Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 9 The Unscrupulous Factional Strife of the Ming Dynasty

To outsiders, his life appears glamorous, but only he knows the bitterness he endures. Zhang Weixian is not as optimistic as he seems. He still remembers how his ancestor, Zhang Fu, died. Nobles are closely linked to the state, and all their wealth and glory depend on one condition: the empire must still exist.

The disastrous defeat at Tumu Fortress was caused by the neglect of military preparedness back then. And now? Zhang Weixian, in charge of the Beijing Garrison, sees and hears nothing but shocking things, worse than during the Zhengtong era. After the Battle of Sarhu, he was sent to Liaodong to clean up the mess. Now the rebels in Liaodong are still there, even stronger than before, while the Ming Dynasty is becoming increasingly decadent.

Sometimes Zhang Weixian would be awakened by nightmares, seeing Beijing fall, the emperor hanged, and his family of over a hundred people brutally slaughtered, the men enslaved and the women forced into prostitution. He knew he couldn't continue living like this in a daze; if he didn't do something, he wouldn't have the face to meet his ancestors even in death.

Upon realizing this, Zhang Weixian stepped forward and loudly proclaimed: "I am honored by the late Emperor's favor and Your Majesty's kindness, and have been granted the position of Governor-General of the Capital Garrison, in charge of the three major camps of the capital and overseeing the twenty-six garrisons of the capital, and in charge of all affairs of the capital garrison."

The duty of the Beijing Garrison is to 'protect the capital and prepare for war,' but I recently conducted a thorough investigation of the actual situation of the Beijing Garrison, and what I saw and heard was shocking.

The Beijing Garrison was officially designated as three major battalions, with a total of 130,000 registered officers and soldiers. However, the actual number of soldiers in the garrisons was less than 20,000. The garrison was filled with redundant troops, and the problem of "ghost soldiers" (those who are paid without working) had been a long-standing issue.

Among the twenty-six garrisons, many soldiers deserted. Powerful local bullies and gentry wantonly seized military lands, while officers of all ranks in the garrisons, from commanders to junior officers, treated the soldiers like household slaves. Instead of organizing the soldiers for training and preparation for war, they forced them to do hard labor, perform various chores, and build houses for them.

Many soldiers in the garrisons had no land to cultivate to make a living, and their pay was repeatedly embezzled, leaving them penniless. The soldiers were extremely impoverished, unable even to get enough to eat. Because of their poverty, the men of the garrisons could not afford to marry, and even the daughters of the poorest tenant farmers were unwilling to marry into the garrisons. Left with no other choice, the soldiers resorted to exchanging sisters among themselves to continue their lineage.

Your Majesty, I wish to impeach Li Chunye, the Assistant Commander of the Capital Garrison. Every time I attempt to audit the garrison's accounts, he obstructs me in every way possible; his actions are highly suspicious. I suspect that the garrison's funds and provisions have been completely embezzled by Li Chunye and his accomplices. The situation in Liaodong is extremely critical, with bandits rising up everywhere, and the Ming Dynasty's rule hanging by a thread. Yet the Capital Garrison is in such a wretched state; how can this continue?!

Therefore, I humbly request Your Majesty's permission to reorganize the capital garrison, dismiss the old and weak, recruit the able-bodied, and, following the methods described in Qi Jiguang's *New Book of Military Tactics*, train a new army to protect the Ming Dynasty. I am filled with trepidation and await your command with utmost respect. Respectfully submitted!

Zhang Weixian's voice was like a booming bell, growing louder and louder until it was almost deafening. Upon hearing his memorial, the assembled officials fell silent for a moment.

When Li Chunye, the assistant commander of the Beijing Garrison, heard Zhang Weixian's impeachment, this high-ranking official of the second rank was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground. His colleagues scattered and retreated, avoiding him at all costs. It seems that this man's hands are indeed not clean.

However, it wasn't just the civil officials who were terrified by the Duke of England's scheme; most of the nobles were also bewildered as they looked at him. Only a few, who were clearly aware of the situation beforehand, remained calm.

Zhu Youjian looked at his elder brother with a solemn expression, and then simply said, "Have the Grand Secretaries of the Wenyuan Pavilion discuss and draft a decision."

"As for you," Zhu Youjian said, looking at Li Chunye with some disgust, "order the Embroidered Uniform Guard to conduct a thorough investigation, and then hand it over to the Three Judicial Offices for trial."

Zhu Youjian's arrangement was based on the principle of not offending anyone. The Jinyiwei was responsible for arresting people and confiscating their property, but the power to convict was left to the civil officials. They would not tolerate the emperor directly killing people, but they would not care about the death of one or two people in their own internal strife.

Since the Three Departments are sent to investigate, they will definitely find nothing. The only one who will suffer is Li Chunye, the assistant in charge of the Beijing Garrison. It won't implicate a whole bunch of people. After all, what if they really find something? Zhu Youjian is not as good as the old Zhu. He has twenty-six personal guards and can kill ten thousand people at will without a care. No matter how high your rank is, you have no ability to resist him.

"With such poor mental fortitude and bad interpersonal skills, not a single person will speak up for you when things get tough, yet you still dare to embezzle. Who else but you deserves to die?" Zhu Youjian thought to himself.
Zhang Weixian looked up in astonishment, staring at Zhu Youjian in bewilderment. Based on his understanding of the emperor's personality, shouldn't Zhu Youjian have been fired up after hearing his memorial and immediately declared his support? Why this attitude? Although Zhu Youjian hadn't explicitly stated his support or opposition, silence was the strongest statement imaginable!
Zhang Weixian's fierce eyes met Zhu Youjian's deadpan gaze across the void. Zhang Weixian was startled; he realized he couldn't see through Zhu Youjian's thoughts at all. Could this position really change a person so much? Were all the sons of the Zhu family born emperors?!

In the past, Zhu Youjian (Emperor Yongle) would openly express his joy and never hide his thoughts. This was understandable, as no one expected that he, a seemingly idle prince, would eventually become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Princes had their standards, and emperors had their requirements. Since the Yongle Emperor imprisoned the princes, the princes of the Ming Dynasty were no longer the incomparably powerful princes of the Hongwu era.

Zhu Youjian smiled bitterly to himself: "Brother, I'm saving you!"

Only after delving into history did he realize that it wasn't just the Ming emperors who were "subdued by the water," but also that dukes could be assassinated. The intrigues and schemes of the Ming court had long since lost all moral boundaries and disregarded all unspoken rules.

Zhang Weixian is only in his early thirties, has never been on the battlefield, lives a life of luxury, and is in excellent health.

However, just three years after he attempted to reorganize the Beijing garrison, in the third year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, he died suddenly.

His cause of death and the exact time of his death were erased by an invisible hand, and cannot be found in history books. A meritorious minister who had supported two emperors, the head of the nobility, who had finally achieved some success in training the capital garrison, and before he could even engage in real combat, he died—so suddenly, so inexplicably. What a tragedy!
An official from the Office of Transmission stepped forward and took the memorial from Zhang Weixian. The original would be sent to the Grand Secretariat, and copies would be sent to the Six Ministries.

In fact, the emperor could have accepted the memorial on the spot, read it, given his opinion, and then had the cabinet ministers vote in court. Generally, unless there were major disagreements, the cabinet ministers wouldn't necessarily want to oppose the emperor. However, this memorial on reorganizing the Beijing garrison was too significant and would obviously not pass so easily, so Zhang Weixian's plan was likely to fail before it even began.

Zhang Weixian watched in a daze as his memorial was taken away, as if his dreams and the courage he had finally mustered were also taken away. His initial enthusiasm waned, and a flicker of disappointment crossed his eyes—disappointment in the emperor.

He fought hard to move Zhu Youxiao to the palace to rule in his own right, preventing the court from falling into the hands of the Empress Dowager, eunuchs, and the Grand Secretary again. The Ming Dynasty could not afford to experience another Wanli era.

However, Zhu Youxiao was obsessed with carpentry and heavily relied on eunuchs, some of whom even dared to bark at him, the Duke, which greatly disappointed Zhang Weixian. He then eagerly supported Zhu Youjian's ascension to the throne, but still received no satisfactory answer, and his heart grew cold.

"Ministry of War," Zhu Youjian said calmly.

He didn't care what these people thought; who knew what they might come up with if they thought about it for too long? So he chose to ignore that and continue pushing forward with the court proceedings.

Minister of War Cui Chengxiu stepped forward, looking all respectable. As Wei Zhongxian's core ally and the leader of the eunuch faction, Cui Chengxiu, having discerned the Grand Eunuch's attitude, also began to obsequiously flatter Zhu Youjian.

The memorial began with a long passage of praise and eulogy, full of classical allusions and convoluted language, which made Zhu Youjian frown. However, this fellow was oblivious to his own fate, feeling good about himself and indulging in his long-winded discourse.

You're the Minister of War, aren't you?! What are you doing?! What do you want to do?!

It's a bit difficult. If I write about their memorials using the speech habits and format of real Ming Dynasty memorials, it will be quite hard to understand. I don't know the readers' cultural level, and even if they could understand it, would they be willing to go through the trouble of reading this stuff? If I use modern vernacular, it just doesn't feel right. I feel that the hardest part of writing history is choosing the right language. Sigh. Then I heard that it's best not to use profanity in novels because it will annoy readers, but I guess I'm used to it. Do you guys find it annoying when you see "damn it," "fuck," and "dog stuff" in it?!
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(End of this chapter)