The meaning of Wuying

The morning court session in the capital had already ended, and officials from the various departments were handling government affairs in their offices along the Thousand-Step Corridor.

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside. Several men stepped out and saw a soldier running urgently toward the palace, with two junior eunuchs trailing behind him, unable to keep pace no matter how hard they tried.

"Ah, what's happened now?" someone asked, catching hold of one of the junior eunuchs.

"Fight... fight..." The junior eunuch panted, braced a hand against his waist, and waved at the official before hurrying on toward the palace.

"Fighting? Surely they haven't started fighting again!"

"Has the fighting reached the capital?"

For a moment, the officials of the various departments exchanged anxious looks, all thoughts of work driven from their minds.

Suddenly, another man came through Huangji Gate and headed straight into the Ministry of War offices.

Every so often, someone passed through the Thousand-Step Corridor, either entering the palace from outside or leaving it to deliver an imperial decree.

Before long, the officials watching these movements caught sight of Yang Sichang, Sun Chuanting, and Sun Chengzong hurrying past.

"So it really does concern the Tatars..."

"But did you notice? Governor-General Sun seemed... rather pleased!"

"Did he? I only noticed Grand Secretary Yang looking grim. I didn't see how Governor-General Sun looked."

"Why has Elder Sun come along too?"

The Thousand-Step Corridor buzzed with activity. Men gathered in groups to discuss the situation, and some sent servants out to gather news. Yet no amount of inquiry brought any clarity, leaving them no choice but to keep waiting for word from the palace.

Yang Sichang walked with his head lowered, Sun Chengzong and Sun Chuanting following behind him. He wondered why the emperor had summoned all three of them to the palace together.

Only after entering Wuying Hall did Yang Sichang discover that Cao Huachun and Luo Yangxing were there as well.

The emperor sat behind his desk. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he handed the military dispatch to Wang Cheng'en. "Let them all read it!"

Wang Cheng'en hastily took it and handed it first to Grand Secretary Yang Sichang.

Yang Sichang opened the memorial. When he saw the name "Lu Xiangsheng," he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He looked more closely, and there it was indeed: "Lu Xiangsheng leads the Heavenly Hero Army in surrounding Jinan."

As he read on, Yang Sichang grew even more alarmed. Dorgon and Yoto had led the Jurchen into Jinan, and now they were trapped inside the city.

Yang Sichang stood dumbstruck, wondering when Lu Xiangsheng had left the Imperial Prison.

He wondered what His Majesty's true purpose had been in withdrawing from Gaoyang and Jinan.

He wondered whether His Majesty genuinely intended to negotiate peace.

The dispatch passed through everyone's hands before returning to Zhu Youjian. He surveyed the richly varied expressions below him with satisfaction. Some were delighted, others troubled, but all were bewildered.

Zhu Youjian lifted his teacup, took a sip, and slowly asked, "Do you know why I moved to Wuying Hall?"

At the sound of the emperor's voice, everyone instinctively bowed. Yet their minds were still occupied by the contents of the military dispatch, and not one of them answered him.

Zhu Youjian did not mind. He continued on his own. "Wuying Hall. When the founding emperor laid the dynasty's foundations, he began with these two words: 'martial valor.'"

As he spoke, Zhu Youjian set his teacup down heavily on the desk, rose from the throne, and walked out through the hall doors into the courtyard. The men inside could only follow him out.

Zhu Youjian looked up at the plaque above the hall and continued, "Through martial prowess and valor, he won the realm. Our dynasty has endured for two hundred and seventy years. Where is that 'martial valor' now?"

Zhu Youjian turned back toward them with a snort. "There is certainly no shortage of 'literary splendor'! All you do is sing of the wind and toy with the moon, all letters and no substance, all flowers and no fruit! When it comes to bandits, you have no useful strategies, only talk of distinctions between the civilized and the barbarian!"

"We are guilty, Your Majesty!" Sensing the emperor's rising anger, everyone hurriedly bowed and admitted fault.

"Since I ascended the throne, the Jurchen have brought their armies against us several times, but they never pushed beyond the capital. This time, however, they swept across the Capital Region. If there is a next time, tell me-where will they reach?"

"We are guilty, Your Majesty!"

"I do not want your admissions of guilt! I want you to defend the realm of Great Ming and give its people a place where they can live and make their livelihoods, instead of trembling through every day!" Zhu Youjian spoke loudly, stopping beneath the covered walkway and sweeping his gaze over them one by one.

"You have all seen the situation before us. What should we do next? Does anyone have anything to say?"

After reading the dispatch and connecting what had happened before and after, Sun Chengzong understood the emperor's earlier actions perfectly. Recalling the emperor's words, "The arrow is on the string; it must be loosed," he felt even deeper admiration.

Now that Dorgon's army was surrounded inside Jinan, what was there to consider?

Sun Chengzong strode forward. "Your Majesty, I believe we should kill them!"

Zhu Youjian shook his head. "Too brutal! Besides, if we kill them, Huang Taiji really will be driven to desperation. Dorgon is not the Jurchen's only fighting general."

Sun Chuanting said, "Then... take them prisoner and bring them back?"

"What would we bring them back for? To waste grain feeding them?" Zhu Youjian rejected that suggestion as well.

The two exchanged a glance. They could neither kill them nor capture them, so what were they supposed to do?

Surely we cannot let them go!

"Tsk." Zhu Youjian frowned, thoroughly dissatisfied with their uninspired suggestions. "They are in our hands. Think about it. What else could we do?"

Everyone fell silent for a moment. Zhu Youjian sighed, turned to Yang Sichang, and asked, "Minister Yang, what do you think?"

Yang Sichang inwardly lamented his predicament. His Majesty had spun him round and round, openly agreeing to peace negotiations and making a great show of ordering men to convey messages to the Jurchen. When Huang Daozhou, Fan Fucui, and others pleaded on Lu Xiangsheng's behalf, His Majesty had even sent them to the Imperial Prison with much fanfare.

In reality, however, His Majesty and Lu Xiangsheng had secretly crossed by the hidden road to Chencang, grafting one blossom onto another branch. Without anyone knowing, he had quietly released Lu Xiangsheng from the Imperial Prison and sent him back.

His Majesty and Lu Xiangsheng have staged quite a performance. What have they taken me and all the ministers at court for?

Of course. His Majesty does not trust me. He does not trust anyone at court!

Now that His Majesty has rejected both Sun Chengzong's and Sun Chuanting's suggestions, what else can be done? I cannot think of anything either!

"Your Majesty, I am slow-witted..."

Zhu Youjian stared steadily at Yang Sichang, then turned and walked back into the hall without a word.

The ministers could only follow the emperor inside, drums of apprehension beating in their hearts once more.

Sun Chengzong narrowed his eyes. Once his thoughts had settled, he suddenly felt that he could no longer fathom the emperor before him.

He glanced at Sun Chuanting and saw that he too was frowning, his head lowered in thought.

They were both men who had spent years on the battlefield. Whether fighting the Jurchen or the Rebel Bandits, it was fundamentally a matter of military strategy. However one circled around it, it came down to the same things.

"Your Majesty-" Sun Chengzong began, but the emperor kept his eyes fixed on Yang Sichang and raised a hand toward him. Sun Chengzong fell silent and stepped back.

Yang Sichang wondered what exactly the emperor wanted him to say. Though his head was lowered, he could feel the emperor's gaze clinging to him, like barbs digging into his back, leaving him deeply unsettled.

Sweat trickled down his forehead and clung to his cheek, itching faintly. Yang Sichang instinctively raised a hand to wipe it away, then sighed and said, "Your Majesty, I believe the war against the Jurchen must not drag on too long. Although Zhang Xianzhong accepted amnesty, he refuses to relinquish command of his troops in Gucheng. Li Zicheng has fled into the Shangluo Mountains. He is skilled at bewitching people's hearts, and I fear he will gather displaced people there and launch another rebellion."

As he spoke, Yang Sichang glanced up at the emperor. Seeing no sign that he intended to interrupt, he continued, "Therefore, I believe that, now that Dorgon and his men are surrounded, they could serve as bargaining chips in negotiations with the Jurchen..."