Chapter 667: Old Acquaintances, Former Subordinates

Liu Chengzong returned to Yan'an Prefecture, but not for the nominal purpose of ancestor worship.

He was really there to observe the reorganization of Zhang Zhen's Yanqing Brigade; everything else — He Renlong, Ju Sirang, or the Qingyang Prefecture matters — was just incidental.

Because Zhang Zhen had pulled off something utterly absurd this time.

The orders for the newly organized brigades were delivered to the various Chief Commanders in two batches.

The first was the promotion notice, along with the one-brigade-four-battalion establishment; the second, on top of that foundation, was the notification of troop transfers for each brigade, with mobile corps and reinforcement battalions incorporating two Mongol and Tibetan chiliarchy headquarters.

And in Yan'an Prefecture, because of the objective reality of landmines on the official roads, the interval between the two orders was somewhat long — several days later than when the other circuit commanders under the Marshal's headquarters received theirs.

Yet it was precisely this short delay of a few days that allowed Zhang Zhen to pull off something big.

That bastard expanded three battalions with a wave of his hand.

When he entered Yan'an Prefecture, he originally had just his own and Ding Guodong's two battalions; now, in one stroke, he pushed the Yanqing Brigade, designed for twelve thousand troops, straight to full strength.

By all accounts, in the extremely loosely assembled Marshal's headquarters, this wasn't really a big deal.

If you're at full strength, you just weed out the old and weak — whatever number of troops the headquarters supplements you with, you dismiss that same number from your own ranks and send them home to farm.

But as it happened, Zhang Zhen couldn't weed them out — or rather, he was unwilling to weed out the old and weak — yet he had no other solution and dared not defy Liu Chengzong's orders.

So he had no choice but to write a letter to the Grand Marshal, explaining the situation in Yan'an Prefecture.

And so Liu Chengzong came.

Liu the Lion returning to his hometown wasn't specifically to deal with Zhang Zhen; he just came to see the novelty for himself.

Because he too couldn't make up his mind about whether the Yanqing Brigade needed to trim its forces.

The Yanqing Brigade had arbitrarily expanded by over six thousand men, and when Liu the Lion received the letter, his head buzzed and he blazed with fury.

Damn it, over seventy thousand dan of grain a year — it doesn't hurt because you're not the one paying for it, right?

Right then he considered sending Zhang Zhen and his six thousand expanded troops out on an assignment — to take out Chechen Khan Sholoi, who commanded forty thousand troops on the steppe.

Or get taken out by Sholoi.

This was also why he chose not to go to Qingyang Prefecture first, but instead headed directly north to Yan'an Prefecture.

To him, even if the sky fell, nothing mattered more than the army.

Of course, another reason was that Ju Sirang and He Renlong in Qingyang Prefecture genuinely ranked very low in his heart.

Even if those two bastards smashed Qingyang Prefecture to pieces, they couldn't overturn the heavens.

But... when Liu the Lion entered Yan'an and saw Zhang Zhen, he was stunned.

On his way to Yan'an Prefecture, Zhang Zhen had written in his letter that he was unwilling to dismiss the troops because these six thousand-plus men supplied their own rations and pay.

Supplied their own rations and pay?

The blazing fury rising in Liu Chengzong was, upon seeing those four words, extinguished as if by a basin of cold water.

Only the intent to kill remained.

The matter was simply too outrageous, so much so that Liu Chengzong was more inclined to believe that Zhang Zhen himself was the problem.

But by the time Liu Chengzong had made full preparations to return home and suppress a mutiny, and actually reached Yan'an Prefecture, he discovered that what Zhang Zhen had said was actually true.

The Yanqing Brigade in Yan'an Prefecture really did have over six thousand registered troops who not only didn't eat the Marshal's headquarters' army rations, but also paid their soldier's stipends directly to Zhang Zhen's Chief Commandant headquarters, according to the different troop types of infantry and cavalry.

Even after Liu the Lion got the full picture, it took him a long while to recover.

Those soldiers were basically all young men from the baojia system, summoned by Zhang Zhen from the village elders of every county in Yan'an Prefecture and recommended by those elders.

Initially, Zhang Zhen recruited them as soldiers partly because he didn't understand the headquarters' specific policies for reorganizing new brigades and thought he had to recruit the troops himself.

And secondly, to keep Yan'an Prefecture from descending into chaos.

There was no helping it — Yan'an Prefecture was chaotic to begin with, all under village elder self-rule. Zhang Zhen, leading Ding Guodong's two battalions into Yan'an, had walked on edge the whole way.

It wasn't until Liu the Lion announced a five-year tax exemption for Yan'an Prefecture that Zhang Zhen dared to send men into the countryside with orders, telling the village elders everywhere to dismantle the landmines on the official roads.

On this trip into Yan'an Prefecture by Liu Chengzong, the landmines on the official roads still hadn't been fully cleared.

So the moment Fengweizhen received word that the Yan'an and Qingyang Chief Commandant headquarters were being reorganized into the Yanqing Brigade, with four battalions under it, he immediately pulled all those young men from the baojia of every county and village in Yan'an Prefecture into the army.

He was originally a militia leader born and bred in Yan'an Prefecture, and he understood perfectly how common folk turned from law-abiding subjects into roving bandits.

Guarding the home base of Yan'an Prefecture for Liu Chengzong, Zhang Zhen dared not allow the slightest disorder.

He knew very well that to prevent disorder, he had to push the Marshal's headquarters toward establishing substantive rule over Yan'an within these five tax-exempt years.

To Zhang Zhen, this was simple: since the Marshal wanted to recruit troops anyway, I'll pull all your young men into the army. In five years they'll all be officers, their interests bound tightly to the Marshal's headquarters.

Let's see who still dares to oppose the Grand Marshal then!

As a result, large numbers of native Yan'an Prefecture sturdy peasants and local strongmen were recruited by him into the army.

But just as his Yanqing Brigade had finished expanding the four battalions, the second order regarding reorganization arrived from Xi'an Prefecture.

"Under the brigade, four battalions: the reinforcement battalion shall have one thousand Tibetan regular troops, the mobile battalion shall have one thousand Mongol regular troops, and troops will also be transferred from other battalions to supplement the strength."

Zhang Zhen was dumbfounded, thinking, my army is already way over establishment, what's there even left to supplement?

In the end, this fellow steeled himself and wrote Liu Chengzong a letter explaining the situation, while simultaneously convening the village elders for a council.

The village elders from various places — many of them, come to think of it, were wounded veterans from the Lion Battalion back in the day, sharing a bond of old allegiance with the Grand Marshal. Once everyone discussed it, they easily found the crux of why the Grand Marshal was reluctant to expand the army.

It was simply army rations.

The village elders of the three subprefectures and fourteen counties put their heads together and concluded that having their young men serve in the Yanqing Brigade was beneficial.

They were training sturdy peasants anyway, and the rations couldn't be avoided regardless, so they might as well hand the men over to Zhang Zhen. After all, the Marshal's headquarters' equipment and training were far superior to what their own locales could provide.

What's more, with the troops in the Marshal's headquarters but still garrisoned across these three subprefectures and fourteen counties, they would actually have a stronger rallying capability if trouble broke out.

So they simply devised this method of self-supplied rations and pay.

The regulation was very simple: the village elders of each county, according to their troop quota, would bear the provisions themselves and escort them to Yan'an Prefecture city twice a year.

Infantry, musketeers, and artillerymen received one hundred jin of millet flour per month; cavalrymen received fifty jin more of white flour per month than the infantry.

If, when Liu Chengzong set out from Xi'an Prefecture, his mind had been entirely filled with the thought of coming to give Zhang Zhen a dressing-down...

Then when Liu the Lion actually saw the newly recruited soldiers of the Yanqing Brigade in Yan'an Prefecture, the importance he assigned to Zhang Zhen in his heart jumped up a whole level.

From now on, this fellow's treatment can be arranged entirely on the same terms as the old hands who have followed him since the Lion Camp days.

To make people pay for the privilege of working, and then give their lives for him.

What kind of bizarre talent is that?

A rare talent!

The key point was that Liu the Lion had done the math — raising just over three hundred soldiers per county, given Yan'an Prefecture's current population and economy, actually wasn't much different from paying taxes.

By this point, he had nothing more to say, so he told Zhang Zhen: "Then let's do it this way. But your Yanqing Brigade still has to take in those two Mongol–Tibetan chiliarch battalions, which will push you over establishment to fourteen thousand men."

One brigade with two Mongol–Tibetan chiliarch battalions — for the Marshal's headquarters, this is a national policy tied to the soldier-recruitment pool.

There's no changing it.

In any case, even over establishment, the Yanqing Brigade's grain consumption will still be a third less than the other brigades.

However he figured it, he wasn't losing out. It was simply a matter of conceding a portion of Yan'an Prefecture's future political power to the local county factions.

On this matter, Liu Chengzong was open-minded.

If he had the ability to conquer the whole realm, then one Yan'an Prefecture was very, very small.

Conversely, if he lacked that ability and had to retreat to the He-Huang Valley, or was even chased to the Tianshan Mountains or driven into Ü-Tsang, then even if Yan'an Prefecture were de facto independent, what would it have to do with him?

Having settled a major matter, Liu the Lion, while gathering the village elders in his home region and holding banquets, also dispatched men to Ningzhou to pay a visit to his old superior, He Renlong.

The man he sent was Tian Shoujing.

In the early years at Yuhe Fort, he had been a squad leader under his elder brother Liu Chengzu's unit. Later, in Qinghai, he entered the Xining Camp, and afterward assisted Liu Laoye with military affairs at the New City Academy.

It was only now, when all the officers of Liu Chengzong's Tiger Guard Camp had been promoted into the three brigades, that he was pulled back to the Tiger Guard Camp to serve as its garrison chiliarch.

Tian Shoujing was not close with He Renlong. The familiarity was entirely one-sided — he knew the Garrison Commander of Yuhe Fort well, while He Renlong merely knew that he had such a man under his command.

But for Liu Chengzong, that was already enough.

Sending someone too familiar — for instance, Zhang Zhen had suggested picking a Mizhi native from the Yanqing Brigade who was He Renlong's fellow townsman — would actually make many things awkward to say.

In fact, this was exactly what He Renlong was worried about too.

Tian Shoujing set out from Yan'an Prefecture with a dozen guards, racing at full speed to Zhenning. Learning that He Renlong had already mobilized his troops and marched north, he traveled day and night to catch up outside Ningzhou city, where he intercepted He Renlong's force advancing on Qingyang.

He Renlong was in the middle of attacking Ningzhou.

Tian Shoujing was very familiar with Ningzhou. Back when he had followed Liu Chengzong there, they had been stationed up on the plateau at Dongzhi Town.

While Liu Chengzong waited to negotiate with Yang He, Tian Shoujing had been ordered to take the clerks and survey and map the terrain.

This time, coming to find He Renlong, he climbed a mountain path from far off to get a vantage point, and saw that He Renlong's encampment was much like the Lion Camp of those days.

It was also scattered in bits and pieces across several camps up on the plateau.

Some were garrison posts, some were assaulting the prefectural city below the walls, and others were running wild attacking fortified manors.

But looking at it, Tian Shoujing began to wonder — had he been following the Grand Marshal so long that his standards had risen?

Why did he feel that calling this lot an army was practically flattery?

He Renlong's force was, at this moment, truly in dire straits.

The whole army numbered close to ten thousand, but those who could be called crack troops were less than half — at a glance, perhaps only two or three thousand.

The camps were packed with women and children, three or four thousand of them, outnumbering the crack troops.

Beyond that, another two thousand or so were split between two camps, one of which was currently assaulting Ningzhou city — one look at their manner told you they were roving bandits.

The crucial point was that even the crack troops were nothing special. Warhorses numbered less than a thousand, scattered here and there. Armor and weapons were passable, but they had no proper clothing.

Many wore cloth-faced iron armor and iron-soled boots, but beneath the armored skirts their legs were bare, or at best they had on unlined trousers.

Others wore ill-fitting padded jackets and trousers but no armor, or had simply nailed the iron armor plates directly onto their padded jackets.

Seeing that He Renlong's soldiers had been reduced to this, Tian Shoujing simply sent a guard galloping down the mountain to inform He Renlong of his arrival.

He did not wait long on the mountain before he saw his own guard leading a small mounted party racing toward him.

Before long, Tian Shoujing's guard came up and reported: "General, He Renlong has sent a chiliarch named He Yong over."

Tian Shoujing smiled at that, thinking to himself that He Yong was now being addressed with the title of general too.

Before he could go down, He Yong had already come up, calling out from a distance: "General Tian, I've come to welcome you!"

In the past, He Yong had not known Tian Shoujing at all, but that did not stop him from hailing him with great warmth now.

There was no helping it — times had changed.

In any case, when it came to Liu Chengzong, He Yong had always been able to bend and shrink as needed.

The two met, and with He Yong making a deliberate effort to get close, they exchanged a round of awkward small talk before walking down the mountain side by side.

Tian Shoujing held it in the whole way, but finally could not help asking: "Brother He, how have the General's troops fallen into such dire straits?"

He Yong gave him a very strange look, thinking: Brother, why do you think we've fallen into such dire straits? Isn't it because of your Grand Marshal?

"To be honest, when Brother Tian's guard found our camp, General He was right in the middle of cursing out Yang Yanchang and Ren Quan'er for me. How are those two doing under the Grand Marshal?"

From top to bottom in He Renlong's camp, those two were the most hated men at the moment.

Earlier, everyone had thought Yang Yanchang was an iron-faced, utterly impartial bastard who kept leading troops to rob them, while Ren Quan'er was a clever little operator who knew how to handle people, always chasing after Yang Yanchang to clean up his mess.

This had kept He Renlong constantly on edge within the Five-Camp Coalition, believing he was the only one secretly in contact with Liu, and he spent his days whispering with his trusted aides, urging them to stay sharp and be extra careful when trouble arose.

In the end, those two bastards were iron nails Liu Chengzong had planted long ago. They had been in cahoots the whole time, and when things really went down, each of them bolted faster than the other.

Having that kind of connection, forget about giving a brother a leg up — they robbed their brothers every single day. And they still called themselves Yan'an Prefecture hometown fellows.

Tian Shoujing did not answer directly, but instead asked: "Brother He, under the General's command, you've now been promoted to chiliarch?"

Once He Yong nodded, Tian Shoujing put on a look of deep sympathy, then smiled and said: "General Yang is now a colonel, and General Ren… he's the commander-in-chief of the Marshal's newly formed Second Brigade."

"If you, old brother, had followed the Grand Marshal back then, even if you weren't a commander-in-chief now, you'd at least be a colonel or a mobile corps commander."

He Yong could see Tian Shoujing's teasing, but he didn't mind. He waved his hand and said: "Ah, no point talking about that now. Every man has his own fate. If not for General He, a worthless life like mine would have been worked to death carrying loads for the Chang family landlords back home within a few years."

"See this?"

As he spoke, He Yong raised his hand and pointed toward the camp full of women and children, saying: "Ever since Ren and Yang led their troops to join the Grand Marshal and the northern-route Five-Camp Coalition collapsed, the General stationed us at Zhenning. These past months, he's sent men trip after trip to bring over every brother's wife and children they could fetch."

"As for the garrison troops looking so ragged, there was no helping it. We marched out in summer, and the brothers all pawned their winter clothes for spending money."

"We figured if we died on the battlefield we wouldn't need clothes, and if we didn't die and killed a couple of men, the clothes would come back to us. Who knew we'd never fight a single battle, only to leave our homes behind and flee all the way to Qingyang."

He Yong waved his hand, unwilling to dwell on those wretched matters, and simply asked, "This time the Grand Marshal sent Brother Tian over — is he planning to accept our surrender, or…"

"The Grand Marshal sending me here is surely out of regard for old ties. Otherwise, when he received Prefect Ju's plea for aid, he'd have just sent troops directly. Why else would he have me come?"

Tian Shoujing said, "The Grand Marshal didn't set anything in stone. He only said it depends on your intentions. In any case, the troops must halt first and not advance toward Qingyang. Otherwise, there's nothing to discuss."

"As for the rest, you set the terms — official posts, troops, grain and pay, armor and weapons. You can tell General He, and there's no need to ask for the moon. Just one hammer strike."

"If the terms are suitable, then from now on we're one family eating from the same pot. If they're not suitable…"

Tian Shoujing shook his head, the meaning all too clear. "Yan'an, Pingliang, the Guanzhong interior — troops march into Qingyang, and there'll be nowhere left to run."

"Halting the advance is no problem. The brothers and the Grand Marshal were one family to begin with. Just from our Yuhe Fort alone, there are several hundred men."

He Yong let out a short laugh, then straightened his expression and said, "But we've all received the General's kindness, so we must heed the General. The General… Brother Tian, you know well — he has far too many acquaintances in the Marshal's headquarters. If the official post is too low, the General loses face, and we'll find it hard to bear too."

He Renlong indeed carried a heavy mental burden.

Never mind Liu Chengzong, that old household retainer and vanguard.

Gansu Commander-in-Chief Cao Yao, Tianshan Commander-in-Chief Liu Chengzu, Tongguan Regional Commander Zhang Tianlin — in the past, they were all squad leaders under his command. And then there was Feng Rang and that whole group, who were outright common soldiers under him.

Far too many acquaintances.

If he surrendered to Lion Liu and got appointed a mere Assistant Regional Commander, the humiliation alone would be enough.

And if Lion Liu disregarded old ties and split his military authority, making him a mere Battalion Commander, he'd have to grit his teeth and swallow the bitter pill.

"To be frank, the General's reason for attacking Qingyang this time was, first, the troops had no grain and were starving badly, and second, he wanted to absorb Qingyang's militia forces before discussing submission with the Grand Marshal."

"Now that it's been called off, I'm afraid the highest post the Grand Marshal can offer won't exceed Assistant Regional Commander. General He likely won't be able to accept that."

Having said this, He Yong lifted his chin toward the encampment not far away and said, "These ten-thousand-odd people include several thousand women and children, over two thousand attached roving bandits, and in addition, over two thousand elite combat troops — all hardy men who can endure hardship and fight. I hear the Grand Marshal holds vast territory."

His tone gradually grew earnest. "Is there anywhere — remote, bitter and cold, just enough to settle down and live — but with battles to fight, men to kill, and merits to earn?"

"A good place that can secure a Regional Commander's post for the General, while also sparing him from constantly running into old acquaintances and former subordinates?"