Chapter 23: Slapping Faces

When Xiong Tingbi arrived at the Liaodong Military Commissioner's office, someone was already waiting there.

Besides the current Liaodong Military Commissioner Yuan Yingtai, there was another person also waiting for Xiong Tingbi — the Liaodong Governor Xue Guoyong.

Xiong Tingbi had no particular fondness for Xue Guoyong either; this man and Yuan Yingtai were fellow townsmen from Shanxi, meaning the two were old provincial cronies.

Although Xue Guoyong's Donglin Faction affiliation wasn't that strong, he was close to Yuan Yingtai — otherwise the Donglin Faction wouldn't have paired him with Yuan Yingtai.

Of all the things Yuan Yingtai had done in Liaodong, Xue Guoyong had never reined him in on a single matter, nor had he ever impeached Yuan Yingtai.

You should know that Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen of the Donglin Faction had clashed fiercely. When a Military Commissioner and a Governor don't get along, the fallout is considerable.

Now that Xiong Tingbi had driven away Yuan Yingtai, how could Xue Guoyong possibly give Xiong Tingbi a friendly face?

Xiong Tingbi didn't care much about this Xue Guoyong either. Expressionless, he walked up to Yuan Yingtai: "Lord Yuan!"

"Lord Xiong!" Yuan Yingtai said coldly. He and Xiong Tingbi were naturally irreconcilable as fire and water — this enmity wasn't born of the Liaodong Military Commissionership, but because Xiong Tingbi was himself a member of the Chu Faction, while Yuan Yingtai was Donglin.

Now that the Donglin Faction was in power, the Zhe Faction had utterly collapsed, and Fang Congzhe had slunk back to his hometown in disgrace. Xiong Tingbi was like an ink spot on a blank sheet of paper — the Donglin Faction was always reaching out a hand to scrape him off.

The Donglin Faction thought this, and they did exactly that. They truly did scrape off this black spot of Xiong Tingbi — but who the hell knew why Xiong Tingbi had been dabbed back on again.

The letter from the capital had also arrived, and Yuan Yingtai now knew the reason Xiong Tingbi had been reinstated: reportedly because of a dream of His Majesty the Emperor.

How utterly absurd!

Of course, the letter that followed made Yuan Yingtai deeply worried — because the Daoist who had interpreted the dream for His Majesty was a man named Han Li, and this Daoist had been presented to the palace by a eunuch named Wei Zhongxian. Under such circumstances, Xiong Tingbi had been restored to office — clearly, that Daoist named Han Li was the one pulling the strings behind it all.

Obviously Xiong Tingbi had thrown in with the eunuchs. With that, Yuan Yingtai found Xiong Tingbi even more intolerable!

To ally with eunuchs — the shame of all scholar-officials!

Facing such a Xiong Tingbi, Yuan Yingtai naturally couldn't offer a friendly face. After exchanging greetings, he flicked his sleeves and strode away.

Xiong Tingbi's face darkened as well. Though the two didn't get along, they hadn't reached the point of burning bridges. Your removal was because you were incompetent — it was His Majesty's sacred decree. Who exactly are you putting on that sour face for?

Xiong Tingbi gave a cold snort and turned straight inside. This time, securing the Liaodong Military Commissioner's seat was enough — as for Yuan Yingtai, let him go to hell!

The handover was completed quickly, and Yuan Yingtai didn't cause any trouble over it: "Lord Xiong, the handover is done. I'll take my leave."

"Go slowly, Lord Yuan." Xiong Tingbi said expressionlessly: "Regional Commander Li, pass the order to all garrisons — drive every single refugee out of Shenyang and Liaoyang. Anyone who resists, kill without mercy."

Xiong Tingbi said this very loudly — in fact, he said it precisely for Yuan Yingtai to hear.

You wanted to recruit these people, did you? Then I'll drive them all away. Though this was something that needed to be done anyway, Xiong Tingbi said it right to Yuan Yingtai's face — this was revenge.

Xiong Tingbi's heart wasn't all that magnanimous either. You give me a sour face — then I'll slap yours.

Hearing these words, the flesh on Yuan Yingtai's face twitched, and in an instant his complexion turned black as the bottom of a wok. He stared at Xiong Tingbi and said: "Lord Xiong, that's going too far!"

"What's too far?" Xiong Tingbi said with a look of bewilderment: "This is Liaodong business, under the jurisdiction of my Liaodong Military Commissioner's office. I am exercising the authority His Majesty has granted me — surely I don't need Lord Yuan to make the decisions? Though Liaodong is remote, it is still land of the Great Ming, under His Majesty's rule. So Lord Yuan, there's no need for me to explain this matter to you, is there?"

Listening to Xiong Tingbi's words, watching his smugly raised head and the cold smile at the corner of his mouth, Yuan Yingtai's whole body trembled with rage.

But Yuan Yingtai also knew that he couldn't argue with Xiong Tingbi here now — if he did, the only one to lose face would be himself.

With that thought, Yuan Yingtai flicked his sleeves and strode out with big steps, but in his heart he was making a fierce resolve. This time, when he returned to the capital, he would definitely make Xiong Tingbi pay — he would definitely make him pay!

Watching Yuan Yingtai's retreating figure, Xiong Tingbi gave a cold snort, a sound filled with contempt. Then he said to Li Rongguang beside him: "Regional Commander Li, do as I said!"

"Are we really doing it?" Li Rongguang was startled. He had thought Xiong Tingbi was only doing this to anger Yuan Yingtai — he never expected Xiong Tingbi to actually follow through.

Xiong Tingbi glanced at Li Rongguang and said with a bitter smile: "I am angry at Yuan Yingtai's arrogance and furious at his incompetence, but I wouldn't go so far as to use matters of great importance just to spite him. Do you know why His Majesty reinstated me this time? Because Yuan Yingtai submitted a routine memorial detailing everything he had done in Liaodong — namely his matter of recruiting Mongol refugees as soldiers."

"That memorial was sent up to claim merit, but after His Majesty read it, he flew into a great rage, realizing that Yuan Yingtai's ambition exceeded his talent and that he was unfit for such a great responsibility — that's why His Majesty reinstated me."

Li Rongguang was stunned. He hadn't expected there to be such inside information behind all this, and said with some excitement: "Our Emperor is sagacious indeed!"

"Sagacious indeed!" Xiong Tingbi echoed the sentiment, then continued: "Among those surrendered Mongols, there are bound to be spies of Wild Boar Skin. Once Wild Boar Skin attacks, these people will surely stir up trouble inside the city, even turning their coats and striking from within. So we must drive these people out of the city — but we can't let them sit idle either. We don't want people who eat without working."

"Wild Boar Skin will certainly attack. What we need to do now is hold Liaoyang and Shenyang steady. As long as Liaoyang and Shenyang don't fall, we still have room to maneuver in Liaodong."

"Put these surrendered Mongols to work digging trenches and moats. Post guards over them — kill anyone who resists. One thing you must remember: absolutely do not let them into the city. Also, summon all the commanders — I need to make deployments. There's only one thing we need to do: hold Shenyang and Liaoyang. If Wild Boar Skin wants to assault the cities, let's see how many lives he's willing to throw into the meat grinder!"

Xiong Tingbi was extremely confident about defending the cities. The Ming forces in Shenyang and Liaoyang numbered over a hundred thousand. Going out to fight in the open was definitely not an option — the Liaodong men feared battle while Wild Boar Skin's men were fierce; once out of the city, defeat was certain, and some would even rout before the fighting began out of cowardice.

But defending the city was different. Inside the walls, the danger coefficient was low, and there was nowhere to run even if one wanted to. Wild Boar Skin's siege capabilities were poor — to take Liaoyang and Shenyang, he'd have to fill the moats with lives.

Xiong Tingbi knew exactly how difficult siege warfare was and how heavy the casualties would be. If Wild Boar Skin really did throw lives at it, Xiong Tingbi would jump for joy. How many men could Wild Boar Skin throw in? Even at a trade of two for one, Xiong Tingbi would gladly make that exchange with Wild Boar Skin!

He still remembered the secret decree from His Majesty that Chen Hong had given him:

Stabilize Liaodong — hold Shenyang and Liaoyang!