[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army":3,"chapter-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-378":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","A Little Soldier of the Late Ming Border Army",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1205667,1561,"Chapter 378: Legend","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-378",378,"\u003Cp>That day the government troops won a great victory. Under the relentless pursuit of the Shunxiang Army cavalry, of the tens of thousands of Chuang troops, only a little over a thousand men, including Liu Fangliang, escaped — mostly from the old camp and the horse teams. The rest either died or surrendered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this battle nearly thirty thousand Chuang troops were captured, along with about sixty thousand taels of gold and silver, evidently looted by the Chuang troops in the vicinity of Ruzhou. There were also numerous plank carts, wheelbarrows, and the like. Over three thousand dan of grain and fodder were found — all that remained for an army of tens of thousands, clearly showing the Chuang troops were nearly out of provisions, which explained why they had attacked Ruzhou so desperately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seized swords, spears, bows, and arrows were also considerable, along with over two thousand horses and mules. Of the spoils, Wang Dou split the gold and silver evenly with Chen Yongfu. After careful consideration, Chen Yongfu took over three hundred warhorses, while the remaining two thousand mules and horses went to Wang Dou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those plank carts and wheelbarrows, as well as the swords, spears, bows, and arrows, Wang Dou gifted entirely to Chen Yongfu and the Ruzhou Department Magistrate Qian Zuozheng, delighting both men immensely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the grain and fodder, he kept all of it for himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this great battle, the government troops’ casualties were extremely light. Achieving such a great victory at so small a cost left Chen Yongfu, Qian Zuozheng, and the others marveling, and they held the Shunxiang Army’s fighting strength in even deeper awe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When news of the great Ruzhou victory spread, the whole prefectural city resounded with drums and music, and firecrackers boomed. The local gentry all went to the city gate to welcome the triumphant Wang Dou and Chen Yongfu’s party. Department Magistrate Qian Zuozheng laid out a grand victory banquet, and the city celebrated for several days on end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That same day, dispatches announcing the great Ruzhou victory were rushed by fast horse to Kaifeng and Luoyang. For a time, Kaifeng, Luoyang, and the surrounding regions were shaken, and every prefecture spread the names of Wang Dou and Chen Yongfu. Wang Dou and his Shunxiang Army in particular were hailed everywhere as a legend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the victory report reached the capital, the Chongzhen Emperor and the Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet showed no particular surprise at Wang Dou’s victory. Though each held a different attitude toward Wang Dou, their assessment of his army’s fighting strength was, for once, unanimous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the victory dispatch stated that the achievement was the combined effort of Wang Dou, Chen Yongfu, and Qian Zuozheng — and that Henan Provincial Governor Li Vanguard Commander, Henan Regional Commander Wang Shaoyu, and Administration Vice Commissioner Wang Yinchang had likewise contributed through their planning — to the officials at court, it was clear at a glance what had really happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To them, it was normal for Wang Dou to win when suppressing mere roving bandits; defeat would have been the anomaly. After all, the slave chieftain Hong Tai himself had fled in disarray under the Shunxiang Army’s blows. While the Inner Cabinet debated how to bestow rewards, they merely urged Wang Dou to proceed to Luoyang; once the siege of Luoyang was lifted, he was to lead his troops to Sichuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The one enraged was Yang Sichang. In the eleventh month, he had led his forces into Chongqing, promoted former Shaanxi Regional Commander Meng Ruhu to Regional Commander, and made Huguang Assistant Regional Commander Zhang Yingyuan his Assistant Regional Commander, ordering them to lead the troops and continue pursuing Zhang Xianzhong. But the various generals merely muttered and shrank back. Meng Ruhu’s men were exhausted from their relentless marches and knew only to burn and plunder wherever they went.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Sichang issued nine urgent orders for Zuo Liangyu to enter Sichuan and join the encirclement, but Zuo Liangyu ignored every dispatch and remained motionless in Huguang. He Renlong had long since abandoned Yang Sichang and returned to Shaanxi on his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remaining forces were either incompetent or insubordinate, causing the Sichuan campaign to deteriorate disastrously. Shifang, Mianzhu, An County, Deyang, Jintang, Rongchang, and Yongchuan were all looted clean by Zhang Xianzhong. From Baoning to Dazhou, the roving bandits burned every post station; for seven hundred li, not a wisp of smoke could be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The campaign to encircle the roving bandits had fallen into such ruin solely for lack of a capable commander. Yang Sichang had desperately longed for Wang Dou’s arrival, only to receive instead an official court dispatch stating that Wang Dou had been detained in Henan. This immediately set Yang Sichang cursing furiously, and he bitterly hated the Henan local officials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the twelfth month, when Yang Sichang received word of Wang Dou’s great victory at Ruzhou, he grew even more furious. That tens of thousands of roving bandits had been utterly annihilated under Wang Dou’s blows only proved his fighting prowess. Had he come under his command, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai would long since be dead beyond death, and he himself could have returned to court in glory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Yang Sichang, on one hand, pressed the court to send Wang Dou to Sichuan as quickly as possible, and on the other, personally wrote to Wang Dou, urging him to swiftly conclude his affairs in Henan and bring his troops to rendezvous with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the great Ruzhou victory, Wang Dou rested and reorganized in Ruzhou for a time. But once news of the victory spread, Wang Dou could not rest easy even in Ruzhou, for urgent dispatches pleading for aid poured in from Kaifeng Prefecture and Henan Prefecture, all urging Wang Dou to lead his army to Luoyang as soon as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the twelfth month, the situation in Henan Prefecture had grown even more dire. Around Luoyang, not only the earliest counties — Lushan, Jiaxian, Yiyang — but also Yiyang, Yongning, Lushi, Shanzhou, Lingbao, Mianchi, Xin’an, Yanshi, Mi County, Baofeng, and other places had successively fallen to Li Zicheng. In Henan Prefecture, only Luoyang City and Ruzhou City remained untaken; Luoyang in particular had become an isolated city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reports said that Li Zicheng’s forces, including the famine refugees, were deployed along two lines — Mianchi and Xin’an, as well as Yiyang and Yongning — and were said to number a hundred thousand. They watched covetously, and the trend of their assault on Luoyang grew ever more apparent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faced with Li Zicheng’s pressing posture, especially after Prince Wan’an had been killed, the Prince of Fu and the various officials in Luoyang were gripped by panic. Under their repeated pleas for aid, Henan Administration Vice Commissioner Wang Yinchang led Henan Regional Commander Wang Shaoyu, Mobile Corps Commanders Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai, and arrived in Luoyang at the beginning of the month. Inside Luoyang, defenses were tightened, the moat was widened, and the city walls were repaired.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this could not set their minds at ease. Chen Yongfu had already made his name at Ruzhou and, in the eyes of Henan Provincial Governor Li Vanguard Commander and others, had surpassed Regional Commander Wang Shaoyu; he was certain to go to Luoyang to break the siege. In particular, only if the even more formidable and legendary Shunxiang Army of Wang Dou went to Luoyang would the city’s officials feel secure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So from late in the eleventh month onward, Kaifeng and Luoyang sent several dispatches a day, urging Wang Dou to move quickly. To move Wang Dou, the officials and gentry of Luoyang promised that if he came, they would certainly reward him generously and would never go back on their word. Henan Provincial Governor Li Vanguard Commander, in a personal letter to Wang Dou, more pointedly hinted that he could not take the money and then fail to deliver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, after Chen Yongfu received the dispatch in late eleventh month, he intended to set out at once. But as long as Wang Dou did not move, he dared not move either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The road from Ruzhou to Luoyang passed not far from Yiyang, where Chuang troops were massed. If he set out alone with his troops, what if he were besieged by bandit soldiers? What if he fell into an ambush? So whether to move or not depended on Wang Dou’s intentions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the sixth day of the twelfth month, after Wang Dou received an urgent letter, he had finally “rested and reorganized” enough in Ruzhou and prepared to set out for Luoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The letter was written by Yang Sichang. It said: “His Majesty’s concern rests entirely on the single rebel Zhang Xianzhong. If you, General, bring your great army…” The letter went on at length, the gist being that the achievement of capturing and beheading Zhang Xianzhong was foremost in the Emperor’s mind, and there was no need to get entangled with Li Zicheng and the other roving bandits in Henan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Luoyang was a place of imperial princes, and the Prince of Fu was the current Emperor’s own uncle, so Yang Sichang could not very well tell Wang Dou to ignore it entirely; he merely urged him to come with all speed after lifting the siege of Luoyang. He, Yang Sichang, would certainly grant him a great reward of merit and wealth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Setting down the letter, Wang Dou smiled faintly. He certainly intended to meet Zhang Xianzhong, but there was no need to travel a thousand li all the way to Sichuan himself. This was the advantage of a time-traveler: innate strategic foresight. And it was wonderful to have an outstanding military force in hand — all sides vied to win him over, while he himself sat steady as a fisherman on his rock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon learning that Wang Dou was finally about to move, Chen Yongfu was overjoyed, but Ruzhou Department Magistrate Qian Zuozheng was quite reluctant to see him go. Wang Dou’s great army not only possessed outstanding fighting strength but also bought and sold fairly and committed no offense against the people, a refreshing sight. During the time they were stationed in Ruzhou, the commoners and gentry praised them in unison, calling them an army of benevolence and righteousness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing that Wang Dou was about to leave, they were equally reluctant and also worried that the roving bandits would return after his departure. Qian Zuozheng hoped Wang Dou could leave some troops behind to guard the area. After careful consideration, and with future plans in mind, Wang Dou decided to leave Sun Sanjie’s Supply and Transport Battalion in Ruzhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Sanjie’s Supply and Transport Battalion had already left one company of troops in Kaifeng, at Zhuxianzhen, to guard the grain, fodder, and silver belonging to the Shunxiang Army. But in Ruzhou, Wang Dou had reaped considerable gains. Qian Zuozheng had already supplied five thousand dan of grain and fodder, plus thirty thousand taels of silver from the local gentry as a reward for the troops. From this seizure, there were also three thousand dan of grain and fodder, thirty thousand taels of silver distributed, and two thousand mules and horses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The road from Ruzhou to Luoyang passed through some mountainous terrain, making transport inconvenient. Moreover, there would be supplies at Luoyang, and given his future strategic plans, Wang Dou did not intend to transport these provisions and silver to Luoyang. He would leave them in Ruzhou under Sun Sanjie’s guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou estimated that he would likely gain something in Luoyang, so those carts and horses would still be driven to Luoyang — but as empty carts, carrying only enough grain and fodder for the few days’ journey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, heavy ordnance like cannons and gunpowder had to accompany the army. In the previous month’s battle, the ten Hongyi cannons in Wang Dou’s army had displayed their prowess. Wang Dou hoped that in the coming operations against Li Zicheng, they would continue to demonstrate their might.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Zuozheng was very pleased that Wang Dou was leaving three companies of men. Though nominally supply troops, in Qian Zuozheng’s eyes they were exceedingly crack soldiers. With their help defending the city, even if the roving bandits returned, Qian Zuozheng was confident he could hold out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before departing, Wang Dou also inquired about the nearly thirty thousand captured Chuang soldiers and the several thousand disaster victims he had brought from Jiaxian. Qian Zuozheng’s intention was to settle them as civilians and to recruit some of the able-bodied young men among them as soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the natural and man-made disasters and the chaos of war, the Ruzhou region was nine-tenths empty and lacked population. If these soldiers were settled as civilians, Ruzhou could slowly recover its vitality — provided the court could remit Ruzhou’s taxes for several years and provide some aid. On this matter, Qian Zuozheng was vigorously petitioning the court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bandits too are innocent subjects. If they are willing to turn from evil and return to the right path, and abide by the law, the court should extend generous clemency and give them a chance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were Qian Zuozheng’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yongfu also strongly agreed with Qian Zuozheng’s view. A large portion of these captives were able-bodied young men — a rare source of labor and soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yongfu intended to organize some of these able-bodied young men into military units. Wang Dou was a guest army and could not remain long in Henan. But he himself had already made a name; in the future, the various prefectures of Henan would have many occasions to rely on him. If he proposed recruiting and training a new army, he would certainly gain the strong support of Henan Provincial Governor Li Vanguard Commander and others. These captives would be an excellent source of soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Battle of Ruzhou had profoundly awed Chen Yongfu; he was already inwardly planning how to model his troop training after the Shunxiang Army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were the local military officers and officials of Henan. Since they said so, what could Wang Dou say? He had come this time to make a name and to observe how the roving bandits fought; he had no wish to become too deeply involved in Henan’s local affairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they were ordinary disaster victims, Wang Dou would have been inclined to take them back with him when he returned east. But these Chuang army soldiers who had followed the bandits — he would pass on that. He could not let them corrupt the people under his own governance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, Wang Dou had advised Qian Zuozheng to pick out and execute those among the Chuang army captives who were deeply steeped in evil habits, as well as all their leaders — whether squad leaders, picket commanders, or division commanders — and give the remaining common soldiers a chance. But Qian Zuozheng merely hemmed and hawed, unconvinced. Wang Dou could only wish him good luck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Wang Dou left Sun Sanjie in Ruzhou and led the rest of the Shunxiang Army, together with Chen Yongfu, in a mighty procession toward Luoyang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ruzhou Department Magistrate Qian Zuozheng came out of the city to see them off, and the city’s commoners turned out in full force, reluctant to part, watching Wang Dou and his men until they disappeared into the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>",2572,"2026-06-03T14:05:36.780Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","ee59ee5da5bc5b6107d3d5eb4010ee65699233f0f74f9a95ac7ff5b83e20ac49","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-379","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-377",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]