CHAPTER x.x.xIX.

THE REBELS BEATEN.--ARTFULNESS OF THE TARTAR KING.--CHAGRIN AND DISAPPOINTMENT OF NICHOLAS.

At daybreak the battle was resumed; and with such terrible bravery did the troops of Woo-san-Kwei and his ally the Tartar king fight, that before noon the rebels fled in all directions; the main body, under Li himself, retreating into the province of Pe-tche-Lee, where for many weeks they were followed by the Tartars; and although the latter beat Li in every engagement, and slew vast numbers of his troops, he managed so cleverly that he reached Pekin; which city being well fortified and manned by his adherents, he held out till the Tartars were reinforced by many thousands of their brethren, who, now that the ancient barrier of Leao-tong had been broken, flooded the empire like a mighty torrent.

Then Li, brave and able as he really was, saw the necessity of retreating from the capital. To do this with profit to himself, the artful rogue placed the whole of his troops upon and before the northern walls; by this means he kept the soldiers employed and the enemy at bay at least eight days and nights, during which time his more immediate friends and faithful followers were engaged in carrying from the imperial palace the vast treasures of jewels, gold, and silver, collected by the Ming Emperors during the preceding two hundred and eighty years, with which they escaped to Si-gnan, in the province of Chen-si. Then, when the Tartar army entered the capital, although terribly chagrined at the loss of so much treasure, they did but follow Li-Kong a short distance, when they gave up the pursuit and returned to Pekin, greatly to the vexation of Woo-san-Kwei, who, as you will see, soon found that his new friends were as bad as his old enemies.

No sooner was Li-Kong expelled, than Woo-san-Kwei proclaimed the Prince Yong-Li Emperor, and offered to pay the Tartar king an immense sum for the use of his army, at the same time respectfully begging he would withdraw his troops from the empire, as it was contrary to the sacred books that so many foreigners should remain in the sacred capital; to which polite request the Tartar made an equally polite reply: "We do not," said he, "think it fit to leave yet, for there are many unsubdued thieves who may cause as much trouble as this Li-Kong; moreover, this arch-rebel is himself established in his province, and would doubtless return if he found that we, whom alone he fears, had quitted China; therefore, O n.o.ble Woo-san-Kwei, we are resolved to follow up our victory, and exterminate every rogue in the land, so that you may deliver the empire to Yong-Li in full peace and prosperity; as for the payment for our services, we are not poor, and can wait till the kingdom be settled. In the mean time, however, that which we chiefly desire is, that the great Woo-san-Kwei shall recruit his army from our own, and proceed to Chen-si to destroy the dog Li, while we, with our brave Tartars, will endeavor to sweep from the southern provinces the rogues and thieves who are now settled therein."

Deeply chagrined that he had replaced dogs with tigers, Woo-san-Kwei could do nothing but obey--for in reality it was a command; and so he proceeded into Chen-si, accompanied by Nicholas, where, after a campaign of many months, he succeeded in destroying the power and army of Li-Kong; as for the rogue himself, as his body was not found, it was supposed that he had been killed, while endeavoring to escape in the disguise of a private soldier.

Throughout the campaign in Chen-si, Nicholas had fought with terrible energy, for he had hoped that when they took possession of Li-Kong's palace, he should obtain at least some clue to the fate of the princess and Chow, both of whom, if alive, he believed to be in the power of the rebels. As, however, notwithstanding the highest rewards and the most vigorous search, he failed in gaining the slightest clue, he felt greatly pleased when they returned to Pekin, where he was not without hope that the princess might be concealed, and if so, she was safe; for doubtlessly, by the time they reached the city, their Tartar allies would, according to their promise, have proclaimed her brother, the Prince Yong-Li, Emperor.

So great and popular had been the successes of Woo-san-Kwei in Chen-si, that as he rode toward Pekin the people came out, and falling upon their knees, almost worshiped him as the restorer of peace and order. About midway between Chen-si and Pekin, they were met by the great officers of the Tartar king, who brought with them a vast body of troops, in order to augment the state of the general's triumphal entrance into the capital. Now this was very gratifying to Nicholas, for seeing the Tartars pay so much respect to the great Ming general, he doubted less than ever that, like faithful friends, if they had not already done so, they would speedily restore Yong-Li to his throne--a gratification which was considerably heightened, when, at the gates of the city, they were met by a procession of great officers, both Tartars and Chinese, who, in the name of the Emperor, greeted Woo-san-Kwei with the t.i.tle of King of Chen-si; so with difficulty the procession pa.s.sed through the ma.s.ses of people, whose hoa.r.s.e voices clamored, "Long life, ten thousand years, to the Emperor."

"This, then," thought Nicholas, "is indeed a fortunate day; for not only have these brave Tartars restored the Prince Yong-Li to his right, but the amiable prince commences his reign by an act of grat.i.tude; for, forgetting his quarrel with Woo-san-Kwei, he rewards his great services with the kingdom of Chen-si." Thus they rode onward till they came to the palace, where the Emperor was waiting to do honor to the great general.

Then, as Nicholas pa.s.sed through the courts of the palace, he stared with surprise, not unmixed with indignation, at the disproportion of the numbers of Chinese to those of the Tartars. Yet again, surely it was but grat.i.tude on the part of the young Emperor to reward those who had restored him to the throne of his ancestors; still a strange fear crept over him, and he said, almost in a whisper, "Truly, O ill.u.s.trious prince, these barbarians have taken possession of the empire."

"It is as wise, O youth, to make a virtue of necessity, as it is childish to resist the decrees of fate," said the general; and then a pang of disappointment shot through the youth's heart; his illusion vanished; moreover, he would have given his life to have avoided the scene before him. They had entered the great hall of audience; there, upon the golden dragon throne, surrounded by the warrior princes and chiefs of Mantchouria, sat the Emperor. The Emperor, indeed! not Yong-Li, but a Tartar child of six years of age. Heartsick, enraged, he would have spoken. The general perceiving his misery, clutched his arm.

Nicholas checked his impatience, but nevertheless muttered, "Surely the heavens will fall, for the great Woo-san-Kwei has proved a traitor."

CHAPTER XL.

THE GREAT BOY EMPEROR.--NICHOLAS MEETS WITH A FEARFUL SURPRISE.

Once having entered the rich empire of China, the Tartar king determined to remain, and thus artfully sent Woo-san-Kwei, the only man he feared, to chastise the rebels in Chen-si, so that he could the better introduce more and more of the warrior tribes beneath his rule: moreover, he was so cruel to those who resisted his army, and so generous and kind to those who submitted freely, that the people, glad to get a sovereign who had power enough to crush the rapacious n.o.bles, unanimously hailed him Emperor; before, however, he could be formally installed, he became seized with a mortal illness, so, calling his brother Amavan, he created him regent during the minority of his son Chun-ti, a child six years of age.

Fortunately for the young Emperor, Amavan, unlike most Asiatic uncles, proved faithful to his nephew, and, more fortunately still, Amavan happened to be a great as well as a brave man, who conquered his enemies as much by his intellect as his sword. Taking care, therefore, to have an overwhelming number of troops in Pekin, he first sought to establish the government by distributing the great offices of the empire equally among his Tartars and the Chinese mandarins. Then to Woo-san-Kwei he had represented by his amba.s.sadors the folly of endeavoring to oppose the great power of the new Emperor, and, moreover, the cruelty of bringing upon the people the horrors of a civil war; while, if he would aid in the firm settlement of the new dynasty, he should not only be created King of Chen-si, but that, as the laws of the Chinese were the best in the world, the Tartars should conform to them in every respect. To all of which Woo-san-Kwei, being so entirely checkmated, could but submit, retaining a hope that the time and opportunity might come when he should be powerful enough to drive these Tartars from the land--a task which, when too late, he found to be rather more difficult than bringing them in.

Having thus, as he thought, gained over the Ming general to his cause, and wishing to give the Chinese a proof that the young Emperor wished to conciliate them, Amavan resolved that the greatest of their countrymen should be received on his entry into Pekin with royal honors; and more, that the same day should be the one chosen for his imperial nephew's first grand levee.

I will now return to Nicholas, who, with hardly suppressed indignation, was compelled to witness the following scene.

Having commanded the great lords, who were prostrate at the foot of his throne, to rise, the child Emperor Chun-ti addressed them in a speech that not only astonished the whole court, but remains to the present day one of the marvels in the history of China.

"It is your strength and power more than my felicity, my dear and generous uncle, and you, the rest of my n.o.ble commanders, which supports my weakness, and makes me so undauntedly ascend this imperial throne. My present a.s.surance, and this chair's stability, is, I hope, as happy a sign of my future prosperity as its tottering proved unfortunate to the thief Li-Kong. You see my first step to the empire, but I know your valor to be such that I look not only upon the kingdom of China as my own, but conceive the empire of the world not only by me possessed, but also established. The rewards due to such incomparable virtues shall be no other than the riches of the empire and royal dignities."

At this extraordinary speech from the lips of so young a child, and which, notwithstanding the silence of solemn historians on the subjects, I believe must have been taught Master Chun-ti by his uncle, the artful Amavan, the n.o.bles fell upon their faces, as thankfully as a flock of famished wolves at the sight of a good meal after a run of a great many hundreds of miles.

After which the Emperor added, "And that it may be known throughout the empire that we can reward merit, whether it be found in our Chinese subjects or our own black-haired race, we bestow upon the rebel-subduing Prince Woo-san-Kwei, the t.i.tle of Pacifier of the Western World, and the dignity and rank of King of Chen-si; may his appointment prove fortunate to the people." Whereupon, to the disgust of Nicholas, the Ming general knelt before the Emperor, and holding his hands above his head, received the golden box, in which were placed the symbols of his office.

After this Nicholas was pained not only to witness the bestowal of high offices upon the Tartar chieftains, but, for worse, the acceptation of dignities by Chinese mandarins, who had been profuse in their professions of loyalty to the Ming family. Then, as the Emperor was about to move his sleeves as a signal of the close of the audience, one of the n.o.bles announced the arrival of some great personage, whose name his ears failed to catch, whereupon the regent Amavan said, "This man, O my prince, is the greatest of your majesty's conquests," and in another minute a personage of majestic height and figure, attired and attended with all the magnificence of a king, entered the hall and fell at the foot of the throne, and as he did so Amavan proclaimed his name and t.i.tles, when Nicholas gave a cry of astonishment, and would have rushed forward, but for Woo-san-Kwei, who, by whispering in his ear, caused him to become as pale and almost as silent as marble. His surprise and indignation was not wonderful, for the great man who knelt at the feet of the Tartar chief was no less a personage than his own father, Chin-Chi-Loong.

CHAPTER XLI.

NICHOLAS HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH HIS FATHER, AND LEAVES PEKIN FOR EVER.

Not daring to believe, yet trembling for fear his father should be the traitor to the Mings that his submission to Chun-ti had proclaimed him, Nicholas followed the procession that conducted Chin-Chi-Loong to the palace appointed for his residence in Pekin; nor could he help remarking the absence of Chinese faces among the soldiers and attendants who followed him. Again, when he entered the palace, the courtyards, and the pa.s.sages, nought could he see but Tartars. "Surely," he thought, "my beloved father must be a prisoner of state;" and, much vexed at his unfilial misgivings of his parent's loyalty, he sent to the chief a message by one of the attendants, that "the bearer of his letter from the south to the north" craved an immediate audience of the King Pacifier of the South; when, as the chief knew that it could be no other than Nicholas, in another minute the father and son had met again, after their long absence from each other.

"Is it possible that my father can have become so terrified by the tempestuous fortunes of the imperial Ming, that he should seek the sunshine of the barbarian's court?" said Nicholas, sadly, when the first greeting was past.

"This is, indeed, the most unfortunate day in the life of Chin-Chi-Loong, if his son can believe him willingly guilty of so great a crime," said the chief.

"What words are these, my n.o.ble parent? for if thou art not a receiver of stolen things, how camest thou by this kingdom of Fokien? for surely it was not given to thee by the Emperor Yong-Li," replied Nicholas.

"Is my son blind, that he cannot see that his parent is a prisoner to these Tartar dogs?"

"A prisoner, my father! Do the Tartars confer kingdoms upon their prisoners?" said Nicholas.

"Even as thou wilt hear," replied the chief; adding, "The commission sent by the Emperor Wey-t-song created his servant lord of the four seas. Once in possession of that office I sought to sweep the rebels and thieves from the sea-coast provinces, but by the time I had effected this great end, the news came that the rebel Li-Kong had slain the Emperor and usurped the throne; then I determined to hold possession of the seas, towns, and cities for the Prince Yong-Li, and so for many months kept the miserable Tartars who had invaded those provinces at bay; and even when the barbarians poured into the empire like locusts, I still kept possession of the sea-coast towns and cities. Then, afraid of my power, the Tartar king and his brother Amavan sent a great emba.s.sy, a.s.suring me they were allies of the great Woo-san-Kwei, who, to quell the rebellion and hunt the robbers from the face of the land, had prayed their a.s.sistance; moreover, they swore that when they had purged the empire of all such rogues, they would place it in the hands of the Prince Yong-Li and leave the land."

"Surely my father was too wise to believe the artful thieves," said Nicholas.

"Not so, my son, for the emba.s.sy was supported by a letter in the characters of Woo-san-Kwei, informing me of the cruel murder of his parent, earnestly beseeching my aid in exterminating the rebels, and also a.s.suring me of the good faith of the Tartar rats. Not doubting so great and wise a general, and moreover that the people might believe my authority lawful, I accepted from the Tartar king the t.i.tle of Pacificator of the South, and the kingdom of Fokien. When, however, I had made amity with him, he poured fresh hordes into the cities, so that speedily I had little power upon land, and determined upon the first opportunity to again seek my fleet. It was then that I became betrayed into their hands, for the Prince Amavan, who commanded in the south, suddenly gave out that he was proceeding to Pekin, to aid in the installation of the new Emperor, and prayed that previous to his departure I would take part in a great hunting expedition. Knowing this to be the darling pastime of these barbarians, I complied. When, however, we had reached a great distance from the coast, I saw a large body of troops come from behind a neighboring hill, and immediately, fearing treachery. I resolved to escape, but the mild manner of Amavan persuaded me that my fears were idle; so when too late I found myself in the midst of the main body of his army; with the greatest politeness, he informed me his brother the king was dead, and that the Emperor was his nephew Chun-ti. At the news, I could have plunged my dagger into the rogue; but knowing that force would be useless among such a formidable army, I dissembled my rage, and pretended to rejoice at the chance of prosperity the people would have beneath such an Emperor."

"Indeed it were better to die than dissemble, my father," said Nicholas, with flashing eyes.

"Listen, my son. Well, taking advantage of my apparent joy, this Amavan told me he was commanded by the Emperor to invite me to his court, where I should formally receive my t.i.tle and kingdom from the imperial hands.

Thus had I the choice of entering Pekin as a captive or a king."

"The former would have been more worthy of the great sea chief, whose ambition hath ruined him," said Nicholas.

"Is it possible that thou canst dare----"

"Pardon, O my father, but thy son will dare any thing and every thing till he can rescue his parent, country, and Emperor from the hands of these barbarians, and until he has done this he will rest neither by night nor day."

"Do this, and my error may yet be retrieved."

"Thy son shall be worthy of his parent," replied Nicholas; adding, "But cannot my father cast aside this mock dignity, and at once escape from this rebellious city?"

"It is not possible; it would not be wise; it would be treasonous to the General Woo-san-Kwei."

"Then the n.o.ble Woo-san-Kwei is not a traitor to the Emperor Yong-Li,"

said Nicholas, eagerly.

"Hist!" replied the chief by way of caution; then adding, "He but waits the opportunity to rise and exterminate the Tartars."

"Thank Heaven!" exclaimed Nicholas; adding, "Yet surely these double ways are neither honest nor successful." Then, taking farewell of his parent, he left the palace, and making his way to a portion of the city unfrequented by the Tartars, exchanged his rich clothes for the attire of a small merchant, went to the river, and after some hard bargaining, took a pa.s.sage on board a trading junk, and left Pekin for ever.