[{"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-423":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},1205712,1561,"Chapter 423: Loyal and Valiant Count","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-423",423,"\u003Cp>Wang Dou stared coldly at Liu, murderous intent surfacing in his eyes. These damned eunuchs were mostly no good — arrogant on borrowed authority, their hearts greedy and twisted, and not necessarily loyal either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In times of peace and prosperity it might be tolerable, but when a dynasty reaches its end, they start looking for new masters. For instance, Army Supervisor eunuchs Du Xun, Du Zhizhi, and Shen Zhixiu, along with Grand Eunuch Wang Dehua, surrendered to the roving bandits; Eunuch Gao Qiqian surrendered to the Manchu Qing. Cao Huachun, though he did not open the gates for Li Zicheng, likewise surrendered to the Manchu Qing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among late Ming eunuchs, many surrendered to Li Chuang and the Manchu Qing. When it came to those who died for the dynasty, the literati actually outnumbered them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had already killed one Gao Qiqian. If this one did not know better, he would not mind killing a Liu as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now Liu was so enraged he could barely speak coherently, only jabbing a finger at Wang Dou and cursing wildly: \"You insolent peasant! I swear I will not rest until one of us is destroyed!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Sichang had been watching indifferently, his expression hovering between a smile and a smirk. Now he coughed once. \"General Wang, we are all officers of the court. Do not lose all decorum.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huguang Provincial Governor Song Yihe also snapped out of his daze and hastily added: \"Yes, yes, we are all fellow officials and courtiers. Harmony should be prized, harmony should be prized.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He repeatedly urged Liu to sit down. Liu seemed so furious his whole body went limp, and he no longer had the strength to shout curses. He collapsed motionless into his chair, his eyes fixed on Wang Dou with nothing but venomous hatred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou did not even glance at him. He saluted toward the seat of honor and said, \"Dou has behaved disgracefully.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, he sat down calmly and continued drinking his tea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Sichang then said to Zuo Liangyu, \"General Zuo, you sit down as well.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zuo Liangyu's face flickered between dark and bright. Finally he muttered, \"Callow brat — I won't stoop to your level!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat down and said no more, though his expression was utterly foul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In today's affair, he had completely lost the upper hand. Once word got outside the command tent, who knew how it would be told? He suddenly felt some regret. Why had he bothered clashing with this hotheaded fool over some disorderly troops? He had damaged his own prestige for nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Yingyuan, Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, Meng Ruhu, and the others, however, were secretly delighted. Watching Zuo Liangyu and Liu choke on their grievances in front of Wang Dou — it was deeply satisfying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Renlong looked at Wang Dou with a rather complicated expression. They said that after three days apart, one should look at a man with fresh eyes. In the few years since he had last seen him, this Wang Dou had grown ever more outstanding. Even Zuo Liangyu, whom he himself feared, had been forced to back down before him. What would he become in the future?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, no one had the heart to discuss military affairs. They all kept glancing at Wang Dou, each lost in their own thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before long, everyone dispersed, having settled no military matters whatsoever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Word of what had happened that day at the Grand Coordinator's headquarters spread quickly. The news that the General Who Pacifies Bandits had choked on his grievances before the General Who Stabilizes the Realm circulated far and wide. It was said that in his fury, Zuo Liangyu had run his beloved concubine through with his sword, snarling hatefully: \"It was all that wretched slut's doing!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That same day, a Company Commander under Zuo Liangyu clashed with a unit of Shunxiang Army logistics troops at Fancheng. The result left everyone stunned: nearly a thousand men were routed by just fifty and chased for several li.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Uproar spread through Xiangyang and beyond. Zuo Liangyu had long been famed throughout Huguang and Henan for his strong army, yet against the Shunxiang Army, he had proved so pathetically fragile. The Shunxiang Army truly lived up to its name. For a time, the flood of people wanting to join the Shunxiang Army surged even more fiercely like a tide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By this point, Yang Sichang's illness had worsened. Military affairs were being managed by Army Supervisor Wan Yuanji and Huguang Provincial Governor Song Yihe. Seeing the situation, the two were deeply worried, fearing that Zuo Liangyu and Wang Dou might come to open blows. Wan Yuanji sighed: \"When great generals are at odds, what is to be done?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yihe said: \"General Wang detests evil as if it were his personal enemy. He cannot bear to see wickedness and will not suffer insult. In truth, many matters are not his fault. But such is the way of the world...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, when you looked at it, Wang Dou was not in the wrong. His enmity with Zuo Liangyu stemmed from Wang Dou killing some disorderly soldiers — but should those disorderly soldiers not have been killed? His enmity with Liu stemmed from Liu demanding fine horses from him — was he supposed to simply accept Liu's demands? It was just that Wang Dou's temper was too hard. ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wan Yuanji sighed: \"Yes, such is the way of the world... Let us wait until His Majesty's imperial decree arrives.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Song Yihe said: \"Yes, once His Majesty's rewards are bestowed, perhaps things will calm down.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Great Ming, military merits were always verified by the roving Investigating Censor. Major merits had to be confirmed within two months, minor merits within one month, after which they were reported to the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War would then send people down to reexamine them. The final result often took many months.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for great merits like those at Luoyang and Xiangyang, special imperial commendations were issued, which greatly sped things up. Perhaps the imperial decree would arrive very soon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming postal relay system had three types: the express relay stations, the water-and-horse relay stations, and the transport relay stations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The express relay stations were dedicated to delivering official documents, using runners on foot. The transport relay stations used carts and boats to move military supplies. The remaining water-and-horse relay stations were specifically for conveying official travelers and flying reports of military affairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mounted dispatch was one form of the water-and-horse relay stations, used exclusively for flying reports of military affairs. Because of the relay system reforms early in the Chongzhen reign, they had lost a great deal of funding. Moreover, with bandits now rising everywhere, the roads were unsafe. In the past, a mounted dispatch could travel three hundred li in a day and night, but now it fell far short of that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiangyang was nearly two thousand li from the capital. In the past, a mounted dispatch would take only seven days; now it took twelve. The victory report from Huguang was sent on the eighth day of the second month, but it was not until the twentieth that the memorials from Grand Coordinator Yang Sichang, Huguang Provincial Governor Song Yihe, Prince Xiang, and the others reached the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The capital was shaken. Leaving aside the uproar across the northern realm, only days earlier the Grand Secretariat had just settled Wang Dou's merits for the great victory at Luoyang. No one expected news of the great victory at Xiangyang to arrive as well, with the arch-bandit Zhang Xianzhong slain. Wang Dou's merits had to be urgently reconsidered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the twenty-first day, in the Forbidden City of the Great Ming, at the Palace of Heavenly Purity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor looked at Senior Grand Secretary Fan Fucui, Minister of Personnel Li Rixuan, and Minister of War Chen Xinjia standing before him, and said: \"Speak. How has the discussion of General Wang's merits proceeded?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having spoken, he lowered his head again to read the memorials from Yang Sichang and the others. He had already read these memorials more than ten times, yet he never tired of them. Each reading made his heart surge with excitement. Holding his vermilion brush, he circled and annotated the thrilling passages about the slaying of the bandit Xian, breaking now and then into a knowing smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bandit Xian — the Chongzhen Emperor's greatest bane, a man he hated to the very marrow of his bones. It was this man who had dug up the tomb of the Exalted Emperor, leaving him unable to face his ancestors, unable to give an account to the myriad people and officials of the realm! Now all was well. The bandit Xian was dead — a fine death it was! General Wang had performed a heaven-startling deed of merit!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Senior Grand Secretary Fan Fucui was already advanced in years and had several times fallen gravely ill. In truth, he had no desire to serve as Senior Grand Secretary. He had repeatedly requested leave on grounds of illness, but the Chongzhen Emperor denied him every time, so he had no choice but to carry on. In the Grand Secretariat, he adopted the attitude of one merely going through the motions, drifting through one day at a time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was \"venerable and highly esteemed,\" so the Emperor had granted him a stool to sit on. Now, seated on that stool, he said in a quavering voice: \"In reply to His Majesty, General Wang was originally the Vice Regional Military Commissioner of the Wandu Regional Military Commission. For the great victory at Luoyang, he was to be promoted three full ranks, thus bypassing Regional Military Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner-in-Chief, and appointed as Vice Commissioner-in-Chief of the Rear Chief Military Commission...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He rambled on and on without getting to the point. The Chongzhen Emperor grew impatient, but mindful of Grand Secretary Fan's advanced age, he endured and continued listening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Senior Grand Secretary Fan continued: \"Of course, General Wang then achieved the great victory at Xiangyang and furthermore slew the bandit Xian. Therefore, the Grand Secretariat's opinion is... to confer upon him the title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Left Commissioner-in-Chief, invest him as Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, grant one son hereditary entitlement as Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander, and bestow posthumous honors of the first rank upon three generations of his ancestors... cough cough cough cough cough cough...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...cough... this is the result of the deliberations of all the ministers of the Grand Secretariat...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, Minister of Personnel Li Rixuan and Minister of War Chen Xinjia both saluted: \"Your ministers concur.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor remained silent for a long while. Then he rose and paced within the hall, shaking his head. In his heart he sighed: \"Only Yang Qing truly knows my heart.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He recalled the news that Yang Sichang was gravely ill, and his heart filled with worry and concern. ...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said slowly: \"General Wang has twice rescued imperial princes and slain the bandit Xian. He has rendered extraordinary service to the state. Nothing short of a title of nobility can serve as reward.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He made his decision and declared in a ringing voice: \"Transmit Our decree! Wang Dou, Assistant Regional Commander of the Eastern Route of Xuanfu Garrison, has shown loyalty and valor worthy of commendation and has achieved merit in slaying bandits. He is hereby promoted to Regional Commander of the Militia of Xuanfu Garrison, still stationed on the Eastern Route. We bestow upon his army the name 'Army of the Pacified Frontier,' upon his battalion the name 'Loyal and Valiant Battalion,' and upon him the title of Loyal and Valiant Count. Grant him a patent of nobility, bestow an iron certificate, with a stipend of one thousand shi of grain. Invest him with the seal of General Who Subdues the Caitiffs. All those under his command who have rendered meritorious service shall be verified by the Ministry of War and rewarded with promotions according to their merits.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As this string of decrees was issued, Fan Fucui and the others were all stunned. They had not expected Wang Dou to be enfeoffed as a count, and to receive an iron certificate at that — this was hereditary nobility, not a non-hereditary title. He was also granted an army name, a battalion name, and further invested with a general's seal. This was an overwhelming bestowal of grace. How many Great Ming generals had ever been enfeoffed as counts?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this General Who Subdues the Caitiffs... In the early days of the dynasty, there had been a Grand General Who Subdues the Caitiffs — none other than Xu Da, the Duke of Wei, who had led the army to capture the Great Capital and extinguish the Mongol Yuan. What did His Majesty mean by this? Did he wish Wang Dou, like the Duke of Wei, to strike straight at the enemy's lair and annihilate the eastern caitiffs?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The duty eunuch in the hall, his brush flying like a dragon, transcribed the Emperor's decrees one by one. The Chongzhen Emperor took them and read them over, nodding with satisfaction. Seeing Fan Fucui and the others with dazed expressions, he declared loudly: \"We intend to show the realm that for those who are loyal, valiant, and fearless, who slay bandits for the state — We are not stingy with Our rewards!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fan Fucui and the others exchanged bitter smiles. They could only prostrate themselves and cry out: \"His Majesty is sagaciously wise.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor continued: \"And Yang Qing — confer upon him the title of Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, bestow upon him official cap, robe, and belt, two sets each of brocade and silk gauze. Issue a decree of solicitous consolation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He issued decree after decree, meting out rewards and punishments to each person in Xiangyang. Finally, his gaze deepened: \"At Liugou behind the imperial tombs, which controls the Long Tombs to the south and guards Dushi to the north, appoint Assistant Commissioner-in-Chief of the Chief Military Commission Chen Jiugao as Regional Commander of Liugou, to defend the inner frontier. He shall also coordinate with the Regional Commander before the tombs, so that Mount Tianshou shall stand like Mount Tai at the center, with all four flanks secured.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fan Fucui and Li Rixuan did not react immediately, but Chen Xinjia, as Minister of War and having long served in Xuanfu Garrison, was stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou was already on the Eastern Route, which in effect made him the Regional Commander before the tombs. With him there, how could the eastern caitiffs or northern barbarians break through on the Eastern Route? Was there still a need to establish a Regional Commander behind the tombs?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since entering the Grand Secretariat, Chen Xinjia had felt that His Majesty's mind was unfathomable. The Emperor's thoughts were increasingly difficult to read, and he himself could not, like Yang Sichang, make the Emperor heed his every word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He recalled how Yang Sichang had failed to suppress the bandits and had squandered millions of taels in military funds, yet instead of being punished, he had — thanks to Wang Dou — been granted the title of Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and received a special imperial commendation. Chen Xinjia's heart burned with both envy and jealousy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the discussion of the Xiangyang rewards was concluded, Fan Fucui and the others took their leave. The Chongzhen Emperor bade Chen Xinjia remain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face clouded with worry, he asked: \"How stands the matter of Jinzhou?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Xinjia replied: \"In reply to Your Majesty, the slave-bandits have set up camps on all four sides of Jinzhou, dug long trenches, and brought up several dozen red-barbarian cannons. Jinzhou's lines of reinforcement are already cut off. According to the last mounted dispatch from Jinzhou's defending general Zu Dashou, the city's grain supply will last barely over a month, and the beans not even a month. If the crafty caitiffs press their warning cries further, Jinzhou will inevitably be in imminent peril, unlikely to last from dawn to dusk.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor sighed: \"Ningyuan and Jinzhou share the same vital breath, their branches intertwined. If Jinzhou falls, then Songshan and Xingshan will fall. If Songshan, Xingshan, and Jinzhou fall, then Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass will be in peril. What does the Viceroy of Jiliao say?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Xinjia replied: \"The Viceroy of Jiliao says the eastern slaves are merely repeating their old trick from Dalinghe, and therefore he dares not advance rashly. He is only stationed at Ningyuan to observe the situation at Jinzhou.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",2773,"2026-06-03T14:05:53.320Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","e38168614c9d8ba28f34df19889d0ddaf849632f033cf992dac410a826a405b1","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-424","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-422",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]