sovbooks Chapter 123 Your position determines your perspective; your perspective determines your thinking.
Chapter 123 Your position determines your perspective; your perspective determines your thinking.
Chapter 123 Your position determines your perspective; your perspective determines your thinking.
Chapter 122 The 16th day of the first month of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, in the capital, at the Office of Transmission.
The memorials impeaching Chen Ying came in like snowflakes. The censors of the Censorate had actually agreed to take turns attacking him with full force.
"Your Majesty, I impeach Chen Boying, the Commander-in-Chief of Daming, for recklessly provoking border conflicts and wasting money and provisions. His crime deserves death!"
"Your Majesty, I impeach Chen Boying, the Commander-in-Chief of the Daming Army, for abusing his military power, disobeying orders, and harboring rebellious intentions!"
"Your Majesty, I impeach Chen Boying, the Commander-in-Chief of the Great Ning Army, for colluding with eunuchs, cultivating a private clique, and plotting treason!"
Memorials were sent to the Office of Transmission, then to the Grand Secretariat, and finally to the desk of the Directorate of Ceremonial. Officials in the Ming Dynasty had low salaries, especially the censors and remonstrance officials. Their official positions were very low. Generally speaking, the term "remonstrance official" was a general term, which included the Six Ministries' Supervising Secretaries, who were of the seventh rank, as well as the Left and Right Supervising Secretaries and Supervising Secretaries of the seventh rank. The Thirteen Circuits of the Censorate were also of the seventh rank.
Even a seventh-rank official's annual salary was only 90 shi of grain, which, converted into rice, was equivalent to about 50,000 RMB. Such an income would be enough to live comfortably in a remote county town, but the problem was that in the capital, this income was barely enough to keep a family from starving, and their quality of life was hardly anything to speak of.
The biggest source of income for censors was actually acting as gunmen to impeach opposing forces. For example, when the Donglin Party impeached Chen Boying, each censor was paid 500 taels of silver for the seventh rank and 800 taels of silver for the regular seventh rank. A total of more than 100 censors and censors impeached Chen Boying, spending tens of thousands of taels of silver in total.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty was actually somewhat similar to the later Great Ming Dynasty. The censors and officials in the Ming Dynasty were like those who discussed matters. Most of them were biased and spoke up for whoever paid them money.
Soon, Wang Tiqiankun, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, delivered one hundred and twenty-seven memorials impeaching Chen Boying to Wei Zhongxian.
Although Wei Zhongxian was illiterate, he flipped through these memorials, his face shifting between anger and uncertainty: "What kind of hornets has Chen Boying stirred up?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, I heard that people from Jiangnan have arrived and are holding a grand banquet at Houhai for three consecutive days!"
"From Jiangnan? What's their connection to the Donglin Party?"
"Isn't this obvious?"
Wang Tiqian laughed and said, "With Lord Chen's trip to Shuangchengwei, he has surpassed Grand Secretary Sun, and the Donglin Party is getting anxious!"
Wei Zhongxian stood up, paced a few steps in the duty room, and suddenly stopped: "Someone, go and invite Xu Xianchun over!"
Xu Xianchun arrived in a hurry not long after.
"Godfather, what are your orders?"
Wei Zhongxian pushed the memorial in front of Xu Xianchun: "Look at this, these people are trying to kill Chen Boying."
Xu Xianchun flipped through the pages, his expression changing slightly: "Godfather, someone must be stirring things up behind the scenes. The Donglin Party members can't sit still anymore."
"It would be strange if they could handle it!"
Wei Zhongxian sneered, "They're afraid that if Chen Boying really destroys the Jurchens, His Majesty will definitely stop the Liaodong military pay, and cutting off the Liaodong military pay is their source of income!"
"So, what does my godfather mean?"
"Go to the police station and tell Chen Boying to fight well, fight hard. We'll take care of things in the court for him. But there's one condition: he has to win. If he wins, everything will be fine. If he loses, we can't protect him either."
Xu Xianchun bowed and said, "Your son understands."
Meanwhile, in the capital, the atmosphere in a mansion where members of the Donglin Party were secretly gathering was so heavy it was almost palpable.
Hou Xun sat at the lower end of the table, with a copy of the official gazette spread out in front of him. It contained a record of the recent military situation of Chen Ying, the commander of the Da Ning army. The army had reached Xianping, and the vanguard was pointing directly at Tieling, causing shock in Shenyang.
"One hundred and twenty-seven impeachments were ignored."
Hou Xun slowly opened his mouth, his face full of bitter smiles, and said, "Wei the eunuch suppressed all the memorials submitted by our Donglin comrades, and they were never even sent to the Emperor."
The hall was deathly silent.
The memorials impeaching Chen Boying flew into the Office of Transmission like snowflakes, but they disappeared without a trace, leaving no mark. The officials they had bribed at great expense had all gone down the drain.
Yang Lian, the former Left Vice Censor-in-Chief and now a commoner, frowned and said, "Brother Taizhen, if the impeachment fails, are we just going to watch Chen Boying take down Shenyang and achieve another great victory? If so, Wei Zhongxian's arrogance will only grow stronger. Will we, the Donglin Party members, still have a chance to survive?"
Hou Xun remained silent for a long time before suddenly saying, "Since impeachment won't work, let's try another method."
Everyone's spirits lifted.
Hou Xun turned around, his gaze intense: "Didn't Chen Boying win the great victory at Shuangchengwei? Let's recommend him for credit. The bigger the better, ideally let the whole world know that Chen Boying is a peerless hero."
Yang Lian was taken aback: "Brother Taizhen, are you trying to flatter me to death?"
"Yes, it's a case of 'praise to death'."
Hou Xun pondered for a moment and said, "Isn't Chen Boying a formidable warrior? Let's elevate him to the heavens, let His Majesty know, let the whole world know, that Chen Boying, the Commander-in-Chief of Da Ning, with 20,000 newly recruited soldiers, decisively defeated 100,000 Jurchen cavalry, pursued them for 1,300 li, beheaded tens of thousands, and his might shook Liaodong. Shouldn't such a great achievement be reported back to the capital? Shouldn't it be reported to His Majesty in person? No matter how arrogant Chen Boying is, he can't possibly disobey His Majesty's decree, can he?"
Everyone suddenly realized.
Yang Lian slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed in admiration, "This plan is brilliant! If he returns to the capital, the front lines will be leaderless, and the Jurchens can seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack. If he doesn't return, it will be seen as disobeying the imperial decree and holding onto his troops for personal gain, leaving him in a dilemma. Let's see how he ends up!"
Hou Xun nodded: "After you all return, contact your fellow graduates and fellow townsmen, and submit a petition together. Don't mention impeachment, just say you want to claim credit. Let those opportunists from the Luo, Qin, Chu, and Wu factions get moving too. Don't they want to curry favor with Wei the Eunuch? Give them the chance."
A few days later, the wind direction in the court suddenly changed.
"Your Majesty, we offer our congratulations! Commander Chen Boning of Da Ning has achieved a great victory at Shuangchengwei, inflicting a crushing defeat on the Jurchens, who were pursued for over a thousand li by Commander Chen!"
"Your Majesty, I request that you summon Chen Boying, the Commander-in-Chief of the Great Ning Army, back to the capital to present his victory and demonstrate Your Majesty's might!"
"The great victory at Shuangchengwei, with tens of thousands beheaded and pursued for thousands of miles, is truly the first great victory since the founding of the Tianqi Dynasty. Chen Boying's achievement is comparable to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing of the Han Dynasty, and Li Jing of the Tang Dynasty!"
"We humbly request Your Majesty to generously reward Chen Boying to encourage the soldiers!"
One after another, memorials requesting commendations flew into the Office of Transmission. This time, it wasn't impeachment, but commendation. What's even more interesting is that not only members of the Donglin Party submitted memorials, but also members of the Luoyang Party, Qin Party, Chu Party, and Wu Party followed suit.
They were unaware of the Donglin Party's schemes; they only knew that Chen Boying was Wei Zhongxian's man, and that praising Chen Boying was tantamount to currying favor with Wei Zhongxian—why not? In just a few days, more than three hundred memorials praising Chen Boying were submitted.
When the news reached the Directorate of Ceremonial, Wei Zhongxian's expression changed instantly.
"Praise to death—what a brilliant way to praise to death! This is putting Chen Boying on the hot seat!"
Wang Tiqian asked cautiously, "Grand Eunuch, what should we do? This matter has already blown up; His Majesty will find out sooner or later!"
Wei Zhongxian did not answer. He stood up, paced a few steps in the duty room, and suddenly stopped: "Go to the Qianqing Palace."
In the West Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao, was bent over his desk, intently working on a newly made model ship. He carefully shaved the wood with a small knife in his hand, and wood shavings fell one after another.
"Your Majesty!"
Li Yongzhen entered and reported, "Eunuch Wei requests an audience."
"Let him in."
The Tianqi Emperor didn't even raise his head.
Wei Zhongxian entered, knelt down and bowed: "This servant greets Your Majesty."
Get up.
The Tianqi Emperor put down the knife, flexed his fingers, and asked, "What is it?"
Wei Zhongxian rose, carefully choosing his words: "Your Majesty, recently many ministers in the court have submitted memorials requesting credit for the great victory at Shuangchengwei. They earnestly request Your Majesty to summon Chen Boying, the commander of the Da Ning Army, back to the capital to present the victory report."
"A major victory at Twin Cities?"
The Tianqi Emperor became interested: "When did this happen? Why didn't Chen Boying report it to the emperor?"
"This—this servant is ignorant of military affairs and cannot fathom Chen Boying's thoughts. However, he is currently leading over 30,000 new soldiers towards Shenyang—"
The Tianqi Emperor instantly understood the trickery involved: "How many people have submitted memorials now?"
"Your Majesty, there are already more than three hundred copies."
Emperor Tianqi smiled and said, "This Chen Boying has really made me proud. I remember he was just a lowly military household who made a few farm tools. I found it interesting, so I transferred him to Shahe. He won a battle in Sanjiang. Everyone said that he was just lucky. But the truth came out quickly. He actually won such a great victory."
He stood up, walked to the window, looked at the early spring scenery outside, and slowly said, "It is only right to present a victory report. I also want to meet him and hear how he won the battle."
Wei Zhongxian's heart tightened, but his face remained calm: "Your Majesty is wise. However, Chen Boying is currently at the front lines. Although the Jurchens have been defeated, they have not yet recovered their strength. If he returns to the capital now, I'm afraid—"
"What are you afraid of?"
The Tianqi Emperor turned to Wei Zhongxian and said, "Afraid the Jurchens will take the opportunity to counterattack? I still have Sun Chengzong, Ma Shilong, and hundreds of thousands of troops in Liaodong. Will the sky fall down if we lose Chen Boying?"
As the saying goes, one's position determines one's perspective, and one's perspective determines one's thinking. In the eyes of Hou Xun and others, they could praise Chen Boying to death or recall him to give the Jurchens a chance to breathe. However, Zhu Youxiao, as the emperor, considered the overall situation and the world. He actually did not want Chen Boying to take risks. Winning one battle was luck, but winning two battles would prove Chen Boying's ability.
More importantly, Chen Boying was very young, his crown prince was still young, and the Tianqi Explosion had not yet occurred. Emperor Tianqi wanted to continue to use Chen Boying and make him a leading figure in the Ming army to boost the morale of the Ming Dynasty. This was actually far more useful than killing a few thousand more Jurchens.
Chen Boying was able to train the Shahe New Army and the Daning New Army, and in just a few months he defeated the Jurchens one after another, which made him very happy. At this time, Chen Boying only had five guards under his command, and the Ministry of War transferred six more guards over there. In the future, he could transfer even more troops over there.
Wei Zhongxian dared not say anything more.
The Tianqi Emperor sat down again, picked up his knife, and continued carving his ship model: "Issue an edict to summon Chen Ying, the commander of the Da Ning Army, back to the capital to present the victory report. Tell him to bring back all the captured Jurchen flags, drums, seals, and prisoners. I will hold a victory report ceremony at the Meridian Gate so that the whole world can see how the soldiers of my Great Ming Dynasty win battles."
"This servant obeys the decree."
Wei Zhongxian bowed and withdrew.
As he walked out of the Qianqing Palace, Wei Zhongxian muttered to himself, "Chen Boying, Chen Boying, this is not a good test for you."
The Tianqi Emperor issued an edict ordering Chen Boying, the commander of the Da Ning region, to return to the capital to report on the victory. This message was relayed to the Grand Secretariat, which quickly drafted an imperial edict and sent it to Liaodong.
At this time, the Ming court was unusually efficient. The imperial edict was drafted and issued in less than two hours. The moment the edict was sent from the Qianqing Palace, the news spread like wildfire to every corner of the capital.
At a secret gathering of Donglin Party members, Hou Xun held his teacup, unable to suppress the smile on his lips. He looked around at his equally delighted colleagues, gently blew away the foam on the surface of their tea, and slowly said, "Gentlemen, Chen Boying has no choice but to return this time, whether he likes it or not."
"Brother Hou's plan is truly killing two birds with one stone! If he returns to the capital, the front lines will be leaderless, and the Jurchens will surely seize the opportunity to counterattack; if he doesn't return, it will be considered disobeying the imperial decree, and how will he explain himself to His Majesty? He's caught in a dilemma; let's see how he handles the situation!"
"That's not all. Didn't Chen Boying rise to power through military exploits? This victory report in the capital will be a perfect opportunity to show the world what he's really made of. Twenty thousand new recruits, crushing a hundred thousand Jurchens? Ha, that's just empty talk, who would believe it?"
Everyone echoed their agreement, and the hall was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation.
Hou Xun put down his teacup and said seriously, "However, everyone must not be careless. Wei Yan will not sit idly by, and Chen Boying is not to be underestimated either. We need to add fuel to the fire and leave him with no way out."
"How do I add it?"
Someone asked.
Hou Xun pondered for a moment and said, "First, send someone to Liaodong to spread the news that the court is recalling Chen Boying and the Da Ning army is leaderless. The Jurchens will definitely take action if they hear this. Second, continue to build momentum in the court and get more people to submit petitions urging Chen Boying to return to the capital as soon as possible. Third—contact the people in the capital garrison. In case Chen Boying really dares to defy the imperial decree, we need to have a backup plan."
Everyone was taken aback and nodded in agreement.
"Brother Hou's plans are profound and far-sighted; I cannot wait for them."
Meanwhile, the Donglin Party had already begun celebrating their victory, and at the same time, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs was on duty.
Wei Zhongxian leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed, his fingers tapping the armrest unconsciously. Wang Tiqian stood to the side, not daring to breathe.
"His Majesty's decree shows that he is determined to bring Chen Boying back."
Wei Zhongxian finally spoke, a bitter smile on his face: "I can't stop them."
Wang Tiqian asked cautiously, "Master Eunuch, what should we do?"
Wei Zhongxian opened his eyes, his gaze cold and stern: "What should we do? Send a message to Chen Boying, telling him to prepare. Also, tell Xu Xianchun to keep a close eye on those Donglin Party members. They're too smug."
He stood up, walked to the window, looked at the gray sky outside, and slowly said, "This game isn't over yet."
Five days later, in Xianping City, at the Ming army's temporary camp.
Chen Ying stood before the map, clutching a secret letter that had just arrived from the capital. The letter, written in Wei Zhongxian's own hand, was extremely concise yet carried immense weight: "His Majesty summons you back to the capital to report on the victory; the Donglin Party members are celebrating their promotion. Make a swift decision."
Chen Ying remained silent for a long time, then brought the letter close to the candlelight and watched it slowly burn to ashes.