Chapter 1287 - Key Intelligence
Despite his scheming, Lu Wenyuan understood that a "surprise attack on Qingzhou" would be an extraordinarily difficult operation for rebels whose territory had been compressed to Dengzhou alone. Zhu Dadian and Gao Qiqian had both arrived at the city walls to personally command the suppression army, and government forces were at peak strength with soaring morale. Intelligence from within the city suggested that Li Jiucheng, Kong Youde, and others had already contemplated fleeing by ship, only to be blocked by their own subordinates. Clearly, rebel morale was beginning to crumble.
Zhu Mingxia, recently returned from Jeju Island, held a different view. He argued that historical records showed the rebel core had always maintained formidable fighting spirit. Following their victory at Beima Town, government troops had achieved no significant advantage during months of besieging Dengzhou. Not only had they been driven out multiple times after forcing their way into the city, but the rebels had actively sallied forth on numerous occasions. Until Li Jiucheng fell in battle, the rebels steadfastly refused surrender. Even after fleeing to sea, they had engaged Ming and Korean forces repeatedly in Bohai Bay, holding out until their situation became truly impossible before finally surrendering to the Manchus. These were true diehards—desperadoes to the last.
"The rebels in Dengzhou lack neither will nor courage," Zhu Mingxia declared. "What they lack is accurate intelligence and mobility. Give them a helping hand, and these audacious men under Kong Youde will certainly stake everything on one final gamble."
"The problem is, if we help them destroy the government's grain stores, won't Xie Sanbin and Zhu Dadian immediately focus their attention on Qimu Island?" Chen Sigen expressed his concern. "We're the only major household in Huang County capable of assembling such quantities of grain."
Armed resistance would be simple enough, but their goal was to maintain a long-term presence in the Three Prefectures of Eastern Shandong. Open conflict with the government didn't fit that strategy.
"We must arrange it like the Battle of Wuchao," Zhu Mingxia said. He already had a plan in mind.
Once the grain was lost, Yuan Shao's army had wavered, and Cao Cao's forces had surged forth to seize the moment. That single stroke had settled the fate of Hebei. Applied to Dengzhou, the principle remained the same: the rebels could exploit the chaos following the destruction of government supplies—when the army's will was shaken—to break out in one decisive thrust, shattering the siege at minimum.
"That would require exceptional execution and command ability..." Lu Wenyuan remained skeptical.
"I believe the rebels possess exactly that." Zhu Mingxia spoke without hesitation. "I've studied the historical materials on this incident archived in the Great Library. Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde both demonstrate considerable tactical command ability, and their army's combat performance has been respectable. Provided we furnish sufficient intelligence and necessary assistance, they will seize this single opportunity to reverse their fortunes and bet everything on it."
The plan was this: when government forces began to rout, the Northbound Detachment would support Sun Yuanhua in a counterattack from Laizhou, repelling the rebels in one stroke while rescuing the defeated government army from total annihilation.
Every failure presents an excellent opportunity to attack political rivals. Whether Zhu Dadian or Xie Sanbin, both would face a torrent of impeachment memorials from throughout the court. Their attitudes would become far more accommodating—the more chaotic the situation in Shandong, the smaller the cost the Senate would need to pay to maintain its presence.
Night fell over Dazhushan Island. A small boat, unmarked and flying no flags, slipped quietly into harbor.
Dazhushan Island was small and ungarrisoned by Ming troops. Its moderate distance from both Penglai and Longkou made it ideal as a meeting point between the Northbound Detachment and rebel leaders. Though the two sides had cooperated in human trafficking and fencing stolen goods for a year, no real trust existed between them. Meeting on this isolated island offered both parties a measure of security.
Since secretly reaching their mutually beneficial non-aggression agreement, a regular liaison system had been established between the rebels and the "Three Men of Qimu Island." Both sides dispatched envoys to relay oral messages, using tokens as proof of authenticity. The Engine Operation Command had repeatedly emphasized: not a single piece of paper, not a single written character was to fall into rebel hands. Apart from the Senators themselves, no one was permitted to retain documents or records of any negotiations with the rebels.
The naturalized citizens selected as liaisons were therefore chosen as the most reliable and capable of keeping absolute silence. But this matter was of such importance that Chen Sigen went personally.
In the guard house beneath the abandoned beacon tower on Dazhushan Island, Kong Youde waited for the "envoy" by the light of a lamp as dim as a bean. His expression was dark and brooding. Here on this small island, he had no need to maintain the calm façade of a man with "everything under control" and "unshaken by events." For the rebels, "desperate" might not be an exaggeration.
"Promoting soothing through war" and "Breaking through Laizhou to seize passage into the Three Prefectures of Western Shandong and enter the Central Plains"—neither of the two grand strategies formulated at the uprising's outset had come to fruition. Since the day they raised the banner, Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde had dispatched countless spies to the capital, Jinan, and elsewhere to gather intelligence. Many court ministers who might have advocated appeasement had suddenly fallen silent, unanimously calling for suppression. The voices previously arguing for conciliation had been greatly weakened.
Promoting soothing through war had failed. The plot to force passage into Western Shandong had collapsed time and again. Though the Ming army performed poorly in field battles, they had blocked rebel offensives in nearly every defensive engagement, confining operations to the narrow strip between Dengzhou and Laizhou from start to finish.
More than a year of frenzied burning, killing, and looting had transformed this region into a barren wasteland, utterly incapable of sustaining an army that had swelled to dozens of times its original size.
Desperate bandits, local able-bodied men coerced into joining the rebels merely to survive, routed government soldiers, Liaodong soldiers and civilians who had crossed the sea in droves from the hungry and frozen Dongjiang Town to defect... All these had gathered together to form an armed mass of unprecedented scale. Like locusts, they had consumed everything in their path. Dreams of promotion, wealth, women, and silk had gradually given way to a more immediate concern: where to find the next meal.
Dengzhou had indeed possessed grain "piled like mountains" at the start. Later raids on the surrounding countryside had yielded more. But throughout the Three Prefectures of Eastern Shandong—save for a few places untouched by the flames of war—there had been no cultivation for an entire year, meaning no summer or autumn harvest. As stored grain dwindled, the specter of large-scale famine loomed ever closer over the rebels' heads.
The only one who might possess substantial grain reserves in the Dengzhou-Laizhou area was Qimu Island. But the rebels had been repulsed there when they were at full strength; there was no question of attempting it now, with government forces encamped outside Dengzhou's western gate.
If things continued this way, they wouldn't even need to fight—their own forces would collapse from hunger and cold.
What scheme was Manor Lord Lu pursuing by suddenly proposing this meeting?
Kong Youde had never been able to fathom Manor Lord Lu's true intentions. Having witnessed the formidable combat power and devastating firepower of his village braves during their early confrontations, he had always harbored a wary respect for this tiger lurking nearby.
Fortunately, aside from once sending men to help defend Laizhou, Manor Lord Lu had not interfered with rebel operations. After the two sides reached their tacit understanding, Qimu Island had claimed only Zhaoyuan, showing no interest in expanding territory. They simply continued receiving refugees, loading people onto ships, and transporting them away—as if what they truly sought was population. Were it not for the village braves' tactics being completely unlike the Manchus', he might have suspected Manor Lord Lu was a Tartar in disguise.
He couldn't fathom why Manor Lord Lu had specifically invited him to this meeting. Coming in person was surely dangerous—he was now Vice Marshal of the rebels, the second-highest leader. His capture would be an immense accomplishment.
Yet Kong Youde knew perfectly well that if Manor Lord Lu had wanted to help the government destroy the rebels, he could have done so long ago. There was no need to wait until now.
"General, you have arrived. My apologies for the delay." The newcomer's voice boomed like a great bell. He stood eight chi tall with a powerful build—but it was not Manor Lord Lu.
"I dare not presume priority—I only just arrived myself." Kong Youde cupped his fists in greeting. "And you are...?"
"I am the Manor Lord's representative, here to discuss a matter of great importance with the General." Chen Sigen studied the unassuming young commander before him with complicated feelings. After exchanging a few pleasantries, they cut immediately to business. Chen Sigen unwrapped a paper package and withdrew several sheets of thin Xuan paper.
"General, please examine these."
Kong Youde accepted them, studied them by lamplight, and froze.
It was a detailed map showing the distribution of government forces stationed throughout the Qingzhou area. Not only did it include terrain and roads, but it also listed troop numbers and the names of commanding officers. Most critically, it marked multiple locations where government grain was stored.
He already knew from his own spies that grain was being transshipped from Qingzhou. But such a clear and accurate map was something he had never possessed.
As a veteran commander, Kong Youde immediately grasped the map's significance. Suppressing his excitement, he looked up. "This is...?"
"A small gift from the Manor Lord," Chen Sigen replied.
Kong Youde clutched the papers tightly. This was no mere map—it was the elixir that could bring the rebels back from the dead.
For a moment he was speechless. The other party's intention in giving him this map was self-evident. But then suspicion crept in—what exactly did these people from Qimu Island want?
Within the rebel leadership, there had always been confusion about this force's true purpose. If they were loyal to the Imperial Court, they showed absolutely no interest in assisting the suppression. Kong Youde knew well enough that with the combat power of the Qimu Island village braves and the large ships that constantly sailed to Longkou to receive refugees, defeating the rebels alone would not be difficult. Setting aside everything else, if they simply wished it, they could sever the sea route from Dengzhou to the various Dongjiang islands at any time—making it impossible to "recruit Dongjiang veterans" or receive the reinforcement of Dongjiang soldiers and civilians.
Not to mention that these people had been conducting their own commerce throughout, acquiring vast quantities of population and materials, providing the rebels with an excellent outlet for disposing of plunder on a massive scale.
Yet if they were merely ambitious powerbrokers exploiting the Dengzhou chaos to expand their influence, they had only added a single Zhaoyuan to their holdings beyond Qimu Island. And Zhaoyuan was a poor place even by the standards of Eastern Shandong. Every local power knew to seize more territory and claim wealthy lands. Who would be content with a strip of salty, bitterly cold coastal ground?
All this comprised an unsolved riddle—one that kept the rebels perpetually wary of the Qimu Island faction.