Chapter 462: The Ningyuan Dispute (Part One)

In the seventh month of the fourteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, the reinforcing army passed through Shanhai Pass and entered the territory of the Guangning Front Garrison in Liaodong.

Marching across this land, a sense of desolation and bleakness struck them head-on, mingled with an indescribable solemn heroism. Since the Wanli years, how many mighty armies had come to this place? They pressed forward wave after wave, falling ceaselessly upon this soil, their bones buried here.

In the bleak and mysterious Liaodong region, how many soul-stirring tales had the ancestors enacted here? This desolate land — it has drunk too deeply of the blood of loyal and righteous soldiers.

Liaodong's deepest impression is its endless black earth, but that is only in the central plains, not in this narrow strip of mountainous western Liaoning. Moreover, during the Little Ice Age, there was no black earth to speak of; no wonder the Qing state, though occupying vast tracts of Liaodong, still could not feed its own people and had to repeatedly breach the passes to plunder.

Upon entering Liaodong, what struck Wang Dou most was the sheer number of beacon towers here. The hills and ridges of western Liaoning roll on and on, offering uniquely favorable terrain for building smoke-signal towers.

The construction of fire-route beacon towers in the Liaodong Garrison ranked first among all the Nine Frontier Garrisons of the Great Ming — truly a tower every three li, a platform every five. In the Xuanfu Garrison, by contrast, it was only a tower every five li and a platform every ten. But by now, many of these towers had fallen into ruin, leaving only a few crumbling foundations.

Ruin — that was another of Wang Dou's impressions. The fortifications everywhere within the territory were mostly dilapidated, the official roads broken and decayed. He truly wondered where the enormous annual Liaodong military tax had gone.

Looking at the men around him, he saw they were equally indignant. Wang Pu muttered, "Shanhai Pass and the Ningyuan front receive several million in grain and pay each year, and all that's left are these broken-down city walls? I hear Liaodong now has only eight major forts left. Bah. If that were given to our Xuan–Da army… ahem, shared a bit among the Ji Garrison posts, those thieving slaves wouldn't keep breaking through the Ji Garrison and Xuan Garrison border walls."

Fu Yingchong, Vice Regional Commander of the Shenji Battalion's Forward Camp, chimed in: "Exactly. Most of the dynasty's grain and pay gets dumped here, yet it still can't stop the thieving slaves from entering elsewhere. What use is it? The Nine Frontier Garrisons should be treated equally — we need to start from the overall picture, not be so biased."

During the march, Fu Yingchong and Wang Pu had hit it off, each finding the other's temperament exactly to his taste. They had long since started calling each other brother and had nearly gone so far as to behead a chicken and burn yellow paper to swear an oath. As an officer of the Shenji Battalion, what did the Nine Frontier Garrisons matter to him? But chiming in cost him nothing and earned him a favor for free. Fu Yingchong was shrewd and adept at currying favor — how could he not know this?

The Army Supervisor Zhang Ruoqi heard the two men muttering but pretended not to notice.

The Liaodong problem was in fact not simply a matter of bias. It involved extremely complex political and interest calculations. Even Zhang Ruoqi and the various officials in the Ministry of War skimmed their share of benefits from it every year. The Liaodong military tax — he supported it too.

Although officers from the other garrisons grumbled with resentment, the Liaodong generals were equally loud. They said, "The thieving slaves have breached the passes several times, but never from western Liaoning. This shows that the officers and men of Liaodong are effective in defending their territory. The other garrisons should look to their own shortcomings and stop constantly complaining about the blood-soaked, battle-hardened soldiers of the Liao Garrison, lest they chill the hearts of all these loyal and brave men!"

Wang Dou also believed that the Guan–Ning defense line consumed national strength and wealth utterly out of proportion to its effectiveness.

Fu Yingchong had one point right: the allocation of finances, grain, and pay should be approached from the overall picture, not biased toward one place. Though the Qing troops could not enter through the Liao Garrison, they broke through from other garrisons — then what use was this defense line they had built? The Nine Frontier Garrisons should be treated as a single whole.

But the Liaodong military tax, like the taxation of the gentry, was a matter of enormous factional power and vested interests — not something Wang Dou could shake at present. He merely listened to Wang Pu's grumbling and let it pass.

Cao Bianjiao, Regional Commander of the Eastern Coordinated Force, and Wang Tingchen, Regional Commander of the Front Garrison, also heard Wang Pu's words. Both had served long in Liaodong and naturally understood the hidden intricacies. Cao Bianjiao sighed, "General Wang, the matters within are too complicated. You had better…"

He shook his head and said no more.

Wang Pu started in alarm and shut his mouth as well.

He was an intelligent man — how could he not know the connections involved? If his words spread and reached the ears of those with intent, he feared he would not even know how he died. Better to let it drop.

Thereafter the march proceeded without further incident. Toward the arrival of the reinforcing army, the officers and soldiers of both the Front Garrison and the Ningyuan Garrison expressed solemn and enthusiastic welcome. Wherever they passed, gongs and drums resounded to the heavens, and military households and soldiers lined up to cheer, fully demonstrating the warmth of the Liaodong people.

The arrival of this vast, surging relief army acted like a shot in the arm wherever it went, filling the Ming troops across Liaodong with confidence for the battles to come.

On the seventeenth day of the seventh month in the fourteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, at the shen hour.

At the outer city of Ningyuan, at the Yongqing Gate on the southern side, the defenders atop the gate tower first spotted a few Ming army night scouts appearing on the horizon.

They sat astride their horses, several li away, quietly studying their city. Gradually, more and more cavalry and night scouts gathered behind them, all gazing toward their city just as the first soldiers had done.

The relief army had arrived. The defenders on the gate tower beat their gongs and drums with a deafening clang, loudly announcing the good news to the Ji–Liao Viceroy Hong Chengchou and others within the city. Upon learning the news, the Ji–Liao Viceroy Hong Chengchou, the Liaodong Provincial Governor Qiu Minyang, the Military Defense Circuit Intendants Zhang Dou, Yao Gong, and Cai Maode, the Relief-Expedition Regional Commander Zuo Guangxian, the Shanxi Regional Commander Li Fuming, the Miyun Regional Commander Tang Tong, the Ji Garrison Regional Commander Bai Guangen, the Shanhai Pass Regional Commander Ma Ke, the Liaodong Regional Commander Liu Zhaoji, the Liao Garrison Eastern Coordinated Regional Commander Meng Dao, the Ningyuan Militia Regional Commander Wu Sangui, and countless other officers all rushed up to the gate tower and gazed southward with excitement.

They saw on the southern plain that Ming cavalry were gathering in ever greater numbers, galloping up in squadrons and massing several li south of the city, dense and layered, so many ranks deep that none could count them.

Looking further back, they saw a sea of banners as great masses of infantry marched forward in stride. Amid the sea of flags, several great command banners hauled on carts stood out with striking clarity. To shouts of "Ten thousand victories!", the infantry and cavalry converged, and a boundless host advanced in formation toward Ningyuan city.

The great army stretched on without end, a vast sea of men that seemed to blanket the earth from the mountains to the sea.

The relief army had indeed arrived, and with such awe-inspiring might. Not only did Hong Chengchou and the others laugh heartily, but even the soldiers and military households within the city cheered and leaped with joy. Their tidal roar of acclamation faintly merged with the "Ten thousand victories!" outside the walls, forming an irresistible, majestic sound.

…

As the Ji–Liao Viceroy Hong Chengchou led the officials and generals of Ningyuan out of the city to welcome them, Wang Dou, together with Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Wang Chengen, Zhang Ruoqi, and others, came to the front of the army and took the chance to study this renowned city of Ningyuan.

Ningyuan was the seat of the Ningyuan Guard, first built in the third year of the Xuande reign of the Great Ming. The Qing dynasty later renamed it Ningyuan Department City. In later ages, it was renamed again, to Xingcheng. In the third year of the Xuande reign, the city wall measured five li and ninety-six paces in circumference, stood three zhang high, and had four gates. In the fifth year of the Xuande reign, an outer wall was added, measuring nine li and one hundred twenty-four paces in circumference.

After the Liaodong campaigns began, Ningyuan city was continuously repaired and reinforced. By this time, the city wall stood three zhang and two chi high, with crenellations six chi tall. Each gate had a barbican, and atop the wall were gate towers and corner platforms. Inside the city stood a bell-and-drum tower, echoing the four gate towers on the wall from afar. When battle came, one could ascend to the top of the tower and take in the entire view of the city wall and the scene within the city at a single glance.

The Ningyuan city wall was quite distinctive. When it was built in those years, to make the wall sturdy, irregular city stones were used in great quantities to construct the inner face, which was then chiseled smooth. Hence it was called a "rubble-stone wall." Because the stone was mostly quarried locally, from a distance its color resembled tiger skin, so it was also called a "tiger-skin rubble-stone wall."