Chapter 1269: When the Nation Is in Peril, Political Strife Comes First

Zhao Jin pondered and nodded, then said to Chen Sheng, "It seems we still have to fight a major battle. But if we beat the government troops too badly, I fear there will be further trouble from beyond the borders and outside the passes, which would only bring more complications."

"If we need to fight, then we fight. We've already come this far; a few more battles won't matter. But we truly can't delay out here much longer. With the main army isolated far from home, Xuzhou is extremely vulnerable to risk," Chen Sheng said very pragmatically.

Ma Chonghao swept his gaze across everyone's expressions and spoke again: "After this great defeat, if Wei Zhongxian's faction is willing to seize the opportunity to topple the Donglin partisans in court, then peace negotiations could proceed."

"These eunuchs are more sensible than those civil officials, knowing when to advance and retreat. They're quite different from what people usually say," Ji Xiang remarked with a smile of admiration.

Ma Chonghao nodded in agreement and said, "The civil officials also understand reason; they simply must protect their own power and position, and must consider public opinion and their native-place factions. There are things they cannot do and dare not do. But the eunuchs, no matter how ostentatious, are still servants of the Son of Heaven. When handling affairs for their master's house, face is naturally something they can discard. Moreover, they share fortune and misfortune with the imperial house, so they naturally know to consider the greater strategic picture."

Everyone at the banquet was nodding. Though the table lacked any fine ingredients, the head chef's skill was extraordinary—even ordinary pork, mutton, chicken, and fish were made exquisitely delicious. Yet no one now cared about that. After a moment of contemplation, Ma Chonghao spoke again: "Commander, there is still another possibility at this time..."

Before Wang Zaijin returned to the capital, the capital already knew the news of the great defeat at Jinghai. Though the capital garrison troops were useless in battle, they were no slower than elite frontier cavalry when it came to running. Without delaying their plundering along the way, they simply fled straight back to the capital. The commanding general went to the government offices to report, while the officers below spread the news everywhere. Before long, the entire capital knew that nearly a hundred thousand troops at Jinghai County had been utterly routed by over two hundred thousand bandit soldiers and that the situation was now beyond salvaging.

To the upper echelons of the capital, these "over two hundred thousand Xuzhou bandit troops" were a fiction—they all knew the bandits numbered little more than twenty thousand. But those below did not know the truth. Everyone found it inconceivable: how had over two hundred thousand bandit soldiers suddenly appeared? How had the government troops been so disastrously defeated, reportedly within just a few shichen? Back during the crushing defeat at Sarhu, the four government armies had taken seven days to be defeated and routed. Could these bandits be even stronger than the Tatar slaves?

Disbelief aside, everyone was panicked and terrified. Some wanted to flee; others felt that rather than flee, it was safer to take shelter within the city walls. After all, since the capital was moved here during the Jingnan campaign, the city had never once been breached. But as with every past military disaster elsewhere in the Great Ming, chaos still erupted inside the city. Beyond the capital walls lay vast residential areas that had become an extension of the city, and at a time like this everyone wanted to enter the city for refuge. The wealthy naturally had places to stay, but the impoverished commoners had nowhere to go. Spurred by the inevitable rumors, looting, smashing, and robbery broke out within the capital—even some officials were caught up in it.

The runners and bailiffs of Shuntian Prefecture and its two counties, the patrol soldiers of the Five Wards Military Command, the Eastern Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and even the four great battalions of the Imperial Guard were all deployed. With harsh suppression and heads rolling to the ground, order was finally restored. Those able to command all these forces were eunuchs—and men of Wei Zhongxian's faction at that. Had this been a few days earlier, the grave charge of plotting rebellion and sedition would already have been pinned on them. A few days earlier, Wei Zhongxian's faction would never have dared to act so boldly. But after the news of the great defeat came back, the situation had already changed.

The pure-stream civil officials who had earlier been impassioned in launching this joint punitive campaign were now utterly disgraced. Some gritted their teeth and said this was nothing but lies meant to deceive the masses—perhaps only the capital garrison had fled first while fierce fighting still raged there. Even if it was a defeat, it was impossible for the bandits to rout them so quickly with fewer troops against greater numbers, causing a total collapse. So the news must be false; they had to wait for further reports.

Others were shifting blame, now speaking in court and on every occasion about how they had possessed foresight and had advised against sending troops at the time. It was only a pity that no one had listened to them, and they had no choice but to go against their conscience and follow the crowd. Those who spoke such words often secretly contacted Wei Zhongxian's faction as well, making preparations for their own futures.

The ones truly in a desperate fix were the group of bureau directors and clerks in the Ministry of War who had planned the campaign. The entire premise for assembling troops from various regions had been that the bandit suppression would be a swift victory, after which the forces would return to their respective defensive posts. But now it was a great defeat, meaning both flanks of the capital's defenses against the steppe had gaping holes. How to shift forces to plug them? Would the Chahar Mongols and the Jurchens make any sudden moves? How to respond then? All of this was fraught with difficulty.

But that was not all that had them frantic. The grandees in charge had already issued orders for them to plan once more: the capital must be defended. The bandit army's momentum was flagging and they clearly dared not advance further. Troops must be assembled to fight again!

When Wang Zaijin returned to the capital, all the undercurrents beneath the surface were dragged into the open. The Supreme Commander Wang Zaijin was a top-ranking grandee who also held the concurrent title of Minister of War. He brought with him the terms and a letter from the Xuzhou bandits, and he also confirmed that the inconceivable great defeat at Jinghai was real. At this, the capital was thoroughly shaken.

By the capital's custom that no court deliberation remained secret beyond the day, that very night the entire city knew of this. Even rumors like "the Xuzhou bandits have broken in" appeared, stirring up chaos, followed by criminal elements looting in the confusion. There was no choice but to close the city gates early and deploy every force for harsh suppression. Otherwise, the capital would have completely collapsed on its own before the bandit army even arrived.

The eunuch faction, which had kept silent all this time, now began to speak out. They did not mention how to handle the aftermath; they simply attacked the Donglin faction for bringing ruin to the state, for rashly sending troops, for squandering a golden opportunity to pacify the enemy, and for plunging the realm into crisis. Now that the bandit army was pressing toward the capital, who would bear this responsibility? Should not the various lords in power resign to apologize to the realm?

The grandees in power in the Grand Secretariat, the Six Ministries, and the Chief Surveillance Bureau would of course not resign. This utterly unexpected great defeat had suddenly made the situation perilous in the extreme. If they resigned now, not only would there be no chance of a comeback, they might well fall into an abyss from which there was no return. They would not even need to endure the imperial prison or the Court of Judicial Review—they could be condemned and executed outright. Yet the current situation showed no possibility whatsoever of turning the tables, and there was no way to escape this responsibility. After all, it had all happened too fast. The arguments that had persuaded everyone to send troops, the confident assertions of certain victory—these were still firmly etched in everyone's memory. The eunuch faction's power remained, and now they had begun their counterattack.

Now they had to fight for survival from a hopeless position. The first step was to pin all the blame on Wang Zaijin. The commanding minister had fled back alone while the troops from every other division had scattered and routed. Why had he, after being captured, been able to return so safely? He must have colluded with the bandits. Had this great defeat not been caused by the commanding minister conspiring with an external enemy, it probably would never have happened.

The skill of fabricating charges was not exclusive to treacherous ministers and the eunuch faction; the pure-stream officials wielded it just as adeptly. Wang Zaijin had served as Grand Coordinator of Shandong, a place very close to Xuzhou—surely there had been secret dealings. Wang Zaijin had also served as Director-General of the Grand Canal, another post very close to Xuzhou. Some even said the reason the Xuzhou bandits were so rampant was that a certain pure-stream official had been scheming for them, and that official's surname was Wang—Wang Zaijin's surname was also Wang, which surely proved treacherous intent. Still others brought up that when Wang Zaijin had managed affairs in Liaodong, he had often clashed with Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong—truly a man of hidden malice; how fortunate that Grand Secretary Sun had such keen insight.

Those who spoke these words had already forgotten that just ten days earlier, they had been defending Wang Zaijin, arguing that he was richly experienced and that while Elder Sun of the Grand Secretariat was brilliant and decisive, he had been somewhat too hasty. But at a moment like this, no one cared about such inconsistencies. Everyone, seeking self-preservation, needed a scapegoat. Likewise, Sun Chengzong's return to the capital to become Chief Grand Secretary was an irreversible tide, and now they had to strive to curry favor with him.

Ye Xianggao and Zhao Nanxing were terrified as they scrambled over these matters. They could not even mobilize all their partisans. A defeat was a defeat; not only did it make their political enemies eye them covetously, even their own people harbored doubts. They knew perfectly well whether Wang Zaijin had colluded with the enemy. They knew exactly what had happened from beginning to end. At this moment, the two famous officials of the Chief Surveillance Bureau who should have spoken out most—Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou—both believed Wang Zaijin should bear responsibility for the defeat, but not for colluding with the enemy. They even demanded that no inch be yielded to the eunuch faction. Toward such pure-stream officials, who had no money at home but bones of iron, they were utterly helpless and could only urge them to maintain a discreet silence and not speak out.

Wang Zaijin did not defend himself, nor did he have any chance to. He was immediately placed under confinement, unable to communicate with anyone outside. The letter from Zhao Jin that he had brought was nearly torn up by someone. Only Wang Zaijin's stern shout of warning at that moment made the other party keep the letter safe.

"The rebel bandits are suing for peace, which surely means their momentum is spent. At this moment, we should reorganize our troops and strike hard. We should also order the forces of Henan, Shandong, and the Southern Metropolitan Region to converge on Xuzhou and cut off the Qi family's retreat. Though the situation looks perilous now, this is actually a golden opportunity to turn defeat into victory. A three-pronged combined assault by the capital garrison, Ji Garrison, and Liao Garrison troops can certainly crush the bandit army..." Very quickly, someone began sounding this tune.

Zhao Jin's proactive request for peace negotiations had indeed given the court ministers many illusions, which also gave them some confidence when they spoke these words. Moreover, proposing this decisive battle served another purpose: if the eunuch faction refused to agree and then pressed the issue, the responsibility would no longer fall on the Donglin side. The proposal itself was even intended to stir up debate; in the midst of wrangling and bickering, the blame might not necessarily land on one side alone.

The eunuch faction was no longer as low-key as they had been in the previous period. Once this side made the proposal, it would be very difficult for the Directorate of Ceremonial to approve it with a vermilion endorsement. That was just as well—when the time came, it would not be that we refused to act, but that you in the inner court blocked it.

Chief Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao and Minister of Personnel Zhao Nanxing had laid their plans very well, but they never expected that this time there would be no wrangling between the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Grand Secretariat, between the eunuch faction and the pure-stream officials. The Tianqi Emperor personally attended the court assembly...

After the Three Great Cases, the Donglin faction's momentum had surged, and in court they had begun to act with an almost unchallenged authority. Whatever the Tianqi Emperor wanted to do, he found his hands tied at every turn. So Tianqi employed a time-honored method of the Ming dynasty: he himself "indulged in pleasure," sending his trusted eunuchs to the fore to struggle against the civil officials. The literati and scholars only cursed the eunuch faction for monopolizing power, never realizing that under the Great Ming's system, without the Son of Heaven's backing and tacit approval, the eunuchs could not even straighten their backs. After propping up Wei Zhongxian, the pure-stream officials were gradually pressed until they could barely breathe.

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