Chapter 182: The County Magistrate's Last Words

Xie Longwen had at first tried to stop his soldiers from fleeing, but when he suddenly heard the rebels' shouts outside the city, he immediately dashed down from the gate tower.

Even as he ran, he managed to tear off his official robes and bellow, "Open the city gates at once!"

No one paid him any heed; the government troops had all fled.

Xie Longwen wanted to open the gate and escape, but without soldiers to help, he could not budge it alone. Daring not waste any time, he slipped instead into the city's streets and alleys, scaled a wall, and hid in the firewood shed of a wealthy household.

Yang Jiamo saw that the situation was hopeless, swiftly stripped off his cotton-padded armor, and fled north along the city wall.

According to their original plan, his two surviving household retainers also made their way to the north wall to rendezvous. They tied a rope and lowered it; the three men gripped the rope and slid down, then quickly vanished into the streets outside the city.

Spotting several squads of rebels running past — it seemed they had all already entered the city — Yang Jiamo immediately fled with his two retainers.

When they reached the moat, Yang Jiamo was instantly filled with despair: every bridge was guarded by a handful of rebels. He at once retreated into the streets and headed for the wharf west of the city. Here there was no moat, but there was the broad Gan River, and during the siege no boats had been permitted to moor there.

Although Yang Jiamo's ancestral home was Chongqing, his family had been settled at Liangzhou Guard for several generations; he and his two retainers were all landlubbers.

The three stripped off their mail armor, forcibly tore the door planks from a shop, hoisted the planks, and charged toward the Gan River — they could not flee along the riverbank, because the moat cut them off in between, with both the north and south branches of the moat emptying into the Gan River.

The three landlubbers each lay sprawled on a door plank and drifted downstream toward Nanchang city.

One of the retainers had floated only a little over ten zhang when he suddenly lost his balance and began gulping water, his hands flailing wildly as he cried out in terror.

Yang Jiamo was utterly terrified; never mind paddling, he dared not even move his fingers, and just lay there rigidly on the plank.

In the dark of night he could not tell direction, and simply drifted with the current downstream.

"Clunk!"

He had drifted he knew not how far when the plank suddenly struck the bank and capsized.

Yang Jiamo too began gulping water, his whole body sinking straight down; his limbs thrashed in panic as he strained every muscle to swim to the surface. He swam and swam until he was utterly exhausted, and Yang Jiamo finally resigned himself to his fate — and then his feet touched silt.

He tried standing up; the water only reached his waist. All that frantic struggling just now — he had no idea who he had been fighting so desperately.

Yang Jiamo was wild with joy. He hastily clambered ashore and walked along the river. After a few steps he lay down to rest; he was utterly worn out, and had swallowed a bellyful of water.

After a brief rest to recover his strength, Yang Jiamo pressed on.

As he walked, Yang Jiamo suddenly plunged into water again — ahead of him was the Gan River once more.

Had he been led astray by ghosts?

Gradually the sky lightened, and Yang Jiamo finally understood: he had drifted onto a mid-river sandbar. A small one at that, all wild grass, without even farmland, let alone inhabitants or a ferry crossing.

On all sides, nothing but river water!

Yang Jiamo felt like weeping but had no tears. A dignified Regional Commander, trapped on a tiny sandbar.

Yang Jiamo circled the sandbar and at last made a joyful discovery: the opposite bank to the east was a small port town.

Jiangxi's waterways extend in every direction.

This small port town was called Xigang Town. Besides bordering the Gan River, it also lay beside a small stream, a tributary of a tributary of the Fu River. Setting out from this stream, one could go north to Raozhou, south to Fuzhou, or take a branching channel back to the Gan River and return to the north side of Nanchang city.

"I have silver! I need a boat!" Yang Jiamo bellowed frantically toward the opposite shore.

No one paid any attention.

"I have silver! I have silver!"

Yang Jiamo shouted until his throat was raw, yet still no one rowed over. The sandbar was a full three hundred-plus meters from the riverbank, and this was a bustling town — amid all the noise, who could hear him?

The first day passed with excruciating slowness.

On the second day, Yang Jiamo was so famished he began digging up grass roots and swallowing them raw to stave off hunger.

On the third day, he at last saw boats passing by — merchant ships must have resumed travel from Fengcheng County.

"I have silver... I need a boat..." Yang Jiamo's shouts were feeble.

He had caught a cold and was running a fever, because the nights were too cold.

Over a dozen boats passed in succession; some of them surely spotted Yang Jiamo, but none chose to stop, for the waters near the sandbar were prone to grounding, and no vessel of any size dared approach. Not until evening, when a merchant boat put in at Xigang Town, did they send a small skiff over to rescue him.

"Th... thank you." Yang Jiamo passed out on the spot.

This fellow had met kind-hearted people: they not only ferried him across the river but also called a physician to treat him.

In a daze, Yang Jiamo opened his mouth to drink medicine, and opened it again to drink congee.

By the time he came to, he had no idea how many days had passed, and he was still drifting on a boat, with a serving boy standing before him.

"Where is this?" Yang Jiamo asked.

The serving boy said with a smile, "You're awake at last. We just passed Jishui County; ahead is the prefectural seat of Ji'an. From your accent, you're from the north?"

"Yes, from the north."

Yang Jiamo nearly fainted again — he was about to be taken straight into the bandits' lair.

Yang Jiamo had written to deceive Li Maofang, claiming that his several hundred household retainers were still intact.

Li Maofang therefore firmly believed that Fengcheng could hold out for another month or two, and wrote ordering Zhang Yinggao and Cai Bangjun to relieve the siege by attacking the enemy's rear.

When he learned that Fengcheng County had fallen, Li Maofang was utterly helpless; he could not recall the orders he had sent toward Fuzhou. The distance was so great that Fuzhou must have already dispatched its troops. He could only send another courier — if they caught up, they could call the troops back; if not, he could do nothing but watch his allies march into danger.

The two Prefects, Zhang Yinggao and Cai Bangjun, set out with nearly seven thousand men.

They traveled by boat all the way to the border of Chongren County, where the water route ended. From there they had to cross twenty or thirty li of hilly terrain, then march another twenty-plus li across flat ground.

The raw recruits of Fuzhou Prefecture were promptly reassigned as grain-hauling porters.

Misfortunes never come singly; after marching barely a dozen li, they were hit by the first snowfall of the winter.

The sixty-five-year-old Zhang Yinggao ate and lodged alongside the common soldiers, which at least did something to boost morale.

But the much younger Cai Bangjun could not bear to cross the hills in the snow, and insisted on being carried in a sedan chair. His own troops, being of negligible fighting ability, were all thrown into porter duty hauling provisions.

After just half a day's march through the hills, the Fuzhou soldiers were seething with resentment, and that very night a full third of them deserted.

The next morning.

Zhang Yinggao sought out Cai Bangjun: "If you keep riding in that sedan chair, the troops will all have deserted."

"We never should have sent troops on this campaign," Cai Bangjun lamented bitterly. "In the dead of winter, how can a bunch of raw recruits march so far? And now it's snowing on top of everything!"

Zhang Yinggao sighed, "If we do not send troops, once Fengcheng falls, Nanchang will face the rebels' blades directly."

Cai Bangjun said resentfully, "This was all stirred up by that Li Maofang — what does it have to do with us?"

Zhang Yinggao urged, "Hold on a little longer. It's only twenty or thirty li, and there are no steep mountains."

Cai Bangjun thought for a moment and said, "There is only one way to rouse morale."

"What way?" Zhang Yinggao asked.

Cai Bangjun said, "Tell all the troops that when we reach a village or town ahead, they may plunder and enjoy themselves to their hearts' content. Otherwise, why should they leave their homes and cross into another prefecture to fight at Jishui County?"

Zhang Yinggao very much wanted to rebuke him angrily, but he held back, walked away in silence — tacitly consenting to this course.

Another day and a half passed. The soldiers of the two prefectures, now just over five thousand, finally emerged from the mountains and reached the border of Yongfeng County.

It was still far from evening, but they could march no further. The five thousand and more government troops scattered on their own, seizing goods and valuables, violating women, and commandeering civilian houses to sleep in.

Another day passed, and they came to a small town where two rivers met. The troops charged straight in to plunder.

Only Zhang Yinggao could still restrain a hundred or so soldiers. He went to the docks outside town and seized a dozen or so small boats, barely managing to transport a little grain and fodder by water.

Once the floodgates are opened, it is very hard to impose restraint.

Zhang Yinggao dared not admit he was the Prefect of Guangxin. He announced to outsiders that these were Li Maofang's troops. The five thousand and more soldiers looted all the way to the seat of Yongfeng County.

Yongfeng County fell under the jurisdiction of Ji'an Prefecture, but Zhao Han had not yet occupied it.

The city gates were tightly shut. Liu Mianzuo, the County Magistrate of Yongfeng, dragged his sick body to stand atop the gate tower, his face full of fury as he watched the government troops outside the city.

Zhang Yinggao came forward in person and shouted, "I serve under Governor Li. By his order we are making a surprise attack on Jishui County. I request that your county provide grain, fodder, and boats."

"Get lost… cough, cough, cough!"

Liu Mianzuo covered his mouth and coughed repeatedly. When he opened his palm, it was covered in blood.

In history, Liu Mianzuo's eldest brother, Liu Xizuo, died fighting roving bandits. Liu Mianzuo's second elder brother, Liu Yongzuo, led troops to hold Xinghua, and after the Tartars breached the city, he took poison and died.

As for Liu Mianzuo himself, before Zhao Han rose in revolt, he had already raised five hundred troops to suppress bandits.

After wiping out the bandits in the mountains, Liu Mianzuo was wounded and left with a chronic ailment. Bedridden with illness, he had not followed Xie Xuelong into battle at that time.

Then the peasants of Yongfeng County rose up, and Liu Mianzuo could only suppress the rebels while nursing his illness. He now commanded a thousand elite local braves. Having also witnessed how affairs were administered in neighboring Jishui County, he suddenly had no desire to fight Zhao Han. He wished only to lead his men and hold Yongfeng County.

Seeing that the government troops outside the city actually would not leave and even seemed to want to enter the city, Liu Mianzuo suddenly shouted, "Follow me — form up and drive them out!"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Liu Mianzuo wiped the blood from his palm, led his troops out of the city, and arrayed them for battle.

One thousand local braves, facing over five thousand enemies, stood their ground in a standoff without the slightest fear.

Liu Mianzuo roared, "You call yourselves government troops, but in truth you are bandits, looting all the way here — worse even than that Zhao rebel of Luling. Leave Yongfeng County at once, or I will drive you out by force!"

Zhang Yinggao and Cai Bangjun exchanged a glance, both ashamed of themselves. After the soldiers seized some boats at the docks, they led the troops downstream toward Jishui.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

"Your Honor!"

"Quick, help His Honor back into the city!"

The soldiers were thrown into panic, escorting Liu Mianzuo back to the county yamen.

Liu Mianzuo had campaigned for several years, wiping out several bands of old bandits in the mountains and also suppressing the peasant army of Yongfeng County. The county's clerks and functionaries had long since been replaced, and all were his trusted men.

Moreover, after Zhao Han occupied Jishui, Yongfeng County no longer sent tax revenues to the court; all money and grain went to training the troops. Liu Mianzuo took the opportunity to lighten corvée and reduce taxes, and from the gentry down to the common people, all held him in awe and respect.

The Assistant Magistrate had been disobedient and Liu Mianzuo had already beheaded him, announcing to the outside world that he had been killed by bandits.

After Liu Mianzuo regained consciousness, he summoned the Registrar and the Constable: "If I die, go at once and submit to Zhao Yan. You have a thousand crack troops and have committed no great evil; Zhao Yan will surely employ you well. Only Zhao Yan can keep the people of Yongfeng County safe. No other government office can be trusted. Especially that Li Maofang — I sent men to Nanchang to investigate, and that scoundrel has already stirred the entire Nanchang Prefecture to universal fury and resentment!"

Both the Registrar and the Constable had been promoted by Liu Mianzuo and, through Xie Xuelong, had received formal appointments from the court.

"Your Honor, say no more. Recovering your health is what matters."

"Cough, cough, cough… I am finished. This old wound has dragged on for three years; I certainly will not survive this winter. Remember, lead the troops, offer the city, and go submit to that Zhao…"

"Your Honor! Your Honor!"

(End of chapter)