Chapter 70: Clouds of War

In late May, Liu Chengzong and Cheng Yun's group were escorting rice to the prefectural city to buy horses and mules when they ran into Probationary Captain Yang Yanchang on the road.

They learned that Liu Guoneng's situation had taken a turn for the worse.

Killing those government troops from the south hadn't caused any trouble — in matters like this, the local officials still shielded their own people.

But during an inspection, the constables discovered that several villages around Nanjia Mountain had stockpiled a lot of grain.

In a famine year, the constables and runners of Yan'an Prefecture were being paid only half wages — everyone was starving.

Some constables got crooked ideas and wanted to pin a "colluding with bandits" charge on them, arrest a few people, and extort some grain.

What they never imagined was that these people really were bandits — and bandits with something to hide, at that.

Their nerves couldn't take it; they couldn't withstand that kind of scare.

All seven constables sent to investigate died on Nanjia Mountain.

The entire village packed up their families and, overnight, hauled their grain deep into the mountains.

The authorities couldn't find anyone else, but they knew there was a Xiucai scholar there named Liu Guoneng.

This time he didn't even need the alias "Sky-Crasher" — he went straight onto the wanted posters under his real name.

Fortunately, the authorities were too tied up to deal with a minor player like him.

Summer had arrived, and with it, northern Shaanxi's semiannual tax-resistance season.

Constables and runners had become the number-one high-risk profession in Yan'an Prefecture; they couldn't attend to anything else.

Knowing that Liu Guoneng was wanted — and still alive — Liu Chengzong felt deeply relieved.

It wasn't that he was spiteful. A person can never change another person — but reality can.

Harsh reality can shatter a person's beautiful illusions.

You only gain wisdom by suffering a loss.

Before he met that Thousand-Household Zhang who took the grain and did nothing, Liu Chengzong had also harbored beautiful illusions about the way of the world.

To recognize one's errors and correct them — there is no greater good.

But Yang Yanchang had something even more important to tell him.

They walked east from the livestock market outside the south gate until they reached a deserted spot and found a shaded hillside.

Yang Yanchang said, "See that? The South City garrison camp is drilling nonstop from dawn to dusk. Word's spreading through the guard — there's going to be a war."

Yan'an Prefectural City is divided by the Yan River into two towns, north and south. The north side is the main city; the south side is the smaller one. The parade ground is also on the river's south bank.

Liu Chengzong asked, "Yanchuan?"

"I'm afraid it's more than that. Five days ago they transferred a Brigade Commander from Xi'an, pulled seven hundred banner troops from the guard battalion to form up and train, and up north they gave Li Bei another two hundred elite cavalry.

Down south there's also the Grand Coordinator's own regiment. This kind of deployment isn't just about Yanchuan."

Zhang Tianlin's prediction had come true. The various insurgent bands had converged, and their scale could no longer be dismissed by the court's self-deception.

This time, the court was getting serious.

Liu Chengzong asked, "What's the situation with the guard troops? If they're about to march and have no grain, will they… requisition grain?"

"You thought of that? The reason I called you over was exactly to talk about this. Be careful. The banner troops in the guard have all gone mad. Just from what I know, two have already hanged themselves these past few days."

"Hanged… hanged themselves?" Liu Chengzong couldn't believe it. "They're that afraid of fighting?"

Yang Yanchang didn't like hearing that. His face darkened. "No one's afraid of fighting. They'd be glad to — they wouldn't even fear marching to their deaths on empty stomachs.

What they fear is not being allowed to die. That Brigade Commander they brought in from Xi'an is a motherfucker. He's drilling the banner troops to death — they're pissing blood at night. In just a few damn days, what's the point of this last-minute cramming!"

With that, Liu Chengzong understood.

The guard troops received no pay; their rations depended entirely on the harvest from the military farmlands. A meager ration that was already insufficient had to feed not only the regular soldiers but also the supernumeraries.

In a famine year, when ordinary people couldn't get food, the guard's banner troops had it even worse.

Sending them into battle was sending them to die, but if they got lucky and took a few heads, they could become guard officers and change their fate. At worst, they could abandon their families and desert.

But not letting them go die, and instead drilling them relentlessly — with no oil in their bellies, what the hell could they possibly train into?

In times like these, for the poor, living was just suffering anyway. A single stroke of the blade — death — really wasn't that hard.

At least it was quick.

Liu Chengzong asked, "So what's your plan?"

"Me?"

Though he knew there was no one else around, Yang Yanchang still glanced in every direction before whispering, "The reason I came out today was to take a batch of old weapons from the guard and leave them with a blacksmith for repairs.

Once these are fixed, I'm not bringing them back. My men won't survive this campaign. I'm going to take them and run."

"Run where?"

"Join Guoneng, of course. He's got grain — enough to last until autumn. Once the government troops have left, we'll figure out the rest."

Yang Yanchang was telling Liu Chengzong, but it also sounded like he was steeling his own nerve. "I've thought it through. This time the government troops are mainly going after those big-name bandits who've stuck their necks out. If we hide in the mountains and don't cause trouble, they probably won't come after us."

Seeing that Yang Yanchang had a plan, Liu Chengzong didn't say much more, just offered a few words of comfort.

But to his surprise, Yang Yanchang was still quite optimistic. In a flash, he changed tack and asked, "So, are you looking to take a wife? Or maybe for your attendants, your clansmen? Or perhaps you want a daughter, a son?"

The sudden swerve caught Liu Chengzong completely off guard. Puzzled, he said, "Wait — Brother Yang, how did we suddenly get onto buying women?"

"It's those three families. One of them had a sense of honor — hanged himself together with his wife. The other two left behind two wives, two boys, and three girls — five children with no one to look after them.

They're all from guard-farm families. The women are young and hardworking; the children are sensible and obedient. If you want to buy, I'll help you negotiate. The price is cheap — twenty or thirty jin of millet for one. Once things settle down, they'll be sold off to Shanxi."

Liu Chengzong's eyes widened. "Why do they have to be sold? Just because the husbands died, the in-laws want to pawn them off?"

"What in-laws? The men are dead but the debts aren't cleared — the grain they owe still has to be repaid. Every military household is on the brink of starvation, waiting for grain to save their lives. There's no room for mercy.

Look, if you want to buy a horse with a dan of grain, you still need to add three dou. In our guard, a dan of grain gets you seven people outright. Whatever you put them to, isn't that a hell of a lot more useful than a horse?"

Liu Chengzong waved his hands hurriedly. "Don't bring that trouble on them. Do you really think following me would be better than being sold to Shanxi?"

"Fine, if you're not interested, forget it. I just figured that even if you got your head chopped off following him, at least you wouldn't suffer indignity. We're brothers-in-arms — I can't stand the thought of their families being humiliated after they're dead."

Yang Yanchang was quick to let it go, and in turn warned him, "But watch out for Zhang Xiong. His thousand-household unit only has a little over three hundred troops. A few days ago, Brigade Commander Fei gave him a severe beating, and just yesterday he came back with twenty-some heads from outside."

"Zhang Xiong — you mean Battalion Commander Zhang?"

"Yeah, that's him."

Yang Yanchang nodded and leaned in close. "Commander Fei wants him guarding Yan'an. Once the government troops march out, no one will be able to rein him in. Who knows what he'll do for money and grain."

Liu Chengzong drew a deep breath and raised a hand to pinch his brow.

Damn it all. First buying land brought famine refugees.

Now buying horses — he absolutely could not let this Battalion Commander Zhang find out.

Given the man's track record of dealing with bandits, the moment he got wind of Black Dragon Mountain trading grain for horses, he'd surely come extorting his way to their door.

How much longer would he have to swallow this crap?

Liu Chengzong was silent for a long while, then suddenly looked up. "Where does Battalion Commander Zhang live? The garrison fort outside the city?"

The question startled Yang Yanchang. "What are you planning?"

"That man led troops to my home before, demanding grain. He took the grain and did nothing — then made a private deal with the bandits who slaughtered the village, trading commoners' heads for merit."

Liu Chengzong's face was all genial warmth. "I'm just asking."

"Tiger General, don't do anything stupid. His place is in the city, the one big compound right by the Drum Tower. If you make a scene, you won't get away."

Yang Yanchang pointed toward the prefectural seat. "Besides, the city's under martial law again. Everyone coming or going has to register."

Martial law made things difficult. That meant he could only act outside.

"Hey, since you're running anyway — any way you can get me a cannon? A light little cannon, the kind two donkeys can pull would be best."

Before Yang Yanchang could refuse, Liu Chengzong raised three fingers and added, "Three dan of grain. You buy the men off yourself. I just want the cannon."