Chapter 81: Sworn to Die Rather Than Save Them

The sun slanted west. Zhang Xiong sat outside the city wall, hands tucked in his sleeves, growing more impatient by the moment.

He looked up at the sun's shifting light. The battalion commander of Yan'an Guard shifted his rear half a step into the shade of a tree.

Ever since the sun came up, he'd been waging this battle with it — the shade moved half a step, he moved half a step.

"Still no word? Those starving ghosts haven't sat down for a meal inside the city, have they? Company Commander Feng, go ask!"

At the mention of food, Battalion Commander Zhang's stomach let out an uncooperative growl.

The prefectural city had a strict set of alarm procedures.

Cao Yao had just seized the checkpoint at Shunyang Gate when the bronze bell in the city, cast in the Yongle era, was struck.

The guard troops on Jia Ridge, inside the southern perimeter fort, began to muster. Zhang Xiong gathered three hundred men and rushed toward Shunyang Gate at full speed.

Yan'an Guard had a contingency plan from before their last deployment, fearing that Li Bei and the others hadn't cleaned up thoroughly on their sortie and might draw Wang Jiayin to retaliate against Yan'an Prefecture.

If the bandit horde raided Yan'an Prefecture, Zhang Xiong's men on the southern perimeter fort would certainly be unable to hold it, so they marched in haste.

They wanted to get inside the prefectural city before the bandit troops completed their encirclement.

They hadn't gone far when they ran into a garrison soldier who had escaped by climbing down a rope from the city wall.

He said the starving folk outside the city had seized the gate and entered the city. That changed everything.

Zhang Xiong stopped panicking. He was even a little pleased.

He sent men back to the perimeter fort and called out another three hundred.

They turned out in full force, marching along the riverbank toward the outside of Shunyang Gate.

When they reached the gate, he gave the order to sit down on the ground and wait at ease for the starving folk to come out.

He knew the prefectural city had grain, and he knew the starving folk had entered the city for grain.

But the prefectural city's grain would not be given to him, and fighting bandits inside the city brought no benefit.

If, however, the starving folk tried to haul grain out and he routed them, the outcome would be very different.

The scheme he was working was the same as when Liu Chengzong saw the White Eagle bandits raid the fortified hamlet.

Only, the starving folk were plundering grain far too slowly.

Now it was nearly afternoon and the starving folk still showed no sign of coming out of the city. Zhang Xiong's patience wore thin, and he once again sent a man to the city wall to inquire about the situation.

Cao Yao, after all, had too few men to clear the defenders from the entire wall; he could barely hold the south gate tower.

The defenders also knew he was not easy to deal with. Some went down into the city to stop the starving folk, while others stood far off on the wall, reaching a tacit understanding with Cao Yao and his men.

In truth, at this point, if Cao Yao called them down for a meal, most of the defenders would probably defect.

Before long, Company Commander Feng came back, his helmet askew, and reported: "General, the men on the wall say the starving folk looted the grain shops and went to the reserve granary but got nothing. They've just broken open the official granary."

The reserve granary was the Ming term for a public relief granary, mainly used as emergency stockpiles for famine relief.

That the reserve granary held no grain was within Zhang Xiong's expectations. He asked urgently, "The official granary has grain, then?"

Company Commander Feng nodded. "It should. The starving folk are in the city looking for carts, donkeys, and horses — probably to haul the grain."

The weight on Zhang Xiong's heart lifted.

Guarding the prefectural city was his duty. For the sake of grain, he could discard that duty.

But if he threw away his duty and still failed to seize the grain, that would be a colossal loss.

He muttered over and over, "Good that there's grain, good that there's grain... Pass the word: half a flatbread for each man."

The flatbreads were very thin; half was very little.

Yet the banner troops were jubilant. Their general was exceptionally generous today — he'd already let them eat half a flatbread that morning.

This wasn't even mealtime, and he was letting them eat another half.

Did that mean they'd get another half in the evening?

That would be three days' rations eaten in a single day!

The government troops' morale soared.

As the men ate, Zhang Xiong paced among the soldiers and loudly proclaimed a shining vision: "Brothers, the reason I only allow you three ounces of flour a day is not that I mean to short you — it's simply that there is no grain.

On my monthly salary of fifteen dan, I too eat only one jin a day. Your sister-in-law eats half a jin a day. My little boy doesn't work, and I give him only three ounces as well. The rest of my salary goes entirely to supplement your rations."

As he spoke, Zhang Xiong raised an arm and pointed northeast. "Did that Provincial Graduate Liu of Black Dragon Mountain provoke me? Did Old Chen the Licentiate provoke me? Why did I harm them? I had no choice — you need to eat, and they were the easiest to bully. The county office gave us thirty dan of grain; that's only enough to feed you for one month.

Now, in this city, the starving folk have turned bandit. They've looted the official granary. Inside that granary are five hundred dan of rice and grain. Those starving folk are utter fools.

That grain was prepared for them by the prefectural office. I went and begged for it every day and never got a single handful — they just used it to cook gruel for them every day. Now they want to loot it. Once they haul the grain out, I'll lead you to loot them.

We'll take at least three hundred dan as spoils to hand up. Whatever extra we seize, I'll hold it all back for you. From now on, every two days we'll eat a full jin. How does that sound?"

The banner troops were ecstatic, clapping and cheering at the top of their lungs.

Zhang Xiong was also very satisfied with his banner troops' reaction. "Some of you are banner troops who've followed me from the start, and some are reformed bandits who've found your way back. I won't dare claim I can fill your bellies.

But I, Zhang, will make sure you have food in your mouths. I'd stake my own head to make sure you have food in your mouths.

It's still the same words: don't let your hands go soft when killing. They're starving folk, pitiful — you lot, living like starving ghosts, are pitiful too.

Right now, grain is limited. As long as the starving folk are around, those bastards like the prefect can't see us. They only know to relieve the starving folk, yet they still expect us to fight to the death.

When they come out soon, kill every one you see. If you kill fast enough, follow me outside the east gate and keep killing."

Zhang Xiong had long wanted to slaughter the starving folk.

He had even discussed this matter with the officials at the prefect's yamen.

This was no year of plenty. The people's strength was exhausted everywhere, and the imperial court had no means to allocate disaster relief grain.

The commoners' fields were parched and barren; the military farmlands were just as parched and barren. The prefectural city's grain was limited — that was obvious.

What does "Heaven's course is constant" mean?

Heaven's course is constant means this land can no longer sustain so many people. When it can't sustain them, the population will shrink through all sorts of strange causes.

It will keep shrinking until the land can sustain them, and then all disasters will vanish.

The prefect's yamen's approach to disaster relief was, in Zhang Xiong's view, defying Heaven itself.

You want to defy Heaven and keep people alive — fine. But do you have the ability to pull that off?

No, you don't have that ability. If you try to keep one famine victim alive, then some ordinary commoner starves to death instead.

And depending on a person's status, two banner troops might have to starve to death first before it's a commoner's turn.

Besides, Zhang Xiong thought, being killed was far more merciful than slowly starving to death.

After eating, they scouted the city again. The prefectural seat had changed its appearance once more.

The defenders on the wall said the famine victims had opened the government granary, and the county armory too, hauling out weapons and war carts to transport the grain.

Using long spears to shoulder the loads and war carts to push them, they moved sack after sack of rice and grain from the government granary toward the northwest, until they passed out of his sight.

Zhang Xiong knew at once that things had gone wrong. He hurriedly mustered his troops: "Move, move, move! They're heading out the north gate — we have to chase them fast. Under no circumstances can we let Battalion Commander Wu catch them first!"

The siege lines outside the north gate — that was Battalion Commander Wu's encampment.

Even though that fellow's troops had fled and scattered until barely a hundred men remained.

Zhang Xiong did not believe for a moment that famine victims could defeat over a hundred banner troops.

The unit advanced at speed. Just after crossing the river flats, they heard battle cries shaking the sky. Two forces were locked in fierce combat outside the city gate, and the outnumbered banner troops were even faintly showing signs of giving way.

They were trying to maneuver in this direction.

Company Commander Feng stepped forward and asked, "General, aren't we going to save them?"

"No, no saving them. Why save him? If he dies, all the grain is ours."