Chapter Twenty-Seven: Balancing Civil and Martial Virtues

After Chen Guan left, Wang Zhen lingered for a moment where he stood before continuing toward the banks of the Western Water River, a faint look of worry on his face.

Along the way, two more men came to pay their respects. One was Wang Shan, an Assistant Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the other was Ji Guang, an Assistant Commander of the Palace Army Vanguard.

Both the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Palace Army Vanguard were imperial troops among the twenty-six elite guards, directly loyal to the emperor. The former served as the emperor’s eyes and ears, specializing in investigations and the pursuit of crimes among officials; the latter was charged with the security of the palace.

In the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign, Wang Zhen observed that civil officials in court repeatedly suppressed the military, causing the status of military officers to decline ever more rapidly. Fearing that this trend would lead to disaster, he advised the emperor that governance must balance civil and military affairs, that both should be honored and advanced. If civil matters overwhelmed military ones, the country’s martial readiness would inevitably degrade, and everyone would take pride in literary pursuits and scorn military service. As this fashion grew, capable men would refuse military posts. In times of peace this might pass, but should war arise, civil officials would be unversed in military matters, while the officers would all be incompetent—how then could the nation withstand its enemies?

During the reigns of the founding emperor, Taizong, Renzong, and Xuanzong, though civil affairs were honored, the military was never despised. Thus, the nation was strong, respected by all its neighbors, its fortunes rising with each day, and its people prosperous and at peace. In contrast, the current reign seemed set on the opposite path. To avoid the decay of martial preparedness, Wang Zhen specially requested that the emperor review the troops outside Chaoyang Gate, to declare before the court that governance must balance both civil and military, and must not lean to either extreme.

Ji Guang, who had been an Assistant Commander of the Longqing Right Guard, distinguished himself at this grand review outside Chaoyang Gate, earning first place in mounted archery. The emperor took notice and promoted him from assistant commander to assistant commander of the Palace Army Vanguard, entrusting him with palace security.

Wang Shan, meanwhile, was Wang Zhen’s own nephew. Before Wang Zhen entered the palace, he had already earned his licentiate degree, but having failed to pass the higher exams and with no future in the civil service, he remained in the county as a school instructor. He had married, but had only a daughter, and so was especially affectionate toward his nephews, Wang Shan and Wang Lin. After rising to power, he brought them both to the capital, securing for them posts as Assistant Commander and Deputy Commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard—truly, when one man rises, his whole family ascends with him.

The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Ma Shun, and the chief eunuch of the Eastern Depot, Tang Tong, both remained in the capital and did not accompany the army. The guards and secret police were the emperor’s eyes and ears; as His Majesty led the army in person, Ma and Tang, as their chiefs, naturally stayed to oversee court affairs and ensure the capital would not fall into chaos in the emperor’s absence.

Nevertheless, when the emperor was away, lines of communication had to remain open between the secret police and the imperial entourage so that His Majesty would be informed daily of all that transpired in the capital. Thus, both Ma Shun and Tang Tong agreed that Wang Shan should accompany the emperor as their liaison. In this way, Wang Shan became the chief contact for the secret police at the emperor’s side; all messages from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot would first pass through his hands before reaching the emperor.

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The appearance of his nephew and Ji Guang visibly eased the worry from Wang Zhen’s face. Smiling, he accepted their bows and was about to inquire after the emperor’s current activities when Wang Shan produced an urgent report from his sleeve and handed it to Wang Zhen, his tone tinged with concern. “This was sent by express courier from the Datong Garrison, a hundred miles away. It says that on the sixteenth, Marquis of Xining, Song Ying, together with Earl of Wujin, Zhu Mian, and Chief Eunuch Guo Jing, led forty thousand troops to confront Esen at Yanghe Pass. Both Song Ying and Zhu Mian fell in battle, and Guo Jing’s whereabouts are unknown—his fate uncertain.”

“Marquis of Xining was defeated?!” Wang Zhen was stunned by the news. Before the emperor set out, Song Ying had memorialized the court, proposing to engage the enemy beyond the frontier; Guo Jing too had assured that morale in Datong was high, and that a bold, proactive strike would give the invaders a sharp lesson. With the main army’s arrival, victory would be assured, and the emperor’s renown would spread both at home and abroad. For these reasons, Wang Zhen had persuaded the emperor to allow Datong to take the offensive against the Oirat. Who could have foreseen that Datong, so confident of victory, would fall at precisely the moment the imperial army had just passed Juyong Pass? Shock and anger warred within him.

Damnation—Song Ying has doomed the nation!

In his fury, Wang Zhen unconsciously flicked his monk’s whisk through the air, then took a deep breath to clear his head and asked Wang Shan in a low voice, “Does the report say how heavy the losses were? Is Datong in danger of falling?”

Wang Shan shook his head. “All we know is that Yanghe Pass was lost; the exact casualties aren’t yet known. But so few managed to escape that I fear the whole army may have been wiped out. Uncle, with this defeat, do you think Datong...”

His words trailed off in hesitation, unsure whether he should continue. Wang Zhen, displeased by his nephew’s indecision, scolded, “There’s nothing you can’t say in front of me!”

“Yes, Uncle!” Wang Shan no longer dared delay and spoke his mind. “Datong’s forty thousand elite troops have all been lost at Yanghe Pass. This proves Esen’s forces are much stronger than the reported twenty thousand—likely more. After such a victory, their morale must be soaring, while Datong can now only defend itself, and won’t dare send out another man. Esen’s army will be able to rest and recover, awaiting our arrival. If that’s the case, I fear our army, exhausted from the long march, will have little chance of victory. Perhaps we should return to the capital and reconsider our plans.”

Upon hearing that Wang Shan was suggesting a retreat, Wang Zhen’s brows furrowed in anger. Yet, with Ji Guang present, he refrained from reprimanding his nephew, instead casting a cold glance at Wang Shan before turning to Ji Guang. “What is your opinion?”

“Your Majesty has already decided to lead the army in person, and the troops have reached Huailai—there’s no reason to turn back now. Though Datong has been defeated, it does not threaten the greater plan. As long as the city remains in our hands, Esen will not dare advance too deeply. I believe he is still pillaging around Datong. Once our army arrives, he will surely withdraw. The journey is long, but not unbearable, and the stronghold at Xuanfu can send forces at any time to strike at Esen’s flanks. Even if Esen’s army is more than fifty thousand, they are still in our territory, without reliable information. Their fear of our main force likely outweighs our fear of them. Therefore, I believe we must not retreat, but press on to Datong and seek a decisive battle with Esen’s main force!”

To Wang Shan’s surprise, Ji Guang opposed retreat and argued forcefully for a decisive engagement at Datong.

What was Ji Guang thinking? Wang Shan wondered privately, but seeing that his uncle clearly approved of Ji Guang’s words, he found himself unable to voice any further opposition.

“Ji Guang’s view matches my own. This imperial campaign is the first in the emperor’s fourteen years on the throne; it cannot end in anticlimax or be abandoned at the first sign of trouble. His Majesty set out to end our border troubles once and for all, to shatter Esen’s ambitions against our great Ming. If, at the first defeat, we slink back to the capital, what face would the emperor have left?”

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Author’s Note: This novel takes an objective stance toward Wang Zhen. Some of his policy positions—such as the need to balance civil and military affairs, to value both and not scorn the military, to oppose civil officials suppressing military candidates, and to promote officers from humble backgrounds—are, in retrospect, correct. Of course, this novel will neither praise nor condemn him unduly; everything will be presented as it was.