Chapter 161: Section Eighteen: The Root

Sun Chengzong's eyes narrowed slightly, his lashes quivering as though he still had more to say, but after waiting a long while Huang Shi heard only a remark utterly unrelated to anything before: "Truly a talent that has thrust itself out, sharp and fully revealed."

Before Huang Shi could modestly decline, Sun Chengzong went on: "I already know everything that followed. You, Huang Shi, quelled the Guangning mutiny and were promoted to Mobile Corps Commander for that merit. Then came the battle of Lüshun, and your accumulated merit earned you promotion to Assistant Regional Commander. At the battle of Jinzhou you took four hundred and sixty-seven heads — is that correct?"

"Your Excellency is correct."

"Mm." Sun Chengzong nodded. "For an Assistant Regional Commander to have such achievements is remarkable. In another garrison, promoting him to Regional Commander would not be entirely unreasonable. Dongjiang Garrison is large, so promoting him to Vice Regional Commander would be more than sufficient. But you are simply too young. Advancing too quickly is not necessarily a good thing. Today I may as well be frank with you — at the time, it was I who advised the imperial court to bestow only silver and a silver command arrow, with no promotion."

"This humble general's success was merely a stroke of luck. A sudden promotion would likely make my fellow officers resentful. Your Excellency's protective concern for this humble general — I understand it fully in my heart."

Sun Chengzong had indeed harbored such misgivings. He smiled at Huang Shi in encouragement: "What you just said, Huang Shi, would ordinarily be mere polite formulas. When I, as Grand Coordinator of Liaodong, held back your promotion, I was not entirely free of worry. I always feared you might harbor secret resentment and lose your drive to advance."

"This humble general would not dare."

"I know, I know." Sun Chengzong's face was full of warm, genial smiles. "Seeing you deliver these three hundred and twenty-three heads this time, the great stone in my heart can finally be set down. You have done very well, Huang Shi."

"Your Excellency overpraises me."

Sun Chengzong's expression shifted, and his tone turned stern: "But this time you still cannot be promoted. Do you know why, Huang Shi?"

A touch of dejection rose in Huang Shi's heart, but he could only answer: "This humble general is dull-witted. I beg Your Excellency to dispel my confusion."

Sun Chengzong clasped his hands behind his back and paced a couple of steps. The topic of stripping away a man's achievements was truly somewhat difficult to broach. "On this journey to Dongjiang, I discussed with Marshal Mao the question of establishing a brigade in Dongjiang Garrison. Marshal Mao also seemed to find it somewhat difficult. Let me venture a guess — Marshal Mao also knows that Liaonan must have unified command and cannot have each force fighting on its own. But establishing a brigade requires a Vice Regional Commander to lead it, and whether for Marshal Mao or for me, the choice for that Vice Regional Commander has been deadlocked between you and Zhang Pan."

"Your Excellency…" Huang Shi did not know what to say that would be appropriate.

Sun Chengzong asked sternly: "Huang Shi, do you not want me to allocate silver and provisions to you?"

"This humble general does want them." Huang Shi could not understand why Sun Chengzong had suddenly turned angry with him.

Sun Chengzong pressed on sharply: "Do you not wish to establish battle merit, to win titles for your wife and children?"

Huang Shi lowered his head: "This humble general certainly does."

"That is your selfish desire!" Sun Chengzong then softened his tone: "Selfish desire is part of human nature, and that is precisely why public-spiritedness is so especially precious. At Shanhai Pass I told you — I never demand perfection without fault. So long as one does not sacrifice public good for private ends, one is a loyal minister and a good general of the realm. From everything I have seen along this journey, I believe that after the brigade is established, you are the most suitable Vice Regional Commander. Marshal Mao also deeply commends you…"

Huang Shi listened quietly, waiting for the "but" that would mark the turn.

Sure enough, Sun Chengzong said: "But Zhang Pan has followed Marshal Mao for many years. He has risked life and limb to defend Marshal Mao. In his heart, Marshal Mao no doubt still leans a little more toward Zhang Pan — that is also a small selfish desire on Marshal Mao's part. I understand it very well, and you must also understand it."

"This humble general understands."

Sun Chengzong's face broke into a smile: "If someone else said that, I would take it as perfunctory. But you, Huang Shi, are public-spirited, loyal, and mindful of the state — of that I am quite assured. Although Marshal Mao has a small selfish inclination, who among us does not? When I was at Lüshun, though Zhang Pan did not say it, I could see that he very much wants to command the Liaonan military affairs, and he also holds you in great esteem. I will not show favoritism. If you cannot hold this position securely, I will certainly not speak on your behalf."

"This humble general understands." Huang Shi raised his head and answered loudly: "This humble general will certainly strive to achieve further merit, so that neither Your Excellency, nor Marshal Mao, nor my fellow officers in Dongjiang will have any grounds to object."

Making military officers strive to kill the enemy was, after all, the foremost duty of a civil official serving as Army Supervisor. Hearing Huang Shi say this, Sun Chengzong was reassured. Having just declared he "would not show favoritism," Sun Chengzong smiled and asked: "What does Changsheng Island need?"

"We need more pig iron, so that this humble general can forge more armor and weapons, so that these sons and brothers may suffer fewer casualties and kill more of the enemy… We need seagoing ships, so that this humble general can conduct more maritime trade, so that these sons and brothers may eat better… We need cloth and craftsmen… We need coal…"

In the deliberations between Zhao Manxiong and Huang Shi, they had firmly resolved to let Sun Chengzong see everything Changsheng Island had done, to let the imperial court understand that Changsheng Island had already exerted its utmost. But even more, they needed to explain clearly how they would use these supplies, because that would let Sun Chengzong feel tangibly that he had truly helped Changsheng Island, and let the court know that the aid supplies would greatly improve the circumstances of Huang Shi's forces.

Sun Chengzong listened attentively to all of Huang Shi's requests, then followed up: "Huang Shi, you have never once mentioned the matter of building fortifications. I observed that your coastal works are very insecure. Should you not reinforce them as quickly as possible?"

Huang Shi pondered the implication behind Sun Chengzong's earlier words and answered unhurriedly: "Marshal Mao is the General Who Pacifies Liao. When Lord Wang Huazhen was still Provincial Governor, this humble general was an officer in the Pacifying Liao Army. The court issues us military pay and supplies so that we may quell the Jianzhou rebellion, not so that we may hold fast to our islands and never emerge. Therefore, this humble general believes these supplies should be used to forge weapons, not to build fortifications."

"Well said." Sun Chengzong nodded. "Those officers and soldiers who died in battle — how have you dealt with them?"

"This humble general keeps a roster and has recorded every one of them. If they have surviving kin, Dongjiang Garrison will provide compensation and support after Liaodong is recovered."

"I have heard that you disbanded your retainers and have forbidden the adoption of sworn sons — is that so?" Sun Chengzong's tone seemed to carry some dissatisfaction with Huang Shi's approach.

Soldiers belonging personally to their commander was a great scourge upon the army to begin with, and it easily bred in commanders the mentality of preserving their own strength — the principle was quite plain. Huang Shi did not dare to mock the Great Ming's military system outright, so he obliquely hinted at it in a few words.

But Sun Chengzong was unconvinced: "Huang Shi, you are loyal and righteous, but that you can do this does not mean others can. I must now speak a few inauspicious words — do not take offense, Huang Shi."

Huang Shi at once launched into an impassioned declaration: "To die on the battlefield and be wrapped in a horse's hide for burial is a warrior's proper duty. From the day this humble general joined the army, he has never feared ill omens. Your Excellency, please speak."

Sun Chengzong recounted what he had seen and heard in Dongjiang. Mao Wenlong had adopted the orphaned sons and young brothers of the war dead as his sworn sons and sworn grandsons. Over three years, these had grown to a multitude of over a thousand. "You, Huang Shi, are also made of flesh and blood. If one day you are no longer here, who will still remember these fallen officers and soldiers? But if you take in these orphans and bereaved kin, then they too can stand tall and say: 'I am the sworn son of the late General Huang.' Then, so long as Changsheng Island is still commanded by your former subordinates, they will not be bullied. And after Liaodong is recovered, these bereaved kin will certainly receive hereditary lands from Dongjiang Garrison. Am I right or am I not?"

The sources of cohesion in a feudal army and a modern army are different. Someone once said that modern armies and nation-states are two sides of the same coin — a statement Huang Shi deeply agreed with. The organizational structure of an army is, after all, a reflection of society. Under Huang Shi's efforts, Changsheng Island had always striven as far as possible to foster an atmosphere of "I am an organic part of Changsheng Island." A feudal system might perhaps forcibly construct a modern army, but it would absolutely yield half the result for twice the effort. Huang Shi did not merely want to revive classical militarism — he wanted to go one step further.

If Changsheng Island were rigidly stratified with feudal hierarchies, if soldiers in their daily lives had all acknowledged their own personal masters, then the trust, unity, and spirit of self-sacrifice within the Firefighting Battalion would vanish like smoke. How could officers and men separated by vast social rank differences ever trust one another enough to let another man guard their back? If the commanders of Changsheng Island also indulged their retainers in throwing their weight around and used their personal guards to enslave ordinary military households, then on what grounds could they demand that soldiers endure brutal training without recompense?

The ordinary military households of the Ming dynasty were pushed around all day long and could never gain promotion the way retainers and personal guards could. On the battlefield, of course they would scramble for heads and spoils, and in times of danger it was perfectly normal for them to scatter and flee — who would be willing to throw their life away for the bastards above them? If, in peacetime, one further relied on beatings to train these soldiers who were already full of resentment, then never mind achieving a modern army — one would be lucky not to produce a Chen Sheng or Wu Guang.

All these years, Huang Shi had painstakingly and deliberately cut away the tail of feudalism. Starting from when he led that small force of personal loyalists, he had smashed and hammered at every pot and pan of the feudal society. Under the banner of righteous public interest, he confiscated the lands his subordinates were due, racked his brains to disband the retainer corps, and turned everyone on the island into equal military households. Before military law, all were equal. He established a system of medals and honors. Even marriage had to give priority to the common soldiers. He also preached that "we are all equal brothers and sisters before the Lord of Heaven."

By now, Huang Shi had crammed every element of the nation-state he could recall, good and bad alike, into the great melting pot of Changsheng Island — stopping just short of declaring that "generals, officers, soldiers, and craftsmen differ only in the social division of labor, with no distinction of high or low in their work." He tried to build up everyone's sense of being masters of their own fate, to give the soldiers the feeling that "fighting, training, and working for Changsheng Island is working for my own benefit." So long as everyone understood that Huang Shi's purpose was to protect the safety of the entire island, then everyone could endure all kinds of hardship — brutal training, for instance, or the dangerous ice-chipping.

Consider the repeated phenomenon in the Ming army of commanders fleeing in the face of battle. Ming commanders not only had the desire to do so, but also the ability to pull their private troops off the battlefield… Huang Shi had no intention of launching into a lengthy explanation, nor did he have the nerve to, but on this question of Sun Chengzong's he absolutely could not compromise.

Yet he still had to give an answer. As Huang Shi weighed his words, he sighed inwardly — Your Excellency Sun, you are trying to dig up my very roots.