Chapter 402: Is Dodo Finished?

In the late spring of the eighteenth year of Chongzhen, the once-declining spring city of Jinan—battered by Qing massacres and years of war—once again showed signs of prosperity and bustle.

Jinan's revival, in fact, had a little something to do with the Great Qing's heavenly troops. This time the Great Qing's heavenly troops had advanced along the canal. Apart from Dezhou, which lay along the canal route, and the three counties of Leling, Haifeng, and others that interlocked with Northern Zhili, which had been occupied by the Qing army, all the rest of the territory remained under the control of the militia army of Gao Hongtu, Governor of Shandong and concurrently Regional Commander of the Jinan Garrison.

And Licheng, the seat of Jinan Prefecture, had become an earthly paradise far removed from the flames of war. Wealthy households fleeing from the northern counties of Jinan Prefecture, from the Eastern Depot Prefecture, from several counties in the northern part of Yanzhou Prefecture, and even from the Great Qing's territory in Northern Zhili, had gathered one after another to settle in the city of Jinan.

After all, the city of Jinan was originally a great city, with high walls and deep moats, and a large area within. Moreover, because of the Qing army's massacres, there were plenty of vacant lots and empty houses for people to live in. And in the year or so since Gao Hongtu had taken office, he had spared no effort to strengthen the city's defenses, stockpile grain and fodder, and organize militia. He presented the appearance of being determined to hold Jinan to the bitter end, which gave the refugees and wealthy households gathering from all over a bit more confidence. They began to settle in Jinan, which was relatively close to their homes. Not everyone was willing to go far from their native places—especially those who still had property at home and no place to go in distant lands. They always wanted to take shelter somewhere close to home, so that once the war passed they could return at once and start their lives over.

On the streets of Jinan in summer, besides peddlers gathered from all over who were working hard to make a living in this relatively stable refuge amid the chaos, there were militia soldiers in gray cotton battle jackets wandering about, gaping at the sights. These soldiers were all poor peasants of bitter origin. On ordinary days they rarely even got to visit the county seat, and only roamed the nearby market towns. Now that they had arrived at Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong—a place as splendid as heaven on earth—how could they not be astonished?

The officials here were also far too numerous. Wearing crimson, blue, or green official robes, with various rank badges affixed to their chests, they paraded through the streets on horseback or in sedan chairs, some of them quite particular about their pomp, with a great crowd of attendants, followers, and guards before and behind—truly awe-inspiring.

A train of carriages and horses wound its way through the Luoyuan Gate on the west side of Jinan. This procession drew the gaze of quite a few people. The vanguard was a troop of fierce cavalry, many of whose faces bore scars left from the battlefield, and whose eyes exuded a murderous air. Unlike the militia soldiers wandering everywhere inside Jinan, these cavalrymen all wore finely crafted cloth-faced iron armor and iron war helmets, fully equipped with lances, sabers, and Kaiyuan bows. One look told you they were regular Ming cavalry!

The carriage they escorted was also very special—it was a "war chariot," with a reinforced body and wheels. Thick wooden planks had been added to the carriage body, and the wheels were studded with iron plates.

The carriage's wooden window stood open, and from time to time a dark-faced scholar's head poked out, surveying this prosperous and bustling city of Jinan.

This dark-faced scholar was Shi Kecheng, Assistant Intendant of the Yanzhou Military Defense Circuit, and Chiliarch of the Yanzhou Office of the Southern Provost Bureau of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Of course, Shi Kecheng's post as an Embroidered Uniform Guard Chiliarch was secret—a secret agent, after all, could not reveal his identity in public. If it were public, how could he carry out covert surveillance? So the fact that Shi Kecheng was a secret agent was known only to a very few people.

And this official business that brought him to Jinan had nothing to do with secret-agent work. Shi Kefa had sent him, in his capacity as Assistant Intendant of the Military Defense Circuit, to discuss with Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, Zhu Yihai, and Li Ruolian how to surround and annihilate that Tartar Dodo.

That was right—after the great victory at Qufu, Shi Kefa, Governor-General of the Seven Provinces, had gotten his blood up. He was preparing to press his advantage, joining forces with the commands of Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, Zhu Yihai, Li Ruolian, Li Huajing, Huang Degong, and Gao Jie to fight a great decisive battle against the Great Qing's tomb-raiding prince, Dodo!

But his title of Governor-General of the Seven Provinces was in name only. His orders could not even extend beyond Yanzhou Prefecture; they were effective only in the area around Qufu.

So Shi Kefa had no choice but to send his own cousin Shi Kecheng, risking pursuit by the Qing cavalry from the Qufu camp, to travel to Jinan to make contact with Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, Zhu Yihai, Li Ruolian, and the others.

The breakout from Qufu went very smoothly, without alarm or danger—because the Qing army's Qufu camp was merely a strongpoint facing off against Qufu city. It was not right up against the city, nor did it have the ability to surround it. At most it could send out a few cavalry to prowl around Qufu and pick off the Ming army's night scouts.

Against Shi Kecheng, screened by a large force of cavalry, they could not harm a single hair on his head, and could only watch him depart in safety.

And the journey north from Qufu to Jinan showed Shi Kecheng many signs of hope for victory.

For after leaving the borders of Qufu County and entering the Taiyi mountain region, he discovered that the people here had already been organized. Organized by the great leaders of the Shandong landlord class—Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Zhu Yihai!

Do not assume that because landlords and poor peasants are opposed in class terms, there is no way to organize them. In fact, before the rise of the civil examination system, the scholar-gentry landlord class could still organize local troops, build fortified strongholds, and dominate a region. Even in the Song dynasty, after the examinations flourished, great clans and powerful families still banded together for mutual protection—because the Song had no juren or xiucai degree levels, and the number of jinshi was too small. Moreover, there was no north-south quota system to ensure that every region got a few jinshi, so many prefectures, circuits, departments, and counties where culture and education were not very developed had virtually no jinshi officials at all. Great clans and powerful families relied on their numbers to band together, survive, and develop. Thus there appeared many "righteous gates"—families that did not divide their property for more than ten generations.

By the Ming dynasty, however, the appearance of the juren and xiucai degrees had weakened the cohesion of powerful clans. Take the Zuo family of Laiyang, for example—the "nine towers and eighteen Maos"—every one of them had a degree to lean on, and none would submit to another, so the family's cohesion declined sharply.

But the policies that Zhu Cilang had implemented a year earlier—replacing the circulating officials with local ones and supporting the three great Shandong local powers, Gao Hongtu, Zuo Maodi, and Zhu Yihai—had greatly strengthened the power of the Shandong landlords and gentry. At least in the counties of Tai'an, Feicheng, Changqing, and Licheng (the seat of Jinan Prefecture) in the Taiyi mountain region, organized and trained militia could be seen everywhere, along with fortified strongholds built at strategic points.

And this was only the beginning! If Shandong's resistance to the Qing could last ten or eight years, and the Shandong militia armies were all tempered by experience, then Gao Hongtu would become a "Gao Guofan," and Zuo Maodi would become a Zuo Zongtang! Then the Great Qing would be the ones weeping. But Shi Kecheng's cousin Shi Kefa could not wait ten or eight years.

"Governor Gao, my elder brother believes that the forces of the Tartar tomb-raiding prince Dodo have already formed the situation of a lone army penetrating deep. Tens of thousands of troops advanced along the canal and halted beneath the walls of Qufu. Along the way they have occupied only the towns of Wuqiao, Dezhou, Wucheng County, Linqing Prefecture, Tangyi County, Zhangqiu Town, Dongping Prefecture, Jining Prefecture, Ziyang County, and others—like a thin thread maintaining the retreat route of Dodo's forces.

And to the east of this thin thread are the forces of Governor Gao, Militia Commander Zuo, the Prince of Lu, and Commander Li—no fewer than a hundred thousand men! To the west of the thin thread are the troops of Commander Li (Li Huajing), Commander Huang, and Governor Lü—also a hundred thousand strong.

To the south of the Tartars are my elder brother's Qufu army, the Gao family army of Xuzhou, and the troops of the Governor of Huai'an—combined, also no fewer than a hundred thousand!

Dodo has only a few tens of thousands of exhausted men. Pincered by our three hundred thousand, he is clearly in a situation as precarious as a pile of eggs. As long as all parties can work together with one heart, we can surely annihilate this wretch!"

Inside the city of Jinan, in the great hall of the Governor's yamen, Shi Kecheng was speaking with eloquence, delivering the words that Shi Kefa had charged him with.

Of course, Shi Kefa's analysis was sound. At least looking at the map, Dodo really was a lone army penetrating deep, with something of the look of a force about to be surrounded and annihilated.

It was just that on the previous two occasions when the Qing army had penetrated deep into Shandong, they had also seemed to be a lone army—and had penetrated even deeper—yet they had not been annihilated by the Ming army. Instead, after plundering their fill, they had swaggered off.

(End of Chapter)