Chapter 156: The South Sea Gang of the Local Militia

"What? Reorganized into a people's militia?" Early in the morning, Ding Li, who was in the middle of breakfast, spat a mouthful of soup onto the floor nearby. Watching Xiao Lizi and Gouzi rush in with excited expressions, Ding Li's mind raced, and he immediately realized that the position of militia commander was not going to be an easy one to hold. He hurriedly waved his hands at the two of them: "Sit down first. This matter is not that simple. Think about it: first the Chaozhou Faction was turned into a militia, and now it's our Nanhai Faction. Isn't this clearly using our thousands of Nanhai Faction brothers to check the expansion of the Chaozhou Faction? They are putting us right at the front line to act as cannon fodder!"

"Brother Li, it's more than that! Once our Nanhai Faction becomes a militia, our establishment will follow the regular army standards! And you will be a proper militia commander!" Gouzi disagreed with Ding Li's view. After the Chaozhou Faction became a militia, Third Master Liu was merely a deputy militia commander. However, the news he had just received was extremely accurate: Ding Li would assume the post of militia commander. Once the credentials granted by the imperial court arrived, Ding Li would be a fifth-rank military official.

"A regular army establishment?" Hearing this, Ding Li was stunned as well. He had not expected the treatment awaiting him to be so high. Moreover, Ding Li understood what kind of position a militia commander was—a military officer with actual troop command. And hearing from Gouzi that it was even organized according to regular army standards completely exceeded Ding Li's expectations.

"Brother Li, I asked around at the street corner just now. It really is organized according to regular army standards!" Seeing Ding Li somewhat dazed, Gouzi thought he didn't believe the news he had brought. He hurried forward a few steps, shook Ding Li's arm, and asserted with his neck stuck out: "It's true, Brother Li! Besides, it is said that if possible, the Military Governor's Mansion will even provide our militia with a certain amount of material aid, all to get the militia up and running as quickly as possible!"

"This, this doesn't make sense..." Ding Li was even more puzzled now. Lingnan Circuit was wealthy, and the financial strength of Guangzhou Prefecture was also formidable. The annual surplus of the Military Governor's Mansion was indeed substantial, but even so, there was no need for the Governor's Mansion to pour military supplies into a newly formed militia. Although the cost might not be much, directly equipping a militia—which had never been on a battlefield—with military supplies was simply too wasteful. Furthermore, up until now, Ding Li had never heard of the Chaozhou Faction receiving any military supplies whatsoever, not even a single standard military cross-blade, let alone bows and crossbows. All their equipment had to be resolved by the Chaozhou Faction themselves.

However, that was how things should normally be. According to what Ding Li understood, many leaders of the current insurgent armies had done the same back then. As long as one could gather a force of several dozen or a hundred men, one could carve out a unique position among the insurgents. Yet their equipment was truly abysmal; it was said that at the very beginning of the uprising, many men went into battle carrying shovels or even wooden sticks. Even with the current Chaozhou Faction, aside from wearing their original unified uniforms, their weapons were basically cleavers uniformly ordered by the Chaozhou Faction from blacksmith shops. As time passed, within the entire militia, only Third Master Liu's inner circle of personal guards possessed standard equipment—a set of passable light armor paired with a standard cross-blade.

Amidst his confusion, Heizi walked in quickly from outside the door, glanced at Liu Sheng and Xia Qing who were still at the table, and then lowered his voice to report: "Brother Li, General Yang has arrived at the manor and is waiting in the parlor!"

"Oh? Big Brother Yang is here?" Ding Li was slightly startled. The two had met just yesterday, when Ding Li had entrusted Liu Fu and Jin Sanpang to him, allowing Liu Fu to reunite with his family while receiving absolute safety and protection. But immediately afterward, Ding Li understood: Yang Hongwen had undoubtedly come regarding the militia matter. He cast a helpless glance at Liu Sheng, who was looking at him with eager eyes, then offered an apologetic smile to Xia Qing, shook his head, and sighed: "Never mind, let's have lunch together later. I'll go see Big Brother Yang first!"

Upon reaching the parlor, after a brief exchange of polite greetings and congratulations, Yang Hongwen directly stated his purpose, catching the somewhat prepared Ding Li completely off guard. He had not expected that Yang Hongwen was not merely here for the militia matter, but more importantly, to borrow men.

"Big Brother Yang, you aren't joking with me, are you?" After hearing Yang Hongwen clarify his intention, Ding Li shook his head repeatedly, smiled bitterly, and spread his hands to explain: "Big Brother Yang, the men you want are soldiers who have to risk their lives fighting on the battlefield. Where am I supposed to find the people you need? You should know that most of the people the Nanhai Faction originally took in were poor folks from Guangzhou Prefecture, mostly making a living by exerting physical labor at the docks! They're all right if there's a scuffle or a fight, but if you send them to the battlefield, wouldn't that ruin important affairs?"

"No, no, Ali, you're exaggerating!" Yang Hongwen was unrelenting. He smiled, waved his hand with the air of someone who had long been prepared, sat straight down, and added with a smile: "Besides, when it comes to going to the battlefield, doesn't everyone have a first time? How can you know without trying? Moreover, the situation is indeed tight right now, and I simply can't recruit any manpower on my end. The young men of Guangzhou Prefecture have almost been used up; they are either already serving in the military or are part of your Nanhai Faction or Chaozhou Faction. Now that you're all reorganizing into militias, although they are reserve forces for the military, I have no authority to forcibly conscript soldiers from your militias!"

"That may be so, but going to the battlefield is a matter of risking one's life after all; it's not child's play!" Ding Li still shook his head, though his tone had softened somewhat. He knew Yang Hongwen was right, and he also knew the other man was being quite modest. If there were truly forced conscription, even Ding Li, the newly appointed militia commander, wouldn't be able to do anything to him; even if he complained to the Military Governor, Ding Li wouldn't gain the slightest advantage.

"Rest assured about that, Ali! I had already thought it through before coming!" Seeing this, Yang Hongwen flashed a confident smile at Ding Li, reached out to point at the personal guards he had brought who were waiting outside, and chuckled as he added: "Ali, these brothers all used to serve alongside me in the Military Governor's Mansion; they are genuine hard men who have been on the battlefield and seen blood. When borrowing men from your side, we will first adhere to one principle: voluntariness! Then I will have these brothers assess them one by one. If anyone is deemed unsuitable for the battlefield, I will definitely not force them against their will, nor will I push them into a fire pit with my own eyes. After all, I don't want the brothers who follow me onto the battlefield to die in vain!"

"Well, then... alright!" Hesitating a bit more, Ding Li gritted his teeth and finally nodded in agreement. This matter was something he would have to agree to sooner or later anyway; if Yang Hongwen wanted to increase troop numbers, he had to go through Ding Li's connections, and Ding Li certainly didn't think the Chaozhou Faction would help Yang Hongwen with this favor. Ding Li fell silent for a moment, then turned to ask: "By the way, Big Brother Yang, how many brothers do you need? How about I go pick them with you later?"

"No need, just a hundred or so men! There's no need to trouble a militia commander like you with such a small matter! Envoys from the Military Governor's Mansion should be arriving shortly. I heard when I left the yamen early this morning that they seem to have already arranged the official office for your militia command!" Yang Hongwen smiled, his gaze turning toward Ding Li with a hint of envy and admiration, before pointing at him in jest: "Who would have thought, Ali! You're stepping up as a militia commander so quickly! You've managed to outrank that Old Third Liu purely in terms of official rank and grade! But what I'm even more curious about is how deeply you managed to keep this hidden!"

"Huh?" Hearing this, Ding Li was stunned, failing to immediately grasp the meaning behind Yang Hongwen's words. Seeing this, Yang Hongwen laughed aloud, leaned forward toward Ding Li, lowered his voice, and assumed a mysterious expression: "Ali, honestly, when did you start getting involved with Uncle Xiang and Uncle Zhang? You kept this militia commander business under wraps tightly! You took a trip to Fuxu Town, Uncle Xiang came back right on your heels, and no sooner had Uncle Xiang returned yesterday than news broke out in the Governor's Mansion last night about the Nanhai Faction reorganizing into a militia! Early this morning, even the official office is already prepared! This is clearly something prepared well in advance!"

"I, I didn't..." Ding Li felt that even with a thousand mouths he couldn't clear his name now. He could only shake his head and deny it with an innocent expression: "Really not! Big Brother Yang, I only just heard this news myself! It was the news brought back by my brothers below! Truly, I haven't known about this news for even the time it takes to burn a stick of incense!"

"If someone told you that, would you believe it?" Yang Hongwen rolled his eyes, shrugged, cast a sideways glance at Ding Li with a rhetorical question, and then stood up with a smiling shake of his head. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly spun back around, walked over to Ding Li, and placed a hand on Ding Li's shoulder as the latter also rose to his feet. His expression suddenly turned much more cautious. First casting a peripheral glance at the surroundings, he lowered his voice to reveal a blockbuster piece of news to Ding Li: "Ali, you must do a good job as this militia commander! I've heard that if you do well, the militia will soon be converted into a part of the city defense forces! That's a formal establishment! By then, your rank will have to rise by at least another notch!"

"City defense forces? Aren't there already city defense forces?" This news genuinely surprised Ding Li. Although the number of city defense forces in Guangzhou Prefecture was not large, purely in terms of defense, they were already more than sufficient. As for the garrison forces over at Fuxu Town, although split into two factions, they were two elite armies; even if the insurgent forces extended the war here, capturing Fuxu Town would be nearly impossible.

"The people in the city defense forces are not pulling the same pair of trousers with us!" A strange glint flashed across Yang Hongwen's eyes. As he straightened his posture, he sighed, then heavily patted Ding Li's shoulder and added in a deep voice: "You must understand that whether in the commercial sector or the military and political arenas of Guangzhou Prefecture, the depth of the waters is entirely different from what we see on the surface! Especially the military—the army in Guangzhou Prefecture is not entirely under the command of the Military Governor's Mansion; there are also the Imperial Censor, the Superintendent of Trade, and local factions. It is extremely complex!"

"This..." Ding Li only knew that the situation was complicated, but he had never imagined it to be as severe as Yang Hongwen described. Judging from the other man's implication, there were evidently many details left unsaid, leaving him momentarily dazed and lost in thought on the spot.

"You also understand that the military situation of the Great Tang has not been going well lately. If there is no turnaround, at the latest half a year from now—before next summer—the insurgent forces might arrive right at the gates of Guangzhou!" As he spoke, Yang Hongwen's brows knit tightly together. He let out a deep sigh, raised a hand to give Ding Li's shoulder two heavy pats, and added: "Whether for the Military Governor's Mansion's future positioning and maneuverability in Guangzhou Prefecture or for the safety of the entire Guangzhou Prefecture, the city defense forces are of vital importance!"