Chapter 140: The Whole Camp Forms Mutual Bonds

The day before entering Shanxi, Wang Jiayin summoned the various rebel kings to Qingjian to discuss matters.

Liu Chengzong left Sky Monkey and the others to attack Yanshui Pass and set off for Qingjian.

A dark, swarming mass of over a hundred rebel leaders gathered — it truly let Liu Chengzong see every last ragtag mob he was ever meant to see in this lifetime.

They arranged the seating order; Liu Chengzong was ranked fourth among the rebel kings. He should have been third, but he yielded the spot to Master Gao.

In the end, they decided to split the forces into six routes: Wang Jiayin from Hequ, No-Touch-Mud from Jiazhou, Wang Zuogua from Hancheng, Chaos Heavenly King from Yichuan, Gao Yingxiang from Wubao, and Liu Chengzong from Yanshui Pass — all entering Shanxi together.

By the time Liu Chengzong returned to Yanshui Pass, the pass gates had already been thrown open for him.

Chengyun led men forward with several tall, large horses and said, "Brother, after you left, someone claiming to be a subordinate of the Overarching Heavenly King came and delivered twenty suits of armor, thirty warhorses, and a gold seal for the Overarching Heaven Marshal."

He looked a bit flustered. "We didn't know what was going on, so we just let them leave. What's this about... has the Overarching Heavenly King accepted amnesty?"

"They really gave an official seal?"

Liu Chengzong was equally baffled. He called Wei Qian'er to assemble the squad commanders and entered the Yanshui Pass government office.

The office just happened to have eight chairs set up on the left and right. The squad commanders took their seats in order and immediately began firing off questions in a clamor.

Some asked about setting up official posts, some about troop strength, and others about the gathering of the rebel kings.

Liu Chengzong raised an arm to quiet them down and only spoke once everyone was silent. "First, the results of the Qingjian council. Over a hundred leaders from various routes came to Qingjian. They claim the grand army entering Shanxi this time numbers one hundred forty thousand."

Cao Yao, Yang Yao, and the others all looked dismissive. Shi Chengwo was taken aback. Only Chengyun believed it — he stared wide-eyed and tongue-tied, exclaiming in shock, "One hundred forty thousand?"

"Look at the other squad commanders. You're the only one who believed it. Those troop numbers are just what they claimed themselves."

Liu Chengzong teased Chengyun with that line, then said to everyone, "If there really were one hundred forty thousand, why would we even go to Shanxi? We'd march straight to Guyuan and flay the Three Border Supreme Commander. Over a hundred leaders — far too many people."

"I won't even mention the minor leaders. Some of those leaders have fewer troops and horses under them than the mules Chengyun manages. As for the seating order — they arranged a seating order at Qingjian."

Liu Chengzong braced his arm on the armrest of the chair. "First was the Overarching Heavenly King, Wang Jiayin. Second was Left-Hanger. After the ranking was done, I stood in the middle. Several leaders who claimed to have ten or twenty thousand men didn't dare step forward to sit."

The office erupted in roaring laughter. Cao Yao asked, "So we're ranked third?"

Liu Chengzong flipped his palm out, showing four fingers. "Fourth. I let Master Gao take third. We still have long days ahead — no need to rush over there and put on the airs of a short-lived ghost."

"As for troop strength, there definitely aren't one hundred forty thousand. Everyone's met Chaos Heavenly King. We even shared a meal in Yanchuan a few days ago. His whole camp totals just over three thousand, and only six hundred can be called bandits. Yet at Qingjian, he opened his mouth and claimed three thousand combat soldiers and ten thousand support troops."

The crowd burst into roaring laughter again.

Sky Monkey didn't join the laughter. Feeling inclined to speak up for a friend, he said earnestly, "Chaos Heavenly King was pursued by Li Bei earlier. Perhaps he feared being looked down on, so he inflated the numbers a bit."

"Right, that's exactly what he was thinking."

Liu Chengzong reined in his smile and added that line, putting the matter of Chaos Heavenly King to rest. He then said, "I estimate that the troops entering Shanxi this time, across the six routes, amount to only thirty or forty thousand."

Cao Yao had long been unable to hold back. Now, seeing that no one was laughing anymore, he asked bluntly, "General, what's the deal with those official posts? We haven't even toppled the Zhu family emperor yet — are we inviting a Wang family emperor to sit on our heads?"

"The moment we sat down, they just handed out official posts. I thought it was just casual talk. I'm the Overarching Heaven Marshal, No-Touch-Mud is the Earth-Overturning General, Chaos Heavenly King is called the Chaos Heaven General, and there's a whole pile of other generals and commandants. Who knew they'd actually deliver a gold seal?"

Liu Chengzong was quite helpless about it too. Then he stood up with a smile and said, "Who cares? Someone's giving us gold — isn't that a good thing? This makeshift troupe could fall apart any moment. That's not important. Our days are still long. What matters is... I've drawn boundaries for them."

A map hung in the defense command office at Yanshui Pass. Liu Chengzong took advantage of this, casually pointing with his horsewhip at the map. "South of Taiyuan, north of Jiangzhou, five hundred li across — that's our territory and King Chuang's. They're not allowed in."

The squad commanders were all stunned speechless.

The area Liu Chengzong had circled off was nearly one-third of the most fertile land in Shanxi.

Yang Yao asked, "The General carved off a huge chunk — are they willing to accept that?"

"What can they do if they're not willing?" Liu Chengzong shot back with a grin. "Fight a battle? They'd have to weigh it carefully — how do they compare to Li Bei?"

Everyone laughed again. General Li had become a unit of measurement for combat strength.

But then again, when it came to real combat strength, no one truly dared snatch food from Liu Chengzong's mouth.

By now, many rebel kings had clashed with government troops, but only the first four had fought real battles. Wang Zuogua lost. Gao Yingxiang was defeated and had to rely on Liu Chengzong to turn the tables.

Only Wang Jiayin and Liu Chengzong had defeated government troops in a fair and square pitched battle between two armies.

Between those two, Wang Jiayin was a bit fiercer. Liu Chengzong had waited at ease for the exhausted enemy at Yan'an Prefecture, while Wang Jiayin had been roaming inside and outside the border walls from the very start of his uprising, constantly stabbing the government troops of Yansui Garrison in the rear.

Without Wang Jiayin, none of the rebel kings in northern Shaanxi would have had it so easy. The moment the border troops along the second border wall were redeployed, Wang Jiayin would surely raid their home base.

Liu Chengzong laughed. "Actually, it wasn't as tense as you're imagining. The people further down the ranking didn't dare speak up. They say six routes into Shanxi, but it's really only three. The Overarching Heavenly King and No-Touch-Mud are one route, we and King Chuang are one route, Left-Hanger and Chaos Heavenly King are one route — upper, middle, and lower, perfectly dividing up Shanxi."

"The Overarching Heavenly King's route passes Kelan Prefecture, with Xinzhou and Daizhou — also fertile lands. If Left-Hanger can break through Hancheng, both banks of the Yellow River are all fertile fields... Chengyun, remember to take this map with you later."

After giving Chengyun that reminder, Liu Chengzong continued, "But we did indeed get the advantage. With the northern and southern routes providing flank support, the chance of being intercepted by a large government force isn't high. The biggest problems are the Lüliang Mountains and ourselves."

Ourselves?

The eight squad commanders and Sky Monkey all showed baffled expressions. Wang Wenxiu, stroking his thick beard, said, "Please, General, enlighten us."

Liu Chengzong stood up, pressed his hands firmly on the table, and gathered his thoughts briefly. "All of you are people I, Liu the Lion, trust. That territory five hundred li across — we can't occupy all of it."

"We Shaanxi people — the soldiers are used to seeing life and death and think little of their own lives. The famine victims and refugees have also survived to this day by treading over bones and corpses. The drought in Shanxi isn't like that. The common folk there suffer some oppression, but they can still survive. I don't want those people, who could have lived, to die just because we've entered Shanxi."

"If we all flood into one place, I won't be able to tell who's killing and plundering for a mouthful of food, and who's slaughtering the innocent for sport. This dick of a court, which can't defend against foreign invaders outside or bring peace to the people inside, sees us as bandits. Its mandate is spent — who gives a shit what it sees? We can't treat ourselves as bandits who harm the people. We are rebel bandits."

Several squad commanders from the border army chuckled softly.

They weren't just laughing at this dick of a court — they were laughing at themselves too.

Every one of them had bled for the Great Ming.

If the Great Ming was a fierce galloping horse, each of them had once thought they were its flesh and blood. Only later did they learn they were grass — grass chewed up and swallowed into its belly!

Bang! Bang!

Yang Yao, sitting in his chair, straightened his spine ramrod-stiff. He was slamming the table. "The General is right! We are rebel bandits, not bandits who harm the people!"

A sense of honor can't fill your stomach, but once your stomach is full, a sense of honor is very useful.

In contrast, the other centenar, Wang Wenxiu, was far more composed. Stroking his thick beard, he glanced at Yang Yao and chuckled lightly. "How many days has it been since you had a full meal? I don't care about any Shanxi commoners. My brothers only eat their fill because of the General. Whatever orders the General gives, I'll follow."

Gao Xian exchanged a glance with Liu Chengzong and laughed. "Don't just look at the three of us. Squad Commander Cao is an old rebel bandit. The two of us are at most small-time rebel bandits. Too many people have already died in these times. I also think fewer deaths would be better."

Feng Rang chuckled a couple of times but said nothing, merely nodding toward Liu Chengzong.

The old rebel bandit Cao Yao, however, had sunk deep into thought.

Liu Chengzong asked, "Brother Cao, what are you thinking?"

"Hmm... whether people live or die in these times doesn't matter to me." Cao Yao frowned and let out a long breath. "But there's one thing. We're entering Shanxi — just speaking practically here. Listen to me think this through. What are we trying to do?"

Cao Yao spread his hands and spoke with easy confidence: "The great households that gobble up land, the corrupt officials and petty tyrants, the gentry who bully the law-abiding — knock them down or carve up their land, equalize fields and remit grain taxes. That's what every failed rebel has done down the ages."

"And the princedoms — that Qingcheng Prince estate has been there for years. I've had my eye on it a long time. Once we hit them, we'll have grain, then back to Shaanxi. I know Chengzong said before he wanted to push into Shanxi, like we did in Yan'an Prefecture, leading the common folk to resist taxes."

With that, he tapped a finger on the table. "But really, that's helping the court. Those bastards at court who want us dead — they dream of doing exactly this."

Cao Yao spread both hands. The meaning was plain.

Princedoms, land annexation, powerful rural clans — the court's chronic, festering diseases.

"Fushi County and Ansai worked out because there was a natural disaster, there were troops, and up north Wang Jiayin was tying down the frontier army. Commander Liu was holding Yan'an Prefecture city. We hit Lu Cheng at Yanchuan — first time was luck, a trick. Then we fought Li Bei at the Yan River bend… Damn, that battle was pathetic. Not that we couldn't win, just — ah, it doesn't matter."

The man actually got worked up at his own words, clapping his hands. "We were there, dividing land among the people, leading them to resist taxes — one call and a hundred answered, the hearts of all turned to us. But you're not staying, are you? Can you take every last commoner with you? Once you're gone, what do they do? Keep resisting taxes? Use their heads to resist blades."

"One, they've had no natural disaster. Two, the corrupt officials have been killed. Three, the powerful households that collected tenant rents are gone. Paying a tax won't ruin a family and wipe out a household anymore. The practice of commendation has vanished too. So in that case…"

Cao Yao swept his hand in a circle around the group. "We make one trip into Shanxi — north and south I can't say — but the court's autumn grain harvest from central Shanxi this year will be at least half again as much."

Chengzong had been listening with a furrowed brow the whole time. Only when Cao Yao finished did he speak. "Commander Cao, what if we leave people behind to keep resisting taxes? Leave the wounded veterans, have them train the locals, fight the militia, the tax clerks, the garrison troops."

"That can work."

Cao Yao first affirmed Chengzong's idea, then added: "There will certainly be men like that — living with a belly full of rage and no one to take revenge on. If you don't show him a clear road, he'll turn bandit or hang himself. He'll do it with iron resolve. But it still comes back to the same point — Shanxi isn't Shaanxi, and other people's homes aren't Black Dragon Mountain."

"How many men like that are there? Train them, have each household give us one able-bodied man — the family loses a strong pair of hands for the fields. The common folk's livelihood, just throw it away? Train half a year, fight a battle with the government troops, and when it's over, those men are dead, the village stripped bare by the soldiers. Next time we enter Shanxi, the common folk will pick up swords and spears against you and me."

Cao Yao turned his palm up and shook his head silently. "The middle region may not end up any better than north or south."

Chengzong wanted to say something more. His hand had already risen past his head, but in the end it dropped, strengthless. "Then what do we do?"

Zhong Hu clawed at his hair-cloth in frustration, then looked helplessly at Liu Chengzong. "General, this is too damn complicated. Just tell me who to kill."

Liu Chengzong smiled. "Actually, I've thought through everything Scout Leader Cao said. Back in Shaanxi, we didn't have the conditions — our strength was limited, always being chased by one force or hammered by another. We couldn't scatter into the countryside and hold the villages, couldn't think about long-term matters. Only Apricot River — that place was big enough."

"And it's true, we can't stay long in Shanxi. Two mountains pinching one river valley — hard to get in, hard to get out. But I still want to try. If the people keep resisting taxes after we leave, the ones whose hearts lean toward us will be wiped out. So then, don't resist taxes."

Liu Chengzong said it very lightly. "People. People matter more than horses, more than money, more than anything. As long as these people are here, we haven't lost. Pay grain to the court — let them pay. At worst, when the autumn grain is due, we go back for another trip. Just target the government offices and rob them. What's wrong with that?"

"Take ten thousand steps back — so what if they collect a bit of grain? Those villages, their people's hearts lean toward us. Without the surcharges, the common folk harvest more grain. We shouldn't expect the people to give everything. When they could help us, they helped — that's enough. Why should other people stake their lives for us?"

He did not believe the common folk would fight government troops to the death, and in his heart he opposed the idea of them doing so after his men had left.

The greatest lesson he had learned from the Chongzhen Emperor was this: you have to understand that other people need to eat.

To have the common folk abandon home and work, forsake wife and child, throw themselves into training, and add bricks and tiles to the cause of their rebellion — was that realistic?

The common folk need to eat. To eat, they need to stay alive.

Most common folk will only rebel, only fight to the death, under one condition: when they are not allowed to live anymore. When death is certain either way — only then will some of them choose to fight to the death.

"Leave behind the name of a righteous army. This time, the people will be afraid. Next time, the people won't run. The time after that, the people will line the roads to welcome us. A meal is eaten one mouthful at a time. A rebellion is built one step at a time. We do better than the court's government troops — do we not even have that much confidence?"

Liu Chengzong's smile was exceptionally relaxed.

Shanxi's drought was milder, but Shanxi still had frontier troops, and the frontier troops still got no pay, still went hungry.

And government troops couldn't rob the rural gentry, couldn't rob the government offices, couldn't rob the princely estates. Government troops could only rob the common folk.

They were different. They had far too many targets to rob. The common folk were, in fact, the least necessary one.

Low returns, high harm.

"There will be no harm. You only need to explain these things clearly to the soldiers under your outposts, and at the same time tighten military discipline — no unauthorized looting. Each outpost: fifty percent of spoils turned in, twenty percent retained for unit use, ten percent issued to officers, twenty percent issued to soldiers. Do these two things well, and that's enough."

"This is the first time we appear before the eyes of the Shanxi common folk. Let them know: we are rebels, not people-harming bandits."

Liu Chengzong repeated that line once more, then his expression turned stern. "The whole camp forms guarantee bonds, every level from top to bottom. Outpost leaders guarantee squad leaders, squad leaders guarantee squad-of-ten leaders, squad-of-ten leaders guarantee soldiers — guarantee that the men under them will not harm innocent commoners and will fight bravely. Violation means beheading for the man and his superior alike… Whoever can't do it, go back to Apricot River."