Chapter 758: Bandit Chaos and Undercurrents

Luoyang had been an imperial capital for a thousand years, yet after the fourteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, it suffered repeated devastation from war. Whether inside the city or beyond its walls, ruin was everywhere.

After winter set in, this land grew even more desolate. Everywhere were broken wells and crumbling walls, rubble piled in heaps. As the cold wind blew, a stretch of wild grass swayed within, bones and skeletal remains scattered among it. Travelers on the roads were few, and from every direction, cooking smoke had ceased.

But on the southern bank of the Luo River, many banners and tents were spread out, most bearing characters like "Luo," "He," and "Sun." An old crow came flying over with a rasping caw and perched atop a ruined temple, its reddened eyes fixed on the group of roving bandits feasting and drinking heartily beneath the broken tiles.

"Drink!"

"Ha ha ha ha! Now this is satisfying!"

Amid the music of strings and bamboo and the gentle songs and graceful dances, a crowd of large men were gorging and guzzling, their wild laughter erupting from time to time.

Luo Rucai, sporting a pair of wispy mouse-whiskers and dressed like a wealthy merchant, sat in the host's seat. Beside him was his key advisor, Yuan Gui, a man from Shandong.

Then came the old chiefs of the five Ge and Zuo camps: the Old Hui Ma Shouying, He Yilong the Leather-Eye, He Jin the Left Gold King, Liu Xiyao the World-Changer, Lin Yangcheng the World-Disrupter, and others. Also present, seated at the same table nearby, were Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo of the Xian camp.

Luo Rucai's nephew Wang Long and his trusted general Yang Shengzu also gathered with the various chiefs' subordinate officers, opening several tables. However, his general Li Rugui had already marched south with the main horse and foot army of the Chuang camp to wage war on Runing Prefecture.

After the Battle of Zhuxian Town, Li Zicheng adopted Li Dingguo's strategy, deciding to first destroy Wang Qiaonian, then attack Runing Prefecture. But seeing that the government troops in Kaifeng were cowed, Li Zicheng slightly revised his military plan and proceeded on both fronts simultaneously.

He, along with his senior generals Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, Gao Yigong, and others, led the bulk of the elite cavalry and horse troops, together with the mounted soldiers under each chief, in a thunderous raid on Henan Prefecture.

The remaining horse troops, along with most of the starving foot soldiers, were led by Li Guo, Yuan Zongdi, and others. Together with the bulk of the starving foot soldiers under each chief, they headed for Runing Prefecture.

Now the Shaanxi government troops had been dealt a crushing defeat by them. Wang Qiaonian was dead, and He Renlong, Zheng Jiadong, Niu Chenghu, and the rest had fled. The land of Qin was like a ripe peach, just waiting for the foot-soldier army to return from Runing Prefecture, whereupon they would storm Tong Pass, fight their way into Shaanxi, and return home in silken robes.

While in Henan Prefecture, the various chiefs gathered daily in Luo Rucai's camp, drinking great draughts of wine and eating huge chunks of meat. Before each man, delicacies were piled like mountains. There was also exuberant feasting, song, and dance — truly an excess of pleasure.

Luo Rucai was addicted to sensual beauty. In every commandery or town he reached, he would select the loveliest of its women. His rear chambers held several hundred, with several troupes of female musicians. Not to mention that each of his several hundred wives and concubines was outstanding in allure, even the female entertainers singing and dancing in the hall at this moment were each gorgeously arrayed and quite lovely.

These roving bandit officers were all crude men and vicious wolves. Gazing upon these alluring beauties singing and dancing, how could any of them not be stirred? Abandoning all restraint and loudly teasing them was nothing out of the ordinary. He Jin the Left Gold King was drooling. Seeing a female entertainer dance near him, he suddenly lunged forward and seized her in his arms, bellowing, "Beauty, into my embrace!"

Amid the woman's shrieks, Lin Yangcheng the World-Disrupter slapped his thigh and roared with laughter. "Old He can't hold back any longer. He's not going to whip it out and do her right here on the floor, is he?"

The bandits burst into another round of raucous laughter. He Jin kissed her fiercely on the neck, panting heavily, "I'm not so desperate as to eat whatever's at hand."

As he kissed, he also bit. Drops of blood dotted the woman's neck — a shocking sight.

She forced a smile, enduring the pain, not daring to resist in the slightest. The remaining female entertainers also continued their singing and dancing, trembling with fear.

In the end, He Jin pulled the woman into his lap, his right hand roaming up and down, while he spoke gruffly to Luo Rucai: "Master Cao, I've taken a fancy to this woman. Give me your word."

At that moment, several pretty young women were attending to Luo Rucai simultaneously — two kneading his shoulders, two tapping his legs, and one sitting in his lap, from time to time popping delicious food and drink into his mouth. He never had to lift a finger himself.

Swallowing another mouthful of meat, Luo Rucai waved his hand dismissively and said in his Shaanxi dialect tinged with a Yan'an accent, "What's a mere woman? If Master He fancies her, just take her away. Old Luo here may not have much else, but there are plenty of beauties and girls in my tent."

He even addressed the assembled bandits: "Any chief who sees one he likes, just pick her out. Old Luo here won't so much as furrow his brow."

The men cheered, and for a moment the hall was filled with cries of "Master Cao is magnanimous!"

"Master Cao is generous!"

"Master Cao is truly a model for us all!"

As the grand chief of the five Ge and Zuo camps, He Yilong was naturally given special hospitality by Luo Rucai. At this moment, two women were also beside him, feeding him wine and meat, tapping his legs and kneading his back.

Flushed with wine and warmth, he said with some emotion, "Master Cao's style — now this suits my taste. Balls to it! Living on coarse clothes and poor food like King Chuang, grudging even a single chicken — what did we risk having our heads chopped off for? What did we rebel for?"

"Exactly!"

He Jin and Liu Xiyao also strongly agreed. Liu Xiyao said, "We rebelled to rampage across the land for pleasure! Great bowls of meat, weighing gold by the scale, playing with the wives, concubines, and daughters of officials and gentry. Living like King Chuang — what savor is there in that?"

Recently, the Ge and Zuo men had been having many dealings with Luo Rucai. Although Luo Rucai's troops were not as numerous as those of the various chiefs, he was resourceful and cunning, and his conduct suited their tastes perfectly. His generosity with wealth went without saying, and he was never stingy with good food and drink.

Moreover, Sun Kewang and Li Dingguo of the Xian camp were as indispensable to Luo Rucai as his left and right hands. The various chiefs had been interacting with him frequently of late, and there was a faint air of their treating him as their leader. He Yilong, in particular, had become thick as thieves with Luo Rucai, calling him brother.

Sun Kewang's eyes flickered. He gripped his wine cup and said pointedly, "How can crude men like us compare with King Chuang? King Chuang is a man of great ambition, and now his troops are strong and his followers many…"

The hall fell silent. Only the howling of the cold wind could be heard, as it poured in unceasingly through every gap in the ruined temple.

Luo Rucai's expression darkened. He waved his hand in frustration, dismissing all the singing and dancing entertainers. Recently, Li Zicheng had been growing increasingly autocratic, even beginning to treat these equal allies with arrogance, ordering them about. How could this sit well with Luo Rucai and the others?

Since the time of the late King Chuang, all the camps had been comrades-in-arms on equal footing. They stayed if they got along, left if they didn't, preserving ample democracy and freedom. What was this now? Were my Luo Rucai and the others your subordinates, Li Zicheng?

He Yilong's face was also grim as he cursed and grumbled. He harbored considerable discontent toward Li Chuang. During the attack on Cao and Wang, the Ge and Zuo camps had suffered heavy losses, yet when it came to dividing the spoils, Li Zicheng took the absolute lion's share.

The same happened after the Battle of Zhuxian Town. Of the tens of thousands of Ming troops who surrendered, the thousands of cavalry, and especially the new army among them, a large portion was claimed by Li Chuang. And that was not all. The baggage and provisions, the cannons and equipment, the great numbers of horses and mules — Li Zicheng took the lion's share of all of it.

If the Chuang army had been the main force in every battle, such a division of spoils might be acceptable… but that was not the case. If Luo Rucai had been in charge, he would never have been so shameless in his greed.

What He Yilong and the others found even more intolerable was Li Chuang's attitude of treating them as subordinates!

Who were they? They were the leaders of their own camps. When they first rose up, their seniority was just as old as Li Chuang's. In all their dealings, each managed his own turf, each had his own ideas. How could they swallow their pride and let someone else order them about?

Sun Kewang's words could not help but stir He Yilong's pent-up feelings. He could not restrain himself from cursing aloud: "Balls to it! Just bringing this up makes my blood boil. We are no one's house slaves or servants. King Chuang's conduct is too disheartening!"

Lin Yangcheng was equally indignant: "King Chuang has broken the rules."

Luo Rucai's face was dark. He still said nothing, merely clutching his wine cup as if deep in thought.

It did not end there. Observing everyone's expressions, Sun Kewang added, seemingly very casually, "The righteous army's next step is to attack Shaanxi. If Shaanxi is taken, King Chuang will be even more powerful… Heh, I fear by then we will be even less in King Chuang's eyes."

Li Dingguo, having pondered in silence, followed up his elder brother's remark by also adding, as if offhandedly, "I only fear that at that time, the Chuang camp will harbor thoughts of annexation. What if they take a fancy to our troops?"

A shiver of alarm ran through the hall, and everyone's expression changed. He Yilong abruptly turned to Luo Rucai: "Master Cao, you are full of schemes. We hope you can devise a plan."

…

"The roving bandits have grown so powerful they are hard to control. Yet their allied camps are petty schemers, each pursuing his own selfish ends — how could there be no rifts between them? Unworthy as I am, I wish to watch for these rifts and sow discord among them. With my tongue, I will set the bandits against one another, to rupture their very heart. The bandits' downfall will surely be born from within!"

Kaifeng city was shrouded in drifting snow. In a side room of the Provincial Governor's yamen, Gao Mingheng, the Provincial Governor of Henan, stood with his hands behind his back, watching the snowflakes outside. Behind him, a scholar surnamed Chen was speaking with fervent passion, volunteering to infiltrate the bandit camp and carry out a stratagem of sowing discord, to incite infighting and internal chaos among the bandits.

Gao Mingheng listened, and after a long while, sighed, "To enter the tiger's den — this is a matter of nine deaths and one life."

"Confucius said, 'Achieve benevolence'; Mencius said, 'Choose righteousness'!"

The scholar bowed deeply and declared with lofty spirit, "If I can make the bandits destroy each other and save our Great Ming, why should I begrudge this body of mine?"

Gao Mingheng pondered in silence for a long time, then said, "So be it!"

He wielded his brush and splashed ink, writing a letter — a forged "reply" to Luo Rucai. It read: "I previously received the general's secret letter and already understand the matters within. And during the battle, I also saw the cannon muzzles pointed upward, so as not to harm our soldiers — ample proof of your sincerity. I have already submitted a memorial on this matter; your enfeoffment and appointment are expected any day now…"

Looking at the letter in his hand, he said, "This draft, I, the Provincial Governor, will send out via a suicide soldier, ensuring it deliberately falls into the hands of the Chuang bandits. It will surely lend you a helping hand!"

…

The ocean waves, carrying the tide, surged forward in unending lines, crashing against the rocks as if roaring with heaven-rending fury.

Watching the raging sea, the breakers pounding the reefs and spraying up foam from time to time, both Dodo and Abatai paled.

At this moment, they were situated in Fushan Port at the easternmost tip of Joseon. Besides the harbor, there was also a small castle. Of course, after growing accustomed to the towering walled cities of the Central Plains, they all dismissed this kind of low, dilapidated little castle with utter contempt.

Now stationed within Joseon, aside from requisitioning grain and fodder, they were busy organizing the Joseon Eight Banners. Following the Xuantong Emperor Dorgon's wishes, they incorporated all of Joseon's naval forces into the Joseon Eight Banners.

With the help of these Joseon "traitors," the Great Qing's eastern expedition army found governing Joseon much easier. Naturally, the price was that the entire country of Joseon was shrouded in a living hell. After all, Joseon was a small and weak nation; after being plundered by Abatai and the others, who knew how many would freeze or starve to death this winter.

The luxurious gold-threaded dragon banner stood tall, dense ranks of Bayara guards clustered around, and around the port, Koreans swarmed like ants, busily working. The men all wore wide-brimmed hats, the material and shape differing only by their status, and high-waisted shoes with white cloth socks on their feet.

Besides the men, many women were also being whipped as they were forced to help construct the port. They looked somewhat more presentable now, because the "breast-baring" attire popular among Joseon women had been banned as indecent by Abatai, much to Dodo's regret.

Because the Emperor intended to invade Japan after the army conquered Joseon, the two Tartar generals ordered the renovation of Fushan Port. The two even came to the seaside to gaze out toward the opposite shore.

The sea's majesty has always terrified those unfamiliar with the ocean. Watching the surging, turbulent waves, both Dodo and Abatai turned pale.

Abatai had also inquired with the Joseon navy. From Fushan to the opposite shore of Japan, not counting Tsushima Island, it was only a little over four hundred li. Yet these few hundred li of sea were enough to fill one with dread.

The Great Qing's iron cavalry galloped unchallenged on land, but when it came to the sea...

Abatai pondered inwardly, "Why did the Great Yuan's campaign against Japan fail back then?"