MLMD -Chapter 76 Pack It All Up and Take Them Away

When Yue Yang and the others entered the former garrison commander’s residence, he finally understood the saying “Behind vermilion gates, wine and meat go to waste; by the roadside, people freeze to death.” From the outside, the house looked unremarkable, but inside it was lavishly decorated with carved railings and jade-like embellishments. Its level of luxury could easily rival that of the great households in Yingzhou City.

The petty clerk who had argued with Shunbao earlier on the road shook his head and sighed. “No wonder the military households outside were almost starving to death. So all the silver and grain ended up in Wu Fatian’s pockets. A man like this—if he isn’t executed, heaven itself would find it intolerable!”

His words fell into the ears of the surrounding officers, and for once, a flush of shame appeared on the faces of these old campaigners. After all, they could hardly shirk responsibility for the garrison’s descent into such a miserable state.

Once inside the main hall, Yue Yang took the seat of honor without ceremony. His bright, piercing gaze swept over the crowd before he spoke:

“Gentlemen, I trust you all know why I am here. I have just taken office as the garrison commander of Yingzhou City, but I am sorely lacking in officers. That is why I specially sought Lord Zheng’s permission to come here to recruit some soldiers and officers. Yet what I have seen has left me deeply disappointed. Large numbers of military households have fled, and officers at every level have neglected training. To speak bluntly, I fear there are hardly any among you who can still lift a blade or wield a spear. If all the soldiers and generals of our Great Ming were like you—doing nothing but encroaching on military farmland and oppressing military households—then the day of our dynasty’s ruin would not be far off!”

As he spoke, Yue Yang fixed his eyes on the men before him. Yet everyone below kept their heads bowed in silence. Only the hundred-household officer named Wu Chengfeng showed a trace of sorrow in his eyes. Seeing this, Yue Yang felt utterly disappointed. He knew that the officers of this garrison were already finished—over a century of comfort had ground away all their fighting spirit. To expect them to charge into battle like their forefathers was nothing but wishful thinking.

With a soft sigh, Yue Yang no longer wished to say anything more and was just about to wave his hand to dismiss them when a military household named Feng Xiaoyun spoke up.

With a bitter smile, he said, “My lord, please see clearly. The garrison’s many abuses did not form overnight. For over a hundred years, these have been the established ways of the garrisons. And you know the court’s rules as well—once a military household, always a military household, for generation after generation. The path of the imperial examinations has long been closed to people like us. These past years of relentless drought—if we didn’t set our sights on this military farmland, we’d have trouble even scraping together a living. If there were another way, we wouldn’t want to be villains either!”

“Yes, my lord, we truly have no other choice!” After Feng Xiaoyun finished speaking, the other officers also began to chime in, and one after another they knelt down.

With the mass flight of military households over the years, a chain of dire consequences had begun to surface. On the one hand, the surrounding situation was growing ever more precarious; on the other, excessive oppression had driven the military households to flee, leaving fewer and fewer people to till the land for them. Their own days were becoming harder and harder—before long, even they would be facing hunger. And the man before them, Lord Yue, was a famous great landlord in Yingzhou. If he could point them toward a way out, wouldn’t that be far better than lingering here in half-dead misery?

Looking at the men kneeling on the ground, Yue Yang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had come here to select capable officers—who would have thought it would turn into a collective grievance session? What kind of mess was this? He quickly raised a hand. “All right, all of you get up. Each of you is a military officer of the court—how can you be so spineless?”

A middle-aged hundred-household officer wearing an eighth-rank military robe said, “Military officer, my ass. The court stopped caring about us long ago. In past years, we still received some stipends—not much, but enough to barely fill our stomachs. Now we haven’t seen a single coin. Since ancient times, soldiers eating grain has been only natural, but we can’t even eat our fill anymore. What’s the point of being a military officer like this? If my lord is willing to take us in, we’ll abandon this garrison and follow you to Yingzhou City!”

“Exactly!” another voice echoed. “If my lord is willing to take us in, what’s wrong with abandoning this garrison and following you to Yingzhou?”

The others quickly joined in, many of them with eyes shining brightly. They had all heard that Lord Yue was not only a great landlord, but also now controlled Yingzhou City’s private salt trade. Just a little leakage from between his fingers would be enough to keep them fed.

Seeing the crowd’s excitement, Shunbao curled his lips disdainfully. He didn’t even need to think to know what they were after. Did these people really think it was that easy to take advantage of the young master?

Yue Yang pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned to the petty clerk who had remained silent all this time. “By the way, I haven’t yet asked your name.”

The clerk bowed respectfully. “In reply to my lord, this humble one is called Hai Lou.”

“Hai Lou?” Yue Yang mulled it over and smiled. “The surname Hai is quite rare. And your family has produced an extraordinary figure, hasn’t it?”

Hai Lou naturally knew whom Yue Yang meant. He lifted his head and said, “My lord must be referring to Lord Ruxian—Hai Rui. I am unworthy, but Lord Ruxian is indeed my family’s ancestor.”

“You’re a descendant of Hai Rui?”

Yue Yang stared at him in surprise, finding it hard to believe that this skinny-looking man was actually descended from the famous Hai Rui. Yet when he glanced around, he noticed that the others seemed strangely indifferent. That puzzled him—how could they show no reaction at all to such news?

But upon reflection, Yue Yang quickly understood. Hai Rui had died only a few decades ago. Though he had some reputation at court and among officials, he surely had just as many enemies. Otherwise, as Hai Rui’s descendant, Hai Lou would not have ended up as nothing more than a petty clerk. As for the common folk, Hai Rui’s towering fame in later generations owed much to the reverence of people in posterity.

After thinking it over, Yue Yang suddenly had an idea. He carefully sized up Hai Lou and asked, “Hai Lou, since the Prefect has assigned you to me, I hereby appoint you to go to Wuli Village to oversee land reclamation and farming. What do you say?”

“Ah? My lord wants me to go do farming?” Hai Lou was dumbfounded.

“Not only farming,” Yue Yang replied. “You’ll also be opening up new land. I will also screen these military households and assign them all to you. If you do well, I will recommend you to the court for official appointment. What do you say to that?”

“Th-this…”

Hearing Yue Yang’s words, Hai Lou fell silent. As the saying goes, dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and rats beget tunnel-diggers. As Hai Rui’s descendant, Hai Lou’s temperament closely resembled his ancestor’s—rigid, inflexible, and strict with himself. Such people, in any era, were rarely favored in officialdom. That was why he was still only a lowest-rank zandian, roughly equivalent to a modern-day government clerk. Without some extraordinary turn of fate, he would likely remain a minor functionary for life.

“Well?” Yue Yang pressed on. “From what I’ve heard, you’re withdrawn and poor at socializing, which is why you’re nearly forty and still just a zandian. If I’m not mistaken, promotion is all but impossible for you now. But if you agree, I can immediately promote you to dianli. You’d be able to manage over a dozen zandian and sili. What do you think?”

In the Ming dynasty, clerks were divided into four ranks: zandian, sili, dianli, and lingli, with lingli being the highest. Unlike officials, clerks were not appointed by the court but by local officials themselves. For Hai Lou, dianli meant a promotion of two ranks at once. Seeing that Hai Lou still hesitated, Yue Yang threw out an even bigger bait.

Fine—Hai Lou admitted that he was tempted. It seemed his cultivation had yet to reach his ancestor Hai Rui’s lofty level. Gritting his teeth, he stomped his foot, stepped forward, and bowed deeply to Yue Yang. “This humble one, Hai Lou, greets Lord Commander! May my lord enjoy long life and good fortune!”

“Haha… good, good!” Yue Yang laughed heartily, knowing at once that Hai Lou was secured. He reached out and helped him up, then turned to the garrison officers around them. “Since you’re all willing to follow me, I don’t mind pointing out a path for you. From now on, you will follow this… Hai zandian—no, Hai dianli—to Wuli Village to reclaim land. As long as you don’t slack off, your days will surely grow more prosperous!”

“Thank you for your great kindness, my lord!”

A chorus of voices rang out. And just like that, the entire Yingzhou garrison was neatly packed up—and taken away by Yue Yang.