Chapter 724: Serving as an Envoy

Chongzhen was still performing.

Wen Tiren was still playing along.

A bow of the head, a cupped-hand salute: "This old minister is dull and obtuse; I can only look to Your Majesty for sage judgment."

At the next day's court conference, the proposal to exchange military grain for disaster relief grain was tossed to the court officials.

The emphasis was not on supporting the Marshal Army in blocking the eastern captives, but on the idea that even if grain had to be given to the rebel army, His Majesty, who loves the people as his own children, was willing to exchange it for relief grain from the rebels, in order to relieve the people of Shanxi.

In reality, both the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue opposed this proposal.

The Ministry of War's opposition was normal — they were planning a strategy of attacking Tong Pass from Henan and raiding Xi'an from Yunyang, attempting to recapture Guanzhong, which the Marshal's Manor had already swept through once.

At a time like this, for the court to be engaging in strategic cooperation with the Marshal's Manor in the north — no one could accept it.

As for the Ministry of Revenue, they were being a bit secretive.

In public terms, this was actually a good thing for the Ministry of Revenue; after all, for Shanxi to buy grain for disaster relief, even a hundred thousand taels would be very hard for the provincial government to scrape together.

The private sector could manage it, but if private merchants bought the grain, that grain was meant to be sold — and if sold, it would certainly never end up in the hands of disaster victims on the verge of starvation.

Grain prices never surge irrationally; when they rise to seven taels per dan, it means someone can afford that price.

Instead, exchanging grain from Tongzhou for grain from Hancheng — this grain could be transported directly to the provincial government and managed by Grand Coordinator Wu Sheng, ensuring to the greatest extent possible that it reached the grain-starved disaster victims.

The court and the common people alike had clear evidence of Wu Sheng's disaster relief capabilities.

Back then, he took a hundred thousand taels to relieve Shaanxi, and drew donations of thirty-six thousand taels and three thousand dan of grain from Shaanxi's princes and wealthy gentry, providing relief to the four prefectures of Yan, Qing, Ping, and Xi.

The silver expended was accounted for down to the last hair, and the disaster victims aided were counted down to the individual — a total of two hundred forty thousand three hundred forty-five people were relieved.

He distributed oxen and seed, relieved the starving, repaired post stations, supplemented military supplies, bought mules, paid military wages, and repaired city fortifications. In between, various counties withheld or falsely reported over thirteen hundred taels, which was later pursued and recovered as much as possible.

Of course, the result was indeed of no benefit to the chaotic situation in Shaanxi, but that cannot be called a failure of Wu Sheng's disaster relief. On the contrary, he achieved the utmost limit of his work capacity.

It was simply that the court's budget was only enough to save each person a few mouthfuls of food; even if he reached the utmost limit, he could only ensure that the disaster victims who were supposed to eat those few mouthfuls actually got them into their bellies.

And at this moment, if what Shanxi received was not a hundred thousand taels of silver, but a hundred thousand dan of grain, combined with the administrative capacity of the entire Shanxi province, then compared to the relief of Shaanxi back then, the supplies would be more than ten times as abundant.

Back then in Shaanxi, even if the hundred thousand taels of silver had all been exchanged for grain, it would only have bought a little over ten thousand dan of grain.

But in private terms.

No official in the Ministry of Revenue could guarantee that the hundred thousand dan of grain they took out from Tongzhou and the hundred thousand dan of grain in Liu Chengzong's mind on the other side of the border wall were the same thing.

This was Beijing!

Not some poor and remote backwater in Shaanxi, where Wu Sheng, a mere censor, could go and, as long as the imperial command was sufficiently forceful, carry out the matter without the slightest error.

A hundred thousand dan of polished white rice and wheat flour could turn into millet and coarse yellow flour; the millet and coarse yellow flour could turn into stale, rotten old grain; the stale, rotten old grain could turn into rocks and sand. The soldiers transporting the grain might get scared and rob it themselves; the officials managing the grain might get scared and set fire to the granaries.

These very coincidental things might not necessarily happen, but no one dared guarantee they would not happen.

They might even all happen at the same time.

Even if the Ministry of Revenue officials did not understand the cutthroats under Liu Chengzong's command, could they possibly not understand what sort of conduct the court's noble relatives and petty clerks were capable of?

When the time came and trouble broke out, His Majesty would demand an accounting.

So no one could speak their true thoughts; they could only talk around the subject, unwilling in any case to push this matter forward.

Just at this moment, urgent reports came one after another from the border passes: Huang Taiji's secret letters had been intercepted.

More than one.

The first one intercepted was a letter Huang Taiji had written to Coastal Commander-in-Chief and General Who Pacifies the Caitiffs, Chen Hongfan.

This letter had been written a month earlier; it was wedged inside a piece of wood and stood upright on the shore at Lüshunkou, where coastal defense troops discovered it. Upon reading its contents, they immediately crossed the sea to report to Shandong.

The letter's contents actually could not withstand scrutiny; it was full of specious statements, clearly things deliberately added to increase the appearance of authenticity — such as a few personal names, said to be diplomatic personnel dispatched by Chen Hongfan, and also mentioning the official titles of the Three Compliant Kings.

Later on, the fox's tail was revealed: it said that if he came over to surrender at that time, his achievements and rank would be no lower than those of the Three Kings; or, remaining in the Great Ming, he could act as an internal agent — he was asked to choose one of the two.

It even explained the reason for wedging the letter in wood and standing it on the seashore, saying it was out of fear of leaking the great matter, and therefore they had not allowed the envoy Chen Hongfan sent to Shenyang to return.

It was in fact a stratagem of sowing discord, saying everything both ways.

And it was actually at this time that Chen Hongfan, at Lüshunkou, received another letter full of threats urging surrender.

It said that in the Great Ming today, outer ministers are treacherous and deceitful, while inner ministers tear each other apart — can you, General, possibly reverse or save such a situation? Think it over carefully!

The previous letter had been deliberately allowed to be intercepted by the Ming army and delivered before Chongzhen's very eyes, yet they dared not take any action against Chen Hongfan.

The reason Huang Taiji sought to sow discord against Chen Hongfan was that he had received intelligence that Chen Hongfan had troops and planned to station his army in Korea, though he did not know the exact numbers.

The so-called hundred thousand heavenly troops and four hundred warships — Huang Taiji figured that thirty to fifty thousand would be the absolute ceiling.

Chongzhen thought the same; he truly believed Chen Hongfan had thirty thousand troops.

Because Chen Hongfan's post as Coastal Commander-in-Chief oversaw the Denglai Garrison and Shen Shikui's Dongjiang Garrison; counting the troops overseas, the court reckoned that, however you looked at it, there had to be thirty thousand men.

But in reality, both Denglai and Dongjiang had long since been smashed to pieces.

The Shandong region had always been a relatively safe rear base for supporting the Liao campaign; there were many militia for sea transport logistics, but few combat-capable troops — and plenty of trouble.

Wherever the grain transport system was involved, there were problems with the Luo Sect and the White Lotus Sect; whenever famine struck, someone would raise troops, and raising troops meant suppressing rebellion.

This had always been the job of the handful of troops under Yang Zhaoji and his son Yang Yufan.

Their elite forces were constantly away suppressing rebellions and fighting peasant armies; it was impossible to hand their main force over to Chen Hongfan's command.

And as for the Dongjiang Garrison — to put it bluntly, Shen Shikui dared not return to Shandong, and Chen Hongfan dared not set foot on Pi Island.

It had already reached a state where the mountains were high and the emperor far away, where harassing the Later Jin was not for the sake of the Imperial Ming, but merely for survival. The island had only a few thousand troops in total, yet when writing to the court to request supplies, they had to claim a figure approaching twenty thousand men.

After all, if they claimed to have twenty thousand men, the court could at best send armor and equipment for about a thousand or so — and even then, they would not provide horses. Without horses, how could they fight a landing operation!

Chen Hongfan dared not, nor could he order them around.

He himself had a total of just over three thousand men under his direct command, and had been busy recruiting in Shandong the whole time. He dared not fight, dared not surrender, dared not enter Korea, and dared not return — his entire person was stuck awkwardly in southern Liao.

Precisely for this reason, regarding Huang Taiji's letter to Chen Hongfan, the informed ministers in court were not alarmed; only Chongzhen was anxious.

But the second letter intercepted at the border wall — this one made the entire civil and military court tremble with fear.

Because this letter was written to Liu Chengzong, and it mentioned things like a joint pact to attack the Ming, and waiting for him to obtain grain and fodder from the Ming — these words were exceptionally terrifying.

The Minister of War, Zhang Fengyi, could see clearly: this was just like the letter to Chen Hongfan, nothing more than an act of sowing discord.

Because if Liu Chengzong intended to attack the Great Ming, there was absolutely no need for him to lead troops all the way beyond the Ji Garrison border — he could have just crossed the Yellow River from Fugu in Shaanxi and struck Shanxi, and that would have been that.

The same thing — Wang Jiayin did it so many times, rampaging across both banks of the Yellow River. Liu Chengzong, who was more than ten times stronger than Wang Jiayin, had no reason he couldn't do it.

But understanding it was one thing; speaking those words aloud was another matter entirely.

As the saying goes, you don't fear the ten-thousand-to-one chance — you fear the one-in-ten-thousand.

What if Liu Chengzong really did harbor ill intentions?

The moment several officials from the Ministry of Revenue saw this letter, they were outright delighted — this was ironclad proof that they could not trade with Liu Chengzong.

Crucially, Hong Taiji's letter also mentioned something of vital importance to the Great Ming: that he had indicated to Liu Chengzong that Daiching wanted to negotiate peace with the Great Ming, and it was only because of Liu Chengzong's instigation that he planned to attack the Ming.

This matter, in truth, was hardly brilliant.

Because from Hong Taiji's standpoint, although he held a slight advantage in troop strength and combat power in Liaodong, that was not because his Eight Banners were truly so mighty as to be invincible under heaven.

Rather, he had happened to catch the Great Ming in a window of internal troubles and external threats, of heavenly disasters and man-made calamities. Therefore, he absolutely dared not give the enemy the slightest chance to catch their breath. He could only press the attack like a violent storm, even if it meant draining the last drop of blood from the Wild Jurchens, and must continuously widen his advantage.

The slightest slackening, and the Eight Banners would face utter annihilation beyond redemption.

It was fundamentally impossible for him to negotiate peace with the Great Ming.

Yet, as it happened, peace negotiations were something the Great Ming's sovereign and ministers all tacitly understood to be false, yet every one of them was willing to believe in.

The Great Ming was about to collapse under its own weight; it desperately needed a moment to catch its breath.

So much so that Hong Taiji spoke of nothing but peace to the Great Ming, yet never ceased his attacks, and every day blamed the Great Ming for lacking sincerity in peace talks.

Such a simple ploy, yet it caused the Great Ming to fall for it time and again, each time being divided on the eve of battle.

This time was no exception. Some court officials genuinely believed Hong Taiji intended to negotiate peace, while even more harbored their own petty calculations and supported peace talks as a political stance.

But the Chongzhen Emperor still did not believe Hong Taiji truly intended to negotiate peace.

Or rather, it was not a matter of believing or not — he simply did not want to believe it, and refused to analyze it.

He was notoriously headstrong and self-opinionated, deaf to what others said. He cared only about the possibility of Liu Chengzong marching south from beyond the Ji Garrison border.

At this moment, Minister of War Zhang Fengyi gave Chongzhen a powerful shot of confidence, telling him with absolute conviction that it was impossible for Liu Chengzong to have come beyond the Ji Garrison border in order to attack the Great Ming.

Because with Tong Pass and Wu Pass in hand, launching troops from Guanzhong into Huguang and Henan would yield far greater gains than making a detour through the Ji Garrison to strike the capital region.

What was more, even if he did not launch troops from Tong Pass and insisted on crossing the Yellow River to strike Shanxi, marching directly south from beyond the Xuanfu border would also be far better than attacking the capital region.

After all, the capital region route had no supply line. No matter how you looked at it, it was a desperate, high-risk maneuver.

The Ministry of War was quite familiar with some of Liu Chengzong's past battle examples, and held that while Liu Chengzong was indeed skilled in warfare, he truly did not favor risky gambles, and rarely employed schemes and deceptions.

However, Zhang Fengyi also cautioned Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, 'rarely' does not mean 'never.' Therefore, the Three Coordinated Commands must still exercise caution and vigilance, and must not withdraw their defenses."

The "Three Coordinated Commands" he referred to were the garrisons of the Three Commands and Twelve Routes along the Ji Garrison frontier.

This sector originally had a very large nominal troop strength, and in practice had gradually become four garrisons — Jizhou, Miyun, Yongping, and Changping — with troop numbers reaching as high as one hundred forty thousand at their peak.

Later, at the beginning of Chongzhen's reign, due to insufficient military pay, the Ji Garrison troop strength was drastically cut, triggering a mutiny. By now, the Ji Garrison had only a little over thirty thousand defenders — fewer than the number of warhorses the Ji Garrison had during the Wanli era, when horses alone numbered over forty thousand.

Chongzhen pondered briefly and concluded that this reasoning indeed held true.

A man like Liu Chengzong could not be restrained by any thing. Chongzhen dared not cling to the notion that Liu Chengzong truly had no intention of plundering the Ji Garrison.

After all, absurdities abounded in this age; someone taking the distant path over the near one would hardly come as too great a surprise.

"In that case, the matter of transferring grain must be put on hold for now. No—"

Chongzhen had just spoken in agreement with Zhang Fengyi when he immediately reversed himself: "No, still have Minister Qian take the imperial edict and go as envoy. As for the palace attendant, let Zhixuzi accompany him."

Cao Huachun was standing in attendance at the back, hands tucked in his sleeves holding a horsetail whisk. Hearing these words, he stood frozen to the spot as if struck by lightning.

He was nearly in tears: Why me again!

Cao Huachun truly had no desire to see Liu Chengzong. It wasn't that Liu Chengzong treated him poorly — in truth, it wasn't bad.

And based on past experience, Liu Chengzong didn't have much interest in him either; the odds of being detained at his side were very small.

But that crew of law-defying fiends at the Marshal's Manor — how to put it? In the Forbidden City, he only had to serve Chongzhen alone. At Liu Chengzong's place, there were Chongzhens everywhere needing to be served.

A single assignment out there was utterly exhausting.

What a pity — the job he did was serving the Emperor, and whatever the Emperor ordered, he had to do.

Compared to Cao Huachun's thunderstruck reaction, Qian Shisheng felt no fear or worry whatsoever. He immediately assumed the lofty airs of a high court minister about to go on a mission to rebel forces.

He even felt that this was Chongzhen conceding ground on the Li Jin matter, and further urged Grand Secretary Wen that while he was away on this mission, Li Jin must be thrown into prison.

Wen Tiren beamed: Fine, fine, very well.

How masterfully did Wen Tiren grasp Chongzhen's mind? He understood the Emperor's character all too well.

Past events had made the Emperor extremely insecure about his own judgment, yet that powerful inferiority complex in turn made the Emperor exceptionally arrogant — that is, headstrong and self-opinionated. Whatever others said, he would not listen, would feel he had lost face, and would dig his heels in even harder.

This was also why Wen Tiren never remonstrated with Chongzhen. Whenever something came up, he had but one line: he could only hope for the Emperor's sagacious decision.

You couldn't persuade him. The more you tried — and the more correct your advice — the more the Emperor felt humiliated.

This sort of thing had happened many times already. A fine general would die, and the Emperor would weep — genuine, heartfelt weeping, deeply sorrowful.

Yet while the man was alive, he would not treat him the slightest bit better.

Now, sending you over — it's because the Emperor thinks you're useless. He wants Liu Chengzong to give you some grief, torment you a bit, and ideally detain you there, helping him eliminate one problem.

Grand Secretary Wen thought to himself: If you, Qian Shisheng, fail to return, the Emperor will most likely regret it, believing he threw away an able minister authenticated by Liu Chengzong.

But the Emperor will feel no guilt in his heart, because if you had ability, why didn't you have the ability to come back?

On the surface, it's that you lacked ability; in reality, you had ability, and the Emperor misjudged.

But because Liu Chengzong's greater error can cover up the Emperor's misjudgment.

Everyone's happy.

So if you actually do get sent back — now that would be truly amusing.

Forget about Grand Secretary or Minister — those will have nothing to do with you. You'll obediently go back to your hometown of Jiaxing and tend to your garden. If things go badly, you might even end up in prison.

Because the Emperor's insecure judgment will have been authenticated by Liu Chengzong.

If even the bandit Liu thinks you're useless, then you must truly be useless!

Only, just as the entire court of civil and military officials was bidding farewell to Qian Shisheng on his diplomatic mission, northwest of the capital, dust and smoke blotted out the sky. From time to time, small donkey and mule carts carried women, the old, and the weak toward the city, every face drained of color.

Immediately, an urgent report was delivered into the forbidden palace.

Changping City had been breached by the Jin army.