Chapter 15: Money and Grain

Although Boss Hu, Zhao Sihai, and the others had once served in the Ming army, none of them had ever seen what the Yongli court's official credentials and seals looked like.

Zhou Shixiang had lived two lives, yet he too was completely in the dark about the proof of office used by the Yongli court. In the end, everyone agreed to have Song Xianggong, who had once served as a county magistrate, step forward to inspect them.

Recalling the general's seal he had stolen from the Chuang camp back in the day, and combining that with the county magistrate's great seal he had kept while serving as magistrate under the Manchu Qing, Song Xianggong made a show of examining them for a while before confirming that the office and great seal of the Luoding Assistant Regional Commander were genuine.

After that, he pretended to be courteous as he looked over Cheng Bangjun's Yongli court credentials for the post of Vice Director of the Bureau of Military Personnel, and finally gave Boss Hu a solemn nod.

Only then did the hearts of the men in the room settle back into their bellies.

Zhou Shixiang was also completely relieved. The demand for verification had been his idea, and now that it had proven genuine, he was naturally pleased as well.

By rights, Cheng Bangjun had traveled a great distance to come and take Boss Hu and his men into the fold, so the matter could hardly be false. Yet the habit of vigilance Zhou Shixiang had developed as a soldier in his previous life still made him keep an extra eye out.

As Boss Hu had said, being cautious was never a bad thing. After all, compared with the Southern Ming Yongli court, the Manchu Qing had far more schemes and tricks aimed at the Ming army and resistance forces.

Who could say whether they had come to deceive the bandits of Daqiao Mountain, and then, once they came down the mountain, round them all up in one net and thoroughly pacify the region.

If these bandits had nothing to do with him, Zhou Shixiang would not have wanted to meddle in other people's business.

But now that they were acquainted, and these men were friendly toward him as well — though they had taken to the hills as outlaws, they had not forgotten who their fathers and ancestors were and become accomplices of the Tartars — for that alone, Zhou Shixiang would do everything in his power to help them.

Besides, he had eaten a meal at their table. As the saying goes, the hand that takes grows soft, and the mouth that eats grows soft; it would truly be embarrassing not to put in some effort.

Once the verification was done, Cheng Bangjun also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had been wondering whether these bandits would go back on their word and create some unexpected trouble for him.

Now that matters were turning exactly as he had hoped, his whole frame of mind changed greatly, and his tone with Boss Hu was very amiable, as though they had long been colleagues.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Cheng Bangjun saw that the time was about right and said, "Since the inspection is complete, then please, General Hu, offer incense and receive the seal."

The moment he heard himself addressed as "General," Boss Hu's face broke into a smile, and he hurriedly ordered his men to prepare the incense table.

The ceremony for Hu Quan's assumption of the post of Luoding Assistant Regional Commander naturally could not be elaborate, nor could it be formal. Limited by circumstances, everything had to be kept simple. Once the men had hastily set up the incense table, the ceremony began.

Cheng Bangjun did not, as officials in the movies and television Zhou Shixiang had watched in his previous life did when proclaiming an imperial edict, produce a sacred edict and read it aloud.

Instead, with a solemn expression, he stood before the incense table and spoke a few lines of the Yongli Son of Heaven's "imperial instructions," the gist of which was to encourage the recipient of the office to serve the court from this day forward, kill the enemy and win merit, and that the court would not treat him shabbily.

Once the "imperial instructions" were finished, Cheng Bangjun transformed back into Vice Director Cheng, took up brush and ink, and wrote Hu Quan's full name on the blank letter of appointment for Luoding Assistant Regional Commander.

Zhou Shixiang glanced over and saw that the great seal had long since been stamped on the paper, and it did indeed look as though it had been impressed with the Yongli Son of Heaven's imperial jade seal.

After writing the name, Cheng Bangjun held the letter of appointment in one hand and the seal in the other, and raised his voice: "Luoding Assistant Regional Commander Hu Quan, receive the seal!"

"Your subordinate, Hu Quan, receives the seal!"

Boss Hu shouted in reply, imitating what he had seen back in the days when he was in Li Chengdong's army. After kowtowing, he hurried forward and took the letter of appointment and the great seal from Cheng Bangjun's hands.

And so the Yongli court's newly appointed Luoding Assistant Regional Commander was officially minted.

While Hu Quan was carefully examining the letter of appointment, on which the ink had not yet dried, Cheng Bangjun remembered something and quickly said, "General Hu's official robes have long been prepared by the court.

They will be delivered by a special envoy once General Hu leads his troops to capture Luoding.

In addition, the posts and assignments for the general's subordinates should also be reported at that time; after the Bureau of Military Personnel verifies them, appointments will be issued as well."

The moment he heard that the official robes had not been brought, and that he would only get them after taking Luoding City himself, Boss Hu was somewhat disappointed.

But then he reflected that he was only stringing them along anyway — how could he really go and attack Luoding City? If there were no official robes, then so be it.

Having this official seal was enough. From now on, he could have Mister Song write something out, press this seal onto it, and it would be a proper order from the Assistant Regional Commander himself.

As for the appointments of his subordinates, Boss Hu did not give it much thought. The man surnamed Cheng had made it clear: only after taking Luoding City would there be further rewards.

At present, apart from this Assistant Regional Commander's great seal, everything else was wishful thinking.

"Congratulations, Big Brother! Good fortune to you, Big Brother!"

"Big Brother's become an Assistant Regional Commander, so from now on we brothers will be Mobile Corps Commanders, Route Commanders, and Garrison Commanders too!"

"Hey, I never thought this old man could become an official one day. The ancestral graves must be smoking!"

"......"

The men in the room busied themselves congratulating Boss Hu. Cheng Bangjun listened to their crude talk with inward disdain, but showed nothing on his face, keeping a smile throughout.

Whenever Boss Hu happened to glance his way, he immediately nodded in acknowledgment. During this time, he and Zhou Shixiang exchanged glances several times, and on those rare occasions he responded with a smile as well, no longer as cold as before.

Once the bandits had made enough merry noise, Cheng Bangjun finally reminded Boss Hu, who was still immersed in delight, "General Hu has now received his commission, so please inform this official when General Hu intends to attack Luoding City.

With a definite date, this official can return and report to the Governor-General and Governor."

Hu Quan's expression froze at these words. Just as he was about to speak, Song Xianggong cut in ahead of him, saying, "Rest assured, my lord.

Since our Big Brother has accepted the court's commission, he will naturally go and attack Luoding City. For now, we have no other request; we only ask that when Lord Cheng returns, he arrange to allocate some money and grain to us."

"Money and grain?"

Here it comes again! Cheng Bangjun snorted inwardly, and said without any change of expression, "Since you have accepted the court's commission, allocating money and grain to you is only proper.

But at present it cannot be done. This official will not hide it from you: since the Prince of Xining withdrew his troops, the situation in Guangdong has been unfavorable to our army.

Everywhere is hard-pressed, and therefore money and grain are in short supply. For the time being, none can be allocated to you; General Hu will need to raise them himself."

Upon hearing this, Song Xianggong immediately said with displeasure, "The Emperor does not send out hungry soldiers. Without money and grain, what are we supposed to use to attack Luoding City?"

"Exactly! With nothing in our bellies, our hands have no strength — how can we fight the Tartars!" Zhao Sihai chimed in, adding to the clamor.

Once the two of them had spoken, the men all joined in the uproar, and Boss Hu added a few words as well. They were all thinking that if they could coax this man surnamed Cheng into allocating a bit more money and grain, nothing could be better.

Silver, Cheng Bangjun could not produce. Grain, he could produce even less!

The Ming army in Guangdong could barely protect itself at present, and its money and grain were pitifully scarce.

If there had been enough money and grain, Governor-General Lian Chengbi of Guangdong and Guangxi and Governor Zhang Xiaoqi of the four prefectures would never have come up with this rotten idea of taking bandits into the fold.

They would have long since brought out grain to recruit commoners into the army. What need would there be for these bandits, and even less would they have granted them the court's instruments of office.

To put it bluntly, the Ming army in Guangdong was so poor it was nearly reduced to beggary. Apart from the court's righteous cause and a sheet of empty paper, they truly had nothing else to offer.

With the overall situation being what it was, where was Cheng Bangjun to raise grain and money?

Seeing everyone start arguing with Cheng Bangjun again over the matter of money and grain, and seeing that Cheng Bangjun was also beginning to doubt Boss Hu's sincerity about attacking Luoding City, Zhou Shixiang quickly said, "Lord Cheng, rest assured.

We will solve the matter of money and grain ourselves, and as for Luoding City, we will definitely go and attack it!"

Author's note: The Southern Ming court first enfeoffed Li Dingguo as Prince of Xining, and later granted him the title Prince of Jin.