Chapter 185: 183: Tiger General

Ji'an City, the Bureau of Military Affairs.

The Bureau of Military Affairs held authority over: recruiting soldiers, organizing and training troops, managing military registers, leading armies in battle, evaluating battle merits, promoting officers, and recommending commanders.

Compared to the castrated Five Chief Military Commissions of the Great Ming, Zhao Han's Bureau of Military Affairs wielded far greater power!

At present, Fei Ruhe served as Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs.

Zhao Han had decided to expand the army and prepare for war, but how many regular troops to expand and how many new units to form were not for Fei Ruhe to decide — those fell under the authority of the Military Affairs Department (Li Banghua).

However, Fei Ruhe could first pick a few soldiers to later assign to his own direct command — the system was still imperfect now, and once their territory grew, the head of the Bureau of Military Affairs certainly could not personally lead troops in the field. Even if he were to command troops, he would have to temporarily step down from his daily duties at the Bureau.

"Bring me the prisoner register," Fei Ruhe ordered.

His secretary directly handed over a list and said, "Director, the Regional Commander told me to give this to you."

The moment Fei Ruhe saw it, he exploded with rage. It had been agreed that the Ehu troops would be broken up and dispersed into various units. Yet Zhao Han had singled out eight men in advance and sent them straight to the mines, without consulting Fei Ruhe at all.

Of those eight Ehu officers sent to the mines, five bore the surname Fei!

Fei Ruhe completely lost his reason, left the Bureau of Military Affairs, and headed straight for the Regional Commander's yamen.

"General Fei, the Regional Commander is in a meeting, you cannot enter... General Fei... General Fei..." The guards hurriedly blocked his way.

"Out of my way!"

Fei Ruhe forcibly shoved the guards aside and kicked the meeting room door open with one foot.

Pang Chunlai, Li Banghua, Chen Maosheng, Xiao Huan, and the others all turned their heads to look, utterly baffled.

Zhao Han smiled faintly. "Have a seat."

Fei Ruhe did not sit down, but demanded, "We've only got two prefectures and eight counties, and already you're killing the donkey the moment it leaves the millstone?"

"This is public business, handled publicly," Zhao Han explained. "I can refrain from prosecuting all of those Ehu soldiers, but the officers who led them must be dealt with according to law."

Fei Ruhe sneered. "Eight officers punished, and five of them are named Fei?"

Zhao Han countered, "Could the officers of the Ehu troops not be named Fei?"

That was the truth of it — as long as Zhao Han severely punished the officers, those surnamed Fei were bound to be the majority.

"Why didn't you discuss it with me beforehand?" Fei Ruhe asked.

Zhao Han asked, "Would you have agreed?"

Of course he would not have agreed. Deep in his bones, Fei Ruhe was a man who valued personal bonds; he could never send his own clansmen to the mines over something like this. Although the mining was classified as reform through labor, and they could gain their freedom after surviving five years, even if they came out alive, they would be riddled with illness.

Fei Ruhe would not admit it, though, and said stubbornly, "If you had discussed it with me, I would certainly have agreed!"

Zhao Han softened his tone and soothed, "Sit down, and let's talk this through slowly."

"I won't sit!" Fei Ruhe stood glaring at Zhao Han.

Zhao Han sighed. "Ah, go home for a while."

"Sure enough, the birds are gone and the bow is put away," Fei Ruhe said with a cold laugh.

Zhao Han could only explain, "Every county under our rule must have government spies. Our identities, at the latest a year or half a year, at the earliest two or three months, will inevitably reach the Governor of Jiangxi. Shouldn't you bring your family here beforehand? I'll keep the Director's seat at the Bureau of Military Affairs open for you. Go home and cool your head. If you think it through, come back and keep working. If you can't get past it, you don't have to return."

With several hundred Ehu troops dispersed into various units, Fei Ruhe's identity was bound to leak out sooner or later.

Fei Yinghuan's position as an official in Fujian was also precarious; someone must be sent to notify him as soon as possible.

Zhao Han truly did not fear the Fei clan growing too powerful. Zhao Han was no Liu Bang, and the Fei clan was no Lü clan.

Liu Bang and the Lü clan were founding partners in the enterprise, and their shares were very close. Moreover, could the system of the late Qin compare to the late Ming? The Lü family had private troops, and in very large proportion!

"Continue the meeting!" Zhao Han paid Fei Ruhe no further attention, but neither did he order him to leave.

Chen Maosheng spoke: "The reality is this: both the propaganda corps and the various levels of government believe that each county has been divided into too many towns. In the early stages of land distribution, there is a great deal to do, and the officials are naturally overwhelmed. But a year or two after the land is distributed, the town-level officials become redundant. Village and town affairs are handled with the help of village chiefs and peasant associations, leaving many town-level officials with nothing to do."

"I agree that each county should cut one more town," Pang Chunlai seconded. "The salary expenses for officials are far too great."

Zuo Xiaoliang said, "We should cut at least two towns. Take Luling County, for example — six towns would be enough. I went back to my hometown for the Mid-Autumn Festival. My cousin serves as a clerk in town, and he says that apart from collecting grain taxes in summer and autumn, and being busy during droughts and floods, the rest of the time they're so idle they sit around catching lice."

Everyone spoke up in turn, and Zhao Han found himself utterly unable to refute them.

In ancient times, imperial authority did not extend below the county level. Zhao Han had deliberately created town-level institutions precisely to extend power deep into the grassroots.

But now it seemed they had become somewhat detached from reality.

Zuo Xiaoliang's hometown was just across the river from Wuxing Town, and had long since come under Zhao Han's rule. The land that needed distributing had been distributed, the crops that needed promoting had been promoted, the wasteland that needed opening had been opened, the irrigation channels and such had been repaired, and several new channels had been dug.

After that, the town officials could find nothing to do and spent their days idling at the yamen. Only during the summer and autumn tax collections, or when flood or drought struck, did they temporarily become busy again.

Even Chen Maosheng, who had always believed in controlling the grassroots, had come to feel, through feedback from the propaganda corps, that town-level yamens should be reduced.

Zhao Han thought it over carefully, then suddenly smiled. "This is exactly how it should be. Our enterprise is newly founded, and we are bound to make mistakes in many things. When we err, we must correct it. If such mistakes arise in the future, I hope all of you will speak freely. Very well, let each county cut two towns, and reassign the affected officials to Fengcheng County, Taihe County, Wan'an County, and Longquan County respectively."

Fei Ruhe, who had been sulking in silence, suddenly asked, "Are we attacking Taihe County?"

"What, are you interested?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.

Fei Ruhe said irritably, "I've got a belly full of fire. I might as well take it out on the bandits in Taihe County."

Zhao Han asked, "Who will go fetch your mother?"

Fei Ruhe said, "I'll send some trusted men back. We only need to bring the people from Jingxing Court. My grandfather, grandmother, second uncle, and third uncle can all stay put. The bigger the stir we cause over here, the less the local officials there will dare to act rashly."

Li Banghua said, "Since General Fei is here, let us discuss military affairs together. In my view, including the Regional Commander's personal guard, the regular troops should be expanded to eight thousand, of which two thousand should be a naval force. We should also take Yongfeng County to the east, to increase our strategic depth and strengthen the defense of our eastern territory."

"I agree!" Fei Ruhe immediately assented. As the man in charge of troops, he naturally wanted as many soldiers as possible.

Zhao Han asked Pang Chunlai and Chen Maosheng, "If we take Yongfeng County, will we have enough officials and propaganda officers?"

Pang Chunlai said, "Removing two towns from each county frees up officials from sixteen towns. Promote a few more and it will certainly be enough."

Chen Maosheng said, "We have enough propaganda officers as well. Recruitment has been fast this year, mostly household slaves, prostitutes, and impoverished scholars."

"Good," Zhao Han said, then reminded him, "Maosheng, have the propaganda officers read more Mencius in their spare time. The Four Books and Five Classics are also very important. Your Propaganda Department is, after all, the equivalent of the Great Ming's Ministry of Rites — you mustn't let those scholars look down on it."

Chen Maosheng smiled. "I am reading Mencius myself. Mencius's book is truly excellent. 'The people are the most important, the altars of the state come next, and the ruler is the least. Therefore, he who gains the hearts of the common people becomes the Son of Heaven; he who gains the favor of the Son of Heaven becomes a feudal lord; he who gains the favor of a feudal lord becomes a grand officer.' The key to this passage, I believe, lies in 'gaining the hearts of the common people.' It is the same as our Great Unity theory — both are about standing up for the common folk."

Mencius's "the people are the most important" did not refer only to the gentry and nobility, but to the "people of the hamlets and fields," including the toiling peasants — perhaps even emphasizing the peasants above all.

Zhao Han added, "Also, have them study more arithmetic in their spare time — that Western arithmetic the children are all learning now."

"I'll have them start learning as soon as I return," Chen Maosheng said.

The matter was thus decided: to the existing territory of two prefectures and eight counties, five more counties would now be added — Taihe, Wan'an, Longquan, Yongfeng, and Fengcheng.

They aimed to complete all land redistribution before the spring plowing next year, at which point Zhao Han would be a great rebel in actual control of thirteen counties.

The main army would expand to eight thousand men: six thousand land troops and two thousand naval troops.

The naval proportion was heavy, but situated in Jiangxi, they had to vigorously develop a navy.

After the meeting adjourned, Zhao Han received word that very day: the County Magistrate of Yongfeng had died of illness, and the Registrar and Constable, following his dying wish, were offering the city in submission — and they had over a thousand elite local militia as well.

Fei Ruhe, nursing pent-up resentment, vented it all at Zhao Han's place, yet could hardly fall out over it for real. On the third day, he led his troops off to strike Taihe County.

Purely looking for someone to take his anger out on.

When he arrived by boat outside Taihe's walls, the county seat was already besieged — by the brothers Fang Shengchang and Fang Shenghong, who had raised troops in Longquan.

Hearing that Fei Ruhe had arrived with soldiers, the Fang brothers hurried over to pay their respects: "We greet the Zhao Military Commissioner."

"Brothers, there is no need for such ceremony," Fei Ruhe said. "How goes the fighting here?"

Fang Shengchang replied: "The rebels entrenched in the villages and towns have been mopped up; the remainder have all holed up inside the county seat. We two brothers originally intended, at New Year's, to present these three counties to the Regional Commander as a gift."

Fei Ruhe asked: "How many troops does your esteemed army have? And how many bandits are inside the city?"

Fang Shengchang said: "Our army has over seven thousand men, but only seven or eight hundred are elite troops. As for the bandits in the city, they are nothing but a rabble. Every time they come out to fight, they are routed in a single charge. They are worse than the mountain bandits of Longquan County."

Fei Ruhe had another task as well, and said: "Regional Commander Zhao intends to take over the three southern counties. I wonder, which do the two brothers prefer in the future — civil office or military office?"

Fang Shenghong asked: "What would civil office entail, and what would military office entail?"

Fei Ruhe said: "We have rules on our side, as you two must already be aware. But you have rendered great merit by offering territory. If you take civil office, you may start as Assistant Magistrate. If you take military office, you may start as a Company Commander leading five hundred men."

"I will take civil office."

"I will take civil office as well."

The Fang brothers, who had risen in revolt, seized Longquan and Wan'an counties, and were on the verge of taking Taihe County, both chose civil office without a moment's hesitation.

Because they were scholars to begin with!

"Very well," Fei Ruhe said with a smile. "Once the fighting here is concluded, you two may go to Fengcheng County and Yongfeng County to serve as Assistant Magistrates. This was a resolution already agreed upon by the Headquarters of the Regional Commander."

The Fang brothers had already built the siege ladders, and after days of assault, the defenders' supplies inside the city were nearly exhausted.

These bandits were unwilling to surrender, because they had committed too many atrocities — surrender would mean death anyway.

The next day, Fei Ruhe sent men to shout beneath the walls: "The Second General Zhao of Luling is here! Bandits inside the city, listen well: if you offer the city and surrender, common bandits may be spared the death penalty!"

Death sentence remitted, but punishment unavoidable — if the iron mines were full, they could be sent to dig irrigation canals and clear wasteland.

Of course, such words were not spoken aloud.

After shouting this a dozen or more times, when the assault resumed, the common bandits' resistance had indeed weakened considerably.

Fei Ruhe had been observing the battle situation the whole time. Suddenly he stripped off his mail armor, and wearing only his padded cotton armor, he bellowed: "Follow me and take the city!"

Fang Shengchang hastily tried to dissuade him: "General Zhao, there is no need to risk your person."

Fuming, Fei Ruhe said: "I took abuse back at the Regional Commander's place. Today I absolutely must kill some people to vent my anger!"

The man personally led several hundred soldiers, racing all the way to the foot of the wall, and began scaling a pre-selected section. The falling stones and rolling logs there were spent, the boiling filth and scalding oil had all been poured. Fei Ruhe climbed upward, saber in hand.

He climbed all the way to the parapet. A bamboo spear thrust straight at his face — Fei Ruhe ducked his head, dodged it, then suddenly vaulted over.

"Kill!"

Fei Ruhe casually cut down a common soldier, then opened his throat and roared: "Zhao the Second of Luling is here!"

Heavenly King Zhao was Zhao Han, and Second General Zhao was Fei Ruhe — these were all crude nicknames the local rebels had coined.

The personal arrival of Zhao the Second of Luling instantly terrified the bandits out of their wits. Countless small-time bandits threw down their weapons and fled.

A bandit chief called "Black-Faced Tiger" came rushing over with his trusted old bandits, raising his blade and roaring: "Others may fear you, Zhao the Second, but I, Black-Faced Tiger, do not!"

The fellow's face was black as charcoal, and he was built like a tiger's back and a bear's waist — no telling what he had done before this.

His blade came chopping down with a fierce gust of wind; he was clearly a trained fighter.

"Clang!"

Fei Ruhe had practiced the saber for ten years. He knocked the opponent's weapon aside with one stroke, then pivoted with the momentum and struck again in a single fluid motion, seamless and unhindered. The bandit chief had not even reacted before the second blade was already cleaving toward his face.

Black-Faced Tiger instantly became Split-Forehead Tiger, Fei Ruhe's saber biting deep into his brow.

"Tiger boss is dead! Run!"

"Zhao the Second of Luling is terrifying!"

"..."

Fei Ruhe had come this time purely to vent his rage. Paying no heed at all to his own troops, he simply forged ahead, saber raised, cutting down every bandit he encountered along the way.

The man chased and hacked his way for over twenty zhang, cutting down more than ten men in succession, sending the bandits scattering in panic. As they fled, the rout spread — an entire section of the wall collapsed into chaos, with Fei Ruhe single-handedly driving over a hundred bandits before him in slaughter.

The Fang brothers stood below the wall, watching in stunned disbelief.

"A true tiger of a general!" Fang Shengchang said, swallowing hard.

Fang Shenghong clicked his tongue and said: "It is a blessing we chose to submit. Otherwise, this man alone before us would be more than we could handle."

(A map showing the expanded thirteen counties will be appended at the end of the chapter. If you cannot see it, please refresh.)

(End of chapter)