Chapter 563: Return

"Since the Emperor began pressuring for donations, the imperial relatives and ennobled families have suddenly been handling far more silver deposits. In just these three days alone, the silver houses have taken in an additional seven hundred thousand taels. Their opinion is to arrange carts and horses to transport it south as quickly as possible, preferably still via the Grand Canal."

In the southeast corner of the Capital's inner city, inside a three-courtyard residence on Suzhou Lane east of Chongwen Gate, Zhang Mazi, the Capital chief of the Dark Sentinel Division, looked at the subordinate before him. "Earlier reports said that local bandits are causing trouble everywhere in Shandong, with many sections of the Grand Canal intermittently blocked. First make a trip to Zhangjiawan and have the Boatmen's Guild confirm whether the canal is open."

"This humble one will go tomorrow. There is still one more matter to report to the shopkeeper." The subordinate said respectfully, "In the past few days, many more people have come to inquire about depositing silver — all imperial relatives, state in-laws, old eunuchs, and high ministers, none with small amounts of silver in hand. In the days ahead the number may increase considerably. The escort manpower in Tongzhou is only enough to send one shipment; once they reach Xuzhou Station and return, the next trip will take about a month. Should we discuss with the silver house whether to wait a few more days and send it all together?"

Zhang Mazi thought for a moment, then waved his hand. "We already had several hundred thousand stored before. In such a short span, so much new silver has been added, and now all these people are coming to inquire — it means word is gradually spreading in the capital. How do you know whose ears it might reach? Shipping it out a day earlier puts the mind at ease."

"This humble one feels that those depositing silver are all high officials and nobles. Whether it's the Embroidered Uniform Guard or the Warden's Office, none of them would dare touch this silver."

"Once these silver notes are issued, the silver becomes a debt of the Anqing Battalion. Everyone in the capital holds power and influence — who can guarantee someone won't get bad ideas? Besides, the increase will likely taper off in the next few days. Intelligence from all sides confirms the Emperor is about to back down, so those imperial relatives and nobles won't feel so pressed to deposit silver."

The subordinate said respectfully, "The imperial relatives may be backing down, but the old eunuchs from the palace are coming to inquire even more instead, and so are the civil officials. What they're thinking, I'm afraid, is that since squeezing contributions from the imperial relatives isn't working, they fear the Emperor will turn his hand against them."

Zhang Mazi gave a cold snort of laughter. "The Emperor has met a rebuff; he won't move against the eunuchs and civil officials that quickly. But their fear is a good thing — the more come to deposit silver at the silver house, the more sources of intelligence we gain."

"Right now, when the old eunuchs from the palace come to deposit silver, a casual chat yields critical information, falling into our hands without effort. By contrast, we've put great effort into planting people inside the palace but have gotten very little solid intelligence in return, while bearing enormous risk. Should we cut off contact with these people? They don't know who we are anyway. Sell off that contact residence and let them fend for themselves — it would save us the trouble."

Zhang Mazi listened, then furrowed his brow and paced two circles around the room. The subordinate waited to the side. In truth, he had raised this twice before. There was no Academy here in the Capital; the recruits were basically given short-term training and then hastily sent out. Half had gone into the imperial palace, and judging by the results so far, the efficiency of intelligence gathering was rather low.

Seeing Zhang Mazi hesitate, the subordinate lowered his voice again. "Take that Lin Dengwan, for example. Before, in order to get him into the Platform Warm Pavilion and to latch onto that Junior Supervisor Zhang, we sent people south to inquire about his family's situation. After the Jurchen Slaves passed through, the roads were all unsafe; they ran into danger many times along the way. It cost time and effort, and in the end one man fell ill and died. Even after all that, the intelligence Lin Dengwan sent later was sparse, and critical intelligence even sparser. Once the weather warmed and he could no longer enter the Warm Pavilion, he sent practically no intelligence at all. Yet he asked for silver time and again. This humble one feels they are of little use. If one day the palace investigates and uncovers them, it will instead implicate our greater mission."

Zhang Mazi lowered his head and thought for a long moment, then finally shook his head. "The intelligence we get from the silver house is plentiful — our people are mixed in there, and at the moment it seems easy to obtain. But the silver house is the silver house, and the Dark Sentinel Division is the Dark Sentinel Division; they are still different in the end. The Capital is a place where dragons and fish mingle. If the silver house ever cannot continue operating, we lose all our intelligence sources. When the time comes to rebuild a network, how could we possibly do it in time? Secondly, some critical intelligence requires repeated corroboration. This time Lin Dengwan sent word of a conflict between the Emperor and Empress, claiming he heard it with his own ears, and he provided intelligence that the Empress was on a hunger strike. The Emperor, worried about face, might back down to the Empress. This matches other intelligence, so we can confirm it as true. These things seem useless, but in fact they have great use. First, we can determine that silver deposits from imperial relatives will decrease. The Emperor's earlier move against the imperial relatives and ennobled families was coordinated with Xue Guoguan's Cabinet. Now the Emperor has lost face and retreated, leaving Xue Guoguan to have offended the imperial relatives and nobles. His position as Chief Grand Secretary may be unstable — that is a major matter in court politics. As things stand now, people like Lin Dengwan can still barely serve some purpose. We can give them a warning and observe for a few more months."

The subordinate bowed. "Then this humble one will rearrange things. Apart from inside the palace, we have placed personnel in various other locations as well. We should divide them into several separate lines, so that if trouble occurs, not everyone gets caught."

Zhang Mazi looked up at him. "Press forward urgently on the other avenues, especially the Ministry of War, the Cabinet, and the Ministry of Revenue."

"This humble one was just about to report to you, sir. A reply has just arrived — the matter with the Provincial Courier Official at the Ministry of War has been settled. Per your intention, sir, we granted the Ministry of War's Provincial Courier Official second-tier honored guest status, depositing two thousand taels for him annually in Nanjing. In return, he can arrange for two of our people to be placed inside to assist with the dispatch bulletins."

Zhang Mazi's expression lifted. "Good. Once the Ministry of War's courier office is handled, we won't have to worry about military intelligence from now on."

A faint smile spread across his face, and he let out a great inward sigh of relief. The Dark Sentinel Division had invested heavily in the Capital, and Jiang Fan's every letter urged him on harshly, putting him under enormous pressure.

The Ministry of War's Provincial Courier Office was the collection point for all dispatch bulletins nationwide. Every bulletin sent by military garrisons and units to the Ministry of War passed through here first. Now that they had secured the Ministry of War's Provincial Courier Official, military intelligence from all regions would no longer be lacking.

The subordinate weighed his words, then said, "The matter at the Ministry of Revenue is also largely settled. The Cabinet presents some difficulties, but their draft rescripts must ultimately pass through the Directorate of Ceremonial, and we have people on that side in contact regarding silver deposits, so it should go more smoothly."

Because the Ministry of War matter had gone well, Zhang Mazi was in excellent spirits. Though he heard that progress with the Cabinet was not smooth, he merely gave a soft grunt of acknowledgment. The subordinate paused, then said, "There is also a difficult matter — that Zhou Helmet. The man is unbelievably stingy. What he proposed at the silver house is that he won't deposit a single tael, yet he wants to be entered into the third-tier honored guest register as if he had deposited one hundred thousand taels. The silver house finds this hard to handle."

"That Green-Skin has a truly shameless character. A man like Zhou Helmet — when it comes to silver, he trusts no one at all. He would never actually deposit any silver." Zhang Mazi's face turned cold. "People like him think they're shrewd, but in truth they're utterly stupid. If he wants a boat slot heading south, that means he knows the Capital may fall. He's a Suzhou man — depositing silver to withdraw in Suzhou protects his wealth. If the day truly comes when the Capital cannot be held, his mountains of silver can't be carried away. At most he'd flee south with his life. I don't know what kind of foolish calculation he's making."

The subordinate chimed in quietly, "He hasn't even used his stupid brain to think — right now he's relying on his power to bully the silver house. Even if he gets entered into the register, when the Capital is in peril, his power will naturally vanish too. With nothing but a name on a register, would we actually let him board a boat?"

"The Capital is full of powerful nobles. If we grant him such an excessive demand, all the rules will fall into chaos. How would the silver house conduct business after that?" Zhang Mazi thought for a long while. "But right now this Green-Skin has just won against the Emperor and is at the height of his arrogance. For the moment, we must keep him steady. Since Dong Xinkui introduced him, let Dong Xinkui handle it. At the very least, make him deposit ten thousand taels. As for which tier of honored guest, Dong Xinkui can give a verbal promise, but it must not be written into the register."

The subordinate nodded and noted it down. Just then, there was a soft knock at the door. The subordinate went to open it, and the person at the door whispered a few words to him. The subordinate turned back and said to Zhang Mazi, "The Roving Bandits have moved north to Nanyang and have been entrenched there for ten days. It's unknown whether they will head east into Henan, west into Shaanxi, or feint and turn south again into Huguang. The Emperor is sternly pressing the matter. Yang Sichang will leave the Capital immediately for the Central Plains to oversee the campaign, and is discussing the transfer of troops from various regions for a joint encirclement. This involves three battalion heads — the Anqing Battalion, the New Courage Battalion, and the Tongcheng Standard Troops Battalion — as well as the forces stationed at Gucheng and Mianyang Port."

Zhang Mazi looked it over. "This is critical intelligence. Find the secret phrase book, compile it together with the update on the silver deposit changes, and send it to Anqing as soon as possible. Our Anqing Battalion is going to suppress the Roving Bandits again."

……

On the plains southeast of Tang County in Henan, carts, livestock, and people spread as far as the eye could see. Makeshift huts were being erected everywhere, while others were laying bedding beneath already-propped cart frames. It was precisely cooking time, and dense columns of smoke filled the sky.

Beneath the sky-wide pall of smoke, a small squad of men and horses approached from the east, passing through the outer perimeter and arriving at the Western Camp's encampment.

At the very front rode Liu Wenxiu. Wang Dashan sat on an ox cart, and Old Li followed behind the cart carrying a basket on his back.

They had escaped by boat from Zongyang out onto the river, then followed the current into Chaohu. Because the Purple Star was active nearby, the boats on Chaohu were beyond counting; these common folk relied on the water barrier to evade the Roving Bandits.

But at the same time, many water bandits had also appeared on Chaohu, mostly formed by River Bandits from the Zhongjiang banding together, specifically preying on the common people's boats on the lake. The common folk could evade the Roving Bandits, but found it hard to evade the water bandits.

Liu Wenxiu's group was also attacked by water bandits. The men and weapons aboard their boat were ample, and the water bandits failed to gain any advantage, quickly retreating. But Liu Wenxiu was isolated and without support, with no idea how many more water bandits there were. Not daring to linger long on Chaohu, he went ashore at Chao County.

Chao County had first been breached as early as the seventh year of Chongzhen, and had since been repeatedly ravaged by various bands of Roving Bandits. This time it was the Purple Star's forces operating in the vicinity.

In the past, when the Eight Great Kings organized the Combined Camp, Liu Wenxiu had often been responsible for liaising with the various camps, so he was familiar with all the camp heads. It didn't take long for him to make contact with the Purple Star, after which he traveled with their camp. The Purple Star was most familiar with the Jiangbei region. Continuing east from Chao County, they plundered various places along the river. Part of the forces under the Fengyang Governor's Jurisdiction had been drawn off to rally to the king and redeployed to Xuzhou on alert. Mou Wenshou had been transferred to Huguang to pursue and exterminate Zhang Xianzhong. The only force available for mobile operations was Liu Liangzuo, and he still had the critical point of Lu'an Prefecture to defend, so he could only send a small detachment to follow behind them.

It was not until the various units from Yingtian that had rallied to the king returned south, all passing through Xuzhou toward Anqing, that the Purple Star felt the pressure. Having plundered about enough, they turned back around and moved toward Henan.

Liu Wenxiu and Wang Dashan both followed the Purple Star, wandering for these several months. Because large numbers of government troops had rallied to the king, the remaining Government Troops had all chased after the Eight Great Kings, so along the way they encountered no strikes from Government Troops and instead even picked up quite a few Servants.

At last, at Biyang they encountered Horse Soldiers from the Western Camp and confirmed that the Eight Great Kings was at Tang County. Only then did they leave the Purple Star's force and hurry to Tang County to return to camp.

"The Liu household head is back!"

The people of the Upper Third Post, seeing this Old Camp Chief who had been gone for nearly a year, crowded around one after another. Some women spotted their own gang leaders and team heads and cried out with joy. The Upper Third Post's Camp Ground buzzed with excitement for a time.

Liu Wenxiu met with several old gang leaders of his own post. Soon Zhang Kewang from the old camp also hurried over, and for a moment they were all very warm toward one another.

Wang Dashan followed behind, his eyes scanning the surroundings. The Upper Third Post's camp covered no small area, and he had yet to see anyone familiar.

The General Officer of the Upper Third Post was Liu Wenxiu, and the treasured banner-bearer was Yu Long Family. After they parted at Anqing, Wang Dashan had never seen them again. The one left managing affairs in the post was High Shine. From the looks of it, their numbers had increased greatly compared to when they were at Gucheng.

Along the way they had also received word: after Eight Master revolted and broke out of Gucheng, he had mainly operated in Henan. This year Henan suffered a great drought. Unlike in the past when people fled the bandits, this year many began voluntarily joining the camp, and the Western Camp's strength had grown considerably.

Wang Dashan himself had also picked up three Servants along the road, formally becoming a team head. The only shortcoming was that the Purple Star kept tight control over horses; only Liu Wenxiu had one. Now that they had finally returned to the Western Camp, there might be hope for a horse.

At that moment, High Shine of their post arrived. He came over, knelt before Liu Wenxiu, and they exchanged greetings. They had barely exchanged a few pleasantries when Zhang Kewang urged Liu Wenxiu to go see the Eight Great Kings.

Liu Wenxiu hastily gave some instructions to High Shine, and at the end pointed toward Wang Dashan. High Shine looked at Wang Dashan and nodded repeatedly.

Having said his piece, Liu Wenxiu mounted his horse and headed off with Zhang Kewang toward the Western Camp's Central Army. High Shine came over and said to Wang Dashan, "Of the Servants that Second Locust and Xiao Wazi used to have, nine are still left. Master Liu said to transfer them to you to lead. Come over here tomorrow to pick out a horse."

Wang Dashan's heart surged with excitement. He felt as if everyone around him was looking at him with envy, and he couldn't help but voice his thanks repeatedly.

High Shine waved his hand and pointed out to him the location of Second Locust's Servants. Wang Dashan knelt again and kowtowed, only rising after High Shine had left.

He turned his head and gave a few orders to his own four Servants. The several of them followed meekly behind. A wave of satisfaction filled Wang Dashan's heart. He took the lead and walked a few steps in the direction indicated, when suddenly he saw his own woman pulling a child, appearing among the crowd.

Both of them looked very thin. The woman's face was streaked with tears as she waved desperately at Wang Dashan. Xu Zhu's woman stood to the side, dragging her child, her face a blank mask of bewilderment.

Joy rose on Wang Dashan's face, and he involuntarily hurried forward a couple of steps. Then his pace slowed. He turned his head to glance back at Old Li behind him, then looked at his own woman for a moment. His expression gradually turned cold.