MLMD – Chapter 27 Advancing Like a Hot Knife Through Butter

“What? Daning has fallen?”

Yue Yang’s right hand, which he had just raised, froze in midair. A flash of shock appeared on his face, and he urgently asked, “Was it Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong who did it?”

The household servant showed an expression of surprise mixed with admiration. “So the young master already knew. Yes, it was Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong. Those bandits are now fiercely attacking Xi County and Ze County, and Yingzhou City has already fallen into chaos. Magistrate Zheng is running around everywhere trying to gather reinforcements.”

“Huh… why are you talking in that kind of tone?” Yue Yang asked in confusion, noticing the schadenfreude on the servant’s face.

“Hmph, serves them right! Who told that Magistrate Zheng and the Wang family to keep finding ways to bully our Yue Family Manor? Now it’s their turn to panic.” The servant spoke with righteous indignation. The last time Yue Yang went to Yingzhou Prefecture, he had been jointly pressured by Magistrate Zheng along with the Wang, Lin, and Li families and was forced to open the Sanggan River to allow the three families to draw water at will. This incident had left everyone in Yue Family Manor—even the men and women of Wuli Village—holding back a deep resentment. Now that he heard Zheng Dakuai was scrambling everywhere for reinforcements, the servant could not help but feel a sense of malicious pleasure.

Seeing the grin of schadenfreude on the servant’s face, Yue Yang instead felt a surge of worry. Daning was only five to six hundred li away from Yingzhou Prefecture. If Gao Yingxiang’s band of bandits came to Yingzhou, he did not know whether Yingzhou City could hold out. But Wuli Village, only several dozen li from Yingzhou and with no city walls for protection, would certainly not fare well—at worst, the entire village could be reduced to ruins.

Yue Yang stood on the platform, silently lost in thought. Below him, several hundred soldiers remained standing at attention, unmoving, because they had not received any orders. After more than two months of strict and brutal training, Yue Yang had firmly ingrained the concept of obedience into them. As a result, the entire training ground fell into an eerie silence.

Slowly turning his gaze toward the field, Yue Yang’s lips moved, then he suddenly shouted loudly, “What are you all standing around for? Next, we’ll conduct combat training! Everyone split into two groups, put on your face guards—live-weapon combat begins!”

“Clatter!”

At Yue Yang’s command, more than four hundred soldiers skillfully divided into two groups. Some raised long spears, others hefted heavy swords and shields, letting out fierce shouts as they advanced in neat formation.

“Raise spears!”

“Heh—!”

“Thrust!”

“Heh—!”

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

As the two sides met, crisp yet heavy metallic collisions rang out across the training ground. Hundreds of soldiers began to fight, and in an instant the field was filled with the sounds of fierce combat…

At the same time, inside the prefectural yamen of Yingzhou City, Zheng Fakui—dressed in a crimson official robe—paced back and forth in the inner hall with his hands clasped behind his back. His gaunt face was filled with anxiety. Beside him stood a young yamen runner in black clothing, covered in dust, standing respectfully with hands lowered.

Suddenly, Zheng Fakui stopped and turned his head to ask, “Headman Lu, what did Thousand-Household Lu say? Did he agree to send troops?”

The headman surnamed Lu answered respectfully, “Reporting to Your Excellency, Thousand-Household Lu said that their garrison is under the command of Datong Prefecture. Without orders from General Yang of Datong or from the Ministry of War, they dare not dispatch troops on their own. Otherwise, if someone impeaches him, he would not be able to bear the consequences.”

Zheng Fakui flew into a rage. “Outrageous! That Lu Youxiang—when he comes begging this prefecture for grain and pay on ordinary days, he practically wants to kneel down and lick my boots. Now he’s putting on airs! Does he really think I won’t settle accounts with him later?”

Seeing Zheng Fakui’s furious state, Headman Lu said helplessly, “Your Excellency, please forgive me for speaking frankly. Although Lord Lu holds the post of thousand-household in the garrison, you are well aware of how rotten the garrisons have become. Today’s garrison troops are no longer the valiant soldiers of the founding era under the Great Ancestor. If you ask them to farm, every one of them is skilled; but if you ask them to fight, they’re probably not even as good as the street thugs in Yingzhou City.”

Zheng Fakui suppressed his anger and let out a long sigh. “Then what do you want me to do? At present, there are fewer than five hundred usable soldiers in Yingzhou City. Even if we include the yamen runners, there are only about six hundred men in total. Even if Lu Youxiang’s garrison troops are useless, at least they could help move stones and roll logs for defense. But I never expected Lu Youxiang to be so afraid of death that he wouldn’t even dare step out of the garrison gates. Truly disappointing. At this point, all we can do is leave it to fate. If those bandits come to attack, I will live or die together with Yingzhou City.”

“Your Excellency!” Seeing Zheng Fakui so dejected, Headman Lu felt distressed as well, but had no way to comfort him and could only stand silently to the side.

Suddenly, Headman Lu recalled something. A glimmer of joy appeared in his eyes, and he hurriedly said, “Your Excellency, we still have reinforcements! Aren’t there many gentry families in Yingzhou City? Which one of them doesn’t have one or two hundred household guards? Especially the Lin family—their mines alone have gathered no fewer than a thousand fierce guards protecting the pits. As long as they agree to send people over, we could add at least one or two thousand soldiers!”

“Hmm, would that work?” Zheng Fakui’s heart stirred, and he lowered his head to consider the feasibility.

Seeing that Zheng Fakui was still hesitating, Headman Lu added fuel to the fire. “Your Excellency, whether it works or not, having an extra one or two thousand defenders is at least a good thing. Right now, no one knows whether the bandits will attack Yingzhou City. Preparing in advance is better than having no preparation at all.”

“Mm, that makes sense.” Zheng Fakui looked at Headman Lu with some surprise and praised him. “Even you, a mere headman, understand the principle of preparing for danger in times of peace. How could this prefect lag behind you? Good. Immediately take my calling cards to the Wang, Lin, and Li families and ask them to send their household guards at once to help defend the city. Also inform the other major households: if we manage to hold Yingzhou City this time, after the bandits withdraw, I will certainly petition the court on their behalf for merit.”

“Yes!”

Headman Lu knelt on one knee, saluted Zheng Fakui, and then hurried out.

Under the terrifying pressure of the bandits, all the gentry in Yingzhou City sprang into action. Though they usually had conflicts among themselves, they all understood the truth that lips and teeth share the same fate. In less than a day, some sent dozens of men, others a hundred, others several hundred—dispatching most of their household guards. By the next day, Zheng Fakui was surprised to find that he now commanded more than fifteen hundred additional men. Adding Yingzhou City’s original troops, he now had over two thousand soldiers. Though not many, this force should be enough to defend the city.

On the twenty-sixth day of the eighth month in the fifth year of Chongzhen, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and Luo Rucai jointly led a total of fifty thousand bandits, dividing into four routes and capturing Xi County, Ze County, Shouyang, and other prefectures and counties. When the news reached the court, the Ministry of War immediately ordered the Governor-General of Xuan-Da, Zhang Zongheng, to station at Pingyang, and the Provincial Inspector Xu Dingchen to station at Fenzhou, each guarding their respective areas. On the fourteenth day, Li Zicheng, a major general under Gao Yingxiang, captured Xiuwu County and killed the county magistrate Liu Fengxiang. When the news reached the Chongzhen Emperor, he was furious. He immediately issued an edict reprimanding Zhang Zongheng and ordering him to mobilize troops at once to encircle and suppress this bandit force. Upon receiving the edict, Zhang Zongheng did not dare delay and ordered Yang Dazhu, the commanding general of Xuan Garrison, to dispatch no fewer than five thousand elite troops to the Xiuwu area to suppress the bandits.

After receiving this sternly worded order, Yang Dazhu did not dare to delay. He personally led six thousand elite troops to Xiuwu County to eliminate the bandits. On the thirtieth day of the eighth month, the six thousand troops of Xuan Garrison arrived at Xiuwu County and encountered more than ten thousand bandits led by Li Zicheng. As soon as the two sides made contact, the bandits collapsed in complete disarray. Li Zicheng had no choice but to abandon his army and flee with his nephew Li Guo and a few hundred remnants toward Shouyang to rendezvous with Gao Yingxiang, while Yang Dazhu drove his troops in relentless pursuit.

On the third day of the ninth month, Li Zicheng finally escaped to Shouyang and met with Gao Yingxiang. Upon meeting, both sides sighed with emotion.

“Godfather, your child is ashamed. This time, I was defeated again by the government troops.” Upon seeing Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng knelt down and shamefully pleaded guilty to his adoptive father.

Gao Yingxiang valued this adopted son greatly. Li Zicheng was bold, loyal, and decisive in killing, so Gao Yingxiang had always cultivated him as a key leader. However, since Li Zicheng was a leader of the righteous army and had suffered a defeat, Gao Yingxiang still needed to make a show of it, or else it would be hard to convince the others. Just as Gao Yingxiang was about to speak, a woman in blue clothing, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, stepped out and spoke first.

“Father, although Brother Li suffered a defeat, it’s understandable. After all, he was facing the Ming dogs’ elite border troops. Anyone who ran into that would lose. You mustn’t be too harsh on Brother Li.”

This woman was named Gao Guiying, Gao Yingxiang’s biological daughter. Gao Yingxiang doted on this precious daughter very much. Hearing her words, he laughed heartily and teased, “Guiying, do you think your father has grown senile? Naturally, I won’t punish your Brother Li over this. But what puzzles me is—you’re defending your Brother Li so much, aren’t you afraid your father will get jealous?”

“Father…”

Hearing Gao Yingxiang tease her like this, Gao Guiying’s face flushed bright red, and she became shy at once. Li Zicheng below also felt somewhat embarrassed. In fact, everyone knew about the relationship between her and Li Zicheng, but no one usually said it out loud. Now that Gao Yingxiang had brought it up, she could not help feeling bashful.

“Alright, it’s time to talk about serious matters.” Gao Yingxiang’s expression turned solemn as he said to Zhang Xianzhong beside him, “Eight Great Kings, since the Ming army’s elite have arrived, we naturally can’t fight them head-on. We need to change direction. Tomorrow, you are to immediately lead your troops toward Yingzhou and strive to capture it as soon as possible. We must show the court that our righteous army is not so easily wiped out.”

“Got it!”

Zhang Xianzhong grinned savagely and said with a sneer, “Rest assured, King Chuang. I’ll definitely make those Ming dogs suffer. I will take Yingzhou City for sure! Just wait for my good news!”