Chapter 515: The Crown Prince Comes to Divide the Fields

"Eat his mother, wear his mother, open the great gate and welcome the Roving King; when the Roving King comes, he divides the fields."

The song welcoming the Roving King rang out outside the walls of Jiangling. But it was not the poor and lower-middle peasants inside and outside Jiangling who were singing it — it was the bandits of the Zuo family army, who had just thoroughly plundered Jiangling.

Well, in truth it was no longer the Zuo family army either, because Zuo Menggeng had already lost control over the Regional Commanders, Vice Regional Commanders, and Assistant Regional Commanders under him. All he could still command were his own thousand-odd household retainers, plus the ten thousand or so men under his direct command — that is, the troops originally under the Wuchang Garrison Regional Commander.

As for Li Guoying, Lu Zuguang, Xu Yong, Hao Xiaozhong, Ma Jiaolin, Zhang Yingyuan, Wu Xueli, Chang Deng, and the other Regional Commanders great and small, each had brought their own troops — some six or seven thousand, some three or five thousand, the least a thousand or two — and were drawn up on both sides of the official road, all kneeling on the ground and loudly singing the song "Welcoming the Roving King."

As for the people of Jiangling, those who had not been killed had been rounded up and brought outside the Great North Gate, made to kneel behind the soldiers, and made to sing along as well — though they sang poorly; no matter how one listened, there was a note of weeping in it.

Nor were these Jiangling commoners all poor and lower-middle peasants. Many had been landlords and merchants who had fled to Jiangling precisely to escape Li Zicheng, only to run into the Zuo family army's great plundering. Now their homes were ruined and their families destroyed, and they had nothing left — how could they not grieve?

Li Zicheng's great army, meanwhile, advanced with martial vigor and soaring spirit. Though they had force-marched for more than a day and a night, not one of them felt fatigue.

The Shun Emperor himself was also with the army at this time, dressed in a blue coarse-cloth riding jacket and wearing a white felt hat. Behind him a stout warrior held aloft a great banner bearing the character "Roving," which fluttered in the wind.

"Your subject, Zuo Menggeng, Duke of Xiang, respectfully welcomes the sacred carriage of the Shun Yongchang Son of Heaven. Long live His Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

Just outside the Great North Gate, Zuo Menggeng led his subordinate generals and officials in kowtowing to welcome Li Zicheng, who sat on horseback.

"Rise, dispense with ceremony!" Li Zicheng waved a hand grandly. "Duke of Xiang, mount up and enter the city with Us."

When Zuo Menggeng heard Li Zicheng call him Duke of Xiang and invite him to enter the city together, his heart was at once overjoyed.

He also knew that noble titles in the Shun dynasty were precious — men like Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, and Li Guo were only marquises! And now he was a Duke, which unquestionably made him a figure of the first rank under Li Zicheng!

Zuo Menggeng, thoroughly pleased with himself, accompanied Li Zicheng through the Great North Gate into the city. The streets inside the Great North Gate were the hardest-hit area of the Zuo family army's looting — this had been the last stronghold of the Prince of Chu's army in Jiangling, after all. The Zuo family troops who had finished looting elsewhere had finally surged here to loot as well — how could it have ended well? And after looting, still not satisfied, they had set fires everywhere, burning scores of streets and alleys, and killed many homeless commoners. By the time Li Zicheng arrived, it still had not been cleaned up. Although commoners still knelt on both sides of the street, weeping as they sang the song "Welcoming the Roving King" — but what sort of man was Li Zicheng? Though he had only one eye, his gaze was sharp indeed!

One look told him that this place had been massacred, looted, and burned — and there was no need to say who had done such a wicked thing: it was Zuo Menggeng!

Because Zuo Mengmei could not possibly have done such a thing. Her troops were mostly men of Jingzhou; even if they looted, they would not kill and burn — they could not bring themselves to do it! Li Zicheng knew this rule: no one becomes a bandit to rob his own home.

Li Zicheng was now a lord of benevolence and righteousness, supported by all the people — how could he tolerate such a people-harming Duke of Xiang of the Shun?

But he did not explode at once. Instead, as he urged his horse forward, he issued orders to those around him — first they must seize all the strategic points, and also gather the Zuo family army into the city!

They must not let these loot-sated cannon fodder get away!

Li Zicheng had moved to Jiangling not merely to seize territory, but to fight a decisive battle with Zhu Cilang at Jiangling!

He already knew that the Shun army was at a disadvantage along the Hanyang–Wuchang line — no matter how they fought, they would lose; they were only stalling for time.

So he had simply used the opportunity of the Zuo family army's internal strife to shift the battlefield to the Jiangling line, which was more favorable to him.

If Zhu Cilang followed, then he would have to march seven hundred li overland into the Jiangnan region of Jingzhou Prefecture without having broken through Hanyang or opened the Yangtze water route.

Zhu Cilang's cavalry and infantry could certainly march, but his heavy cannon could not. And Zhu Cilang could not possibly abandon the eastern parts of Wuchang Prefecture and Yuezhou Prefecture and advance west with his whole army. If he did, Li Zicheng could use his interior-line advantage to cross the river around Baling and strike behind Zhu Cilang.

Therefore, to fight in Jingzhou, Zhu Cilang would have to divide his forces!

If the Crown Prince Zhu did not accept battle, then Li Zicheng would seize all of Jingzhou Prefecture, the western part of Yuezhou Prefecture, Changde Prefecture, and Shizhou Guard. Then the Shun army could advance to take Huguang, or retreat into Sichuan — one could say they would hold every initiative.

But to fight a decisive battle with Zhu Cilang in Jingzhou Prefecture, Li Zicheng first had to settle accounts with Zuo Menggeng for letting his troops run wild and plunder. The Shun army was now a righteous force that had won the people's hearts — burning, killing, and looting were forbidden!

"Duke of Xiang, do you know your crime?"

In the former palace of the Prince of Chu, in a great hall that had not yet caught fire, he had just seated himself on a chair wrapped in blue cloth when he turned on him in front of everyone.

Know my crime? Zuo Menggeng was stunned at these words: I have no crime! Ah, no — I have many crimes on the Ming side, but on the Shun side I haven't had time to commit any crimes yet.

After thinking it over, he actually answered with righteous confidence: "Your Majesty, your subject does not know that he has any crime!"

"You do not know your crime?" Li Zicheng smiled. "A perfectly good city like Jiangling has been looted empty and burned to the ground, and so many good commoners have been beaten and killed by your men — and you still do not know your crime?"

Zuo Menggeng's reactions were a bit slow, but at this moment he too sensed something was wrong. What did Li Zicheng mean? Was he about to kill the donkey the moment the mill was unloaded? This man turned his face faster than one turns a page!

"Your Majesty," Zuo Menggeng was not ready to give up, "your subject was formerly an official of the Zhu traitor, and led the Zhu traitor's troops. On the Zhu traitor's side there has never been any law or discipline, and they refused to provide full pay and rations. If the officers and men below did not loot, they had no food or clothing. As a great general, your subject could not stand by and watch them go hungry and cold!"

"Right, right, right — Your Majesty sees clearly!"

"We were all driven to it by the Zhu traitor!"

"It was all the Zhu traitor's fault, wuwu…"

"Now that we have joined Your Majesty, we would not dare harm the people again, wuwu, wah…"

The Regional Commanders and Vice Regional Commanders of the Zuo family army who had come with Zuo Menggeng also began to speak in their own defense, each more aggrieved than the last, and two of them had even burst into tears!

"Don't cry, don't cry — We are not an unreasonable man!" Li Zicheng said with a smile. "We are now speaking only with the Shun Duke of Xiang. It has nothing to do with you. You were all Ming officials before, and have only just joined Us; you have not yet been given ranks, so of course you are not yet bound by the military law of Our Shun."

And indeed, Li Zicheng actually understood the law. He knew he could not use Shun military law to pursue the offenses this pack of bandit chiefs had committed before joining the Shun — that would violate the principle of rule of law. Nor could he apply the law retroactively to pursue the offenses of burning, killing, and looting committed before Shun military law was promulgated.

Li Zicheng pointed at Zuo Menggeng with a smile. "But he is different. He has already submitted to the Shun and been enfeoffed as Duke of Xiang. He holds the highest noble rank among all Our Shun generals, and should have set an example by obeying discipline and law. Yet he chose to test the law with his own person and let his troops massacre the city. You all tell me — was it not he who ordered you to let your troops burn and kill?"

Hurry up and become witnesses for the prosecution!

"It was him!"

"It was him who gave the order!"

"I can testify!"

"Zuo Menggeng is a scoundrel!"

"…"

It was not that his subordinates were disloyal — it was that the Zuo family itself was no good. If they had submitted to Zhu Cilang earlier and sent Zuo Mengmei into the palace, with that little minx's skills, what would any of them have had to worry about?

And now look at this — they were no better than a stray dog! And the two siblings were fighting each other inside Jiangling! One colluding with He Tengjiao, the other submitting to Li Zicheng. Anyone who still threw in with the Zuo family was a fool!

Zuo Menggeng was dumbfounded. These men had all been promoted by the Zuo family — and now they were selling him out like this?

"You, you…" Then he spotted Huang Shu. "Military Advisor, save me!"

Huang Shu sighed, stepped forward two paces, and knelt before Li Zicheng. "Long live Your Majesty. The Duke of Xiang's crime is indeed unpardonable, but after all it is a first offense, and he also has the merit of taking Jiangling. Perhaps that may offset it in some small measure?"

"Right, right, right — I do have merit!" Zuo Menggeng hastily bowed to Li Zicheng. "Your Majesty, spare me this once!"

Li Zicheng nodded. "Since Military Advisor Huang has spoken for you, then We shall spare you — with your corpse intact!" His gaze swept coldly over the former Zuo family officers present. "What do you all think?"

"Your Majesty is sagely!"

"Your Majesty is benevolent!"

"Your Majesty's benevolence is unmatched, his virtue matches Heaven and Earth, his way crowns past and present!"

"Zuo Menggeng, why do you not kowtow and give thanks for the grace!"

Hearing these words, Zuo Menggeng's heart turned ice-cold. He sat down on the ground with a thud, no longer knowing how to beg for mercy.

Huang Shu spoke up again at this moment: "Your Majesty is truly a lord of benevolence and righteousness. I imagine Zuo Menggeng is grateful beyond measure in his heart. But Your Majesty can still give him one final chance to atone for his crimes through meritorious service!"

Zuo Menggeng felt a warmth in his heart. Looking at Huang Shu, tears came to his eyes.

Li Zicheng said thoughtfully, "What sort of atonement through meritorious service? Send him to seize that fortress of the Ming army?"

"Not so," said Huang Shu. "Since ancient times, he who wins the people's hearts wins the realm. As for the hearts of the people of Jiangling today, they must still be won through Zuo Menggeng. Your Majesty would do better to have Zuo Menggeng's entire household publicly executed according to law, and strangled together before the people of Jiangling. In this way, Zuo Menggeng may also be considered to have repaid Your Majesty's great kindness."

Kill his whole family!

"Huang Shu, you son of a bitch—"

Zuo Menggeng suddenly exploded upward, about to throw himself at Huang Shu, but before he could leap high, he was grabbed by Li Guoying and Lu Zuguang beside him and pinned to the ground.

Huang Shu shook his head and said, "Zuo Menggeng, hurry and give thanks for the imperial grace!"

Li Zicheng waved his hand. "No need to thank Us. Who told Us to be so kind-hearted? Come, men—proclaim throughout the city that We have issued an edict ordering Zuo Menggeng's entire family to hang themselves in public, to give the people of Jiangling their justice!" His tone suddenly sank again. "The military law of the Shun is as firm as a mountain, and none may violate it. Do all of you understand?"

"We subjects all understand!"

http: ///txt/96636/

. _Mobile reading URL:

【Youyue Bookstore, a free book-reading source-switching APP. Android phones need to download and install via GooglePlay; Apple phones need to log in with a non-mainland-China account to download and install.】