Wang Cheng'en had served at Zhu Youjian's side ever since he was Prince Xin. Their bond, forged as he grew up, meant that Wang Cheng'en felt not only reverence for Zhu Youjian, but also a measure of tender concern.
Watching the emperor's gaunt figure standing in the wind, he longed to urge him back into the palace to rest. Yet he also understood that His Majesty was anxious over affairs of state. Even during these past few days recuperating in his bedchamber, he had frowned all day and fretted all night. If he continued to leave the business at hand unattended, he would find neither food nor sleep comforting, and his imperial health would suffer all the more!
At that thought, Wang Cheng'en stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, Governor-General Lu will reach the capital early tomorrow morning!"
"Early tomorrow morning..." Zhu Youjian raised his head and glanced at the moon again. Dawn was only four hours away, and he felt no trace of sleepiness. Why not go back and read some memorials, and grow a little more accustomed to being emperor?
As he was thinking, a young eunuch poked his head around the palace gate. Sharp-eyed Wang Cheng'en spotted him, frowned, and walked over, rebuking him in a low voice. "What business have you disturbing His Majesty at this hour?"
The young eunuch drew in his neck and answered softly, "Master, the minister of war requests an audience!"
The minister of war was Yang Sichang, who was also a member of the Grand Secretariat.
Hearing that Yang Sichang was requesting an audience, Wang Cheng'en hesitated for a moment. "Haven't the palace gates been locked? How did the minister get in?"
"During these past few days when His Majesty faint... was resting, the minister has been staying in the duty room. He hasn't left the palace!"
Wang Cheng'en's brows twitched, and the crease between them deepened. Was Yang Sichang staying in the duty room out of concern for His Majesty's health, or for some other reason?
And today, no sooner had His Majesty shown some improvement than he had heard the news and come to request an audience. This Palace of Heavenly Purity...
Without betraying anything, Wang Cheng'en looked around. All the eunuchs and palace maids attending at the entrance, in the courtyard, and beneath the covered walkway stood with their heads lowered and their hands at their sides. The darkness concealed every uneasy expression.
"What is it?" Out of the corner of his eye, Zhu Youjian had noticed Wang Cheng'en whispering with a young eunuch at the palace gate for some time, and spoke up.
Wang Cheng'en hurriedly turned and replied, "Your Majesty, the minister of war requests an audience!"
Yang Sichang was the minister of war. At such a critical time, Wang Cheng'en certainly could not conceal his request for an audience. If anything went wrong with the fighting, then no matter how close he was to His Majesty, even ten extra heads would not be enough to pay for it.
At the words "minister of war," Yang Sichang's record of service naturally surfaced in Zhu Youjian's mind.
Yang Sichang had earned his metropolitan degree during the Wanli reign. His strategy of "four cardinal fronts and six flanking sectors, casting a net on all ten sides" had proved quite effective in suppressing the roving rebels, earning the Chongzhen Emperor's appreciation and an appointment as minister of war.
In the final years of the Ming, besides the Jurchens repeatedly breaching the frontier passes, there was the internal scourge of roving rebels. Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and the two successive Rebel Kings, Gao and Li, had thrown the Central Plains into utter chaos.
Yang Sichang believed that the state of the realm resembled a human body: the capital was the head, the garrisons of Xuanfu, Jizhou, and the other frontier towns were the shoulders and arms, while the Central Plains south of the Yellow River and north of the Yangtze River were the belly and heart.
In his view, the flames of Jurchen warfare burned beyond the shoulders and arms, pressing upon them with great urgency; the roving rebels wreaked havoc within the belly and heart, striking far deeper.
Foreign threats certainly could not be dealt with at leisure, but internal troubles were even less to be ignored, for their poison spread through the belly and heart. If one allowed "poison to spread through the belly and heart, the organs to fester with rupturing abscesses, and vital essence and blood to dry up day by day," what use would shoulders and arms alone be?
Thus, Yang Sichang advocated quelling internal strife before repelling foreign foes: first negotiate peace with the Jurchens and stabilize the situation around the capital, then concentrate all efforts on wiping out the roving rebels in one sustained push.
Naturally, the original Chongzhen Emperor had accepted his advice, and considerable progress had been made in suppressing the roving rebels. Afterward, he had placed even greater trust in Yang Sichang and brought him into the Grand Secretariat.
But the ministers opposed peace negotiations with the Jurchens. After all, during the Yongle reign, the Jurchens had been a tribe subject to the Great Ming. Their leader had personally come to the capital to present tribute and swear allegiance, and whenever disputes arose within their tribe, they had often asked the Ming court to adjudicate.
With such a relationship of subordination, how could the hidebound old ministers at court swallow their pride and let the Great Ming seek peace now? They thought the very idea absurd. The proposed negotiations had therefore come to nothing, leading to the Wuyin Incident-the present Jurchen invasion through the passes and their large-scale plundering, which had resulted in Lu Xiangsheng's death in battle, the fall of more than seventy cities in succession, and the capture of 460,000 people, including Zhu Youshu, Prince De.
What matter of such importance had brought Yang Sichang to seek an audience in the dead of night?
As he pondered this, Zhu Youjian returned to the eastern warm chamber of the Palace of Heavenly Purity. Before long, Yang Sichang entered with his head bowed.
The man before him was nearly fifty, of medium build, with hair at his temples and a beard that were still jet-black. His bright, keen eyes gave an impression of shrewd competence. After performing the court obeisance, Yang Sichang asked, "Is Your Majesty feeling better?"
Zhu Youjian raised a hand. Without responding to Yang Sichang's concern, he asked, "The night is deep and the dew heavy, yet you seem quite full of vigor, my minister. What business brings you before me?"
The emperor's words carried spears and cudgels beneath them. On the surface, he was praising Yang Sichang's health; underneath, he was accusing him of having no sense of propriety. The emperor had only just recovered-what business had to be discussed in the middle of the night? Was daylight too bright for him, or were there too many people about?
Yang Sichang understood, but pretended not to. If I wait until tomorrow, it will be too late. This matter must be settled before Lu Xiangsheng sees His Majesty. Only then can I feel sure of where I stand!
His face filled with anguish, Yang Sichang dropped straight to his knees. "I unworthily hold the office of minister of war, yet the roving rebels remain unsubdued, and the Jurchens have once again assaulted the passes. I... am guilty!"
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