Chapter 596: Profiting from Both Sides

"Brother Zhang, I toast you!"

The government hall inside Yaozhou City buzzed with voices.

Imperial army officers and rebel garrison commanders were exchanging cups.

Bee-Tail Needle Zhang Zhenduan sat in the seat of honor, beaming as he raised a Yaozhou porcelain wine cup and toasted Yang Yanchang seated below him from afar, laughing: "General Yang, you are far too courteous!"

Having said this, he looked beside Yang Yanchang, where a young Ming army officer sat at the tea table, wearing a red cloth-faced armor, his bowl-shaped helmet resting on the tea table, neither drinking wine nor tea, merely resting a hand on the tea table, pressing down on a goose-quill saber.

Bee-Tail Needle looked again and again, drank his wine, and turned to Yang Yanchang: "The resemblance, it's uncanny."

Yang Yanchang knew what he meant — this young officer beside him was called Liu Chengguang.

One of the eight-character combination of the old Liu family of Yan'an — Yao, Zu, Guang, Zong, Yun, Shun, Jia, Chang — and by reckoning, a distant cousin of Liu Chengzong.

Compared to Liu the Lion, he was a little shorter in stature and somewhat stockier and more solidly built, but the face, the cheekbones — it was as if they were cast from the same mold.

Yang Yanchang sneered inwardly: Not only do you think they look alike, damn it, so do I.

These past two years, the Yan'an Battalion had been stationed abroad, encamped at the front lines; when special situations arose in the middle of the night, Yang Yanchang was often roused from deep sleep by his subordinates.

Every time Liu Chengguang showed up, the groggy Yang Yanchang would think it was Liu the Lion coming at him with blade and axe.

The thing was actually absurd — Yang Yanchang had never seen Liu Chengzong wielding a blade and axe.

But his deepest impression of Liu the Lion was precisely that: plain clothes stained with blood, blade and axe in hand.

Back then, when Liu the Lion rose up and stormed the county yamen, Yang Yanchang had only provided arms support from the Yan'an Guard; due to his officer status, he himself was stationed at the Yan'an Guard's southern siege wall and did not take part in the battle.

That image came from the Liu Chengzong of the common people's legends after Fushi County was breached — a man who could hold off ten thousand.

Of course, there were many legends circulating in Yan'an Prefecture.

He, Yang Yanchang, also had his name on the list — a fierce, war-god-like figure who could single-handedly fight his way in and out seven times through a chaotic army and repeatedly beat Liu Chengzong back in utter defeat.

Bee-Tail Needle poured another cup of wine, this time raising it to toast Liu Chengguang, but Liu Chengguang would not drink with him; Zhang Zhen paid it no mind, just smiled and drank it himself.

Only then did he ask Yang Yanchang: "This General Liu over there — what post does he currently hold?"

Liu Chengguang, who had remained silent all along, spoke: "Yan'an Battalion, Commander of the Guard."

Bee-Tail Needle's face showed shock; he stared wide-eyed at Yang Yanchang: "You — General Liu is a man of outstanding presence, how can he be relegated to Commander of the Guard? Why not make him a Regional Commander, and you, General Yang, take Battalion Commander."

To Yang Yanchang's ears, this was merely a joke; it was instead Mi Layin and Ding Guodong, sitting silent on the other side of the hall, who exchanged a glance.

The two of them knew that Zhang Zhen was entirely serious, and they did not find the remark problematic in the slightest.

Because Bee-Tail Needle really was capable of doing such a thing.

Yang Yanchang, however, had an exceedingly good temper; he spread his hands with a grin: "I'd like to make Chengguang a Battalion Commander too, but the Battalion Commander is Lord Xiangshan — Chengguang's father."

"His mother's—!"

Zhang Zhen had been speaking perfectly normally, then suddenly started cursing. He turned to Ding Guodong and Mi Layin: "I regret it. The three of us brothers should never have surrendered to the imperial court."

Ding Guodong and Mi Layin thought to themselves: You're putting on quite an act — isn't this just the Grand Marshal's stalling tactic?

Just as the south was about to erupt in battle, the officers and men of the five northern-route battalions, hearing that Yaozhou had fallen, immediately marched south from Gold Lock Pass to Yaozhou's Tongguan County, then crossed the Ju River and deployed their troops on Sigou Plain, encircling Yaozhou's northern side.

The five-battalion imperial army came with immense momentum; Zhang Zhen and the two generals Ding and Mi, leading the three small Gansu battalions with scant troops and few officers, immediately contracted their defense, feigning inability to resist.

They then sent envoys to communicate, declaring that they were all imperial Gansu border troops with the intent to switch sides, and invited the imperial army to send someone into the city to discuss terms of surrender.

The two sides hit it off at once.

It was not that the five-battalion commanders hit it off at once with the Gansu three battalions' surrender and defection — in fact, four of the five did not believe it.

But because three of them harbored ulterior motives to varying degrees, and the other two had rather simple ways of thinking, they arrived at a highly unanimous result.

After a round of discussion, the five-battalion commanders very easily reached the decision to first communicate and then report to the imperial court.

First there was He Renlong, who had been Liu Chengzong's superior officer when he was a soldier and had also participated in the He-Huang Campaign — a commander relatively familiar with the Marshal's army.

He would sooner believe pigs could fly than believe Liu Chengzong's army would voluntarily switch sides.

Especially these Gansu three battalions — guest troops pulled from Gansu to fight in Guanzhong; before the imperial court retook Gansu, it was impossible for them to defect.

What's more, He Yong was the very man He Renlong had sent to tip off the Marshal's army.

Because he was the vanguard, and with the five-battalion troops' immense momentum, he had hoped to scare the Marshal's army entrenched in Yaozhou into fleeing.

The outcome of the battle ahead was still uncertain; if things looked bad, he would have to lead his troops in retreat, so he figured he'd first claim the credit for retaking the city.

He never imagined that He Yong would go over, make contact with Zhang Zhen, and instead of scaring them off, they said they wanted to surrender — He Renlong knew there was treachery afoot.

But he did not tell the others.

He was too busy being anxious himself, terrified that the garrison in the city would next employ a stratagem of sowing discord and tell the other battalion commanders that someone had tipped them off.

Cao Bianjiao, meanwhile, was in a period of extreme self-confidence.

Because the Pingliang troops he led had been well maintained by the Prince of Han, trained hard daily, and were of very high quality.

So his thinking was rather simple: surrender or not, the imperial army wasn't ready to assault the city anyway.

They had marched south from Qingyang, traveling through mountainous terrain the entire way, and had brought no siege equipment with the army; it was only upon entering Yaozhou that they reached flat ground. To storm the city by force now would inevitably result in massive losses.

The urgent task was to hurriedly construct equipment on Sigou Plain.

Using the negotiation of surrender and defection as a pretext to keep the garrison from leaving the city to cause trouble — brilliant!

In just a few days, once the equipment was built, if the garrison surrendered, so be it; if they didn't, they could all be slaughtered for military merit — even more brilliant!

Of course, among these five great generals, Cao Bianjiao was on the more aggressive side, and Yang Yanchang was firmly opposed to him.

Yang Yanchang had never gotten along with the Guan-Ning Army commanders; years ago, the first time they joined forces in Shanxi, they hadn't gotten along. He and Cao Bianjiao could quarrel over nothing at all.

What's more, Yang Yanchang felt that if people were willing to switch sides, that was a good thing — they ought to accept them; otherwise, who would ever surrender in the future?

Besides... no besides. The rest Yang Yanchang only dared mutter quietly in his heart: If they switch sides, then I won't have to surrender, will I!

But General Ren Quan'er clearly had a different view: "Good my ass — how could bandits ever surrender? It's definitely a false surrender. Make them lay down their weapons, leave the city, and accept reorganization, then have young General Cao slaughter them all. Not a single one would be wronged!"

Cao Bianjiao thereupon regarded Ren Quan'er as a kindred spirit.

Young Cao thought to himself: I never noticed — Commander Ren's attitude toward rebels is much like my old uncle's: he hates evil as if it were a personal foe!

But Ren Quan'er's line of thinking ran in the opposite direction.

If these men were faking surrender, they would never lay down their weapons and leave the city.

If they do lay down their weapons and leave the city, it's most likely genuine surrender. Let Cao Bianjiao kill them, and from then on, the commander's subordinates won't dare surrender!

I, Ren Quan'er, masterminded this from behind the scenes — without showing my hand, I've won another great merit for the commander. Feeling quite pleased with myself.

If they lay down their weapons, leave the city, and accept reorganization but it's still a fake surrender, then Cao Bianjiao did the killing — it doesn't have much to do with me, Ren Quan'er.

At worst, the commander loses a few thousand troops, and we just won't use fake-surrender stratagems in the future.

The outcome is the same either way — the commander's subordinate generals will all be too afraid to surrender.

Half merit, half fault!

The one and only person who could view Zhang Zhen's defection with a normal mindset was, surprisingly, Zhang Yingchang.

Zhang Yingchang truly hadn't thought that much about it. He held the highest official rank among the five generals and was nominally the commander of this battle. Just coordinating the officers and soldiers of these five battalions around him was already nearly wearing him out, body and soul.

His head was about to explode.

He Renlong had always been defiant and resentful toward him; Cao Bianjiao had his own set of values as an outside-force commander. Only Ren Quan'er gave him some peace of mind — always "Commander this, Commander that," all smiles when they met, willing to bow his head and accept authority.

The hardest to deal with was this Yang Yanchang.

The man looked like a perfectly normal fellow, but his appearance and actions contradicted each other. He'd often agree to something, then turn around and lead his troops in the opposite direction. Next time they met, he'd still have that obliging, yes-to-everything demeanor.

The whole man was like someone afflicted with a strange disease that made him unable to control his own face and limbs.

Zhang Yingchang truly felt he could report to Lian Guoshi on behalf of the three Gansu battalions. If these three two-thousand-man battalions defected, at least he'd have a force he could trust in his hands.

Precisely because of this, Bee-Tail Needle Zhang Zhen's offer to surrender actually achieved consensus among five commanders each harboring their own schemes. Both sides took only a single day to push the matter forward.

But Zhang Zhen refused to leave the city before seeing documents from the court accepting his defection. He did, however, permit the Ming army to send one senior general into the city to negotiate with him face to face.

Ren Quan'er and Cao Bianjiao vehemently refused to negotiate in person, both agreeing that this was certainly a trap.

He Renlong also refused. He too believed it was a trap, but he had a guilty conscience and didn't dare voice his objections as fiercely as Ren and Cao.

Zhang Yingchang felt that if he went into the city and got himself killed, the Ming army would be finished.

In the end, everyone's eyes turned to Yang Yanchang, who couldn't control himself.

Yang Yanchang was also afraid of going into the city and getting killed, so he brought along Liu Chengguang, an unranked imperial clansman attached to the Marshal's headquarters.

Once inside the city, however, the public order in Yaozhou was decent enough, and Zhang Zhen and the others treated him well — not exactly deferential, but at least very cordial.

This conduct put Yang Yanchang considerably at ease.

It was just that each of them harbored sinister designs and suspected one another, so the surrender negotiations were stuck at this point, unable to advance an inch.

Now, hearing Zhang Zhen say he regretted it, Yang Yanchang's heart instantly leapt into his throat. "Brother Zhang, why would you say such a thing?"

Bee-Tail Needle, however, looked perfectly normal. Shaking his head, he sighed, "Peerless heroes like you two generals, Yang and Liu, are merely stuck in posts as Regional Commander and Squad Commander. If I, Zhang, bring my troops over in defection, what rank could I possibly get? The court has no eye for talent!"

Yang Yanchang let out a long breath, his rigid body leaning back slightly. He waved his hands hurriedly. "Brother Zhang, you can set your mind at ease on this."

"General Zhang outside the city has already sent word by fast horse to Grand Coordinator Lian. The posts he's requested for you three generals are one Vice Regional Commander, one Regional Commander, and one Mobile Corps Commander. It will absolutely not be lower than these ranks."

He calmed Zhang Zhen and the other two slightly, then leaned forward a little and asked in a low voice, "But Brother Zhang, there are no outsiders here — why not tell me the truth? Are you three generals surrendering for real, or is it a feint?"

"Rest assured, whether it's real or fake, I can help you."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhen turned his head and closed his eyes. His eyeballs rolled beneath the lids as he mused to himself: Whether real or fake, he can help? Does the Grand Marshal's connections in northern Shaanxi really run that deep?

Then he mentally dismissed the thought, concluding that Yang Yanchang was simply fishing for information.

He clearly remembered that when Liu Chengzong gave him this mission, the exact words were that Ren Quan'er, He Renlong, and Yang Yanchang were old acquaintances — but he never said they could be trusted.

In other words, the Grand Marshal himself had no confidence in any of those three.

Then where was Zhang Zhen supposed to find confidence?

He decided on the spot not to take the bait. Opening his eyes, he frowned at Yang Yanchang and asked, "General Yang, where is this coming from? I am now in the Marshal's headquarters, intending to defect; you, General, are in the imperial court, yet you say such things."

Having said this, Zhang Zhen fixed his gaze intently on Yang Yanchang's expression. "Then please, General Yang, tell me the truth as well — which side are you really on?"

Which side?

Yang Yanchang thought to himself: How the hell should I know!

I'm a fully automatic general, and you're asking me which side I belong to... this kind of question is way too profound.

Actually, as far back as the siege of the Southern Pass of Yan'an Garrison several years ago, when he saw the fishing rod Ren Quan'er had left for him at Fan Gong Well, Yang Yanchang had already pondered this question.

He was just greedy.

Greedy for the power of a garrison officer, where one call brought a hundred responses — unwilling to follow Lion Liu in rebellion and become a desperate outlaw.

Greedy for the empty fame of the Yan'an War God, a regional fierce general — unwilling to cut ties completely with the rebel peasant army leaders.

Greedy for the rank the Ming court gave him, the salary it paid him, the honorific title it bestowed on his wife; and also greedy for the support the Liu family gave him in Yan'an Prefecture, one battle report after another claiming to have routed Liu Chengzong.

Though constrained by others, he was also greedy for the ease and comfort of life in Yan'an Garrison, longing to keep this state of profiting from both sides going indefinitely.

When Liu Chengzong had only a single Lion Camp, he could play both sides between Liu Chengzong and the Great Ming. Back then, his road was wide.

But as Liu Chengzong's power swelled like an inflated pig's bladder, the military conflict between the Great Ming and the Marshal's headquarters intensified by the day, and his road grew narrower and narrower.

Yang Yanchang already knew that if he kept walking this path, it would be a road of no return.

But he had no choice.

"I can tell the truth."

Zhang Zhen's question plunged him into deep thought. After pondering a moment, Yang Yanchang looked up and, with a complicated smile, said, "I am a man of Yan'an Garrison. Whichever side Yan'an Garrison is on, that's the side I'm on."

Zhang Zhen's eyes flickered. Confirmed — Yang Yanchang was not one of the Grand Marshal's men!

But this man wasn't firmly committed to the Great Ming either. He looked like a fence-sitter.

Just then, an officer from the Liangzhou Battalion strode quickly into the government office, clasped his fist, and reported, "General, two groups of messengers are at the south gate requesting entry. One is an envoy from General Yang's camp — he came in great haste. The other..."

The officer glanced at Yang Yanchang, stepped forward into the hall, and whispered to Zhang Zhen, "The other was sent by the Grand Marshal. The two groups ran into each other outside the south gate."

Zhang Zhen nodded slowly. "Let them both in."

Hearing that messengers had arrived from outside, Yang Yanchang waited anxiously for a moment. When the two dispatch riders in similar-colored uniforms entered the hall, he strode quickly over, snatched the letter from his own soldier's hands, and began reading.

Zhang Zhen was reading a letter as well. After finishing, his brow relaxed considerably. The letter had been sent by Liu Chengzong's men, informing him that the allied Huguang forces to the south had been routed and that the main army was now marching north.

Yang Yanchang was visibly startled when he read the letter, which prompted Zhang Zhen to ask, "May I know what news the General has received, and whether you can share it with us?"

"Ha, good news, actually." Yang Yanchang forced a calm laugh and said, "Word from the west: General Cao has joined forces with Left Commander, retaken Qinzhou Guard, and led the main army into Fengxiang Prefecture."

"Sichuan's Regional Commander Hou in the southwest has also sent native general Long Zaitian into Fengxiang. They've already broken through Dasan Pass. For the General to switch sides now — this is a perfect moment."

Zhang Zhen folded the letter in his hand and smiled. "As expected, the court has also received this news. My side says the turncoat general Luo Rucai has already been defeated and fled to the administrative seat of Fengxiang Prefecture... General, what is this about?"

He was still making light conversation when he saw Yang Yanchang already rising from his seat. Yang clasped his fists in farewell and said, "An urgent matter in camp requires me to leave the city. I must trouble General Zhang to order the city gates opened."

"You cannot!"

Before Zhang Zhen could speak, Ding Guodong, seated further down, had risen and looked at Yang Yanchang. "General, you're in such a hurry to leave — could it be that the court's victory is false, and government troops are actually preparing to storm the city?"

These words made Yang Yanchang so anxious that sweat beaded on his forehead. He denied it repeatedly. Beside him, Liu Chengguang rose with his hand gripping his saber hilt — from the look of it, he was ready to force his way out of the city.

Zhang Zhen reached out to stop Ding Guodong. "General Ding, in General Liu's presence, you absolutely must not act rashly... I trust Brother Yang's character. Surely government troops are not about to storm the city, correct?"

Yang Yanchang nodded hurriedly and cast a grateful look at Zhang Zhen. "There truly is an urgent matter in camp."

"Then the General may return at ease to handle his military affairs. Someone will open the city gates."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Yanchang had already turned and was striding swiftly out of the yamen. Liu Chengguang followed close behind. At the yamen gate, he did turn back and clasp his fists in salute toward Zhang Zhen, whom he had always respected, before departing.

At this moment, Mi Layin also stood up. He walked over to Zhang Zhen and said, "Brother Feng is holding back for fear of collateral damage. But I can see that kid isn't of one heart with the Grand Commander. If we really killed him in the city, I doubt the Grand Commander would blame us."

"You're the one calling the shots?"

Feng Weizhen gave a bitter laugh and said to Mi Layin, "The three of us are all household retainers working for the Marshal. That 'kid' you speak of — he is the Marshal's family."

"Even if he isn't of one heart with the Marshal, if his brain's broken, he deserves to die amid ten thousand troops — but he cannot die at the hands of us three... rest easy."

Having said this, Feng Weizhen smiled easily. "The Marshal has already won the battle in the south. I'd say Yang Yanchang left in such a rush not because troops outside are about to attack the city. Let's go up to the wall first and take a look."

"Even if they do attack the city, we can hold until the Marshal comes to relieve us."

Meanwhile, outside, Yang Yanchang had mounted his horse the moment he left the yamen and was galloping toward the north gate.

Once they were out of the city gate, Liu Chengguang finally asked Yang Yanchang, "General, wasn't the letter about victory in the west? Why did we leave in such a hurry?"

"You call this hurried?"

Yang Yanchang glared at Liu Chengguang. "We have no choice now — that damned Ren Quan'er!"

"What about Ren Quan'er?"

Yang Yanchang raised his hand and pointed south. "The letter says victory in the west, but Ren Quan'er got word of that victory and immediately struck camp with the Yan'an Guard and ran south to join Liu Chengzong! Quickly, quickly, we have to get back to camp at once and go after him."

"It doesn't matter that Ren Quan'er ran off, but our families back in Yan'an are all still in his hands. Just wonderful — it would've been better if the west had lost!"