Chapter 503: A Way Out, No Privileges

"You must not!"

"Absolutely not!"

"We beg Your Highness the Crown Prince to think this over."

Before the Crown Prince Zhu had even finished speaking, Yuan Jixian, Qiu Yu, and Fang Gongyue — three virtuous old ministers — had leapt to their feet to remonstrate.

And Wu Sanfu, who had always obeyed the Crown Prince Zhu's every command, was also standing there stunned.

The cannons mounted on Phoenix Mountain were no three-pounder battalion guns, nor twelve-pounder Hongyi cannons, but a twenty-four-pounder and a thirty-six-pounder that had only arrived in Shanghai from the Bocarro foundry in Macao in late June of this year.

These two cannons had been shipped over as sample fortress guns and handed to the artillery section of the Nanjing Military Academy to tinker with for several months. When Zhu Cilang set out on his western campaign this time, he had brought them along, intending to use them to bombard Li Zicheng.

After reaching the prefectural seat of Wuchang, Feng Sizhong, commander of the Model Army's artillery regiment, had chosen the high ground of Phoenix Mountain north of Wuchang to emplace the two great guns.

Phoenix Mountain was a strategic point of Wuchang; it had long been said that to control Wuchang one must first control Snake Mountain, and to control Snake Mountain one must first control Phoenix. Though not very tall — only some fourteen or fifteen zhang — its location was of critical importance: a "mountain within the city" north of Wuchang, just two or three li from the Yangtze. It was also only about five li from Turtle Mountain, the high ground inside Hanyang city across the river. A twenty-four-pounder or thirty-six-pounder coastal defense cannon emplaced on Phoenix Mountain could just barely reach Turtle Mountain on the opposite bank of the Yangtze.

But the cannons on Phoenix Mountain could hardly hit Hanyang Gate Wharf — the city wall was in the way! Both guns were direct-fire cannons, not curved-fire mortars or howitzers, so they could not fire over the wall.

"Thousand Years," Wu Sanfu said, "the two great guns on Phoenix Mountain cannot reach Hanyang Gate Wharf; the wall and gate tower block them."

"Right, right, they can't reach it."

"Better to pacify them."

"This old minister will make a trip; this old minister will go at once."

The three venerable old ministers were all quick-witted enough to seize on Wu Sanfu's words and keep the argument going.

Wu Sanfu then added: "Thousand Years, let's move the three-pounder battalion guns to Hanyang Gate! The three-pounders can fire canister at close range — one blast covers a huge area!"

This Wu Sanfu certainly knew how to come up with ideas — and at once the three venerable old ministers grew frantic.

"Duke, what are you saying?"

"You must not fire canister!"

"Those are all the seeds of learning in Huguang! You cannot use cannon on them!"

Zhu Cilang watched the three old ministers hopping in distress and quickly cut in: "Who said anything about bombarding Hanyang Gate? Do We not know the ballistics of twenty-four-pounder and thirty-six-pounder long guns? We wrote the artillery section of the Military Academy's curriculum Ourself. Sanfu, We are ordering you to bombard Turtle Mountain in Hanyang! Those scholars outside Hanyang Gate want a northern expedition, don't they? Then let us do a little expeditioning! Go quickly, and tell Feng Sizhong to aim carefully!"

"Aye!" Wu Sanfu answered, turned, and went off to arrange the bombardment.

Yuan Jixian, Qiu Yu, Fang Gongyue, and the other old ministers let out long breaths of relief, then looked again at Zhu Cilang — and saw that this young Army-Soothing Crown Prince wore a faint, half-hidden smirk. Something was off. Was he hatching some other wicked scheme?

Boom— Boom—

When the twenty-four-pounder and thirty-six-pounder great guns began to roar, the Son of Heaven of the Shun, Li Zicheng, was in his temporary palace — the former Hanyang prefectural yamen — eating his lunch. There was no rare delicacy; just a few vegetable dishes, a steamed Wuchang bream to go with white-flour buns, and a big pot of stewed mutton. A bite of white bun with Wuchang bream, a mouthful of mutton soup — how delicious!

Since reports of victory had been arriving from all quarters, Li Zicheng was in a fine mood today and had a good appetite. He was eating with relish when the rumbling of cannon fire reached him.

Li Zicheng raised his head and looked out the open window. Outside was a clear sky — plainly it was not thunder, but someone firing cannon! Could it be the artillery battalion at the Turtle Mountain battery drilling?

Just as he was wondering, Liu Zongmin came hurrying in.

Li Zicheng greeted him with a smile: "Jiexuan, perfect timing — come eat with me. Bun with fish, very fresh!"

"Majesty!" Liu Zongmin kowtowed smartly, then reported in a rush: "Zhu the bandit's cannon are bombarding our Turtle Mountain battery!"

Li Zicheng smiled indifferently: "I thought it was something serious. Just fire back!"

Liu Zongmin shook his head: "We can't fire back!"

"Why not?" Li Zicheng was taken aback.

Liu Zongmin said: "Because the two cannons bombarding Turtle Mountain aren't mounted on the Hanyang Gate tower — they're mounted on Phoenix Mountain!"

"On Phoenix Mountain? That far away!"

"Yes, five or six li off! The Hongyi cannons on Turtle Mountain can hardly reach it, and even if they barely do, there's no accuracy left."

Li Zicheng let out a breath and laughed: "Then no need to panic. If our Hongyi cannons can't reach them, their Hongyi cannons surely can't reach us either."

Liu Zongmin shook his head: "Majesty, their cannons can reach us. The brothers at the battery have already picked up the shot they fired over — it's a size or two bigger than the shot our Hongyi cannons throw!"

"Hongyi cannon shot comes in sizes?" Li Zicheng did not catch on for a moment.

Liu Zongmin said: "Majesty, it's that their guns are bigger than ours!"

"Ah." Li Zicheng rubbed his forehead. How foolish of him! Zhu Cilang held the rich southeastern lands and could trade with the western red-haired nations, so of course he could buy great guns.

"We still have to fire back!" Li Zicheng said in a grave voice. "Right now the two armies are locked in a standoff — we cannot afford to lose face."

"But our guns can't reach Phoenix Mountain!"

Li Zicheng thought for a moment, set down the half-eaten "fish bun," and stood up: "Come, let's go up to Chaozong Gate and take a look."

Chaozong Gate was the east gate of Hanyang city, right at the foot of Turtle Mountain, beside the Yangtze. Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin slipped quietly up onto the wall near Chaozong Gate, making no show of it — they did not even dare climb the gate tower. Old Li had already been ambushed once by Zhu Cilang's Hongyi cannons when he attacked Beijing, so now he had learned his lesson.

So he went up onto the wall beside the gate tower and swept the far side with a single-tube telescope. He found the area outside Hanyang Gate bustling — a disorderly crowd of people, most of them Confucian scholars, carrying many tattered banners. What they were up to, he had no idea.

"There! That place crowded with people." Li Zicheng lowered the telescope and pointed. "What's that gate called?"

"It's called Hanyang Gate," someone nearby answered.

"Good! Fire on Hanyang Gate!"

"A hit! A hit!"

Outside Hanyang Gate, a crowd of juren and xiucai were cheering.

They were not cheering that they themselves had passed anything, but cheering that the great guns on Phoenix Mountain had struck Turtle Mountain. Though they did not know whether any of the accursed roving bandits had been killed, hearing the cannons roar and watching the mud and sand kicked up by the shot filled their hearts with indescribable delight!

Peng Ziqin was shouting "A hit! A hit!" along with the rest, just as he had shouted when he passed the provincial examination years ago. Just as he was enjoying himself, he saw several puffs of smoke suddenly burst from Turtle Mountain across the river, and then a few black specks flying toward his side at tremendous speed. In the blink of an eye, two thunderous "Bang! Bang!" sounds erupted behind him, followed by screams.

Peng Ziqin spun around to look and saw two great holes in the outer wall of the Hanyang Gate tower! Below the holes all was chaos — countless men in scholar's robes were fleeing in panic, and several had blood all over their heads and faces. They had been struck by bricks falling from the Hanyang Gate tower.

It turned out the Hanyang Gate tower was built of traditional vertical brick walls. Once struck by cannon fire, even if the thick wall was not breached, many of the bricks on its face would be shattered and sent flying down like bursting shells, covering a wide area. Those standing below were the ones who suffered — they were certain to be battered bloody.

Bang! Bang!

Two more twelve-pound stone shot struck the Hanyang Gate tower, and shattered bricks rained down, leaving the rioting scholars with nowhere to hide.

Now everyone knew it was the roving bandits across the river firing on Hanyang Gate!

Hanyang Gate was now a real battlefield — stop making trouble, everyone, and run for your lives!