Chapter 256: Chapter Thirteen: Endurance

The moment he heard the head count was as high as two hundred and twenty, Huang Shi's heart began to flutter, because the five hundred heads from the pursuit battle had been split seventy-thirty between him and the Juehua commanders. Even if Huang Shi gave up his entire share, it would only come to a little over a hundred. And the results of the earlier Juehua battle could not easily be reassigned to Man Gui, or else the previous memorials would have to be heavily rewritten.

The biggest headache was that even if Huang Shi paid out of his own pocket to cover all two hundred and twenty heads, it might still look like he was slighting the Juehua commanders. Yet as a guest general himself, how could he ask the Juehua men to give up heads they had already claimed?

Man Gui saw the hesitation on Huang Shi's face and pressed him closely: "Does General Huang agree, then?"

"Hmm, I have a thought — I ask General Man to consider it carefully..." Huang Shi turned the matter over in his mind and felt the best course was to pull Man Gui out of the Ningyuan faction. So he planned to handle it the same way he had with Yao Yuxian, proposing that Man Gui be listed among the generals who took part in the pursuit. Those five hundred heads would all still count as pursuit battle results, and Man Gui's battle merit would be apportioned from that pool.

This seemed a fairly appropriate solution: it would greatly do the Juehua commanders a favor, yet without shortchanging Man Gui's merit. It would not only help Huang Shi make friends, but also let him give away fewer heads. Those two hundred and twenty heads belonged collectively to Ningyuan Fortress — Man Gui could hardly swallow them all by himself. Getting half would already be the limit. And if Man Gui was willing to be listed among the generals who jointly pursued, then Huang Shi was willing to pay out of his own pocket to make up one hundred and ten heads for him.

To his surprise, before Huang Shi had even finished, Man Gui shook his head like a rattle-drum: "To speak a frank word I'm not afraid General Huang will laugh at — originally I did indeed want to go out and fight the enemy alongside General Huang and my colleagues from Juehua. But for the sake of safety, all four gates of Ningyuan Fortress had been sealed shut with great stones, so there was truly no way out. Next time, if there is another chance, I will certainly be the first to kill the enemy and will never fall behind General Huang. But this time, if it didn't happen, it didn't happen..."

Huang Shi patiently listened to Man Gui ramble on with his circular talk for a while, then smiled again: "Since you had the intent, then it doesn't really count as falsely claiming credit. At worst, next time General Man can list my name once in return — that will count as repaying this time..."

In the end, Huang Shi talked until his lips were parched and his teeth dry, but the stubborn Man Gui remained utterly impervious. He wanted no compensation — only his two hundred and twenty heads. Later, Huang Shi even offered him some silver, but no matter how earnestly Huang Shi tried to persuade him, Man Gui was iron-hearted and refused to agree to anything else: "I appreciate General Huang's goodwill. But that day I truly did not take part in the pursuit. I only want the battle merit I am due; I do not covet empty, shadowy fame. For General Huang to now want to draft memorials and stuff silver at me — that rather makes me, Man Gui, out to be a small man."

The moment these words were spoken, Huang Shi, already somewhat irritated, was choked speechless. A perfectly good solution, and Man Gui simply would not take it. A nameless fire rose in Huang Shi's heart, and he was sorely tempted to tell him: "If you don't want it, then you get nothing!"

Although Huang Shi could not bring himself to say this, the others present lacked his level of self-cultivation. While Huang Shi and Man Gui had been haggling, Yao Yuxian had already been listening with extreme impatience, and Man Gui's last speech had just now deeply stung him.

"If you don't want it, then you get nothing!" As Assistant Regional Commander Yao bellowed this, the remaining men also began clamoring. Some even came over to tug at Huang Shi, telling him he need not waste any more effort talking to Man Gui.

Huang Shi sighed. He had heard that Man Gui had not read many books and had a rather rough and careless temperament — historically he had always been a famously prickly character. Moreover, every rank and every bit of wealth Man Gui possessed he had earned with his own blade and spear on the battlefield, so naturally his temper was rather large. Huang Shi considered himself a man who had also climbed to high rank by his own ability, but he had, after all, flattered countless people against his own will, and that sycophantic fawning had helped him dodge a great deal of trouble. A diehard like Man Gui — his life before this must have been very bitter indeed.

If this military officer were not named Man Gui, and if Huang Shi had not known this man's life story, then Huang Shi would never have wasted so many words on him from the start, and after being refused he would certainly have flicked his sleeves and walked away.

"But this is Man Gui — upright and brave!" Huang Shi sighed inwardly. He had always greatly admired Man Gui and even considered himself the same kind of man as Man Gui — both relying on their own effort, climbing step by step to high rank.

The performances of Man Gui and Yuan Chonghuan during the Ning-Jin Campaign had both left a deep impression on Huang Shi and revealed their sharply distinct personalities.

That time, Hong Taiji personally led the two Yellow Banners (the current two White Banners) and the two Red Banners — four banners in total — across the Liao River. Besides over ten thousand armored soldiers and Mongol troops, Hong Taiji also brought over twenty thousand bondservants pushing carts (later, when they could not move everything, Hong Taiji transferred nearly another twenty thousand cart-pushers from Shenyang). The defenders were thirty-five field battalions of the Guan-Ning Army plus the military household able-bodied men of Liaoxi. Yuan Chonghuan commanded seventy thousand combat troops to resist ten thousand Later Jin armored soldiers.

Huang Shi had read Yuan Chonghuan's memorial on the "Great Ning-Jin Victory" in the Veritable Records of the Tianqi Emperor:

Yuan Chonghuan memorialized: Hong Taiji employed human-wave tactics, relying on human lives to overrun seventeen cities beyond the passes — Dalinghe, Xiaolinghe, Xingshan, Tashan, Songshan, Lianshan, and others — but the Ming army killed the enemy in great numbers! A regrettable defeat, hence no heads were taken.

Yuan Chonghuan memorialized: The Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry fought three great field battles and seventy-two minor engagements against the Later Jin army, and won every single battle! However, because the Jianzhou slaves took pride in dragging their comrades' corpses from the battlefield, the Ming army had not a single head to show for it.

Yuan Chonghuan memorialized: Carrying the surplus valor from their great rout of the Jianzhou slaves, the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry advanced victoriously into Jinzhou Fortress, Ningyuan Fortress, and Physician Fortress to hold them, and successfully defended these three strongholds! However, because the Later Jin army liked to drag bodies back and burn them, there were no heads taken.

The Liaodong Provincial Governor Yuan Chonghuan memorialized: He used fire-sea tactics to counter Hong Taiji's human-sea tactics. For example, at Jinzhou, they bombarded the Later Jin army continuously for a full twenty-four days. Every day, the Later Jin officers and soldiers killed or wounded by the Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry numbered, if not ten thousand, then at least several thousand. Yuan Chonghuan stated: On the fiercest day of fighting,

the Ming army's cannon killed four thousand Later Jin soldiers! Those gravely wounded and dying exceeded ten thousand!

Hong Taiji had brought only ten thousand combat troops to face Yuan Chonghuan's seventy thousand Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry. Naturally, he could not withstand over seventy battles great and small, losing every one, plus being cannonaded to death by the thousands every day for twenty-four days straight. And so the Later Jin army withdrew — this was the systematic and comprehensive understanding Huang Shi arrived at after stringing together all the memorials written by the ever-shockingly-worded Yuan Chonghuan regarding the "Great Ning-Jin Victory"... Truly, history is stranger than fiction.

In that offensive, the Later Jin army captured seventeen of the twenty fortresses in Liaoxi (all except Jinzhou, Ningyuan, and Physician), seized and harvested the grain from five thousand qing of Ming army military farms, and dragged over twenty thousand Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry back as bondservants (at Dalinghe alone, four thousand Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry surrendered without a fight). When Hong Taiji withdrew his forces, he even left some men under the walls of Ningyuan to harvest the Ming army's autumn grain. Yuan Chonghuan strictly ordered the tens of thousands of Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry inside Ningyuan Fortress not to take a single step beyond the city gates.

But Man Gui brazenly defied Yuan Chonghuan's order, led his retainers out of the city, and drove off the Later Jin grain-harvesting detachment, taking nearly two hundred heads. These were the entire head count taken by the Ming army during the Ning-Jin Campaign. This incident left a deep impression on Huang Shi: among that heap of scum in Liaoxi, a brave warrior like Man Gui truly stood out like a crane among chickens.

Unable to persuade Man Gui, he had no choice but to go persuade the Juehua commanders. As a guest general, Huang Shi felt somewhat diffident. He had barely stammered out an opening to Assistant Regional Commander Yao when the perceptive Yao Yuxian smiled and said, "Since General Huang has this intention, then let us return the heads to General Man Gui. It's only two hundred and twenty heads, is it not?"

Once Yao Yuxian had spoken, Jin Guan and Hu Yining both laughed heartily and loudly voiced their agreement. Huang Shi had never imagined the Liaoxi military houses would be so easy to deal with. He let out a long breath, feeling a bit embarrassed himself: "Of the five hundred heads, one hundred and fifty are mine. Well, since this was my idea, I will contribute one hundred and twenty. I must trouble you gentlemen to make up the remaining one hundred."

Just moments ago, Yao Yuxian had been fighting tooth and nail with Man Gui over these heads, but now he seemed a changed man, his face wreathed in smiles as if he cared not a whit: "How could that be? A seventy-thirty split was agreed, and a seventy-thirty split it shall be."

Hu Yining also chimed in from the side: "General Huang need say no more. As you just said, at worst you can make it up to us next time."

"Certainly. Certainly." Huang Shi hastily agreed, then turned back to Man Gui with a smile: "General Man, early tomorrow morning we will deliver the heads — two hundred and twenty in total, correct?"

"Make it two hundred — a round number." Earlier, when Man Gui's anger had flared, the scar on his face had turned a ghastly blood-red. Now it had faded considerably, returning to a softer, normal flesh tone. His small eyes blinked a few times, and Man Gui's booming voice dropped considerably, his tone softening: "Those heads were not cut by my own hand, after all. Just return two hundred to me. Keep the rest as a token of thanks — I do hope General Huang will kindly accept."

Twenty heads meant little to Huang Shi, and taking battle merit from Man Gui's hands gave him a feeling of robbing the poor to pay the rich. At this thought, Huang Shi was about to politely decline, but then he saw Man Gui's eyebrows slowly beginning to rise again. This expression first startled Huang Shi, then jolted him to sudden awareness: "I've taken a great many heads in this battle — that must be common knowledge by now. A valiant general like Man Gui surely has considerable pride. If I refuse his twenty heads, he will certainly think I look down on him... Hmm, when I was about to decline the heads, I was indeed, in a sense, looking down on twenty heads."

Having realized where the problem lay, Huang Shi immediately nodded and accepted: "Yes, my thanks to General Man. At the banquet later, I must offer General Man a toast."

At Huang Shi's words, Man Gui's face cleared as well. He laughed twice and answered curtly: "Good."

Comparing Man Gui with those Juehua fellows, the difference in their skill at dealing with people was starkly evident. In just this short time together, Huang Shi had already accommodated Man Gui countless times, while the Juehua group had consistently helped Huang Shi resolve his troubles.

"No wonder Yuan Chonghuan cannot tolerate this man!" The thought flashed through Huang Shi's mind. He glanced at Man Gui again. Just as when he had first met Kong Youde, a desire to befriend the man rose in his heart — though he also knew that Man Gui would be far harder to get along with than Kong Youde.

According to the Veritable Records of the Tianqi Emperor: After Man Gui defied Yuan Chonghuan's orders during the Ning-Jin Campaign and made a successful sally, Yuan Chonghuan, in his memorial, claimed the credit for himself. First he pretended not to see the order he himself had issued forbidding battle, then claimed he had commanded the Ming army to attack from multiple routes, and even said he had stood atop the city wall shouting encouragement to Man Gui.

Unexpectedly, Man Gui actually denied this account before the Emperor. Then Yuan Chonghuan was dismissed from office, and then... and then Man Gui and Yuan Chonghuan broke completely. The exact process is unknown to anyone. In any case, Man Gui was driven out of Liaozhen by Yuan Chonghuan after the latter became Regional Commander. By the time of the Beijing campaign, Man Gui went up to the Golden Throne Hall, stripped off his clothes in public, and showed the arrow wounds on his body to the Chongzhen Emperor, Sun Chengzong, and the Grand Secretariat, weeping and accusing Yuan Chonghuan of trying to have him shot dead.

This blow from Man Gui was the final straw that brought down Yuan Chonghuan. After hearing it, Chongzhen ordered Yuan Chonghuan and Man Gui to confront each other in the hall. The histories record that Yuan Chonghuan could not answer. Seeing this, Chongzhen ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to imprison Yuan Chonghuan under imperial warrant, decreeing: "We entrusted the eastern affairs to Yuan Chonghuan, yet the barbarian horsemen ran rampant... His merits and crimes are hard to conceal. He is temporarily relieved of his post to await investigation."

His knowledge of Yuan Chonghuan and Man Gui ended there, because Huang Shi had no chance to see the most crucial interrogation records. This period of history was later rewritten by the slave chieftain Hongli into the "stratagem of sowing discord." Clearly that wretch Hongli had dreamed that Chongzhen imprisoned Yuan Chonghuan because of a "stratagem of sowing discord," for neither the Ming dynasty's histories nor the Later Jin's old Manchu archives contained the slightest mention of any "stratagem of sowing discord" over the preceding one hundred and fifty years.

Moreover, Huang Shi felt that this slave chieftain Hongli was indeed crude and unlettered — to actually be able to read "stratagem of sowing discord" out of the words "His merits and crimes are hard to conceal. He is temporarily relieved of his post to await investigation" — could he have been illiterate? Hongli's Diaries of Activity and Repose contain two entries on this matter: First, Hongli ordered Zhang Tingyu to rewrite the "Biography of Yuan Chonghuan" in the History of Ming according to the spirit of the stratagem of sowing discord. Second, Hongli ordered the destruction of the interrogation files in Yuan Chonghuan's case.

According to the Great Ming's established practice, all case files for major trials were to be preserved. For instance, Huang Shi's initial impression of Xiong Tingbi had been formed while reading the records of Xiong's trial. The files recorded

the Donglin Party's specious arguments and out-of-context quotations, and also recorded Xiong Tingbi's fighter's spirit. Even with his life hanging by a thread, he had debated the Donglin ministers, refuting point by point the charges they forced upon him, several times arguing the Donglin Party into adjourning the proceedings.

But of the eight-month-long interrogation records of Yuan Chonghuan's case, Hongli did not leave a single volume behind. And so, for Huang Shi, this man remained shrouded in a great fog of mystery, leaving Huang Shi completely ignorant of Yuan Chonghuan's thinking, the principles he held, and the fundamental motives behind his actions. Mystery breeds fear. Precisely because Huang Shi could not see Yuan Chonghuan's most basic principles, nor Yuan Chonghuan's own understanding of his actions, the thought of keeping this man at a respectful distance arose again and again.

Hongli's actions also left Huang Shi lacking in respect for Yuan Chonghuan. Although the evidence had been destroyed, Huang Shi still harbored these suspicions:

First, the original case files of Yuan Chonghuan's trial were gravely harmful to Hongli's "stratagem of sowing discord" hypothesis, and therefore had to be destroyed.

Second, the Yuan case files in no way supported the lofty image Hongli sought to construct for Yuan Chonghuan. Eight months of interrogation would have produced a vast quantity of notes, oral records, and testimonies. Yet given the Jianzhou slaves' skill at quoting out of context and turning black into white, they could not even find a single piece of favorable circumstantial evidence from among them — which is why the slave chieftain destroyed the files so thoroughly.

All the civil and military officials of Ningyuan came to attend the banquet. Huang Shi, as always, showed deference to Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan calmly accepted his grand salutation. Keeping in mind the principle that "a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him," Huang Shi poured out every flattering phrase he could summon in his heart upon Yuan Chonghuan. This display before the assembled crowd clearly pleased His Excellency Yuan as well, for he returned the gesture by toasting Huang Shi once.

After the banquet, Yuan Chonghuan asked Huang Shi to remain behind alone. Seeing Yuan's face wreathed in smiles, Huang Shi reckoned his attitude had already won considerable goodwill. However one looked at it, being able to enjoy the grand salutation of a general whose fame shook the realm must still be a deeply satisfying thing — especially since Huang Shi had done it in front of so many people, which obviously could more than fully satisfy Yuan Chonghuan's vanity.

After dismissing Hong Antong, Huang Shi followed Yuan Chonghuan to the study. Besides the two of them, Yuan Chonghuan had also called Zhao Yingong to accompany them. Huang Shi noticed that Zhao Yingong's expression was somewhat odd, and his gaze was evasive, as if he hardly dared meet Huang Shi's eyes. This made Huang Shi's suspicions rise — he wondered what these two gentlemen were up to.

Once seated, Yuan Chonghuan lifted his teacup with one hand and called out casually: "Huang Shi."

Huang Shi, sitting there with the utmost deference, immediately responded: "Your subordinate is here."

Yuan Chonghuan blew on the scalding tea and, without raising his head, said: "Today, this official will make the decision. You shall betroth yourself to Lord Zhao's second younger sister."

These words struck like a bolt from the blue. Huang Shi could scarcely believe his ears. But after speaking, Yuan Chonghuan lowered his head and began sipping his tea in small mouthfuls. Huang Shi shifted his gaze to Zhao Yingong at his side and saw that the latter's face was full of shame as he hurriedly turned his head away.

By now Yuan Chonghuan had finished a sip of tea. He raised his head and said, his expression unchanged: "Say that the betrothal was made two years ago. Did you not go to Lord Zhao to ask for his daughter's hand that time? Lord Zhao is now granting her to you."

Though Huang Shi had always considered himself a man of considerable self-restraint, his face now turned ashen. He spent a long while adjusting his emotions before slowly asking: "Your Excellency Yuan, Lord Zhao — your subordinate truly does not quite understand."

"What is there not to understand? Two years ago, did you not go to Lord Zhao to ask for his daughter's hand?"

"May the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner see clearly — your subordinate did go at that time, but Lord Zhao did not agree. Naturally..."

"Who says Lord Zhao did not agree? Was there an explicit refusal at the time?"

Huang Shi cast his mind back. Zhang Pan had said that Old Master Zhao had scolded him for a while, but had passed out before he could finish. In theory, the Zhao family had indeed never explicitly refused.

He had barely managed a shake of his head when Yuan Chonghuan laughed and said, "There you have it. Lord Zhao has already agreed. The day before yesterday at Juehua, Huang Shi, you yourself said you were not yet betrothed. Today, this official shall act as the matchmaker and bring this matter to a happy conclusion."

Across from him, Zhao Yin's head was practically hanging down to his knees. Huang Shi shot him a fierce glare, doing his utmost to keep the fury in his chest from erupting. He took several deep breaths in succession and, in the calmest tone he could manage, said, "Lord Zhao bestows this marriage — I, your humble officer, am overwhelmed with honor. It is only that…"

— Only that the second daughter of the Zhao family has already been carried off by the Later Jin. Until the day I can snatch her back, I cannot seek another betrothal. And even if I do snatch her back… what is the meaning of you people foisting her on me?

Fortunately, Yuan Chonghuan had more to say: "The Zhao family's household discipline is strict. By now, Miss Zhao is most likely no longer among the living."

"Huh?"

— You've all decided she's dead, so why are you still foisting her on me?

Hearing the astonishment in Huang Shi's voice, Zhao Yin, who had kept his head lowered in silence all this while, suddenly looked up and said to Huang Shi, "If my younger sister has brought any stain upon the honor of the Huang family, then naturally I shall accept General Huang's withdrawal of the betrothal."

"Huh?!"

— The honor of the Huang family? Withdrawal of the betrothal? What on earth is all this about?

……

During the Ming dynasty, if a female member of a civil official's household engaged in improper conduct, that official would be impeached for "laxity in the inner quarters." Upon verification, the imperial court would punish him by stripping him of his scholarly rank.

This rule gave rise to some rather interesting cases in the Ming dynasty. Generally speaking, in the late Ming, if adultery occurred, the aggrieved party would bring suit. If both the offender and the victim were unmarried, the authorities would often compel them to marry. If it was a wife who had strayed, the husband could thereby avoid returning the dowry, or return only half of it.

But if the victim was a member of a civil official's household, the aggrieved party would instead go to every length to deny it, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge it. Huang Shi had also seen records of typical cases: for instance, some rogue seduced an official's wife and then tried to blackmail her husband, and that civil official had no choice but to swallow his humiliation in silence.

The same held true for other female family members — younger sisters, daughters, daughters-in-law, and so on. This time, the eldest daughter of the Zhao family had nothing to fear, for she was already someone else's wife when the incident occurred. But the second daughter of the Zhao family had either died preserving her chastity, or else Zhao Yin could look forward to being impeached. After turning the matter over in his mind, he realized that at present, only Huang Shi could help the Zhao family weather this calamity.

Once he understood the whole story, Huang Shi felt the fury surging in his chest rise wave upon wave. Afraid he would lose control of his emotions, he dared not utter a single word.

— Isn't this simply treating me as less than human?