Chapter 426: Long Time No See

"That Shopkeeper Jiang has confessed. Li Yongfang is at Shimenfang. Wu Jianzhong is taking men there immediately."

On Chaotianmen Street, Zhou Shifa suppressed his inner excitement and spoke to Chen Xin in the darkness.

Chen Xin did not immediately address Li Yongfang. Instead he asked, "Have the others been interrogated? Are there any other spies still inside Dengzhou Town?"

"Interrogations are being intensified. There are four more spies inside Dengzhou Town, all sending messages to Wantong. Before, they used their own fishing boats to transmit messages. Last time they crossed the Liao Sea they suffered heavy losses, so now they take Ningyuan merchant ships. They are planning to buy a boat of their own. All the staff inside Wantong are Jianzhou Bandit spies, including that beggar from the first day. Li Yongfang has five retainers. The other few were transferred from Jingshi, all old hands who lurked in Jingshi for years. They have already given up two Jingshi safe houses we had not discovered. Combined with the traitor merchant nest Zhang Dong uncovered at Zhangjiakou, the Jianzhou Bandits' intelligence network across the northern Great Ming is basically clear."

Chen Xin gave a cold laugh. "The Jianzhou Bandits are still green. In Dengzhou all threads converged on Wantong, and their agents here knew the Jingshi addresses. Once Wantong was finished, every thread was exposed. When you set up points in Later Jin, remember strictly: single-line contact only. Better to sacrifice some efficiency than to compromise the independence of each intelligence line. In this trade, better trouble than carelessness."

"Your subordinate thanks my lord for the guidance."

Chen Xin turned and conferred briefly with the officers of his Personal Guard Battalion behind him, then asked Zhou Shifa, "Do you still need the Personal Guard Battalion to seal off Shimenfang?"

Zhou Shifa eyed those officers behind him. They were all military academy graduates from this year, some also from vocational school. Because of the Lüshun battle, the military gazettes had been drumming up fervor with unusual frequency, causing an especially large wave of volunteers this year. The Military Affairs Bureau had therefore added a batch of new recruit quotas. They had just finished centralized training, and a group had been selected for the Aide-de-Camp Office to become probationary adjutants. These men could write, draw maps, calculate provisions and forage, and understood the application of various formations. What they lacked most was practical combat experience, but they were fanatically eager for war. In Zhou Shifa's view, they had all been swept off their feet by the romanticized depictions of warfare in the military gazettes.

He thought for a moment, then said quietly to Chen Xin, "It should not be necessary. There are six entrances inside and outside Shimenfang. The Intelligence Bureau can control them."

Chen Xin did not insist. By now Wu Jianzhong and Zhang Dong had both arrived with their action teams. Chen Xin took only his guards and a few young officers and set out, following Zhou Shifa to Shimenfang. Their footsteps were light the whole way. The action team escorted that Shopkeeper Jiang, his mouth stuffed with a cloth gag, and led the way all the way to Shimenfang.

In the Ming dynasty, a fang normally had several gates, but Shimenfang was located at Chaotianmen, and because of commercial prosperity it had become an open street. During the Dengzhou chaos it had also been partially burned. Many buildings were now newly constructed. The north of the city had burned worst. Dengzhou Town had taken the area north of Caoqiao and built a military camp there, stationing a Company Commander headquarters as a deterrent force to balance the various factions inside Dengzhou city. They had not forcibly occupied too much elsewhere.

The officials of Penglai County and Dengzhou Prefecture wanted land inside the city. Some households that had died out completely were seized by these clerks. Many of the houses and shops in Shimenfang were built by them, mostly for rent. As commerce in Dengzhou Town recovered, more and more people came here to do business. House leasing and buying and selling both boomed, so these low-level officials had actually made a fortune after the Dengzhou chaos.

The problem that arose under these conditions was that the previous housing layout had been broken. When these officials grabbed land, none of them cared about lanes or drainage. Whoever had the higher official rank drew a bigger plot. As a result, the lanes of Shimenfang twisted and turned, appearing extremely chaotic.

Up ahead, Wu Jianzhong was confirming the location in the darkness. He did not care whose property this was. As long as it was an order from Dengzhou Town, he would enter even if it were Wang Tingshi's residence. The team member escorting Old Jiang pointed in the direction Old Jiang was looking while speaking in a low voice, confirming the location with Old Jiang. Old Jiang's mouth was gagged, so he could only nod to indicate.

Once the target location was confirmed, several trusted subordinates drew near. There was no way to look at a map here, so Wu Jianzhong pointed at the alley mouth ahead and said to the two men, "That place with the attic there. It is unlikely Li Yongfang is staying in the attic, since that is the hardest place to escape from. He should be in the main house."

A subordinate wearing a leather cap said quietly, "Li Yongfang picked a very good spot. That position juts out a section into the alley. From both sides of the attic one can observe the alley entrances on either side. I'm only worried someone is keeping watch at night."

An action team squad leader beside him cursed, "Who the hell would keep watch for no reason? He doesn't know when someone is coming."

Wu Jianzhong nodded. "Most likely someone only keeps watch during the day. But to be safe, their courtyard wall backs onto another alley. Second Team will enter from that side. I will lead First Team from here. We'll still use the night watchman's clappers as the signal. Remember, it must be quiet, swift, and fierce."

In an ordinary little courtyard in Shimenfang, Li Yongfang was tossing and turning in bed. This was his true lair. Only two retainers lived with him. These two retainers used day labor as cover, taking turns going out to work, and never went to the Wantong shop. No one knew of this place except Old Jiang. Even his head retainer Li Ken was kept in the dark, because Li Ken was at Chen Yijing's house and the likelihood of exposure was relatively high. Moreover, Li Ken was prone to impulsiveness, and Li Yongfang did not trust him.

Even with multiple layers of cover, Li Yongfang had lately been heavy with worry, often unable to sleep at night. News of the great victory at Dengzhou and Lüshun had arrived and quickly spread throughout Dengzhou and Laizhou, becoming a hot topic in the streets and markets. At first he did not quite believe it. As someone who had once been a high-ranking Han in Later Jin, he understood Later Jin's actual combat strength. The main force, the Manchu Eight Banners' able-bodied men, numbered only a little over forty thousand, and replenishment was very slow. The wild Jurchen in the north all lived deep in the mountains and old forests. Capturing or persuading them to surrender was extremely difficult, but they all fought with ferocity. He simply could not believe that nearly five thousand could be lost in a single engagement.

Later, Dengzhou Town displayed the battle results inside the barbican at the north gate. All commoners could go see, and he went to see too. The piled-up heads formed several small hills. One of the piles was entirely true barbarians. Although Li Yongfang could not examine their teeth, the Tungusic people's facial contours and features differ considerably from those of the Han. He could roughly judge that they were all true barbarians.

According to Dengzhou's battle report, the Lüshun campaign had beheaded over five thousand true barbarians, over five thousand Mongols, and over ten thousand bondservants. After seeing the heads, Li Yongfang knew that Later Jin would fall into decline because of this. Not only the loss of strength, but also Huang Taiji's prestige — that was an even more troublesome matter. Once the Eight Banners degenerated into each acting on its own, Later Jin would be utterly finished.

So Li Yongfang tossed and turned every night, unable to sleep, always thinking of past events, thinking of his whole life. Back when Nurhaci besieged the city, Li Yongfang had indicated surrender from the start, yet continued preparing defenses on the city wall. In the end, the Eight Banners troops scaled the wall in a single battle, and he hurriedly surrendered for real. At first it was only to save his life. But later, as Later Jin won victory after victory, he settled his mind and became Nurhaci's slave. However, he had never imagined Later Jin could seize the Central Plains. He only thought the Ming court had no way to recover Liaodong. It was not until Huang Taiji ascended the throne and displayed political talent far surpassing the old slave that Later Jin gradually grew stronger. Especially when the Mongols also submitted to Later Jin, he finally sensed that perhaps entering and ruling the Central Plains was truly possible.

But the rise of Dengzhou had abruptly changed the situation. Especially after they landed in southern Liaodong, that aggressive, pressing posture far exceeded the Dongjiang Town at its strongest.

The longer he stayed in Dengzhou, the more alarmed Li Yongfang became, because he still had several agents distributed along the route. Every day over a thousand refugees arrived in Dengzhou and Laizhou, becoming part of Dengzhou Town. The land and population of Pingdu and Changyi had been swept clean by Dengzhou Town. Dengzhou's influence was also steadily seeping across the border of Qingzhoufu, absorbing Qingzhou's farming households. Given Dengzhou Town's organizational power, these people would soon become part of this war machine.

It was only in Dengzhou that he experienced for the first time the power of propaganda. Everywhere one could hear hatred toward the Jianzhou Bandits. There were newspapers, storytelling, opera stages, propaganda officers, even schoolteachers. Over days and months of accumulation, everyone regarded the Jianzhou Bandits as wild beasts of the mountains and forests. What people wanted most was to pick up a firelock and hunt wild beasts. Even the several old women in his own alley, when they sat at the alley entrance sewing shoe soles in their spare time, would curse the Jianzhou Bandits a few times and exchange the tales of Jianzhou Bandit atrocities they had heard. This power over people's hearts was what unnerved him most.

By Li Yongfang's estimate, this year Dengzhou Town's population would reach one million, with over twenty thousand in the standing army. As for the reserve army, he had no idea how many it could reach. The numbers of those reserve troops also made Li Yongfang's blood run cold. He dared not imagine how many there would be next year.

Thinking it over now, Later Jin's decline was already evident, while Dengzhou Town was full of vigor. But though others might surrender, Li Yongfang had no path of retreat, because he was the first Han traitor. As the saying goes, the first step is always the hardest. The man who led the way in becoming a Han traitor was the one people hated most.

Li Yongfang stared at the pitch-black ceiling, recalling fragment after fragment from his memory. At that moment, the first cockcrow sounded outside, followed by a bout of barking. Li Yongfang paid no attention. At cockcrow, those few dogs outside often barked. Day was about to break again — another sleepless night for Li Yongfang. He was getting on in years now, and his sleeping hours were short to begin with. Coupled with his recent heavy worries, the quality of his sleep was very poor.

The cockcrows outside came one after another. Unable to sleep, Li Yongfang simply got up from bed and sat on the edge, sorting out his thoughts. He had already arranged a boat from Ningyuan. He would send two men by boat to Ningyuan, then back to Liaodong to deliver a message. The most urgent matter was the situation at Zhangjiakou. Huang Taiji needed to be prepared in advance. If necessary, they could even send troops in winter to threaten those Mongol tribes. That trade route was very important to Later Jin.

He was so lost in thought that it was not until the pain in his shoulders and back brought him back to reality. He pounded his own shoulders forcefully. His whole body was full of ailments. Tong Yangxing, a Han traitor of the same period as him, had recently fallen ill and died. Now the Han with any power were all men like Gao Hongzhong, Shi Tingzhu, and Bao Chengxian. He, the oldest Han traitor, was still, in his waning years, risking life and limb here in this den of wolves and tigers that was Dengzhou.

He shook his head and sighed. The gray-haired Li Yongfang braced himself on the edge of the bed and stood on tiptoe to put on his shoes. Outside, the night watchman's call rang out, followed by several claps of the clappers. Li Yongfang paid not the slightest attention and continued putting on his shoes.

The clappers struck only three times. The moment they stopped, a sudden change erupted. The door burst open with a great bang. The door bolt tumbled through the air, and the door leaf slammed violently against the wall. A human figure lunged in along with the door leaf. The window lattice also shattered like scraps of paper, and likewise a figure darted through.

Li Yongfang let out a great shout and reached to grab the short blade at his bedside. He did not mean to resist — he only wanted to end it himself.

But his aged body made his movements slow. Before he could touch the hilt, he was fiercely pinned to the ground by two men. Those hands were like iron pincers, firmly locking his arms behind him. One of them, with practiced skill, swiftly dislocated Li Yongfang's jaw as well, then pressed Li Yongfang's head firmly against the floor so he could not move at all.

Then several more men entered the room. Carrying short blades and short guns, they searched the room vigilantly. After confirming there was no threat, they lit torches. One of the torches was brought close to Li Yongfang's face.

The torchlight flickered, casting black shadows onto the gray-black walls. Li Yongfang cried out muffled sounds on the floor. He knew who these people were, and he knew they were lighting the torch to confirm his identity. He would rather die than fall into their hands. But his struggles had no effect. Li Yongfang finally gave up. He lay on the floor, his eyes wide with despair, staring blankly at the shoes of the man before him.

An icy voice tinged with smugness sounded beside him. "The Fushun Imperial Son-in-Law — long years no see. Have you been well since we parted?"

〖∷Fast updates∷∷Plain text∷〗