Chongzhen's Confession, The Purge Begins

Silence!

An overwhelming quietness.

A group of idlers chatting at the entrance of the vegetable market all cast strange glances at the young man who spoke out.

The young man himself was somewhat puzzled, unable to understand why they looked at him that way.

After a while, an older man shouted angrily, "Sanwa, what nonsense are you spouting? The White Spear Soldiers are from Sichuan; how could they have come to Beijing?"

"Uncle Li, I’m telling the truth. The White Spear Soldiers really have arrived in Beijing."

Sanwa grew anxious and hurriedly explained, "Really, this afternoon when I was delivering goods outside the city, I overheard some merchants talking about it."

"Fine, if the White Spear Soldiers have come, then those two gangs of scoundrels deserve a good lesson."

"Don’t talk nonsense. The White Spear Soldiers might just be passing through Beijing on their way to aid Liaoning, just like eight years ago."

"Who cares? It’s none of our business anyway."

…

Idle words spoken without intent are often heard with interest. Such casual chatter quickly spread.

Gradually, it reached the ears of Beijing’s gentry and court officials.

All the officials who heard the news were greatly startled. After the initial shock, they prepared to go to the palace to pay their respects to the emperor. But the moment they stepped outside, they were stopped by the night patrols of the Five-City Patrol Department.

“Sir, curfew has begun. Without Minister Li’s written order, no one is allowed to leave.”

“Step aside! I have urgent military intelligence to present to His Majesty. You can’t afford to delay this.”

“Show the order. Without it, you’d better stay put. You should know what happened to those people a few days ago. Don’t make things difficult for us.”

“You… you all…”

The same scene played out all over the city, without exception, everyone was turned away by the Five-City Patrol Department.

“Brother Wang, what if these people really have urgent military intelligence? What if we block them…”

“Are you stupid? If it’s truly urgent, the Ministry of War or the Capital Garrison would notify us. What do these people have to do with it? This is obviously a ruse.”

“I’m just saying, what if it’s true?”

“What does it matter to us? We’re just following Minister Li’s orders. Even if it reaches His Majesty, we’re in the right. Come on, let’s continue patrolling.”

The officials who were turned away were furious, but there was nothing they could do. The newly appointed commander of the Five-City Patrol Department also held the post of Left Vice Minister of War and acting head of the Ministry of War.

Throughout the night, the ministers in Beijing couldn’t sleep in their homes, filled with all kinds of speculation.

Finally, when court convened, the ministers rushed out at once.

An hour later, at the Meridian Gate, all the ministers were gathered.

When the palace gates opened, the ministers entered the Hall of Imperial Supreme Harmony.

Coming out of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Chongzhen was whispered to by Wang Cheng’en, “Your Majesty, last night Minister Li Banghua sent word that the city is abuzz with talk about the White Spear Soldiers entering Beijing. All the ministers tried to go out last night but were stopped by Minister Li’s night patrols. Right now, the ministers probably haven’t had a chance to share the news with each other.”

“Let them talk. It’s already decided; no waves can be made,” Chongzhen replied with a faint smile.

Upon arriving at the Hall of Imperial Supreme Harmony and completing the formalities, the Grand Secretary Shi Fenglai immediately stepped forward.

“Your Majesty, I impeach Qin Liangyu.”

Chongzhen feigned surprise, “On what grounds?”

“Qin Liangyu led troops into the capital without orders from the Ministry of War or the Grand Secretariat. This is outright rebellion.”

“Qin Liangyu acted under my imperial command. What crime is this?” Chongzhen directly admitted. The forced march of over a hundred li completed in a day left nothing to hide.

All the ministers were shaken, harboring suspicions, but never expected it was the emperor himself.

After the shock, Shi Fenglai quickly asked, “Your Majesty, may I ask why you have ordered the White Spear Soldiers into Beijing?”

“Your Majesty, bypassing the Ministry of War, the Grand Secretariat, and the Directorate of Ceremonial is a violation of ancestral protocol.”

“We earnestly request Your Majesty to order Qin Liangyu to withdraw her troops to Zhongzhou!”

“Your Majesty, what if rebellion breaks out again in the Shizhu area while Qin Liangyu leads troops into the capital?”

…

“Enough!” Chongzhen shouted angrily, standing at the platform’s edge. “The entire realm is my domain, and all under heaven are my subjects. Must I report to you on everything I do?”

“Your Majesty, this…”

“Silence!” Chongzhen roared again, cutting off Shi Fenglai.

“Li Ruolian, surround the Hall of Imperial Supreme Harmony. Not a single fly shall enter without my order. No one is allowed to enter or leave—even to use the privy—without an escort.”

“Li Banghua, immediately close all gates of the inner and outer city of Beijing. Except for those gathering military intelligence, no one shall come in or out. You are personally responsible for this and command all city defenses.”

With the city gates closed and a thirty-meter-wide moat outside, no one could fly in or out, let alone pass messages.

The gate closure was not only to prevent message transmission but also to guard against the Duke of England and others—what if they suddenly switched sides?

Chongzhen glanced coldly at the ministers before turning away, planning to deal with those holding military power thoroughly before settling scores with them.

After Chongzhen left, inside the Hall of Imperial Supreme Harmony, the ministers’ expressions varied. The eunuch faction gathered together, faces dark and fearful.

Few who had risen to such positions were fools. By now, they clearly understood the situation.

Beijing was guarded by twenty-one garrisons, the Tengxiang Four Garrisons, the Jinyiwei, and the Capital Garrison—tens of thousands of troops. Outside, there were military towns at Jizhou, Xuanfu, and Datong with tens of thousands more soldiers. Why summon troops from thousands of li away like the White Spear Soldiers?

Clearly, His Majesty did not trust the troops around Beijing. The only purpose of summoning the White Spear Soldiers was to quell factional strife.

As followers of the eunuch faction, they were surely to be purged.

Their leader Wei Zhongxian was probably still in the dark and could not be relied upon.

Trapped inside the Hall, unable to send messages, they were as fish on the chopping block, awaiting slaughter.

The Donglin and Zhejiang factions also looked grim. Judging by the new emperor’s methods, he was no gentle soul.

If the eunuch faction was purged and they still dared to resist, the emperor would not hesitate to strike them down.

They seemed to see shadows of the Hongwu and Yongle Emperors in this new ruler. At that thought, the ministers shivered, their eyes filled with terror.

Others, like Minister of Revenue Guo Yunhou, devoted to the country and people, showed joy in their eyes. Without factional strife, the Ming dynasty would have a chance to breathe.

Back in the Eastern Warm Pavilion, Chongzhen stood at the door, gazing southwest toward the direction from which the White Spear Soldiers were approaching.

“Your Majesty, the Fang family reports that the White Spear Soldiers are only 180 li from Beijing. Considering message transmission time, they should be less than 130 li away from the city now and will reach outside Beijing at the latest by tomorrow’s early morning.”

Listening to Wang Cheng’en’s report, Chongzhen nodded.

“Daban, send people to Gaoyang to urge Sun Chengzong to hasten his arrival in the capital!”

“Wang Cheng’en, take men to the Directorate of Ceremonial, detain all personnel there, seize the seals and all official documents, and bring them to the Eastern Warm Pavilion. Bring extra blank imperial edicts as well.”

“Fang Zhenghua, accompany them. On the way, stop by the Imperial Stud and detain the chief eunuch Liu Yingkun and others!”

The gates were sealed, the city under strict control, and the new emperor’s decisive measures had already begun.