MLMD -Chapter 355 Sweeping Reforms

“The newly appointed Governor-General of Xuanfu and Datong, Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery Yue Yang, is going to remeasure military lands and redistribute them!”

The news swept across the whole of the Three Jin regions like a gale, and all the military households erupted in excitement.

Shanxi had always been on the front line against the Mongols and the Manchus, so the number and scale of its garrison units were enormous. There were the Taiyuan Left Guard, Taiyuan Right Guard, Taiyuan Vanguard Guard, Zhenwu Guard, Pingyang Guard, Zhenxi Guard, Datong Left Guard, Datong Right Guard, Datong Vanguard Guard, Yuzhou Guard, Shuozhou Guard, and a total of seventeen guards. At their peak, the standing strength of these guards exceeded two hundred thousand troops. But as times changed, the garrison military households had long since degenerated into little more than tenant farmers working land for their officers. With large-scale desertion among military households, Shanxi’s garrison forces had dwindled to only about a hundred thousand men, most of whom were old, weak, sick, or disabled. These were people Yue Yang had no intention of supporting for nothing—no matter how rich he was, money wasn’t meant to be spent that way.

After more than a century of evolution, the officers of the guards had long regarded military land as their private property. Now that Yue Yang wanted to take that land back, it was tantamount to digging out their lifeblood. Many garrison officers turned red-eyed with fury upon hearing the news. Quite a few shouted slogans like “No land, only our lives!” and sharpened their blades, ready to stake their lives against Yue Yang. In less than half a month, dozens of incidents broke out across Shanxi in which garrison officers incited military households to resist the remeasurement of land.

In response, the entire Great Ming turned its gaze toward Shanxi. From Zhu Youjian to Yang Sichang, from senior court ministers to censors across the realm, all eyes were fixed on this patch of land to see what that famously hard-line Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery would do.

Yue Yang did not disappoint them. Soon, an army of thirty thousand infantry and cavalry set out from Yingzhou Prefecture and Hunyuan Prefecture, advancing into the various garrisons across Shanxi. Divided into detachments of a thousand men, dozens of columns surged toward the garrisons like a swarm of locusts. When bayonets glinting with cold light appeared before the garrison walls, those frenzied garrison commanders finally realized, in shock, that their much-admired governor-general truly intended to use the blade.

During these days, generals such as Yang Guozhu, Hu Dawei, Tang Tong, and Wang Pu appeared to be living quietly behind closed doors, but in fact they maintained secret contact with one another. Any disturbance anywhere reached them at the first possible moment.

Among these generals, the wealthiest was Wang Pu, the local strongman. Wang Pu was a native of Datong; his father Wang Wei had once served as a Left Commander-in-Chief. Wang Pu was, in modern terms, an official’s son. His family owned over eighty thousand mu of fertile land, so calling him a great landlord was no exaggeration. Among his family’s holdings were many plots seized from military land—meaning that Yue Yang’s move against military land hit him harder than anyone else.

“Sanwa, say something! Those damned Yingzhou troops have taken all my land!”

In the main hall of the Wang residence sat a large group of people. Wang Pu occupied the seat of honor, surrounded by seven or eight middle-aged and elderly men. One man in his forties was sobbing bitterly, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Since he was at home, Wang Pu wore only a plain purple robe. He reclined motionless in his chair, eyes closed as if resting. If not for the rhythmic tapping of his fingers on the armrest, one might have thought he was asleep.

After a long while, Wang Pu opened his eyes and said impatiently to the weeping man, “Seventh Uncle, why are you crying? I’ll tell you plainly—those lands were taken by Marquis Yue. Coming to me is useless. Besides, those lands belonged to the court in the first place. Now the court is taking them back—what can we say?”

“What court land? That land belongs to our family—it’s surnamed Wang!” The man sprang to his feet. “Our family’s held it for two or three generations! How did it suddenly become court land? Why didn’t the court take it earlier or later—why now? I won’t accept it!”

Wang Pu waved his hand weakly. “Seventh Uncle, if you won’t accept it, then go take it back yourself. I’m not stopping you.”

“Sanwa, what kind of talk is that?” The man glared at him, shouting. “So now that you’re a general you’ve become high and mighty? You won’t even help your own uncle? You side with outsiders? Look at all these uncles and elders—we doted on you when you were little! Now you won’t even recognize your own kin. Are you worthy of your late father?”

“Yes!” the others chimed in. “Sanwa, one stroke can’t write two different ‘Wang’ characters. Our Wang family has standing in Datong. Now they want to cut off our roots, and you, the Datong general, let them ride on your neck and shit without fighting back? You’ll be laughed to death!”

“Bullshit!”

Wang Pu slammed the table and shot to his feet, eyes blazing. “You want me to decide? Fine—tell me how! Should I lead troops to besiege the governor-general’s office? Or threaten the marquis? How about this—I’ll give you three thousand soldiers. You lead them and take the land back yourselves. How about it?”

“…This…”

They looked at one another and fell silent. None of them were fools. Stirring Wang Pu to the front while reaping benefits from behind was easy enough—but personally picking up weapons and charging in was out of the question.

Seeing them speechless, Wang Pu sneered. Did they really think him a fool? Yue Yang now had strong troops, ample funds, and grand ambitions. Anyone blocking his path would be the first to be cut down. He wasn’t that stupid. Losing some land was tolerable; losing his life meant everything was over.

“What’s wrong? All quiet now? Weren’t you shouting about taking the land back? I’ve lent you troops—go on. Why aren’t you moving?”

The Wang clansmen smiled awkwardly. “Sanwa is joking. We’re not the soldiering type. If you’re unwilling, forget it—we’ll think of something else. Well… we’ll be off.”

“Not seeing you out,” Wang Pu drawled, lifting his teacup in dismissal.

After they left, a woman in her forties emerged with two young maids. Wang Pu hurried to help her sit.

“Mother, why did you come out personally?”

She sighed. “So many uncles came to you for help, and you gave them no face at all. If this spreads, won’t people point fingers at our family?”

She was Wang Pu’s mother, Madam Wang (née Bai). Wang Pu smiled bitterly. “Mother, I’d rather be pointed at than lose my life and destroy our family.”

“So serious?” She was startled.

Wang Pu explained everything. Hearing it, she grew indignant. “This Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery is too overbearing! The lands may belong to the court in name, but the court hasn’t spoken. What right does he have to reclaim them? Doesn’t he fear punishment?”

“Mother, you still don’t understand,” Wang Pu sighed. “He holds heavy troops—why would he fear the court? Look at all the outrageous things he’s done, and the court hasn’t dared say a word. Two days ago at Datong Left Guard, his men tried to convert all military households into civilians. Commander Xie Wenhui resisted and was mowed down by a volley of muskets—over a hundred dead on the spot. Xie was killed; the rest scattered. Mother… that’s the lesson.”

“So ruthless?” Madam Wang gasped. “That’s rebellion! Military households were established by the Founding Emperor—changing them without authorization is a crime punishable by extermination of nine clans!”

“Exactly,” Wang Pu said bitterly. “In these times, whoever has troops is king. Look at Zu Dashou in Liaodong—he ignores imperial edicts, yet the court still sends him silver and grain. Why? Because he has troops. Look at Zuo Liangyu—looting, killing innocents, claiming false merit—yet his office only grows. Why? Because he has troops.”

Madam Wang finally understood. She sighed and rose. “Enough. Decide for yourself. I’m old. This chaos—when will it ever end…”

She returned to the inner quarters.

The remeasurement initially met fierce resistance, but as troops flooded into the garrisons and brutal suppression followed, after three months all military land in Shanxi was reclaimed. In forty-nine engagements, over four thousand resisters were killed or wounded, and more than eighty officers of hundred-household rank or above were killed.

The process was brutal, but the results were gratifying: 845,767 mu of military land recovered; 121,532 military households converted to civilian status. Yue Yang redistributed the land—not for free. He divided it into fifty-three farms by region and assigned officials to manage them.

This action was the first time Yue Yang bared his fangs to everyone in Shanxi. With bayonets and muskets, he declared that from now on, Shanxi answered to him.

By rights, impeachment memorials should have piled up—but astonishingly, the court acted as if nothing had happened. A few memorials vanished without trace.

In the Kunning Palace, Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian, sat flipping through an illustrated album, clearly distracted. Empress Zhou and Consort Tian sat nearby.

“Your Majesty, does Consort Tian’s album please you?” the empress asked gently.

“It’s excellent,” Chongzhen said absentmindedly, setting it aside.

Seeing his mood, the empress ventured, “If something troubles you, perhaps speaking of it will ease your heart.”

Chongzhen sighed. “Bandits and Xuan-Datong. The bandits demand silver and grain; where am I to find it?”

“And Xuan-Datong?” Consort Tian asked.

Chongzhen’s expression darkened. “Yue Yang. He moved troops without authorization. I sent Yang Sichang to question him—he demanded either appointment as governor-general and Shanxi governor, or Hong Chengchou’s head. What choice did I have?”

Consort Tian gasped. “That’s rebellion!”

Chongzhen smiled bitterly. “If he rebels, the dynasty falls. For our ancestors’ sake, I agreed.”

He wiped tears away. “Now he’s seized all military land, converted households, killed officers by the hundreds. Such madness is unheard of. How can I not be furious?”

The women could only embrace him.

“At last,” Chongzhen sighed, “if only Yue Yang served me, he’d be another Huo Qubing or Li Jing. But he harbors treachery. One day I must deal with him!”