Chapter 330: Liu Xiang

Yu Xianke lived up to his name, bearing himself with uncommon grace. He was a man of about forty, dressed in a scholar's robe, with a flowing long beard, a lean and clear-featured face, and the look of an accomplished man of the Way.

In truth, as Liu Xiang's Chief Military Advisor, Yu Xianke had few strategic accomplishments to his name—one might even call him a failure. Of course, he could hardly be blamed for that; he was, after all, a wandering Daoist priest by origin and had never made a careful study of the histories.

Historically, in the seventh year after Zheng Zhilong accepted recruitment and amnesty (1635), the Liu Xiang Group, which had been incessantly plundering the Fujian-Guangdong Coast, reached the peak of its notoriety, so much so that Chongzhen was greatly alarmed and the court had no choice but to once again launch a Summon Pacification plan, hoping to create a second Zheng Zhilong.

Xiong Wencan, then Governor-General of Liangguang concurrently overseeing Fujian, immediately ordered Hong Yunzheng, then Huizhou Prefecture Sub-Prefect, to take charge of the matter, and to go to Haifeng together with Guangzhou Assistant Regional Commander Xia Zhilin, Chaozhou Coastal Defense Huang Zong, Huizhou Judge Yao Xizhe, and others to summon and pacify Liu Xiang.

And who was it that represented Liu Xiang in the Haifeng negotiations for recruitment and amnesty? None other than Military Advisor Yu Xianke.

And what was the outcome of the negotiations?

On the fourth day of the fourth month that year, the authorities erected five mat-sheds on the banks of the Haifeng river and held a pacification ceremony. Liu Xiang then arrived at the foot of the mountain with forty or fifty wooden boats and went ashore to meet Hong Yunzheng.

Right after the official consolation, Liu Xiang suddenly accused Hong Yunzheng of false pacification and then seized Hong Yunzheng and the other officials, taking them aboard his ships. The shore instantly descended into chaos, with countless people trampled. In the end, Liu Xiang imprisoned Hong Yunzheng and the others at Mozi Gorge in Huidong County.

The occurrence of this kidnapping incident can be said to be the watershed that marked Liu Xiang's decline from the height of his power: from then on, the authorities completely abandoned any thought of recruitment and amnesty and began single-mindedly mobilizing troops to exterminate Liu Xiang.

Thus, in just over a year, Liu Xiang was defeated by the Allied Forces of Zheng Zhilong and the Official Army in seven battles and seven victories, and was annihilated at Tianwei Ocean... Military Advisor Yu Xianke perished with him that same day.

In this affair, Military Advisor Yu Xianke, who had served as the negotiation representative, bore great responsibility; neither before nor after the event did he fulfill the supporting role a military advisor should have played: regardless of whether the negotiations succeeded or not, even if the authorities were conducting a false Summon Pacification, Liu Xiang's side should not have thought themselves clever and abducted a group of officials. What does the court have the most of? Officials! If you capture a cartload today, they can fill the posts again tomorrow!

Of course, for a pirate group with no grand political ambitions that only knew how to plunder everywhere, a low level of competence among its staff was perfectly normal, because no proper scholar would ever surrender to the court and join such a gang.

After Li Zicheng rose to power, it was not until 1640, on the eve of entering the capital, that he finally picked up a Niu Jinxing—and even he was a Reform Through Labor convict who had been stripped of his juren degree by the Ming dynasty. Yet Li Zicheng treated him like a priceless treasure and appointed Niu Jinxing as Grand Secretary (Chancellor) in Xi'an—showing that in ancient times, unless the system completely collapsed, the vast majority of scholars would rather live in poverty than seek employment outside the system.

Likewise, who would have bothered with Zheng Zhilong before he accepted recruitment and amnesty? Yet the moment he donned an official mantle, even if it was the laughable "Five Tigers Guerilla General," scholars came flocking to him in droves, and his tent was filled with all manner of advisors, men of letters, and private secretaries... The difference between inside and outside the system was simply too vast.

Although Yu Xianke's ability was not high, he was still someone Liu Xiang valued at the moment: because there were certain matters that only he could reasonably handle, things those other illiterate pirates with faces full of rust stains could never manage... such as discussing recruitment and amnesty. Yes, after careful consideration and under immense pressure, Liu Xiang had once again thought of the chamber pot, and so he intended to discuss the matter of recruitment and amnesty with the lords of the authorities.

"I did not know the Master summoned me; this student is late, a thousand pardons, a thousand pardons." Upon entering, although Yu Xianke was no scholar, he had learned the scholar's full repertoire of pedantic courtesies to perfection.

Yet Liu Xiang was precisely the sort who fell for this: "Sir, there is no need for such ceremony. There is a troublesome matter at hand that requires discussion, and I fear I must trouble you to make a trip outside."

"Very well, may I ask what matter the Master speaks of?"

"Ah..." Liu Xiang sighed at this point. "Recruitment and amnesty."

Speaking of recruitment and amnesty, it was not so easily done. If simply admitting defeat and kowtowing were enough to enter the system, then among so many great pirates, why was Zheng Zhilong the only one to succeed?

First of all, because Liu Xiang's motives were impure, he was the same as the likes of Li Kuiqi—pirate chieftains of their limited vision found it very difficult to truly accept recruitment and amnesty.

One had to beat the authorities painfully, then make peace with them, give them face, handle affairs with a high profile while keeping a low profile personally, smooth things over with the Dayuan officials and clerks, and also bear a large amount of upfront risk investment, including but not limited to silver and one's own life and limb...

True recruitment and amnesty placed extremely high demands on the executor; there were a great many technical maneuvers, every link had to be handled perfectly, and the difficulty was no less than a trash company going public in later generations—a single misstep anywhere and the whole game was lost.

With Zheng Zhilong's command ability, vision, sincerity, worldly tact, and capacity to bend and stretch, even he went through many twists and turns, repeatedly risking his own life to gain the trust of the big shots before finally securing recruitment and amnesty. So for someone like Liu Xiang, unruly and half-hearted, the probability of success was, in truth, negligible.

Liu Xiang himself was, of course, well aware of this, which was why recruitment and amnesty was a chamber pot—only remembered when the urge to piss struck.

Right now, the urge had struck.

After Liu Xiang laid out the Great Gang's current predicament fully before Yu Xianke, the latter first fell into a long silence, then slowly asked, "May I ask whom the Master intends to surrender to?"

"Ah." Liu Xiang sighed. "That is precisely where I am indecisive."

"If it is merely a perfunctory act, why worry about which side to choose?" Yu Xianke was now the one who did not understand.

"Sir, there is something you do not know. This time, the recruitment and amnesty is false in appearance but real in substance; we can no longer just muddle through." At this, Liu Xiang shook his head and sighed again, then explained his analysis of the recruitment and amnesty situation in detail.

In view of the current situation, the ideal state for Liu Xiang was to don an official mantle, so that he and the Cao Clan would be ministers in the same court and he could avoid future conflicts.

Therefore, he now had three options: negotiate recruitment and amnesty with the Cao Clan to become a Two-Route Marshal, negotiate with Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan, or negotiate with Governor-General of Liangguang Wang Zunde.

Yet no matter which mountain he chose to bow to, it was obvious that under the immense strategic pressure from a certain power, he could no longer toy with the authorities as he pleased.

This awkward situation was unbearably painful for Liu Xiang, who wanted both to wear an official mantle and to bear no responsibility. In other words, his ideal scenario of being a pirate on one side and an official on the other, without clashing with the Cao Clan, was now impossible to realize.

The Cao Clan, with its formidable military might, was out of the question; that sort of half-hearted so-called recruitment and amnesty would likely just be courting trouble for nothing, inviting their gunboats to come knocking.

As for Xiong Wencan, the logic was the same: going to him to discuss recruitment and amnesty would inevitably put one at a disadvantage. Even a three-year-old child knows that you get recruitment and amnesty by murder and arson; if you haven't beaten the authorities badly enough to hurt, will they treat you as anything more than a scallion?

One must understand that the current situation was completely different from history.

First and foremost, Liu Xiang simply could not threaten the Fujian Coastal Area.

Secondly, Xiong Wencan not only basked in strong imperial favor, but also had under his command a certain golden enforcer who was "completely different from Zheng Zhilong and seemingly quite obedient." At this moment, Old Man Xiong's two sleeves were full of gold, and he was showered with praise from the court, riding high and swelling with arrogance. So one could figure out with one's foot what kind of face Xiong Wencan would show if Liu Xiang came knocking.

In other words, Grand Steward Liu's bargaining power had now diminished, and Xiong Wencan's terms would certainly be very harsh.

Yet Old Liu dared not storm off in anger, because if talks broke down, Old Xiong wouldn't care—in fact, Old Xiong might even be happy if they broke down: letting Liu Xiang run off to Guangdong to wreak havoc and slap Wang Zunde's face while he, the Old Man, watched the fun from the sidelines would be a fine pleasure too... One must not set the moral bar too high for officials.

So on the surface, the best option appeared to be His Excellency the Governor-General of Guangdong.

Yet Liu Xiang personally had the least faith in Wang Zunde.

First: to plunder and cause trouble madly in Guangdong, fight a series of great battles with the Official Army, finally defeat the Official Army, obtain a Summon Pacification overture from the authorities, then personally bring silver to smooth things over with the Dayuan officials, groveling and fawning, bending the knee to serve superiors... To truly replicate Zheng Zhilong's high-difficulty path, honestly, Liu Xiang had no confidence in himself.

Second: Liu Xiang had no commercial foothold. Historically, Zheng Zhilong was a son-in-law of a Japanese family and controlled the Japanese Raw Silk trade. Moreover, he occupied his old nest in Xiamen and had a commercial base and trade channels, which was why the merchant Zheng Zhilong urgently needed recruitment and amnesty.

And what about him, Liu Xiang? He was nothing but a roving bandit, with neither trade channels nor a base. Now Xiamen had already been occupied by the Cao Clan, and the Pearl River Estuary had the Portuguese, so Liu Xiang lacked the fundamental driving force for recruitment and amnesty.

This was the most fundamental reason why, historically, Liu Xiang was half-hearted and repeatedly unwilling to accept recruitment and amnesty: if he could not overcome Zheng Zhilong and seize Xiamen, what use would recruitment and amnesty be even if he got it? The authorities, for people like them, would not give a single copper coin to support troops beyond the nominal title.

Without trade channels and a base, even if they gave him, Old Liu Xiang, the title of Regional Commander, he would still have to lead his brothers out to plunder; otherwise, his men would all run off before long.

The current situation was, in truth, the same as in history, which was why Liu Xiang was now very confused: even if he took Wang Zunde's path to recruitment and amnesty, if he would have to go out plundering again soon after, then why go to all this trouble?

As for Liu Xiang's final concern, it was purely a premonition of his own: once he stirred up big trouble in Guangdong, Cao's Forces entrenched in Xiamen would strike from behind to lend a hand to Guangdong Officialdom.

The Cao Clan was different from those traditional warlords who shut their doors and kept to themselves—for no reason at all, Liu Xiang just had this strange premonition.

After hearing all of his master's various concerns, even Yu Xianke, a man of merely average talent, now felt a deep sense of crisis. To think his usually ruthless and decisive master could be driven to such a state—Yu Xianke could not help but sink into deep thought.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Yu Xianke had settled his thoughts, and only then did he stroke his long beard and say to Liu Xiang, "I fully understand my master's concerns. As things stand now, we must first ascertain the true intentions and thoughts of the several parties before making a decision. In that case, I shall set out tomorrow and make a trip to Xiamen and Fuzhou; Master, await my news."

Seeing Liu Xiang hesitate as if about to speak, Yu Xianke, knowing his concerns, chuckled and pressed his hand down reassuringly. "Master, rest assured, on this trip I shall be utterly courteous and deferential, and will certainly not provoke our adversaries or ruin the situation."

"Then I am at ease." Seeing that his Military Advisor understood his meaning, Liu Xiang immediately nodded. "Tomorrow, I shall see you off!"