Chapter 15: Mutiny

Governor-General of the Five Provinces Hong Chengchou had been stationed at Xinyang for over half a month now. During this period, he had dispatched Zuo Liangyu and Tang Jiuzhou to lead five thousand men in holding Neixiang and Xichuan; Chen Yongfu to hold Lushi County with one thousand eight hundred men; You Shiwei and Xu Laichao to guard Luonan Lancaochuan and Zhuyang Pass with five thousand troops; and Deng Qi, Zhang Yingchang, and Xu Chengming each leading their own forces to defend key points north and south of the Han River, to prevent the roving bandits from entering Huguang from Shaanxi again.

By his calculations of travel time, all the generals should have arrived at their positions by now. After consulting with his staff, he decided to personally lead Shaanxi Vice Regional Commander He Renlong, Assistant Regional Commander Liu Chenggong, and others—four thousand troops in total—through Tong Pass into Shaanxi to sweep out the bandits.

Of the six months His Majesty had allowed for wiping out the roving bandits, only one month remained. As things stood now, completely exterminating the bandits was simply impossible.

The bandits moved like water; the government troops, lacking mobility, were perpetually exhausted from rushing about. They sought any opportunity to encircle and annihilate the bandits, but found none whatsoever. Often, by the time the bandits attacked some city and the government troops received word and rushed to its relief, the bandits had long since sacked the city and made off with their plunder.

Hong Chengchou sometimes felt deeply bewildered. The Ministry of War had formulated no overall strategic plan, and when the Emperor's deadline arrived, he would have failed the task His Majesty had given him, proving unworthy of imperial grace. He had no idea how the Emperor would deal with him.

Torn between frantic efforts to suppress the bandits and deep anxiety over his own future, in half a month Hong Chengchou had grown noticeably thinner, and grey hairs now showed at his temples.

That morning, after finishing breakfast, Hong Chengchou was about to order the troops to march back to Shaanxi when a scout suddenly galloped in to report: Gansu Garrison Assistant Regional Commander Xu Laichao's troops had refused to enter the mountains to hold their post. After marching to Lushi County, they had mutinied, seized the county seat, and were now looting in every direction. Henan Regional Military Commissioner Chen Yongfu, who had originally been stationed at Lushi County, seeing Xu Laichao's troops mutiny and lacking authority from the commanding general to act on his own, had withdrawn to Yongning to await orders.

Hong Chengchou flew into a rage upon hearing this, slamming the table and rising to his feet. Though mutinies among government troops had occurred before, they had always been small-scale affairs of a few dozen or a few hundred men. A mutiny by an entire Assistant Regional Commander's force of over two thousand troops was the first ever to happen under his command.

If word of this reached the capital, the civil officials would first unite in attacking him, Hong Chengchou, for incompetence in leading troops.

And if His Majesty learned that not only had he failed to exterminate the bandits by the deadline, but his own army had mutinied—given the Emperor's temperament and temper—his head would be forfeit.

At this thought, he was about to order his forces assembled to suppress the rebellion when another scout galloped in with a report: Sichuan Relief Regional Commander Deng Qi's troops had mutinied at Fancheng, killing the army supervisor eunuch Xie Wenju, and Deng Qi himself had vanished without a trace!

Hong Chengchou's brows knit tightly. Deng Qi's force was large in number, and the man had always treated his subordinates with harsh cruelty, embezzling their military pay for a long time. Resentment had long been festering in his ranks. This mutiny must have been the total eruption of grievances accumulated over a long period.

He immediately issued a stern order: "Order Chen Yongfu's force to monitor Xu Laichao's movements! If he abandons Lushi County and turns to attack other counties, Chen Yongfu is to intercept him at once! Tell him that this Governor will dispatch a pacification force immediately, and when it arrives, he is to obey its commands. Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

Shen Shiyu consoled him: "Your Excellency need not worry overmuch. The mutinous troops are surely after nothing more than military pay and provisions—they are not truly rebelling or turning bandit. The best course now is to quickly raise money and grain. So long as pay and provisions are sufficient, when the time comes, execute the ringleaders of the mutiny, and the rest of the troops will all submit out of fear!"

"Do you think I don't know all this? Even the Governor's own personal camp is months in arrears on pay. The court has issued no silver for half a year now. Where am I to raise such a vast sum of silver?"

Shen Shiyu was equally at a loss. Pacifying the mutinous troops required a great deal of silver, but the annual tribute silver that Shaanxi should have remitted had already been intercepted by Governor Hong. The silver the court raised each year through additional taxes was nowhere near enough for the expenses of so many troops, and no pay had been issued for half a year.

Suddenly, a clamor of voices sounded from outside the yamen, and a messenger hurried in, approaching to report: "Reporting to the Regional Commander, an imperial envoy has arrived!"

Hong Chengchou started, then immediately rose, pulling himself together and saying: "Quickly, set up the incense table to receive the imperial envoy!"

Hong Chengchou led his men out of the yamen to the front, where he saw a eunuch of about forty standing before the office, speaking in low tones with a man who looked like a leader of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Behind them, the square was filled with carriages, their contents covered tightly with tarpaulin. A contingent of troops in Capital Camps uniform stood at attention with their horses in one corner of the square.

Hong Chengchou hurried forward, cupping his hands in salute: "An imperial envoy has graced us with his presence, and I failed to welcome you from afar. I beg your indulgence!"

"Governor Hong is far too courteous. I am Chen Dajin, attendant eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, sent by imperial order to deliver the edict. Governor Hong, receive the edict!"

Hong Chengchou quickly led the way, ushering Chen Dajin and his party into the yamen, where the incense table had already been set up.

Once Hong Chengchou and the others had knelt properly, Chen Dajin drew the imperial edict from his bosom and began to read it aloud.

The edict's general content was nothing but the usual empty official rhetoric—the Governor-General of the Five Provinces had done fine work, bandit suppression was showing results, and he should continue his efforts. The real point came at the end: the national treasury was empty, so His Majesty was specially drawing two hundred thousand taels from the privy purse to pay the troops. He also promised that once finances improved in the future, all back pay would be made up.

When Hong Chengchou heard of the two hundred thousand taels of military pay, the boulder pressing on his heart suddenly lifted, and he felt immensely relieved. With sufficient pay and provisions, the mutiny would be considerably easier to resolve.

After the edict was read, Hong Chengchou courteously invited Chen Dajin and the other imperial envoys to the inner hall for tea and rest. Chen Dajin agreed with a smile and entered the inner hall together with Zhang Hongyu, the Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who had accompanied him. Shen Shiyu hurried off to arrange for the unloading of the carriages and ordered men to lead the Capital Camps troops who had escorted the pay and provisions to the barracks to rest.

Entering the inner hall, the party seated themselves according to host and guest protocol, and servants served fragrant tea.

Chen Dajin raised his cup, took a sip, and laughed: "This is my first time leaving the capital to deliver an edict, and escorting such a vast sum of military pay over such a great distance—I was on tenterhooks the whole way, terrified of running into a large band of roving bandits. Fortunately, along the road we encountered only scattered petty thieves, who, seeing we were government troops, merely watched from afar and dared not try to intercept us. His Majesty also specially dispatched an elite squad of the Yongwei Camp, along with riders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, to escort us the whole way. It was thanks to Chiliarch Zhang's arrangements for where to rest by night and march by day, and for setting up camp, that we were able to fulfill our imperial mission."

Zhang Hongyu beside him repeatedly demurred that it was only his duty, and Hong Chengchou added a few words of flattery as well—after all, this was an attendant eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, an important figure in the inner court, and one could not afford to offend him in speech.

Shifting the topic, Chen Dajin put away his smile and said: "Governor Hong, His Majesty has a secret edict for you!"

Hong Chengchou started, and was just about to rise and kneel to receive it when Chen Dajin waved his hand and said: "His Majesty said that although this is called a secret edict, it is really more like a letter. It contains a great deal of content involving confidential matters, which I am not suited to know. The Emperor instructed that you are to read it alone!"

With that, Chen Dajin drew from his bosom a vermilion wooden box sealed with beeswax and handed it to Hong Chengchou with both hands. After the Governor-General of the Five Provinces received it with a bow, Chen Dajin said with a smile: "Governor Hong, Chiliarch Zhang and I have had our tea, and now we are weary. Make the arrangements—I'll go rest now. We'll stay one night here and set out for the capital tomorrow to report on our mission!"

Hong Chengchou hastily called for Shen Shiyu, gave him a meaningful look, and then respectfully saw Chen Dajin off to the guest quarters in the side courtyard of the yamen.

After Shen Shiyu had brought the two men to the guest quarters, he smiled at Chen Dajin: "The imperial envoy has come from afar, and this small place has humble conditions with poor hospitality. I beg the envoy's forbearance!"

With that, he drew four gold ingots from his bosom and said to the two men with a smile: "This is a small token of Governor Hong's regard. It is unworthy of your notice, but I hope the envoy will deign to accept it!"

Each gold ingot weighed twenty-five taels; four made one hundred taels of gold, equivalent to one thousand taels of silver.

Chen Dajin beamed with delight: "Oh, you're too kind! I'm not a picky man—Governor Hong is far too generous!" With that, he reached out and took the ingots, setting them on the table. Seeing this, Shen Shiyu cupped his hands and said: "Then I won't disturb the envoy's rest. If there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask!" He then took his leave and went out—how the two men divided the gold was none of his concern.

After the two men had left, Hong Chengchou sat back down in his chair and ordered a servant to light candles. He melted the beeswax sealing the wooden box, opened it, and took out the Emperor's letter within to read.

In the secret edict, His Majesty candidly admitted that he had underestimated both the fighting strength and the mobility of the roving bandits, and that his strategy of annihilating the bandits by a fixed deadline had been too hasty. He praised Hong Chengchou for being mature and prudent, and promised him more generous time to gradually wear down the bandits. But gradual did not mean indefinite—he should still seize opportunities to destroy the bandits' main force, for the Jianzhou barbarians beyond the pass were watching hungrily.

Considering that defeating bandits was easy but pursuing them was hard, he had already ordered the Guanning Iron Cavalry south to await his orders, giving Hong Chengchou a free hand to act.

The secret edict mentioned that His Majesty was accelerating logistical support, and that a new type of military ration was being produced and would soon reach all the armies. The edict also vaguely touched on the matter of weapons, as if His Majesty was considering new-style arms. Hong Chengchou did not place much importance on this—whether weapons were old or new, what mattered was that they were not shoddily made. If only His Majesty would pay more attention to the quality of weapons! The swords, spears, bows, and crossbows in the troops' hands now were of such poor quality that they broke after a few uses, severely damaging morale.

After finishing the secret edict, Hong Chengchou was exceedingly pleased. He handed the edict to Shen Shiyu, who had just finished making the arrangements and hurried over, and said with a laugh: "Wenxuan, with such an enlightened sovereign on the throne, great things are within reach!"

Shen Shiyu took the secret edict and scanned it rapidly, then said happily: "His Majesty's thinking coincides perfectly with yours, Commander! With military pay, with grain, and with the Guanning Iron Cavalry to assist us—Commander, the destruction of the bandits is within sight! Hahaha!"

Hong Chengchou was equally delighted, and laughed: "Most importantly, His Majesty is no longer pressing for haste! The greatest worry weighing on my heart is gone! With elite troops and ample pay, and an enlightened sovereign on the throne, I don't hold these paltry roving bandits in any regard! When the great deed is accomplished, Wenxuan, that will be the day our names resound throughout the realm!"

"Commander, the most pressing matter is to resolve the mutiny first. Otherwise, delay may breed further trouble!" Shen Shiyu reminded him.

Hong Chengchou's face darkened, and he said: "These arrogant soldiers and fierce generals—I have tolerated them all along, and they only grow worse! Counting the days, the Guanning cavalry should be arriving soon. So let's deal with Xu Laichao first, then go settle with Deng Qi at Fancheng! Hmph, if I don't show them a thing or two, they'll think me weak and incompetent! Wenxuan, immediately send Cao Bianjiao with my command arrow, leading his thousand cavalry to Lushi County to act as circumstances dictate! Tell him: capture the chieftain to capture the band. Find the opportunity to eliminate Xu Laichao, and his troops will surely lose all will to fight. Permit their surrender, then set up camp and guard them strictly—see that not a single man escapes! Order Henan Regional Military Commissioner Chen Yongfu to act under Cao Bianjiao's command!"

"And what about Deng Qi's force? Fancheng is a long way from Xinyang. Who should be sent to suppress that rebellion?" Shen Shiyu asked for instructions.

"I will go to Fancheng myself! The killing of an army supervisor eunuch is an unprecedented matter. It must be handled properly, or it will be very difficult to answer to His Majesty! I would not feel at ease sending anyone else. This time I'll take He Renlong with me. You and Cao Wenzhao will remain here to hold the position. Send orders to all Regional Commanders to dispatch troops to collect three months' military pay, and distribute it in full upon their return—no embezzlement! If any mutiny occurs due to withheld pay, I will execute the offender without mercy! I am setting out for Fancheng right now. When the imperial envoy returns to the capital tomorrow, convey to him on my behalf that I have gone to inspect the military situation. Wenxuan, I leave things here in your hands!"