Chapter 39: The Great Battle Is Coming

"What a world!" Zhu Youxiao sighed. One could say rites and music had collapsed entirely—all the fine ideas of the ancients were gone.

At this moment, Zhu Youxiao desperately wished for the Hundred Schools of Thought to exist. Even if not that, even Han-dynasty Confucians would do. The Song Confucians were not true Confucians!

While Zhu Youxiao was lamenting, the weather in Liaodong had warmed slightly. Xiong Tingbi stood atop the city wall. The north wind had blown his face bright red, but Xiong Tingbi paid it no mind, gazing intently into the distance.

Standing beside Xiong Tingbi was a eunuch—none other than Cui Fu, the eunuch garrisoning Liaodong. This man had arrived in Liaodong after Xiong Tingbi, and was said to have come from the household of Chen Hong, the eunuch of the imperial palace.

As for that eunuch Chen Hong who had originally delivered the imperial edict to him, Xiong Tingbi had a very good impression of him. So after coming into contact with this Cui Fu, Xiong Tingbi found that this Eunuch Cui was also a decent man—he did not interfere in military matters at all.

This Eunuch Cui instead led his men walking back and forth through the camp, putting on the air of an inspector, looking as though he was ready to impeach anyone who caught his displeasure.

Under this Eunuch Cui's efforts, military discipline throughout Liaodong had actually improved considerably—an unexpected blessing.

Xiong Tingbi glanced at Li Guangrong on the other side, then asked: "Are those people behaving themselves?"

The people Xiong Tingbi referred to were naturally those Mongol refugees that Yuan Yingtai had gathered, among whom there were also quite a few Jurchen.

Yuan Yingtai planned to organize these people into an army, but Xiong Tingbi did not see it that way.

In Xiong Tingbi's heart, the Mongols could not be relied upon at all—let alone these Mongol refugees? They were merely struggling to survive; why should they risk their lives for the Great Ming?

So Xiong Tingbi had simply put these people to work—digging ditches, reinforcing the city defenses, and they were not even allowed into the city at night.

Li Guangrong led his men in guarding these refugees who were digging the trenches.

Hearing Xiong Tingbi's words, he said with some concern: "Some have run off, and a few have died. Some stirred up trouble, and I've already had the troublemakers killed, with their heads hung at the worksite."

As he spoke, Li Guangrong secretly glanced at the smiling garrison eunuch Cui Fu beside him. Seeing no reaction from him, he continued: "It's been stabilized now."

Xiong Tingbi said nonchalantly: "Keep an eye on them. If any die, drag them out and bury them—don't let a plague break out."

"My lord, doing this will likely get you impeached!" Li Guangrong looked at Xiong Tingbi and said cautiously.

As the Liaodong Regional Commander, Li Guangrong had come to know the affairs of Liaodong well over these years.

Being an official in Liaodong was not easy, especially as a military commander. Those idle civil officials kept their eyes on you, going back and forth, thinking up every way to impeach you—they wouldn't stop until they'd impeached you out of office.

Under such circumstances, Li Guangrong naturally feared Xiong Tingbi being impeached.

One had to know that Xiong Tingbi had a record—last time he was impeached out of office, and he'd only returned a few days ago. If he were impeached out again, what then?

"Regional Commander Li, you can rest assured on that matter." Cui Fu spoke up from the side at this moment.

He tucked his hands into his sleeves, wearing a beaming smile as he said: "His Majesty has ordered Eunuch Wei of the Eastern Depot to thoroughly investigate the matter of Lord Xiong's previous impeachment. Some leads have already emerged. Yao Zongwen and Liu Guojin are men of Liaodong who colluded with Li Ruzhen, the Liaodong Regional Commander, in an attempt to force Lord Xiong out."

"His Majesty has already thrown them into the Eastern Depot's prison. Oh, and now Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, Zhang Xiude and others have also been implicated—all of them took bribes from Liu Guojin and Li Ruzhen."

As he spoke, Cui Fu looked at Xiong Tingbi, a brilliant smile on his face: "Lord Xiong, soon your name will be cleared."

Xiong Tingbi was stunned, then his entire body became agitated—his frame trembling, his face showing wild joy—and he knelt directly toward the capital, prostrating himself: "Your servant Xiong Tingbi kowtows in gratitude for Heaven's grace!"

With that, Xiong Tingbi kowtowed respectfully, then rose to his feet, his eyes slightly reddened.

Cui Fu stood beside Xiong Tingbi, his expression still beaming with a smile.

In Cui Fu's view, there was an element of acting in Xiong Tingbi's display—but that was fine. Having an attitude was better than having none at all.

"Report!"

A shout suddenly rang out below the city tower. A fast horse charged straight over, carrying a soldier on its back with a command flag behind him, moving at great speed.

The soldier shouted as he ran, and people along the way hurriedly moved aside. The expressions of the several men standing atop the city wall also turned serious—this was a scout, and clearly something major was happening.

Soon the scout rode into the city. Before long, he climbed up to the city wall, knelt on one knee, and shouted loudly: "Report—Jurchen cavalry have been spotted moving toward Shenyang city."

"So they've come after all!" A flash of excitement crossed Xiong Tingbi's face as he laughed loudly.

Xiong Tingbi knew very well that Shenyang and Liaoyang were like a thorn in the Jurchen's side. As long as that thorn remained stuck there, the Jurchen could do nothing—they could not advance west into the grasslands, could not march east to conquer Joseon, and could only be pinned down here.

No matter what, the Jurchen had to take Shenyang and Liaoyang. Moreover, it was now the third and fourth months—the very time when the old harvest was exhausted and the new not yet ripe. The Jurchen needed supplies, or they couldn't survive either—they were coming to plunder.

"Pass the order—implement scorched-earth tactics. Have everyone withdraw into the city, drive all those Mongols outside the walls, hand out some weapons, and let them meet the enemy." Xiong Tingbi said with a stern expression.

This time even Cui Fu turned his head to look at Xiong Tingbi. This man was thick-skinned and black-hearted—that he knew—but this was too much, wasn't it? They'd done work for you after all, and now you wouldn't even let them into the city? What was he playing at?

But Cui Fu could not speak up. He knew his duty—his adoptive father had exhorted him repeatedly before he left the capital: he must keep his mouth tightly shut.

Li Guangrong also hadn't expected his own Military Commissioner to be this kind of commander. Looking at Xiong Tingbi, he couldn't help but ask quietly: "Great Marshal, isn't this move inappropriate?"

"What's inappropriate about it?" Xiong Tingbi said matter-of-factly: "Tell them—if they can rout the Jurchen vanguard, I will accept them as border troops of the Great Ming and provide them with pay and provisions."

Even a fool wouldn't believe those words. The Great Ming's own army couldn't win—how could those Mongol refugees? They didn't even have equipment—how could they fight?

Besides, these people would surely surrender the moment they went out. Li Guangrong couldn't help but say worriedly: "Great Marshal, these people will likely defect to the Jurchen!"

"Let them defect if they want—we'll save some grain that way." Xiong Tingbi said with utter indifference: "Do the Jurchen have food to feed them?"

"Just watch—after they defect to the Jurchen, they'll only be forced to attack the city. The Jurchen don't practice mercy." Then Xiong Tingbi said: "Go pass the order quickly."

Li Guangrong nodded and hurriedly turned to relay the order. Everyone knew a great battle was coming.