Chapter 161: Accepting the Surrender

On the open ground outside the north gate of Yan'an Prefecture, Zhang Miaoshou knelt bare-chested, his two arms bound behind his back; a wild jujube branch was stuck into his back, its thorns piercing into his flesh, with faint traces of blood seeping out.

Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, clad in their grand crimson official robes, stood side by side some dozen paces before Zhang Miaoshou, behind them a group of tall, stalwart personal guards in full armor and helmets.

After meeting with the trusted confidant Zhang Miaoshou had sent to arrange the surrender, Hong Chengchou conferred briefly with Sun Chuanting, and the two judged in agreement that Zhang Miaoshou was indeed surrendering in good faith.

After ascertaining the position of Zhang Miaoshou's forces, Hong Chengchou immediately ordered Ai Wannian, who was defending the pass at Yanchang, to open a corridor so that Zhang Wenyao's forces could pass through Yanchang and reach Yan'an Prefecture.

Hong Chengchou strictly ordered Ai Wannian's forces to keep close watch on the more than four thousand roving bandits coming to surrender, and urgently redeployed the cavalry of Wu Sangui and Zu Dale from the Ansai line to rush to Yanchang, where they lay in ambush at strategic points—should the bandits attempt a false surrender, they would immediately close in and slaughter them.

Several days later, Zhang Miaoshou led his force of more than four thousand men, under the escort and vigilance of the government troops along the way, to arrive at Yan'an Prefecture, where they assembled ten li outside the city and surrendered their weapons.

Zhang Wenyao, for his part, came alone to outside the city gate to pay his respects to Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting.

Seeing Zhang Wenyao in this state, Hong Chengchou felt a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

Stroking his jade belt, he asked in a deep voice: "Who is the one kneeling before me?"

After kowtowing, Zhang Wenyao struggled to straighten himself up, his gaze fixed on the ground before him, and said in a loud voice: "Reporting to Your Honor, the guilty one, Zhang Wenyao, has come to confess his crimes and beg for surrender! I pray the court will accept my submission!"

Hong Chengchou did not let him rise, but asked in a stern tone: "I have heard that you once served in the army for several years and earned no small merit—why then did you raise troops in rebellion? What has the court done to wrong you? And why have you now suddenly come to surrender?"

Zhang Wenyao kowtowed and replied: "In answer to Your Honor's question, this guilty one rose up in a moment of folly! Though I have been in rebellion for years, I have never killed any innocent folk—when my men went out to forage for grain, I strictly ordered them not to take lives, only to take enough food to fill their bellies! If Your Honor does not believe me, you may send men to inquire—I, Zhang Miaoshou, am no man of evil deeds! I had long wanted to surrender, and as it happened His Majesty issued an edict pardoning us of all crimes, so I brought my men down to surrender!"

Hong Chengchou gave a cold snort: "I command tens of thousands of elite troops, and was waiting only for the opportune moment to wipe you all out in one stroke! Who would have thought you too knew to turn back from the brink, sparing yourselves the calamity of death! Count yourselves clever! I tell you this today: His Majesty, in his benevolence, has resolved to let bygones be bygones with you! From this day forth you must reform yourselves utterly and become new men! Should you ever waver again, your heads will hang from the city gates!"

Zhang Wenyao repeatedly protested he would never dare, and said he wished to rejoin the army to kill bandits, to prove his innocence.

Hong Chengchou walked slowly to about two paces before Zhang Wenyao and barked: "Stand up!"

Zhang Wenyao pushed himself to his feet with the strength of his waist and legs, still keeping his head deeply bowed, not daring to look directly at Hong Chengchou before him.

Hong Chengchou sized up the tall, sturdy Zhang Wenyao and praised: "By the look of you, you are indeed a man of mettle! Did you earn any battle merits while in the army?"

Zhang Wenyao replied with head bowed: "Reporting to Your Honor, in my five years at Zhenqiang Station, I took the heads of five Tartars and four Tangut men! Because my squad leader embezzled my reward silver, I flew into a rage, cut him down, and fled. Having nowhere to go, I joined the bandit ranks! I am skilled with bow and long blade, and I know a good deal of the arts of war—I beg Your Honor to keep me in the army, that I may atone for my crimes with merit!"

Hong Chengchou nodded with satisfaction and said: "I have commanded thousands upon thousands of men for many years, and have read and judged countless people; from your words and bearing, you are indeed sincerely submitting to the court! Very well—since you have the heart to serve the court, I will not let your loyalty and courage go cold! How many men do you have under you? How many are willing to enlist? Does your camp have any grain?"

Hearing that Hong Chengchou had agreed to let him serve in the army, Zhang Wenyao was greatly pleased and replied loudly with head bowed: "Reporting to Your Honor, I have more than four thousand men under me, most of them able-bodied young men, plus a mounted company of over a hundred—no women among them! We still have several hundred dan of grain! I drill my men in the military manner in peacetime, and these several thousand are a tough and capable lot! If Your Honor will permit it, all these thousands will join the government forces!"

Hong Chengchou stroked his beard and pondered a moment, then spoke: "I will send men back with you to select your personnel at once—those over forty years of age will be given silver and sent home; the able-bodied who volunteer to enlist will, from this very day, be paid at the current rate of military pay and provisions for government troops. I will dispatch a general to command your force. Are you satisfied with these arrangements?"

Hong Chengchou made no mention of how Zhang Wenyao himself would be placed, only saying how his men would be settled, and making clear that even once they became government troops, they would be commanded by someone else.

Zhang Wenyao was stunned for a moment, then immediately replied in a loud voice: "I will follow whatever Your Honor commands! I can serve as a personal guard at Your Honor's side!"

Only upon hearing Zhang Wenyao's answer did Hong Chengchou finally set his mind completely at ease.

Zhang Wenyao's words proved he harbored no treacherous intent—had he shown the slightest displeasure at Hong Chengchou's arrangements just now, Hong Chengchou would have immediately ordered his head cut off.

Since the man was sincerely throwing in his lot with the court, the court too had to show some goodwill.

Hong Chengchou walked around behind Zhang Wenyao, personally untied the ropes binding his hands, pulled the jujube branch off and tossed it aside. Shen Shiyu unfastened the cloak draped over his own shoulders, hurried to Hong Chengchou, and handed it to him; Hong Chengchou draped the cloak over Zhang Wenyao's shoulders, then walked around to face him and said: "Wenyao must take care of his body—keeping a useful life to serve the court is the true path! What I am curious about is, who taught you this act?"

Zhang Wenyao was so moved tears nearly fell; he sniffled and replied in a muffled voice: "Reporting to Your Honor, I learned it from an opera! The script says this is how one must beg forgiveness!"

Hong Chengchou burst into loud laughter: "The opera Wenyao speaks of—is it not 'The General and the Minister Make Peace'? But Lian Po was a supreme general, and Lin Xiangru was the senior minister of Zhao! By performing this act, you have done great honor to us both! Hahahaha!"

Zhang Wenyao reached up and rubbed his nose, replying awkwardly: "Reporting to Your Honor, I am a rough man who knows nothing beyond the battlefield—I beg Your Honor not to take offense!"

Hong Chengchou waved his hand and laughed: "How could I take offense with you? It is the simple and straightforward who possess true loyalty and righteousness! From now on, do not address me as Your Honor—I am Hong Chengchou, Governor-General of the Five Provinces! That one there is Governor Sun of Shaanxi! I hereby promote you to Mobile Corps Commander; in due course I will report it to the court to register you and issue your official credentials! Your force is to rest and reorganize for now, awaiting the court's issue of armor, helmets, and clothing! From this day forth, you, Zhang Wenyao, are a general of the Great Ming!"

Zhang Wenyao was first startled—though he had guessed Hong Chengchou's identity, he had not imagined Sun Chuanting had also arrived in northern Shaanxi. Fortunately he had acted early; had he hesitated any longer, these two great executioners would surely have joined forces and launched their attack.

Then he was delighted again—in the blink of an eye he had become a Mobile Corps Commander, countless ranks above his former post of squad leader, and had stepped into the ranks of senior generals.

Zhang Wenyao knelt without hesitation, first kowtowing to Hong Chengchou, then kowtowing in salute to Sun Chuanting as he walked up close: "Your subordinate Zhang Wenyao pays respects to both Your Honors!"

After several days of reorganization, of Zhang Wenyao's more than four thousand men, over three thousand remained; the remaining thousand or so of the old and weak were each given three taels of silver and sent back to their native places.

But although these men's homes were all in nearby counties such as Qingjian and Suide, their family members had all died of illness, starvation, or war; moreover, that region was still bandit-held territory, and once back they could hardly be kept from rejoining the roving bandits' ranks.

Considering these practical circumstances, Sun Chuanting proposed to Hong Chengchou that these men be sent to Xi'an to reclaim wasteland and farm.

Not only was the soil of the Guanzhong Plain fertile, but the drought there was far milder than in northern Shaanxi; combined with the series of drought-relief measures already implemented, settling them there was the safest option, with no fear that these men would rise up again.

Considering that Zhang Wenyao's force needed proper drill and training, that they must learn the government troops' banners and drums before they could take the field, and that they also had to await the court's issue of armor, weapons, military pay, provisions, tents, and other supplies, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, after brief discussion, decided to merge these three thousand-odd men into Sun Chuanting's Shaanxi army, which would be responsible for training them.

Most of the soldiers in the Shaanxi army had themselves been hereditary military household members or farmers who had never seen battle a year before; Zhou Yuji, Luo Shifang, and the others had considerable experience drilling new recruits, and Sun Chuanting was naturally glad to accept an expansion of his force.

When Zhang Wenyao returned once more to that crude hall at Yongning Pass, Tuo Yangkun could hardly recognize him.

He wore a brand-new set of lamellar armor such as only senior government officers possessed, with an eight-plate iron helmet on his head, its red tassel brilliant and bright; set off by this attire, the former bandit chief Zhang Wenyao now faintly carried an air of martial valor.

Tuo Yangkun circled around Zhang Wenyao, reaching out from time to time to touch the iron armor on his body, clicking his tongue in constant admiration: "Tsk tsk, not even a few days gone and Brother Zhang has become a government officer! Did the other righteous armies not shoot you dead on the road here? Haha! By heaven! This suit of iron armor—not bad at all!"

Zhang Wenyao slapped his hand away and said sternly: "What other righteous armies? Those are rebels! Chief, the two of us have gotten along well all this time—that's the only reason I've come back to advise you: surrender, and quickly! If you don't, the court's hundred-thousand-strong army will be upon you! When that happens, even your brother here won't be able to save you!"

Tuo Yangkun shot him a suspicious look, then slowly walked over and sat down in a chair, saying: "A hundred-thousand-strong army? Brother Zhang, don't spout nonsense! Where would the court get a hundred thousand troops? The government forces around Yan'an Prefecture number only a few tens of thousands at present—if there were a hundred thousand, Hong Chengchou would have already pushed his men over here!"

Zhang Wenyao plopped himself down in a chair and said disdainfully: "Has the Chief forgotten what I said last time? Commander Hong doesn't have a hundred thousand government troops under him, that's true—but Governor Sun has come! Could the force that wiped out the Dashing King be anything less? Commander Hong and Governor Sun were about to attack at once once their forces joined—I pleaded and argued, staking my own head as guarantee, before the two gentlemen granted me a bit of face and sent me to persuade the Chief to surrender! Chief, it's for the sake of our fellow countrymen that I've come back to advise you—I can't just stand by and watch the government troops take your head, can I? The two gentlemen have said you have five days to get to Yan'an Prefecture and beg to surrender, with your men to follow after—otherwise, the Dashing King's fate will be yours!"

Several days later, Tuo Yangkun, known as Scorpion Block, the chieftain of the largest bandit force in northern Shaanxi, arrived at Yan'an accompanied by Zhang Wenyao, knelt on the ground, and begged to surrender.

The great majority of his more than thirty thousand men came to Yan'an to surrender, with only a few thousand bandits fleeing to join Li Zicheng near Suide.

After more than ten days of screening and reorganization, of Tuo Yangkun's thirty thousand-odd men, five thousand ultimately remained to join the government forces, while all the rest were moved to Xi'an, where conditions were better, to work the military farmland.

Tuo Yangkun was likewise appointed Mobile Corps Commander, and his five thousand men were also handed over to the Shaanxi army for unified training, to be merged into it once formed up.

With Zhang Wenyao and Tuo Yangkun surrendering one after another, the roving bandit strength in northern Shaanxi was greatly reduced—only the Dashing General Li Zicheng's force remained as a sizable bandit group, while the other small bands were utterly powerless to oppose the court's great army.

With the situation so favorable, Hong Chengchou immediately cast aside his earlier demand that Sun Chuanting produce a bandit-suppression strategy, and ordered his various commanders to advance from their defensive positions toward Suide and Mizhi, seeking to wipe out Li Zicheng's forces entrenched in that region in one decisive sweep.