Chapter 109: Section 17: Clan Authority

That night the Later Jin army burned their scaling ladders and withdrew twenty li to make camp. The fierce counterattack from the Lüshun army made them realize the Ming forces still had fight left in them — crude ladders would never do, and dispersing their troops for an all-out assault across the whole line would only bring heavy casualties. If they wanted to take Lüshun, they would have to build siege equipment all over again, and far more of it than last time.

Though the enemy had pulled back, scouts soon reported that the Later Jin army had not gone far and looked set to begin constructing equipment, so there was little festive mood in Lüshun. Once the crushing pressure eased slightly, the Ming soldiers’ considerable casualties also dampened morale. Zhang Pan gave orders to reward the troops and laid out a victory banquet.

Huang Shi, as a guest commander, took the seat of honor on the left, while Zhang Pan, following protocol, occupied the host’s position on the right. At first everything was fine, but once Zhang Pan had drunk too much, things soured — his covetous gaze kept circling around He Baodao, which left Huang Shi quietly irritated.

Since it was a military banquet, after three rounds of wine the various officers naturally began showing off their skills. After a while He Baodao could no longer bear to watch and could not resist jumping up, saying he would perform a spear drill to entertain the two generals.

Zhang Pan was delighted at this and immediately ordered his personal guards to bring out a wooden dummy as He Baodao requested, with three red dots painted on it at the throat, the lower abdomen, and the heart.

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

He Baodao bellowed three times in succession and thrust out three spears, each strike faster than lightning, piercing clean through the dummy, every one landing dead on a red dot without the slightest deviation. Every officer present knew full well they could never match that level — even thrusting slowly, they could not achieve He Baodao’s precision — and for a moment the hall fell utterly silent.

Zhang Pan rose from his seat to inspect the dummy. Huang Shi, who had absolute confidence in He Baodao’s martial skill, simply smiled at him. He Baodao felt he had won his superior tremendous face; beneath his overflowing pride, he could not quite hide his delight.

After examining the dummy, Zhang Pan loudly cheered his approval. Though his own officers felt they had lost face, inwardly they all admired the feat, and for a time He Baodao was surrounded three layers deep by officers offering him toasts.

“General Huang, where on earth did you find a stout fellow like Company Commander He?” Zhang Pan asked as he returned to his seat, inquiring about He Baodao’s background.

Huang Shi gave a brief account, which made Zhang Pan burn with envy — he thought the man must have stepped in dog shit to pick up such a treasure right off the street. Huang Shi did not mention the insults He Baodao had flung at him during their first meeting, nor did he bring up the man’s arrogance and disrespect. Coming from outside the feudal hierarchy, Huang Shi did not take such things very seriously and had not dwelled on them.

“General Huang,” Zhang Pan was, after all, still a young commander, and with too much drink in him he could no longer hold his tongue, “I am willing to offer one hundred suits of armor and thirty fine horses in exchange for Company Commander He. Would General Huang be willing to part with him?”

The question was highly improper — by custom one should not ask so bluntly but should always leave the other man room to decline politely. But since Zhang Pan had not tested the waters with any roundabout hints, Huang Shi now found it very awkward to answer. Refusing a man to his face damaged the bond between colleagues, especially when he had already accepted quite a few things from Zhang Pan.

Just as he was mulling over a tactful phrasing, Zhang Pan saw that he was unwilling and already regretted his rashness. But the words were out and could not be taken back, and Zhang Pan truly did admire He Baodao, so steeling himself, he gritted his teeth and said, “I also have three singing girls — I will give them all to General Huang as well.”

Those singing girls were indeed deeply cherished by Zhang Pan; giving away such a gift could fairly be called “ruining himself.” Women in the Ming dynasty were, after all, private property, so Zhang Pan’s words were not unreasonable, but they were deeply offensive. Huang Shi found them very unpleasant to hear and privately felt that Zhang Pan was looking down on him far too much — as if he, Huang Shi, were some greedy lecher. It seemed this military man Zhang Pan truly had no gift for speech.

“I am no slave or bondservant — since when do people trade me for women?”

Before Huang Shi could refuse, He Baodao was already shouting furiously from below. Everyone around changed color. Zhang Pan had only wanted Huang Shi to agree to let him serve in the Lüshun army; he had never meant to treat him as a household retainer or bondservant. Even if He Baodao was unwilling, he ought to have acknowledged Zhang Pan’s goodwill, yet instead he answered with vicious words.

“Company Commander He, hold your tongue,” Huang Shi called out. By military regulation, He Baodao was in the wrong — when two generals were discussing a subordinate’s future, he had no right to interrupt and speak.

“General Zhang…”

Huang Shi drew a breath, ready to speak plainly, but Zhang Pan laughed instead: “All my life I have yielded to no man, but faced with a subordinate so loyal and so brave, I can only swallow my envy and congratulate General Huang.”

“You are too kind.” Since Zhang Pan was lifting him up, Huang Shi hurried to flatter Zhang Pan’s own officers in return, and then…

“Company Commander He, apologize to General Zhang.”

He Baodao brought a large bowl of wine and knelt on one knee before the two generals: “Your subordinate was insolent. I beg General Zhang’s forgiveness.”

With a look of regret, Zhang Pan accepted the cup. “General Huang, I must return to an old subject. Company Commander He is utterly loyal and has rendered no small merit — he truly should not be a mere company commander.”

“My lord will promote me when the time is right. I have no complaint,” He Baodao once again broke in to speak.

“You are speaking out of turn again. Stand down,” Huang Shi quietly rebuked him, and He Baodao withdrew in silence. Zhang Pan eyed the two men with bewilderment, unable to fathom how Huang Shi had managed to secure such loyalty.

In truth, Huang Shi himself did not understand it either. Though his face betrayed nothing, he was inwardly pondering the very same question as Zhang Pan. Fortunately, he had already witnessed He Baodao’s ferocity during the brothel incident at Shanhai Pass; otherwise he might have entertained other suspicions.

The fact was, He Baodao was not unaware that repeatedly cutting in during military councils was a breach of decorum, nor that constantly contradicting his superior was a grave taboo — he simply could never control his own mouth. In He Baodao’s experience, the worst Huang Shi ever did was issue a painless, harmless “Hold your tongue.”

He Baodao also knew that his temperament would never be tolerated under anyone else — if he were not stifled to death, he would be dragged out and beaten to death. He found his superior Huang Shi a very strange man, one who rarely assumed the posture of a lord and master over his subordinates and who often seemed to enjoy debating with them.

Before their first meeting at Guangning, He Baodao had thought Huang Shi somewhat ungrateful, but for a high-ranking general to tolerate insolence from a common soldier like He Baodao showed remarkable magnanimity — all the more so since He Baodao knew full well that without Huang Shi turning the army back to suppress the mutiny, he would most likely have died in the Guangning rebellion.

Whenever Huang Shi gave an order, he always made a natural effort to communicate with his subordinates, striving to make them understand him rather than coercing them brutally. Not just He Baodao and Yang Zhiyuan — even Jin Qiude and Zhao Manxiong had long since developed, through such exchanges, the feeling that a man who truly knew them was worth dying for.

As a modern man still unaccustomed to feudal society, Huang Shi always wanted to persuade by reason and was highly tolerant of his subordinates’ disrespect and jokes. If Hong Taiji still had an element of artifice in his behavior, Huang Shi’s courtesy toward his subordinates was entirely natural, because the idea of equality was already ingrained in him. He did not consider it an outrage to be offended by someone of low status, nor did he regard his subordinates as running dogs or household slaves.

Thus, while Hong Taiji’s condescension — enough to make others willing to die a hundred times over — had no devastating effect on Huang Shi, Huang Shi’s own subordinates ate it up completely.

After the banquet ended, Huang Shi called He Baodao over. “I still will not promote you. Do you know why?”

“Your subordinate does not know,” He Baodao answered swiftly, and the resentment in his voice was unmistakable.

“Today you cut down several heads with your own hands. I take it you seized those banners with your own hands as well?”

“Exactly so,” He Baodao replied loudly.

“That is precisely why I will not promote you.” Huang Shi felt that He Baodao made an excellent company commander, one who could greatly rouse the morale and fighting spirit of the soldiers around him, but…

“Today I gave you several hundred men, and you charged at the very front. If one day I become a grand general and entrust you with ten thousand troops, I suspect you would still charge at the very front, and still refuse to hang back and direct them like Zhao Manxiong. That is why I would rather promote that coward than promote you. If you could…”

“Your subordinate refuses to accept this!” He Baodao argued furiously. “My He family has served as frontier generals of the Great Ming for two hundred years. Generation after generation, we have slain the enemy at the forefront to inspire the troops, and generation after generation we have rendered glorious service to the Great Ming.”

What he said was no lie, but that kind of army was not the army Huang Shi envisioned. He changed the subject. “Your spear work today was extraordinary. I imagine your He family must have special training methods?”

“That is correct.”

“I would like you to teach this method to all the soldiers in the army, and ideally to write it down in detail…” Huang Shi felt that good techniques should naturally be spread throughout the army as quickly as possible — training an elite force would surely be a tremendous achievement for He Baodao as well.

Just as Huang Shi was about to lay out terms, He Baodao cut him off: “Your subordinate cannot do this. I beg my lord’s forgiveness.”

Huang Shi asked in great surprise, “Why?” To him, this seemed an entirely natural and reasonable request.

“My He family has served as hereditary generals of the Qin army for two hundred years, defending the Great Ming against the eastern slaves generation after generation. Countless members of our clan have fallen in frontier service…” As he recounted this bitter history, He Baodao was actually smiling, and his tone was fervent. “Since I was a child, my family has admonished me again and again: the two hundred years of wealth and rank my He family has enjoyed rest entirely upon this six-foot spear and the three-foot white blade in our hands.”

“My lord’s kindness to your subordinate is higher than heaven and deeper than the sea — even death could not repay it. I would die on the battlefield for my lord without the slightest complaint. As a drill company commander, I will naturally offer guidance to the soldiers in their spear work. But these secrets passed down within the clan are the very foundation of my He family’s survival and prosperity — they absolutely cannot be divulged or leaked to outsiders. I beg my lord’s clear judgment on this.” With that, He Baodao clasped his fists and bowed deeply, and said no more.