Chapter 677: Rushing to Register

Liu Chengzong was completely dumbfounded.

He had once heard Cao Yao say that when word of his khan title reached the Snowy Mountains, Huoluochi's three brothers had already entertained the bizarre notion of having him revive the Great Yuan and become emperor.

Now this broom spirit was even crazier — he actually sent men to trek a thousand bitter miles to Xi'an, asking Liu to formally invest him as emperor.

Liu the Lion thought to himself, if you're worried I'll curse you out for losing a battle and your army, there's no need to pull such an abstract stunt.

But you want me to enfeoff you as emperor... that's a hard thing to say.

If I enfeoff you as emperor, then what am I, the Retired Emperor?

Victory and defeat are common in war; losing your troops and getting beaten half to death is no big deal.

Even if you want to flee back to Shaanxi and stage a comeback, we don't have to go as far as pulling an abstract stunt like this.

But after his fit of madness, Liu Chengzong looked at the letter more carefully, and his expression gradually grew serious.

Zhang Yichuan really hadn't been driven to desperation after defeat.

He had struck it huge.

In the letter he told Liu that his tens of thousands of troops had disintegrated in Henan, and he had led only a thousand-odd veteran elite soldiers into Yingzhou.

Yingzhou was one of Fengyang Prefecture's nine subprefectures and eighteen counties, and it was very poor.

So poor that Zhang Yichuan regretted coming to the Central Capital at all; he planned to seize a city in Yingzhou, press-gang some able-bodied men, skip past Fengyang Prefecture, and turn his troops around to march on Jiangnan.

But what he never expected was that within less than ten days of his army stationing in Yingzhou, poor commoners from every county in Fengyang traveled over a hundred li, making a special trip to him, and delivered books and registers.

The registers recorded, in exhaustive detail, intelligence on every county in Fengyang Prefecture — precisely noting which families were wealthy, where their homes were, where there were no troops, where troops were garrisoned — and invited him to lead his army to attack.

To distinguish friend from foe, in the registers the Fengyang people left for him, they told Zhang Yichuan to raise the banner of the "Ancient Yuan True Dragon Emperor" and march on Fengyang.

They agreed that on the day he marched into each county, local forces everywhere would rise up together.

Zhang Yichuan was no rootless civilian army leader; he bore the title of Henan Regional Commander of the Marshal's Office, so naturally he dared not rashly raise such a banner on his own.

That was why a letter was sent to Xi'an, requesting Liu Chengzong to grant the investiture.

Liu Chengzong thought to himself, this broom spirit really has good luck — he's barely set foot in Fengyang Prefecture, and the local anti-Ming armed forces have already sought him out.

But although Zhang Yichuan made it sound convincing, the situation still left Liu the Lion somewhat puzzled: how could the Great Ming's own Central Capital have anti-Ming fervor that sounded even more intense than Shaanxi's?

Besides, the title "Ancient Yuan True Dragon Emperor" didn't sound very proper either.

Liu Chengzong had many doubts.

Still, the Marshal's Office did have talent.

The travel-worn Wang Ziyong and Liu Shiliu had just arrived at Xi'an Prefecture when Liu Chengzong summoned them to the military government yamen.

"This 'Ancient Yuan True Dragon' the Marshal speaks of..."

Wang Ziyong murmured to himself, "White Lotus Sect scriptures often use names like Ancient Buddha or Primordial Chaos; a name like this is most likely connected to the White Lotus Sect."

"Marshal, allow me to think it through carefully."

Wang Ziyong clasped his hands behind his back, lowered his head, furrowed his brow, and paced slowly within the hall.

Connected to the White Lotus Sect?

Liu the Lion wore a helpless expression. Although he was a certified scholar with a deep cultural foundation, after all, every trade has its specialty.

What he was most familiar with was the violence-oriented northern school of rebellion, like border troop uprisings.

He was completely in the dark about the southern school of rebellion, with its White Lotus Sect leanings toward trickery and deceit, and could only quietly wait for the explanation to follow.

Fortunately, Wang Ziyong was thoroughly familiar with this stuff. He suddenly raised his head, clapped his hands, and said, "Marshal, I remember now — it's Zhao Guyuan!"

"This man's original name was Zhao Yiping, a man of Shanyin in Zhejiang. During the Wanli reign he was active in the Jianghuai region and wrote the Guide Scripture. Later, pursued by the authorities, he changed his name to Guyuan and was honored by his followers as the Perfected Guyuan."

The Jianghuai region was precisely the direction Zhang Yichuan was now marching toward.

As for this so-called Guide Scripture, in Liu the Lion's view, it was exactly the kind of spreading-to-confuse-the-masses and fabricating prophetic and heretical texts that warranted beheading under the law.

Presumably, this so-called Ancient Yuan True Dragon Emperor was connected to this Zhao Yiping.

Liu the Lion asked, "What happened after that?"

"He prepared for several years, created a Back-Pushing Diagram and battle formation charts, appointed generals and regional commanders, and later changed his name again to Zhao Ganzhu. His actual uprising lasted less than a year before he was taken to Beijing's Western Market and beheaded. But these incense-burning, scripture-chanting things had long since spread along the Grand Canal."

"He was neither the first nor the last."

"Before him there was Zhao Quan from Yanbei, who fled to the Mongols and surrendered to Altan Khan; after him there was Xu Hongru of the Smelling Incense Sect from Shandong, and the Canal Gang's Luo Sect, the Yellow Heaven Way, the Smelling Incense Sect, and so on. During the Jisi Incident, when we fought the Later Jin at Tongzhou, I pulled them all in to cooperate once."

After Wang Ziyong finished explaining the origins of this Ancient Yuan True Dragon Emperor, he spoke again of Fengyang Prefecture.

"Fengyang Prefecture is a poor place — I heard about it even in Tongzhou. Though honored as the Central Capital, a culture of begging has long existed among the common people there."

Liu Chengzong nodded slowly.

He thought to himself, Fengyang Prefecture could never have been a good place.

If that place truly had favorable weather year after year, would it have starved the Hongwu Emperor into an orphan with no way out?

The natural environment there was never good to begin with, because of the Yellow River.

During this period, the Yellow River had long been flooding southward, and it didn't even follow the later route that entered the sea at Lijin in Shandong.

Instead, it flowed southeast from Kaifeng, seizing every river channel north of the Huai River, trying every possible way to reach the sea.

In the Ming Dynasty alone, it underwent six major course changes, each time flooding the banks into a vast watery wasteland.

At this time, the river course ran from Kaifeng through Xuzhou to Huaiyin; any slight rise in water could burst the Grand Canal.

This was also why ancient Huaiyin was renamed Huai'an in the Ming Dynasty.

Huai'an, Huai'an — peace for the Huai waters, otherwise the entire area would be flooded.

With Wang Ziyong's explanation, Liu Chengzong gained a fairly clear understanding of Zhang Yichuan's request for him to confer an imperial title.

This was no farcical request for investiture.

Rather, upon entering Fengyang, Zhang Yichuan had quickly hit it off with the local Fengyang secret societies; the two sides joined forces, borrowing the name of Zhao Guyuan to rally the faithful and increase their prestige.

Having clarified this issue, Liu Chengzong no longer had any confusion about the matter.

Because in the final analysis, Zhang Yichuan wasn't getting hot-headed and wanting to be emperor — he was using this method to achieve his goal.

In other words, the Ancient Origin True Dragon Emperor possessed extremely high "legitimacy" in Fengyang Prefecture.

So-called legitimacy is, in truth, simply the recognition of the target population.

In Shaanxi at this time, in the prefectures and counties beyond Xi'an Prefecture, over half the people had risen in rebellion, and even more had experienced wandering and begging for food.

The Marshal Manor, the outstanding rebel army born from this, possessed considerable legitimacy in its operations and rule within Shaanxi.

Of course, the Ming army operating in this region also possessed considerable legitimacy.

Commoners who had been roving bandits would not ambush the Marshal Manor's outpost riders on the road, and might even join them; the household guards of the gentry would not fire cannons at Ming soldiers, and would even vie to guide their way.

Because they naturally belonged here.

Conversely, if a Later Jin or Mongol army invaded Shaanxi, then whether roving bandits or household guards, they would all take up arms and deliver a head-on blow.

If they truly could not win and were defeated in battle, that would be submission after a brief conquest, but absolutely not recognition.

When someone raised the banner of the Great Ming or the Marshal Manor, they would still rise up in response en masse.

The same principle applied to Zhang Yichuan, this Henan Regional Commander.

When he advanced into Henan, what he relied on was not legitimacy. In all of Henan, no one recognized him; no one even recognized the Marshal Manor behind him. They were outsiders.

The desperate commoners who joined him or were coerced by him did so for opportunistic reasons, only the opportunities they sought were rather base—merely a meal and rescue amid the plague.

If, in the course of this, some integrated into his ranks, their living conditions changed, they grew wealthy or attained better social standing, and were granted official titles, then in their hearts they would also come to accept him.

It would seem as if the Marshal Manor already ruled Shaanxi, and their Henan Regional Commander was also quite proper, capable of showing people the hope of a better life.

Then in Henan, those opposing them would be fewer, and they would gain a measure of legitimacy.

But in Fengyang Prefecture of South Zhili, Zhang Yichuan had not a shred of legitimacy; every symbol on his person was a negative.

People knew very little about the Marshal Manor; what they heard more often were reports of their habitual plundering, evildoing, rebellion, and city massacres.

And his official post of "False Regional Commander" was, moreover, one from Henan.

These identities were of no help to him in conducting affairs in Fengyang Prefecture. Only by exploiting the name of Zhao Guyuan could he swiftly gain acceptance from the poor people of Fengyang Prefecture.

People had grown up hearing the story of the Guyuan Perfected One Zhao expelling Zhu; they were familiar with this title. Once someone raised this banner, all their discontent with the current state of affairs would be projected onto this familiar banner, driving them to throw themselves into the cause.

So this matter was fundamentally not something Liu Chengzong could decide.

Zhang Yichuan sending a man racing back to deliver this message was also not to have him confer an imperial title.

Rather, he did not want Liu Chengzong to hear this news from elsewhere and harbor suspicion in the future.

So he told him in advance—after all, your loyal subordinate has told you, so you can't just slap me across the face now.

In truth, Liu Chengzong surmised, speed is the essence of war; by the time Zhang Yichuan's messenger had set out, this banner of the Ancient Origin True Dragon Emperor should already have been raised in Fengyang Prefecture.

Whether he conferred it or not was, in fact, of no real consequence.

For Liu Chengzong, what needed consideration was merely the chain reaction this incident would trigger.

He was pondering before the Great Ming Complete Map obtained from the Xi'an Prefecture office when Liu Xiangyu and Yang Dingrui arrived together.

The two elders told him excitedly: "The procedures for establishing a reign title and proclaiming a system are already in order, and the designations for conferring the Twelve-Rank Martial Merits have also been compiled. Two special merit ranks, Loyal Martial Lieutenant and Jianzhang Commandant, have been established specifically for enfeoffing meritorious officials."

The Twelve-Rank Martial Merits were honorary titles from the Tang Dynasty, ranging from Rank One to Rank Twelve, enjoying treatment equivalent to official ranks from Junior Seventh Grade to Senior Second Grade.

The requirement for earning martial merits was achieving victory as a battlefield commander, with different merit ranks awarded based on the relative troop strengths of both sides and the number of enemies killed or captured.

Troop strength disparity was divided into three grades: outnumbered by the enemy was called a Superior Engagement; equal strength, a Middle Engagement; outnumbering the enemy, an Inferior Engagement.

Based on the proportion of total enemy strength killed or captured, it was also divided into three grades: killing or capturing forty percent was called a Superior Capture; twenty percent, a Middle Capture; ten percent, an Inferior Capture.

At the same time, based on the battlefield situation and the enemy's elite quality, it could be divided into three classes: the most arduous was First Class, the easiest was Third Class.

By combining the engagement grade, troop strength disparity, and capture grade, the merit rank reward could be determined.

Superior Engagement, Superior Capture, First Class, would earn a five-rank merit reward; Second Class, four ranks; Third Class, three ranks.

Superior Engagement, Middle Capture; or Middle Engagement, Superior Capture, First Class, a four-rank merit reward; Second and Third Classes decreasing accordingly.

Superior Engagement, Inferior Capture; Middle Engagement, Middle Capture; or Inferior Engagement, Superior Capture, First Class earned three ranks; Second and Third Classes decreasing accordingly.

In other words, only by fighting outnumbered and defeating a stronger foe, with kills and captures exceeding forty percent, could one attain the Fifth-Rank Martial Merit.

This was the most common merit rank for rewarding achievement; of course, there were also special feats like Leaping Assault—charging and routing the enemy before battle lines were formed—surrender merits for vanguard charges that accepted enemy capitulation, and extraordinary deeds like slaying generals or seizing banners, each carrying different weight.

And the Loyal Martial Lieutenant and Jianzhang Commandant specially established by the Old Master were seniority merit rewards created specifically for the veteran soldiers and officers from the time of proclaiming kingship and establishing institutions.

The former, as the First-Rank Martial Merit, would be universally conferred upon veteran soldiers who had followed Liu Chengzong since the Lion Battalion period but had not become officers, granting them the official salary and treatment of Junior Seventh Grade.

The latter, as the Fifth-Rank Martial Merit, would be conferred upon the army's Commanders-in-Chief, Deputies, and Assault Commanders, serving both as an honorary title and providing an additional salary at Junior Fifth Grade, as a reward for their support in proclaiming kingship.

"Father, are there many such veterans in the army?"

Liu Chengzong wore an expression of inquiry and said, puzzled: "The original old hands, even counting those who became officers, probably aren't that many, are they?"

Six years of campaigning across the northwest and southwest, challenging powerful foes on all sides with hardly a month without battle—in between, some had left, some were wounded, some died in battle, and others had been transferred elsewhere.

In the entire Marshal Army, those with such seniority were probably few.

"There are fifty-eight who should be conferred the Loyal Martial Lieutenant, and there should be four more, but they could not be found."

Mentioning this number, Liu Xiangyu was also full of emotion: "One of them was even a student I taught; he may have left the ranks to do something else."

Yang Dingrui added: "There are, however, rather more officers who should be conferred the Jianzhang Commandant—one hundred and thirty-seven commanders. This expenditure would be less than thirty thousand shi per year."

Liu Chengzong had no objection to this and nodded: "It is only right. Their support is far greater than that of a single battalion; maintaining a battalion costs more than this."

The Marshal Manor, having taken Shaanxi, had grown wealthy. The annual revenue from taxation and military farms in Xi'an Prefecture alone exceeded nine hundred thousand shi, enough to make Liu the Lion flush with wealth and full of swagger.

Liu Chengzong accepted the roster of merit officials his father brought, pressed it down on the desk without looking, and instead turned his head and said: "Zhang Yichuan sent a letter, asking me to confer upon him the imperial title of Ancient Origin True Dragon, to facilitate his operations in Fengyang Prefecture."

As soon as his words fell, Yang Dingrui's eyes lit up: "That is excellent news!"

"Excellent news?"

Liu Xiangyu narrowed his eyes: "What kind of excellent news is this? Running off to Fengyang Prefecture to establish a reign title and proclaim himself emperor? This imperial title sounds utterly unorthodox. Besides, you conferring it upon him—how absurd. Proclaiming it to the world would only make people think our Great Marshal Manor is also full of unorthodox characters, inviting ridicule."

"No, Father, this is merely an imperial title. The Marshal Manor's own talent reserves would struggle to establish a reign title and institutions; Zhang Yichuan certainly lacks that ability."

Liu Chengzong explained with a smile: "It is simply that there was a Zhao Guyuan uprising there in the past, and he is borrowing that name to conduct affairs."

"Mm..."

Liu Xiangyu was silent for a moment, pondering quietly, still seeming to find the matter absurd.

Only after a moment did he ask Yang Dingrui, "And why do you say this is a good thing?"

"Grand Sire, your concern clouds your judgment. For the Marshal to declare kingship — to enfeoff meritorious officials, rally hearts, and formalize the lord-vassal relationship with outer domains — has already become unavoidable."

As Yang Dingrui spoke, he spread his hands and said, "Declaring kingship and establishing a regime brings no practical benefit to our state's affairs. The Ming court will inevitably deploy a great army along the Shanxi-Henan line, leaving no obstacles to our east."

"Though we have now relocated to Xi'an, this place is not yet developed. It can only supply grain and pay, but weapons, armor, equipment, horses, donkeys, and mules must all be brought in from Hexi. Cattle and sheep rely even more on deliveries from the Oirats and Qinghai."

"Without a year or half a year of painstaking development, the whole of Shaanxi will truly be difficult to digest."

Yang Dingrui pushed up the hawksbill glasses on his nose and looked at the map hanging behind Liu Chengzong. "Once war breaks out, if we win swiftly and our great army thrusts into the lands north and south of the Yellow River, with a thousand li of fertile fields open for our forces to rampage through — from where will we resupply the expended troops, horses, weapons, and equipment?"

"From where will the talent to govern the commanderies and counties come?"

"Who will guard the thousands of li of territory in our rear?"

"By then, our frontline generals will be stationed in four directions, our main forces scattered across various places. Should we suffer a setback, there won't even be time to assemble the troops. Relying solely on unreliable surrendered generals and weak armies, whether we could even retreat back to Shaanxi would be in question."

"And if we do not win swiftly, then the fine lands of Henan will inevitably be torn back and forth by the scourge of war — likewise no good thing."

After Yang Dingrui had finished this string of questions, he pointed to the southeastern part of the map and said, "At present, Zhang Yichuan intends to act under an imperial title and threatens the Ming ancestral tombs. The Ming court is certain to deploy a great army to encircle and suppress him, forming a siege around Fengyang."

"The Grand Marshal may send a letter granting him authority to act expediently under the title of Ancient Origin True Dragon. Once the Ming court's troops have formed their encirclement, the Grand Marshal shall establish his reign title, perform the Heaven-worshipping ceremony, and march his troops out of Tong Pass, breaking the encirclement from the northwest. Have Zhang Yichuan feint northward, presenting the appearance of joining forces, and wait for the situation to shift."

Yang Dingrui grew more and more excited as he spoke, clapping his hands. "Break out southward, advance the troops on Yingtian, and our army will seize the opportunity to take Henan. The northern route crosses the river into the heartland of Shanxi, the southern route pushes the battle line to the line of the Yellow River, forming a counter-encirclement against the government troops..."

Liu Chengzong understood. Yang Dingrui's key point was rhythm.

With Zhang Yichuan acting under an imperial title in the southeast, drawing the Ming court's main force to encircle and suppress him, even a great victory by the Marshal's army would inevitably fix its attention on the heavy troop concentrations to the south, preventing a mad gallop into Northern Zhili that would overextend the battle lines and cause strategic collapse.

From this perspective, Zhang Yichuan's acting under an imperial title at this moment had indeed drawn fire for Liu Chengzong, leaving the Ming court unable to attend to both fronts.

Only, no one had imagined that at this very moment, there were far more than just two emperors.

The Minister of the Rites Office rushed swiftly into the great hall, his expression agitated, a letter in hand as he walked and spoke. "Grand Marshal, urgent report from the Mobei Commandery. The Later Jin, along with the subordinate Mongol tribes, have petitioned to confer a title of honor upon Hong Taiji. The Later Jin have resolved to abolish the old Jurchen designation of Jushen and unify them under the name Manchu. He has usurped the imperial title, changed the era name to Chongde, and fixed the dynastic name as Daicing Gurun."

Zhang Xianzhong raised his left hand high, pointing and gesturing, his expression like one mourning his parents, and wailed, "That yellow Tartar's heart deserves death — he's stolen our dynastic name Daqing, the very name we used when we rose up in Qinghai!"