Chapter Four: The Obstacle

When Sheng Zhongquan brought up the matter, Liu Zeqing’s expression twisted at once.

“Lord Sheng, Mr. Dongshan! After Qin Xia, that little wretch, deceived us so thoroughly this time, how can we possibly swallow our anger and let it go?”

He drew a deep breath, then continued, “Who in the world does not know that, among those three thousand soldiers, aside from a hundred cavalrymen, only one or two hundred infantrymen can actually fight? That fellow Qin Xia tricked us out of how much silver! Now even my Shandong Garrison is on the verge of being lost. Lord Sheng, Mr. Dongshan—can either of you truly stomach this?”

What they could not stomach was not merely their anger, but the countless advantages and profits they had lost.

Hearing Liu Zeqing lay it all out, Sheng Zhongquan was immediately reminded of the trouble he had caused himself by illegally transferring thirty thousand taels from the prefectural treasury to the frontier district. Mr. Dongshan, Yang Chuan, thought of the twenty thousand taels of silver and ten thousand bushels of grain he had handed over, and remembered all too clearly how much it had pained him.

Once these thoughts arose, who could possibly swallow such resentment?

“This time…” Yang Chuan gritted his teeth. “I will prepare twenty thousand taels of silver for Commander Liu, to cover military expenses and reward his men. So long as Commander Liu deals with that little thief Qin Xia, you must give me forty percent of the profits from the Linqing Transit Tax Office!”

Sheng Zhongquan also spoke in a low, somber voice. “I will make arrangements in Jinan as well, and ensure that Qin Xia does not enjoy himself. As for the benefits… I am to be transferred soon in any case, so I have no interest in the long-term profits of the Transit Tax Office. You need only make good my losses when the time comes.”

At this, Liu Zeqing gave a sinister smile.

“Good! Once we board the ships and reach the Yellow River, Qin Xia will discover that he has made a fatal mistake. His hundred best fighters will be useless on the river—in effect, he will have cut off one of his own arms! Those so-called three thousand elite troops are merely common laborers who have trained for a few days. Only a hundred or so of his personal guards can fight. How could they possibly withstand… the scourge waiting for them on the Yellow River?”

The thirteenth day of the fifth month, the fifteenth year of the Chongzhen reign of the Great Ming.

Outside Kaifeng, the peasant army’s camps stretched one after another, winding across the land like a range of mountains. Li Zicheng claimed to command a million men, and there was certainly a great deal of exaggeration in that figure. Yet with one sweeping glance, the entire field of vision seemed filled with surging heads. Perhaps there were not a million—but there were certainly several hundred thousand.

Upon the city wall, Prince Zhou, Zhu Gongyao, gazed at the scene in silence, saying nothing for a long while.

Beside him stood Henan Governor Gao Mingheng, Surveillance Commissioner Su Jing, Left Administrative Commissioner Liang Bing, Defense Circuit Inspector Su Zhuang, Army Inspector Guo Zaisong, and Prefect Wu Shijiang. All of them remained silent as well.

There was no other reason for their gathering. Ding Qirui, the commander overseeing the Central Plains campaign from within Kaifeng, had learned that the court intended to release Hou Xun. As though injected with fresh blood, he began sending letter after letter to Yang Wenyue, urging him to join forces against the peasant army outside Kaifeng.

Perhaps the pressure from the imperial court had become too great. Perhaps Yang Wenyue truly was a man of unquestionable loyalty. In any case, he had indeed brought his chief general, Hu Dawei, Commander of the Shanxi Garrison, to relieve Kaifeng.

Influenced by this, and under repeated orders from the court as well as Ding Qirui’s strenuous mobilization efforts, Left Liangyu, the Pacification General, had also begun marching toward the city with his army.

With these two great commanders on the move, the other regional generals—Yang Dezheng and Fang Guoan among them—likewise led their troops to the city’s aid.

By then, the vanguard of the imperial army had already reached Zhuxian Town outside Kaifeng.

By all rights, this should have been good news.

Yet Prince Zhu Gongyao’s expression remained troubled.

Seeing this, Henan Governor Gao Mingheng offered words of comfort. “Your Highness, we now have the soldiers of our province within the city, and their morale is high. Everyone knows that Your Highness is an enlightened and benevolent prince, and they are all determined to defend the city. There is no need for Your Highness to worry over the battle.”

At Gao Mingheng’s side, the military officers—Henan Commander Chen Yongfu, Henan Regional Commander Zhang Wurui, and the local Henan commanders Ren Zhen and Su Jianle—shouted in unison:

“Your Highness, with us here, the bandit usurper has no chance of breaching the city!”

Zhu Gongyao gazed into the distance toward Zhuxian Town, as if he could already see the imposing spectacle of nearly two hundred thousand imperial troops advancing in mighty formation.

At that thought, he gave a soft laugh.

“Though I am a prince of the blood, I have no desire to interfere in military affairs. I have merely watched for somewhat longer today because I was thinking of how our Great Ming army has finally come to our aid. There is now hope that Kaifeng may be relieved, and that is why I am especially delighted.”

Gao Mingheng smiled but said nothing. He knew perfectly well that Zhu Gongyao had not spoken the truth. But for the sake of morale and the hearts of the people, everyone had been telling lies these past few days.

Quite apart from anything else…

Their allies had all arrived, while Ding Qirui remained holed up inside the city. How was this battle supposed to be fought?

Just as Gao Mingheng’s thoughts began to wander, Chen Yongfu’s son, Chen De, came rushing over and shouted, “Your Highness! My lords! The bandits are retreating! They are retreating!”

The moment Chen De finished speaking, the entire battlement erupted into commotion.

One after another, the people leaned their heads over the wall, as though doing so might help them see more clearly.

Outside the city, the peasant army’s camps still stretched like mountains, but the movement among the countless soldiers had indeed grown far more frantic.

Before long, a young officer rushed up onto the wall and shouted to Chen Yongfu, “My lord, the bandits have begun withdrawing. From their movements, it appears that their main force has assembled and is heading toward Zhuxian Town!”

“Kaifeng is saved!” Liang Bing, the Left Administrative Commissioner of the Henan Provincial Administration, cried out joyfully.

Surveillance Commissioner Su Jing, Defense Circuit Inspector Su Zhuang, Army Inspector Guo Zaisong, and Prefect Wu Shijiang all wore delighted expressions.

“The bandits are afraid!”

“With an army of two hundred thousand coming to our aid, how could they not be? It seems we can immediately reopen the river routes and transport grain and silver into the city!”

“Exactly! We must restore communications with Hebei as quickly as possible. And the bandits under Li Yan in the east must also be attacked, so that the river routes can be reopened!”

The voices of the officials overlapped in a babble of excited discussion.

Yet no one noticed that, at some point, Prince Zhu Gongyao had hurried down from the city wall, his face tense and deeply troubled.

Gao Mingheng quickly followed after him.

He had guessed where the prince was headed.

“Prepare the carriage. We are going to the Commander-in-Chief’s residence!”

…

Dongming County.

The county town was in utter disarray. Though it was broad daylight, the entire city lay strangely quiet. Now and then, the silence was broken only by the thunderous pounding of horse hooves.

The Crossroads Avenue, usually the liveliest and most prosperous street in town, had not a single commoner setting up a stall that day. Those who occasionally appeared were men and women in ragged clothing, wearing patched cotton armor and carrying long spears. Most were dressed like ordinary civilians; now and then one could see someone in a battered military uniform or worn-out brigandine.

The only thing they had in common was that every man and woman walking the streets carried a spear or a saber, with a narrow blue band tied around the arm.

Suddenly, several soldiers in old-style Ming cotton armor caught the scent of food in the air. They followed the smell into a narrow alley, where smoke rose from a cooking fire. A moment later came the violent crash of a door being kicked in and smashed apart.

Then came a piercing scream, followed by furious cries of slaughter.

The disturbance lasted less than a moment before silence returned.

After that, even fewer people could be seen in the streets.

Only within the county office, in a refined and spotless courtyard, did people come and go amid bursts of laughter and conversation.

Those passing through were all soldiers, nearly every one of them armored and armed. Some had savage expressions; others were broad-shouldered, thick-waisted men with coarse features and faces covered in flesh. Their mouths spilled nothing but foul language.

Yet the pair seated at the head of the gathering, surrounded by flattering soldiers, were entirely different from those armored brutes in bearing.

One was a man dressed in a scholar’s long robe, wearing a square scholar’s cap and carrying himself like a man of letters.

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