Chapter 960 - On the Road to Dengzhou

The gravel-paved official road dissolved into a blur beneath his feet, nearly impossible to discern in the pre-dawn gloom. A chill wind swept in from the wilderness, and despite his windbreaker and hood, Zhao Yingong still felt cold seeping into his bones.

The journey from Hangzhou to Dengzhou had proven both arduous and perilous. Within Southern Zhili, traveling northward along the Grand Canal, they had used boats provided by the Xu family. All along the way, Xu family servants attended to their needs. Not only was the journey comfortable, but the smooth passage through checkpoints and sluice gates, the solicitous officials along the route, and the efficient conscription of porters all gave Zhao Yingong yet another vivid appreciation of gentry power.

No wonder so many people yearned to obtain official titles. Even those who made fortunes in commerce never forgot to hire famous tutors for their children and bribe examiners—doing everything in their power to get them "inside the system." The gulf between officials and commoners was truly like the distance between heaven and earth.

Yet this sentiment about that yawning divide evaporated the moment they crossed the Yellow River.

During the Ming dynasty, the Yellow River had seized the Huai River's course to reach the sea, with its outlet near Xuzhou. Crossing the Yellow River in that vicinity took them out of Southern Zhili and into Shandong proper.

The Grand Canal remained navigable within Shandong but didn't extend to Dengzhou. The group disembarked at Xuzhou and switched to overland travel. Zhao Tong, who had run escort routes to the north in previous years, reminded everyone to exercise caution along the way.

If the region north of the Yangtze within Southern Zhili had already appeared bleak and impoverished, once they crossed the Yellow River and entered Shandong, Zhao Yingong truly felt the harshness of the environment pressing upon him.

Though it was already midsummer, the fields held not a trace of crops. Vast stretches of land lay fallow, abandoned to weeds and silence. Trees along the route had died in clusters; on closer inspection, their bark had been stripped clean. Among the grass and scrub, scattered bones occasionally caught the eye—human or animal, it was impossible to tell.

The occasional villages they passed were either smothered in tall weeds with collapsed buildings, or else fortified behind high walls and deep ditches, with village militia standing on high alert. When Zhao Yingong inquired, he learned that less than a decade ago—in 1622—the White Lotus Sect uprising led by Xu Hongru had erupted in southern Shandong. The uprising, centered on Jining, had spread east to Rizhao, west to Heze, and south to the Xuzhou area. The entire route had suffered devastation from the fighting. In the years since, continuous floods had compounded the misery. Government tax surcharges grew heavier by the day, bandits operated everywhere, and the common people had either died or fled—leaving only a landscape of ruin. Even in broad daylight, small bands of brigands operated openly. Desperate men lurked around every bend. For this reason, Zhao Yingong's party, besides their own escort guards, had been accompanied by an additional ten stalwart Xu family retainers for protection.

And so they journeyed northward, constantly vigilant, pressing forward without rest. At Yizhou they encountered a massive rainstorm, and the Shu River burst its banks. Floodwaters on flat ground reached six or seven chi deep; with great difficulty they managed to obtain boats. Zhao Yingong watched the crowds of elders supporting children and the corpses littering the roadside, his heart aching terribly. He muttered silently to himself: We're late!

But at present he had no capacity to take in refugees. Without official backing, nothing could be accomplished in the Great Ming. He could only urge his entourage onward to Dengzhou as quickly as possible to meet Sun Yuanhua and secure his trust and support.

The party crossed mountains and forded streams, sleeping in the rough and dining on the wind, finally reaching Dengzhou with extreme difficulty. The hardships of the journey defied description.

Dengzhou at this time had become a major frontier stronghold for the Great Ming's operations against Liaodong. It was also where Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua, and their associates were training their new army. Before even sighting Dengzhou's walls, they frequently encountered troop movements and military encampments along the way. Mounted patrols rode the roads, occasionally stopping travelers for inspection.

Though the route appeared heavily guarded, they still heard reports of bandit and salt-smuggler activity in the area. There had even been terrifying accounts of entire villages being massacred. As if to confirm these reports, just after entering Dengzhou territory—near the official road—they heard sounds of fighting and screaming. Everyone immediately halted their horses and drew weapons. Zhao Tong, in charge of security, ordered the dogs released from the cart and readied to attack, then turned his horse toward the center of the column.

Zhao Yingong was being escorted forward by his servants when he heard the report from ahead. He turned to ask the local post courier accompanying them whether he knew what had happened. The weathered courier replied: "Must be the local salt smugglers having a turf fight."

"Not bandits?"

"Bandits wouldn't dare come onto the road in broad daylight—too many troops around here." The courier stroked his chin. "Most salt smugglers are local military households. Poor as they are, reduced to smuggling salt, quite a few still hold minor ranks like flag commander, general flag, or centurion. The authorities generally don't bother with them—can't control them anyway."

Hearing it was merely a salt-smuggler dispute, Zhao Yingong ordered the party to continue. Zhao Tong objected: "Master, we can't see what's happening up ahead. If we approach and someone mistakes us for coming to assist their enemies, we'll have trouble on our hands—once a fight starts, it's hard to stop."

Zhao Yingong conceded this made sense. He was, after all, in unfamiliar territory. Getting embroiled in local conflicts would create endless complications. Though his official backing was "solid," salt smugglers were local powerhouses. Any casualties on either side would breed unnecessary grudges.

The group waited on the road a while longer. The sounds of fighting gradually died down. Zhao Tong instructed everyone to wait a moment more while he went ahead to investigate. He dismounted and made his way cautiously forward along the road shoulder. After about the time it takes to finish a meal, he returned, approaching Zhao Yingong's horse to report: "Master, the fighting ahead has dispersed. But there are many bodies and weapons on the road—please have everyone proceed with caution."

Under Zhao Tong's guidance, the group moved forward carefully. In the distance, the roadside was indeed scattered with thirty or forty corpses, blood everywhere. The ground was strewn with broken weapons. Zhao Yingong noticed sharpened bamboo spears covering the ground along with a dozen damaged bows. There were also scattered straw bundles and loose sea salt.

"This was a salt shipment robbery," the courier observed. "Happens all the time on this stretch. Look—the wheel tracks leave the road here. The robbers got away with the cargo." He studied the scene more closely and muttered: "That's not right..." After saying this, he seemed to regret speaking and quickly fell silent.

"What's not right?"

After Zhao Yingong pressed him repeatedly, the courier finally said haltingly that there were quite a few horse-hoof prints on the post road, and the arrows left in the corpses weren't the kind of military equipment ordinary bandits or salt smugglers typically used.

"Imperial troops?"

The courier didn't speak, but his expression confirmed it.

"Doesn't Governor Sun do anything about this?" Zhao Yingong had already harbored doubts about Sun Yuanhua's military command ability; now his assessment felt even more justified.

The courier whispered: "How can Governor Sun control it? The troops these days are owed back pay for one or two years at a stretch. Most of the forces in Dengzhou are guest armies—the most lawless of all. That they haven't openly robbed merchants or massacred villages to collect provisions right here is already proof that Governor Sun and General Zhang have done a good job maintaining discipline."

In other words, sneaking around engaging in a bit of "black eating black" barely counted as anything noteworthy. Zhao Yingong knew something of the atrocities imperial troops were capable of. But judging from the bodies left behind and the wheel tracks, the salt smugglers' shipment had amounted to perhaps twenty wheelbarrow loads—worth maybe a few dozen taels of silver altogether. That such a paltry sum was enough to trigger mutual slaughter demonstrated just how desperate times had become.

"Let's go—this is troubled ground." The courier urged everyone to get moving quickly.

Just as they were about to set off, someone among the corpses suddenly cried out: "Help!" Zhao Yingong ordered his servants to search. They pulled a young man from beneath several bodies. He was covered in blood, his wounds difficult to assess.

"Can he be saved?" Zhao Yingong asked.

Zhao Tong nodded. "He has flesh wounds. Apply some trauma medicine and he should pull through."

"Then bring him along. Put him in the cart. Whether he lives or dies will be up to his fate." Zhao Yingong said.

The party finally reached Dengzhou city without further incident. Dengzhou was now a garrison town, crowded with soldiers speaking various dialects inside and outside the walls. Zhao Yingong noticed many spoke with Liaodong accents—these were clearly former Dongjiang Army troops, the main force of the Dengzhou Mutiny that was about to erupt.

Using letters of introduction from Xu Guangqi and others, Zhao Yingong passed unimpeded into the city—as the frontier for Liaodong operations and a military-critical location, city gate inspections were extremely strict.

After entering the city, Zhao Tong found all the major inns completely full and the smaller establishments unsatisfactory for his master. Taking initiative, he located a large local temple, donated six taels of silver, and under the abbot's solicitous reception secured lodging in a courtyard within the temple grounds. Zhao Yingong ordered everyone to rest for three days—bathing and changing clothes to shake off the dust of the road. He also had the luggage unpacked to check and prepare the gifts for Sun Yuanhua and the other officials—all carefully selected items, many specially shipped from Macau and Lingao.

For this visit to Sun Yuanhua, besides letters from the Xu family and the Hangzhou church, he had also brought Father Jean-Baptiste Jinliger—a missionary whose presence would fully establish his credentials as a "seeker of truth."

To obtain the maximum possible assistance from Sun Yuanhua, he had to present himself as a sincere prospective convert. Only then would Sun Yuanhua treat his requests from the perspective of a fellow believer, rather than as simply another schemer pursuing advantage.

He knew little about Sun Yuanhua personally. The Grand Library had provided him only basic biographical information and some statements of political views. What kind of person Sun Yuanhua actually was, they had no way to infer. However, since Xu Guangqi had been willing to have his son form a marriage alliance with Sun's family, the man's character was probably sound. To have become a governor before even turning fifty indicated considerable skill at navigating officialdom. He was also a Catholic, enthusiastic about using "Western methods" to reform the Great Ming's military technology and systems. Taking all this together, Sun Yuanhua appeared to be a person of good character, adept at official life, and open to new ideas. Such a person shouldn't be too difficult to deal with—what Zhao Yingong feared most was encountering people unwilling to do things. With such people, nothing could ever be accomplished.

Zhao Yingong instructed his servants to first gather information, confirming that Sun Yuanhua was currently in his residence. Then he selected a day to formally present himself at the yamen for an audience.

(End of Chapter)