Chapter 135: 133. Conquering Without Shedding Blood

Although the decision to expand had been made, Zhao Han did not move his troops at once.

The autumn harvest was imminent, and the farming season could not be disrupted.

Due to the Little Ice Age climate, the rice harvest in Luling County fell roughly between the end of the sixth month and the middle or late seventh month of the lunar calendar.

During this period, the administrative divisions were readjusted, and the former two towns were merged into one.

Zhao Han had carefully done the sums — there were indeed too many grassroots officials, far more than an agricultural society could support.

In the early phase, land distribution, tax cuts, and abundant promotion opportunities had filled grassroots officials with enthusiasm, and very low salaries had sufficed to satisfy them. But this model of development was deformed; official salaries had to be raised so that they could maintain a relatively decent life without relying on income from land.

Moreover, even with two towns merged into one, the number of officials still far exceeded that of the Great Ming, for the Great Ming's grassroots level stopped at the county seat, whereas Zhao Han's grassroots level reached deep into the villages and towns.

By the end of the seventh month, the readjustment of administrative divisions was complete. Half the officials were reassigned, temporarily left without any post.

Far from complaining, every one of them was excited; many guessed that territory was about to be expanded.

Thanks to Jiangxi's flourishing literary culture, the numbers of xiucai, child students, and schoolboys were extraordinarily high. Finding the civil examinations hopeless, they languished in frustration, many of them sinking into poverty. Every month, educated men "came out of the mountains," wanting to assist Mr. Zhao in founding a heaven-startling great enterprise.

Zhao Han, that rebel, had absolutely no shortage of talent — only too little time to transform this talent in batches.

All the officials slated to be sent to new territory were summoned by Zhao Han for short-term training, mainly to deepen their understanding of Great Unity thought.

Whether they believed it or not no longer really mattered; what mattered was that they kept to the rules!

At the conclusion of the short-term training, Zhao Han addressed these officials: "You have all memorized the rules by heart, and you are very clear in your minds what punishment awaits if you break them. Starting next month, salaries at every level will increase by fifty percent. I will not treat you harshly, and you shall not treat the common people harshly!"

How was corruption dealt with when caught?

Demotion was certain, and land was confiscated as a penalty as well. If caught a second time, all landholdings would be seized, and the offender would be sent into the mountains to burn lime and charcoal!

In truth, there really was not much room for corruption. Embezzling too little was not worth it, and embezzling too much was easily discovered — anyone who dared embezzle now was a complete fool. Even if one meant to embezzle, one would wait until the territory was larger… what was more, the propaganda officers and the peasant associations were watching.

In the middle of the eighth month, the autumn harvest was complete, and the troops set out in two columns.

Zhao Han personally led one force, following the He River into the Gan River, heading straight for the prefectural seat of Ji'an.

Fei Ruhe led the other column alone, advancing along the Lu River toward Anfu County. Zuo Xiaoliang was appointed County Magistrate of Anfu, traveling with numerous grassroots officials, and the accompanying army included many propaganda personnel.

Pang Chunlai remained in Yongyang Town, with Huang Shunfu assisting in civil affairs and Jiang Dashan assisting in military affairs.

…

"Your Honor, the rebel Zhao is attacking!"

Wang Tiaoding was reading in the inner courtyard of the county yamen. Reading was now all he could do; apart from that, there was simply nothing to occupy him.

The moment he heard the rebels were attacking, Wang Tiaoding rose at once, took up his sword, and went up onto the city gate tower.

The Prefect, the Vice Prefect, the Assistant Prefect, and other officials climbed the gate tower one after another, staring at the rebel troops outside the walls and looking at each other in dismay. They were all unlucky wretches — having come to take up their posts in the spring, only to have rebel troops attack the city in the autumn, with no soldiers at hand to mount a defense.

"Prefect, let us open the prefectural treasury and recruit soldiers within the city to defend the walls," Wang Tiaoding said.

Yang Zhaosheng showed not the slightest sign of tension, only remarking in a strange tone: "The prefectural treasury? Rats could race through the prefectural treasury. The whole of Ji'an Prefecture is crawling with obstinate rogues; barely any of the summer grain was collected, and it had to be forwarded to Nanchang before the eighth month. I have just sent off the summer grain, the autumn grain has not yet begun to be levied, and now the rebels come to attack the city — they have truly chosen a fine moment!"

"So we just wait to die?" Wang Tiaoding asked.

"Life is hard; there is only death," Yang Zhaosheng replied with utter composure. "The moment the rebel Zhao breaches the city, this old man will follow the dynasty in death."

This Prefect was truly something else — lacking the ability to suppress the rebels, he had long been ready to kill himself.

Wang Tiaoding could not be bothered to wrangle further with the Prefect. Together with the Vice Prefect and the Assistant Prefect, he began mustering the yamen runners to defend the city. He also went to persuade the wealthy households in the city, urging them to contribute money and effort so that the city could somehow be held.

Those wealthy households were even more interesting — every one of them kept their gates shut and refused to see visitors.

As we have said before, most of the residents lived outside the city, and very few lived inside. The previous winter, the wealthy households inside the city had already gotten a taste of the rebels and knew that the rebel Zhao would not seize their grain or money, but would only force them to release their household slaves.

Since their money and grain were safe, why should they resist?

Full of indignation and helplessness, Wang Tiaoding returned to the gate tower, only to see that the rebel ships had already sailed north.

That was Li Banghua leading troops to Jishui, returning to his own hometown to distribute land — Zhao Han could be said to be doing old Comrade Li a favor.

Under Li Banghua's direction, the landlords of Jishui County would certainly not be killed if it could be avoided, provided they cooperated obediently with land distribution. At the same time, with Li Banghua's reputation to inspire them, and with Huang Yao leading troops to suppress the landlords, many educated men would probably offer their services of their own accord.

Of course, fearing that Li Banghua might be too soft-hearted, Chen Maosheng and Xiao Huan went along as well.

If Old Li proved unwilling to kill, the two of them could help.

As for Zhao Han, he personally took up position on White Egret Isle and had the academy surrounded so tightly that not a crack was left.

He also dispatched troops outside the city to maintain order, then put out money to recruit drifters to go to the west of the city and fill in the low-lying marshland.

The western part of the city had originally been the great parade ground, used for drilling by the Ji'an Chiliarch Guard. Gradually, not a single soldier remained there. The ordinary military households had all been turned into agricultural serfs. Many dwellings had sprung up around the parade ground; wherever farming was possible, the land was farmed, and wherever it was not, it had become waterlogged marshland.

"What are the rebels doing?" Wang Tiaoding asked.

His trusted clerk said: "Keeping order in the southern part of the city, demolishing dwellings west of the city, filling in the marshland to rebuild the parade ground. And many men have gone even further west — it looks like they mean to distribute land to the military households. The White Egret Isle Academy has also been surrounded. The rebels do not intend to storm the city immediately, but they certainly will not be leaving, either."

In truth, Wang Tiaoding had already seen this himself; he was simply unwilling to admit it in his heart.

Wang Tiaoding hurried to the southern gate tower and found the docks outside the city in perfect order. Not only the common folk, but even the merchants showed no fear of the rebels — they knew Zhao Han would not loot and pillage at random.

Suddenly, cheers rang out from outside the city.

Wang Tiaoding had a man lowered in a basket to investigate. The scout returned and reported: "Your Honor, the rebel Zhao has posted a proclamation to reassure the people. Moreover… moreover, this year's commercial taxes are entirely waived. The shop tax will be levied starting from New Year's Day next year, at the rates of the first year of Chongzhen. All tax increases since the Chongzhen reign began are abolished, and all miscellaneous levies that merchants were subject to are also abolished."

"What a rebel Zhao — he truly knows how to buy people's hearts!" Wang Tiaoding felt all strength drain from his body as he stared dumbly at the cheering merchants outside the city.

Before, it was distributing land to win over the peasants; now it was lowering the shop tax to win over the merchants. Apart from the great landlords, who would still resist the rebel Zhao?

In truth, it was not a matter of currying favor. The shop tax was already heavy enough; abolishing the additional levies of the Chongzhen era was entirely reasonable.

Several days later, the marshland west of the city had been leveled.

The nearby dwellings had also been demolished. Zhao Han not only compensated the residents at full value, but also helped the displaced residents rebuild their homes further west.

Subsequently, the Ji'an Chiliarch and Vice-Chiliarch, along with their entire families, were sentenced to labor reform and thrown into the deep mountains to burn charcoal and lime. The military fields they had usurped were all distributed to the ordinary military households, and all military households were converted to civilian households.

Even after all this, Zhao Han was still in no hurry to attack the city. Instead, he drilled his troops on the parade ground west of the city.

Day after day, the shouts of battle drifted in from outside the walls, startling the officials and clerks inside the city so badly they could not sleep.

The officials dared not surrender — their wives, children, and elders were all in other regions. But the local clerks felt no such psychological burden and began secretly conspiring to deliver the city.

At last, one night.

The trusted clerk, leading the yamen runners, burst into the inner courtyard of the county yamen in the middle of the night: "Your Honor, our apologies, but we have our whole families to keep alive."

Wang Tiaoding seemed to have anticipated this. He said, "No need to bind me. I won't run. Has someone gone to the Prefect's place as well?"

"The Prefect, the Vice Prefect, the Assistant Prefect, the District Judge — men have been sent to all their residences," the civil clerk said.

"Let me get dressed first." Wang Tiaoding rose from bed unhurriedly.

Over at the prefectural yamen, hearing intruders burst in outside, Prefect Yang Zhaosheng was equally unflustered. The fellow brought out a rope he had long prepared and, with deft hands and feet, hanged himself — at the brink of peril, one death to repay his sovereign, and nothing more.

Absurd, really. He did not fear death, yet refused to do his job, and had never even considered raising troops to suppress the rebels.

Early the next morning.

Ji'an Prefecture Vice Prefect Ding Dechang and District Judge Yang Lu, leading officials of both prefectural and county levels, opened the gates and surrendered the city. The Prefect had killed himself, the Assistant Prefect had killed himself, and one District Judge was nowhere to be found. The remaining officials — the Registrar, the Records Keeper, the Inspector, the Jail Warden, and the rest — all surrendered.

Zhao Han led his troops to outside the west city gate. A crowd was already kneeling there; only County Magistrate Wang Tiaoding still stood.

"We pay our respects to Regional Commander Zhao! We respectfully welcome Regional Commander Zhao into the city!"

These fellows not only surrendered, they even knew the official title Zhao Han had conferred upon himself.

Zhao Han swept his eyes over the kneeling officials, finally fixing his gaze on Wang Tiaoding. Smiling, he asked, "You didn't flee, you didn't surrender, and you didn't kill yourself. What's on your mind?"

"I don't know," Wang Tiaoding said blankly.

Zhao Han said, "Mr. Li is currently redistributing land in Jishui County. How about you go take a look, and come see me once you've thought it through?"

Wang Tiaoding said, "All right."

There was no fear of Wang Tiaoding fleeing. A county magistrate who loses his city and territory — even if he successfully escapes, the lightest punishment is dismissal from office. Without spending silver to pull strings, there was even a certain chance of being beheaded.

Zhao Han then pointed at the other officials. "As for all of you, you will go assist with land redistribution. Do well, and you can be promoted. As for official posts in the prefectural city, put those out of your minds for now. In the future, earn promotion through meritorious service."

This bunch of unlucky officials had all just assumed their posts this year; they'd hardly had any opportunity to oppress the common people.

Huang Shunde followed at Zhao Han's side and strode into the prefectural city with an air of immense pride. He was the very first child student to turn bandit. Though he had been reluctant at the time, though it had at first been only for the salary, he was now utterly and irrevocably committed.

The Great Ming court was certainly no match for Zhao Han — of this Huang Shunde was absolutely convinced.

At present, Zhao Han had three chief secretaries by his side, their specific title being "Document Controller." One handled political affairs, one handled military affairs, and one handled Great Unity Society matters (encompassing propaganda and peasant association affairs). Huang Shunde was Zhao Han's military secretary.

Walking through the midst of the kneeling officials, Huang Shunde swept his gaze over the Vice Prefect, a sense of exultation in his heart beyond words.

He, a mere child student who couldn't even pass the xiucai exam, had a Vice Prefect of the principal fifth rank kneeling before him. That taste of trampling upon power was simply too exhilarating!

Given time, he still wanted to stride into Nanchang Prefecture and make the Provincial Administration Commissioner, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, and the Guard Commander kneel before him.

Great Unity under Heaven?

Huang Shunde didn't believe in that nonsense, but he could profess belief with his lips. He was very clever, worked very hard, didn't embezzle a single copper coin, and dreamed only of becoming a high official in the future.

(End of chapter)