Chapter 14: Persuasion

What he had seen and heard today gave Zhou Shixiang the feeling that history had a way of repeating itself.

He recalled that in later times, when the Nationalists retreated from the mainland, they had sent large numbers of "special commissioners" and "special envoys" into the mountains to offer bandits official posts and promises, appointing this one a lieutenant-Regional Commander and that one a major-general chief of staff.

Now this Southern Ming court was doing exactly the same thing, the only difference being the names of the offices. Of course, in nature the two were also very different; compared with the Nationalists, the Southern Ming court's actions had a far greater share of righteousness.

Unfortunately, throughout history, whether the cause was just or not, there had never been a precedent of anyone accomplishing anything by relying on bandits. The Yongli Son of Heaven was muddled, and the officials under him were even more foolish.

Heaven only knew what those high officials in charge of this matter were thinking!

Zhou Shixiang shook his head to himself. Originally he had not intended to get involved in this matter; he had planned to take his leave of Boss Hu and Song Xianggong once it was settled and go straight to Guangxi to join Li Dingguo's army.

But on second thought, although Li Dingguo was a famous general and the Ming army reorganized from his former Daxi Army was strong in combat, the fact remained that there was only one Li Dingguo in all the world, while the Yongli court was full of muddled and incompetent men.

Otherwise they would never have come up with such a thoroughly unreliable idea as wooing and incorporating bandits!

As for conditions elsewhere, Zhou Shixiang had not seen them with his own eyes, so he did not dare judge. But he did understand the situation in Guangdong to some extent.

Take the people of Xinhui, for example: had the Qing army not committed atrocities there, the hearts of most Xinhui commoners would have inclined toward the Manchu Qing rather than the Great Ming.

The original owner of this body, Xiucai Zhou, had even been thinking of sitting the Qing civil examinations once the situation in Guangdong stabilized.

The reason for this utter loss of the people's hearts was naturally connected with the breakdown of Ming army discipline.

And the reason Ming army discipline had broken down, apart from the Ming army's own rottenness, was probably inseparable from this large-scale incorporation of bandits into the ranks, which had left the army a motley mix of good and bad.

Once the people's hearts are lost, how can the realm fail to fall into the hands of the Tartar caitiffs!

If all the officials of the Southern Ming court, high and low, were like the ones who had dreamed up this rotten scheme, then a single Li Dingguo could never save the Southern Ming.

Remembering from his previous life that Li Dingguo had in the end been unable to turn the tide, and that the Yongli Son of Heaven, even after abandoning his country, had not escaped Wu Sangui's bowstring, Zhou Shixiang could not help reconsidering whether his decision to join the army in Guangxi was wise.

"What I mean is, Brother Hu, you might as well accept this appointment as Assistant Regional Commander of Luoding."

Boss Hu asked Zhou Shixiang what his purpose was, and he did not conceal it, telling him plainly: he wanted Boss Hu to get his hands on this Southern Ming post of Assistant Regional Commander of Luoding.

As for whether Luoding presently belonged to the Qing or the Ming, there was no need to worry about that.

"There's no need to mince words now.

What you and the brothers are doing, Brother Hu, is surely taking to the hills as outlaws, and that is by no means a long-term path. The world will not stay in chaos forever.

Whether the Ming wins or the Qing wins, the new dynasty's officials will come to suppress you sooner or later. When that time comes, where will all you brothers go?"

Zhou Shixiang did not have any grand principles with which to persuade them. Talk of duty to nation and righteousness did not really move these men much.

Apart from those who truly bore an irreconcilable blood feud with the Manchu Qing, the others would find it very hard to stake their heads on fighting the Qing army.

And most of the men before him had in fact already given up on the Southern Ming Yongli court and held out no hope for it at all.

Even Boss Hu, who had a deep blood feud with the Manchu Qing, was probably the same; otherwise why would he rather be a bandit than serve as a Ming soldier again, fighting for the Yongli court and avenging his mother and brothers?

Ge Wu had grown so used to being a bandit that he had never given the future any thought. Hearing Zhou Shixiang's words, he blurted out, "If there's wine today, be merry today. Who cares about tomorrow? What's the use of thinking so far ahead?"

Zhou Shixiang shook his head. "That's not quite how it is. You all must think of the days to come. To put it bluntly, right now you're all strong and able-bodied, but in ten or twenty years, will you still be able to ply this trade of robbing houses and waylaying travelers?"

Ge Wu rolled his eyes and said carelessly, "While I can still rob, I'll rob a bit more and bring it back. When I'm old, I won't starve to death anyway."

Zhou Shixiang smiled faintly and asked in return, "If the government troops come one day, will you be able to keep what you've robbed?"

Ge Wu answered without a second thought, "Then we'll talk about it when the government troops come."

Zhou Shixiang had not expected Ge Wu to be such a crude fellow, and for a moment he was left speechless.

Seeing this, Zhao Sihai could not help saying, "Xiucai, all you've said boils down to wanting Brother Hu to accept that damned Assistant Regional Commander's seal. But do you think those people are really so kind-hearted as to make us officials?"

Peng Dazhu chimed in from the side as well: "Right, Brother Zhou, what you don't know is that the Yongli court's offices aren't so easy to hold. Besides, they don't mean us any good.

Luoding is in the Tartars' hands, yet they tell our big brother to be Assistant Regional Commander of Luoding. Isn't that just giving away someone else's property as a reward?

What kind of deal is that?"

"And even so, that Assistant Regional Commander post isn't easy to hold.

Didn't you hear what that pasty-faced fellow Cheng said earlier? Once our big brother takes this post, he'll have to lead men to fight the Qing troops in Luoding.

Otherwise, who's going to recognize you as the Luoding Assistant Regional Commander?" a man in the room shouted.

"Luoding has several hundred Green Standard soldiers of the Qing army. That's not a city our few dozen men can take. That fellow Cheng just wants to send us to our deaths. This deal's not worth making!"

Ge Wu yelled. In his view, being a bandit was the proper trade. Why abandon the good life in the mountain stronghold and go risk your neck fighting the Qing army? Had his brain gone bad?

Ge Liu always followed Ge Wu's lead, so when Ge Wu objected, he naturally objected too.

Song Xianggong said nothing, only sat there pondering in silence. Boss Hu, however, had been stirred by what Zhou Shixiang had just said, thinking about what would happen when he grew old.

Seeing that Boss Hu was moved, Zhou Shixiang urged, "Brother Hu, I think this matter is not necessarily all bad. If you become the Luoding Assistant Regional Commander, the brothers who follow you will at least have a proper standing.

With the great seal of the Luoding Assistant Regional Commander, at least in name everyone will have a place to settle, and the taxes and grain of Luoding will belong to everyone as well."

Boss Hu sighed at this and said with a bitter smile, "Luoding is a fine city, but we can only drool over it, not swallow it. The taxes and grain and such—we can see them, but we can't lay hands on them..."

Zhou Shixiang thought for a moment, then said, "Whether we attack Luoding or not, we can discuss later. For now, go and receive the commission and the great seal, and make this Luoding Assistant Regional Commander post a reality."

"Taking someone's things without doing their work—isn't that dishonest?" Boss Hu hesitated.

Song Xianggong, however, spoke up. "Boss Hu, don't think about useless things. If those officials are allowed to fool us, aren't we allowed to fool them?"

"That's true enough!" At Song Xianggong's words, Boss Hu immediately brightened and said with a laugh, "Fooling those turtle-spawn bastards would be just fine—call it compensation for last year." He paused, looked at Peng Dazhu, Zhao Sihai, and the others, and asked, "What do you all think?"

Peng Dazhu scratched his head and thought for a long while before saying, "Brother Zhou and Mister Song are both educated men. Since I was little I've known that educated men surely understand more than rough fellows like us, and have more foresight too.

Since Mister Song and Brother Zhou say this post can be taken, then it surely can be."

"I have no objection. As long as the brothers aren't sent to Luoding to die, anything's fine." Zhao Sihai likewise did not oppose swindling the Luoding Assistant Regional Commander post.

The other men in the room also spoke up one after another, most of them supporting Boss Hu taking the Luoding Assistant Regional Commander post. It seemed what Zhou Shixiang had said had had some effect.

Seeing that no one objected, Boss Hu made the decision to settle the matter: get the office first, and talk about the rest later. He immediately sent someone to invite Cheng Bangjun over.

Seeing his goal achieved, Zhou Shixiang breathed a sigh of relief, but then he heard Song Xianggong suddenly say something beside him, seemingly out of nowhere: "Taking the long view is never wrong. Having this Assistant Regional Commander of Luoding seal is actually a good thing.

Perhaps it will be of use in the future..."

Of use for what, Song Xianggong did not go on to say.

Zhou Shixiang, however, read something in his unfinished expression and maliciously guessed that this "thrice-surnamed slave" was perhaps thinking that if the Southern Ming really did collapse in the future, he could take this Southern Ming Assistant Regional Commander's seal and surrender to the Qing with it—who knew, he might even get a Qing official post out of it.

After Cheng Bangjun arrived, Boss Hu agreed that if the commission and great seal were genuine, he, Hu Quan, would henceforth be the Assistant Regional Commander of Luoding in the Great Ming, and would from then on render loyal service to the Great Ming Son of Heaven.

Cheng Bangjun was secretly overjoyed; after running around the mountains for a month, he had finally managed to palm off one official seal!