Chapter 244: Open and Untroubled

"Changbo, since we parted in northern Shaanxi, I once thought you and I would never meet again. I never expected that by some twist of fate we would be reunited! Unfortunately, once this matter of money and grain is concluded, I must follow Lord Hong far beyond the passes. Before we part, I have some words I wish to impress upon you—as for how you choose to act, I care not!"

After the maidservant had poured tea for the two and withdrawn, Shen Shiyu sat upright in the host's seat, fixing Wu Sangui with a bright gaze, and spoke without mincing words.

"During the two years in Shaanxi, Lord Shen treated Sangui as his own nephew. If Lord Shen has something to say, pray speak freely—Sangui listens humbly for your instruction!"

Wu Sangui, seated in the guest's position, rose and bowed as he spoke.

Shen Shiyu waved for him to sit back down and continued: "I am somewhat older than Changbo, and have seen somewhat more of life in my half-century than you. The reason I hold you in such regard is that you possess both civil and martial talents—a general of rare quality for the Great Ming! If you are given free rein in the future, your prospects are boundless! It is only a pity that you currently hold merely the rank of Vice Regional Commander—though you have skill in abundance, you have no ground on which to display it!"

Shen Shiyu's tone betrayed a note of regret.

For Wu Sangui—who could wield a brush with literary flair and charge into battle with martial valor—Shen Shiyu felt genuine admiration.

The Great Ming did not lack commanders of armies, but a man like Wu Sangui, accomplished in both letters and arms, was exceedingly rare among generals who were for the most part wholly illiterate. It was precisely for this reason that Shen Shiyu, cherishing talent, had deepened his acquaintance with Wu Sangui at Hong Chengchou's behest.

Having said this, Shen Shiyu rose, walked to the door, cast a glance outside, closed the door, and returned to his seat. Lowering his voice, he said: "Changbo, I have a matter of utmost secrecy to tell you. This affair is of grave consequence—how you choose to act rests entirely upon your own conscience!"

Wu Sangui leaned forward at once. Shen Shiyu continued: "Before Lord Hong left the capital, he was granted an audience with His Majesty. According to what Lord Hong told me, once the roving bandits are destroyed, the hearts of the people within our borders grow steadily calm, the court's tax revenues are ample, and the imperial army has drilled several elite forces to full strength, His Majesty intends to appoint Lord Hong as Regional Commander and launch a great campaign against Jianzhou next year, striving to annihilate a large portion of the Jianzhou barbarians' effective strength and destroy the very foundation of their existence, so as to thoroughly eliminate the Liaodong border menace that has plagued our dynasty for so many years!"

Wu Sangui's heart jolted at these words, and as his thoughts raced he understood the implication at once: if the court's attack on Jianzhou succeeded next year, the good days of the Liaodong military clans—nurturing bandits to justify their own importance—would be gone forever.

This matter concerned the fates of the Zu and Wu families, as well as the countless officials and generals who depended upon them for their livelihoods. If he were to relay this top-secret intelligence to his maternal uncle's household, it would surely stir up a tremendous uproar throughout Liaodong—and the incoming Hong Chengchou and Shen Shiyu would likely find themselves in very grave danger. Against those who would smash their rice bowl, some people would stop at nothing.

From the standpoint of kinship and interest, he ought to convey the news to Jinzhou as quickly as possible, so that his maternal uncle could make plans and preparations early. But to do so would betray Shen Shiyu, who had treated him as a teacher and elder brother, as well as Hong Chengchou, who had elevated him to the post of Vice Regional Commander. Whichever way he chose, he would harm the party that had shown him kindness. Once Wu Sangui understood this fully, his heart was immediately a tangled mess, his face shifting between light and shadow, his inner turmoil beyond measure.

"Changbo, I know what weighs upon your mind. When I first heard this news, my heart too struggled and wrestled for a long while. In my private deliberations, I even considered concealing this matter from you. But this affair concerns the future prospects of your Wu family—if I kept it from you, then after next year perhaps the Wu family's fortunes would be bleak beyond measure, and even if I wished to help, I fear I would be powerless. And so I steeled my resolve and chose this moment to tell you, without regard for the consequences. I seek only a clear conscience—that when I meet you, my heart may be open and untroubled!"

Shen Shiyu looked at the silent Wu Sangui and spoke in gentle tones.

He understood Wu Sangui's feelings, and he knew well the difficulty of the choice. The decision to tell Wu Sangui of this matter was one he had reached after consultation with Hong Chengchou.

The Zu and Wu families were the true kings of Liaodong. If Hong Chengchou wished to achieve accomplishments on his post that none could rival, relying solely on the weight of authority would not suffice.

A mighty dragon cannot crush a local serpent. If he could win the Wu family over from the Liaodong military clans—or at least drive a wedge between the two families—that would be extremely advantageous for Hong Chengchou's governance of Liaodong.

Shen Shiyu's words were for the most part sincere, but his purpose was not entirely for the Wu family's sake. Deep in his heart, he truly did hold Wu Sangui in high regard—but when it came to the prospects of his patron and his own household, the friendship between him and Wu Sangui became a bargaining chip to be used.

"Lord Shen's great kindness—this young man truly has no way to repay it! But this matter is of such grave consequence, and my experience is ultimately too shallow—at present my heart is caught in a dilemma! Though I am untalented, I still beg Lord Shen to show me the way out of this confusion!"

Shen Shiyu's candid attitude moved Wu Sangui, and after hesitating for a long while, he finally spoke.

"Changbo, if this matter is to reach a conclusion pleasing to all, the difficulty lies entirely in the two words 'choose' and 'relinquish.' The Zu and Wu families have guarded Liaodong for the court for many years. Though they have rendered no small merit in preventing Jianzhou from breaching the passes, all the world knows that the two families have also reaped enormous profits from it. Take official rank alone—from what I know, the youngest of the Zu family's sons holds at least the rank of Mobile Corps Commander, and any who can don armor and take the field holds rank above Assistant Regional Commander. As for the Guanning Iron Cavalry, said to number tens of thousands—in all these years of clashes with the Jianzhou barbarians, have they ever won a single victory? Since the Tianqi era, seventy percent of the court's annual revenue has been allocated to Liaodong, with military pay and provisions amounting to some seven million taels each year—but into whose storehouses have all these funds flowed? Of the hundred-some-thousand troops of the Ning-Jin army, how many can still don armor, take up arms, and contend with the enemy? In former days the court had no usable troops and was forced to rely on the Ning-Jin army to defend against the barbarians breaking through the passes. But times have changed—now that a million roving bandits have been destroyed and the court holds several elite armies in hand, the upper and lower ranks of Liaodong still do not know to restrain themselves or understand when to advance and when to retreat. Is this not the very path to self-destruction? Human greed truly knows no end! If the court gathers its heavy forces at Liaodong in the future, how far off is the precedent of 'borrowing a road to destroy Guo'? Would the upper and lower ranks of Liaodong dare to oppose the court? Should that day truly come, how would Changbo conduct yourself?"

Seeing that Wu Sangui's resolve had already begun to waver, Shen Shiyu pressed further, directly exposing the insatiable greed of Liaodong's upper and lower ranks, and also laying out the other possibility of the court dispatching troops next year.

Shen Shiyu's sharp words struck Wu Sangui's heart with tremendous force.

One knows one's own household's affairs best. The so-called Guanning Iron Cavalry had no hope whatsoever of victory in open field battle against an equal number of Jianzhou barbarians. For years the Ning-Jin army had been forced to huddle within their cities behind stout walls and great cannons, and the hundred-some-thousand troops scattered among several dozen fortresses along the western Liaoning corridor could barely maintain a precarious balance with Jianzhou.

If the court truly used the campaign against Jianzhou as a pretext to muster heavy forces and attack the Ning-Jin army in passing, they would not even need to divide their troops—merely taking Jinzhou, the Zu family's lair, and capturing or killing Zu Dashou and the others would seal the fate of the leaderless Ning-Jin army, which would collapse and scatter in defeat.

Given his own father's temperament, by that time he would not dare to muster troops against the court—and besides, before that even came to pass, the court might well have dealt with father and son first.

"By Lord Shen's account, does His Majesty and the court truly refuse to rest until the Zu and Wu families are utterly exterminated? But our two families have served the Great Ming loyally for generations—we have never harbored any intention of rebelling against it!"

Though Shen Shiyu's words carried reason, Wu Sangui still felt uncomfortable at heart. By now he had begun to believe Shen Shiyu's threatening words, and in his heart he vaguely sensed that the true purpose of the court's troop buildup next year was aimed squarely at the military clans of Liaodong.