Chapter Twenty-Four: Saving Oneself

Master Liu seemed to know exactly where the roaming bandits would go. Liu Chengzong was acquainted with many people, all of whom had their own predictions about the direction in which the bandits would spread.

Previously, his elder brother Liu Chengzu and Cao Yao had speculated that Wang Zuogua would head south toward Yaozhou or Tongzhou, which fell under the jurisdiction of Xi’an Prefecture. Those areas were prosperous, with mature handicraft and ironworking industries, making them rich targets for plunder.

But that was the perspective of old soldiers, judging others by their own experiences. Now, as Liu Chengzong saw his father predicting the movements of the bandits as well, he became extremely interested and asked, “Father, do you think the bandits will leave Shaanxi?”

“The name ‘roaming bandits’ suits them well!” Liu Xiangyu nodded emphatically. “In today’s northern Shaanxi, the poor cannot survive except by theft—they must become bandits. In my view, these are not refugees forced into banditry, but rather bandits who move from place to place.”

“Northern Shaanxi produces countless poor. From what I have seen and heard in my time as a tax official, northern Shaanxi is a place where one can recruit bandits, but there is not enough grain to feed them. Within a thousand square miles, the place that pays the heaviest taxes yet has the weakest troops is none other than Pingyang Prefecture in Shanxi.”

Pingyang Prefecture lay southeast of Yan’an, across the Yellow River, once known as Hedong. Its terrain and climate were similar to the Guanzhong Basin; the soil was fertile and rainfall abundant. East from Hancheng in Shaanxi, one could cross the Yellow River to reach Pingyang.

“When the bandit forces grow strong and northern Shaanxi can no longer sustain them, they will surely invade Shanxi on a large scale. That will be the opportunity for northern Shaanxi to save itself.”

The wisdom of age was not to be underestimated. Liu Chengzong had never considered self-preservation in such terms. Hearing Liu Xiangyu’s analysis, he gained a much clearer understanding of the peasant armies’ prospects.

The peasant armies could not truly become invincible; victory in every battle was beyond their reach. Against well-organized government troops, they could not even win a single engagement.

But as long as the objective conditions that sustained them remained unchanged, there would always be an endless stream of new recruits joining the peasant armies.

Liu Xiangyu had explained the reasons plainly: the peasants were starving, and the government troops received no pay.

The former turned commoners into bandits, the latter militarized the refugees.

If this environment did not change, even if the government troops possessed formidable fighting power and wiped out the rebels a hundred times, the rebels would rise again from this soil a hundred and one times.

Corruption led to inefficiency in administration. When the court demanded two hundred thousand in taxes, the money actually extracted from the people would amount to a million.

Even in such times, Liu Xiangyu was still contemplating self-preservation.

“How do you propose we save ourselves, Father?”

“When the roaming bandits enter Shanxi, the court should finally come to its senses. With the emperor’s wisdom, he will surely exempt Qin from taxes and issue edicts for disaster relief. We gentry should build moats and fortresses, construct irrigation works for the fields, and every village, county, and prefecture should take in the refugees and organize them into groups with weapons. When the bandits return, if the people have a means of livelihood, there will be no more reason for chaos.”

Liu Xiangyu spoke simply, and his reasoning was straightforward: Shaanxi’s peasants had always been honest and hardworking; as long as they had enough to eat, they would never take pride in rebellion.

At the same time, he placed great faith in the court, hoping it would provide relief and abolish taxes.

But in Liu Chengzong’s eyes, this was merely wishful thinking born of different perspectives and information.

His father saw that life was tough for the people around Black Dragon King Temple Mountain, but last year, after repairing the irrigation, the fields could still be planted this year. Yan’an had not yet fallen into chaos. Some places faced dire famine, but since he had not seen it with his own eyes, he could not truly imagine it.

The worst destruction he had witnessed was an entire village fleeing into the mountains and vanishing without a trace.

So he believed that since the court had not yet provided disaster relief, the situation could still be resolved once the court found the time.

Having preserved their little utopia in Xingpingli, Liu Xiangyu seemed to think that with a little effort, any village could turn back the tide.

But this was only because he had two sons serving at the border forts, and all he had seen and heard told him so.

For other gentry, their high-walled mansions were a kind of barrier, keeping the wild and desperate world outside at bay. Even though they lived in northern Shaanxi, most ordinary gentry and officials had no idea what was truly happening around them.

“Father, if we are to build fortifications, we should start at once. If we are to train troops, it would be best for all of Xingpingli to be armed. I’ve calculated: with fifty men per squad, we could organize five more squads of able-bodied men aged twenty to fifty.”

“We could also form four squads of strong women. As for children aged twelve and up, they could make three squads.”

“These twelve militia squads, together with a squad of regular soldiers, would make a full company. If the regulars drill daily and three militia squads train each day, then each month the regulars would drill for twenty-four days, and the militia for six days.”

“Even if we only fortify ourselves, this will make them more responsive to orders. In times of trouble, each will know to seek his squad leader, and if things turn dire, even in flight, there will be fewer left behind.”

This was the real value of training the militia: six days of drill per month, to teach them basic commands and formations, so that in a crisis, they would know whom to follow and would not panic. Over time, they would gain practical military knowledge, enough to be absorbed into the regular army if needed.

Liu Chengzong’s proposal had a deeper purpose. He gestured to the military text he was reading. “We could also select literate villagers to teach reading in the afternoons after drills. Once the new manuals are finished, they can be taught as well.”

“As you said, Father, northern Shaanxi does not lack manpower. Recruitment is easy. If the militia learn these things, then even if circumstances worsen, they could be organized on the spot, given some training, and all could serve as squad leaders.”

Such an ambition was grand enough to make Liu Xiangyu look at his son with new eyes.

Even excluding the squads of women and children, the regulars and six militia squads amounted to three hundred people. If disaster struck and half survived, there would still be over a hundred squad leaders left. If they took in more refugees, fifty per squad would make five thousand militiamen—more than a full-strength battalion.

In the Ming dynasty, a standard battalion was usually three thousand strong.

Liu Xiangyu was somewhat moved; these were all prudent preparations. But if things truly became so desperate that they had to raise a battalion, the situation would already have deteriorated to the point where the court could no longer object to local levies.

This alone told him that his son was far more pessimistic about the future than he was.

“If it really comes to that, it’ll be too late to prepare…” Liu Xiangyu shook his head, then collected himself and said, “I’ll need to discuss this with the clan elders before making a decision. For now, there are some tasks I want you to handle.”

“For earthworks, timber, and stone needed to build the fortress, have Chengyun contact the kiln works. You and Chengzu should look around these next few days to find the best location, measure the site, and calculate the necessary materials and labor.”

“As for weapons for the regulars, Yan’an Garrison has only issued us four muskets. We could perhaps request a few more triple-barreled guns or quick-fire rifles, but the lack of gunpowder would ruin everything.”

As he spoke, Liu Xiangyu rummaged through the pile of books on the table, found a few sheets of paper tucked into one, and handed them over. “After much thought, I believe we must use crossbows. Against the bandits, repeating crossbows are best.”

The blueprints Liu Xiangyu handed over detailed the components of a repeating crossbow. “Take these to the carpenter and have him make one. If it works well, we’ll have more made and train the militia to use them.”

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Note: According to the Great Ming Code, anyone found in private possession of prohibited arms—such as armor, badges, fire lances, cannons, banners, or signal flags—shall be punished by eighty strokes of the cane for each item, with each additional item increasing the sentence. Makers of such items face a higher penalty and up to one hundred strokes and three thousand li of exile. Incomplete items are not prosecuted; they may be surrendered to officials. Bows, arrows, spears, swords, crossbows, fish spears, and pitchforks are not prohibited.

— The Great Ming Code, Military Statutes, Army Regulations, on Private Possession of Prohibited Arms