Chapter 408: Deploying Troops and Generals

In later generations, when cops arrest a suspect, they shout: "Police, hands up!"

New York cops shout: "NYPD!"

Hong Kong cops shout: "Police!"

Indian cops shout: "Priyanka Chopra!"... That one's made up.

In short, it is absolutely necessary for cops to loudly announce their identity when confronting a suspect. First, to intimidate the suspect; second, to separate out any onlookers who might obstruct official duties.

This principle held just as true in the seventeenth century.

As the Hereditary Suzhou Jinyiwei Centurion, Ma Yaotang had of course carried out official duties before, so he was quite practiced at running through this procedure.

Anyone who warranted the Centurion personally taking action in this era certainly wouldn't be some common thug. Usually, Centurion Ma's arrests were of civil and military officials, wealthy merchants — suspects of that caliber.

A criminal of that sort would inevitably be surrounded by a large retinue of attendants, personal guards, household defenders, and trusted confidants. That a mere handful of agents could seize the man relied entirely on the authority vested in them by the system. So at such a moment, first and foremost, clearly identifying oneself was critically important.

Centurion Ma did exactly the same today. As he stepped forward, holding his Jinyiwei waist token high, the words were already leaving his mouth.

The default procedure from here on was very relaxed and pleasant. Amid a crowd of trembling guards, Centurion Ma would seize the suspect, then swagger off with his man in tow.

During this process, the onlookers, cowed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard's illustrious and terrifying reputation, would not offer the slightest resistance, each afraid of being implicated themselves and dragged into the dreaded Jinyiwei Prison.

And so, beneath his outwardly imposing countenance, Centurion Ma was already mentally tallying the "take" from this assignment — aside from the benefits promised by Master Xu, he had heard that this Xiong Dao himself was a renowned and hugely wealthy merchant. Once the wretch was hauled back, he figured he could squeeze a hefty sum of silver out of him.

Just as Centurion Ma was multitasking through this familiar routine, a thunderous "BANG" exploded right beside his ear. The blast not only sent the Centurion stumbling in shock, it also completely deafened both his ears.

And when the stunned Centurion Ma turned to look back, he found that every single man he had brought with him had already been pinned with arms twisted behind their backs, forced to kneel on the ground.

That loud blast just now had been the short-coated guards lining both sides firing their fire lances into the air above the Jinyiwei's heads in unison.

Dizzy, reeling, ears ringing, Centurion Ma was next kicked in the back of the knee, his black gauze soft cap knocked off his head in passing, transforming him into a disheveled, hair-down captive.

"Insolence! To dare lay siege to a Viscount's personal guard, a court-appointed official — Xiong, are you not afraid of having your entire clan executed?!"

After shaking his head clear and grasping the situation, though Centurion Ma had been forced down into a kneeling, kowtowing posture, he showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he flew into a towering rage and bellowed his furious interrogation.

"Haha." Xiong Dao, who had been standing on the steps leisurely watching the show, first waved a hand.

Immediately, men carried out two nanmu Official's Hat Chairs. Master Xiong and the bald-headed monk comfortably seated themselves in the chairs, assuming the posture of holding court and passing judgment.

With a "snap," a follower lit the cigarette in his hand. Master Xiong took a deep, satisfied drag, veiling his face in smoke, then chuckled merrily: "Ma Yaotang, when you rushed over from Suzhou this morning to throw your life away, didn't you bother to inquire what sort of place this is?"

At that moment, Centurion Ma finally sensed something was off: this Xiong Dao and his men not only had no fear of official authority, but they were clearly prepared for his purpose in coming.

So Ma Yaotang now ceased his struggling and cursing, and opened his mouth to counter: "This official is unaware — what peculiarity does this place hold?"

"Haha." Xiong Dao shook his head repeatedly, his face full of pity. "Clearly a man with poor connections, sold out without even realizing it. And a fool to boot, spending every day holed up in Suzhou City drinking and whoring, am I right?"

Ma Yaotang's heart seized: Xiong Dao's two sentences had struck painfully, precisely true to his situation.

This assignment today had indeed been urgently handed down by the Battalion Commander last night. Moreover, as a hereditary rich N-generation Suzhou native, Ma Yaotang spent most of his days on banquets, drinking, and pleasure, and truly paid little attention to what happened in the countryside a hundred li away.

Seeing Centurion Ma's face shift through several expressions, Xiong Dao, seated on the platform, clicked his tongue and sighed again. He exchanged a glance with the monk beside him, and after both nodded, waved a hand: "Drag them all out and butcher them. Leave two to go back and deliver the message."

Centurion Ma, who still hadn't figured out what sort of trap he had fallen into, suddenly realized at that moment: he and his men were about to be butchered, just like that?

Yet reality was that brutal. After two "Bang Bang" gunshots, the two agents lagging at the very back had already been shoved to the main gate of the compound and shot dead.

Utterly incredulous, Centurion Ma was terrified out of his wits. In that moment, a sudden inspiration struck him, and amid the gunfire and blood that followed, he instantly pieced together many things.

For instance, why the Battalion Commander, with whom he was perpetually at odds, had handed him such a plum assignment; for instance, why the local Seal-holding Centurion of Jiading County had suddenly come down with a "foot ailment" days ago, rendering him unable to take this assignment.

Yet figuring it all out was of no use whatsoever. When Centurion Ma found himself being dragged toward the compound gate, he could not help but struggle violently. Even as he scrabbled on the ground refusing to go, he screamed: "Xiong, killing a Jinyiwei is the capital crime of rebellion! I am a Sixth-rank Centurion granted the wearing of the Flying Fish Robe — you cannot kill me, you cannot kill me!"

"Heh heh, if I don't kill you, how can Master Xu pin the label of rebel on me?" Xiong Dao looked at the only high-ranking agent on the scene wearing a Flying Fish Robe. "It's precisely by killing one of sufficient weight that I become a proper rebel!"

And so Centurion Ma was beaten to death like a chicken in front of the Port Affairs Office gate. The magnificent Flying Fish Robe on his person could not save his foolish fate.

Looked at from another angle, Centurion Ma's death was weightier than Mount Tai. This death gave the long-seething Land Deed Alliance a pretext, setting in motion the subsequent troop-deployment plan.

As for actually mobilizing troops, given the increasingly chaotic state of the late Ming, the Land Deed Alliance still had plenty of loopholes to exploit.

First, the very moment Centurion Ma's shooting death was confirmed, the Suzhou Jinyiwei Thousand-household Office dispatched a fast rider with an official dispatch heading for Yingtian (Nanjing). The dispatch declared that the "bandit Xiong Dao" had publicly murdered a Jinyiwei Centurion, his rebellious intent now manifest, and requested that higher authorities deploy troops to suppress him.

The fast rider traveled through the night, arriving from Suzhou at the Jinyiwei Regional Commander's Yamen in Nanjing by the next morning.

Prior to this, the Land Deed Alliance had accurately judged that Xiong Dao would certainly not be taken away by the Jinyiwei, and that a clash between the two sides was inevitable. Therefore, even if Centurion Ma had not died at the port, a few of his men would have been killed by the gentlemen afterward, and Xiong Dao would still inevitably have been branded with the crime of "killing an official to become a rebel."

This way, all relevant parties could send people to work on things in advance. So long before Centurion Ma went to Zhangsu Port to throw his life away, the envoys dispatched by the Land Deed Alliance to various quarters were already on the road.

And by this time, the messengers sent out earlier had already squared away the key figures within the Jinyiwei yamen, and were now just waiting for this official dispatch to arrive.

Because Nanjing was the Auxiliary Capital, the Jinyiwei's strength there was actually quite formidable: it housed far more officials from the Six Ministries and ennobled aristocrats than other provinces, and both the Garrison Eunuch responsible for monitoring the hundred officials on the Emperor's behalf and the Jinyiwei held real power.

Afterward, when the duty Vice Commander received the dispatch, he did not delay. After annotating it with his opinion approving the "bandit suppression," the dispatch traveled at lightning speed to the Yingtian Governor's Office.

As mentioned earlier, the Xu family's backer at court was none other than the Jinyiwei Commander, Xu Bengao. Although Xu Bengao's Commander title was an honorary one, not requiring him to preside in the yamen, because he was valued by Chongzhen, Xu Bengao had in recent years begun transitioning into the Five Chief Military Commissions, becoming a high-ranking figure within the military.

Under these circumstances, Xu Bengao, originally a Hereditary Jinyiwei Thousand-household, possessed extremely deep roots and connections within the Jinyiwei system. So everything from sending Centurion Ma to his death, to coordinating the issuance of the dispatch here in Nanjing — this entire series of actions drew upon the Xu family's true hard power.

Once the Yingtian Governor's Office received the dispatch, matters became even easier... The Land Deed Alliance and the Governor's Office were both of the civil official lineage; the guests who had arrived early and the Governor's Office clerks settled the matter over tea.

Why the clerks? Because the boss wasn't there... The boss had gone to the King's Rescue.

The Ying Grand Coordinator at this point in time was Cao Wenheng, a man from Henan.

After assuming office, this man not only immediately led troops to completely wipe out the bandits around Jurong in Nanjing, but historically, he would also dispatch troops the following year to exterminate the remnants of Japanese pirates entrenched on Chongming Island and at the Yangtze River Estuary — truly adept with both pen and sword.

And coincidentally, not long before this, Governor Cao, upon receiving the urgent dispatch from Beijing, had immediately led his troops north along the Canal to the King's Rescue.

Thus, a huge loophole presented itself: the garrison clerks left behind at the Governor's Office could lightly scribble an opinion approving the "bandit suppression" on this dispatch, then "casually" forward the dispatch to where it needed to go... Theoretically, this was overstepping their authority, but in this specific vacuum period, the clerks would have ample excuses to deflect blame afterward.

So where did this dispatch ultimately end up? Jinshan Guard.

Regarding which troops to use to deal with Xiong Dao, the Land Deed Alliance had also put considerable thought into it.

First, since eight hundred elite lake bandits had been slaughtered like chickens by Xiong Dao, ordinary Guard Post Soldiers were even less worth considering — these were worse than chickens, nothing but chicken feed.

Second, the most elite strategic forces, such as the Garrison Standard Battalion and the Governor's Standard Battalion, were beyond the Land Deed Alliance's ability to mobilize — these were strategic forces, and without the personal orders of the Grand Coordinator or the Regional Commander, they could not be fooled by mere official dispatches.

Therefore, the force that could both be mobilized and possessed passable combat strength was the Battalion Troops currently stationed at Jinshan Guard.

Jinshan Guard lay right at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay. It was not only a guard post, but also the station of the Hangjiahu Regional Vice-commander.

During the Jiajing era, due to the outbreak of Japanese pirate chaos, the court established a Regional Commander in Zhejiang, and concurrently created four area commanders, including the Hangjiahu Regional Vice-commander and the Ningshao Regional Vice-commander.

Later, after the pirate chaos subsided, the Zhejiang Regional Commander post was accordingly abolished, but these several Regional Defense Vice-commanders were retained.

So what the Land Deed Alliance mobilized this time were the Battalion Troops under the command of the Hangjiahu Regional Vice-commander. To be precise, the soldiers and horses under his subordinate, Training Mobile Corps Commander Wang Deqiao.