Chapter 250: Stirring the Realm

Of the more than eleven thousand defending troops, the Tao and Zhang clans together accounted for five thousand. The remaining six thousand militia were taken prisoner by Li Zheng — over four thousand of them, since once the city gates were blocked there was no way to flee.

The gentry who organized the militia — all put to the sword!

As for the ordinary militia soldiers, the propaganda officers slowly explained policy to them. As long as they could recite the policy from memory, they were released at once to return home, and were even given a dou of rice as traveling money upon departure.

More than four thousand captives, once back in their home villages, became more than four thousand ambassadors for the policy.

Three more days passed.

Prefect Wang Qisheng and County Magistrate Yang Guanji, each having finished their own tasks, proceeded to the prefectural office.

The two men happened to meet at the gate, both looking somewhat embarrassed. Same-year jinshi, posted as officials in the same place, and surrendering to the rebels at the same time — such a coincidence of fate was too remarkable; their relationship from now on would surely be ironclad.

The difference in their official ranks also directly reflected the rules of officialdom in the late Ming.

Wang Qisheng came from a great clan, a native of Yixing in Changzhou Prefecture, one of the strongholds of the Donglin Faction. He himself was also a member of the Restoration Society, and had built city walls, dikes, and canals all along the way, rising rapidly to Prefect on the strength of his achievements and connections.

Yang Guanji came from an impoverished background, a native of Zhao'an in Zhangzhou Prefecture — just looking at his region, he was not well received. Upon being sent out to a post after becoming a jinshi, he had done nothing at all before being directly demoted to a rank-nine clerk, and after all this time he was still only a County Magistrate.

These two men had passed the palace examination and had their names inscribed on the golden roster in the same year, and had been sent out to office at the same time!

"Brother Liqing!"

Yang Guanji took the initiative to bow in greeting, feeling a secret satisfaction — he no longer had to look up to the other man.

Wang Qisheng cupped his hands in return: "Brother Jichang, after you!"

"After you!" Yang Guanji said with a slight smile.

The two walked side by side into the prefectural office, which was Li Zheng's temporary headquarters.

"We pay our respects to the General!"

Upon seeing Li Zheng, the two men bowed in unison.

Li Zheng said with a smile, "Putting out the fires in the city and handling the transfer of so many official documents — we owe much to you two gentlemen. By the way, Governor Wang still refuses to surrender?"

Wang Qisheng replied, "I tried to persuade him, and was cursed out roundly for my trouble. But observing his words and manner, it is not that he is unwilling to serve, but that he fears bringing disaster upon his descendants."

Governor Wang Zhiliang had five sons, three of whom were already officials; a man like that could never join the rebels.

He would rather die himself than jeopardize his sons.

As for Wang Qisheng, though he surrendered to the rebels cleanly and decisively, he was no spineless weakling either.

Historically, Wang Qisheng also raised troops to resist the Qing, even spending his entire family fortune to organize a naval force. Lu Xiangsheng's younger brother Lu Xiangguan, after his army was defeated, went to seek refuge with this very man — but it was a pity that Wang Qisheng's naval force was also defeated by Hong Chengchou. His ultimate fate is unknown, but Wang Qisheng certainly did not surrender to the Qing; he probably lived out his days in anonymity as a commoner.

The reason Wang Qisheng was willing to serve Zhao Han was mainly that he believed Zhao Han could succeed.

Changsha city itself had been taken; the entire Dongting Lake plain lay exposed under Zhao Han's military edge, and the southern Hunan region could be described as his for the taking.

Seize Jiangxi and southern Hunan, and hegemony is taking shape!

Yang Guanji was much the same, and had even fewer ideological burdens. From an impoverished background, honest and incorruptible, with hardly any family land to speak of — once Zhao Han occupied Fujian, Yang Guanji's family would likely even receive land in the redistribution.

After chatting a while longer, Li Zheng summoned a subordinate and instructed, "Governor Wang would rather die than surrender. Send him back to Ji'an, and hand him over to the Regional Commander to deal with personally."

"Hold on!"

Wang Qisheng suddenly stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "General, you could have this man bound and send troops to parade him through the various prefectures and counties. At present, around Dongting Lake, only Xiangyin has three thousand defending troops; the other cities have only a few hundred or a thousand defenders each. If you simply tie up the Governor and take him to call for the cities' surrender, even if Yuezhou and Changde Prefectures cannot be said to submit at the mere sight of a proclamation, they will certainly not put up any decent resistance."

"That will not be necessary," Li Zheng said. "The northern front's operations stop with the capture of Changsha city. That was decided before the troops set out."

Yang Guanji also hurriedly urged, "General, the prefectures and counties around Dongting Lake are the very cream of southern Hunan. You must seize this golden opportunity and take them swiftly — you cannot give the government forces time to catch their breath."

"We are running somewhat short of officials," Li Zheng explained.

Wang Qisheng could not comprehend this at all. "As long as you take the cities, why fear a shortage of officials? Even if officials are insufficient, seize the cities and take the land first!"

Li Zheng laughed. "You don't understand. You could go take a walk in the countryside and observe how the propaganda corps and the peasant associations distribute the land."

Wang Qisheng and Yang Guanji exchanged a glance; both felt Li Zheng was being far too rigid. How could one halt the troops at such a golden opportunity?

Li Zheng was certainly not halting the troops — it was just that the route was different. He and Huang Yao would next strike westward. They would not go to occupy the rich Dongting Lake plain, but instead attack Xiangxiang, Xinhua, Shaoyang, and other relatively poorer places.

The reason they had occupied Changsha city was purely that Changsha was a strategic location.

From a defensive standpoint, occupying Changsha was equivalent to cutting southern Hunan in two, completely severing the Dongting Lake plain from the south. If government troops to the north wanted to attack, they would first have to take Changsha. And Zhao Han's side, by merely stationing a small force there on defense, could free up more troops to expand very comfortably in the south.

From an offensive standpoint, once the south was consolidated, large numbers of troops could be drawn back, and Changsha could serve as the launching point. At the same time, the Jiangxi naval forces would sail up the Yangtze and sortie together with the troops from Changsha, striking the Dongting Lake plain from both north and south!

Very well, after all that, it really comes down to three words: not enough troops!

Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu's column, according to the established battle plan, was to fight all the way to Guangdong.

In Guangdong there was the Governor-General of Liangguang, Shen Youlong, whose troops had been continuously suppressing bandits for over three years. Whatever their discipline might be, their combat strength was certainly superior to that of militia — they were all battle-hardened veterans who had seen blood. How could Fei Ruhe alone swallow up Guangdong? Zhang Tieniu had to fight his way there to link up with him!

Now as for Huang Yao at Xiangtan, upon hearing that Li Zheng had taken Changsha, he immediately led his troops westward. He occupied Xiangxiang and Xinhua in succession, encountering no decent resistance at all.

Changsha, Xiangxiang, and Xinhua — these three cities thoroughly sealed off the north-south passage. Even if the prefectures and counties around Dongting Lake raised new troops, they could forget about striking southward, because mountains blocked the way everywhere.

Jingmen.

The Huguang Governor Fang Kongzhao was locked in a battle of wits with Xiong Wencan.

The roving bandits of the northwest were at a low ebb at this time; Li Zicheng, with only a few thousand men left, had fled deep into the mountains. While hiding in the mountains, not daring to come out, Li Zicheng had conveniently taken a wife, and his wife was now already pregnant.

As for Zhang Xianzhong, after being wounded he had entrenched himself at Gucheng, reorganizing his troops while studying military strategy.

At a moment like this, they could have sent troops from Xiangyang and Yunyang to strike Gucheng from both north and south — yet Xiong Wencan had actually offered Zhang Xianzhong amnesty and recruited him!

Fang Kongzhao submitted six memorials in succession, begging the Emperor to send troops to exterminate the bandits, but all of them vanished like clay oxen into the sea. Not only that, he was tossed back to Jingmen to garrison, holding a heavy force yet far removed from the center of the battlefield.

Just as Fang Kongzhao was writing his seventh memorial, a battle report was delivered into his hands.

Changsha had fallen; the fate of the Governor of Southern Hunan was unknown.

Fang Kongzhao's face instantly went deathly pale, as if he saw an enormous cauldron falling from the sky.

Huguang at this time was in substance divided into two great war zones: Hubei and southern Hunan. The Hubei war zone was infested with multiple bands of roving bandits, including Zhang Xianzhong; the southern Hunan war zone was naturally where Zhao Han and his crew were stirring up trouble.

As Huguang Governor, Fang Kongzhao, though he could not be in two places at once and had no energy to deal with Zhao Han, still had to take the blame now that Zhao Han had captured Changsha!

What was to be done?

Fang Kongzhao could not move the troops under his command. The moment he marched south to suppress Zhao Han, Zhang Xianzhong would immediately rise up again at Gucheng.

Fang Kongzhao hastily wrote a letter, begging Chongzhen to issue immediate orders to exterminate the bandits. If Zhang Xianzhong could be finished off quickly, he could then shift his troops south and focus entirely on fighting Zhao Han.

What kind of amnesty was this? Zhang Xianzhong had tens of thousands of men sitting right there, pinning down over a hundred thousand government troops so they couldn't move. And the government troops couldn't even attack — whoever dared strike at Zhang Xianzhong would be "sabotaging the grand pacification strategy." The former Governor of Yunyang was still in prison over that.

Thanks to Xiong Wencan's meddling, the government troops could neither attack nor withdraw, just standing around like idiots watching Zhang Xianzhong drill his army.

What was even more absurd was that Zhao Han, whom Xiong Wencan had granted amnesty, had clearly surrendered and then rebelled again, yet Xiong Wencan himself was never punished — because he had Yang Sichang covering for him.

Chongzhen trusted Yang Sichang unconditionally!

Fang Kongzhao's memorial had just reached the capital when the Manchu Qing once again broke through the passes.

Wu Aheng, Governor-General of Jiliao, and Lu Zongwen, Regional Commander of Jiliao, both died in battle after being defeated. The eunuch army supervisor Zheng Xizhao, however, actually managed to flee with his life.

The Qing army drove straight in, encamped at Niulan Mountain, and plundered the surrounding towns and villages in all directions.

Chongzhen urgently summoned Lu Xiangsheng to the capital, bestowed upon him the Imperial Sword, and appointed him Regional Commander of all relief forces in the realm.

The Palace of Heavenly Purity.

Chongzhen hurled the Huguang battle reports aside and, for the first time, raged at Yang Sichang: "So this is the strategy you devised — exterminate the roving bandits, pacify the rebel Zhao, and make peace with the Tartars. The roving bandits have not been exterminated, the rebel Zhao surrendered and rebelled again, and the Tartars refuse to negotiate peace. Do you even know how to fight a war?"

Yang Sichang immediately dropped to his knees and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, although the rebel Zhao has rebelled again, he has at least refrained from sending troops into the prefectures of Jiangnan. Otherwise, half of the realm's tax revenue would be lost."

"Should I be thanking the rebel Zhao for not striking Jiangnan?" Chongzhen laughed in sheer fury.

Yang Sichang sidestepped the topic and said, "Of the roving bandits in the northwest, apart from Li Zicheng's force, all the rest have already been pacified…"

"You call that pacification?"

Chongzhen, apparently provoked beyond endurance by Zhao Han and the Tartars, took out Fang Kongzhao's seven memorials and flung them at Yang Sichang. "Zhang Xianzhong has surrendered for months, yet he refuses to disband his army and refuses to yield Gucheng. He is certain to rebel again in the future. Arrest Xiong Wencan and throw him in prison. Replace him with someone who can fight, and immediately surround and exterminate Zhang Xianzhong. Once Zhang Xianzhong is destroyed, shift the heavy troops south to strike the rebel Zhao!"

"Your Majesty…" Yang Sichang still wanted to hold his ground.

"Do it at once, or I will replace the Minister of War," Chongzhen roared. "Go to Xiangyang yourself and swiftly exterminate Zhang Xianzhong!"

Yang Sichang said, "But matters here in the capital…"

Chongzhen rebuked him: "The capital has Lu Xiangsheng!"

Zhao Han had finally introduced a massive variable: Xiong Wencan was thrown into prison ahead of schedule, Yang Sichang left the capital ahead of schedule, and Lu Xiangsheng might just avoid being sabotaged to death.

And Zhang Xianzhong could no longer drill his troops in peace — he would have to lead his forces on the run again.

Chongzhen had always wavered between war and peace. Zhao Han's massive expansion in Huguang pushed Chongzhen firmly to the war faction. But if the front lines continued to suffer defeats, Chongzhen might well swing back toward the peace faction — he lacked the fortitude to see anything through to the end, after all.

Li Zheng's capture of Changsha had stirred up far too many things.

Especially in the prefectures and counties around Lake Dongting — the officials were terrified, the gentry were panic-stricken. The dread name of Heavenly King Zhao could stop children from crying at night in every county.

Moreover, the dread name of Heavenly King Zhao spread throughout the realm. Everyone now knew there was such a colossal bandit.

Seizing Jiangxi was one thing, but now he was about to take Huguang as well. Everyone understood that the south had changed masters.

(End of Chapter)