Chapter 391: A Probe

"Brother Liu, I urge you to accept Wang Tingshi's offer. It's just adding another pair of chopsticks — a fourteen-year-old loli. If you sleep with her, no court will convict you. I'd jump at the chance if I could."

Chen Xin arrived at the military camp travel-worn and dusty. The moment he stepped into Liu Minyou's office, he called out to Liu Minyou, who was buried in his work. Liu Minyou looked up, saw it was Chen Xin back, and his face showed a trace of joy. After hearing Chen Xin out, he put away his smile, shook his head, and continued writing his plans. He had already received word yesterday that Chen Xin would arrive today, so there was no particular surprise.

"I can finally return this troublesome post of temporary Regional Commander to its rightful owner. You can worry about Lüshun yourself. As for my matter, don't trouble yourself over it. I've thought it through these past few days. If you want to marry her, go marry her yourself. I will not agree."

Chen Xin clicked his tongue and sighed. "Why are you always so concerned about Li Ranzhu? In this day and age, isn't it normal to have wives and concubines? Wang Tingshi and you are both officials — a perfect match in social standing. If you think she's too young, you can always delay consummating the marriage."

Liu Minyou stopped his brush and looked at Chen Xin. "It's not a matter of age. Wang Tingshi is an official of the imperial court. What kind of officials are we two? Sooner or later you're going to rebel. If the time comes and Wang Tingshi stands with the court, you'll certainly make me draw a clear line between his family and ours. Once feelings are involved, I won't be able to do it. Don't try to persuade me."

"On this I can guarantee you: the day I raise my banner, Wang Tingshi will be the very first to draw a clear line with the court. If he were a stubborn fool, he wouldn't have given the Provincial Governor's grain tax quota to Lu Zhi. He's been an official for many years; he understands these things perfectly. An official is an official, no matter which one. I'm not going to shave his head, so he has no reason to fight to the death."

"Lüshun is already under attack, and you're still here talking about little lolis. Huang Taiji is about to tear apart your old nest in Liaonan."

Chen Xin said with utter indifference, "In Lüshun I have five company-grade infantry units, one garrison unit, three battalion artillery units, over twenty field cannons, more than forty naval and land red-barbarian cannons, two hundred Frankish breech-loaders, over two thousand cavalry, over four thousand auxiliary troops, complex trench works five or six li wide, dozens of watchtowers, over a hundred warships, the defensive advantage of interior-line maneuver, and a reserve force in Dengzhou ready to deploy at any moment. You think I'm afraid of Huang Taiji?"

Liu Minyou rolled his eyes at him. "Huang Taiji has a hundred thousand troops. Do you have any serious business? If you do, say it. If you're still going on about lolis, then shut your mouth and get to Lüshun. With the Jianzhou bandits' great army coming and you not in Dengzhou, Wang Tingshi's hair has turned white from anxiety."

"I do have business. Write a memorial impeaching me, and hand it all to Wang Tingshi."

"Impeach?!" Liu Minyou nearly choked on his own saliva. He hastily stopped his brush. "Are you ill? Why would I impeach you for no reason?"

"I'll impeach you too. We need to stir up some excitement for our Dengzhou garrison at court."

"What for? Don't tell me that one bandit-suppression campaign has addled your brain."

Chen Xin snorted. "Your brain's the one that's addled. The other day on the road, I was thinking about the Qingzhou matter..."

"What Qingzhou matter?"

Chen Xin hastily corrected himself. "Isn't Qingzhou plagued by bandits? I hear the court is inclined to have the Dengzhou garrison suppress them. It would be best if Qingzhou could be incorporated into Denglai. I was thinking, Denglai is all harmony now, and our Dengzhou garrison is the strongest garrison around. We routed the roving bandits. If this time we can withstand the entire Later Jin army with the strength of a single garrison, that proves our might is not inferior to Later Jin. The court will always be uneasy. The Qingzhou matter most likely won't succeed. So you must impeach me. As long as there's internal conflict within the Dengzhou garrison, the court will play its checks-and-balances game. Qingzhou might then establish a Regional Commander under the Denglai Provincial Governor. I've also asked Geng Zhongming to impeach me. Now you do it again, and we'll see how the court arranges things. The chances will at least be much greater."

"You want to create a Qingzhou Regional Commander?"

"Why not? With warfare every year, the Ministry of War is recklessly appointing Regional Commanders — more and more of them. Tongzhou, Changping, Baoding all have Regional Commanders now. Why can't we get a Qingzhou Regional Commander? As long as the court thinks it can check me, the likelihood of success is high. Geng Zhongming has earned merit this time; his chances are the best. Wang Tingshi will think along the same lines. He may not fully understand the Dengzhou garrison's system, and might use this chance to win you over. He'll push his daughter's marriage even more actively, using her and Geng Zhongming together to balance me. Having this extra Regional Commander will make things go much more smoothly."

"Doesn't your head ever get tired, thinking about these schemes and tricks all day? So what do I impeach you for?"

"Arrogance and overbearance!"

"Just say 'arrogance and overbearance'?"

"Right. Make up your own reasons. Write down all the grievances you hold against me in your heart. As long as the court knows you're dissatisfied with me, it's enough."

"Will the court believe it? They can easily find out my background."

"It's not that easy to investigate. Besides, right now the militia battalions have just won a victory in Henan. You've become self-aggrandizing, unwilling to let me monopolize the military glory, wanting to climb higher. Some people, once they reach a certain position, do develop such ambitions. At the very least, the court officials will automatically accept this reasoning. Only then will they feel at ease about the Dengzhou garrison."

"Don't say any more. Even I'm starting to believe it."

Chen Xin laughed heartily. "Out of thin air we create a Qingzhou Regional Commander, plus a Vice Regional Commander and an Assistant Regional Commander. What does reputation matter? Geng Zhongming gets to be Regional Commander, but the troop quota is still mine. He's already asked me to send officers to his battalion. He'll only keep his current personal battalion of eleven hundred troops. I just need to give him five hundred extra men's worth of pay and provisions. The main battalion will be at least thirty-five hundred. I still pocket the pay for two thousand men and gain more troops. Why wouldn't I do it? That's over seven hundred taels a month. Why wouldn't he go along? There's another benefit to this matter: I also want to test the court's reaction, and whether Wen Tiren is reliable."

Liu Minyou shook his head. "Aren't you using political maneuvering a bit too much? I advise you not to tax your brain with these things. The most important thing for our Dengzhou garrison is unity. By comparison, what the Emperor thinks is secondary. Once I submit this impeachment, Wang Tingshi is a man of intricate mind. What if he makes this matter public? How will the civil and military administration within the Dengzhou garrison view me? No matter how you explain it then, it will ultimately leave a knot in people's hearts. The loss outweighs the gain. So Geng Zhongming can impeach you, but I cannot. Don't forget what you yourself said: the simple way is the best way."

Chen Xin furrowed his brow, lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his thumb to Liu Minyou. "Minyou, you make a good point. Then this matter is dropped. I'll go find Shang Kexi to impeach me, and see if I can get him appointed as Dongjiang Regional Commander."

"Why choose him?"

"He sent over a hundred of his family members to Dengzhou. Of course I'm going to choose him. And I also promised to look after his family. Right now, the main families are all engaged in commerce. These people are being looked after by the Foreign Affairs Office. As long as it doesn't violate the trading company's rules, give them as much preferential treatment as possible."

"That's not a transaction."

"This is called an exchange. Our business on Shicheng Island is doing quite well. We don't lose in silver either. His grain tax quota and troop pay are all in the hands of the trading company. He's even agreed to issue troop pay entirely in pay chits. The soldiers on the island have started using pay chits to buy goods at the trading company. With these measures in place, Shicheng Island belongs to our Dengzhou garrison. It's a nail I've driven into the Dongjiang garrison. Of course I'm going to help him."

Chen Xin finished speaking as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He stood up and said, "I'll go see Wang Tingshi, ask him for munitions and grain, then head directly from the naval port to Lüshun. I'll think more about the loli matter. We'll talk when I get back from Lüshun."

Liu Minyou stood to see him off. "Go quickly. Lüshun is already under attack. Take care of yourself. Intelligence says Later Jin has over twenty red-barbarian cannons, and shield carts by the hundreds and thousands."

North of Lüshun city, gunpowder smoke hung thick in the air. Below West Official Mountain, armor and weapons were as dense as clouds. Later Jin soldiers in every color of banner covered the great earth.

At the front of the Later Jin battle line, thunder roared in bursts, and red cannon flames flickered. Twenty-three red-barbarian cannons of various calibers bellowed incessantly, hurling iron shot weighing from six to twelve pounds at the Dengzhou earthen wall a li and a half away. One after another, the iron balls howled down before and behind the earthen wall, splashing up patches of black soil. The Dengzhou earthen wall remained utterly silent, offering no return fire.

At the pre-battle council, Huang Taiji had considered. Yue Tuo suggested attacking the large fortified tower at Tiger Tail. Though casualties might be heavy, once captured, they could use red-barbarian cannons to seal off the only water channel. He insisted it was the critical point.

But after the commanders went to Tie Shan to survey the terrain, they found it extremely difficult. The two senior beile objected vehemently. The reason was that the terrain there was narrow, making it impossible to deploy troops. Both flanks would come under cannon fire from Ming warships. Inside the inner harbor were over twenty Ming warships, and outside the harbor were several dozen more. If Later Jin moved troops, they would be spotted from West Official Mountain. The Ming could transport reinforcements from Lüshun city and Gold Mountain faster than Later Jin cavalry could move. More importantly, they had no navy. On that long, narrow strip of land at Tiger Tail, holding the position was fundamentally impossible.

Huang Taiji ultimately placed the attack point on the central sector. The mountain defense lines on the two flanks were extremely difficult to assault. The mountains themselves were far taller than the earthen wall, with defenses arranged in layers. Trenches had been dug there as well, and shield carts could not be used. The Ming army could also shift troops from the earthen city to reinforce. The Gold Mountain flank in particular would not only be struck by cannon fire from the Ming earthen wall, but would also come under bombardment from Ming warships in the port and at sea. He did not wish to attack the most difficult mountain defense lines at the very start, so he would first test the central earthen wall line.

Two red-barbarian cannons on West Official Mountain were returning fire. These two cannons came from Guangdong, brought to Jingshi in the jisi year by Frankish mercenaries, and then came to Dengzhou with those instructors, allocated to Lüshun by Lu Zhi. They fired six-pound iron shot, with barrels twenty-eight calibers long, giving them greater range than Chen Xin's field cannons. The artillery crews adjusted the elevation to maximum, relying on their commanding height, and fired continuously down the mountain. Their range reached over two li. The shot fell in a high parabolic arc, making ricochet nearly impossible, but the impact was devastating. Anyone struck was practically reduced to unrecognizable remains, causing considerable chaos among the Later Jin forces on the western flank.

After three shots, the iron red-barbarian cannons were scalding hot and ceased fire one after another to cool. The Later Jin great drums thundered, shaking heaven and earth. Behind the cannon positions, over two hundred shield carts began to advance. This was their first probing attack today. Given the difficulty of the assault, each Later Jin banner contributed an equal number of men: one hundred archers per banner, totaling one thousand; one thousand Outer Mongol troops; two hundred musketeers each from the Ujen Choha and Tianyou Army; three hundred mounted Bayara; altogether twenty-seven hundred combat troops, plus over a thousand bondservants pushing the shield carts.

"Keep walking!" Zhang Zhongqi howled loudly, beating the thirty-some bondservants under him with a wooden club. They were pushing five shield carts. On both sides of him stretched a neat line of two hundred shield carts, forming a battle line over a li wide. Pushed forward by over a thousand bondservants, they rumbled onward. The entire line advanced in unison, like a wooden tide.

These shield carts stood eight chi tall, made of elm and locust wood, shaped like a sedan chair compartment. Below were four small wooden wheels. The front protective panel and top panel were eight cun thick — twenty-five centimeters — capable of defending against all known Ming firearms. The more advanced ones had three layers of cowhide on top, covered with soil and water-soaked cotton quilts, making them nearly impervious to fire and water.

On some of the finer shield carts, the front protective panel was not fixed rigidly but attached with movable pins. When lead shot struck it, the panel would tilt to absorb the force, and the lead or iron shot would often be deflected in another direction, leaving the men and horses behind the cart completely unharmed. (Note 1)

The cruder shield carts had their front panels fixed rigidly, which made them easier to manufacture. Behind the wooden planks, thick wooden strips served as ribs, providing equally outstanding protection. Under Zhang Zhongqi's command were three such crude shield carts.

Behind Zhang Zhongqi was a row of archers and musketeers, and behind them the Bayara who supervised the battle line. The Bayara carried powerful bows, but the arrows they used were not sharp ones. Instead, they were light arrows wrapped with cloth at the tips, the cloth soaked in red dye. Any man who dared hesitate or fail to advance would be shot by the Bayara with these red arrows. After the battle, anyone found with red marks on his body would be summarily executed. This allowed each Bayara to control a longer stretch of the battle line.

Zhang Zhongqi peered through the gaps between the shield carts at the earthen wall ahead. The distance was still over three hundred paces, but they were already within the enemy cannon's field of fire. The black earthen wall ahead was utterly silent. Apart from the cannon emplacements at the gaps, Frankish breech-loaders and Grand General cannons could also be seen on the wall. Only the military banners fluttered in the wind, and on them one could faintly make out a flying tiger baring fangs and claws. The road ahead was covered with pits and trenches, as well as some large stone blocks painted with different colors — the Ming army's range markers.

Though Zhang Zhongqi put on a fierce front, he was in fact the most terrified man behind those shield carts. He had long since witnessed the prowess of these Dengzhou troops. Some had fled back from Shenmi Island, and every village was full of rumors. The combat power of those Dengzhou troops was undeniably formidable. Fortunately, he had not been at the battle of Fuzhou. After Take Tan returned, he had spoken to him in private about it. He heard they had routed the entire Plain White Banner in hand-to-hand combat. That terror deepened in Zhang Zhongqi's heart every day. That was why, when he left home, he had spoken so many words to the mute.

Besides probing the defenses, they were also tasked with clearing away those marker stones along the way. The Later Jin troops used the same method to mark distances, so they understood the stones' purpose very well.

Three hundred paces. A red flash flickered on the opposite side, and a puff of white smoke burst forth.

With a whoosh, a three-jin, four-pound cannonball flew out at a speed visible to the naked eye, tracing a low, flat trajectory. Before it even reached the shield cart line, it slammed into the ground with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust. The iron ball bounced up again, its speed considerably reduced. It struck the ground once more, then crashed head-on into a shield cart on Zhang Zhongqi's left flank.

With a tremendous bang, the iron ball smashed violently against the front protective panel. The already decelerated cannonball was blocked by the thick wooden planks. The shield cart shuddered fiercely, its front half jumping upward. From the back of the protective panel, countless splinters of wood exploded outward, spraying like a rainstorm toward the rear. The flying splinters, large and small, became like sharp blades, embedding themselves in the bodies and faces of the bondservants behind. The bondservants pushing the cart screamed simultaneously, clutching their faces and chests and wailing in agony.

Zhang Zhongqi had long known this would happen. At Luanzhou he had witnessed the power of nearly a hundred Ming red-barbarian cannons. Two archers drew their shun sabers and hacked wildly at the ground, cutting down all the screaming bondservants.

As the Later Jin troops reached the three-hundred-pace marker, cannon fire erupted in succession ahead. The gaps in the earthen wall opened fire one after another. Along this battle line over a li wide, there were eight Dengzhou cannon positions, with eight field cannons and red-barbarian cannons. The Dengzhou garrison had drilled here many times. All cannon firing data had been pre-calibrated for angle. These field cannons did not aim for direct hits but used extremely low trajectories to achieve ricochet. Standardized powder charges greatly increased accuracy, and the hit rate reached as high as fifty percent.

Behind the shield carts, wood splinters flew everywhere. Wounded bondservants rolled on the ground wailing. The archers supervising the bondservants showed no mercy, cutting down all who cried out. They forced the remaining bondservants to move away the range markers. The main body of shield carts continued advancing. They still needed to fill in the pits beyond the horse-stopping trench.

As they drew closer, the Ming cannon fire grew more accurate. One after another, shield carts were hit and came to a halt. The battle line became ragged and uneven.

Amidst waves of shrieking, bondservant casualties mounted rapidly. The harrowing screams continued without end. All around, mentally shattered bondservants shrieked and fled, only to be cut down by the archers holding the line behind them. The path of the shield carts was littered with corpses.

"No turning back! Keep moving forward!" Zhang Zhongqi had already thrown away his wooden club. He brandished his scabbard, slapping the panicked Huang Shan in front of him. "Use your hands to protect your face! Don't even think about running!"

Zhang Zhongqi cared only about that one man, Huang Shan. He had told the mute about capturing bondservants in Lüshun, but in truth, he had never harbored any such hope. If these Dengzhou troops didn't capture him and make him a bondservant, he'd count himself lucky. To him, his most valuable asset was this Huang Shan. In Liaodong, where population was sparse, a bondservant was more important than an ox.

Huang Shan turned his head to look at Zhang Zhongqi, his face covered in sweat, his lips trembling violently, his eyes filled with terror. The deafening roar of cannon fire, the shrieking iron, the gut-piercing, mangled, blood-and-flesh-blurred wounded, the harrowing screams — he was usually a crafty slacker, but a scene like this had never appeared even in his most fearful nightmares. Huang Shan's spirit was already on the verge of collapse.

"Boom!" Another thunderous blast. Fifty paces away, an eight-pound iron ball shrieked through the air and smashed a shield cart to splinters. The cart burst into countless wooden fragments, spraying high into the air and drifting down in flurries onto the archer ranks behind it. Immediately after, two more thunderous blasts — two more shield carts turned into spare parts, the bondservants and archers behind them collapsing in heaps across the ground.

Huang Shan let out a hysterical scream, turned around, and tried to flee. Zhang Zhongqi swept his scabbard under Huang Shan's feet, throwing him to the ground. Nearby, several other bondservants abandoned their shield carts and scattered in chaos. Bowstrings twanged repeatedly from behind, and those men were shot until they resembled hedgehogs.

Huang Shan struggled desperately on the ground, meaningless shouts bursting from his mouth. Two archers from the same village walked over, ready to hack Huang Shan to death. Zhang Zhongqi dared not stop them, watching in despair as this valuable asset was about to vanish.

Suddenly, the sound of gongs rang out. The two archers hesitated slightly. Zhang Zhongqi jolted alert, hurriedly pulled Huang Shan up, and roared at the remaining bondservants of his own niru: "Follow and withdraw! No disorderly running!"

The Later Jin soldiers turned and retreated, their pace far quicker than when they had advanced, yet their formation remained orderly. A small number of archers guarded the remaining bondservants, not allowing them to abandon the shield carts — because the Dengzhou army had wrecked the ecosystem, and they had to cross two ridges to fell suitable timber.

The bondservants erupted with the instinct to survive, pulling the shield carts and moving at flying speed. The Ming army's cannons fired one more pursuing salvo, then ceased shooting. Zhang Zhongqi dragged Huang Shan along, staying at the very rear, and soon withdrew beyond the dangerous distance of three hundred paces. He had finally preserved this asset, and had also saved a human life in the process.

"Guess that counts as doing a good deed," Zhang Zhongqi finally had a moment to think.

PS: Note 1: From "Records of Mountains and Seas": (The Jianzhou Bandits) Their siege implements are made of locust and elm wood, over eight cun thick and eight chi tall, shaped like a sedan chair, with four small wheels below, propelled by men. The boards all use movable pins; whenever struck by lead or iron, the board appears solid but is actually loose, so that when lead strikes it, the cart flips backward, the lead ball deflects and passes over, and the cart then rights itself, unable to harm men or horses. When used to assault a city, upon reaching the walls, it is laid down as flooring.

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