Chapter 182: Disheartening

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Oath Before the Expedition

A certain day in the twelfth month of the first year of Jingkang, Song Dynasty

New Year's Day was approaching, just days away. The first year of Jingkang was drawing to a close, and a new year was about to begin. The festive atmosphere of the New Year in Jiangnan was growing ever more vibrant. During the New Year, there would be the rites of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day: worshipping heaven and earth, honoring ancestors, exchanging greetings, visiting relatives and friends. All this required careful preparation. People thronged the streets and alleys, busy shopping for all sorts of New Year goods, bustling with excitement. Vendors selling door gods, Zhong Kui images, peachwood charms, and other festive items crowded the avenues, hawking their wares with loud cries and every means to attract customers.

In Jiangnan, Liangzhe, Fujian, and other regions, people were increasingly prosperous. With money in their pockets, their New Year celebrations were naturally lively and grand. Their lives were affluent and peaceful, and they all felt deep gratitude toward Li Sanjian, the chief administrator of Jiangnan.

But in the North, amidst the chaos of war, the common folk suffered unspeakable misery—displaced, destitute, and utterly unlike the joyous people of Jiangnan who could still hope for a cheerful new year.

Yet even as the people prepared for the New Year, a shadow of anxiety loomed in their hearts: if the Jurchen forces captured the Song capital of Kaifeng, the next target would be the South, and Jiangnan would not escape the ravages of war.

When the world is in turmoil, bandits inevitably multiply and disorder reigns. In such times, human life is as cheap as grass; losing everything is the least of one’s worries. Should that day arrive, how could the people of Jiangnan speak of comfort or peace? Even the simple celebration of New Year would become a distant luxury.

The massive southern invasion by the Jin threatened the very foundation of the Song realm, weighing on every Song heart like a heavy stone, suffocating and inescapable.

As the people of Huining were preparing for the New Year, they felt the atmosphere growing ever more tense and strange—the scent of war thickened daily. Messengers and couriers rode in and out at a frantic pace. Carts loaded with grain, arms, and supplies streamed toward Huining, their numbers swelling by the day. Massive transport ships crowded the city’s docks, laden with goods. The Black Banner Army was frequently mobilized, and new faces appeared in their ranks. Keen-eyed citizens noticed foreigners among them: Tibetans, Uighurs, Tuyuhun, and even Tanguts. Many laborers hired by the government also gathered in Huining.

Moreover, the people saw all manner of strange new military equipment—machines neither seen nor even heard of before. For instance, there were black, ominous devices, drawn by four horses, resembling giant clubs mounted on wheels.

It was clear: with the army massing at Huining, war was imminent. The Song forces of Jiangnan were surely about to march to the capital’s aid. Ominous clouds gathered, a storm about to break, the city shrouded in black banners as if on the verge of collapse.

Boom... boom... boom...

Wailing horns blared...

After days of rain, the sky finally cleared over Huining. The clouds all but dispersed, leaving only a few wisps, while the winter sun hung high overhead. Golden light streamed through the thinning clouds, gilding the river and the land, warming the earth and the people alike.

Amidst this golden sunlight, a tumultuous sound of drums and horns erupted outside the city, drawing crowds of townsfolk to the open fields beyond the walls.

There, they found tens of thousands of Black Banner Army soldiers assembled, black banners billowing like clouds across the plains, ranks upon ranks of gleaming weapons bristling in the sunlight—a veritable forest of blades and spears. On the river beyond the docks, countless warships of the Black Banner Army were anchored, several of them massive as mountains, silent and forbidding, awe-inspiring and impossible to look away from.

Another urgent roll of drums sounded. Sharp-eyed onlookers saw dozens of Black Banner Army generals surrounding a commander clad in black armor, ascending the grand platform.

The latest-forged armor was lighter and far more resilient than before. After years of effort under Li Sanjian’s stewardship, the iron and steel industry of Jiangnan had advanced beyond anything else in the world, not by a small margin but by leaps and bounds. In fact, the protection offered by a single Black Banner Army suit of armor now surpassed that of two suits combined from earlier times. This had been rigorously tested by Tang Shun and his colleagues in the Army’s Armory Division.

And it wasn’t just armor. The manufacture of bows, arrows, swords, spears, and warships had all improved dramatically. Many weapons and machines now existed that had never before appeared in this world.

Li Sanjian, Viscount of Fanyang, Senior Grand Master, Scholar of the Hall of Literary Glory, Deputy Chief of the Privy Council, and Inspector-General for Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Huai, strode onto the platform clad in black armor, a blood-red cloak draped across his shoulders, his hand resting on the Sword of King Wu at his waist. He gazed down at the silent Black Banner formations below, lost in thought.

Behind Li Sanjian, the great black wolf banner snapped in the wind.

The golden sunlight bathed him atop the platform, making him appear godlike, commanding reverence and awe from all who beheld him.

Shankui, Jikong, and a dozen other Tiger Guards stood in a crescent behind Li Sanjian, hands on their swords.

"What is the meaning of nation and state?" After a moment, Li Sanjian looked upon the Black Banner Army and asked in a thunderous voice.

Tens of thousands stood in formation below the platform. No matter how loud he spoke, not every soldier could hear him, so the words were relayed via flags and messengers with speaking tubes, ensuring every word reached every ear in the Black Banner Army, as well as the families and townsfolk who had come to see their loved ones depart—including all of Li Sanjian’s family, save for the two infants in swaddling clothes.

"Great is the state, lesser is the nation; the state is the dwelling of the nation," Li Sanjian cried. "The root of all under heaven lies in the nation, the root of the nation is the family. State and family: first comes the nation, then the family. Without a nation, there can be no family. Once, I, too, thought only to keep my own family safe, to ignore the chaos outside my door. But I was wrong—utterly wrong. Without the hide, where can the hair grow? Without a nation, how can there be a home? Today, the Jurchens ravage our northern lands, invading our Song territory like bandits in our homes—killing our kin, seizing our wealth, burning our houses, destroying our fields, violating our women, treating our people as animals and slaves. Their atrocities—burning, killing, pillaging, city-wide massacres—defy description and cry out to heaven!"

Li Sanjian’s words swept through the crowd, igniting fury in every heart. Faces flushed with anger, fists clenched tight.

"Some among you may think hiding in Jiangnan can spare you from disaster. Today I tell you: you are wrong, utterly wrong. Beneath a toppled nest, what egg remains unbroken? Sooner or later, the iron hoof of the Jurchen will trample our beautiful southern lands. You hope to escape here, but the Jurchen will not allow it! Many of my own kin have died at their hands; surely many of yours have too. To cower in Jiangnan is self-deception, a vain hope!"

With a resonant cry, he drew the Sword of King Wu, pointing it skyward. "Our hatred for the Jurchen is irreconcilable. The enmity between the people of Song and the Jurchens is irreconcilable. Today, I lead this army to aid the emperor, to sweep away the barbarian invaders, to save our people from peril and suffering."

"The rise and fall of the nation concerns each and every one of us!" Li Sanjian roared.

"The rise and fall of the nation concerns each and every one of us!" The Black Banner Army raised their weapons and shouted in unison.

"Defend our country, protect our homes, swear to slay the invaders!" Li Sanjian bellowed.

"Defend our country, protect our homes, swear to slay the invaders!" This time, not only the Black Banner Army but even the citizens of Huining joined in the cry, along with all of Li Sanjian’s family—everyone except the two infants.

"My lord..." Zhong Peizhu’s eyes brimmed with tears as she watched her husband from afar, hating only that she was born a woman.

"Where are my generals?" Li Sanjian called out.

"Here at your command!" Yao Yu, Zhang Kan, Min Wuyan, Feng Zhan, Tuoba Kui, Luo Burui, Huyan Lie, Xu Biao, Jiang Tu, Cui Huchen, Gule Hai, Zheng Tai, Sima Wei, Fu Lin, Zhai Jin, Gao Yaokang, Hua Rong, Zhang Shun, Ruan the Second, Ruan the Fifth, Ruan the Seventh, Xu Ning, Suo Chao, Yang Zhi, Lü Shinan, and dozens of other Black Banner Army commanders bowed and answered as one.

In addition to the new defectors from Mount Liang, the Black Banner Army now included surrendered remnants of Fang La’s forces, like Lü Shinan.

After Fang La’s defeat and death, Lü Shinan and his men roamed through Leqing County and other regions. Li Sanjian, tasked with pacifying Jiangnan, was duty-bound to eliminate the remnants of Fang La. He pressed Lü Shinan’s forces, and with persuasive words and the weight of his own reputation, won their surrender.

To Lü Shinan’s chagrin, despite his efforts to sway Li Sanjian, it was he who was won over in the end.

Had it been anyone else, he would never have surrendered; for others, surrender meant death either way, so better to fight to the end. But Li Sanjian’s reputation for integrity was known across the land, so Lü Shinan and his fellows surrendered willingly and served loyally in the Black Banner Army.

"Lead your troops out!" Li Sanjian commanded.

"At your command!" The generals answered and departed to marshal their men.

"Minister Li, brave warriors, may you return triumphant!" Cui Yongzhi, the chief transport official of Jiangnan, led the officials of Jiangnan in bowing together to the departing Black Banner Army.

"May the army return victorious!" The elders and townsfolk of Jiangnan bowed as one.

Chapter Twenty-Six

A certain day in the twelfth month of the first year of Jingkang—The Black Banner Army of the Song Dynasty set forth to aid the capital, with over sixty thousand troops by land and water departing from Huining in eastern Jiangnan, marching toward the capital at Kaifeng.

The imperial court vacillated—one day ordering all to march to the capital’s aid, the next commanding all to stand by. Such endless reversals left the loyal armies bewildered, not knowing what to do. Yet there were those of true loyalty and righteousness—like Zong Ze, Zhang Shuye, and, of course, Li Sanjian’s Black Banner Army from Jiangnan—who ignored the court’s muddled and ambiguous edicts and pressed on to reinforce Kaifeng.

During the years Li Sanjian governed Jiangnan, he ceaselessly recruited troops and horses, and forged advanced, formidable warships and weaponry. Now he commanded over seventy thousand men, including more than twenty thousand sailors and over a thousand warships, among them several of the mighty Mulan-class ships, equipped with the most advanced weaponry in the world.

The Black Banner Army’s land forces numbered over fifty thousand, divided into six corps: the Cavalry Corps, Divine Machine Corps, Vanguard Corps, Divine Strategy Corps, Eight-Eyed Corps, and a mysterious unit known as the Flying Tigers.

The Cavalry Corps—comprising Li Sanjian’s old Northwestern troops, new recruits, and three thousand elite cavalrymen sent by Gao Qiu’s sons, Gao Yaokang and Gao Yaofu—was the largest, with about fifteen thousand men.

Though reputedly the cream of the imperial guards, these three thousand differed greatly from the rest of the Black Banner Army. Li Sanjian’s soldiers were mostly recruited from the rural poor—simple, fiercely loyal men, who would give their lives for those who treated them well. Once subjected to rigorous training and Li Sanjian’s unique "mind-changing" methods, they became a formidable force.

This "mind-changing" approach was Li Sanjian’s unique innovation.

Among the peoples of Lingnan, fierce and hardy men were not hard to find. Were it not for financial constraints, Li Sanjian could have raised even more men.

But the three thousand imperial guards were mostly "gentlemen soldiers" from the capital—pampered, idle, steeped in the worst habits of the capital’s garrison. Reforming them took immense effort, nearly driving Li Sanjian to exhaustion.

In some cases, tearing down and rebuilding is far easier than reforming what already exists.

Li Sanjian replaced officers and men alike, giving severance pay to those unfit and sending them home. He virtually replaced the entire three thousand. Naturally, this made him many enemies in the army, but it was his domain—the Black Banner Army, under his command—so even the sons of Gao Qiu had no choice but to obey.

Now, Gao Yaokang was an ordinary Jiangnan official, Gao Yaofu a regular military officer—positions preserved only for their father’s sake. Otherwise, Li Sanjian would have reduced them to commoners or even rank-and-file soldiers.

Whether they could rise again depended entirely on their own merit.

Afterward, however, Li Sanjian was troubled by guilt: for after Gao Qiu returned to the capital, he soon fell ill and died.

Gao Qiu had been Grand Marshal and First Minister of Martial Affairs. By Song custom, the emperor should have worn mourning. But Li Ruoshui submitted a memorial objecting: "Gao Qiu, a favorite, rose by luck to high office, ruined the army and government, and is as guilty as Tong Guan for allowing the Jurchen to overrun our land. That he died with his head intact is already too generous. He should be posthumously stripped of rank, to serve as a warning. To grant him elaborate mourning rites is not the way to reassure public opinion."

Thus Emperor Zhao Huan neither punished Gao Qiu nor observed mourning for him.

However the world might judge Gao Qiu, Li Sanjian had once counted him a friend and brother. Upon hearing the news, Li Sanjian was deeply saddened.