Chapter 200

In the past, Zhou Shixiang had always stirred people up from two angles: one was money, the other was office.

The former naturally gave a bunch of bandits something to strive for, making them feel that following Zhou Shixiang on this venture was absolutely worth it; the latter was nothing but a stack of tall hats.

For instance, what he had told Ge Zheng, Jiang He, and the others — that the most lucrative thing in the world was holding office, that going out to risk their lives today was for the sake of becoming officials, and that once they became officials, great sums of money would naturally flow in.

To a certain degree, the establishment of the public treasury system was tailored to the psychology of these bandit-born subordinates, and it was also the system best able to spur them to keep risking their lives.

It was precisely because the public treasury existed that these bandit-born subordinates felt the money in it had all been earned by their own blood and sweat, so whether for public or private reasons they absolutely could not let the treasury be seized by others.

Not wanting the goods and wealth they had toiled to plunder be snatched away by others naturally meant they had to go plunder others and intimidate others, making them too afraid to set their sights on the Taiping Army's possessions.

And in order to better protect what they had seized, they also had to keep expanding the ranks, taking out a very small portion of grain and money from the treasury to make others risk their lives for them.

Many hands make light work; once the Taiping Army became a tiger no one dared provoke, then the goods in the treasury would truly belong to them, and they would no longer need fear anyone coming to take them.

Conversely, if the treasury did not exist and every haul of money was divided up per head, then when everyone's pockets were stuffed full, who would still be willing to charge forward in battle and fight to the death against the enemy?

To borrow a line from a certain movie of a later age, it was naturally this: the Tartars have seized our territory, robbed our money and grain, and toyed with our women. To keep our money, women, and land from being taken by them, there is no choice but to rise against the Qing.

The explanations differed, but the meaning was the same.

Zhou Shixiang had never lectured these subordinates on grand principles, nor had he ever preached to them with deep emotion about the great cause of the nation, because he knew that to these bandits, who could not read a single character, such words were absolute bullshit.

Whether in chaotic times or times of peace and prosperity, bandits existed only to live better. No matter how grandly you spoke of the great righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Annals, no matter how dazzlingly you dressed it up, it was all useless — utterly, completely useless.

Therefore, when his fist slammed heavily onto the table and he said with reddened eyes that they must patch this hole in the sky, the commanders in the hall were all somewhat stunned. Apart from Qi Hao, whose blood ran a little hot, none of the others had even caught up.

Song Xianggong did catch up, but unfortunately he did not, as usual, cooperate with Zhou Shixiang by adding more stirring words.

Instead, he spoke very coolly: "The Battalion Commander's analysis is not wrong, but even if the situation truly is as he says, how can our Taiping Army, a mere two or three thousand men, patch this hole in the sky?

The Battalion Commander must not forget that at this very moment we are trapped in Xinhui by more than ten thousand Qing soldiers."

After a moment of silence, Zhao Sihai spoke: "Master Song's words make sense. It's not that we don't want to tie down the Qing demons right now, but we'd need the strength to do it.

Damn it all, we're completely bottled up in this city — even eating and drinking are a problem. The brothers aren't immortals; they can't even get out of the city, so how the hell are they supposed to patch that hole in the sky?"

After weighing his words, Li Fuguo said: "According to what the Battalion Commander just said, if we want to patch this hole where the sky is collapsing, we can only tie down the Qing army in Guangdong and keep them from advancing west.

That means our Taiping Army will inevitably have to make an even bigger stir. Whether by blocking or obstructing, we must find a way to tie down the Guangdong Qing army and keep them from moving west.

To take a step back, losing Guangdong would not be fatal, but Guangxi absolutely must not be lost. As long as Guangxi still stands, Li Dingguo's side will always have a chance to recover; if Guangxi falls, I fear there will not even be a chance left.

However, when I was formerly in the Green Standard, I once heard a superior officer say that after the Prince of Dingnan, Kong Youde, was defeated at Guilin, although Li Dingguo seized the greater part of Guangxi while the momentum was with him, several thousand men under the Dingnan banner still held out in Guangxi, led by the Guangxi Provincial Military Commander, Xian Guo'an.

I worry that if Shang Kexi joins forces with Xian Guo'an and they march together, the situation will be exactly as the Battalion Commander said — both Guang provinces lost, and Li Dingguo trapped in Yunnan and Guizhou."

Li Fuguo, coming from the Green Standard, was for the moment still unaccustomed to using honorifics for Li Dingguo, though he was rather courteous toward his former master. But no one paid this any mind at the moment; they were all pondering the information contained in his words.

Xian Guo'an?

This was the first time Zhou Shixiang had heard of this man, and the first time he learned that after Kong Youde's death, Li Dingguo had not in fact been able to occupy all of Guangxi, and that the Qing army still retained a portion of its strength there.

Song Xianggong, however, knew of Xian Guo'an, and said a few words about him. It turned out that this Xian Guo'an was also of Liaodong Ming army origin.

Back then he had surrendered to the Jin together with Kong Youde, and later followed Kong Youde through the pass to take part in the campaigns against Li Zicheng's Dashun army. After Li Zicheng's defeat and death, he again followed Kong Youde south.

When Kong Youde was besieged at Guilin, he led his troops in an advance on Wuzhou. After Kong Youde's death, it was again Xian Guo'an who led his troops to retake Guilin.

Afterwards, when Li Dingguo attacked Guilin a second time, he could not prevail because Xian Guo'an defended the city skillfully, and thus the Qing army kept firm control of the Guilin area.

Yet although he held Guilin, the capital of Guangxi, Xian Guo'an's forces had no strength left to seize the other prefectures and counties of Guangxi, and they remained locked in a stalemate with the troops Li Dingguo had left behind in Guangxi.

After hearing Song Xianggong's account of Xian Guo'an, Zhou Shixiang gave a slight nod.

Paying no further attention to this running dog who sold his life for the Qing court in Guangxi, he turned to the others and said: "It is precisely because the situation favors the Qing army that what we must do is keep the Guangdong Qing army from advancing west, so that Xian Guo'an's forces in Guangxi dare not move!

As long as the Qing armies of the two Guang provinces cannot exploit the infighting between the Pacifier of the West and Sun Kewang to seize the two provinces, then this Ming sky above our heads will not collapse!"

"How do we do it?"

Zhao Sihai and Ge Yi, standing behind him, asked almost in unison. A sharp gleam flashed in Qi Hao's eyes.

Song Xianggong was considering just what Zhou Shixiang's method of patching the leak might be. Li Fuguo was also turning it over in his mind.

Ge Zheng, Peng Dazhu, and the others wore blank expressions — whether unwilling to consider the question or simply not wanting to think at all, whatever the xiucai said was fine by them.

Zhou Shixiang raised his head and swept his gaze over his subordinates, then said slowly: "I have heard that on the Liaodong battlefield in those years, the Guanning Army used Ningyuan and Jinzhou as its line of defense. The two cities supported each other and formed a pincer.

If the Qing army attacked Jinzhou, the troops of Ningyuan would immediately come to its aid; if the Qing army bypassed Jinzhou and struck straight at Ningyuan, then Jinzhou would remain behind them like a thorn in their back.

It is said that old Nurhaci bypassed Jinzhou to strike at Ningyuan, and as a result fell into the dilemma of being caught between front and rear, ultimately suffering defeat beneath the walls of Ningyuan.

Now this city of Xinhui is the equivalent of Jinzhou in those days, and Guangzhou is Ningyuan. Previously Xinhui was held by the Qing army, forcing the Pacifier of the West to lead a great army in a costly assault, and in the end he was defeated and withdrew.

But now Xinhui is held by us, which is as good as Jinzhou being held by us. It is all very well for the Qing army in Guangzhou not to advance west, but once they do, they will inevitably have to pull out this nail of ours.

Otherwise, with us left in their rear, can they advance west with any peace of mind? For every day they fail to pull out this nail of ours, they will find it hard to advance west with full strength."

The commanders were just about to voice their agreement when Li Fuguo shook his head and said: "The Qing army may not necessarily pass by us. They could just as well advance west from Zhaoqing."

"Correct, the Qing army can bypass us and go by way of Zhaoqing. But —" at this, Zhou Shixiang's finger tapped the black circle representing Zhaoqing, "but has everyone considered this: how much strength can the Guangdong Qing army actually spare to advance west?"