Chapter 25: The Ace Army Left by the Old Ancestor

The Chongzhen Emperor gave an "Mm," and said:

"Fang Zhenghua, I trust you. Have the Directorate of the Imperial Horses take charge of security for Kunning Palace, Ciqing Palace, and the warm chamber—the men you assign must be trusted confidants. Also, assist Wang Cheng'en in conducting a thorough sweep of the palace as soon as possible."

Having more or less settled matters, the Chongzhen Emperor lay on the couch with his eyes closed, resting his mind, his heart churning with a hundred tangled emotions—this capital was far more complicated than he had imagined.

Who on earth had such audacity? He had only spoken at yesterday's court session, before he'd even had time to act, and the very next morning he woke to a madman's assassination attempt.

The Chongzhen Emperor had originally assumed the palace should be the safest place, that those Grand Guardian officers and Embroidered Uniform Guard should all be utterly loyal to him—but now it was clear he had been far too naive.

Reality was telling Chongzhen that the people he could trust were simply too few.

This palace looked tightly guarded, but in truth it leaked from every crack—some nameless madman could just wander in here, and after all that chasing, not a single person came to protect the throne. If someone mobilized dozens or hundreds to force abdication, the consequences would be unthinkable.

At such a time, he would cry to heaven and get no answer, call to earth and get no reply. In his later life, Chongzhen had read plenty about the tragic fates of emperors placed under house arrest, and he naturally had no desire to experience it himself.

Thinking back, the Yingzong Emperor's second enthronement in the Ming was quite interesting—a few ministers simply escorted him back into the palace and he was effortlessly restored to the throne, with the entire court voicing approval and support, and from then on the Ming dynasty entered the era of civil officials ruling supreme.

The Chenghua reign only worsened this situation. During the Xiaozong Emperor's time, histories all said the Empress's brother was corrupt, lawless, and utterly wicked, yet Li Mengyang—merely a lowly Bureau Director—dared chase the Empress's brother through the streets beating him.

In the end, this man whom the Donglin Faction touted as wielding power over the entire court didn't dare do anything to him.

During the Zhengde reign, the Wuzong Emperor seemed to have realized this point and began promoting the Eastern Depot, Western Depot, and Inner Affairs Depot, collectively called the "Three Depots and One Guard." The power of eunuchs, military officers, and meritorious nobles finally began to recover—and then Zhengde inexplicably fell into water, and shortly after died a sudden, violent death.

After the Zhengde Emperor fell into the water and returned to the palace, his confidants were all shut outside the palace gates. He was the reigning emperor, yet he couldn't see a single one of his trusted men.

What happened next was even more chilling—the Club Attack, the Red Pill Case, and the Palace Removal Case, the three great mysteries that befell previous emperors, each more suspicious than the last.

Now that the Chongzhen Emperor had experienced such a thing himself, combining it with the memories already in his head, he broke out in a cold sweat of terror.

The Tianqi Emperor, closest to his own time and historically the Chongzhen Emperor's elder brother, had likewise been in the prime of life when he inexplicably fell into water, and finally died a violent death after taking some "immortal elixir."

Thinking about it now, there was good reason the Jiajing and Wanli emperors of earlier years refused to leave the palace no matter what.

Clearly, the civil official faction of this Ming dynasty had reached an alarming level of arrogance. Yesterday he had impulsively confronted them, burned bridges, and made clear he would no longer cooperate—and immediately someone had moved to kill him, with less than a day between the planning and the execution.

If he hadn't first had Fang Zhenghua reorganize the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, he reckoned he'd have ascended to heaven today. Then these Donglin men would wail a few symbolic cries and install a new sovereign to continue their grand enterprise of governance.

When Li Zicheng marched in, they could surrender to the Dashun regime; after Li Zicheng fled, they could surrender again to the Jianzhou barbarians beyond the pass, continuing to protect their family estates in the Zhili region—truly a fine scheme indeed!

Thinking of this, the Chongzhen Emperor suddenly spoke:

"Issue the decree—immediately summon the Xiaoling Guard to the capital. I will turn this city upside down!"

The Xiaoling Guard was a secret passed down by word of mouth among Ming emperors—even the civil officials knew nothing of it, that such an imperial personal army still existed in the Ming at this moment.

The Tianqi Emperor had died a violent death after falling into water before he could tell the Chongzhen Emperor of this matter. But just yesterday afternoon, while perusing the Ming imperial archives, the Chongzhen Emperor had inadvertently discovered this scroll of hidden history.

The Chongzhen Emperor had been overjoyed at the time, praising endlessly, for the Xiaoling Guard could be called the Ming dynasty's Old Ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang's far-sighted gift—an ace-in-the-hole army left for his descendants.

The Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum was first begun in the ninth year of Hongwu, initially completed in the fourteenth year of Hongwu. The following year, when Empress Ma passed away, Zhu Yuanzhang buried her there. In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang also buried Crown Prince Zhu Biao east of the Xiaoling.

In the thirty-first year of Hongwu, the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang died of illness and was buried together with Empress Ma in the Xiaoling, and the underground palace of the mausoleum was formally opened. The Xiaoling was exceptionally grand in scale, not fully completed until the third year of Yongle.

To guard the Xiaoling, within one month of Zhu Yuanzhang burying Empress Ma, the Xiaoling Guard and the Palace of the Divine Mausoleum were established for long-term garrison duty there, and within the Xiaoling Guard a "Records Office" was set up to organize the stationed troops.

Initially, Zhu Yuanzhang selected five hundred elite soldiers from Huaixi for the Xiaoling Guard, which was later gradually expanded to a full guard of five thousand six hundred men.

The selection standards for these elite soldiers were exceptionally strict: one had to ride at full gallop, spurring the horse, cross a ditch and leap a wall while mounted, and shoot arrows from horseback—hitting two out of three arrows to qualify.

The elite soldiers of the Xiaoling Guard underwent assessment examinations every five years. "Those who cannot meet the standard may have their sons take their place; those without sons to succeed them shall receive their stipend and return home to retire."

Just like a bottom-elimination system, those who couldn't perform could have their sons continue guarding the mausoleum in their stead; soldiers without sons to take over the post could collect their pay and return to their hometowns to live out their days.

This was like workers receiving retirement wages in later generations, but at this time it was an exclusive privilege of the Xiaoling Guard.

Historically, the Chongzhen Emperor never knew such an imperial personal army existed. The officers and soldiers of the Xiaoling Guard had dutifully garrisoned there for over two hundred and sixty years, only disbanding when the Ming dynasty fell.

The Xiaoling Guard had elite troops and ample equipment, long trained and drilled. Every man had been carefully selected by successive emperors from the Fengyang region, the cradle of the dynasty, primarily from the Zhou and Li families—their loyalty was beyond question.

Feeling his life threatened and seeing the situation around him change drastically, the Chongzhen Emperor directly played his trump card.

A minor eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, bearing the imperial decree, rushed out of the capital at top speed toward the Xiaoling, while the ministers outside the palace knew nothing of it—they only arrived belatedly at noon.

The ministers claimed to be visiting Chongzhen, but upon reaching the Chengtian Gate they found the Grand Guardian officers and Embroidered Uniform Guard who had stood outside the gate were gone, replaced by cold-faced Capital Camp soldiers.

Vice Regional Commander Dong Qi blocked the ministers outside the gate, his face dark, and said:

"His Majesty is greatly angered. Gentlemen, please return."

Watching the court officials disperse one by one, Dong Qi gave a cold snort and muttered to himself:

"Coming only now—truly a pack of loyal ministers worrying for their sovereign and their country!"

Dong Qi planned to make a patrol round of the other posts, so he waved to the Battalion Commander and said: "If anyone dares force their way in and startle His Majesty, arrest them directly and take them to the Eastern Depot!"

"This subordinate obeys the order!"

The men who had gathered at Liuquan Residence last night assembled once more—this time at the residence of Chief Grand Secretary Chen Yan, and all of them exchanged uneasy glances.

Chen Yan's expression was grim as he asked in a harsh tone:

"Gentlemen, that Imperial Academy student who attempted to assassinate His Majesty—who exactly arranged it!?"

After a long silence with no one speaking, Minister of Works Xue Fengxiang had no choice but to wave his hand and say:

"I know nothing of this matter at all. Word has it that Imperial Academy student surnamed Deng was a disciple of Lord Gong's. Lord Gong didn't come to Liuquan Residence yesterday—perhaps this matter has something to do with him?"

Hearing this, Chen Yan said in a somewhat exasperated voice:

"That Gong Dingzi again—utterly muddle-headed! Does he have any idea how big a mess he's stirred up this time!"

"That student has already been taken to prison by the Eastern Depot. If he can't withstand the interrogation and starts falsely accusing people at random, what are we to do?"