Chapter 865: Raising the Army

(Looking for Brother BUG. I originally set Deng Yijiao’s name as Deng Yibiao, courtesy name Zisheng, but later got a bit mixed up.)

Wang Dou said, “Good, let there be this saying: Today you take pride in my Jingbian Army, in Xuanfu Garrison, in the Protectorate, in the children of Great Ming. Tomorrow the Jingbian Army, Xuanfu Garrison, the Protectorate, and all of Great Ming will take pride in you! Because of your presence, they will feel pride and glory!”

The parade ground had an echo-wall structure; even though his speaking voice was not very loud, the sound waves still traveled along the smooth wall surfaces and reflected, so that many places on the parade ground could hear him clearly.

Wang Dou walked slowly to the edge of the platform. Facing him were countless soldiers; on both sides of the platform was an ocean of common people. Wang Dou could see the adoration in their eyes. He said, “I remember in the seventh year of Chongzhen, I was still a garrison soldier at Jingbian Dun. At that time the Tatars were ravaging Bao’anzhou, and I called the brothers in the dun to go out and fight. There were Brother Ma Ming, the brothers Han Chao and Han Zhong, Brother Qi Tianliang. There were also Brother Gao Shiyin from a friendly dun, and brothers Tan Jinrong, Zhang Ruchun, Qi Bing, and others. The nine of us went out to fight, raiding the Tatar soldiers at night. We killed ten Tatars that time. On our side, four brothers — Ma Ming, Tan Jinrong, Zhang Ruchun, and Qi Bing — died in battle. The rest of us were all wounded…”

The officials, officers, and common people on and off the platform all listened intently. Wang Dou’s life experience had always aroused curiosity, and countless people had studied his past. In particular, that night raid battle was widely acknowledged as the first battle of Wang Dou’s rise, and even more people had researched it.

However, the folk tales were often colored with legend and exaggeration — things like: the Great General gave a single roar and ten Tatars stood dumbstruck, meekly stretching out their necks to be slaughtered. Or: the Great General gave his long spear a shake, and the spear-shadow covered over a hundred zhang; in an instant every one of the ten Tatar soldiers was stabbed five or six times, and the brothers Han Chao and Han Zhong seized the chance to charge in and slaughter them wholesale.

Or: the Great General threw a single punch and three or four Tatars were blasted apart on the spot…

In short, the flavor of popular romance was rather strong.

Now, spoken by Wang Dou himself, it was plain and unadorned, yet all the more soul-stirring — that life-or-death struggle, the hardship of that first battle of his rise.

One must understand that the Tatars of that time were not the Tatars later cowed by the Jingbian Army. Ever since they rose in Jianzhou, they had never failed in battle; they often annihilated Ming armies of tens of thousands or over a hundred thousand, while their own casualties were often no more than a few dozen to a hundred or so.

In particular, their armored cavalry, the Bayara and such soldiers, were incomparably elite warriors who often possessed illustrious battle records.

For example, in the fifth year of Tiancong, Oboi, then a Bayara officer, and Daisu, also a Bayara officer, led twenty-four armored soldiers to hold Camel Mountain. Four hundred Ming soldiers raided the camp at night; Daisu, Oboi, and the others counterattacked, taking over two hundred heads and capturing sixteen horses.

Also, before the Battle of Jinzhou, over a hundred Ming soldiers held a mountain ridge, setting up firearms and cannons to defend it. Daisu and the others led six riders charging up; the hundred-odd Ming soldiers were all killed, and the six of them suffered no casualties.

And at that time, in the Manchu army, fierce Bayara like Oboi and Daisu were too numerous to count. Wang Dou and his nine men went out to fight ten Tatar soldiers, among whom there was still one Bayara and several armored cavalrymen. In the end, four of them died and they killed all ten of the enemy — this was truly an extraordinary feat.

And it was from that moment that Wang Dou soared to the heavens, increasingly unstoppable.

The Crown Prince Zhu Cilang also wore a suit of armor today. Standing on the platform listening to Wang Dou speak, his eyes sparkled with adoration. Today, he finally understood the hardship of the Duke Who Pacifies the State, the difficulty of his rise. Listening to him recount it, he felt as if he were reading the volumes of a history book — that sense of vast boundlessness.

That the Duke could reach this step was truly a blessing for Great Ming.

At the same time, he felt that the Duke Who Pacifies the State was indeed accomplished in both civil and martial affairs. In particular, that earlier line — “Today you take pride in so-and-so; tomorrow so-and-so will take pride in you” — was quite philosophical and left one pondering.

The various generals who had come to aid Shaanxi and Gansu — although their troops were also assembled below the platform — were all led by their central army officers, with You Shilu as the deputy commander leading and coordinating them. Then You Shiwei, Gao Jie, Zheng Jiadong, Niu Chenghu, Ma Kuang, Chen Yongfu, and others all stood on the platform.

Listening to Wang Dou’s account, they all sighed that no successful person succeeded by luck. Had it not been for that life-or-death battle back then, the Grand Marshal could never have reached the step he stood at today.

They thought further: no wonder Han Chao, Gao Shiyin, Qi Tianliang, and the others all held high positions today — so it was because of that connection back then. If Han Zhong had not later died in battle at Julu, he would now at least be at the level of a full army command, right?

The Viceroy of Shaanxi Hou Xun, the Provincial Governor of Shaanxi Feng Shikong, the Provincial Governor of Gansu Lin Rirui, the Provincial Governor of Ningxia Li Yukui, and others also sighed with deep emotion. Compared to their own step-by-step rise through the imperial examinations, the Grand Commander Wang Dou’s path of struggle was far more tortuous and arduous than theirs.

Ji Shiwei’s heart surged with emotion. He recalled the events of that year — how he had flown into a great rage over his daughter, and Wang Dou had said, “Who can say clearly what the future holds? One day, perhaps the Provincial Governor will think that letting Junjiao follow me was a wise decision.”

It was indeed so. Was not everything he possessed today obtained by relying on his son-in-law?

Ji Shiwei’s eldest son, Ji Boqing, had already been transferred from County Magistrate of Guangchang County to Department Magistrate of Yanqing. Standing on the platform, recalling the events of that day, he too was filled with emotion.

Han Chao and the others were extremely stirred. They recalled that battle of that year and were somewhat lost in reverie — and in the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.

Wang Dou looked at the countless soldiers and common people below the platform, at their expressions, and said, “Actually, my thinking that day was very simple: to kill Tatars, win military merit, and obtain reward silver. To get enough money and provisions for my wife to nurse her health, and so my mother would not have to worry and toil so much. In the end, I succeeded, got my first pot of gold, and slowly my official rank and military post rose as well.”

He said slowly, “Then in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the eastern slaves invaded. In the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, I led the army south to suppress the bandits. I experienced many things and saw the suffering across the land of Great Ming. I saw the places the Tatars had passed through — stench filling the roads, blood congealing in the streets, villages desolate, the common people slaughtered and poisoned, the sound of wailing and weeping. Unconsciously, tears streamed down my face.”

Wang Dou said, “I also saw refugees filling the roads, bleached bones covering the fields, common people unable to survive, vying to throw themselves into the rivers to end their lives. Such scenes one cannot bear to hear of, such sights one cannot bear to witness. There were also people who became food in the mouths of others — truly a living death worse than dying.”

Countless people below the platform looked up at him with tear-blurred eyes. Wang Dou said, “After I returned, the Jingbian Army formally established its camp and became an army. I swore then to restore peace to this realm, to make the land of China a paradise and a happy land. As for the Tatars, there is no need to say much, nor any need to waste words with them — kill one on sight, keep killing until they are exterminated. Those not of our race are sure to have different hearts; the disposition of the Rong and Di is not the same as that of Hua. Han and the traitors cannot both stand; the barbarians and Huaxia cannot coexist — unless they learn from Emperor Xiaowen.”

Wang Dou said, “As for the roving bandits, among these people, some are those unwilling to accept that they cannot survive, who rise up and cry out. To stay alive, for the survival of their families, they had no choice but to resist, no choice but to rebel — their circumstances are pitiable. In fact, the government has also offered amnesty to these people. They built stockades to protect themselves, resisted local bandits, and quietly awaited a prosperous age. These people can be won over; their crimes can be reviewed. But those people in the capital…”

Wang Dou’s tone turned severe: “They are born bandit embryos; in their bones they are dregs. In this world there are the two poles of yin and yang, the two ends of good and evil — they belong to the evil end! Take the bandit chieftains Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and the like. They did not rebel because they could not survive, but because the world fell into chaos and they saw an opportunity to fish in troubled waters. The Chuang camp, the Xian camp, the Cao camp, the Ge-Left camps — how many times has the government offered them amnesty? If they truly had the heart, they should have settled down, properly pacified the localities, tilled the fields and planted crops, and let the common people under their rule and in neighboring areas all live good lives. But what did they do?”

Wang Dou said, “So these people are beyond cure; their bandit nature is hard to change. Luo Rucai himself said: When he was poor and destitute, he could not even get a wife. After becoming a bandit, what woman from a rich and noble family, what young lady from an official’s house was beyond his reach? Before, they would not even look at him directly; now every one of them begs him and obeys him. With such a life, he would be too lazy to even be an emperor. If he had to choose between the imperial throne and the bandit’s position, he would definitely choose to be a bandit.”

The common people and soldiers below the platform were all filled with righteous indignation. The officials and generals on the platform were dumbstruck — only today did they learn such inside stories.

Before, they had never understood why, when the government clearly granted amnesty, the bandits would surrender and then rebel again. For instance, Li Chuang surrendered and then rebelled again at Chexiang Gorge; Zhang Xianzhong surrendered and then rebelled again at Gucheng; the Ge-Left people surrendering and then rebelling again was practically routine.

Back then, Song Jiang rebelled and became a bandit; after the government granted amnesty, he joyfully became a subject of the Great Song again. Why were these roving bandits different? So it turned out that their bandit nature could not be changed.

Wang Dou said, “So for the roving bandits, as long as there are bandits to be, why become law-abiding citizens? You till the fields, do business, and pay taxes; after a year of bitter toil you might earn ten taels of silver. I put my blade to your neck, or kill you, and your year of bitter toil’s silver is mine. How convenient, how delightful. That being the case, why turn honest?”

He said, “Especially for those veteran bandits — they first emerged from Shaanxi, then plundered into Shanxi, the capital region of Beizhili, then Henan, then Huguang, and finally Shandong and the capital. One can say they have seen much and know how vast the world is. They have trampled through city after city, destroyed village after village. People and things that were once beyond their reach and beyond their dreams — they take what they want, demand what they desire, trembling under their blades, shaking under their horses. Having seen such a vast world, having handled such mountains of wealth and silk, how could they be willing to let their horses graze and return to the fields, to hole up in some remote gully, scrabbling bitterly for food every day?”

The soldiers and civilians below the platform all had fire blazing in their eyes. They were willing to use their own hands to diligently build their homes — but what to do when they encountered roving bandits who lived by plunder? It was bound to be either you die or I live; the two sides could not coexist between heaven and earth.

The Crown Prince Zhu Cilang sighed inwardly. His Imperial Father had once said, “The bandits are also innocent children.” Perhaps he fundamentally did not know what these people were thinking, what their essence was. These people could never possibly take off their armor and return to the fields; no matter how much money and provisions were used to settle them, it was meaningless to them.

Wang Dou said, “For these veteran bandits, there is also nothing they care about. Back when Li Zicheng’s power was weak, Liu Zongmin and others killed their wives and daughters to follow him — how could they possibly care? And now, haven’t they stormed into the capital, surrounded themselves with over a hundred women, each one lost in pleasure and forgetting home?”

Wang Dou said, “Thus these people are beyond cure. They are also cunning deceivers, proclaiming that they do not commit the slightest offense against the people, that there is no corvée and no tax to pay — yet after entering the capital, what have they done? They say they oppose the officials and the powerful, so why do they not even spare the common people? The common people everywhere joyfully opened their gates, thinking they would have good days — was it just to suffer such retribution?”

He said sternly, “A bowl of water — clear on top, murky below, with dregs at the bottom. These roving bandits are the dregs. They have always existed in this world; it is just Great Ming’s misfortune that they have floated to the surface. Therefore we cannot let them go — especially those veteran bandits, officers, and bandit leaders large and small. They must be killed cleanly and thoroughly; they cannot be allowed to survive and harm the human world again!”

He shouted loudly, “So, soldiers, in this campaign you must be as swift and unstoppable as a mountain torrent. You must defeat and annihilate every enemy that stands before you. When you first formed your army at Jingbian Fort, you wiped out the bandit threats in the surrounding area, and then you let enemies like Abatai witness your valor and invincibility. You also swept across thousands of li of Great Ming — in the capital region, in Tongzhou, in Dingzhou, in Julu, in Zhuozhou, in Pinggu, in Luoyang, in Xiangyang, in Jinzhou, in Yizhou, in Guihua — making enemies tremble at the news of you. Very soon, in the capital, you will once again let the enemy witness your mighty name!”

He shouted, “And this is only the beginning. Your footsteps will not stop. In the future, you will also witness the boundlessness of the great ocean, the vastness of the great desert, the mystery of the ice plains, and the customs of the Great East, the Great West, the Great South, Dashi, Daqin, and the various nations of the Far West.”

“Your iron hooves will trample through the beautiful streets of this world!”

“Your arrows and cannons will destroy the sturdy fortresses of this world!”

“Your blades and swords will be drenched in fresh blood!”

“Your mighty names will be sung across the world!”

“Undying honor shall belong to you!”

“Your names shall be forever engraved in the hearts of all people!”

“However, you must first defeat the enemies in the capital — the roving bandits, and also the slave raiders. Take up your weapons, and turn all your enemies into dust. Turn their armor into your spoils of war; turn their heads into the military merits upon your saddles.”

“Then, you will bring peace and stability to Great Ming, and thus begin your vast and great lives. When you are weary, when you are old, and recall the past, you can proudly say to your children and grandchildren, to your neighbors and friends: I will never forget that day in the fourth month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, because everything I have began on that month and that day!”

Just as the Crown Prince and the officials and generals on the platform were shaken beyond words, a roar of cheers suddenly erupted below the platform, finally converging into a cry of “Ten Thousand Victories” like mountains crumbling and seas roaring. Wang Dou’s rousing speech made everyone unable to suppress their impulses; many people’s shouts carried a thick, tearful note.

Countless people raised their arms and roared; that sea of banners surged wave after wave along with the shouts.

The heaven-shaking sound made many people on the platform tremble involuntarily.

“Ten Thousand Victories! Ten Thousand Victories! Ten Thousand Victories!”

The soldiers and civilians below the platform shouted with desperate excitement. Hearing that mountain-toppling, sea-overturning sound, even people like Chen Xinjia and Ji Shiwei were dumbstruck, let alone Hou Xun, Feng Shikong, Lin Rirui, and others who had never seen such a spectacle.

The Crown Prince felt as if he were on a roller coaster, sensing that unstoppable giant wave sweeping through his entire body, making him so excited that his face flushed red and congested with blood.

You Shiwei and the others were also dumbfounded. This kind of vast, mighty power — where had they ever witnessed it before? Just now, under Wang Dou’s speech, they too could not stop their blood from boiling; they only wanted to draw their blades and swords, to follow wherever his banners pointed, to follow him in campaigning across the four corners of the world.

At this moment, watching the scenes below the platform, they were involuntarily swept up, wanting only to roar and shout along with them.

The assembled officers and officials also looked toward Wang Dou as one. What he had just said seemed plain and simple, yet when savored carefully, it carried a sense of returning to fundamental truth. In particular, the breadth of his information and the vastness of its content fiercely shook everyone’s hearts and minds.

While everyone else was thinking of the Great Ming, and many were thinking only of their own small patch of land, his vision had already expanded to those boundless realms.

Why did he understand so much? Could there truly be a sage descended from heaven in this world? Otherwise, how could one explain everything that had happened to him?

Then the troop review and march-out began. By now the sky was fully bright, the last wisps of thin mist had completely dispersed, and the sunlight had fully leaped forth. Then an enormous banner appeared before everyone’s eyes. The banner was two zhang high, with a pole of fine wood, steel, and iron; the flag itself was one zhang wide, bordered in gold brocade, and on its vivid red field were embroidered golden-yellow sun, moon, and wave patterns. The finial was a golden crown of sun, moon, and waves, glittering gold all over. The finial in particular sparkled dazzlingly in the sunlight, extremely brilliant.

This was Wang Dou’s command banner, the tallest and largest great standard in the entire army. To carry this heavy seated standard, a command-banner cart had been specially made, pulled by four sturdy horses.

Around and behind this banner were several dozen more great standards of the same golden yellow, slightly smaller, each pulled by two sturdy horses.

Then came over a hundred more gold-bordered great banners, held aloft by riders on horseback, a sea of golden yellow and fiery red streaming in the wind.

Normally on campaign, Wang Dou’s command banner would be placed in the central army, but for this troop review, it naturally had to lead the way at the front.

Countless commoners cheered toward the command banner. This kind of tall, mighty, imposing banner deeply satisfied their hearts and achieved the intended effect as a matter of course.

Next came the Jingbian Army’s Xuanwu Corps, also with its seated standard pulled by two sturdy horses, followed by orderly cavalry square formations: the Central Battalion, Left Battalion, Right Battalion, Elite Cavalry, and Hunter Cavalry — all of them had horses. They advanced in neat order, fifty riders per rank, and behind them rank after rank of identically outfitted horsemen.

Uniform helmets, uniform armor, uniform arm-guards — it was almost an ocean of armor. Their horses’ hooves struck the ground in nearly uniform thunder.

On the platform, You Shiwei and the others watched in utter amazement. These cavalrymen of the Xuanwu Corps would have few rivals anywhere in the Great Ming, would they?

Then behind the cavalry came the infantry of two Bing-grade armies. Their officers had horses; the common soldiers marched in formation, likewise fifty men per rank.

Apart from lacking horses, they too had gleaming armor and were exceedingly crack troops.

As their horse and foot steps passed the parade platform, the Central Army commander Lei Xianbin and Army Chief of Staff Zheng Zonghui shouted in unison: “Salute the Grand General!”

The entire Xuanwu Corps roared “Ten thousand victories!” They shouted it three times: “Ten thousand victories! Ten thousand victories! Ten thousand victories!” Then the mounted spearmen leveled their lances in salute, and the arquebusiers raised their swords in salute. Their infantry square formations strode forward, tramping the ground in unison; their long spears and arquebuses were pressed tightly against their left shoulders, their right arms swinging forcefully, their arms powerful.

Tied to their long spears and arquebuses were small red streamers. The sharp spear-points and sharp arquebus-bayonets gleamed coldly amid a fluttering expanse of red streamer-light.

As they passed the parade platform, every one of them looked over, their faces flushed with excitement, especially those of the Bing-grade armies.

Wang Dou drew his own sword in salute. Han Chao, the commander of the Xuanwu Corps, stood beside Wang Dou on the platform and likewise drew his own sword, pointing it obliquely, as did the officers and commanders under Wang Dou. When the Xuanwu Corps roared, they stirred the surrounding commoners to shout as well, and now those commoners also drew their own blades and swords. On the platform and below, cold light glittered in sheets.

The Crown Prince and the others were startled; then he too drew his own sword in salute. On the parade platform, the sound of clanking metal rang out in a continuous wave.

The cry of “Ten thousand victories” shook heaven and earth. After the Xuanwu Corps passed, the Qinglong Corps followed close behind, and then the Zhuque Corps.

Zheng Tianmin advanced tightly within his unit’s square formation. Before and behind him stretched an endless sea of iron-helmeted heads, their bright red tassels swaying in a blur. When Army Chief of Staff Fan Shanqing and Central Army commander Wu Zhengchun shouted in unison “Salute the Grand General!” he was so overcome with emotion that he did not hear clearly.

But the sudden explosive shouting from ahead and behind made him involuntarily join in, roaring “Ten thousand victories!” Then he pressed his flintlock arquebus tightly against his left shoulder, swung his right arm forcefully up to his chest and then back behind him, and stamped his feet hard on the ground, merging into a single uniform sound of marching.

As he passed the parade platform, he strained to look in that direction. “Did the Grand General see me?” Zheng Tianmin thought excitedly, yet his feet carried him onward involuntarily.

One mighty square formation after another advanced; the muffled pounding of boots and horse hooves on the ground beat against every heart.

That kind of power made one feel awe; that kind of power made one feel elated.

You Shiwei and the others no longer had any worry. Though the roving bandits were many and the Tatars were strong, before this great army before their eyes, they were not enough to matter. They could not say why, but that was exactly how they felt.

At last, the Central Army’s main camp arrived. Within the camp were the rockets and cannons that everyone had long been eager to see. Although most of the baggage, rockets, and cannons had already been sent ahead toward Juyong Pass, even these cannons and rockets before their eyes — each enormous in the beholders’ view — were enough to be a great eye-opener.

You Shiwei craned his neck with all his might. He finally saw them: the Jingbian Army’s mysterious weapons — the rockets.

They were indeed different from the Divine Fire Flying Crows. They were all made of iron, with slender bodies, pointed heads, and fins at the tail, about three chi long and perhaps thirty to forty jin in weight. There were also launch troughs carried on carts — semi-cylindrical and elongated, seemingly made of wood, with iron sheathing at the rear. He saw that these semi-cylindrical smooth troughs also had bipod stands.

It seemed that neither the rockets nor the troughs were very heavy; soldiers could carry them on their shoulders and walk, extremely convenient and flexible.

The only question was their effectiveness, and how far they could shoot — after all, they were made of iron.

He also saw heavy rocket troughs with wheels, resembling cannon-carriage designs, with three slots inside, on which rested even larger and heavier rockets. These might weigh sixty to seventy jin, with the rockets about six chi long. Overall, even with the trough and rocket together, these heavy rockets were not excessively heavy — merely equivalent to the weight of a light cannon.

If their effectiveness was good, they would indeed be a great weapon of slaughter.

He heard the Crown Prince seemingly asking Wang Dou something. He listened carefully and caught the words “five or six li” and “ten li.” He could not help but be shocked — so far?

At present, when opposing sides formed battle lines, they were mostly two or three li apart, at most no more than five or six li. In other words, if the roving bandits or the slave bandits fought the Jingbian Army, even their own light rockets could cover the enemy’s entire formation?

How could one even fight a battle like that?

No wonder the Jingbian Army was brimming with confidence and saw no problem at all in fighting one against two. With such a powerful army and such lethal weapons, what was there left to worry about?

A fierce anticipation suddenly surged in You Shiwei’s heart — anticipation for the day when battle would come.

He watched as rocket after rocket passed by on the field, and cannons too…

Were those red-barbarian cannons? How could there be so many?

Too many…

On the field, banners and pennants were like a sea. Cavalry, infantry, artillery, rocket troops — they advanced in orderly fashion with solemn, awe-inspiring momentum. Cavalry finished, then infantry; infantry finished, then artillery. Neat square formations, gleaming bayonets, their footfalls in unison — one square formation after another, seemingly endless.

Their vanguard had already passed through the distant gate of the parade ground, yet the follow-up troops still came in an unbroken stream…

Iron armor like a tide, iron cavalry like a torrent — with such a great army, who could stand in its way?

On the thirteenth day of the fourth month of the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign, Wang Dou reviewed the troops and set out on campaign, with an army of two hundred thirty thousand, vast and boundless.