Chapter 152: Vacancy

Time entered the eleventh month of the ninth year of Chongzhen. The weather grew ever colder, snowflakes drifted down from the sky from time to time, and bone-piercing winds swept through, greatly reducing the pedestrians on the prefectural city streets; even the horse caravans and traveling merchants cut back on how often they ventured out.

The mutiny in Baoanzhou City had already faded from everyone's sight. In times like these, countless people died every day — a mutiny of a few hundred men in some minor place really could not draw much interest. For the higher officials, as long as the matter was resolved and did not spread, that was good enough. Even the Investigating Censor of the Xuanfu Garrison lacked the energy to pursue it.

Regarding the Baoanzhou City affair, the Huailong Military Defense Circuit Intendant, His Excellency Ji Shiwei, reported it to the Xuanfu Garrison Provincial Governor Chen Xinjia in a very understated manner, emphasizing that under his own steady command the mutiny had been resolved within a single day and the prefectural city was calm. However, since the mutiny stemmed from a lack of pay, he hoped the Provincial Governor could allocate some funds and grain to properly placate the officers and men, lest further incidents arise.

Where would Provincial Governor Chen Xinjia find any pay? He merely demanded that the Huailong Military Defense Circuit keep its officers and men firmly in check and ensure no further trouble arose within the circuit. As for the related handling of the matter, he told him to deal with it himself and eventually submit a report on how things unfolded. As for funds and grain, he would need to give it careful consideration.

The moment money was mentioned, every party in the garrison city passed the buck, and no one was willing to bring the matter up again.

When the official dispatch was sent down to the Huailong Circuit, it perfectly suited His Excellency Ji Shiwei's wishes. He in turn sent a dispatch to the guard city and the prefectural city, demanding that the guard battalion officers keep their men firmly in check and prevent further trouble. At the same time, he praised Wang Dou for his strict military discipline and decisive handling of affairs, expressing that his venerable self was very satisfied. Finally, he demanded that Wang Dou bring the troop strength of Baoanzhou City up to full complement — the garrison soldiers must not be left short — and then submit a troop roster. As for the rations and pay of the garrison soldiers, he was doing his utmost to find a solution.

In the eleventh month, the responsible officials from the garrison and the circuit made a trip to the guard city and the prefectural city. The mutinous government troops were dead and that was that — as long as no one stirred up trouble afterward, no one had any interest in pursuing the matter. However, a thorough inventory of the confiscated fields and properties of the mutinous officers and men was duly drawn up. It was estimated that several thousand mu of farmland would be absorbed into public fields, and all these fields would be subject to tax grain payments from then on.

Baoanzhou City had lost the strength of two battalions and needed to be rebuilt; no one paid any attention to the troop quotas. However, the prefectural city had lost two Squad Commanders and one Garrison Judge, vacating several posts, and many people were interested in those. The Great Ming guard battalions had always had many hereditary officers but few actual duty assignments, so the scramble for these few posts inevitably involved a good deal of open and covert struggle.

In the end, following the recommendation of Baoanzhou City Garrison Commander Wang Dou, Wen Fangliang of the Baoan Guard Left Battalion and Han Zhong — both loyal, righteous, trustworthy, and courageous in shouldering responsibilities — could serve as Squad Commanders of the prefectural city. Company Commander Chi Dacheng of the Left Battalion, a fair and upright man, could serve as the prefectural city's Garrison Judge.

Once the list was finalized, it was reported to Guard City Garrison Commander Li Yi'an for approval, then submitted to His Excellency Ji Shiwei, Intendant of the Huailong Military Defense Circuit, for authorization, and the matter was thus settled.

On the ninth day of the eleventh month, Han Zhong and Wen Fangliang led over six hundred troops of Shunxiang Fort's Second Battalion and Third Battalion in a grand procession to take up their posts. Wen Fangliang and Han Zhong's subordinates had originally been military conscripts; now they would formally be transferred into the troop registers as regular government soldiers, entitled to rations and pay.

When they entered the city, the sight made the military and civilian populace of the prefectural city turn pale. They had thought that Garrison Commander His Excellency Wang had only four hundred troops under his command. But during the pacification of the mutiny they had already seen the several hundred troops led by Han Zhong and Zhong Diaoyang, and now there were several hundred more led by Wen Fangliang. Just how many soldiers did His Excellency Wang have under him?

Riding on the lingering awe from the execution of the mutinous soldiers, and with nearly a thousand trusted officers and men stationed inside the prefectural city, Wang Dou had now established absolute authority within Baoanzhou City.

As for Wen Fangliang, Wang Dou's feelings were somewhat conflicted. He did value Wen Fangliang. Back when Xu Lu and the others had walked out, Wen Fangliang and Sun Sanjie had stayed behind and openly declared their support for him — that counted as true friendship in adversity. They had also shared life-and-death moments when resisting the Qing incursion. Though the young fellow was a bit slick, he did have talent and had also expressed loyalty to him, so when a vacancy opened up in the prefectural city, Wang Dou immediately thought of Wen Fangliang.

However, he was the nephew of Vice Guard Commander Wen Shiyan, and this Wen Shiyan was always making trouble for him. When Wang Dou was finalizing the list of Squad Commanders for the prefectural city, Wen Shiyan had raised objections to Wang Dou's proposal, but the moment he saw Wen Fangliang's name on it he immediately agreed, leaving Wang Dou unable to figure out what he was really thinking.

Wang Dou would not refuse to use Wen Fangliang just because he was Wen Shiyan's nephew, but he needed to ascertain Wen Fangliang's stance. If one day he came into open conflict with Wen Shiyan, whose side would he stand on? He did not want anyone in his circle whose heart was not aligned with his own.

On this matter, Wen Fangliang was also quite troubled. His uncle Wen Shiyan was always, intentionally or not, picking at Wang Dou. In truth, he knew perfectly well that the reason was that his uncle and the former Garrison Commander Xu Zucheng could not stand each other, and since Wang Dou had been Xu Zucheng's trusted subordinate, Wen Shiyan naturally had to pick on Wang Dou. There was actually no direct conflict of interest between the two men — it was purely a matter of prejudice.

Wen Shiyan believed that Wang Dou had enjoyed success too young and was arrogant and domineering; he found him extremely disagreeable and thought it was no good thing for his nephew to remain at Wang Dou's side. He wanted to transfer Wen Fangliang to the guard city, but Wen Fangliang adamantly refused. Over this matter, he had already quarreled with his uncle Wen Shiyan several times.

Wen Fangliang believed his uncle's vision was too narrow, unable to see the broader pattern or direction, his gaze confined to the tiny patch of land of the guard city and prefectural city. He himself was a man of great ambition — how could he live out his days under his uncle's wing? He had already seen very clearly that only by sticking close to Wang Dou would his future be boundless. And sure enough, here he was, transferred to the prefectural city, with even more splendid horizons ahead.

That very evening after arriving at the prefectural city, he paid a visit to Wang Dou, and in the course of their conversation Wen Fangliang brought up this issue on his own initiative.

Wang Dou spoke with earnest gravity: "Brother Wen, I think very highly of you. I hope that we brothers can see things through well from start to finish and share glory, splendor, wealth, and rank together."

Wen Fangliang's handsome face was filled with solemnity. He knelt and heavily kowtowed once, then said to Wang Dou: "My lord, no matter what, your subordinate will surely follow at your lordship's side, in the van or in the rear, forever rendering the service of a dog or a horse."

Looking at Wen Fangliang, Wang Dou slowly nodded. "Good!"

…

Three days later, Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander Lin Daofu arrived at Baoanzhou City, his wish fulfilled. Now that he governed his own domain, his spirit was radiant, and he brimmed with boundless energy from head to toe. Inside the Garrison Commander's residence, Wang Dou received Lin Daofu. The spacious and luxurious Garrison Commander's residence made Lin Daofu slightly uneasy; his demeanor was just like Wang Dou's had been when he first met Garrison Commander Xu Zucheng.

Wang Dou exchanged warm pleasantries with him, reminiscing about their days at Shunxiang Fort. Only when he saw that the Garrison Commander's manner was as it had been in the past did Lin Daofu relax and begin chatting and laughing freely with Wang Dou.

Lin Daofu had come this time to report to Wang Dou on the newly proposed appointments of duty officers at Shunxiang Fort, as well as on various matters at Shunxiang Fort since Wang Dou's departure.

The former Shunxiang Fort Land Reclamation Officer Wen Fangliang and Training Officer Han Zhong had been promoted to the prefectural city. For the vacancies they left behind, Lin Daofu proposed that Vice Battalion Commander Sun Sanjie serve as Land Reclamation Officer, and Vice Battalion Commander Gao Shiyin serve as Training Officer. Company Commander Zhong Diaoyang would serve as Garrison Judge, and the troops under their command would continue to be led by them.

Wang Dou nodded. In his heart, he actually leaned more toward Zhong Diaoyang as Training Officer, but clearly his rank was not high enough — with two Vice Battalion Commanders above him, it was not the turn of a mere Company Commander to take an adjutant post. Although Zhong Diaoyang was his cousin, he could not appoint people purely out of personal favor; everything had to be done according to the rules, or else his subordinates' hearts would be hard to win. Fortunately, the land reclamation and troop training affairs at Shunxiang Fort had already been set on track and formed a series of standardized systems, so this arrangement was also a prudent course.

Wang Dou said: "Let it be handled this way. I will issue the appointment dispatches very soon."

Lin Daofu then reported to Wang Dou on the recent land reclamation results at Shunxiang Fort. He said: "My lord, after the slave rebels withdrew, from the eighth month to the end of the eleventh month, the fort has reclaimed sixty-two thousand three hundred and fifty-five mu of wasteland. Adding the three thousand mu of new fields reclaimed early this year and the five thousand mu of new fields at Jingbian Fort, Shunxiang Fort has a total of seventy thousand three hundred and fifty-five mu of new fields. Each household can be allotted thirty mu of land. However, within the territory of Shunxiang Fort, there is no more land left to reclaim. Moreover, many irrigation wells and waterwheels have yet to be constructed, and there is also a shortage of plow oxen and farming tools."

Shunxiang Fort had a population of over twelve thousand. Through the fort's vigorous efforts to match people up, aside from those already in households, the scattered individual adults had also basically formed new families. After the fort's new census, there were a total of two thousand and fifty-seven households. According to Wang Dou's standard — fifty mu of land per ordinary military household, one hundred mu per household for officers of Company Commander rank and below, and one hundred fifty mu for officers above Company Commander — a total of over one hundred thousand mu of new fields needed to be reclaimed.

Actually, reclaiming wasteland was easy. One able-bodied laborer could reclaim more than one mu of wasteland per day on average. The difficulty lay in the subsequent digging of irrigation wells, as well as the provision of plow oxen, farming tools, and seeds. Shunxiang Fort had only a little over five hundred plow oxen. To provide one plow ox per household, for over two Battalion Commander, there was still quite a shortfall.

Digging irrigation wells and constructing waterwheels also required considerable funds and grain. At market price, digging one deep irrigation well complete with waterwheel cost twenty taels of silver, and still required animal power to draw water. Of course, for Wang Dou this price could be greatly reduced, but the total amount of funds and grain needed was still very large. Moreover, digging irrigation wells was critically important — without irrigation wells to provide water for irrigation, the reclaimed wasteland would be useless. Shunxiang Fort had reclaimed quite a lot of wasteland, but limited by funds and grain, the construction of irrigation wells was very hard to keep pace with.

Wang Dou remained silent for a long while. Finally, he said: "I will think of a way to handle the plow oxen and other things. You organize the troops and civilians and get the wasteland reclaimed first. If Shunxiang Fort has no more wasteland, then go to the Five Forts area to reclaim land, until the standard of fifty mu per household is reached."

Lin Daofu agreed. With Wang Dou backing him from behind, he was at ease.

Wang Dou smiled and said to him: "Old Lin, now that you're at the prefectural city, stay a few days and enjoy yourself. I am just about to summon the officers of the various forts for a conference. You can leave after the conference — there's no rush."

Lin Daofu naturally wished to spend more time in close company with Wang Dou, and upon hearing this he hastened to agree.