The War Tiger
Page 28
CHAPTER XXVI.
NICHOLAS RECEIVES AN IMPORTANT COMMAND.
On the day following the visit of the prince to the military stations, achange was made among the officers. Some were bambooed, somereprimanded, and others sent into confinement. The post of Leang, whoheld the command of five hundred men under the General Kin, being givento Nicholas, he took Chow with him as a kind of sub-officer, and as thewounds of the latter fortunately proved to be only in the flesh, he soonbecame well enough to caper with delight at the chance his new positionmight give him of meeting the slayer of his father.
For some time Nicholas had little else to do but keep his men at theirposts, and exercise them in the use of the matchlock, which, althoughthe Chinese then knew so little about it, that the rebound of the stockdid as much mischief to the owner as the barrel did to his enemies, hehad long practised on board his father's ships. Then, again, he wouldexercise them in sword, and bow and arrow practice, and the use of theirshields.
Such was his employment till intelligence arrived that the rebel Li-Kongwas on his march to besiege Pekin with a large army, when, seeking anaudience of the Emperor, he threw himself at the foot of the throne,and prayed to be sent with a party of flying horse to make observations,and drive the people of the neighboring towns and villages into thecapital for protection. His zeal, however, was useless; for, placing hiswhole faith in the bonzes and intriguing nobles around him, who laughedto scorn the idea of so improbable an event as the invasion of so greata capital by a mere rebel, Wey-t-song angrily commanded Nicholas to keepto his posts upon the walls, where he remained, till wearied withinaction he longed to return to his father's fleet. Wait a littleNicholas, and there will be action enough.
More than once during the reign of Wey-t-song had famine stalked throughthe land, but then he had struggled to stem the torrent by opening hispurse and granaries. Now, however, that nature withheld her ordinarysupplies, a rebel army crowded the approaches to the capital, so thatprovision could not be brought in, and the dearth of food grew so great,that a pound of rice could not be purchased for less than its weight insilver, and the flesh of horses, rats, dogs, cats, and mice had becomeso rare, that even rotten skins were bought for human food. The Emperorwickedly kept close within the luxurious apartments of his inner palace,caring but little for the starving people, so that he and the greatmandarins could revel in their luxurious ease and pleasures.
Now, as indolence will spread as fast as nettles, the officers of thearmy, instead of attending to their duties, spend the greater part oftheir night-watches in gambling and drinking so hard, that had theenemy come upon them suddenly they must have surrendered. Yet theimperial troops were so numerous and the defences so strong, that withanything like a good show of fighting the rebels could have been beatenback, if not indeed entirely destroyed. As, however, these officers musthave been fully aware of all this, it is only reasonable to suppose theywere playing another little game of their own, that we shall soon see.
Thus weeks passed away, without more than mere rumors of the movementsof the rebel Li-Kong, who, it was said, was fast approaching thecapital, and sacking towns or destroying the people on his march. Thereone day came a number of men to the eastern gate, reporting themselvesto be fugitives, who had been driven to seek protection in the capitalfrom Li, who was on his march by the eastern suburbs; and as also theybrought the joyful intelligence that a vast quantity of rice was on theroad from the southern provinces, under the charge of a body ofmerchants, who had managed to evade the rebels by taking a differentroute, they were received with open arms and treated handsomely.
Then, as the General Kin feared that the starving people would set uponthe wagons as they entered the city, he came out on the day of theirarrival with a large body of soldiers to escort the food to thestorehouse, where it could be fairly distributed. But so eager was thegeneral to secure the grain from a sudden rush of the hungry people,that he encompassed the procession with his troops so perfectly, thatneither wagons nor the fugitive tradesmen who accompanied them could beseen by the crowd. Moreover Kin kept close the wagons till they weresafe within the fore-court of the storehouses. After performing hisduty, the general astonished Nicholas by carrying his indefatigabilityso far as to personally inspect the walls, post the sentries, andexamine the flints of their matchlocks, all of which was very puzzling,for not only was there no enemy to be seen, but the deserters andfugitives reported that the attack, if made at all, would be upon theopposite walls of the city, whither, in fact, Kin had sent already agreat part of the soldiers who had hitherto been posted upon that side.