Chapter 584: The Iron Whip

On the first day of the fifth month, south of Qianzhou city.

This was the third day of the siege, and the first day the besieging army launched its assault — their momentum was like a rainbow.

On the first day of the siege, Shi Xiang fought a battle against the rebel soldier Yang Guodong; but on the second day, after an entire day of negotiation, Shi Xiang persuaded Yang Guodong to surrender.

Last night, Shi Xiang and Yang Guodong shot several dozen surrender letters into the city, telling the defending troops that reinforcements from the Marshal's headquarters were on the way, that surrendering now meant officers would be promoted one rank and soldiers would receive grain and pay, and guaranteeing that the people inside the city would not be harmed in the slightest.

By this morning, two more thousand-man squads of Mongol cavalry had arrived at the battlefield from the rear, and the army now camped outside the city was close to eight thousand strong. Shi Xiang's own core force was also fully capable of suppressing Yang Guodong's three thousand newly attached bandit troops.

Only then did Shi Xiang's suspended heart finally settle, because he knew very well that his ability to persuade Yang Guodong to surrender had relied not on the three thousand Lintao soldiers under his own command, but on the forty thousand troops of the Marshal's army spread across the entire Guanzhong battlefield.

That was the general trend.

Shi Xiang had always believed that a person's greatest ability was skill in leveraging the general trend. An individual's strength was far too weak — whether one was a hero or a coward, whether one resisted or conformed, these were convictions of immense importance to the individual, but the general trend cared nothing for them.

Yet, against all odds, Duan Fuxing did care.

This morning, Shi Xiang finished reorganizing the newly surrendered Yang Guodong's unit. While the entire army was eating breakfast, he delivered an ultimatum to Qianzhou city: the assault would begin in one shichen. If they thought of surrendering then, according to the Marshal's headquarters' regulations, officers would no longer be promoted one rank.

There was no response from the city walls.

This gave Shi Xiang, who had intended to strike while the iron was hot, an ominous premonition, because silence itself was also an answer.

At this moment, Shi Xiang already had a suspicion in his heart: the assault would likely be unavoidable.

His prestige in the Lintao Brigade was insufficient. This brigade's predecessor was the Ming army's Lanzhou Battalion, and every man's personal connections could be traced back to the three battalion commanders: Han Ying, Zhang Yunqi, and Li Zude.

Han Ying had been assassinated by Shi Xiang on the very day they switched banners to the Marshal's headquarters. The remaining Zhang Yunqi had been cornered in the camp and forced to surrender, and Li Zude, the most capable fighter, had been sent into the city to fight fires that day, later occupied the inner city, and only surrendered to the Marshal's headquarters after seeing the general trend was lost.

Zhang Yunqi and Li Zude were indeed both officers now loyal to Liu Chengzong, but neither was a trusted confidant of Shi Xiang. To some extent, they even harbored hatred in their hearts toward Shi Xiang, the chief culprit responsible for their surrender. On the battlefield, they wouldn't dare shoot him in the back, but when carrying out tasks for Shi Xiang, they did so while holding their noses at every turn.

Unwilling and resentful.

It was precisely because of this complicated relationship that Shi Xiang was determined to win Yang Guodong's surrender at all costs. He even sent a messenger specifically to report to Liu Chengzong, intending to obliquely probe Liu Chengzong's views on him recruiting surrendered troops to replenish the Lintao Brigade's ranks.

Fortunately, Liu Chengzong's reply did not disappoint him. It provided two options: either give the concurrent post of Central Battalion Assistant Commander to Yang Guodong, with the Lintao Brigade still maintaining the structure of three battalions of three thousand men each; or add another Assistant Commander, making the Lintao Brigade a structure of four smaller battalions of two thousand men each.

Shi Xiang chose the latter without a second thought.

He knew that Liu Chengzong had ostensibly given him two choices, but was actually telling him to pick the second one.

Choosing the former meant he would have to give up his directly subordinate unit. Although he would have a structure of nine thousand troops, it would be an empty shell. At present, the Lintao Brigade, including Yang Guodong's unit, had fewer than six thousand men. Without a directly subordinate central army, he would have no way to control the troops.

The latter, however, would allow him to use the opportunity to split off one thousand soldiers from the newly surrendered Yang Guodong's unit and fill the gaps in the other three battalions, weakening Yang Guodong's influence while also balancing Li Zude and Zhang Yunqi.

That was what he had resolved yesterday. But now a new problem had arisen: the assault. It would be very difficult for him to order Yang Guodong to attack the city in the form of a command — they lacked cannons and siege equipment, and an assault would inevitably bring casualties.

If, after the failed persuasion, he attacked the city out of humiliation and rage, the difficulty of a swift breakthrough was one aspect, but the losses would likely further damage his prestige within the army.

So Shi Xiang sought out Yang Guodong: "General Yang, with two thousand troops from the Mongol Brigade now at our side, the pressure on Qianzhou city is more than enough. Your men have met the city's Consultant Duan Fuxing and Magistrate Yang Dianyuan..."

The words had barely left his mouth when Yang Guodong nearly jumped up: "Brigade Commander, though I, Yang, was once granted amnesty, you and I swore an oath yesterday. I will not switch back to the imperial court."

"I know, I know. And you, General, also know that my two Assistant Commanders are rather critical of my reconciliation with you and the splitting of three large battalions into four smaller ones."

Shi Xiang placated Yang Guodong and smiled: "I was thinking, General Yang, that you have yet to achieve any merit, and the Grand Marshal will arrive at Qianzhou in the next few days. Why not send someone to the city walls to reason with them and move them with emotion, urging them to surrender? This would also be a fine gift from you, General, to repay me for introducing you to the Grand Marshal!"

Yang Guodong, a rough soldier of veteran background, had served in the Provincial Governor's standard battalion, but as a common soldier he had never had the chance to experience the twists and turns of social interaction. The moment Shi Xiang said this, he felt... it made perfect sense!

He immediately clasped his fists and thanked Shi Xiang profusely, then at once picked a battalion commander among his sworn brothers who was good at reasoning and sent him to the walls of Qianzhou to "reason" with Duan Fuxing and Yang Dianyuan.

In truth, any glib-tongued person could have been sent for this task, but Yang Guodong, having been reminded by Shi Xiang that Liu Chengzong would soon arrive, saw this as a chance for his subordinate to show his face, and so he picked a battalion commander.

He himself was only an Assistant Commander; a battalion commander was his right-hand man.

Shi Xiang was happy to see this happen. When he had recruited Yang Guodong's surrender, he had said: "Don't think I couldn't beat you because I'm weak. It's because my rank is high, my troops are insufficient, and my equipment is lacking. If I were truly weak, you would have already overrun my camp."

"Surrendering to serve under my command is far better than surrendering to other brigade commanders in the Marshal's headquarters. Others have strong soldiers and fierce officers — you'd have no chance to stand out. Our Lintao Brigade is different."

"We need a brave and battle-hardened warrior like you, Yang Guodong, to join hands and advance together. You'll be responsible for earning merit, and I'll be responsible for seeking rewards. We brothers will together strive for great wealth and honor, with titles for our wives and children!"

Shi Xiang's words were half-truth and half-false, though not a single word was a deliberate lie — it was just that the pie-in-the-sky element was rather large.

The Marshal's headquarters had never had any business with granting noble titles so far. They had granted titles to some Tatar and Oirat lords, but that was simply giving Mongol nobles titles and changing their names, using their own tribes as fiefs.

Ultimately, no one in the Marshal's headquarters had yet achieved such extreme military merit, so naturally there were no noble titles.

However, on the matter of persuading Qianzhou city to surrender, everything Shi Xiang said was sincere and honest. He truly hoped Yang Guodong could claim the first merit in persuading Qianzhou to surrender. After all, Yang Guodong was now his subordinate, and if Yang Guodong earned merit, he would get a share of it no matter what.

On this matter, he harbored not the slightest crooked thought.

He was simply considering defeat before victory, thinking that if the persuasion failed, given Yang Guodong's hot temper, he would certainly want to reclaim his lost face.

Then he could go with the flow and direct Yang Guodong to lead the troops in the assault, which would be much easier.

But while he knew Yang Guodong's temperament, he did not know that Duan Fuxing from Shandong up on the city wall.

The beginning was very smooth. The battalion commander acting as envoy successfully reached the city walls holding a flag, and the defenders did not shoot arrows. After a few words and a short wait, Qianzhou city actually lowered a hanging basket and brought him up onto the wall.

Shi Xiang and Yang Guodong had a single telescope between them. The two men below the wall were beside themselves with excitement, even drawing over the Lintao Brigade's other two Assistant Commanders, Zhang Yunqi and Li Zude. All four Lintao Brigade commanding officers climbed an earthen mound and took turns observing the surrender negotiations on the gate tower through the telescope.

They saw an official in a crimson robe and black gauze cap, accompanied by another official in a blue robe, arrive at the gate tower. Yang Guodong said excitedly: "The one in the crimson robe is Consultant Duan Fuxing, and the one in blue is Magistrate Yang Dianyuan."

As he spoke, Shi Xiang took the telescope, and then his smile froze on his face. He handed it back to Yang Guodong: "Why do they look very angry, as if they're cursing someone?"

Yang Guodong had just frowned and looked over when his eyes suddenly widened in extreme shock.

Shi Xiang was even more shocked. Even without the telescope, he could see that the fellow in the red robe and black gauze cap waved a hand, and Yang Guodong's right-hand man vanished from the city wall.

Yang Guodong, holding the telescope, saw it even more clearly. His face twitched, his eyes split with fury, and he could not even speak.

It was an iron whip.

He saw Duan Fuxing draw an iron whip and, with one lash, bludgeon his trusted confidant to death!

The four officers of the Lintao Brigade looked at each other in dismay for only a moment before the defenders on the wall hastily tied ropes around the envoy's corpse, threw it down from the city wall, and left it hanging right in front of the gate archway.

The encamped army also saw this scene. Whether veterans from Lanzhou and Lintao or Yang Guodong's new recruits, the camp erupted in an uproar and the soldiers clamored in an instant.

Shi Xiang was utterly dumbfounded.

Earlier, he had indeed suspected that the defending officers would be unwilling to open the gates and surrender, and had even hoped that Duan Fuxing and Yang Dianyuan would say a few harsh words from the wall to anger Yang Guodong, making it easier for him to direct the assault.

But he had never, ever imagined that Duan Fuxing would invite the envoy up onto the wall to beat him to death, and then hang the corpse from the city gate like a wind chime!

In war, envoys are not executed. Not only had Shi Xiang never seen this, but in the entire Marshal's headquarters, aside from the former Chahar tribe of Ligdan Khan, no one had ever seen an envoy killed before the battle even began.

This was madness.

The enraged Yang Guodong had just turned his wide-eyed glare toward Shi Xiang when Shi Xiang already roared: "You dare kill the Marshal's envoy? The day the city falls, not a single member of Duan Fuxing's family will be spared — Yang Guodong!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Attack the city! Attack the city!"

Qianzhou City reacted even faster than they did. Banner after banner waved atop the walls; the defending troops had long since placed cannons and every kind of siege-defense equipment on the ramparts — even the night-soil cauldrons were already heated.

At Duan Fuxing's side, Qianzhou's Prefect Yang Dianyuan was terrified out of his wits.

Yang Dianyuan was a man from Anyue County in Sichuan, a Provincial Graduate who perfectly fit the scholar stereotype — not tall, dignified in bearing, refined in manner, gentle and amiable.

He had taken office in the fourth year of Chongzhen, and though he had never fought bandit soldiers in the Qianzhou region, he truly had talent. His way of solving problems was building irrigation works and providing relief through labor. In his four years at Qianzhou, he focused single-mindedly on encouraging farming, promoting education, digging canals, constructing waterwheels, and establishing community schools. He had also successively overseen the renovation of the Education Intendant's Office and the Di Gong Shrine, and even rebuilt the city walls.

Among the colleagues he worked with, there was not one who disliked him. The former Prefect of Xi'an, Li Zhimao — now Vice Commissioner of Shenmu — had even betrothed his young daughter, not yet of hairpin-wearing age, to him, agreeing that once the fighting subsided a little, they would find time to complete the marriage.

In fact, ever since Liu Chengzong launched his eastern campaign, his future father-in-law Li Zhimao had been pulling strings, hoping to have Yang Dianyuan transferred to Henan.

Li Zhimao's temper and mettle were far fiercer than his soft-spoken son-in-law's. He had fought several battles against the rebel army at Shenmu, but even he was helpless in the current situation. He did want to find a safe place and let his son-in-law take his daughter far away.

But now, with the world so vast, where was there still a safe place?

Li Zhimao's hometown was Zhaoyuan in Shandong, with Penglai next door, and across the sea lay Lüshunkou in Jinzhou Garrison.

Why was Lüshun called Lüshun?

That place was formerly called Shizikou. It was precisely because, in the early Ming, the fleet set sail from Penglai to recover Liaodong, and the sea crossing and landing were smooth and the journey went smoothly, that it was renamed Lüshunkou — "Smooth Passage Port."

Never mind the negligible chance of the Later Jin crossing the sea to attack — just the constant coming and going of Ming troops made Zhaoyuan unsafe. Otherwise, why would he have bothered coming to Shaanxi to be an official and even bring his whole family with him? In Li Zhimao's eyes, Shandong was a more dangerous place than Shaanxi.

Yang Dianyuan's hometown, Anyue County, lay between Chengdu Prefecture and Chongqing Prefecture. Li Zhimao had betrothed his daughter to him partly because he valued his character and conduct, and partly because his hometown was good — safer than Shandong, Northern Zhili, Shaanxi, and Shanxi. It was a way to protect his daughter and keep her away from danger zones.

But then Liu Chengzong launched his eastern campaign, and the Dashing King Gao Yingxiang struck toward Hanzhong.

Now Li Zhimao thought Henan wasn't bad either.

Yang Dianyuan, a good-natured man who had spent four solid years on disaster relief — before the siege had even begun, the colleague beside him, a proper scholar with a Presented Scholar background, had pulled an iron mace from between his legs mid-conversation and smashed the enemy envoy's head in with one blow. How could he possibly handle such a shock?

For a moment, he stammered as he spoke: "Th-this, Brother Duan, you — when two armies are at war, why did you have to kill him? Even if you won't consider yourself, you must think of your family. What if the city falls — what then?"

"Words spoken by rebels who know nothing of loyalty, filial piety, fraternal duty, or righteousness — does Brother Yang truly believe them? Men like Yang Guodong accepted amnesty the day before yesterday, and yesterday they turned their coats and surrendered to the rebels... Liu Chengzong's thousand-li eastern campaign is only for coin and grain. They say if we open the gates and surrender, they won't harm a single hair — can you believe that?"

Duan Fuxing, as if nothing had happened, shook the blood off his iron mace, casually handed it to the sturdy servant Shan Zhou following at his side, straightened his black gauze cap, and only then raised a hand to point disdainfully down below the wall: "Besides, those chicken-thieves and dog-barkers outside the city — kill my family? They're not worthy."

Not worthy?

Yang Dianyuan's eyes went wide. He had no idea where Duan Fuxing's confidence came from, and could only say: "The rebel leader Liu Chengzong is bringing a great army. In barely a day beneath the walls, two thousand reinforcements have arrived. If his main army comes in force, how long can our troops hold them off? When that time comes, worthy or not, we'll all die!"

"Prefect Yang, I said they're not worthy, so they're not worthy."

At first, Yang Dianyuan thought Duan Fuxing had killed the envoy on the wall out of fury at Yang Guodong's surrender and then betrayal — a moment of impulsive, hot-blooded rage.

But now he realized Duan Fuxing was utterly calm. There was not a trace of the remorse or anger that follows killing someone in a fit of rage. Instead, he even patted him and consoled him: "What's done is done. Brother Yang, don't worry about my family. Just focus on defending the city. Qianzhou is a great city, fully equipped with firearms, cannons, troops, and provisions — there is much we can still accomplish."

Even the ever-good-natured Yang Dianyuan was now angered by Duan Fuxing's indifferent attitude, and he said furiously: "You don't care about your family, but what crime have the common people of Qianzhou City committed? If the bandits are shamed into fury and slaughter the city, what then?"

Duan Fuxing gave a soft laugh, looked out at the large military formation already deployed beyond the city, and did not answer Yang Dianyuan.

His killing of the envoy with the mace had been premeditated. It had nothing to do with whether the man was sent by Shi Xiang or Yang Guodong. No matter who the envoy was who came to the city to demand surrender, he would have called him up onto the wall and beaten him to death.

Because the defending troops inside the city had already been shaken by Shi Xiang's surrender letter the previous night.

If their resolve was not hardened now, this city would certainly not hold.

Chen Qiyu had told him the entire strategic layout for the defense of Guanzhong. The rebel army was indeed powerful, but Duan Fuxing did not care. Back in Shandong, was Xu Hongru's rallying cry not mighty enough? Was Kong Youde's breaking of cities and slaying of generals not fearsome enough?

It was simply — doing what must be done, knowing it cannot be done.

Because Duan Fuxing knew that the chicken-thieves and dog-barkers outside the city, the peddlers and porters inside the city — they were not the same as him.

Others did not eat the court's grain or receive the court's nurturing grace. If they could stand forth in the court's hour of peril, they were righteous men deserving commendation and official rank. Facing an opponent like Liu Chengzong, if he truly harmed no one, and others did not stand forth but fled or surrendered, that was perfectly normal too.

But he could not. He had his own task to carry out, his own mission to fulfill.

Below the walls, the howling Mongol cavalry charged forward, carrying bundles of branches and sacks of earth.

Above the walls, Duan Fuxing in his black gauze cap and crimson official robe sat upright at the gate tower and waved his command flag: "Open fire! Shoot them dead!"