Chapter 231: Baojia

Source of *The Stubborn Bandit*:

The day King Liu left Pingliang Prefecture, Little King Han saw him off ten li beyond the west gate.

Watching the orderly ranks of soldiers blur into the parched earth, Prince Han stood by the post road, brushed the dust from his clothes, and sighed, unable to shake the feeling for a long time.

What he was seeing off wasn't the only man in the world who spoke to him as an equal, Liu Chengzong, but a once-in-a-lifetime chance to leave his feudal domain and go out and have some fun.

But in the end, he lost to his own cowardice. He didn't dare.

He was afraid that if he left his domain without permission, the Emperor would settle scores later.

He could only watch as Cao Huachun was dragged off with a face full of reluctance, which made Prince Han so angry he cursed him for not knowing how good he had it.

The one who wanted to go didn't get to; the one who didn't want to went.

Turning back, he was still stuck guarding this Pingliang city, cleaning up Liu Chengzong's mess.

The wounded soldiers couldn't move easily, and they feared that a long march with the army would turn light wounds into permanent disabilities, and disabilities into death, so Liu the Lion left the Left Sentinel Commander Gao Xian behind.

He left the Lion Camp and over four hundred wounded soldiers from Guanning for Prince Han to take good care of, let them heal, and then send them on to Xining later.

The Lion Camp had over forty disabled soldiers; they were left for Prince Han to look after properly. Liu Chengzong had already set the master-servant responsibilities and pay standards for them.

Actually, at first, Prince Han was quite happy about this.

In his eyes, the Lion Camp was an elite force, the best under heaven.

Even if they were disabled veterans, over forty of them, they were still far better than the garrison troops in Pingliang City who just idled their days away waiting to die.

Later, he discovered that the standards Liu Chengzong had set were... hard to sum up in a few words.

Each man was to receive an annual stipend of twenty-four taels of silver, twenty-four dan of grain, and two rooms in a house.

Prince Han was responsible for planning a small street beside the princely mansion's fort to build houses, and for hiring two schoolteachers.

If they wanted wives, Prince Han would arrange the matchmaking; if they fell ill, Prince Han would pay for treatment; if they had children, Prince Han would pay for their education; if they died, Prince Han would pay for their burial.

Their only responsibility was to stay alive and well.

Prince Han thought to himself, they've become me, and I've become a civil official!

He was so angry his teeth itched. Wasn't this exactly the rule for how the Great Ming supports its princely lords?

What the hell, this wasn't supporting forty-some household guards to protect the home and yard — this was clearly gaining forty-some extra fathers with a different surname!

For the first time, Prince Han realized he was a massive burden to this country.

At the very least, these forty-some extra fathers were a massive burden to the Prince of Han's estate.

Prince Han was extremely dissatisfied with this, until finally Liu Chengzong said, if you agree to this, the money and grain you owe me will be wiped clean.

Prince Han thought, fine, let's wipe it clean then.

Who knew that as soon as he signed the agreement in public, Liu Chengzong demanded payment — over a thousand taels a year. Where was Prince Han supposed to come up with that right now?

Fortunately, Liu Chengzong was a good man. Knowing he couldn't produce it, he had considered everything for him and lent him another 2,500 taels and an equivalent amount of grain, paying the disabled soldiers' two years' stipend in advance, and telling him to start paying in the third year.

He even told these soldiers: if some great disaster strikes, don't fight to the death — just grab this Prince Han and run with him.

At the time, Prince Han felt quite pleased.

But the day after Liu Chengzong left Pingliang City, Prince Han tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. He thought about this and that, and then it hit him — something was wrong with this!

This Liu the Lion was using his money to buy goodwill again!

The money was clearly coming from the Prince of Han's estate, but now the wounded soldiers were all deeply grateful to Commander Liu.

And he was supporting disabled soldiers to cancel a debt, yet now he was saddled with even more debt.

How could there be someone as infuriating as Liu Chengzong in this world?

It was a good thing he hadn't left with him, or the entire Prince of Han's estate would have been lost to him.

That night, as Prince Han slept, his mind was filled with the day he first met Liu Chengzong. What was it that Zhou Riqiang had said back then?

Right — he said General Liu doesn't care for money.

Wasn't that just talking out of his ass? Words as worthless as a fart.

Liu the Lion's interactions with him could be summed up in two sentences.

First, show concern for his safety, urge him to spend money, and give him a loan.

Then, continue showing concern for his safety, urge him to spend money, cancel his debt, and give him an even bigger loan.

And they say General Liu doesn't care for money? That's like Sun Wukong fighting Erlang Shen and turning into a village shrine — the tail he couldn't hide gave him away.

Your General Liu fights Erlang Shen, sits down on the ground, and turns into a money shop. His whole being is a money bag come to life — no one could ever expose him.

"Commander Liu is gone. It's time for you lot to get to work."

Inside the Wave-Viewing Pavilion of the Prince of Han's estate, Prince Han sat cross-legged with his hands tucked in his sleeves among a group of accountants. "Calculate for me. Figure out how much autumn grain tax can be collected this year. Once you have that, calculate... one-fifth of it — no, one-tenth."

"Within the range I'm allowed to travel in my fief, I'll push a cart and transport grain, taking that one-tenth of the collected tax and sending it back to the tenant farmers. You calculate the losses along the way, and how much I'll actually have left in the end. This is called rent reduction."

"And those in debt — find the households who've been in arrears so long they've already paid back three times the principal in interest. Plan a route for me. I'll go to their homes personally and burn their loan contracts."

The Administrator said, "Your Highness, why not just summon them all here and burn them in one go? Why go to all the trouble of visiting their homes?"

"I've got nothing but free time anyway. What's wrong with taking a stroll? Don't you see those extra fathers in the estate?"

Prince Han glared and railed against heaven and earth inside the Wave-Viewing Pavilion. "I feed them, treat their wounds, hire people to build their houses — do they thank me? No, they don't. Why? Because Commander Liu personally handed them my money, step by step."

Having said this, Prince Han's tone softened a little. "Travel more, it's good to travel more. Remember last time when Golden Cicada breached the city? Running nearly killed me from exhaustion. Don't you idle around here either. Go tell the hundred or so shops east of the city — this year's been hard on everyone, let them owe the rent for now."

The Administrator was shocked. "Your Highness, if the rent is waived, and the estate is still building the fort — all those craftsmen need food, clothing, and supplies."

"You also know we have craftsmen. The princely estate waived it, but don't I still have relatives? Go tell my relatives that Pingliang City is too big to protect them. Tell them to think about what they should do in the future. They should all learn a skill, like raising pigs or feeding chickens."

"In a few days, go back and tell them the princely estate's fort is almost finished. It was designed by General Gao of the Lion Camp, at a cost of three thousand taels of silver."

As he spoke, Prince Han jabbed his finger heavily toward the Administrator. "Commandery Prince, one thousand taels. Bulwark General, five hundred taels. Bulwark General of the State, two hundred taels... Understand?"

Prince Han had already discussed this matter with Gao Xian the day before.

General Gao was an honest man who listened to whatever was said. As soon as Prince Han mentioned that Pingliang City wasn't safe and he hoped General Gao could later give the various imperial clansmen some guidance on where to build their forts, General Gao agreed at once.

He didn't even bring up the matter of money.

But without anyone to bicker with, it was terribly dull.

It made the Prince of Han unable to stop his mind from drifting back to the world beyond these towering palace walls.

That world was freedom, and also terror — it filled him with longing, and with anxiety.

The affairs of the world were bizarre and tumultuous, heaven and earth overturned and ever-changing. Common folk dared to plunder the imperial clan, and the imperial clan dared to lead starving mobs to besiege a vassal kingdom.

No government troops could stop the rebels — not the western army, not the eastern army. The high palace walls could not protect you, and neither could a tiny fort.

He could no longer sit quietly in his princely mansion, admiring flowers and watching the rippling water.

After the Chief Clerk and the account masters received their tasks and departed, Gao Xian was invited by the Prince of Han to the Wave-Viewing Pavilion.

"General Gao, it is just the two of us here. I hope you will tell me truthfully — can that fort really hold off the bandits?"

Gao Xian actually found the Prince of Han quite annoying.

He had never had a good impression of feudal princes to begin with. Back when he picked up Liu Chengzong's son, the Prince of Qin's estate had dammed the river,

and now he was just here trying to recover from his wounds, but the Prince of Han kept pestering him with questions all day long, so he could not even get a decent sleep.

Now the man had turned it into a question-and-answer session, like some curious little baby.

So his reply came out utterly listless: "It can hold. Once the fort is repaired and equipped with enough firearms and cannons, holding out for ten days to half a month is no problem."

"And after half a month?"

"Your Highness, if the Han principality has been under siege for half a month, how could there still be no relief troops?"

"You see..." The Prince of Han put on an I-knew-it expression. "It can't hold. We still have to fight in the open field, right?"

Gao Xian said nothing. He could not be bothered to answer that question.

After half a month, the bandits would have long since left. What did besieging a city for half a month mean? It meant government troops from five hundred li in every direction could rush over to help.

A small town might be one thing, but a vassal kingdom — where would you find bandits who dared besiege a vassal kingdom for half a month? Never mind Guyuan, even troops from Xi'an, Lanzhou, and Ningxia would have had time to arrive.

Gao Xian offered his advice helplessly: "Your Highness, as long as you can win the people's hearts — reduce rents, lower interest rates, be a virtuous prince — if the people's hearts are with you, Pingliang City will be as impregnable as metal and stone."

"Well said! This prince thinks exactly the same."

The Prince of Han clapped his hands in great delight, scooted closer, leaned forward, and asked, "General Gao, do you know how to train civilian levies?"

Civilian levies?

For Gao Xian, that was a term from a very distant past.

It was hard to say whether he knew how or not. In any case, back when he trained civilian levies at Black Dragon Mountain, those men were now either chiliarchs or centurions — the worst among them had at least made banner commander.

The highest-ranked of them was now following Yang Yanchang, a man named Liu Xiangshan, who should be a battalion commander in the Yan'an Garrison.

But Gao Xian had no idea whether the man was dead or alive.

Gao Xian nodded. "I have trained them."

"This prince has forty-six veteran soldiers. Marshal Liu told me to find them wives, but he also forbade me from buying wives for them, going on about how it must be mutual consent." The Prince of Han spread his hands. "I don't even know what mutual consent means. It's very difficult!"

Gao Xian was completely baffled — from civilian levies to finding wives for veterans, the leap was far too great.

He asked, "What is Your Highness trying to say?"

"This year His Majesty approved local baojia." The Prince of Han raised his eyebrows. "Before the Prefect of Pingliang takes office, split the forty-six veterans across the Pingliang countryside. Every village is full of my tenant farmers anyway, so dealing with the petty officials is easy — register them, make them baojia militia leaders."

Gao Xian leaned back, furrowed his brow, and cursed inwardly.

He did not mind teaching a feudal prince how to save his own skin — after all, that fort was built too small, and his wealth would not fit inside it.

But this was far too distasteful. Expressionless, he said to the Prince of Han, "Does Your Highness know how Commander Gao and the Marshal rose to power? By raiding princely estates. The estates' grain and coin were piled high as mountains, while they dammed rivers and starved the common people to death."

"The common folk would flay you, strip your bones, and eat your flesh raw if they could — and you still want my men to train your baojia, to be your militia leaders, and then go fight starving mobs? You're dreaming!"

Having said his piece, Gao Xian rose and headed for the door. The Prince of Han hurriedly grabbed at him but was shoved aside. Just as Gao Xian was about to reach the doorway, he heard the Prince of Han cry out, "Besides fleecing the people, what else can a feudal prince even do? Whose fault is that? This prince knows he was wrong now!"

Gao Xian gave a cold laugh. "Knowing you're wrong without changing."

"I will change! I'll go burn the debt contracts tomorrow!" Still sprawled in the position Gao Xian had shoved him into, the Prince of Han flapped his great sleeves against the floor. "When this year's autumn grain comes in, I'll take only ten percent and return the rest to the tenant farmers. What more do you want me to do? Kill me, and it does no one else any good either."

Hearing this, Gao Xian's expression softened slightly. He sat back down. "Then why are you still training militia?"

Seeing him sit, the Prince of Han likewise returned to normal and said, "The Marshal ordered a huge batch of cotton-padded coats, trousers, raincoats, and shoes in the east. Won't this prince be the one transporting them back? Is the route safe?"

"Further west it's no longer in drought either. The road can't be called unsafe. The Pingliang garrison troops are enough for this task."

"They're too weak." The Prince of Han was extremely dissatisfied with the Pingliang garrison soldiers. He shook his head. "General Gao, don't be hasty — hear this prince out."

The Prince of Han stood up, circled the windows of the Wave-Viewing Pavilion once to make sure no one was outside, and only then said to Gao Xian, "The Marshal will rebel again, won't he?"

Gao Xian glanced at the Prince of Han and said nothing.

"Fine, this prince won't ask about that. The Prince of Han's household supports forty-six veterans. Taking a thousand dan out of ten thousand dan of stipend grain — that already pains me greatly."

The Prince of Han looked at Gao Xian and said, "The court takes thirty percent of its stipend grain to support us. When drought strikes and the common people are boiling in oil, how many more years can this prince survive sitting here in Pingliang? It's only a matter of time, isn't it?"

"Being born a prince was not my fault. Who could give up a stipend of ten thousand dan of grain? I have never deliberately harmed anyone. I... I don't want to die."

At the words "I don't want to die," the Prince of Han very nearly burst into tears.

It was hard to say whether his relationship with Liu Chengzong during this period was more one of equal, genuine closeness, or more one of feigned compliance — or perhaps both, with the added thrill of seeing a different world.

But he could not escape living in constant fear. He was afraid of dying.

"Those who fight and risk life and death on the battlefield are all common civilians. There are many starving people, few generals, and the generals' soldiers are starving too. Sooner or later, the court won't be able to hold back the starving masses. I cannot save all the people."

The Prince of Han bowed to Gao Xian. "Help me train the baojia. I can return ten percent of the land tax to the tenant farmers, and offer another ten percent as reward. Pingliang City has craftsmen, the Pingliang Garrison has weapons, and I can even swindle money from my relatives."

Gao Xian sighed helplessly.

He recalled that line of Liu Chengzong's — a widow losing her chastity is worse than an old prostitute turning virtuous.

Liu Chengzong had spoken so much in the army about why the court was doomed to fall, where all the court's tax revenue went, who their enemy was... A huge portion of the court's tax revenue was devoured by the feudal princes.

If not for supporting the feudal princes, perhaps he would never have had to give his wife away to someone else just to survive, never have been torn from his family.

But at this moment, he could not bring himself to hate the Prince of Han before him.

He thought, perhaps the one he hated was that lofty, distant prince on high.

Gao Xian's tone softened. "You want to train baojia — what are you planning to do?"

"Your Commander Liu will rebel again. When the time comes, I'll coordinate with you from within. As long as we can spare the lives of the Han Prince's clansmen, I'll take the Han Prince's domain myself — I'll strip them clean and become a minor chief under Commander Liu."

The Prince of Han said, "As long as you can leave a way out for my relatives, let them live out ordinary lives, grow old, fall sick, and die — that's better than hanging from a tree."

Gao Xian was amused by the image of hanging from a tree and made a rare joke: "Of all the imperial clansmen and officials under heaven, I'm afraid you're the only one hoping the Great Commander rebels again. But if we die out there, won't all your baojia drilling have been for nothing?"

"I've thought it all through. Starting today, I'll study military strategy one shichen every day. If you don't come back, there aren't many years left — either way, I'm dead."

The Prince of Han looked at Gao Xian, slammed his fist on the table, his gaze steady: "Jingnan!"