Chapter 1026 The Butterfly of Wuqiao

Just as the Longkou side was tensely making preparations, in a small village outside Wuqiao County in Hebei—neighboring Shandong—amidst falling rain and snow, a dilapidated small temple stood lonely on a bare little mound.

Below the mound, horses and disheveled soldiers were scattered loosely—perhaps a thousand or more. Crowded together around flickering campfires, they cursed while extending hands to warm themselves over the flames.

A tall, burly young general wearing a surcoat over his armor stood beneath the small temple's eaves. His face was dark, his skin rough, his expression bearing the cold, solemn look only battle-hardened veterans possessed. Behind him hung a banner. The banner was soaked through in the cold rain and snow, hanging limply under the corridor eaves. Only when a cold wind blew could one barely make out the character "Kong."

Several horses were tethered before the temple doors—much taller and more spirited than the herd below the slope. The horses wore expressions of disgust, unwillingly eating already-blackened wheat straw that soldiers had pulled from peasants' rooftops.

He seemed to be waiting for someone, gazing intently northward. To the north, beyond vast fields and sparse small woods, lights glimmered faintly—that was Sangyuan Town, where Wuqiao County seat was located.

This general was none other than Kong Youde, Infantry Left Battalion Deputy Commander of Dengzhou. Though his official position was in the Infantry Left Battalion, he actually commanded former Liaodong cavalry. He hailed from Tieling in Liaodong. Both his father and he had been local miners. After Nurhaci rose up, Tieling Guard soon fell. In his youth, Kong Youde participated in his father's anti-Later Jin uprising in Tieling. After the uprising failed, he wandered through Liaodong, joined the military at Guangning, and once rose to mobile corps commander. After Guangning's garrison was disbanded, he joined Mao Wenlong's forces and changed his name to Mao Yongshi.

After Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan, his former Eastern Sea troops were led by Eastern Sea Deputy Commander Chen Jisheng. Soon after, Deputy Commander Liu Xingzhi rebelled on Pi Island, killing Chen Jisheng and over ten others. The newly appointed Eastern Sea Commander-in-Chief Huang Long immediately went to Pi Island to suppress them. Feeling marginalized by Huang Long, Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming refused to accept Huang Long's leadership and led their troops to join Dengzhou-Laizhou Governor Sun Yuanhua. Kong Youde became Infantry Left Battalion Deputy Commander, still commanding his former troops.

Rain and snow fell continuously from the sky, accompanied by northwest wind. Blowing against the already-soaked surcoat, it felt especially cold. Each breath exhaled white fog. Most cavalry below the hill were thinly dressed, dirty and ragged. They huddled together in groups of three or five, wrapping their tattered clothes tight. Some spoke in low voices; others swayed, already dozing off.

At that moment, several fast horses came from the north. The hoofbeats broke the mound's silence.

Hearing the hoofbeats, he exhaled heavily.

Before long, the hoofbeats drew closer. Then, among the sparse leafless bushes, under the dim moonlight, a small squad appeared.

The squad numbered four or five men. The leader was a young centurion. After climbing the hilltop, they all dismounted. The leading officer led his horse to the general and reported:

"Reporting to General: The matter is settled."

Hearing this news, Kong Youde's brow relaxed slightly. The long march to reinforce Liaodong was already a bitter, uncertain mission. He had not expected such an incident on the road!

When Kong Youde's force arrived at Wuqiao, they encountered terrible weather of mixed rain and snow. The troops were undersupplied—cold and hungry. They had neither pay nor provisions. Wuqiao County was asked to prepare supplies, but the county completely ignored them. Kong Youde was a passing general from Shandong with no influence in Hebei. The army was nearly out of food. Commoners in villages and towns greatly feared soldiers—late Ming armies had terrible discipline, and long marches were almost indistinguishable from roving bandits. Hearing troops had arrived, everyone fled. Though the county seat did not close its gates against them, all shops and markets were shuttered. Even wanting to buy grain, there was nowhere to go—let alone having no money.

The saying "soldiers never starve" had existed since ancient times. Without provisioned supplies, soldiers became self-sufficient. With officers' tacit approval, they split into small groups at night, quietly left camp, and went to villages and cities to "find provisions"—which was, in truth, robbery.

During the plundering, one soldier broke down the door of a seemingly unremarkable house in the city and stole a chicken. Unfortunately, this chicken had been raised by a household servant of the Wang Xiangchun family—a prominent Shandong clan.

Offending local gentry produced a very different outcome from robbing commoners. So the offending soldier was "pierced with arrows and paraded through camp"—in ancient armies, this was an extremely severe punishment, second only to beheading. The resentful soldier immediately killed the household servant.

This created a genuine problem for Kong Youde, who had wanted to settle things quietly. Ming dynasty gentry power was formidable, and Wang Xiangchun was no ordinary man—a former high official who had appeared in the Donglin Roster of Heroes. This was first-tier local gentry before whom county magistrates and prefects had to show respect. Wang Xiangchun's son would not let the matter rest and demanded an investigation.

Kong Youde was merely a minor deputy commander. Though he could lead over a thousand men in battle, in terms of power and status, he was no match for gentry like the Wang family. Given the Donglin Party's enormous influence at court, if the Wang family truly "filed formal impeachment by name," removing a minor deputy commander would prove effortless.

So he could only continue swallowing his pride, leading his troops out of Wuqiao County seat to camp on this wasteland, while dispatching Li Yingyuan to negotiate.

"I beheaded the offending soldier. The matter's settled," Li Yingyuan said indignantly. "The steward who came out to negotiate still seemed unsatisfied—only after I gave him another ten taels did he appear content."

Kong Youde sighed heavily. "Nothing to be done! What a waste of a good man!" He stamped his foot. "Those bookworms—so attached to their possessions, forcing us to serve on empty stomachs!"

"The brothers all say they cannot endure anymore—first forcing us to sea to Pi Island to suppress Huang Long's rebellion. Cannot Huang Long handle it himself? If General, you hadn't decisively turned back, we'd probably be fish food by now! Now they're making us freeze and starve while rushing us to Dalinghe to die!" Li Yingyuan grew agitated. "We've risked our lives for the court, followed Marshal Mao on the island eating sand and fighting Tartars—how many brothers died! The court and gentry have never treated us as human beings!"

A ripple passed through the surrounding guards and officers—all were former Eastern Sea troops who had followed Mao Wenlong in Liaodong. Marshal Mao's execution had planted seeds of discontent in their hearts. Marginalized by Huang Long in Eastern Sea, then after arriving in Dengzhou, constantly discriminated against by local Shandong troops and Southern troops.

This northern reinforcement to Dalinghe was originally a suicidal mission with slim survival odds, yet they still had to endure such treatment along the way. The troops' resentment grew ever deeper.

These words resonated powerfully with Kong Youde. His chest heaved as if wanting to speak, but ultimately he said nothing. He waved decisively and said with a fierce grin:

"We cannot afford to provoke those lords right now. Cannot stay here—the troops and horses will freeze. All units move out! We'll travel far and find a village to massacre. Let everyone warm up properly!"

"Yes sir!" Li Yingyuan and the officers beside him responded in unison, their faces eager with excitement. Though the army had been robbing constantly along the way, they had at least only taken enough food to fill their bellies, not daring to go too far. Now that they were permitted to cut loose, there would be rich pickings.

Everyone scattered to prepare for departure. Li Yingyuan was about to leave when Kong Youde stopped him:

"Yingyuan, when will your father arrive?"

Li Yingyuan's father was named Li Jiucheng. Though only a mobile corps commander in rank, he held great prestige among the former Eastern Sea troops in Liaodong. Even men like Kong Youde had to show him respect.

Over a month ago, Li Jiucheng had been sent by Sun Yuanhua to the frontier to purchase horses from the Mongols. He had not bought horses but had spent all the money. Fearing punishment, he dared not return to Dengzhou. Hearing that Kong Youde was leading troops north, he sent word to contact Kong Youde, wanting to march north together to see if he could earn military merit to offset his crime.

Li Jiucheng possessed considerable prestige among Eastern Sea veterans. With military morale currently wavering, Kong Youde urgently needed an old general like Li Jiucheng to calm and steady things. Otherwise, this force would not reach Shanhai Pass before scattering halfway—and this commanding general would have no choice but to flee to avoid losing his head.

Li Yingyuan reported: "My father sent someone to say that because of road conditions and wind and snow, he was blocked on the way. He'll reach Wuqiao to meet the General in a couple of days."

In the old dimension, Li Jiucheng, fearing punishment for losing the horse-buying money, had already arrived in Kong Youde's army on October 31.

The Li father and son inciting soldiers was precisely the main catalyst for Kong Youde's force launching the Wuqiao mutiny. But in this dimension, Li Jiucheng was blocked on the road and did not arrive at the army that day—thus losing the opportunity to incite the soldiers' revolt.

History's butterfly had flapped its wings slightly in a different direction. This was something the Senators had not anticipated.

"Good. We head north!" Kong Youde ordered. "Send a few sharp brothers in civilian clothes to Sangyuan Town to wait for General Li to catch up."

With the order, the originally cold, hungry, drowsy soldiers suddenly perked up, tightening saddle girths and mounting their horses. Over a thousand infantry and cavalry let out a shout and headed north.

The morning sun of November 1st shone upon Wuqiao County seat. When townspeople learned the Shandong army had departed far away, they breathed sighs of relief and opened their doors to resume their livelihoods. No one knew they had just escaped a calamity originally destined to befall them.

More than twenty li to their north, a large village had already vanished in smoke, completely massacred.

The Senators tensely waiting on Qimu Island had no one anticipating this development. In their view, any historical event would strictly follow the old dimension's historical track.

[Author's note: According to Kong Youde's biography, Li Jiucheng father and son played a greater role in the Wuqiao mutiny than Kong Youde. Subsequently, Kong Youde and others elected Li Jiucheng as Grand Marshal, also indicating Li Jiucheng's actual influence among Eastern Sea veterans was much stronger than Kong and Geng.]

(End of Chapter)