Chapter 21

This year, the summer in the capital was particularly hot, and even at the first watch of the night, the heat had not yet dissipated. The city gates of the capital had long been closed, and soldiers stood guard at every street corner, ever vigilant.

In the dim and silent alleys, the night watchman, holding a lantern, slowly and listlessly called out, "Dry weather, beware of fire!" As his shadow moved slowly forward, the sound of his wooden clapper gradually faded into the night.

The city walls of Beijing were also quiet, with a lantern placed at regular intervals.

Although the Qing troops withdrew to Liaodong in February after plundering Shandong and again in early March from the Daqing Mountains, the capital was finally safe and the state of emergency was lifted. However, the destruction and impact caused by the Tartar invasion from last winter to this spring were immense.

The Tartars entered the pass for half a year, penetrating over two thousand li, capturing one prefecture, three states, and fifty-five counties, as well as two passes. They killed two Ming governors and over a hundred civil and military officials of the rank of commander and above.

They even captured over 460,000 people and looted over 4,000 taels of gold and nearly a million taels of silver.

The unprecedented disaster and loss, once tallied, shocked and pained everyone.

The Ming Dynasty had become an easy target for the Tartars to bully at will. They could come when they wanted, plunder as they pleased, and leave when they were done.

Although the Tartars had retreated to Liaodong two months after their plunder, the capital and its surroundings were still in a state of shock. Since the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, the Tartars frequently invaded the passes, becoming more frequent and causing more destruction. The people of the capital were like birds frightened by a bow, never knowing when the Tartars would return, living in constant fear.

In the twelve years since Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, the Qing troops had invaded the passes four times, thrice advancing directly to the walls of Beijing.

Therefore, even though the Tartars had retreated beyond the passes, the city was still patrolled by troops every day, and night travel was prohibited.

The Tartars' half-year-long invasion caused a large number of refugees to flood into the capital, with tens of thousands of displaced families from the surrounding areas, visible everywhere.

At night, the 28-year-old Emperor Chongzhen was staying in the palace of his favorite concubine, Lady Tian.

"Ah!" Chongzhen cried out in alarm, waking up.

"Your Majesty, what is it?" Lady Tian, startled awake, sat up and put on her robe.

Under the lamplight, the young emperor looked haggard and pale, with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and dark circles under them.

For several months, he had not had a single good night's sleep.

He could not sleep when the Tartars were plundering, and he could not sleep even after they left.

Especially in recent days, he had been having a strange dream.

He always dreamed of an old immortal writing a character in his palm, the character "you" (有).

After waking up, he had asked the court ministers to interpret the dream for him.

All the court officials praised it as a sign of the bandits' defeat. Chongzhen did not understand how they saw it that way, but he himself felt no sense of it being a good omen. The Tartars had only retreated beyond the passes two months ago, and the various bandits who had been defeated in the Central Plains had already risen again.

Zhang Xianzhong rebelled again in Gu City, and the "Cao Cao" Luo Ruzai, who had been pacified, also rebelled again. Now, Zhang and Luo had joined forces in the area around Junzhou in Huguang, and it seemed that the sparks would soon turn into a raging fire.

"Xiong Wencan has betrayed the country and failed me!" Zhu Youjian sighed deeply.

He could not sleep that night, so he got up, put on his robe, and began to review the memorials from various regions. Despite his diligence, the memorials never seemed to end, with one region lacking pay and another plagued by bandits.

Before dawn, at the fifth watch, he went to court.

At the court session, Chongzhen issued several imperial edicts.

For their success in capturing spies, he bestowed the rank of hundred-man commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard on the eunuchs Wang Zhixin, Cao Huachun, and Wang Cheng'en of the Eastern Depot. At the same time, he appointed the eunuch Zhang Rong of the Office of Ceremonial to oversee the nine gates and prohibited the eunuchs of the Meridian Gate and the End Gate from approaching the court ministers.

There were too many ministers like Yuan Chonghuan and Xiong Wencan who boasted of their ability to defeat the Tartars and bandits, and he had believed them too much, only to be let down in the end. In the end, he felt that the eunuchs in the palace were more reliable.

The four eunuchs came forward to thank him.

The court ministers only shook their heads in private. The emperor, who had overthrown the powerful eunuch Wei Zhongxian and severely punished the eunuch faction since his ascension, seemed to be reusing eunuchs again. There was much discussion in the court, with many saying that the frequent bestowal of titles to eunuchs and the frequent appointment of eunuchs to military positions had made the eunuchs powerful again.

Although the emperor said he would prohibit eunuchs from forming alliances with court ministers, could he really enforce it? If this continued, the eunuch faction would grow again.

Wang Huachun and the others, after thanking him, were all overjoyed. Although eunuchs could not have children, they could still marry and take concubines, and even adopt foster sons, so they also enjoyed hereditary titles.

However, among the four who were just ennobled, Wang Cheng'en suddenly burst into tears in the Golden Hall, causing a wave of shock.

His tears stunned the emperor and the ministers. Why was he crying?

Of the four eunuchs ennobled today, Wang Cheng'en's rank was actually not high. He was the current chief eunuch of the Office of Ceremonial, the director of the Eastern Depot, and the general supervisor of the Beijing garrison under Cao Huachun. However, because Wang Cheng'en had almost single-handedly raised Emperor Chongzhen, he was extremely trusted by the emperor and was ennobled today.

Chongzhen also found it strange. Why were you crying?

"Your old servant can only speak if Your Majesty pardons me of my death sentence," Wang Cheng'en said.

"Your death sentence is pardoned, speak freely," the emperor replied.

Wang Cheng'en then said, "Your Majesty, your old servant is thinking of the dream you had before, which is an ominous omen."

"How so?"

"Your Majesty, that dream is a warning from the immortal, saying that the Ming Dynasty will lose half of its territory. The character 'you' (有) is made up of half of the character 'da' (大) and half of the character 'ming' (明). The immortal is telling the emperor that the Ming Dynasty will have a flaw, and the bandits will have an opportunity."

Chongzhen drew a sharp breath, his heart racing. The dream had been troubling him, and although the ministers said it was a good omen, he always felt the explanation was too forced, and the situation was too dire. Now, with the most trusted Wang Cheng'en's interpretation, he suddenly believed it. The interpretation was reasonable and fit the current situation.

Could the Ming Dynasty really lose half of its territory?

He thought of how, since his ascension, the Tartars had not weakened but had become stronger, and how the bandits in the Central Plains had only increased despite repeated suppression. His face turned even paler.

Chongzhen asked the court ministers for a solution to resolve the situation.

The ministers debated, and finally, the powerful minister Yang Sichang, who was the Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Dongge Pavilion, and still in charge of military affairs, stepped forward to propose a plan. This influential figure suggested that the current situation was due to the army being large but not elite, and proposed the idea of training border troops.

He suggested that the court train elite troops from each garrison.

"From the Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi garrisons, with a total of 178,800 troops; each of the three generals will train 10,000, the governor-general will train 30,000, with 20,000 stationed in Huailai and 10,000 in Yanghe, to support each other from east to west, and the rest will be trained by the town, supervisor, and provincial governor."

"From the Yansui, Ningxia, Gansu, Guyuan, and Linzhou garrisons, with a total of 155,700 troops; each of the five generals will train 10,000, the governor-general will train 30,000, with 20,000 stationed in Guyuan and 10,000 in Yan'an, to support each other from east to west, and the rest will be trained by the provincial governor, deputy general, and below."

"From the Liaodong and Jizhen garrisons, with a total of 240,000 troops; each of the five generals will train 10,000, the governor-general will train 50,000, from outside Jinzhou to inside Juyong, to support each other from east to west, and the rest will be trained by the town, supervisor, and provincial governor."

"From the Tongzhou and Changping garrisons, with a total of 157,000 troops; each of the four generals will train 20,000, the governor-general will train 30,000, from north of Changping to south of Hebei, to support each other upon alarm, and the rest will be trained by the provincial governor and below."

According to his plan, the total number of troops to be trained nationwide would be 730,000. If the plan succeeded and these 730,000 troops were trained into elite soldiers, even if only half were elite, the Tartars and bandits would not be a threat.

However, training 730,000 troops was not easy. First, there had to be money. The Ministry of Revenue officials roughly calculated that supporting this plan would require at least ten million taels of silver. After some negotiation, the amount was reduced.

"An additional 7.3 million taels of silver will be levied as military training funds." On average, 10 taels of silver would be levied per soldier.

Some ministers opposed this, saying that during the late Wanli period, the court had already levied 9 mace of silver per mu of land, totaling 5.2 million taels, known as the Liaodong tax.

Then, in the third year of Chongzhen, an additional 3 mace of silver was levied per mu, totaling 12 mace of silver per mu, known as the Liaodong tax.

In the tenth year of Chongzhen, Yang Sichang proposed levying 6 he of grain per mu, equivalent to 8 mace of silver per dan, totaling 2.8 million taels, known as the suppression tax.

Now, under the pretext of military expenses, an additional 7.3 million taels of silver was to be levied, totaling 16.7 million taels, more than double the annual revenue. If this continued, the people might not be able to bear it.

However, Yang Sichang countered that the additional taxes were levied based on land ownership, with more taxes for those with more land and less for those with less. The rich would pay more, but the impact on ordinary people would be minimal. The additional tax per mu of land would be only 12 mace of silver, or about 4 sheng of grain.

But everyone knew that Yang Sichang was deceiving them. Most of the additional taxes would be shifted from the landlords and wealthy to the ordinary people. Local officials would also take advantage of the situation to extort the people, adding various surcharges, making the burden on the people extremely heavy.

However, the emperor supported Yang Sichang, who was now highly favored by the emperor. No one could veto the decision, and the additional 7.3 million taels of silver for military training was finally approved.

After passing this resolution, the emperor bestowed the imperial sword on Yang Sichang and sent him to the Central Plains to lead the campaign against the bandits.

At this time, the deputy general Yang Dezhen proposed a plan to suppress the bandits. He believed that the bandits were difficult to suppress because they moved unpredictably and were highly mobile. Therefore, to eliminate the bandits, it was crucial to strengthen local militias. Originally, there were garrison troops in the local areas, and later, local militias were trained, but the garrison troops had long been ineffective, and the local militias were even less useful.

Therefore, he suggested implementing a training system in all regions.

Specifically, the position of assistant magistrate would be abolished in each prefecture, and a training officer would be established, equivalent to a garrison commander.

The position of assistant judge would be abolished in each state, and a training chief would be established, equivalent to a battalion commander.

The training officer and training chief would be subordinate to the prefect, state governor, and county magistrate, responsible for training the local militia. The task of the militia would be to defend their homeland and not be transferred elsewhere. The number of militia would be set at 1,000 per prefecture, 700 per state, and 500 per county.

This plan was essentially a reorganization of the local militias, with the addition of training officers and training chiefs to strengthen the system.

Yang Sichang also agreed with this plan, and Chongzhen nodded in approval, instructing the various departments to draft specific strategies and implement the training of local militias.

"Anyone with courage, combat skills, and intelligence, regardless of background, whether a scholar, a military student, a supervisor, or a clerk, can be appointed as a training chief in the state or county." To quickly suppress the bandits, Chongzhen had to relax the criteria for the new training chiefs.

With over 300 prefectures and states and over 1,000 counties, if the plan were truly implemented, it would result in hundreds of thousands of local militia.

"The training officers in each prefecture will be of the sixth rank, the training chiefs in each state will be of the seventh rank, and the training chiefs in each county will be of the eighth rank, one rank higher than the original positions."

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