Chapter 99: A Guarantee

They had come suddenly, his subordinates were dissatisfied, and the common folk had suffered some losses...

Zhou Shixiang was no fool. Song Yi had put it tactfully, but how could he not hear what the other man was really saying? He was plainly saying that some of the Taiping Army had taken advantage of the chaos to loot the town.

Which bastard couldn't keep his men in line, daring to openly rob the town!

Zhou Shixiang was furious. Before leaving Luoding, when he had convened the banner and squad leaders for a military conference, he had placed special emphasis on discipline during the march south, strictly forbidding any unit from robbing the common people without permission.

Yet now someone had openly violated orders and looted amid the chaos, and had even been reported to him. This infuriated Zhou Shixiang deeply.

If they dared loot in defiance of orders today, tomorrow they would dare flee in defiance of orders. A thousand-li dike collapses from an ant hole.

If this were not nipped in the bud, as time passed military discipline would rot, and army morale would rot even worse — the Taiping Camp would perish whether it wanted to or not.

Moreover, those with the nerve to loot in secret would have the nerve to hide what they took and not turn it in. If everyone did that, the public treasury system would exist in name only, and this was something Zhou Shixiang absolutely could not tolerate.

The public treasury system was the sole means by which the Taiping Camp held men's hearts together at present. If the public treasury did not survive, how could those promises be fulfilled?

If the common people gained no benefit, who would still be willing to risk their lives for you?

"This general will certainly send men to investigate the matter thoroughly. You need not worry. If any of my men have truly harmed the villagers, I will not let them off lightly, and I will surely give the people justice."

For public and private reasons alike, Zhou Shixiang would not let those looting soldiers off lightly, but he would not order an investigation in front of Song Yi and the others, nor would he handle the matter before them.

After all, matters of military discipline were best dealt with internally, and afterward he could simply give the victims some compensation.

Still less would he blow the matter up, using the heads of a few of his own soldiers to display the Taiping Camp's fine discipline to the people of Xinxing.

Such a move certainly had its merits for winning hearts, but for the Taiping Camp — still weak in strength and mixed in its soldiery — it was not a good thing.

Once hearts scatter, the ranks become hard to lead. The march south to Xiangshan was a thousand li away, and they had only just taken the first step.

To start by turning the blade on their own men — that was no way to enforce discipline. If he really did that, who would still be willing to risk their neck and follow him?

Put yourself in their shoes: the soldiers of the Taiping Camp were not yet soldiers in the strict sense. In fact, more than half the officers came from bandit or Green Standard backgrounds.

Looting was routine for them. How could one or two military conferences and a few orders put a stop to it?

So tightening discipline had to be done, but not by killing men to make an example. Other means were needed; otherwise, the men would inevitably be chilled to the heart.

The looting put Zhou Shixiang in a foul mood, and how to handle it gave him a headache.

He no longer had the heart to learn about local conditions from Song Yi and the others, so he told them to withdraw for now, and that once the matter was fully investigated he would give them an answer.

To his surprise, the men did not leave as told, but remained standing there without moving.

Seeing that they were unwilling to leave, Zhou Shixiang could not help asking them, "What is it? Do you have other business?"

The men were silent for a dozen or so seconds. Then it was still Song Yi who stepped forward and said to Zhou Shixiang, "To be frank with you, General, we do have some other matters we wish to ask you about."

Zhou Shixiang asked, "What matters?"

Song Yi hemmed and hawed, wanting to let Zhou Tai and the others speak, but Zhou Tai and the others simply did not dare. Left with no choice, he could only sigh inwardly and steel himself to say, "We wish to ask you, General: when will your esteemed army be leaving this town?"

"Hm?"

Hoping I'll leave? Zhou Shixiang's brow furrowed, and his face darkened again. With great displeasure he said, "You are hoping this general will leave this place as soon as possible?"

Young as Zhou Shixiang was, he had killed men before. Even without anger he carried authority; how much more so when angered.

Song Yi's heart tightened at the sight. Though he had once served as a Prefect, that had been twenty years ago.

Now, with Ming and Qing changing hands and war raging constantly, it was all military men brandishing swords and spears, killers and killed everywhere. What could a returned relic of the former dynasty like him do?

How could he not be afraid?

In his alarm he hastily explained, "General Zhou, please do not misunderstand. We are not hoping you will leave soon. We merely wished to know your army's itinerary, so that we might organize the townsfolk to present your army with some grain and fodder as a token of our regard."

"Yes, yes, that is indeed what we meant. We are certainly not hoping General Zhou will leave."

Zhou Tai and the others hurriedly chimed in agreement, though their expressions were somewhat odd. The village head Li Laoquan in particular wore a deeply worried look.

This aroused Zhou Shixiang's suspicion. He pondered a moment, then suddenly shouted, "What nerve!

You have the audacity to spy on our military movements under the pretext of offering grain! You deserve death!

Men! Drag them out and behead them!"

At that shout, Li Laoquan immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed without stopping: "Spare me, General, spare me, General!..."

Watching an old man of several decades kowtowing like that made Zhou Shixiang feel somewhat uneasy, and he wondered if he was making too much of a small matter and had overdone the intimidation.

Zhang An also fell to his knees in terror, crying for mercy. Lin Zhengguo was so frightened his legs trembled.

Zhou Tai and Song Yi were not quite so wretched; though afraid, they did not collapse to their knees, but only kept saying, "Calm yourself, General, calm yourself! We would never dare harbor such thoughts, never dare!"

"If not for that, why ask about my itinerary!" Zhou Shixiang flung his sleeve, still feigning great rage.

"It is actually because..." Song Yi wanted to tell the truth, but he simply could not get the words out.

"Actually because of what!" Zhou Shixiang, impatient, shouted again.

Song Yi did not know how to begin. Zhou Tai, in desperation, threw caution to the wind and cried out, "If your esteemed army would leave this town sooner, we could then set things in order, lest..." At that point he stopped, looking at Zhou Shixiang with some fear.

Seeing the man would not finish his sentence, Zhou Shixiang, impatient by nature, could not help shouting again, "Lest what? Speak!"

This time his eyes went wide, frightening Zhou Tai so badly that he kept wiping his forehead with his sleeve, unable to speak in full sentences. Stammering, he said, "This old man meant to say... meant to say..."

Zhou Shixiang shouted once more, "Speak!"

"This old man... this old man..."

Zhou Tai said "this old man" twice in a row but still could not get it out. Just as he was frantic with anxiety, Li Laoquan suddenly gritted his teeth, raised his head, and stared hard at Zhou Shixiang.

In a trembling voice he said, "This old fellow dares to ask General Zhou: will you be stationed in this town permanently?"

The question caught Zhou Shixiang off guard. Puzzled, he said, "What does that have to do with what you were saying?"

Li Laoquan steeled himself and said bluntly, "If General Zhou cannot be stationed in this town permanently, then this old fellow begs you to lead your troops away soon, lest you bring harm upon the people of Xinxing!"

After Li Laoquan spoke, Song Yi, Zhou Tai, and the others did not know how Zhou Shixiang would react, and all stared at him blankly.

Li Laoquan's words silenced Zhou Shixiang. After a long while he said, "This general will not be stationed here permanently. But rest assured, even after this general leaves, you will not be harmed by the Qing army."

"What guarantee can the General give that the Qing army will not bring disaster upon this town?"

Li Laoquan did not believe a word Zhou Shixiang said, because he had heard the same words a few months before. Yet on the fourth day after that Ming general had spoken them, more than two thousand able-bodied men of the town had been slaughtered to the last by the Green Standard.

Li Laoquan did not believe him, and Song Yi and the others believed him even less. They did not ask that Zhou Shixiang truly be stationed in the town permanently, because in their view the Southern Ming was already sinking into the west and could not last at all.

The Qing were certain to hold the realm, and even if this young Assistant Regional Commander surnamed Zhou really did garrison Xinxing, he could not defeat the Qing army at Zhaoqing. In the end the town would still be ravaged by the Qing army.

Only if the Ming army left quickly could they find a way to settle the matter — at worst, each household would spend some money to grease palms in the prefectural seat. Losing money did not matter; if the people were gone, nothing would be left.

To their surprise, Zhou Shixiang assured them again with great confidence, saying, "Rest easy. This general says the Qing army cannot harm you, so they cannot harm you."

"What guarantee does the General offer?"

As Li Laoquan said this, his face was full of despair. He was certain this young General Zhou was spouting empty boasts to deceive them.

To his surprise, Zhou Shixiang said with great certainty, "This general has his own way of guaranteeing it."

"What way?" Almost simultaneously, Song Yi, Zhou Tai, and the others asked in unison.

Zhou Shixiang swept his gaze over them and said in a perfectly ordinary tone, "The way is this: this general will take all of you with him. That way, you naturally will not be harmed by the Qing army."

"What?!"

Everyone was shocked. "Take all of us with you?"