Chapter 182: Section 39: Tremors

Sun Chengzong spoke very loudly. The large group of Dongjiang officers and soldiers behind Huang Shi all heard Old Sun's words clearly. The core officers of the Firefighting Battalion instantly beamed with pride. Jin Qiude and Zhao Manxiong looked as if fire was about to shoot from their eyes, while Shang Kexi and Geng Zhongming both cast glances at Huang Shi mixed with envy, admiration, and ingratiation. Geng Zhongming's younger brother Geng Shuming stood there dumbstruck, his mouth gaping so wide his chin seemed about to hit the ground.

Three years ago, Huang Shi had faced the same temptation at Shanhai Pass, when Fang Zhenru in Liaoxi had wanted to recommend him for Ningyuan. Three years later, Huang Shi once again faced the temptation of going to Liaoxi. This was a great challenge. If Huang Shi could win this trial, then half of the Great Ming's fiscal expenditure would fall into his hands. Huang Shi was actually not too worried that Sun Chengzong could not fulfill his promise to establish a Military Grand Coordinator's office for him, because Huang Shi was confident that as long as he was in Liaoxi, he could certainly secure Sun Chengzong's position. A true hero should welcome such a challenge, right? Once he held the Guanning Army, half of the realm under Heaven would be within his grasp, wouldn't it?

But... Huang Shi finally began to think of that hateful "but." He asked himself whether he was truly a hero worthy of the name. Huang Shi felt that he had reached this point mainly by relying on the knowledge of his past life. All along, Huang Shi had struggled in harsh Liaodong — wasn't it precisely to avoid the constraints of civil officials adept at political games and other powers?

"Lord Sun, you honor me too much; this humble general truly dare not accept." Huang Shi made up his mind and respectfully bowed in thanks, saying: "This humble general belongs to Dongjiang Town and was personally raised up by Marshal Mao..."

"I will speak to Marshal Mao on your behalf. This old man believes he still has that much face. I know you, Huang Shi, are one who repays kindness, but the great affairs of state outweigh personal bonds between colleagues. Besides, this old man will not make things difficult for you. In the future, whether you are Provincial Military Commander or Military Grand Coordinator, Dongjiang Town will not be under your command." Sun Chengzong cut off Huang Shi's refusal, and with one sentence blocked all the excuses Huang Shi had just thought of. Sun Chengzong waved his sleeve impatiently: "Huang Shi, whether you are willing to go to Liaoxi or not — decide with a single word."

Huang Shi blurted out: "I am not willing!" Everyone on the city wall fell silent for a moment. Huang Shi swept aside his cloak, knelt on one knee, and raised his clasped fists above his head: "I beg Lord Sun's forgiveness. This humble general is not willing to work together with the various Regional Commanders of Liaoxi."

In the Battle of Zhenjiang, although Chen Zhong and Zhang Yuanzhi, whom Huang Shi had met, were only two minor Company Commanders, both were men of upright character. After arriving at Dongjiang, the Zhang Pan and Chen Jisheng he met were also valiant true men. As for Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi — no matter what they had done in Huang Shi's past life, at least they had all climbed to high positions step by step through their own martial skill. At least, what Huang Shi saw at this moment were still brave officers full of hot-blooded passion.

And what sort of things were that bunch of Regional Commanders in Liaoxi?

Zu Dashou... In Huang Shi's past life, the Manchu Qing praised Zu Dashou highly. Some even evaluated Zu Dashou as a great general of "composed steadiness and resolute fortitude." Unfortunately, leafing through the history books, this great general had only two achievements. The first was at Ningyuan Fort, where Vice Regional Commander Zu Dashou, commanding two battalions of four thousand combat soldiers, achieved the result of fifty severed heads, and was thereby promoted to Regional Commander. The second was Zu Dashou's "great victory" at Huangniwa over Mongols who were said to be about to defect to the Later Jin, with twelve severed heads... Well, this was actually nothing.

But this composed and resolute Zu Dashou was addicted to fleeing. He fled in the face of battle at Shaling, abandoned Xiong Tingbi and fled at Guangning Right Garrison, fled from beneath the city walls during the Beijing Campaign... Well, this was actually nothing either; perhaps he was simply not good at field battles.

During the defense of Dalinghe, Zu Dashou did not even have the courage to break out of the encirclement. One could say that surrendering after eating all the grain was not entirely inexcusable, but Zu Dashou began to eat the common people... This was still nothing, really. Didn't Zhang Xun of the Tang Dynasty also eat common people when defending a city?

But Regional Commander Zu was not like Zhang Xun, who first offered his own family members to the soldiers to eat. Moreover, after Grand General Zu had eaten all the common people, he decided to surrender! He ordered the execution of He Kegang, who refused to surrender, and even had He Kegang dragged outside the city to be killed in front of the Qing troops, to prove that his determination to defect was unshakable.

After exchanging oaths and leaving his clansmen, relatives, friends, and subordinates as hostages with Huang Taiji, Zu Dashou successfully escaped his predicament. And then... he decided not to surrender after all!

The same cannibalism and surrender ceremony were reenacted again at Jinzhou. After surrendering this time, Zu Dashou immediately wrote a letter urging his nephew — Wu Sangui, Regional Commander of Shanhai Pass — to surrender, exhorting him to "awaken suddenly to repentance and resolutely decide to submit." In the time-space of Huang Shi's past life, Sun Degong had joined the Plain White Banner. Zu Dashou wrote the surrender letter and also cried out, demanding "the same treatment as Sun Degong." This shameless demand was satisfied by Huang Taiji. After proudly winning the self-designation of "slave," Zu Dashou wrote again to Wu Sangui in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the letter saying: "...Unexpectedly, the Great Qing Emperor, with Heaven-granted benevolence and sagacity, not only did not inflict execution, but instead graced me with generous favor and support. My entire Zu clan, as well as relatives and subordinate personnel, have all been bathed in abundant grace. And Grand Coordinator Hong, Grain Commissioner Zhu, and others have also received excellent and generous treatment. Since arriving in Shenyang, they have given me their own clothes to wear and their own food to eat. Servants, attendants, fields, and dwellings — nothing is lacking. I have already found my place. I entreat my worthy nephew not to worry, but I only wonder what the scene in our homeland is like now. In my foolish estimation, the personal troops of the various garrisons came to reinforce Liaodong, yet within a month four cities fell and the entire army was annihilated. Human affairs being thus, Heaven's will can be known. My worthy nephew is a hero of the age — how could your wisdom not reach this conclusion? Observe further the scale and momentum of the Great Qing; they will certainly accomplish great things in the future. At this moment of recruiting and gathering, it is precisely the time for heroes to choose their lord. If you bring your city and come over, you will certainly receive a fief of divided territory. Merit, fame, wealth, and rank go without saying. Thinking of our bond as close as flesh and bone, I therefore open my liver and gall — I am not a persuader for the Great Qing..."

Another great general of Guanning, Wu She, was Zu Dashou's brother-in-law. The crystallization of his love with Zu Dashou's sister was the new generation of Flying General (Flying-Foot General) Wu Sangui, famed for "using troops with brilliance." Wu She was appointed by Yuan Chonghuan to command fifteen battalions of the Guanning Army. During the Beijing Campaign, he used the excuse of "sore feet" to stay in the rear.

After the war, Wu She became Regional Commander of Shanhai Pass. Before the Battle of Dalinghe, the fifteen field battalions under Wu She, plus auxiliary troops, totaled eighty thousand soldiers. The annual military pay for these eighty thousand Guanning Iron Cavalry was one million four hundred thousand taels of silver! The Chongzhen Emperor once summoned Wu She and ordered him to send troops to rescue his own brother-in-law. The Chongzhen Emperor felt that eighty thousand men was not a small number — more than all the able-bodied males of the Later Jin. But...

Old General Wu immediately forgot that he was drawing pay for eighty thousand troops and argued strenuously that there were only fifteen battalions of combat soldiers, so it was thirty thousand, not eighty thousand Guanning Iron Cavalry. Chongzhen said thirty thousand was not a small number either and could still accomplish many things. So Old General Wu hastily added that among them, only three thousand retainers could truly fight; those thirty thousand combat soldiers could only farm the land... Finally, after being forced to the front lines, the Wu father and son abandoned their allied forces and fled.

Huang Shi still remembered: in the late Ming, agricultural taxes rose from two million taels in the Wanli reign to twenty-one million taels in the Chongzhen reign (and this was during the great disaster years of the Little Ice Age). The Chongzhen Emperor pawned the gold and silver vessels of the imperial palace, even the bronze pots in the great halls, to exchange for military pay. Chongzhen also pardoned Zhang Xianzhong, who had burned his Zhu family ancestral temple, because the emperor knew that the peasants truly could not survive.

In the end, when Li Zicheng breached Beijing, he discovered that apart from his dragon robe, Chongzhen had only coarse cloth garments... Li Zicheng also sighed with the remark, "The sovereign was not excessively benighted." But the Chuang Army confiscated over two million taels of silver from the Wu Sangui family's Beijing residence (worth roughly eight hundred million RMB in equivalent value).

There were many, many other famous generals of Liaoxi... These great generals of Liaoxi, more than one of them and more than once, threatened Chongzhen that if they were not paid, they would make things ugly for the court! Among them, Zu Dashou even openly declared that if the military pay did not arrive within a month, he would go over to the Manchu Qing side.

In his past life, Huang Shi had very much wanted to ask these Liaoxi military houses — setting aside the million-plus mu of military farmland of the Guanning Army, you still take ten million taels of blood-and-tears money from the Great Ming's common people every year, but what exactly have you done for the nation?

Although Huang Shi did not consider himself a man of upright virtue, he was still ashamed to associate with such scum as the Liaoxi military houses. If he absolutely had to build connections and make friends with certain traitors from his past life, Huang Shi would rather spend the effort on the Three Compliant Kings. As for the Liaoxi military houses, the heavy responsibility of dealing with them should be left to Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan. Huang Shi reckoned he might not necessarily do a better job than them anyway.

A peculiar scene appeared atop the city walls of Jinzhou. All the officers and soldiers stood like wax figures, staring at the old man and the young famous general kneeling at his feet. Sun Chengzong, his back ramrod straight, almost thought he had misheard. He asked incredulously: "Why are you not willing? Oh, are you worried you cannot command respect? That is absolutely no problem. Huang Shi, you have taken nearly nine hundred heads. The Liaodong commander Li Chengliang only took just over a thousand, and you also captured a great banner and a golden helmet. Since the Hongzhi reign of our Great Ming, in a single engagement against the northern barbarians, your head count is the greatest..."

"Lord Sun, this humble general bears a national vendetta and a family blood-debt." Two years ago, Huang Shi had already arranged for Hong Tong and Li Yunrui to fabricate his personal history, portraying himself as coming from a merchant family near Kaiyuan, his entire clan killed when Nurhaci rose in arms. This way, the timeline matched up with Zhang Pan's family, and the personal history reported to the Ministry of War was written accordingly. There were certainly flaws — at the very least, Huang Shi had said some inconsistent things to Kong Youde and Zhang Pan — but Huang Shi felt they probably would not work against him.

Without raising his head, Huang Shi continued: "This humble general is a man of Liaodong, and my subordinates are all sons of Liaodong. This humble general has sworn to personally lead them back to their homeland. I beg Lord Sun to grant this."

The Later Jin army made a commotion for a long time. Seeing no reaction from the walls of Jinzhou, they reorganized and departed.

The Later Jin grand army below the city moved further and further away. Just as their rear column was about to disappear from the Ming army's field of vision, a young Later Jin Heavy Armor Soldier rode alone to the foot of Jinzhou's walls. Holding up a wooden box, he shouted loudly in Manchu.

After several years of campaigning in Liaodong, many officers and soldiers had picked up a rough understanding of a few Manchu phrases. Huang Shi, who had deliberately studied it, and the intelligence officers of the Firefighting Battalion could now listen and speak without difficulty. Sun Chengzong, seeing that many officers and soldiers on the wall wore expressions of grief and indignation, asked Huang Shi what the Later Jin rider below was saying.

"Grand Secretary, inside that wooden box is the head of the late General Zhang." Huang Shi smiled bleakly. Although that Heavy Armor Soldier said they could simply hoist it up onto the wall, since he dared to come alone, Huang Shi naturally refused to show weakness: "Open the city gate. Let him in."

That Heavy Armor Soldier was searched thoroughly, then brought up to the top of the wall. Not knowing who Sun Chengzong was, he bluntly stated that he must deliver this box personally into Huang Shi's hands. Before Huang Shi could give orders, soldiers had already translated the Heavy Armor Soldier's words for Sun Chengzong. Sun Chengzong nodded, and Hong Antong went over to receive the box.

After careful inspection, Hong Antong handed the box to Huang Shi. The latter only lifted the lid a crack; the object inside had barely revealed a vague shadow when Huang Shi gently closed the lid again. He felt he truly could not bear to face Zhang Pan's fine, noble head. If Huang Shi had not harbored selfish calculations, if he had notified Zhang Pan when Changsheng Island was attacked, perhaps the two of them could have seen through the Later Jin's stratagem. Especially since Huang Shi was a transmigrator, the recurrence of this tragedy truly made him unable to forgive himself.

But this lapse did not last long. Huang Shi finally opened the wooden box. He gazed at Zhang Pan, whose angry eyes were wide open. Only after a long while did he sigh, reach out, and slowly close the deceased's eyelids. At the same time, he softly made a promise to Zhang Pan: "Brother Zhang, your vengeance, I will certainly exact for you. The vengeance for your entire family, old and young, from this day forward is also my, Huang Shi's, vengeance. Brother Zhang, close your eyes and rest in peace."

Along with the wooden box, a letter was also delivered. It was a personal letter from Huang Taiji, which greatly praised Zhang Pan's martial valor and integrity, and also informed the Ming army that Zhang Pan had cursed unceasingly until his death. Huang Taiji said that although the two armies were enemies, he personally still admired Zhang Pan greatly, so he had specially written this letter to explain, lest Zhang Pan's name for loyalty and righteousness be buried in obscurity.

The letter was written with deep emotion and vivid expression. After Huang Shi finished reading it aloud, those around him all sighed long and deeply. Even Sun Chengzong's expression stirred slightly: "Although this Huang Taiji is a barbarian, he can be considered a barbarian with some spirit. He also knows how to admire the brave warriors of our Great Ming."

The tactless He Dingyuan chimed in from the side: "Lord Sun speaks truly. Although the Jianzhou slaves are vicious and evil to the extreme, this one seems to have just a tiny bit of conscience."

Several others nearby also showed expressions of sympathetic agreement. Huang Shi's hair stood on end in fury, but he dared not vent it: "What conscience does that wretch have? This is the worst kind of Jianzhou slave. The late General Zhang, righteous and refusing to disgrace himself — who would not know of his loyalty and righteousness? This slave chieftain murdered General Zhang, and then uses this nonsense to display his so-called conscience... This is truly what is called the heart of a wolf and the lungs of a dog."

Huang Shi had not paid attention earlier when that Heavy Armor Soldier reported his name. Now it suddenly struck him that the pronunciation sounded like Oboi. Huang Shi sized up this youth; the age seemed about right. That meant the fellow before his eyes might very well grow into a fierce general... Borrowing the fury in his chest, Huang Shi shouted: "Drag this wretch down and chop him! Cut out his heart and liver to sacrifice to General Zhang!"

"Hold! Let him go." Sun Chengzong immediately stopped Huang Shi's inner guard. A faintly angry expression appeared on his face.

Huang Shi said urgently: "Lord Sun, the Jianzhou slaves are nothing but a band of robbers. Why speak of benevolence and righteousness with them?" He then remembered what Zhang Pan had said and hastily added: "They are merely a bunch of rebellious slave spawn; they are not an enemy state to our Great Ming..."

"Let him go."

Sun Chengzong paid Huang Shi no heed at all. Only after watching Oboi leave Jinzhou did Sun Chengzong say to Huang Shi with earnest gravity: "This time, they returned the late General Zhang to us. We cannot be unrighteous..."

Seeing Huang Shi bow and accept the teaching, Sun Chengzong's tone softened again: "Since you are unwilling to go to Liaoxi, then discuss with this old man how to train troops."

On the twentieth day of the second month of the fifth year of Tianqi, the Liaonan campaign, which had lasted nearly two months, came to an end. The Later Jin army's attempt to resolve the Liaonan issue in one stroke had completely collapsed. The current balance of power in Liaonan had become even more perilous than the previous year. The Bordered Red Banner, not yet fully reorganized, had to be thrown into defensive sectors, and the Plain Red Banner urgently needed at least six months of rest and recuperation.

The Later Jin had originally hoped that after resolving the Liaonan problem, they could transfer more troops to Liaodong. As a result, not only did the strategic reserve, the two White Banners, suffer certain losses, but even the Plain Blue Banner, transferred from Liaodong, was nearly crippled. The Later Jin not only could not withdraw a single soldier from Liaonan, but instead had to pour even more troops and equipment into this area.

The Later Jin had launched the Liaonan campaign with another objective: to replenish themselves by plundering Liaonan. But this goal was likewise not achieved; instead, a series of emergency mobilizations consumed a large amount of reserves and materiel.

After receiving the detailed report of the great victory at Nanguan, the Ming court experienced a brief speechlessness. This outcome did not particularly surprise Huang Shi. Historically, Wu Sangui's fame-making battle involved leading over a hundred retainers to rescue only his father Wu She from several hundred Later Jin troops, and for this Wu Sangui received the title of "Unrivaled Brave General of the Age." But Huang Shi's Battle of Nanguan had rescued a full eight thousand men, and incidentally routed the three Jianzhou slave banners besieging the Ming army and counter-encircled them. The most astonishing part was that the vast majority of the fourteen thousand Ming troops participating in the battle were not even Huang Shi's subordinates.

After repeated, almost neurotic verifications, the entire Ming court, long silent, erupted in fervor. In their wild jubilation, the sovereign and ministers of the Great Ming momentarily forgot all factional strife. Even the Nanjing Ministry of War sent official correspondence requesting advance booking. In Nanjing's words, with a valiant general like Huang Shi present, the pacification of Liaodong was just a matter of time. In a few years, once the Jianzhou slaves were bound hand and foot, Nanjing hoped to transfer Huang Shi from Liaodong to Yunnan as a guest general, to quell the She-An Rebellion that so troubled the south.

After the date for presenting the captives at the Taimiao was set, the censors also found a new target for impeachment: Left Regional Commander and General Who Pacifies Liao, Mao Wenlong. They severely denounced Mao Wenlong for improper use of personnel, claiming that he had such a peerless fierce general as Huang Shi yet failed to employ him in a major role. Therefore, the losses in Liaonan this time were clearly not a purely military problem, but a problem of Mao Wenlong's personnel management. These censors one after another demanded that an imperial edict be issued to sternly reprimand Mao Wenlong and fine his salary. Wang Zaijin, Minister of War of Nanjing, also took the opportunity to scold Sun Chengzong, Minister of War of Beijing and Grand Coordinator of Liaodong, a couple of times. Old Wang picked apart Old Sun's eye for talent and level of personnel management, which could be considered venting some pent-up spleen.

After the third month of the fifth year of Tianqi, the common people and minor officials of the Great Ming also began to discuss Huang Shi's unbelievable martial valor. Including the storytellers of Beijing, these masters of lip-service greatly exaggerated the Battle of Nanguan with artistic license, so that it had already become Huang Shi leading two thousand men to utterly rout one hundred thousand Jianzhou slaves.

On the third day of the third month, within the imperial palace of Beijing.

Zhu Youxiao, Chairman of Great Ming Ltd., was asking his Grandpa Wei with relaxed cheerfulness: "Have you all reached a decision on how to reward the great victory at Nanguan?"

"In reply to His Majesty, it has been decided." Wei Zhongxian had struck it rich this time; he was praised by Tianqi for several days in a row. The matter of the iron armor was especially commended with great emphasis. The Emperor's private assessment of the Nanguan victory was: on the surface, it indeed appeared that Huang Shi had rendered great merit on the frontier, but in reality, it also relied on Wei Zhongxian's strategic planning, logistical calculations, and support from within the imperial palace.

"Marshal Mao reported one hundred eighty thousand troops, with nine hundred ninety severed heads — not enough for one major merit." When discussing military pay, Mao Wenlong's figure was calculated as twenty-four thousand taels for just over ten thousand troops, but when discussing merits, everyone remembered the one hundred eighty thousand troops he had reported.

"Huang Shi reported twelve thousand troops, with eight hundred ninety severed heads, and since he is a guest general, it must be doubled." Generally speaking, after the mid-Ming period, guest generals and guest armies were considered masters of doing the bare minimum and the main force of fleeing in the face of battle. Doubling the head count for guest generals was to encourage guest armies to also fight hard. Neither Jinzhou nor Nanguan fell under Huang Shi's jurisdiction, so for the Battle of Nanguan, Huang Shi was to be counted as a guest general.

"In total, that is fifteen grades of merit, with the capture of the banner and the helmet to be calculated separately." After reporting the figures, Wei Zhongxian, Director of the Eastern Depot, stepped aside. Behind him, Eunuch Wang, the Brush-holding Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, presented a drafted document.

"Both Mr. Sun and Marshal Mao have already agreed. Huang Shi is promoted to the rank of Vice Regional Commander of Dongjiang, skipping over the Vice Regional Commander of the second rank, junior grade, and promoted to Left Regional Commander of the same rank of the second rank, senior grade — that is two ranks. The remainder can only be managed through hereditary titles. Huang Shi is currently a Company Commander of Dongjiang, therefore... Vice Battalion Commander of Dongjiang, Battalion Commander of Dongjiang, hereditary Guard Commander of Jinzhou Guard... hereditary Acting Vice Guard Commander of Liaodong, hereditary Acting Guard Commander of Liaodong. It cannot go higher; Marshal Mao is only hereditary General Who Pacifies Liao." Thus, Huang Shi's hereditary rank also leaped seven grades in one breath.

Tianqi nodded in agreement. But this was still not enough, so Tianqi asked: "What is Marshal Mao's honorary title?"

"In reply to His Majesty, Marshal Mao is currently Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent."

"Mm, then give Huang Shi Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. The merits for capturing the banner and helmet are also included in that." Tianqi tilted his head in thought, then added to Wei Zhongxian: "Bestow silver: Mao Wenlong two hundred taels, Huang Shi one hundred fifty taels. Every officer in this battle shall receive some, and each soldier shall be given one tael."

"As commanded," Wei Zhongxian intoned, then memorialized further: "Huang Shi has also recommended a group of men — Deng Xian, He Dingyuan, Mao Kexi, Mao Youjie…"

Tianqi did not even glance at the list and agreed to everything: "All approved."

"As commanded." Wei Zhongxian hastily acknowledged again. He stole a glance at Tianqi's expression: "This slave believes Huang Shi is both loyal and valiant, and can be entrusted with great responsibility. Previously, Army Supervisor Wu Mu suggested following the precedent of Ma Gui and promoting Huang Shi to Provincial Military Commander of Liaoxi."

"That is acceptable. Let the Grand Secretariat deliberate and draft the ticket." Tianqi was in excellent spirits at the moment and agreed without a second thought.

Wei Zhongxian's voice grew lower and lower: "But Mr. Sun considers it inappropriate."

"Oh? What is inappropriate about it?"

"This slave does not know either."

Tianqi pondered painfully for a moment, then sighed: "Mr. Sun is always the one with reason."

Wei Zhongxian hastily chimed in with flattery: "Your Majesty sees all from a thousand miles. Mr. Sun is seasoned in statecraft and holds wisdom firmly in his grasp. With Mr. Sun present, the Liaodong affairs will surely be without the slightest error."