Chapter 175: Deliberations on the Roving Bandits

Because the northern side of the Central Capital was bounded by several mountain ranges, and the Crown Prince's procession needed to enter through the main gate, the procession detoured around to the main southern gate.

The procession began at the Fengyang Bridge before the Hongwu Gate on the southern side, passed through the Hongwu Gate into the Central Capital city, proceeded via Hongwu Street, the Daming Gate, and the Chengtian Gate into the forbidden enclosure, then crossed the Outer Golden Water Bridge (the Outer Five Dragon Bridge) and the Meridian Gate into the imperial city, entering through the Fengtian Gate to reach the Hall of Fengtian.

Governor-General of Grain Transport Zhu Dadian first welcomed Zhu Cilang to lodge in the palace halls within the imperial city. The imperial city was equivalent to the Central Capital's Forbidden City, with a forbidden enclosure outside it as well, though most of it had only recently been rebuilt.

Subsequently, Zhu Dadian hosted a banquet for the assembled officials, which also served as an opportunity for the various officials to meet and get acquainted with some of the Crown Prince's retinue.

Once all the generals had gathered, Zhu Dadian introduced them to one another. Accompanying Zhang Guowei and Shi Kefa were three military officers: Regional Commander Xu Ziqiang, Vice Regional Commander Cheng Long, and Assistant Regional Commander Pan Keda, along with local military commanders such as Fengyang Regional Commander Yang Yufan.

As soon as Xu Sheng saw Fengyang Regional Commander Yang Yufan, he called out: "Brother Yang, long time no see!"

Yang Yufan laughed and embraced Xu Sheng, saying: "Worthy brother, we brothers haven't seen each other in six years!"

Zhu Dadian said in surprise: "The two of you know each other?"

Yang Yufan laughed: "Know each other? Our two families have been friends for generations. My late father fought alongside Governor Xu for many years. In the second year of Tianqi, the White Lotus sect rebellion of Xu Hongru was put down by those two elders."

Yang Yufan's father, Yang Zhaoji, had been recommended by Xu Sheng's father, Shandong Governor Xu Congzhi, and promoted to Shandong Regional Commander. Later, through repeated military merits, he was elevated to Left Commissioner-in-Chief, Grand General, and the first rank of the first grade.

In the second year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhaoji had deployed the Plum Blossom Formation and routed the Later Jin army. Hong Taiji was greatly alarmed and retreated more than twenty li. Yang Zhaoji then defeated the Later Jin's Second Beile Amin and recovered Yongping. In the fourth year of Chongzhen, Yang Zhaoji died of illness in the army. Chongzhen wept greatly and posthumously bestowed upon him the titles of Grand Tutor and Grand Preceptor, with the posthumous name "Wuxiang."

Yang Yufan, at the age of thirty, had already assumed the post of Fengyang Regional Commander, which spoke volumes about his abilities. At this moment, seeing an old friend, Yang Yufan was overjoyed. The two ignored everyone else and went off hand in hand to reminisce.

Everyone chuckled and thought nothing of it. Zhu Dadian continued introducing the two sides. When introducing Huang Degong to the assembled generals, Regional Commander Xu Ziqiang politely cupped his hands in salute and said: "Regional Commander Huang, I have long heard of your great name!"

"Honored to meet you!" Huang Degong returned the salute with a grin, even though he had no idea such a person even existed in the world.

Vice Regional Commander Cheng Long sized up Huang Degong and said with a false smile: "I hear that Regional Commander Huang routed the slave bandit army at Lengkou, beheaded a Beile, and buried a Censor alive in the capital. Truly a boundless future ahead!"

Assistant Regional Commander Pan Keda also spoke up: "Regional Commander Huang is now leading his army south to suppress the bandits. Surely victory will come with the first banner raised and success upon arrival. We shall wait and see, watching Regional Commander Huang achieve great merit."

Huang Degong grinned broadly and said: "Why the hell do I feel like your words just don't sit right with me? Hmm?"

Cheng Long and Pan Keda were indeed somewhat jealous of Huang Degong. Within a single year he had risen from Assistant Regional Commander to Regional Commander, and had even been granted the title of Galloping General. True, he had been stripped of it afterward, but what he had done was still enough to make anyone envious.

Seeing that the two sides were somewhat unfriendly, Zhu Dadian mediated: "The great plan to suppress the rebellion concerns the overall interests of the state. The bandit forces are now vast and numerous, unlike in the past. No single force alone can hold up the sky by itself. We should all cooperate sincerely and unite as one."

Huang Degong laughed heartily: "What the Governor-General says makes sense. I, Old Huang, like it!"

On the civil official side, Zhang Guowei, Shi Kefa, Yang Tinglin, and the others all nodded and smiled upon hearing this. Since the Governor-General was a man of understanding, they felt much more at ease.

Cheng Long and Pan Keda said nothing more. The other man's rank was higher than theirs, and pushing further would only harm their own interests. Thus, at least on the surface, the two remained quite courteous to Huang Degong, maintaining sufficient propriety.

Huang Degong did not mind in the slightest. His principle had always been: respect me a foot, and I'll respect you ten. If you're polite, I'll be humble. But if you hide a knife behind your smile, then I won't be polite with you either.

After Zhu Dadian finished the introductions, everyone took their seats according to their official rank and position. Zhu Dadian then ordered the feast to begin, and various wines and dishes were brought up in succession. Cups clinked and crossed as everyone drank heartily and joyfully.

These military officers were all rough men. Though some had studied for a few days, none had even managed to obtain a xiucai degree. They could manage a few sarcastic remarks, but asking them to play the literati game of veiled insinuation and indirect accusation was simply too much of a challenge.

At the table of rough men, as they drank, they started playing finger-guessing games and shouting out drinking chants. The banquet ended with everyone thoroughly satisfied and merry.

After the banquet, Zhu Cilang summoned some important civil and military officials in the imperial city palace to discuss the problem of the roving bandits together.

Zhang Guowei and Shi Kefa had frequently clashed with the roving bandits in recent years, so their understanding of the bandits should be deeper. Zhu Cilang very much wanted to hear their views.

Zhang Guowei sat half-sided on a round stool and spoke slowly: "The roving bandit forces are becoming increasingly organized. They have begun imitating government troops by dividing military ranks, using the order of File Leader, Squad Leader, Outpost Commander, Battalion Commander, Banner Bearer, and Commandant. When fighting, they use starving refugees and hungry soldiers as the vanguard. If they cannot prevail, the cavalry and veteran camps in the rear immediately flee. Their elite forces remain intact, they move to fight elsewhere, and within moments they gather tens of thousands of troops again."

Shi Kefa also spoke: "When the roving bandits cannot match our government troops, they flee deep into the mountains. Government troops have three cavalry to every seven infantry, but every man in the bandits' veteran camps has a horse, making pursuit extremely difficult. Add to that the difficult mountain paths and abundant cover, and the government troops truly find the bandits hard to eradicate."

Huang Degong asked in confusion: "The military dispatches say the bandit chieftain Xi'an and other roving bandits total over two hundred thousand. With so many people, where do they usually camp? Do they just keep roaming constantly?"

Zhang Guowei replied: "The roving bandits in the Jiangnan area are currently divided into two major groups. The Five Camps of the Revolt-Left, led by Old Huihui Ma Shouying, are currently in the Huoshan area, frequently active around Qianshan and Taihu. Bandit chieftain Xi'an and bandit chieftain Cao echo them from afar, often raiding the area from Wuchang to Anqing."

"Huoshan?" Zhu Cilang walked before the map and looked at Huoshan's position, then exclaimed in admiration: "The roving bandits are not lacking in talent. The choice of Huoshan is truly excellent. The terrain there is strategically perilous and holds an important military position: eastward one can attack Luzhou, northeast one can strike directly at the Fengyang imperial tombs, southward along the river one can attack Anqing, or even Nanjing, and westward one can advance into Wuchang. Taking any one of these places would be enough to send a tremendous shock through the court."

"Your Highness is brilliant!" Zhang Guowei said from the bottom of his heart. He had not expected that the Crown Prince was indeed, as the rumors said, a child prodigy. At such a young age he could already perceive such intricacies, a hundred times better than those self-proclaimed extraordinary prodigies of Jiangnan.

There were especially many "prodigies" in Jiangnan. Many displayed astonishing scholarly talent at seven or eight years old, but the moment they took the imperial examinations, they failed. These "prodigies" were not born but manufactured.

In the Jiangnan area, some famous teachers would select children who looked clever, then for years on end teach them only calligraphy, painting, and poetry recitation. Once the child had been cultivated into some semblance of talent, they would take the child out to perform, especially showing off at government offices. As long as the child, relying on solid poetry, calligraphy, and painting, won thunderous applause from the officials, a prodigy was thus born.

The birth of a prodigy signified skyrocketing value and gains in both fame and fortune. As for the teacher who cultivated the prodigy, he too would rapidly rise to fame. Zhang Guowei, who knew the inside story, had always sneered at such practices with utter contempt.