Chapter Seventy-Six: The General (Part 1)

Wu Mu looked at the copy of the official government document that had just been delivered. It had just been sent from the mail inspection station at the Guanrongpu post station.

Although the entire territory of Lingao had been under their control for a long time, in order to maintain the policy of “Ming skin, Ao heart,” the post road had always been kept open. After Shan Daoqian took over the transportation department, he not only repaired the post road, but also took over the post stations along the way, repaired the crumbling houses, and the impoverished post station workers also had a guarantee of livelihood. Therefore, the express horses carrying various government documents still galloped unimpeded on this post road. This gave the Political Security General Bureau a great opportunity to spy on the movements of the government throughout the island. Zhao Manxiong had set up a mail inspection station in the Guanrongpu post station, which was the closest to Lingao. All official documents passing through Lingao were first opened and a copy was transcribed, then resealed and delivered.

Of course, the official documents of the Ming Dynasty also had sealing wax and the like, and important documents were even nailed shut, but these were not a problem for the Transmigrationists. Whether it was using special letter-taking tweezers to roll the letter, or using a steam blowtorch to dissolve the paste, or even forging the official seals, there were people who could do it. Even if no one could do it, they could always find the information by looking it up.

Not only could they see the official documents to and from Lingao County at any time, but all kinds of official documents passing through were also copied and sent to the Political Security General Bureau. Now a copy was also sent to the Foreign Intelligence Bureau.

These official documents were usually read by Wu Mu. Although most of the official documents were written in the vernacular of the time, many of them contained official jargon, and after all, the ancient vernacular was different from Mandarin. It was difficult for modern people to fully understand them, so he had a team of clerks from the county yamen as consultants to explain the meaning of the official documents to him.

Most of the official documents were of little value, mostly routine administrative documents between counties, and more than 90% were about taxation and the handling of criminal cases. This might be excellent first-hand information for those interested in studying Ming history, but it was not very interesting to Wu Mu.

The official correspondence between the Lingao County Yamen and the Qiongzhou Prefecture was the focus of their surveillance, especially whether Wu Mingjin and his subordinates had secretly reported the actual situation in Lingao to the Qiongzhou Prefecture. Therefore, both official documents and private letters were subject to the strictest inspection.

Recently, the situation had become tense, and there were more and more official documents passing through. Wu Mu was very surprised to find that the official documents sent to Danzhou, Changhua, and other places were still being passed down station by station through the post stations in Lingao, as if they didn’t care at all whether the official documents could pass through the “bandit area.”

The Political Security General Bureau and the Intelligence Bureau could easily know from the passing official documents that the Ming army had no plan to send troops from Danzhou—the official documents only ordered the local authorities to prepare grain and wait to be sent to Lingao, and there were no instructions for the Danzhou garrison to assemble and prepare for battle, nor were there any instructions for the garrison to immediately steam and clean their firearms for use.

He opened a few letters and found nothing special. When he opened another one, his eyes suddenly widened.

It was an official document summoning Wu Mingjin to immediately return to the provincial capital to report on his duties.

A copy of this letter immediately reached Xiong Buyou’s hands. Then it reached the hands of the Executive Committee. Ten minutes later, the field army headquarters in Maniao also received this news.

“Of course we can’t let Wu Mingjin go to the provincial capital,” Xiong Buyou stated his attitude simply and clearly. “First, when he gets to the provincial capital, he will most likely tell everything. Even if he doesn’t tell everything, he has a lot of first-hand information, and it’s not good to reveal some of it. Second, this person is still useful in our hands. If he goes to the provincial capital, we will not be able to use him anymore, whether he is alive or dead.”

“It’s easy not to let him go, of course, but if we continue to use the Lingao model in the future, if he, as a county magistrate, openly defies orders, I’m afraid he won’t be able to be an official anymore,” Wu De was worried about this problem.

“It doesn’t matter, just have him send a distress message,” Xiong Buyou said. “Isn’t He Ming sending small units to harass Chengmai and Qiongshan? We can just add some fuel to the fire. Say that the bandits are besieging the county town, and he is trying his best to defend it and cannot leave the city.”

“Will it work?”

“Just find Master Wang and it will be done.”

In the county yamen, Wu Mingjin and others were in a very distressed situation. The news that the government army was coming to Lingao to suppress the bandits had also reached the yamen. Although the yamen runners in the county yamen had either been replaced or no longer dared to contact him privately, the inner yamen were all his personal family members, and he could still get news from them.

The news started as just a whisper, but then it became more and more solid. The news from all over indicated that the governor’s dispatch of troops for suppression was imminent. The servants told him that the Australians were mobilizing troops, the roads were full of troops and cannons, and the ships in the port were also being mobilized. And it was rumored that the Australians had sent new troops and were preparing for a decisive battle with the Ming.

Wu Mingjin’s heart was both conflicted and painful. He knew that he had made a mistake in not committing suicide and not fleeing to the prefectural city to report the emergency. Now there was no way out. He could only “share his fate” with the Australians. If the Australians won, he, this ambiguous county magistrate, could probably continue to be one—but it might not be the magistrate of Lingao of the Ming Dynasty. Thinking of this, a wave of grief for his homeland could not help but well up in his heart. However, if the Ming won and the Australians pulled up anchor and sailed away, he could not go with them and abandon his ancestral graves to become an Australian! He could only stay and wait for death!

Thinking of this, he could hardly sleep at night. He was very clear that once the Ming recovered Lingao, they would definitely not think of him as a loyal official who was “defending an isolated city.” Not only would his life not be guaranteed, but his reputation would be tarnished, and even his family would be implicated. His wife and children were all in Lingao, and at that time, they would probably be burned to ashes.

Wu Mingjin spent more than ten days in this extremely conflicted and complex state of mind. Xiong Buyou knew from the spies he had placed in the inner yamen that he was suffering internally and was very worried that he would suddenly commit suicide. According to the will of the Executive Committee, Wu Mingjin was a key protected person, so he ordered the spies among the servants around him to keep a close watch on the county magistrate to prevent him from committing suicide. In addition, he ordered You Guotuan to strengthen the security in the inner yamen and the city gates to prevent him from escaping or secretly sending letters.

Xiong Buyou decided that this matter still had to be discussed with Wang Zhaomin—after all, the county magistrate’s seal was still in Wu Mingjin’s hands. It was not convenient for him to seize it by force. Although Master Wang had lost his power now, he had become a senior adviser to the Government Affairs Council and was not dissatisfied with such a life. He had no official rank and did not eat the Ming’s salary. Now he was receiving a double allowance from the county magistrate and the Australians, keeping a concubine, and living a comfortable life. He only hoped that such a life could continue peacefully until Master Wu left his post.

Wang Zhaomin had known about the impending suppression by the Ming army earlier. But he did not think that the Australians would be defeated. Unlike Wu Mingjin, he often dealt with the Australians, had been to many places, and knew that the Australians were extremely strong. The Ming army’s encirclement and suppression would inevitably end in failure.

The biggest adverse consequence of this encirclement and suppression was that his master’s position as the magistrate of Lingao was probably not guaranteed. But this had little to do with his own personal interests—he, Wang Zhaomin, could just find a new master and continue to be a secretary.

Xiong Buyou came to discuss with him and showed him the official document. Wang Zhaomin agreed with the judgment that Wu Mingjin should not be allowed to go to the province to report on his duties, and also affirmed the practice of sending someone to report the emergency.

“There is no need to let Master Wu know about this matter—he is now disturbed and uneasy. Bothering him again will only make Master Wu more embarrassed,” Wang Zhaomin, in his usual style as a secretary, was bold and reckless. “The seal is in the signing room. Signing and sealing was originally my job. I will handle this matter.”

“Alright. Then I will rely on Master Wang’s brilliant writing.”

Wang Zhaomin immediately began to write this distress message. This message was written with great care. Although he knew nothing about the situation in Guangdong, from the matter of wanting Wu Mingjin to return to the province, it could be seen that the officialdom in Guangdong was not very clear about the situation in Lingao, and they knew almost nothing about the situation of the Australians.

But the fact that the Australians had been in Lingao for three years could not be hidden—at that time, Wu Mingjin had sent many distress messages to the prefectural city, and the Guangdong side would definitely check the previous reports and documents now.

It was very difficult to explain why the local county yamen had not taken any measures against the Australians in Lingao for three years, especially now that the word “suppress” was at the forefront. Any explanation would be scrutinized. Only when public opinion turned to “pacify” would it not matter what self-contradictory things were said.

After thinking it over and over again, since it was difficult to make up a story, it was better not to make one up at all. He just sent an urgent letter saying that Lingao was currently besieged by the bandits, and the bandits were setting up cannons and building scaling ladders outside the city, preparing to storm the county town. The county magistrate was urging all the soldiers and civilians in the city to defend the city to the death, and so on.

After finishing writing, he reviewed and revised it again before he was satisfied. He then copied it clearly, stamped it with the seal, and gave it to Xiong Buyou to review.

“It’s just that the person who delivers the letter will have to go through some trouble,” Master Wang stroked his beard and said. “Although the official document only needs to be delivered to the prefectural city, in case the prefect or Commandant Tang asks about the situation in our county, we need someone who is eloquent and not afraid of death.”

“This is not a problem. I have my own candidate.”

Xiong Buyou took the document and did not return to his office. Instead, he went directly to the office of the Political Security General Bureau and studied the letter repeatedly with Wu Mu, Li Yan, and others. After confirming that there was no problem, he called over a native intelligence officer born locally who was studying in the A department of the intelligence training center and had him deliver the letter to the prefectural city.

Li Yan explained to him one by one how to answer if he was questioned, and also told him about the possible dangers he might encounter, asking him to be careful.

The news that the bandits had broken through the Lingao garrison, harassed Chengmai, and besieged Lingao County town finally reached the Guangdong Governor’s Yamen in Zhaoqing through an urgent report from Hainan. Wang Zunde was already unhappy about the failure to capture the bandits in Guangzhou. Now that he heard that the bandits in Lingao had broken through the local garrison in Lingao, besieged Chengmai and Lingao county towns, and wantonly harassed the local area, he became even more angry and strictly ordered He Rubin to quickly assemble his troops and cross the sea to suppress them. In order to urge He Rubin’s combat operations, Wang Zunde appointed Hainan Sub-prefect Zhao Ruyi as the military supervisor. Then, he appointed Lu Yizhong with the rank of expectant sub-prefect as his military adviser.

In this way, He Rubin had two “military supervisors” before he even set out. Not to mention Zhao Ruyi, who was in Qiongshan County and could not leave his post without authorization, but this Lu Yizhong was a confidant in the governor’s staff. He had come here originally to urge for war, so he would inevitably point fingers in the army from time to time, asking him to “quickly send troops.”

Lu Yizhong had extorted forty or fifty thousand taels of silver from the various shops in Guangzhou that had trade relations with the Australians by bluffing and intimidating them. Even the Gao family had to contribute a few thousand taels of silver to get rid of him. Although this number could not satisfy Wang Zunde, it at least regained a little trust.

On the one hand, Wang Zunde strictly urged the army to go to war, and on the other hand, he stepped up the collection of grain, gunpowder, and armor, preparing to transport them by sea from Guangzhou to Qiongshan for storage and backup.

The summer sun was scorching, but the sea breeze was cool. Although this was still the inner river of the Pearl River, the river surface was wide, and the wind and waves on the river were as strong as on the sea. The waves rose and fell, constantly rushing towards the shore, hitting the beach and reefs.

Because of the order of the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Wang Zunde, ships were forbidden to enter or leave the mouth of the Pearl River. And the merchant ships knew that the government was recently nailing large ships at the mouth of the Pearl River, so they dared not to appear here. Therefore, there were only a few fishing boats and naval warships on the river.

In the bay in front of Humen Fortress, many ships were concentrated, with masts like a forest. There were both ships of the Guangdong navy and various civilian ships that had been temporarily commandeered. Some large ships were fully loaded with grain and armor, with their white sails full, and were sailing west towards Hainan Island.

On the open ground in front of Humen Fortress, many military tents had been set up, as dense as stars. Banners covered the fields, and swords and spears were like a forest. The sound of drums and horns echoed each other. The military appearance was very magnificent.

On the Aniangshoe Fort opposite Humen Fortress, flags were flying. It was one of the main forts on the outskirts of Guangzhou. It was surrounded by an earthen fortress, arrow towers, and blockhouses. Many Ming troops were stationed there, and the flags were flying in the wind.

He Rubin, with a group of his subordinate generals, staff, and personal guards, stood by the river on horseback, looking at this large army assembled from the whole province. Since the expulsion of the red-haired barbarians from Penghu in the late Tianqi era, the whole province of Guangdong had never assembled such a large army. In order to support this large army, in addition to using the grain stored in the official granaries on Hainan Island over the years, a large amount of grain had to be transported. Because they knew that the bandits’ firearms were sharp, and they were prepared for a long siege, many newly cast cannons and muskets were transported from Foshan, as well as a lot of gunpowder. And in a leeward and sunny place behind Aniangshoe Mountain, a new gunpowder factory was set up, and saltpeter, sulfur, and willow charcoal were continuously transported from all over the province to be made into gunpowder here.

“With elite soldiers and sufficient provisions, the garrison commander will surely achieve a complete victory in one battle,” a staff officer flattered him.

“According to the reports, the bandits’ morale has not declined. Not only have they not shown any intention of retreating, but they have also broken through our garrison, besieged our two counties of Lingao and Chengmai. It seems that there will be a fierce battle to decide the victory. Military affairs are dangerous, and there can be no negligence,” He Rubin was very surprised by the sudden activity of the bandits. Since the bandits had been living peacefully in Lingao for nearly three years, why were they suddenly attacking everywhere now? Could it be, as Lu Yizhong said, that it was just to retaliate against the government for sealing the Australian trading house?

He vaguely felt that this matter was not so simple.

A middle-aged civil official stood by on horseback. He was Lu Yizhong, who had been sent by Wang Zunde with the rank of expectant sub-prefect to be He Rubin’s military adviser. Although he had come with the title of military adviser, everyone knew that he was a military supervisor sent by Wang Zunde.

The official military supervisor, Hainan Sub-prefect Zhao Ruyi, was still in Qiongshan County and would not come to Guangzhou to point fingers. Lu Yizhong was not so easy to deal with. Not long after he arrived in the army, he constantly urged He Rubin to cross the sea to Hainan as soon as possible.

Hearing He Rubin’s words, Lu Yizhong quickly added: “What the garrison commander says is absolutely right. The bandits know that their end is near, and it is said that a cornered rat will bite back. Our army must cross the sea quickly to deter such petty criminals.”

Everyone knew that this Adviser Lu was urging for an advance again. In fact, the so-called 50,000, but actually 20,000, suppression army had only assembled more than 10,000 people so far. This was already because they were mobilizing troops within the province, so the speed was much faster. According to the practice of the Ming and Qing dynasties, so many troops could not be mobilized and assembled and sent on their way all at once, because it was difficult for the local area to support so many people’s food and lodging at once. Therefore, the troops from various places were all dispatched daily in units of two or three hundred people. And since they were going to war and not on vacation, the soldiers and officers naturally walked as slowly as possible, not even twenty li a day. It was normal for tens of thousands of troops to take three or four months to assemble.

At this rate, it would take another half a month for the entire army to assemble. And the troops were temporarily pieced together. Although they were nominally under He Rubin’s command, he was not familiar with all of his subordinate generals scattered throughout the province.

Unfamiliarity between soldiers and generals was a major taboo in warfare. He Rubin had originally planned to assemble the entire army in Guangzhou, take advantage of the rainy season in Hainan and the subsequent typhoon weather to inspect and train them locally for one or two months, and then send them out in early autumn. But Lu Yizhong’s constant urging forced him to first transport the grain, armor, and his town standard central battalion across the sea.

“The wind and waves are so big today!” He Rubin looked at the fleet that was setting sail and sailing away, and couldn’t help but worry about the safety of the fleet. A few days ago, several ships transporting grain and armor to Hainan had capsized, and a lot of supplies had been lost.

“Don’t worry, my lord. These sailors are used to sailing. They are using locally built large ships with nailed seals. They can go to the West, so there will be no problem going to Qiongshan,” a staff officer comforted him.

Returning to the main camp, He Rubin discussed the strategy of advance with his staff. The governor was eager for him to cross the sea and fight, not only because he was eager for success, but also because of the problem of a large army consuming provisions. This army of 20,000 had not yet finished assembling, and the Guangdong provincial treasury had already spent more than 100,000 taels of silver. The cost of grain, ships, and firearms had not yet been calculated. If they were to besiege the bandits in Lingao for several months, the cost would be even greater.

For this reason, he had to make a gesture first and let his most reliable troops cross the sea first.

Watching the first batch of troops crossing the sea leave, He Rubin seemed to be relieved—at least he could have an excuse to shirk responsibility to the governor. But a great worry arose in his heart. He knew very little about the situation of the bandits. He had originally wanted to wait for the magistrate of Lingao County to arrive and ask him in person, but he did not expect the bandits to suddenly besiege the county town, and the magistrate could only defend it and could not go to the provincial capital.