Chapter Seventy-Four: Entering Jiqing and Accepting Amnesty Once More

In recent days, everyone had been pondering how to subtly warn Liu Yi, for the criticism from below had grown particularly vicious. Yet, unexpectedly, Liu Yi himself brought the matter up. As the supreme commander of the army, Liu Yi deserved a measure of respect, so even Ma Shixiong, his father-in-law, was at a loss for how to respond. Fortunately, Lady Jinhua had no such reservations. “They’re not just cursing Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng. The marshal himself is being accused of nothing more than aspiring to become a wealthy landowner!”

If only Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng would raise their banners in revolt once more, the situation in Jiangdong would naturally be revived. There would be no need for repeated, mutually destructive clashes with seventy or eighty thousand Yuan troops at Taiping City. But alas, Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen were disappointingly ineffectual, and both were far away. So there was nothing for it but to vent their anger on Liu Yi.

Liu Yi understood this perfectly well. “I, too, would like to be a wealthy landowner. There’s gold in murder and arson; accepting amnesty is a fine path. But what good could possibly come of surrendering now? Who’s to say accepting amnesty won’t turn out to be a banquet of doom? At the very least, we must first break into Jinling City. Once we take Jiqing, then we can talk of amnesty. In fact, at that point, we can do whatever we please!”

No one had expected Liu Yi to speak so candidly, but upon reflection, everyone burst into laughter.

Though the Red Turbans of Chuzhou rose under the banner of “Restoring the Song,” the fact that Guo Zixing’s title was “Marshal Commanding Haozhou” made it clear that the true masterminds were Han Shantong and Liu Futong. Indeed, this was a textbook religious uprising.

To outsiders, the Red Turbans under Han Shantong, Han Lin’er, and Liu Futong were of the same White Lotus movement as those under Peng Yingyu, Xu Shouhui, and Chen Youliang. Yet Peng Yingyu and Xu Shouhui’s forces were standard White Lotus rebels—their core leaders always bore the “Pu” monastic name, such as Xiang Pulue, Zhao Pusheng, Li Pusheng, and Ou Puxiang.

Han Shantong and Liu Futong’s branch, however, lacked such monastic titles. In reality, theirs was an incense society uprising; contemporaries called their Red Turbans the “Incense Army.”

But all religious uprisings eventually faced the same old problem of secularization. Guo Zixing may have rallied his followers with incense and prayers, but his soldiers joined because life had become utterly unbearable. Oppression—both ethnic and class—had reached its zenith; the spark of rebellion needed only the slightest ignition. In Zhu Yuanzhang’s words, “It spread to Zhongli and Dingyuan, where tens of thousands of peasants abandoned their fields for blades and violence.”

The situation of the Chaohu navy was similar. Although Zhao Pusheng and Li Pusheng were devout White Lotus followers, no one still dreamed of establishing a heavenly kingdom on earth. Instead, they saw the Chaohu navy as one among many contending powers; each man was preoccupied with how, once they held Jiangdong, he might rule his own domain and secure his own advantage. Many even thought that, if the Yuan court offered a high enough price and showed sufficient sincerity, they would gladly accept amnesty.

After so many years of chaos and bloodshed, everyone yearned for peaceful times. Provided there was security, becoming a wealthy landowner sounded just fine. Even the most stubbornly loyal Zhao Pusheng declared, “Breaking into Jiqing before accepting amnesty—that’s an idea I like! The marshal speaks well. Once we’re inside Jiqing, we can do as we wish.”

Jiqing was the seat of the Censorate for Southern China, second only to Dadu and Shangdu in the Yuan political hierarchy. Ordinarily, if a rebel dared seize such a renowned city, any possibility of surrender would be unthinkable.

Yet last year, after Zhang Shicheng smashed the main force of four hundred thousand Yuan troops at Gaoyou, he was soon offered amnesty. Fang Guozhen, likewise, had rebelled and submitted time and again. As long as men could keep their land, their armies, and their fortunes, few cared what banner they fought under.

The Chaohu navy had originally belonged to the Peng Yingyu and Xu Shouhui faction, but now they fought under the Dragon and Phoenix banner of the Han-Song regime. Ma Shixiong and Chang Shan had once held official ranks—Commanders of Righteous Troops, Myriarchs, and Chiliarchs—for the Great Yuan, yet now they were rebels. Shao Si and the followers of Guo Tianxu and Zhang Tianyou had likewise switched allegiances.

As Liu Yi said, no one opposed the idea of accepting amnesty; the question was only under what conditions it would be acceptable. At present, the time was not yet right. Lady Jinhua understood at last. “The marshal means Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen will soon make their move?”

Liu Yi answered without the slightest hesitation. “Last year, the Mongol Chancellor Toqto’a led four hundred thousand men to the gates of Gaoyou. Zhang Shicheng wanted to surrender, but could not. Our own Grand Marshal Guo Zixing was tempted to seek amnesty as well. But after Toqto’a’s defeat at Gaoyou, not only did our Chuzhou Red Turbans receive no offer of surrender—we surged forward and took city after city!”

Most of the officers present had not witnessed those events firsthand, but all had heard the general tale. At the time, Toqto’a’s banners stretched a thousand miles and his drums shook the plains; never had there been such a grand campaign. Yet, failing to take Gaoyou in haste, he split his forces to attack Liuhe. Guo Zixing sent Zhu Yuanzhang to reinforce Liuhe, but when that failed, he quickly declared himself a “good citizen” to the Yuan army and claimed that previous clashes were mere misunderstandings, even preparing to fly the banner of “Righteous Troops.”

But when the Yuan suffered a crushing defeat outside Gaoyou, the Chuzhou Red Turbans immediately launched an offensive. Now, Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen, and even Zhu Zong and Wu Hong in Jiangxi all saw a golden opportunity.

“Our army crossed the Yangtze in June and has now been fighting the Yuan in Taiping and Jiqing for nearly four months. In that time, the Jiangzhe province may have left some Chiliarchs uncalled, but every Myriarchate has surely been mobilized at least once. The Miao troops, the Lancers, and the Green-Clad Army have all been brought in. I hear that the coastal garrisons of Chuzhou have transferred their crack troops and best officers to Jiangdong, leaving only a few hundred old, weak, or sick at home. Now, in five of the six counties of Chuzhou, bandits swarm the hills; the rest of the region can’t be much better!”

With those words, everyone understood. Ma Shixiong, decent though he was, could not help but remind Liu Yi, “Son-in-law, you have a point. Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen are bound to act. But we must be prepared. We’ve lost so many brothers; we can’t let Zhang Shicheng reap all the rewards in the end!”

In another world, this would have been Zhu Yuanzhang’s own dilemma. Liu Yi had no better solution. “Zhang Shicheng is here to seize every advantage. The key is how we deal with him!”