Chapter 1338: A Ruthless County Magistrate (Please Subscribe)

"Listening to Your Honor the County Magistrate, you must have a good plan for defeating the enemy?" Ding Yuying asked again.

Ma Wanchun shook his head and said, "It can hardly be called a good plan. Dafeng Fort is a place of steep mountain terrain. In the old days, when my family governed the Shizhu Pacification Commission, mountain bandits were entrenched there, and years of suppression never rooted them out. Later the Dafeng Fort bandits joined the roving bandits, and the strategic stronghold of Dafeng Fort fell into the roving bandits' hands. They kept building and expanding it until it reached its present scale. Now several thousand roving bandits are entrenched there. Wiping them out would probably take years of effort, and it would also require governing Shizhu properly before it could succeed."

"What does suppressing bandits have to do with governing Shizhu?" Ding Yuying pressed on.

Ma Wanchun said, "In the old days, our Shizhu Pacification Commission had strong soldiers and sturdy horses. We could send troops on distant expeditions and kill enemies for the state, yet we could not pacify the mountain bandits right under our noses. Why was that?"

Why, indeed?

Both Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying grew interested and looked at Ma Wanchun.

Ma Wanchun answered his own question: "The mountain bandits of Dafeng Fort were hard to pacify in the old days precisely because Shizhu was a bitter, impoverished place. There were always people suffering cold and hunger with no way out, so commoners who could not survive kept going up the mountain to join the bandits, and that made Dafeng Fort hard to take by prolonged assault. Even if it was overrun for a time, before long there would still be people going up the mountain to become outlaws."

Ding Yuying sighed. "I never imagined that Shizhu, with so many loyal and righteous men, was a bitter, impoverished place where the people could barely scrape by. The officials of the Pacification Commission truly have a hard lot."

Zhu Hexing, however, said, "If it were not a bitter, impoverished place, where would the White Pole elite troops have come from? Since ancient times, elite soldiers have come from poor and remote regions! The guardsmen I brought with me—were they not all raised from youths of the bitter, cold lands along the Nine Frontiers?"

Although Zhu Hexing did not know how to govern a county or a prefecture, still less how to be a wise ruler, his military attainments were passable. His examination scores in the military courses at the Army Staff College proved as much!

So although his words were unpleasant to hear, they were nonetheless the truth. Back then, Qin Liangyu had been able to keep sending troops out from Shizhu precisely because the people of Shizhu were poor, with many people and little land, poor transport, and no way to develop industry or commerce. Too many able-bodied young men had no other outlet, and so they were willing to join the army and trade their lives for money.

The present-day Ming Army also recruited as much as possible from poor and remote regions. At the same time, it drew its professional officers mainly from the sons of the military aristocracy in Yingtian, with meritorious soldiers of the Guards as a secondary source of professional officers (officers who rose from the ranks of the Guards could not serve as officers in the Guards), while the boy soldiers of the Guards all came from barren and impoverished lands.

Zhu Hexing, the Crown Prince, had admittedly never gone out to observe the people's condition himself, but he had done internships in the army and had come into contact with many soldiers from barren and impoverished lands.

Zhu Hexing continued, "But the mountain bandits now on Dafeng Fort are all military households from Shaanxi. In the past they bullied the Sichuan peasant households of Shizhu plenty. The Sichuan people of Shizhu surely would not go up the mountain to join them, would they?"

Ma Wanchun nodded. "For the moment, of course not. But if we cannot firmly bring the Sichuan peasant households of Shizhu under control and give them a way to live and a way out, then whether peasants who cannot get by will go up the mountain to become outlaws in the future is hard to say."

Zhu Hexing asked, "Then how are we to firmly bring the Sichuan peasant households of Shizhu under control?"

Ma Wanchun held up two fingers and said, "For the present, there are three methods that can still be of use. First, hold examinations to select men of talent, and pick out the useful men of Shizhu first, to serve us.

Second, survey households and equalize land. We must investigate clearly all the households, people, and land, and then distribute it equitably according to whether the land is fertile or poor, good or bad. We cannot make the people of Shizhu live in peace and contentment—that is beyond us—but we can still manage to ensure that every person in Shizhu has something to eat.

Third, of course, is to recruit local militia! Once we have men of use, and once we have equalized the land for the common people, the next step is naturally to make them contribute their strength to suppressing the bandits!"

"Use local militia to suppress the bandits?" Zhu Hexing frowned. "Can local militia defeat the roving bandit military households up on the mountain?"

"Of course they cannot!" Ma Wanchun shook his head. "However brave the local militia may be, they are still farmers unversed in military affairs. The roving bandits' military households, even the women and children, have long practiced martial skills. Relying on local militia to suppress the roving bandits' military households would certainly bring heavy losses. But we must still use the local militia!"

"Why?" Zhu Hexing did not understand.

In his view, wiping out the roving bandit military households on Dafeng Fort still required regular troops! If there were not enough soldiers, then transfer more. To besiege the bandits on the mountain, one needed at least several times the enemy's strength; bringing in a division should do the job. But using local militia to suppress bandits was simply throwing away lives. Even if they could kill a few bandits, their own casualties might well be several times greater!

Ma Wanchun explained, "Using local militia has three advantages. First, it can be sustained! The key to suppressing mountain bandits is not ferocity but endurance. Moreover, the mountains of Sichuan are vast. Even if ten thousand elite troops were brought in and attacked from all sides, there would still be enormous gaps through which the roving bandits could escape. It is very likely that we would kill off the old and weak while the able-bodied slip away.

Besides, the upkeep of ten thousand elite troops is no small matter. Shizhu has poor transport and is itself a place of harsh mountains and bad water. Supplying ten thousand outside troops over a long period would be very difficult. If the guest army's supplies ran short, it would inevitably disturb the people, and once conflict arose between soldiers and civilians, the bandits on the mountain would have their chance!

Second, it can set the people of Shizhu and the bandits on the mountain against each other like fire and water. When local militia suppress bandits, no matter which side loses men, each will regard the other as mortal enemies. This is the hatred of a father killed, a brother killed, a son killed—a hatred that cannot share the same sky! If the people and the bandits come to bear such irreconcilable hatred, the bandits will become rats that everyone shouts at and beats, and they will not dare come down the mountain in small groups. And if they come down in large groups, they will be easy for our elite troops to strike. If they never come down, how long can they hold out?

Third, it can give the poor people of Shizhu something to hope for: kill bandits and win merit; win merit and receive reward. Whether the reward is money, land, or office, it is still something to hope for! With hope, no matter how bitter or exhausting, it becomes easier to endure. If the people can endure, then our jobs as officials become easier too."

What a ruthless county magistrate!

After hearing Ma Wanchun's words, Ding Yuying understood in her heart—this father-and-mother official did not care in the least how many of the common people below died; all he cared about was wiping out the roving bandits on the mountain a little sooner! But then again, wiping out the bandits on the mountain was what would truly be good for the people below. Better a short pain than a long one!

Zhu Hexing, however, nodded repeatedly. This County Magistrate Ma had real ability! His method was indeed more useful than moving a large army. Bring in a division of troops, and the men and horses would consume no small amount. Shizhu's transport was poor, and the whole of eastern Sichuan lacked grain and fodder; it simply could not supply much. So the army's supplies would very likely have to come from extorting the local people of Shizhu.

Under such circumstances, conflict between soldiers and civilians would very likely intensify! And although most of the local Sichuan people of Shizhu hated the Shaanxi military-household landlords, there was no guarantee that some had not profited by following the Shaanxi military households. Once the people's hearts were divided, the bandits on the mountain would be hard to destroy.

"County Magistrate Ma," Ding Yuying asked thoughtfully, "then how are we to select the useful men of Shizhu? What should we examine them on?"

Ma Wanchun laughed. "Of course we cannot examine them on the Four Books and Five Classics and eight-legged essays."

Zhu Hexing thought to himself: And we can't examine them on French either!

Ma Wanchun thought for a while, then continued, "First, literacy is essential. They must also be able to write essays; otherwise they cannot serve as officials close to the people.

Second, they must be thoroughly versed in farming. The people regard food as heaven. Here in Shizhu there are many people and little land, and farming is difficult. One who does not understand farming cannot serve as an official.

Third, they must be physically robust and skilled in martial training. Such men are better able to organize local militia and lead them up the mountain to suppress the bandits."

"What does 'skilled in martial training' mean?" Zhu Hexing was a little puzzled. "And how is that to be tested?"

Ma Wanchun said, "Naturally we test their skill with the long spear. The spear is the king of all weapons; it is easy to forge and easy to learn. In a hurry, they cannot master other weapons, but they can still learn to thrust and strike with the long spear. The men selected this time in Shizhu must be able to gain a rough command of the long spear quickly. Once they have mastered it, they can go teach the local militia below."

"That makes sense!" Zhu Hexing nodded repeatedly. "The local militia of Shizhu cannot learn anything else in a hurry; they can only use the long spear to kill the enemy. County Magistrate Ma, shall we open the examinations and select men as soon as possible? Select all the useful men of the Shizhu countryside, and then form the local militia as quickly as possible."

Ma Wanchun nodded and smiled. "Selecting men is easy to talk about but hard to carry out. Without the Vice Magistrate here, this official has no one available for the task. The western Sichuan soldiers under this official mostly cannot read or write themselves, so how can they help select men? Even the few who can write and do sums are all run off their feet and simply cannot spare the time for this.

The guardsmen the Vice Magistrate brought have all had schooling, and they are also thoroughly versed in the long spear. So the matter of opening the examinations and selecting men will have to trouble the Vice Magistrate!"

(End of Chapter)