Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 666 The Many Faces and Forms of All Beings
Dangdang Dangdang!
"It's dry and dry, be careful with the candles!"

Dangdang Dangdang!
The second watch had already passed, but the Incheon Protectorate was still brightly lit.

Li Liting, the Grand Protector-General, sat silently behind a large desk. He looked haggard, his eyes were lifeless, and although they were wide open, it was as if he was not seeing anything.

The professor in charge of education, the commander of the navy, and other officials and gentry, including those without official rank but wielding considerable influence, were all seated below Li Liting. Everyone remained silent, some lost in thought, others exchanging glances.

Dangdang Dangdang!
"The weather is dry, be careful with fire!" The night watchman's voice faded into the distance, and some people couldn't sit still any longer.

"Prefect! It's past midnight. Will the gates be open tomorrow morning or not? You need to give me a definite answer!" Jin Dadian, the deputy general in charge of city defense and the opening and closing of the city gates under the command of Lin Chengye, the Vice Commander-in-Chief, was the first to get impatient.

"What's your hurry?" Before Prefect Li Liting could even speak, the eunuch who was always close to him jumped out to take the blame for him. "Envoy Lin and Judge Chen haven't returned yet!"

"Yes, we don't know the attitudes of the Ming army or Wangjing yet, so it's too early to say whether or not to open the gates. Let's wait and see." The professor who managed the local schools and was responsible for the training of students for the imperial examinations and the education of etiquette still held the same attitude of "let's wait and see."

"Wait, wait! You old fool, all you know is to wait!" Jin Dadian raised his hand and slammed it on the tea table beside him. "It's summer now. Before dawn, it'll be light. Are you going to go up to the city wall and get shot by then?"

"General Kim, let's talk this out!" The person in the second seat glanced at Kim Daejeon and scolded in a low voice, "Who are you trying to convince with all this banging and clattering!"

"Hmph! Cui Zhongyuan," the city defense commander sneered, "when the enemy is at the city gates tomorrow morning, it won't just be a commotion from me!"

"So what do you mean?" a voice drifted from the shadows where the candlelight didn't reach.

"Just say what you want to say, there's no need to beat around the bush." ​​Although the naval commander, who had been chased ashore by the Ming army's horn cannons, spoke up in agreement, his eyes were still fixed on the crack in the floorboards at his feet, as if there was a piece of silver that could be pulled out with his gaze.

"Commander Hu." Jin Dadian, gripping the armrest, turned to look at the naval commander surnamed Hu, and followed up on the question. "Do you think our small force of old, weak, and disabled soldiers can hold out on the city wall for more than a few hours?"

"My troops are all outside the city; they should have been disarmed by now," the naval commander said calmly.

This was a classic case of beating around the bush, and Jin Dadian immediately reacted defensively. "If you abandon your troops and flee, the censors and regents will hold you accountable!"

"What responsibility are you going to pursue? Whose responsibility are you going to pursue?" Hu Wanhu looked at the city defense commander. "I just came back to report as usual. I originally intended to leave the city after reporting, but the city gates were closed and I couldn't get out."

"I can open the city gates and let you out right now!" Jin Dadian slammed his hand on the tea table and stood up.

Hu Wanhu glanced sideways at Jin Dadian, but quickly focused his attention back on the crack in the brickwork. "What if the Ming army takes advantage of this and rushes in?"

"Why didn't you say that when Judge Zhang left the city!" Jin Dadian said, hands on his hips, his eyes seemingly spitting fire.

Hu Wanhu remained silent for a while, and finally shamelessly said, "My mind was a complete mess back then, but I'm only clearing up a bit now."

The "False" Golden Ceremony subconsciously wanted to mock Hu Wanhu for his "hypocrisy," but he quickly realized that such sarcasm could not solve the imminent crisis. He took a deep breath and followed Hu Wanhu's words: "According to Hu Wanhu, are you suggesting that Prefect Li should shut himself in and defy the heavens?"

“I didn’t say that, don’t make baseless accusations.” Hu Wanhu frowned.

"Then why are you afraid that the heavenly soldiers will take the opportunity to rush in!" Jin Dadian is making such a fuss now to guide or force people to take a stand. What kind of stand someone takes is not so important.

If someone supports opening the city gates, they can evade responsibility for "initiating the opening of the city gates," and if Hanyang investigates later, they can use this to justify themselves by saying they were just following the crowd. Conversely, if someone opposes opening the city gates, they can also shift the blame for resisting after the Ming army breaks down the city gates and enters Incheon.

Hu Wanhu was a seasoned official, so how could he possibly continue along with Jin Dadian's words at this moment? He quickly calmed down, raised his head and asked in return: "So, General Jin, aren't you afraid that the Ming army will take the opportunity to enter the city?"

Jin Dadian's brows furrowed, and he quickly changed the subject: "Since Hu Wanhu is afraid that the Heavenly Army will take the opportunity to enter the city, then I can have someone lower you down from the city in a basket!"

"What's the point of leaving the city now?" Hu Wanhu retorted dryly, then a thought flashed through his mind, and he casually threw out a question that would get people to "take a stand": "Or rather, what does General Jin want me to do outside the city?"

Jin Dadian knew he couldn't get anything useful out of Hu Wanhu, so he simply turned to Li Liting and said, "Prefect! Give me a definite answer on whether the gate will be open tomorrow morning or not, and I'll do whatever you say!"

"Let's wait a little longer. Even in summer, it's still more than two hours before dawn." Li Liting still had the same wide-open but lifeless look as before, as if the verbal argument between Jin Dadian and Hu Wanhu had never happened.

Jin Dadian let out a long breath and slumped back into his original position, gripping the armrest.

The lobby quickly quieted down, returning to its previous state of complete silence.

"Prefect! Gentlemen!" About fifteen minutes later, the gatekeeper's figure suddenly appeared at the entrance of the hall, accompanied by shouts. "Judge Chen, Judge Chen is back!"

"Please come quickly!" Li Liting's empty eyes instantly regained their sparkle.

--------

Chen Ning'en strode into the lobby, and instantly all eyes were on him.

"Judge Chen, it's past midnight! Why are you only just getting back? Do you know how long everyone has been waiting here?" Before Chen Ning'en could even bow to the crowd, Jin Dadian's provocative voice flew over.

"Exactly, anyone who didn't know better would think you'd run away." The voice from the shadows drifted out as well.

Chen Ning'en was already harboring a lot of frustration and fear, and was in need of support from his colleagues. Little did he know that the first thing he did was to be criticized and sarcastic.

A surge of anger rose in his stomach and he spewed it up his throat: "Jin Dadian! Admiral Shen's camp is set up by the port, and it's about fifteen miles from the government office. There are also ceremonial guards and supplies along the way, so how fast can I go!"

"Even if it's slow, it shouldn't be like this."

"Why are you still talking about this now!" The head of the second seat glared at Jin Dadian, then stood up and gave up his seat: "Yuanliang, come and sit down. Don't bother with this cowardly and spineless coward."

"Cui Zhongyuan, what did you say!" Jin Dadian shouted angrily.

“You know perfectly well what I’m saying.” Cui Zhongyuan stepped forward to help Chen Ning’en up. “Enough!” Li Liting snapped, managing to stabilize the situation. Once Chen Ning’en was seated, he asked, “Yuanliang, have you seen that General Shen?”

"I saw him." Chen Ning'en looked dejected and slumped in his chair, looking like a wilted eggplant.

"What did he say?" Li Liting quickly asked.

Chen Ning'en stared intently at the mud on the toes of his boots. "It's still the same idea. If they don't open the gates, we'll attack the city."

"How could this be?" Li Liting raised his hand to his forehead, immediately touching the furrowed brows. "How did you talk to him?"

“Nothing was discussed.” Chen Ning’en’s voice was hoarse, like an old woman tearing at a piece of old foot binding cloth. “That General Shen only asked one question and then kicked me out.”

"What question? How did you answer it?" Li Liting asked.

"Hehe." Chen Ning'en raised his head, looked at Li Liting, and gave a bitter laugh. "General Shen asked if the governor of Incheon Prefecture was named Li Liting. I said yes, and he kicked me out."

Li Liting was stunned, frozen in place for a long time without saying a word.

"Hmph! I knew it," a local gentry official sitting in the upper middle seat secretly rolled his eyes at Li Liting, and said sarcastically in a seemingly low but audible tone, "How could a general of the Celestial Empire possibly say much to a mere assistant judge? General Shen might even be cursing our Incheon Prefecture for being cowardly and rude." At the end, the official smiled at Chen Ning'en. "Judge Chen, I didn't mean to criticize you. You've worked hard; you've done a good job."

These words were like daggers, cutting to the bone, but Li Liting could only bow his head and endure them. Finally, it was the other supervisor, who was always close to Li Liting, who pulled him back by changing the subject: "Judge Chen, have the rice, grain, wine, and meat for the army been sent out?"

Chen Ning'en didn't particularly like this sycophant, so she ignored him. Instead, she stared at Jin Dadian and said, "I didn't send it out. I brought it back; otherwise, I wouldn't have waited until now to return."

The junior official who was close to Li Liting originally wanted to add, "Since the Ming army accepted the food and drink, the situation isn't too bad," after Chen Ning'en gave an affirmative answer. But with Chen Ning'en's reply, he could only smile awkwardly and lower his head.

"Hehe." Jin Dadian chuckled twice, as if to express his apology to Chen Ning'en. Then, he turned his gaze to Li Liting's face: "Prefect Li! Now that Judge Chen is back, will the gates be open tomorrow morning or not?"

Li Liting ignored Jin Dadian's question and instead asked Chen Ning'en, "What is the appearance of the Ming army?"

"Their military bearing is impeccable, their imposing presence truly makes them a force of nature." Chen Ning'en looked intently at Li Liting, roughly understanding his meaning, and then added in a complementary tone: "If they were to launch a full-scale attack, Incheon might not even last half a day."

These remarks caused no stir. In the eyes of these Koreans who had rebuilt their nation after its fall, the fact that Korean soldiers could not stop Japanese soldiers and that Japanese soldiers could not defeat the Heavenly Army was an unshakable truth. If someone were to say that Korean soldiers could directly confront the Heavenly Army, they would think that person was out of their mind.

Li Liting's expression softened slightly, and he continued, "Have you found out why the heavenly soldiers suddenly came to my territory?"

"Hey," the local gentry, Bie Jian, who had previously been so vehemently criticizing Li Liting, interjected sarcastically, "Judge Zhang was chased away after saying only one sentence. How are you expecting people to find out anything?"

“Exactly, it’s just a matter of whether to open the door or not. Why go on and on about all that?” A young gentryman sitting next to the local gentry supervisor chimed in quietly.

"Since the heavenly soldiers didn't take the wine, meat, rice, and grain meant for their army, could the government please return my ox?" An old local gentryman, Che, sitting at the end of the table, took the opportunity to whisper to himself, trying to get his ox back.

“Forget about the rice and sheep, just give me back the cow,” another local gentryman said.

"What are you doing?! What are you trying to do?!" Cui Zhongyuan slammed his hand on the table, causing Li Liting's tea to spill. "Don't you know any manners?! Is this the time to talk about this?"

As the leader of the local gentry, Cui Zhongyuan contributed the most grain and livestock, including three oxen. His statement deterred the other gentry who were eager to participate.

Li Liting glanced gratefully at Cui Zhongyuan, then turned his gaze to Chen Ning'en: "Yuanliang, why are these heavenly soldiers here? Even if General Shen won't say, you must have asked around from other people, right?"

"Oh dear," Chen Ning'en sighed. "Although General Shen didn't waste any words with me, he kindly gave me a proclamation."

"What proclamation!" Li Liting suddenly leaned forward, almost pressing his entire body onto the table.

“It’s a guardianship issue. Never mind,” Chen Ning’en said, swallowing back her words. Then, she carefully took out a long roll of paper from her pocket and handed it to Cui Zhongyuan, who was standing there. “You can take a look for yourself. Thank you.”

Cui Zhongyuan took the long paper and immediately wanted to unfold it to read it, but he gritted his teeth and held back. "Prefect Li, please take a look first."

“Okay.” Li Liting took a deep breath, trembling as he accepted and unfolded the proclamation.

"What does it say?" Cui Zhongyuan leaned forward and peeked out. Everyone else in the hall held their breath, casting eager glances in Li Liting's direction. Jin Daedian, the most impatient of them all, even stood up.

"Your Highness..." Li Liting gasped for breath as soon as he opened his mouth. "Your Highness has been... has been deposed by the Emperor." The more Li Liting looked, the weaker his body became. In the end, he slumped down, his chest resting on the edge of the table.

"What? What happened to His Highness?" Li Liting asked weakly, as if he were just muttering something, and even Cui Zhongyuan, who was closest to him, couldn't hear him clearly.

"Your Highness has been deposed by the Emperor! Those heavenly soldiers and generals have come to punish you!!" Li Liting opened his mouth, screamed like a ghost, and then collapsed as if he had suffered a stroke.

"Prefect Li! What's wrong with you!"

"How could you faint at a time like this?"

"Come on, come on!"

"Go find my lover!"

"What should we do?"

"Judge Chen, you must decide whether to open the gate tomorrow morning or not!"

The yamen was thrown into chaos, with all sorts of voices mingling together, making it impossible to tell who was shouting what.

(End of this chapter)