Chapter Eighty-Six: Destroying the Foundation

Zhang Tianlin and Wang Ziyong went with Liu Xiangyu and his son, Liu Chengzu, to Liu Family Village.

They had to haul away the grain seized from Wang Village.

Fortunately, their combined force numbered only a little over a thousand men. Having taken the walled garrison at Northern Pass, they needed only modest supplies to hold out for several days.

When Monk Wang first met Liu Chengzong, envy was plain on his face. "If I had your skill, I think I would have turned defeat into victory several times by now in Yanchuan."

In Cao Yao's old lair, Liu Chengzong smiled and raised his hands in greeting to the two men. "Captain Zhang. Chief Wang."

Monk Wang threw back his head and laughed, drawing a circle in the air with one hand. "I wouldn't dare accept such honor. These days, the three of us are you, the great chief with seasoned troops and ample grain. Even that old friend of the Heavenly King in the north, Good-for-Nothing Mud, has a commander under him called Night-Patrol, and he's just like you — can sleep on horseback."

At once Liu Chengzong knew that Monk Wang had never served in the army.

Sleeping on horseback was nothing remarkable. At Flower Horse Pool, he had even seen veteran patrolmen doze as they walked, and turn along the patrol route in their sleep.

What could human beings not do, once they were tired enough and sleepy enough?

Cao Yao's mountain stronghold, occupying the old ruined temple on the barren hill, was very poorly organized and did not even have a grand hall for sworn brothers to gather in.

The few of them could only sit on the ground atop the hill.

Zhang Tianlin first explained the situation in Yanchuan, then introduced Monk Wang's circumstances. Only after that did he say, "With Yanan like this, I suspect the western road of Yan-Sui will also send troops. Tiger General, do you think we can deal with Li Bei?"

At that, Overpassing the Stars looked a little embarrassed. "Neither of us has seen Li Bei, but we have seen Old Return-Return. Li Bei drove Old Return-Return out beyond the pass. He is formidable."

"I don't think we can beat him."

Liu Chengzong admitted defeat with complete ease. "If it were still those two hundred men, and I were fighting him with them, perhaps after another three months there would be a chance."

The thousand or so men now under his command came from fairly simple sources.

Roughly one or two hundred were banner troops from Yanan Garrison. Another two hundred or so came from Li Wanqing and Black Dragon Mountain. Three hundred were starving commoners. The rest were all bandits who had followed Old Return-Return from Yellow Dragon Mountain.

Only the hundred-odd men from Black Dragon Mountain had received proper training, and they were kin by blood and clan besides, so they were reliable and strong.

After arming them, those hundred-odd could contend with the banner troops of a garrison, provided the garrison men had been fed.

The others could not.

The Yanan Garrison banner troops received only three liang of flour a day. They were indeed familiar with weapons, but each of them was malnourished and night-blind.

The more than a hundred in Tiger Waist had been pared down from Li Wanqing's men, but their foundation was so poor that no amount of trimming could make them useful.

As for Old Return-Return's stragglers who had fallen behind in flight, there was even less need to mention them.

Every one of them was a habitual loser. They had been defeated by Li Bei at Yellow Dragon Mountain and fled to Yanan Prefecture.

Half of them had joined the Lion Camp at Tiger Waist, and the other half had been taken in by Zhang Xiong into Yanan Garrison. Then, after being defeated once more by Liu Chengzu yesterday, they too had joined the Lion Camp.

Morale, endurance, training, discipline — they had none of it. Surrender had already become a habit.

They were good at taking advantage of a winning battle and snatching a mud-walled fort, but a regular army in open battle... even now, if someone shouted that Li Bei was coming, they would turn and run.

Zhang Tianlin said, "Then what do you mean? Should we run?"

"I heard from Chengyun that the two chiefs were thinking of joining forces with me."

Liu Chengzong shook his head. "Now that I have seized Yanan Prefecture, I am the target of all arrows. It won't be long before the court sends troops to punish me. At a time like this, joining forces with me is probably no wise choice."

He paused. "May I ask what the two chiefs' purpose was in taking up arms?"

Zhang Tianlin and Wang Ziyong exchanged a glance, both frowning.

Wang Ziyong said, "I don't understand what you're saying. What do you mean, joining forces is not a good idea? Are you telling us to leave?"

Zhang Tianlin said, "Did I not already tell you? If the imperial army comes to suppress my family, I will fight them."

"I'm not telling you to leave. I only just woke up, and I have only a rough idea, nothing fully worked out yet... It rained in Yanchuan, so there is no soil there for raising troops. That's why you came to Yanan."

Liu Chengzong reached down and sketched a map on the yellow earth from memory. "To the north is the Yan-Sui Garrison; to the south, Xi'an Prefecture. Both places have large armies stationed there.

"Yanan has no imperial troops, and the grain from Wang Village's stockpiles is considerable. If we combine our forces into two thousand men and bring the grain with us, we will move too slowly. If we leave the grain behind, it will all go to waste.

"Besides, I believe that what I have done in the prefectural city will inspire the courage of the bandits, mountain thieves, refugees, and starving folk nearby. Within a few days, they will gather to plunder the wealthy households."

At this, Zhang Tianlin lifted a hand and jumped in. "It has already started. To the south, there is a man called Liu Guoneng, 'He Who Breaks the Sky.' Last night he robbed a fortified village. To the east, someone set fire to a landlord's compound and burned it to the ground. I think he was called Cao Cao or something."

Clap.

Liu Chengzong clapped excitedly. "That's exactly right. I know who Breaks the Sky is, but I don't know who Cao Cao is.

"We are in rebellion. Across all of Shaanxi, the court's capacity to govern has not yet collapsed. We cannot rely on supplies everywhere we go. To hold a place of advantage and seize one stronghold after another is to court death."

As he said this, Liu Chengzong felt a flicker of regret. Yesterday, before leaving the city, he should have gone once more to the prefectural yamen and wiped out the officials there as well.

He still had not escaped the mindset of a loyal subject. He was not ruthless enough.

Liu Chengzong asked, "May I ask what the two chiefs think of the present situation?"

"You've said it yourself: holding one place is suicide, so we run."

As soon as Zhang Tianlin spoke, it was obvious he was a veteran long-distance runner. "Anyway, it's just about being faster. Snatch the grain faster, flee faster still. By the time the imperial troops receive word, we'll already have gone somewhere else, making them run themselves ragged. Even if they catch up, if we gather together, our chances of surviving are greater."

Wang Ziyong nodded again and again as well.

Seeing that the two of them thought alike, Liu Chengzong was relieved. Only then did he state his own idea.

"I think merely running is not enough. There must be a purpose.

"Straying without purpose is that of wandering bandits. Straying with purpose is that of rebels.

"The court has rotten to its roots. If we are to overthrow it, we must first have an army and win the people's hearts.

"As for the weapons, armor, and grain an army needs, if we rely on plunder, there will eventually come a day when there is nothing left to seize. So we must establish a court of our own.

"But without the ability to wipe out the imperial troops sent to suppress us, we won't even be able to hold villages or strongholds.

"So the purpose of this roaming is destruction."

Working backward from the conclusion, Liu Chengzong slowly sorted out the logic behind the memories of his two lifetimes in two different worlds. "We must destroy the court's rule in the localities, beginning with the villages, and help the common people resist grain levies and taxes. Chief Wang knows White Lotus methods best.

"It would be best if the people could spontaneously send us news of the authorities.

"Starting with Fushi County, the man in charge of county affairs from now on is Deputy County Magistrate Meng. If anything happens, send people into the city to threaten him. Before the court appoints a general, Yanan Garrison's Yang Yanchang once sold me weapons; we can keep in touch with him and buy him off to pass along military intelligence from the court.

"Anyone who is not of one mind with us, we eliminate. In the villages, we cultivate our own people.

"From this moment on, corrupt officials and evil magistrates are, on the surface, our enemies. In truth, they are doing the same work we are — destroying the court's rule.

"With our people in the villages, no edict will reach beyond the county seat. When imperial troops come, we stir up the common people to flee; once the soldiers leave, they return. By the time the imperial army reaches our ground, there will be no grain to supply them.

"As one side wanes, the other waxes. Even if they have elite troops and strong generals, if we win, we can concentrate our forces and destroy them; if we lose, so long as the great drought continues, we still have the soil from which to recruit soldiers.

"Yanan Prefecture is the best place for us to try this method."

Wang Ziyong listened, dumbfounded, on the verge of applauding in praise.

Zhang Tianlin was different. He had truly suffered for having once tried to build a base, and so he had an instinctive fear of such things, like a man who fears wells for ten years after once being bitten by a snake. He asked, "Tiger General, what you're saying is for the future. Whether it can be done is still uncertain, but the imperial troops will be here very soon.

"Are you planning to rely on Black Dragon Mountain and Liu Family Village to starve the imperial army to death?"

"That is the key point. That's why I said joining forces is not a good idea. I'm not telling you to leave. If you leave, the court will still come looking for me."

Liu Chengzong paused, then rose and worked his arms. "What they want to kill is the Liu Chengzong who stormed the city and killed the county magistrate in Yanan Prefecture, not Zhang Tianlin and Wang Ziyong.

"Today Chengyun asked me whether to stay or go, to fight or surrender.

"My answer is: stay and go both; fight not, surrender not.

"You look after my family. I will go seize mud forts and draw the imperial troops elsewhere."