Chapter 130: Trading a Horse for a Person

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Outside Dantianmang Academy, the orderly sound of children reciting their lessons drifted from within.

Master Liu sat in the stone pavilion in a blue, indigo-dyed, high-collared long robe with a broad front. His expression was heavy with worry as he raised his long-stemmed pipe and took a puff. Smoke poured from his mouth and nostrils as he sighed, “War and chaos everywhere.”

Liu Chengzong stood beside him. Hearing the father of one of Shaanxi’s two most notorious rebel chieftains utter such a lament, he found it profoundly ironic.

Or perhaps the very existence of Dantianmang was itself an irony. Its school was even larger than the old clan school on Black Dragon Mountain. On this obscure little hillock stood the largest bandit academy in all of Great Ming.

Any young man of the Liu family who had received an education could find work here teaching and enlightening others. Eight elementary classrooms could accommodate one hundred and sixty pupils.

Before long, these rebel soldiers would be robbing people while spouting classical quotations.

Yang Dingrui sat to one side, carefully polishing his tortoiseshell spectacles with a piece of fine flannel. As he wiped them, he said, “The court has ordered every locality to raise troops and march to the emperor’s aid. What does Lion think?”

Liu Chengzong was staring absently into the distance. Little Sixteen was approaching with tea, nodding and swaying his head in the same rhythm as the recitation coming from the academy.

Liu Chengzong turned and said, “Teacher, I feel that proclamation has nothing to do with me.”

No matter how many edicts and proclamations the emperor issued, Liu Chengzong was not someone who would be summoned to defend the capital.

Nor did the emperor care what Lion thought.

Little Sixteen came over and set the tea in the pavilion. Liu Chengzong reached out and rubbed his head.

The little fellow’s life had improved considerably. The short hair on his head had grown in well, black and glossy, and his body was much cleaner. The days when his head was covered in lice and nits were long gone.

Yang Dingrui lifted his tea bowl and blew across it with a smile. “The proclamation may have nothing to do with you, but the governors and commanders of the five frontier garrisons along the extended border are all supposed to lead their elite troops to the capital. Shaanxi will have few seasoned soldiers left. Now the question is: what do you think?”

He set down his tea bowl. “While the relief armies march to the capital, move south to seize Fuzhou, strike west and take Qingyang, and station troops in Suide to the north. Then Yan’an Prefecture will be secure. When the frontier armies return next year, we can make a grand move in the Yan’an and Yulin region.”

With Fuzhou in hand, they would have a road south toward Yaozhou and a route for troops to advance from Qingyang. Once Qingyang was secure, they would control the Meridian Ridge, the essential route by which an army advancing from Guyuan could reach Yan’an, thereby gaining strategic depth.

Yaozhou lay in the Guanzhong region, which had suffered little from the drought. Suide Prefecture, meanwhile, was the true northern gateway and could keep the frontier troops of the Yan’an-Yulin garrison shut outside.

The plan was sound, but Liu Chengzong sighed. Sitting at the edge of the pavilion, he asked, “Teacher, what if it still doesn’t rain next year?”

Security and territory were both founded on the ability to farm. Liu Chengzong occupied Wangzhuang now not because Wangzhuang Fort stood there.

A fortress was useful mainly for making one feel good. Waking every day inside a stone stronghold could provide an unparalleled sense of safety.

In reality, living in a stone fortress was not much different from living in a house made of paper.

If one did not fight over every city and scrap of land, one could maneuver and destroy the main forces of the government army. But if one fixed one’s eyes on a single fort, one was merely choosing a grave piled high with stones.

He occupied Wangzhuang because it lay in the Xingzi River basin, where the water was abundant and irrigation was good enough for farming.

On the surface, they had taken Yan’an Prefecture from the imperial government. In truth, they could make use of less than half a county’s worth of land.

Territory was an illusion.

Only the drought was real.

Before Yang Dingrui and Liu Xiangyu could speak, Liu Chengzong hurriedly said, “The march to the capital will not go smoothly. Otherwise, I really would want Yang Yanchang to lead troops there and take a look at the eastern invaders.”

The way Liu Chengzong used the words “take a look” left Yang Dingrui and Liu Xiangyu staring at each other.

“What is there to look at among the eastern invaders?” Liu Xiangyu asked. “And what makes you say the march will not go smoothly?”

Liu Chengzong did not know how to explain.

In another version of Great Ming’s history, even without the tiny contribution he had made, the dynasty would still have collapsed in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign.

The eastern invaders were different. They were his greatest enemy.

He shook his head and skipped over his father’s first question. Reaching out, he drew circles on the stone table. “The grain I can mobilize should be no less than what all the forces marching to the capital can mobilize. I truly considered sending Yang Yanchang with troops, but no matter how I calculate it, my army would inevitably run out of food.”

He dipped a finger into the tea and drew the direction of the roads along the Great Wall on the stone table, marking one frontier fort after another.

“If the Shaanxi armies march to the capital, the border wall is the nearest and fastest route. From the Yan’an-Yulin garrison, it is three thousand li. From Guyuan and Ningxia, more than four thousand. From Lintao in Gansu, six thousand. The fastest would take a month; the slowest might take two months and still not arrive.”

The more Liu Chengzong spoke, the more solemn his expression became. He was genuinely troubled on behalf of the imperial government. Raising one finger, he said, “The three border regions and five garrisons—suppose each garrison sends five thousand men. That is more than twenty thousand soldiers. If the forts along the border wall could supply six hundred men with enough food for a full month, would my elder brother and I still have needed to return home?”

It was a simple arithmetic problem.

If a frontier fort could not feed six hundred men for a month, naturally it could not feed twenty thousand men for even a single day. In other words, over the course of two months, these armies marching to the capital would successively eat through the stored grain of every fort along the Great Wall.

Those at the front would have food. Those behind them would have none. And before one even reached the question of who had food and who did not, there was the question of whether anyone would allow them to take it.

Liu Chengzong did not know what shape this war to defend the emperor would take. He trusted the loyalty and quality of the frontier troops. Even when confronted with the greatest hardships, there would still be brave men who broke through every obstacle, reached North Zhili, served the emperor, and fought the eastern invaders to the death without hesitation.

Yet when that vast, disorderly army crowded into the capital region, finding food would be harder than finding the enemy and engaging him in battle.

With his words, Liu Chengzong painted a terrifying road of death between loyalty to the emperor and a bloody battle.

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Liu Xiangyu and Yang Dingrui fell silent.

Liu Chengzong let out a powerless sigh. “Why did the emperor have to send proclamations everywhere calling for armies to defend him? What the hell does he know?”

The emperor did not know what the words “defend the emperor” meant to the soldiers guarding the borders—the honor they represented, or how deeply the emperor was revered in their hearts.

Even less did he understand how much disaster a single command from him could bring upon those who remained loyal.

He did not even know that people had to eat.

What the hell did he know?

Liu Chengzong suddenly asked, “Father, Teacher, do you think the name Liu Chengzong carries enough weight?”

The two men had no idea why he had suddenly asked this. Yang Dingrui said, “What is it?”

“The troops marching to defend the emperor will have no shortage of deserters on the road. They will not dare return to their units. If they know who I am, might they come here?”

Liu Chengzong rubbed his chin with one hand and looked at his father and teacher. “Should I send people to receive them?”

It was, in truth, a wildly fanciful idea.

And yet, on closer examination, it seemed surprisingly practical.

Whether they came from Shanxi, the Yan’an-Yulin garrison, or Guyuan, the frontier soldiers of these three garrisons had probably all heard Liu Chengzong’s name by now.

Five thousand men from each garrison would set out. The journey was long and supplies were inadequate. It would not be an exaggeration if three or five hundred deserted from each route.

Where could these deserters go?

They could either seize a mountain and proclaim themselves kings, or come to northern Shaanxi and seek refuge with a powerful chieftain.

Among all the powerful chieftains, who enjoyed the greatest support among the soldiers?

After thinking it over, Liu Chengzong felt that at least half of those thousand or so men ought to come over to him.

Yang Dingrui had not considered the matter from this angle. Now that he did, he slapped the stone table so hard that the lid of his tea cup nearly jumped off.

“Lion, let Yang Yanchang go with Wu Zimian!”

“Him? A few days ago, the moment he heard his name had reached the Yan’an-Yulin garrison, he ran to the Xingzi River and nearly kowtowed to me. If you send him to defend the emperor, he’ll be scared to death.”

In truth, Liu Chengzong had known Yang Yanchang for a long time and knew the man was not particularly timid.

It was simply that, within the vast Yan’an Guard, Yang Yanchang himself was merely an hereditary probationary company commander. He had no real base of support. Even after being promoted, the handful of soldiers who served him remained determined to follow Liu Chengzong.

In the same position, Liu Chengzong would also have resisted leading troops to defend the emperor.

Anyone capable of commanding even two men would see his confidence shoot upward.

But if a man could not even command himself, where could he find confidence?

When the time came to flee, his subordinate Captain Ren Quan would draw his saber, the two sides of the garrison would form ranks, and he would shout, “No one runs!”

His life would simply be thrown away.

Who would not be afraid?

“Let him accompany Wu Zimian to defend the emperor, and that does not mean he has to fight,” Yang Dingrui said. “Did you not say that Wu Zimian has no support among the troops?”

He raised a hand. “Since he lacks their loyalty, help him. That rebel chieftain Wang Ziyong from Yanchuan is no longer serving as a deputy company commander. He seems quite skilled at winning people over. Send him along and have him bring the government army back to you.”

Liu Chengzong’s eyes lit up.

Now he understood. His teacher was cautious and constrained when working for the imperial government, but once freed from its restrictions, he became fiercer than anyone when it came to undermining the court and digging away at its foundations.

And he was a Metropolitan Graduate, no less. He was practically insulting the emperor’s gracious favor.

“Wang the Monk, Wang the Monk…”

Liu Chengzong repeated the name thoughtfully. In fact, the moment Yang Dingrui suggested it, the man he had thought of for the task was Cao Yao.

When it came to gathering followers and forming factions, who could surpass the old rebel chieftain Cao Yao? He knew both the people and the terrain. He had traveled through the frontier forts along the route, from northern Shaanxi to Shanxi.

He would know the road back even better.

Unfortunately, Cao Yao truly could not handle this task. If he encountered He Renlong, matters would become difficult.

Everyone knew that Cao Yao and Liu Chengzong were on the same side.

Besides, Yang Yanchang might not be willing to go.

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After discussing the matter with his father and teacher at Dantianmang, Liu Chengzong gained a clearer understanding of the overall situation. He then summoned Yang Yanchang from the Yan’an Guard, and the two returned together to the Xingzi River.

While Liu Chengzong had been gathering information, Yang Yanchang had also been doing everything he could to investigate the circumstances.

On the road, the two compared what they knew. In the end, they reached the conclusion that, for Yang Yanchang, this affair was an entirely undeserved calamity.

The imperial government’s mobilization of troops to defend the emperor had nothing to do with the Yan’an Guard. It was a matter for several commanders and the governor of Shaanxi. There was no reason for a minor military commander of the Yan’an Guard to step forward.

Whenever Yang Yanchang spoke of it, his face was full of bitterness. “What I found out is that Wu Zimian, the commander of the Yan’an-Yulin garrison, has no idea what has gone wrong in his head. He actually went to Yang He for instructions, asking to draw men and horses from my Yan’an Guard to join the army marching to the capital.”

At that, Liu Chengzong formed a suspicion. “Does he want you to bring cavalry?”

“Of course we have to bring mules and horses if we are marching to the capital!”

“I suspect Wu Zimian has taken a liking to your horses. He has that habit. Every frontier soldier in the Yan’an-Yulin garrison knows it. Back when I was at Yihe Fort, he even seized the garrison commander’s horses.”

“But where would I get horses?”

“You do not have any, but I do. He probably thinks that since you defeated me twice, you must have captured some warhorses.”

That was only Liu Chengzong’s guess. There was no other possibility. If Wu Zimian were short of a large army, he might have had an excuse, but gathering and assembling two or three thousand elite soldiers would not have been a problem for the enormous Yan’an-Yulin garrison.

There was simply no reason to draw troops from the Yan’an Guard.

The most likely explanation was that Wu Zimian was being greedy again.

Besides, bandits were everywhere and transportation was difficult. Shaanxi had essentially half-abandoned Yan’an Prefecture. The authorities did not even know the true condition of the Yan’an Guard.

Liu Chengzong had tried to imagine what Yan’an Prefecture looked like in the eyes of those governing Shaanxi. Zhang Nian and Yang Yanchang were basically a single nail.

Bandits surrounded them on every side, while that one nail remained driven into Yan’an Prefecture’s city.

It was like the circle Li Bei had drawn around Yanchuan County: a safe zone.

Beyond that circle, everything was bandit territory.

Hearing this explanation, Yang Yanchang grew even more helpless. “Then I am doomed either way. If Wu Zimian has his eye on my warhorses, there is probably no way for me to avoid him.”

Liu Chengzong nodded. “I expect you will receive a letter from him within a few days. He will use some grand and respectable excuse to demand your horses. Give them to him, and the matter will be over.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then even if you fight a battle, he will not let the matter go. He will keep demanding your horses.”

Liu Chengzong said no more and simply lowered his head to hurry along the road. Partly, he wanted to give Yang Yanchang time to think. At the same time, he was considering whether there might be another solution.

He was not certain whether the army marching to defend the emperor would collapse. After all, the upper and lower limits of the Ming army were… too difficult to estimate.

What if the relief army did not collapse? What if Yang Yanchang led his troops to the capital region and fulfilled his duty? Should he run or not?

If he ran, he would lose his office.

If he stayed, he would lose his life.

No matter how he calculated it, he would be the one at a loss.

By the time they reached the Xingzi River, Yang Yanchang still had no solution. He finally asked Liu Chengzong for help.

“Why do you not help me seize a hundred or so horses?”

Liu Chengzong wanted to keep the horses for riding himself.

He smiled. “How about this? You go. Take five hundred men, and I will get you two hundred horses.”

“If I had those horses, why would I go? I could just hand them over to Wu Zimian.” Yang Yanchang felt he would be losing out badly and waved his hands. “Let him go defend the emperor by himself!”

“That will not do.”

Liu Chengzong’s little scheme was clicking away merrily. He raised a hand. “Think about it. I give you two hundred horses, and you do not march to the capital. Would we not simply lose two hundred horses?”

Yang Yanchang nodded. “Yes, but an official of higher rank crushes a man beneath him. What can I do?”

“If we treat those two hundred horses as capital, you take five hundred men there and immediately give him one hundred horses. Supplies will certainly be inadequate along the road. Take Wang the Monk with you, and I will give you two more men who know the route. Get acquainted with the frontier soldiers along the way. If anyone wants to desert, let him go, and have him bring others with him.”

Liu Chengzong raised one hand and tapped his palm with the other. “Once they reach Yan’an Prefecture, I will send people to receive them. We exchange horses for his soldiers. Would that not make the loss a little less painful?”

Yang Yanchang nodded again, then shook his head. “No, brother. Would that not mean I am the one losing out?”

“You will not lose out. Listen to me. Take the two hundred horses and give them to Wu Zimian before he leaves. Tell him they are support from Yan’an Prefecture for Commander Wu’s campaign to defend the emperor. Once enough deserters have fallen behind along the road, give him the other hundred horses as well. Negotiate with him and have him send you back. If necessary, tell him that he can send you back first, and you will give him another hundred horses afterward.”

Liu Chengzong stared steadily at Yang Yanchang.

“Three hundred horses. If you can bring me three hundred frontier soldiers in return—and preferably their company commander as well—then I will not have lost out. Do you dare?”