Chapter 419: Gathering Like Clouds

The fourteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, twentieth day of the second month.

In the late morning hour, the officials of Xiangyang and Wang Dou received a mounted report: the traveling carriage and sedan of Regional Commander Yang Sichang had already passed Yicheng and was not far from Xiangyang. Accompanying him were Huguang Provincial Governor Song Yihe, the eunuch Liu, Lu Jiude, and others, who instructed the Xiangyang officials to make ready to welcome them.

Learning that the Regional Commander was arriving, Military Defense Vice Commissioner Zhang Kejian and the others dared not be negligent and hurriedly sought out Wang Dou to discuss the welcoming formalities. Wang Dou thought to himself, "This Yang Sichang travels so slowly. And how did Liu and the others end up traveling together with Yang Sichang?"

Wang Dou led his guard commanders and various officers, while Zhang Kejian led the Xiangyang officials, along with the city's gentry and notables, and together they went to the Welcoming Officials Pavilion ten li west of the city to wait.

They waited all the way until the yin hour in the afternoon before they saw a grand procession of banners and insignia approaching along the official road. Around a magnificent eight-man palanquin crowded a throng of officials and staff officers of every rank. Behind the eight-man palanquin came a train of smaller sedan chairs of all sizes, and behind those, a dense mass of Huguang provincial troops and capital garrison soldiers.

Seeing the Regional Commander arrive, Zhang Kejian hurriedly ordered the musicians to strike up their instruments, and then everyone together welcomed him at the side of the official road.

The eight-man palanquin came to a stop. The curtain was slightly drawn back, a fit of coughing came from within, and a pair of eyes behind the curtain surveyed the welcoming crowd for a moment, lingering especially on Wang Dou, before a low voice spoke out.

A staff officer beside the palanquin acknowledged the order, came before Wang Dou, and sized him up with a strange look, saying, "General Wang, His Excellency the Grand Secretary requests your presence."

Wang Dou was somewhat puzzled. He quietly excused himself to Zhang Kejian and the others, and under the focused gaze of the crowd, approached the grand palanquin of Regional Commander Yang Sichang. A weary voice came from within: "Guoqin, come up into the palanquin."

Wang Dou was taken aback. He answered in the affirmative and then climbed into the palanquin, leaving behind a ground full of astonished stares. The various officials and staff officers exchanged glances and whispered among themselves, saying that the Grand Secretary's high regard for Wang Dou was indeed as rumored. Coupled with his tremendous achievements of twice rescuing a Prince of the Blood and slaying the renegade Zhang, he was surely destined to soar to prominence from now on.

Wang Dou climbed into the grand palanquin. Inside was only Yang Sichang. Seeing Yang Sichang again, Wang Dou could not help being surprised.

In Wang Dou's memory, Yang Sichang had jet-black beard and whiskers, spirited eyes, and a shrewd and imposing bearing. Yet now he looked pale, his expression utterly haggard, and he kept coughing repeatedly, as if afflicted by a serious illness. Where was even a trace of his former brilliance?

Wang Dou said, "Your Excellency, what is the matter?"

Yang Sichang waved his hand and sighed, "I am fine. Guoqin, you have toiled hard."

The procession continued forward. Yang Sichang gazed unceasingly at the scenery outside the palanquin, his expression unreadable. After a long while, he lowered his head and intoned: "Salt and plum now depart to serve as shield and wall, a Regional Commander's might in the Delicate Willow Camp. May the bandit scourge be swept clean and pacified henceforth, and may we look to nurture and teach so the people may thrive."

It was the poem personally composed and bestowed by the Chongzhen Emperor when Yang Sichang set out as Regional Commander.

After he finished reciting the poem, he murmured under his breath, his voice so faint it was barely audible, yet filled with sorrow: "Your Majesty, your servant has received such profound grace, I only fear that in the days to come I can repay it no more..."

Seeing his desolate expression, Wang Dou felt a complex mix of emotions and could not help but sigh.

Since the military camps inside Xiangyang city were all occupied by the Shunxiang Army and the city garrison, the accompanying Huguang provincial troops and capital garrison soldiers were temporarily quartered in camps and temples in the surrounding countryside.

Yang Sichang, Huguang Provincial Governor Song Yihe, the eunuchs Liu and Lu Jiude, along with various officers and their personal staff, all entered Xiangyang city. Everyone was eager to see Zhang Xianzhong's corpse.

The weather was still cold, and Military Defense Vice Commissioner Zhang Kejian had attached extreme importance to this matter, summoning the best morticians in the city to preserve Zhang Xianzhong's body using mercury, arsenic, and other methods. The corpse had been kept properly preserved and intact.

Xiangyang city had an existing Regional Commander's traveling headquarters. The various officials and officers, arranged by rank with civil officials on the left and military on the right, all entered the White Tiger Hall of the headquarters to await the outcome.

While waiting, Wang Dou also surveyed the people in the White Tiger Hall.

Yang Sichang sat in the seat of honor, with staff officers standing solemnly in attendance to his left and right. In the first seat on the lower left sat Army Supervisor Wan Yuanji. Although his official rank was low, merely a Case Reviewer of the Court of Judicial Review, he was deeply trusted by Yang Sichang and supervised military discipline at the front, so he was qualified to sit in the first seat. He paid close attention to Wang Dou, glancing at him repeatedly.

Next after Wan Yuanji were the eunuchs Liu and Lu Jiude. Both wore three-peaked hats and python robes. Liu was somewhat thin, with a rather gloomy expression, while Lu Jiude was more portly, sitting in his chair like a statue of Maitreya Buddha.

Further down was Huguang Provincial Governor Song Yihe, who had a righteous and imposing appearance, dressed in a grand red official robe, wearing a black gauze hat and a jade belt at his waist.

Contrary to his outward appearance, Song Yihe had a poor reputation in official circles, because when he first met Regional Commander Yang Sichang, in order to avoid using Yang Sichang's father's personal name, he wrote on his name card "Song Yiwu" (Song One Bird), which became a laughingstock in officialdom.

But Wang Dou knew this man was no simple figure. His behavior toward Yang Sichang was merely a form of bureaucratic wisdom; the man himself was capable.

Historically, when Song Yihe defended Huguang, he first defeated Luo Rucai's five great camps at Fengyiping. After Zhang Xianzhong captured Xiangyang, Song Yihe relocated his command to Xinzhou, burned all the boats, prevented Zhang Xianzhong from joining forces with Ge Liyan and others, and severed the crossing of the Yangtze, so that the various bandits dared not cross. Later, when Li Zicheng captured Chengtian Prefecture, Song Yihe fought street battles in the city, brandishing his blade and killing several bandits before dying.

He was equally attentive to Wang Dou, occasionally stroking his fine beard in contemplation.

On the military side at the lower right were former Shaanxi Regional Commander and now Bandit-Suppression Regional Commander Meng Ruhu, Huguang Vice Regional Commander and Bandit-Suppression Vice Regional Commander Zhang Yingyuan, Capital Garrison Regional Commanders Sun Yingyuan and Huang Degong, Vice Regional Commander Zhou Yuji, and others. Last of all was Wang Dou.

All the above figures were either Regional Commanders or Vice Regional Commanders, either Vice Commissioner-in-Chief or Assistant Commissioner-in-Chief of the Chief Military Commission. Only Wang Dou was a Vice Commissioner-in-Chief with the rank of Assistant Regional Commander, yet he sat alongside the various Regional Commanders.

They too looked at Wang Dou repeatedly. Although their faces betrayed no expression, their hearts were clearly not so calm. In particular, Huguang Vice Regional Commander Zhang Yingyuan had a rather dejected look.

In the battle of Huanglingcheng, his subordinate Assistant Regional Commanders Liu Shijie and Wang Zhifeng, Mobile Corps Commander Guo Kai, and others had died in battle, and he himself had been struck by a stray arrow, his wounds still not fully healed. After all that bitter toil, the renegade Zhang ran out of Sichuan, only to be conveniently killed by Wang Dou. Such good fortune — thinking of himself, how could he not be vexed?

At this moment, no one was in the mood to speak, and the hall was completely silent.

Before long, a commotion came from outside the second gate. Very soon, Xiangyang Military Defense Vice Commissioner Zhang Kejian led several soldiers, hurriedly carrying in Zhang Xianzhong's coffin.

A roar went through the White Tiger Hall as everyone stood up. In particular, Yang Sichang staggered a few steps down from the seat of honor, looked at Zhang Xianzhong's corpse lying in the coffin on the ground, and said in a trembling voice, "It is the renegade Zhang, it is the renegade Zhang, haha, it is indeed the renegade Zhang..."

Yang Sichang lost his composure. With trembling hands he stroked the coffin, gazing at Zhang Xianzhong's corpse inside. Suddenly, scenes from the past surged into his mind: His Majesty's recognition and favor, the setbacks against the bandits, the attacks of the censors, Meng Ruhu's crushing defeat, his own exhaustive but futile efforts... scene after scene flashed past.

For a moment he was overjoyed, for a moment grief-stricken, for a moment aggrieved. A thousand tangled emotions welled up, and tears streamed down like a spring. Staggering, he knelt facing north and cried out in a choked voice, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! The bandit-suppression has achieved its goal, the renegade Zhang is executed and destroyed. Your servant... can die now without regret..."

He collapsed on the ground, weeping uncontrollably. The staff officers beside him all shed tears. Meng Ruhu wept even more profusely, pounding his own chest with force and crying out, "Jie'er, Zhong'er, do you see this? The renegade Zhang is dead. Your great vengeance is fulfilled."

The hall was filled with the sound of weeping...

Wang Dou walked out of the White Tiger Hall and let out a long sigh. Xie Yike, Gao Shiyin, Wen Fangliang, and the others who had been waiting solemnly outside the second gate gathered around. Xie Yike glanced back at the White Tiger Hall and said, "The renegade Zhang is dead, so why is everyone crying their eyes out? And every one of them a high official."

Gao Shiyin snorted. "They were led around by the nose by the renegade Zhang. Now that the renegade Zhang is truly dead, of course they must weep bitterly. These are called tears of relief, tears of joy and sorrow."

Wang Dou gave a cough, and everyone immediately fell silent, all casting glances at the capital garrison officers and the Huguang officers outside the second gate.

At this moment, there were many officers gathered in Xiangyang, but only a handful could enter the White Tiger Hall to deliberate. The rest could only wait outside the second gate and could only enter the hall when summoned by a superior.

Among these people were many Mobile Corps Commanders and Assistant Regional Commanders, such as Ma Wenzhi under Sun Yingyuan, Ma Zhi under Meng Ruhu, and Lin Baoguo under Zhou Yuji — all three were Assistant Regional Commanders. Yet they did not receive the same courteous treatment as Wang Dou; they could only stand outside the second gate, watching Wang Dou sit as an equal with the various Regional Commanders, and even be granted a seat.

At this moment, they all looked at Wang Dou with complicated expressions. They had traveled a thousand li, running from Huguang to Sichuan, losing troops and officers, yet the greatest prize had been scooped up by this Wang Dou. Not only had he slain the renegade Zhang, but they heard he had also saved the Prince of Fu at Luoyang, rendering service of the highest order. Truly, comparing oneself to others is enough to drive one to death.

Wen Fangliang said in a low voice, "General, what do we do next?"

Wang Dou's expression was deep and solemn. "First we wait for the imperial edict. By my estimate, we won't be staying in Xiangyang much longer. We'll be going home soon."

Once Zhang Xianzhong's death was confirmed, everyone in the White Tiger Hall at that time was stirred. Although Yang Sichang was gravely ill, he still forced himself to praise Wang Dou profusely and urged everyone to summon their remaining courage and continue to exterminate the remaining Cao bandits, as well as the Zuo and Ge bandits in Ying and Huoshan.

Now that the renegade Zhang was dead and the renegade Chuang was routed, the remaining bandits were all like panic-stricken dogs, their extermination only a matter of turning over one's hand. It was clear that everyone in the hall was tempted.

Yang Sichang gave orders for the whole city to celebrate and for the three armies to be feasted and rewarded. Because of his poor health, he merely said that they would deliberate again once General of Bandit Pacification Wang Dou and He Renlong arrived in Xiangyang. Thereupon everyone took their leave so that His Excellency Yang could rest in peace.

Wang Dou estimated that the coming military operations would have nothing to do with him. Everyone could see the advantage and was waiting to snatch merit. And his own merit was too great; having eaten most of the meat, he had to let others drink some of the soup. In any case, his strategic objective had been achieved, and he could go home.

Yes, go home. From setting out on campaign in the tenth month of last year until now, it had been nearly half a year. It was time to return.

Before setting out, Wang Dou had formulated a strategy: probe the bandits' true situation, observe their tactics. Now he understood the bandits' tactics and the root cause of how they had once swept across the realm. They had indeed, as the history books said, dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the ruling class. But what came after that heavy blow?

Hearing about going home, Xie Yike and the others all grew excited. Having been away so long, everyone truly missed home.

Now they only waited for the imperial edict of reward and then they would withdraw the army and return to court. Everyone had absolute faith in Wang Dou's words. If the General said they could go home soon, then they could go home soon.

The group exited the headquarters gate. Outside, it was filled with horses, carriages, and sedan chairs, as well as the personal guards and attendants of the various officials and officers.

Just as they were discussing where to go celebrate, Wang Dou suddenly heard someone behind him say, "General Wang, please wait a moment."