Borrowing Troops

The following morning.

"This humble general, Yu Dayou, has urgent business to discuss with the Governor."

"The Governor-General is still in his bedtime... Oh dear, General Yu, why won't you listen?"

"This humble general, Yu Dayou, has urgent business to discuss with the Governor!"

Yu Dayou's voice rose, almost like thunder.

Therefore, Governor Hu Zongxian was woken up very early in the morning.

Stretching, Hu Zongxian sat up in bed. "Alright, let him in."

Yu Dayou strode into the main cabin where Hu Zongxian was sleeping, bowed, and asked, "Has the Grand Eunuch seen Master Bai?"

Hu Zongxian was a little confused. "Master Bai? I saw him yesterday. What's wrong?"

Yu Dayou paused for a moment, then handed a note to Hu Zongxian: "This is a note left by Master Bai in the room. Please take a look, Your Excellency."

Hu Zongxian took the note, opened it, and read it carefully.

"General Yu, I have uncovered the trail of the Wokou Pirates who stabbed you; he is none other than the True Wokou Boss Tier of the Japanese pirates Matsuura Shin Kuro. The Japanese pirate threat in Fujian has been largely quelled, and there is nothing more I can do here. I have decided to set sail to find out Matsuura Shin Kuro's whereabouts and kill him. My reasons are twofold: first, to avenge General Yu; and second, to investigate the evil magic he uses, as a form of training to broaden my horizons."

"General Yu's three personal guard captains, Zhang Ting, Yuan Yuan, and Zhou Zhan, are all skilled warriors adept at fighting and sailing. I used a little trick, borrowing the governor's authority, to order the three to accompany the ship. Due to the urgency of the situation, I did not inform General Yu. I hope you will forgive me."

Upon seeing this, Hu Zongxian sensed something was wrong and immediately summoned Xu Wei. As he continued reading, his hands and feet turned ice-cold.

"However, with only three captains, it's not enough to sail the ship. So I've borrowed two hundred personal guards from the Governor-General. When General Yu presents this note to the Governor-General, please remember to apologize on my behalf."

Yu Dayou was a little confused. "Lord Eunuch, how could Master Bai so easily borrow two hundred personal guards from your command? It seems you were unaware of this?"

Hu Zongxian, his face grim, hurriedly put on his robes. "Perhaps it was just a joke... Where are the soldiers on duty? Quickly go and find my personal guard commander, Zhou Shun!"

Yu Dayou had a bellyful of problems, but he could only keep them to himself. Although he was rough and straightforward, he could still tell that Hu Zongxian was in a bad mood.

A short while later, Zhou Shun, the commander of the personal guards, and his advisor Xu Wei arrived together.

Before Hu Zongxian could even greet Xu Wei, he abruptly asked Zhou Shun, "Last night, did Bai... Master Bai come looking for you?"

Zhou Shun was a little surprised and said, "Yes, Your Excellency, that's right."

"He asked you to borrow troops?"

"Yes."

"You lent it to him?" Hu Zongxian's face was practically dripping with ice.

"...Yes," Zhou Shun said, somewhat bewildered. "Why does the Grand Eunuch ask this? Last night, you personally led Master Bai to my warship and found me there, granting him two warships and two hundred personal guards to secretly set sail."

"Nonsense!" Hu Zongxian roared. "You don't even recognize me? Drag him out and behead him!"

Zhou Shun hurriedly knelt down, panicked yet swearing an oath. "Your Excellency, everything I've said is the truth! It was indeed you and Master Bai who came here together!"

Xu Wei, who was standing nearby, whispered a few words to Yu Dayou and quickly figured out the situation. He then said, "Zhou Shun, even if the Grand Eunuch wanted to lend troops to young friend Bai, he would have summoned you to the flagship to give the orders. How could he possibly condescend to go to your ship in person? Can't you see how suspicious this is?"

Zhou Shun honestly replied, "At first, I also had doubts, but after listening to the conversation between Master Bai and the Eunuch, where they said, 'This matter is confidential, so I'm troubling the Eunuch to accompany us personally,' I thought that perhaps the Eunuch was condescending to come in person instead of being summoned, in order to avoid attracting attention..."

Hu Zongxian's face stiffened. "Didn't you ask clearly?"

Zhou Shun lowered his head. "This humble general... this humble general dares not ask."

Xu Wei smiled and said, "The Governor-General is known for his strict discipline and unwavering obedience to orders. He enjoys a very high reputation among all the officers and soldiers. It is only natural that Zhou Shun would not dare to say anything upon seeing the Governor-General in person."

Yu Dayou, however, recalled the incident on Kinmen Island where several of his personal guards hesitated to advance in the face of Xu Hai and Decapitation by Hu Zongxian's order. He nodded to himself in agreement.

Hu Zongxian retorted angrily, "Where was I actually present? I slept in this cabin all night and didn't step out even once."

Xu Wei smiled and said, "This must be the magic of young friend Bai. I've heard that Daoist arts can summon wind and rain, Spilling Beans to Create Soldiers. Although young friend Bai is young, he is a disciple of the Hidden Mysterious Sect. It's not surprising that he knows a few tricks of puppetry and illusion. The fact that he could deceive someone as familiar as Zhou Shun, who is close to the Grand Eunuch, shows that he is quite skilled."

Hu Zongxian's face twitched. "This... this little Daoist priest has really caused me a lot of trouble!" He wanted to curse him as a "wicked Daoist priest," but thinking of Bai Xiaowen's contributions and the help he had given him these past few days, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"What are you all standing there for? Zhifu, hurry and chase after him! That little Daoist Bai ignored my advice and must have gone east to Japan to attack the country. We must intercept him!" Hu Zongxian said.

Xu Wei shook his head and smiled helplessly, "Lord Governor, it's too late. Since young friend Bai set off last night with favorable winds and currents, he should be almost at Ryukyu by now. The soldiers he took with him are your personal guards who have followed you for many years. They are extremely skilled at handling ships and sailing. How could General Yu possibly catch up with them?"

Hu Zongxian stamped his foot and sighed deeply, "That little Daoist priest Bai has misled me! What will happen if the upright officials find out?"

Xu Wei smiled slightly, but he was confident. "Rest assured, Your Excellency, young friend Bai is very sensible in his actions and has already left room for remediation."

What do you mean?

"If Friend Bai had taken away soldiers under the imperial court's command, with so many people and so many mouths, it would have been impossible to keep the secret. But what he took away were his personal guards who were absolutely loyal to the Grand Eunuch! Personal guards are not under the control of the imperial court, so even if two hundred of them are missing, it would be easy for the Grand Eunuch to cover it up," Xu Wei said.

The Ming Dynasty army suffered from a serious problem of empty pay. Many soldiers in the army under the imperial court's organization, such as the Three Great Beijing Camps and local garrisons, were barely able to get enough to eat, so their combat effectiveness was naturally questionable.

The general's personal guards were different. In a sense, they could be seen as armed retainers of a wealthy family, all of whom the general had to pay for. To these personal guards, the general was their provider; they were subservient to whoever fed them. Naturally, the personal guards had to be willing to risk their lives for the general, and loyalty to the general was more important than loyalty to the court.

This is why Yu Dayou was called "General" by Zhang Ting and others. When Yu Dayou was in a coma, why didn't Hu Zongxian take the initiative to mobilize Yu Dayou's personal guards, but instead used the matter of finding medicine to get these guards to volunteer? The reason is precisely this.

Of course, troop movements were still possible; even Yu Dayou himself had to obey orders, let alone his personal guards. However, bypassing the commander to command the enemy's personal guards was somewhat overstepping a line and violating taboos, and the cautious Hu Zongxian was naturally unwilling to do so.