Chapter 249: Section Six: Hearts Returning

When Huang Shi drew his sword, a Later Jin soldier charged at him with a flag-spear. Though he could not see the face clearly, he sensed this man was still quite young. On the road to Lüshun, and during the battle of Gaizhou, the enemies who had fought him in life-and-death struggles had all left him with ferocious memories. More than one Heavy Armor Soldier had died at Huang Shi's hands, and this one today — whether in bearing, movement, or build — did not seem like a battle-hardened veteran.

He had originally intended to use the dagger in his hand as a half-shield, but when facing an opponent swinging an axe, having a dagger in the left palm was actually somewhat awkward. With a flick of his wrist, Huang Shi hurled the dagger at the man, and as the enemy soldier turned his head aside to dodge, Huang Shi smoothly sidestepped the flag-spear and then clamped it under his left armpit.

The enemy soldier pulled back hard on the spear. Huang Shi's left hand held the flag-spear shaft steady, and with a swing of his right hand the long sword chopped down on the enemy soldier's forward-gripping left arm. Amid a shriek of agony, the enemy soldier released his right hand to clutch the severed limb; having suddenly lost his center of gravity, he toppled headfirst and rolled down toward the foot of the hill. Without changing expression, Huang Shi took the Niu Lu banner into his hand and tossed it at his feet. Before the enemy soldier rolled away, he had gotten a clear look at his opponent's face — a young man of about twenty.

By now, several screams had already rung out around them. Whatever else might be said of the personal guards clustered around Huang Shi, at the very least their equipment was something the opposing Later Jin troops could not possibly match. Before the enemy soldiers charged up, they had long been poised and ready, and then from their elevated position they delivered a ferocious blow to the Later Jin troops attacking uphill.

That fierce axe-wielding man lunged at Huang Shi again. Having thrown away the dagger, Huang Shi could now grip the sword hilt with his entire left hand and put strength into it. Using both hands, he caught the axe haft, relying on his advantage in height and weight. His arms first twisted sharply in a full circle, then with a lift he sent his opponent's axe spinning away. Panic-stricken, the enemy before him retreated two steps. Facing an unarmed opponent, Huang Shi raised his treasured sword above his head, intending to finish him with one heavy cleaving blow.

As he drew the treasured sword far back, Huang Shi caught a trace of fear on his opponent's face... He drew his breath in to the very bottom, and the look of fear on his opponent's face deepened... Just as he was about to let out a great shout and deliver this sword-stroke with full force, his opponent's face had already begun to contort with terror, and he even took a step back — this whole series of actions was, in truth, but an instant.

Immediately after, Huang Shi also felt a gust of wind sweep past the back of his head. In that split second when the treasured sword was poised to move but had not yet moved, a colossal figure roared past his side, the surging air current nearly sending Huang Shi stumbling.

Before his eyes was unmistakably the back of a mounted general. That warrior held a Green Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand, and with a turn of his body he delivered a sweeping horizontal slash of immense power and weight. Huang Shi watched the head of the enemy before him fly into the air, and at the same time he heard a deep, resonant bellow — that profound bass voice was saturated through and through with the imposing spirit of a mighty man: "Slash —"

Countless cavalrymen charged into the battlefield in an unbroken stream. Huang Shi and his personal guards found themselves inexplicably withdrawn from the core of the fighting. The newly arrived cavalry let out earth-shaking war cries, and the small battlefield instantly boiled over. Huang Shi retreated several steps in succession and at last grasped the situation before him. His left hand felt for the scabbard, and he slid the Imperial Sword back in. From both flanks, cavalrymen continued to burst forth from behind him, and from far behind his head came one man's straining roar: "Kill! My lads, kill the slaves!"

Within moments of Assistant Regional Commander Jin leading several hundred Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry to the scene, the battle ended without any suspense whatsoever. The twenty-odd Later Jin soldiers were all chopped into mincemeat by the swarming Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry. Another dozen or so Later Jin cavalrymen had never dismounted in the first place; seizing the moment when their own unit held the Ming army's attention, they fled the battlefield as fast as they could. Huang Shi's personal guards, concerned for their commander, did not pursue them either.

"The Jianzhou slaves abandoned their comrades and superior officer and fled the field, while the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry vied to be first in valor, slaying the enemy..." Huang Shi muttered a few words to himself in a voice so low only he could hear. The friendly troops before him were noisily clearing the battlefield. Hong Antong had already retrieved Huang Shi's sword and brought it back: "My lord, your sword."

Huang Shi sheathed both this sword and the long dagger. With unconcealed envy, Hong Antong gazed at Huang Shi's other sword and could not help but ask aloud: "My lord, slaying bandits with the Imperial Sword — can it be called a pleasure?"

"Oh..." Without a moment's thought, Huang Shi blurted out: "Thoroughly satisfying. Killing bandits with the Imperial Sword is far better than killing oxen."

These words drew a burst of laughter from the personal guard officers and soldiers around Huang Shi. Back before the Battle of Sarhu, the Liaodong Garrison was already beset by military poverty and exhausted troops. When Vice Minister of War Yang Hao ordered an ox slaughtered for the oath-taking ceremony, the soldiers changed knives three times, yet three thrusts in a row failed to pierce the ox's belly. Unable to save face, an enraged Yang Hao ordered the soldiers to use the Imperial Sword to kill the ox, and they finally managed to slaughter it.

After the three battles of Sarhu, Shenyang, and Liaoyang, most of the military household sons of the Liaodong Garrison who were unwilling to live under foreign rule either fled to Korea or went south to Lüshun. Over ninety percent of the Dongjiang Army's officers and men were sons of the Liaodong Garrison. The moment Huang Shi brought up this anecdote about killing the ox, the officers and men of Changsheng Island roared with laughter, but the laughter gradually turned into mournful sighs of lament.

In those years, the Liaodong Garrison's military households were impoverished. The Liaodong generals all advocated letting their sons and brothers eat their fill for a few more months and issuing more weapons before attacking Jianzhou, but the Great Ming's Ministry of War strictly forbade it, deeming that the military budget had already been exceeded. Thus the Ministry of War informed the Liaodong Garrison: rations and fodder would only be issued until this winter; if they did not attack Jianzhou, there would be no more pay and provisions.

One personal guard officer sighed with sorrow: "If... if only the fathers and elder brothers of the Liaodong Garrison back then could have had the armor Your Excellency issued to us, how could we have lost at Sarhu?"

These words made the Changsheng Island officers and men, including Huang Shi himself,

fall silent all at once. In those years, aside from the mishap of three thrusts failing to pierce the ox's hide, even the Liaodong Garrison's great general Du Song had shockingly poor equipment. Du Song's iron helmet was rusted through; the Great Ming's Ministry of Works had painted a coat of lacquer over the outside and delivered it to the Liaodong Garrison as a certified product. On the battlefield, a single stray arrow actually pierced straight through the iron helmet of a great general like Du Song, killing him on the spot.

Du Song's retainers recovered their master's body. That helmet, flimsy as paper, left Grand Secretary Xu Guangqi with nothing but helplessness, yet he could only lament with heartfelt pain and say a few words. Not a single official of the Great Ming's Ministry of Works was punished for it. The civil officials regarded the military as slaves and maidservants; the military regarded the civil officials as bandits and foes! The officers and men of Dongjiangzhen were mostly of Liaodong Garrison military household origin, and tens of thousands of Liaodong Garrison officers and men had fallen in the Battle of Sarhu; thus many of the Changsheng Island officers and men had fathers or elder brothers who had perished there.

One personal guard softly repeated Deng Ken's words with deep feeling: "The officials of our Great Ming's Ministry of Works truly all deserve to be beheaded."

Hong Antong was not of Liaodong Garrison military household origin. He could not interject on this topic. Seeing everyone fall silent as old matters were brought up, Hong Antong forcefully twirled his saber twice in the air, then with practiced ease slapped it into its scabbard in one motion, and loudly addressed Huang Shi: "This blade has not seen blood for a long time. Though your subordinate practices day and night, I always worry that my martial skills have grown rusty..."

Patting the sword hilt at his waist, Hong Antong then let out a satisfied sigh: "Today it has finally broken its fast; the treasured blade, after all, has not aged."

These words drew a chorus of agreeing praise from those around him. In recent days, the personal guard unit had always been doing work akin to that of military police. After today's exhilarating, free-spirited slaughter against the Later Jin troops, not only was Huang Shi's spirit greatly lifted, but this unit of personal guards under his command was also like a steel blade that had been wetted with blood — honed to a keen, murderous edge.

After the release of fervor, Jin Guan strode with great, swift steps toward Huang Shi and his men. Coming before Huang Shi, he first gave a deep bow, then lightly extended his ape-like arm, gracefully twirled the great blade in his hand in a circle, and brought the haft heavily down onto the ground.

Jin Guan supported the blade haft with his right hand, placed his left hand on his knee, and knelt: "This junior general has come tardily; I beg Military Governor Huang's forgiveness."

Zhang Guoqing and Wu Yu also hurried over close behind Jin Guan. They simultaneously knelt on one knee to the left and right rear of Assistant Regional Commander Jin and cried out in unison: "We have come late — a capital offense, a capital offense!"

"The three generals, please rise. Many thanks to you three for your righteous assistance." Huang Shi hurriedly extended his hand in a gesture to help them up. He had already invested considerable capital in these three men today; if they had all been killed by the Later Jin troops, the loss would have been enormous. Yesterday, although these three men, along with that Assistant Regional Commander Hu whose life or death was unknown, had deceived Zhang Minghe, they were, in the final analysis, Guan-Ning troops, and Huang Shi was not their direct superior. At most, he could make them cough up some more merits and silver as a mild, token punishment, and that would be that.

While watching the battle earlier, Huang Shi had already explained his thoughts to Zhang Minghe. Although Huang Shi had reproached Zhang Minghe a couple of times, he still agreed to reissue firearms to him. In the regulations of Changsheng Island, while there were corresponding punishment clauses for damaging weapons, the essential elements of those clauses did not entirely match the mistake Zhang Minghe had made yesterday. There had never before been an incident of friendly forces maliciously stealing military supplies from Changsheng Island, so Huang Shi planned to add a supplementary regulation after returning and pursue this matter no further.

Watching Jin Guan and the others kneeling before him, Zhang Minghe, standing behind Huang Shi, was so hateful that fire seemed about to shoot from his eyes. But he no longer had grounds to keep harping on it. Zhang Minghe felt it best to take Huang Shi's will as his own will; only thus could he integrate himself into the Changsheng Island inner circle as quickly as possible.

Although Jin Guan did not know the calculations in Huang Shi's mind, he guessed that Huang Shi would not, after all, leave him unable to back down gracefully. Hearing Huang Shi's tone so courteous, Assistant Regional Commander Jin could not help but feel his heart beat a nervous little drum again, pondering: Courtesy means distance; distance means not treating that person as one of your own... Jin Guan heard the sound of armor scraping behind him — Zhang Guoqing and Wu Yu seemed about to rise. He hurriedly coughed once and hung his head even lower: "Time and again this junior general has faced peril, and every time it was Military Governor Huang who saved my life. This great kindness, this immense virtue — this junior general truly has no way to repay it!"

By the end, Jin Guan's voice had taken on a sobbing tone. Zhang and Wu immediately jolted awake; their bodies, just about to stand, sank back down, and both flopped onto the ground: "The life-saving grace Military Governor Huang has shown time and again — this junior general will never forget it as long as he lives, never forget it!"

With Assistant Regional Commander Yao absent, Assistant Regional Commander Jin was clearly the leader of the group. He fiercely slapped the ground several times: "Last night, upon hearing that the Jianzhou slaves had withdrawn their troops, we junior generals wished to pursue and strike them, but for a time we were short of military equipment. That dog Hu Yining egged this junior general on to borrow firearms from General Zhang. For a moment, this junior general's heart was smeared with lard; I thought to borrow them first, use them, and return them after the battle..."

At this point, Assistant Regional Commander Jin let out a long string of sighs and groans, so overcome with guilt that he could no longer speak. The other two behind him understood tacitly and knew there was no dodging this hurdle, so they joined in, loudly cursing Hu Yining. After cursing Hu Yining for a while, again led by Assistant Regional Commander Jin, the three men shifted their tone and then, in succession, bitterly cursed themselves for having long deserved death. Henceforth, with but a single command from Huang Shi, they would go through water and tread through fire without a second word.

During this time, Huang Shi tried several times to pull the three of them up, but no sooner had he helped one to his feet than another flopped back down. In any case, they lay there repeatedly and earnestly confessing their guilt — seventy percent cursing themselves, thirty percent cursing Assistant Regional Commander Hu. After another while, Assistant Regional Commander Jin worked himself into a fit of passion; beating his chest and stamping his feet, he bellowed: "This junior general will now take men back and, even if it costs us our lives, find every one of the three hundred firearms lost on the road for General Zhang. If even one is missing, this junior general will not return. These words are placed right here with you, Military Governor Huang."

The other two

also joined in the reckless clamor. Huang Shi naturally could not let them run wild and hastily said that lost firearms could be remade and were not worth risking their lives over. Assistant Regional Commander Jin and the others clamored a while longer, finally forcing Huang Shi to agree to let them pay compensation at the rate of fifty taels of silver per firearm, and only then did they reluctantly and grudgingly stand up.

A single firearm on Changsheng Island originally cost no more than a few taels of silver anyway. This time, upon returning to Changsheng Island, Huang Shi had heard from Bao Jiusun that now, with steel drill bits, efficiency had greatly increased; a firearm barrel that previously took a full day to drill could now be completed in three shichen. Since Assistant Regional Commander Jin and the others were showing such a good attitude now, Huang Shi felt embarrassed to make things harder for them. The matter of stealing the firearms seemed as good as erased.

"Great kindness brooks no words of thanks. Military Governor Huang has saved this junior general so many times; henceforth, whatever the command, this junior general will gladly serve as dispatched." Assistant Regional Commander Jin and the others, fearful that Huang Shi might not include them in the merit report, made another great show of loyalty. Afterward, Zhang Guoqing still did not forget to add through gritted teeth: "It was all that dog Hu Yining, always coming up with rotten ideas. Served him right to die!"

These words again drew a chorus of agreement. Wu Yu, his face full of indignation, waved his hand in a mock chopping motion: "Exactly, exactly! That scoundrel Hu Yining... Hmph, hmph, this junior general truly wishes he could hack him twice!"

The battle was already over, but Hu Yining had still not been found; everyone reckoned his fate was likely grim. Huang Shi understood that the assistant regional commanders before him needed a way to back down gracefully, so he generously gave them an opening: "Alright, alright. In death, a man is greatest. Whatever faults Assistant Regional Commander Hu may have had, after all, he fought to the death and gave his life for the nation. Let us reproach him no further."

Hearing these words from Huang Shi, Assistant Regional Commander Jin and the others felt they had swallowed a pill of assurance. Since Huang Shi was unwilling even to reproach Hu Yining further, their own military merits were, nine times out of ten, secure as well. Instantly, another chorus of agreement arose from the group:

"Military Governor Huang is truly magnanimous."

"If Hu Yining knew this beneath the springs, he would surely be so ashamed he could find no place to hide."

"These past few days, following Military Governor Huang into battle, this junior general has felt an indescribable feeling in his heart — warm and cozy, just utterly at ease."

The several men vigorously flattered Huang Shi, seizing the chance not to forget to flatter themselves a bit as well, plus cursing Hu Yining some more. Wu Yu stretched his loud voice to a bellow: "Military Governor Huang is magnanimous and will not quibble with that scoundrel Hu Yining, but this fellow here does not have Military Governor Huang's vast tolerance. If we find that scoundrel's corpse in a bit, this fellow is determined to give it a couple of kicks — don't any of you stop me!"

"Who would stop you!" Zhang Guoqing shouted, spittle flying, and then made another chopping motion: "I'm going to hack it twice myself!"

"And me too..." Jin Guan had just raised his hand high and had not finished his sentence when from the distance came a long, drawn-out shout: "Military Governor Huang — !"

On a hillock far away, a man in disheveled clothes and hat burst out and came running, stumbling and staggering, toward Huang Shi's banner. Seeing this man appear so abruptly, the guards instantly stirred; quite a few Guan-Ning soldiers drew their bows and nocked arrows, while others had already raised their firearms to take aim.

Seeing this, the man pulled the hat from his head and waved it at the crowd while shouting and yelling in high spirits. His resonant voice was filled with heartfelt joy: "Don't shoot arrows! Don't fire! Military Governor Huang, it's me... I'm Hu Yining! Military Governor Huang, I'm Hu Yining!"

After falling from his horse earlier, Hu Yining had dodged to the roadside to lie low. While keeping a careful eye on the surrounding situation, he had fished out a set of common soldier's garb — hidden who knows where — and haphazardly thrown it on. He saw Later Jin patrol riders passing by from time to time, and his heart was frantic with anxiety. Staying motionless in the wild would soon mean freezing to death, but if he were discovered, even dressed as a common soldier, he might still lose his head.

Just as Hu Yining was at his wits' end, the situation around him had suddenly shifted. Lying behind a hillock, he listened to the sounds of hoofbeats and slaughter drifting over, utterly unable to guess what had happened. When he heard people loudly calling his name from all around, it did not occur to Hu Yining that they were searching for him; he feared that his subordinates had been captured and confessed that he had come to the battlefield — this must be a Jianzhou slave's ruse to lure the snake from its hole.

So the seasoned and prudent Hu Yining had kept his head down the whole time. He waited until the voices gradually faded into the distance before stealthily poking his head out to observe. After scrutinizing the scene again and again, he not only confirmed Huang Shi's serpent banner but also vaguely recognized those old brothers, Jin Guan and the others. Hu Yining was so overcome with wild joy he nearly fainted and hurriedly ran out to reunite with everyone.

When Hu Yining came charging over, Assistant Regional Commander Jin had originally still had his hand raised in a half-chopping gesture. The moment he recognized that the newcomer was indeed his Brother Hu, he immediately lunged forward, rushed up, and gave Hu Yining a fierce, bear-like embrace, tears of excitement welling in his eyes: "Brother Hu! You had your elder brother worried sick!"

Zhang Guoqing and Wu Yu also had hot tears brimming in their eyes. In the blink of an eye, the four men were locked in a group embrace: "My lord Hu! We finally managed to bring reinforcements! We were so worried just now that we'd come too late!"

Hu Yining struggled free of the three, then threw himself like a ravenous tiger pouncing on prey to kneel at Huang Shi's feet: "Time and again this junior general has faced peril, and every time it was Military Governor Huang who saved my life. This great kindness, this immense virtue — this junior general truly has no way to repay it! Henceforth, with but a single command from Military Governor Huang, I, Hu Yining, will go through water and tread through fire without a second word... Hmm, this junior general will now go back and, even if it costs me my life, find every one of the three hundred firearms lost on the road for General Zhang. If even one is missing, this junior general will never set foot on Juehua again... These words are placed right here with you, Military Governor Huang."