Chapter 141: The Battle of the Four Cities (I)

Chen Xin watched helplessly as Liu Zhilun's great army marched out of the city. Every official present knew Liu Zhilun was heading into disaster, yet all put on admiring expressions and merely praised him. Though Chen Xin could not bear it in his heart, he was not going to accompany him to his death.

After Liu Zhilun's army left the city, it slowly made its way to Tongzhou. The Regional Commander of Tongzhou was none other than Chen Xin's old superior Yang Guodong. His networking skills were extraordinary; he had paved his way in the capital. Just as the Jianzhou Bandits entered the pass, the court proposed establishing a Tongzhou Regional Commander. With both the qualifications and the connections, he naturally assumed the post. Moreover, he was adept at currying favor, constantly sending urgent appeals to the capital, so the Ministry of War dared not redeploy Tongzhou troops for the royal rescue. He thus stayed safe and sound inside Tongzhou city, submitting some innocuous memorials that appeared to consider the court's interests but were actually all for his private gain. He even proposed building one hundred and eight beacon towers along the Grand Canal at Tongzhou, so that next time the Jianzhou Bandits came, they would know where they crossed the river. He intended to replicate the blockhouse tactics of Liaoxi in Tongzhou and conveniently pocket some construction funds. He then proposed expanding Tongzhou's troop quota to twenty thousand, and insisted they must be Yiwu and Dongyang soldiers.

The Ministry of War naturally could not be bothered with him. Yang Guodong had been asking for the moon; since there was no counteroffer, he let it go. He continued to stay comfortably in Tongzhou, watching idly as the Later Jin troops plundered Zhangjiawan, then swaggered past the city outskirts. In short, he kept the gates firmly shut. This time when Liu Zhilun arrived, he still kept the gates shut and would not let Liu Zhilun enter.

Yang Guodong knew the officials in the capital very well. This Liu Zhilun was the bookworm type, hastily promoted with no background, so Yang Guodong dared to snub him, refusing to open the gates just because he said so. Liu Zhilun had no choice but to encamp outside the city. Just then they were hit by a mix of rain and snow. Many old hands seized the chance to desert again, and the rest were unwilling to march in such weather, so they halted for two days. Immediately some censors impeached him for cowardice and loitering. Liu Zhilun indignantly submitted a memorial defending himself. After receiving Chongzhen's encouragement, he bypassed Tongzhou and continued eastward. By this time he had already resolved to die.

Although Liu Zhilun ran into a brick wall the moment he set out, he was the type who would not turn back even after hitting the southern wall. He pressed on to Jizhou. This time he encountered Ma Shilong. Ma Shilong told him to go ahead and promised to cover him from behind. So Liu Zhilun led his ten-thousand-strong army through Jizhou toward Zunhua.

They crept along the entire way. Just past Jizhou they were detected by Later Jin scouts. Daišan personally led troops to relieve Zunhua. Liu Zhilun set up camp against the mountain at Niangniang Temple Hill outside Zunhua. When he saw the Later Jin troops arrive, he fired his cannons. But the wooden cannon failed to hit the enemy and blew itself up instead. Liu Zhilun's great army was untrained to begin with and had no battlefield experience whatsoever. This incident frightened them badly, and the camp fell into chaos. The Later Jin forces seized the opportunity to assault the hill, and in the end shot Liu Zhilun dead behind a large boulder. Of Liu Zhilun's ten-thousand-strong army divided into eight battalions, only one battalion escaped. Ma Shilong, who had promised to cover him, never appeared.

From then on, no large Ming force dared to come provoke them again. When the cities near Xifengkou that had defected discovered the Later Jin main force had returned, they abandoned their cities and fled one after another, and were once again occupied by the Later Jin army. Huang Taiji regarded this area as his own territory, even issuing proclamations telling those villagers who had fled to return and farm the land.

With extreme contempt for the Ming army, Huang Taiji wanted both to retain this enclave and to return to Shenyang to rest and regroup. He left only a portion of his forces to defend the four cities. The rest of the Later Jin army began leaving the pass in succession from mid-February, taking with them not only the goods they had plundered but also large numbers of captured Han civilians.

This territory sandwiched between Shanhai Pass and Jizhou contained four main cities: Zunhua, Qian'an, Yongping, and Luanzhou. To the northwest was Zunhua, in the center was Qian'an, to the south was Luanzhou, to the east was Yongping, and to the north lay the Jizhen border wall from Da'ankou to Lengkou, whose passes had all been taken by the Later Jin. Except for the north, the enclave was surrounded on three sides by Great Ming forces, forming a classic salient.

At this time, great chaos had not yet erupted in the Great Ming. Although the capital region was ravaged, national strength remained. The various royal rescue armies grew ever more numerous. Aside from one battalion in Gansu that mutinied, all the rest reached the capital. Chongzhen finally set his mind completely at ease. The situation gradually stabilized, and the Ming army began gathering strength, preparing to expel the Later Jin beyond the pass.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

In early March of the third year of Chongzhen, spring warmth brought flowers into bloom in the northern lands. Tianjin Guard seemed to awaken from its winter slumber. Once the Grand Canal thawed, this city would regain its former bustle. But this year, half the shops along the canal remained closed — some had gone south to flee the military disaster, and some were not optimistic about the devastation in Beizhili and wanted to wait and see.

A seagoing vessel docked at the small pier on the Wei River. Liu Minyou, his face full of exhaustion, walked down the gangplank. Chen Xin had run off to Beizhili for the royal rescue without even greeting him beforehand. Lady Zhao wept daily at home, practically convinced Chen Xin would not return. Liu Minyou had no choice but to send someone to Tianjin to inquire for news. Who knew that person would come back saying Lord Chen had left a farewell letter and gone to the capital. Liu Minyou dared not tell the Zhao family. He carefully examined Dong Yu's inventories from the previous months: the gunpowder requisitioned was double the normal monthly amount. Chen Xin himself had also drawn twenty thousand taels of silver in advance. Adding in the copper coins Song Wenxian had shipped to Tianjin that had not been reimbursed, all of it must have been used for Chen Xin's military expenses and operational funds. Buried in complex affairs, he only now realized Chen Xin had planned this long in advance.

News of Chen Xin's royal rescue spread quickly. Yang Yunnong also heard of it. After learning the strength of the Jianzhou Bandits, he too basically concluded Chen Xin would not return. He sent Wang Yuanzheng over every couple of days to probe for news — no one knew what his intentions were.

Finally in mid-December, a ship from the Dengzhou naval force arrived from Tianjin. Chen Xin sent men bringing news of the great victory at Gu'an. Inside the fortified village, there was jubilation. Lady Zhao also stopped crying for the time being, but she could never fully set her mind at ease. She sent people to find Liu Minyou several times, asking him to have someone deliver a letter to the capital telling Chen Xin not to charge to the front. After Yang Yunnong learned of it, he too changed his attitude, even coming over on his own initiative to ask Liu Minyou if he lacked any supplies — his face changing faster than Wu Mengda's.

Liu Minyou was also extremely worried about Chen Xin and the Wendeng Battalion, but both Weihai and Wendeng were huge undertakings. He shuttled between the two places. By the end of February, he finally finished arranging the spring plowing. Although Chen Xin had again sent word back saying he had reached the capital and was safe guarding inside the city, Lady Zhao and Zhao Xiang still could not set their hearts at ease. After all, the Jianzhou Bandits were still in Beizhili. They both told Liu Minyou to go in person to persuade him. Liu Minyou then boarded a Dengzhou cargo ship purchased the previous year and came to Tianjin, bringing only Zhang Erhui with him.

After two years, outside Zhenhai Gate, Liu Minyou actually felt a sensation akin to a traveler growing shy as he nears home. After entering the city, the familiar sights of Zhenhai Gate Street stirred up many memories. A smile involuntarily surfaced on Liu Minyou's face.

Zhang Erhui behind him said, "Brother Liu, who's living in our courtyard now? If it hasn't been cleaned, let's just stay at an inn."

"We have a courtyard. Zhou Laifu has been helping look after it. Why stay at an inn? You earn one tael and five qian of silver a month now, and you already think you're rich?"

Zhang Erhui was only sixteen this year. After two years of training in the workshop, his literacy and arithmetic were quite good. He was gradually starting to take on some workshop management and was a key person Liu Minyou was grooming. Now every fortified-village household in the village knew Zhang Erhui had followed Lord Chen for a long time. They politely called him Young Mr. Zhang, and many families hoped to arrange a marriage with him. But Zhang Erhui himself was not satisfied with this clerk post in the workshop. He always wanted to join the Wendeng Battalion as a soldier. Liu Minyou was short-handed and simply would not let him go.

In front of Liu Minyou, Zhang Erhui was still that childlike figure. Coming out with Liu Minyou this time, he also wanted to see his elder brother Zhang Dahui. After hearing Liu Minyou's scolding, Zhang Erhui gave a simple, silly grin and said, "Then I'll do the cleaning."

Liu Minyou raised his hand, originally intending to pat his head as before, but suddenly realized Zhang Erhui had grown quite tall and was no longer that childlike figure. He hurriedly withdrew his hand.

Zhang Erhui, unaware of his narrow escape, pointed at the orchid signboard ahead and said, "Brother Liu, look, it's our clothing shop."

Liu Minyou felt a wave of nervousness for no reason and said to Zhang Erhui, "Let's not go there yet. Let's go back to the courtyard and get settled first."

Zhang Erhui said, "It's still early till evening. Auntie Zhou was so good to me and Daixi. Why don't we go to the clothing shop first and see them?"

Zhang Erhui knew a bit about Shen Niangzi's situation. Scratching his head, he looked at Liu Minyou and grinned foolishly.

Liu Minyou suppressed the urge to smack Zhang Erhui's head. After scolding him a couple of times, he walked past the clothing shop entrance from the opposite side of the street. As he passed, he glanced over and happened to see Shen Lishi's slender figure bustling about, seemingly arranging skirts on a clothes rack.

Zhang Erhui was also looking. Afraid he would notice him, Liu Minyou hurriedly turned his head and walked quickly past this stretch, turning into Jingdong Fang. The street was still stinking to high heaven. Since its numbers had increased, Mazi Erdun had also become filthy, chaotic, and squalid. Later, a batch of wounded soldiers retired from bandit suppression took sticks and taught these people to line up and practice hygiene, which proved more effective than the original fines.

They opened the door and went in to look. It had been swept spotlessly clean. The two pulled bedding and sheets out of the cabinet, which had also been washed. By the time they finished making the beds, it was nearly supper time. Liu Minyou sent Zhang Erhui to the clothing shop to call Lao Cai over.

Liu Minyou instructed him, "Just ask for Lao Cai. Ask him where the men the Wendeng Battalion left behind are. As for the clothing shop business, tell Zhou Laifu to come here tonight to report. I won't go to the clothing shop."

Zhang Erhui agreed and went. In less than a quarter of an hour, Lao Cai came barreling in, flustered and frantic, bowing repeatedly in greeting. Liu Minyou did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Lao Cai, what's all this? You could have just come over at a normal pace."

Lao Cai said agitatedly, "Proprietor Liu, when Lord Chen passed through Tianjin a few days ago, he didn't come to the shop. He only sent someone to tell us to hire a seagoing vessel to deliver messages to Dengzhou and Weihai at any time. Later we learned he had gone to fight the Tatars. Everyone worried day and night for Lord Chen's safety. Who could have known Lord Chen would achieve such great merit? Truly unimaginable, unimaginable. A few days ago he sent word that he had reached Tongzhou. I was anxious to tell Proprietor Liu about this, so I hurried a bit."

Liu Minyou saw that Lao Cai was showing genuine emotion, clearly heartfelt concern for Chen Xin. His impression of Lao Cai suddenly changed greatly. The man was a bit mercenary, but his fundamental nature was not bad.

"Lao Cai, I've come to Tianjin this time only in passing. I must go find the Wendeng Battalion immediately. Did Lord Chen leave any relay horses or the like in Tianjin?"

"No, he just left two men at the pier outside the city. The relay horses came back, delivered the message, and left."

Liu Minyou pondered for a moment and said, "Then tomorrow I'll buy two horses and go to Tongzhou…"

Lao Cai hurriedly advised, "Proprietor, you mustn't. Tongzhou is full of soldiers right now. If you go like that, I fear before you even find Lord Chen, those soldiers will have robbed you clean. Riding a horse is especially out of the question. Soldiers love to steal horses most of all. I hear they'll even kill to silence witnesses."

Liu Minyou said in alarm, "The garrison troops still do such things?"

"Those soldiers don't get enough to eat, so they specialize in wicked deeds. Nothing like Lord Chen's troops. Lord Chen has even been called 'Our Zhen's Qi Shaobao' by the Emperor. Tsk tsk, truly remarkable." Lao Cai wore an expression of pure admiration. Liu Minyou reckoned he had never imagined that the accountant who had come in seeking a job that day would, two years later, hold such status.

After hearing this situation, Liu Minyou also hesitated somewhat. He asked Lao Cai, "Then how can I find Lord Chen?"

"How about waiting until the grain officials from Tianjin escort grain and going together with them? Nowadays, as long as you mention it's Lord Chen's business, they will all help. With them present, those soldiers won't dare cause trouble."

Liu Minyou was about to agree when a clamor arose outside the courtyard. Liu Minyou could hear that it seemed again to be the voices of Shen Lou and Shen Lishi. Shen Lou was shouting angrily, "Hand it over!"

Shen Lishi was crying, "You've taken it all. There are still over ten days left this month. What will the family eat?"

Some neighbors were at the side trying to mediate. Shen Lou seemed to ignore them, dragging Shen Lishi along. His crutch knocked against the bluestone slabs with a thumping sound as they headed toward the courtyard they rented from Deng Keshan. Liu Minyou opened his mouth and gestured outside. Lao Cai carefully observed Liu Minyou's expression and hurriedly reported, "Proprietor Liu, this Shen Lou is truly outrageous. Every time the monthly wages are paid, he snatches them away to gamble. Shopkeeper Zhou eventually switched to paying Shen Niangzi every half month, and even withholds a bit at the shop, so that when Shen Niangzi has urgent need, she still has somewhere to get money. Today just happened to be the day the first half-month's wages were paid. I'm afraid…"

Before Liu Minyou could ask in detail, a shriek came from outside. Liu Minyou hurriedly followed the sound out. The two from the Shen household had already entered Deng Keshan's courtyard. Lao Cai followed Liu Minyou over. The main gate was already shut. From inside rose again the sound of a club striking flesh and cries of pain.

Liu Minyou stared at that gate, panting heavily several times. Lao Cai said cautiously, "Proprietor, shall I go try to mediate? That Shen Lou is also an old neighbor; perhaps he'll give some face. If it really won't do… we could find some street toughs to give Shen Lou a beating. After all, Shen Niangzi is an employee of the proprietor's clothing shop. How can we let Shen Lou torment her like this?"

Liu Minyou fixed his gaze on the gate for a long time, gritted his teeth, and put on a fierce expression. Lao Cai thought he was about to kick the door down, but instead saw Liu Minyou suddenly deflate and say, "Forget it. Let's go. Go find out when those grain officials are leaving. The sooner the better."