Chapter 303: Good Tidings

"... Commander Pan is stationed at Tongcheng, ready to reinforce Qianshan as needed. In our Anqing territory, Tongcheng is the head, Qianshan and Taihu the waist, and Susong the tail. Susong marks the boundary between Wu and Chu, a place the roving thieves must pass through when coming from Huangmei and Guangji. Thus, without Susong there is no Anqing; without Anqing, there is no Nanjing. You gentlemen of Susong must pay the utmost attention. Fortunately, this official has long had a strategy in mind for defending against the thieves."

Inside the Taihu County Office, Shi Kefa was speaking with full confidence and composure. In the hall, besides Pang Yu and Xu Strengthening, there were several county magistrates from neighboring areas; even Yang Erming had come to Taihu.

Starting from the end of September, scattered bandit activity began appearing around Anqing, mainly in the Tongcheng direction. But according to the dispatch reports from the Director-General's Department, the large bands of roving bandits hiding in the mountain region at the Henan-Shanxi border had already emerged, splitting toward Huguang and Henan just as in previous years. It was only a matter of time before they reached Anqing.

With the experience of the past two years, no one dared take this lightly now, but the common people's worry was even greater. By the end of the eighth month, households in the Anqing countryside with some means had already begun preparing. Those with better conditions went to the prefectural city or crossed the river to Chizhou; those with poorer conditions who could not go far hid inside county towns with city walls. After the tenth month, rumors about the roving bandits grew more and more numerous everywhere, and ordinary commoners, in their terror, also fled their homes to escape disaster.

Qianshan, Taihu, and Susong — these three counties had no walls to defend and had suffered devastating calamities, so the common people felt it most keenly, and thus the flight to escape was most severe there. Shi Kefa summoned military officers and several county magistrates to Taihu for a meeting: first, to deploy defenses; second, to calm people's hearts, especially the local gentry. Only if they stayed could local militia be organized. Though these local militia could not fight formation battles, they knew their home terrain well and were still very useful for defensive operations.

"Since last year, with the help of the officials and people of Susong, we have built within Susong County's borders Tongren Fort, Chunfeng Fort, Lianyun Fort, Tufeng Stockade, Chenghe Fort, Renhe Fort, White Cliff Stockade, and more than ten others. It is proposed to transfer a portion of the Garrison Command battalion to station at Susong's Zhaixianpu, Ink Smoke Shop, and Chemajie River..."

Pang Yu sat in his chair. Because hall meetings often lacked tables, he had already formed the habit of not taking notes during meetings. As for the stockades and forts Shi Kefa spoke of, he knew them by heart. To say they were completely useless would be false, but Shi Kefa was pouring massive resources into stockade construction, which Pang Yu believed was a misallocation of resources.

Not only the Circuit Intendant Yamen's funds, but within the local fiscal revenues of each Anqing county, whatever was retained locally had all been used to build various stockades and forts. Apart from basic military pay, the Garrison Command battalion could hardly get any extra support — the same was true for Pan Keda. Fortunately, Pang Yu had secured the city construction funds in advance; otherwise, who knew where they would have been spent.

Among the dozen or so stockades Shi Kefa mentioned, only Chunfeng, Lianyun, and White Cliff Stockade had natural defenses to rely on, but their transportation was extremely inconvenient. If used for stationing troops, the roving bandits could also use a small force to block the roads down the mountain. For the Garrison Command battalion, they could only serve as rest and recovery points, with very little role in combat.

The remaining stockades were mostly located near the courier route. Although roughly completed, they were far from comparable to a walled city like Tongcheng. Pang Yu had seen Chenghe Fort beside the Chemajie River in Susong; its wall height was only half that of Tongcheng. Against roving bandits on the scale of Zhang Xianzhong, it would fall within two days.

The three locations where Shi Kefa required the Garrison Command battalion to station troops were all near the courier route. Zhaixianpu was the first stop from Huangmei into Susong. Ink Smoke Shop was near Erlang Township; Erlang was the junction of the two main roads from Huguang into Susong — in Pang Yu's mind, more important than Tongling. Chemajie River, having both a river channel and the courier route, had been a battleground since ancient times.

"My lord, Qianshan and Tongcheng want us to station troops, and now you say Susong too — then Taihu will naturally want the same in the end. If our three thousand men are scattered across six counties, not only can we not train together, we won't be able to fight a major battle against the roving bandits either."

Yang Xueshi, behind Pang Yu, leaned in and whispered in his ear, "The Circuit Intendant is deploying troops this way — stationing defenses everywhere along the courier route, hoping to keep the roving thieves out of Anqing entirely. But dividing the troops into over ten places..."

Pang Yu shook his head, signaling Yang Xueshi to hold off for now. On the issue of troop allocation, his approach was entirely different from Shi Kefa's. Shi Kefa wanted to station troops along the mountain courier route, covering every county. The places Shi Kefa chose were indeed strategic points, and he could give reasons for stationing troops at each, but he had chosen too many locations. Pang Yu, on the other hand, wanted more concentration. Given the current conditions of communication and transportation, excessive dispersal was extremely disadvantageous for mobilization and logistics.

"Old County and Fengxiang Courier Station are also places that must be defended. In this way, Susong can be as solid as metal and stone." Shi Kefa reached out his hand as he spoke, and an attendant quickly brought over a tea cup. Shi Kefa took a sip to moisten his throat. His face was flushed now, clearly somewhat excited from speaking.

"Next, let us discuss the two areas of Qianshan and Taihu. These form the waist of Anqing's defenses. The two counties have countless mountain passes, channels, and gullies. Thieves from Yinghuo Mountain emerge from time to time. This official proposes to transfer the reinforcing Jinshan Battalion and Changzhou Battalion to defend the two counties separately. It is a pity that the city construction in the two counties is unfinished, leaving the defenses with nothing to rely on. Therefore, the Tianning Fortress in Qianshan is extremely critical. When this official passed through Qianshan, the fortress walls, provisions, and equipment were still not ready. Magistrate Zhu, what is the reason for this?"

As he spoke, Shi Kefa turned toward the Qianshan County Magistrate. The current Qianshan County Magistrate was named Zhu Jiaxiang. Pang Yu had met him several times already, and each time he looked considerably older. Clearly, he had suffered many frights over these two years. In such a wall-less place, bearing the duty of defending the territory, one could lose one's life at any moment — no wonder Magistrate Zhu was in such a state.

Zhu Jiaxiang knelt and said, "Your subordinate has done his utmost to raise funds. But since the calamities, the population has been decimated, making conscription extremely difficult. The funds and grain for building the city are already barely managed; to raise more for the construction of Tianning Fortress is truly beyond our means. I have managed with difficulty to stock some provisions at Tianning Fortress, but the fortress walls are only earthen ramparts. Your subordinate is ashamed. If the Circuit Intendant dispatches government troops here, your subordinate will spare no effort, even to the point of liver and brains smearing the ground, to prepare all the rations and pay. If there is any shortfall, my lord may cut off your subordinate's head."

Shi Kefa walked slowly over and helped Zhu Jiaxiang up. After studying him carefully for a moment, he said, "How could this official not know Magistrate Zhu's difficulties? This official trusts you. Do not speak such words again."

Zhu Jiaxiang kept his head lowered and said, "I thank my lord for his understanding. But your subordinate has one more thing to say. Building the city at Qianshan is a difficult matter. Since construction began, all funds and grain have been strained for the city building; other matters like local militia and stockades have all been neglected. But however hard it is to raise funds and grain, it is not as hard as winning people's hearts. The area around the county town is all sandy ground, making the city foundation extremely difficult to build. It has already been widened three times. Even that alone would be tolerable, but where the city walls are being built, we have dug up ten thousand graves to the south and demolished a thousand homes to the north. Within just a few months, petitioners and complainants are everywhere. This month, the gentry and commoners jointly signed a petition to demand the labor be halted. The laborers answering the corvée grow fewer day by day. Meanwhile, the Circuit Intendant's office keeps pressing and urging repeatedly. Your subordinate is caught between a rock and a hard place. Today, even if it offends my lord, your subordinate must say these words: this city at Qianshan cannot be built. It would be better to save some funds and grain to properly repair Tianning Fortress, which could protect more common people's lives."

Everyone in the hall shifted unconsciously. Pang Yu stared at Zhu Jiaxiang with curiosity. He had never before thought this Magistrate Zhu had any particular courage. Yet today he dared to openly resist Shi Kefa's grand city-building strategy in a meeting. Either he truly had guts, or the mental pressure had grown so great that he had thrown caution to the wind and stopped caring about anything.

Over on the other side, the expression of Taihu County Magistrate Yang Zhuoran was also a bit strange. Pang Yu could well understand Yang Zhuoran. Building a city wall was not like building a house. Given the ruined state of these two counties, supporting the manpower and material for construction was extremely difficult, and in between they still had to guard against a possible invasion by the roving bandits at any time. It was indeed more practical, as Zhu Jiaxiang had said, to properly repair Tianning Fortress instead.

Pang Yu had been to Tianning Fortress twice while leading troops on march drills. It was actually just a hilltop south of Qianshan city, right beside the courier route. On the hill stood a monastery called Tianning Temple. There were wells and buildings on the hill, making it relatively convenient for stationing troops or sheltering commoners. Moreover, the hilltop itself had height, so only a small amount of earthworks was needed to build fairly solid fortifications. Compared to building the Qianshan city wall, the cost-effectiveness was on an entirely different level.

Shi Kefa stiffened for a moment in some embarrassment, but soon his expression softened. He turned, took two steps, and faced the assembly. "In the ninth month, Lord Zhang designated this official to go to Wuhu. For what purpose? It was because the seven watchtowers in Wuhu had been completed, and this official was needed to instruct the newly recruited local officers and soldiers in defense techniques. With these seven watchtowers along the river, Wuhu is as solid as metal and stone. This shows that relying on terrain to establish defenses remains an indispensable measure. As for Qianshan's sandy foundation making city construction difficult, that is indeed a fact. With the bandit situation now urgent, the city construction can be postponed. We may discuss it again next spring or summer. Magistrate Zhu, for now, devote all efforts to building Tianning Fortress."

Only then did Zhu Jiaxiang kneel, perform the ritual salute, and withdraw. Pang Yu pondered for a moment and was about to stand to speak when another person rose beside him. Pang Yu looked up and saw it was an old acquaintance — Taihu County Magistrate Yang Zhuoran.

"Reporting to the Circuit Intendant for his awareness: Taihu also has a sandy foundation. The planned city wall is one thousand one hundred and fifty zhang in length, along with five gates, gate towers, moon cities, sentry huts, and other items. Modeled on Fanchang's height of two zhang and three chi, stone must be laid three chi deep within the earth. Excluding the three chi of arrow crenels, the actual wall height is one zhang and seven chi, which seems rather low and short. Adding another three chi in height, each chi of wall costs four taels, four Mace, and nine fen of silver, for a total cost of over fifty-six thousand five hundred and thirty taels. Your subordinate has roughly raised the full amount. The earthen wall had already been tamped solid, and brick-facing began in the ninth month. But as soon as the bandit situation became urgent, the laborers all scattered and fled, so work had to be halted and the labor suspended. It is not that your subordinate is unwilling."

His speech was a bid to show his performance — not as blunt as Zhu Jiaxiang, and his progress far exceeded Qianshan's. Shi Kefa waved his hand gently and said, "This official is also aware of Magistrate Yang's difficulties. All of you seated here are doing your utmost and exhausting your efforts for the common people. As for some who panic at the alarm and spend their days in drunken stupors, this official has no wish to discuss matters with them. What this year's evaluations shall be will not tolerate any glibness of tongue."

The main hall suddenly grew somewhat quiet. Pang Yu did not need to look carefully; he had counted when entering the hall earlier. Among the local officials, only Anqing Prefect Pi Yingju and Huaining County Magistrate Nie were absent. Pi Yingju and Shi Kefa had some friction, mainly regarding the supply of military provisions. Ever since Lu Xiangsheng became Five-Province Supreme Commander, he had required that local areas supply military grain nearby. For the area around Shucheng, Lujiang, and Lu'an Prefecture, Shi Kefa was the directly responsible person, so Shi Kefa often bypassed Pi Yingju entirely and directly ordered the counties to provide military grain. This year, the conflicts with Pi Yingju had grown more numerous. During the rally to the king campaign, when Zhang Guowei demanded the delivery of rally to the king rations and pay, Pi Yingju had not cooperated, making Shi Kefa unable to complete the task.

Both men had filed complaints with Zhang Guowei. But according to what Mr. Ma had privately informed Pang Yu, during this evaluation period, Zhang Guowei had given Pi Yingju a poor assessment, which included the phrase "panics at the alarm." It also included Huaining's Magistrate Nie; that magistrate drank every day, and his assessment was "spends his days in a drunken stupor."

At present, Shi Kefa had the complete upper hand over Pi Yingju, so by speaking these words openly, he was issuing a warning to all the local officials and military commanders present.

Pang Yu had originally wanted to speak, but upon hearing this, he dropped the idea. He was not afraid of Shi Kefa, because he had some advantages with Zhang Guowei. That lord still counted on him to rescue Jiangnan again in a crisis and would not casually let Shi Kefa manipulate him.

"Magistrate Yang, is there anything else?"

"Your subordinate has established over ten local militia units across the townships. Every few days they patrol the mountain paths. Each militia unit has a gentry member as its leader. They should be of great use when resisting the bandits. It is just that at present, funds and grain are lacking, relying entirely on gentry donations. Over the long term, this will be difficult to sustain."

Shi Kefa was once again put in a difficult position. The number of troops stationed in Anqing was growing, and the local supply of ben se was already very strained. On one hand, there was massive construction; on the other, the army, local militia, and community soldiers all needed to be supported. Once he granted it to Yang Zhuoran, all the other counties would have to be given the same.

Yang Zhuoran bowed and said, "The Circuit Intendant is in a difficult position, and your subordinate originally should not have brought this up. But there is truly a need for funds and grain. Fortunately, I have discovered that in the fifth and sixth years, Taihu had provided coordinated relief funds to the three counties of Tongcheng, Wangjiang, and Qianshan, totaling one thousand taels of silver. Today, it is only right that this be recovered. Among them, Tongcheng..."

Yang Erming had originally been listening to the excitement on the sidelines. Suddenly hearing the word "Tongcheng," he was greatly alarmed and snapped to attention. While Yang Zhuoran was still speaking, he hurriedly exchanged glances with Zhu Jiaxiang. Zhu Jiaxiang slightly raised his chin, signaling Yang Erming to go first.

Once Yang Zhuoran finished, Yang Erming stood and addressed Shi Kefa, "Circuit Intendant, regarding this matter of Taihu's so-called coordinated relief silver for Tongcheng, after your humble servant last heard of it, I ordered the Archive Repository to investigate. It was actually funds used to purchase goods in Tongcheng. Where does this talk of coordinated relief come from..."

By the time they emerged from Taihu County Town, the sky had already darkened. Pang Yu stretched outside the city gate. This whole day of meetings had produced no plan whatsoever, and it had been exhausting and hungry work — they had not even gotten lunch. Since the troops of the two companies were still outside the city, Pang Yu declined the county office's invitation and returned to the army to eat military rations.

Yang Zhuoran and the other county magistrates had been bickering with great relish over trivial matters. By the afternoon, taking advantage of Shi Kefa's fatigue, Pang Yu also raised a pile of issues.

The most important was logistics for the stationed troops. The sixty li along the Susong courier route alone had been completely destroyed in the early part of the Chongzhen Eighth Year. The devastation of towns and marketplaces in particular meant that commercial goods and grain lacked distribution centers, making the supply of military grain extremely difficult. Supplying from Shipai was also a long and distant road. Pang Yu demanded that the Susong County Office handle the supply, but the county magistrate flatly refused. Pang Yu argued with the Susong County Magistrate for a while, and the matter of stationing troops was dragged out and left unresolved.

At this moment, observing outside the south gate of Taihu, the nearby earthen wall had indeed been tamped solid, with a small amount of brick facing, but completion was still nowhere in sight. Taihu was surrounded on all sides by river channels, and the area of the county town in the middle looked like an alluvial sandbank. The sandy foundation was beyond doubt.

"Xie Zhaofa, in your opinion, how should the troops be stationed most appropriately?"

Xie Zhaofa, called upon, hurried forward. He was the guide hired during the Battle of Chuzhou. Originally a hangshang, he mainly worked the Fengyang trade route. After last year's bandit chaos, business became difficult, and in the end he accepted Pang Yu's offer of employment. He now served as the head of the Survey Office in the Advisory Room.

"Your humble servant has traveled the entire route from Tongcheng to Susong. Although Taihu and Qianshan have many mountain passes, the roads are narrow and difficult to traverse. Only small bands of roving thieves will come that way. The most critical point remains the courier route. The Circuit Intendant's method of deploying defenses everywhere can guard against small thieves but not against large ones. Your subordinate believes it would be better to station heavy troops at the two ends of the courier route — Susong and Tongcheng — while you, my lord, personally lead troops stationed at Shipai to provide support. With troops stationed at these three places, the prefectural city can be guaranteed safe. If a small band comes, they will be attacked from three sides; if a large band comes, the two ends can reinforce each other. Tongcheng has walls and community soldiers; adding a few government troops will ensure its safety. Only Susong is too ruined and inconvenient for stationing troops. It could be changed to stationing troops at Wangjiang, or..."

He lowered his head, thought for a moment, then continued, "Or we could have the Jiangnan Army station a small number of troops and send out many mounted scouts for far and near reconnaissance. When the roving thieves actually come, then dispatch troops from Shipai to attack and suppress them, rather than stationing large numbers of troops in ruined terrain. The Circuit Intendant has been poring over military texts in vain. This talk of 'without Susong there is no Anqing, without Anqing there is no Nanjing' — that applies when advancing by both water and land in a campaign along the upper and lower reaches of the Great River. It is naturally so in that context. But roving bandits like these are merely passing through to loot and plunder. Without Susong, there will be no loss of Anqing, still less of Nanjing. Therefore, Susong is in fact not that critical."

Pang Yu did not indicate agreement or disagreement, but neither did he continue to ask Yang Xueshi, who was beside him. What Xie Zhaofa said actually aligned most with his own wishes. He wanted to strengthen intelligence work and keep the main force of the Garrison Command battalion stationed at Shipai, waiting for the right moment to act. He did not want a repeat of the first half of the year, when all of Anqing's troops were moved around piecemeal by Shi Kefa, exhausting themselves and wasting funds and grain, and in the end killing no bandits at all, while instead suffering many non-combat losses.

"And if we defend as we are now?"

"A sheet of loose sand. My lord would be doing nothing less than fighting a horde of thieves alone."

Pang Yu could not help but laugh. Before he could speak, he heard someone behind him calling "My lord."

Pang Yu turned his head to look. It was He County Yamen behind him. He now worked in the Document Receiving Office, effectively serving as Pang Yu's secretary. When traveling like this, messages from various places were first passed to He County Yamen, who then relayed them to Pang Yu. Generally, an interruption of a conversation like this meant there was some urgent matter.

After they stepped aside, He County Yamen said in a low voice, "Liu Ruogu sent word that on Zhang Yixian's side, Ruan Dacheng has already pulled strings to establish a connection. He wants to send three thousand taels."

Pang Yu waved his hand casually. "Give it to him. A newly arrived Nanjing Garrison Commander will hold the post for a few years at least."

"For Qian Qianyi, a congratulatory essay can be written, but he wants one thousand taels."

Pang Yu could not help but laugh. "The literary leader of the Donglin is worth less than a eunuch."

"There is also a message from Mr. Mace, hinting that he intends to accept you, my lord, as his disciple."

This rather surprised Pang Yu. In all his time in the Ming dynasty, he had once wanted to take Mr. Yu as his teacher, but the man had not agreed. Now, it was actually the literary leader of the Donglin who was taking the initiative. But Pang Yu did not know that this Qian Qianyi was very fond of recruiting talented and famous people as his disciples, sometimes even calling himself their teacher before obtaining the other party's consent.

He County Yamen said mysteriously, "What we've found out from Nanjing is that Mr. Mace is also scheming to use border defense credentials to return to office."

"Everyone wants to be a border defense expert, as if fighting wars were that easy." Pang Yu pondered for a moment. Becoming Qian Qianyi's disciple seemed at present to be mutually beneficial. His superior Zhang Guowei was Qian Qianyi's disciple, and Shi Kefa was also of the Donglin faction. Establishing a connection with Qian Qianyi would be advantageous. For Qian Qianyi, a disciple like Pang Yu had notable military merits and considerable fame at court. If he could achieve great merit again, Mace's own prestige would rise to new heights — clearly a better bargain than Ruan Dacheng's periodic contributions.

Right now, Shi Kefa's command was giving him some headaches. If he could connect with Qian Qianyi, it would provide considerable leverage over Shi Kefa, which would also be beneficial for Pang Yu's own operations.

This was a win-win, a great thing all around, and without overthinking it he made his decision. "Qian Qianyi's name carries weight in Jiangnan — Fang Yizhi and the others have mentioned him more times than I can count. Have Liu Ruogu write a formal visit card in my name, as a disciple, and prepare a generous gift. Explain to Mr. Mace that military affairs keep me busy for now, and I will formally become his student when I reach Nanjing."

Pang Yu clasped his hands behind his back. "Have Liu Ruogu do this as soon as possible. Third Brother, when it comes to business, you still need to listen to me. Both of these deals are profitable — we absolutely won't lose out!"