Chapter 204: Staying Behind as Garrison

Heading northwest past Tangxian County, the ground gradually became rugged and uneven, and finally vast stretches of mountains and hills appeared.

This was the transitional zone between the eastern foothills of Mount Taixing and the North China Plain. The stronghold of Han Chao and his men was located at a place the locals called Jiukouzi. The stockade nestled against the hills and beside the water, easy to defend and hard to attack, with convenient transport. Following the river out for a few dozen li brought one straight to the county seat of Tangxian.

This stockade had originally been a bandit lair, occupied by several hundred seasoned old bandits and horse thieves who had run it extremely well. Local government troops had besieged it several times but could do nothing about them, so they simply let them be.

According to intelligence provided by the Night Scouts, Han Chao and his men raided the enemy camp by night. After storming the stockade, they slaughtered every horse thief inside and seized the stronghold, using it as a storage depot for the army's plunder from the Zhending Prefecture area.

Most of the gains from Han Chao's army over the past few months were here, and they had also gathered a large number of refugees. Including the refugees taken in this time, the total was estimated at twenty thousand people.

With so many people, they could not all fit inside the stockade, so many refugees built shacks along the riverbanks around it. Every day they survived on rationed rice gruel, patiently waiting for the day they would set out for Baoanzhou.

When Han Chao's army returned, the entire stockade stirred with excitement. The garrison left behind consisted of two squads of soldiers under Central Army Squad Commander Huang Yujin — one squad of pikemen and one squad of arquebusiers. The two squad officers came out to greet them. Seeing the vast convoy of carts and refugees, they rubbed their hands together and said delightedly, "My goodness, so much plunder again."

The newly arrived refugees, seeing the refugee shacks lining both sides of the river, felt even more at ease.

Wisps of cooking smoke rose within the stockade, and the place grew noisy. It was nearing noon, time to light the fires and prepare a meal. With the army back and so much plunder in hand, it was time for a proper celebration. Dozens of pigs and sheep seized from the various bandit lairs were slaughtered, and the soldiers let loose their belts and ate their fill.

Those refugees also ate a full meal for the first time, and each person even got some meat broth. Laughter and cheerful voices rang out everywhere.

Inside the Loyalty Assembly Hall, Han Chao sat at the same table with Pacification Officer Huang Shibian, Comfort Officer Li Jinpei, and the three Squad Commanders including Gao Shiyin. After eating and drinking their fill, Han Chao took out his pipe, packed it with some tobacco, lit it with a fire striker, and took a contented puff. Everyone else at the table likewise took out their pipes and began puffing clouds of smoke.

As for this tobacco, it had been introduced from the south to the Liaodong Garrison among the Nine Frontier Garrisons as early as the Tianqi reign, and thereafter quickly spread to the remaining key military garrisons. At the time, people believed tobacco had medicinal value for dispelling cold and miasma. Soldiers in particular, constantly marching and fighting abroad, exposed to the elements, were prone to ailments like rheumatism and malaria, so tobacco smoking was extremely popular in the late Ming military.

By the Chongzhen reign, tobacco cultivation was already widespread across the Great Ming, with Junzhou and Xunyang Prefecture in Huguang serving as tobacco bases in particular. Since the profits far exceeded those of grain farming, a great many people grew tobacco. The Chongzhen Emperor had strictly banned it several times, but with very little effect.

Wang Dou believed that tobacco cultivation greatly encroached on farmland and reduced grain output, so he strictly forbade the military households under his rule from planting tobacco, though he did not ban the sale of tobacco.

In his later life he himself had been a keen smoker. At this time, Ming people called smoking "eating smoke," and many simply put tobacco leaves in their mouths and chewed them. A few clever ones used paper or pipes to smoke. But paper was precious then, and common folk revered it almost as sacred — especially paper with writing on it. Anyone who used paper to roll a cigarette would be secretly reviled behind their back.

After smoking rolled cigarettes for a while, Wang Dou switched to a pipe as well. For a time, smoking with pipes became the fashion in Wang Dou's army, and no one put tobacco leaves in their mouths to chew anymore.

Han Chao, Gao Shiyin, and the others were all avid smokers, and their pipes came in all shapes and sizes, some long, some short. After a bout of puffing clouds, Han Chao said slowly, "We've been out for several months. It's time to return to Baoanzhou."

Pacification Officer Huang Shibian said coldly, "Squad Commander Han, the deserter Xu Yue'e has yet to be arrested and brought to justice. Are we to simply go back, then?"

After receiving the news about Xu Yue'e that Han Chao had sent back, Wang Dou ordered Han Chao to arrest Xu Yue'e. The horse thieves under her command were to be either incorporated or exterminated depending on the situation. Military law showed no mercy. Xu Yue'e, as a military household member of Shunxiang Fort, had fled without authorization, violating military discipline and regulations. Even though Wang Dou was from the same hometown as her, he could not break the rules he himself had set for her sake.

Unexpectedly, according to word from the Night Scouts, Xu Yue'e had taken her horse thieves off somewhere to pillage and plunder, and for an entire month no news had come of her returning to her stockade stronghold in Zanhuangxian. Her movements were erratic, and her exact whereabouts away from base could not be traced.

Huang Shibian's tone was cold. Though he was respectful toward Han Chao, he kept his distance, and his manner of speaking was rather stiff.

In Wang Dou's army, the commanding officer and the pacification officer belonged to two separate systems that did not interfere with each other and provided mutual checks. Han Chao, steady and magnanimous by nature, did not take it to heart. Moreover, he knew that Huang Shibian was a man cold on the outside but warm within, diligent and responsible in his work, and never one to put private interests before public duty. The two had been colleagues for so long that their cooperation was quite pleasant.

Han Chao said slowly, "His Lordship has already sent orders for us to return home. The matter of Xu Yue'e can only be dealt with later."

Hearing that this was Wang Dou's order, Huang Shibian fell silent.

Gao Shiyin said, "That little lass Xu is ruthless enough, fierce enough. Even old Gao here has to admit he's no match for her."

The tough flesh on his face twitched, evidently recalling something.

Then he sighed again, "But that little lass is a hard-luck soul too."

Wu Zhengchun also said, "Indeed, I too am endlessly impressed by Miss Xu's martial skill. That she, a mere woman, could rally over a thousand crack horse thieves — I find it inconceivable. I wonder how she managed it."

Huang Shibian said icily, "Military law shows no mercy. No matter what unspoken difficulties she may have, that is no excuse for fleeing without authorization. She learned her skills at Shunxiang Fort, then ran off to become a mountain bandit queen. If everyone did the same, how could our Baoanzhou ever form an army?"

Gao Shiyin and Wu Zhengchun coughed and said no more.

Han Chao said, "Our unit will rest and reorganize inside the stockade for two days. In two days we strike camp and return."

He continued, "By His Lordship's order, one troop of soldiers is to remain garrisoned at the stockade, with four thousand shi of grain left in storage. All other plunder is to be transported back to the prefecture. Those refugees are also all to be brought back to Baoanzhou."

Gao Shiyin and the others exchanged glances. Four thousand shi of grain could feed an army of five thousand for a month. Why did the Garrison Commander want to store grain here? Gao Shiyin and the others also knew that in several other locations across Zhending Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture, the Garrison Commander had likewise ordered grain stockpiled, but without explaining the reason. This left everyone with a sense of profound mystery.

Thinking about it, the Garrison Commander's actions were always farsighted. He began laying plans very early on, and in the end gave everyone a pleasant surprise — the campaign of the ninth year of Chongzhen was exactly like that. Although Han Chao and Gao Shiyin had followed Wang Dou the earliest, they still could not fathom his inner thoughts.

Han Chao pondered further: storing grain here in Tangxian territory — could it be that Zhending Prefecture would soon see battle? And against whom? How could the Garrison Commander be so certain there would be fighting in Zhending Prefecture? Could he have the gift of foreknowledge?

His thoughts raced, but aloud he said, "The garrison left behind must be steady and reliable. Let's discuss — among your subordinates, who would be suitable?"

Everyone fell into thought. Gao Shiyin slapped his thigh and laughed, "That squad officer of mine, Gao Xun — his martial skill is outstanding, and he handles matters reliably. Why not let him stay as garrison?"

Inside and outside the stockade, Baoanzhou soldiers were everywhere resting after their meal. Many sat puffing clouds of smoke just the same, boasting to one another about their gains from months of bandit suppression, calculating how much reward they would receive once back in the prefecture. Among those loudly debating were the new troops trained just the previous year.

Of the three Squad Commanders under Han Chao, apart from Huang Yujin and Gao Shiyin whose subordinates were mostly veterans, the soldiers under Wu Zhengchun were overwhelmingly new recruits trained the previous year, and the logistics troops even more so. Yet after months of bloody cross-prefecture bandit-extermination campaigns, the vast majority of them had become qualified warriors.

The thought of their registered merits and plunder only further stoked their martial fervor.

They laughed and cheered loudly, every one of them dark-skinned and rough, their bearing bold and unrestrained. They were already indistinguishable from the veterans.

Gao Xun, squad officer of the Third Squad under Gao Shiyin, led a few of his guards on a patrol through the refugee camp. Some stewards and squad leaders had been roughly appointed among them based on native-place accents, and the refugees had unconsciously built simple shacks according to their respective village and clan groupings, packed densely along the riverbank.

These refugees had just enjoyed a hearty meal and even had meat broth. Now they were gathered in small groups of three or five, chatting contentedly and dreaming of their future lives. Seeing Gao Xun and his men approaching with blades and guns, they all stood up fearfully, each face showing a flattering and respectful expression.

Some women, seeing Gao Xun's tall and slender figure, his handsome and heroic bearing, revealed infatuated looks in their eyes. Gao Xun acted as if he saw nothing and walked right past them.

Passing by one refugee shack, Gao Xun suddenly heard a voice: "My lord, please halt a moment."

Gao Xun turned his head. It was a male refugee who had called out to him in a gruff voice. He was stocky, in his twenties, with a square face and a rather fierce look — precisely that man surnamed Yang whom he had struck the day before.

Gao Xun had a strong impression of this man. He said flatly, "What important matter do you have to call me for?"

The man knelt and clasped his fists. "This humble one is Yang Shiqi. I admire your lordship's heroic spirit and hope to serve in your lordship's army."

As he spoke, he stared straight at Gao Xun.

Gao Xun glanced at him. "In our Baoan army, every man is a true fellow. Are you qualified?"

Yang Shiqi said loudly, "This humble one believes he has a rough grasp of fist and foot. Back in my village I was a top-notch fellow too. I will certainly not bring shame upon your lordship."

He cried, "If your lordship does not believe me, you may test this humble one's skill, and you will see that my words are not empty."

He craned his neck, as if Gao Xun's suggestion that he was unqualified made him extremely defiant.

Gao Xun gazed at him, a glint of appreciation flashing in his eyes. This man was unruly and untamed, but he could be counted as a true fellow. After striking him the day before, Gao Xun had kept an eye on everything that followed.

Just as he was about to speak, a big fellow came striding over and called out loudly, "Squad Officer Gao, the Company Commander seeks you."

It was one of the guards beside Company Commander Han Chao. Gao Xun cast a meaningful glance at Yang Shiqi and hurried off with the guard.