Chapter Seventeen: Inspector Ding in Kaifeng City

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As Chu Lushan listened, he immediately noticed the wary gaze on everyone’s faces. Though he felt somewhat comforted, he still gave a dry laugh to ease the tension. “Today is also the auspicious day of Lord Qin Xia’s appointment. I think Lord Qin Xia should be pondering how best to celebrate.”

“Indeed, that’s only proper,” Zhu Cilang smiled, though the smile he wore while holding a freshly received court report was far from sincere.

It was, of course, impossible for Li Zicheng to break into Linqing City, at least not within half a year. But as for the Later Jin army, the Jianzhou troops, reaching Linqing, Zhu Cilang knew it was a certainty.

The reason Zhu Cilang uttered such words was because… he had just received news from the front in Henan. Sighing inwardly, he failed to maintain composure and let slip his feelings in a casual remark.

After Si En had made thorough inquiries for Zhu Cilang in the capital, more detailed intelligence had reached his hands.

The situation in the Central Plains.

These four words haunted Zhu Cilang, drawing his attention and causing countless people to become victims of war, torn from limb to limb. They also left him tossing and turning, unable to sleep day or night.

After Li Zicheng joined forces with Luo Rucai, their power surged. Following the capture of Guide Prefecture, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai gained the support of the local peasant army in Henan, led by Yuan Shizhong and his “Little Yuan Camp.” The three peasant armies converged and marched toward Qi County.

This move was clearly a preparation for the third assault on Kaifeng Prefecture.

Carefully calculating, the court had three trump cards at this moment: first, the Shaanxi troops; second, the Huguang troops; third, the Baoding troops.

The Shaanxi governor had successively been Fu Zonglong and Wang Qiaonian; now, it was Sun Chuanting. The Huguang governor was currently Ding Qirui. The Baoding governor was Yang Wenyue.

The main commander of the Shaanxi army was He Renlong; the Huguang army was led by Zuo Liangyu; the Baoding army by Hu Dawei.

Beyond these, the government forces included the Sichuan troops entangled under Kong Zhenhui, Shandong troops under Liu Qingze who had not yet arrived, Nanjing troops under Zhu Datian, and others. However, these forces were smaller and more scattered, essentially unable to relieve the siege on Kaifeng.

As for the Shaanxi troops, whose governors had fallen one after another; Baoding troops under Yang Wenyue; and Huguang troops under the command of Ding Qirui—mentioning these only made Zhu Cilang feel despondent.

In the battle at Xiangcheng, where Governor Fu Zonglong of Shaanxi was killed, Fu led the Shaanxi troops and Yang Wenyue the Baoding troops. When He Renlong, the Shaanxi main commander, fled, it triggered a chain reaction: Fu Zonglong died, Wang Qiaonian took over, and Yang Wenyue was disciplined.

Then, in the Xiangcheng battle where Governor Wang Qiaonian of Shaanxi fell, Wang led the Shaanxi troops to rescue Zuo Liangyu’s Huguang troops. However, after the Huguang troops were saved, they refused to cooperate. This betrayal caused the Shaanxi troops to collapse, resulting in Wang Qiaonian’s death and Sun Chuanting’s appointment.

This bunch of teammates, notorious for undermining their own allies, left Zhu Cilang particularly exasperated.

There’s a saying: one doesn’t fear godlike enemies, only pig-like teammates. But what Zhu Cilang faced was not merely pig-like allies—they were specialists in sabotaging their own side.

It was precisely this complicated situation that forced Zhu Cilang to feel uneasy even for a day on the Grand Canal, prompting him to hurry to Linqing to secure his own foundation.

Staying in the capital, even if it affected the emperor, with the gradually weakening central authority and court, even if he could smoothly remove civilian supervisors, he still could not restrain the increasingly unruly military commanders. Zhu Cilang had no power to control the war through the central government. If the war was lost, no amount of effort in the central administration would matter.

…

Kaifeng City, Governor’s Mansion.

This was the residence of Ding Qirui, governor of Huguang, Henan, Sichuan, and both north and south of the Yangtze, and supervisor of military affairs.

Ding Qirui’s position was inherited from Yang Sichang. As one of the emperor’s most trusted ministers, Yang Sichang and Emperor Chongzhen shared a relationship that was part subject, part friend. Yang Sichang was driven by a heart that said, “If the ruler treats me as a man of honor, I shall repay in kind.”

However, whether it was Yang Sichang’s eagerness to achieve merit, his character flaws that prevented him from restraining Zuo Liangyu’s rebelliousness, or simply the fact that Ming could no longer control the militarized Zuo Liangyu, the result was the same.

The campaign to suppress bandits failed, and Yang Sichang, after Zhang Xianzhong killed two princely brothers, died in melancholy.

Yet Ding Qirui, who succeeded him, was not a competent commander.

Competence, for a commander, is often hard to define. But in wartime, the standard is clear.

That is… whether one can win battles.

For Ding Qirui, the further question was whether he could control the generals under his command.

In this respect, Yang Sichang was competent in the early part of his tenure, because he could control Zuo Liangyu. He not only helped Zuo restore his lost seal after a defeat, but also proved efficient in logistics, allowing Zuo Liangyu to contribute significantly in several major battles.

Thus, Yang Sichang won several important victories early in his term.

By contrast, Ding Qirui never qualified as a competent commander throughout.

After Yang Sichang’s death in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen, on the advice of Chen Xingjia, bestowed upon Ding Qirui the imperial sword, the flying fish robe, and the seal, making him the successor to Yang Sichang’s role: governor of Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang, Sichuan, and both north and south of the Yangtze—a five-province governor, honored as the Supervisor.

After taking office, Ding Qirui was promoted and happily took up the task, setting out from Tongguan, ready to head to Jingzhou to take over Yang Sichang’s army. However, at that moment, Wang Chengzhao, the inspector of Huguang, issued a proclamation stating that there were bandits in Henan, and that Jingzhou and Xiangyang didn’t need a large army. He hid all the boats on the Han River to prevent Ding Qirui from crossing.

Ding Qirui then turned to Dengzhou, only to find the residents kept their doors shut and refused him entry. He went to Neixiang, where the local officials cut off his supplies. Thus, in anguish, Ding Qirui had to lead his troops, surviving only by slaughtering warhorses and eating wild grass.

From this, it was clear how poorly Ding Qirui fared.

Though he was unsuccessful in Huguang, Ding Qirui had significant connections with Kaifeng.

When Li Zicheng broke into Luoyang and launched his first assault on Kaifeng, claiming to have seven hundred thousand troops, Ding Qirui, despite being a five-province governor, was unable to cope. He chose instead the seemingly weaker Zhang Xianzhong as his opponent, publicly declaring him another Henan rebel. He finally persuaded Zuo Liangyu to go to Guangshan, making a show of attacking Zhang Xianzhong.

Thus, during Li Zicheng’s first siege of Kaifeng, Ding Qirui managed to evade conflict. Fortunately, Li Zicheng’s attack was merely a raid; failing to take Kaifeng, he withdrew.

The second time, last year—the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, in the twelfth lunar month—Li Zicheng again besieged Kaifeng. At that time, the Henan governor Li Xianfeng was still in northern Henan suppressing rebels, and Deputy General Chen Yongfu had just led troops to aid Luoyang, leaving only the inspector Gao Mingheng to defend, with the city’s defenses hollowed out. Thus, Gao Mingheng could only desperately seek help from Ding Qirui.

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