Chapter 141: A Mountain Beyond Sight

The garrison commander at Yonghe Pass hadn't been replaced.

Last time, Liu Chengzong had slipped across under cover of night, and, worried about the government troops behind him, had spiked the touchholes of several cannons at Yanshui Pass and pushed them into the Yellow River.

This time he had no such fear — he crossed the pontoon bridge in broad daylight. First time awkward, second time smooth; the small field guns and heavy cannons were simply driven across by mules and pushed on gun carriages.

The Yonghe Pass garrison commander wasn't so standoffish either — this wasn't their first meeting, and the moment he saw the great banner bearing the character Liu, he knew exactly who it was. Very obligingly, he sent out a man with some nerve to ask about the situation and explain their own predicament.

"The pass is short on grain, and the court hasn't paid our wages for over a year. Setting up your cannons outside the pass won't do you any good, Great King — we truly have nothing to offer as tribute. There's a small road to the north that can take carts; Second Master Liu, you'd best head that way."

How to put it — Liu Chengzong was utterly baffled: "How do you know I'm the second son?"

The foot soldier sent to guide them said that Li Bei had sent men to ask around.

Liu Chengzong suddenly shouted: "Chengyun!"

It scared the foot soldier half to death.

How could he know that Liu Chengzong was overjoyed?

After getting clear answers on the number of troops at Yonghe Pass and the garrison commander's name, he had men carry over a silver chest without another word.

Silver was distributed per head — five qian per man for their rations — and he even gave the squad commander twenty taels separately.

In one go, nearly two hundred-odd taels went out — no small sum.

All eight squad leaders in the battalion couldn't fathom his intent, and the squad commander up on the battlements was dumbstruck too, stammering as he spoke: "Th-this, Great King, I, Fu Renxi, have four generations guarding the frontier — I can't go with you! Take the silver back."

With that, a quarrel broke out atop the pass. After a while, the squad commander shouted again: "I'm not leaving — whichever of my brothers catches your eye, take them, alright?"

Little did he know, Liu Chengzong merely rode his red banner horse in a circle before the pass and cupped his fists toward the battlements.

Li Bei had once told Ren Quan'er that during the entire pursuit of Tall Chuang King, Li Bei's march had been extremely slow, always leaving one unit in the rear — which had given them the chance to respond at leisure in Yanchang County. All of it was because of this Fu Renxi at Yonghe Pass.

Li Bei had sent men to ask Fu Renxi whether he had seen Liu Chengzong. Fu Renxi said he hadn't, and even claimed that Liu Chengzong's battle formation along the Yellow River in Shanxi was actually his own doing — that he had led troops to form ranks and scare off Chuang King.

A spy this dishonest, this cowardly, who fed the court false intelligence and brought his own rations — he deserved to be richly rewarded.

Effort always yields returns. Up on the pass, Fu Renxi's feelings were complicated.

The court owed him over a year's wages, and in the end it was a bandit chief who paid them.

Even the enemy knew to take pity on him — his own side didn't. This filled Fu Renxi with a certain shame toward Liu Chengzong.

So he sent another man out to give Liu Chengzong a second piece of intelligence.

Shanxi's drought had eased after autumn rains and winter snow, but this year, though there was no drought, the province was even more chaotic than during last year's drought.

Because Shanxi's eight thousand elite "King's Service" troops had mutinied at Liangxiang last year in the twelfth month, then scattered and fled back to Shanxi.

Fu Renxi said winter had been somewhat calmer — whether because the border troops had all gone into hiding for the winter, or because news traveled slower in the cold months, he didn't know.

In any case, it was only after spring began that he sensed the chaos. Now those eight thousand starving border troops, stripped of their command structure, were running wild across the Shanxi countryside, and the civil and military officials in the localities were equally unsettled.

The reason the Shanxi King's Service troops mutinied was very simple — it came down to just three days.

By the court's old regulation, on the day government troops arrived at their designated post, the local authorities were not required to provide provisions.

These eight thousand King's Service troops consisted of five thousand Jin Army soldiers under Regional Commander Zhang Honggong, and three thousand men from the Grand Coordinator's own standard battalion under Grand Coordinator Geng Ruqi.

On the day the five thousand Jin Army troops under Zhang Honggong reached Beijing, the Ministry of War ordered them to garrison Tongzhou, east of the capital.

Tongzhou, you see, during this Later Jin incursion, treated all court civil and military officers with perfect impartiality — whether the Jiliao Supreme Commander, a Regional Commander, a Vice Minister of War, or a local Grand Coordinator, the gates stayed shut to all.

Unless you stormed the city — only Hong Taiji did that when he withdrew, and he carried off the provisions.

So on the day they reached the capital, there was no food.

The next day, the Ministry of War issued transfer orders, sending Zhang Honggong's force to garrison Changping, a hundred and twenty li northwest of Beijing. Naturally, there was no food that day either.

On the third day, Zhang Honggong's force was ordered to garrison Liangxiang, a hundred and twenty li from Changping. Still no food.

The cruel coincidence was that during those very two days, Man Gui and Hou Shilu, who had come from Xuan-Da, were also under the Ministry of War's masterful strategic direction, conducting a five-day tour of the capital region.

These Regional Commanders had never once been humiliated like this in their own defense zones.

Take this Hou Shilu alone — on his King's Service march, he had even brought a gift for the Emperor. During the autumn defense, a Mongol commander in gilded armor had been strutting and boasting before the battle lines; Hou Shilu killed him, seized the armor and warhorse, and intended to present them to the Emperor.

But from the moment he led his troops through Juyong Pass, the misfortunes never stopped.

At night his men were still in Jizhou; before dawn, they'd left the artillery unit behind and reached Tongzhou. In the twelfth month, they received the first month's pay, but upon waking, part of his force was taken away and rushed toward Shunyi. He wanted to return to Huailai for a meal — and what do you know, he ran into Man Gui and Hong Taiji.

Man Gui fought a retreating action all the way back to Beijing. Hou Shilu's force was routed. After gathering his remaining men, he still went back to Huailai for that meal, then raced to Beijing with his household retainers to join the Battle of Guangqu Gate.

Word of Hou Shilu's ordeal reached the ears of the Shanxi King's Service troops. Zhang Honggong could not restrain his soldiers; the army looted Liangxiang and fled back to Shanxi.

But if matters had stopped there, three thousand of the eight thousand Shanxi King's Service troops would still have been at the capital.

The Chongzhen Emperor was furious. He had Zhang Honggong arrested, and along with him Grand Coordinator Geng Ruqi — both were thrown into prison.

Geng Ruqi was wronged. The Grand Coordinator had twice received edicts on the road telling him he need not enter the capital for guard duty. Zhang Honggong had entered Juyong Pass on the twelfth day of the eleventh month; Geng Ruqi only reached the capital on the twenty-sixth of the twelfth month. He'd done nothing at all, and was thrown in jail.

Shanxi was shaken — Liu Chengzong could understand that.

Geng Ruqi was repaying a debt of gratitude. During the Tianqi reign, he had served as Vice Commissioner for Military Preparedness in Zunhua. At the time, everyone was building living shrines to Wei Zhongxian — he refused to build one. Wei Zhongxian's portrait hung in the central hall; others kowtowed to it — he refused to bow.

Later, he was framed for embezzling 6,300 taels, thrown in prison, and sentenced to beheading.

Just as the execution approached, the Tianqi Emperor died. The Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne and saved Geng Ruqi.

Geng Ruqi said that while locked up in the Suppression and Pacification Bureau, every day someone was dragged out and killed. He had been terrified. Having been fortunate enough to receive the Emperor's pardon, and with his startled soul barely settled, he asked to be sent home to recover from illness.

The Emperor refused, promoting him instead to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and appointing him Grand Coordinator of Shanxi.

A Regional Commander's troops mutiny — throwing him in jail is one thing. But a Grand Coordinator, full of fervent loyalty, leads his troops on a King's Service march, and ends up marching himself straight into prison.

After this, would anyone still answer the call to serve the King?

Liu Chengzong's feelings were deeply conflicted. That night at dinner, he even told his close aides that someday, after they overthrew the Great Ming, they must reserve an official post to honor him posthumously.

Cao Yao snorted a laugh: "Posthumously honor Geng Ruqi?"

"Why honor him? Honor Zhu Youjian posthumously. Minister of Justice, Vice Minister of Justice..." The right official title was surprisingly hard to settle on. Finally, Liu Chengzong slapped his thigh: "Supervising Secretary of the Office of Scrutiny for Justice! Don't laugh — I mean it. Having him clock in at the Ministry of Justice would suit the Emperor's hatred of evil perfectly."

Half a year later, Liu Chengzong had returned to Yatou Mountain in Yonghe County, Shanxi.

Before coming, he had imagined what Shanxi might be like, but he never expected Shanxi to be even more chaotic than Fushi and Ansai in Yan'an Prefecture, Shaanxi.

When the starving refugees had fled in one wave and died in another, until only the villages along the riverbanks and valleys remained, the Liu family had reestablished order. And with an army in hand, Fushi and Ansai counties had already returned to stability.

Whether it's order on the surface or order in the underworld, having order is always better than having none.

But in Shanxi, the countryside has completely lost all order.

Half a year ago there was only a single household here; now someone has built a mountain stronghold, and over seventy bandits have entrenched themselves.

The eight-shao, three-squad force under Liu Chengzong's command could never have dreamed that their first battle upon entering Shanxi would actually be helping the people of Yonghe County suppress bandits.

They knew the terrain here well, and the bandits had few with any real skill. They surrounded the hilltop, and before the meal was even cooked, the hill surrendered.

"We've questioned them. The ringleaders are three deserters who came back to rob and plunder. Three courtyards, twelve women locked up, seven men, and over a dozen corpses."

Cao Yao came out of the courtyard, his face full of gloom. "This lot has no decency. They kidnapped people not for money or grain, just to torment them for sport... What do we do?"

Liu Chengzong led the eight shao commanders on a circuit around the courtyard, then went back and held a show of hands.

Execute the bandit leaders and their accomplices — unanimous.

Release the women and men — seven votes.

Conscript the remaining captives — six votes.

Kill the remaining captives — two votes.

Liu Chengzong summoned those abducted and kidnapped women and men in the courtyard. The scene was too wretched to behold.

The women had been tormented beyond recognition, and the men were no better off. The moment they entered the courtyard, they knelt and kowtowed, weeping bitterly.

One man who had had a hand and four fingers chopped off wept until he passed out, then burst his wounds again. The medic from the baggage unit couldn't save him, and he died.

Five of the women wanted to go home. Liu Chengzong had people find clothes for them and let them go.

The remaining seven women wept, each more helpless than the last, so much that it gave Liu Chengzong a splitting headache. He had never once considered the matter of settling women in the ranks.

On this journey, they would inevitably have to fight government troops. Bringing these women along would be a serious hindrance.

In the end, the women pushed forward one with a fierce spirit. She mustered her courage, stepped up, and saluted. "Great King, we sisters were all wives and daughters of decent, honest folk nearby. We were abducted by these villains, and all of us have had our purity defiled."

"Then you won't go back?"

"How could we have the face to go home? Going back would just be ending it ourselves."

In the end, after temporary discussion, these women were left on the mountain and assigned to Cheng Yun's baggage camp.

The remaining three men were easier to deal with. Like the women who wanted to go home, they were assigned decree officers to escort them back and note their doors.

Liu Chengzong specifically instructed the two decree officers to sound them out for information along the way and search for targets in the surrounding area.

Wei Qian'er's men were not idle either. The scout soldiers disguised themselves slightly and dispersed in all directions to gather intelligence.

When they passed through here the year before, it was still suffering from drought. Now it was full of vigorous life, and many common folk had returned.

In just these two days, two of the five women who had gone home earlier came back again.

They were folk from Chakou Mountain, on the border between Yonghe County and Shilou County to the north. In this era, when ordinary women met with such a thing as having their purity ruined by bandits, there were few paths left to live.

Even if they survived, they could not escape the idle gossip of the villagers. People would point fingers behind their backs.

In the end, they would often collapse under the mental strain, either hanging themselves or throwing themselves down a well.

The only reason they dared go home was because they had crying babies at home waiting to be fed.

In truth, their hearts were full of the will to die. They thought they would raise their children and then go die.

They just never imagined that Heaven would not even grant them this chance.

The forward decree officer reported: "The banner troops of the Fenzhou Guard marched out to suppress bandits, crossed the border, and raided the village. They set fire to many houses and dragged off all the young women in the village to sleep with."

A perfectly fine village, first ravaged by bandits, then ravaged by soldiers — gone.

The two women had no other relatives to turn to, so they had no choice but to come back seeking the Lion Camp.

This world had grown strange to a certain degree. Government troops burned villages and seized women by force, while rebels exterminated bandits and took in survivors.

In the days that followed, the scout riders sent to probe for intelligence returned one by one, bringing back a wealth of information on Yonghe County.

Liu Chengzong and the others also settled on a strategy: start with Yonghe County, and thoroughly seize control of this stretch of land before leaving Shanxi.

This place concerned their line of retreat back to Shaanxi.

After that, the troops split into eight shao.

Gao Xian's shao garrisoned at Chakou Mountain in the northeast to set up defenses, guarding against the direction of Fenzhou Prefecture.

Zhong Hu's shao garrisoned at Sangbi Mountain in the south, guarding against the direction of Xi Prefecture.

At the same time, these two shao forces sealed off Yonghe County along the north-south river valley of the Zhi River, preventing any news from leaking out.

Shi Chengwo's engineering shao and Liu Chengyun's baggage shao were stationed on the spot at Yatou Mountain. They were not responsible for combat, only for constructing the fortified camp while strengthening ties with Fu Renxi, the defender of Yonghe Pass.

The remaining shao were assigned territories, cutting east-west through the mountains of Yonghe County, and implementing land equalization and grain-tax exemption in the villages outside the county seat.

Liu Chengzong, meanwhile, moved with Cao Yao to the western mountain overlooking the seat of Yonghe County, observing from a distance this county town wedged between two mountains.

"We must occupy this town. Only then can we consider whether to strike north at Shilou or advance east into Xi Prefecture."

The former belonged to Fenzhou Prefecture, which had the Fenzhou Guard; the latter belonged to Pingyang Prefecture, which had the Pingyang Guard.

Actually, the reports sent back by the various shao these past few days were laughable. The villages in these mountains didn't even have civilian militiamen, making them a paradise for bandits. All the shao were busy exterminating the bandits roaming everywhere.

Before this, Liu Chengzong could never have dreamed that his entry into Shanxi would actually begin with suppressing bandits.

"I think advancing east into Xi Prefecture is suitable. Advance east into Xi Prefecture, cross the Lüliang Mountains, and you enter directly into the heartland of Shanxi..."

As he spoke, Cao Yao suddenly asked a very punchable question: "Lion, have you ever seen flatland?"

Liu Chengzong shot him a glare. Northern Shaanxi was indeed all mountains; look as far as you could, it was hard to find a place where you couldn't see mountains. But he had been beyond the Great Wall. "During the autumn defense, we burned the grasslands beyond the passes. You tell me if I've seen flatland. Isn't it all just sand? Who hasn't seen that."

"Not sand. Farmland. As far as the eye can see, no mountains. Flat. All of it fertile fields. Have you ever seen that?"

Liu Chengzong was stumped.

As far as the eye can see, no mountains — for a man of northern Shaanxi like him, this question was too difficult.

His other set of memories did know of plains, but he had never seen vast farmlands on a plain. A plain was just a concept in his head.

He could only shake his head.

Cao Yao pointed east and said, "That stretch of land you and the chiefs marked out, south of Taiyuan is flat, but it's still not big enough."

"My hometown is in Henan — flat farmland stretching as far as the eye can see, not a single edge in sight. And your sister-in-law's hometown is in Northern Zhili — no loess knolls, no tablelands, no ridges. It's all great plains. Every inch of ground underfoot can grow grain."

Cao Yao thrust his hand forward and used an exaggerated comparison: "Ride a horse north from Daming Prefecture by the Yellow River, go straight until you slam into Changping Prefecture — not a single bend needed. Flat as a sheet of paper."

Liu Chengzong listened, stunned. How much farmland would that be?

He suddenly understood where the name Taiyuan came from — a little bigger than a great plain.

And Cao Yao said Northern Zhili was even bigger and flatter.

This suddenly stirred a huge impulse in his heart: I want to go see it.

I must go see it — first the plains south of Taiyuan, then the great plains of Northern Zhili.

"This time we cross the Lüliang Mountains first. Next time, we cross the Taihang Mountains."