Chapter 136: 134 The Gentry Form a League (For Alliance Leader

Jishui County seat lies on the east bank of the Gan River, but its richest lands are on the west bank.

Li Banghua's boat passed by outside the county seat; he saw many soldiers already on the gate tower — clearly the Jishui County Magistrate had recruited local braves to defend the city.

"Good, good, the rebels haven't attacked the city." County Magistrate Feng Zhang, his face full of terror, watched the rebel boats depart, then collapsed limp and sat down.

One Confucian scholar said, "Jishui is finished."

"We must strike back." Another Confucian scholar clenched his fist.

These two were clan brothers — one named Zhou Ruibao, the other named Zhou Ruixu.

Zhou Ruibao had been serving as County Magistrate in Sichuan just last year. Because the region suffered successive years of severe drought, he led the common people in building ponds and embankments and digging wells to draw water and ease the drought. All grain was used for disaster relief, so naturally the taxes could not be handed over, and for this he was dismissed from office and sent rolling back to his hometown.

Zhou Ruixu had previously served as County Magistrate in Zhejiang. Because of his outstanding administrative achievements, he received praise from Chongzhen and was promoted four ranks in a row to Director of the Appointments Bureau. Of course, his mentor and fellow students helped greatly — otherwise such a promotion would have been far too outrageous. Unfortunately, before his seat was even warm, he suddenly received grievous news and hurried back to his hometown for the funeral.

The two brothers, having learned of the rebel situation in Luling, came together to pay a visit to the Jishui County Magistrate and to rally the county's gentry to recruit local braves.

At first, the gentry of Jishui County were still watching and waiting. But when the summer harvest season arrived and more than half of Luling County rose in revolt, the gentry of neighboring Jishui County were utterly terrified.

Now, they had already recruited over a thousand local braves.

The rural gentry who took part in the troop recruitment all brought their silver and grain and moved their entire families into the county seat to live, leaving only a few clansmen and household slaves in their villages.

"Brother Changdu, we must contact the Governor at once to suppress the rebels!" The speaker was named Li Chun'an, son of Li Rixuan, Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and also Li Banghua's grandnephew by clan.

Zhou Ruixu said worriedly, "Governor Li is currently suppressing rebels in Duchang. I fear he won't be able to come south until spring begins."

Beside them was another scholar named Li Musheng, son of Li Yuanding, Secretary of the Appointments Bureau in the Ministry of Personnel, and likewise Li Banghua's grandnephew by clan.

There was a whole crowd of scholars here — the son of Supervising Secretary Luo Wanjue, the elder brother of Prefect Shi Fengyuan, and so on. There were also those who had fled from Luling County, such as the brother of Supervising Secretary Hu Yilong and others. Those with family serving as officials at court would not easily compromise.

With over a thousand local braves, fed from their own grain stores, they relied on the natural barrier of the Gan River to defend Jishui County seat to the death.

Not until evening, when the rebels still had not come to attack the city, did the crowd finally disperse, leaving behind some soldiers to stand watch in shifts.

The next day, news came that the rebels were sweeping through the villages and towns — and the man leading them was none other than Li Banghua!

Everyone fell utterly silent. That Li Banghua had actually joined the rebels was simply too unimaginable; they had all previously thought it was false news.

In front of the Li brothers, the many gentry could not speak openly, but when they gathered in private, they cursed Li Banghua's ancestors for eighteen generations clean through.

Li Musheng quietly sought out Li Chun'an: "Elder Brother, our granduncle has become a high official of the rebels. Perhaps we should go join the rebels too."

"Outrageous!"

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Li Chun'an burst out cursing: "Your father, my father — both are officials appointed by the court. If we join the rebels, our fathers will be thrown into prison. Do you want to become a man who is neither loyal nor filial!"

Li Musheng said with a bitter face, "But if we don't go back home, all our fields and property will be divided up by the rebels."

"So what if the fields are divided?" Li Chun'an sneered. "The money and grain have already been brought out. As long as we have people at court, are you afraid we won't have land in the future?"

Li Musheng sighed and said, "The rebels are fierce and ruthless. I fear even the Governor cannot exterminate them. What do we do then?"

Li Chun'an rebuked him: "Stop talking nonsense. Can the rebel Zhao really seize the realm?"

Li Musheng fell silent and said nothing. His family had the most land — over ten thousand mu, accumulated over several generations!

……

Gu Village, the Li family.

"Kneel!"

Li Tingjian was shaking all over with rage, pointing his cane at his son and bellowing.

Li Banghua obediently knelt on the ground and said to his subordinates, "You all go about your work. Divide my family's fields first. If anyone obstructs you, tie them up."

Li Tingjian listened in utter stupefaction, his face shocked. "You treacherous wretch, have you been fed some bewitching potion? Joining the rebels is one thing, but to actually bring rebels to divide our own family's land!"

Li Banghua sighed and said, "Father, do you still remember how Grandmother was buried?"

"At that time the family was poor, and everything was done simply," Li Tingjian sighed. "Sons and grandsons were useless; we could only wrap our elder in straw and bury her in secret, avoiding the village neighbors. But after you rose to wealth and rank, you chose an auspicious site and moved the elder's grave there with great pomp and ceremony. That can be counted as doing right by our ancestors."

Li Banghua asked again, "Father, do you still remember that back then the family had only a few mu of land? Now we have over a thousand mu."

Li Tingjian said, "You became such a high official, and yet the family has only a thousand mu of land — that is already the height of incorruptibility."

Li Banghua straightened his kneeling posture and demanded, "Does Father know how many scholars there are under Heaven, how many common people, whose elders pass away and can only be buried in the crudest fashion, who toil all day yet cannot fill their bellies? Does Father know how many common people in the northern provinces, when they die, not only cannot be buried but are carved up and eaten by others!"

"What does that have to do with me!" Li Tingjian roared.

Li Banghua's tone softened: "Father, the learning in your son's belly was all taught by you back then. What is benevolence? What is righteousness?"

Li Tingjian rebuked him angrily: "What is loyalty, what is filial piety!"

Li Banghua smiled bitterly: "When has your son ever been disloyal? But what use is this loyalty! When your son was Governor of Tianjin, the Tianjin New Army at that time had only been established for a few years, yet it was already rotten beyond measure. Your son offended countless powerful figures to reorganize the Tianjin New Army and made it the model for all garrisons in Northern Zhili. But when your son was reinstated in the first year of Chongzhen and passed through Tianjin on the way back to the capital, in just a few short years, the Tianjin New Army had again lost all combat strength, and the soldiers had deserted until only thirty or forty percent remained."

"Your son reorganized the capital garrison, exhausted mind and body, and laid down layer upon layer of defensive lines. Not to say routing the Tartars, but at least it could have made it difficult for them to plunder on a large scale. Yet the Tartars had just broken through the passes and were still hundreds of li from the capital when the court withdrew the entire capital garrison, leaving several defensive lines leaking like sieves. Your son, a dignified Minister of War, could do nothing but arrest spies within the city walls! Of the soldiers defending the city, your son could not command a single one. When cannons on the walls were fired and accidentally wounded our own troops, that too was laid as your son's crime, and so I was dismissed from office and sent home!"

"This court, this Emperor — how can one be loyal to them!"

Li Tingjian was so furious he pounded the ground madly with his cane: "Even so, you cannot join the rebels!"

Li Banghua suddenly smiled: "Does Father think your son is a man who would lightly join the rebels? Had I encountered ordinary rebels, even if captured, it would be nothing more than death."

Li Tingjian finally calmed down a little and asked doubtfully, "What exactly is so extraordinary about that rebel Zhao that he has bewitched you so utterly?"

"Simply saving the age and delivering the people." Li Banghua did not believe in Great Unity under Heaven either; he knew it was impossible.

Li Tingjian was so angry he laughed: "A rebel, and you say he is saving the age and delivering the people?"

Li Banghua said with deep feeling: "The various lords of the court hold their posts in name only, ignoring the common people of the realm. To let a rebel save the age and deliver the people — this is Heaven and Earth turned upside down. So be it if it is upside down; better to remake Heaven and Earth a day sooner. Father has long resided in Jiangxi and does not understand what the north looks like. Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong — year after year of calamity, the people's livelihood growing harder by the day. The court knows only suppression and appeasement but lacks the ability to let the people recover. The rebels in the north will only multiply the more they are suppressed. This Great Ming is already at the end of its dynastic road."

Suddenly, Li Banghua respectfully kowtowed: "Father, the Li family's land must certainly be divided, otherwise it will be hard to convince the masses. Please forgive me, Father!"

Li Tingjian sat back down in his chair and for a long time could not speak.

Li Banghua kowtowed once more, rose, and walked out of the main hall to personally oversee the land division — starting with his own family's land.

……

Night.

Zhou Ruibao, Zhou Ruixu, and other sons of the gentry led several hundred local braves in small boats across the river.

By the time they reached the west bank, in the pitch darkness, these local braves had already scattered into several groups. But there were also many scholars leading them — a full twenty or thirty — each leading their own unit, groping their way in the dark into the riverside villages.

"Kill!"

"Kill those rioters!"

Battle cries rose one after another. The gentry, leading their village braves, charged into any dwelling they saw and began hacking.

Zhou Ruibao, that good official who loved the people like his own children and threw away his black gauze cap to relieve them, now turned executioner. With his own hands, he exterminated two tenant-farmer households — purely to avenge the tenants' division of the landlords' fields.

Military officers Huang Yao, Huang Shun, and the others had accompanied Li Banghua to Jishui County. Their troops were stationed in groups of fifty per village, tasked with protecting the land-distribution officials and propaganda personnel.

At the sound of killing, Huang Yao sprang up at once and shouted, "Luo Chun, your men stay and guard this place. The rest of you, follow me and kill the rebels!"

Propaganda officer Xiao He came running swiftly. "Company Commander Huang, we don't need protection. We'll go kill rebels with you."

The situation was urgent, and Huang Yao had no time to argue. He merely warned, "Stay close. Whatever you do, don't scatter."

The group raised torches. The soldiers carried their weapons; the civilian staff clutched a motley assortment of whatever came to hand.

The troops dispersed among the villages all charged toward the nearest enemy. The village braves were not only killing people but also setting houses ablaze. The flames lit up the sky, making it easy to find the right direction.

"Kill the rebels!"

"The rebel soldiers are here — run!"

Both sides called the other rebels. No one could tell who the real rebels were.

But one thing was clear: the village braves recruited by the gentry were all cowards in a fight. The moment they saw the peasant army charging, they turned and fled, racing back to the riverbank to escape by boat.

Many village braves, panicking in the darkness and running blind, could not even find where their own boats were.

Huang Yao ran into one enemy squad fleeing madly along the riverbank. Without waiting for his soldiers, he sprinted forward on his long legs and charged alone into the enemy's rear.

"Kill!"

Huang Yao bellowed to steel his own courage and drove his spear into an enemy's lower back.

The village braves were scared out of their wits. With no idea how many pursuers were behind them, they all fled headlong into the dark.

"The boats are over there!"

By the moonlight, one of the village braves shouted.

"Kill!"

Huang Yao caught up and skewered another.

The village braves scrambled frantically aboard a small boat. Only then did they see that Huang Yao was alone. But they still dared not turn and fight him, because more pursuers were closing in from the distance.

"Kill!"

Huang Yao skewered a third.

"Pull me up, quick!"

"I'm not on yet — don't cast off!"

"Stop shoving, stop shoving, it's going to capsize."

"…"

There were six small boats at this spot. In the chaos, only two managed to escape back to the opposite bank.

Many village braves simply jumped into the water and fled. Huang Yao stood on the bank and speared two more to death.

The next morning, Li Banghua arrived in haste. Seeing the burned houses and the corpses of tenant farmers, he stood in silence for a long time.

"Have the dead been counted?" Li Banghua asked.

Huang Yao answered, "The bandits raided six villages during the night. They didn't loot grain or money — they just killed and burned. Not one of our people was hurt. But among the peasants of Jishui County, counting the children, a total of 358 were killed. The bandits ran fast; we only killed twenty-one and captured six alive."

Li Banghua sighed. "Ah, sooner or later, something like this was bound to happen."

(End of chapter)