GBP Chapter 479 The Summoning in the Imperial Garden
Chapter 479 The Summoning in the Imperial Garden
Gao Yingxiang sneered a few times upon hearing this. Chongzhen heard the sarcasm in the laughter and, enraged, asked, "Why are you laughing?"
Gao Yingxiang sarcastically said, "Even the old farmers in northern Shaanxi know this principle, yet you, the emperor of a nation, are not even as good as an old farmer. Farmers don't get a bigger harvest just because they work hard; it also depends on whether the land is fertile and whether God will provide food. If it's barren and dry land, no matter how hard you try, it's useless. Do you think being a good emperor is enough just by being diligent? If you are a good emperor, why are there so many people in the world who have no food or clothes, who are forced to wander far from home and sell their lives?"
Emperor Chongzhen was taken aback by the rebuke, then lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.
Wen Tiren stood among the officials, near the front, and could hear Gao Yingxiang's words clearly. Upon hearing this, he quickly interrupted him and said to Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, the time for presenting the captives cannot be delayed. Please move to the Meridian Gate immediately and do not listen to this rebel's nonsense. It would be better to seal his mouth."
Emperor Chongzhen shook his head. "There's no need for that. What he said makes sense. Governing a country is like farming; you have to fight against the land and against the heavens. How can I alone revive the Ming Dynasty..."
Although the words did not explicitly state that everyone present was worthless, the officials all understood the implied meaning, knelt down, and said in unison, "We are incompetent and deserve to die!"
"Rise, all of you..." Chongzhen said listlessly, "Don't miss the time for the presentation of the captives."
The final stop of the prisoner-of-war ceremony was at the Meridian Gate. According to the pre-arranged procedure, a minister would publicly read the victory report before the "enemy chieftain" was dealt with. The most suitable person for this task was the Minister of War. Although Emperor Chongzhen didn't particularly like Zhang Fengyi, who lacked unique insights into military affairs and was always dull and wooden during audiences, there was no better candidate, so the task had to be given to him. For this reason, Chongzhen appeared indifferent to this part of the ceremony, showing little interest in the lengthy preparations before the victory report was read, and listlessly looking around.
Suddenly, at the end of the crowd of officials participating in the presentation of prisoners, he saw a tall, imposing military officer. He was a complete stranger, and judging from his attire, he was not of high rank. Intrigued, he summoned Wang Chengen to inquire about him.
"How did this towering military officer get in? Judging from his appearance, he is of low rank and should not be qualified to participate in the ceremony of presenting prisoners of war."
Wang Chengen quickly said, "This servant will go and ask." He turned around and went down to inquire.
After a moment, he returned and reported: "Your Majesty, this man is the general who escorted the rebel Gao Yingxiang to the capital. He is a captain in Qionghai Town, and Gao Yingxiang was captured by him personally."
Emperor Chongzhen's eyes lit up: "Oh? He's actually the loyal minister who captured the rebel Li Zicheng. Once this matter is settled, arrange for him to come see me."
This minor incident did not affect the grand ceremony of presenting the captured prisoners. After Zhang Fengyi read out the victory report, Gao Yingxiang was taken to Caishikou and subjected to the cruel torture of being slowly sliced to death.
The common people called the death by a thousand cuts "death by a thousand cuts." Although it was incredibly bloody, it did not deter the public's keen interest in watching. The execution ground was packed with onlookers early in the morning. Gao Yingxiang was quite robust; he was cut 1560 times before bleeding to death. This leader of the refugee army died in the capital in the most tragic way, disappearing into the annals of history.
Lin San had no interest in witnessing such torture. He had personally witnessed the most brutal killings on the battlefield, but he was unaccustomed to torturing prisoners who were completely unable to resist; in his view, it was an act of cowardice. He was also unaware that he had been targeted by Emperor Chongzhen and was to be summoned. After patiently attending the lengthy ceremony of presenting prisoners, he felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders and decided that he would never participate in such ceremonies again. The words of those civil officials were both verbose and boring; the battlefield suited him much better. Just as he was preparing to pack his belongings and return with his men, several eunuchs, escorted by palace guards, found him, saying that someone wanted to see him.
Lin San didn't know what the eunuch's visit meant. He thought it was some high-ranking official or prince who wanted to see him. He wanted to refuse, but then he thought that this was the capital city under the emperor's nose, and anyone on the street was more powerful than him. It would be a small matter if he got into trouble, but it would be difficult to explain if he caused trouble for his general. So he followed the eunuch's instructions and went alone without any subordinates.
The eunuch led him through the Xuanwu Gate, which was the main gate for daily entry and exit within the palace. Lin San had been to the Meridian Gate during the presentation of captives and assumed that the palace only had one main gate. Now, seeing the equally majestic Xuanwu Gate, he thought it was the residence of some high-ranking official and muttered to himself, "This residence is too grand; it's almost as grand as the emperor's."
After passing through numerous palaces, the group arrived at the Imperial Garden. Lin San was already quite disoriented when they suddenly came to a garden. He saw strangely shaped rocks scattered throughout, lush trees, and ancient cypress and vine trees, all hundreds of years old, which made the garden very charming. He was filled with envy, thinking that this high-ranking official really knew how to enjoy life. He was living like a god here! He had originally thought that the General's South Garden was the best place, but he never expected that there was always something better. This place was many levels above the South Garden.
After circling around to the vicinity of a pavilion, the young eunuch stopped leading the way and instead let him enter the pavilion on his own.
Lin San was puzzled. He went into the pavilion and saw that there were already two people inside. One of them was sitting on a stone bench. He looked to be in his twenties and was wearing a bright yellow crane cloak. He was not old, but he had a lot of white hair on his head and his face was very pale, as if he had been overworked for many years. The other person was about the same age and was dressed similarly to the eunuch who had led him into the palace. He was standing to one side and did not sit down.
The seated man asked him, "Are you Lin San, the commander of Qionghai Town?"
Lin San was used to being called the captain of the guards, so he was a little unaccustomed to the title of Qianzong. He paused for a moment before remembering that he seemed to have been given the title of Qianzong to deal with the imperial court, and then nodded.
The one who asked the question was naturally Emperor Chongzhen. He looked Lin San up and down and exclaimed, "Only a god-like person like him could capture a formidable bandit like Gao Yingxiang!"
Wang Chengen also said, "I've seen many military generals, but this is the first time I've seen one so strong and brave." Seeing that Lin San was stunned and didn't know how to reply, he reminded him, "Commander Lin, why don't you tell the Emperor about your capture of Gao Yingxiang?"
Lin San still didn't know that the person sitting opposite him was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He misheard "Your Majesty" as "Prince" and thought he was a prince or nobleman who had nothing better to do than listen to a story. So he replied, "Your Majesty, if you don't mind, I'll tell you about how we captured Gao Yingxiang."
Emperor Chongzhen exchanged a surprised glance with Wang Chengen, wondering where things had gone wrong. Perhaps the eunuch who had brought him into the palace hadn't explained things clearly, leaving this man unaware of who was sitting before him even after entering the palace. However, Chongzhen's life in the deep palace was dull and uninteresting, and he had never encountered such a coincidence before. Finding it amusing, he couldn't help but laugh.
Wang Chengen grew anxious and quickly reminded him, "How rude! Do you know who this person is?"