Chapter 129: If I'd Known It Would Come to This, Why Did I Do It in the First Place

After leaving Liu Zongmin's marquis residence, Luo Xiushen hurried toward the Northern Provost Office. He had only gone a few steps when he suddenly heard someone call his courtesy name. He turned quickly and saw that it was Chen Yan's son, Chen Shiwen, waiting outside the Marquis of Ru's residence with an old servant. Both of them looked thoroughly down and out. Chen Shiwen, once a dashing and debonair young gentleman, was now ashen-faced, both eyelids swollen — whether from crying or not was impossible to say.

"Well? Did you borrow the money?" Luo Xiushen stepped forward quickly and asked in a low voice.

"Where would I borrow it from?" Chen Shiwen sighed. "When my father held office, he had plenty of disciples and former subordinates. But now that he's locked up in the Provost Office, I, his son, don't have that kind of standing. Everyone avoids us like the plague — there's simply no way to raise the money! Could you speak to the Marquis of Ru and have my father released first? Then we can figure out how to raise the funds."

"That," Luo Xiushen thought for a moment, "let's first go with me to the Provost Office and see your father."

He had only spoken half of what he meant. The other half was: I wonder whether your father has been beaten to death yet?

The work of torture was not Luo Xiushen's responsibility, nor was it being done by the original Embroidered Uniform Guard riders. Fierce as the riders were, they knew how to gauge their blows and would not easily kill a man. Even crippling injuries were rare.

But how could the men under Yellow Tiger Liu Zongmin be so professional? They truly went at it with deadly force!

Luo Xiushen led the two of them along the streets of Beijing. The streets were utterly desolate. The shops facing the street were all open, but inside they were empty — no customers, and nothing left to sell.

The reason for this, of course, had to do with the torture and extortion of funds. The merchants of Beijing had also suffered terribly in this campaign of forced contributions. The Shun army had imposed far too many levies, and with the market so depressed, the merchants could only sell off their goods at rock-bottom prices in desperation. Some shops, pushed to the brink, had even sold off their furniture at bargain prices. The storefronts themselves, however, could not be sold — and could not be sold anyway — and they still had to remain open for business, or else His Majesty the Yongchang Emperor would be displeased. So they stayed open, empty as they were.

There were also many Shun soldiers in white caps and blue uniforms roaming the streets. When they had first entered the city, their discipline had been strict, but now their true colors were fully on display. Open arson, murder, and rape had not yet occurred, but breaking down doors to demand food and drink was nothing out of the ordinary. If the shops along the street had still had anything to sell, most of it would have been taken by them as well.

Luo Xiushen knew that quite a few Shun generals and officials had already raised the matter of tightening discipline with Li Zicheng, and Li Zicheng had been in favor of it. But there was simply no way to enforce it, because Li Zicheng did not have enough money to pay the troops, nor could he distribute land to the soldiers below — distributing land required diligent administration of the territory, and the Roving King had risen too fast, with too weak a foundation at the local level. So he could not implement a system like the military households or the garrison militia, and could only pay the troops in cash.

And the territory Li Zicheng held was precisely the kind that could not collect much revenue. Even without the promise of "no levies for three years," how could Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and Northern Zhili — all ravaged by war — possibly produce enough military funds to support an army of a million men?

So the brutal torture and extortion was, in fact, the only way Li Zicheng could keep his army together.

"Ah, it hurts... ah..."

Before Luo Xiushen and Chen Shiwen had even entered the gate of the Northern Provost Office, waves of wretched screaming reached them.

Luo Xiushen had spent these days "playing the good man" inside the Northern Provost Office and had grown accustomed to all manner of horrors. Chen Shiwen, however, was not used to it. His fair face turned green with fright, and his calves kept cramping so badly he could barely walk.

Luo Xiushen glanced back at him. "That's not your father. Those are two earls being sliced to death!"

"Sliced?" Chen Shiwen's voice trembled. "Wh-why?"

"Because they didn't pay enough, of course." Luo Xiushen gave a bitter smile. "Your father is a civil official. Once he pays enough silver, he'll be fine. Didn't you see that Grand Secretary Li has already gone back to Shanxi? But those nobles and imperial relatives don't get off so cheaply — they're stripped of both wealth and life! Pay the full amount and you get a quick death; fail to pay and you get sliced. You've never seen this before. Keep your head down when you walk in, and whatever you do, don't look. You'll have nightmares!"

"Th-this, this, this..." Young Master Chen Shiwen was nearly faint. So these roving bandits were actually demons? What was to be done? What was to be done...

His mind full of terror, Young Master Chen followed Luo Xiushen's advice and walked with his head down, not daring to look at the Ming nobles bound to the two pillars inside the gate and suffering the death of a thousand cuts. But the wretched screams and the thick, inescapable stench of blood still nearly frightened him into unconsciousness. In the end, he did not even know how he had made it to the cell where Chen Yan was held!

Chen Yan was still alive. Both wrists and both ankles, however, were broken. The wounds had been bandaged, and treated cleanly enough, so the old man had not developed a fever. He only felt waves of piercing pain.

And, of course, regret!

If only he had fled sooner.

"Still here, still here." Luo Xiushen's voice suddenly came through, followed by the sound of the cell door being opened.

Chen Yan turned his head and saw Luo Xiushen and his son Chen Shiwen walk in, one behind the other.

"Well? Did you borrow the money?" Chen Yan asked his son, full of hope.

He had already given everything he had, handing over all forty thousand taels of silver! But the quota Liu Zongmin had set for him was one hundred thousand taels.

"Father, your son is useless..." Chen Shiwen dropped to his knees before Chen Yan with a thud.

The hope on Chen Yan's face vanished in an instant. Then he turned his pleading gaze to Luo Xiushen. "Commander Luo, you must save this old man! As long as I can get out, I will certainly find a way to raise the remaining sixty thousand taels of silver!"

Luo Xiushen sighed. "Grand Secretary... those are your words. Sixty thousand taels!"

"Yes, yes!" Chen Yan could not bear to remain in the Northern Provost Office for even a moment longer. Back when he had served Chongzhen, he had not really feared the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Imperial Prison. Ming civil officials coming and going from the Imperial Prison was a common occurrence. And the Imperial Prison was, most of the time, not particularly brutal. Only when the emperor issued strict orders did they strike hard.

But the men under Li Zicheng struck without any sense of measure — they would literally torture a man to death!

"Done!" said Luo Xiushen. "I'll give the Grand Secretary three days. Bring the remaining sixty thousand taels in three days, and all will be well."

If the money did not come... Luo Xiushen could not bear to say it. Tiger Liu was a real tiger, one that ate men and did not spit out the bones. He was not so easily fooled. Let Grand Secretary Chen enjoy three more comfortable days!

Ren Yizhou, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Investigation Chiliarch, entered the cabin aboard the Great Dragon Head sand-ship, which was slowly making its way toward Dagukou, where Zhu Cilang was. He bowed and reported: "Thousand Years, the man you wanted has been found."

"Oh." Zhu Cilang was looking down at a roster of officers for the Central Division of the newly formed Hard-Struggle New Army that Bi Jiucheng had just finished compiling.

Seizing armed force was a matter greater than heaven itself. On the very day the Battle of Tianjin Guard ended, Zhu Cilang had issued an edict ordering the formation of the Central Division.

The officers and men of the Central Division came from four sources: first, Zhu Cilang's own bodyguards; second, the former Han Generals; third, surrendered troops from the Shun army's old camp and Tang Tong's household retainers; fourth, the Guanning cavalry brought by Wu Guoyong.

Looking at these sources of officers and men, one could see that Zhu Cilang intended to forge this Central Division into his own ace main force!

Besides organizing the Central Division, Zhu Cilang was also busy with another major undertaking — establishing a truly effective intelligence network.

This task had now fallen to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Investigation Chiliarch Office. Ren Yizhou, a Chiliarch of rider background, had been handling the matter on the way to Dagukou — selecting for Zhu Cilang a truly capable secret agent.

In Zhu Cilang's view, one or two capable agents could accomplish a great deal. Useless ones, even by the hundreds or thousands, were worthless.

Luo Xiushen, whom he had planted in Beijing, was likely one who could be of great use. And now, Zhu Cilang needed to send someone to Wu Sangui's side.

(End of Chapter)