Chapter 41: Li Banghua Ambushed and Waylaid

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Lord Li Banghua is in trouble!"

As soon as Wang Chengen finished speaking, he quickly added, "Li Ruolian just came to report that the inn where Lord Li Banghua was staying caught fire. When Lord Li emerged from the inn, more than a dozen men in black with masked faces rushed forward and started hacking. The four guards responsible for protecting Li Banghua immediately fought back. Seizing the opportunity, Li Banghua jumped on a horse and charged out. Those men pursued him in waves, chasing him all the way to the palace gates before scattering. During his escape, Li Banghua was slashed once on the leg and once on the arm, but his life is not in danger. I have already arranged for imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy to go and bandage Lord Li."

By this time, the Chongzhen Emperor had already dressed, his face so gloomy that water seemed ready to drip from it.

"Summon the Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard on duty today!"

"Summon the Commandant of the Five-City Gendarmerie and the Garrison Commanders!"

"Summon the Supervising Censor!"

"Summon the Minister of War!"

"Summon the Commander of the Capital Garrison!"

"Have them meet Me at the Meridian Gate."

The Chongzhen Emperor's voice was as cold as frost, brimming with murderous intent.

Li Banghua had entered the capital in secret, and only a handful of people knew about it; none of them would have leaked the information. Therefore, the only way his presence could have been exposed was if someone happened to recognize him on his way to the Eastern Warm Pavilion, or while he was wandering around the city of Beijing.

Li Banghua was renowned for his upright character and iron-fisted impartiality. There were many things he could do upon entering the capital, but they essentially boiled down to three possibilities:

First, entering the Censorate to fill the vacant post of Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, since the previous occupant, Cao Yubian, had been executed by the Chongzhen Emperor.

Second, entering the Ministry of War. The Minister of War, Cui Chengxiu, had been demoted to Senior Vice Minister of War and was temporarily in charge of the ministry. Li Banghua had once served in the Yizhou military defense, and the Tianjin garrison had become a model for all regional commands. Not long ago, His Majesty had disciplined the Capital Garrison, from which it could be deduced that summoning Li Banghua to the capital was meant to reorganize military affairs—handling the Shaanxi peasant rebellions, the mutinies of relay station couriers, and perhaps most likely, cracking down on the Capital Garrison.

Third, entering the Ministry of Personnel to reform the civil service administration, as he had once submitted ten proposals on the employment of officials to the Wanli Emperor and possessed extensive experience in this area.

No matter which path it was, it was something officials in the capital extremely loathed to see. For this man dared to directly confront both the Wanli and Tianqi Emperors, and even had the audacity to lock horns with Wei Zhongxian. Once targeted by him, one would lose a layer of skin even if they survived.

The Chongzhen Emperor could keenly sense that this incident was undoubtedly connected to the Eunuch Faction and the Capital Garrison.

The city of Beijing relied on the Five-City Gendarmerie for public security and night patrols, with guards operating in pairs within their respective districts. For dozens of men in black to cause such a massive commotion while the Gendarmerie arrived so belatedly, and for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to remain unaware, spoke volumes.

Someone must have reassigned the night patrol personnel. The only ones with the authority to do that were people from the Eastern Depot, the Ministry of War, and the Capital Garrison.

Worse still, the deed might have been done by the Five-City Gendarmerie themselves. He had heard that the current Five-City Gendarmerie initially caught thieves, then concealed the existence of thieves, and finally profited from thieves, colluding with them and losing all public trust.

"These people really cannot wait any longer!"

Wearing a heavy cloak, the Chongzhen Emperor arrived at a room beside the Meridian Gate and saw Li Banghua, who had already been bandaged.

"How are Lord Li's injuries?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, both of Lord Li's wounds are superficial. I have already applied medicine, and he will recover fully after resting for half a month."

"Use the finest medicine!"

After saying this, the Chongzhen Emperor looked at Li Banghua again: "Lord Li, rest assured, I will certainly obtain justice for you."

A quarter of an hour later, the summoned officials arrived one after another outside the Meridian Gate. They exchanged glances, their eyes filled with bewilderment.

"Seeing that Li Banghua is not dead, are you all very disappointed?"

The Chongzhen Emperor pointed at Li Banghua, who was seated in a chair, and shouted coldly. The dozen or so men below broke out in a cold sweat instantly.

"Beijing, beneath the very feet of the Son of Heaven, and yet such a horrifying outrage occurs! Burning down an inn and hunting down a court minister—will the day come when these people burn down the imperial palace and hunt Me down?"

"What are you officials of the Five-City Gendarmerie good for? What do you do on your night patrols? Sleep, or go gambling and listen to tunes?"

"Li Ruolian, drag all the night patrol personnel from the inn's district out and give them each ten heavy military beatings! Arrest the commander, deputy commander, and clerks of that district and throw them into the imperial prison! No one is allowed to see them without My permission!"

As soon as the Chongzhen Emperor finished speaking, Li Ruolian waved his hand. Two Embroidered Uniform Guards immediately charged into the crowd, dragging an official out, followed by several more guards rushing off into the distance.

"I don't care what methods you use. If you fail to investigate and produce results before dawn, I will have your heads."

"Get out of My sight, all of you!"

With an angry shout from the Chongzhen Emperor, the group scattered like startled birds.

The area before the Meridian Gate fell silent once more. The Chongzhen Emperor stared at the distant sky, where the glow of fire could still be faintly seen. The veins on his hands, hidden beneath his heavy cloak, throbbed violently.

Li Ruolian dropped to his knees: "Your Majesty, it is my fault for failing to protect Lord Li. Please punish me!"

"Get up!"

The Chongzhen Emperor waved his hand. "This matter has nothing to do with you. If they hadn't intercepted and killed him today, Li Banghua would still have faced assassination once he entered the court to reform military administration. It was only a matter of time. However, this has reminded Me—you must properly arrange for Li Banghua's safety. I do not wish to see such an incident happen again."

"This subordinate understands!"

Having made the arrangements, the Chongzhen Emperor did not return to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, but instead went to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to rest.

At that very moment within Beijing, several official yamen went into action simultaneously, with squads of guards holding torches searching everywhere throughout the city.

Cries, clamor, and the neighing of horses mingled together, plunging the entire city of Beijing into a state of utter uproar.

Early the next morning, just as the Chongzhen Emperor finished his breakfast, Li Ruolian arrived.

"Your Majesty, the pursuit and assassination of Li Banghua last night has been investigated and solved."

"Speak!"

"Your Majesty, Zhao Songjiang, commander of the Eastern City Gendarmerie, confessed that he accepted a bribe of one hundred taels of silver from Ni Wenhui to privately reassign the night patrolmen away from the vicinity of the inn. When we arrived at Ni Wenhui's residence, Ni Wenhui had already committed suicide. He left a letter stating, roughly, that he recognized Li Banghua when the latter was leaving the palace gates. He had previously impeached dozens of people, including Li Banghua and Zhou Shunchang—some suffered demotion and deprivation of rank, while others were tortured to death. Fearing that Li Banghua would seek revenge upon his return, he struck first. As for those men, based on the two who died at the scene, identification and confessions revealed them to be members of the Gendarmerie, and this was not the first time they had done such a thing."

Listening to this, the Chongzhen Emperor sneered. "He chose to commit suicide at a truly convenient time."

"Your Majesty, this subordinate believes that Ni Wenhui was merely a scapegoat for this incident. The Five-City Gendarmerie is subordinate to the Ministry of War; without an official warrant from the Ministry, the Gendarmerie could not have mobilized. Ni Wenhui and the Minister of War, Cui Chengxiu, are two of Wei Zhongxian's 'Five Tigers.' This matter was most likely instigated by Wei Zhongxian, with Cui Chengxiu issuing the warrant and Ni Wenhui responsible for the execution."

"Although I think so too, without solid evidence, let the matter rest here. There is no need to dig any deeper for now. We will settle this score in a few days."

The Chongzhen Emperor waved his hand. "However, we cannot simply let the matter of Ni Wenhui pass just like that."