Chapter 1272: When Disaster Strikes, You See Who Is Close and Who Is Distant

"Have the city gates been shut?" Duke Ding asked urgently.

Little Hu from the capital garrison nodded in a daze, utterly unable to speak. The Tianqi Emperor abruptly stood up, but before he could say anything, his body trembled. Wei Zhongxian, who had barely moved throughout the entire court session, hurried forward to support him. Just as he was about to call for help, the Tianqi Emperor spoke: "Minister Zhao, since you advocate battle and the rebel army is already outside the city, you shall muster the troops within the walls and go out to drive back the enemy!"

After saying this, the Tianqi Emperor swept his gaze over the officials who had just been kneeling and said with a cold laugh: "My dear ministers, so fervent for the nation — here is a fine chance to show your utmost loyalty. Will each of you not donate your family fortunes to reward the troops, then don armor, take up blades, and go out beyond the walls to fight the rebels to the death?"

Zhao Nanxing, who moments ago had been so impassioned, was now ashen-faced. Hearing the Tianqi Emperor's words, he straightened up to speak, but a surge of weakness overcame him and he simply collapsed to the ground. The others who had knelt with him were all speechless; some even began to weep outright, but no one took up the Emperor's words.

"Your Majesty, now is not the time for spite. This humble minister is willing to command the capital garrison and meet the enemy, but the garrison has just suffered defeat and its fighting strength is feeble. I beg Your Majesty to dispatch the Imperial Guard as reinforcement. Furthermore, the various troops inside and outside the capital have long been in arrears of pay, and morale is unsettled. I beg Your Majesty to allocate silver for rewards, only then can morale be lifted." At this moment, it was Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief Yang Lian who stepped forward, his face filled with solemn gravity.

"This minister is also willing to lead troops against the enemy!" Several others rose. When everyone looked over, they were all men of the Qingliu faction, though these few were not particularly well-liked even within the Qingliu. They were simply from poor families, without distinguished backgrounds, without friends or relatives to support them, and even less able to produce money to build ties with colleagues. Stubbornly principled and incapable of currying favor, such figures were kept at a respectful distance even by the Donglin grandees — at most receiving surface politeness. No one had expected them to step forward at a time like this.

The Donglin men showed expressions of shame, while the Eunuch Faction looked at each other in bewilderment; someone even muttered under his breath, "Studied their brains right out of order."

By this point, all decorum in the hall had collapsed. These core figures of the Great Ming either stood dumbstruck, argued fiercely, or quietly shrank backward. The few Qingliu men who had stepped forward with righteous indignation shouted, but no one paid them any attention.

Wei Zhongxian and several eunuchs from the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Directorate of the Imperial Horses gathered around the Tianqi Emperor, speaking rapidly in low voices. Not long after, the Tianqi Emperor raised his voice and declared: "Close the city gates. Impose martial law across the entire capital. The relevant offices shall patrol the streets. The capital garrison and the Imperial Guard shall mount the walls and stand guard. Anyone who rashly speaks of battle or surrender shall be executed without mercy."

No matter how brilliant and farsighted Tianqi might be, he could not possibly master all the practical details of these responses. It was simply the eunuchs versed in governance speaking through his mouth. Yet once the decree was issued, the atmosphere grew somewhat calmer. Naturally, the managing senior eunuchs and grandees began making arrangements, issuing specific decrees and documents one after another. Palace officials and ennobled nobles, civil ministers and military officers all hurriedly left to take up their posts — or to find someplace they thought safe and hide.

The Chief Grand Secretary — or rather, the former Chief Grand Secretary — Ye Xianggao lingered behind. No decrees would be coming his way now. He glanced at Zhao Nanxing, still slumped on the ground and not yet risen, and a cold sneer flickered at the corner of his mouth. Then the sneer turned into a bitter smile of shared misery, and within that smile there was even a trace of relief.

The entire premise for preserving official position and power was that the Xuzhou troops must not advance on the capital. Zhao Nanxing had advocated battle precisely because of this. He had thought he could gamble on the enemy running out of momentum. Many at court had thought the same. Under such circumstances, advocating battle would shift the blame for this great defeat, and advocating battle might even win him merit.

But no one had imagined that the Xuzhou troops would brazenly press forward. Wang Zaijin had been thrown into prison only a day ago, and yet those troops had already passed Tongzhou. That meant the Xuzhou forces had set out at most half a day later than Wang Zaijin. Whether they could take the capital was one matter; what mattered most was that it proved Zhao Nanxing's proposal had brought calamity upon the nation. His advocacy of battle was tantamount to seeking the destruction of the Great Ming, tantamount to disregarding the safety of the imperial house. All those grave charges he had earlier laid at others' feet — endangering the realm and the altars of state, betraying the ancestors — had now crashed down upon his own head.

"Issue the decree: Minister of Personnel Zhao Nanxing, in his loyal devotion to state affairs, is specially appointed to preside over peace negotiations with the rebel army, with the sole charge of securing the safety of the capital." The Tianqi Emperor spoke these words through gritted teeth.

Zhao Nanxing, on the ground, shuddered. He scrambled frantically to his feet and knelt again, his voice tearful: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, your minister is gravely ill. I beg to be allowed to return home in retirement. I beseech Your Majesty's mercy, I beseech Your Majesty's gracious consent!"

"You Qingliu are the most loyal and patriotic, the most selflessly devoted to the public good. Now is the time for you to repay the nation!" The Tianqi Emperor spoke with fury. He looked first at Zhao Nanxing kneeling there, then swept his gaze over the civil officials who had just echoed him.

Zhao Nanxing collapsed back onto the ground, and every official the Tianqi Emperor's eyes passed over turned ashen. This time it was truly over. Never mind how murderously fierce the rebels were, or what cruel treatment might await during the peace talks — just think of the fate of those officials who had gone to negotiate in the Jin army camp back in Kaifeng. Even if they were not detained, after the negotiations, the blame and infamy would be fastened onto their own backs, and they would never again be able to hold their ground in officialdom.

Ye Xianggao slowly shook his head. How absurd. Just moments ago, Zhao Nanxing had overridden all opposition and nearly turned the tide, yet in the blink of an eye, he was already in a pit of eternal damnation — and he had dragged his faction and allies down with him.

As he was sighing with emotion, Ye Xianggao noticed something off in Zhao Nanxing's gaze. Following his line of sight, he saw that in the hall, the Donglin faction and their allies were exchanging glances. The panic was still there, but something else had crept in…

A possibility occurred to Ye Xianggao, and his face could not help but pale. But then he shook his head with weary indifference. Whatever was happening in this hall now — what did it have to do with him? Why trouble himself with idle concerns?

There were no winners in this court session. The high officials and grandees had all lost face completely. Still, the Tianqi Emperor did not keep hounding Zhao Nanxing and his faction. The urgent matter now was defending the city and negotiating peace. Reckoning and punishment would certainly come, but all that could only be discussed after the Xuzhou troops had withdrawn.

After the court dispersed, the deeply troubled Tianqi Emperor did not return to the inner palace for amusement. Instead, accompanied by Wei Zhongxian, he ascended the corner tower of the imperial city. From here, of course, one could not see beyond the walls, but the situation inside the capital was still fairly visible. Though all the city gates had been shut, the streets were in utter chaos. Looking into the distance, several columns of smoke were rising within the city — even the capital was not immune to looting amid the disorder.

"Please set Your Majesty's heart at ease. The Shuntian Prefecture and the Five Wards Military Command have already been dispatched to suppress the unrest. The situation will soon be stabilized," Wei Zhongxian said, his head bowed respectfully.

The Tianqi Emperor stared blankly into the distance and murmured, "Old companion, since I ascended the throne, I have committed no great errors, nor have I indulged in reckless extravagance. Yet natural disasters come one after another, foreign enemies invade, and now there are rebels so brazen in their arrogance. Have I… have I truly done something wrong?"

Wei Zhongxian bowed and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty has done nothing wrong. It is those below who harbor their own agendas and refuse to unite in purpose. That is how foreign foes and internal traitors have found their openings. Once the rebels withdraw this time, this old slave will stake his very life to set things right for Your Majesty, to clean up this chaos."

The Tianqi Emperor's face was deathly pale, large beads of sweat streaming down his forehead. Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian could not help sighing inwardly. This Son of Heaven had a clear mind and could decisively take up or lay down any matter — it was only a pity he took so little care of his own body. Wei Zhongxian had heard the imperial physicians say that that activity drained vital essence even more than relations between men and women. But this was not the time to dwell on such things.

"Your Majesty, this slave begs Your Majesty to issue decrees: order the Imperial Guard and the inner-court trained eunuchs to take charge of the city defenses; order capable managers from the Directorate of the Imperial Horses to command the defense; order the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard cavalry to patrol the city." Though there were only a few people on this high corner tower, and the others stood far from Wei Zhongxian and the Tianqi Emperor, Wei Zhongxian still lowered his voice to speak.

Hearing this, the Tianqi Emperor's brow immediately furrowed. He shot Wei Zhongxian a glance and said sullenly, "Old companion, at a time like this, is there any need to grab so much power? The Ministry of War and the Chief Military Commission will naturally have their own arrangements for the city defenses and the various districts within the capital. Besides, those places already have men from the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Directorate of the Imperial Horses keeping watch. Why add unnecessary complications?"

At this, Wei Zhongxian straightened his back, fixed his gaze on the Tianqi Emperor, and said with solemn gravity, "Your Majesty, this slave must also speak a most treasonous and unfilial word. From this moment on, whenever Your Majesty meets with outer ministers, you must do so together with this slave. Under no circumstances must you meet them alone."

The Tianqi Emperor's expression had already turned cold. A faint sheen of sweat appeared on Wei Zhongxian's forehead. Others all said he held the Son of Heaven hostage to command the realm, that the Son of Heaven was deceived by him. But the inner and outer officials at the heart of power all knew that Wei Zhongxian was merely a tool Tianqi had unleashed to tear at the outer court. Wei Zhongxian himself knew this too. And his words just now were indeed liable to be misunderstood — as if he sought to control the Emperor, to control the city defenses.

But the Tianqi Emperor's reaction was swift. His expression shifted. First his eyes widened, then his face grew even more grim and ghastly than before. Through clenched teeth, he rasped, "Old companion, are you saying they harbor other intentions?"

Wei Zhongxian breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, but lowered his voice even further: "Your Majesty, the Shuntian Prefecture and the Five Wards Military Command are all led by civil officials, and not long ago they were all replaced with their people. The capital garrison, too, has been under the Ministry of War's command generation after generation — they can reach their hands in there as well. In the current situation, who can guarantee what designs they might conceive!"

"They are ministers of the Great Ming — would they dare?" the Tianqi Emperor asked in a muffled voice.

"Your Majesty, if it truly comes to that, they will only think of preserving their own wealth and rank. Perhaps the Xuzhou rebels will even need them to put up a respectable front, and their power and positions will hardly be lost. But Your Majesty — they can surrender, yet Your Majesty and this slave cannot! It is fortunate we have trained those several thousand stout eunuchs of the inner drill, that the Imperial Guard is held by capable and reliable men, and that the Depot and the Guard can still be used. Otherwise, it would truly be perilous!" Wei Zhongxian hurriedly explained.

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