Chapter 86: The Special Friendship Between Two Women

For Zhu Yuanzhang, this was the most terrifying truth in his heart, and the one he least wanted to acknowledge. Yet under Zhang Shixin’s pressure, he still spoke it aloud: “I do not care how many of my women the man surnamed Liu has taken, nor how many of my troops he has seized. But his forces have grown far faster than mine. That I cannot tolerate.”

At the start of the year, when Liu Yi and Madam Jinhua fled to Bozhou, they had only a dozen or twenty people with them. But by the time they marched south, they already commanded nearly a thousand men under three thousand-man captains. And then, when Liu Yi suddenly rose to prominence and, before Zhu Yuanzhang’s very eyes, seized Guo Yunyuan and the Chaohu naval force, his strength had leaped at once to more than ten thousand.

And yet at that time Zhu Yuanzhang himself still had twenty-seven or twenty-eight thousand men; with only a little effort he could raise them to thirty thousand. Against Liu Yi’s Chaohu fleet of barely ten thousand, he naturally enjoyed a psychological advantage. But the problem was that in more than half a year, while his own left wing had also expanded to forty thousand, the Chaohu fleet had, without anyone noticing, broken through twenty thousand and was even approaching twenty-five thousand.

That was the truth Zhu Yuanzhang was least willing to admit. As the saying went, a true master of war leaves no dazzling trail of exploits. For the past half-year the naval camp had advanced with steady caution, following the principle of “seeking not total victory, but only not defeat,” entirely unlike the left wing’s pattern of great victories and great defeats, wild rises and falls. Yet it had quietly swollen to twenty-three thousand men, and that was what made Zhu Yuanzhang resolve to destroy Liu Yi and the Chaohu fleet at any cost.

But Zhang Shixin pressed on. “Grand Marshal Zhu, your words are certainly reasonable. But now that that man has reached Yangzhou, if you two in Chuzhou fight now, won’t you be letting the Yuan take advantage? If you cannot take Jiqing or if the Yuan counterattack succeeds, wouldn’t all past efforts be wasted?”

This was something Zhang Shicheng, Zhang Shide, and Zhang Shixin had never been able to understand. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang had a thousand reasons why Liu Yi must be dealt with, he should still first seize Jiqing Route and secure his footing before making a move. To act now was nothing short of courting destruction.

Yet Zhu Yuanzhang was full of confidence. “Precisely because everyone thinks I cannot move at this time, I must seize the opportunity. As for why I choose this moment: first, because I have your brothers from Gongcuo to aid me; and second, because within Jiqing City I have allies I can trust, who will work with me to settle the Chaohu fleet!”

At this point, Zhang Shixin believed him at least half the way. On his own, Zhu Yuanzhang was certainly incapable of dealing with Liu Yi and the Chaohu fleet; even if by some miracle he could eliminate the fleet, he would never be able to clean up after it. But with the Zhang Shicheng faction helping from outside, and insiders responding from within Jiqing City, the chances of success rose sharply.

Still, empty words were not enough. Zhang Shixin needed a clear answer before he could make a decision. “Grand Marshal Zhu, you must tell me exactly who your insider in Jiqing City is.”

Zhu Yuanzhang had long expected this question. He gave a name both familiar and surprising: “Marshal Chen Zhaoxian of the righteous army.”

After Chen Yexian died, the troops he commanded fell into Chen Zhaoxian’s hands. But that righteous army soon descended into factional strife, split against itself in all directions. The young lord and the old generals fought bitterly, and both the imperial headquarters and the provincial administration wanted to seize control of the force, so that Chen Zhaoxian truly held less than half the troops. In such circumstances, Chen Zhaoxian naturally chose Zhu Yuanzhang, and this was Zhu Yuanzhang’s greatest trump card.

Compared with Liu Yi, who always managed to stay one step ahead, Chen Zhaoxian was far too immature. Zhu Yuanzhang believed he had a hundred ways to deal with him.

As for Zhang Shixin, he would rather muddy the waters still further and keep the Jiangdong Route in endless chaos. Unfortunately, since that man had already arrived in Yangzhou, the matter had to be settled swiftly and cleanly. “Very well! We will do as Grand Marshal Zhu says. But Grand Marshal must not forget his promise: the Changzhou Route belongs to our Great Zhou kingdom!”

This was the greatest concession Zhu Yuanzhang could make. Though he had gained Jiqing Route, the nearby Changzhou Route would have to be handed over to the Zhang Shicheng faction. Yet Zhu Yuanzhang agreed without hesitation. “As long as you in Gaoyou can help me seize the naval camp, I will agree to any condition!”

“Deal!”

Liu Yi did not know that a conspiracy directed specifically against him was being carried out in earnest.

These days were still Liu Yi’s season of ease and delight. Not only did Sun Yuerong bring him the fragrant companionship of the study lamp, but Guo Yunyuan spent most of her time in Jiangnan as well. Even Madam Jinhua no longer treated him as an outsider; that very day she had come specially to attend Liu Yi’s family banquet.

The main dish today was black fish hotpot. With thin slices of lamb added by Madam Jinhua, it became even more fragrant; broth and meat alike were intoxicating. Madam Jinhua grew happier with every bite, and even at the family banquet she spoke of military and state affairs: “The New Year is almost upon us. Yuerong and I took a census, and the result frightened us. Our naval camp now actually has twenty-four thousand soldiers!”

This figure included only the men fit for battle. If idle laborers, families, the old, and the weak were counted as well, the number would have been even more astonishing. Still, Liu Yi was somewhat dissatisfied. “After a year of hard work, we ought to have some results. These are all thanks to Madam Jinhua. It’s a pity that although we now have strong troops and fine horses, we have too few educated men.”

Upon hearing this, Sun Yuerong immediately objected. “How can you say there are too few educated men? Our naval camp has no shortage of eloquent scholars.”

But Liu Yi had his own view of the matter. “Those are only scholars, not true cultivated gentlemen. Even if all the scholars in our naval camp were added together, they still would not equal my worthy wife. The educated men I speak of should be either capable examination graduates or renowned local worthies.”

During this time, Liu Yi had reflected on the lessons of the Red Scarf uprising. He knew well that although the uprising swept all before it, and Xiang Puluo could lead just a few hundred White Lotus followers to overrun more than forty cities in succession, while one side conquered territory without pause the other kept losing ground; lands changed hands again and again, and there were hardly any solid bases at all, so that a brilliant situation could be overturned in an instant.

The reason was naturally that respected “scholars” stood up to organize righteous militias. No matter how many victories the Red Scarf armies won on the battlefield, they could never establish firm roots locally. Neither the Xu-Song Red Scarves nor the Han-Song Red Scarves could solve this problem. Only Zhu Yuanzhang’s faction, through effort, managed to complete the transformation and continuously attract scholars to serve them.

At present, the Chaohu naval camp indeed had不少 men who could write and keep accounts, but let alone famous and capable examination graduates or local notables, they did not even have any licentiates. The scholars now coming to Taiping and Chuzhou to join the Dragon and Phoenix regime went straight to the left wing and paid the Chaohu fleet no mind at all. “What our naval camp lacks most right now are capable, reputable scholars. As long as we have such men, we can seize a true territory of our own!”

The reason Liu Yi said so much was that the Chaohu fleet still did not possess any real territory of its own. It only had its own camps and strongholds here and there, but these fortifications lay at most a few li from Zhu Yuanzhang’s camps, interlocking like canine teeth. If fighting truly broke out, the Chaohu fleet, already at a numerical disadvantage, would certainly suffer greatly.

By contrast, Zhu Yuanzhang’s left wing was entirely different. Whether north of the Yangtze or in the northern districts, the left wing had several pieces of land belonging solely to it. But if the Chaohu fleet wanted to seize true territory of its own, it needed capable, reputable scholars to step forward and cooperate.

Although in the past half-year the Chaohu fleet had expanded from a mere ten thousand men to nearly twenty-five thousand, the refusal of scholars to cooperate had always been a thorn in Liu Yi’s heart. Madam Jinhua, however, thought the matter easy to handle. “Though many scholars have hard bones, once enough heads have rolled, someone will naturally know what is wise.”

This was the customary Red Scarf method. They had even raised the slogan of “stripping the rich to aid the poor,” attracting hordes of starving people into the ranks. But as a result, more and more scholars rose to organize righteous militias. Liu Yi certainly did not agree. “Madam Jinhua, in these chaotic times, if we can kill fewer people, then we should. If killing is unavoidable, then we must think carefully about gains and losses. We cannot kill recklessly. As long as we treat others sincerely, scholars will certainly come in droves!”

Madam Jinhua’s view was entirely different. “Why can’t people be killed? As long as enough are killed, the scholars will naturally lower their proud necks. You have been saying ‘treat others sincerely’ for half a year, Xiaoyi, but how many scholars have come to serve us? They all went straight to the left wing and Zhu Yuanzhang. I think it’s time to kill in order to establish authority!”

Sun Yuerong admired her husband’s view even more. “Madam Jinhua, you have misunderstood. Killing to establish authority is one thing, but in these turbulent times, if one wishes to build a great hegemonic enterprise, one must first understand when killing to establish authority is appropriate. Husband is about to have a proper talk with Grand Marshal Zhu, and the left wing has not yet replied. How could we kill anyone at such a time?”

Liu Yi had taken the initiative this time to show goodwill to the left wing and Zhu Yuanzhang, even offering to let Zhu Yuanzhang choose the place for negotiations. Yet Zhu Yuanzhang had never replied. The more this was so, the more Sun Yuerong felt they should ease relations with the left wing. Madam Jinhua, however, felt exactly the opposite. “It’s precisely because I want to have a proper talk with the left wing that I advised the marshal to kill someone and establish authority. Once a few people are killed, Grand Marshal Zhu will naturally come forward!”

Liu Yi knew Madam Jinhua was thinking of his interests, but upon hearing this, he had to speak up. “Madam Jinhua, you are absolutely right. And before Jiqing City is taken, Zhu Yuanzhang and the left wing cannot do anything to us. But since we want to negotiate with the left wing, we ought to show some sincerity!”

As he said this, his feelings toward Zhu Yuanzhang grew ever more complicated. Then Guo Yunyuan, who had scarcely spoken, suddenly said, “Since Husband wants to have a proper talk with Grand Marshal Zhu, why not leave this matter to me?”

Liu Yi was taken aback. He could not figure out how Guo Yunyuan intended to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang, but Madam Jinhua had already understood. “Ma Xiuying?”

“Yes.” Guo Yunyuan nodded. “I’ve been matching wits with Ma Xiuying in the northern lands these days. She is formidable too. Though still confined after childbirth, she gives orders with real command. I never realized it before. But since she is in seclusion after giving birth, I can only give her face. If I go to see her now, she ought to give me face as well!”

The actual situation differed slightly from Guo Yunyuan’s account. Though their husbands were locked in fierce struggle in Jiangnan, the two women in the north of the river had forged a peculiar friendship of both conflict and cooperation.