Section Twenty-One

After nearly two years of war and attrition, the demands of fighting on two fronts had reduced the number of banner people still stranded beyond the passes to barely a little over one hundred and thirty thousand. Their young and able-bodied men had been all but wiped out, and even those few survivors were now prisoners of the Han army. On Wang Shirong’s order, the citywide dragnet continued for a full two days and one night. With the aid of more than a thousand military police and the surrendered yamen runners of Shenyang Prefecture, houses were searched according to lists, and in all four thousand three hundred and sixty-one war criminals and family members were seized.

The following day, the Han army requisitioned more than twenty thousand townspeople from Shenyang and erected on the western outskirts of the city a towering sacrificial platform fifteen zhang high. Lin Feng led all the generals in a grand memorial offering, honoring Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhao Lüjiao, Manggui, Xiong Tingbi, and nearly a hundred other ancestors, along with the tens of millions of civilians who had perished in the invasion wars decades before.

When he returned to the city, Lin Feng was utterly spent in body and spirit, but the generals around him were all elated, while Wang Shirong looked as though he had drunk himself into a stupor, his face flushed crimson and his spirits soaring. Only Rui Ke of the Imperial Guard wore an expression of furious indignation, his fists clenched so tightly they crackled.

“General Rui Ke, you seem displeased?” Lin Feng noticed at a glance and sighed inwardly, though his words were pointedly innocent.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Rui Ke bowed slightly, then said angrily, “This is an atrocity... it is simply too cruel. It... it... truly stains a soldier’s honor, my lord!” His face was red, his speech stumbling, his agitation and wrath plain for all to see.

“Yes, that’s right. I also believe this is an atrocity,” Lin Feng said, to Rui Ke’s astonishment, nodding his agreement.

Rui Ke stared, then asked excitedly, “Then why do you still do it?”

Before Lin Feng could answer, Wang Shirong’s expression changed. He said sternly, “General of the Guard, forgive my frankness—does the general know what these barbarians have done in our Central Plains?”

“I do! They slaughter civilians, burn cities, and destroy civilization. They are indeed a band of brigands!” Rui Ke met Wang Shirong’s gaze without flinching. “But they are barbarians, and we are civilized men. We are different. We cannot butcher the innocent like beasts without restraint! And...” He turned back toward Lin Feng. “And we are soldiers. A soldier’s sword is meant for enemies, not these poor old people and children!”

“These old, weak women and children are the enemy!” Wang Shirong gave a cold laugh, lifting his chin to the coffered ceiling and casually brushing dust from his sleeve. He glanced at Rui Ke with open disdain. “Could it be that General Rui Ke intends to lecture me on the Confucian doctrine of mercy and forgiveness?”

Rui Ke widened his eyes, glaring at him. “In the name of God, that is the most absurd lie I have ever heard!”

“Barbarian, what would you know?” Wang Shirong sneered coldly, turning his head away. “When a state is conquered, force must first overawe with arms, and governance afterward temper severity with benevolence; only the blending of hardness and gentleness yields true effectiveness. That is the foundation of an age of chaos, and no mere man of the sword can understand it.”

Rui Ke flew into a rage and could no longer contain himself. He slammed the table and pointed at Wang Shirong’s nose, shouting, “You damned executioner, you filthy schemer! Aside from these despicable tricks, can you do anything else?”

The more he spoke, the angrier he grew. Suddenly he drew his sword, flung off his glove, and hurled it into Wang Shirong’s face. “Very well, you damned bastard. If you still possess even a shred of a soldier’s honor, then draw your sword!”

Lin Feng was livid. He kicked over the table before him and roared, “General Rui Ke, put away your sword!” He pointed at Rui Ke. “Sir, obey the order. At once!”

Glowering, Rui Ke gave Wang Shirong one last resentful look and sheathed his blade.

Lin Feng forced his breathing to steady. After a long silence, he spoke hoarsely. “General Rui Ke, do you know why, knowing full well that this is a vile atrocity, I still carried it out?”

Rui Ke looked blank.

“Because I want the other old, weak, women, and children to live.” Lin Feng pointed beyond the hall. “Do you know that there are still one hundred and twenty thousand surrendered wretches in this city, and that before this my army intended to kill them all?”

“But... what does executing those people have to do with this?” Rui Ke still did not understand.

“The dead can buy room in which the living may survive.” Lin Feng looked at him quietly, his face cold and merciless. He raised one finger. “Revenge can only happen once, General Rui Ke. I hope you understand that, in addition to being a soldier, I am also a king. I have to consider this as a statesman, and all I can do is strive to keep the retaliation within bearable bounds. As you know, the relatives of these prisoners committed monstrous crimes in the Central Plains, and now they too must pay for it.”

Under the doubtful gazes of the generals in the hall, Lin Feng descended the steps slowly and said gently, “The people who should die have already been killed by us. The price that had to be paid has already been paid. So the ones left now are innocent subjects of Great Han. They can live in a relatively lenient environment...” He looked at Rui Ke and said softly, “Do you understand now, my general?”

Rui Ke stood stunned for a long while. At last, understanding dawned and he nodded. “You mean... using a limited amount of killing to resolve this ethnic hatred? And then allowing the survivors to live in peace?”

“‘Live in peace’?” Lin Feng gazed dazedly out the door, then gave a bitter smile and shook his head. “Hard enough, hard enough... hatred has already sunk into the bones. That is beyond my power.” He lowered his head. “Perhaps only time can fade it.”

The hall fell silent. After a long pause, Rui Ke sighed, dropped to one knee, and pleaded guilty. “Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness just now.”

Lin Feng waved him up. “It is nothing. You are a pure soldier, a good general. I admire that virtue.” He smiled and shook his head. “Do not worry. I will issue the orders. These surviving poor souls will be resettled in separate groups around Guangning, Jinzhou, Panjin, Haichengzi, and Yingkou. More than a hundred thousand will conceal their names and origins, scattered here like dust across this land, living as equals among Han villages, and from this day forward no one will inquire into their past.”

A trace of relief appeared on Rui Ke’s face. “Excellent, my lord. This is your fulfillment of your promise to General Sabusu, is it not?”

“Perhaps,” Lin Feng said with a wry smile. “Think of it however you like.”

“Cough... cough... My lord!” Wang Shirong, who had been awkwardly silent for quite some time, stepped forward at last and bowed respectfully. “My lord, all the war criminals in Shenyang have now met their end, but the chief culprits are still at large!”

“The chief culprits?” Lin Feng was startled. “Who else could there be?”

“The chieftains Nurgaci and Hong Taiji committed crimes beyond measure. They repeatedly invaded our realm and slaughtered Han people, yet their tombs still stand untouched. How can that not count as letting them escape justice?”

“Nonsense!” Lin Feng waved a hand and said gravely, “Jiyun, one must not be too narrow-minded. Though Nurgaci and Hong Taiji were our enemies, they were also heroes of their age. We cannot stoop to such base conduct.”

“Not so, not so!” Wang Shirong suddenly smiled in a strange, elusive way and stepped closer, lowering his voice. “I have a plan that requires precisely the remains of those two fiends.”

Lin Feng was taken aback. He stared at Wang Shirong for a long moment, indecisive, wrestling with himself for what felt like ages before at last he said hoarsely, “Then please speak plainly, sir!”

“Reporting to my lord: the world is now shattered and divided, and the Qing court’s end is near. Before, our army spread rumors throughout the realm, stripping away the last of its prestige. Now we have even driven into their former capital. Therefore I believe the time is ripe to establish the ruling house and name the state!” Wang Shirong spoke with bright animation. “I offer my lord this plan: dispatch a deputy commander and several thousand laborers to unearth the graves of Nurgaci and Hong Taiji. Then proclaim their crimes and spread their remains across the world, declaring: if any provincial governors and military commissioners continue to bear the banner of the Qing, they shall henceforth be the mortal enemies of Great Han!”

Lin Feng frowned. “They have always been the mortal enemies of Great Han. What you propose seems unnecessary.”

Wang Shirong smiled faintly and shook his head. “Times have changed. Wu Sangui now holds the south of the Yangtze, Shang Zhixin controls Guangdong, Zheng Jing has Taiwan and Fujian, Yang Qilong is ravaging several provinces, Galdan’s armies are advancing from the west, and even the Khorchin have broken the alliance and severed ties. Now that even the very heartland has been taken by our forces, what hope does the Qing court still have?” He stroked his beard and his eyes turned cruel. “What the Qing still relies upon is the Han banner army and the Green Standard forces. The banner aristocrats are decadent and useless, hardly worth mention. My plan is aimed precisely at those wavering Han officials and Green Standard puppet troops. My lord may issue proclamations to all quarters, ordering that in every province still under Qing control, the people must grow their hair long, cut off their queues, and adopt Han clothing. Any who refuse will, when our heavenly armies arrive, see their entire families slaughtered, their ancestral shrines destroyed, and their forebears’ graves dug up, their bloodline cut off forever!”

Hearing so vicious a political declaration, even Lin Feng, bold as he was, could not help drawing in a sharp breath. He stared fixedly at Wang Shirong and said in disbelief, “Do you mean to set me against all the people under heaven?”

“What ‘all the people under heaven’?” Wang Shirong scoffed. “When the Qing once ordered everyone to shave their heads and change their dress, was the realm not already divided in four? What then did this ‘all under heaven’ do? Did they not obediently submit?”

Lin Feng hesitated, looking toward the generals in the hall. One by one, they lowered their heads to avoid his gaze. For a time he was troubled beyond measure, and with helpless bitterness he smiled. “This matter... this matter... is truly too shocking, is it not?”

Wang Shirong straightened. “If my lord wishes to found a kingly dominion and make the world look up in awe, then such extraordinary measures are unavoidable.” He glanced at Lin Feng and said softly with a smile, “In former days even Dorgon issued commands to the world in this way. Surely my lord cannot be inferior even to a mere barbarian chieftain?”

Though he knew Wang Shirong was deliberately provoking him, Lin Feng still felt anger rise in his chest. He slammed the table and barked, “Mutianyan, I order you to take five thousand laborers at once, dig up the graves of Nurgaci and Hong Taiji, and drag their corpses out for me!”

When Mutianyan solemnly accepted the order, Lin Feng drew his long saber in one motion and leveled it toward the sky, shouting furiously, “I...” He swept his gaze around the room. The Han generals all dropped to their knees in unison. “...My realm spans no more than a thousand li; my cities number no more than a few dozen; my soldiers, no more than one hundred thousand. And yet, who beneath the heavens, from the rivers and mountains of the Central State to the farthest north and south, would dare withstand my thunderous blow?”

The Age of Passion and Fire, Chapter Four, End

Please see Chapter Five, The Rising East Empire