Chapter 12: Credentials

The men in the room were cursing and clamoring; their leader Hu Quan said nothing, which made Cheng Bangjun so angry his face turned iron-blue.

At the same time he was inwardly groaning: had he known this errand would be so difficult, why had he volunteered to make another trip, only to suffer this bunch of bandits' abuse, throw the court's dignity completely away, and ruin his own prospects besides!

Last year, Cheng Bangjun had come to Guangdong once. At that time he had carried an edict from the Yongli Son of Heaven ordering the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Lian Chengbi, to recruit loyalist troops to coordinate with Li Dingguo's great army.

After Li Dingguo's army advanced east from Gaozhou, because the Qing army in Guangdong did not dare fight Li's forces head-on, they concentrated all their troops around Guangzhou and held fast, and the prefectures and counties of western Guangdong fell one after another to the Ming army.

Under these circumstances, loyalist forces everywhere marched on Guangzhou, and the bandits everywhere all became conscious of the "great cause," accepting incorporation by the Southern Ming Grand Secretary Guo Zhiqi, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi Lian Chengbi, and the Governor of the four prefectures of Gao, Lei, Lian, and Qiong, Zhang Xiaoqi, and so on, then jubilantly advanced on Guangzhou under the Ming army's banner.

With the situation so favorable, Cheng Bangjun, who should have returned to Anlong Prefecture to report on his mission, took the opportunity to volunteer to Governor-General Lian Chengbi, and in the name of an imperial commissioner incorporated a number of bandits and loyalist forces.

On the strength of this achievement, upon his return he was immediately promoted from secretary to vice director, just one step away from director of the Bureau of Operations in the Ministry of War.

Two months ago, the Southern Ming Grand Secretary Guo Zhiqi, who had remained in Guangdong to direct the anti-Qing effort, and Governor-General Lian Chengbi jointly submitted a memorial to the Yongli court, stating that after Li Dingguo's great army withdrew to Guangxi, the Qing army in Guangdong had reoccupied the prefectures and counties that had previously been recovered, leaving the surviving Ming forces in Guangdong able to operate only in the coastal mountains, utterly incapable of withstanding the Qing army's attacks.

Therefore, to relieve the pressure of the Qing offensive and at the same time solve the Ming army's own shortage of troops, Guo and Lian proposed that, as in the previous year, the court once again incorporate the loyalist forces and volunteer militias of various places in the court's name, sparing no high offices and rich rewards, so as to strengthen the Ming forces in Guangdong within a short time, enabling them to coordinate with Li Dingguo's forces at Gaozhou to pose a threat to the Qing army in Guangdong, and, when necessary, to fight again in coordination with Li Dingguo's great army, so that the entire province of Guangdong would not fall to the Qing army.

After receiving the memorial from Guo Zhiqi and Lian Chengbi, the Yongli Son of Heaven at Anlong Prefecture in Guizhou immediately approved it, and at the same time ordered the Ministry of War to send someone to Guangdong to assist in the matter.

After receiving the imperial instruction, the Ministry of War had originally intended to send someone else to Guangdong, but Cheng Bangjun volunteered to his superiors, saying that he had been sent to Guangdong the previous year, understood the situation there thoroughly, and had some personal connections with the local officials, so sending someone else would not be as good as sending him.

The Ministry of War thought this made sense, and so it was settled. Cheng Bangjun then set out for Guangdong carrying a large number of seals cast by the Yongli court and commissions issued by the Ministry of War.

Who could have known that this trip would be nothing like the previous year's? After setting out from Gaozhou, Cheng Bangjun met with one rebuff after another.

Whether it was the anti-Qing loyalist forces with thousands or hundreds of men, or the bandits who had only a few dozen men yet styled themselves "Great King" this or that, not a single one was interested in the high office the Yongli court offered.

Those with better manners politely saw this "imperial commissioner" off; those with worse manners simply drove him away, sweeping the face of a vice director of the Yongli court's Ministry of War completely clean.

The root cause was a bitter fruit sown by the Southern Ming officials in Guangdong themselves.

The previous year, the anti-Qing loyalist forces throughout Guangdong had answered the Southern Ming court's call and fought in coordination with Li Dingguo's great army, suffering countless deaths and wounds for it.

But once Li Dingguo's great army lifted the siege of Xinhui and withdrew to Guangxi, these loyalist forces went in an instant from being the darlings of the Southern Ming officials to being worthless wretches.

Truly, there was no money to be had, no grain to be had, no weapons to be had, not even compensation for the war dead. Truly, when they were wanted, they were beckoned with a wave; when they were not wanted, they were shooed away with a wave—not even a kind word.

Such conduct chilled the hearts of the loyalist forces everywhere toward the Southern Ming court, and the bandits had even less good to say of it.

You acted shamelessly last year—can you still expect people to answer your call this year and sell their lives for you?

Besides, the reason the loyalist forces and bandits everywhere had answered the Southern Ming's call the previous year was that after Li Dingguo's great army entered Guangdong, the Qing army dared not oppose it, and with the situation so favorable, naturally everyone came out to give the Qing army a good thrashing while it was down.

Now Li Dingguo's great army had withdrawn into Guangxi, leaving only a small force at Gaozhou, while the Ming forces elsewhere had astonishingly poor fighting ability—worse even than the loyalist forces—and at the sight of the Qing army they practically fled before the wind.

Under such circumstances, the Southern Ming officials in Guangdong wanted to rely on bestowing offices and making promises to get people to sell their lives and fight the Qing army to the death. Who would be willing?

Only a fool would do it!

The groaning Cheng Bangjun went several times to see Boss Hu, hoping that this righteous man whom Zhang Xiaoqi had so greatly praised would have a change of heart and persuade his men to accept the court's commission and fight the Qing army. But after several attempts, Boss Hu remained unmoved.

These bandits and soldiers—they don't know a good thing when they see it!

After cursing inwardly, Cheng Bangjun's guts turned green with regret. Last year's achievement had already won him a post as vice director of the Bureau of Operations in the Ministry of War.

If he had just stayed quietly in Anlong Prefecture for a few years, could the directorship of the Bureau of Operations have escaped him? He was still young—why had he been so unable to hold his temper?

Now look: rebuffed at every turn, more than a month in Guangdong, nothing accomplished, and he did not know how he would explain himself to the court, or how he would face Zhang Xiaoqi, the Governor of the four prefectures, before whom he had boasted so grandly before setting out.

After waiting a while longer, with nothing but the bandits' jeers and curses and no other movement, Cheng Bangjun, however thick-skinned, knew that the men of Dajiao Mountain could never be won over to the court's service, and that staying any longer would bring nothing but further humiliation.

He was about to take his leave in resentment when he heard someone ask him: "May I ask, my lord, whether the court's rewards are genuine, and whether the commission and great seal for Assistant Regional Commander are not counterfeit?"

"Insolence!" At these words, Cheng Bangjun, already angry, instantly flared up. "How dare you doubt the court's instruments of office!" He looked up and saw it was the righteous man Zhou Shixiang, the one with the shaved head.

Song Xianggong did not know why Zhou Shixiang was asking this, but since the other man had spoken, it was not his place to intervene, so he stood by with his hands behind his back, watching coldly.

When Zhou Shixiang suddenly spoke up, Boss Hu and Zhao Sihai and the others were also puzzled, wondering what he was up to.

Under everyone's gaze, Zhou Shixiang walked slowly up to Cheng Bangjun, gave a slight bow with clasped hands, and said: "Don't misunderstand, Sir Cheng. I am not doubting the Great Ming court; I merely wish to confirm.

After all, neither I nor any of the good men in this room have ever seen this commission and seal. Checking them is the prudent thing, and it does no harm."

"What kind of talk is that? Are you suggesting you doubt this official? Hmph—perhaps you'd like to verify this official's identity as well?"

Cheng Bangjun frowned.

He had long since learned from the Qing army's proclamations, via his scouts, of how the Xinhui scholar Zhou Shixiang had killed a Qing Assistant Regional Commander with his own hands to avenge his parents, wife, and children, so when he heard of that righteous deed, he had greatly admired the man.

But when he saw that Zhou Shixiang had actually thrown in his lot with the bandits of Dajiao Mountain, he could not help questioning Zhou Shixiang's character.

Moreover, he had been rushing about the mountains for days with nothing to show for it, and in his irritation his manner toward Zhou Shixiang was very cold.

Now, seeing that the man actually dared come forward and demand to inspect the official seal and commission issued by the court, his tone immediately became less friendly, carrying a hint of sarcasm.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Shixiang replied with a solemn expression: "If possible, Sir Cheng, it would be best if you could also produce some credential proving your identity."