Chapter 331: Eastern Route Military Defense

The twentieth day of the fourth month, twelfth year of the Chongzhen reign. Huailai City.

"Has Wang Dou taken up his post yet?"

"I heard he left for Yong'an yesterday, yet he passed through Huailai without coming to pay his respects. Truly insolent."

Inside the Huailai Military Defense Headquarters, the speakers were Guo Shitong, the Eastern Route Grain Administration Assistant Prefect, and Ma Guoxi, the Circuit Intendant.

Both men had been appointed here after the former Military Defense Officer Ji Shiwei and the former Eastern Route Assistant Prefect Feng Shilei were transferred to the garrison city. The new Yong'an Regional Commander was about to assume office, and both were paying close attention, especially given Wang Dou's nationwide fame.

But that Wang Dou was far too unhurried. Only after returning to Baoanzhou for a full month did he finally set out for Yongning City to take up his post. Although Ming officials were permitted three months to assume office, Baoanzhou was so close to Yong'an City — Wang Dou's dawdling inevitably made the two men wait in mounting impatience.

And yesterday, when Wang Dou passed outside Huailai City, instead of first entering the city to pay his respects to the Circuit Intendant and the Assistant Prefect, he went straight on to Yongning — which infuriated Ma Guoxi and Guo Shitong.

Ma Guoxi was a wily old fox; his face betrayed nothing, still beaming with that harmlessly genial look.

But seated below him, the Eastern Route Grain Administration Assistant Prefect Guo Shitong could not conceal his displeasure no matter how hard he tried.

Guo Shitong was in his forties, tall and gaunt, his expression perpetually tinged with a dark, brooding cast. He wore a blue robe with plain silver ornamentation and a cormorant rank badge — in official standing, he was merely a sixth-rank civil official. Yet as Assistant Prefect, he controlled all grain and pay matters for the entire Huailong Circuit's Eastern Route. With so many seeking his favor, his speech had acquired an imperious, brook-no-dissent tone.

This was true of all Revenue Ministry officials posted across the Great Ming territories, and Guo Shitong's backer was Chen Xinjia, the Supreme Commander of Xuan-Da. With such a powerful patron, though he had only recently been transferred to the Xuanfu Eastern Route, he already carried an air of "submit to me and prosper, defy me and perish," maintaining only a surface courtesy of respect toward Military Defense Officer Ma Guoxi.

He set down his teacup with a thud and said to Ma Guoxi, "Sir Ma, with Wang Dou so insolent, this humble official foresees great difficulty in handling Eastern Route affairs from now on. Given all that we hear of Wang Dou's conduct in Baoanzhou, has he ever shown regard for us? Has he ever shown regard for the imperial court?"

Hearing this, Ma Guoxi, seated in the place of honor, merely chuckled. Stroking his beard, he said, "Wang Dou has rendered service to the state, and he is young and full of spirit — some lack of circumspection in his conduct is inevitable. Chief Clerk Guo, as the presiding officials of the Eastern Route, we should be magnanimous above all, magnanimous above all — to demonstrate the spirit of civil-military harmony, after all."

At Ma Guoxi's words, Guo Shitong picked up his teacup again, inwardly sneering: "Old fox."

Ma Guoxi's full title was Vice Commissioner of the Shanxi Provincial Surveillance Commission, Rectifying Military Defense in Huailong and Other Places. He was a native of Zhending Prefecture and spoke with a thick southern-metropolitan accent. After Ji Shiwei was transferred to the garrison city, Ma Guoxi had likewise been transferred to the Eastern Route.

He was in his fifties, dressed in a grand crimson official robe with a round collar, a jade belt at his waist. He had a square face, large ears, and a long beard flowing down his chest — his official bearing was beyond reproach. In particular, his face always wore that harmlessly genial, gentle smile that made people warm to him at first sight.

Yet Guo Shitong dared not underestimate Ma Guoxi in the slightest. Never mind this master bureaucratic operator — his patron was none other than the current Chief Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Xue Guoguan, which alone commanded respect. Xue Guoguan now basked in the Emperor's favor; even Yang Guochang, known as "Prime Minister Yang," dared not clash with his subordinates.

Although Guo Shitong had been pressing aggressively in the Eastern Route, facing an old hand like Ma Guoxi, he felt like a dog trying to bite a hedgehog — no place to sink his teeth. After several rounds of thrust and parry, the two had largely settled into a state of mutual non-aggression and peaceful coexistence.

But now a newly appointed Regional Commander had arrived who seemed to play by no ordinary rules... In times past, a mere Regional Commander would not even have registered in the eyes of men like Guo Shitong. Civil officials were esteemed, military men despised; he who controlled the Eastern Route's grain and pay could in practice keep a Regional Commander on a leash. Even a second-rank official — so what? He would still have to bow and scrape before them.

But Wang Dou was different. Famous across the realm, courted by Grand Secretaries without, backed by the Xuanfu Supreme Commander within — what changes this would bring to the Eastern Route's balance of power, Guo Shitong did not know.

Yesterday, upon hearing that Wang Dou had left Baoanzhou for Yongning City, Guo Shitong had expected him to enter Huailai City to pay his respects and had prepared a bellyful of words. Who knew Wang Dou would head straight for Yongning City? That punch striking empty air left Guo Shitong feeling hollow and deeply unsettled.

"The imperial court has ordered that the two hundred thousand rescued commoners be converted to military households. Supreme Commander Chen also intends for Wang Dou to recruit and train five thousand new troops on the Eastern Route, with us assisting in the drilling. Five thousand new troops is no small matter — military farm administration and all manner of policies, the affairs are myriad and complex. Does Sir Ma have a settled plan?"

Guo Shitong suddenly brought up another matter.

In the military defense system of the various garrisons, Regional Commanders and Mobile Corps Commanders were responsible for training troops and defense, while the Circuit Intendant and Assistant Prefect managed the circuit's military farms and civil administration, supplying the army with matériel and provisions, and supervising the Regional Commanders and Mobile Corps Commanders in training the troops — and overseeing deployments in wartime.

Although Xuan-Da intended for Wang Dou to train five thousand new troops, the supervisory authority naturally rested in Ma Guoxi's hands, while Guo Shitong himself was responsible for raising the new troops' grain and pay — his voice carried great weight. Especially in civil administration: although Defense-Command Regional Commanders nominally held military farm authority, in practice that power had largely concentrated in the hands of the local Circuit Intendant. Hence Guo Shitong's question.

Ma Guoxi pondered at length, then chuckled. "This matter is of great importance and requires long-term deliberation. Civil and military are one body — we should wait until we have met General Wang before making any decisions."

"Long-term deliberation again — utterly moribund."

Guo Shitong sneered inwardly once more. "Currying favor with military men — eunuch-party remnant — never had a thought for the state."

He rose and bowed to Ma Guoxi. "This humble official still has public business to attend to. I take my leave."

Watching Guo Shitong's departing back, Ma Guoxi narrowed his eyes.

As a disciple of Xue Guoguan and a remnant of the "eunuch party," Ma Guoxi and others of the Xue faction had long borne the reputation of being "inveterate foes of the Donglin." Ma Guoxi had spent many years in officialdom; through the Chongzhen years, he had mostly kept his tail between his legs — until recently, when fortune turned, and Xue Guoguan emerged from retirement to be heavily employed by the Emperor, regarded as a second Wen Tiren.

As the tide rose, so did the boats — these disciples and former subordinates were successively promoted by Xue Guoguan. After years of drudgery in the Provincial Surveillance Commission, Ma Guoxi was at last elevated to the weighty post of a circuit's Circuit Intendant. While overjoyed, Ma Guoxi became even more cautious in his conduct.

For him, "safety" came first. After all, he was getting on in years and not far from retirement; safely enduring these next few years was paramount. Whether he achieved any political accomplishments was secondary — though accomplishments would of course be welcome. But in all things, steadiness was supreme: he would not loose the hawk until he saw the hare.

His pet phrase was: "This matter requires long-term deliberation."

Oriented around this goal, Ma Guoxi rarely made decisions lightly, meeting everything with a strategy of responding to all changes by changing nothing. Toward colleagues and subordinates, he was always warm as spring breeze, genial and approachable, and delegated authority to the maximum extent. Among the Eastern Route's various officials, he had earned a string of fine reputations: "affable," "does not hoard power," and so on.

A quintessential representative of the Great Ming's old-school "govern by doing nothing" bureaucrat.

How could Ma Guoxi not understand Guo Shitong's purpose in visiting today? He had quietly paid close attention to that Wang Dou — no ordinary military man. Guo Shitong wanted him, Ma Guoxi, to be the one to stir up trouble...

Ma Guoxi gave a cold snort and closed his eyes to rest. "Guo Shitong is narrow-minded and feverishly ambitious for fame and rank. And that Wang Dou is no easy man to deal with. Let the two of them fight it out to the death — this old man will sit steady on the fishing platform."

As the foremost of the Nine Garrisons, the Great Ming's Xuanfu Garrison had long been called "the Lock and Key of the Capital Region" and "Xuanfu, the Crucial Point of the Nine Frontiers." The Xuanfu parade ground was famed throughout the realm.

Now on the parade ground, metal and steel clashed, men shouted and horses neighed. Dense ranks of armored soldiers were drilling, their battle cries shaking the heavens.

A tall, burly general, nearing fifty and draped in a battle surcoat, stood rock-steady. He had a square face, weathered and lined, and his gaze as he surveyed the scene carried immense authority. He watched his soldiers drill in silence, standing solemnly for a long while without the slightest movement.

Around him clustered a large group of helmeted and armored officers and guards, equally motionless, not a word spoken.

The general stood in deep silence for a long time. Beside him, a deputy general in his forties, so stocky he seemed almost square, said excitedly, "Commander-in-Chief, after last year's battle, and with our regular army camp seizing vast amounts of silver and horses, the lads are well fed and clothed. Our regular army camp's combat strength has risen several notches — we should firmly rank first among the Nine Frontiers."

This officer's face was covered in saber scars, and his voice boomed like thunder. He was none other than Yang Guozhu's trusted central-army general, Guo Yingxian.

The solemn old general standing there was, of course, the General Who Guards the North, Xuanfu Garrison Regional Commander Yang Guozhu.

When the imperial court conferred rewards in the third month, Yang Guozhu headed the list of military officers, receiving the title of Grand Master for Glorious Prosperity, Left Chief Commissioner, and a hereditary Thousand-Household Command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for one son. Such glory reached the pinnacle for a Ming military officer of the present day — the next step would be enfeoffment as a marquis or appointment as a minister.

Not only that — from the joint operation with Wang Dou, Yang Guozhu had received over ten thousand horses and mules and several hundred thousand taels of silver, further strengthening his power. Not only were all five thousand men of the regular army camp converted to cavalry, but he also had the capital to recruit soldiers and purchase horses on a large scale.

Much like Wang Dou's feeling of a pillow meeting a sleepy head, the court had resolved to reform and drill garrison troops on a massive scale. Not only were the hundred-some thousand troops of the three Xuan-Da garrisons all to be drilled, but prefectures were to eliminate their Tongzhou posts and establish Defense Readiness Officers; counties were to eliminate their Assistant Magistrates and establish Drill Commanders — a nationwide large-scale troop training effort.

As Xuanfu Garrison Regional Commander, Yang Guozhu was authorized to train an additional ten thousand elite troops — cavalrymen — with designated officers, increased grain and fodder. Once the planning was complete, he could petition the court to allocate the grain and pay. By then, the combat troops under Yang Guozhu's command could justifiably reach fifteen thousand men.

Excitement — this was the prevailing mood among Guo Yingxian and the others close to Yang Guozhu. After last year's campaign, the various officers believed that as long as the regular army camp dared to fight, the combat strength of its soldiers would at least not be inferior to the armored infantry and cavalry of the Qing army.

And once those ten thousand more men were trained...

Guo Yingxian could not help grinning from ear to ear, his laughter booming like thunder.

Yang Guozhu shook his head. "Last year's battle gave this Commander-in-Chief much food for thought. Warfare is not won by individual combat. In raw courage, every man in my regular army camp is a match for General Wang's Shunxiang Army. Yet in pitched, open battle, they win every fight, and the Eastern Slaves' banners scatter at the mere rumor of their approach. As for us..."

Here, Yang Guozhu sighed with emotion and asked Guo Yingxian, "Has General Wang left for the Eastern Route to take up his post?"

"I heard he went yesterday."

Guo Yingxian exclaimed, "That kid — he really can hold back, dawdling in Baoanzhou for so long. Old Guo has to hand it to him."

Yang Guozhu's expression remained unchanged. "The troop-training effort must proceed. But this Commander-in-Chief intends to make a trip to the Eastern Route — to see how General Wang trains his new troops."

Guo Yingxian said delightedly, "Excellent! Haven't seen that kid in a while — I rather miss him. Just the chance to drink three hundred cups with him."

Then he muttered under his breath, "The Eastern Route's going to be lively. I hear many high officials from the court, plus Tiger Commander-in-Chief from the Shanxi Garrison, Wang Pu from the Datong Garrison, and others — all are inquiring about Wang Dou's troop training and intend to go there to learn from him. When that happens, tsk tsk..."

……

That day in the capital, the Chongzhen Emperor summoned Zheng Eryang, the Administration Vice Commissioner of Huaiyang Circuit, to the Platform to inquire about troop training and fund procurement.

Zheng Eryang had achieved considerable success in military and civil governance in Huaiyang Circuit. With the empire about to undertake large-scale troop training, the Chongzhen Emperor, having heard of Zheng Eryang's results, summoned him specially.

Facing the Emperor's inquiry, Zheng Eryang said: "When I first arrived in Yangzhou, each battalion had officers and soldiers on the rolls, but false numbers had long been the custom. I deliberately streamlined and drilled them — for every slot on the roster, I sought to fill it with one actual soldier, and drilled them constantly. Thus, in two years of defending against bandits, I never requested a single soldier or a single coin in provisions."

The Chongzhen Emperor said: "That is one region's affair. How does it apply to the whole empire?"

Zheng Eryang said: "Generally speaking, troops established by quota originally have their allotted pay and provisions. If one only seeks to drill them in earnest and make them serviceable, then the troops will not be falsely counted. That is, verifying the troops is sufficient to ensure full provisions. If troops are not drilled in earnest, then even procuring provisions is useless."

The Chongzhen Emperor asked again how to drill them. Zheng Eryang said: "From what I have observed, one need only have officers of the rank of Regional Commander and Mobile Corps Commander and below conduct the drilling."

The Chongzhen Emperor asked again how to drill them. Zheng Eryang said: "For example, a Regional Commander or Mobile Corps Commander selects a thousand men, then in total selects ten squads of a hundred, and strictly holds them to the military code."

The Chongzhen Emperor then asked how to procure provisions. Zheng Eryang said: "For procuring provisions, the various ministers' memorials have already been extremely thorough. The key lies in finding the right men. If the right men are found for minting coin, the profit returns to the public good..."

Listening to Zheng Eryang's answers, the Chongzhen Emperor had a persistent feeling of familiarity. He suddenly recalled — were these not the very words Lu Xiangsheng had spoken to him several years ago? He had heard that Lu Xiangsheng's memorials and arguments originated from Wang Dou... The Chongzhen Emperor stared at Zheng Eryang for a long while, until Zheng Eryang felt utterly baffled.

Returning to the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Chongzhen Emperor paced back and forth, then summoned the Eastern Depot eunuch Wang Huamin and said: "How is General Wang faring on the Eastern Circuit?"

Wang Huamin knelt respectfully on the ground and said: "This slave has ordered the Depot agents to investigate thoroughly across the Eastern Circuit and Baoanzhou. General Wang has not yet proceeded to Yong'an to assume his post. He is perfecting administrative affairs in Baoanzhou, comforting and caring for the troops. I have heard he has established a private staff headquarters, set up subordinate offices, and the activity has been quite considerable."

The Chongzhen Emperor nodded: "Unlike a single prefecture, the Eastern Circuit has numerous administrative matters. That General Wang has established a private staff headquarters and broadly recruited advisors is within expectations."

After a pause, he glanced at Wang Huamin and said softly: "Has the strength of the troops under General Wang's command been ascertained?"

Wang Huamin kowtowed and said: "This slave has made inquiries through many channels and can now confirm that the troops under General Wang's command number no fewer than seven thousand. Aside from over three thousand who are battalion soldiers drawing pay, the remainder are all local militia. However, their combat strength appears no different from the battalion soldiers. In this battle, General Wang suffered two thousand casualties, but after replenishment, his forces have returned to their former state..."

The Chongzhen Emperor stared blankly into space. He could not understand how Wang Dou, formerly a mere Mobile Corps Commander, had managed to support such a vast army, and with such outstanding combat strength at that. Moreover, he had heard from the Depot agents' reconnaissance that the troops under Wang Dou's command were issued neither grain nor pay — if soldiers received no pay, how were they willing to fight?

Wang Dou seemed shrouded in one mystery after another, utterly unfathomable.

He paced back and forth again, muttering to himself: "Taking General Wang's seven thousand troops as the basis, with this empire-wide troop training on the nine frontiers, the Xuan Garrison Eastern Circuit is to train five thousand new soldiers. Thus, General Wang would have twelve thousand troops under his command. His forces are outstanding in battle — five thousand of his men can match ten thousand slaves..."

Listening to the Chongzhen Emperor's words, Wang Huamin lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to breathe loudly. He thought to himself: "Could it be that His Majesty has already begun to harbor suspicions against that State-Stabilizing General?"

This was a subject one could not probe deeply, still less interject upon. Wang Huamin felt chill after chill creeping up his spine, and at the same time felt as if he were drenched in cold sweat — utterly miserable.

After a long while, the Chongzhen Emperor sighed: "General Wang is still loyal and righteous toward the imperial court, unlike Zuo Liangyu, Wu Sangui, He Renlong and the rest..."

When he mentioned He Renlong, the Chongzhen Emperor's tone carried a hint of cold menace.

On such a subject, Wang Huamin dared even less to interject.

At last, the Emperor regained his composure and instructed Wang Huamin: "Dispatch more Depot agents to patrol and reconnoiter every part of the Eastern Circuit."

Wang Huamin, as if receiving an imperial decree, respectfully withdrew. As he reached the doorway, he heard the Chongzhen Emperor murmur softly: "A pity he is already married..."

Wang Huamin froze for a moment, his eyes darting about rapidly.