Chapter 161: An Incident

Gao Yingxiang discovered that in the minds of the common people of Yonghe County, passing troops fell into five categories.

General Liu's soldiers, the border army's soldiers, the guard army's soldiers, Shaanxi's bandits, and Shanxi's bandits.

The news that the horse bandits later came back was also far beyond what Dashing King Gao had imagined. The horse bandit put it this way:

"The common folk all shielded Liu the Lion. We grabbed three people and asked them what Liu the Lion had done, and none of them were afraid of him. All three swore blind: General Liu didn't do a thing."

How was that possible?

Fortunately, this strange situation only appeared west of Yonghe County town. Taking the county seat as a boundary, the common people east of it were much the same as those in Fenzhou Prefecture.

They were afraid when they saw bandits too, and those who should run all fled into the mountains, leaving behind some old folks with one foot in the grave and bankrupt peasants. Send men over and you could recruit the bankrupt peasants away.

Ask around more carefully, and some common folk didn't even know who Liu the Lion was. They only knew there was fighting in Xizhou — who was fighting whom, who was winning and who was losing, they had no idea.

Gao Yingxiang had already heard that Liu the Lion had appeared in Shilou, and had wanted to come over and discuss some matters with him.

He never expected to witness such a marvel in Yonghe County, which only strengthened his determination to meet Liu the Lion.

So much so that he left the besieged Shilou county town behind, whipped his horse to a gallop, and chased along the direction of Liu Chengzong's march.

It was just that the Lion Camp, guided by the defeated troops of Pingyang Guard, was moving exceptionally fast.

From Yonghe County to Xi County, from Xi County to Pu County, from Pu County straight into the Lüliang Mountains.

Had Li Wanqing not come over from Shaanxi, causing the Lion Camp to temporarily garrison in the Lüliang Mountains, Gao Yingxiang might well have failed to catch up.

In truth, even Li Wanqing had nearly failed to catch up. Thanks to Cao Yao, that old scoundrel had pried a bronze arhat from a temple, and the column couldn't move anymore.

Suddenly hearing that Gao Yingxiang had arrived, Liu Chengzong was very surprised. He hurriedly brought men to the mountain camp gate to welcome him, striding quickly forward from a great distance, and said, "Master Gao, what brings you here?"

"I heard your troops entered Shilou, so I came to see you."

Gao Yingxiang's face brimmed with a smile. He exchanged salutes with each of Liu Chengzong's sentry commanders. Seeing Li Wanqing was also there, his expression shifted slightly, then he smiled and said, "Sky-Toppling Collapse is here too."

The group entered the camp. The camp was in the midst of digging pit-houses, and everywhere was the sound of dragging timber and chopping wood.

Liu Chengzong's central army barracks was also a pit-house, just slightly larger.

Liu Chengzong invited Gao Yingxiang onto the heated brick bed. After some chatting and laughter, Gao Yingxiang spoke of his experience in Yonghe County: "I had no idea how Lion led you all to do things. The common folk there have such tight lips. I asked several of them, and guess what? Every one of them said General Liu didn't do a thing!"

"Didn't do a thing?"

Everyone was stunned at first, then burst into uproarious laughter.

Even Liu Chengzong couldn't help but smile. He said to Gao Yingxiang, "Master Gao, we really didn't do a thing."

Gao Yingxiang froze, blinking at Liu Chengzong. "Really didn't do a thing?"

He immediately shook his head and said, "That can't be. I didn't do a thing up north either. Before entering Shanxi, you and I agreed not to harm the common people. Apart from the wealthy households we had to requisition grain from, as for other common folk, let alone killing them, even if an argument broke out, I forbade them from laying a hand on the commoners."

Having said this, Gao Yingxiang spread both hands. "But they're still afraid. The Yonghe County common folk aren't afraid at all. My men stopped them, and they even asked whether we were your men, the border army, the guard army, or bandits. Look at that — you're ahead of the government troops."

Gao Yingxiang's state of mind was rather complicated.

When he first entered Yonghe County and the common folk ignored him, he had indeed felt displeased.

But after leaving Yonghe County and seeing how the common folk of Xizhou fled at the sight of soldiers, he instead came to appreciate the contrast.

In these times, who didn't the common folk flee from?

Shanxi was still relatively good. Sometimes common folk spotted soldiers from afar and didn't flee, only hiding indoors to pray to Guanyin, hoping the government troops wouldn't enter the village.

Over in Shaanxi nowadays, any village that saw people coming had to flee, unless it was a large clan of gentry with something to rely on.

Whether the common folk of a place fled at the sight of an approaching military column was related, first, to their level of prosperity; second, to the amount of power they held; and third, to the discipline of the local troops they commonly encountered.

If it happened even once that troops came, they didn't flee, and the village was gone, then from then on, every village in that entire region would flee at the sight of a military column.

Yonghe County was so poor that even the prince's estate looked down on it, so it clearly had nothing to do with prosperity or power.

The common folk not fleeing — what kind of reaction was that? It was taking it as a matter of course.

Understanding this point, Gao Yingxiang felt deep envy toward Liu Chengzong in his heart.

Still, he stuck to his guiding principle: if it doesn't work, change it; if you don't know how, learn. He leaned sideways closer to Liu Chengzong. "Lion, how did you manage things over there? Teach your master."

Gao Yingxiang acting this way instead made Liu Chengzong a little embarrassed. He said, "I didn't do much either. The government troops from Fenzhou Prefecture crossed the border pretending to be bandits, slaughtered two villages, and then came to attack me. They didn't win."

"Those two villages were slaughtered by the guard troops? More ruthless than bandits."

"We're different from the government troops. It's not that bandits have higher morals. Rob one wealthy, powerful household and it's enough to feed several hundred men for a year — there's no need to rob common folk. Government troops might still do it for merit claims, for money, for grain."

Liu Chengzong raised a hand and tapped his temple. "If we kill common folk, it's for amusement — we'd be madmen."

However, Gao Yingxiang did not agree this time. He said, "Lion, not everyone is like you, with over a thousand border-army veterans at your command. Everyone knows the wealthy households have money, but how many can actually storm a wealthy household's manor? Who doesn't want to be a good man like you?"

Liu Chengzong was taken aback. He sighed softly and shook his head. "I'm just one man. The good men of northern Shaanxi all died in the drought."

These words stirred a tumult of emotions in Gao Yingxiang. The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy. He consoled him, "At least you don't kill good people."

This was precisely where Liu Chengzong felt he was not a good man. Master Gao's remark could be said to have touched a sore spot.

He felt deeply guilty.

Could the starving people who stormed Black Dragon Mountain all be called villains?

Or were the dutiful bailiffs of Yan'an Prefecture all not good people?

Or were those border troops, utterly loyal to the emperor and sent everywhere to quell rebellions, all scoundrels?

Those still alive had trodden upon ground where every inch of soil was soaked in blood. He was the same.

"Let's not talk about this."

He waved his hand, took a deep breath, and said, "Let's continue talking about Yonghe. I killed the guard troops among the government forces who had taken part in the slaughter, and hired the common folk to dig the pits... I think they might have both respected and feared me, so I ordered my subordinates not to provoke the common folk. The common folk got used to it, and just ignored us."

Not provoking the common folk — this demand was actually not simple.

Gao Yingxiang shook his head. "Then where do you sleep at night? In this weather now, sleeping one night in the mountains, half the men would fall ill from the cold by morning. A lot of my men are sick already. We have to sleep in houses."

"That's why I didn't move. First at Yatou Mountain, later at Huojia Fort. A few days ago, the government troops moved, and after the battle we slept in the government troops' camp. We slept one night in the mountains and couldn't bear it. Outside the mountains, it's doable if you have cotton-padded clothes and bedding."

Gao Yingxiang smacked his lips, not much inclined to chat with Liu Chengzong anymore.

The "mountains" the two of them were talking about were not the same at all.

The mountains Gao Yingxiang spoke of referred to all wild lands in general. It was cold, and quite a few of his men had spent the entire winter curled up and enduring it in Yanchang County.

There weren't enough padded coats or quilts to go around; many of his men wore the same single set of clothes through all four seasons — when it was hot they couldn't bear to take it off, and when it was cold they had nothing else to put on.

But what Liu Chengzong was talking about was the Lüliang Mountains, where trees and grass still grew — the early morning cold there would definitely be unbearable, and what made it unbearable was the mountain damp and dew.

They weren't worried about the same thing at all.

This Liu the Lion really is rolling in oil, every last man's got a padded jacket!

Gao Yingxiang suddenly understood something and asked, "That padded jacket of yours — you made it yourselves over at Apricot River, and bought all the cotton and cotton cloth?"

Liu Chengzong had no idea why Master Gao was reacting so strongly and just nodded twice.

Smack!

Gao Yingxiang slapped his thigh and looked at the crew in the dugout shelter. "Damn, no wonder I couldn't buy a single scrap of cotton cloth or cotton last year!"

"Now I get it. When you said you hadn't done anything, you meant you didn't trouble the common folk one bit — pitched your own camp to sleep, cooked your own food to eat. You didn't buy anything in Shanxi either, did you?"

Liu Chengzong nodded.

They'd been completely self-sufficient.

Gao Yingxiang's eyes were still full of envy, but not a trace of jealousy.

Liu the Lion had drawn the attention of two guards down south, which was exactly what let him scatter his main army up north — besieging cities where they needed to besiege, plundering the great households where they needed to plunder.

Everyone has their own way of doing things, he supposed.

At that thought, Gao Yingxiang lost all interest in idle chat and turned serious. "Lion, could you have the brothers step outside for a bit? I've got some private business of my own to discuss with you."

Private business?

Liu Chengzong nodded to each of the others, told them to go out first, then turned back to Gao Yingxiang.

Gao Yingxiang waited a good long while until he was sure everyone outside had moved well away, then asked in a low voice, "What did Shoot-Collapse-the-Sky come here for?"

"I'm preparing to send some supplies to Yan'an Prefecture. They're still mustering carts and horses back home, and he got bored waiting in Yanchuan, so he came over to hang around for a few days."

As he spoke, Liu Chengzong noticed Gao Yingxiang looked somewhat guarded and asked, "What's up with Shoot-Collapse-the-Sky?"

Gao Yingxiang shook his head and changed tack. "Nothing's up with him. Don't you ship supplies to Yan'an Prefecture — tell your people back home to halt the cart convoy immediately. Has Left-Hanger come looking for you?"

Liu Chengzong said, "No. Master Gao, what exactly has happened?"

"Something's happened back home. Whatever you do, don't send silver or grain into Shaanxi. Best not to ship anything home at all."

Gao Yingxiang paused a moment, as if working out how to put it, then went on: "Ying'en was moving supplies west from Wubao and ran into Left-Hanger's routed troops. Left-Hanger couldn't beat Hong Chengchou at Hancheng either. By all rights, after a defeat he should have sent us word — he didn't. Something's off."

Liu Chengzong's face filled with misery. "He got beaten again?"

Wang Left-Hanger's life's work seemed to have boiled down to one single thing: fighting Hong Chengchou.

"Beaten again. And before I came over, I also heard that the new Yan'an Assistant Regional Commander Ai Mu has already taken up his post. No idea how many troops he brought with him, but Zhang Shusheng and Ji San'er, those two leaders over in the Hexi Circuit, have already been induced to surrender."

The Hexi Circuit was just the two prefectures of Yan'an and Qingyang.

Gao Yingxiang said, "Yang He wants them to garrison troops at Suide. Ying'en happened to run into them on the march, which is how I found out. I suspect Left-Hanger's been induced to surrender too."

"Master Gao, you mean Left-Hanger will help the government troops come attack us?"

Liu Chengzong narrowed his eyes and thought through the possibility. "Supreme Commander Yang stationing them at Suide — I'd guess he means to spend a thousand gold on the horse bones."

"Right, that's most likely part of it — let the leaders on every front see that life's not so bad if you surrender to the court." Gao Yingxiang nodded. "Light-the-Lamp said the same thing."

Light-the-Lamp?

That name rang a bell for Liu Chengzong. In his memories, there were plenty of major leaders he didn't know, but he knew this one, because his name was Zhao Si'er.

Gao Yingxiang went on: "Light-the-Lamp's name is Zhao Sheng, a scholar from Qingjian. He'd meant to sit for the licentiate exam, but the county magistrate falsely accused him of reading military texts by lamplight at night, imitating the old story of Huang Chao. He was forced to rise up and joined Never-Touch-Mud as a second-squad captain."

Liu Chengzong gave a wry smile. "Another one who could have been a decent man. Pity he wasn't willing to go die."

A smile was a smile.

The situation had turned grim.

To the north were rebels who'd accepted amnesty, and it was very likely that Wang Left-Hanger had accepted amnesty too.

The court had also assigned Yan'an a new Assistant Regional Commander.

Liu Chengzong was deeply worried about home.

He asked, "Master Gao, where is Ai Mu?"

"I'd like to know where he is too." Gao Yingxiang slowly shook his head. "But he learned his lesson from Li Bei — to this day, no one's gotten any word of him."

At that, Gao Yingxiang suddenly caught on and asked hurriedly, "What are you thinking of doing?"

Liu Chengzong said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "Go back to Shaanxi and take out Ai Mu."

Last time, dealing with Li Bei had still required rallying leaders from every front.

Now he had three thousand soldiers under his command who did nothing but fight — not necessarily inferior to the Yan'an Assistant Regional Commander.

He made up his mind: for the Yan'an Prefecture Assistant Regional Commander post, he'd strike down every man the court sent, until they sent someone he approved of.

Yang Yanchang, for instance.

Thinking of Yang Yanchang, Liu Chengzong couldn't help showing a pained expression. If he'd known, he wouldn't have sent Yang Yanchang off on the royal relief expedition.

The Regional Commander had angered the Grand Coordinator to death, and now no one knew where Yang Yanchang was.

If he were still in Yan'an Prefecture, Liu Chengzong could just let him annihilate him once — he'd have to be made Assistant Regional Commander by now no matter what.

"Don't be rash. Right now the court hasn't just sent an Assistant Regional Commander to Yan'an Prefecture — they've also reactivated Du Wenhuan as Yansui Regional Commander, with oversight of Guyuan affairs. What's more, I hear officials in both Shaanxi and Shanxi are petitioning the court, hoping to have an official with joint authority over both provinces. This is absolutely not the time for you to make any reckless moves."

"Du Wenhuan?"

Liu Chengzong's brow furrowed for a moment, then he ground his teeth. "Du Wenhuan!"

Du Wenhuan was an old general from a military family, you could say.

Chengyun's father had died in that raid by the Tumed Mongols — and that raid had been brought down by Du Wenhuan, who'd led his troops on a nest-destroying strike to dodge the Liaodong reinforcement call-up.

In the end, the Mongols had stormed into Yan'an Prefecture for ten full days in retaliation, and Du Wenhuan hadn't dared let out so much as a fart.

In Liu Chengzong's mind, Wu Zimian — the man the Fish River Fort soldiers cursed the moment they woke up every morning — was ten times better than Du Wenhuan.

At least while Wu Zimian guarded the Yansui Garrison, the northern barbarians hadn't broken into Yan'an Prefecture to burn, kill, and plunder.

Liu Chengzong turned it over in his mind. The court was in the process of reorganizing Yansui Garrison and Yan'an Prefecture, and right now the ones kicking up trouble over there were all minor chieftains — he feared no one could keep Regional Commander Ai Mu in check.

The year before, his father Liu Xiangyu had been able to summon wind and rain in Fushi, Ansai, and Ganquan counties only because the government offices had no troops to use while they had troops.

Once Ai Mu reached Yan'an Prefecture, Zhang Nian, trapped in his beleaguered city, would instantly become a bird freed from its cage.

Now there were only two options: either he went home, or the whole family came to Shanxi.

Of course he could also sit back and do nothing, but he feared he would regret it for the rest of his life.

He asked, "Master Gao, how many troops do you have?"

"Four thousand who can fight, plus two thousand new recruits and four thousand farmers. What are you planning?"

Good heavens — seeing Gao Yingxiang enter Shanxi, he'd clearly been recruiting in no small number.

Liu Chengzong said, "Pingyang Guard and Fenzhou Guard don't have many banner troops left. Master Gao, take my craftsmen along this road into Pingyang Prefecture, find the ironworks, and have the craftsmen cast cannons and cannonballs for me — as many as they can cast."

"I'm going back to Shaanxi, to have a bout with Regional Commander Du and Regional Commander Ai."

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