Chapter 81: The Emperor Leads the Campaign, Executing a General Before Battle!

Huangcun was originally a small village of no significance in history, its villagers having all fled long ago, yet now its fate had been utterly transformed by a single edict from the Chongzhen Emperor.

"On a certain day in late April of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, this desolate village called Huangcun gathered together the capital's garrison troops as well as royal-saving troops summoned by edict from all directions. The massing of government troops usually signified that a great battle was about to take place, and this great battle was..." Certain later-generation "experts" gesticulated excitedly when commenting on this great battle, saying such words.

At first glance, the government troops' camp was hardly any better than the roving bandits'. The central command tent was placed on the ruins of Huangcun village itself, while the remaining units of government troops were scattered around the surroundings, appearing rather chaotic—though upon closer inspection, there was a certain clear distinction between them.

For instance, those idling about on the eastern side were troops from the Three Guards of Tongzhou, while those busy pitching camp on the southern side under the loud shouts of their officers were local garrison troops who had just been recalled by edict from the Gu'an and Yongqing area.

That said, many people's hearts were pounding when they received the court's edict, all assuming the Chongzhen Emperor was urging them to defend their cities—but when they opened it, they never expected it told them to abandon their posts and flee at once.

These various local garrison commanders of the late Ming might not have been much good at defending cities, but when it came to running away, even Bolt himself would have been left in the dust, sighing that there is always a sky beyond the sky and people beyond the people.

The commanders who had already felt they couldn't hold their positions were immensely relieved upon seeing this edict, and ran faster than one another. They didn't even bother with the civil officials and yamen clerks, directly taking their troops and whatever supplies they could and hightailing it to Huangcun.

Upon seeing the bustling scene around Huangcun, the commanders from various regions were startled once again and hurriedly asked around to learn what had recently happened in the capital—but even after that, many still couldn't figure out what the Emperor intended.

At this moment when the flames were licking their eyebrows, these gathered troops looked like a lot together, but before the Dashun army that claimed a million men, they weren't even worth a fraction—let alone the fact that they were all hastily scraped together rabble. Clearly, even defending the capital would be difficult.

Why would the Chongzhen Emperor issue an edict for them to assemble at Huangcun rather than directly help defend the capital? Many couldn't understand it, but the Emperor's edict was crystal clear word by word—just come and assemble, for disobeying meant losing one's head.

"Boom—boom—boom—"

Suddenly, three rolls of drumbeats sounded through the busy and noisy camp. Hearing this sound, the commanders from various regions immediately knew someone was summoning the generals, calling them over for deliberations.

Most people just laughed it off. Come on, who the hell knew who the supreme commander even was? After being here this long, they still hadn't heard a thing about it.

These commanders had each been the top authority in their own regions, each leading their own troops, and had long grown accustomed to doing as they pleased—having such thoughts was hardly blameworthy. Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, and the rest had all died without gaining any good from it; Hong Chengchou had surrendered to the Tartars; and the Emperor had personally performed sacrifices to heaven, beating his breast in grief—quite the skilled hand he played.

In the current court, who still had the ability and prestige to subdue all these generals?

After the three rolls of drums finished, only a scant few commanders like Tang Tong had come to the central command tent. Seeing this situation, Tang Tong said to Zhang Shize, who stood at the head of the tent:

"Duke of Ying, should this subordinate send someone to beat the drums three more rolls? The generals have all endured a weary journey—they may still be busy and haven't had time to come over."

Zhang Shize clenched his fist, let out a breath, and merely gave a gloomy nod indicating for him to go ahead.

About the time it takes a cup of tea to cool passed. The three rolls of drums had been beaten who knew how many times over—even the soldiers' arms had grown sore—yet the central command tent still held only the original five or six commanders. The few of them looked at each other in bewilderment, standing there stiffly with no idea what to do.

At this point, even Tang Tong's expression had turned somewhat awkward. Looking at Zhang Shize's face, which was so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water, he opened his mouth—but in the end wisely chose to remain silent.

Before long, a signal soldier ran in from outside the tent, kneeling on the ground and shouting:

"Reporting to the Duke of Ying: His Majesty's imperial carriage has arrived outside the camp! Accompanying him are Wei Xiaobo, Commissioner-in-Chief Dong of the Jiazi Camp, Eunuch Director Wang of the Eastern Depot, and Guard Commander Li of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

The signal soldier had assumed the tent would be packed with assembled generals, so he had announced this with great solemnity—but when he finally looked up, he saw only a paltry two or three people, and felt rather taken aback.

"Follow this Duke to welcome His Majesty!"

Zhang Shize naturally noticed the signal soldier's dramatic change of expression, but said nothing—though the cold smile on his face betrayed what he was thinking. Having spoken, he waved his hand and led Tang Tong and the few others directly out of the central command tent.

When the party made contact with the Chongzhen Emperor's imperial procession, Zhang Shize led his two or three cats and kittens in prostrating themselves immediately, shouting in unison:

"Your ministers pay respects to Your Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

"Rise!"

The Chongzhen Emperor wore a set of gleaming golden dragon armor, a matching gleaming golden helmet upon his head, and a shining sword at his waist. He jumped straight down from his white horse and helped Zhang Shize to his feet.

Immediately after, the Chongzhen Emperor looked around, the smile on his face gradually freezing as he asked in a deep voice:

"Zhang Shize, what is the meaning of this?"

These words struck right at Zhang Shize's heart. He had long since prepared several ways of lodging complaints in his mind to vent the hatred in his heart, and immediately kowtowed in fear, saying:

"Your servant deserves death! I could not subdue the generals. The three rolls of drums were beaten several rounds, yet only a few people came... Your servant deserves death..."

"Outrageous!"

The Chongzhen Emperor flew into a towering rage. Fine, then—today he had been struck by a whim to imitate Hong Taiji and personally lead an expedition, arriving full of enthusiasm, only to witness such a scene.

"The fault is not yours. Tang Tong, quickly summon all the generals to the central command tent for deliberations. I would like to see just who dares treat My edict as nothing!"

Last time the Chongzhen Emperor had taken it into his head to inspect the Capital Camps, he had accidentally uncovered a pile of rotten affairs and angered himself half to death. This time was much the same—the Chongzhen Emperor, who had been very confident about resisting Liu Fangliang, was now beginning to have second thoughts.

With government troops in this state, he might as well just go back and defend the capital steadily. Why bring them out to make a spectacle and embarrass themselves? If they were routed at the first charge by the roving bandits in battle, he wouldn't even need to wait for the time to hang himself from a southeastern branch—he'd have played himself to death first.

The Chongzhen Emperor was personally leading the expedition—and had already arrived at the central command tent!

This news bombarded the entire Huangcun camp in an instant. Shocked, the commanders could no longer spare a thought for the big or small matters at hand, and all rushed over at a hundred-and-eighty-miles-per-hour pace to face the Emperor and beg forgiveness.

But even so, the Chongzhen Emperor still waited in the tent with a black face for a full hour or more before the camp's commanders were more or less all assembled.

"Ahem, ahem..." The Chongzhen Emperor cleared his throat and said: "I—"

He had only gotten out a single word when he was interrupted—three generals supporting each other and panting heavily suddenly burst into the central command tent.

These few were clever enough. Seeing the densely packed crowd in the tent and glancing at the Chongzhen Emperor at the head, they thought to themselves that they were done for, and hastily knelt on the ground, knocking their heads and begging for mercy:

"This general Lu Jiu, this general Chen De, this general Liu Keding, pay respects to Your Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

These three were the main commanders of the Xin'an contingent of government troops. The leader, Lu Jiu, held the rank of Roaming General, while the other two, Chen De and Liu Keding, only held the rank of Battalion Commander. They had arrived at Huangzhuang three days prior.

The Chongzhen Emperor looked at Lu Jiu and his two companions kowtowing like pestles pounding garlic, yet a slight smile appeared on his face as he said angrily:

"It seems there really are those who dare treat My edict as wind passing their ears. Tang Tong, Earl of Dingxi!"

Tang Tong had been secretly chuckling to himself, but suddenly hearing the Chongzhen Emperor call his name, he hurriedly stepped forward and loudly declared: "This general is here!"

"Roaming General Lu Jiu, Battalion Commanders Chen De and Liu Keding—arrogant, unruly, and violating the law. According to military regulations, what should be done with them?"

Tang Tong hesitated at first, but under the direct stares of the Chongzhen Emperor and all the generals, he still gritted his teeth and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, according to military regulations, they should be executed!"

"Good!" The Chongzhen Emperor let out a great shout, rose to his feet, and pointed directly at Lu Jiu and the other two, thundering:

"Come now, drag these three out of the tent and behead them before the troops as a warning to all!"