mtl008 Chapter 598 Deadlock
Chapter 598 Deadlock
Seeing that someone had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, the official surnamed Fang from the Ministry of War who had been making things difficult for Huang Gan stepped forward and demanded, "Who are you, daring to cause trouble at the Ministry of War's office?"
Lin San was almost a head taller than the person in charge. He took a few steps closer and said condescendingly, "I am Lin San, the commander of Qionghai Town and a commander of the Imperial Guard. Who do you think you are?"
He was rough around the edges but shrewd enough to know that the capital was not like Lingao, where there were officials of higher rank than himself everywhere. The title of Qianzong of Qionghai Town was not as useful as that of Qianhu of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so he casually mentioned the title and even emphasized that it was bestowed upon him by the emperor. Although adding the words "imperial bestowal" to the title was a bit inappropriate, it was enough to convey the meaning.
As a powerful official in the Ministry of War's Bureau of Military Affairs, wielding immense authority over the promotion and demotion of military officers across the land, Director Fang naturally disregarded the title of "Chief of the Imperial Guard." However, the title of "Chief of the Imperial Guard" truly shocked him—a local military officer holding this rank was no ordinary position; such individuals were usually favored by the Emperor and not easily manipulated by the Bureau of Military Affairs. He paled and took two steps back, saying to Yang Sichang, "My lord, you've seen it all. The soldiers of Qionghai Town are so arrogant and domineering, even insulting their subordinates! Please, my lord, do justice for us!"
Yang Sichang frowned. It seemed this burly man was a bit more troublesome than the henchmen from before. But in his eyes, the two were simply different sizes of grasshoppers; he was going to crush them anyway, so it just took a little more effort. Even if the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Luo Yangxing, came in person, let alone a mere commander of a thousand men, it wouldn't stop him from pursuing his political ambitions.
He glanced at the large group of soldiers around Lin San and calmly said to Shen Chong, "It seems that you, as a guerrilla commander of the Shen Shu Battalion, don't have enough men. The bandits have just as many troops as you. Should we send some more men over?"
Shen Chong's eyelids twitched. This sentence directly defined Lin San and his group as "bandits." It seemed that the newly appointed Right Vice Minister was determined to deal with these soldiers from Qionghai Town.
Although the Beijing garrison had a large number of soldiers, Shen Chong knew perfectly well how ineffective they were in combat. Apart from the Five Armies Camp and the garrison troops drawn from the surrounding areas of Beizhili (Note 1), the Shenshu Camp was filled with a large number of sons of nobles, and the Shenji Camp had become a place for nobles to gild their reputations. Although their armor was bright and their weapons were excellent, and their appearance was several levels higher than that of the troops from other places, it was all just for show. These pampered soldiers were unwilling to endure hardship, rarely trained, and had never fought in actual combat. They were practically defenseless. If it really came down to it, how could they possibly be a match for the elite troops of the border towns?
Shen Chong wasn't very familiar with the other border towns, but Qionghai Town had become so famous in the last year or two that it was impossible not to know about it. Leaving aside the distant past, just look at these cartloads of Tartar heads—who in the world could do that? Last year, there was the glorious victory of defeating the bandits in Southern Zhili and capturing Gao Yingxiang alive; Shen Chong had personally witnessed that grand ceremony of presenting the prisoners.
He really didn't want to fight these elite soldiers who had slaughtered their opponents on the battlefield, but he couldn't afford to offend the people in the Ministry of War, especially this Lord Yang who was rumored to be the future Minister of War. He hesitated for a moment, then decided not to offend either side: "My lord, I am just a guerrilla commander. There are too many important figures in the capital garrison. If they want to mobilize more troops, I am powerless to do so!"
Yang Sichang stared at him, as if trying to see through his thoughts.
Shen Chong felt a little guilty and lowered his head.
Yang Sichang looked at him for a while, smiled, and said, "What Guerrilla Commander Shen said makes sense. It's difficult for you to mobilize the troops from other units of the Beijing Garrison."
Shen Chong breathed a sigh of relief: "The lord is indeed considerate of us errand boys..."
“Since you can’t mobilize the troops, I’ll help you.” Yang Sichang interrupted him. “Someone, bring me paper and pen. I’ll write a note and send it to the Five Armies Commandery, so the Grand Commander can order the mobilization of two battalions of the Divine Pivot Battalion and the left and right detachments of the Divine Machine Battalion. Under the Emperor’s nose, in broad daylight, I refuse to believe that a few thieves can act with impunity!”
Everyone present, except for the guards, was astonished; the situation was escalating rapidly. The Shenshu Battalion consisted of ten battalions; with two more, plus Shen Chong's unit, that made three battalions. The Shenji Battalion was divided into five armies: the Central Army, Left Wing, Right Wing, Left Sentinel, and Right Sentinel. The transfer of two sentinels represented almost half of the Shenji Battalion's strength. Now, nearly half of the entire Beijing Garrison would be concentrated at the Ministry of War; the square wouldn't be able to accommodate so many people, forcing them to crowd into the streets. If it weren't for the martial law in Beijing, with most of the Beijing Garrison responsible for the city wall defenses, it's estimated that this Lord Yang would have transferred more than half of the Beijing Garrison's forces.
Shen Chong found it unbelievable. Was it really necessary to make such a fuss over just a thousand men? If all these camp leaders came, there would probably be tens of thousands of people. Even the emperor would be alarmed. Even the Minister of War wouldn't have that much power or courage, would he? He secretly glanced at Yang Sichang and saw that he spoke with such certainty but didn't rush to write anything down. It seemed that he wanted to make a feint and scare the other party. Shen Chong breathed a sigh of relief.
As Shen Chong had predicted, Yang Sichang used the Shenshu Battalion and Shenji Battalion as a threat, not actually intending to mobilize that many troops. He still possessed this level of political awareness; even the Minister of War had no authority to mobilize so many troops without the emperor's approval. And even if he had that authority, if he were to gather tens of thousands of troops, the emperor would immediately suspect a rebellion.
Lin San and his men remained unmoved, seemingly ignoring their words. The Qionghai Army had a history of fighting the Shenji Battalion in Nanjing, even eliminating the instigator, the garrison eunuch. Why would they fear the Beijing Garrison? When it came to fighting, they were truly fearless.
Yang Sichang was somewhat surprised by the soldiers' strong mental fortitude, which put him in a difficult position. The best course of action would have been to use the Shenshu Battalion and the East City Military Command to disperse Huang Gan's group, but Lin San's deployment of nearly a thousand soldiers to the standoff complicated matters.
If they tried to use diplomacy, invoking the authority of the Ministry of War to deter them, these people wouldn't listen. Although Yang Sichang had a hundred ways to cut off their supplies and official positions afterward, they seemed completely unconcerned about the consequences of offending the Ministry of War. If they tried to use force, dispersing a hundred or two was manageable, but dealing with a thousand would be difficult. If a violent conflict were to erupt right under the emperor's nose, Yang Sichang couldn't bear the responsibility.
The situation reached a stalemate. Time slowly passed, the sun had set, the shops on the street began to close, and the lanterns in front of every household were lit.
Just then, a voice came from outside the door: "When did the Ministry of War become so crowded? The whole street is packed. Is there going to be a war?"
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Note 1: The Five Armies were the main force of the Beijing Garrison. In addition to the troops stationed in the Beijing Garrison, 16 troops from the various military commands of Zhongdu, Shandong, Henan, and Daning were transferred to the capital for training every year. These troops were called the "Banjun" (a type of military unit).