Chapter Fourteen: The Makeshift Troupe

Therefore, Liu Zhongkun and Du Yishan exchanged a glance and remained silent for the moment, while Lady Jinhua continued, “Since your family elders have sent you here, they must have high hopes for you. This is not the time for petty squabbles. As long as you take Chao Lake, you will be commanders of ten thousand; cross the river, and you will be marshals!”

Though this was still far from Liu Zhongkun’s aspirations, it at least gave him a glimmer of hope. “Lady Jinhua, what if we take Chao Lake but still don’t become marshals?”

Lady Jinhua thrust her spear with force. “My only fear is someone deliberately sabotaging our great cause—not that there might be too many marshals or commanders! The only capable men I have at my side right now are you thousand-man commanders. Whether or not the court agrees, I will see to it that anything I promise is done!”

But Liu Zhongkun pressed on, “A title alone is worthless; you need men and horses to back it up. Otherwise, what use is an empty marshal’s title?”

Within the Red Turban Army, anyone holding the title of marshal generally commanded at least three to five thousand troops. However, “additional marshals” were an exception. Many such posts were merely sinecures for defeated or surrendered generals, sometimes without even a single hundred-man commander under their command.

Since Liu Zhongkun had seen such precedents, he wanted to make things clear. Lady Jinhua, withdrawing her spear, said, “Then let us settle the terms today. Commander Liu, Commander Du, Commander Huo, General Xiao Liu, let us sit down and discuss matters thoroughly.”

On hearing this, Du Yishan cursed Liu Zhongkun as a fool. He had hoped to bargain privately with Liu Zhongkun and reach a secret agreement to divide the spoils. But now Liu Zhongkun was eagerly diving headlong into the fire. “The Liu family is nothing but a bunch of bumpkins!”

Yet since Liu Zhongkun was willing to negotiate properly, Du Yishan had no choice but to join in; otherwise, as a thousand-man commander, he would surely suffer a loss.

Lady Jinhua, having set aside her spear, spoke few words but exuded authority at the negotiating table. “Everything else is negotiable, but regarding General Xiao Liu, there will be no compromise: the central army’s thousand-man commander must be General Xiao Liu.”

According to Lady Jinhua’s plan, aside from Liu Zhongkun, Du Yishan, and Huo Qiu as thousand-man commanders, she intended to create a special post of central army thousand-man commander specifically for Liu Yi. The next crucial step was to help Liu Yi establish this central army post.

At this, Liu Zhongkun grew anxious. “Marshal, I think the central army must have a great general in command, but with our limited forces, it’s impossible to establish another thousand-man command. How about making it a central army hundred-man commander instead?”

Du Yishan shot Liu Zhongkun a glance, but since he always acted cautiously and left nothing to chance, he had to support Liu Zhongkun, at least for now. “Marshal Jinhua, once we have taken Chao Lake, it will still be time enough to establish the central army’s thousand-man command. For now, let General Xiao Liu take charge of a hundred-man command in the central army.”

In Du Yishan’s view, Liu Yi’s position as central army hundred-man commander would be nominal anyway. After all, the so-called thousand-man command brought by Lady Jinhua amounted to only about a hundred men, a motley crew with only a few sets of armor and not even enough weapons to go around. Huo Qiu could hardly be expected to transfer any of his thin forces to Liu Yi’s command.

But Lady Jinhua had been waiting precisely for Du Yishan to make this suggestion. “Let’s do it according to Commander Du’s proposal—each of the thousand-man commanders will assign ten men per day to General Xiao Liu for the central army.”

In this way, Liu Yi’s central army hundred-man command would be a temporary structure, without fixed troop strength and without diminishing the real power of the three thousand-man commanders. Du Yishan wanted to object, but even the weakest of them, Huo Qiu, voiced his agreement—he could not afford to offend both Liu Yi and Lady Jinhua at once.

Of course, Lady Jinhua also gave her own promise: once the Chao Lake navy was taken, the three commanders would immediately be promoted to ten-thousand-man commanders and each be reinforced with at least a thousand men; if the river crossing succeeded, each marshal would have no fewer than three thousand able-bodied soldiers and sailors under his command.

Liu Yi chimed in as well, “I know everyone has their own concerns, but since we’re in this together, we must unite to take Chao Lake. If we take Chao Lake, everything else can be discussed; if we fail, none of us will have anything to show for it.”

Everyone agreed that Liu Yi’s words were reasonable, even the shrewdest Du Yishan saying, “Let’s all make the rounds and do our best. Marshal, it would be best if you could speak for us before His Majesty and the ministers, and secure more men and horses. If not arms and provisions, then at least a few blank imperial edicts!”

Lady Jinhua was a key figure in Han Lin’er’s enthronement ceremony. If she could secure the approval of Han Lin’er, Empress Dowager Yang, or the prime ministers, then everything would proceed smoothly. Liu Yi also agreed with Du Yishan, “Sister Jinhua, let’s do as Commander Du suggests.”

In the days that followed, Lady Jinhua played the same role repeatedly. As a former official of the “pseudo-Chu Lianghuai Province and Privy Council” who had turned to the righteous side, she had to recount in detail the crimes and intrigues of Xu Shouhui, Ni Wenjun, and Chen Youliang before the assembled ministers, as well as her own gains and profound reflections since joining the new cause.

Meanwhile, Liu Yi and Huo Qiu moved about the city, seeking out men willing to risk their lives for fortune and glory. This region of Haozhou often suffered famine even in peaceful times, let alone amidst the chaos of war.

Though Haozhou now enjoyed a morbid prosperity due to the founding of the Song dynasty—despite the ongoing war—the city was filled with people of all ages singing opera, playing cards, drinking, eating, and seeking pleasure. As long as one had status and power, one could buy anything in Haozhou. Yet the destitute and starving were everywhere, and even many Red Turban soldiers went hungry for a day and full the next.

Liu Yi believed he could muster dozens of fierce fighters with a single call, but after only a couple of circuits around the city with Huo Qiu, he received a warning: “This is Prime Minister Sheng Wenyu’s territory. Are you trying to poach his men?”

Only then did Liu Yi realize that, once the Red Turbans entered Haozhou, the major figures had immediately carved up the city, right down to the ownership of the wells. Trying to recruit soldiers within Haozhou was courting disaster.

He could not afford to offend Sheng Wenyu, nor any of the city’s other great men. All he could do was complain to Huo Qiu, “They’d rather let it rot in their own pots than join us in making a name for themselves. But our chance for glory is at Chao Lake, not here in Haozhou—this is nothing but a makeshift troupe.”