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

Chapter 40 Zhu Youjian was afraid of death, and so were the civil officials; the emperors of the Zhu family had a history of such fears!
In mid-October, the Sichuan White-Clad Army set off from Shizhu, heading northwest into Shaanxi. After crossing the Guanzhong Plain, they moved east into Shanxi, then advanced northeast from southern Shanxi, crossing the Taihang Mountains into Hebei, and finally reaching the Beijing area via Baoding. The entire journey covered 4,000 li and took one and a half months.

The long and arduous march had left the army exhausted: the straw sandals they wore were a mix of old and new, clearly made on the spot along the way; the cloth shoes with embroidered soles were carried on their backs, too precious to wear.

Having endured countless hardships and nearing his destination, Ma Xianglin was in a bad mood. Being thousands of miles from home with an uncertain future was hardly pleasant for anyone. This dissatisfaction reached its peak a few days later when he was turned away at the gates of Beijing.

The gates of the capital were tightly shut, and the troops stationed on the city walls were on high alert. The court was bewildered, for the Ministry of War had not issued any orders to mobilize troops, and Ma Xianglin did not appear to be plotting a rebellion. Therefore, only one possibility remained: these three thousand White-Spear Soldiers had been summoned by the emperor without his consent. What was he doing? Was the emperor planning a rebellion?!

Four cabinet ministers, together with the ministers of the six ministries, knocked on the palace gates and dragged Zhu Youjian, who was fishing for koi in Taiye Pond, out of the palace.

"Oh, you mean the White-Spear Soldiers? That's right, they were dispatched by me. They won a battle, didn't they? The late Emperor devoted himself to the She-An Rebellion, and the White-Spear Soldiers killed She Chongming. It's reasonable for me to have them carry the late Emperor's coffin to comfort him, isn't it?" Zhu Youjian said calmly.

Grand Secretary Li Guoyu sneered inwardly: Reasonable?! The victory report clearly states that on September 7th, Ma Xianglin and his mother, Qin Liangyu, were still launching a night attack on Zunyi City; the capital only received the victory report on September 12th. Even if it were delivered by the fastest courier, it would only be October 15th now. Could these White-Spear Soldiers have sprouted wings and flown here? The order to mobilize troops was clearly sent out long ago. Judging by the timing, it was probably issued by the emperor only a few days after his ascension to the throne.

“Your Majesty, according to ancestral rules, the capital should be protected by the Beijing Garrison. It is against the rules for foreign troops to enter the capital. The coffin of the late emperor can be carried by the generals of the Han Dynasty. Why should we send foreign troops?!” Although Li Guoyu was perfectly clear-headed, he still gave the emperor some face and did not directly expose his clumsy excuse.

"The Imperial Ancestral Instructions state that 'military officials are not allowed to participate in the affairs of the Nine Ministers.' Has Your Majesty forgotten the lesson of Dong Zhuo's chaotic rule during the Han Dynasty?" Grand Secretary Huang Lijie feigned a pained expression.

"Dong Zhuo?! He's nothing but three thousand White-Spear Soldiers, yet he dares to compare to the hundreds of thousands of troops of Xiliang?!" Zhu Youjian sneered. "The Great Ming Code states: 'When a victorious army enters the city in full regalia, the commander-in-chief shall play triumphant music and present the prisoners and spoils before the Imperial Ancestral Temple.' What are your intentions in obstructing us like this?!"

Since Zhu Youjian ascended the throne on August 24, the "you're good, I'm good, we're all good" relationship between the Ming emperor and his ministers has been maintained until today, when the most intense conflict finally erupted more than a month later.

The civil officials were extremely disgusted by the emperor's arbitrary actions and feared the situation would spiral out of control. However, Zhu Youjian could not always entrust his life to the mercy of others. He had not expected that these civil officials would be so sensitive to the emperor's intrusion into military power. He thought he had been cautious enough, but he still encountered such fierce resistance.

In any case, the White-Spear Army must enter the city today; otherwise, the emperor himself might be doomed.

After a heated argument with the cabinet ministers and the six ministers, Zhu Youjian, on horseback with a bow and spear in hand, and surrounded by his personal guards, forcibly opened the city gates for the White-Spear Soldiers.

Ma Xianglin was dumbfounded: The emperor himself came out of the city to greet him, when did he have such great influence?! All the resentment he had felt along the way turned into astonishment and overwhelming flattery.

"Your Majesty, I, Ma Xianglin, Pacification Commissioner of Shizhu, pay my respects!"

"No need for formalities! Minister Ma, you have traveled a long way and must be exhausted," Zhu Youjian said sincerely. After speaking, he took Ma Xianglin's arm and they entered Beijing together. That very day, three thousand White-Spear Soldiers took over the defense of the Forbidden City, becoming the White-Spear Guards. Ma Xianglin was appointed commander of the White-Spear Guards, fully responsible for the palace's security. The three thousand White-Spear Guards worked in three shifts, rotating through the city.

After the Tumu Crisis, only the Embroidered Uniform Guard remained of the Twenty-Six Imperial Guards, along with the Tengxiang Left Guard, Tengxiang Right Guard, Wuxiang Left Guard, and Wuxiang Right Guard. The other guards had been merged into the Beijing Garrison and were no longer under the direct command of the emperor's imperial guards. They were subject to the control of civil officials in all aspects, including administration, personnel, and salaries.

It's one thing to seize power, but after the civil officials took control of the Beijing Garrison, its combat effectiveness rapidly collapsed. It was as if the civil officials were inherently incompatible with soldiers, and they wished they could castrate the country's army.

Since the Jiajing era, it had become customary for the commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to be selected by the imperial court. The military examinations were replaced by essays and policy discussions, and those who passed were almost all sons of civil officials. The Embroidered Uniform Guard was originally the private domain of the nobility, but now the sons of the nobility could only hold nominal positions within it, and those in charge of its affairs were almost entirely civil officials.

It can't be said that the Embroidered Uniform Guard was completely abolished, but they certainly weren't the emperor's men. The Embroidered Uniform Guard's function wasn't to specialize in espionage. The Embroidered Uniform Guard captains were specially created to deal with the fact that there were many powerful people in the capital, and the lowly yamen runners dared not interfere. They were high-ranking yamen runners who did the work of city management and police stations.

Zhu Youjian could only directly control the pitiful two thousand men of the Four Palace Guards. Although the Four Palace Guards belonged to the Imperial Horse Administration and were managed by the eunuchs of the Imperial Horse Administration, and their officers were selected from the inner court system or the sons of nobles, it was still impossible to guarantee their absolute cleanliness. Compared to the White-Spear Soldiers who had fought their way up from the battlefield, their combat effectiveness was questionable.

The White-Spear Soldiers weren't familiar with him, so claiming their loyalty was obviously nonsense. But at least they were relatively clean to him, because the White-Spear Soldiers had no reason to kill him, the emperor. Zhu Youjian didn't believe that civil officials could be so powerful as to infiltrate the White-Spear Soldiers, a chieftain two thousand kilometers away. If they really did, then he would accept it; their deaths would be their own fault.

As for loyalty, that can be cultivated. It's easy for those in power to bestow favors; if they can't even win people over with that, they deserve to die!
That night, Zhu Youjian slept soundly, but many people in the capital couldn't sleep. The curfew was practically meaningless to them, and the residence of Grand Secretary Huang Liji was lit with candles all night long.

The next day, Zhu Youjian went to court as usual, acting as if nothing had happened. The civil officials did not mention the previous day's events again, as if the matter had simply passed. But this tacit understanding between them was the most chilling thing!
The civil service group—a term often ridiculed as a conspiracy theory—was, in Zhu Youjian's view, an objective reality.

Just like the civil servants of later generations, you can't just cover your eyes and say that what you can't see doesn't exist. While their organization may not be extremely tight, their behavioral logic is similar, and they can easily form a collective consciousness, making similar judgments and handling methods for things.

When there are more women in this group, they tend to protect women's interests; when there are more spies, they tend to betray the interests of the country.

The civil service group is not so mysterious, but it will certainly instinctively protect the interests of the gentry, after all, "there are only people who betray their own class, not classes that betray their own class!"
Zhu Youjian was afraid of death, and so were the civil officials; the emperors of the Zhu family had a history of such behavior!
Although this incident was extremely ugly, the emperor currently showed neither the inclination nor the power to carry out a bloodbath in the court. Therefore, everyone reluctantly accepted the emperor's outrageous actions. This was the familiar scene; if the emperor of the Ming Dynasty didn't cause some trouble, the ministers would think that the person sitting on the dragon throne was a fool.

Zhu Youjian was always a very upright person. He knew what he was doing, and his ministers knew what the emperor was doing. He also knew that his ministers knew what he was doing. Everything was out in the open, and he openly and honestly rejected any intrigue or scheming. What bad intentions could he possibly have? He simply wanted to get a good night's sleep. What a simple wish!

I feel this chapter will be very controversial. I don't know if you can accept my explanation. If you have any different opinions, please speak up.

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(End of this chapter)