Chapter Eighty-Five: The Wind Fills the Tower

Dark clouds pressed upon the city, as though its walls might crumble; beneath the sun, armor flashed like golden scales.

Once the great civil officials fired the starting gun for their campaign, impeachment memorials from the thirteen supervising censors and the investigating secretaries of every bureau began flying into the Leopard House like snowflakes.

One or two memorials, even dozens, might not have enraged the Zhengde Emperor. But what was the meaning of this mountain and sea of memorials, all pointing at the emperor’s nose and cursing him? However foolish Zhengde might be, he understood that the civil officials were openly turning against him.

In a single morning, Zhengde had smashed more than a dozen teacups, and memorials lay scattered across the floor.

“Gao Feng, go fetch Liu Jin, Gu Dayong, Ma Yongcheng, and Shi Wenyi.”

Zhengde issued the order with a dark expression to Gao Feng, one of the Eight Tigers, who stood beside him without daring even to breathe loudly.

“Ah?”

Gao Feng was dumbfounded. Liu Jin commanded the Inner Office, Ma Yongcheng led the Eastern Depot, Gu Dayong led the Western Depot, and Shi Wenyi was commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The emperor clearly intended to make a great show of force!

“What are you waiting for? Go! These memorials are calling for the heads of all eight of you!”

Zhengde shouted, startling Gao Feng back to his senses. The eunuch wiped the sweat from his brow and dashed out like a gust of wind, silently repeating to himself, “Disaster! Disaster!” as he went to find Liu Jin and the others, the men who held the center of their faction together.

The Liu Jin of today, Lord Eunuch Liu, wielded power that reached the heavens. With one hand he controlled the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, and with the other he held the Inner Office. The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was his subordinate; when the Eastern and Western Depots saw him, which of them dared not bow their heads? Outside the palace, men such as Jiao Fang served as his allies; within the palace, the emperor placed absolute trust in him. What trace of movement in the court could possibly escape his notice?

When the civil officials had begun secretly coordinating with one another the previous day, Liu Jin had already received word. He knew every word of the accusations the censors intended to level.

“‘Exterminate the Eight Tigers’—so they are after our lives again!”

When Gao Feng came to him, Liu Jin was also in the middle of handling documents at the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs. In truth, he could easily have suppressed those impeachment memorials. Yet he had deliberately allowed them through. Unless the emperor saw clearly what kind of creatures those officials were, how could Lord Eunuch Liu dare move against the entire court? Thus, the instant a young eunuch reported, “Eunuch Gao has arrived,” Liu Jin knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for had finally come.

By the time Liu Jin reached the Leopard House, everyone was already there. Apart from Zhang Yong, who was away on assignment, all of Zhengde’s Eight Tigers had gathered. The heads of the Eastern and Western Depots, the Inner Office, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were all assembled.

“Your Majesty, the fault lies with us old servants. We have brought the officials into conflict with Your Majesty. Please take care of Your Majesty’s health and simply have us executed! We are only a few household slaves; there is no need to offend all the ministers on our account!”

The instant Liu Jin saw the Zhengde Emperor, he burst into tears, rushed forward, and knelt before him. He wept with such anguish that it seemed his heart had been torn apart.

And that was why everyone who could play politics was capable of winning an Oscar. Without acting talent, no one could survive in that world.

At Liu Jin’s wail, the other six “Tigers” began crying as well. In truth, no matter how overwhelming a Ming eunuch’s power might be outside the palace, before the emperor his life and death still hung upon a single thought. Every scrap of authority came from the emperor; they merely borrowed imperial power to bully others. Compared with the powerful eunuchs of the Han and Tang dynasties, they were far inferior. Now that officials throughout the realm were calling for the extermination of the Eight Tigers, only the Zhengde Emperor could save them.

“We old servants are lowly creatures. If we die, then we die; it is hardly worth mentioning. But the officials throughout the empire are in an uproar, all denouncing Your Majesty as benighted and immoral, comparing you to Jie and Zhou. Those they wish to kill are not merely servants like us! They clearly intend to turn Your Majesty into a puppet and make you dance to their tune!”

Liu Jin had obviously discussed his strategy with his trusted advisers before entering. Every word of his lament was meant to remind Zhengde that the officials outside had impure motives. They claimed to be attacking the Eight Tigers for disrupting the government, but in truth their concealed blade pointed straight at Zhengde himself.

“Yes, exactly! We have no idea what the officials have against us. Ever since the days of the Eastern Palace, they have been shouting that we should be beaten and killed. What have we ever done to provoke them?”

Luo Xiang was probably the most useless of the Eight Tigers. He was usually green with envy toward the others, but now that external enemies were pressing them, he could only join forces with the rest and turn outward, sobbing as he dredged up grievances from years past.

“Yes! Even if we normally flatter and beguile the sovereign, what has Princess Yunhua done to offend them? She spends her days accompanying the empress dowager in rituals and prayers, making the old lady happy. And Daoist Master Liachen was barely in the capital for a few days—when did he ever interfere in government? Besides, the master is a true immortal. He summoned rain in the northern reaches of Shaanxi and saved lives in the southwest. He even prayed for the late emperor and lengthened his life, until he himself vomited blood and fell unconscious. For the sake of the late emperor and the empress dowager, Your Majesty cannot listen to them! They plainly intend to force Your Majesty to become an ungrateful man!”

Gu Dayong had delivered a devastating final blow. He had clearly read the memorials as well.

Zhengde had originally been in a difficult position. On the one hand, he truly shared a deep affection with his eight servants and had always trusted them completely. They were the intimate eunuchs who had grown up alongside him, as close as family. But faced with the flood of impeachment memorials, everyone knew this was only the opening course. The truly ferocious attacks had yet to arrive. The Zhengde Emperor did not dare openly break with his ministers.

No emperor wanted to be known as a foolish ruler, even if he was one by nature. Zhengde was no exception.

But when Gu Dayong mentioned Daoist Master Liachen’s prayers that had prolonged the late emperor’s life, Zhengde’s eyes reddened. He had never been particularly close to the empress dowager, but he genuinely revered his father. The late emperor had already been on the verge of death when Daoist Master Liachen dragged him back from the brink and granted him three additional years. How could Zhengde cast aside such a debt?

“Liu Jin, as commander of the Inner Office, tell me exactly who has been coordinating this impeachment campaign.”

Zhengde finally spoke. The memorials had arrived with such perfect uniformity that there had to be someone stirring up trouble behind the scenes. If arrests were to be made, they should begin with the men shouting the loudest.

“Your Majesty, this old servant—”

Liu Jin had prepared the names long ago and was just about to report them when a sudden booming sound came from outside. His face instantly went pale.

The Drum of Grievances had sounded, and the entire realm was shaken.

“Your Majesty, the commander of the guards reports that several hundred officials from every circuit, along with more than a thousand examination candidates and students from the Imperial Academy, have gathered outside the palace gates. They say they have come to petition Your Majesty, demanding the execution of treacherous ministers in order to restore the proper order of the court!”

The chief guard hurried in from outside to deliver the report.

“Even the hereditary nobles have taken the side of the civil officials?”

The Zhengde Emperor’s face went white. Trembling with rage, he nearly ground his teeth to powder.

Soldiers guarded the Drum of Grievances. How could a crowd of civil officials and scholars have struck it so easily without the cooperation of the Five Military Commanderies?

Zhengde’s vision darkened. The civil officials might make a great commotion, but they could never accomplish anything truly significant. The hereditary nobles, however, had troops in their hands.

“Gu Dayong, Zhang Yong is absent. Take my imperial token at once and order the Imperial Stud Guard to enter the palace. Gao Feng, go immediately to the mansions of the Duke of England, the Duke of Chengguo, and the Marquis of Pingyang. Summon them to see me without delay! Also, close every palace gate. Do not disturb the empress dowager. The Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Inner Office, and both the Eastern and Western Depots are to send men at once to surround those rebels gathered outside the palace gates. Let not a single one escape.”

Zhengde gave the orders through clenched teeth.

The greater the pressure from outside, the more fiercely Zhengde’s rebellious nature was provoked. Given the circumstances, no one could blame him for resorting to ruthless measures. Military authority in particular was something rulers had always been willing to kill rather than allow outsiders to touch.

With a creak, the palace gates swung shut. Throughout both the Forbidden City and the Leopard House, the great doors were sealed. Large numbers of fully armed soldiers from the Imperial Stud Guard marched into the palace grounds, swords drawn and bows strung, radiating murderous intent.

Meanwhile, detachments from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, the Western Depot, and the Inner Office surrounded the officials and scholars before the Drum of Grievances.

It seemed that bloodshed was about to fill the streets.