Chapter 17
A Late Call
18th of Sixthmoon, Hsinhao 8 (6 Charles 9)
Outside Tin Village, Sektsun County, Muijyu Province, Kingdom of Chongtung, Empire of Tunggwo
Chow Fan was woken up by a banging at the door and a loud voice shouting, "Open up! Open in the name of His Celestial Majesty! Open the door or I shall break it down!"
The baby started crying and Chingchuan his wife busied herself with trying to quiet him down. Why would anyone come in the name of the Emperor to a little farmhouse in the countryside like this in the middle of the night? He did not know, but he would likely have half a day's work replacing the door if it were broken down, so that was reason enough to answer this nighttime caller.
He fastened the ties on his garment as he went to the door. The other children had woken up and were gathering around the door. His father-in-law cried out and began moaning loudly and babbling incoherently while his mother-in-law tried to talk him down. The old man's senility was getting worse. It would not be long before his mind was completely gone.
Chow Fan waved off the children before opening the door. There was a low-ranking clerk and a pair of shabby-looking local troops in faded and wrinkled uniforms. The clerk looked angry, as if he were the one whose home had been disturbed in the middle of the night.
"You are Han?" the clerk asked, looking at a list.
"I am Chow Fan, sir."
"Is this not 27-3-8?"
"It is, sir."
"This house is registered to Han."
"It is, sir. This land is registered to my wife's family."
"Is there no son?"
"No, sir. My wife is an only child."
The clerk eyed the three children huddled off to the side and noted, "I see you are working to avoid the same. Chow Fan, why have you not answered the summons?"
"What summons, sir?"
"Did you not hear the proclamation two weeks ago?"
"No, sir. I only go into town once a month at most. The last time was some three weeks ago."
"Ignorance is no excuse, but fortunately for you, His Celestial Majesty is merciful, which is why I am here."
The clerk pulled out a message tube from his robes, then shouted, "Assemble, all, and kneel! Kneel for the word of His Celestial Majesty!"
His shouting made the baby start crying again, which upset the old man so that he started making noise too. Chow Fan hastily tried to shepherd the people of his household to kowtow to the clerk before he opened the message tube. They said the paper used for imperial decrees were made of gold, but no commoner would raise his head during the reading of a decree on the penalty of being struck blind. The decree was afforded the same respect as the Emperor himself. To merely be struck blind for transgressing on the imperial majesty was a rather light punishment if the stories about those who offend the Emperor were to be believed.
They had to make quite the ridiculous sight, his wife awkwardly trying to kowtow while holding the baby and his mother-in-law sacrificing proper form to hold down her husband's head lest he look up in his confusion.
"Imperial Decree 8-5-22," the clerk announced in an officious tone. "His Celestial Majesty the Emperor, Son of Heaven, Great King of the East, Queller of Barbarians, Guardian of the Sacred Treasures, and Keeper of the Egg of the Divine Phoenix, declares to all loyal subjects within the Four Kingdoms. Every male and every female aged 15 and 50 is hereby drafted into the Grand Army of the Tung. Draftees are to assemble at their registered township on the sixteenth day of the sixth month. Failure to appear at the designated time shall be punished with ten lashes. Any attempt to flee and shun one's duty shall be punished by death and the forfeiture of all family holdings. So His Celestial Majesty has spoken."
Chow Fan could hear the sound of the clerk rolling up the scroll and returning it to the message tube.
"You may rise," the clerk said. "Make what preparations you must and join the others outside. You have fifteen minutes."
"But, sir," Chow Fan protested. "Who will tend to my fields if I am gone? My herds?"
"The young and the old can tend to the homeland," the clerk replied.
"The children are too young. My father-in-law's mind is all but gone."
"They will manage. Hurry up now, or would you defy the order of His Celestial Majesty?"
He did not dare disobey, of course. If he tried and was shot dead by one of the soldiers, not only would he be gone, but their lands would be taken and the end result would be even worse.
The clerk was eyeing his eldest daughter Chingching and asked, "How old is that girl?"
"She is eleven, sir," Chow Fan said, "too young for the summons, is she not?"
"Old enough to care for the infant, though. You and your wife can come."
"You'd separate a mother from her nurseling, sir?"
"How old is the infant?" the clerk asked.
"Three months, sir."
The clerk sniffed and said, "Nursing mothers are permitted to remain with their infants to the first year. We will have to return for her later."
"Why are women being drafted into the army anyway, sir? Such a thing has never been done."
"The women will do the cleaning and the cooking," the clerk said. "They will be nurses and clerks so that every able-bodied man can fight."
"Fight who, sir?"
"Whoever His Celestial Majesty commands you to fight. You now have ten minutes."
Chow Fan realized that they would just drag him out of the house as he was if he did nothing. It was nearly a day's ride into town and they were likely to go around to other farms in the area before they made their way back into town. He had to at least get something together. He hastily threw on his work clothes and drew out a measure of millet and rice and put it in a jute sack. If he ate sparingly, he could make it last three or four days. He grabbed his canteen as well. Surely he would be able to fill it later.
"Time is up, Chow Fan," the clerk said. "We have 23 more households to visit."
His wife had the good sense not to say anything and Chingching kept the other children quiet as well. He feared if he took the time to kiss his wife and children goodbye, the soldiers would just pull him away. That would only make things worse for them. At least thanks to little Yun, his wife would be spared the same fate, at least for the next nine months. Maybe whatever this was would be over before they could come back for her.
Chow Fan followed the clerk and the soldiers to the road, where some twenty or so men and women were gathered with soldiers keeping watch over them from the four corners. There was another soldier off to the side, their leader apparently but no one of much rank. Seven soldiers to more than twenty of them. Surely they could overpower the soldiers if they worked together, but Chow Fan shuddered at the terrible cost of any act of rebellion. They had to obey, survive somehow and return home once more.
How were the children and the old expected to tend to farms and factories while all the men and women in their prime were sent off to fight and die on some distant battlefield? There had been levies before, of course, but never anything like this. It was as if the very fate of the Four Kingdoms hung in the balance.
When Chow Fan took his place with the others, he recognized several faces, but none of them greeted him. It would seem to be best for him to keep silent too. Was that not the rule with soldiers? You do not speak unless spoken to. Holding his tongue was sure to be one of the keys of his survival.
The clerk mounted his horse and shouted, "Move out! You have rested enough! Move out, move out!"
The leader of the soldiers barked, "Up! On your feet! Form ranks! Form ranks, damn you!"
They formed ranks as best as untrained farmers and herdsmen could and set out in an uneven cluster, hemmed in by soldiers to their left and their right with the clerk leading the way. It was going to be a long night.