, he carefully read it once more, and only after confirming it was genuine did he kneel and kowtow toward the direction of the Forbidden City, shouting:

"I thank Your Majesty the Emperor! I thank Your Majesty for your trust!"

Setting aside how Li Youcheng hurried to the Shenwu Army camp to discuss the journey to Nanjing with Left Commissioner-in-Chief Zhou Jingwu, the Chongzhen Emperor was also consulting with his trusted confidants in the warm chamber.

"I feel that the current organization of the capital troops is still somewhat chaotic." The Chongzhen Emperor looked toward the Duke of Ying, Zhang Shize, who had just arrived at the warm chamber, and asked: "If I wish to reorganize the capital troops, does my minister have anything to say?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shize glanced at the Chongzhen Emperor and looked up, saying:

"Your Majesty is wise. The capital troops are currently divided into the Capital Camps, the Regimental Camps, and the Tengxiang Four Guards under the Directorate of the Imperial Horses. Within the Regimental Camps there are also the Jiazi, Yizi, and Bingzi battalions—it is indeed somewhat chaotic."

"The Shenwu Army stands outside the capital troops. In your minister's opinion, they could temporarily be stationed permanently in Nanjing, with Commissioner Zhou granted the title of Garrison Commander of Nanjing. With the Shenwu Army guarding the city, I believe that petty villains like the Donglin faction will think twice."

Humming in acknowledgment, the Chongzhen Emperor also understood that his control over Nanjing was currently too weak. In plain terms, he was relying on just a few members of the eunuch faction like Ma Shiying who had been forcibly inserted there last year to hold things together. If this continued for long, trouble was bound to arise sooner or later.

"Since the founding of our Great Ming, the Capital Camps have always been this chaotic, with inconsistent organization. Therefore, I have decided to reorganize the Capital Camps, the Regimental Camps, the Tengxiang Four Guards, and the capital garrison forces into a single capital army."

"Within this capital army, there will be a further division into the Imperial Guard and the City Defense Force. In peacetime they train and guard; in wartime they answer unified orders. Only thus can there be no disorder."

"Your Majesty is wise. We ministers find this feasible." Zhang Shize and the others exchanged glances and shouted in unison.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, urgent news from Pidao." Suddenly, Wang Dehua, the brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, came rushing in from outside the door, clutching a piece of paper.

After the Chongzhen Emperor took it, the more he read, the more complex his expression became—a mix of joy and worry.

In truth, no matter the situation here in the capital, there had never been a moment of calm at Pidao. The troops of the Dongjiang garrison had been constantly fighting back and forth with the Qing.

As early as November of last year, Dorgon had led the Plain White Banner and other Qing forces south, completely pacifying the rebellions in the Jin and Fu Prefecture regions.

After that, Dorgon still refused to give up, still thinking about entering the pass. He had mentioned it many times to Fulin, that is, Xiaozhuang. Fan Wencheng, from that time onward, had established connections with certain high officials and nobles here in the capital.

But perhaps due to the Ming court re-establishing the Dongjiang garrison, after Zhou Sizhao and his mother both died at Jin Prefecture, rebellions among the Han troops in the Liaodong region arose repeatedly, one after another without end.

Yet if one were to tally them up afterward, one would find that these rebellious Han troops had all once been subordinates of Mao Wenlong, the great commander of Pidao. Most had been moved by the deaths of Zhou Sizhao and his mother, recalling the bonds of brotherhood from days past, and thus resolved to return to the court.

Because Dorgon had led his main army back, almost all of these rebellions were swiftly pacified and wiped out by the Qing forces. But one rebellion remained unquelled to this day, and it had reached a scale sufficient to shake the very foundations of the Qing.

That was the renewed rebellion of Kong Youde, one of the Three Obedient Princes. Since Kong Youde had surrendered, Hong Taiji and Dorgon had placed great hopes in him, and he had always been one of the leaders among the Han troops. No one had expected that he would betray them.

Dorgon flew into a rage. Prince Ying, Ajige, personally led troops to suppress the rebellion. Kong Youde could not withstand the Qing forces—his troops suffered defeat after defeat. Just when it seemed he was about to be finished, Pidao dispatched its troops.

To receive and support Geng Zhongming, the Pidao side sent Vice Regional Commander Min Lian, who personally led the surrendered former Pidao troops straight to Gaizhou. With three thousand soldiers, they routed eight thousand Han troops, captured the city of Gaizhou, and within a single day slaughtered every single Bannerman—old and young—within the city walls, leaving not one alive.

At this, Ajige was both shocked and enraged, and had no choice but to turn his troops back to rescue Gaizhou. Dorgon, Jirgalang, and others also mobilized heavy forces of the Eight Banners from Haizhou, Yulin, and other places to surround and suppress them.

In the end, Min Lian broke out with only thirteen or so riders, while Vice Regional Commander Min Zhan died in battle.