Chapter 85: Selling the City

In the Deqing Green Standard garrison, the newly appointed Garrison Commander Tang Sanshui stared wide-eyed and incredulous at the "Ming army" envoy before him. Only after a long while did he manage to force out, "What did you just say? Could you say it again?"

The envoy, Short-Legs Zhang An, was taken aback. Could it be that after all his talking, the other man hadn't understood a word?

Clearing his throat, he declared once more in a ringing voice: "My general is willing to hand Luoding over to you, sir. The condition is that you, Commander Tang, must put together enough provisions to feed ten thousand men for half a month and deliver them to our side.

In addition, you must provide one thousand jin of gunpowder, five hundred long spears, and one thousand jin of pig iron.

My general has said that as soon as you, Commander Tang, have assembled everything our army requires, our troops will withdraw from Luoding at once and will not leave behind a single soldier. After our army has withdrawn, your subordinates may take over the entire city.

At the same time, our army guarantees it will not set fire to the city, and will deliver a fully intact Luoding into your hands."

This time Zhang An spoke clearly and slowly, truly letting every word enter Tang Sanshui's ears one by one. Tang Sanshui heard it all with perfect clarity, yet clarity aside, the confusion and astonishment in his heart did not diminish in the least; on the contrary, he grew more and more bewildered.

"Is this truly your General Zhou's intention?"

Had the other man not been holding the token that he himself had given Zhou Shixiang last time, Tang Sanshui would have suspected the fellow was an impostor.

After all his years of fighting, this was the first time he had ever heard of a Ming army willing to sell an occupied city like a piece of merchandise.

Ming and Qing had contended for so many years, and whether Qing army or Ming army, who among them did not treat territory as more precious than gold? They fought and snatched over it; even an empty city was worth fighting to the death for.

At worst, it was only the common soldiers who died, while the credit for recovering lost ground — or expanding the realm — was a genuine temptation for the commanders.

Sometimes several forces would scramble for the same piece of territory, fighting over it like a pack of starving dogs over a bone, none willing to let go. Yet this time, strangely enough, here was someone who did not want territory, but instead wanted to sell it.

Who would believe it if word got out? Bizarre — damnably bizarre!

"It is indeed my general's intention. I report it truthfully, without adding a single word or altering a single word." At this point, seeing the confusion on Tang Sanshui's face, Zhang An could not help but smile and said, "You, sir, must be wondering why my general wishes to sell Luoding to you?"

"I am indeed puzzled."

Tang Sanshui gave a dry laugh and did not deny it. Since the other man's tone suggested he was about to speak frankly, he pricked up his ears and listened intently.

"I will not hide it from you, Commander Tang.

It is not that my general is willing to give up Luoding; it is that our Regional Commander has just received an order from the Prince of Xining.

His Highness has commanded our Regional Commander to lead his troops to Guizhou immediately, and Luoding is to be taken over by Governor Zhang's forces... You may not know this, Commander Tang, but our Regional Commander Le has never gotten along with Governor Zhang.

Therefore my general advised the Regional Commander that rather than hand Luoding over to that bastard Zhang Xiaoqi, it would be better to sell it to you.

That way the Regional Commander gains some tangible benefit, and you, Commander Tang, gain the credit for recovering lost territory. As the saying goes, the best of both worlds — why not do it?"

Tang Sanshui naturally knew that the "Governor Zhang" the other man spoke of was Zhang Xiaoqi, the Ming Governor of the four prefectures of Gao, Lei, Lian, and Qiong, and he also knew that Le Tongwu was Li Dingguo's subordinate and not under Zhang Xiaoqi's command.

A Regional Commander and a Governor stationed in the same city, neither answerable to the other — it would not be strange if there were some dirty dealings between the two. As for whether the Taiping Camp was really under Le Tongwu's command, however, he reserved judgment.

In that battle at Xihe Ford, his eyes had not been blind; how could he not see that the Taiping Camp was nothing but a rabble? Thinking back on it now, that Taiping Camp had probably just been flying Le Tongwu's banner to scare him.

Had he, upon returning, mustered all able-bodied men and held firm, that impoverished xiucai Zhou Shixiang might not have gained any advantage over Deqing.

But he could only blame himself for being too greedy, blinded by money, holding his nose and playing along with the other side's act.

He had frightened County Magistrate Lu Gongming and those wealthy households half to death, and had used a borrowed knife to kill and made a fortune in the process. In his heart, he truly felt he had let Garrison Commander Zhang down, and let the court down as well.

Yet had it not been for his greed, would he be sitting in the post of Garrison Commander now? Where would the stack of silver notes hidden at the bottom of his trunk have come from?

What did a man seek when he traveled a thousand li to hold office? What did he seek when he tied his head to his belt and risked his life for the court?

Right now, over in Chaozhou, Zheng's forces were stirring up trouble, and the Manchu troops sent from Beijing had gone north to escape the heat. The two princes were being driven to distraction by Zheng's men and could not spare attention for the west for the time being.

The Regional Commander did have a mind to send troops, but the Zhaoqing Green Standard numbered only two thousand men, and with Guangzhou sending no reinforcements, the Regional Commander's hands were tied.

If at this moment I suddenly led troops to recover Luoding, the Regional Commander and the two princes in Guangzhou would surely be astonished.

Provisions to feed ten thousand men for half a month — a lot, but not too much; by gritting his teeth and thinking of ways, he could scrape them together. One thousand jin of gunpowder, though, was troublesome; the camp had none of it.

But if he spent silver and worked his connections in Guangzhou, it was not impossible to get some out of those Han Banners fellows. Besides, just because the other side said one thousand jin, did he really have to give one thousand jin?

A deal was a deal — there was always room for bargaining. Who ever heard of not haggling?

As for the five hundred long spears, that was no matter at all, and the pig iron was nothing to worry about either. All of it could be scraped together, and afterward he could simply report them as battle losses.

Did fighting wars not cost lives and damage equipment? Compared with the credit for recovering Luoding, these things were not worth mentioning.

At the thought of the two princes in Guangzhou hearing of his feat of recovering lost territory with a lone force, Tang Sanshui felt his heart stir. Yet he deliberately asked Zhang An, "Why does your Prince of Xining want your general to go to Guizhou?"

Zhang An shook his head. "That... I do not know." Then, shifting tack, "But may I ask whether you, Commander Tang, are willing to make this deal?"

Tang Sanshui feigned difficulty.

"This is a matter of great importance.

The provisions and supplies your general demands are no small amount, and I cannot assemble them all at once. Moreover, this matter requires careful deliberation.

Allow me to think it over thoroughly before I give your general my answer."

"No matter.

Before I came, my general told me that you, Commander Tang, would certainly be interested in this deal, though the quantities are somewhat large, and you would naturally need to consider it carefully.

But my general also said that compared with what you must pay, the benefits you can gain through this transaction are far greater."

"Ahem..."

Tang Sanshui gave a light cough and ordered the personal guards outside, "Take this Brother Zhang away for some wine."

"Yes, sir!"

Two personal guards hurried forward, all smiles, and tugged at Zhang An. Zhang An did not refuse.

As he went out the door, he turned back and added, "Oh, by the way, Commander Tang, you must make up your mind quickly. My general will wait at most ten days.

If he has not received your reply within ten days, the city can only be handed over to Governor Zhang's troops."