Chapter 184: A Pile of Juren and Xiucai

Yang Jiamo had been starving, freezing, and sick. These past days he'd had nothing but a little gruel, and now he was so emaciated his cheeks were hollow.

After waking, he hoped to thank his benefactors in person — but in truth, he wanted to figure out what was going on.

Soon his benefactors filed into the cabin, and their numbers were rather considerable.

What's more, every one of them was dressed as a scholar!

The juren Gan Dashou of Fengcheng County, the juren Yuan Bingkun of Fengcheng County, the juren Yu Shiqin of Nanchang Prefecture, the xiucai Tu Tingying of Nanchang Prefecture, the xiucai Yuan Maoling of Fengcheng County, the xiucai Gan Tangshu of Fengcheng County, the xiucai Tu Zhi of Fengcheng County...

"Commander Yang, it has been but half a month — how have you wasted away to this?" Yu Shiqin said, his face full of astonishment.

Yuan Bingkun said, "Commander Yang has worn himself out utterly, taxing his mind and body until he fell ill. Truly, it makes one sigh."

Tu Zhi said, "I hear that Mr. Zhao of Luling has a renowned physician in his service. Send Commander Yang there for treatment, and he is certain to recover the moment the medicine takes effect."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The scholars all burst into roaring laughter.

Yang Jiamo suddenly caught on and cried out in terror: "You... you are all conspiring to join the rebels!"

Yuan Bingkun sighed. "If we could protect our homes and defend the realm, who would willingly join the rebels? Last year, my Yuan clan helped the Governor recruit over three hundred soldiers, and we donated coin and grain to support the army, all in the hope of swiftly exterminating the bandits. And what was Li Maofang doing? Letting his troops extort the gentry and plunder the common folk. He was clearly fighting in Linjiang Prefecture, yet he reached all the way into Fengcheng to extort us!"

Yuan Maoling sneered. "Even so, my Yuan clan bore no resentment. After the Governor's crushing defeat, we still donated money to aid the army. But when Fengcheng County was besieged for days on end, we scholars of Fengcheng went to Nanchang to plead with him bitterly, and Li Maofang simply refused to move his troops. That wretch is timid as a mouse. From now on, he'll probably only dare to cower inside Nanchang — he's already given up on Fengcheng County."

Tu Zhi said, "Since Governor Li has abandoned Fengcheng, we scholars of Fengcheng can only seek a way out for ourselves."

Yang Jiamo struggled to his feet, wanting to fight these scholars to the death, but after days of starvation he had no strength at all. Yu Shiqin kicked him back onto the bed with one foot.

Tu Tingying drew a copy of The Great Unity Collection from inside his robes and brandished it at Yang Jiamo. "This is the book that will save the world. Mr. Zhao of Luling is destined to be a wise and brilliant sovereign."

The Tu clan is also a great lineage of Jiangxi, and for generations they have engaged in commerce.

Tu Changhan had led his household slaves to seize the gate and surrender the city in Fengcheng County, and now Tu Tingying and Tu Zhi were on their way to join Zhao Han. This meant that three branches of the Tu lineage had, one after another, turned their backs on the imperial court. In their eyes, Zhao Han was no demon, but a darling little treasure who encouraged the development of industry and commerce.

Gan Dashou remained silent. Although his family was in Fengcheng County, they lived far from the county seat, actually closer to Fuzhou Prefecture. His home was deep in the mountains; though they were a prominent clan in the hills, they owned little farmland. The Great Unity Collection suited his heart perfectly. Historically, this man would pass the jinshi examination in just over a year. When he became a County Magistrate, his agricultural policies would be ordered by Chongzhen to be implemented across all of Huguang.

Though Gan Tangshu also bore the surname Gan, his family lived far from Gan Dashou's. Just days ago, over twenty of those routed guard-station soldiers had stormed into his home to loot it. The Gan household hastily called up its household slaves to resist. Though they drove off the deserters, Gan Tangshu's father fell and broke a bone, and he also showed signs of a stroke.

These dozen-odd xiucai and juren had all lost faith in the court completely.

In the blink of an eye they reached the prefectural seat of Ji'an. Several page boys dragged Yang Jiamo off the boat, and the scholars went together to the Regional Commander's residence to request an audience.

"We beg to trouble you to report that the Jiangxi Regional Commander Yang Jiamo has been captured and brought here," Yuan Bingkun said, cupping his hands.

Before long, the group was led inside.

Three juren and eleven xiucai had actually taken a boat and come to join him of their own accord. This delighted Zhao Han immensely — the Regional Commander or whatever was of no consequence by comparison.

The scholars announced their names, and Zhao Han welcomed them warmly, inviting them directly to the inner residence to drink tea.

Yang Jiamo was also dragged in, bound. Upon seeing Zhao Han, the man suddenly shouted, "Mr. Zhao, I wish to surrender!"

Zhao Han said, "No need."

"I truly wish to surrender," Yang Jiamo said urgently.

Zhao Han sighed. "Truly, there is no need."

Yang Jiamo grew more frantic. "Mr. Zhao, south boats, north horses — when you march north in the future, I can help you train cavalry!"

Zhao Han, growing impatient, ordered: "Gag him."

"Mr. Zhao, you absolutely must have cavalry in the north — you have no idea how ferocious the roving bandits and the Tartars are... Mmmph..." Yang Jiamo was pinned to the ground, a rag stuffed in his mouth, struggling ceaselessly.

Zhao Han asked, "How did you capture this man?"

Yuan Bingkun smiled. "Brother Ziyu (Gan Dashou) has a kind heart. He saw someone stranded on a sandbar and hired a small boat to bring him back to the creek harbor. Who would have thought it would be the Jiangxi Regional Commander."

Yu Shiqin said, "I once saw this wretch in the prefectural seat of Nancheng and recognized him at a glance."

Yuan Bingkun made a point of adding, "Brother Ziyu is a child prodigy — he passed the xiucai examination at the age of nine."

Damn, these child prodigies just get more and more absurd. What the hell does passing the xiucai exam at nine in Jiangxi even mean?

Zhao Han immediately exclaimed in admiration, "Is there truly a Star of Literary Genius in this world?"

Gan Dashou said hastily, "I dare not claim such a thing. I merely have a somewhat good memory."

Through casual conversation, Zhao Han obtained important intelligence.

Because hostilities had resumed and there were signs the rebel army might attack Nanchang, the gentry of the various counties around Nanchang had finally grown agitated.

These gentry fell mainly into three categories:

The first were the scholars before him now, who had taken the initiative to come and join him on behalf of their families.

The second were those who played the turtle, accepting everything passively as it came. It may be hard to understand, but the number of gentry in this category was not small.

The third were those recruiting troops to help the government fight.

You recruit a few dozen, I recruit a few hundred — all these scattered forces, plus the troops of the other county magistrates, could very well surge past ten thousand men before the New Year!

Among them were also those who had fled to Nanchang with their silver, their ancestral homes now under Zhao Han's rule. For instance, the juren Liu Tongsheng of Jishui, after fleeing to Nanchang, had originally wanted to study in peace and sit for the jinshi exam, but now he too was planning to spend his wealth to raise troops.

Zhao Han had clearly pushed these people to the brink. Once he took Nanchang, seizing all of Jiangxi would only be a matter of time.

"Mr. Zhao, please take Nanchang at once!" Yuan Bingkun suddenly cupped his fist and cried out.

"Mr. Zhao, please take Nanchang at once!" the other scholars shouted in unison.

Zhao Han smiled. "Nanchang's walls are high and its moats deep — it cannot be taken quickly. Let us plan this at leisure."

These fellows all lived in Nanchang and Fengcheng. Only once Zhao Han had seized the city of Nanchang would they truly feel at ease. If the war dragged on for several years, not only would the common people suffer, but great gentry clans like theirs would be forced to bleed continuously — war requires coin and grain, and once the smallfolk had nothing left to squeeze, the Governor and the three provincial offices would certainly come to the great clans to press for contributions.

The great clans of Nanchang in particular still remembered vividly the losses they had suffered a century ago during the rebellion of the Prince of Ning.

The Prince of Ning had not harmed them, nor had Wang Yangming. It was the military commander Xu Tai, who arrived afterward, who, under the pretext of rooting out the Prince of Ning's remaining followers, slaughtered so many in Nanchang that corpses clogged the streets.

Yu Shiqin cupped his hands. "We all understand Mr. Zhao's intent — it is nothing more than 'build high walls, delay claiming kingship,' fearing that after taking Nanchang you would draw the court's heavy troops to encircle and suppress you. But has Mr. Zhao considered this: even if you do not attack Nanchang, will the court not take you seriously? The reason the court has yet to send a great army is not that it does not wish to, but that it truly cannot. The court lacks money and grain. The roving bandits in the northwest, the Tartar slaves in the northeast — these already have sovereign and ministers utterly overwhelmed. Even if Mr. Zhao were to occupy all of Jiangxi, the court would lack the strength to encircle and suppress you."

Tu Tingying also urged, "Nanchang is the key stronghold of Jiangxi, the place where all vital energies converge. It can serve as the foundation for seizing the realm!"

Zhao Han could only say, "Within one year, I shall take Nanchang."

From a military standpoint, the only must-take places at present were Taihe County and Wan'an County. Once those two counties were taken, they could bottle up the government troops from Liangguang and Fujian to the south, holding off the southern forces with nothing more than the navy.

As for the north, to be honest, Zhao Han did not even want to hold onto Fengcheng County, which they had just captured — that wretched place was ill-suited for defense.

But with so many scholars volunteering to join him — and more than half of them from Fengcheng — Zhao Han had no choice but to accept them, or else he would surely disappoint these educated men. Wang Tingshi, who was already serving as a high-level inside agent, would also be disappointed and feel that Zhao Han did not value him.

Seeing the scholars' low spirits, Zhao Han said with a smile, "Fengcheng County — I will take it. The county seat of Fengcheng is less than a hundred li from the prefectural seat of Nanchang. Once I have consolidated my hold on Fengcheng, at the latest after the autumn harvest next year, I will immediately dispatch troops to attack Nanchang!"

This promise at last set the scholars before him at ease; they could certainly afford to wait a year.

The fourteen juren and xiucai were sent by Zhao Han to attend lectures at White Egret Isle Academy; presumably Wang Tiaoding would find common ground with them.

Several days later, Fei Ruhe returned with prisoners.

"We captured over three thousand prisoners," Fei Ruhe said. "All of them committed atrocities in Yongfeng County. Send them all to the iron mines to dig ore?"

Zhao Han said, "Anyone whose hands are stained with the blood of commoners — send them all to the mines!"

"That's fine, then," Fei Ruhe said with a laugh. "There are several hundred soldiers from Goose Lake. They recognized me. How should we deal with them?"

Zhao Han asked, "They didn't go around killing civilians?"

Fei Ruhe sighed. "It's complicated. These Goose Lake soldiers were originally recruited and trained by the eunuch Wang Heng to exterminate the sect bandits at Shanglu Township. Wang Heng's military discipline was lax; his soldiers did kill civilians indiscriminately at Shanglu Township. But Wang Heng was recalled to Beijing by the Emperor, and the Goose Lake soldiers went home to farm. Later they were recruited again by Prefect Zhang Yinggao. Zhang Yinggao's military discipline is very strict, and he paid their wages and provisions in full. In this raid on Jishui, the several hundred Goose Lake soldiers were elite troops and relatively obedient. They certainly looted, but the good thing is they didn't kill anyone, nor did they rape any women."

"Only looting, no killing — do you believe that yourself?" Zhao Han sneered.

Fei Ruhe looked somewhat embarrassed. "At least they didn't kill many — only those who tried to resist."

"Tell me — among those Goose Lake soldiers, are there many people you know?" Zhao Han exposed him directly.

Fei Ruhe said, "There is one clan brother within the five degrees of mourning, and a dozen or so clan relatives beyond the five degrees. The rest are all sons of respectable families from around Goose Lake. They truly are elite troops. Faced with encirclement and ambush, they still did not collapse, and when they surrendered they were still gathered around the Prefect of Guangxin. Veterans who trained for over two years and have seen blood in real combat! And they didn't kill many commoners — at least not many compared to other soldiers."

Zhao Han thought it over carefully and said, "Break them up and assign them into the regular army. I need to expand the forces and prepare for war!"

Taihe County had been ravaged terribly by the bandit chief Sai Lübu; the landlords were nearly all killed, and the common people's lives grew even more bitter. Moreover, because of the warfare, large numbers of commoners had died or fled, so Zhao Han could relocate some peasants there to ease the shortage of arable land in his current territory.

And furthermore, only by taking Taihe County could he plug the terrain gap on the southern flank; then he would have no fear no matter how many government troops came.

(End of chapter)