The Old Scholar's Advice

"Set aside the sea roads, and the land of Fujian is walled in by harsh mountains, its speech and customs far removed from those of other regions. The folk are stubborn and rough, the mountains steep, the soil thin — and so, ever since the preceding Song dynasty, rebellion has broken out here at the slightest spark."

The old former official, Lin Quansheng, paused to drink and wet a throat gone bone-dry. Then his gaze settled, quiet and steady, on the young man seated before him: An Hyeon, Duke of Yue, a commander whose fame already stood high.

For sixty years he had given all he had to Fujian as an official. Yet in this age of chaos he had been powerless to save the suffering people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— far from it. With rebellion rising like wildfire on every side, it had been hard enough merely to keep himself and his house alive.

And the youth before his eyes?

He had crushed Fang Guozhen, the pirate even government troops had feared, and pacified the Zhedong coast at a stroke. Nor was that all. Zhang Shicheng and Zhu Yuanzhang, both notorious for their strength — even Chen Youliang, who had sent armies into this very Fujian to flaunt his power — dared not, so Lin had heard, so much as cast a covetous eye across his frontier.

So it was true, what they said. Heroes rise in an age of chaos.

Judged by achievement alone, he called to mind Guo Ziyi, Prince of Fenyang; judged by the young face before one's eyes, Huo Qubing. And unlike the famous generals of history, had he not raised every bit of it from empty hands?

Bearing the hope that this young man would deliver his homeland of Fujian from the hell of the age, Lin Quansheng went on.

"Since the previous dynasty, the localities of Fujian have been divided into eight, and called the Eight Min."

"..."

"Along the coast stand Fuzhou, Xinghua, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou. Inland lie Jianning, Yanping, Shaowu, and Tingzhou — eight circuits in all."

Lin Quansheng smiled at the young man, who listened with patience even while an old man went on about what must have seemed obvious.

"You may already know most of this. Even so, these eight circuits are held by a scattering of powers."

Lin Quansheng spread a map of Fujian he had drawn from his robes and pointed to the northwest of Fuzhou.

"Jianning Circuit is the only place still held by government troops. The mountains there are steep, yet farming prospers and learning flourishes, and so even in this age of chaos the great clans and the common people have defended that land alongside the officials."

"Hah. Such a place exists? From what I had heard, there was not a route commander or a general in Jianning Circuit worth the name..."

Had what I gathered been wrong? When I tilted my head, Lin Quansheng gave a bitter smile and nodded.

"Most of them are indeed incompetent, and most of them know nothing but fear. But the two men charged with the defense of Jianning Circuit — Lianfang Qianshi Jie Hong, and Jinglüeshi Puyan Buka — may be called officials of firm character and real ability."

"Jie Hong and Puyan Buka..."

It was not as if capable men were wholly absent among the officials of the Yuan. From where I stood, though, a man too capable was its own kind of problem.

"But they are hard-pressed merely to hold Jianning Circuit. Their limits are plain enough."

Lin Quansheng indicated the interior of Fujian.

"Aside from Jianning Circuit, most of the interior was taken last year by Chen Youliang's army, which crossed out of Jiangxi over Shanguan, the gate of the Wuyi Mountains. In the second month of this year, his subordinate generals Deng Keming and Kang Tai captured Yanping, close by Fuzhou here, and they are now eyeing Jianning Circuit."

"A considerable power. And they would not even be linked to their home base..."

I had already been told that a detached portion of Chen Youliang's host was running riot in Fujian. Whether it was his own design, or whether he simply could not keep the warlords under him from expanding as they pleased, I could not say — but to cross the rugged Wuyi range and strike into country where they could not even keep a supply line open...

And what good was any of that supposed to do them?

"They are not made up solely of troops that crossed over from Jiangxi."

"Then..."

"Within Fujian the peasants have risen in great rebellions before now, but aside from a few such as Bu Gwigyeong and Yi Chil of Funing, whom Your Grace has already put down, most have lost their strength. They never laid a proper foundation. They did nothing but plunder and let the fields lie idle, and so those followings, wildfire though they seemed, could not even feed themselves, and collapsed."

The same reason the vast Red Turban power in Henan had failed to last before it came apart. A force made of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nothing but an army can't be kept up. The warlords who have built those huge powers now aren't merely good at fighting — they're the ones who have put a system of rule in place and laid the ground to collect taxes.

"As a result, most either fell in under militia leaders or hid themselves away in the mountains, and when Chen Youliang's army arrived they joined it. That is why its strength swelled at a stroke. It is also why they were able to take Yanping, Shaowu, and Tingzhou all together."

The intelligence my staff at the Duke of Yue's headquarters had gathered on the inside of Fujian was concentrated mostly along the coast. Of the interior, we had known little in detail. A larger power than I had reckoned was planted squarely under Fuzhou's nose, up on the upper reaches of the Min River...

"They have no proper order, though, and swarm about like ants, so their foundation is not sound — nor have they seized the whole of the interior. Even in Tingzhou, I hear the militia leader Chen Youding is holding out from a mountain stronghold in Qingliu County and fighting them fiercely."

"They expanded their power without even setting their own house in order?"

"A great army devours a vast quantity of military grain. They cannot haul grain out of Jiangxi along narrow mountain paths, and so, rather than stay and hold, they must advance and plunder in every direction if the army is to be kept. Is that not so?"

However thoroughly we investigated, it seemed we still could not match a man of the place. This old scholar, who had served in office for decades in every corner of Fujian, knew the state of the province — and why it had come to be so — as if he were looking at the palm of his own hand.

"South of Fuzhou, Xinghua was for a time ruled by former officials who set up a branch provincial administration as they pleased. But they fell out with the Ispah army of Quanzhou, and last year most of them were killed or dragged off as captives. Now three local great clans — the Liu, the Lin, and the Chen — have divided the land among themselves."

Lin Quansheng shook his head with a wry smile.

"Putian County, where the seat of Xinghua Circuit lies, is held by the Lin clan, and even the officials dare not stand against them. Xianyou County is held by the Chen, Xinghua County by the Liu, and those two have allied to brawl with the Lin."

"Militia leaders of the same country, fighting one another?"

"In Fujian, the bonds of clan have always been strong, and a grudge, once taken, lasts, so quarrels have been frequent. Before the age of chaos they went no further than lawsuits. Now they take up spear and blade, and it is no rare thing for them to wash blood with blood."

So the armed clan feuds were already beginning?

Having already taken prisoners and roughly confirmed how matters stood inside Quanzhou, Lin Quansheng went on to the last remaining stretch of the south.

"Zhangzhou was originally home to many of the She, the hill folk, and rebellion repeated there for decades. Six years ago poor peasants rose, seized Zhangzhou, and their strength was so great that they even marched north and laid siege to the city of Quanzhou."

"And now it is different?"

"The man governing Zhangzhou now is Luo Liang, who raised a militia sixteen years ago. He was first appointed to a minor post for merit won as a militiaman, but in the years since he has proved his loyalty and piled up countless achievements, and so he was named route commander of Zhangzhou."

I listened, absorbed.

When peasants and other peoples rose and plundered the country round about, Luo Liang had emptied his family fortune to raise a militia and win merit in the suppression forces, all to protect his homeland. That much was no different from the militia leaders of Jiangnan. Luo Liang, it seemed, was a man who could not be set beside them.

"After putting down the rebellion, Luo Liang did not kill without cause. He settled the people who had strayed for a time, and he took as soldiers under his own command the She warriors who had joined the revolt, meaning to stamp out the embers of rebellion entirely."

"A remarkable man."

While most of Fujian had sunk into chaos, Luo Liang, having taken Zhangzhou — once the very heart of rebellion — chose to soothe the people rather than swell his army. In place of incompetent officials he held fair trials, encouraged the farming, settled refugees, granted them land, and lent them oxen.

Unlike the other militias of Fujian, the soldiers under him did not harass the people. In ordinary times they farmed. When an enemy came, they went out and fought — not under compulsion, but to protect their own ground.

"Because he harbors no reckless ambition and does not widen his power, there is no harsh exploitation of the people, and no grinding corvée. Thanks to that, though chaos rages on every side, Zhangzhou is at peace, and the hearts of the people follow Luo Liang."

"Then can he be counted a warlord?"

"Luo Liang has not only a commander's gifts, but the talent of a shepherd of the people. Yet he is faithful only to the duty laid on him, obeys the commands of the court, and keeps the laws of the state. He is no man of crooked intent."

Certainly he could be called a loyal subject of excellent character. The trouble was that his loyalty ran to the court, and not to me. And because he could not be touched lightly without the risk of the people's hearts turning, he was — if anything — a more troublesome opponent than the Ispah army of Quanzhou, or the men under Chen Youliang.

"Besides these, there are bands of the She living deep in the mountains. Sometimes they aid the rebels, and sometimes they become subordinates of the militias, so one must always be wary."

Unlike Jiangnan, this was not a place where one had only the Han to worry about. It was a little more of a headache.

In a quiet, steady voice, Lin Quansheng set out the points that called for care.

"The She do not stay in one place. They live deep in the mountains, set fire to the slopes, and live by slash-and-burn. Their strength is especially great in Tingzhou and Zhangzhou to the south, but in any deep mountain or forest of Fujian, one may meet them at any time."

"Slash-and-burn..."

"Slash-and-burn alone will not feed them, so they hunt beasts in the deep mountains and forests to make up what they lack. Because of that, She warriors have climbed the mountains and handled the crossbow since childhood. They are swift and brave, and even the fierce people of Fujian fear them more than a little."

Lin Quansheng pointed to Yanping Circuit on the map.

"As Chen Youliang's army swept the interior of Fujian, they drew in no small number of the She with goods and grain for bait. Those people are skilled in Fujian's harsh mountain country, so if you should meet them on the field, you must take care."

"I shall."

The old scholar seemed to have burned his throat with so long a telling, and drained his cup. I asked him quietly.

"Truly, it has been a great help to have you explain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how matters stand here. Did you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ask to see me in order to tell me this?"

"Hm..."

Lin Quansheng, after a moment's hesitation, looked at me with his wrinkled face.

"Your Grace is a hero of the age. I cannot say whether a mere shaggy scholar, grown old and nothing more, can offer counsel worthy of the name..."

"How can you say such a thing? Pray share your wisdom with me."

An old scholar, his face dark and gaunt. He seemed to have come in spite of the harm to his body, because his homeland weighed on him — the chaotic age he had given his whole life to and failed to overcome, and the people suffering under it.

I bowed my head and asked, with respect, for the old man's wisdom.

Lin Quansheng pointed on the map to Fuzhou, where we now were.

"Fuzhou lies in the northeast of Fujian, and so it is called Mindong. But for generation after generation, the seat that governs Fujian has always been here, in Fuzhou."

"Because of the ease of transport?"

"Precisely so."

Lin Quansheng smiled and nodded.

"By sea, Fuzhou opens northward upon Jiangnan, and southward it reaches Xinghua, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou. By the Min River it leads on to Yanping, and from there one may go by water to Jianning, Shaowu, and Tingzhou."

"The mountains of Fujian are harsh, and yet the waterways join them all..."

"The officials of the Fujian Branch Secretariat hold the city of Fuzhou and nothing more. They cannot command the sea, and even where the waterways run they lack the strength to advance and fight, so they have been, in truth, of no use at all. But does Your Grace the Duke of Yue not rule the sea with the finest navy under heaven, and command elite troops besides?"

Lin Quansheng's counsel was nothing I did not already know, and there was nothing in it to surprise me. The original plan for pacifying Fujian had been to take Fuzhou first, and then move on Xinghua and Quanzhou along the coast, where supply would be easy.

"But Fuzhou alone is not enough. The place Your Grace must aim for first is Yanping, in the interior, four hundred li from Fuzhou."

I tilted my head at that.

"Yanping — and not the nearer Xinghua, or Quanzhou?"

"The old saying has it that Yanping is the throat of the land of Min. Go up against the river, and you come to Jianning, Tingzhou, and Shaowu. Go down the river and out to the sea, and you come to Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Xinghua, and Zhangzhou."

"Hm..."

I had thought of Fujian's rugged interior as a matter for later. There was reason in what Lin Quansheng said.

"What is more, the greater part of Fujian's interior is now held by Chen Youliang's army. For the present they are absorbed in swelling their forces, and their foundation is said to be unsound — but if they should also take Jianning, where the farming prospers and military grain is stored in plenty..."

"You mean that once they have laid their foundation, they will not be easily dealt with."

"Truly perceptive, Your Grace."

Chen Youliang, who had raised his own Han, was a warlord of an entirely different order from Han Lin'er and Liu Futong, dwindled from a great power that had made the realm itself tremble down to a scrap of land around Anfeng. Word had come that, a little more slowly than Zhu Yuanzhang, he was employing former Yuan officials across Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, and elsewhere, setting his administration in order, collecting taxes — laying the framework of a state.

Which meant that Chen Youliang's army in the Fujian interior, given a little breathing room, might turn from a pack of plunderers into a proper army, and consolidate a base beneath it.

Old ginger bites hardest, they say. This one was sharper than I had thought.

"There is another reason you must strike Chen Youliang's army and retake Yanping."

"What reason is that, sir?"

I asked it of Lin Quansheng with careful propriety.

"Your Grace's army is elite, and its numbers are not small, so even those who dare oppose you — like those lawless Huihui — will in the end have no choice but to kneel. But if you must fight, one by one, the greater and lesser magnates who have no sense of how the world stands, it will take a long time, and no little blood will be spilled."

I nodded.

Cannon or no cannon, elite troops or no elite troops, fighting one by one the bastards who dug into the mountains or hid and held out was a nuisance. It took too long, and the harm outweighed whatever you gained.

"That Chen Youliang's army has now crossed harsh mountain paths, come all the way into the midst of enemy ground, and runs wild there, is because they hold the power of the court in contempt. That the militia leaders of every region quarrel among themselves and do not trouble to hide their ambition is because they believe there is no one with the strength to check them."

"..."

"Even a loyal subject such as Luo Liang of Zhangzhou has watched, for more than ten years, how powerless the court is. And so he puts the keeping of his homeland first, and cannot trust the court's officials, or follow them."

Lin Quansheng let out a long sigh and looked at me.

"Your Grace has won a great victory this time, swept those Huihui away, and recovered Fuzhou — yet that alone is not enough. You must make a show of force great enough that all those divided among the Eight Min of Fujian bow their heads in fear."

"And that show of force is the defeating of Chen Youliang's army, and the retaking of Yanping?"

"Because they are, at present, the strongest power in Fujian. If you can defeat them and retake Yanping, the magnates of every region who have been hesitating at Your Grace's appearance will startle, and come to bow their heads."

I stole a glance at Liu Ji, who had been listening in silence beside us. He met my eyes and gave a small nod, as if to grant the point.

"Once Yanping is retaken, what would you advise?"

"First, you must sort jade from stone. But at the same time you must win hearts — the trust of the people of Fujian."

"Sort jade from stone?"

Lin Quansheng looked at me and nodded.

"As I have already said, all across Fujian, through this long age of chaos, militias have risen to protect clan and hometown, and govern the districts in place of the court and its officials. Among them, those who seize on the chaos to defy the court and harbor ambition — punish them strictly. Those who overstepped their office only because circumstance left them no choice — those, you must take in."

"Who is the jade I ought to embrace, and who the stone I ought to break?"

When I asked it outright, Lin Quansheng smiled faintly and shook his head.

"This is not a matter to be decided by listening only to this old man's words. Lend your ear to what others say, see for yourself, and judge. Then you will have no cause for regret."

At the old scholar's words, through which a keen wit showed, I let out a low sound of thought.

"...Only, Chen Youding of Qingliu County in Tingzhou. That man, you should watch with some care."

"Chen Youding..."

"The other militia leaders come of the great clans of each district, but Chen Youding is a little different. He was originally of Fuqing, a peasant who moved to Qingliu County. From his youth he was fond of the knight-errant's trade, and the people of the district feared him and submitted."

In a word, no old family behind him — an outsider, and something between a paddy-field tough and the head of a young men's club. Exactly the sort who looked born to throw in with the rebels, and yet he had answered the call to raise a militia. A bit like Liu Bei, wasn't he?

"He put down the bandits round about and was named a petty patrol inspector, and then again county defender. A few years ago he broke, with his own hand, the army led by Deng Keming, that general of Chen Youliang's, and won great fame by it."

"Hoh..."

"The office is nominal, they say, but he has received the post of route commander of Tingzhou. Taking in even surrendered bandits and bands of the She, his host numbers more than ten thousand."

"Then how does he differ from Luo Liang?"

"Luo Liang rose to high office, yet he has always sought to keep the laws of the state, and has tried not to exceed his authority. Even in this age of chaos he has put the soothing of the people before the growing of his army, and out of loyalty to the court he has sent no small quantity of tax grain to Hangzhou, even when military provisions were short."

"You mean Chen Youding is not loyal to the court?"

"Chen Youding is composed, brave, and outstanding in stratagem. Born to a farming house, he knew no letters, yet he is so diligent that he invited scholars and learned to read, and to write poetry. In military talent alone, Luo Liang does not come up to him."

Certainly, unlike Luo Liang — a man of a great clan to begin with, and a militia leader of far longer standing — Chen Youding was a young man of thirty-one who had, in effect, started with empty hands. Had his gift for war not been exceptional, he would never have come so far.

"But his nature is arrogant and cruel, and he goes too far in killing without mercy any who defy his orders. Especially since receiving high office, he has used it to exceed his authority at will, and he kills or imprisons the officials who point this out, so that all fear him."

Hm. That one stung a little. I had done much the same myself, once I had scraped together justifications enough.

"Unlike Luo Liang, Chen Youding is a man who puts the growth of his host before the soothing of the people. Of course he is fighting Chen Youliang's army at present, so it cannot be helped — but I hear he lays heavy taxes on the people and imposes miscellaneous levies and corvée, and the suffering of the folk nearby does not cease."

"..."

"He is young, and his talent is outstanding. His character and his virtue do not match his ability, and having risen so high while still young, he brims with ambition..."

Lin Quansheng, midway through, suddenly looked at me — and faltered.

"He strikes you as rather like me, does he?"

"Ah — no! How could I — such a — cough, cough!"

Lin Quansheng broke into a long fit of dry coughs, and only after he had barely composed himself did he bow his head.

"I have heard it well, and know it — the virtue Your Grace has shown in governing Zhedong, not recklessly swelling your host, and lightening the burden upon the people. How could one set Your Grace beside a man such as Chen Youding?"

"I am grateful you would say so."

I offered him a respectful courtesy, and then I said:

"Having heard your wisdom, I feel as if my eyes have cleared. Could you not help me, at my side, in the work of pacifying Fujian and settling the people?"

The old scholar shook his head, his face gaunt.

"What help could an incompetent man be — one who lived his whole life as an official and accomplished nothing of worth? Besides, I am old and ill, and do not know when I may leave this world. I would only become a burden to Your Grace."

Then Liu Ji, who had been listening quietly beside us, spoke up.

"If Scholar Gakhyeon is too unwell to take office, might he not render aid of another kind?"

"Aid of another kind..."

"Sir, you are a son of this Fujian, one who passed the examinations and made his learning resound even in the imperial capital, so that the people of Fujian count you their pride. I have heard, too, that since your return to your homeland you have labored all your life as a shepherd of the people, and that the common folk revere you."

"Hm..."

Liu Ji made a formal bow toward Lin Quansheng, hands clasped.

"That His Grace the Duke of Yue sought of his own accord the office of Manager of Governmental Affairs of the Fujian Branch Secretariat, and came hither leading an army in person, was wholly in order to pacify this disorder. Yet the people of Fujian hold outsiders at a distance. However His Grace may soothe them and seek to govern rightly, their trust will not be easily won."

"Heh heh heh. We of Fujian are not without that fault, I must admit."

"If you, sir — whom the people of Fujian revere — were to write in your own hand to every quarter, setting forth in full His Grace's true intent, his capacity, and the firmness of his will to pacify Fujian..."

The wrinkles of Lin Quansheng's face broke into a bright smile.

"I shall gladly do so. If the letters of this old body can be of help to Your Grace, then it is plainly what I ought to do."

"Thank you, sir."

"Not at all. It is no matter for thanks. It is all for the sake of my own people, who are suffering..."

As if burning the last of his life, Lin Quansheng rallied his strength and wrote out, in his own hand, more than several dozen letters. Then, his face grown far more haggard, he took his leave of me.

"I will do my utmost, so that I need not be ashamed before you, sir."

I went out as far as the landing beyond the walls of Fuzhou, and watched the old scholar depart by boat.