Late Ming Dynasty: From the Defeated Soldiers at Daling River to Ascending the Throne

On the tenth day of the tenth month, at Santunying.

That night, the private residence of Wang Weicheng, the general of Jizhou, was brightly lit.

A banquet table was set up in the main hall. Wang Weicheng sat in the main seat, and a middle-aged man in a red robe sat to his left.

This man was fair-skinned and beardless, and spoke with a slightly high-pitched voice. He was Zhang Guoyuan, the supervising eunuch who had just arrived that day.

After the coup, Emperor Chongzhen became increasingly distrustful of civil and military officials because his ministers always "shirked responsibility and failed to investigate effectively." In addition, the situation at Dalinghe had become urgent in the past two months.

In September, Emperor Chongzhen dispatched Wang Yingchao, Deng Xizhao, and others to the Jizhou and Guanning regions to monitor the income and expenditure of military provisions and the rewards and grants to various border regions.

The eunuch supervisor system was officially implemented in October, and Zhang Guoyuan had just been sent to the Jizhou Eastern Garrison and arrived today.

Wang Weicheng naturally knew the emperor's thoughts and dared not neglect this chief eunuch in the slightest, so he specially prepared a banquet to entertain him.

Since the governor was not present, Wang Weicheng was the only official in charge of hosting the banquet for Zhang Guoyuan. The rest of the guests were officials of various ranks in Jizhou.

"General Wang," Zhang Guoyuan picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, "have we heard there's been some activity at Xifengkou?"

Wang Weicheng's heart tightened, but he smiled and said, "Your father-in-law is well-informed; there is something I need to discuss."

"Oh?" Zhang Guoyuan put down his chopsticks. "What is it?"

Wang Weicheng hesitated for a moment, but still spoke: "A group of people came in from outside the pass, claiming to be from Ningyuan. They said they infiltrated the heart of the Later Jin territory, blew up the grain supply camp, and even killed a Jiala Ezhen."

Zhang Guoyuan's eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up. "Is this really true!?"

Wang Weicheng was somewhat surprised by Zhang Gonggong's reaction and carefully chose his words: "This is what was reported from Xifengkou: the leader is a Qianzong of Shanhaiwei, and his identity has been verified."

Zhang Guoyuan hurriedly asked, "Is the leader named Chen Feng? Is he a former member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

Wang Weicheng gripped the wine glass tighter.

How did this eunuch know about this?

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Upon seeing Wang Weicheng nod, Zhang Guoyuan's expression changed drastically. "Where is he now?!"

"Since Chen Feng is under General Song's command, I, as the General of Jizhou, have no authority to deal with him. Therefore, I ordered Xifengkou to send them to Shanhaiguan." Wang Weicheng looked at Zhang Guoyuan's expression. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Zhang Guoyuan paced back and forth a couple of times, his expression gradually softening. He returned to his seat and said, "General Wang's arrangements were not inappropriate; it was I who lost my composure. Let's drink, let's drink."

Seeing Zhang Guoyuan's reaction, Wang Weicheng was unsure of the situation and forced a smile, saying, "Please, Eunuch Zhang."

After downing a glass of wine, Zhang Guoyuan asked again, "When will Chen Feng set off? Is it possible to stop him?"

Wang Weicheng's gaze fell on one of his military advisors.

The military advisor rose and bowed, saying, "Reporting to Eunuch, according to Zou Yuan, the garrison commander of Xifengkou, those people set off at noon the day before yesterday. If they traveled quickly, they should have passed Yongping Prefecture by now."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guoyuan's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, but he immediately smiled and said, "That's excellent."

Zhang Guoyuan's change in expression did not escape Wang Weicheng's notice, but he did not expose him. He smiled and raised his wine cup, "Eunuch Zhang, I toast you."

The banquet continued, but because Zhang Guoyuan was preoccupied, he lost his appetite and took his leave early to return to the inn.

Zhang Guoyuan was extremely anxious.

Just half a month ago, Sun Chengzong, Wang Yingchao, Qiu Hejia, Zu Dashou, and Song Wei simultaneously sent an urgent message to the capital.

After the news of the defeat at Dalinghe was delivered, although Zu Dashou successfully broke through the encirclement, the supervising officer, Zhang Chun, was killed in battle, and the 40,000-strong army was almost completely wiped out.

Sun Chengzong took some of the responsibility upon himself and did not show favoritism to either side.

Qiu Hejia, Zu Dashou, and Song Wei shifted the blame to each other, each saying that the other should be responsible.

Qiu Hejia went even further, saying that Zhang Chun disobeyed military orders and betrayed the country.

But strangely, several military reports mentioned the same name: Chen Feng.

This man infiltrated Yizhou, blew up the Later Jin's grain and fodder camp and gunpowder depot, and killed more than 3,000 enemies.

The Wang, Qiu, Zu, and Song families all claimed that they instructed Chen Feng to do this.

Zhang Guoyuan and Wang Yingchao were both eunuchs in the Imperial Horse Administration, and Zhang learned of this matter from Wang Yingchao's letters.

In his letter, Wang Yingchao said that Chen Feng seemed to be from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but there was no such person in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's files, and no information about him could be found.

This person disappeared after the explosion at the Later Jin's grain and fodder camp. There is a very small chance that he left the pass through Yizhou and entered the pass through Gubeikou or Xifengkou.

Therefore, Wang Yingchao instructed Zhang Guoyuan, Shao Xishao, and others to keep a close eye out, and if they found this person, they must make him admit that he was instructed by Wang Yingchao to do this.

If this matter succeeds, Wang Yingchao will attribute the credit to the Imperial Horse Administration, and everyone will benefit from it.

Zhang Guoyuan was also very excited when he heard the news. With the Imperial Horse Administration having made such a great contribution, it was not impossible to restore the glory of the Western Depot.

He had only asked Wang Weicheng a casual question at the banquet, but unexpectedly, they had actually run into each other by chance.

Shanhaiguan has already received news of Chen Feng, which means they are very likely to be the first to be informed.

No, this credit must go to the Imperial Horse Administration alone!

With this in mind, Zhang Guoyuan went to the desk and began to write a letter.

After finishing writing, Zhang Guoyuan summoned the young eunuch who was by his side outside the door, "Take this letter to Eunuch Gao at Shanhaiguan, and set off tonight! Be quick!"

"Yes, this servant will go right away." The young eunuch bowed his head, accepted the order, and left the room.

Before the young eunuch could leave, Zhang Guoyuan called him back, "Wait a moment."

Zhang Guoyuan took the letter back and resealed it with sealing wax in a new envelope.

He handed the sealed letter to the young eunuch, patting it heavily. "Remember, this letter must be delivered to Eunuch Gao personally. No one is allowed to open it before Eunuch Gao!"

"This servant understands."

Zhang Guoyuan finally felt a little relieved as he watched the young eunuch leave.

Chen Feng has been traveling from Xifengkou for two and a half days and will arrive at Shanhaiguan in less than two days.

If his men rode at full speed, they might be able to arrive before Chen Feng.

The "Eunuch Gao" he mentioned refers to Gao Qiqian, who later became the Director of the Imperial Horse Administration. Like him, Gao Qiqian was away supervising the army and was currently at Shanhaiguan.

If Gao Qiqian had known about this beforehand and intercepted Chen Feng in advance, then he would have had a great chance of taking all the credit for himself.

........................

After seeing Zhang Guoyuan off, Wang Weicheng's face darkened.

Judging from Zhang Guoyuan's reaction, could it be that Chen Feng has some connection with this group of eunuchs?

He pondered for a while and suddenly realized: the eunuch wanted to take all the credit for the battle.

It has been confirmed that Chen Feng is a centurion under Song Wei.

Chen Feng appears to be from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Although the eunuch faction collapsed, the Embroidered Uniform Guard still had ambiguous relationships with these eunuchs.

If this eunuch gets there first, can Song Wei outmaneuver the Imperial Guards?

Wang Weicheng and Song Wei have a good personal relationship, so he needs to inform his old friend about this matter.

He summoned his personal guards and whispered a few words of instruction to them.

A quarter of an hour later, Wang Weicheng's three servants mounted fast horses and rode out of the city gate overnight.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Guoyuan's personal eunuch, accompanied by three Imperial Guards, also left the city.