Chapter 80: Long Live

"So that you may know, Sir Lei, knowing that you were coming, I had these heads specially covered with lime to await your inspection."

While Lei Xianchu stood stunned, Zhou Shixiang had already dismounted, walked to the cart, casually seized a queue, and lifted a shriveled, hideously grimacing head.

"These heads are all from Green Standard soldiers of the Qing army.

This one I hold is the head of Battalion Commander Kong Guoliang. Sir, look closely—the one hundred and eighty-six heads in these two carts contain not one innocent killed to pad the count.

If you do not believe it, you may inspect them one by one." Having said this, he gently set Kong Guoliang's head back down, his expression calm throughout, showing no intent to intimidate Lei Xianchu, but rather bearing the air of one presenting a claim for merit.

Lei Xianchu snorted inwardly. He had seen battle, and he had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood; these few heads could hardly frighten him!

But since the other party had not made any overt show of malice, and instead adopted the posture of claiming merit, he could not very well take offense. So he feigned ignorance, withdrew his gaze, and said offhandedly, "This Kong Guoliang I know—a nobody.

His elder brother Kong Guozhi, though, could be counted a hero. When I followed Elder Huang northward, I crossed swords with him; he could fight well enough."

In those words he casually dismissed Kong Guoliang as worthless—what was there to flaunt about a nobody? —while elevating Kong Guozhi and, in the same breath, elevating himself.

The implication was plain: I once went to war at the side of the Chief Grand Secretary himself; what sort of thing is a bandit chief like you? Whatever your intent in this display, before me it is mere child's play.

Pang Tianci knew Lei Xianchu was not lying. Though he had been in Gaozhou little more than a year, he had a general understanding of the prefecture's civil and military officials.

He knew that in the early Longwu reign, Lei Xianchu had followed Huang Daozhou north into Jiangxi to attack the Qing army, and that these Green Standard troops at Luoding had come from Jiangxi.

So Lei Xianchu's words were most likely true—he had indeed crossed swords with Kong Guozhi, only he had lost.

Zhou Shixiang merely smiled at Lei Xianchu's words and said nothing, but Ge Zheng and the others were indignant. After all this, the Tartar battalion commander we worked so hard to kill is worth nothing in your eyes!

If he's truly worth nothing, why didn't you come attack Luoding yourselves, instead of having that pretty-faced boy coax us down from the hills? And now that we've fought tooth and nail to take Luoding, you dismiss it all with a casual "nobody"?

But since Zhou Shixiang had not turned hostile, Ge Zheng and the others, for all their grievances, could only purse their lips and hold their tongues. After all, they had already acknowledged Zhou Shixiang as their chief, and his authority among the brothers was established.

If the leader did not speak, how could they act on their own?

"Since heads are being presented, they must be verified and the merit recorded. Sir Lei, wait a moment; this humble official will take a look."

Pang Tianci, forcing down the stench and the churning in his stomach, set about the business at hand. He walked a circuit around the two carts, then returned to Lei Xianchu's side and affirmed, "They are indeed shaven-headed Tartars. The queues are plainly several years old—not newly shaven."

Lei Xianchu gave a slight nod, then waved a hand and ordered the men behind him, "Count the heads. Once the number is confirmed, draw up a register and report it to the Gaozhou governor's office."

"Yes, sir!"

At once two Gaozhou officers, with several Gaozhou soldiers in reluctant tow, stepped forward to count. Zhou Shixiang let them tally as they pleased and did not interfere, while Lei Xianchu stood stiff-faced.

Pang Tianci, sensing the strained atmosphere, wanted to smooth things over but could not find the words. For a moment, the scene was thoroughly awkward.

Before long, the count was done, and it was indeed the one hundred and eighty-six heads Zhou Shixiang had stated.

"Since the number matches, I shall at once send word to Gaozhou to claim merit on your behalf.

Our Great Ming now has a sage Son of Heaven on the throne; high and low are united in restoration, and military merit is prized more than ever before. One hundred and eighty-six heads taken is no small achievement.

I will by no means conceal your merit, and will report it truthfully. The Governor is most impartial as well.

Rest assured, the court will never fail to recognize your deeds."

Lei Xianchu delivered this set of formalities in a cold, stiff tone. Zhou Shixiang, after hearing it, inclined his body slightly, which passed for thanking the Mobile Corps Commander.

His manner, which placed him nearly on equal footing with Lei Xianchu, made Lei Xianchu all the more displeased. Though he did not fear this green young whelp, he still felt unsettled, and a few misgivings about the city of Luoding before him crept in.

Just as he was hesitating over whether to enter the city, Zhou Shixiang turned aside and invited, "Now that this matter is settled, I invite Sir Lei and all you gentlemen to enter the city!"

At the same time, Ge Zheng and the others called out in sullen unison, "Please!"

Lei Xianchu started. Seeing the "bandits" all watching him, he could not show weakness. He drew a breath, swept his eyes over them, then gritted his teeth and shouted to his men, "Enter the city!"

"Enter the city!"

The Gaozhou officers quickly relayed the order to the soldiers. At the news that they could enter, the Gaozhou troops immediately perked up and strode forward with heads high and chests out.

Just as they reached the city wall, they saw a middle-aged man in a gray scholar's robe, leading a group of elders and minor clerks, standing respectfully by the gate. Before the gate an incense table had been set up, and a parasol of ten thousand people stood planted there.

The middle-aged man at their head, seeing Lei Xianchu and the others approach, stepped forward a few paces and called out, "Song Xianggong, Prefect of Luoding, respectfully welcomes the Mobile Corps Commander!"

Prefect of Luoding?

Before Lei Xianchu could collect himself, Pang Tianci was already dumbfounded: since when had the court appointed a prefect of Luoding?

Before they could react, someone over there waved an arm and shouted, "Strike the gongs and beat the drums!"

In an instant, gongs and drums sounded, thoroughly festive. The waiting elders and clerks all beamed as well.

The scene at once set Lei Xianchu's mind somewhat at ease. So these bandits do know their place after all, he thought.

They know they cannot afford to offend me. Those heads just now were nothing but a trick.

If I show weakness, they will press their advantage; if I show strength, they will drop their schemes and obediently await arrangements.

He stole a glance at Zhou Shixiang and found the man watching him with a smile. Lei Xianchu could not help but feel confirmed in his guess.

After a courteous nod to the elders, he had been about to dismount and exchange a few pleasantries with this prefect of Luoding who had appeared from nowhere, then say a few ceremonial words to the elders of Luoding and offer a few words of encouragement on behalf of the court—but the prefect simply gestured for him to enter the city, with no sense of protocol or courtesy whatsoever.

Of course—this fake prefect was just some impoverished scholar, probably dragged in by the bandits to serve as their strategist. What would such a creature know of official protocol or etiquette?

With that thought, Lei Xianchu could not be bothered to contend with a fake prefect in his dignified capacity as Mobile Corps Commander, and rode straight into the city. Seeing him enter, Pang Tianci, though thoroughly bewildered, had no choice but to follow.

As he passed Song Xianggong, he gave the man a deliberate look, thinking: You fake prefect don't even have an official robe—you're too fake for words. Do you think the office of prefect is something a clueless fellow like you can hold?

Once Sir Lei takes over Luoding, you'll be lucky if you're not beaten to death, fake prefect that you are.

With the Mobile Corps Commander entering first, the two hundred Gaozhou soldiers were likewise full of spirit, each one summoning his best bearing, ready to present their finest face to the people of Luoding and show them the might and prowess of the Great Ming's official troops.

The officers were of the same mind, though with a few extra calculations—each was thinking of how, once inside, to find some pretext to squeeze out a bit of silver.

Sir Lei might not be an imperial commissioner, but he had come on behalf of the Governor, and the Governor represented the Emperor's commission. Coming on behalf of the Emperor's own commissioner—was that not the same as being a commissioner?

And since the commissioner had arrived, and Luoding was a newly recovered city, in public and in private, the troops surely could not be shortchanged. Besides, these bandits must have made a fortune in the city.

Now that the real Great Ming troops had come, could they fare worse than a pack of bandits? If official troops ended up worse off than bandits, was there any law left in the world!

Lei Xianchu rode in first. His horse had barely passed through the gate, before he had even had time to sweep his eyes over the city and take in the look of Luoding, when a roar suddenly erupted from all sides: "Long live the Great Ming! Long live, long live, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

The tremendous roar burst out without the slightest warning, startling the horses into unease. Lei Xianchu was at least a hereditary military officer; though no great hand at fighting, he did have horsemanship, and with a hard tug on the reins he managed to steady his mount.

Pang Tianci, however, had no such skill in the saddle, and his horse was no warhorse. Amid the roar it kept kicking up its hooves, and Pang Tianci, rattled, kept crying "Whoa, whoa," nearly tumbling from the saddle, flailing about in a most undignified display.

Fortunately it ended without mishap; after several kicks, the horse finally quieted.

If the horses were so affected, the men fared little better. The Gaozhou soldiers were all startled by the tremendous sound, and in a disorderly scramble some leveled spears and others drew blades, as though thousands upon thousands of enemies had descended.

Some soldiers were so frightened they backed away, throwing the neat column into chaos, and two hundred men jammed together in the gate passage.

Lei Xianchu, though shaken, was the first to recover his wits.

In his line of sight, the city wall, empty a moment before, was now lined with soldiers gripping swords and spears, and on the open ground before the gate, rank upon rank of black-clad troops stood in formation—at a rough glance, no fewer than a thousand.

Around those black-clad soldiers crowded common folk in every manner of dress, all staring toward the gate passage.

"Long live the Great Ming! Long live, long live, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

The shout of ten thousand voices rose again. This time no one from Gaozhou was startled, and no one was thrown into confusion—but their faces had turned grim.

Lei Xianchu's face was black as iron. He was a commander, and he knew full well what a well-ordered formation of troops signified. In that moment, he no longer took pleasure in the bandits' considerable strength—he was terrified by it.

The heads laid in the carts before, and the heads standing before him now—both were heads, but one kind was dead and the other alive! These... weren't these bandits supposed to number only a few dozen? How was it that now there were thousands upon thousands?

Pang Tianci's expression shifted uneasily as well. He looked at the black-clad soldiers, then at the common folk behind them, and inwardly groaned: this city of Luoding was turning out to be a banquet at Hongmen.

These past two days I've been taking my old mother to see a doctor, which delayed the update.