MLMD -Chapter 160 Returning Home

Hunyuan City lay to the southeast of Datong Prefecture. The terrain there was flat and open, ideal for cavalry maneuvering, and thus it had long been regarded by the Later Jin as a juicy prize. Over the past few days, after the Later Jin army surrounded Hunyuan City, panic spread among the city’s residents. The prefect of Hunyuan, Jiang Xin, on one hand ordered the defending troops to shut the four gates tight and man the walls, patrolling day and night; on the other hand, he urgently dispatched messengers to Datong Prefecture and to the imperial court to request reinforcements.

What puzzled Jiang Xin, however, was that although the Later Jin troops had pressed right up to the city, they had adopted a posture of encirclement without attack. This left him fearful, yet deeply confused.

What Jiang Xin did not know was that Yueto had originally planned to plunder all the counties around Hunyuan City before finally gnawing away at this rich prize. But he had never expected a Cheng Yaojin to appear halfway through the plan. After a fierce exchange of “three blows,” Yueto was beaten black and blue and was left with no choice but to retreat.

Because Yueto withdrew so quickly, when Yue Yang sent someone into the city to request an audience with Jiang Xin, the prefect had not yet received news that the Later Jin army had already pulled back.

At dawn the next day, Jiang Xin, who had risen early and was sitting anxiously in the inner hall, received a report from a yamen runner. “Your Excellency, a large army has arrived outside the city. They are flying Great Ming banners. The men say they are under the command of Yue Yang, Defender of Yingzhou Prefecture, Northern Route Roaming Commander, and Mingwei General, and they request that you come up to the city wall to meet them!”

“What? Defender of Yingzhou, Mingwei General Yue Yang? Could it be that the court’s reinforcements have arrived?” Jiang Xin was startled, then suddenly recalled the rumors that had been spreading wildly some time ago—wasn’t this Yue Yang the defender of Yingzhou whose fields supposedly yielded a thousand jin per mu? Why was he here?

Though puzzled, reinforcements were never a bad thing. Jiang Xin immediately ordered, “Someone come—prepare the sedan chair. I am going up to the city wall at once!”

Before long, Jiang Xin arrived at the city gate in his sedan chair, where the Hunyuan garrison commander, who had been waiting for some time, hurried forward to pay his respects.

Without wasting time on pleasantries, Jiang Xin asked directly, “Commander Lu, where is the army outside the city? Take me to see them at once.”

Commander Lu immediately led Jiang Xin up onto the wall. But the moment Jiang Xin reached the battlements, he was shocked by the sight before him. Outside the city gate stood ranks upon ranks of soldiers in neat formation. Banners bearing the sun and moon fluttered in the morning breeze, and at the forefront flew a large red flag embroidered with a bold character—“Yue”—snapping sharply in the wind.

Jiang Xin quickly noticed that the armor worn by these soldiers was completely different from that of the Ming troops he was used to seeing. Although by the late Ming period military armor had already become quite diverse—southern troops often wore padded cotton armor, while northern troops favored iron or leather—there was one thing they all shared: Ming armor was front-opening, and never covered the entire body.

Yet what stunned Jiang Xin even more was that every single soldier in this army below the walls was clad in iron armor. This was no small matter. Though not a military professional, he knew well enough that in the Great Ming, forging a well-made, full-body suit of iron armor would cost at least one or two hundred taels of silver. And here were several thousand soldiers, all uniformly equipped in such armor. The value of the armor alone amounted to hundreds of thousands of taels. Even someone as worldly as Jiang Xin found himself grinding his teeth in shock at such extravagance.

But there was more. Behind this army stood an endless sea of civilians, packed densely together as far as the eye could see. A rough estimate suggested at least tens of thousands of people.

The more he looked, the more alarmed Jiang Xin became. He leaned out over the battlements and shouted loudly, “I am Jiang Xin, Prefect of Hunyuan. Which of you below is Defender Yue, Lord Yue?”

As his voice fell, a soldier in black-gray armor slowly rode out from the Ming ranks below. Though his armor was identical to that of the surrounding troops, Jiang Xin could tell at a glance that this man carried a faint yet unmistakable air of official authority and iron-blooded resolve that others lacked.

The man raised his head and cupped his hands in salute. “Prefect Jiang, I am Yue Yang, Defender of Yingzhou Prefecture and Roaming General of Shanxi. By the order of Inspector-General Lu, I led my troops to engage the Tatars. Yesterday, my men fought a great battle with the Bordered Red Banner, beheading many of the enemy. Last night, the Tatars withdrew, but they left behind tens of thousands of civilians they had abducted. Unfortunately, my army’s provisions are limited, and we cannot support so many people. With no other option, I ask Lord Jiang to help arrange some grain on their behalf.”

“What? The Tatars have already withdrawn?” Jiang Xin froze at the words. The army below numbered only a few thousand—could they really have driven off the ferocious Tatar forces? Since when had the Tatars become so easy to defeat? Turning back, he asked the Hunyuan garrison commander beside him, “Commander Lu, have the Tatars outside the city withdrawn?”

Commander Lu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and replied nervously, “Your Excellency, this… this subordinate… this subordinate is not entirely sure…”

Seeing the stunned look on Commander Lu’s face, Jiang Xin felt a surge of anger. A chill entered his gaze as he said coldly, “Commander Lu, you are truly diligent in your duties—so diligent that you don’t even know whether the Tatars have withdrawn. I really wonder what use the court has for people like you!”

Commander Lu’s cold sweat poured even more heavily.

When no response came from the city wall for some time, Yue Yang called out again, “Prefect Jiang, did you hear what I said? My army carries limited provisions, insufficient for these civilians. Might you be able to allocate some grain to us? I would be deeply grateful.”

“Well…” Jiang Xin hesitated, then shouted down, “Lord Yue, you may not know this, but Hunyuan City itself has very little grain left. I fear we cannot support tens of thousands of civilians. Perhaps you might inquire at nearby prefectures instead?”

Hearing Jiang Xin’s repeated evasions, a flash of displeasure crossed Yue Yang’s eyes.
“Prefect Jiang, my troops risked their lives to lift the siege of Hunyuan, yet you are unwilling to spare even a little grain. That is hardly the way to treat one’s guests. Since that is the case, let me be frank: if you are unwilling to allocate even a token amount of grain, then I will have no choice but to withdraw my troops. The Tatars have only just retreated—there’s no guarantee they won’t return at any moment. When that happens, you’d best take care of yourself!”

If Jiang Xin’s earlier words had been evasive, Yue Yang’s were a naked threat. Jiang Xin’s face darkened, and he muttered angrily under his breath, “That crude brute dares threaten me. Just wait—one day I’ll impeach him.”

Hearing this, Commander Lu’s expression also soured, for Jiang Xin’s words had insulted him as well.

A trace of disdain flickered in Commander Lu’s eyes at Jiang Xin’s stinginess. After all, this man had lifted Hunyuan’s siege—shouldn’t they show at least some gratitude? To refuse even a bit of grain was truly unreasonable. Leaning closer, he said quietly, “Your Excellency, what Lord Yue says does make some sense. The Tatars have only withdrawn temporarily—no one knows when they might return. Why offend Lord Yue over a little grain?”

“Well… fine.” After some thought, Jiang Xin felt that Commander Lu had a point. If he offended Yue Yang too deeply and the Tatars returned, he might truly have to beg this man for help. Being utterly miserly was not appropriate. Reluctantly, he nodded and called down from the wall, “Lord Yue, in that case, I am willing to provide five hundred shi of grain. I truly have no more to give.”

“This fellow is far too stingy.” Even Commander Lu found it hard to listen any longer. Five hundred shi would barely feed the several thousand troops below for a few days—and what about the tens of thousands of civilians? Didn’t they need to eat? This was miserly to the extreme.

Behind Yue Yang, Wu Chengfeng could no longer restrain himself and snarled, “Lord Yue, we worked ourselves to the bone to lift their siege, yet this prefect is so unreasonable. In my view, we should smash open the city gates and drive those tens of thousands of civilians into Hunyuan. I’d like to see what that dog of an official would do then!”

“Enough, enough…” Yue Yang sighed deeply. “If we force these civilians into Hunyuan City, tens of thousands of people without food or clothing could easily spark a riot. In the end, it would still be the common people here who suffer. At that point, how would we be any different from bandits like Gao Yingxiang or Li Zicheng? Forget it. Our provisions are limited. Once we take the grain, we’ll withdraw immediately. We won’t wade into this muddy water any further.”

After this affair, Yue Yang’s disgust toward Jiang Xin deepened further. Once the five hundred shi of grain had been collected, he quickly led his army, together with the tens of thousands of civilians, onto the road home.

Hunyuan Prefecture was neither very far from Yingzhou Prefecture nor particularly close. With tens of thousands of civilians in tow, the army took a full seven or eight days to reach Wuli Village. During this time, with provisions running short, Yue Yang had to exhaust every possible means when passing through certain counties just to barely make it back with the army intact.

This campaign once again impressed upon Yue Yang the importance of supplies when an army was campaigning away from home. No wonder countless military strategists throughout history had praised provisions as the foremost factor in maintaining an army’s stability. When troops in the field lacked food, even the strongest force would turn weak, and might even collapse without a fight.

Yue Yang’s return to Yingzhou Prefecture finally put the anxious hearts of the people of Yingzhou and Wuli Village at ease. During his absence, everyone there had been on edge, fearing that one day the Tatars might suddenly appear at their gates. But thanks to heaven’s blessing, Lord Yue had returned at last, and they could finally let their worries subside.

It wasn’t only the people of Yingzhou who felt relieved—Yue Yang himself felt the same. During his time away, his greatest fear had been that some unexpected Later Jin force might suddenly emerge near Wuli Village. For a place with no defensive capability whatsoever, that would have been fatal.

“The next step should be to build a fortress at Wuli Village. Otherwise, no matter how well it’s developed, there will never be any real sense of security,” Yue Yang resolved silently in his heart.