Chapter 692: The Turncoat General

Ningxia Garrison.

Across the yellow sands and windblown dust, several hundred horse and foot soldiers, helmets discarded and armor shed, not a single banner among them, fled for their lives southward from the territory of the Weizhou Herdsmen Battalion.

"Damn your ancestors, Hong Chengchou!"

Ningxia Mobile Corps Commander Liu Fangming, hemmed in by over a dozen officers, had no breath left even for cursing as he fled, intent only on running south.

Two or three li behind them, guest cavalry from Changping kept up a relentless pursuit.

Liu Fangming was one of the participants in this Ningxia mutiny.

He had known the mutiny was coming, but had merely restrained his own troops and had no intention of getting involved.

The cause of this Ningxia mutiny should have been very simple: there was no grain and no soldiers' pay.

Last year, a rat plague struck the Yinchuan Plain. Over a hundred thousand rats, each biting the tail of the one ahead, formed an endless chain and swarmed through the fields devouring the crops, utterly unafraid of human contact.

People all said that when rats lost their fear of humans, they had become rat demons.

Last year's seedlings were gnawed and ruined for the most part, and this year no relief came from elsewhere — no grain, and no pay either. Of course the Ningxia Garrison troops had to kick up a fuss.

But it was only ever meant to be a fuss.

Because Ningxia is a military garrison where the lower and upper ranks are tightly bound. Historically, whenever unrest broke out, the deeper cause was always discontented officers driving their soldiers to kill some outsider who had offended them.

The reason is that Ningxia's officers, in the process of military farms turning into private land, universally reaped the greatest benefits. Their clans all hold vast estates. When soldiers go hungry, their first instinct is to seek help from their own commanders — to borrow money or grain.

And the commanders, as a rule, would lend it. There was no reason not to. The ones borrowing money and grain were soldiers, not tenant farmers.

Farming depends on the heavens for a living — the ceiling is fixed and the floor is low.

If a tenant farming fifty mu of land asks a landlord to borrow forty taels of silver, or a peasant with fifty mu tries to borrow a hundred taels, there's no need to ask — one glance tells the landlord that the man never intends to repay.

Because even if he wanted to, he could never afford to.

But the relationship between soldiers and officers is different. Officers have always seen this as an opportunity — a chance to earn a man's loyalty unto death.

Yet Hong Chengchou's measure of seizing private land to re-establish military farms struck at the very root of the Ningxia officers' interests.

So much so that some mid-to-high-ranking officers like Liu Fangming were also moved to join this mutiny.

Not that they thought they could win — after all, the ten-thousand-plus guest troops around Hong Chengchou, though remnants of defeated armies, were still an elite force that had fought across the northern realm.

So many clever people emerged, who merely instructed their subordinates to join the mutiny and used their own influence to fan the flames from behind.

Liu Fangming was one of them. His family and relatives held one hundred and seventy qing of land in Ningxia.

Not especially large in acreage, but all of it was irrigated paddy land beside the Han and Tang canals on the Ningxia Plain, planted with rice — precisely the kind of holding Hong Chengchou was targeting with the heaviest blows.

He was therefore happy to see the mutiny unfold, though not because he thought it had any hope of killing Hong Chengchou. After all, Hong Chengchou was surrounded by too many guest officers and guest troops, and moreover held the court appointments of Supreme Commander of the Three Frontiers and several Chief Regional Commander posts — a force that no single mutiny could destroy.

Many garrison officers shared his view and loathed Hong Chengchou's military farm clearance.

To put it bluntly, Hong Chengchou's clearance of the Ningxia military farms was not for the sake of the Ningxia army. He was exploiting the fact that the five Ningxia battalions had lost many men fighting in Guanzhong, bullying the widows and orphans left at home, seizing their private land to make room for the guest troops under his own command.

It was outright robbery — and in its manner, even worse than what Liu Chengzong's Marshal's Headquarters did.

The Ningxia army was very well informed about the Marshal's Headquarters' policies; after all, the soldiers and officers on both sides were well acquainted.

Especially after the fighting broke out last year, the brothers Zhao under Pacifying Lu Garrison were commanding troops made up entirely of Ningxia soldiers, and many people were even sending letters back and forth across the border wall.

When the Marshal's Headquarters cleared the army and divided the land, as long as the locals did not rise up in armed resistance, they simply took the rich families' land and distributed it to the local poor, letting the extremely wealthy and the utterly destitute meet in the middle so everyone could scrape by.

The soldiers who came from elsewhere were only responsible for suppressing landlords who put up stubborn resistance; they would never meddle with the local farmland.

Because that was exactly how the land had been divided back in their own hometowns.

And that earliest batch of wandering border troops had run straight into the sea bandits' homes, driven the sea bandits into Ü-Tsang, divided up the sea pastures, and turned every last vagrant into a ranch owner.

Precisely because of this, wherever the Marshal's army went, although there were always those who rose up to resist, there were likewise always those who held their noses and sold or divided their land first.

After all, whether an individual or a clan, it is very hard to stand against an army. If you divide the land yourself, at least you get to decide who receives it — distant relatives, close friends, even your own tenant farmers — and at the very least you earn a good name.

But Hong Chengchou's military farm clearance was taking private property, land already designated by the court as civilian land and held under deed, and confiscating it as public land to support guest troops.

How could the Ningxia soldiers ever accept that?

Liu Fangming had never expected the mutiny to succeed. Many garrison officers like him merely hoped this mutiny would frighten Hong Chengchou and make him drop his designs on their land.

But they had underestimated Hong Chengchou's resolve. He cared nothing for any mutiny and refused to negotiate terms with the border soldiers who had taken to the streets.

Hong Chengchou simply led Yansui Chief Regional Commander Yu Chongxiao straight into the headquarters camp and had the main gate barred shut.

Even when several Ningxia officers and the Military Defense Circuit Intendant Ding Qirui rushed to the headquarters camp to request the bottom line for negotiating with the mutineers, Hong Chengchou flatly refused them all.

Everyone knows that a mutiny, a military revolt, and a rebellion are three different things.

"Negotiate what? This is rebellion!"

Hong Chengchou directly designated this mutiny as rebellion, and immediately issued orders to guest-officer Chief Regional Commanders Zuo Liangyu, Zhang Yingchang, Cao Wenzhao, and others to enter the city and suppress the rebellion.

Only his second order was directed at the Ningxia assistant regional commanders and mobile corps commanders, ordering them to restrain their troops and send men into the city to announce that soldiers must return to camp, that the city was under martial law, and that no one was permitted on the streets.

The orders were extremely severe: Zuo, Zhang, and the other commanders were to lead their troops, seize the city's passes and defenses, and if denied entry, open fire with cannons and storm the city. One double-hour after retaking the defenses, anyone found on the streets was to be killed.

Not only did Hong Chengchou's resolve remain unshaken by this mutiny, he used the opportunity of suppressing the rebellion to push the military farm clearance even more resolutely. Anyone who resisted was deemed a participant in the rebellion.

One word summed it up: suppression.

Seeing this, Liu Fangming understood that the sky had clearly changed over Ningxia. Hong Chengchou had never intended to govern Ningxia as Supreme Commander — damn it, he was following Liu Chengzong's path toward becoming a local warlord. Liu Fangming hurriedly gathered his men and fled.

If he ran now, he could still make it. The land was certainly lost, but at least he could preserve his own rank, career, and life.

But no sooner had he rallied a group of hereditary garrison officers to flee than someone informed on them. Xu Yong of the Left Headquarters Camp immediately led horse and foot in pursuit. They fled from Ningxia across the Yellow River, pursued all the way past Weizhou, and drew near the border wall.

"Quick! Ma Xiantu, ride ahead with the cavalry and call for the gate! The border wall garrison commander is called Yang Yanchang. He once fought under your esteemed father's command. Tell him to come out and save us — or at least let us inside the wall!"

Liu Fangming shouted as he fled. A young officer beside him immediately led the household troops and galloped out, racing toward the border wall.

The man who rode out was Ma Xiantu, Assistant Commander of Ningxia. His father was the former Ningxia Chief Regional Commander Ma Shilong, who during the Jisi Incident had held the Imperial Sword of Authority and commanded the various armies. Yang Yanchang, Wang Ziyong, and others had all served under his command back then.

Yang Yanchang was currently serving as Assistant Regional Commander of the Reinforcement Battalion under Longxi Circuit Chief Regional Commander Wang Wenxiu, and this section of the second border wall north of Guyuan Garrison was precisely his defense sector.

But when Ma Xiantu reached Half City and called for the gate, Yang Yanchang was not at the border wall. Only his subordinate, Brigade Commander Xiao Guangdou, was stationed in the fort with two hundred men.

When the soldiers reported that it was Brigade Commander Xiao Guangdou, Ma Xiantu's heart went half cold — he did not know this man at all.

Yet to his surprise, in mere moments the gates of Half City swung open, and a gallant officer rode out on horseback.

From a distance he couldn't make him out clearly, but as he drew near, Ma Xiantu narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

This visitor was no Xiao Guangdou — he recognized him. This was clearly Xiao Guandou, Assistant Commander of Yan'an Guard and grandson of Xiao Rulan, the Shaanxi Deputy Regional Commander and Chief Military Commissioner.

Xiao Guandou recognized Ma Xiantu too. He dismounted and asked, "It's a long story. Brother, what brings you here?"

Speaking of bad luck — when Liu Chengzong stirred up trouble in Yan'an Prefecture, Xiao Guandou's grandfather Xiao Rulan passed away, so he was at home observing mourning with his father Xiao Zhuo. In the middle of that, because Liu Chengzong had the nickname Tiger General, the Prefect even summoned him for a thorough interrogation.

During all this, Yang Yanchang made one trip to serve the throne, and by the time he returned, Fushi County and Yan'an Guard both bore the surname Liu.

Xiao Guandou, like Yang Yanchang, was taken under control by Ren Quan'er, the shadow power behind Yan'an Guard. Moreover, Xiao Guandou, his father Xiao Zhuo, and his uncle Xiao Pei were separated and managed apart — Xiao Zhuo was sent to the Saimen Battalion, while Xiao Pei and Xiao Guandou were kept at Yan'an Guard to keep Yang Yanchang company fishing.

That arrangement was fine enough, until last year, when Ren Quan'er and Yang Yanchang successively led their troops to join Liu Chengzong. After that, Xiao Guandou's days became untenable.

He still had two uncles — Xiao Si, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Xiao Yi, Assistant Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Left Division, both in Beijing.

As for the three of them left behind in their hometown of Yan'an — his father Xiao Zhuo had originally held a Provincial Military Command post, but was dismissed in the third year of the Tianqi reign. Then his uncle Xiao Pei, who had idled his whole life at home, was suddenly granted by the court an hereditary appointment as a Battalion Commander of Yan'an Guard.

In short, all three of their household were easygoing types coasting on their ancestors' merit rolls. They had some ability, but not much, and no real ambition to speak of.

The three of them talked it over — counting on themselves to drive Liu Chengzong out of Shaanxi probably wasn't going to work. Dying for the dynasty? They weren't too keen on that either. Better to stage their own funerals and change their names, and bluff it out as long as they could.

The last field report Yan'an Prefecture sent to the court last year stated: Ren Quan'er, Yang Yanchang, Liu Xiangshan, Liu Chengguang, and others rose in rebellion. Xiao Guandou, Xiao Pei, Xiao Zhuo, and thirteen other military officers of hereditary merit and salary suppressed the rebellion, were defeated in battle, and killed.

Ma Xiantu had no time to question Xiao Guandou just now. He simply said, "Where is General Yang? We've come to join him. Behind us there's still a Mobile Corps General, a Guard Commander, over a dozen Defense Commanders, and more than four hundred troops. Can you let us into the city to take cover? Zuo Liangyu's troops are in pursuit!"

Xiao Guandou was completely baffled. "Zuo Liangyu has rebelled?"

By this time, Liu Chengzong in Xi'an Prefecture had already received word of the Ningxia mutiny, but the Longxi Circuit still didn't know — everything there was business as usual.

"If Zuo Liangyu rebelled, why would I be running? I'm the one who rebelled!"

Xiao Guandou froze for a moment, none too quick on the uptake, then sniffed twice and nodded with great satisfaction. "You picked a fine time to rebel!"

With that, he rubbed his hands together. "Quick, follow me into the city!"

You can't imagine how thrilled Xiao Guandou was inside. Ma Xiantu's father, Ma Shilong, had a status comparable to his own fourth granduncle Xiao Ruxun. If even a man like that had rebelled, didn't it just prove that his own coerced defection was no fault at all!

Yet it was precisely at this moment that Xiao Guandou grew all the more cautious.

He dawdled outside the city a while longer, and only when he saw troops on Half-City raise their banners did he lead Ma Xiantu inside.

This was an arrangement he had made before leaving the city — fearing the enemy might trick their way in, he had his uncle Xiao Pei muster soldiers inside the city and send word to Red Castle Fort south of the border wall, asking Yang Yanchang to seize the border wall at once.

There was no helping it — under Yang Yanchang's command, Xiao Guandou harbored not the slightest thought of rebellion.

First of all, in the Great Ming, the three of them had all been just coasting along. In the Marshal's Headquarters, they had instead found opportunities to put their talents to use.

Xiao Guandou became a city-defense general beyond the border wall, Xiao Pei led troops on the front lines, and Xiao Zhuo opened up farmland in the rear around Libao Fort and Heishuiyuan. Everyone got what they wished for.

Secondly, Yang Yanchang might be a bit lacking in other abilities, but when it came to keeping his generals in check, he had a real knack for it.

Because he himself had once been on the receiving end of such control, he knew from personal experience exactly how to make a man's life miserable.

Ma Xiantu had been inside the city for only a moment — barely time enough to drink two ladles of water — when Liu Fangming and the others arrived, travel-worn and dusty.

Xiao Guandou had intended to let them into the city, but to his surprise, in just that short span of time, Yang Yanchang's order had already come through from the border wall.

"Battalion Commander Xiao, General Yang has ordered: do not permit them into Half-City. Have them continue south to the Second Border Wall. The General has already ascended the Second Border Wall."

Just as Xiao Guandou was relaying Ma Xiantu's news to Red Castle Fort by the border wall, Yang Yanchang had also received orders from Wang Wenxiu — a mutiny had broken out in Ningxia, ordering him to mount the wall and patrol in defense.

Not long after Yang Yanchang left the city, he received Xiao Guandou's message and learned that a force under Zuo Liangyu was behind them. This basically confirmed the Ningxia mutiny was real. He immediately mustered his troops and sent word to Pingliang Prefecture to report the situation and request reinforcements.

While leading seven hundred troops toward the Second Border Wall, Yang Yanchang sent a string of orders north to Xiao Guandou. The first was for Xiao Guandou to defend Half-City himself and let Liu Fangming and the others through to the Second Border Wall.

Barely a quarter-hour later, a second order arrived, commanding Xiao Guandou to pack up everything in the city, large and small, and withdraw from Half-City the moment the Ming army arrived.

Half-City had once been a whole city. At the end of the Yuan dynasty, the Qingshui River flooded and changed course, washing away half the city wall along the water, leaving only half a city — hence the name.

Though only half a city wall remained, the other half was protected by the river channel. Between the two border walls, it still counted as a large fortification with defensive capability.

The reason Yang Yanchang changed his military order in the space of a single quarter-hour, ordering Xiao Guandou to abandon the city defenses, was that he had linked up with his trusted favorite general, Liu Xiangshan.

Battalion Commander Liu Xiangshan and Squad Commander Liu Chengguang, this father-and-son pair, were the main fighting strength of Yang Yanchang's battalion.

Before the two of them arrived, Yang Yanchang had only planned to have Xiao Guandou defend Half-City, let Liu Fangming and the others through the border wall so the Ming army couldn't catch up, and then, seeing the defenses were tight, the Ming would withdraw on their own.

But Liu Xiangshan and Liu Chengguang could not stand seeing Yang Yanchang in such a cowardly state.

The father and son were relatives of the Grand Marshal, and also opportunists in these chaotic times.

Because they had followed Yang Yanchang to serve the throne in bloody battle and won their ranks with Eastern Brigand heads taken in combat, they had served the Great Ming Emperor, and their enthusiasm for submitting to Liu Chengzong was not high.

By the same token, because they had followed Yang Yanchang and been forced back into the ranks in an inglorious fashion, even now the father and son were still only a Battalion Commander and a Squad Commander. They were bottling up their drive, itching to pull off something big.

Liu Chengguang met with Yang Yanchang, and with their combined forces now over a thousand strong, while on the march he asked Xiao Guandou for details and learned that the pursuers were likewise no more than a thousand horse and foot. He immediately cupped his fists and said, "A great battle is at hand. We should take the first credit."

"General, why not order Xiao Guandou to abandon the city and keep the Ming army here? The Qingshui River west of Half-City can defend against foot, horse, and strong bows, but it cannot defend against cannon. They've come in pursuit and can't have brought heavy weapons. Our force has six Great Generals — haul them out past the border wall and blast his Changping Left Garrison!"