Was Geng Bingwen capable? Of course he was extremely capable. They were all fellow natives of Fengyang, and from his father’s generation had been beloved generals of Emperor Gaozhu. No one questioned Geng Bingwen’s loyalty, and he had accumulated military achievements, earning his hereditary and irreducible title of Marquis Changxing through genuine ability.
Emperor Jianwen was well-read in poetry and literature, but overlooked that learning has its proper sequence and each profession its specialty. Geng Bingwen was formidable, but he excelled at defending cities, not attacking.
All of Geng Bingwen’s famous battles that earned him his marquisate were defensive sieges. Before the Ming Dynasty’s founding, Geng Bingwen defended Chang’an Prefecture, the gateway to Jiangzhe, resisting Zhang Shicheng’s Wu forces. He held out for over ten years, fighting countless battles where few defeated many, like a nail firmly embedded in Chang’an Prefecture. No matter what scale of forces Zhang Shicheng sent to attack, Geng Bingwen could turn danger into safety, holding this strategically contested position and preventing Zhu Yuanzhang from facing enemies on multiple fronts.
This brought Geng Bingwen to fame.
After the Ming Dynasty’s founding, Emperor Gaozhu sent him to defend Shaanxi, which bordered the Northern Yuan, for three years. He also built roads and dug irrigation canals extending over one hundred thousand zhang, benefiting local people (all excellent defenders loved engaging in water conservancy and infrastructure projects). After successfully returning to court, he was granted the hereditary and irreducible title of Marquis Changxing.
Thereafter, Geng Bingwen continued campaigning, but never as supreme commander, always following behind famous Ming founding generals like Xu Da and Fu Youde, striking wherever directed. Xu Da was known as the Ever-Victorious General, and Fu Youde also had almost no defeats, so from his record, Geng Bingwen’s military achievements appeared impossibly brilliant.
But this did not mean Geng Bingwen was a legendary general who excelled at both defending cities and conquering territory. After all, standing on giants’ shoulders, even ants become great—and Geng Bingwen was no ant; he was also a famous general in his own right.
Emperor Jianwen had never seen what a real battlefield looked like. He felt that numerically, three people fighting one should surely win, overlooking that warfare was not like street thugs brawling, where human wave tactics could guarantee victory.
Having a general who excelled at defending cities lead an active campaign to suppress rebellion was like having Starbucks, whose main business was coffee, compete in tea beverages with Hey Tea, whose main revenue came from tea sales.
By store count, Starbucks could certainly outperform Hey Tea, but in the tea beverage business, who would win or lose would be clear in one battle.
Geng Bingwen departed northward leading three hundred thousand northern expedition troops. Before departure, Emperor Jianwen held a grand expedition ceremony to boost morale. Emperor Jianwen delivered a speech, concluding: “Do not let me bear the name of uncle-killer!”
Upon hearing this, Geng Bingwen was first stunned, but being a veteran minister for many years and the only old general to survive into the Jianwen reign, he immediately understood the emperor’s meaning:
As a nephew, I cannot personally kill an imperial uncle, which would create a stain impossible to wash away in this lifetime. Therefore, I only want to see the imperial uncle’s corpse. The imperial uncle must die on the battlefield. You must not capture Prince Yan alive and bring him back, forcing me to bear the stain of killing my own uncle.
Those in power rarely express their true thoughts directly in public settings. This was so-called official rhetoric. Official rhetoric can never be taken at face value—one must strive to excavate the meaning beneath the surface.
Simply put, they don’t speak plainly, giving you a look for you to interpret yourself.
Veteran ministers like Geng Bingwen could accurately divine Emperor Jianwen’s words, but lower-ranking officers, ordinary soldiers, and common people could mostly only understand the emperor’s speech at the northern expedition rally at face value.
Their understanding was exactly opposite to the correct answer…
They could only simply and crudely believe Emperor Jianwen meant: Don’t kill the imperial uncle! Don’t kill the imperial uncle! Don’t kill the imperial uncle!
Important things said thrice, otherwise I would bear the infamy of killing an imperial uncle!
The three hundred thousand-strong army departed magnificently.
Ji Gang led Jinyiwei secret agents, spreading Emperor Jianwen’s words “Do not let me bear the name of uncle-killer” like dandelion seeds to the ends of the earth, letting everyone know Emperor Jianwen “did not want to kill the imperial uncle.”
Whoever killed the imperial uncle would be placing the emperor in an unrighteous position, would be defying imperial orders—defying orders meant execution…
Emperor Jianwen: I didn’t… I wasn’t… You’re talking nonsense.
Of course, this was all for later.
Speaking of the northern expedition’s departure, Emperor Jianwen was brimming with confidence. The Ministry of Rites even began preparing the triumphal return parade and victory celebration.
In the rear palace, Cining Palace.
Empress Dowager Lu again invited Hu Shanwei to play chess.
This summer lingered unusually long. Even in August, the scorching sun blazed as if summer, sensing its approaching end, hastily released all remaining heat.
In the study, doors and windows were tightly closed. A jar of ice emanated cold air, dispelling the heat, with red water lily lamps arranged on the ice surface.
Hu Shanwei used her thumb pad to slowly rub the ink jade carved chess piece, unhurriedly observing the board’s situation, delaying her move.
Empress Dowager Lu sipped lotus seed heart tea and teased: “Even Palace Director Hu has moments of indecision.”
After an entire year together, Empress Dowager Lu discovered she and Hu Shanwei shared many commonalities. Hu was even the only person in the rear palace she could truly converse with. Empress Dowager Lu had grown somewhat fond of Hu Shanwei, always considering herself another Wu Zetian and treating Hu Shanwei as her Shangguan Wan’er.
Hu Shanwei smiled but still did not place her piece, saying: “Is the Empress Dowager not the same as this servant now?”
This year on New Year’s Day, a great amnesty brought many old palace servants into the palace, with new palace servants also selected for entry. Among them, almost everyone on Empress Dowager Lu’s list had been “selected” by Hu Shanwei into the palace. After half a year, these people had become familiar with every blade of grass and tree in the rear palace, also having opportunities to approach the imperial presence. According to the original plan, the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet on the fifteenth of the eighth month would be the time to assassinate Emperor Jianwen.
But it was already the tenth of the eighth month, and Hu Shanwei had not received confirmation from Empress Dowager Lu about preparing to act.
Empress Dowager Lu and Hu Shanwei had developed an understanding and immediately grasped her meaning. “There’s no choice—the situation is different now. Prince Yan now advances with overwhelming momentum, unstoppable as a breaking bamboo. The northern expedition army delayed a full month selecting a commander before departing, losing the best opportunity while watching the Yan forces grow stronger. If this dowager and Prince Heng act now to force abdication, should His Majesty be assassinated and die, the northern expedition army would likely waver in morale. Losing the first battle, this dowager supporting Prince Heng’s ascension would fall into a passive position. Therefore, this dowager decides to postpone the forced abdication until after the northern expedition army suppresses Prince Yan’s rebellion, then act.”
Empress Dowager Lu was truly extraordinary, treating her children as chess pieces, determined to use Emperor Jianwen completely and drain all his value before letting go.
However, Hu Shanwei had to admit Empress Dowager Lu’s decision to postpone the forced abdication was correct.
If the next emperor was not her son but Prince Yan, her assassination of Emperor Jianwen would merely be making wedding clothes for others.
However, while Empress Dowager Lu was not anxious, Hu Shanwei was! She had not seen A’Lei for a full year, had not touched her small soft body. The most recent secret letter from Qianhu mentioned A’Lei could walk now—after just two days of walking, she wanted to run, catching dragonflies in the chrysanthemum fields.
Hu Shanwei finally placed her black piece, saying: “Wait for the northern expedition army to defeat the rebel forces? How long must we wait? The Empress Dowager should decide early to avoid long nights breeding many dreams and unexpected complications.”
Empress Dowager Lu leisurely placed her white piece. “Palace Director Hu looks down on General Geng? You seem to lack confidence in the northern expedition army.”
Marquis Changxing Geng Bingwen was Empress Dowager Lu’s in-law. Hu Shanwei naturally could not speak truthfully, saying: “What qualifications does this servant, a mere woman, have to look down upon the distinguished Marquis Changxing? It’s just…”
Hu Shanwei nodded toward Kunning Palace, saying: “The Empress has not changed her monthly linens this month.”
This was a euphemistic way of referring to menstruation.
Empress Dowager Lu, having borne five children, naturally understood what this meant and was immediately shocked. “The Empress is with child?”
Hu Shanwei neither confirmed nor denied. “The Empress suffers from summer discomfort, eating less, and due to excessive worry over Prince Yan’s rebellion, her spirits are poor, possibly affecting her body. Kunning Palace has not summoned female physicians for examination, so this servant cannot be certain.”
Empress Dowager Lu faced this as a great threat. “Should it be a male fetus…”
If it were a son, then assassinating Emperor Jianwen and the Crown Prince would be useless. The baby boy, as the legitimate second son, would be the rightful heir to the throne. With Empress Ma acting as regent, Prince Heng would have no chance.
Hu Shanwei lightly tapped the board. “Therefore, please let the Empress Dowager decide quickly.”
Empress Dowager Lu’s hand holding the black piece loosened and tightened, tightened and loosened, finally placing it on the board with a sharp crack. “When the northern expedition army wins their first battle and victory is decided, this dowager will act without waiting for Prince Yan’s head.”
See, an empress dowager is still an empress dowager. As they say, no one knows a child better than their parent—she understood the true meaning of “Do not let me bear the name of uncle-killer.”
Empress Dowager Lu thought: In-law, you must return victorious.
After Hu Shanwei urged Empress Dowager Lu to force abdication with the intensity of readers pressing an author for updates, she returned to the Palace Bureau. On her desk lay a volume of “Fan Deji Poetry Collection.” Flipping through casually, she found the poem she read most often, “Grave-Digging Song”:
“Yesterday old tombs were dug, today new tombs form. Before the tombs stand two stone guardians, seeing off the old, welcoming the new. Old souls not yet departed, new souls enter, old souls still weep facing new souls. Old souls earnestly advise new souls: good land needs not many descendants. Should descendants continue endlessly, great-grandsons won’t dig but great-great-grandsons will. I dig today, truly pitiful—who knows when you shall dig?”
This was a poem Palace Director Fan, in an anxious state, had included in a letter to Palace Director Cao, hinting at her great fear. When Palace Director Cao produced the letter mentioning this clue, Hu Shanwei was confused and unclear. Only now, having identified Palace Director Fan’s killer, did Hu Shanwei understand her hints in the letter.
The poem’s unworthy descendants digging ancestral graves referred to Emperor Jianwen defying Emperor Gaozhu’s deathbed oral decree to execute the empress dowager, forcing Palace Director Fan to conceal the scandal.
Palace Director Fan was coerced into agreement, but after Emperor Jianwen’s formal enthronement, he immediately began killing imperial uncles. Sensing the fox’s sorrow at the rabbit’s death, Palace Director Fan felt the emperor wanted to kill her to silence her and eliminate future troubles, so she simply feigned illness to leave the palace. As a precaution, she mentioned “Grave-Digging Song” in her letter to hint to Palace Director Cao.
Sigh, unfortunately she still could not escape the sovereign’s suspicion and murderous hand.
Hu Shanwei closed the poetry collection, deeply moved: Emperor Jianwen did more than defy orders and act unfilially, digging ancestral graves! Every foolish move he made now was digging his own grave!
Speaking of the northern expedition battlefield, Emperor Jianwen, worried other vassal princes might lead their troops to join Prince Yan in collaboration, simply issued an edict summoning all northern and central plains vassal princes back to the capital.
The vassal princes who had prepared to lead troops resisting Prince Yan for imperial loyalty, upon receiving the edict, all shared the same thoughts as the recalled Prince Liao: Fine, the little emperor suspects me, treating sincere loyalty like donkey liver and lungs. I simply won’t interfere. You can do whatever you want. Regardless of who becomes emperor, it’s all the same. Why should I risk fighting the powerful Fourth Brother, bleeding and sacrificing for nothing? I have a wife and children too.
Thus, the vassal princes’ military forces became ornamental, all abandoning resistance, fleeing to the capital with their families to eat and drink freely. This group of vassal princes had not met for years—their last gathering was at Empress Xiaoci’s funeral in the fifteenth year of Hongwu. Now assembled together, they were quite emotional, rarely reaching consensus: Father was still better! Gave us land and troops. Once nephew took the throne, we have nothing.
Thus, under Emperor Jianwen’s machinations, all imperial family members were driven into Prince Yan’s embrace. No one would help him anymore.
Hu Shanwei watched coldly as Emperor Jianwen dug his own grave step by step, just as described in “Grave-Digging Song,” squandering all the political legacy Emperor Gaozhu had carefully left him, like an ignorant child guarding a pile of gold and silver treasures without knowing how to use them, discarding them like scrap metal.
Hu Shanwei worked as a triple agent, continuously transmitting intelligence to Prince Yan. To prevent epidemic outbreaks, the palace’s underground sewers only handled drainage, while excrement and garbage were loaded onto carts for disposal outside the palace.
Classified military intelligence sealed in wax pellets was thrown into chamber pots marked with special signs, transported out every dawn to suburban treatment facilities for fermentation into valuable fertilizer.
This industry appeared dirty and foul-smelling but was extremely profitable, never lacking buyers and having almost no costs.
Several major treatment facilities outside Nanjing had all been coerced by Ji Gang through various means to sell to him, secretly contracting them all. The treatment facilities became intelligence collection stations.
Three years passed, and through various twists, Ji Gang and Hu Shanwei still cooperated. Meanwhile, Mu Chun had gone to Yan territory, responsible for guarding the frontier to prevent the Northern Yuan from taking advantage of Ming internal strife to stage a comeback and harass the borders.
On the northern expedition front, three hundred thousand northern expedition troops engaged one hundred thousand rebellion forces at Zhengding.
Just as northern expedition commander Geng Bingwen deployed troops using pincer tactics, Prince Yan defied conventional strategy, launching a surprise attack that completely annihilated nine thousand northern expedition vanguards—essentially cutting off the “horn tip” of the pincer.
To save his life, Geng Bingwen’s subordinate General Zhang Bao surrendered to Prince Yan. Prince Yan released Zhang Bao: “…If you do as this prince says, this prince will believe your surrender is sincere and grant you a title in the future.”
Zhang Bao pretended to escape Yan pursuit and returned to the main camp to report false intelligence to Geng Bingwen: “…Prince Yan’s rebel forces will arrive in one day.”
With urgent military conditions, Geng Bingwen immediately ordered the entire army to cross the river and form ranks on the opposite bank to resist the rebels.
But just as the northern expedition army was crossing the river and divided in two, Yan forces descended like heavenly troops, attacking the river-crossing northern expedition army.
Caught completely off guard, Geng Bingwen suffered crushing defeat. The three hundred thousand northern expedition army was reduced to merely one hundred thousand. Geng Bingwen led remnant forces retreating to Zhengding city, closing the gates and holding firm without emerging.
As mentioned before, Geng Bingwen’s strength was defending cities.
After all, he was a veteran of many battles. The moment Geng Bingwen retreated into Zhengding city, not only was his fighting spirit not crushed by defeat, but he rediscovered the feeling of past battles. Same formula, same flavor—with this old man defending the city, Prince Yan’s rebel forces couldn’t advance a single step!
Geng Bingwen rallied his forces and commanded the defense. Yan forces attacked fiercely for three days with countless casualties but could not breach Zhengding city.
Since launching “pacifying difficulties,” Prince Yan had been smooth sailing, never encountering such a difficult “bone to chew.” Just as Prince Yan was at his wit’s end, a wax pellet arrived at the main camp. His second son Zhu Gaoxu, who resembled Prince Yan in appearance and build by seventy percent, melted the suspicious-smelling wax pellet on iron and extracted an intelligence report for his father.
Prince Yan opened it and immediately turned worry to joy, saying: “Order the entire army to withdraw immediately!”
Zhu Gaoxu was puzzled. “Father, our army pursues victory—why withdraw?”
Prince Yan laughed. “We don’t need to chew this hard bone of Zhengding. Someone will help us break the siege.”
Zhengding city.
Fully armored northern expedition commander Geng Bingwen dozed against the wall. He had not removed his armor to sleep for ten days, resting when tired by lying clothed with soldiers on the city wall, always maintaining combat readiness.
But age was unforgiving. Despite his unwillingness to admit it, he was now exhausted, his sword-gripping hands beginning to tremble.
“Commander! The rebels have withdrawn!”
Geng Bingwen startled awake, looked carefully, and indeed it was so. “Prince Yan is cunning and may counter-attack anytime. Don’t let your guard down.”
But after waiting three days, Yan forces still had not come to attack the city.
Yan forces did not come, but from the south came an ornate carriage bearing “Li” military banners.
It was the vassal-reduction specialist, Duke Cao Li Jinglong.
Li Jinglong also held an imperial edict. “Hearing of the northern expedition army’s great defeat, His Majesty was furious, dismissed General Geng’s position, commanding General Geng to return to the capital immediately, and appointing me as northern expedition supreme commander.”
Changing commanders mid-battle was taboo, but Geng Bingwen’s first battle defeat was fact. Having never been on a battlefield, Emperor Jianwen truly could not understand how three hundred thousand northern expedition troops could be chased and beaten by one hundred thousand Yan forces, beaten into the city to cower without emerging.
Simply disgraceful! Emperor Jianwen felt Geng Bingwen had aged to the point of losing his integrity, unwilling to give him another chance, so he sent the younger generation leader Li Jinglong to replace Geng Bingwen.
However, Emperor Jianwen had not anticipated that if Geng Bingwen was a pit, then Li Jinglong was a bottomless black hole.