Chapter 330: Cultivating Popular Esteem, Taking Qianzhou

For a thousand li no cock crowed; corpses lay exposed in the wilds. Sure enough, from Jingzhou on down, the situation grew worse and worse.

In fields that should have been thick with spring wheat, the unripe grain had already been cut away.

The field paths were a wreck. Clearly this was not the work of farmers harvesting, but of mutinous soldiers cutting it as green fodder for their oxen and horses.

Following the river downstream, the land on all sides was like a realm of ghosts. Apart from the Guiyi Army's ten thousand or so men, not a single person was seen along the way.

By the time they reached Binzhou, given Zhang Zhao's current state of mind, he could not bear to enter the city.

The whole city lay in deathly silence. On the post road leading into the city, countless common folk carrying simple bundles lay dead upon the road.

Crows wheeled in the sky above; on the ground, wild dogs and wolves gnawed at the dead, their eyes blood-red, no longer afraid of men, even daring to snarl at them.

A crow with meat dangling from its beak occasionally raised its head. Perched on the city wall, it watched these outsiders, and its gaze somehow seemed almost indifferent.

Two wild dogs came running out through the city gate, tearing at a fairly intact human leg, snarling and threatening each other as they ran.

"Wretched beasts!" Murong Xinzhang, furious beyond measure, nocked an arrow and drew his bow. Two arrows shot forth like meteors, striking the two wild dogs in the head and killing them almost at the same instant.

Bai Congxin also drew several arrows from his quiver and aimed at the flock of crows. The indifferent crows on the city wall dropped at the sound.

But no one cheered or praised them. Everyone was sunk in the grief of seeing their own kind suffer.

"Today we continue clearing the corpses. We will not go to Binzhou. Tiance, have the men take precautions, bring tung oil, and burn them directly."

Zhang Zhao gave the order numbly. The Guiyi Army did not move quickly, because they had been burying corpses the whole way.

Not only did they bury them, they also erected a wooden marker, recording how many bodies, how many men, women, old and young, and where they had been found.

Finally, they chanted sutras to release the dead. Almost the entire journey had been spent this way.

Still, Zhang Zhao took some precautions. Given the medical standards of this era, if they truly contracted a plague, the effect of medicine would be rather limited.

So he drew a hundred or so men from the Tangut of Yuanzhou and Huizhou, then had thirty more chosen by lot from the militia and laborers of Weizhou, to be solely responsible for collecting and burying corpses.

This corpse-collecting unit ate, drank, and rested apart from the main army, to avoid infection.

These tasks were in fact very troublesome and did not suit the demand that troops move swiftly. But apart from Zhang Zhao's own unwillingness to harden his heart, this was actually an excellent way to unite hearts and raise morale.

People are creatures greatly influenced by their surroundings. In a mutinous army like Hechuan's, even a good-natured person, swept along in it for long, would turn into a cruel, bloodthirsty demon.

But in the atmosphere of the Guiyi Army, where all along the road they did good and righteous deeds, imperceptibly this was instilling a soul into this army.

At least by now, everyone felt that as soldiers, they must never become beasts like these mutineers.

From top to bottom, the Guiyi Army also felt boundless loathing and hatred for the mutineers. Zhang Zhao believed that if the rebel army appeared before them now, without any call from him, the soldiers would surely hurl themselves at them, each one fighting fiercely, to slaughter the demons in their hearts.

While the soldiers shared a common hatred of the enemy, Zhang Zhao's personal image was also established.

Benevolence alone is not enough to command an army, because in this age, among those who join the army, apart from the forcibly conscripted, how many are good and honest men? They are basically all troublemakers.

To speak only of benevolence and righteousness would surely earn the contempt of the soldiers and officers, so authority and prestige were also needed.

But Zhang Zhao did not lack authority or prestige. Now, adding benevolence and righteousness to that was like adding wings to a tiger.

Even the worst troublemaker hopes that his superior, besides leading them to victories, seizing great amounts of gold, silver, and goods, and bestowing lavish rewards, can also be somewhat benevolent and righteous. Only then can they follow him with confidence, without fear of being betrayed or sold out.

Finally, there was Zhang Zhao's own worry. From the late Tang into the Five Dynasties, soldiers overthrowing their superiors and sweeping others into rebellion had become as common as a household meal.

Originally the Guiyi Army, isolated in Guazhou and Shazhou, had not caught this habit. But now that they had returned to the nation, there was no guarantee they would not learn to imitate it.

Zhang Zhao now somewhat understood Emperor Zhaolie, Liu Bei. Liu Xuande rose from humble origins, and to gain capital in a chaotic age, he could only rely on constant benevolence and righteousness, always doing the opposite of Cao Cao, to cultivate popular esteem, unite hearts, and draw in heroes who approved of his ways.

Zhang Zhao was now the same. If he wanted to walk a path different from the Five Dynasties, he could only do the opposite of the Five Dynasties' soldiers.

Though those soldiers, long accustomed to cruelty, would think his brain was broken and would not regard him, Zhang Zhao, as anyone of consequence, it allowed Zhang Zhao to separate the Guiyi Army under his command from the evil deeds of the Five Dynasties' soldiers.

Once people have solved the problem of food and warmth, they generally still want some spiritual pursuit — even soldiers who cut men down with blades.

That is why, in every dynasty throughout Chinese history, the founding soldiers liked to say they had followed such-and-such an emperor to destroy the tyrant so-and-so and set the realm to rights.

The path of spiritual pursuit Zhang Zhao designed for the Guiyi Army was this: from loyal return to the nation, to comforting the people and punishing the guilty, and finally to winning peace for all under heaven.

He wanted to forge these three aspirations into the aspirations of the entire Guiyi Army.

And through this display of benevolence and righteousness along the road, Zhang Zhao had marched these soldiers for over a thousand li. By now, even the Qingzhou Tangut under Li Yanli and the Yuanzhou Tangut under Li Zhongchao could be entrusted with important tasks.

Since there was no need to clear the corpses in Binzhou by hand, but rather to burn them, matters became much simpler.

Zhang Zhao only needed to send soldiers to gather up the common folk around the post road who had tried to flee the city but had all been overtaken and cut down, then dig a large pit and burn them directly.

Guo Tiance found a large wooden board, and Zhang Zhao took out his short knife and carved, stroke by stroke: "Common grave of the victims of Binzhou, in the dingyou year."

The whole army fell silent for a moment, then from a distance, facing this common grave, chanted through the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Fundamental Vow Sutra once, as a release for the dead.

Since Binzhou had already become a dead city, and Zhang Zhao had ordered it burned, they could only press on south without stopping. From Binzhou to Chang'an there were two roads.

Taking the left road meant continuing south along the Jing River, passing Ganquan Mountain to reach Jingyang, then on to Chang'an.

The right road did not follow the water, but passed through Mating to Dahengguan, then to Qianzhou, and finally through Xianyang to Chang'an.

Zhang Zhao considered which way to take as he marched, but the army had gone only a few li past Binzhou when Murong Xinzhang and Li Cunhui, scouting ahead, encountered the rebels' scouts.

In fact these were not scouts, but mounted patrols sent out by Garrison Commander Sun Xiaoguo to intercept and kill Weizhou's scouts.

They had waited here a long time without seeing any fast riders from Weizhou, and instead had been crept up on by the Guiyi Army's scouts.

In the woods beside the post road, seven or eight yabing guards of the Zhangyi Army had gotten some water and boiled it to soak their very dry, hard coarse-grain cakes.

A squad leader with a long scar across his face spat viciously and shifted about uncomfortably.

"That slave Sun Xiaoguo — last time he wanted my little girl, and I refused him. I'd kill her with one stroke before giving her to him!

That dog-slave takes every advantage for himself; the rest of us don't even get a mouthful of soup. One of these days when he's riled me up, I'll put an arrow in him on the battlefield and finish the dog-slave off!"

"Sun Scarface, I've heard you say that at least five times, and I've never once seen you do it.

You think Sun Xiaoguo doesn't know you're resentful? He knows you're resentful, and that's exactly why he wants your little girl, and why he sent you out here to eat dry cakes while everyone else is in Qianzhou sleeping with girls."

The deputy squad leader beside him curled his lip in dissatisfaction. "If you've got the guts, we'll find a chance to do him in. If you haven't, then we'll just go over to Zhou Hu'er, Squad General Zhou. Better than always being dragged down by you."

At the deputy's words, several of the brutish-faced soldiers around them nodded in agreement, and a few of the hardened veterans looked at the squad leader, Sun Scarface, with something off in their eyes.

Sun Scarface was silent for a moment, then his temper flared. He knew he had to do something real, or these soldiers, old hands at killing, would all look down on him and refuse to follow him.

"I know. This time when we go back to attack Chang'an, I'll definitely do in Sun Xiaoguo. Then we'll return to Qianzhou, seize their gold, silver, and goods, and go up to Liangshan to live free and easy. When the court sends a new Military Governor, we'll come down and join him."

The squad deputy and several soldiers exchanged a quiet glance, and only then nodded with some satisfaction.

But Sun Bazi, who had just spoken, suddenly stiffened, because he heard the faint sound of several feet treading on branches.

Sun Bazi tilted his head slightly and looked toward a skinny horse tethered some distance away.

The skinny horse was still placidly nibbling the tender grass on the ground. Clearly whatever was coming was no fierce beast; had it been one, the horse would certainly have been restless with fear.

Twang! An extremely faint sound rang out — the sound of a bowstring. Sun Bazi threw himself into a lightning-fast tumbling roll and instantly shot a good distance away.

Beside him, the squad deputy, a step slower, had just begun to rise when an arrow struck him square in the face. The squad deputy let out a shriek and rolled wildly on the ground, clutching his face.

At that moment, the crackling of feet on branches came from all directions. Sun Bazi scrambled up, tore off the leather armor he was still wearing, turned, and ran for the skinny horse, utterly ignoring the shouts and sounds of fighting behind him.

Twang! Another bowstring sounded. Sun Bazi hastily ducked his head, but the arrow was not meant for him — it flew toward the skinny horse, the very horse Sun Bazi had hoped to ride in his escape.

The skinny horse took the arrow in the neck and at once leaped three feet into the air, but it could not break the reins tied to the tree, and only screamed in agony.

Sun Bazi was just about to move when another arrow slammed into the grass in front of him, sending bits of grass stems flying.

"Tie him up! Take him back!"

Only then did Sun Bazi raise his head and look around. A dozen or so sturdy men in black night clothes had emerged from all sides.

The one who spoke was an extremely young junior officer holding a hard bow, staring at him with a face full of cold indifference.

"The rebel army has already set out from Qianzhou. According to what that scar-faced squad leader said just now, their plan is to head straight for Chang'an. By now they have probably already reached the outskirts of Xianyang, or the West Wei Bridge." Yan Jin tapped the map, speaking with some concern.

Chang'an itself was in fact an undefended city, and a sprawling one at that. After decades of repeated warfare, its fortifications had long since fallen into ruin everywhere and could not be defended at all.

All it could rely on were the surrounding satellite towns and a few key bridgeheads and fords. Once those places were lost, Chang'an was finished.

But Bai Congxin disagreed. Pointing to Huazhou and other places on the eastern side of the map, he said:

"But the court-appointed Military Governor of the Jinchang Army and Mayor of Jingzhao has still not arrived. The rebel troops have the sack of Chang'an as their lure, and their morale is at its peak!

They number no fewer than ten thousand, about equal to us, and four-tenths of them are yabing guards of the Zhangyi Army and the Jingnan Army. If we pursue them too hard, I fear we will suffer their counterattack!"

Zhang Zhao understood Bai Congxin's meaning: if they pursued too eagerly, they would easily become the rebel army's primary target.

The safest course was to continue down the Jing River to Jingyang, there to join forces with An Shenqi, Military Governor of the Jinchang Army, and Zhao Zan, Military Governor of the Zhenguo Army at Huazhou. With three forces marching together, the Guiyi Army would only need to play a supporting role and could still share in the credit.

But before Zhang Zhao could state his view, Murong Xinzhang, who had just returned from capturing Sun Bazi and the other prisoners, was the first to shake his head.

"We have received the court's edict to enter Guanzhong and suppress the rebels. We are called an army of loyalty and righteousness. If we shrink back timidly at every turn, all sides will look down on us.

And if we reach Jingyang and our supplies must depend on others, what then if An Shenqi uses his imperial envoy's authority to press us and make us take the main attack?"

"Right! Better that we strike where they least expect it — break through Daheng Pass, seize Qianzhou, and thus keep both advance and retreat in our own hands.

Closing in on the rebel army does not mean we must fight them at once. We can hang behind them and make them feel a thorn in their backs.

Our army has tens of thousands of horses and comes and goes like the wind. If they want battle, we do not fight; if they want to march, we pursue. Once their troops are worn out and their soldiers exhausted, we may defeat them in a single battle!"

Fan Shun thought it over and also agreed with Murong Xinzhang's opinion.

"Lord Sikong, and there is another advantage to marching via Qianzhou and striking the rebels' rear!" Zhebu Jiashi said with a sly grin.

"The rebels have plundered several prefectures, so their wealth and goods must be abundant. If we harry them from behind, all that gold, silver, and plunder will fall to us.

If we can defeat them, the armor and weapons alone will likely exceed what Hexi produces in several years!"

Right! How could I have forgotten that — the rebels are rich right now! Zhang Zhao cleared his throat.

"Tomorrow, execute the captured rebel soldiers as a sacrifice to the banner. We take the right-hand road and head straight for Qianzhou!"

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