BOUNDLESS INCAPACITY. 449 court, she denounced him as an enemy of the state, and as one whose crimes rendered him deserving of death. But the young Emperor implored that the life of his favourite might be spared, and all present supported what he asked as a personal favour. The Empress felt constrained to yield, but she warned Wangchin that on the next occasion he must expect no mercy. She little thought at the time that she would never again have so much as the inclination to decree his punishment. The exact character of Wangchin's crime is not known, but probably he possessed no fault greater or more disastrous in its consequences than his incapacity. Having thus been marked out in a public manner as the enemy, and consequently as the object also of the Empress Regent's resentment, he set himself to the task, difficult though it was, of removing the insecurity of his position by ingratiating himself into her good graces. In this he succeeded beyond his hopes, and in a degree that might appear to be incredible, although we know how much a handsome face, a ready tongue, and a plausible address may accomplish. Within three years after the scene described, Wangchin had not only gained a seat on the council, but his influence was allpowerful with the Empress Regent. She, who had been his bitterest, indeed, so far as we may judge, his only foe, was now his warmest friend and stanchest supporter. Without him nothing was done, and the Empress practically resigned to him the functions of authority. The consequences of this diversion of the ruling power from the hands of the Empress and her council into those of this ambitious individual proved most disastrous and unfortunate, for his incapacity was boundless. Having displaced the experienced ministers of the Empire, he advanced to the front rank of the official service creatures of his own, but all had to retain office by humouring his whims and obeying his commands. The administration of the country was carried on after a certain fashion without any evil consequences becoming apparent, but when Wangchin selected his favourites or his creatures for commands in the army he imperilled both his reputation and the national interests by inviting defeat. VOL. L. 2 G Even here his better fortune seemed at first likely to save him from the natural consequences of his impolicy, for a revolt in Yunnan was summarily repressed and the Emperor's authority promptly reasserted. But the natural consequences of human incapacity are not to be ultimately averted. They arise sooner or later; and their advent was not long deferred in the case of Wangchin. Among the Mongols of the northern frontier there had at this time arisen some fresh sense of union, and Yesien, Prince of Chuning, who succeeded to his father's place and name about the time when all Wangchin's designs had apparently been crowned with success, was possessed with the ambition to renew the incursions into China that had formerly been the prerogative and practice of his race. The border governors soon reported that Yesien was actively engaged in military preparations, and that his emissaries and spies were exploring the frontier of the Empire for the purpose of ascertaining its weak places. But for the time Yesien took no active steps against the Chinese authorities, and duly sent the usual envoy and presents to the capital for the purpose of announcing his accession to the chiefship of his people. He also made the customary request to the Emperor for a Chinese princess as his wife. Yesien's moderation removed the apprehensions which his military preparations were beginning to arouse, and both Yngtsong and the more experienced of his officials were in favour of a gracious compliance with the requests of the Tartar prince. But to Wangchin the occasion appeared to be one not for arranging in a satisfactory manner a difficulty that might imperil the national interests, but for exalting his own position and for gratifying his personal vanity. Wangchin appropriated for himself the presents sent by the Tartar chief, and haughtily refused to entertain the request for a bride. The messengers returned to the camp of Yesien to inflame his indignation by the rejection of his overtures, and by the relation of their discourteous treatment. The desert chieftain took this conduct on the part of the Chinese Government as an affront to his person, and as a slight upon his honour. According to the code of honour among his race, the insult thus publicly offered could only be TOO LARGE AN ARMY. 451 atoned for in blood; for the instincts natural to man raged, uncontrolled by the lessons of civilization, in the hearts of the children of these northern steppes. Yesien's reply to Wangchin was to collect his fighting men and to harry the border districts of the Empire. The boldness of his policy greatly disconcerted Wangchin and his advisers, for Yesien marched against the strongly fortified and strategically important town of Taitong in Shansi, and even proclaimed his intention of attacking Pekin. Wangchin, alarmed at the storm which he had so heedlessly raised, called out all the troops stationed in the northern provinces, and he also compelled the courtiers to take up arms and join the active army in the field. Five hundred thousand men were assembled, and, to increase the confidence of the soldiers and to make victory doubly assured, as he thought, Wangchin insisted on the young Emperor placing himself at their head. But, as the event turned out, these extensive preparations and this presence of the sovereign contributed not to make a victory more signal and illustrious, but to render a defeat more crushing and ignominious. The eunuch general was ill-able to direct the unwieldy machine which he had found it so easy in the Emperor's name to create, and, ignorant of the way in which it was necessary to provide for the requirements of so vast a body. of men, his troops had not taken the field many days before they were reduced to extreme straits by the breaking-down of the transport and commissariat services. In face of an enterprising enemy this mismanagement soon produced the greatest confusion in the ranks of the Imperialists. Divided councils also presented themselves in the Cabinet to increase the disorder; but although many sought to expose the folly of Wangchin, and to cause his removal from office, yet he remained supreme in the affection of his Sovereign and in his own effrontery. Meantime, Yesien was actively employed in the endeavour to take the superior army of his opponent at a disadvantage, and at last the favourable opportunity offered itself when Wangchin pitched his camp in a false position at a place called Toumon. The error of the Chinese commander was so glaring that Yesien imagined that it must conceal some deep-laid stratagem, and accordingly sent one of his officers nominally to discuss the terms on which an arrangement might be concluded, but really to examine the military position. The envoy hastened back as soon as he could to urge Yesien to deliver his attack without delay, as fortune had given the Chinese army into his hands. The Tartar prince acted with the promptitude the occasion required. The Chinese, cooped up in a narrow space and surrounded on all sides, fought with desperation, but with little judgment. They broke in every direction, and were pursued with vigour by the Mongol horsemen. The battle in a few hours became a rout. The Tartars gave no mercy, and more than 100,000 Chinese perished at their hands. Nor had the calamity ceased there. The Emperor himself, the youthful Yngtsong, remained captive to his savage foe, and it seemed but a trifling consolation in the midst of the surrounding misfortune to find that Wangchin had paid with his life the penalty of the ruin entailed by his imprudence and temerity. Large sums of money were offered for the ransom of Yngtsong, but Yesien was loth to part on easy terms with so distinguished a captive. After his great victory at Toumon, the Tartar chief did not meet with as many successes as he might have anticipated, for the border garrisons stood resolutely to their posts, and at last Yesien resolved to return to the Toula, taking back with him his state prisoner, Yngtsong. His parting message to the ministry at Pekin was to fix the ransom of the Emperor at 100 taels of gold, 200 taels of silver, and 200 pieces of the finest silk. The departure of Yesien rendered it necessary for the Empress to take steps for the conduct of the administration during the enforced absence of the Emperor. At first there had been only a council of regency, but when it became known that Yngtsong had been conveyed to the north, his younger brother, Chinwang, was placed upon the throne in the year 1450, and he took the style of Kingti. The seven years during which he filled the throne were marked by the consequences of the rude shock which the rout of Toumon had produced throughout the whole country. That single A CAPTIVE EMPEROR. 453 defeat had almost sufficed to undo all the fruits of the policy of previous years, and to even render the task of preserving internal order one of no slight difficulty, so easy a matter is it to destroy compared with the labour required to create. The eight years during which Kingti ruled in his brother's place were marked by a fierce but intermittent war with the Tartars, during which Yesien carried terror and desolation through the border districts of Shansi and Pechihli. During one of these expeditions Yesien, who carried his imperial prisoner about with him, laid siege to Pekin, but, as his force was composed mostly of cavalry, he was unable to do more than to beleaguer it and make feeble attacks on the gates. The arrival of fresh troops from Leaoutung enabled the Chinese to assume the offensive, when Yesien was glad enough to be able to make an orderly retreat back to his native districts with his captive. Yesien returned on several subsequent occasions; but the Chinese, who had had the good fortune to discover a capable general in Yukien, more than held their own. The one disturbing element in the situation was the continued captivity of Yngtsong, whom neither the wealth nor the force of China could ransom. A feeling was gaining ground that not much harm would be done were Yngtsong left to his fate, and this was encouraged and strengthened by Kingti, who, having tasted the sweets of power, felt loth to lose them. For reasons which must have had force at the time, but the memory of which has not been preserved, Yesien came to the determination to release Yngtsong, and to permit his return to his country. This decision was suddenly formed, and was little expected by either the court or the people of China, and when the unfortunate Yngtsong reached his native country he found none prepared to receive and few to welcome him. His imprisonment had lasted little more than twelve months, but it had continued long enough to provide him with a successor, and to completely change the aspect of affairs at his capital. When he entered Pekin the few hopes he had entertained of a restoration to the throne were abandoned, and he calmly accepted the apartments assigned |