Chapter 202: The Worry Is Not Poverty but Unrest

In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the seventh month. Zhending Prefecture, Xingtang County.

A column of men and horses moved across the vast North China Plain. These men were all sturdy, hardy fellows, each dressed in coarse cloth robes, yet carrying long spears and firelocks. Their murderous aura was such that strangers dared not approach. The sun blazed like fire, baking every face red, but their spirits were high, and laughter and cheerful talk rang out from the column from time to time.

At the very front, Han Chao rode a fine steed. Before and behind him were his bodyguards and the army’s standard-bearers and drummers. Of course, they flew no banners now and wore no armor; all were in plain clothes and cloth robes. Yet the aura of men who had survived a hundred battles could not be concealed.

Beside Han Chao was the army’s Zhenfu Officer, Huang Shibian, a man in his thirties wearing a blue cloth robe, his face cold as ice. It seemed all Zhenfu officers in the army shared this expression and disposition. Now, every Company Commander and Squad Commander under Wang Dou had an appointed Zhenfu Officer responsible for military discipline and the registration of merits and spoils. These Zhenfu officers were all directly commanded and appointed by Chi Dacheng, forming an independent system.

Behind the two of them followed the army’s Fuwèi Officer, Li Jinpei, a very amiable middle-aged man responsible for the soldiers’ psychological guidance. When he had nothing else to do, he would chat with officers and soldiers about their daily lives. Compared to the ice-cold Zhenfu Officer Huang Shibian, who looked at everyone as if they owed him three hundred taels of silver, Li Jinpei was clearly far more welcomed by the troops.

Behind Han Chao was his Zhongjun Squad Commander Huang Yujin, then Squad Commander Gao Shiyin, and finally Wu Zhengchun, newly appointed as Squad Commander not long ago. They advanced squad by squad. The march seemed disordered, but in fact they all moved in column formation using the "linked-line array." If they encountered an enemy in the field, they could link head to tail in moments and form a circular formation favorable for defense.

Between Squad Commander Gao Shiyin and Squad Commander Wu Zhengchun stretched a vast, dense mass of carts and horses. These carts and horses were all spoils Han Chao’s army had seized after leaving Baoanzhou.

Although the army’s baggage train and artillery unit had been established, when going out to suppress bandits, they naturally could not bring the artillery unit along. As for Han Chao’s Company Commander-level baggage train, though its full complement of one Platoon Leader and one hundred thirty-six men had all accompanied the army, the mountain roads from Baoanzhou to Yizhou were rugged and uneven, making travel difficult for both wheelbarrows and horse-drawn carts.

So when Han Chao set out, he had only brought some mules and horses to carry a few army supplies. He never expected that on the return journey, there would be a mighty procession of over a hundred carts and horses — a clear sign of how bountiful the harvest had been. With carts and horses available, not only the army’s grain, fodder, and supplies, but even the soldiers’ armor was all loaded onto the carts and horses for transport.

These carts and horses were laden with all kinds of grain, rice, and valuables, driven by the unit’s baggage soldiers. In addition, some able-bodied refugees accompanying the army had been drafted to assist. Behind the carts and horses, densely packed, were several thousand refugees, carrying their crude household belongings on shoulder poles, bringing their entire families along, following the Baoan soldiers forward with hearts full of hope.

At the very rear, Wu Zhengchun led the brothers of his squad to bring up the rear guard.

Though the wealth, cloth, grain, and rice were plentiful, the party had traveled smoothly all the way from Zanhuang County. Seeing the fierce and tough look of this column, no bandits or horse thieves dared to target them. Even when some reckless government troops thought of robbing them, without a word, they were beaten to death first. After killing several such groups, no one dared to target Han Chao and his men anymore.

……

Han Chao rode on his horse, looking around. An endless expanse of flat, dry, yellow earth, with hardly a tree in sight. After the men and horses passed, the dust they kicked up filled the sky. Though the land was vast, there were few signs of human habitation along the way. Han Chao saw that many small villages had been abandoned.

Natural disasters and man-made calamities, compounded by the Qing army’s invasion in the ninth year of Chongzhen, had left the regions near the capital devastated by plunder, and they had not recovered their vitality for a long time. Baoding Prefecture and Zhending Prefecture suffered drought year after year. Everywhere, grass and trees were parched. The mountain trees they saw were all stark white. The tumbleweed had been eaten up, the tree bark had been eaten up, and even the grass roots had been dug up.

Everywhere were the corpses of refugees who had starved to death. They even saw people by the roadside carving flesh from human bodies as if butchering pigs and dogs. Refugees were everywhere, bandits were everywhere. Except for some large manors and forts, when traveling in the wilds, it was hard to see any small villages with signs of human life.

In Baoanzhou, every person was precious. Outside Baoanzhou, human life was seen as no more than weeds. Sometimes when Han Chao and his men entered some large cities, everywhere were refugees in tattered clothes, lying on the streets at their last gasp. Countless girls knelt on the streets, willing to become slaves in other households just for a full meal. The sights they saw were like the end of the world.

Han Chao let out a long sigh. The people’s livelihood was truly miserable.

Amid the billowing dust, several Night Scouts from the unit came galloping back on horseback and reported to Han Chao: "Company Commander Han, five li ahead is Zhengjiazhuang."

Han Chao nodded. Their stronghold was not far from Shangfangzhuang, only a few dozen li past Zhengjiazhuang. It seemed they could reach their own stockade by tomorrow at the latest. It was just that they had previously always traveled southwest of Xingtang County and had never taken this road. Calculating that the road was easier to travel, this route was still better.

He ordered a faster march. Soon, the party arrived at a place the locals called Yu Village. Looking in from the outside, this village had clearly been abandoned. No sounds of chickens or dogs, no signs of human life. The stockade walls and houses had collapsed. A village like this had no defensive capability whatsoever. Even if a few residents remained inside, the government officials would not bother to press them for taxes, and all manner of horse thieves and bandits would turn this village into empty ground, forcing its abandonment out of helplessness.

Han Chao still ordered a search. He had encountered many villages like this. There might be a few villagers inside lingering on the brink of death. If they could save one, they would save one. Moreover, people like these, if moved to Baoanzhou, given full meals to eat, and given farmland, would certainly become the most steadfast supporters of the Garrison Commander. Many of the refugee groups in Han Chao's column were precisely such people.

What was more, thick smoke was still rising from within. It seemed horse thieves had visited not long ago, and perhaps finding nothing of value, had set fires to vent their anger.

Sure enough, after searching, they could see traces of the horse thieves' rampage inside. The able-bodied villagers had apparently all fled the famine, leaving behind the old and weak who could not walk or were unwilling to leave. These remaining old and weak had all met violent ends, their corpses lying strewn on the ground. Some elderly women were stark naked, apparently violated before they died.

Seeing this scene, Han Chao could not help but clench his fists tightly. He ordered the remains to be collected and given a proper burial.

At that moment, a personal guard came to tell him that two survivors had been found in the village. When Han Chao went over to look, he saw two gaunt, emaciated children lying on a woman's corpse, weeping.

Judging from the scene, these two children had hidden well and thus escaped the horse thieves' violence. This woman had probably been violated by the horse thieves, and with no hope left in life and no courage to go on living, had taken her own life, leaving behind these two pitiful children.

The two children were a boy and a girl, apparently an elder sister and younger brother, both filthy beyond description. Han Chao ordered the woman's body to be buried and took in the two children, giving them water and dry rations. Watching them wolf down the food, Han Chao sighed deeply again and ordered the soldiers to take a brief rest.

Zhenfu Officer Huang Shibian, Fuwèi Officer Li Jinpei, and Squad Commanders Huang Yujin, Gao Shiyin, and Wu Zhengchun all gathered around Han Chao. Huang Yujin had apparently walked around the village perimeter. He said: "Look at this village. It has a river, it has land. A perfectly good village — why was it abandoned? Around Xingtang County, there are many villages just like this."

Gao Shiyin cursed: "The local officials and generals are good-for-nothings. Such a rich and fertile place — if the Garrison Commander were to govern it, it would surely become another Baoanzhou."

Everyone nodded.

Han Chao said: "Ever since we left Baoanzhou, it has been like this everywhere."

He said: "I once heard the Commander say that the affairs of the world boil down to two phrases: 'The worry is not scarcity but inequality; the worry is not poverty but unrest.'"

He said: "When there is inequality rather than scarcity, the world will fall into great chaos. Once the world is in chaos, there is no land of peace. Even if the common people wanted to live a life of hardship, they could not. Amid the chaos of war, how can the common people farm in peace? No matter how good the village, no matter how good the farmland, it will all be abandoned."

Gao Shiyin's fleshy face quivered as he shouted loudly: "With the skills of us good men of Baoanzhou, we only need to station a few units of troops in Xingtang County, and within a few months, the bandit menace in the area would be pacified, and the common people could farm in peace."

He muttered: "What a pity."

After a moment, he raised his voice again and said: "The Commander should be promoted quickly, to spread his benevolence and righteousness to more places, so that more common people can live days of peace and happiness."

Han Chao and the others exchanged glances, a tacit understanding passing between them. Each felt a pang of regret in his heart. Zhending Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture were truly too far from Baoanzhou.

As they were discussing, they saw several more Night Scouts from the unit galloping toward them. The scouts' faces were quite excited as they loudly reported to Han Chao that a large group of refugees had been discovered near Zhengjiazhuang, possibly numbering close to ten thousand. The Night Scouts had learned through inquiry that these refugees were heading toward Quyang and Tangxian, with some going even farther to Baoding Prefecture.

Gao Shiyin and the others grew excited. The opportunity was rare. Such a large refugee population was not something one encountered casually. The only regret was that the other side's numbers were a bit large. With nearly ten thousand refugees, they did not know if their column could handle it.

Huang Yujin and the others likewise looked at Han Chao, their eyes full of eagerness: "Commander, these refugees — do we take them in or not?"

Han Chao gritted his teeth and said: "Take them. So many people — if we move them to Baoanzhou, we can organize and train over a thousand strong soldiers. As the Commander says, 'Better to kill wrongly than to let go.'"

……

It is often said that when people number over ten thousand, they stretch as far as the eye can see. When Han Chao and his men arrived at Zhengjiazhuang, they saw a dark, dense mass of refugees, bringing their families along, carrying their simple luggage. A large portion of those who could flee the famine were still able-bodied adults. A considerable portion of the old, weak, women, and children had already collapsed and died along the escape route.

Zhengjiazhuang was considered one of the few large manors within Xingtang County, with high, thick outer walls. However, with so many refugees gathered outside the manor, they had long since tightly shut the manor gates. All the able-bodied manor men were up on the manor walls, on guard and ready to defend. If these refugees were to break in, their manor would surely be swept clean as if by a plague of locusts. Even after the refugees left, the surviving manor residents would probably have to join the famine-flight themselves.