“To the Prefect, all four gates are as secure as ever, the soldiers are all at their posts, diligently on guard, every one of them alert with eyes like bronze bells, let alone wokou, not even a mosquito could slip into the city,” the runner, panting, returned shortly after going to check and reported to Prefect Zhao.
“Good, good, good, with everyone united and the soldiers serving loyally, Jiaxing has nothing to fear, I’ve already had hot soup and food prepared for you, go down and enjoy it, rest well, I won’t forget those who work diligently,” hearing the runner’s report, Prefect Zhao happily said “good” three times, his heart easing greatly, he patted the runner’s shoulder warmly, gently telling him to rest.
The prefect patted my shoulder, the runner was overwhelmed with honor, his face flushed with excitement as he repeatedly pledged his willingness to die for the prefect.
After the runner left, Zhao Chong’s gaze swept over everyone in the hall, like an old lion with a graying mane, as the prefect of the region, he carried authority, the whispering below instantly ceased.
“I know some of you think I’m overly cautious, making a fuss over nothing, even timid as a mouse…” Zhao Chong cleared his throat, looking at the crowd, speaking slowly.
Hearing the prefect’s words, the civil and military officials in the hall all lowered their heads, avoiding his gaze, they felt guilty, almost all of them had said or thought this, openly or secretly.
“It’s normal for you to think this, after all, my actions do seem excessively cautious, even timid, with the wokou fleeing from Suzhou only appearing in a small northern village, numbers unknown, I still send someone to check the four gates every so often, we have over two thousand troops in the city, yet I sent for reinforcements from Yangcheng Garrison at the first moment, and so on, so I won’t blame you,” Zhao Chong said slowly, then scanned the crowd, asking, “Do you know why I do this?”
The officials in the hall didn’t know how to respond.
“Let me tell you, because as the Prefect of Jiaxing, as the head of this prefecture, I’m responsible for the safety of the tens of thousands of people in Jiaxing, especially in this city, I have to be careful, careful, and more careful, cautious, cautious, and more cautious, even to the point of being called a timid mouse, as long as Jiaxing is safe, what does it matter if people call me a coward?” Zhao Chong said with some emotion, speaking slowly.
“The prefect bears the welfare of Jiaxing’s tens of thousands in his heart, we were narrow-minded, please forgive us, Prefect,” the officials hurriedly apologized.
“No matter, no matter, didn’t I just say I wouldn’t blame you? However…” Zhao Chong paused here, his gaze like fire, slowly sweeping over the crowd, exerting immense pressure.
“Please speak, Prefect, we will strictly follow your orders,” the officials quickly stood to pledge.
Zhao Chong waved them back down, then sternly and seriously warned the gathered officials, “However, you must remember, we carry not just our own lives on our shoulders, but the lives of Jiaxing’s tens of thousands, you must be as careful and cautious as I am! The wokou aren’t ordinary bandits, they’re ferocious and skilled, burning, killing, and looting without restraint, just a month ago, over a hundred wokou rampaged thousands of li across Jiangnan, looting all the way to Yingtian’s gates, you’re all familiar with that, right? The wokou entrenched in Tuolin are no slouches either, with fifty or sixty thousand troops, Songjiang Prefecture suffered greatly, our forces kept losing, several counties fell to them, the people became fish on their chopping block, even Governor Zhang fears them, delaying any assault, don’t underestimate the fleeing Tuolin wokou, don’t dismiss them as routed, don’t relax just because they seem few, everything must be taken to the highest level of alertness.”
“We will heed the prefect’s teachings, we’ll be careful, careful, and more careful, cautious, cautious, and more cautious,” the officials pledged repeatedly.
“Good, now let’s discuss Jiaxing’s defenses, I’ll oversee from the center, provisions, weapons, and other supplies will be handled by Chief Wang, with the household, military, and works departments cooperating fully, troop movements and command will fall to Chief Zhang, all generals here must work together, once the Yangcheng Garrison reinforcements arrive, I’ll coordinate with them, and Chief Zhang will take unified command…” Zhao Chong sat down satisfied, laying out Jiaxing’s defense plans, the officials rose periodically to accept their tasks.
“Everyone, discuss how to best handle your responsibilities and cooperation,” Zhao Chong instructed.
Finally, he turned to a corner of the hall, asking, “Clerk Sima, have you faithfully recorded today’s events?”
In the corner, a desk was set up, a scribe over fifty scribbled furiously.
“To the Prefect, your actions and words today, especially your heartfelt explanation and stern warning to everyone, this humble servant has recorded it all faithfully, not a word missed,” Clerk Zhang stood and replied.
“Well done, Clerk Zhang lives up to his Sima lineage, a true historian’s style,” Zhao Chong nodded, pleased.
With words came truth, if the wokou attacked, his care for the prefecture’s people, bearing insults and burdens, even being called a timid mouse, yet meticulously and cautiously preparing defenses, saving Jiaxing from disaster… these records could not only serve as proof for commendation but also be included in Jiaxing’s local gazetteer, ensuring his name lived on with it.
While Zhao Chong basked in self-satisfaction and the hall buzzed with brainstorming, dozens of li outside the city, a slaughter was brewing.
“The Ming troops are almost here, hide carefully, set up the tripwires! Brother Ma, take two hundred men and ambush from the rear, I’ll lead the rest in front, when the Ming troops trip over the wires and chaos erupts, we strike from both sides, front and back, make their blood flow like rivers, but don’t kill them all, leave a few dozen alive, I’ve got big plans,” Xu Hai whispered orders to the wokou from the shadows.
“Got it,” Ma Ye nodded, leading his men to reposition.
Over a dozen wokou set up three hemp ropes as tripwires, dyed black to blend into the night, undetectable.
The black tripwires merged with the dark, like a giant beast opening its jaws.
“Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!” Over a hundred Ming troops galloped from below a high slope, unaware of what awaited them.
They only knew the prefect ordered them to rush for reinforcements, how could they imagine wokou lying in ambush?
