Chapter 98

"The Qing dogs have surrendered! The Qing dogs have surrendered!"

Everywhere in Xinxing Town, the victorious Taiping Army was cheering. This battle, which could be described as completely one-sided, did not last long — barely half a shichen at most.

Apart from the close-quarters fighting at the town entrance and the subsequent siege of the Li residence, no fighting occurred elsewhere in the town. The only bloodshed was the accidental death and injury of townsfolk during the search for Qing soldiers.

As the cheers of "The Qing dogs have surrendered!" reached the ears of every person in Xinxing, they finally understood that the troops who had attacked were the soldiers of the Southern Ming's Yongli court.

Yet most of the common people were not glad that the Ming army had come; instead, they grew even more uneasy.

Many people instinctively recalled the scene that had unfolded in the town just a few months before — after the Ming army withdrew, several hundred Qing soldiers surrounded the town, drove all the men to the mass burial mound to the east, and then began killing.

As head after head was chopped off, the town's male population plummeted from 3,000 to 700. Those households whose men had joined the Ming army or been conscripted as laborers had every last person — old and young — slaughtered.

The total number of bodies buried afterward was no fewer than 2,000.

Had Xinxing not been situated at a vital transportation hub, absorbing many refugees from nearby areas over these months, this thousand-year-old town would likely have long since lost all signs of life and become a ruin.

"What are we to do! What are we to do!..."

Li Laoquan sat on the steps in front of his house as if his soul had left him, staring at the black-clad soldiers cheering in victory and muttering to himself without cease. His old wife leaned against the doorframe, her face likewise full of worry.

After a long while, Li Laoquan drew a deep breath, then rose and walked eastward. The area where the Li family lived had already been searched by the Taiping Camp, so the common people were not forbidden to move about — only barred from leaving the town.

"Husband, with soldiers and chaos everywhere, what are you doing?"

"Going to discuss matters with Master Song and the others. Otherwise this town is going to suffer a great calamity."

Led by Company Commander Zhao Shiyu, the 136 remnant Green Standard soldiers filed out the main gate one by one. Under the Taiping Army's shouted orders, they threw their sabers and weapons to the ground, then stood in a line awaiting the Taiping Camp's disposition.

Facing the Taiping Camp's blades and spears, the captives could not help but feel panic. The taste of awaiting judgment was especially hard to bear. The common soldiers could endure it, but the officers were tormented, dreading that the Ming army would make an example of them.

When handing over his saber, Zhao Shiyu did not forget to insist repeatedly that he was not surrendering but defecting to the righteous side.

The proof of his defection, he said, was that he had bound a bannerman — and this bannerman was a personage of importance from the false Qing Prince of Jingnan's household.

To elevate himself, and to prove the fact and sincerity of his defection, Zhao Shiyu repeatedly stressed to Peng Dazhu, the squad leader guarding the captives, that the man he had bound was a personage of importance, and again and again demanded to meet the Ming army's Regional Commander so that he might receive fair treatment.

Defection or not — at first Peng Dazhu paid no heed to Zhao Shiyu's request. He even found it laughable. You fought, couldn't win, and hid; only when you couldn't hide did you surrender. What kind of defection was that?

But when the man kept saying he had bound a personage of importance from the Prince of Jingnan's household, and a bannerman at that, Peng Dazhu gradually grew interested and ordered the so-called personage of importance brought over.

When Xiang Er was brought over, he did not utter a sound. No matter how Peng Dazhu shouted and cursed, he clenched his teeth and said nothing.

Yet the more he behaved this way, the more Peng Dazhu truly believed he was a "personage of importance," and he sent someone to report the situation to Zhou Shixiang, who was then inspecting the town.

Xiong Yingfu and the others were also bound together. At this moment none of them dared show any further closeness to Steward Xiang Er; they did not even dare look directly at this steward of the Prince of Jingnan's household.

Each was privately pondering how to save his own old hide from the Ming army's hands.

When Peng Dazhu's man found Zhou Shixiang, Zhou Shixiang was receiving the representatives of the people of Xinxing Town — several gentlemen who called themselves local gentry.

Zhou Shixiang had originally not wanted to meet these gentry, but on second thought, he was newly arrived and did not understand the local situation.

He needed to obtain some intelligence from these men, and also see whether they might be able to provide assistance to the Taiping Camp.

Besides, when common people sought an audience with an official, this age-old ritual had to be gone through somehow, lest it be said that the Taiping Camp had chilled the people's hearts. Let those with grievances air their grievances, those with suffering speak their suffering.

As the Great Ming's true Assistant Regional Commander and false Battalion Commander, he ought to uphold justice for the common people.

If he could trade the heads of a few Green Standard soldiers for these people's wholehearted support of the Taiping Camp, then the bargain would naturally be more than worthwhile.

With this thought in mind, Zhou Shixiang handed the inspection duties to the accompanying Tie Yi and ordered the gentlemen brought over.

"What business do you have with this general?"

Zhou Shixiang did his utmost to keep a smile on his face, so that these "representatives of the people" before him might find him approachable.

The several men of standing in the town whom Li Laoquan had gathered, along with Li Laoquan himself, were all astonished at Zhou Shixiang's youth. They did not know how to address him. They looked at one another, and no one knew who should speak first.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Shixiang found it strange. Why were these people just standing there without saying anything?

Seeing the displeasure on Zhou Shixiang's face, an old man with a glossy queue hurriedly stepped forward, made a bow to Zhou Shixiang, and then said hesitantly, "May I ask the general's honored surname, and what office he holds in the Great Ming?"

"This general's surname is Zhou, given name Shixiang. I presently hold the office of Assistant Regional Commander of Luoding. And who might you be?"

Zhou Shixiang sized up the old man — fair-skinned and plump, clearly a man of wealth at a glance, his every gesture measured and proper. He seemed to have once held office.

"So it is General Zhou. Truly, heroes have always come from the young since ancient times. For the general to hold the office of Assistant Regional Commander at such a young age — his future prospects are boundless, boundless!"

The old man first flattered Zhou Shixiang, and only then said carefully, "This old man is Song Yi. In the eleventh year of the former dynasty's Chongzhen reign, I placed twenty-seventh in the second rank of the palace examination.

I once served as Prefect of Fuzhou. Now I have returned to my native place and am but a commoner.

General Zhou may simply call this old man by name."

"So it is Sir Song. My apologies for not recognizing you!"

The words "former dynasty" from Song Yi's mouth made Zhou Shixiang's heart jolt, but without changing expression he shifted his gaze to the others. "And these gentlemen?"

The man to Song Yi's left hurriedly replied with respect, "This old man is Zhou Tai, formerly a secretary in the Ministry of Rites, a jinshi of the fourth year of Tianqi."

Beside him, another man with a full head of white hair also replied, "This old man is Lin Zhengguo, who passed the Guangdong provincial examination in the twelfth year of Chongzhen."

Zhou Shixiang nodded, then turned his gaze to the two men standing behind the three. "Have you two also held office?"

At these words, the younger of the two flushed red and said sheepishly, "Reporting to the general, this humble one is Zhang An. To my shame, my studies came to nothing, and I merely do some trading in my home region."

Li Laoquan also hurriedly said, "This little old man is the headman of this town, surnamed Li, named Laoquan. I dare not be mentioned in the same breath as Master Song and the others."

"Oh, so you two are not officials of our Great Ming."

Zhou Shixiang smiled as he glanced at Song Yi and the other two, then suddenly his face turned cold and he snorted.

"You three read the sage books of us Han, sat the civil examinations of us Han, and held office as officials of us Han.

So why, I wonder, do you now keep the Manchus' queue?"

"That..."

Song Yi and the other two had not expected Zhou Shixiang to ask this. As if choked, none of them could speak. On Zhou Tai's face, shame was plainly visible.

Seeing this, Zhou Shixiang waved his hand grandly.

"Enough.

Such are the times; you cannot be blamed. The late emperor said: those with queues are the afflicted, those without are the compliant.

This general will not make things difficult for you. Speak — what exactly is your business in coming to see me?" (Author's note: the late emperor here refers to the Longwu Emperor.)

When Zhou Shixiang changed the subject, Song Yi breathed a sigh of relief, but he did not dare speak directly. Instead he looked toward Zhou Tai and the others, but they too did not dare broach the matter, each wearing a troubled expression.

Seeing this, Song Yi cursed them inwardly. For the sake of his whole family's lives, he could not care about so much anymore, and so he said, "It was originally a trifling matter, not worth troubling General Zhou with.

But we have been entrusted by the townsfolk, and dare not fail to report it to the general..."

Zhou Shixiang found him long-winded and cut him off directly. "What exactly is the matter? Speak plainly."

"Yes, General."

Song Yi inclined his body slightly.

"The general has led his troops here from afar, and we people of Xinxing ought to reward the army.

However, the general's arrival was sudden, and we had no time to prepare, which displeased the general's subordinates. It is only right that the common households should suffer some losses..."

At this point, he did not dare continue. He raised his eyes to look at Zhou Shixiang and found the other's expression had become incomparably dark.

Startled, he dared say no more.