Chapter 584: First Meeting

The young officer with a hard-set face and a short beard along his cheeks was none other than Kong Youde, the Dengzhou Left Battalion Commander.

This man had started out as a miner in Liaodong, later defected to Mao Wenlong on Pi Island, acknowledged Mao as his adoptive father, and changed his name to Mao Yongshi. Because Kong Youde was brave and skilled in battle, he later became an important officer of the Dongjiang Garrison.

After that, Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan, and the Dongjiang Garrison splintered apart. The Dongjiang faction led by Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and others, unable to get along with the newly appointed Regional Commander Huang Long, eventually surrendered to the court and came under Denglai Governor Sun Yuanhua's command, relocating to Dengzhou for garrison duty.

To be honest, as he waited at the docks today to receive the legendary Cao's Forces, Commander Kong's feelings were rather complicated: a mix of both fear and gratitude.

The fear came from knowing just how formidable the newcomers were.

Think of the Dongjiang Garrison's hundred thousand brave men, locked in ceaseless deadly struggle against the Jurchen slaves beyond the passes, crawling on ice and lying in snow... Yet over all these years, the total number of Tartar heads the entire Dongjiang Garrison had chopped off, added together, still fell short of the number that one relief-force detachment had cut down.

Of course, if you counted bondservants and civilians, the kill numbers Mao Wenlong reported to the court were wildly inflated.

But a man can fool anyone — just not himself.

After the Capital Victory Parade back then, the court spared no expense, laboriously transporting the four thousand Jurchen slave heads around all Nine Border Garrisons for display, to spread national prestige.

It was at this time that the Dongjiang heroes had their entire worldview turned upside down. Not only did they see the great demons of their nightmares, the two Beile lords Amin and Shuotuo, but in the cargo carts they also rummaged out many familiar faces — those very acquaintances who had hunted them down in days past.

So Kong Youde knew perfectly well: those four thousand Jurchen slave heads the Cao Clan had taken were all genuine, battle-hardened Jurchen elite.

This was precisely why he felt a bit of fear today: only someone who had fought the Jurchen slaves blade-to-blade understood just how fearsome they were.

As for the secret gratitude Kong Youde was nursing at this moment — that was not something to be shared with outsiders.

... Before this, a dispatch from the Ministry of War had actually already arrived by express courier at the Denglai Grand Coordinator's Office: ordering Sun Yuanhua to assign capable troops to proceed to Shanhai Pass for deployment.

The firearms expert Sun Yuanhua, upon receiving the official document, naturally dared not be negligent. Having once served as Ningyuan Administrator and directed artillery bombardments against the Jurchen slaves, he understood very well what this Battle of Dalinghe meant for the Ming Court. Moreover, from the very start of this campaign, allies at court had sent him letters.

As the official specially appointed by the court as Denglai Governor for the Liaodong Frontline, Sun Yuanhua could not shirk this duty.

What Sun Yuanhua did not expect was that after he issued the orders, the response was poor. The various Liaodong officers, upon hearing the command, were dazed and hesitant. First they obstructed and quibbled over whether to send troops at all, and when Sun Yuanhua made it clear the military order could not be altered, they then made excuses, complained of hardship, and carried on in every wretched manner.

Sun Yuanhua probably had some idea why men like Kong Youde were avoiding battle. Yet as a hereditary member of the scholar-official class, Sun Yuanhua had no reason, nor could he possibly lower himself, to delve into the inner struggles of a bunch of military men.

He, Old Sun, wasn't planning a rebellion — what damn use was currying favor and buying loyalty from his subordinates?

As far as Old Sun was concerned, his earlier petition to the court on public business, taking in that bunch of Dongjiang beggars, had already counted as sharing the nation's burdens and bestowing great kindness upon them. Today, his order to send troops was because the court had commanded it and he had no choice but to obey. This matter absolutely brooked no excuses. Whatever reasons Kong Youde might have, these troops were going to be sent, no question.

In the end, seeing the Governor in a foul mood and issuing uncompromising orders, Kong Youde and the other Liaodong officers could not openly resist and could only nod in agreement for the time being. There was no helping it — after all, when you live under someone else's roof and eat their grain and silver, you have to help them ward off disaster.

As for what the Liaodong men plotted among themselves in private — that was not something to be shared with outsiders.

But things soon took a turn.

Just as Kong Youde was preparing ships, provisions, horses, and troops to cross the sea and reinforce the Northeast China theater, another express dispatch arrived from the Ministry of War: temporarily halt the troop movement; wait for the Zhangchao Troops to arrive at port, then combine forces and sortie together from the Liao River Estuary.

This unremarkable official document, overnight, resolved all the internal conflicts among the civil and military officials of Dengzhou.

Who was the Zhangchao Regional Commander? Previously, perhaps no one knew, but since the King's Rescue campaign, it was no exaggeration to say that this name was known throughout the land. Nowadays, even a shop boy at a Beijing sundries store knew who the Zhangchao Regional Commander was.

Who was the Zhangchao Regional Commander? Before, perhaps no one knew — but after the King's Rescue affair, it is no exaggeration to say the name was known throughout the land. In the Current Age, even the shop boy at a Beijing grocery knows who the Zhangchao Regional Commander is.

Their joy was twofold.

First, to fight side by side with the legendary Earl Cao, who slaughtered Tartars like chickens — for Liaodong men who yearned to fight their way back to their homeland, this was in itself a tremendous good thing.

Second, the dispatch contained one explicit directive: the Allied Forces would take the Zhangchao Main Commander as their commanding officer. Given Kong Youde's current predicament, this clause was actually an even greater blessing: if things went badly in Liaodong, they could all just run, couldn't they? In any case, if something went wrong, the commanding officer would bear the blame. With the conflict shifted this way, the issue with Sun Yuanhua — the one the Liaodong officers cared about most — became a non-issue.

Buoyed by these two happy sentiments, Kong Youde and his men seemed to brim with fighting spirit. During this period, they had been gazing with eager anticipation, desperately awaiting the arrival of Cao's Forces, to the point of nearly standing on the Dengzhou City walls every day to scan the sea.

The Liaodong men were like this, and Sun Yuanhua, watching from the sidelines, was naturally happy to see it happen: aside from the reinforcements being formidable, Sun Yuanhua, who already held the title of Western Learning expert, was naturally interested in Cao's Forces armed with firearms, and he himself was very willing to have an exchange with Earl Cao.

As for the local Dengzhou natives, that went without saying. By this day, industrial goods manufactured by the Transmigrator had been shipped and distributed to ports across the Great Ming's Two Capitals and Thirteen Provinces, and even to the lands beyond the frontier, the great deserts, the Western Regions, and other places beyond civilization. There was no such thing as commercial elites anywhere not welcoming the fleet.

The coastal city of Dengzhou could hardly be an exception. The very day the official document reached the Grand Coordinator's Office, certain circles had already begun to stir.

For all these reasons, when the northbound reinforcement team — which had dawdled all the way and finally reached Dengzhou on the very day of the great defeat beyond the pass — first disembarked... what they faced was an enormous welcoming party, encompassing every faction in Dengzhou, brimming with goodwill and enthusiasm.

Sha Zhengming and the others had never expected things to turn out this way.

Sun Yuanhua, personally leading a large group of local officials to greet them, was tense. Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming seemed a bit overwhelmed by the unexpected honor. And on the periphery, the silk-and-satin-clad, potbellied "local elders and commandery worthies," who were never in short supply.

Sun Yuanhua, who had personally led a large group of local officials out to welcome them, was visibly tense; Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming looked as if they were somewhat overwhelmed by the honor; and on the periphery stood the silk-clad, potbellied "Commandery Prestige elders" who were never in short supply.

Whatever the reasons, since the local powers had expressed goodwill in every way, Vice General Sha and his party naturally took the opportunity to smoothly get down to work.

Later that day, the Grand Coordinator's Office rarely threw its gates wide open and laid out a running banquet. Famous dishes from all the great restaurants, jointly offered by the Dengzhou local "elders" and the "elders" from neighboring Laizhou who had arrived even earlier, were brought to the tables as if they cost nothing — a scene far grander than when Sun Yuanhua had first taken office.

During this time, Vice General Sha, as the guest of honor, finally had a chance to answer some questions of general concern to the hosts... for instance, why had Earl Cao not come this time?

In ancient times, information traveled with great difficulty, so before this, the message Dengzhou had received was only a vague notice that a fleet from the south was coming to reinforce, without any detailed information on how many officers or how many troops.

So the local officials had assumed it would be like the last King's Rescue campaign, with Earl Cao leading the troops.

Sha Zhengming now hurriedly explained to everyone: before receiving the court's military intelligence bulletin, Lord Cao had already led his main force to Haedong to contest trade routes with the Samoyed State, and was not in Guangdong.

When Sha Zhengming, who had stayed behind to garrison Guangdong, received the military dispatch, although his "heart was anxious for his sovereign and father," he was hampered by the main army being far away. Thus, he had no choice but to bring the sole remaining battalion and travel a thousand miles to aid the war effort.

Hearing Vice General Sha's explanation, the hosts all expressed understanding. After all, it was unrealistic to trouble Lord Cao to bring the main army running to bail out the court every single time. The man was a Sea Merchant by origin; maritime trade was the very foundation of his livelihood.

Hearing Vice General Sha's explanation, the Owners all expressed their understanding. After all, it was hardly realistic to trouble Lord Cao to bring his great army running to bail out the court every single time; the man came from a Sea Merchant background, and maritime trade was the very foundation of his livelihood.

As one of the Northern Trio, Zhang Zhongqi's internal military-political rank among the Transmigrators was actually on the same level as Sha Zhengming.

During the earlier planning phase, due to operational needs, Zhang Zhongqi's open identity had been merely that of a minor Squad Commander. This time, his temporary public appearance was on short notice, and there was no time to fill the official post, so he needed an introduction.

Civil officials like Sun Yuanhua paid little attention to this so-called trusted Squad Commander who had popped up out of nowhere. But for men like Kong Youde, this man was rather important, because not long into the conversation at the banquet, they learned a key piece of information: Squad Commander Zhang had personally participated in the entire King's Rescue campaign.

The lively running banquet gradually dispersed around the time the lamps were lit. Afterward, Sha Zhengming, the nominal commander of the relief force, met privately with Sun Yuanhua.

This was only to be expected. After all, Sun Yuanhua was the Denglai Governor and the chief logistics officer for the operation. Whatever the guests wanted to do, including any future opportunities to carry out industrial and commercial arrangements within Dengzhou and Laizhou, all needed to be clearly communicated with Sun Yuanhua in advance.

So Sha Zhengming came straight to the point and spoke frankly: given the insufficient troop strength for this northward deployment, and since he had not received direct orders from Earl Cao, he probably would not take the initiative to engage the Northern Tartars in battle this time...

Sun Yuanhua, upon hearing this, expressed understanding and even praised Vice General Sha for his forthright style. After all, Old Sun had just spent the past few days being given the runaround by his own subordinate Liaodong officers, so he rather appreciated this approach.

In this moment, Sun Yuanhua, fully aware of the situation, nodded silently, signaling his agreement: once their two forces combined, marching out to Liaodong was mandatory, but they would not pursue battle results.

In that One Moment, Sun Yuanhua, who knew full well what was meant, nodded silently, signaling his agreement: once the two forces joined up for this campaign, marching the troops to Liaodong was a must, but they would not pursue any battle results.

To put it bluntly, in this campaign, the true stars of the show were, politically, the Emperor and the Fortification Faction led by Sun Chengzong, and militarily, the Guanning Military Clique. Forces like the Cao Clan troops coming from the north, or the Denglai Grand Coordinator Subordinate Troops, were in fact all extra onlookers.

Whoever reaps the benefits does the heavy lifting — that's the basic principle. So Sun Yuanhua's bottom line was simply to dispatch troops as ordered by the court and fulfill his duty. As for what battle results those dispatched troops might achieve... Old Sun himself didn't believe in any.

Historically, Old Sun repeatedly urged Kong Youde's eight hundred cavalry to set out, and his intent to satisfy the court in doing so was all too obvious: in a general engagement involving over a hundred thousand men, what could eight hundred Eastern River Cavalry do? If Kong Youde truly had that kind of ability, he wouldn't have been chased and hacked at daily by the Tartars, nor been "cut down" by the court and reduced to a beggar.

Historically, Lao Sun repeatedly urged Kong Youde to set out with his 800 cavalry, and his intent to answer to the imperial court in doing so could not have been more obvious: in a decisive battle involving over a hundred thousand men, what difference could 800 Eastern River Cavalry make? If Kong Youde truly had that kind of ability, he wouldn't have been chased and hacked at daily by the Tartars, nor been reduced to a beggar by the court's "Cutting Down the Feudatories."

Furthermore, there was the most crucial point: the imperial court's suspicion toward a certain Regional Commander in the south had long ceased to be any secret. Therefore, in the eyes of a Scholar-Official like Sun Yuanhua, whether the Earl Cao was chasing a husky or a Satsuma, in any case, sending only a few men to handle the assignment like today was truly a wise choice.