Volume Two: I Shall Trigger the Heavens and Earth with a Single Pull, 39: Liaodong III

The order was to plunder for three days, but the soldiers grew addicted to the chaos. It lasted five or six full days; the city was choked with smoke, and the wailing and groaning of the Koreans echoed from every corner.

In the summer heat, the mountain of severed heads piled outside the city walls began to rot and reek, attracting swarms of flies that buzzed incessantly. Packs of wild dogs, their eyes turned bloodshot from feeding on human flesh, grew bold. What began as nocturnal scavenging eventually escalated to the point where they lost all fear, dragging corpses and tearing into them in broad daylight before the eyes of the living. Looking out over the vast, desolate fields, one could see stretch after stretch of corpses unearthed by the beasts, their bleached bones a chilling sight.

It was not that Deng She’s military discipline was lax, nor that he had broken his word. The truth was that the casualty rate during the capture of Pyongyang had far exceeded his expectations. After a fourteen-day siege, more than three thousand men were dead—the bloodiest loss since the uprising at Yongping.

The cause lay not in the strength of the Korean warriors, but in the sturdiness of Pyongyang’s fortifications, its abundant grain, and its fine weaponry. Though the regular garrison was small, Choe Yeong was resourceful; he had mobilized the entire able-bodied population to assist in the defense, numbering fifty or sixty thousand. A mere twenty thousand men could never have held them under siege. Had it not been for the old subordinates of Gyeong Cheon-heung buckling under pressure and defecting mid-battle, the casualties would likely have been even higher.

"Lack of experience, lack of experience." Deng She etched this lesson firmly into his mind, writing it in large characters in his notebook. He stood on the city gate tower for a while; the stench of decaying heads mixed with the smell of smoke from within the city, carried on the wind, was stifling and nauseating.

He covered his nose, coughed a few times, and ordered, "Clear away the mountain of heads. The brothers have been plundering for days; their resentment and fury should be spent by now. From tonight, the city is under martial law. Aside from my own headquarters, no other troops are permitted to remain within the walls. Regroup, enforce discipline, and issue the confiscation order."

Deng She feared that if the chaos continued, the situation would spiral out of control. In the Liaodong army years ago, he had witnessed this many times: once soldiers were blinded by the greed of plunder, the army would immediately descend into anarchy. He did not realize that his heart was growing colder. From start to finish, he thought only of his army; he had not spared a single thought for the Korean commoners.

Of the three thousand fallen, one-third were veteran soldiers, and in truth, Deng She felt a sharp pang of grief. Of course, the raw recruits had grown significantly in such intense combat, but they could never compare to the veterans.

Thinking of the pressure from Guan Duo and the pressure from the Korean capital, Deng She couldn't help but curse, "Dammit, those were the foundation of my standing!"

Zhao Guo asked, "According to the custom of the Liaodong army, if a city refuses to surrender and is taken, we plunder, execute the officials, pit the soldiers, seize the wealth, and enslave those who assisted in the defense. General, the plundering is done. How should we deal with the surrendered officials, soldiers, and the mobilized defenders?"

Though annoyed, Deng She kept a clear head; he would not kill out of mere rage. "Keep the officers who surrender; execute those who don't. Select the strong from the surrendered soldiers and incorporate them into the Korean Auxiliary Battalion. As for the mobilized defenders, forget enslaving them... sentence them to hard labor."

Deng She leaned over to look at the city wall. A ten-meter section on the left had collapsed, and there were two or three smaller breaches on the right. "Hand this over to He Guangxiu; organize them to repair the walls." When Choe Yeong was defending the city, he had dug two trenches five or six meters wide inside the walls, which remained unfilled, filled with the corpses of dead Korean soldiers. Deng She pointed at them. "Fill the trenches, too. Why haven't the bodies been cleared yet? It’s too hot; we must prevent an epidemic. I’ll give you another half-day. Move them all outside the city and have those mobilized laborers bury them alongside the mountain of heads."

He Guangxiu respectfully complied. As the party descended from the tower, several houses near the city wall were belching black smoke, flames licking at the structures, while a patrol of soldiers operated water carts to extinguish the fires.

During the ten days of looting, Deng She had kept his head. He allowed looting but forbade slaughter, specifically assigning his personal guards to patrol and keep order. In truth, he was not professional at this; had someone like Qian Shide been in charge, the process would have been far more efficient.

Generally speaking, when not slaughtering a city, the standard practice was to drive the natives out, pen them up, and then allow the main army to enter and loot at will. According to military legend, this trick was learned from the Mongols, though whether that was true, none of the rough men knew. It had been decades since the Mongols destroyed the Song, and the truth was lost to time.

Deng She hadn't walked far when two riders galloped in from outside the city. The gate guards stopped them, claiming they had military intelligence. The riders raised their tokens; they were sent by Chen Hu.

Deng She ordered them to be brought over and unfolded the secret report. It read: "Fifteen days ago, a Korean force approached, but they retreated upon hearing the news of the General's victory. Seven days ago, a Korean diplomatic mission arrived. The envoy, named Zhu Sizhong, claims to be the Minister of the Household for Korea. I did not allow him to cross the border and have detained him in Dingzhou. Does the General wish to see him? Should he be sent to Shuangcheng, or to Pyongyang? Please decide, General.

"Furthermore, regarding Choe Yeong, who fled, you ordered me to be vigilant and intercept him, but he has not been seen. I suspect he may have disguised himself and escaped via mountain paths. I have failed your expectations and deserve death. Though I failed to capture Choe Yeong, I did intercept a military report from Pyongyang. I dared not open it, and send it for the General’s inspection."

Deng She tilted the envelope, and a smaller, sealed envelope slid out. Upon opening it, he found an urgent request for reinforcements sent from the Korean army to their capital before Pyongyang had fallen.

He tore it open and read. The message was written in blood, a searing red: "The rebels have besieged the city for thirteen days, fighting over forty battles, their offensive growing ever sharper... Yesterday, the rebels swarmed the walls like ants from dawn to dusk without a moment's rest. The rebel general Deng She beat the drums himself in the vanguard; his officers, from the thousand-man commanders down, charged in the front, ignoring arrows, refusing to retreat even when heavily wounded. How truly terrifying! It strikes terror into our three armies. The rebels possess dozens of cannons and stone-throwers, and their crossbows are countless; arrows and stones fall like rain. Our walls have collapsed time and again.

"My garrison numbers less than ten thousand, with fewer than three thousand true elites... now, they are all but dead. Nearby cities have either surrendered or are in peril; no reinforcements have come. The rebels are so fierce. I have held the city for nearly half a month; from myself down to the last man, there is no one left uninjured...

"I have sent twelve urgent pleas for reinforcements, all of which have vanished like stones into the sea. I assume this one will also never reach the King. If Heaven grants that my King should see this, I say: my death is not worth lamenting, but our dynasty is in dire straits while the rebel momentum is at its peak. That which is too rigid is easily broken; flexibility can overcome rigidity. For the sake of the King, it is better to temporarily negotiate and appease them, then wait until they grow careless and our preparations are sufficient, so that we may plot our revenge slowly. Do not be overly hasty.

"To die in service is my wish. To die in the proper place is to not shame my ancestors. Alas! My death is of no consequence; I only worry for my King. I wish to turn into blood and keep watch over our nation in spirit." The signature at the bottom was not Choe Yeong, but Kim Deuk-bae.

"I wish to turn into blood and keep watch over our nation in spirit." Deng She whispered the final sentence twice and sighed. "One who is not truly loyal could not write such words. It seems there is no possibility of him surrendering. A pity, a pity." On the day the city fell, Kim Deuk-bae had not managed to kill himself and was taken prisoner. Including this time, Deng She had faced him three times. Admiring his talent, he had kept him alive, hoping to make him surrender just as he had Gyeong Cheon-heung.

He handed the two letters to Zhao Guo and the others to read. Those who were illiterate had them read aloud in a low voice.

Zhao Guo said, "Kim Deuk-bae advised the Korean King to send envoys in his letter, and the King indeed sent them. I think General Chen’s guess is correct; Choe Yeong must have already escaped back. Zhu Sizhong’s arrival is likely at Choe Yeong’s suggestion."

Wen Huaguo spat, "Bah! That 'flexibility overcoming rigidity' nonsense—they have no sincerity at all; they look down on us. I hate those bird-fanciers most of all. General, tell Chen Laoba to behead those envoys."

The Koreans were hoping to appease them, but hadn't Deng She also been looking for an opportunity to rest his own troops? He shook his head. "Since the Koreans have come to seek peace, regardless of their true intentions, it is at most harmless to us. They want to numb us; we can just as well use this to numb them."

He called for ink and brush and wrote a reply to Chen Hu. The cities north of Pyongyang were not yet settled, so it was inappropriate to meet the envoys here. He ordered Chen Hu to send Zhu Sizhong to Shuangcheng, where Hong Jixun would handle the reception. Strictly speaking, receiving envoys and discussing peace was a civil matter and not under Chen Hu's jurisdiction; the letter should have been written by Hong Jixun. But Chen Hu held the tactical advantage on the front line, and Hong Jixun could do nothing about it.

After writing the reply, the messenger from Chen Hu went to rest, to return the next day. On the way back to the Western Capital, they encountered a dozen groups of soldiers looting, most of them Korean auxiliary troops. Looting in the city was not chaotic; they had divided the city into wealthy and poor districts, allocating them to various units based on merit. This area belonged to Guan Shirong’s unit and He Guangxiu’s unit.

Strangely, for some reason, the Korean auxiliaries were far more brutal toward the native inhabitants than the Han soldiers were. Not only in this city, but in the garrisons of cities like Dingzhou, the Korean soldiers were far more barbaric toward their own kin than the Han soldiers.

Deng She could not fathom why, so he simply stopped thinking about it. Zhao Guo brought up the old topic. He was in charge of the surrendered soldiers, and Deng She hadn't made his position clear. "General, you said to execute the officers who don't surrender, but what about Kim Deuk-bae?"

"Execute him," Deng She said with regret. A loyal official could always earn one's respect, even if he were an opponent. He hesitated, then added, "Try to persuade him once more before the execution. General Gyeong, would you mind taking the trouble?"

Gyeong Cheon-heung was not happy; he had been cursed to high heaven by Kim Deuk-bae when he tried to persuade him to surrender a few days ago. He reluctantly agreed, thinking, *Why am I always the one sent to persuade surrender? I know he won't yield, so why waste the effort?* Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he shivered. *Could it be that he asks me to persuade him, when in reality...* The more he thought, the more he felt it was true. He gritted his teeth and thought, *Forgive me, Mr. Kim. Yesterday we were comrades; today we serve different masters. I have no choice but to use your head to prove my own loyalty.*

He had performed many meritorious deeds in this battle, playing a major role in the capture of Pyongyang. Many cities south of the Chongchon River and north of the Taedong River had surrendered without a fight as soon as he appeared. He was firmly on the rebel ship now; the only thing missing was having personally killed someone himself.

He asked, "General Zhang Daier reported a victory the day before yesterday; the area north of the Taedong River and south of the Chongchon River has been completely pacified. When does the General intend to cross the Chongchon River and seize the land up to the Yalu River?" He was a ruthless and decisive man; if he was going to surrender, he would do it thoroughly. Whether for his own sake or for Deng She's, the sooner the cities north of the Chongchon and south of the Yalu were taken, the better.

Deng She thought for a moment and said, "Let’s pacify Pyongyang first." After a pause, he added, "Before we set out, General, write a few letters of surrender. I will send envoys to deliver them. If we can settle the land through檄文 (proclamations), that would be for the best."

As they chatted, they walked halfway across the city, nearing the government office, when another messenger chased after them—this one from Shuangcheng. Deng She opened the letter and found it strange. It wasn't written by Hong Jixun, but by Yao Haogu. It contained only sixteen large characters: "The Master has heard of your great victory, and he is overjoyed. The Imperial Decree has arrived; you must return with all haste."

"Imperial Decree?" Wen Huaguo laughed heartily. "Confucius says: Promotion and wealth are the joyful events of life." Deng She’s eyelids twitched; he had heard this phrase before. Zuo Che'er laughed, "The General was just promoted to Senior Ten-Thousand-Man Commander; I wonder what position the Master will give you now?" Guan Shirong added, "With over twenty thousand battle-hardened troops under the General's command, the title of Senior Ten-Thousand-Man Commander is already an understatement. At the very least, you should be a Marshal."

Zhao Guo was stunned. "Strange, where did an Imperial Decree come from? Did it come from Shandong?" Hearing this, Zuo Che'er also came to his senses and grew suspicious. "Indeed, the General only took the city half a month ago. How could Bianliang have issued a decree so quickly?"

Deng She said nothing. He turned the letter over and over, then asked the messenger, "Did Mr. Hong send no letter?"

"No," the messenger replied.

"Did he say anything?"

"No. When Manager Yao sent me, Mr. Hong was standing by. He only smiled."

Smiling without speaking—there was a hidden agenda. Deng She paced in circles, suddenly recalling Yao Haogu's words about "remembering your promise." He slapped his forehead. *Damn, I’ve fallen into the old man's trap.*

When he had clashed with Yao Haogu, Yao had insisted he lead his army north to Liaoyang, and in the heat of the moment, involving the safety of the Little Ming King, he had made a few empty promises of loyalty. He never expected Yao Haogu could actually produce an Imperial Decree! Could it be fake? He dismissed the thought instantly; Yao Haogu didn't have the guts. Even considering the timeline, it had been nearly a month; if one traveled quickly, there was enough time for a round trip between Liaoyang and Bianliang.

Deng She rarely cursed, but today he couldn't help himself. "Dammit..." It was no wonder he was angry. Pyongyang had just been taken; everything was in a state of flux. He had taken Pyongyang to open trade routes; he was just about to summon Tian Boren, a servant of Shen Wanshu, to see if he could link up with the Jiangzhe region. Chen Zhe was also sending Lady Wang back, which was the perfect opportunity to visit Shandong. Before any of this could take shape, Yao Haogu was causing trouble again.

Furthermore, organizing the navy, pacifying the newly acquired cities, dealing with the Korean envoys, and deciding how to handle the cities north of the Chongchon River—none of this could wait. This delay would surely ruin everything. Deng She felt irritable; he wanted to throw the letter away but restrained himself, tossing it to Zuo Che'er instead. "Promotion and wealth? I think they want us to go save the Emperor."

Wen Huaguo was dumbfounded. "Save the Emperor? Save the Emperor's bird! We can't fly, and we're a hundred thousand miles away. How are we supposed to get to Bianliang?" Zhao Guo realized the implication. "Liaoyang!" Guan Shirong gasped, "Isn't that walking into the tiger's den?" Zuo Che'er hummed, "General, just play dumb. Say you never saw this letter and refuse to go."

"You can avoid the first day, but you can't avoid the fifteenth." Deng She considered for a moment. "If I don't return, Manager Yao will have other tricks up his sleeve. Falling out with him would be counterproductive." He made his decision. "I will head back tomorrow."

Deng She saw it clearly: if the decree truly ordered him to Liaoyang, he could not disobey. The situation in Liaodong would not be stable in the short term, and Guan Duo could not pull himself away. Yao Haogu’s move was nothing more than "luring the tiger away from the mountain." He feared Deng She was becoming too powerful and would ruin Guan Duo’s retreat.

It wasn't that he feared Deng She would cut off Guan Duo’s retreat if he were defeated. Yao Haogu knew Deng She didn't have the stomach for that; without the Liaodong Red Turbans and the banner of the Great Song, he was nothing. He feared that if Deng She became an uncontrollable force, the scales would tip, and Guan Duo’s grand plan for independence would be compromised.

Thus, Yao Haogu’s move was truly a last resort.

Deng She was a man of action. Once he made up his mind, he immediately began to arrange the defenses for after his departure. He scanned the faces of his generals. "Pyongyang has just been taken and cannot be left without a great general. Wen Shu, Zhao Guo, you two take half the force and stay here. General Guan, I ask you to hold Jiangdong."

Jiangdong was adjacent to Pyongyang, forming a triangle with Sucheon; through Decheon and Ningyuan, they could coordinate with the regions north of the pass. Even if the Koreans were capable of attacking—which they weren't—they would be fully secure.

Having arranged that route, Deng She continued, "Decheon is the traffic hub connecting Shuangcheng in the east and Pyongyang in the west and cannot be lost. Order Zhang Daier to leave a fierce general to guard Anzhou on the south bank of the Chongchon River, then return to Decheon to garrison it."

The difficult part was Shuangcheng. With only Hong Jixun there, Deng She was uneasy; he needed another trusted general. Zuo Che'er was the only choice, though he lacked seniority. He thought for a moment. "General Zuo, join Luo Guoqi and head to Dingzhou to replace Chen Hu. Order General Chen to hold Shuangcheng."

Zuo Che'er was not happy at the chance to command an army alone; he worried, "General, please reconsider. General Guan is right—Liaoyang is a tiger’s den. Guan Pingzhang’s intentions are hard to guess. What if he..." He trailed off, but everyone understood. Deng She smiled. "Rest assured, I will face danger but come to no harm."

"What does the General mean?"

"As long as you are all here, I am here." If they killed Deng She, Shuangcheng would fall into chaos, which would be a net loss. Zhao Guo said, "Then the General should at least take more troops. I do not wish to stay in Pyongyang; I am willing to accompany the General to Liaoyang." Zuo Che'er and the others echoed, "We are willing to accompany the General to Liaoyang."

Deng She laughed heartily. "Enough. If you can hold the rear, I will be secure in Liaoyang. You don't need to accompany me; your merit in staying is greater than your merit in coming. My mind is made up. I will only take the five thousand Korean auxiliaries under He Guangxiu and Yang Wanhu." His Han elites could not be moved. He figured the decree would, as Yao Haogu said, demand twenty thousand men, but that was a minor detail. He could argue the facts—he truly didn't have that many to spare.

Deng She looked up at the sky; the black smoke was so thick it had stained the blue sky dark. There was one task scheduled for the day after tomorrow that needed to be moved up. "The ceremony to pay respects at Jizi’s tomb—move it to this afternoon."

When King Wu of Zhou conquered the Shang, Jizi was ashamed to serve the Zhou and went east to Joseon. The land he was enfeoffed with was Pyongyang. In Korean history, Jizi’s state was called "Later Joseon." A few days ago, Deng She had visited the Jizi Shrine in the city; the wooden tablet set up by the Koreans had not been damaged by the fires of war. It was inscribed: "First Ancestor of Later Joseon."

Jizi had a profound influence on Korea. The Korean custom of favoring white was said to be a relic of the Shang Dynasty, brought by Jizi. Deng She had also visited the old city of Pyongyang, where the well-field system drawn by Jizi still existed. In the "Proclamation to the People of Korea" drafted by Hong Jixun, Jizi had been solemnly listed as proof that the Central Plains and Korea were one family. Now that he was in Pyongyang, there was no reason not to pay respects at Jizi’s tomb.

In Pyongyang, besides the Jizi Shrine, there was also a Dangun Shrine. Dangun predated Jizi, his era being what the Koreans called "Former Joseon." Before going to Jizi’s tomb, Deng She went to the Dangun Shrine. He wore white robes and a cap, kneeling in the lead, with Gyeong Cheon-heung and He Guangxiu kneeling on either side, followed by Wen Huaguo and the others.

Among those paying respects were dozens of surrendered generals and officials, along with over a hundred esteemed locals who had submitted, and selected representatives of the natives, Han soldiers, and Korean auxiliaries. A large crowd performed the hasty ceremony against the backdrop of the smoldering city.

Afterward, on a whim, the hundreds of people moved to the Confucian Temple to pay respects to the Five Sages and Ten Philosophers worshipped by the Koreans. The ritual for the Confucian Temple was complex and there was no time to prepare, but the gesture was what mattered.

Jizi’s tomb was located on Rabbit Mountain, northwest of the city, less than half a mile away. The hundreds of people snaked out of the city, carrying offerings, and climbed the mountain. Rabbit Mountain was quite tall. As they ascended the stone path, they were greeted by two stone figures in Tang-style robes, with stone sheep kneeling on either side and a stone tortoise carrying a tablet.

Deng She had prepared well. He followed the rituals to the letter, and it took two full hours to complete.

Once the rites were done, a speech was necessary. It had been arranged for a surrendered Korean official to speak. The highest-ranking and most trusted was He Guangxiu, but he was certainly not suitable. Gyeong Cheon-heung was a military man and also inappropriate. It was a pity Li Chunfu had been wounded when the city fell, or he could have been forced to do it; as the Western Capital’s governor, he was a high-ranking official of the second grade, which would have been fitting.

They settled for the Vice-Governor, Park Heonchung, who had surrendered and held a third-grade official post. He stood trembling before the tomb, looking like a scared quail. Facing the menacing glares of Wen Huaguo and He Guangxiu and the blades of over a thousand patrolling soldiers, even though he had a script, he was truly "weeping before the memorial, not knowing what to say."

Fortunately, no mistakes were made. As he stepped down, Deng She gave him an encouraging look. Park Heonchung continued to shiver, not knowing if it was the lingering fear or excitement at being praised by Deng She.

He Guangxiu sidled up to him and said fiercely, "You old turtle, it’s rare to have such a glorious opportunity, and you stole it." He didn't blame Deng She for not giving him the chance; he only resented Park Heonchung for stealing his spotlight. He waved his arms threateningly beneath the dais. Park Heonchung broke into a cold sweat and began to stutter, "Yes, yes."

Deng She stepped forward and turned to face the crowd. One or two thousand people stood in silent reverence. He smiled slightly. "Pyongyang is the land of Jizi; from the Taedong River northward, it is the ancestral land of the Han and Tang. I have come here to reunite our kin. Jizi is your ancestor, and he is mine; we are of the same race. Our dynasty has abandoned you for too long; now, we return to our homeland." He took an arrow from his personal guard and snapped it as a vow. "Today, before Jizi’s tomb, I break this arrow as a vow. May Heaven and Earth be my witness: from this day forward, the Great Song will... never abandon you, never cast you aside."

The ancestral land of the Han and Tang was far larger than what Deng She described, but he lacked the energy to manage anything south of the Taedong River. Since the capital had sent envoys, he might as well appease them for now and tell the King of Korea that this was as far as he intended to go.

He Guangxiu was the first to kneel and shout the pre-arranged line: "Long live the Senior Ten-Thousand-Man Commander, our Great General!" This was his own addition, but he continued, "We and the Great Song are one family. If the Song does not abandon us, we will not cast the Song aside. Never abandon, never cast aside!"

Thousands knelt and chanted in unison: "If the Song does not abandon us, we will not cast the Song aside."

Deng She looked up. The bright sunlight shone on the armor of his soldiers, reflecting a brilliant radiance. Looking down the mountain at the Pyongyang city in the distance, and further east and west, the hundreds of miles of beautiful landscape lay as tame as a tamed beast, crouching obediently at his feet.