Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 284 Reward and Lingchi

Soon, a large delegation of imperial envoys arrived at the city of Liaoyang.

Before this, Mao Wenlong had consciously led his cavalry around the moat and rushed to the garrison near the South Gate. His rank was too low, and he was not within the range of Xiong Tingbi's summons. If he had not accepted the mission from the imperial envoy, he would not have appeared here.

The carriage stopped in front of the moat, and the other three eunuchs from the imperial envoy's delegation immediately emerged, quickly approaching Cui Zhongqing. Then, they followed the horses' rear ends and slowly made their way to the moat. Xiong Tingbi and a number of high-ranking civil and military officials had been waiting there for a long time.

"Xiong Tingbi, Yang Lian, Yuan Yingtai, Li Huaixin, greet the imperial envoys." Led by Xiong Tingbi, the Liaodong generals took two steps forward and then bowed to the eunuchs in turn.

Cui Zhongqing felt a surge of joy and pride, akin to a fox imitating the dragon's might. This feeling of standing alone proudly while everyone else was walking was truly irresistible.

Cui Zhongqing wanted to look down and answer immediately, to borrow the "Dragon's Might" that he could only borrow once in eight lifetimes. But his eyes swept across the three civil servants at the head of the line, and suddenly he remembered that there was a madman named Yang here too!
He was the man who had impeached his powerful godfather to the point where he was nearly whipped to death. Even his godfather couldn't fight him, let alone him.

Cui Zhongqing took a few deep breaths, letting the lingering spring chill wash over his chest and cool his suddenly boiling blood. After recognizing his position, Cui Zhongqing put away his arrogance and slowly dismounted with the help of the cavalry.

As the pungent fragrance faded away, the horse seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and couldn't help but neigh twice to express its joy.

The cavalrymen, former miners, had never seen such a scene before. Unsure whether to stay or leave, they froze in their tracks. Cui Zhongqing didn't waste his energy considering a groom's feelings. After dismounting, he ignored him and, adopting a friendly and gentle demeanor, led the other three eunuchs toward the Liaoyang military and political leaders.

Cui Zhongqing stood a foot away from Xiong Tingbi and bowed with the proper ceremony of an official. Of course, he had never met or recognized this group of people. Furthermore, he had been so engrossed in the feeling of "looking down upon the world" that he barely caught the officials' names. Fortunately, they were wearing official uniforms, and Cui Zhongqing could guess their identities based on the court's uniforms.

"Greetings, Xiong Zuotang, Yang Zhongcheng, Yuan Zhongcheng, all the commanders, and all the generals!" Cui Zhongqing only needed to recognize the three civil officials. As for the military officers, they were merely there to make up the numbers; their names and achievements were unimportant.

The eunuchs' apparent respectfulness truly relieved the officials present. If the eunuchs, upon arriving at a local area, had acted pretentiously and displayed extreme arrogance upon their first meeting, even a wise emperor would have caused some disturbances. It now appeared that this group of people were likely merely representing the emperor to show favor to the Liaodong generals and would not cause any further trouble.

"May I ask your names, ladies and gentlemen?" Xiong Tingbi stood up and looked around in a friendly manner.

"I am Cui Zhongqing, Director of the General Affairs Department of the East Factory." Cui Zhongqing responded with a smile and bowed again.

"I am Zhang Yanshang, deputy director of the Audit Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs." Cui Zhongqing's attitude was like a benchmark. Since he bowed and smiled, Zhang Yanshang followed suit.

"I am Wang Liang, Deputy Chief of the Western Factory's External Audit Department." Wang Liang, also an auditor from the Southern Study's accounting team, was two years older than Wang Chengen. He still couldn't understand why the Emperor had chosen the youngest of them to be their leader.

"I am Feng Ke, the Junior Supervisor of the Internal Transport Treasury." Feng Ke had the highest nominal rank and was the oldest, but he could still tremble in fear with just a roar from the three men in front of him.

This lineup astounded all the civil and military officials present. Feng Ke aside, the other three were all prominent officials from prestigious, high-ranking government offices. In the past, seeing just one of them was considered unfortunate, but now with so many of them, the atmosphere felt surprisingly positive.

"The four imperial envoys have traveled a long way and have worked hard." Xiong Tingbi bowed again, then made room and showed the red-painted words carved on the stone at the west gate of the city to the eunuchs.

"No, no, no. Although we servants spend all day in the palace, we often hear about General Xiong's deeds. Ever since we received this imperial errand from our ancestors, we've been thinking about him all the time. Every day when we open our eyes, the first thing we want to do is to see him." Cui Zhongqing, quick-witted and eloquent, picked up the conversation and praised Xiong Tingbi fiercely. "With such a care in mind, how can we feel any hardship?"

"Haha, Imperial Envoy, you're too polite." Xiong Tingbi was stunned, a moment of annoyance. He chuckled dryly, but didn't respond to Cui Zhongqing's question. He had no interest in the eunuch's concern for him; he just wanted the eunuch to mention the newly built gate and wall casually after seeing it, so that he could explain the reconstruction process of the West Gate and even Liaoyang, and praise the emperor.

But to Xiong Tingbi's disappointment, Cui Zhongqing didn't seem to have any intention of asking about the door.

"Let's go. Let's go to the Jinglüe Yamen to announce the decree." Cui Zhongqing really had no intention of asking about the gate. He was shortsighted, and when he had just looked out at Liaoyang from the carriage, he could only see a vague outline. Now that he was closer, the inscription on the west gate was clearer, but still a blur, and he had to strain his eyes to see it clearly.

But Cui Zhongqing wouldn't do that, because he hadn't considered that aspect at all. Cui Zhongqing was a complete military idiot. Neither before nor during his journey had he bothered to carefully study Liaodong's layout; he had no concept of direction. The West Gate and the South Gate didn't matter. Compared to the sixteen gatehouses in the capital, they weren't anything impressive, nothing noteworthy. Xiong Tingbi's move was completely a waste of time.

"Okay. Let's go." Xiong Tingbi made a gesture of invitation, but silently shook his head and sighed in his heart.

--------

The four eunuchs, accompanied by three civil officials and surrounded by a group of military officers, walked to the Jinglüe Xingyuan, located in the eastern part of the city. Walking through the streets and alleys, not a single pedestrian was visible. This was because Xiong Tingbi had issued a city-wide curfew yesterday. As the saying goes, "People stay at home, soldiers stay at camp." Except for troops assigned to patrol the streets, guard the city walls, and maintain sentry duty, no one was allowed to wander around Liaoyang City until the ban was lifted. Anyone caught walking the streets would be arrested and held accountable.

From the Shenji Warehouse, where firearms and gunpowder were stored, to the Xingtaifu Temple, the Fenxun Dao, the Bingbei Dao, and the Yuanma Temple, Xiong Tingbi cordially and proudly introduced the yamen they passed to Cui Zhongqing, the head of the embassy. While introducing the yamen, he also discussed Liaoyang's military preparations, particularly the explosion of the Shenji gunpowder warehouse and the reconstruction of Liaoyang's west gate.

Cui Zhongqing appeared to be nodding his head in affirmation. But in reality, he took nothing to heart. Cui Zhongqing was simply here to get himself killed, and he had absolutely no interest in the military situation in Liaoyang. He essentially ignored it. Instead, the Western Factory Inspector, following behind them, silently took note of Xiong Jinglue's words.

After arriving at the Liaodong General's headquarters, Cui Zhongqing originally wanted to read the imperial edict directly. However, he had just ordered the East Factory officer in charge of the imperial edict to go and ask for the imperial edict. Yang Lian, who had been silent all the way, suddenly spoke up, "Your Excellency, before reading the imperial edict, it seems appropriate to pay homage to the emperor first, right?"

Cui Zhongqing was leaving the capital for the first time and had never heard of such a rule. However, he didn't think too much about it and obediently accepted this very reasonable suggestion.

Cui Zhongqing thought for a moment, then knelt facing south. "The capital is in the southwest. Due south is the North Sea," Yang Lian kindly reminded him.

"." Cui Zhongqing frowned and thought to himself: This guy is really good at dealing with trouble!
Cui Zhongqing stood up and looked up, his brows now relaxed. "You're right."

Then, under the leadership of the imperial envoy, everyone completed the sacred ceremony of paying homage to the emperor and father from afar.

"The decree has been issued." Cui Zhongqing stood up first, climbed the steps, and stood under the eaves of the main hall of the government office. The other eunuchs also stood up and followed, standing behind Cui Zhongqing.

Although they would have to kneel again later, the officials still stood up under the leadership of Xiong Tingbi. Before Cui Zhongqing produced the imperial edict, he was just himself, and he himself was not worthy of being knelt by the officials.

"The Emperor, by the Will of Heaven, decrees this." Cui Zhongqing took the imperial edict from the hand of the East Factory officer and gently unfolded it.

The officials immediately lifted their robes and knelt on the ground, kowtowed and shouted: "Long live!"

"The Governor Xiong Tingbi accepted the order in a time of crisis and tried his best to protect the country and calm the people's hearts; the Governor Yuan Yingtai was smart and strong, trained soldiers and repaired armor, and coordinated military supplies; the Inspector Yang Lian was concerned about the country and served the public, and worked tirelessly to tour dangerous areas; the Commander-in-Chief Li Huaixin was brave and resourceful, and responded to orders the next day; the Commander-in-Chief Chen Ce and the Deputy General Tong Zhongkui." The imperial edict used almost no repeated words to praise all the commanders-in-chief, deputy generals, and even some lieutenant generals who were present and absent in aid of Liao.

Under Cui Zhongqing's relatively resonant voice, the image of a compassionate, diligent, and wise man gradually emerged in the minds of most officials who had never met the new emperor. The few who had seen the emperor recalled his imagined smile, as warm as the sun, and began to immerse themselves in emotion.

"You, my civil and military officials, are all men I deeply admire for your dedication to protecting our country. I deeply remember your service, so I have ordered my eunuchs to travel north to Liaodong to bestow rewards upon you. While your loyalty and bravery are essential for killing slaves, I also hope that you will return to the court intact. I decree this!"

"We bow to thank the emperor for his grace! Long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long live the emperor!" Xiong Tingbi led the way in bowing and raised his hands above his head.

Cui Zhongqing climbed the steps down the stage, closed the scroll, and placed it in Xiong Tingbi's palm. After the roar died down, Cui Zhongqing could actually hear sobbing. He looked down and saw Xiong Tingbi, a man of steel, trembling slightly as he held the imperial edict.

--------

Naturally, rewards like silver, money, and colorful silk were not distributed on the spot. After the ceremony of receiving the imperial edict, the military commanders returned to their respective camps and performed their duties. Only Li Huaixin remained at the yamen with three civil officials to talk with the eunuchs.

"Please introduce them further," Cui Zhongqing spoke first. He pointed to Feng Ke, the Junior Supervisor of the Internal Transport Treasury. He added, "This is the Treasury Manager of the Internal Transport Treasury. He's the one who distributes the Emperor's rewards. I don't know the exact amount or how it's distributed. You can contact him about any coordination matters."

"Okay." Xiong Tingbi had calmed down. He first bowed to Feng Ke, then silently winked at Yuan Yingtai.

Yuan Yingtai nodded in understanding. Whether it was the disbursement of salaries or rewards, it was all handled by the team he led. Xiong Tingbi trusted him so much that he had recently stopped asking about the total amount and just made it a routine.

"This is the auditor from the Imperial Household Department," Cui Zhongqing pointed to Zhang Yanshang, the deputy director of the Audit Department of the Imperial Household Department's Liancaifang Audit Office. "He'll be there when rewards are distributed. If the warehouse manager is embezzling the reward, you can contact him." Cui Zhongqing gave Feng Ke no respect. In his view, the senior junior supervisor of the Chengyun Warehouse was no different from a servant. They all followed orders, only with a higher salary.

"Okay." Xiong Tingbi had heard about the major reforms in the inner court, but he was still surprised that the reforms had even reached the rewards for the front lines.

"That's all for the reward. Now let's talk about my job." Cui Zhongqing didn't introduce Wang Liang from the Western Factory. This was because Wang Liang's job was to supervise the three of them and not interact with local officials like Xiong Tingbi.

"Please speak, Imperial Envoy Cui." Xiong Tingbi gestured for invitation.

"I'm going on this long errand mainly for two reasons." Cui Zhongqing held up two fingers, then put his middle finger away. "The first is, of course, to lead the East Factory's guards to escort Shang Shang to Liaodong. And the second..." Cui Zhongqing dragged out the last word, finally revealing a sinister smile. "Do you all know Gao Huai?"

"Gao Huai?" Xiong Tingbi had impeached Gao Huai during his time as an inspector in Liaodong, so he was certainly aware of him. However, he hadn't heard of Gao Huai in the thirteen years since Emperor Shenzong recalled him in the 36th year of the Wanli reign. Unconvinced, Xiong Tingbi asked, "Is it Gao Huai, the Liaodong mining tax eunuch?"

"Who else could it be? It's him." The corners of Cui Zhongqing's mouth curled up higher and higher.

"What's wrong with him?" Yang Lian interrupted.

"He's dying," Cui Zhongqing said, "and His Majesty has ordered him to be lingchi (death slicing) in Liaodong."

"Lingchi!" Li Huaixin said in surprise.

"Yes, didn't they say the Liao people wanted to eat their flesh alive?" Cui Zhongqing witnessed the lingchi execution of Gao Shengguang during the demon book case. This extremely cruel punishment could bring out the most primitive cruelty in him. "The chefs from the East Factory I brought with me are all experienced and very skilled at slicing people."

"Didn't you see the prisoner carriage?" Yuan Yingtai, while meeting the prisoners at the gate, counted the number of carriages entering the city. According to his observation, the reward was at least 100,000 taels.

"How dare you put him in a prison cart? If you had, he would have been beaten to death by the Liao people along the way," Cui Zhongqing said. "That guy is even more carefree than us, riding in a carriage all by himself."

(End of this chapter)