Chapter 206: Heshui

On the afternoon of the sixteenth day of the seventh month, Magistrate Jiang Yingchang was in the Heshui yamen reading through the court gazettes.

These days, Jiang Yingchang's life had been hard.

Heshui was a small county, its registered households never numerous. The northern border wall lay three hundred li away; the common folk all lived in the mountainous land north of the town, dwelling wherever their fields lay. The town itself held barely over two hundred households.

The town was so small that the Shaanxi Provincial Administration Commission often forgot it existed.

Jiang Yingchang was merely a licentiate. He had previously served as the instructor of Anhua County in Qingyang Prefecture. Two years ago, when all four chief officials in the county were transferred away one after another, the common folk ran to the Provincial Administration Commission begging for an official, and only then was he promoted to magistrate.

Because the rotating officials had always lacked both ability and authority, the town had long operated in a semi-autonomous mode. During a four-year stretch with no chief official, all county affairs, great and small, were managed on behalf of the government by Old Master Yuan of the western town and the local gentry.

There was not much the magistrate was required to do. His daily activities consisted merely of overseeing education, paying attention to ritual sacrifices, taking walks out in the countryside, and helping the common folk resolve a few farming problems.

As for anything more, it was not a question of whether he wanted to do it, but that he had no further ability to do it. This was how it went for three seasons of the year.

Only in winter did things differ. Heshui County had a custom, continuing unbroken since the time of Emperor Yingzong, whereby the common folk who lived scattered among their fields would return to the county seat. Under the magistrate's direction, over a thousand able-bodied civilians would be mustered, issued weapons, and set to guarding against bandits and raiders.

That was when Jiang Yingchang was most exhausted and also happiest. Only then was he a magistrate truly wielding great authority.

But judging by the present circumstances, this winter he would likely have no way to organize the able-bodied civilians again.

The court gazette delivered two days earlier had greatly stirred Jiang Yingchang's spirits.

The court had selected the great general Du Wenhuan as Supreme Commander of Shanxi-Shaanxi to assist in suppressing the bandits. It had transferred the guerrilla general Cao Wenzhao, who had achieved merit in battle in the capital region, to serve as Vice Regional Commander of the Yan-Sui Eastern Route. It had appointed Yan'an Mobile Corps Commander Yang Yanchang as vanguard, and guerrilla general Wang Ziyong as superintendent of grain transport, leading three thousand Guan-Ning troops into the pass to quell the rebellion.

Jiang Yingchang had heard of all four chief commanders. The great general Du Wenhuan went without saying. Cao Wenzhao was a native of Datong in Shanxi, who had enlisted in Liaodong in his early years, fighting the eastern caitiffs and rising from common soldier to guerrilla general. During this latest eastern caitiff incursion, he had fought battle after battle without a single defeat.

As for Yang Yanchang, he was even more familiar — a rising star of the Yan'an Guard, a man who had made his name suppressing roving bandits, equally famed for valor, and another formidable figure who had defended Yan'an Prefecture single-rider. It was said that with him guarding Yan'an Prefecture, even an arrogant and ruthless bandit chieftain like Liu Chengzong dared not approach within half a step of the prefectural city.

Wang Ziyong, however — Jiang Yingchang had never before known there was such a person in Yan'an Prefecture. It was only during this recent campaign when the king-relief army entered the capital that he had achieved great merit by mobilizing the militia.

At present, this crack force, a gathering of heroes, had already begun advancing toward Shanxi.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yingchang's heart finally eased a breath. That the court could make such a deployment was truly wonderful, truly wonderful!

After reading the gazette, he immediately ground ink, intending to write a letter to the Supreme Commander's Office of the Three Borders at Guyuan, requesting that Supreme Commander Yang dispatch troops to Qingyang Prefecture, and especially to his own Heshui County.

This place was the eastern gateway to Qingyang Prefecture. Once the Guan-Ning army entered the pass, it would surely bring immense pressure upon the bandit hordes of Shaanxi, forcing them to shift from Yan'an Prefecture toward Qingyang Prefecture.

Should Heshui County be breached, never mind that Qingyang Prefecture would be indefensible — even Pingliang Prefecture, where the Prince of Han's estate was located, would have no defensible terrain to rely on.

A mere four hundred li — the bandit hordes could follow the Jing River valley and be there in five days. Who could bear the crime of allowing a princedom to fall?

The ink was ground. Jiang Yingchang lifted his brush to write, but had barely set down a few dozen characters when he heard a commotion outside. A yamen runner rushed in, flustered: "Your Excellency, grave tidings! A fire has broken out north of the town!"

"North of the town?"

Jiang Yingchang thought to himself that no one had lived north of the town for a long time — the hills were overgrown with trees. How could a fire start?

At once he had no mind for writing. Without even putting on his official hat, he hitched up his sleeves and ran out of the yamen. He saw the mountains north of the town ablaze, flames surging to the sky. Just then the wind was out of the east, and the great fire was driven along, spreading westward from one uninhabited thatch-and-tile roof to the next, joining with the brush and trees on the hillside. In an instant, the blaze was beyond control.

"Quick, beat the gongs and muster the people to fight the fire — no, tear down the houses! Get the people out first, then tear down the buildings on both sides along North Street."

Fighting the fire was beyond hope. The county was not short of buckets, fire hooks, scaling ladders, or water pumps, but the river was nearly dry. With that little water, there was no way to fight it.

They could only isolate the town quarter and let the north town burn.

After all… the townsfolk who could flee the famine had already fled. Not many people lived in those houses and courtyards anymore.

"And the able-bodied civilians on the walls — have them shut the city gates tight, leave a few men at each to keep watch in case bandits exploit the chaos to enter the town. The rest, save the fire first, talk later!"

Afterward, as he walked toward North Street, the town gentry also gathered with their sons and younger kin. Hearing his plan, they all voiced approval, and a demolition crew of several hundred soon set out.

It was practically every man, woman, and child pitching in.

On North Street, they raced against time, competing with the fierce flames. On one side, they sent men to tear down thatch roofs in areas the fire had not yet reached and spray water to block the fire's spread. On the other, they tore open a firebreak along North Street.

The sky gradually darkened. The great fire blazed sky-high across the county seat of Heshui, which sloped downward from north to south.

The able-bodied civilians and yamen runners on the walls withdrew layer by layer to help. But two lithe, black-clad figures climbed onto the horse ramp and advanced from the north wall toward the Suiding Gate east of the town.

Outside the town, mule teams had already finished assembling and were fording the shallow river, like a black cloud advancing step by step across the earth.

The civilians left on guard were worried the fire in town might burn their own homes, and also had a vague sense that the mountain woods outside the town looked dark and somehow wrong. One was leaning on the battlements, squinting eastward, when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. Before he could turn his head, a thud sounded and he was knocked to the ground.

Bai Liuxi withdrew her fire-stoking club and looked down below the wall. That black cloud was on the move. She turned her head and said, "Yunniang, we must hurry. They're advancing."

The walls of the Heshui county seat had no high towers or tiered pavilions, only three rooms atop each of the two gates, east and west, controlling the gates and the drawbridge.

Yun Jiaoyue nodded in answer. She looked at the room, cast aside her short spear, drew a short blade from the fallen civilian's hand, and strode with her long legs, head lowered, toward the room.

A moment later, the drawbridge crashed down.

Wang Wenxiu's contingent entered the town first. Riding mules, they ascended the walls via the horse ramp inside the town, then immediately charged along the wall top both south and north, racing straight for the east gate.

Yang Yao and Wei Qian'er led their contingent westward along the official road outside the town, bypassing the town itself and racing straight for the Malian River, to guard against any relief troops sent from the direction of Qingyang Prefecture.

The fire still burned, but its spread had already been halted by the isolation measures within the county.

Magistrate Jiang, his face covered with the smudged traces of smoke and flame, sat wearily on a stone house foundation, having barely managed to catch his breath.

Looking up, he saw the sky had already gone dark. By his reckoning, it was time to dismiss the yamen for the day, so he told a servant to go back to the yamen and have his wife prepare some soup. There should still be some Nan'ao laver left at home; best if there was an egg, and a few drops of sesame oil.

The servant had just scurried off when the thoroughly bedraggled Yuan Sanmen came loping over in a series of bounds. "Your Excellency, terrible news! The city defenses have been seized by government troops!"

Jiang Yingchang tilted his head and leaned it slightly forward, his brow furrowed, his expression utterly astonished. "Ah?"

"Frontier troops! That pack of bastards who guard the border wall — several hundred of them have seized our city defenses! Mounted troops are running wild on the walls!"

Yuan Sanmen could also see that Magistrate Jiang's brain was currently incapable of processing this much information. He simply ignored him, raised a hand, and grabbed a yamen runner, demanding, "Where is Old Master Yuan?"

"He was just here. Seems nothing's wrong — he went back to the west side of town."

"That old mother-fucker, running around like a goddamn fool."

Hearing that government troops had entered the town, Magistrate Jiang still could not react, but the other prominent households on North Street had already exploded.

Frontier troops entering a town was far more terrifying than bandits entering a town.

The moment Yuan Sanmen had seen frontier troops scaling the walls and racing along them from below, he had run.

His gut told him this was reinforcements called in by that banner soldier they had driven off today, or else it was about that letter meant to be delivered to the magistrate — the one warning that the frontier troops were in revolt.

What exactly was written in that letter, he still had no idea to this moment. The licentiate had run off to escort the womenfolk and simply never came back. That dumb cuckold must have sneaked ahead of him and eaten on the sly.

Yuan Sanmen made up his mind that the next time he saw that licentiate, he would do that bastard in.

Only, with the situation having turned into this, there was no way in hell he was going to give that letter to the magistrate now.

On the contrary, he planned to flee — but before running, he wanted to grab one more sum of money. Might as well bring his hangers-on, charge into the courtyards with the wealthy households rushing home, and force them to reveal their riches: "You mangy old dog, now that government troops are in the city, who else would your gold and silver go to? Where have you hidden it all?"

In an instant, some ran home while others tried to flee outward. With a thunderous commotion, the North Street that had just been buzzing with voices was suddenly empty.

Magistrate Jiang, his face smeared with charcoal, stared blankly at the few yamen runners beside him. A runner asked, "My lord, what do we do?"

How was Jiang Yingchang supposed to know? He had never experienced government troops sneaking onto the city walls before — and besides, which frontier garrison was this?

Though his mind was in turmoil, Jiang Yingchang still pointed at one runner and said: "You. Go up to the wall. Ask them which frontier garrison they're from, who their commander is. Tell them Magistrate Jiang Yingchang demands to see him. Is there no law left? Who permitted them to enter the city!"

The runner steeled himself and went. Not long after, Wang Wenxiu at the western gate tower spotted this foolish lad.

He raised an iron pot over his head and crept cautiously toward the gate, shouting as he walked: "Generals, don't shoot, don't fire! I'm just a messenger, nothing more!"

The order Wang Wenxiu had received was to seize the city walls — at minimum, the southern wall — to cover the movement of their grain carts and cannon wagons westward.

Because Liu Chengzong believed that taking this city's defenses wouldn't be difficult, but occupying the city and fighting street battles with civilians was pointless. So the plan was to post proclamations to calm the populace first, then seize the county yamen.

Wang Wenxiu sensed this messenger might be the key to occupying the city, so he leaned on the battlements and called down: "Whose message are you delivering?"

"The Magistrate sent me! He asks which frontier garrison you are, who your commander is — the Magistrate wants to see him!"

Wang Wenxiu laughed when he heard this. So the magistrate in this city thought frontier troops had entered — wasn't this like someone handing you a pillow just as you were feeling drowsy?

He immediately shouted from the wall: "Tell the magistrate to come here and provide us with grain and fodder!"

Then he ordered two squads of infantry down from the wall to hide among the civilian houses.

Jiang Yingchang had just ridden up on his little mule when the infantry seized him. Yanked off the mule, he still put on official airs, shouting: "I am a court-appointed official! You dare bind me — are you rebelling?"

Wang Wenxiu laughed heartily: "My lord, we are rebelling! We are Marshal Liu's troops!"

Jiang Yingchang was like a crowing rooster suddenly seized by the throat. He stared wide-eyed left and right, his agitated expression instantly cooling. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his back was soaked through.

A gust of wind blew past, cutting through his official robes and making his whole body shiver. He slowly swallowed: "Marshal Liu's troops?"

Wang Wenxiu was so delighted he kept rubbing his hands together. He instructed his subordinates: "Guard the defenses well. Wait for my return."

With that, he yanked the official seal from the waist of the soldier-restrained Jiang Yingchang, examined it, and then, overjoyed, escorted him out through the eastern gate.

Outside the eastern gate, Lion Camp's four battle formations were arrayed with their backs to the river. Han Shipan and Han Shiyou were leading troops into the city, supervising military discipline as the soldiers entered.

The two sides met face-to-face at the city gate. Jiang Yingchang stared in utter confusion — weren't these all frontier troops?

When Liu Chengzong received Wang Wenxiu's message, he was in the middle of praising Bai Liuxi and the other man for their daring infiltration of the city. Hearing that Magistrate Jiang Yingchang had walked right into Wang Wenxiu's hands, he was overjoyed.

He immediately decided to ride out and greet the magistrate at the camp gate.

When the man arrived, Fan Sanlang raised a torch to illuminate him. Liu Chengzong leaned on his saddle, looked down, and asked: "So you are the Magistrate of Heshui?"

Jiang Yingchang's expression, from his heart to his face, was exceedingly complicated.

He had thought lawless frontier troops had seized the city defenses. Indeed, lawless frontier troops had seized the city defenses.

Then he discovered they were actually bandits from Yan'an Prefecture — that he had thrown himself into the arms of bandits. And then he discovered the bandits were all frontier troops.

In a short span, all manner of unbelievable information crashed into his head. He had only managed to figure out one thing: Heshui County was lost.

But exactly how it was lost — his mind was still in a daze. Should he say Heshui County was breached by bandit soldiers, or seized in a mutiny?

Even now, he had no idea who Marshal Liu was.

Still, Jiang Yingchang's backbone did not bend. He stiffened his neck and said: "So you are Marshal Liu? Why did you seize my city defenses?"

In an instant, the tables were turned, and Liu Chengzong was stumped. What did he mean, why seize your city defenses?

Liu Chengzong smiled from horseback and said: "You don't know who I am? I'm Liu Chengzong. Have you heard of me?"

Jiang Yingchang blinked. Since when had Liu Chengzong started calling himself a marshal?

And with frontier troops everywhere — this didn't match the intelligence at all. Wasn't Liu Chengzong supposed to be a bandit?

He had seen bandits before. They didn't look like this.

Jiang Yingchang gathered his wits, stiffened his neck, and was about to leap up and curse — but beside him, Bai Liuxi pointed at him and cursed using the foul language he had just learned that day: "Shut your bird beak this instant!"

The curse stunned Jiang Yingchang, and even Liu Chengzong glanced sideways. Only then did he turn back to Jiang Yingchang and say: "Magistrate Jiang, Heshui County now hangs on a single thought of yours. Give me the names of a few lawless wealthy households in the city."

"I'll deal with them and leave. Heshui County will have merely suffered a temporary military calamity. You were briefly captured, yet you persuaded the bandits to leave, protecting the region and calming the people. Your merits and faults will roughly cancel out."

"Or you can jump up and curse me a few times, satisfy your mouth, and I won't kill you — I'll just take you with me. Wherever I go, you go. When my soldiers kill someone, they'll write 'Killer: Jiang Yingchang' on the wall. When I attack a city, you'll stand right beside me."

Jiang Yingchang thought to himself, a grand marshal like you would actually use this? He glared and said urgently: "You're despicable!"

"You already cursed me, and you won't let me torment you a little?"

Liu Chengzong asked this as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then added: "Want to jump again?"

Jiang Yingchang's bluster shrank by half. Fuming, he said: "In the west of the city, Squire Yuan. He's controlled the county for thirty years. I could never touch him. Go deal with him."

"Squire Yuan doesn't count. I already know about him. His men are no good either — bullying banner troops outside the city, abducting women, throwing a toothless old man in his sixties into the river. Give me a few more names."

Now it was Jiang Yingchang's turn to stare wide-eyed. He hadn't known about any of this.

After thinking it over and over, Jiang Yingchang decided Liu Chengzong's terms weren't bad. He gritted his teeth: "The rice merchant Ding Guoen lives in Ding Family Fort west of the city — he drives up rice prices and bullies the market. In the east of the city, Feng Fenguo, relying on his status as a Han Manor princely son-in-law, commits many lawless acts in the county. The former Assistant Magistrate Nie Zhukou colludes with the Yuan family in the west and the Feng family in the east — all deserve death!"

Liu Chengzong clapped his hands and laughed: "Easily done!"

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