Chapter 87: Section Fifteen

"My lord Fang, after the battle behind the northern hall at Lüshun, I swore to the men that I would avenge them. Those words still ring in my ears, and I can see their faces when I close my eyes. Official rank and renown are indeed things I desire, but I dare not forget the trust those soldiers placed in me."

What of it, an Assistant Regional Commander? Jin Guofeng even rose to Regional Commander.

Jin Guofeng was promoted to Regional Commander by the Chongzhen Emperor for killing the enemy and earning merit, but because he did not come from a Liaoxi military house, he simply could not command the Guanning Iron Cavalry. In the end, Regional Commander Jin could only lead a few dozen of his sons and nephews in a charge to fight the Qing soldiers to the death. The ten-thousand-strong Guanning Iron Cavalry behind him, under the strict control of their officers, did not send a single man to help. After watching Jin Guofeng and his few dozen kinsmen all be slaughtered, those ten-thousand-plus Guanning Iron Cavalry, with perfect discipline and in orderly ranks, withdrew before over a thousand Qing soldiers. The Liaoxi officers maintained tight control over the army the entire time.

"So it is," Fang Zhenru said with a sigh. Out of goodwill, he still advised, "It is not that Liaoxi cannot kill the slaves. Serving the court in Liaoxi is also serving the court."

Besides Jin Guofeng, Man Gui was another good example. As soon as the Ningyuan campaign ended, Zhao Lujiao and the other Liaoxi military houses came to forcibly seize the credit, so enraging Man Gui that he cursed them bitterly. In the end, Yuan Chonghuan also gave Man Gui's credit away to the Liaoxi military houses. By the time of the Ningjin campaign, Man Gui's credit for defending the city and sallying out to kill the enemy was carved up even more by those vulture-like Liaoxi military houses, and finally they pushed him out entirely.

"Please, my lord, you must grant this." With the Liaoxi military houses present, the Guanning Army was a pool of murky water with no visible bottom. That Jin Guofeng and Man Gui were willing to wade into that murky water was their own affair. Huang Shi had long seen clearly that Liaoxi was a dead end; a transmigrator's greatest strategic advantage was not being beguiled by petty gains.

"Very well, I will not force you. Stay here a few days. Grand Secretary Sun will soon come to Shanhai Pass on an inspection tour, and after that you can return to Dongjiang."

"Thank you, my lord." At this point, Huang Shi recalled a question he had forgotten to ask last time in Lüshun: "May I ask, my lord, Regional Commander Mao Wenlong is the Regional Commander for Pacifying Liao, so why does everyone speak of the Dongjiang Army and not the Pacifying Liao Army?"

"Oh, the Pacifying Liao Army was something Wang Huazhen dreamed up. Liaozhen and the Liao Army were extremely displeased with it, so no one uses the words 'Pacifying Liao.' Since Mao Wenlong is on Dongjiang Island (Pi Island), they simply call it the Dongjiang Army."

A casual question drew a lengthy discourse from Fang Zhenru. He described the breathtaking intensity of this struggle and all the painstaking hardships endured to achieve results. Over the two terms "Pacifying Liao" and "Aiding Liao," the civil official bloc had already been waging a war of words for more than a year, and the flood of memorials on this matter had piled high on the Emperor's desk.

The Liaodong Grand Coordinator Xiong Tingbi and the Liaodong Provincial Governor Wang Huazhen alone had quarreled over this name for months. In their memorials, both men sagaciously elevated the issue to a height that concerned victory or defeat in Liaodong and the very flow of destiny, and neither was willing to yield a single step.

Countless court officials and officials advising on Liaodong military affairs argued back and forth from every angle of army morale and spirit. These officials, so deeply concerned with state affairs, also considered matters of auspicious phrasing and omens, and unceasingly submitted memorials to the court arguing their case with all reason. Only after Wang Huazhen, the ultimate backer of the name "Pacifying Liao," fell from power did the debate over this "major Liaodong military issue" finally come to an end.

Next, Huang Shi was also informed that the Liaoxi military houses, led by Zu Dashou, had already placed their bets entirely on the Liaodong Grand Coordinator Wang Zaijin. Not only did they submit memorials supporting the policy of defending along the Great Wall, they also passively resisted and dragged their feet on the construction of Ningyuan City. After several months, the progress was less than ten percent of the plan.

A smile hung on Huang Shi's lips, but in his heart he grew more and more irritated as he listened. The Great Ming at this moment truly had no sense of looming danger, quarreling endlessly over such trivial matters. Right now, the Great Ming fundamentally looked down on the Later Jin rebellion and, no matter what, refused to believe that a Jianzhou Guard with a population of two hundred thousand could overturn the heavens. Huang Shi, however, had always regarded the Later Jin as a mortal enemy.

Huang Shi had come here only wanting to request some grain to take back, yet he had been drawn inexorably into political infighting. Still, in his heart he felt absolutely no burden over this. The Ningyuan line was destined to win; this was something written clearly in the history books. The bet he had placed was on the correct position.

"What of His Excellency Gao?" Huang Shi suddenly thought of Gao Bangzuo. That Prefect had lost his city and his territory; he wondered what his fate had been.

Fang Zhenru's expression suddenly darkened. "Huang Shi, the book that His Excellency Gao gave you — do you still read it?"

"I have continued to read it."

"That is good. Do not fail the heartfelt intention he had for you. That way, His Excellency Gao in the netherworld below will also be deeply comforted."

Fang Zhenru told Huang Shi that Gao Bangzuo had often muttered Huang Shi's line, "If I cannot preserve Guangning, I have no face to enter the pass" — these were originally Gao Bangzuo's own words, and the fact that Huang Shi had said them first had given Gao a profound sense of resonance. A few days after Huang Shi left, the Guangning refugees safely reached Ningyuan. Feeling that his mission was complete, Gao Bangzuo hanged himself there — just as in the original history.

Huang Shi had forgotten that he had plagiarized Gao Bangzuo's original words, and so, filled with shame and guilt, he said, "I should go and beg forgiveness from His Excellency Gao's family."

"Not so!" Fang Zhenru flatly refuted. "When His Excellency Gao departed, he had already explained everything clearly to his family, and before his final act, he also spoke at length with me. His Excellency Gao's wife and sons all deeply understood the greater righteousness. We all felt that what you said was the true principle, the very essence of righteous duty."

"Before his final act?" Huang Shi listened, utterly baffled.

Fang Zhenru explained further, and only then did Huang Shi understand. When a Ming dynasty scholar-official resolved to take his own life, he would first settle his final affairs with his family and explain the reasons for his suicide to his colleagues, and only then would he calmly go to his death. Gao Bangzuo quietly took his own life in a small room, while Fang Zhenru and Gao's family waited just outside the door.

Once a Confucian scholar-official made up his mind, the persuasion of others was mostly meaningless, and his family and colleagues would not try to stop him in a hysterical manner. Quite the contrary — steeped in Confucian teachings, the family had to see their master off with smiles, showing their understanding of such noble resolve. Only after the body was taken care of could they begin to release the grief in their hearts.

"Huang Shi, do you know how His Majesty came to learn your name?"

Before his death, Gao Bangzuo had pricked his finger and written a memorial in blood. In it, there was not the slightest intent to defend himself; the entire memorial examined his own responsibility, and at the same time, he emphatically wrote down Huang Shi's name.

"His Excellency Gao said you possessed both wisdom and courage, were born with loyalty and righteousness, and that given time, you would surely become a pillar of the state. His Excellency Gao beseeched the Grand Secretariat to make sure to employ you in an important post, and to absolutely not let you be buried in obscurity. The Grand Secretariat forwarded the blood-written letter to His Majesty, and His Majesty issued an edict to the Grand Secretariat, ordering them to select a beautiful posthumous name for His Excellency Gao, to commemorate his loyalty and integrity."

Gao Bangzuo's final testament had been submitted on his behalf by Fang Zhenru.

"If you truly wish to repay His Excellency Gao's heartfelt regard, then strive to kill the slaves in Liaodong. Your achievements will comfort His Excellency Gao's surviving family far more than any words. His Excellency Gao's recommendation of you will also become a fine tale passed down from generation to generation, until the end of time."

Fang Zhenru finally said with the utmost gravity, "Huang Shi, you absolutely must not fail His Excellency Gao. Otherwise, I will never let you off!"