MLMD -Chapter 137 A Mess Left Behind

Leaving aside Yue Yang, who was grinding his teeth in fury after receiving the news, Lu Xiangsheng—having accepted Yue Yang’s assistance—finally arrived at Datong Prefecture after a journey of about ten days. After completing the handover formalities with Zhang Zongheng, Zhang immediately fled Datong as if escaping for his life, heading straight toward the capital. From that moment on, Lu Xiangsheng officially became the commander-in-chief of the tens of thousands of frontier troops stationed at Xuanzhen.

Seated in the signing office of the Governor-General’s residence, Lu Xiangsheng sipped tea while flipping through a roster. Nearby, Yang Tinglin was leading a group of aides in taking stock of the assets Zhang Zongheng had left behind. Piled up beside them were stacks upon stacks of account books.

Only after two full hours did a sweating and fuming Yang Tinglin storm over. Gritting his teeth, he said to Lu Xiangsheng,
“Dongweng, this Zhang Zongheng has gone too far. According to the ledgers, the soldiers of Xuanzhen haven’t been paid for three months. How dare he be so bold?”

“Three months without pay?” Lu Xiangsheng was stunned. He said in surprise, “That can’t be right. Didn’t the court just make up two months’ worth of provisions and pay to Xuanzhen last month? Did Zhang Zongheng not distribute it?”

“He didn’t,” Yang Tinglin said angrily, slapping the account book down in front of Lu Xiangsheng. “Look here. It clearly states that the soldiers’ pay was only issued up to the second month, and even then only thirty percent of their full stipend was actually paid out. Zhang Zongheng’s heart is far too black! If this keeps up, isn’t he afraid the troops will mutiny?”

Lu Xiangsheng’s face darkened as well. Since the middle and late Ming period, most of the army capable of fighting consisted of recruited soldiers. Under the influence of the saying ‘a good man does not become a soldier’ that had circulated for over a thousand years, those who joined the army were mostly sons of impoverished farming families. Their only reason for enlisting was that meager military stipend, and the thing they hated most was having their pay withheld. If they learned that the court had already released their pay, only for it to be siphoned off by their superiors, no one could guarantee what enraged soldiers might do.

Looking at the account books before him, Lu Xiangsheng did not need to think hard to know that the military pay for the past two months had certainly been embezzled by Zhang Zongheng. What he could not understand was how this man dared—was he not afraid that the frontier troops would erupt in rebellion? Once soldiers mutinied, it was not something that could be smoothed over with a few words. If things went badly, heads would roll—quite literally.

Seeing Lu Xiangsheng lost in silence, Yang Tinglin reminded him,
“Dongweng, Zhang Zongheng has already fled. What comes next is our responsibility. You must think of a solution quickly!”

“Yes!” Lu Xiangsheng came back to himself. Now that he was the Governor-General of Xuan-Da, if the troops mutinied, it would be his problem. That hateful Zhang Zongheng had skimmed the pay and then dumped the blame squarely on him. Gritting his teeth, Lu Xiangsheng said,
“Zhang Zongheng—this matter is far from over!”

After venting his anger, Lu Xiangsheng asked again,
“Boxiang, how much silver do we still have?”

Yang Tinglin thought for a moment. “Dongweng, when we left the capital, His Majesty gave us thirty thousand taels of silver. Along the way, the several thousand soldiers of the Tianxiong Army spent three thousand taels. Oh, and when we left Yingzhou Prefecture, Lord Yue also gave you five thousand taels as travel expenses. Right now, we still have thirty-two thousand taels.”

“Thirty-two thousand taels?” Lu Xiangsheng frowned and shook his head. “That’s still far too little. According to the roster, there are over thirty thousand soldiers stationed at Xuanzhen. This amount is only enough to cover one month of pay—and even then, it’s not sufficient.”

Seeing Lu Xiangsheng’s worried expression, Yang Tinglin cautiously suggested,
“Dongweng, according to precedent, we don’t have to pay the full amount. We only need to issue half of the actual stipend. That way, it would be equivalent to paying two months’ wages.”

“No!” Lu Xiangsheng snapped angrily. “Boxiang, you’ve followed me for seven or eight years now. When have you ever seen me pay only half the stipend? I, Lu Xiangsheng, have never done such bloodsucking things to soldiers!”

Yang Tinglin spread his hands helplessly. “Then… then we can only ask the court for more silver.”

“Does the court even have any silver left?” Having just returned from the capital, Lu Xiangsheng knew the current state of the imperial finances all too well. He shook his head. “The autumn harvest hasn’t arrived yet. Where would the Ministry of Revenue get any silver?”

Yang Tinglin blurted out,
“Then request funds from the inner treasury!”

“Where would His Majesty get any inner-treasury silver either?” Lu Xiangsheng said with a bitter smile.

“Then there’s no solution,” Yang Tinglin sighed dejectedly. Looking at the aides still busy tallying numbers, something suddenly occurred to him. Turning urgently to Lu Xiangsheng, he said,
“Dongweng, perhaps there is one person who could lend us silver.”

“Who?” Lu Xiangsheng asked, his face lighting up.

Looking straight at him, Yang Tinglin said slowly, word by word,
“Our Northern Route Guerrilla General—Lord Yue.”

“Yue Zhenghong!” Lu Xiangsheng was delighted at first, but then he sighed. “That Yue Yang has already given me so many weapons, suits of armor, and provisions. He’s already done more than enough. How could we possibly ask him again? At the very least, I can’t bring myself to do it.”

“Then there’s no other way,” Yang Tinglin said helplessly. “We can only distribute the silver we have on hand first, to ease the soldiers’ resentment.”

At that, Lu Xiangsheng and Yang Tinglin exchanged bitter smiles…

May 16th, Chongzhen Year Seven.

After two days of hurried travel, Zhang Zongheng—eager to return to the capital—arrived, dusty and exhausted, with his three hundred household guards and servants, escorting more than a hundred wagons, at a forest less than twenty li from Shaguo Fort.

Shaguo Fort lay in eastern Shanxi, a hilly region with dense forests and rugged, difficult roads. Zhang Zongheng’s convoy stretched into a long single-file line as it moved along the narrow path.

Although Zhang Zongheng had served as Governor-General of Xuan-Da for several years, as a civil official he did not know how to ride a horse. Even if he did, he disdained it—in his view, riding horses was something only crude military men did. Thus, he always traveled by carriage. At this moment, he poked his head out of the carriage window and looked at the sky, which was gradually darkening. Turning to his aide Ni Zhongyun, who was riding alongside, he said,
“Go tell the people in front to speed up. We must reach Shaguo Fort before nightfall. My eyelids have been twitching nonstop along the way—I have a bad feeling something is going to happen.”

“Yes!”

Soon, shouts rang out from the front of the convoy, and the wagons picked up speed, rolling forward through the silent forest. More than a hundred carts moved through the gloom, while eerie cries of unknown animals echoed around them.

“Bang!”

Suddenly, the wheel of one cart sank into a muddy pit. The pit was so deep that no matter how hard the driver whipped the horse, the cart would not budge. In the end, the axle snapped, and the entire cart tilted sideways onto the road, spilling several large chests onto the ground.

“Bastard! How are you driving? You even broke the axle!” Ni Zhongyun rushed over, furious, and lashed the driver with his whip as he cursed. “You idiots—hurry up and secure the chests, then fix the axle immediately! If you delay my lord’s business, I’ll skin you alive!”

At Ni Zhongyun’s shouting, more than a dozen guards rushed over. In a flurry of activity, they righted the overturned cart. Two guards went over to the scattered chests, grabbed the handles of one, and tried to lift it. To their surprise, it was extraordinarily heavy. Halfway through lifting it, they lost their grip, and the chest crashed to the ground. The lid flew open, and its contents spilled everywhere.

With a loud clatter, the sound of metal striking metal rang out. A dazzling white glare blinded everyone nearby—inside the chest was nothing but silver.

At the sight of the scattered silver, the eyes of everyone around nearly popped out. Several drivers stared in a daze.

“Smack! Smack!”

Seeing this, Ni Zhongyun flew into a rage and lashed the two guards with his whip as he shouted,
“You two pigs! Is this how you do things? Hurry up and pack it all back in—now! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Under Ni Zhongyun’s furious scolding, the guards finally snapped out of it and began gathering the silver back into the chest. But at that very moment, a rapid series of hoofbeats suddenly sounded from the side. In the blink of an eye, the riders were upon them—horsemen clad in black armor with their faces covered. Almost instantly, the sharp click-clack of mechanisms rang out, and a rain of arrows shot toward the people on the road…