Chen Youding's Fate

The smile on the young man's face as he looked at him—

A chill crawled up Chen Youding's spine. He fought, desperately, not to shudder.

"Father, are you unwell?"

Chen Zonghai had come late to the banquet hall, only after settling the men under his command in their assigned camp. To the son staring up at him with wide, round eyes, Chen Youding forced a bitter smile and dropped his voice.

"How do things stand around our troops?"

"They say they're only keeping watch on the men we took prisoner... but they've posted soldiers on every side of ours. The guard looks very tight."

"And the men themselves?"

"They cooked a meal from the rations the Duke of Yue issued, and now they're all dead asleep. The other side even handed out plenty of wine, saying we'd had a hard time of it...."

Anxiety tightened Chen Youding's face. He clenched his wine cup until it nearly shattered in his grip.

"Father, if you're thinking of moving the troops, you must not. Unlike our lightly armed men, more than half of theirs are armored infantry. Their discipline is strict, and they give off an edge like a naked blade...."

His martial skill was outstanding, and his character finer even than his father's. Chen Zonghai was a son beloved by the officers and soldiers beneath him. He had followed his father across battlefields since before he turned twenty, and faced with that counsel Chen Youding could only nod.

He had watched that savage fighting with his own eyes, and he had come close enough, when he stepped forward to offer his greetings, to see them for himself.

Ragged lamellar, dented helmets of every mismatched shape—and still men called them elite heavy infantry. That was Chen Youding's army. They had risen from righteous volunteers, true enough, but in truth the government troops, and even Chen Youliang's host over there, looked little different.

The Duke of Yue's army was another matter entirely.

The Tiger Hunting Army in black armor. The strangely named force called the Akuto, clad in red. And the Garrison Army that had drawn a ring around Chen Youding's men.

Armor, helmets, clothing, weapons—color and make matched to the last detail, as if, were there an imperial guard holding the imperial capital, it would look just so. Their ranks were strict, their discipline a drawn blade. That went without saying.

"Father, this is not the time. Endure. Endure again, and wait for the moment."

"The moment? What moment? Do you think a chance like this one will ever come again?"

His chest was tight. Chen Youding drained the cup in a single swallow.

His father had been a country farmer—and worse than that, a debtor who had fled his home in Fuqing and settled in the mountain county of Qingliu, an outsider. Born into a poor farming house, Chen Youding had used the strength he was born with to beat down the children who shunned and tormented him for coming from elsewhere, and he had made himself their chief.

He styled himself a youxia, a wandering knight, but in truth he had only wasted the years as one of the village toughs—farming in some rural corner, then gathering in a mob to throw fists.

Then, in his homeland, upon this soil of Fujian, an age of chaos arrived.

Fujian men much like him: ignorant, poor, with nothing to trust but their bodies and their strength. Most of them joined the rebels and led the way in looting rich houses, raping women, and raising hell...

Chen Youding was different.

He joined the righteous army the county magistrate was raising, won merit, and began to climb, step by steady step, from the lowest posts—patrol inspector, county defender, and the like.

While the toughs of other districts turned rebel or bandit, piling up infamy, losing the people's hearts, and earning pointed fingers, Chen Youding used the authority of the court as his backing, built his power grain by grain, and won a name.

He could not read a single character, but he had the wisdom to see through the power of a just cause—the strength that court office and legitimacy possessed.

When all of inland Fujian fell into the hands of Chen Youliang's army and most of the righteous hosts submitted or joined him, Chen Youding held out with stubborn honesty. He fought, and he fought again.

On the strength and renown he built that way, he rose to the plausible rank of route commander of Tingzhou.

And when a courier arrived from Jianning, begging desperately for relief, Chen Youding had felt it in his bones. For a man who had lived at the bottom, the finest chance to achieve a great work had come.

Chen Youding made his decision over the objections of his son Chen Zonghai and his subordinates.

If he was not to remain a petty power in some rural corner of Tingzhou, he had to step out into deeper water. For that he needed a brilliant feat of arms that no one could deny. And if he shattered Chen Youliang's army, driven deep into enemy ground, and absorbed a portion of it?

At a stroke he could seize a vast domain running from Tingzhou through Yanping and Shaowu all the way to Jianning. He might even receive high office in the Fujian Branch Secretariat from the court. Unifying all of Fujian and raising a power to stand beside Zhu Yuanzhang, Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, and the Duke of Yue—he had not thought it an idle dream....

A gamble with everything his life was worth. If he had simply failed and lost his head, it would not even have felt so empty.

"Father, if you drink so quickly..."

"Yes. I know."

He had been emptying one cup after another. At his son's worried look, Chen Youding set the cup down.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The young Duke of Yue applauded, and the merry music ceased.

When every gaze in the hall had gathered on him, An Hyeon, Duke of Yue, looked over the company and raised his voice.

"Well, then. The time has come to discuss how the government army will move from here."

The commanders who had been drinking and roaring with talk fell silent, eyes flashing as they looked to their lord. It showed the Duke of Yue's hold on them plainly enough.

Chen Youding swallowed and watched them.

"The main force of Chen Youliang's army, which seized inland Fujian and ran wild, has been annihilated here. Their chiefs as well—Deng Keming, Kang Tai, and the principal generals—are all dead, or taken."

"......"

"Ought we not rescue the people who are suffering, and set the law of the realm to rights?"

"Yes, my lord!"

"Only give the order!"

Generals pounded the tables with their fists. An Hyeon, Duke of Yue, lifted a hand to quiet them and looked to one side.

"Kagetora!"

"Yes, my lord!"

"You will take twelve thousand of the Akuto and march north to Jianyang. From Jianyang County, follow the Shao-Jian Ancient Road west, pacify Shaowu, and secure Shan Pass."

"I will obey, my lord."

Inwardly, Chen Youding sighed at how cleanly the young Duke of Yue's orders cut through the geography of Fujian.

The mountain road from Jianyang County to Shaowu Circuit. Follow the Shao-Jian Ancient Road and you came at once to Shaowu County, the seat of the circuit. Push north from there and seal Shan Pass, the gateway between Fujian and Jiangxi, and Chen Youliang's army in Jiangxi would find Fujian hard to enter—and linking up with the remnants would become impossible.

He looked young, but he was every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bit as seasoned as the rumors claimed.

"General Fang?"

"Yes, my lord!"

"You will go southwest along the waterways, together with Hu Shen and Wu Zide. Pacify all of Yanping Circuit, then move on to Tingzhou Circuit and root out what remains of Chen Youliang's army."

"It shall be done, my lord!"

Having given the orders, An Hyeon, Duke of Yue, turned his head and looked at Chen Youding.

"Route Commander Chen."

"Y-you mean me?"

"You will lead your army and move together with General Fang's Garrison Army. You'll travel by boat along the Min River, so it should not be as hard as you think."

At the order to act alongside a force nearly twice his own, Chen Youding clenched his fist tight.

"The men under Route Commander Chen know the lay of that country, do they not? Otherwise you could never have come so quickly over five hundred li of hard mountain road."

"Yes. That is so."

"If your men serve as guides, the suppression should not be difficult. And while we are at it, I will even send my own troops to help you hunt down the bandits of Tingzhou Circuit."

The Duke of Yue smiled as if he were doing him a kindness. Chen Youding bowed his head to hide the sour look on his face.

"Your Grace shows grace to the people of Tingzhou. I can only be grateful."

Deng Keming and Kang Tai were dead, but their remnants still held out all across Tingzhou Circuit. If something over eighteen thousand troops were sent, it would surely be a great help in pacifying the circuit.

But if that happened, would the great clans and the common people of Tingzhou not see Chen Youding himself as a man too weak to manage without borrowing another's aid?

And everyone would know that it was this mighty Duke of Yue who had beaten Chen Youliang's army.

Chen Youding thought for a moment, then rose from his seat.

"This humble official has something he would ask Your Grace."

"Of me? What is it you wish to know?"

"I won a small merit, and the court appointed me route commander of Tingzhou. My talent was lacking, and I failed to drive the bandits off, and yet..."

Chen Youding looked at the Duke of Yue with trembling eyes.

"Your Grace now stands on the verge of pacifying all of inland Fujian. Do you perhaps intend to replace me as route commander of Tingzhou with someone else?"

Asking outright whether he meant to purge him turned the air of the banquet hall cold.

Seok Geum, general of the Tiger Hunting Army, and his officers. Kagetora of the Akuto, and the Japanese warriors. Fang Guozhen, Hu Shen, Wu Zide, and the officers of the Garrison Army besides.

Every one of them glared at the man who had dared run his mouth so freely before their lord.

But Chen Youding stood ramrod straight and met the Duke of Yue's eyes.

His position was nothing like that of officeholders such as Jie Hong or Puyan Buka, who had just received high posts and were leaving Fujian. If he ever left his base and his power behind, he would fall to a mere military underling.

This moment, right now, was a chance that would not come again.

On what pretext could they replace a loyal subject who, for the realm and at the court's command, had risked death to run five hundred li of mountain road and relieve Jianning?

Watch the Duke of Yue's conduct and you saw a man who fretted obsessively over justification and reputation. He had to aim for the moment when the man could not lay a careless hand on him without wrecking the good name he had so carefully built.

"This humble official and his men risked their lives to relieve Jianning...."

"What?"

Chen Youding stared at the Duke of Yue with his mouth hanging open like a fool.

"If you truly labor for the realm, and for the people of Tingzhou, why on earth would I replace you?"

"Th-then...."

"If you have been anxious because I punished officials in Zhedong and Fujian, set your mind at ease. Unlike you, they were incompetent and cowardly. They committed the crime of aiding traitors, or of abandoning their cities and running."

The guarantee of his post had come far too easily. Chen Youding was dazed.

"There is, however, something you must keep in mind."

"Wh-what do you mean..."

"Until now, offices have been scattered recklessly through every prefecture and county, and the inspection and evaluation of local officials have never been properly carried out. Of course, with rebellions rising everywhere and bandits running rampant, it was something that could not be helped."

At the Duke of Yue's calm words, Chen Youding nodded.

"But now that I govern Fujian, it cannot go on so. We will examine whether the magistrates of each prefecture and county truly govern their people, and we will confirm whether they are at fault."

"........"

The explanation was too orderly. Chen Youding could find nothing to say against it.

"And if you fail to rule rightly, and the people rise in rebellion? If they petition that heavy taxes and corvée have made their lives unbearable?"

"Th-that..."

"If such a thing should happen... I cannot simply leave it be. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes. Your Grace."

The Duke of Yue looked down on him with eyes full of majesty. Cold sweat broke on Chen Youding, and he bowed his head.

"Now, then—eat and drink your fill here! Let the men who have suffered rest soundly for a few days, and then we will move the army."

"Yes, my lord!"

Chen Youding let his shoulders sag and went back to a corner.

"Good. Dismiss the route commander of Jianning Circuit who fled... and summon Shi Chun, who is in Mingzhou now. Appoint him vice-administrator of Jianning Circuit and have him serve as acting route commander."

"The appointments for Yanping Circuit matter as well."

"Hm. For that, it would be best to bring Zhan Ding. Promote him this time to associate administrator of Yanping Circuit, principal fourth rank, and make him acting route commander. For Shaowu Circuit, Zhang Yi will..."

The army that had rested for several days in Jianning was even now moving in proud order into every corner of inland Fujian.

I was busy with Liu Ji, choosing the officials who would handle civil administration within the Fujian Branch Secretariat.

Ban Baixiu, who was meant to oversee the civil government of Fujian as a whole, was in Fuzhou, cleaning up after the expeditionary army and settling Fuzhou Circuit, and could not leave his post...

In the end I had no choice but to put my head together with Liu Ji and talk through what lay ahead.

"If we move according to Your Grace's plan, after Fuzhou you will hold ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jianning, Yanping, and Shaowu ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as well. That is four of Fujian's eight regions. In substance, however..."

"It would come to seven-tenths."

"Yes."

By the records from before the age of chaos, the Fujian Branch Secretariat totaled seven hundred thousand households and 3.34 million persons.

The regions I held were the choicest, in households and in population alike.

Including the greatest of them, Fuzhou Circuit, the four circuits came to four hundred eighty thousand households and 2.19 million persons. Nearly seventy percent of all the people of Fujian would roll into my hands.

"As I have said, for a time Your Grace must catch your breath."

"Hm. We'll need time to digest it."

I scratched my head and studied the map drawn on the board.

Thanks to sweeping away Chen Youliang's army, the strongest opponent of all, no threatening power remained inside Fujian.

The petty warlords of Xinghua Circuit were still there, and so was the Ispah army that held Quanzhou, but the situation was such that trying to wipe those fellows out all at once would only bring trouble.

Appointing local officials to every prefecture and county, dispatching clerks, employing men of local talent, and restoring a system of rule—that mattered above all else.

The remnants of Chen Youliang's army and of the rebels had to be suppressed or brought to surrender. The overgrown righteous armies had to be reorganized. A Patrol Army had to be raised to keep the peace in each place...

The people hiding in the mountains everywhere had to be settled again and set back to their livelihoods, and relief grain had to be secured and issued so they would not starve....

In any case, this was no time to go charging about conquering like Genghis Khan.

I was not a conqueror who simply ran headlong.

"My lord, do you mean to leave Chen Youding as he is?"

At the question from Dolswe, who would soon move to take up garrison in Yanping, I rubbed my chin.

"That man looked ambitious, and dangerous in the extreme. Is it wise to let such a man remain on his own ground?"

"True. Seeing him in person, he did not look like a man to take lightly."

Dolswe now roamed the battlefields as the senior division commander of the Tiger Hunting Army, but there had been a time when he became my secretary even before his younger brother Gaeddongi, and handled every sort of affair from the north all the way down to Jiangnan.

A man of both letters and arms, with an eye for the greater board.

"What if you gave General Fang a secret order? Cut off the trouble before it comes, and governing Fujian hereafter would be a simpler matter...."

Hearing Dolswe offer such a chilling piece of advice, I found myself wondering where the innocent boy of old had gone.

Well. Boys grow up.

"General Fang said something of the sort as well. But I told him to leave the man be, so long as he commits no folly and gives us no opening."

Dolswe raised no objection to that and nodded.

Even so, I had the sense that he did not inwardly agree with this somewhat naive decision.

"Right now, the only warlords who have not defied the court, who hold office and thus a justification, and whose military strength is nothing to scoff at, are two men: Chen Youding of Tingzhou, and Luo Liang of Zhangzhou."

"Yes. I remember what you told me before."

I glanced aside at Liu Ji, recalling the counsel he had given me the day before the banquet.

In a word: leave to the two warlords the regions that cost much and yielded little to eat.

And put our strength into digesting the Fujian land we had already taken. That was the proposal.

If Chen Youding tried to raise a great power in that remote Tingzhou, he would have no choice but to overreach. Should he exploit and abuse the people and lose their hearts, I need only seize on that pretext at the proper time and strip him of his office—and if he resisted, suppress him. That would be the end of it.

I made my decision according to Liu Ji's counsel.

That was why I had not removed Chen Youding, and had instead ordered Fang Guozhen to support him and pacify Tingzhou Circuit.

"There is no need to rush and force the matter. Taking all of Fujian is not what we have to do now."

"I understand, my lord. As you have always done—look after the people first."

"Yes. First, see that people can eat well and live."

Land you cannot govern properly is useless, however wide it grows.

In any case, rather than fussing over petty warlords who dare not even step out of their own domains, I had to remove the root causes that would raise rebellion again.

It was also the thing I did best.

"You will garrison Yanping at the head of the Tiger Hunting Army, and move swiftly as the situation demands. Root out the bandits inside Yanping Circuit, and finish your preparations so you can serve as a strategic reserve, ready to march anywhere in Fujian."

"It shall be done, my lord."

Dolswe's Tiger Hunting Army had been fighting without pause since spring, ranging in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every direction.

For a while, it would do to leave them in Yanping as a reserve and let them rest.

It was time to return to Fuzhou.

Before I knew it, autumn was coming.