Chapter 84: Book 3: Defender of Shunxiang Fort, Chapter 84: To Go or to Stay

Book 3: Defender of Shunxiang Fort, Chapter 84: To Go or to Stay

Hearing Xu Lu speak this way, Liu Wei, Yu Qingyuan, and Lan Bulian all froze for a moment. A chill rose in their hearts as well.

Only now did they recall Wang Dou's strength. Never mind his several hundred musketeers, even with just his pikemen charging in, their own retainers would suffer grievous losses. Whether the exchange ratio was two to one or one to one, with their mere dozen or so retainers, they could not afford to trade.

Yet Wang Dou, in just a few months' time, could train up another large batch of soldiers.

Lan Bulian, the eldest among them at over forty, was also the most cautious in his thinking. He said, "Stirring up a pay riot is absolutely out of the question. It is a violation of military discipline. Even if the Defender beheaded us for it, we would have nowhere to cry injustice."

He continued, "In truth, I never counted on the Defender to issue any grain or pay. After all these years, when have we ever counted on the court or the guard battalion to issue any grain or pay? Haven't we all relied on our own fields to support our troops? What worries me most is that I heard some troubling news."

Liu Wei and Yu Qingyuan both asked, "What news?"

Lan Bulian said, "I heard that the Defender intends, once the new army is trained, to break up our retainers and reorganize them into several new army pickets. When that time comes, I fear none of your retainers will be under your own control any longer."

Liu Wei flew into a rage and shouted, "Without these retainers, what are we even? These retainers are what we have toiled so bitterly to raise. For the Defender to do this is to cut off our very roots."

Even Xu Lu showed an expression of keen interest and sank into deep thought.

Liu Wei grumbled for a while, then said to Xu Lu, "Sir Xu, this is a matter of life and death for us. What is your view?"

Xu Lu mused, "This matter may be a rumor. I shall go and confirm it with the Defender."

After a long pause, he raised his head. "If this matter is true..."

He suddenly gave a cold snort. "If there is no place for us here, there will be places that have room. With these fine soldiers of ours, the world is vast — where can we not go?"

Liu Wei, Yu Qingyuan, and Lan Bulian all brightened. Indeed, after several months of harsh training, never mind those new army troops, even the old army retainers of Shunxiang Fort had each been drilled to an outstanding level.

These retainers already had a foundation to begin with. After undergoing rigorous training, every one of them was incomparably valiant. Any one of them, taken alone, could fight ten men. With their squad of a dozen or so retainers, each man could serve as an officer. A force of several hundred men could be raised with ease. Xu Lu in particular, with fifty fierce retainers in hand, was even more formidable; wherever he went, he would be treated as an honored guest.

All of them were men of wild ambition to begin with. Each had harbored a vague notion in his heart, and now that Xu Lu had brought it into the open, the more they thought about it, the more sense it made. They felt only that the sea was wide and the sky boundless, that there was nowhere they could not go. The men exchanged smiles, their eyes startlingly bright.

Liu Wei let out a great cry, "Exactly, that is just how it is..."

Suddenly, Lan Bulian beside him said, "Ah, so it is Sir Wen, and Platoon Leader Sun."

At some unknown moment, Wen Fangliang and Sun Sanjie had already come to stand beside them. The group had been talking so animatedly that they had not even noticed the two men's arrival.

Lan Bulian, all smiles, greeted the two.

Wen Fangliang said with a grin, "You were chatting so spiritedly — what were you discussing?"

Liu Wei and Yu Qingyuan said nothing. Lan Bulian merely smiled and said, "Nothing much, just idle talk, just idle talk."

Xu Lu also cupped his fist toward Wen Fangliang. Though his courtesy was thorough, his expression held no particular respect.

Among the original six company commanders of Shunxiang Fort, Xu Lu, Liu Wei, Yu Qingyuan, and Lan Bulian were on good terms, but they did not see eye to eye with Wen Fangliang and Sun Sanjie.

Xu Lu and the others resented that Wen Fangliang had relied on his uncle Wen Shiyan's influence to obtain his post as company commander — a typical wastrel son. Now that he had recently been promoted to Vice Battalion Commander, it inevitably stirred their envy. At the same time, Wen Fangliang was handsome and very popular with women; the wives and concubines he had taken were all quite comely. Looking at another man's woman, then looking at the sallow-faced wives in their own homes, the men could not help but feel sour, and they looked down on Wen Fangliang all the more.

As for why they could not stand Sun Sanjie, the reason was far simpler. A big man, burly and rough, with a coarse, ugly tumor on his forehead, yet his voice was soft and limp, thoroughly effeminate, like a woman. Keeping company with him, one could not avoid being tainted by his ill luck.

Ordinarily, the six company commanders were split into two factions, locked in open strife and covert struggle. On the surface, however, they had to maintain an appearance of harmony and observe the decorum of officialdom.

After exchanging a few perfunctory pleasantries, Xu Lu and the other three strode off. Watching their retreating figures, Wen Fangliang's face darkened. Xu Lu and his lot looked down on a wastrel son like Wen Fangliang, but when had Wen Fangliang ever thought highly of them? A bunch of typical military oafs. No brains at all — how could they compare to him, a man of intellect?

This handsome young officer gave a cold laugh. "They want to leave, to set up their own house? They think taking a few retainers with them will let them accomplish anything? Fools. They cannot read the situation. Follow the Defender, and the future is boundless!"

Clearly, he had overheard every word of Xu Lu and the others' conversation just now.

Sun Sanjie's "gentle" voice sounded. With some concern, he asked, "Sir Wen, if the Defender truly intends to reorganize the retainers, are you not worried?"

Wen Fangliang smiled faintly. "Old Sun, what are a mere handful of retainers worth? The Defender is in need of capable men right now. If he takes them over, do you fear there will be no troops to lead? Any picket drawn from that new army — is it not stronger than the dozen or so retainers we lead? Old Sun, you must take the longer view!"

At this moment, his face was full of shrewd intelligence. Where was the usual grinning, wastrel-son image?

Sun Sanjie also said excitedly, "Indeed, when Sir Wen puts it that way, this old Sun's heart is truly stirred. Watching the Defender's musketeer squads, I really do drool. If I could lead a picket of musketeers like that, I would die content, even if I had to die right now!"

Sun Sanjie was a relatively simple and honest man, a technical officer who was never good at scheming and intrigue. His greatest passion in life was tinkering with his bird gun in his spare time. His mastery of the bird gun was even higher than that of Zhong Xiancai, the former ace marksman of Jingbian Fort.

To lead an outstanding company of musketeers was his ideal and his heartfelt wish.

Wen Fangliang smiled faintly. "Rest assured, Old Sun, you shall have your wish!"

From the eighteenth day of the second month of the ninth year of Chongzhen, rumors spread continuously through Shunxiang Fort. The Defender was going to reorganize the old army retainers, break them up, and form them into a new army picket. Henceforth, they would be no different from the new army.

Morale wavered, especially among the squads of old army retainers. For those original retainers, they had always been the backbone of every military fort, the objects of envy and admiration. They had always been arrogant, looking down deep in their bones on the ordinary military households of the fort.

Now the old army retainers of Shunxiang Fort all received the same treatment as the new army. Seeing the people they once looked down upon standing on equal footing with them, they felt exceptionally aggrieved. What was worse, the skills they had once taken such pride in now held no advantage whatsoever, which left them feeling even more lost.

And now they were even going to be reorganized...

Of course, aside from this portion of the retainers, there was another portion who harbored different thoughts in their hearts. Seeing the new army families receiving their allotments of land, they too were envious. When they returned home on leave, their families often murmured complaints. For common folk in those ancient times who placed extreme importance on land, joining the new army meant every household could receive several dozen mu of land, passed down from generation to generation — this was a temptation hard to resist.

These men had no particular objection to whether they themselves would be reorganized; in fact, deep in their hearts, they secretly looked forward to it.

Wang Dou had also heard these rumors. Perhaps the time had come for him to abolish all the officers' retainers in Shunxiang Fort.

On the twenty-first day of the second month, Xu Lu, the former confidant of Defender Xu Zhongjun and a Shunxiang Fort company commander on good terms with Wang Dou, requested an audience with Wang Dou. The two spoke at length for an hour. What they discussed was unknown to outsiders, but when Xu Lu emerged, Wang Dou's expression was somewhat downcast.

On the twenty-second, inside the Battalion Commander's hall of Shunxiang Fort.

The great hall was filled with officers. Wang Dou sat at the seat of honor in the center. Lin Daofu and the Fort Supervisor Chi Dacheng sat to his left and right. Also present were Han Chao, Han Zhong, company commanders Wen Fangliang and Sun Sanjie, clerk Feng Dachang, and others, all seated in the lower positions.

Every gaze, of varied expression, was fixed upon the four men kneeling below: Xu Lu, Lan Bulian, Liu Wei, and Yu Qingyuan.

Today, they had come to bid farewell to Wang Dou. They had made up their minds to take their retainers and leave Shunxiang Fort.

The hall was utterly silent; only the sound of breathing could be heard.

Abruptly, Han Zhong rose in fury, pointed at Xu Lu and the others, and shouted, "Fine! The Defender toils bitterly, feeding and watering you every day, drilling your troops to excellence, and what do you do? You just brush off your backsides and leave! This old Han would like to ask you — do you have any sense of grace or loyalty left?"

At Han Zhong's rebuke, company commander Yu Qingyuan showed a look of shame. He opened his mouth, but only mumbled, unable to speak. The rest merely kept their faces set and said nothing.

Xu Lu's expression was calm. He merely said, "The Defender's great kindness — we shall repay it another day!"

Wang Dou restrained the indignant Han Zhong, sighed, and rose to his feet. "Every man has his own aspirations. None can be forced to stay!"

He looked at Xu Lu, his expression complex. He recalled the days when he had been the headman of Jingbian Fort, when Xu Zhongjun was still around, and Xu Lu had been a great help to him. He had hoped that after coming to Shunxiang Fort, he and Xu Lu could continue their camaraderie as colleagues. It was a pity that, over the matter of the retainers, the two men were ultimately parting ways. To say he felt no regret would be a lie.

Wang Dou said, "Old Brother Xu, I will not force you, and I hope you all have a bright future ahead. But I will say this plainly: after you leave Shunxiang Fort, you may join whomever you please, but if any of you dare turn bandit or surrender to the barbarians..."

A sudden, thunderous crash!

Wang Dou had drawn the heavy sword at his waist and cleaved the table before him in two!

He slowly spoke the words that followed: "I, Wang Dou, shall surely slay them!"

……

Under the contemptuous gazes of the soldiers and civilians of Shunxiang Fort, Xu Lu, Lan Bulian, Liu Wei, and Yu Qingyuan led their retainers away. The former Garrison Commander of Shunxiang Fort, Xu Zhongjun, had wide social connections, maintaining contact with many officials not only in the department city but even in the guard city. As Xu Zhongjun's trusted confidant, Xu Lu also had dealings with these officials to some extent, and with the retainers under his command, he naturally had many places to go.

From their four squads of retainers, aside from three or four men left behind from each squad, the rest all followed them away. For men like Xu Lu, their departure meant avoiding the danger of having their retainers reorganized, preserving their own strength. Henceforth, with their retainers in tow, the sky was high and the earth was vast — they could venture out and carve a new domain for themselves.

For Wang Dou, it was just as well that Xu Lu and the others left. The army that remained was uniformly the New Army, making Shunxiang Fort a solid, unified block and eliminating many hidden dangers — especially with the Qing troops about to arrive.

Of the six squad officers, only Wen Fangliang and Sun Sanjie remained.

The two of them proved their loyalty to Wang Dou through concrete actions. Wen Fangliang, in particular, was all smiles and utterly unconcerned about handing over his retainers. He told Wang Dou that he only hoped that when new sentry companies were established in the future, he could be given command of one sentry company of New Army troops.

Wen Fangliang's decision to stay took Wang Dou completely by surprise. He had originally assumed that when the retainers were reorganized, Xu Lu would support him while the rest would be full of complaints, and that Wen Fangliang especially would be a troublesome figure. He never expected this outcome.

Needless to say, Wang Dou went out of his way to win over these two men. For the time being, he placed the fifteen retainers who had stayed behind under their command, bringing each of their squads up to twenty men. Soon, Shunxiang Fort would conduct military skill rank assessments for its soldiers. After the martial skill assessments, Wang Dou would then consider the matter of establishing two new sentry companies of troops.

。