Chapter 533: The Four Garrisons

In the Bearing Fortune Hall of Prince Su's residence, the eunuch Fang Zhenghua stood with head high and chest out, awaiting the thunderbolt to fall.

From the moment he received this mission from the Emperor, Fang Zhenghua knew this trip would most likely be a one-way journey.

After all, the Emperor was famously diligent in governance, and in recent months his main occupation had been cursing people out — Fang Zhenghua had seen it all with his own eyes. This imperial letter now was most likely just more of the Emperor's unvented emotions with nowhere else to go.

Chen Qiyu and Lian Guoshi in Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou on the three frontiers, Zhang Zongheng in Shanxi — all had been cursed until the blood ran. As a junior ranked Brush-holding Eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial, Fang Zhenghua had watched day after day in the Palace of Heavenly Purity as the Emperor brooded obsessively, his every thought bent on how to slaughter every last one of those useless wretches.

The truth was, the Emperor had grown up and no longer did things like executing generals on the eve of battle, so for now he merely ran them through in his mind first.

The Emperor had even cursed Yang Jiamo, only realizing after he finished that Yang Jiamo had already died for the country in Gansu. Overcome with shame and grief, he held grand Buddhist rites in the palace to mourn the fallen officers, soldiers, and refugees, weeping uncontrollably.

And so this letter was sent a thousand li to Liu Chengzong. Its contents needed no guessing — between the lines there would certainly be no foul language, yet its killing power would surely surpass any curse.

Fang Zhenghua had tried to decline this mission, but the Emperor insisted he deliver it personally, and there was little he could do. After all, the Emperor had shown him genuine recognition and patronage.

He was too young. He had entered the palace at seventeen during the Tianqi reign. Because of his loyal and courageous nature and his tall, imposing build, he was valued by Gao Shiming, then Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and chosen as an attendant in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. Now he was already one of the Brush-holding Eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial, in charge of the Northern Pacification Office, his name renowned throughout the inner court.

The Emperor's patronage must be repaid. Even if the Marshal's headquarters were a dragon's pool and a tiger's den, he would still charge in.

Of course, Fang Zhenghua had made thorough preparations before coming. He dismissed all the servants from his residence in the capital and even wrote a will.

The will had little content. He had entered the palace because an earthquake struck his old home in Shandong during the Tianqi reign. That earthquake did little damage — it just wiped out his entire family. Having entered the palace, he naturally had no descendants. The will's content was nothing more than: after his death, donate his capital residence to the almshouse, his property to the paupers' cemetery, and have someone build a cenotaph for him.

Apart from that, he asked his old superior Gao Shiming to take him to see Cao Huachun, the Superintendent of Capital Training and Military Affairs.

They were both Brush-holding Eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial, but their seniority differed, their responsibilities differed, their power differed, and naturally their status was not equal. Most importantly, before this, Fang Zhenghua and Cao Huachun had not been on good terms.

To be precise, Fang Zhenghua was not on good terms with most eunuchs, because despite being a eunuch himself, he had always held one conviction: he believed sending eunuchs out in all directions to serve as garrison eunuchs was utter horseshit.

He had told the Chongzhen Emperor more than once that to turn the realm from peril to peace required men of extraordinary talent, and such men the Emperor needed to find from the outer court. People like them in the inner court were only fit to relay orders and run errands for the imperial household — they could not shoulder great responsibilities. A garrison eunuch sent out to the provinces who managed to spend his days gorging and guzzling without doing a single bit of proper work was already the finest garrison eunuch under heaven.

Saying things like that, it would be strange if he didn't offend the other eunuchs.

Could the Chongzhen Emperor not understand such obvious reasoning? How many decent men ever became eunuchs? The entry threshold of this profession determined that there would be no great civil or military talents. But one thing was one thing, and another was another — the appointments still had to be made.

The probability of eunuchs wreaking havoc in the provinces was high, but when eunuchs wreaked havoc in the provinces, it could not be hidden at court. At the very least, the Chongzhen Emperor could know what was really happening out there.

But Cao Huachun was, after all, a man who had been there. Not only had he been there, he had also returned alive, making him the eunuch in the Forbidden City who knew Liu Chengzong best.

Faced with a junior's request, Cao Huachun gave Fang Zhenghua thorough preparation — a booklet a full eighty pages long. The interpersonal relationships among the various officers of the Marshal's headquarters alone took up seven pages, and there were another twelve pages of precautions regarding the Marshal's headquarters.

Among them, examples of Marshal Liu's domineering and tyrannical conduct occupied a mere sixty pages, with one additional page of Cao Huachun's own reflections.

In Cao Huachun's description, Liu Chengzong was like a lazy mad dog — you never knew when this man would suddenly go berserk. But the Liu Chengzong before his eyes now gave Fang Zhenghua a powerful sense of contrast.

He had traveled all the way from the capital, not only bringing Liu Chengzong the imperial letter, but also delivering encouragement along the way to great generals such as Zuo Liangyu in Guanzhong, and Zhang Yingchang, He Renlong, Yang Yanchang, and Ren Quan'er in Hexi.

West of Chankou, he had also witnessed with his own eyes the heavy troop concentrations the Marshal's headquarters had stationed at Lanzhou. This land had been built up by them into what looked like a massive complex of fortresses and strongholds, with fierce soldiers and bold commanders encamped everywhere. Every camp he passed drilled day and night without pause, clearly preparing for a new offensive against Hexi.

The strongest impression this army left on Fang Zhenghua was not its awe-inspiring military might, but that the Marshal's headquarters' finances were truly excellent.

Because first of all, at court what he felt was that the court lacked money, the government troops lacked money — everywhere was desperately short of money. And on the other hand, the court's impression of the rebel army was likewise that they were utterly destitute, with nothing to eat and forced to rely on plunder.

Yet what Fang Zhenghua saw was not that at all. The Marshal's headquarters' troops stationed on the front line at Chankou, the Lintao Brigade, looked somewhat worse off — their morale and bearing were not much different from most government troops.

But near Lanzhou, the troops under Lanzhou Assistant Commissioner-in-Chief Wang Wenxiu not only had enough to eat, they ate well, and their equipment was also excellent.

Fang Zhenghua had a tall, powerful build and good martial skills, had read a few military books, and enjoyed discoursing on military matters when boasting with others in the palace, but he had never led troops in battle. He knew in his heart he could not claim to understand warfare, but even he could see that the Marshal's army had extremely strong potential for war.

Compared to this army, Liu Chengzong sitting upright in the Bearing Fortune Hall seemed, on the contrary, not so remarkable.

Even this Bearing Fortune Hall itself seemed shabby because it was occupied by Liu Chengzong. In the hall were only six Feathered Forest Cavalry in waist-length armor — four stood guard in the hall gripping hook-scythe spears, two stood flanking Liu Chengzong holding golden melon maces… the display was not even as grand as a general's.

If he had to sum up his impression of Liu Chengzong, perhaps it would be: steady. Steady to a frightening degree. Looking at an imperial letter filled with harsh words, he merely furrowed his brow slightly at first, then took it in stride, his thoughts unreadable.

After a long while, he finally saw Liu Chengzong on the dais set down the imperial letter and ask him, "Eunuch Fang, shall we share a meal?"

Fang Zhenghua was dumbfounded. You've finished reading the imperial letter — good or bad, shouldn't you at least have some reaction? That's it? You finish reading and just move on, without a single word?

Liu Chengzong had not considered the possibility that his invitation might be refused. He directly gestured to the Feathered Forest Cavalry standing in attendance to prepare the formal seats.

Actually, it was rather amusing. These Feathered Forest Cavalry his father had sent him — though they were personal attendants, their job was not really to protect him by force. Quite the opposite: if an accident really happened, he might need to protect the Feathered Forest Cavalry.

Take these six attendants beside him. Their combat ability was basically at the level of well-nourished new recruits. To him, if everyone were unarmed, the Feathered Forest Cavalry standing there would be full of openings from head to toe. Knocking one down would take one punch — six of them, six punches.

If everyone were armed, it would be even simpler — probably wouldn't need six slashes to put down all six.

But if he were unarmed and the Feathered Forest Cavalry had weapons, his only option would be to run. That was the level of his attendants' protective ability. And anyway, in the dignified Marshal's headquarters, how could anyone possibly get close to him wearing armor and carrying weapons?

So relatively speaking, having these Feathered Forest Cavalry from the Children's Camp serve as personal attendants was actually to their benefit. They were all literate. Working by his side, they would come into contact with, if not the Marshal's headquarters' senior generals, then at least the junior officers of the Tiger Guard Camp, and could learn a great deal.

On the other hand, they could do some work by his side and not waste provisions and pay like they did in the Children's Camp. When is a person ever not learning? As long as they learned literacy well and had a foundation, with the same level of effort, they would even pick up martial arts faster than those without education.

The young Feathered Forest Cavalry in the hall moved at his words and quickly set about arranging a banquet space in the hall. Ming dynasty architecture had no dedicated banquet hall — typically, the main hall would be arranged for the purpose when needed.

The Feathered Forest Cavalry had all been educated in etiquette by Yang Dingrui. In the past, when not studying in the New City, they had often helped Liu Xiangyu entertain the families of the Marshal's headquarters' officers, so they were thoroughly adept at arranging a banquet hall.

Because the Marshal's headquarters had grown in stature and now had need of banquets, the Hundred Works Bureau had specially produced a batch of banquet furnishings, which had been delivered to Prince Su's residence just before Liu Chengzong's arrival in Lanzhou.

Quickly, a simple two-person banquet space was arranged in the Bearing Fortune Hall — two sets of formal seats in total.

The formal seat was the seating at a banquet, with very simple furnishings: a platform, a screen, a formal desk, and a chair — four items.

The platform was the base. When conditions were poor, one could use a tapestry, a carpet, or even felt. When conditions allowed, a low table slightly raised above the ground was used.

The screen was a simple landscape painting, placed behind the seat. The formal desk was a long table for handling official business, draped with a red cloud-pattern brocade table skirt. The chair was a simple round-backed armchair. Neither the table, chairs, nor platform were of precious wood — all were ordinary elm.

The tableware on the formal desk was somewhat more refined. The bowls, plates, cups, and goblets were all plain-glazed Xining kiln porcelain. This was a kiln the Marshal's headquarters had established after entering Qinghai, originally to settle kiln workers from Prince Han's residence, all using Yaozhou kiln techniques.

During the time the Feathered Forest Cavalry arranged the banquet space, Liu Chengzong sat in the hall without a word, pondering the letter the Emperor had sent.

In this letter, even through the paper, Liu Chengzong could see the Chongzhen Emperor's fury. Yet the Emperor did not mention a single word about what had happened in Gansu. All his rage stemmed from the market-bestowed rewards beyond the Xuan–Da passes and Yang Jiamo's death in battle.

He was furious that Liu Chengzong had given the market-bestowed rewards to the Three Khans of the Northern Desert.

Clearly, matters beyond the frontier had grown so critical that the Chongzhen Emperor turned a blind eye to the more distant Gansu, dispatching a eunuch in frantic haste to deliver a letter a thousand li, cursing Liu the Lion viciously and madly venting his panicked emotions.

Liu Chengzong's feelings about this letter were somewhat mixed. On one hand, he felt he ought to be enraged, but on the other hand — could the matters beyond the Xuan–Da passes really be blamed on him?

Whoever is your problem, go solve that problem directly. The area beyond the Xuan–Da passes in Shanxi — that has absolutely nothing to do with me. Will cursing me solve the problem?

If the Emperor had cursed him over the Gansu matter, he might well have flown into a rage from shame.

But the Emperor cursing him over the Xuan–Da matter simply could not break Liu Chengzong's defenses — it could only leave him baffled.

And as for the other matter mentioned in the letter, Yang Jiamo's death in battle — Liu the Lion also found it deeply regrettable. It wasn't only you, Chongzhen, holding Buddhist and Daoist rites in the palace; I also held sacrifices for the fallen soldiers outside Gaotai City.

So Liu the Lion was not the least bit angry at this letter. He merely rose from the dais, sat down facing Fang Zhenghua, and only then raised a hand to gesture for Fang Zhenghua to sit, asking, "Beyond the Xuan–Da passes — has fighting broken out?"

Fang Zhenghua, who had just taken off his big hat and sat down, instinctively answered "Yes." He was about to explain, but then realized his own behavior was inappropriate, so he simply pursed his lips.

How to put this — eunuchs are, by nature, people who handle affairs for the imperial household. He was far too accustomed to this atmosphere where others gave orders and he answered.

Liu Chengzong noticed this too. He chuckled lightly, took the milk wine a close attendant brought over, poured a bowl, and raised it, saying, "Anyone can deliver a letter. The fact that His Majesty sent the Supervisor of Ceremonies and Brush-holding Eunuch here means you know a great deal. I ask, you answer — say what you can, and don't say what you can't. As for matters beyond the passes, there's nothing that can't be said."

Fang Zhenghua thought that reasoning was sound, but what if you allied with the Eastern Brigands? He shook his head and said, "I have only been tasked with delivering His Majesty's letter. I have not been authorized to relay military intelligence. I'm afraid I have nothing to tell the Marshal."

"There's plenty you can say. The Eastern Brigands once sent an envoy to me, and I sent him back. But I am very interested in their army. If they weren't so far away, I'd rather fight them than Yang Jiamo. Tell me, who exactly are these people raiding the border this year, and what is the strength of the Eight Banners? Also, what about the Khalkha of the northern desert — has the court granted them the market reward?"

"Eight Banners?"

Fang Zhenghua was, after all, persuaded by Liu Chengzong. In any case, if he didn't say it, Liu Chengzong would find out on his own in a few days. So he opened his mouth to answer, though he indicated he didn't know what Liu Chengzong meant by "Eight Banners": "According to captives, for this campaign the Eastern Brigands dispatched twenty cavalry and eight armored guardsmen from each Niru. Based on that calculation, the force numbers eight or nine thousand."

Liu Chengzong frowned. "That few?"

Eight or nine thousand men was a very formidable military force, but scattered across the vast southern desert, it was like throwing two handfuls of sand into the ocean — utterly invisible.

This troop strength also didn't match the Later Jin invasion force he had imagined. To strike Xuanfu and Datong, without at least fifty thousand men, how would Hong Taiji dare to go swaggering around beyond Shanxi's borders?

But a moment later, Fang Zhenghua resolved his confusion: "For this border raid, the Eastern Brigands joined forces with the Chakhar, Aokhan, and other tribes of the southern desert — a total of one hundred twenty thousand. Most are Liaodong people, with countless wives and children besides. Excluding the Mongol horse-holders, the elite troops number sixty or seventy thousand. They rested three or four hundred li beyond the border, then split into two routes to approach the frontier."

Liu Chengzong suddenly understood. This number was far more reliable. He nodded for Fang Zhenghua to continue, and heard him say: "The force entering Xuanfu numbers eighty thousand, led by Wang Shixuan, Huang Shiying, and Liu Pengcao."

Wang Shixuan was a Yulin man who had held the rank of Deputy Regional Commander and surrendered during the Jisi Incident. As for Huang Shiying and Liu Pengcao, Liu Chengzong didn't know who they were, but they were most likely surrendered officers as well.

"The force heading west toward Datong has forty thousand, led by Ma Dengyun, Bao Chengxian, Kong Youde, Geng the Second, and Shang the Fourth."

Liu Chengzong was somewhat dumbfounded. So, from this point on, was the Jin Kingdom fighting entirely with Han troops?

He quickly asked, "Then the three Khalkha tribes didn't send troops?"

"They did. The northern desert Mongols coerced refugees and mobilized one hundred thousand men. Once they reached the border, they dared not engage the Eastern Brigands in battle. They plundered Fengzhou Beach, then turned and crossed the Yellow River, moving to the Ordos region beyond Yulin's border to settle and graze. They brought the imperial patent and demanded the market reward from Yulin Garrison. His Majesty might as well not grant the Marshal the market reward."

Fang Zhenghua felt his chest tighten at the mention of this. He let out a long breath and raised three fingers, placing them on the official desk. "Originally, the Eastern Brigands allied with the southern desert Mongols to raid the two garrisons of Xuanfu and Datong. Now, wonderful — Yulin and Ningxia won't know peace either."

Good evening!