Chapter 243: Section Fifty-Eight: Dividing the Spoils

After waiting a while longer on the command tower, the scouts sent out finally returned: the entire Later Jin army had withdrawn to their camp on the opposite bank. This news let Huang Shi and the other commanders breathe a huge sigh of relief. As the saying goes, a single drumbeat rouses the spirit, a second makes it wane, and a third exhausts it entirely. The Later Jin army had marched over ten li today to fight a battle, lost in this manner, and now marched over ten li back again — their morale had surely sunk to its lowest point. The Battle of Juehua, it seemed, had come to an end. The Changsheng Army's casualties in this engagement were extremely light, rendering most of Physician Hu Qingbai's preparations meaningless. The army chaplains had also fulfilled their duty of providing final solace for the few fallen.

The weather around the New Year was the coldest stretch of the entire year in Liaodong. Huang Shi ordered the necessary sentries posted and the whole army to return to camp and rest. Standing at the railing, Huang Shi looked down upon his entire force, and his loyal subordinates raised their heads to cast fervent gazes back at their commander.

"All troops — dismissed."

"Kill!"

After announcing the army's dismissal, Huang Shi rubbed his face vigorously. Standing on the high tower and buffeted by the wind for nearly two shichen, even after years of campaigning he found it somewhat hard to bear. Watching the soldiers stream back in great numbers into the field barracks behind the defense line, there was no longer any need to remain on the command tower. In greatly relaxed spirits, Huang Shi turned and called to the several Guangning Army commanders to go down the tower and rest together.

When Huang Shi had been issuing orders earlier, those six commanders had all stood ramrod straight behind him with the utmost deference. Once Huang Shi and they descended from the high tower, the Guangning Army commanders suggested holding a banquet to celebrate this great victory. The Later Jin soldiers were men, not beasts of burden; in this ghastly cold weather, if they were dragged out for another march at night, a batch of men would likely freeze to death. Therefore, the Guangning Army commanders also advocated using this opportunity to let the troops eat their fill, in case the Later Jin army's thieving hearts refused to die and they came back for another fight.

Although the exact count of heads could not be tallied for the moment, the enemy troops directly killed inside the low wall were estimated at around a thousand, and the enemy soldiers wounded so badly they could not flee were even more numerous. Outside, many more were likely killed by cannon fire, and the Later Jin army had left those corpses behind on the ice as well. If they were all gathered up, there would probably be another one or two hundred at least.

Huang Shi looked at the eager yet slightly uneasy expressions in the eyes of those six commanders, and he understood perfectly well what they were thinking. These men were both longing for the imperial court's rewards and afraid that he would go back on his word and not share the battle honors with them. In truth, Huang Shi had no intention of monopolizing anything. If not for their wholehearted cooperation this time, relying on his own three thousand men alone, he could never have held Juehua.

The course of today's battle left Huang Shi extremely satisfied. In his recollection, it seemed no one had ever successfully cooperated with the Guangning Army before. This time, not only had he fought shoulder to shoulder with the Guangning Army, but he had also achieved victory — this genuinely gave Huang Shi a great sense of accomplishment. Before his death, Xiong Tingbi had harshly denounced his deployments during the Battle of Fuzhou. That time, Huang Shi had felt that low-combat-effectiveness allies were a tremendous burden, but Xiong Tingbi had explained to him some arts of managing men, making Huang Shi understand that in the hands of a commander who knew how to use people, even the most incompetent allies could be put to full use.

While getting chummy with the several Guangning Army commanders, Huang Shi searched his mind for related knowledge. He recalled that among all the outside-system commanders who had cooperated with the Guangning Army, only Zuo Liangyu had ever once gained the upper hand.

That was already after the Great Battle of Jinzhou. By then, the Chongzhen Emperor could be called utterly destitute. Not only could he barely afford to keep a few eunuchs, but he dared not recruit more palace maids when there were too few, and in the end had to have his father-in-law, Imperial Relative Zhou, pay out of his own pocket to buy some servant girls dressed up as palace maids just to keep up appearances. But when Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng for the third time, the Chongzhen Emperor still made one last desperate effort, smashing pots and selling iron, including pawning even his bronze dining plates, and finally scraped together some silver to offer as a reward for Zuo Liangyu and the Guangning Iron Cavalry to go relieve the Bian Army.

The Guangning Iron Cavalry, which had just abandoned its allies and fled back during the Great Battle of Jinzhou, headed south to Kaifeng as soon as they heard there was reward silver to be had, to seek out Grand Coordinator Hou for the money. The other relief armies were one thing, but Zuo Liangyu, who had likewise come to Kaifeng for the reward silver, had at least spent time in Liaoxi — everyone knew each other's true colors. At the time, the moment Zuo Liangyu saw that the rear support was the Guangning Iron Cavalry, his heart turned utterly cold. So old Zuo kept a wary eye open, though of course he did not reveal his thoughts to Grand Coordinator Hou.

When the battle began, before Li Zicheng had even launched his attack, Zuo Liangyu on the right wing was the first to flee the field. And just as Zuo Liangyu had expected, as soon as Li Zicheng began his assault, the Guangning Iron Cavalry on the left wing likewise promptly executed a strategic transfer... This battle is known to history as the Great Victory of Zhuxianzhen. The Bian Army and the Lu Army that had come from afar to help were completely annihilated by Li Zicheng, and the Ming dynasty's strategic mobile forces in the Central Plains were swept clean away by the Chuang Army in one stroke.

Looking through late Ming history, only Zuo Liangyu had ever outmaneuvered the Guangning Iron Cavalry this once. For Huang Shi to be able to defeat the enemy fighting alongside the Guangning Army this time — didn't that mean he had surpassed so many famous officials and great generals of the late Ming? At this thought, Huang Shi could not help feeling rather smug. Truly a hard-won victory.

After returning to the barracks, Huang Shi reiterated that he only wanted thirty percent of the heads, and the remaining seventy percent would go to the Juehua Guangning Army. The moment these words were spoken, Assistant Regional Commander Yao and the others all breathed a sigh of relief. When they had come up to the command tower earlier, it was precisely to probe Huang Shi's attitude. When Huang Shi had offered them stools, they had already set half their hearts at ease, and now they were finally completely reassured. As for how they divided the heads among themselves, however, Huang Shi did not concern himself. He thought it over: no matter how he divided them, someone was bound to be dissatisfied. Having already made such a great sacrifice, why go to thankless trouble?

After clearly stating his position, Huang Shi, thinking he had handled matters beautifully, was astonished to see Assistant Regional Commander Yao and the others exchanging glances again, and their silent communication was quite intense. Baffled, Huang Shi stared at them in surprise, unable to resist reflecting on whether he had said something wrong.

"Lord Huang, we, your subordinate officers..." Assistant Regional Commander Yao once again used the phrase "we, your subordinate officers." The other five gentlemen around him all nodded repeatedly in agreement, preemptively affirming that what Assistant Regional Commander Yao was about to say represented their consensus.

"We, your subordinate officers, feel that the Jian slaves will not come again, so..." His voice had not been loud to begin with, but at this point Assistant Regional Commander Yao still paused and leaned his body forward slightly. Clearly, what he was about to say was not something entirely aboveboard.

"General Yao, speak freely." Huang Shi also thought it highly unlikely that Nurhaci would come back to throw his life away again. The Later Jin regime was, after all, merely a bandit gang, and bandits bully the weak and fear the strong. They had sent troops into Liaoxi this time to plunder provisions for the winter, not to gnaw on hard bones.

As Assistant Regional Commander Yao spoke, he winked at Huang Shi, his voice growing softer and softer: "We, your subordinate officers, believe we should reward the officers and men to boost morale. What does Lord Huang think?"

The military households and soldiers on Juehua Island were indeed the private property of these few men, but the stores in the warehouse were the property of the imperial court. Not much of that five hundred thousand taels of silver had been distributed today — the thirty men like Oboi were at most enough to let nearly a thousand officers and soldiers redden their blades. But since Huang Shi had brought the silver out, these few were clearly somewhat tempted, and it seemed they had no intention of returning it to Zhao Yin.

Huang Shi pondered for a moment, then asked slowly: "Assistant Regional Commander Yao speaks most wisely. The Jian slave army might well go and return. Now is indeed not the time to be greedy for wealth; boosting the troops' morale should take precedence."

Everyone in the room understood that the likelihood of the Later Jin army returning was infinitesimal, but Huang Shi's words provided a presentable excuse. Now they could divide the silver with perfect propriety. Instantly, a chorus of agreement arose in the room, all praising Vice General Huang for his foresight and asserting that dividing the silver was imperative.

Assistant Regional Commander Yao exchanged another round of glances with his colleagues and solemnly extended three fingers: "Lord Huang, shall we still split it seventy-thirty? The ten thousand taels of silver that Assistant Regional Commander Jin has already distributed today will also count as ours, the Guangning Army's. How about that?"

If Huang Shi had not come to Juehua, the Guangning commanders would have had no chance whatsoever to move the silver out of the storehouse, let alone the fact that without Huang Shi holding the fort here, those fellows would probably all be dead men by now. Displeasure rose in Huang Shi's heart, and a look of annoyance showed on his face. Seeing this, Assistant Regional Commander Yao gave a sly grin: "Lord Huang eats the meat; we, your subordinate officers, merely wish to follow and sip some broth. If Lord Huang deems it inappropriate, then let the silver be split eighty-twenty — the Dongjiang Army four hundred thousand taels, the Guangning Army one hundred thousand taels. How about that?"

Suddenly enlightened, Huang Shi's eyes lit up. His gaze swept across the faces of the other Guangning Army commanders, and he saw that every one of them was all smiles, nodding amiably at Huang Shi. Assistant Regional Commander Yao laughed heartily: "Lord Huang, please understand clearly — we, your subordinate officers, are not ungrateful wretches. This time, receiving Lord Huang's generous goodwill in sharing over a thousand heads with us, we do not even know how to repay Lord Huang."

These six fellows commanded four battalions of seven thousand troops, plus the warehouse military households garrisoning Juehua. Their annual military pay came to about two hundred thousand taels of silver. Though the silver in the storehouse this time was considerable, Liaoxi was not particularly short of silver — what it lacked was heads. The heads Huang Shi was sharing with them this time would, by any reckoning, number over a thousand. Assistant Regional Commander Yao and the others considered their promotions a foregone conclusion, so they no longer cared much about silver. Excluding bonuses for killing the enemy, the entire Dongjiang Garrison's annual military pay was only two hundred forty thousand taels of silver. Yao Yuxian and the others did not need to think hard to understand how great Huang Shi's need for silver was. Therefore, these Guangning generals felt that they taking more heads and Huang Shi taking more silver was the most reasonable distribution model.

Conversely, if they acted too dishonorably, they would reap no good fruit if Huang Shi turned against them. Assistant Regional Commander Yao and his brothers all had a keen sense of power dynamics — Huang Shi was currently the apple of the Emperor's eye, and they would not deliberately kick an iron plate. Besides, more friends mean more roads. Jin Guan, standing nearby, also chimed in with a smile: "In our humble opinion, all this silver ought to be awarded to Lord Huang's officers and men. But upon second thought, if Zhangsheng Island alone took it, I fear some flies in the imperial court would start buzzing."

These words filled Huang Shi's heart with admiration once again. These gentlemen, without needing to say a single word, had discussed matters so thoroughly using only their eyes — this kind of communication ability... truly, a foot of ice is not formed in a single day of cold.

What Jin Guan said was also the truth. If Zhangsheng Island monopolized the silver, it would be strange if the censors did not impeach him for it. But if the Dongjiang Army and the Guangning Army divided the silver together, the responsibility would be shared, and at the very least they could fall back on the principle that the law cannot punish the multitude. At this thought, Huang Shi suddenly saw the light. As the saying goes, "If a man respects me by a foot, I respect him by ten feet." Huang Shi also harbored the idea that more friends mean more roads, and he exchanged a few more rounds of polite demurral with Assistant Regional Commander Yao and the others. In the end, they settled on a seventy-thirty split: of the five hundred thousand taels of storehouse silver, the Dongjiang Army would take three hundred fifty thousand, and the six Guangning Army commanders would divide the remaining one hundred fifty thousand among themselves.

Before nightfall, Zhao Yin and Wu Mu returned, supporting each other. The search parties had followed the ice surface for several li and picked up some more corpses of wounded soldiers who had been left behind. In total, they had collected over twelve hundred Mongol heads, and over nine hundred heads of queue-wearing soldiers, of whom at least four hundred were genuine Tatars. When he returned, Zhao Yin was still sighing incessantly, saying that too many heads were already beyond recognition.

Hearing that there were over two thousand two hundred heads, Assistant Regional Commander Yao and the others smiled even more happily. And in the face of such a great victory, what did a mere five hundred thousand taels of silver count for? The officials of the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries would surely want a share of the spoils as well; of course, the civil officials of Shandong and Liaodong would also not let this fat piece of meat slip by. That was the serious business before them now.

In the broader context of sharing merit, Huang Shi and Yao Yuxian and the others all believed that no censor would jump out to spout nonsense. Even if there were some individual who did not know better and wanted to make a name for himself, he would certainly be regarded by other officials as a meddler blocking the road, and their impeachment memorials would surely be detained in the palace by the Emperor without response.

Beaming with joy, Zhao Yin had also swept away his pre-battle expression of ill fortune. In high spirits, he invited the several commanders to a banquet together. His tone when speaking to Huang Shi was now much warmer, a complete change from the attitude of the previous days, which had been like "enemies meeting, eyes blazing with hatred." This time, Zhao Yin had preserved Juehua's land and storehouses. Although he could not command Huang Shi, he could at least say that he had assisted Huang Shi. Coordinating the forces of six camps under three Assistant Regional Commanders and five Mobile Corps Commanders (Jin Qiude and Zhang Minghe, whom Huang Shi had brought) for joint operations was a feat of strategic planning. Since Huang Shi could not take this credit, it could not possibly escape Zhao Yin's grasp.

Citing heavy military duties, Huang Shi drank only a very small amount of wine at the banquet. Taking advantage of the moment when Zhao Yin's ears were red and his eyes heated, Huang Shi obliquely informed him that the silver had all been distributed according to the previously announced rewards — all five hundred thousand taels had been spent clean. Zhao Yin was first taken aback, then actually laughed, repeatedly telling Huang Shi to rest assured, saying that he, Zhao Yin, as the local official of Juehua, would naturally explain matters clearly on behalf of the officers and men.

Zhao Yin's cooperative attitude somewhat exceeded Huang Shi's expectations, but since he was so forthcoming, Huang Shi took the opportunity to offer a few compliments. Assistant Regional Commander Yao and the others swarmed forward to toast Assistant Prefect Zhao, wanting to get him even drunker so he would not come to his senses, and then take advantage of his intoxication to make him commit to his words in front of everyone, lest he go back on them tomorrow.

In truth, Assistant Regional Commander Yao and the others were overthinking it. Although Zhao Yin had drunk a bit much at the moment, his mind was still quite clear. Earlier, when tallying the heads, Lord Zhao had already made up his mind not to oppose Huang Shi in the future. Although he could impeach Huang Shi for his overbearing behavior after landing on the island, with such a great victory as a foundation, any impeachment would be useless. The civil officials eager to share in the credit would only frantically boast before the Emperor that they had been optimistic about Huang Shi all along and madly extol the Emperor's foresight; they could not be bothered to even glance at memorials impeaching Huang Shi.

Zhao Yin felt that if he aired his discord with Huang Shi, it would also be disadvantageous to himself. Proclaiming that he and Huang Shi were of one mind, civil and military, would clearly produce a far better effect. Besides, from the perspective of hindsight, reward silver leading to soaring morale, soaring morale leading to a great rout of the enemy — this was clearly foresight and sagacity. Zhao Yin had no intention of saying that he had been the foolish opponent of this wise move.

After three rounds of wine, Eunuch Wu once again raised his booming voice and began telling stories. It was undeniable that this fellow Wu Mu truly told them in a most entertaining way, with dramatic rises and falls, cadenced and rhythmic, and the little bits of suspense he sold at critical moments were perfectly timed, kneading people's hearts until they were all aflutter. Huang Shi genuinely suspected whether he had formerly been a storyteller rather than a bodyguard. The crowd listened with rapt attention, as if clustering around the moon surrounded by stars. Huang Shi also sat to one side smiling, but by this time his mind was elsewhere. After the great battle ended, Huang Shi felt the likelihood of the Later Jin returning was infinitesimal, and his tense mood had suddenly relaxed considerably. One thought had taken root in his mind and would not be dislodged.