Tonight, the bandits launched a night raid, deploying a total of nine hundred and six men. The bandit leader, First Boss Chen Wei, was slain by Prince Qing. The second in command, Wang Sheng, was struck by an arrow and captured alive by the naval forces under Peng Daji. Over eight hundred of the remaining bandits died on the spot under the blades and arrows of the imperial navy and cavalry. About thirty were wounded and captured, while a few strong swimmers took advantage of the chaos to dive into the water and escape. The mountains were dark and gloomy; to avoid falling into another ambush, Peng Daji did not allow the navy to pursue them.
The naval forces on the eight large warships were well-prepared; only seven men died from arrow wounds, and over forty were injured.
However, over nine hundred of the prefectural troops led by Prince Qing died under the chaotic volley of arrows from Chen Wei and his thieves. For a group of them, the arrow wounds were not fatal, but they were finished off by the charging bandits. Only a dozen or so who fled to the rear and a few soldiers who fell to the ground and played dead managed to survive by a stroke of luck.
Prince Qing took a blade to the arm. The wound was not deep, but of the twenty-four imperial guards he had brought from his estate in the capital to protect him, only two survived until the cavalry reinforcements arrived.
There were military doctors on the warships. After coming ashore, a doctor hurried over to clean and bandage Prince Qing's wound.
Foot soldiers held torches high, forming a tight defensive perimeter around Prince Qing.
Prince Qing sat on the ground with his eyes lowered, his expression dark and gloomy.
In tonight's battle, one bandit leader was dead and another captured, and the main force of the bandits had been successfully wiped out. Looking only at these facts, he had won. Yet, Peng Daji's naval forces were almost completely intact, while the reinforcements he had brought suffered more casualties than the bandits. If Peng Daji had not arranged for the Vice Commander of the Wuling Guard to lead three hundred cavalrymen to support them from the rear and arrive just in time, even Prince Qing himself would have been captured by Chen Wei and his men.
Thinking of the look in Chen Wei's eyes when he was alive, Prince Qing wished he could pick up his sword again and hack the man into a thousand pieces.
The military doctor carefully sprinkled a layer of medicinal powder on Prince Qing's left arm, then meticulously bandaged it.
Once the wound was treated, Prince Qing swept his gaze over the river and questioned Peng Daji, Why are we not pursuing them? Those few escaped bandits headed toward the tributary. They will definitely flee back to the temporary camp of the bandit lair tonight.
Peng Daji replied, The further in we go along the tributary, the narrower the water becomes, and the riverbed is shallow. Our warships cannot pass through. If we switch to the small boats left behind by the bandits, we run the risk of being ambushed by archers.
Prince Qing pursed his lips; right now, the word archers was the last thing he wanted to hear.
Peng Daji, already aware of Prince Qing's narrow-mindedness, ordered his men to bring over the tightly bound Wang Sheng and interrogated him, How did you know the merchant ship was bait, and how did you know there would be prefectural troops on the shore?
Other merchant ships took detours because they carried few goods and were cowardly. The merchant ship arranged by Prince Qing was heavily loaded and had hired the Jingzhou navy for escort, which made logical sense. Furthermore, Prince Qing had secretly entered Tanzhou City with only a few guards. Upon arrival, he immediately set the plan to lure the snake out of its hole and had no further interaction with Prefect Feng. Even the one thousand prefectural soldiers were temporarily mobilized after nightfall tonight. Even if the bandits had informants, it would be extremely difficult for them to discover that the Shu merchants coming from Jiangling were bait.
Wang Sheng laughed loudly, I dreamed it last night! It's a pity the heavens only let me dream of your Prince Qing, but didn't let me dream that you had also arranged for cavalry!
Such nonsense clearly meant he had no intention of telling the truth.
The bandit leader had to be kept alive to be escorted to the capital, so Peng Daji had someone gag Wang Sheng and began interrogating the captured lackeys. Those who could not answer were executed on the spot. After executing six in a row, the seventh fell to his knees, Spare my life, General! The three bosses were always cautious. Every time we left the mountain, the orders were given at the last minute. They never revealed any plans in advance. I only know that an informant came this morning. It must have been that informant who gathered the information!
Peng Daji frowned and looked at Prince Qing. Only last night had he sent a trusted aide into the city to inform Prince Qing of the exact time the merchant ship would arrive at this section of the river tonight. This was an itinerary that even the Jingzhou army was unaware of, and the naval forces on the ship could not have leaked the secret.
Prince Qing understood Peng Daji's implication: the information had leaked from his end.
However, Prince Qing had only told the guard he sent to pass the message to Prefect Feng about tonight's troop mobilization. That guard was already dead, and even if he were alive, an imperial guard from the capital would not collude with the Tanzhou bandits. In that case...
Prince Qing gritted his teeth, Men! Take the troops and surround the prefectural office!
By the time Prince Qing and Peng Daji subsequently arrived at the prefectural office, Prefect Feng had already taken off his official hat and was prostrating on the ground. This was because Lady Xia, a concubine he doted on so much that he would answer anything she was curious about, had laughed sweetly at him upon hearing that cavalry had surrounded the office. She then snapped her hairpin, took out poison, and committed suicide, leaving him with a massive mess.
Your Highness, this humble official truly did not know she...
Prince Qing cut off Prefect Feng's pleas for mercy with a vicious kick.
Of the three major bandit leaders, Chen Wei was dead and Wang Sheng was captured. Only Liu Siyi, a scholar who possessed strategies but no combat ability, remained in the mountains along with a hundred or so lackeys.
The strategy of luring the snake out of its hole could not be used again. Prince Qing was already stressed about how to explain things to his royal father upon returning to the capital. Distracted and annoyed, he could not think of any good solutions. At this time, Peng Daji offered a plan, Your Highness, the main force of the bandits has been slain, and the remnants are currently in a state of panic. You could send those captives back to deliver a message to the bandits in the mountains, stating that the imperial court has issued a notice: those who surrender voluntarily will be spared the death penalty and only serve three years of hard labor. If anyone can bring Liu Siyi's head, all their crimes will be pardoned, and they will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver. This way, the remaining bandits will surely turn on each other and completely collapse.
If it were the murderous Chen Wei or Wang Sheng, the lackeys might not dare to make a move. But Liu Siyi was merely a scholar; any random little bandit could defeat him in a fight.
Prince Qing looked at the hem of his robe and smiled, A brilliant plan, Commander. It is no wonder my royal father praised you endlessly before I left the capital.
Peng Daji lowered his eyes and said, Your Highness flatters me. This bandit suppression was entirely devised by Your Highness; this humble official merely led the troops and exerted some effort.
Seeing that he was a smart man, Prince Qing felt a bit more comfortable.
Thus, the strategies targeting the main bandit force and the remnants would all be credited as his achievements. The cavalry last night was also arranged by Peng Daji upon his orders, and the deaths of the nearly one thousand soldiers were entirely due to Prefect Feng being blinded by lust and hiding a bandit spy by his side.
On the twenty-second of May, after dozens of mountain bandits had successively surrendered, a fierce bandit with a scarred face finally emerged, carrying the head of the third boss, Liu Siyi, in his hand. The fifty or sixty bandits who had surrounded Liu Siyi had all died in the mutual slaughter to claim his head.
With this, the bandit gang of Shifeng Ridge in Tanzhou was finally wiped out completely.
Both Peng Daji and Prince Qing had to write memorials to the capital, sending them ahead via a four-hundred-mile expedited courier. Peng Daji even specially invited Prince Qing to read his memorial first.
Prince Qing read it very carefully. He found that although Peng Daji had not praised him to the heavens, he had attributed the credit for devising the strategy to him. He also separately reported Prince Qing's merit in slaying Chen Wei, the military merit of the naval centurion who captured Wang Sheng alive, and finally, harshly denounced Prefect Feng's act of leaking the secret.
Having arrived in Jingzhou more than half a month ago, Prince Qing finally offered a word of praise for Peng Daji in his heart: he is an honest and loyal man who does not claim or covet credit.
Before setting off, Prince Qing specifically invited Peng Daji to a banquet.
Peng Daji was well-versed in the ways of officialdom and naturally would not openly offend Prince Qing, but he understood even more clearly that Emperor Yongchang was the one to whom he owed his utmost loyalty.
Therefore, Peng Daji did not tell Prince Qing that the Emperor had long dispatched a secret guard from Jingzhou, who acted as the Emperor's eyes to monitor local officials. The secret guard asked him about Prince Qing's every word and action regarding the bandit suppression. Peng Daji, feeling as though he were facing the Son of Heaven himself, did not dare conceal a single word.
On the twenty-sixth of May, Emperor Yongchang, having endured several days of bumpy carriage travel, had just arrived at the Northern Park and slept soundly alone in his bedchamber at the temporary palace. Early the next morning, the two prime ministers delivered two tall stacks of memorials. Beside them lay a smaller stack of secret memorials from various regions, set aside by Eunuch Wang, meant for the Emperor's personal perusal without passing through the Secretariat.
It was true that Emperor Yongchang came to the Northern Park to escape the summer heat, but it was equally true that state affairs could not be delayed. Because he would stay at the temporary palace for nearly four months, Emperor Yongchang had brought along the two prime ministers, six ministers, as well as key dukes, marquises, and military generals stationed in the capital. Memorials that should have been sent to the capital from various regions were delivered directly to the temporary palace. After the Emperor and his important ministers reviewed them, they were sent back to the respective government offices in the capital for execution.
Emperor Yongchang first read the memorials placed on top by the two prime ministers. These were usually major affairs. Although the secret memorials were confidential, they were not necessarily urgent; sometimes, what the local secret guards reported was merely that a certain high-ranking official had accepted a beautiful concubine gifted by someone on a certain day.
To put Emperor Yongchang in a good mood, the first two memorials were the reports from Prince Qing and Peng Daji regarding the bandit suppression in Tanzhou.
Emperor Yongchang read Peng Daji's first.
Before opening it, Emperor Yongchang's mood was calm. After all, there were merely a thousand bandits, and the imperial court had dispatched five thousand elite garrison soldiers to wipe them out. Success was to be expected. Failing once or twice would at most mean the task was poorly executed and delayed for a while, but there would absolutely be no heavy casualties.
Upon opening it, Emperor Yongchang first saw Peng Daji's concise summary: The bandit lair was destroyed.
Emperor Yongchang nodded unconsciously. Reading further, he saw that upon his initial arrival in Tanzhou to understand the situation, his third son had devised the excellent strategy of luring the snake out of its hole.
No matter how one looked at it, these words praised Prince Qing for his strategic mind and decisive action. Yet Emperor Yongchang frowned. He made a plan right after just listening to Prefect Feng's explanation? Did he not say he would find hunters and woodcutters to ask for a way into the mountains? Was it truly hard to find them just because Prefect Feng said so? Perhaps Prefect Feng was simply incompetent himself.
With these thoughts in his head, Emperor Yongchang's eyes had already fallen on the casualty figures of both sides. Counting the two battlefields from luring the snake out of its hole and dismantling the remnants, less than nine hundred bandits were killed, but the Tanzhou prefectural troops suffered nine hundred and seventy-seven deaths!
It was said that Prefect Feng's side dragged them down. But if Emperor Yongchang had gone, he definitely would have investigated Prefect Feng's background first. He would check how this man had suppressed bandits in the past and whether his character as a prefect was flawed. Would not such an investigation reveal that Prefect Feng had a beautiful concubine who somehow survived a bandit encounter?
Vicious bandits who could murder their own parents came down the mountain just to rob silver and snatch beauties. They would certainly investigate in advance which families had silver and which had beauties. How could they miss one and let an old man like Prefect Feng play the hero rescuing a beauty?
Emperor Yongchang slammed Peng Daji's memorial onto the desk and picked up Prince Qing's memorial with a dark face.
His third son, who had been so smug upon receiving the assignment, was rather modest in his memorial. He praised the bravery of Peng Daji's navy and the timely support of the cavalry he arranged, which prevented the bandits' ambush from succeeding.
Emperor Yongchang was still unhappy, but thinking that his third son was almost captured alive by the bandits and even took a knife wound, and that arranging the cavalry support was considered cautious, Emperor Yongchang could not bear to blame his son anymore. After all, he was still young and on his first external assignment. Having learned his lesson this time, he should understand the military principle of knowing oneself and the enemy next time.
After reading these two somewhat pleasing yet displeasing memorials, Emperor Yongchang was about to pick up the next memorial from the Secretariat when he suddenly caught sight of the secret memorial on top of the stack—it was from Jingzhou.
With a shift of his large hand, Emperor Yongchang picked this one up.
What the secret guard wrote was entirely narrated by Peng Daji. It listed every conversation between Peng Daji and Prince Qing like a play script, including details not mentioned in the two previous memorials.
Only then did Emperor Yongchang learn that the cavalry unit that saved his third son was arranged by Peng Daji himself after his advice was rejected. He learned that after taking a knife wound, his third son still wanted Peng Daji's navy to chase the fleeing bandits who dove into the tributary. He learned that out of the twenty-four guards his third son brought, only two survived, and the method of offering amnesty to the bandit remnants had nothing to do with his third son at all!
Therefore, his third son had accomplished only one thing on this trip to Jingzhou: embarrassing the Zhao family in front of the local military!
