nucmednet Chapter 436 Conflict in the Imperial Palace of Zhongdu
Chapter 436 Conflict in the Imperial Palace of Zhongdu
Fengyang was originally just an inconspicuous small county town, but it became famous throughout the world because it produced Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. In the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang established his capital in Fengyang, calling it Zhongdu (Central Capital), which together with Yingtian (Southern Capital) and Shuntian (Northern Capital) were known as the Three Capitals of the Ming Dynasty.
"The ruins of Zhongdu and Fengyang remain, palaces and towers rise above the two capitals. A thousand miles encompass the royal domain, eight fortresses guard the imperial palace." This poem depicts the grandeur of Zhongdu (Fengyang) at that time. Zhongdu covered an area of over 50 square kilometers. It was the most extravagant capital city meticulously built by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, drawing upon the architectural achievements of over 2000 years of Chinese capital cities. Its planning followed the royal city system of the Zhou Dynasty's Rites and the Book of Crafts, inheriting from the Tang and Song Dynasties and influencing the Ming and Qing Dynasties, holding an extremely important position in the history of ancient Chinese capital city construction.
This once luxurious capital city is now trembling under the ravages of the refugee army.
The imperial mausoleum to the south of the city was grand in scale and originally magnificent and solemn, echoing the luxurious and majestic palaces of Zhongdu. Shortly after the rebel army captured Fengyang, Zhang Xianzhong ordered his men to cut down all the hundreds of thousands of pine and cypress trees around the mausoleum, then dug up the tomb, destroying this solemn and dignified imperial mausoleum beyond recognition, and then burned it to the ground.
It seemed that this was not enough to satisfy Zhang Xianzhong's destructive desires. He then ordered the Huangjue Temple, where Zhu Yuanzhang had become a monk, to be demolished into ruins. The once magnificent Huangjue Temple, with its "palaces and pavilions," was reduced to a pile of bricks and rubble.
After the imperial mausoleum was burned down, Huangjue Temple was also demolished. When the news reached the capital, Emperor Chongzhen put on mourning clothes, went to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and wept bitterly. He then issued an edict of self-reproach, which was announced to the world.
After playing the role of a demolition team, Zhang Xianzhong turned the Zhu family's royal tombs and temples into a pile of white earth. Feeling triumphant, he returned to his old ways of robbing, looting all the wealthy households in the city before killing them all.
Having amassed a fortune in silver and severed the dragon vein of the Zhu family's imperial tombs, Zhang Xianzhong was very satisfied and began to turn his attention to the imperial palace in Zhongdu.
Although Zhongdu served as the capital for a very short time, the construction of the imperial palace was by no means lacking. It included the Meridian Gate, the East Flower Gate, the West Flower Gate, and the Xuanwu Gate; the main hall, the Wenhua Hall, and the Wuying Hall; the three palaces of the East, West, and Rear; the Jinshui River and the Jinshui Bridge; and all the standard features of a capital city, such as the Secretariat, the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Grand General's Office, the Censorate, the Grand Altar of the Land and Grain, the City God Temple, the Imperial College, the Hall of Meetings, the Temple of Emperors of Past Dynasties, the Temple of Meritorious Officials, the Observatory, the Million Granaries, the barracks for soldiers, the residences of dukes and marquises, the Bell Tower, and the Drum Tower.
Besides its hardware being comparable to Nanjing and the capital, the Zhongdu Imperial Palace was equally impressive in its facilities. Although there were no masters to serve him most of the time, there were plenty of palace maids and eunuchs. Zhang Xianzhong had always envied the emperor's glory. After looting and burning, he moved into the palace, sexually assaulted the palace maids, and had eunuchs serve him, indulging in a taste of imperial power.
At the Xingyang Conference, the thirteen families and seventy-two battalions had agreed that after capturing a city, the women, children, and wealth would be divided equally. The army that stormed Fengyang was the combined forces of Zhang Xianzhong and Gao Rong, and theoretically, the women and wealth within the city, including the imperial palace, should be divided equally between the two families. Not long after Zhang Xianzhong moved into the palace, the "rebel general" Li Zicheng also set his sights on it, leading his men in and looting palace maids and taking away antiques and treasures.
Upon hearing the news, Zhang Xianzhong, resentful in the Wenhua Hall, was furious. "I was the one who entered the palace first," he thought, "let me go and seize other places if I'm so capable." He led his trusted men, enraged, to find Li Zicheng. When they found him, Li Zicheng was in the main hall directing his men to try and take away dozens of eunuchs and musical instruments.
These eunuchs were actually palace musicians, responsible for playing music for the royal family on important occasions and enlivening the atmosphere. When Zhang Xianzhong first entered the palace, he noticed these dozens of men and had already planned to take them with him when he withdrew from Fengyang. He envisioned them playing music and having fun, and even taking the palace maids with him for dancing – a life he envisioned. Unexpectedly, Li Zicheng intervened, attempting to intercept him.
Zhang Xianzhong's face was slightly yellow; when he was angry, his blood would rush to his head, and his face would turn a strange orange. At this moment, his face was orange, and he said unhappily, "Is there no manners left? I was the one who entered this palace first."
Li Zicheng sneered, "We agreed to split it equally, so why should you, the Eighth Prince, monopolize this palace? I won't ask for much. Take some palace decorations and ornaments, along with these dozens of eunuchs and the musical instruments. The rest of the wealth and palace maids are yours, how about it?" He also harbored a dream of becoming emperor, but when chased by soldiers, he never voiced this thought, keeping it to himself. Today, during the raid on the palace, he discovered these musical eunuchs and had the same idea as Zhang Xianzhong: to kidnap them and have these eunuchs, who were originally only supposed to play music for the emperor, entertain him, allowing him to fantasize about being emperor.
"Eighth King" was a nickname Zhang Xianzhong gave himself. Seeing that Li Zicheng showed no respect, he frowned, waved his hand, and his subordinates waiting outside the palace rushed in, surrounding Li Zicheng and the eunuchs, and drew their weapons.
Li Zicheng remained unfazed, but the delicate-skinned eunuchs were terrified, trembling all over. One of them even collapsed to the ground. Several of Li Zicheng's men, who had been moving antiques and were standing further away, were not surrounded. Seeing the dire situation, they quickly slipped away from the side to fetch reinforcements.
Zhang Xianzhong said ominously, "Li Zicheng is a brother of thirteen families and seventy-two battalions. Don't say I won't give you a way out. Put down everything, take your men and leave the palace, and I'll pretend nothing happened."
Li Zicheng looked around, arms crossed, calm and composed, seemingly ignoring the menacing soldiers with knives around him.
"Zhang Xianzhong, I'm taking all these people and musical instruments today. If you have the guts, kill me and see if the King of Chuang agrees, and see if the brothers of the Seventy-Two Battalions will tolerate you!"
Hearing the other party address him by his given name, Zhang Xianzhong was furious. Most rebel leaders used nicknames, such as calling Gao Yingxiang "Chuang Wang" (King Chuang), and Luo Rucai preferred to be called "Cao Cao." Li Zicheng was nominally just Gao Yingxiang's subordinate, and his status in the rebel army was lower than his own. By all accounts, he should be called "Eighth King."
He drew his sword and gritted his teeth, saying, "You have a path to heaven but you choose not to, and you barge into the gates of hell but you choose not to. Since you want to die, I will grant your wish."
The atmosphere suddenly became tense with that one slash. Zhang Xianzhong's men were numerous, armed and menacing, while Li Zicheng's men, though fewer in number, were not afraid either, drawing their blades to confront him. The two sides were about to clash.
Just then, a cheerful voice came from outside the hall, "What's going on? We're all brothers, put your knives away and don't ruin the harmony."