Chapter 174: A Story from the Pearl River Campaign

Sai Qingxia’s performing troupe was once again in a difficult situation due to this blow. The news that the Kun thieves had reached the river not far from Sanliangshi plunged the entire town and the surrounding areas into a state of panic. The terror and power of the Kun thieves left people in constant fear, and even the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated without any enthusiasm. Of course, no one was interested in watching horse-riding performances. Not only could they not earn money for their journey, but they were also constantly spending on food, lodging, and medicine. The entire troupe was in a dilemma.

Seeing the chaos in the town, many prominent families and gentry from the surrounding villages fled to Sanliangshi for refuge. The empty houses in the town were quickly filled, and the inns were soon packed. Room prices soared tenfold. The innkeeper, seeing such a great opportunity to make money, was naturally unwilling to let these ten or so people occupy three or four rooms and a stable. He gave them an ultimatum: either pay the new room rates starting today, or pack up and get out immediately.

“Charging for the stable? Where in the world is there such a rule!” Jiang Suo said indignantly.

“Rules? I make the rules here. Many people are begging to stay in my stable with their silver,” the innkeeper said with a greasy face, completely unconcerned. For some, a crisis is an opportunity, and for the innkeeper, this sudden chance to get rich had gone to his head. He was ready to kill anyone who stood in the way of his windfall.

No matter how much Jiang Niang and Uncle Zhou pleaded for a few days’ grace, the innkeeper had only one answer: either pay the new rates starting today, or pack up and leave immediately.

Jiang Suo, in his youthful impetuosity, wanted to argue with the innkeeper, but Qingxia knew it was useless to say any more and agreed to move out.

For a while, the town was already crowded with people. They had no choice but to move into the Guan Di Temple in the east of the town, which was already packed with poor refugees from the surrounding countryside. The troupe managed to find a spot under a corridor to settle down.

They could neither perform nor rest easy. Although Qingxia’s father’s illness had not worsened, it showed no signs of improvement. The troupe sat idly in the ruined temple, with no income, and gradually ate through their savings. Everyone sighed in despair—they were truly far from home, with no relatives or friends here. Their hometown was far away in the Central Plains. Not to mention returning home now, they couldn’t even go to Guangzhou to regroup.

After Qingxia’s father fell ill, Qingxia had become the de facto leader of the troupe. She was in great distress. Besides her father and herself, the troupe consisted of Jiang Niang, Uncle Zhou, Jiang Suo, and three young children, all from the same village and somewhat related. The safety of this entire group rested on her shoulders.

Fearing that the others would worry, she still went out every day at dawn to practice her skills, train, and exercise the horse in an open space. Although the Mongolian horse was not a divine steed, it was a good partner in her performances. Even without fodder, it had to graze on wild grass, and it quickly grew thin. This pained her greatly. But the money in her hands was dwindling day by day. Soon, even food would become a problem, let alone horse feed.

Qingxia knew that everyone looked to her as their pillar of strength, and she could not openly show her anxiety. But every night when she woke up, she would cry secretly. Performing was already a life of hardship, and now, trapped in such a predicament, she felt the future was even more uncertain.

Jiang Niang had secretly suggested that regardless of whether they had enough money for the journey, they should leave this desperate place first. They could use the little money they had to hire a boat and head towards Guangzhou, going as far as they could. They might be able to earn some money in a more peaceful place to sustain their journey to Guangzhou. But Qingxia was afraid that her father could not withstand the bumps on the road. Moreover, the news of the approaching Kun thieves also made them afraid to leave easily, fearing they would be captured by the Kun thieves on the way if they left the protection of the stockade walls.

In the militia bureau, the gentry were in a state of panic. The militia members guarding the town and the nearby villages would often sound the alarm gongs and fire signal cannons at the sudden appearance of a boat or a few outsiders gathering firewood nearby.

In this state of panic and anxiety, the Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated perfunctorily. Normally, the Luo residence and the other prominent families would have had festive decorations for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and would have specially bought various mooncakes and pastries from Guangzhou. Now, no one had the mood to celebrate the festival.

Seven or eight days later, the latest news finally arrived: the Kun thieves had reached Shigang, a village that was part of Sanliangshi’s mutual defense pact. Upon receiving the urgent message, Luo Tianqiu immediately ordered Yuan Kaibang and several newly hired militia instructors to lead two hundred militia members to reinforce Shigang. The other villages in the mutual defense pact also sent reinforcements.

The next morning, fierce gunfire and cannonades were heard from the direction of Shigang—the common people had never heard such intense firing before. The sound of gunfire and cannons lasted for about an hour. The committee members of the militia bureau were all anxious. Besides sending people to inquire, they also went up to the watchtowers to see if there were any new developments in the distance.

Around noon, the first batch of militia members appeared in sight. They were all exhausted, some on foot, some in boats, retreating in disarray from the direction of Shigang. Everyone was dejected. Some were being supported by others or lying in boats. Many had lost their weapons, their clothes were torn, and they were covered in blood.

The militia members retreating from Shigang not only brought back the news of the defeat at Shigang but also the body of Yuan Kaibang. This sturdy man, who had called himself the “Great Wall,” had half of his head and one arm blown off, and the rest of his torso was half-charred. This was the result of being grazed by a 12-pounder high-explosive shell.

Of the two hundred militia members who went to reinforce Shigang, more than fifty did not return. Besides Yuan Kaibang, seven or eight of the “training leaders” and militia instructors who went with him were also killed. The ones who returned were all demoralized.

From the mouths of the survivors, they learned that the combined militia force of the mutual defense pact had gathered more than eight hundred men to fight the Kun thieves at Shigang. The Kun thieves had only two hundred men, but their gunboats were very powerful. A single volley killed a large number of men. The militia members were routed from the riverbank before they even had a chance to engage. Then the Kun thieves quickly used ladders to climb onto the unguarded riverbank. The two sides fought a face-to-face battle at the entrance of the Shigang stockade, and the two hundred-odd militia members were routed by thirty or so Kun thieves armed with muskets with short swords attached.

“Every Kun thief can throw a palm-sized thunderclap…” a pale-faced militia member told the committee members. “Seeing that we had more men, they just waved their hands, and a whole bunch of us were blown to pieces…”

All sorts of terrifying rumors about the Kun thieves suddenly spread through the town. Especially the news that the Kun thieves’ muskets and cannons had an extremely long range made the militia bureau committee members realize that their defensive measures were probably useless. If the enemy could open fire from beyond the range of their own firearms and bows and arrows, they could disperse the defenders from a distance and then leisurely dismantle or bypass the fortifications. This was what the Kun thieves had done at Shigang.

Luo Tianqiu summoned all the gentry, prominent families, pao-jia heads, scholars, merchant guilds, and the heads of the major clans in the town to a meeting at the militia bureau to discuss how to resist the Kun thieves’ attack—after the fall of Shigang, Sanliangshi was bound to be the next target.

Although Sanliangshi was known as the Luo family’s “iron fortress,” its internal conflicts were very sharp. Not only were the prominent gentry families at odds with each other, but the common people were also extremely dissatisfied with the tyranny of the Luo family and their affiliated prominent families in Sanliangshi. It was only because of the Luo family’s usual power and prestige that they did not dare to show it too much. With the great enemy of the Kun thieves at their doorstep, this conflict began to surface. Many people believed that resisting the Kun thieves was useless and would only lead to pointless deaths. As for the pao-jia heads and merchants, they had long heard that the Kun thieves only targeted the prominent gentry. As long as the common people did not resist and paid a small “burden,” they would be safe. They were naturally unwilling to pay extra money. The problem was that under the Luo family’s rule, they had been subjected to levies and forced “donations” more than once in the name of “resisting the Kun thieves.” Everyone felt that since the heavily armed militia and the fortifications they had spent a lot of money on could not stop the Kun thieves, it was better to accept the “reasonable burden” and let the Kun thieves be satisfied and leave them in peace, at least without any deaths.

At the meeting, everyone had their own ulterior motives. No matter how eloquent Luo Tianqiu was, everyone remained uninterested in new resistance strategies. Only after Luo Tianqiu repeatedly reminded everyone of the fate of the prominent gentry in other villages and towns that had fought against the Kun thieves did the gentry and prominent families reluctantly agree to his request and promise to continue preparing their defenses.

After reluctantly reaching a consensus, Luo Tianqiu took action again. To win the support of the common people, he ordered a three-year rent exemption for the common people living in the Luo family’s properties, a one-year rent exemption for the merchants renting the Luo family’s shops, and a two-tael silver reward for every militia member who fought. The wounded would receive four taels, and the families of the fallen would receive twenty taels. For households that provided a ding (able-bodied man), if they were tenants on the Luo family’s land, they would be exempt from rent for one year. He not only did this himself but also demanded that the other prominent families in the Luo clan follow suit. At the same time, he suggested that other prominent families do the same to win the hearts of the people as much as possible.

Several of the prominent families cried poverty in front of him. Luo Tianqiu sneered grimly:

“Don’t you all cry poverty and hardship. The Kun thieves can’t stay here forever. After they leave, it will still be the bright world of the Ming Dynasty. The peasants will still be at our mercy. We’ll make them spit out what they ate!”

To win over the scholars, he, as a senior in the examination system, summoned the scholars and students from the town and the nearby villages. He said many nice words and spread rumors about the Kun thieves’ “evil deeds” of playing with strange and obscene skills and slandering the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. He also talked at length about the “distinction between Chinese and barbarians,” and pointed out that the Kun thieves’ claim to be descendants of the Song people from Yashan was first of all groundless, as there was no mention of it in any books or notes from the late Song and early Yuan dynasties. Secondly, even if it were true, the so-called “barbarians who enter China become Chinese, and Chinese who enter barbarism become barbarians.” He used this “distinction between Chinese and barbarians” to arouse the scholars’ “defend the Way” ideology. He incited a few young scholars who were not very knowledgeable to become passionate. A scholar immediately suggested that to counter the Kun thieves’ superior firearms, the only way was to block the river channels.

The Kun thieves relied entirely on their boats for mobility, and there were almost no land routes here. The Kun thieves’ cannons were heavy. As long as the river channels were blocked, the Kun thieves could only approach Sanliangshi on foot. Without the support of their cannons, their muskets, no matter how sharp, could not break through the stockade walls. They wouldn’t just be able to watch themselves being bombarded by cannons without being able to fight back.

The locations for driving stakes and sinking blockades were about two li from the Sanliang stockade at the closest point. Each river channel would have at least three blockades to ensure the Kun thieves could not pass.

Although this method was cursed by some as a “plan with no way back”—no one was sure if they could remove the blockades from the river channels after the Kun thieves left, and what would happen to the boats on the river after the channels were blocked—the militia bureau was already desperate. Luo Tianqiu thought this was a good idea and immediately mobilized the laborers to drive stakes and sink broken boats filled with sand and stones in the various river channels leading to the Sanliang stockade.

Luo Tianqiu also ordered temporary shelters to be set up for the fleeing peasants who had poured into Sanliang. The method was simple: besides the temples in the town, he had the prominent families open up the surplus rooms in their ancestral halls to temporarily house the poor peasants. He also distributed rice by head to appease the refugees. Originally, the people in the militia bureau thought that the refugees were an unstable factor and should all be expelled, but Luo Tianqiu believed that these refugees were all local people, familiar with the local situation. Expelling them would only force them to collude with the Kun thieves. It was better to keep them in the stockade for now and also to increase the number of defenders—fortunately, there was a lot of grain stored in the town.

After this series of works, the once shaken morale of Sanliangshi was stabilized again. The defenses everywhere became more stringent. Laborers and militia members worked day and night driving stakes and throwing stones into the river channels, while many spies were sent out to investigate the Kun thieves’ movements.

Qingxia’s troupe also benefited from Luo Tianqiu’s kindness. Luo Tianqiu knew that this troupe had some real skills and spoke with a Central Plains accent, so they could not be Kun thieves’ spies or collaborators. At a time when he was in dire need of highly skilled militia instructors, he went out of his way to win them over, ordering people to send them medicine. He also arranged for them to live in an empty room in the Luo family’s ancestral hall and often sent them some money and rice to help them out. The condition was also simple: help train the militia in the stockade.

Qingxia originally wanted to decline, saying that she was just a female performer and not fit to be a militia instructor. But as the saying goes, one should not receive rewards without merit. Since she had received the other party’s kindness, she had to repay it. Repaying with her martial arts was more dignified than other methods. So Qingxia, Jiang Niang, and Uncle Zhou all became militia instructors, teaching martial arts at the threshing ground every day. Jiang Niang was not good at archery, but she had a skill with flying knives, and Uncle Zhou’s single broadsword was also very good.

Only Jiang Suo felt that this was another of the Luo family’s evil schemes, tricking people into dying for him. He was unwilling to be a militia instructor. Qingxia did not force him: her father had not yet recovered, and the troupe also needed someone to look after it, so she let him stay at their residence to take care of everything.

It is unknown whether it was because of the Luo family’s medicine or because his illness was about to get better, but since moving to the new residence, Qingxia’s old master’s health gradually improved. This made Qingxia’s feelings for Luo Tianqiu change from suspicion and fear to gratitude. Especially after seeing this Master Luo rushing about daily for the town’s defense, tirelessly inspecting the works everywhere, and not forgetting to arrange for the relief of the refugees while supervising the training of the troops.

Qingxia was from Henan, one of the provinces most severely affected by banditry in the late Ming Dynasty. There were countless large and small bandit gangs. She had seen many local prominent families building stockades and recruiting militia to defend against bandits. But seeing that under Luo Tianqiu’s efforts, the market town of Sanliangshi was peaceful, the once noisy and chaotic streets filled with fleeing peasants had become orderly, and the various defense measures were being carried out in an orderly manner. What impressed her most was that he could rally the morale of the defeated and frightened militia in just a few days, making them look disciplined and well-prepared. This made her admire Luo Tianqiu very much.

From then on, Qingxia became more and more dedicated to training the militia. Although at first, everyone scoffed at a female performer teaching them, and some even made lewd jokes, Qingxia’s archery skill of hitting a target at a hundred paces gradually changed the militia’s opinion. They began to admire her. This gave her a certain prestige among the militia. And Qingxia herself would often go to the stockade walls and watchtowers to check for any defensive loopholes and to find suitable shooting positions. “Eat a man’s food, be loyal to his cause.” The traditional concept of a martial artist’s family was dominant in her heart. Even if this Master Luo had committed many evil deeds, it didn’t matter to her now. In the depths of her heart, there was even a little bit of admiration for this Master Luo.

One day, she was on the watchtower, measuring the distance from the watchtower to the river channel outside the stockade wall. Luo Tianqiu happened to come up to the watchtower with his men to inspect the deployment of the guards. He asked very detailed questions, considering many details she had never thought of. It could be said that he was very thorough. She couldn’t help but praise him in her heart: “What a capable man!” She saw that Luo Tianqiu was much thinner than when she first saw him twenty days ago, but his eyebrows were still full of vigor; although there were many bloodshots in the whites of his eyes, he was still full of spirit. She couldn’t help but stare at him, somewhat mesmerized.

Speaking of which, this Master Luo was only in his early forties, in the prime of his life. He usually practiced boxing and swordsmanship, and his body was strong and fit, unlike the general landlords who were either fat and bloated or skinny as a rail. His appearance could also be called handsome. Especially his demeanor and bearing: calm and decisive, his words and actions were very strong. This made Qingxia, who was over twenty and already considered an old maid at the time, feel a slight affection for him.

Qingxia had been engaged to be married in her hometown in the past. But she had always followed her father, traveling north and south to perform. When she returned to her village at the age of sixteen to discuss the marriage, her fiancé had already died in the chaos of a bandit attack on the stockade. Although she had never met this fiancé, she had cried for him several times.

After that, she had never thought about marriage again: she was already the star of the troupe, the money-spinner. The livelihood of the whole troupe depended on her. After getting married, she could no longer do this business. Besides, the troupe traveled north and south, with no fixed abode. Ordinary families were not willing to arrange a marriage with her.