Chapter 255: Section Twelve: Dividing the Merit

A wave of heated clamor surged through the hall, but Tianqi could not spare the attention just yet to make out what they were all saying. He closed his eyes; after a brief moment, he felt the surge of excitement in his heart settle somewhat. Only then did the Emperor clearly hear the congratulatory voices of his ministers. He slowly opened his eyes, strained to hold his expression in check, and swept a taut-faced glance around the assembled officials in the hall.

When they saw the Emperor raise his hand with solemn authority, the entire great hall fell silent at once, and everyone waited deferentially for the Emperor to continue. Ever since he had ascended the throne, Tianqi had always been required to maintain his imperial bearing, and keeping his voice and tone utterly level was a routine demand. Yet now, doing so had become extraordinarily difficult. As Tianqi spoke, he felt the muscles in his cheeks twitching constantly, and his throat had gone somewhat dry. He asked, "Two thousand two hundred and thirty-five heads. I did not misread that, did I?"

Wei Zhongxian clearly had no such inhibitions. His shouted reply echoed through the silent hall: "In reply to His Majesty, it is precisely two thousand two hundred and thirty-five heads — absolutely true beyond any doubt!"

After shouting this, Wei Zhongxian could not help but laugh aloud, his shoulders shaking along with it. Then he seemed to realize that laughing so loudly was far too great a breach of decorum, and he hurriedly restrained himself, tightening the muscles of his face. Yet Tianqi did not mind Wei Zhongxian's lapse in the slightest. The ministers below were also all biting their lips tightly, clearly struggling with all their might to suppress their delight so as to avoid any conduct unbecoming before the sovereign.

"General Huang — very good, very good…" As Tianqi spoke, he recalled again the struggles of the preceding days: how he had overruled all objections, withstood the pressure of the Grand Secretariat and the civil officials, and granted Huang Shi his authority; how at the Orchid Terrace he had personally placed the Imperial Sword of Authority into Huang Shi's hands; how he had made a point of ascending the Great Ming Gate to see Huang Shi off; how he had bolstered Huang Shi's morale before the eyes of the common people of Beijing.

The Emperor felt the rims of his eyes growing moist. He had staked everything on backing Huang Shi, and at last it had paid off. To take over two thousand heads in a single engagement against the northern caitiffs — this was the greatest victory the Great Ming had achieved since the Hongzhi reign. Although Tianqi was exultant, he still remembered his station as the Son of Heaven. In a voice sufficiently seasoned and devoid of emotion, he delivered his summation: "General Huang is loyal and valiant, worthy of praise. He has not failed Our expectations."

Once these words left his lips, Tianqi could no longer contain his joy. He began to smile, and it soon turned into the hearty, unrestrained laughter of a young man. Seeing the Emperor laugh so happily and freely, the assembled officials in the hall no longer forcibly suppressed themselves either. This great victory in Liaoxi had swept away the hidden worries weighing on everyone's hearts at a stroke. The crowd began to discuss the matter excitedly, and the originally solemn Hall of Golden Chimes was suddenly awash with voices, as bustling and noisy as a marketplace.

"When did this victory report arrive?" Tianqi's first thought, after recovering from his wild delight, was to richly reward the messenger who had delivered it.

"In reply to His Majesty…" Wei Zhongxian, as if he were a worm inside Tianqi's belly, did not even wait for the Emperor to finish voicing the thought before telling him that he had already rewarded the messenger with silver, and that everyone who had handled the victory dispatch — from the Liaodong Regional Military Commission office down to the errand-running junior eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial — had each received a share.

To his surprise, Tianqi was still not satisfied. Without a second thought, he waved his hand: "He rode for days, changed horses eight times, and was rewarded only five taels of silver? Far too little — double it!"

Only then did Tianqi notice that Wei Zhongxian was still kneeling on the floor. He had been so overjoyed that he had momentarily forgotten to tell him to rise: "Wei Qing, stand."

"I thank His Majesty." Wei Zhongxian rose with a beaming smile, and the delighted expression on his face warmed the Emperor's heart to see. Tianqi paced happily back and forth beside the imperial throne, too excited to sit still for the moment.

As an ordinary young man, Tianqi had been completely unable to handle the ministers around him from the moment he succeeded to the throne, much less contend with the empire's vast bureaucratic apparatus. For all these years, his every action had never exceeded the bounds of Great Ming regulations. This time, in placing heavy trust in Huang Shi, the Grand Secretariat, the Ministry of War, and the Directorate of Ceremonial had all disagreed. Thinking of this, Tianqi glanced again at Wei Zhongxian, who stood to one side with his hands clasped in salute — even this trusted confidant had at the time disapproved of a military officer not being subject to civil officials' control. Promoting Huang Shi had been entirely my own sovereign decision. And General Huang has truly earned me great face. This time, those old fellows have nothing left to say, have they?

A junior eunuch had already hurried up. He loudly declaimed Zhao Yin's memorial. Although the Jianzhou slaves had not yet withdrawn their troops for the time being, the memorial was brimming with optimistic sentiment. Over two thousand two hundred heads taken, at a cost to the Ming forces on Juehua of merely fifteen dead and thirty-one wounded. The Emperor and his ministers were already infected by Zhao Yin's mood; upon hearing that the losses were so light, their hearts grew even more settled, and they felt that the Jianzhou slaves no longer had any chance of reversing defeat into victory.

"Shandong Provincial Administration Commission, Grain Supply Assistant Prefect Zhao Yin…" Tianqi recited Zhao the Assistant Prefect's name and official title several times. Wei Zhongxian beside him listened carefully, committing it to memory. Though his face still wore a foolish grin, he had firmly engraved that name in his mind. Tianqi nodded with a smile: "This Assistant Prefect Zhao is also very capable, and he seems quite magnanimous as well, putting the state first and not contending for authority with General Huang. Very commendable."

"Now we need only await their formal memorial requesting honors. Hmm, We are truly impatient with longing." After all this time, Tianqi felt it was unseemly to keep pacing before his ministers, so he sat down comfortably on his throne. Leaning back against the rest, he pointed his arm, which rested on the armrest, toward the junior eunuch holding the memorial: "Read it to Us once more. Read it slowly."

…

Liaoxi, Ningyuan

Although he had changed into an official robe embroidered with a tiger, Huang Shi still carefully fastened his sword at his waist. When he went to the banquet that evening, Hong Antong was absolutely necessary to bring along. With a fully armed personal guard at his side, plus the sword at his waist, Huang Shi would feel a greater measure of safety when facing Yuan Chonghuan.

"I cannot stay in this Liaoxi any longer." As he adjusted his clothes, Huang Shi once again made up his mind. For now, he would deal with Yuan Chonghuan with feigned cordiality, and then return to Dongjiang as quickly as possible.

In previous years, because he wanted to cultivate his own power and because he did not wish to be controlled by civil officials, he had been unwilling to come to Liaoxi. But after Huang Shi prepared to emulate Qi Shaobao and Yue Wumu, he had reconsidered Sun Chengzong's proposal.

Now Huang Shi had three battalions of elite troops under his command. Even if some men were disobedient, Huang Shi could overcome them by force. Coupled with his dazzling battle achievements, Huang Shi felt there was still some chance of whipping these lazy louts of Guan-Ning into shape. Yet the prerequisite for all this was that Yuan Chonghuan must not rise to power. The reason Huang Shi had been so uncompromising with the Grand Secretariat before setting out was precisely for the sake of his own safety.

As a man of modern times, Huang Shi greatly valued the interests of the nation. But he also firmly believed in the saying, "A body destined for great things must not walk into a death trap of its own accord." If the prerequisite of safety did not even exist, then never mind an annual military stipend of three million taels of silver — even thirty million taels a year could not lure him, Huang Shi, to Liaoxi.

As captain of the inner guard, Hong Antong was not kept in the dark about most of Huang Shi's plans. Now, seeing Huang Shi suddenly change his mind again, Hong Antong appeared somewhat at a loss: "When we set out from Changsheng Island this time, did you not say, my lord, that you intended to contend for the post of Provincial Military Commander of Liaoxi?"

Huang Shi smiled enigmatically and did not immediately answer Hong Antong's question. After a moment's thought, the inner guard captain connected it to his superior's unusual behavior today. Lowering his voice, he asked, "With complete victories in both the battles of Juehua and Ningyuan, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's promotion to Provincial Governor of Liaodong is already a certainty. Does my lord wish to avoid Lord Yuan and not be placed under his control?"

If Hong Antong could not even react to something like this, then Huang Shi ought to consider replacing his internal affairs chief. He let out a long sigh. "Correct. Hong Antong, do you know of the matter concerning Du Yingkui?"

"Your subordinate does not. Please enlighten me, my lord."

"Mm. That was in the second year of Tianqi…" Huang Shi shook his head. Hong Antong paid little attention to the affairs of the Liao Garrison, but Huang Shi was extremely mindful of every single thing that happened in Ningyuan.

Du Yingkui was originally an officer of the Liaodong Garrison, later dismissed from his post for corruption and reduced to selling wine in Chang'an for a living. After the Battle of Sarhu, Liaodong was greatly shaken, and because Du Yingkui had long been renowned for his valor, he was recommended by Han Jien, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, to be Vice Regional Commander of Shanhai Pass. Yet Du Yingkui still clung to his old ways of embezzling payroll funds and maintaining private retainers. In the Liao Garrison, where the average monthly wage was one tael and four qian of silver, the provision for Du Yingkui's retainers reached as high as one hundred taels.

"…The Liaodong Regional Military Commission office had Vice General Du arrested and interrogated. As was the duty of the censors, it had to be determined exactly how much payroll Vice General Du had embezzled. The Emperor ordered Grand Secretary Sun and Grand Coordinator Yan to thoroughly investigate the case, and Grand Coordinator Yan dispatched Lord Yuan, the Ningqian Circuit Intendant, to verify the troop numbers."

Here Huang Shi paused, his face full of grimness: "The Ningqian Circuit Intendant arrived at Vice General Du's camp and counted the men in each squad. Where a squad was found short of men, Lord Yuan executed that man…"

Hong Antong's expression changed drastically as he listened. He interjected, "Grand Coordinator Yan sent Lord Yuan to count the men only to thoroughly investigate Vice General Du's crime of embezzlement. What did that have to do with the camp's officers? Even if an officer was guilty, he was still an appointed official of the imperial court. He should have been tried by the Ministry of Justice and punished according to the law. How could he be killed on a whim?"

"I imagine Lord Yuan perhaps had no idea what was really going on. Grand Coordinator Yan told him to count the men in this camp. When Lord Yuan saw that the numbers did not match, perhaps he was in a bad mood, or perhaps he felt annoyed, and so he decided to kill someone. The camp erupted in an uproar that nearly turned into mutiny, but Lord Yuan declared, 'By order of Grand Coordinator Yan,' and had the officer dragged out of the camp gate and beheaded." After finishing, Huang Shi gave another grim laugh. The military officer casually killed by Yuan Chonghuan had died a truly wrongful death, but killed he was, and that was the end of it. Though Sun Chengzong flew into a great rage upon hearing of it and rebuked Yuan Chonghuan for killing men recklessly, Yuan Chonghuan merely offered an apology, and the matter was pursued no further.

Hong Antong's face flushed bright red. He stammered for a long while before mumbling, "This does not accord with the laws and statutes of the imperial court."

A helpless look appeared on Huang Shi's face. "Lord Yuan is a Metropolitan Graduate of the forty-seventh year of Wanli, a disciple of the Son of Heaven. Even if he kills a few military officers recklessly or unjustly, who would seriously pursue the matter? At the time, Lord Yuan was merely a minor Ningqian Circuit Intendant, yet for such an act as unjustly killing a nationally appointed military officer of the fifth rank, Grand Secretary Sun did no more than reprimand him a couple of times. There was not even a pro forma punishment like a fine of salary. Now Lord Yuan is about to become Provincial Governor of Liaodong. I am nothing but a military man. How would I dare linger long in Liaoxi?"

After clearing the air with Hong Antong, Huang Shi went to the banquet. He planned that once the formal rewards from the imperial court arrived, he would immediately slip away back to Changsheng Island.

When he reached the outside of the central courtyard of the Ningyuan government office, Huang Shi heard roars of fury and curses coming from the reception hall within. As he and Hong Antong walked into the reception hall one after the other, the scene that met their eyes was three military officers tangled in a brawl. Huang Shi stared at them dumbfounded, and only after a moment did he recognize two of them as Assistant Regional Commander Yao and Assistant Regional Commander Jin. It turned out the six generals of Juehua had also been invited to the banquet today. Yuan Chonghuan had not received them individually, so they had not come together with Huang Shi and Zhao Yin the previous time.

The third man Huang Shi did not recognize, but that warrior was exceedingly fierce, holding his own against both Assistant Regional Commander Yao and Assistant Regional Commander Jin simultaneously without being at a disadvantage. A large circle of onlooking generals were shouting all at once, urging them to stop fighting, but not a single one stepped in to pull them apart… oh, Huang Shi had seen wrong — there was one man who looked about to step in and intervene.

That man was none other than Hu Yining, Assistant Regional Commander Hu. Just as the military officer sent Assistant Regional Commander Yao tumbling with a flying kick, Assistant Regional Commander Hu shouted, "Stop fighting!" and threw himself forward, grabbing one arm of the unfamiliar warrior. Then, still yelling, "Each of you take a step back!", he tightly wrapped his arms around the man's waist. The officer seemed to be tiring somewhat; panting heavily, he swung backward twice but failed to shake off Assistant Regional Commander Hu.

Assistant Regional Commander Jin, raging like a mad tiger, swung his arm like a windmill. The unfamiliar officer, now with only one arm free to use, fought back with all his might and barely managed to parry the onslaught. At that moment, Assistant Regional Commander Yao, who had been kicked, also scrambled up from the floor. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with one swipe, let out a low, hoarse roar, and was about to lunge back in…

Feeling himself grabbed from behind, Assistant Regional Commander Yao cursed and tried to break free with a tiger-like lunge, but the person behind him held on tightly and would not let go. Assistant Regional Commander Yao cursed a few more times, but then he saw that Assistant Regional Commander Jin and Assistant Regional Commander Hu ahead of him had both stopped fighting. Assistant Regional Commander Yao froze, and only then did he clearly hear the person behind him shouting repeatedly: "Brother Yao, Brother Yao, it's me, Huang Shi. Stop first. Let's talk this over properly."

When Yao Yuxian heard that the newcomer was Huang Shi, he could not help but shudder in fright and hurriedly nodded in agreement. After Huang Shi released him, Assistant Regional Commander Yao hastened to turn around and salute Huang Shi. Hu Yining and the rest of their brothers also swarmed over. The other Liaoxi generals in the reception hall, upon hearing that this was the famous Huang Shi, also crowded around to curry favor. Only the man who had been brawling with Yao Yuxian stood off to one side, his face full of indignation.

Huang Shi noticed that the man's official robe was also embroidered with a tiger. Feeling somewhat puzzled, and even more careful not to neglect proper courtesy, he took the initiative to greet him: "May I ask who this general is?"

The military officer's face was full of anger. Huang Shi's manner was extremely respectful, but the man merely gave a hasty salute with clasped hands and grumbled a few words in ill humor. He spoke so quickly and indistinctly that Huang Shi could not understand him. He sized up the general opposite him: not tall, but very stocky; a large, silver-platter face with a pair of small eyes and a deep scar that ran from the bridge of his nose all the way to his left eye socket, having nearly gouged out his eyeball.

Yao Yuxian seemed to realize that Huang Shi had not caught what the officer said, so he whispered in Huang Shi's ear: "This is the Regional Commander of Ningyuan, Man Gui."

Huang Shi had long heard of Man Gui's great name in his previous life. This man had earned much merit in the Xuan-Da Garrison in his early years and later came to the Liao Garrison to seek a living. Man Gui had nearly a thousand battle-tested retainers under his command, a level entirely different from the other Guan-Ning troops. Historically, in the battle of Ningyuan, Man Gui's retainers had been deployed at the most critical point and were credited with the highest merit.

Man Gui was currently also a Vice Commissioner-in-Chief, equal in rank to Huang Shi. Huang Shi saluted him once more with great politeness. Man Gui, seeming to have cooled off slightly, again returned a hasty salute and then resumed his loud shouting, finally allowing Huang Shi to understand what had happened.

It turned out that there was a reason Jin Guan and the others had returned late from the pursuit battle a few days earlier. Some of the Later Jin soldiers beneath the walls of Ningyuan had been killed by cannon fire. Historically, these heads were only cut off by Ningyuan troops lowered from the walls after the main Later Jin army had retreated. But this time, the Juehua generals happened to pass by on their way back and conveniently took all the heads.

Man Gui said indignantly, "I counted the corpses on the ground. You took a total of two hundred and sixty heads. General Huang killed about forty men that day. The remaining two hundred and twenty heads should be returned. They are the battle spoils of our Ningyuan fortress."

"What do you mean, your battle spoils? Is your name written on the heads?" Assistant Regional Commander Jin's voice was especially loud. The gates of Ningyuan fortress had been completely blocked that day, which had forced him to run in circles while being chased by the Later Jin troops. The mere thought of this made Assistant Regional Commander Jin's malice surge forth. He raged, "You didn't dare come down from the walls to cut them off, so of course they're our heads. On the battlefield, whoever cuts them off owns them. In the three hundred years of our Great Ming, there has never been any rule about returning heads!"

In this battle, Assistant Regional Commander Yao's group had each been allotted several hundred heads. Even a fool knew that this group was guaranteed promotion. They were all men of Liaoxi, unlike Man Gui, who was an outsider, so the officers of Ningyuan fortress were not particularly inclined to speak up for Man Gui. At most, they hoped that Assistant Regional Commander Yao and his comrades might be a little generous and let some benefits trickle down to them.

Man Gui, isolated and alone, stood on the opposite side, while Yao Yuxian, Jin Guan, and their group clustered behind Huang Shi, each one gesticulating and spraying spittle. Huang Shi turned his head to look at the spittle-flying gang beside him and suddenly felt as if he had become a mob boss in a movie, leading a pack of underlings who bullied the virtuous by relying on their master's power.

Huang Shi stepped out from the crowd and walked toward the opposite side. Facing the wary Man Gui, he clasped his hands in salute for the third time: "Commander Man, let us discuss this matter after the victory banquet. I will certainly give Commander Man a satisfactory explanation."

"Commander Huang, you are too courteous." Hearing the sincerity in Huang Shi's tone, Man Gui finally returned the salute with equal gravity. "I have long admired Commander Huang's renowned name. On the previous occasion, I also caught a glimpse of Commander Huang's heroic bearing from atop the city wall."

Man Gui paused, and his tone rose slightly again: "Commander Huang is also a man who has led troops for a long time. Our lads strap their heads to their belts and fight to the death precisely for this bit of military merit. Therefore, I must recover these two hundred and twenty heads for them."

From behind him, thunderous shouts erupted again:

"Who says they're your heads? Is your name carved on them?"

"Who cut them off? You or us?"

"Stop…" Huang Shi turned his head and waved his hand. Yao Yuxian, Jin Guan, and the others, who were spraying spittle everywhere, had no choice but to shut their mouths.

A look of suspicion reappeared on Man Gui's face. His own lads had braved death; they had finally gotten heads that could be exchanged for some reward. The thought of this made Man Gui unable to hold back his cry: "Two hundred and twenty heads. Commander Huang must return them to me."