Chapter 65: Flying Fast, Old Feng

"He actually used his connections among the literati and merchants — Zheng Sanjun really said that?"

Two mornings later, having just finished his exercise and sat down in the warm pavilion, the Chongzhen Emperor heard this piece of news that was equal parts infuriating and amusing.

"I'm sitting here in the warm pavilion — what can those ball-less merchants possibly do? Send a mob to charge in and assassinate me, or slaughter all the physicians loyal to me?"

"Or perhaps, in a fit of shame and rage, spread slander everywhere about me being a tyrant like Jie and Zhou? Aside from running their mouths, what else can those monkeys do?"

Wang Cheng'en, standing nearby, couldn't help but laugh at this as well. Indeed, although the capital couldn't yet be called an iron bucket, it was arguably the safest it had been since the Tianqi era.

The Three Depots and One Guard had clear divisions of duty; their agents were spread across every street in the city. Whether large or small, every government office had agents from the Eastern and Western Depots seated in attendance keeping watch, while the Five Wards Troops and Horses Offices had gradually been replaced by the battalion camps and Capital Camps, and the Divine Martial Army had taken over the capital's defense.

If those Donglin partisans made so much as the slightest move, the depots and guard would absolutely strike before they did.

Moreover, the Chongzhen Emperor's edicts could reach the military camps directly, and under the banner of suppressing rebellion he could mobilize troops to carry out a great purge of the capital. These Donglin partisans in Beijing were like grasshoppers after autumn — the more violently they hopped now, the more it showed they didn't have much hopping left in them.

The Donglin Faction was dead set against allowing Feng Quan and Wang Shaowei, those two members of the eunuch faction, to return to court. At present, virtually the entire court was composed of so-called Donglin pure-stream officials, all speaking in the same tone and acting in lockstep with one another.

These Donglin partisans relied on their court maneuvers to oppose Your Majesty, but ever since the seventeenth year, the Chongzhen Emperor had essentially stopped attending court sessions altogether. Whatever needed doing, he handled privately through the depots, the guard, and his trusted confidants — which had truly worried a whole pack of Donglin partisans to death.

For the Chongzhen Emperor, at this critical juncture when the noose was drawing tight, whether he attended court or not no longer mattered. What mattered was gripping the handle of the knife, issuing direct palace edicts, and carrying out his will — after all, who would dare openly refuse to comply?

What, you say someone would? Perfect! Let the depots and guard handle them on the side — saves the trouble, and they can confiscate a good amount of silver to fill the national treasury!

So-called Jiangnan grand masters, Restoration Society talents, all those pure-stream worthies and disciples of the Donglin Faction — pick any famous name you can recall, investigate them, then make it public and let the empire's soldiers and civilians see the true faces of these pure-stream lords.

At first, the Chongzhen Emperor paid little attention to the problem of court factions. After all, they were all Donglin partisans and traitors — kill one for every one found, and let heads roll.

But as time went on, he gradually found himself growing exhausted, because the Chongzhen Emperor discovered they simply couldn't all be killed — it seemed every prominent traitor in the whole realm had gathered here in the capital of the Great Ming.

The Chongzhen Emperor's trusted confidants were mostly those meritorious nobles and eunuchs who had died in battle in later memory; only a minority of these held real power. Even when he issued edicts granting them authority, they still had no troops in hand. Beyond the capital, imperial authority had weakened to the point of near non-existence.

When the Chongzhen Emperor's trusted men went to Beizhili on official business, once they reached the localities, never mind government officials — even the vicious dogs by the roadside wouldn't give them a second glance.

If even Beizhili was like this, one could well imagine the situation in the Jiangnan region. Whether the emperor existed or not made little difference to the gentry of Jiangnan — after all, imperial orders couldn't even leave Zhili, let alone reach Jiangnan.

Over these past few months, aside from his memories of later ages, the Chongzhen Emperor had relied almost entirely on his own depots and guard to investigate and learn of major and minor events across the realm. Expecting to get any true information from the mouths of civil officials would have been far too naive.

The Donglin partisans, relying on their numbers, had collectively decided they simply would not speak up on their own.

Whenever he attended court, he faced those zombie-faced Donglin partisans who, apart from impeaching this one and demanding the execution of that one, accomplished absolutely nothing.

The Chongzhen Emperor gradually realized that one hand cannot clap alone — having the depots, the guard, and military commanders wasn't enough. Without a few loyal lackeys stirring things up in the court, certain matters simply didn't go as smoothly.

In other words, the Donglin Faction had controlled state affairs for long enough, and the Great Ming court had more than enough of those high-sounding 'upright gentlemen.' It was time to find some shameless ministers to muddy the waters of the capital.

The Chongzhen Emperor wasn't afraid of muddy water — what he feared was water that was too clear.

"Your Majesty speaks truly. Shall I take men and arrest Zheng Sanjun?"

Under normal circumstances, this would be the moment to have Zheng Sanjun completely in hand — caught red-handed with both the goods and the evidence. The Chongzhen Emperor should have long since issued an edict to confiscate his property, yet to this very moment no such order had come down.

Wang Cheng'en feared that delays would breed complications and so spoke up to remind him again. The Chongzhen Emperor did not answer directly, but instead glanced outside and said:

"Tell the agents to sharpen their blades. When the time comes to act, I will not be soft-handed."

It was clear the Chongzhen Emperor had other plans, so Wang Cheng'en did not press further. He nodded and withdrew with a bow. Just then, Li Chun rushed in excitedly and said:

"Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Feng has arrived in the capital and is waiting for an audience in the side hall!"

The Chongzhen Emperor hadn't expected the man to arrive so quickly. Wasn't he in Zhuozhou? By the distance, it should have taken at least three to five days — how had he made it in two? Had he flown here?

"Summon him in!"

Feng Quan radiated vigor in every gesture, his whole body exuding the spirit of a second spring. He didn't look at all like a man approaching fifty, but rather like a young fellow in his twenties.

When he entered and saw the weary-faced Chongzhen Emperor, his nose immediately stung with emotion, and he hurriedly knelt on the ground, crying out:

"Your minister Feng Quan pays respects to His Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

In fact, the last time the Tartars had raided the border and wrought havoc in the capital region, Feng Quan had been living idle in Zhuozhou. To demonstrate his loyalty to the Chongzhen Emperor, he had used his family wealth to recruit volunteers to defend the city, helping the Garrison Commander hold Zhuozhou.

Although Feng Quan's actions were entirely aimed at currying favor with the emperor, he was indeed one of the few civil and military officials who had accomplished anything at the time.

At the time, more than a dozen red barbarian cannons had been placed atop the city walls, their power immense — had the Tartars gotten their hands on them, the consequences would have been unthinkable. It was precisely because of Feng Quan's fawning gesture toward the emperor that the Tartars dared not easily attack the city, and in turn, by happy accident, those red barbarian cannons were preserved.

Feng Quan's memorial had been withheld by the Donglin Faction without action. The historical Chongzhen Emperor had never known a thing about it, so his little scheme had come to nothing — he lost his silver and still didn't return to court. From then on, knowing the matter was beyond hope, he gave up and stayed idle at home.

Until one day, Feng Quan suddenly received an edict from the Directorate of Ceremonial. In extreme shock, he could hardly believe his own ears.

Following custom, Feng Quan offered gifts to the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and in passing began inquiring about recent news from the capital.

When he heard that the Chongzhen Emperor no longer trusted the Donglin Faction and had reestablished the Three Depots and One Guard, Feng Quan's mouth fell even wider open. Trembling with excitement he could barely contain, he repeatedly cried out long live the emperor in the direction of the capital.

Feng Quan also learned that besides recalling him to court to resume his post, the Chongzhen Emperor had also summoned Wang Shaowei, the Minister of Personnel from the Tianqi era, to the capital. It seemed the restoration had hope.

Joy puts spirit in a man. Feng Quan had yearned for years to return to court and serve the emperor, and now that this opportunity had come, of course he didn't care whether the edict was a direct palace edict or a formal imperial decree — he immediately sped to the capital.