Late Ming Dynasty: Special Forces in 1645

The next day, Liang Zicheng led the First Regiment of the Restoration Army from Xinzhou City, and Chen Shaoping led the Eighth Regiment from Yushan City.

The two regiments of the Restoration Army marched toward Dexing County along two separate routes.

Before sunset, the two regiments met outside Dexing County and surrounded the town.

The arrival of the two regiments of the Restoration Army caused a great sensation in Dexing County.

When Huang Qizhong, the magistrate of Dexing County, climbed the city wall, he saw the well-disciplined Xingfu Army outside the city. His hands trembled slightly, and he kept muttering, "What should we do... what should we do!"

Li Tao, the county magistrate standing behind Huang Qizhong, said, "Sir, things have come to this point, we have no choice but to surrender to the Restoration Army!"

"My lord, you mustn't!" said the clerk, Jiang Shao. "It's said that the Restoration Army disrespects Confucianism and kills indiscriminately. If we surrender, we'll be disregarding the lives of 70,000 people in our Dexing region!"

Huang Qizhong turned to his advisor, Jiang Shao, and asked, "What does the advisor think we should do?"

"Well..." Clerk Jiang Shao paused for a moment, then said, "We should hold the city and send a fast horse to request reinforcements from the Prefect..."

"You're too narrow-minded, sir!" County Magistrate Li Tao laughed in exasperation, retorting directly, "What about General Jin Shenghuan's 50,000 troops? They were utterly defeated by the Restoration Army, let alone the Prefect. How many troops can the Prefectural Government send to support us?"

"This..." Jiang Shao wanted to refute, but couldn't find a reason to do so, so he could only say, "Even if we are to surrender, we should fight first. If we surrender without a fight, wouldn't that make the Restoration Army look down on us? If we surrender like this, the Restoration Army won't think highly of us, and if they don't think highly of us, they naturally won't give you two important positions anymore?"

Huang Qizhong nodded slightly and said, "What the advisor said makes sense. After all, we need to win to prove our worth. What does Magistrate Li think?"

Li Tao knew that Huang Qizhong had little opinion on political matters and always listened to Jiang Shaoyan's advice.

But Jiang Shao was a local landowner with thousands of acres of fertile land and a copper mine. He was blinded by profit and instinctively resisted the restoration of the army without considering the reality of the situation.

Li Tao said, "Sir, judging from the strength of the Restoration Army outside the city, there are no fewer than two thousand troops, and they seem to have muskets and cannons. If we don't surrender soon, once the cannons fire and the war begins, our lives may be in danger!"

Jiang Shao scoffed, "Is the county magistrate frightened by the rumors? They say that the Restoration Army can win with fewer troops and against stronger ones. I think that the Restoration Army is made up of bandits. How strong can they be? They mostly just used a large number of civilians to charge into battle, which made General Jin reluctant to attack, thus holding back his actions and allowing the Restoration Army to take advantage of him."

"You!" Li Tao was so angry that he couldn't speak. The Xingfu Army had defeated Jin Shenghuan. Anyone with eyes could see that the Xingfu Army had won a real victory. But he didn't expect Jiang Shao to be so ignorant, or deliberately ignorant, to mislead others.

The key point is that Jiang Shao wanted to mislead County Magistrate Huang Qizhong.

So Li Tao and Jiang Shao started arguing back and forth. On the surface, neither of them could convince the other, but if you listened carefully to their argument, you could see that what Li Tao said was reasonable and could withstand scrutiny, while what Jiang Shao said was ambiguous and had a bit of a sophistry feel to it.

Huang Qizhong was thoroughly exasperated by their arguing, and finally snapped, "Enough! It's getting dark. Let's discuss this again tomorrow!"

Huang Qizhong mainly concluded that the Xingfu Army outside the city had started cooking and did not intend to attack the city for the time being.

As for tomorrow? We'll deal with tomorrow's problems tomorrow. We'll hold out for as long as we can, and surrender when things get tough.

So Huang Qizhong instructed the soldiers guarding the city to defend it diligently while he went back to enjoy his delicious feast.

......

That evening, County Magistrate Li Tao was worrying about the restoration army at his residence when his steward came in to report, "Sir, Clerk Jiang is outside requesting an audience!"

Li Tao was taken aback. Jiang Shao was a sycophant who relied on the magistrate's trust to bully others. He usually didn't get along with him, so why was he coming to his door now?

Although Li Tao looked down on Jiang Shao, he also wanted to know Jiang Shao's purpose in coming, so he instructed the steward, "Bring him in."

The butler led Jiang Shao in through the side door. Before entering, Jiang Shao looked left and right to make sure no one was watching before carefully following the butler inside.

Upon seeing Li Tao, Jiang Shao abandoned his usual smug demeanor and instead bowed deeply to Li Tao respectfully, saying, "Lord Li!"

Li Tao seemed not to have seen anything, picked up the teacup, and apparently blew on the hot tea before taking a couple of sips and slowly putting the teacup down.

Seeing Jiang Shao clasp his hands together and raise them above his head, still bowing deeply, Li Tao remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was puzzled: Why has Jiang Shao changed his attitude today? Although he was Jiang Shao's superior, Jiang Shao usually only gave him a perfunctory bow when he saw him, and would never be so respectful as he was today.

Thinking of the Restoration Army outside the city, Li Tao was filled with suspicion, but outwardly he said calmly, "Sit!"

Jiang Shao respectfully said, "Thank you, sir," before taking his seat as a guest.

Jiang Shao first apologized to Li Tao, feeling guilty for his usual disrespect. He then said that he had no choice but to act in the situation, having to consider the needs of his family of dozens of people. He explained that he was not unaware of the situation, but rather afraid that the Restoration Army would purge them, the landlords and gentry.

Li Tao was very patient and didn't ask Jiang Shao why he came to see him. Instead, he listened quietly to Jiang Shao's rambling.

Half an hour later, Jiang Shao finally got down to business, saying, "Lord Li, you are a Juren (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and Huang Qizhong is also a Juren. You are about the same age, so why is Huang Qizhong able to become a county magistrate while you are only a county assistant? This is an enormous injustice!"

Li Tao, who had been feigning nonchalance, frowned, about to rebuke Jiang Shao for his rudeness, when Jiang Shao continued, "Huang Qizhong has no talent, while Lord Li is learned and ambitious. Just because Huang Qizhong has a distant cousin who is a vice minister in the court, he was appointed as a county magistrate, while Lord Li, without any backing, can only be a county assistant. How unfair is this!"

Even though she knew Li Tao's words were meant to sow discord, they still touched Li Tao.

Li Tao actually passed the imperial examination three years earlier than Huang Qizhong, and his qualifications in the imperial examination were higher than Huang Qizhong's. However, because he had no background, he spent a lot of money and begged and pleaded with all sides to finally obtain the position of county magistrate.

As for Huang Qizhong, because he had the Vice Minister as his backer, he easily became the county magistrate while Huang was still trying to get a position. Who could Huang complain to?

Li Tao merely feigned anger and shouted at Jiang Shao for his divisive and insubordinate remarks, "Enough! Don't say such things again!"

Jiang Shao was incredibly adept at reading people's expressions. Seeing that Li Tao wasn't truly angry, he seized the opportunity to lower his voice and say, "Lord Li, the opportunity is right in front of us. As long as we use Huang Qizhong's head to get an official position from the Restoration Army, wouldn't that be a piece of cake?"

"You!" Li Tao suddenly stood up, pointing at Jiang Shao, his finger trembling slightly.

Li Tao was truly terrified. He had initially only felt a secret aversion and contempt for Jiang Shao's betrayal of his former master, but now that Jiang Shao was offering Huang Qizhong's head in exchange for wealth and status, how could Li Tao not be shocked?

"Lord Li!" Jiang Shao hissed, "Does Lord Li have his eye on the Restoration Army, and is he still being suppressed by Huang Qizhong?"

"Does Lord Li consider me a despicable, shameless, and opportunistic villain?" Jiang Shao asked himself, answering his own question, "I admit I am a villain, but that Huang Qizhong, as soon as he arrived in Dexing, tried to seize my family's copper mine. He even fabricated charges to imprison my two sons. I had no choice but to send him money and beautiful women, becoming his lackey and flattering him, just to protect my sons and ancestral property. Even so, he still took 70% of the copper mine's profits, and one of my sons was crippled in prison. Lord Li, how can you expect me not to hate Huang Qizhong?"

Li Tao had also heard about this and knew that Jiang Shao's words were true, so he said, "So you've been looking for an opportunity to take revenge?"

Jiang Shao shook his head and said, "A prefect who wiped out an entire family, a county magistrate who ruined his family—how could I possibly contend with a county magistrate with powerful connections? If it weren't for the need to prevent my ancestral property from being seized, why would I bother to curry favor with him every day?"

Li Tao shook his head slightly, half believing and half disbelieving what Jiang Shao said. Even if what Jiang Shao said was true, what did it have to do with him?

Seeing that Li Tao was somewhat interested, Jiang Shao continued to persuade him with his silver tongue.

Jiang Shao first spoke up for Li Tao, then explained his own predicament, and finally analyzed the situation, arguing that the Restoration Army would definitely give Li Tao an important position, which finally persuaded Li Tao.