Chapter 207: Section 24: Worries

The speaker was Liu Xingzhi. He was vigorously urging his elder brother Liu Xingzuo to rise in revolt, but Liu Xingzuo was still very hesitant. Haltingly, he said, "The Grand Beile returned yesterday with over a dozen niru. I fear the battle of Fuzhou was not as disastrous as the rumors outside claim — the Great Jin still has considerable strength."

"What damned strength?" Liu Xingzhi scoffed at his elder brother's argument. He had always believed he possessed an almost instinctive feel for the situation and men's hearts. Slapping his hands together fiercely, he cried, "If they really had strength, Daišan wouldn't have rushed back. The fact that he hurried back in such a fluster means he is deeply afraid of trouble in the rear, so he rushed back to put on a show of force."

Seeing his elder brother still hesitating, Liu Xingzhi was frantic to the point of madness: "Elder Brother, in great undertakings one must never waver between two courses. Either follow the Old Khan with all your heart, or turn back to the Great Ming side. You must choose one and then commit to it wholeheartedly. Trying to keep a foot in both boats will absolutely end in disaster."

"Lord Huang's proclamation said he would pardon the Han troops, but it did not say he would pardon the bannermen," Liu Xingzuo said, his face full of worry. He stretched out a hand and pointed at his brother and then himself: "We are both already enrolled in the banners now. Lord Huang's proclamation did not say he would pardon us."

"Elder Brother, how can you be so muddled? What else could Lord Huang possibly have said? Could he have written on the public notice: 'I hereby guarantee by my own merit that the former Han general Liu Xingzuo, now named Aita, is guiltless and meritorious'? Before we even surrendered, the Old Khan would have executed our entire clan!" Liu Xingzhi's eyes were completely bloodshot, and the veins on his neck bulged as he spoke:

"Lord Huang's name for loyalty and righteousness is known throughout the realm. In his second proclamation, his killing of the old troops to avenge the Han troops was an act modeled on the ancient stratagem of buying a horse's bones with a thousand gold pieces. How could he go back on his own word and slap his own face? Moreover, if you and I, brothers, go to Lord Huang's army to pledge our service, every Han general and Han soldier in all of Liaodong will crane their necks and watch to see how he deals with us... How could Lord Huang possibly touch a single hair on our heads? How would he dare to?"

But no matter how Liu Xingzhi jumped and raged, his elder brother's face remained a mask of suspicion and indecision. Finally, pressed to the limit by his younger brother, Liu Xingzuo said fiercely, "I do have a foolproof plan. Why don't we secretly correspond with Lord Huang, and then send two trusted men to be the first to raise the banner of righteousness? If Gaizhou lacks the strength to suppress them and can only cower behind its walls, then we too will rise. If Gaizhou still has strength to spare, we will wait a while longer. What do you think?"

This plan left Liu Xingzhi stunned. After a long moment, he coldly retorted, "Elder Brother's plan is truly brilliant. But if Gaizhou orders us to suppress the uprising, what does Elder Brother intend to do then?"

"That..." Liu Xingzuo stroked his beard and fell into thought, then answered blankly, "It seems this matter still requires further deliberation."

"Elder Brother," Liu Xingzhi began to roar, anguished that his brother was failing to live up to expectations. By now he was both frantic and furious: "Lord Huang has said: 'Those who slay officials and offer up territory shall be given those officials' posts and granted that territory.' Right now, if we do not kill Daišan and seize Gaizhou, I fear there are others below us who are eyeing our heads. Furthermore, if we let others be the first to raise the banner of righteousness, our merit will be halved — that is the first point. And the Jianzhou slaves in Gaizhou..."

"Second Brother." Liu Xingzuo barked a reprimand.

But Liu Xingzhi, heedless, continued on: "Lord Huang is invincible wherever he goes. Sooner or later the Old Khan will have to go back to Jianzhou and live like a savage again. Once the Jianzhou slaves in Gaizhou are on guard, our uprising will become difficult — that is the second point. So we are better off taking the lead. If we succeed, we become a military house holding Gaizhou in perpetuity; if we fail, Lord Huang will still petition the court for a reward on our behalf, and we can live perfectly well in Fuzhou."

"Let me think this over carefully, think it over carefully..."

Disappointed, Liu Xingzhi walked out the main gate of his elder brother's official residence. He raised his head and gazed at the churning black clouds on the horizon, then stamped his foot and sighed deeply: "Full of schemes but irresolute, wavering between two courses — our Liu clan will die without a burial place!"

Ninth day of the seventh month, Tianqi 5. Fuzhou.

"Your younger brother pays respects to Elder Brother."

"Brother, rise quickly. How I have longed for you."

Zhang Minghe led a man who looked about his own age into the secret chamber. No sooner had the two sat down than they began discussing this recent battle of Fuzhou. After they had talked for a while, Zhang Minghe brought out a brocade pouch. Opening it revealed a collection of various regulations he had copied from Changsheng Island. Zhang Minghe handed these regulations to the visitor one sheet at a time, while recounting every detail on them as if enumerating his family treasures — clearly he had long since committed them to heart.

The visitor's name was Zhang Guanshui, also one of the retainers of the late Vanguard Battalion Commander Zhang Feimao. He and Zhang Minghe had always been on very good terms. After the battle of Nanguan, the two had supported each other in their struggle against Jinzhou Regional Military Commissioner Li Chengfeng, and by now they were as close as blood brothers. Zhang Guanshui looked over the papers for a while, then suddenly asked without raising his head, "Lord Huang's Firefighting Battalion — I imagine its combat strength is even more formidable now?"

"Indeed. Not just the Firefighting Battalion — the Rock Battalion has also become extraordinary. As you know, the Rock Battalion's veteran soldiers originally came from our Vanguard Battalion..." At this point, Zhang Minghe stamped his foot in bitter resentment. The Vanguard Battalion's performance this time had left him utterly ashamed: "The same troops trained by the late General Zhang, and even in Commissioner Zhang's hands they remained a first-rate elite force. Yet this time they broke at the first contact, worse even than those naval battalion troops from Zhangshan and Guanglu. Ah, I have truly disgraced the late General Zhang and Commissioner Zhang beyond measure."

Zhang Guanshui had already set down the Changsheng Island regulations in his hands. He looked at Zhang Minghe with a calm expression, and after hearing him out, consoled him: "Elder Brother has been in command of the Vanguard Battalion for less than half a year. The soldiers have not yet attached themselves to you — this is entirely normal. There is no need to take it so much to heart."

"But those veterans who left our Vanguard Battalion — those fellows now in the Rock Battalion — they have attached themselves to Lord Huang," Zhang Minghe said in an agitated rush, his palm slapping repeatedly on the tabletop, his expression deeply anxious: "You did not see the aura about them. It was simply 'meet a Buddha, slay the Buddha; meet a god, kill the god.' They sent those Jianzhou slaves scattering like chickens and dogs, barely able to put up any resistance!"

Zhang Guanshui, however, was not the least bit anxious. He remained unhurried as ever: "That is because Lord Huang has a superior method of managing the troops. We cannot compare. Not just us — when it comes to troop management and military drill, I fear even the late General Zhang would have to bow before Lord Huang's superior skill."

"That is why I copied these regulations." Zhang Minghe slapped the regulations on the table heavily, his face full of resolute determination: "Isn't it just forbidding the keeping of retainers? I have told the men: I too will establish a Fuzhou Instruction Corps. They will all go and join it, and then I will also carry out the Fuzhou Acting Squad Commander Qualification Certification..."

"What? What?" Zhang Guanshui did not catch it clearly for a moment and hurriedly pressed for clarification.

"Acting Squad Commander and Acting Company Commander Qualification Certification; officers and soldiers eating together in mess halls; giving priority to arranging marriages for soldiers; forbidding the marrying of women with bound feet; not issuing military pay..." Zhang Minghe rattled off a long string of items. The Vanguard Battalion, from top to bottom, had always known that the Changsheng Army's combat strength was formidable, and this battle of Fuzhou had shaken them even more profoundly. Zhang Minghe and the other officers had all been recently promoted from the lower ranks by Huang Shi. In their shock, they had almost unanimously agreed to Zhang Minghe's proposal to learn from Changsheng Island, and had also expressed their willingness to accept some damage to their personal interests.

"Elder Brother's thinking is very good. But your younger brother worries that Lord Huang still has some secrets he has not told us. After all, we are not Lord Huang's men."

Zhang Guanshui's words touched precisely on what Zhang Minghe himself worried about. He let out a long sigh: "I think so too. Lord Huang surely has some ancestral secret techniques he has not made public. Still, if I could learn even fifty percent of Lord Huang's skill, it would be enough to sustain me for a lifetime. To be honest, I have long wished to become Lord Huang's adopted son. But Lord Huang never accepts adopted sons. Otherwise, as long as he was willing to pass on his troop-training methods to me, I would have no problem at all even becoming the adopted son of Lord Huang's adopted son."

"In that case, why doesn't Elder Brother simply place himself directly under Lord Huang's command?"

"That..." Zhang Minghe was caught off guard by the question. He had always worried that if he placed himself under Huang Shi's command, he would not be able to remain a battalion commander. Yet he had just said that he would have no problem becoming Huang Shi's adopted son or even adopted grandson, as long as he could become a member of the Huang family. These two lines of thought seemed somewhat contradictory.

"What Elder Brother worries about is, in the end, that Lord Huang will take away Elder Brother's authority. I wonder if your younger brother has guessed correctly?"

"Correct."

"But without Lord Huang's promotion, Elder Brother and I would have nothing. In all likelihood, we would still be household slaves of that scoundrel Li Chengfeng. I wonder if your younger brother speaks the truth?"

"Cor — rect."

Having received an affirmative answer, Zhang Guanshui unhurriedly began to analyze the situation: "Therefore, your younger brother believes that if we guard against Lord Huang at every turn, we will easily be accused of ingratitude. Moreover, both Elder Brother and I were promoted by Lord Huang over the objections of many, and our positions have been secured by Lord Huang's staunch support. The label of Lord Huang has long since been affixed to us. In your younger brother's estimation, I fear Lord Huang also regards us as his direct line... at least as half direct line."

"Then what you mean is..." Zhang Minghe scratched his scalp and said with some hesitation, "But Lord Huang has never mentioned this implication to me, not even a hint."

Zhang Guanshui stopped beating around the bush: "I suspect there are two reasons Lord Huang is unwilling to speak plainly with us. First, he is mindful of the great laws of the imperial court and does not dare wantonly trample upon our Great Ming's legal principle of 'the greater and the lesser checking each other.' Second, I fear Lord Huang simply does not care about our Vanguard Battalion. Lord Huang considers his direct-line troops sufficient for his purposes. We are, at root, dispensable figures."

Zhang Minghe sat stunned for a moment, his expression as blank as an old monk in deep meditation. Only after a long while did he mutter to himself, "I was possessed by a ghost. Clinging to a bit of power, I looked forward and back, fearing others would swallow me up, never noticing that Lord Huang not only has no desire to swallow me up, but even seems inclined to push me forward."

Zhang Guanshui clapped his hands in approval and cried, "Exactly, Elder Brother. What kind of future does Lord Huang have? At the very least he will be enfeoffed as a marquis of ten Battalion Commander. Looking at the momentum of the Changsheng Army in the battle of Fuzhou, it is not even impossible that he will be granted perpetual garrison of Liaodong, following the precedent of the Mu family. We are certainly going to serve under Lord Huang for the rest of our lives, and our descendants will likely have to seek their livelihood in the hands of the Huang family's descendants. If Lord Huang were recruiting personal guards right now, I would break my own head fighting to squeeze in."

"The same for me," Zhang Minghe added softly, no longer the slightest hesitation in his heart. He said with finality, "Tomorrow I will go to Changsheng Island and request that Lord Huang take over the Vanguard Battalion."

"Not advisable, not advisable." Zhang Guanshui hurriedly stopped him: "Lord Huang probably would not dare to accept. Otherwise, the remonstrance officials at court would certainly impeach Lord Huang for arrogance and a lack of the propriety befitting a subject."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Your younger brother believes we could..."

Twelfth day of the seventh month, Tianqi 5. Changsheng Island.

Huang Shi was in a very good mood today. Two days ago, Zhang Minghe of Fuzhou had sent an envoy — his sworn brother Zhang Guanshui. They requested that Huang Shi send men to help train their troops, and also requested that some of their soldiers be sent to Changsheng Island for training.

This sudden request startled Huang Shi. After he had discerned one layer of meaning within it, he dismissed his inner guards and discussed the matter in detail with Zhang Guanshui. As Huang Shi had expected, what Zhang Guanshui was actually bringing was a request for incorporation. The so-called sending of men to assist in training meant having Huang Shi dispatch entire units of officers and soldiers to Fuzhou, with Zhang Minghe privately guaranteeing that the organizational structure of these units would not be broken up. And Zhang Minghe's entire battalion, along with all the officers in the battalion, would be handed over to Huang Shi for reorganization. The troops returned to Zhang Minghe would also be officers and soldiers reorganized by Huang Shi. In this way, Zhang Minghe would effectively voluntarily relinquish all influence in the Vanguard Battalion — though in truth, he had little influence to speak of at present anyway.

Huang Shi understood that Zhang Minghe hoped to use this grand gift to become his direct-line subordinate in one stroke. And this Zhang Guanshui was also very glib — he could even link the reorganization of the Vanguard Battalion to the will of Heaven. In Zhang Guanshui's words, Huang Shi's first battalion contained the character for "Fire," and as the saying goes, Fire gives birth to Earth, so the second battalion was named "Rock Battalion" — rock being the essence and soul of earth. Next, naturally, Earth gives birth to Metal, and the third character of "Vanguard Battalion" happened to contain the metal radical. Thus it was evident that the Vanguard Battalion's coming under Huang Shi's ownership was Heaven's will.

What Heaven bestows, if one does not take, one will instead suffer its curse.

The arrangement made by the Zhang brothers also sat very comfortably with Huang Shi. By secretly acquiring the Vanguard Battalion in this way, not a word would be raised at court, and no remonstrance official would make trouble for him. As for the over a thousand veteran soldiers of the Vanguard Battalion, Huang Shi was still quite covetous of them. These veterans had already fought for several years and were certainly stronger, not weaker, than the auxiliary soldiers just promoted from his new recruit battalions.

So yesterday, Huang Shi had dispatched Yang Zhiyuan to accompany Zhang Guanshui and hurry to Fuzhou, instructing him to work out an exchange plan with the Zhang brothers as quickly as possible — in short, to bring the Vanguard Battalion into the training schedule without delay.

As Huang Shi whistled and tossed stones into the sea, the flatbread girl behind him was busy gnawing on a large flatbread, stuffed with some oysters cultivated in the sea.

The first time he saw Miss Wang stealing oysters from the wooden posts, Huang Shi had shaken his head and lamented, "Guarding the storehouse and stealing from it yourself — guarding and stealing. According to regulations, you should be beaten with twenty military rods and never employed again."

But Miss Wang merely rolled her eyes at him: "Does the Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent wish to go and report this little woman? Be my guest!" Now, every time Huang Shi came to the seaside, his personal guards would form a security cordon in the distance, so those on inspection duty naturally could not enter. This girl surnamed Wang thus pilfered Changsheng Island's property without the slightest scruple.

That said, generally speaking, Changsheng Island turned a blind eye to such behavior. After all, the consciousness of the laboring masses in this era was not yet high enough. So as long as people were not carting goods home in large batches, the management department of Changsheng Island did not mind the military households on the island taking small advantages from the mountain and sea they lived by.

"The Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent looks very happy today." The Wang family girl rolled up the remaining flatbread, still stuffed with some raw oysters.

Huang Shi looked down at his own hands. They were covered in mud and sand.

"If you would be so kind!" Huang Shi said, then bent forward and opened his mouth wide. He pointed a finger toward his gaping maw.

Young Lady Wang blushed slightly and laughed, "This little woman dares not presume." As she spoke, she gently pinched the end of the flatbread roll and carefully poked it into Huang Shi's mouth.

Huang Shi held the stuffed flatbread in his mouth, tilted his head back toward the sky, and with a coordinated motion of tongue and teeth bit, pulled, and swallowed it down. Just as he was chewing toward the heavens, he suddenly felt his chest pounded heavily several times, and nearly sprayed the mouthful of food out.

He looked down to see Young Lady Wang already full of anxiety. Huang Shi gulped down the food in his mouth and asked in surprise, "What are you hitting me for?"

Miss Wang's face instantly flushed bright red. She lowered her head and said, "This young woman thought the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent was choking." Then she laughed and added, "The Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent's throat is truly extraordinary."

Huang Shi also chuckled as he walked toward the sea to wash his hands, saying smugly, "Of course — how else could I have become a high minister of the state?"

The two chatted and laughed a while longer, and the midday rest period was about to end again. Seeing Huang Shi looking around, ready to leave, Miss Wang's expression suddenly grew somewhat uneasy. She called out softly, "My lord Huang."

Huang Shi was adjusting his armor as he asked absentmindedly, "Mm? What is it?"

"This young woman will be nineteen by the New Year."

Those words struck Huang Shi's chest like a boulder. His breathing suddenly grew heavier. Although he considered nineteen by the nominal count — seventeen in actual years — not very old, the people of this era clearly did not think so.

Young Lady Wang's voice grew even softer: "Yesterday, someone came to see my elder brother, saying they wished to arrange a match for me."

……

The Liaodong Supervisory Headquarters

Before Sun Chengzong lay two letters. One was a private letter from the Left-Corps Army Supervisor of the Great Ming's Dongjiangzhen. The first time he read it, he had tossed it aside in indignation before finishing even half. The second time he picked it up, Sun Chengzong had struggled through to the end, but by then his arm was trembling with rage.

The night before last, Sun Chengzong had been so angered by this letter that he could not sleep. In the end, he got up in the middle of the night and read it over several more times, finally letting out a long sigh: "Though this Wu Mu does not much understand the greater picture, he can absolutely be said to have laid bare his heart and liver." Sun Chengzong was confident he still possessed that much discernment in judging men, so he ultimately decided to suppress the matter.

But this morning yet another letter had arrived — a private letter from Dongjiang Vice Regional Commander Huang Shi. In it, he requested to be made Provincial Military Commander of Liaoxi. After reading it, Sun Chengzong pondered long and hard, and could not resist once more taking out Wu Mu's letter to leaf through it.