Chapter 29: Rectification

Three days later, just after the hour of Chen, people had gradually begun to gather in the square before the Governor's yamen. The Guard Commanders, Vice Guard Commanders, Assistant Guard Commanders, Provosts, and Chiliarchs of Xi'an's three guards arrived one after another from their posts.

The first to arrive was Zhang Runda, Guard Commander of the Xi'an Rear Guard. Around thirty years of age, with a round, fair face and a harmless smile, he looked more like a rich young master than a military officer despite his martial attire. He had come to this meeting riding with only two personal guards.

Around him had gathered the officers of his own guard who had arrived together. It was not hard to tell from Zhang Runda's conduct that although he had not been shy about swallowing up the farmland of the guard station's hereditary military households, he had not kept it all for himself—the Vice Guard Commanders, Assistant Guard Commanders, and Chiliarchs all got their share. He was not overly harsh with the military households under him either, collecting only fifty percent as rent. He could be counted as one whose heart had not gone completely black.

The crowd was chattering in low voices, wondering why the Governor had summoned the useless guard station officers for a meeting.

Each knew his own situation. Although the guard stations were also an armed force of the Great Ming, Shaanxi had border troops guarding the frontier. The senior officers of the guard stations were busy fighting over land and doing business. Nominally every guard station had its authorized troop quota, and the court from time to time disbursed pay by headcount—but in reality, even Zhang Runda himself could not remember which year he had last drilled his soldiers. The court's pay basically all went into the officers' pockets. The common soldiers below got not even a sip of soup, let alone any training.

Because the guard station soldiers never had any routine drill, they could not even defeat the local militia of the counties. Now that the roving bandits were rampant in Shaanxi, could it be that the Governor wanted the guard stations to send troops to suppress the bandits?

Vice Guard Commander Gao Xunyou said: "Sir, for all these years, let alone the Governor, we haven't even been able to see the Provincial Administration Commissioner or the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, much less be summoned by them to discuss affairs. This new Governor suddenly remembering our guard stations—that can't be anything good. This one has come with ill intent. In less than a month since taking office, his personal camp actually wiped out a fierce bandit like Qi Zheng Wang. I heard that Zuo Erhu was trampled into mud by horses, his bones and body utterly destroyed. Against such a formidable figure we must be careful in our response. Whatever he says, we agree to it—we must never resist him!"

Zhang Runda said with a grin: "Old Gao, we've known each other for twenty years. Have you ever seen me go hard against anyone? Rest assured, I'm no fool. Whatever the Governor says, we do. After all, we are all men of the court, and we know the proper order of superior and inferior!"

Assistant Guard Commander Wu Litong spoke with worry: "Could the Governor be planning to investigate the matter of padded payrolls at the guard stations? That would be troublesome. If it's just going through the motions, fine—but if the Governor truly means to get serious, what are we to do?"

Another Assistant Guard Commander, Wang Shengcai, spoke up: "I don't think it's an investigation into padded payrolls. If the Governor truly wanted to do that—first, he would offend a great many officials. When one is an official, face matters. If he seriously pursued the matter and offended everyone, how could he continue his work? Second, if he were investigating padded payrolls, he would long since have sent people openly or covertly down to the guard stations. Through whatever channel, none of us have received any news of such a thing. So I believe this is not about that!"

Seeing his subordinate officers all looking at him expectantly, Zhang Runda smiled and said: "Stop guessing blindly. Whatever the matter is, it's never about one person alone—the officials involved are numerous. Civil officials fear most losing their prospects and reputation. If he truly investigates and stirs up public anger, and everyone organizes the military households below to make trouble, does he still want his career? We just need to wait and see. See—someone more formidable than us has arrived, hasn't he?" With that he jerked his chin toward a direction. The crowd turned to look, and saw Liu Fuguo, Guard Commander of the Left Guard, approaching on horseback with twenty personal guards.

Zhang Runda's eyes rolled, and he greeted him with a grin, calling out loudly from afar: "Brother Liu! It's been ages! You look even more spirited than before—your little brother has missed you terribly!"

Liu Fuguo dismounted; his horse was led aside by a personal guard. He was in his forties, thin and tall, with a long horse face and a high nose, his expression cold. He gave the impression of being gloomy and calculating.

Seeing Zhang Runda approach, Liu Fuguo wore an expression of "do I even know you?"—a smile that did not reach his eyes—and said flatly: "I wondered who it was. So it's Squire Zhang! What, are you here to discuss affairs too?"

He was extremely displeased with Zhang Runda for collecting less rent, feeling that it spoiled everyone's path to wealth. It was precisely for this reason that the military households of the Left Guard harbored intense hatred for Liu Fuguo. A rent of twenty percent would have been enough to make family circumstances considerably more comfortable. The military households dared not speak their anger but cursed him privately until his flesh stank. Some even made a paper doll, wrote Liu Fuguo's name on it, and stabbed it with needles every day, claiming to be practicing Lu Ya's Seven Arrows Book of Nailing Heads, saying they would stab him to death sooner or later. When Liu Fuguo heard of this he was furious to the point of madness, but since he could not find out who was responsible, he had no choice but to let it go.

Zhang Runda knew what was in his heart and secretly sneered: "When I eat meat, at least I let the men below have some soup. Otherwise who would work hard for me? You old bastard carried off the whole pot yourself—no wonder your men hate you!"

Without changing his expression, he continued smiling: "Brother Liu jests. I am, after all, the hereditary Guard Commander of the Rear Guard—the same rank as Brother Liu, the same duties. In the court we count as colleagues! Brother Liu does love his jokes. When do you have time to come inspect my guard station, so your little brother can drink freely with you?"

Liu Fuguo did not want to deal with him. He even wanted to punch his fat face swollen, then kick him flying.

He did not take up Zhang Runda's conversational thread and walked straight toward the Governor's yamen. By then Sun Zuowang, Guard Commander of the Forward Guard, had also arrived. Zhang Runda stepped forward with warm greetings and walked into the yamen side by side with him, their respective subordinates following behind.

As the crowd entered the yamen, they saw eight of the Governor's personal camp guards standing on each side before the main hall, tall and imposing, in gleaming armor, hands on their swords, standing at solemn attention, eyes fixed straight ahead. The guard station officers who had been chatting and discussing fell instantly silent, feeling a killing aura rushing at their faces that made them tremble. Liu Fuguo and the other two walked at the front, their bearing also turning proper.

Entering the spacious main hall, they saw a huge desk at the front with a screen behind it blocking the view, and a row of chairs on each side below. The three Guard Commanders exchanged glances—they were of equal rank, and no matter how they sat, one of them would end up in the inferior position. Zhang Runda walked straight to the second chair on the left side and sat down, saying with a chuckle: "Both you gentlemen are older than I am, so your little brother won't stand on ceremony!"

Sun Zuowang was still a bit embarrassed, but Liu Fuguo unceremoniously sat in the first chair above Zhang Runda. Sun Zuowang sat across from them, and the rest sat according to rank. Some Chiliarchs had no seats and could only stand behind their respective superiors.

They had not been seated long when a loud voice rang out: "The Governor arrives!"

A clear cough sounded, and Sun Chuanting emerged from behind the screen—tall and imposing, wearing a crimson robe and black gauze cap. After sweeping the crowd with a cold, stern gaze, he sat himself behind the desk. Zhuang Yuanzhou, as his aide, stood at his side.

Liu Fuguo and the others rose and gathered in the center of the great hall, performing the full ceremonial bow to the Governor. Sun Chuanting bade them rise, and they all returned to their original seats.

After a moment's deliberation, Sun Chuanting spoke: "I was ordered by imperial decree to govern Shaanxi, and I have been in office for over a month. Before coming here I already knew something of Shaanxi's condition—I knew that roving bandits had risen in all directions, the people's livelihood was ruined, government orders did not run smoothly, and military discipline had collapsed. Since taking office, I and my retinue have conducted open and covert investigations of the prefectures, counties, and guard stations around Xi'an, in order to grasp more of the people's condition. From what I have seen and heard with my own eyes and from my retinue's reports, the situation here is far worse than I imagined! To put it bluntly, undercurrents are surging, and popular revolt is on the verge of eruption. Once all manner of circumstances come together, the Guanzhong region will become another northern Shaanxi, another Henan! When that day comes, not only will I have failed the trust His Majesty placed in me—the wealth and glory you gentlemen now enjoy will also vanish like smoke, and you may not even preserve the lives of your entire households!"

The guard station officers looked at one another in bewilderment, thinking: What does the Governor mean by saying all this? Shaanxi does indeed have many roving bandits, but they are mostly concentrated in the northern Shaanxi area, and government troops are already suppressing them. As for popular revolt—those poor military households under our command, even if you gave them the courage, they wouldn't dare rebel. And matters of the prefectures and counties have nothing to do with us. We are military officers; civil affairs are handled by the civil officials.

Sun Chuanting read their expressions clearly and could not help but sneer. He said: "You all know that Shaanxi is where the roving bandits got their start. Do you know why? The people of northern Shaanxi are fierce by nature, and since ancient times it has been an excellent source of soldiers for every dynasty. Now, with years of continuous drought and fields yielding nothing, the common people, to stay alive, sell their sons and daughters—some even exchange children to eat. It is truly a human tragedy. In such circumstances, certain people born with rebellious bones stir them up with cunning words, and so revolts break out everywhere. Starving people smash the manors of the gentry, capture county towns, burn, kill, loot, and commit every evil—transformed in an instant from honest farmers into demonic bandits. The local officials, to protect their own careers, cover things up and deceive His Majesty and the court. By the time the court learns the truth, the bandits are already strong in troops and horses, hard to suppress!"

The guard station officers found it even more baffling. Today the Governor had summoned them all, and everything he said had nothing to do with them. They were the guard stations—not quite soldiers, not quite civilians. They just lived their own lives.

At this point Sun Chuanting shifted his tone: "After the Grand Progenitor, Emperor Gao, drove out the barbarians and founded our Great Ming, he reflected that maintaining troops was not easy. So, following the Tang dynasty's system of garrison militia, he established guard stations throughout the realm—cultivating military farmland to support troops, controlling strategic points, and lightening the burden on the common people. From its inception, the guard station system showed clear results: the garrison farmers tilled as peasants in peacetime and fought as soldiers in war, their own land's produce supporting the troops. Had the system been followed as prescribed, the realm would naturally have enjoyed peace. But what have the guard stations become today? They have become places where certain people enrich themselves at public expense, embezzle and skim soldiers' pay, sell off military supplies, even collude with bandits, swallow public lands and the allotted fields of military households, drive military households like pigs and dogs—a cesspool of filth!"

Sun Chuanting's voice turned severe, his gaze coldly sweeping the crowd. The guard station officers thought to themselves: Here it comes at last.

"Some time ago I visited the Xi'an Left Guard in plain clothes. Every military household I encountered was destitute and down on their luck. When I asked the reason, openly and covertly they all pointed at the senior officers of the guard station. They said the guard station had over two thousand qing of farmland, and one man alone held more than sixty percent of it. The military households tilled the land under his name, becoming his tenant farmers, with rent as high as seventy percent. An ordinary military household toiled a full year and could hardly manage a few full meals! Their dwellings were all yellow mud and thatch—no warmth in winter, no shade in summer. Some households had only a single pair of trousers for the whole family—whoever went out wore them! But I observed this man's residence: vast in scale, with carved beams and painted rafters, servants in droves. Though I never entered for a close look, one glimpse tells the whole—enough to show the extravagance of his daily life! He keeps dozens of thugs to suppress any who dare resist. The military households dare not speak their anger. Under his gate there are stewards who, relying on their master's power, do as they please, seizing by force and cunning. His family property grows daily while the military households grow ever poorer. Those who flee are many. The entire guard station, high and low, is filled with complaints and seething resentment—like a flood of water that will one day burst its banks. And on that day, certain people will meet their ruin and the destruction of their entire households!" Finishing, Sun Chuanting suddenly slammed the desk, his voice rising sharply.

Liu Fuguo's face was waxen yellow, cold sweat visible on his forehead, his body trembling slightly. Zhang Runda and Sun Zuowang were also pale, their backs soaked through. The other officers with dirty hands under their seats trembled in both legs and dared not speak. Only the few who were relatively upright, had not gone too far, and treated their military households with some decency secretly clapped in approval.

Sun Chuanting's tone was icy as he continued: "Your three Xi'an guards should have over twenty thousand registered officers and men on the rolls. Though the court's disbursements were not always timely, pay, uniforms, weapons, and armor were still regularly issued. I ask you—how many battle-ready soldiers remain under your command? How much serviceable equipment is left? How many military households have fled, even joined the ranks of the roving bandits? Do you know how many military households wish they could eat your flesh and drink your blood? When I left the capital, His Majesty graciously bestowed upon me the Imperial Sword. I have been wanting to test whether its edge is sharp. Do you take me for a man who would not dare cut you down?!" Sun Chuanting roared.

The spacious hall was utterly silent—so quiet that the drop of a needle could be heard. Everyone held their breath, not daring to exhale. Liu Fuguo and the other two at the head were like steaming baskets, heat rising off them in waves. Zhuang Yuanzhou coughed once, and with a clatter more than a dozen personal guards surged into the hall from outside, each drawing his blade, sweeping their gazes over those within. The guard station officers felt a chill at their necks, as if swords were already resting upon them.

Finally someone could no longer bear the immense pressure. With a thud, Zhang Runda rose from his chair and fell to his knees, sweat pouring from his face and body. In a hoarse voice he cried: "Your Excellency, see clearly! Though I too have swallowed much land and embezzled much military pay, I have not treated the military households under me excessively—my rent was only fifty percent. I am willing to return the land I have taken to atone for my former crimes! I beg Your Excellency to give me a chance!" With that he knocked his head against the floor toward Sun Chuanting.

Sun Zuowang and Liu Fuguo also knelt in succession, swearing and vowing speeches much like Zhang Runda's. Then all the guard station officers knelt, repeating in loud or low voices roughly the same words.

Sun Chuanting did not bid them rise. Sweeping his gaze over the crowd below, he said in a heavy tone: "Do not think I am crying wolf. If the roving bandits break into Guanzhong, the military households of your guard stations will surely rise in response. I came to Shaanxi not merely to put out fires everywhere, but to prevent disaster before it strikes. For the stability of Shaanxi, for the altars of the Great Ming, for His Majesty, for the people of the Great Ming, I will not spare even this body of mine. Whoever pays lip service while opposing me in deed, whoever obstructs my work—hmph, let him become the sacrifice I offer to the banners!"

With that he ordered them to rise. The guard station officers rose trembling and returned to their places. Zhuang Yuanzhou waved a hand, and the personal camp guards sheathed their swords and withdrew.

Sun Chuanting spoke: "I still have many great affairs to attend to, so the return of land must be completed quickly. I give you one month to return the land you have occupied. Guard Commanders may retain five thousand mu, Vice Guard Commanders three thousand, Assistant Guard Commanders one thousand, Chiliarchs five hundred mu—those with purchase certificates for land in their names may keep it. The allotted fields of the military households shall be distributed to each household according to the original amounts. Rent on public land shall be uniformly reduced to thirty percent. All troop quotas of the guard stations are abolished—I have already submitted a memorial to the court to recruit new soldiers, to be directly under the Governor's command. The rectification of the guard stations was personally instructed by His Majesty, who explicitly stated that the door of mercy would be left open. The military pay you embezzled in the past will not be pursued. This is His Majesty's magnanimity—you should feel gratitude in your hearts. If it were according to my own temperament, you would have to spit back every bit you swallowed! Now, return quickly and make your arrangements. I warn those with treacherous hearts once more: do not bring ruin upon yourselves!"

The guard station officers felt as if pardoned from death. They bowed in succession and withdrew, each returning to his post.