Chapter 227: 225: Taking Jingdezhen (Bonus Chapter for Big Boss Penguin)

Upon learning that Xiong Wencan had been transferred away, Zhao Han immediately ordered Li Zheng to march troops into Fuliang County.

Even if it meant tearing his face off with the imperial court, he had to seize Fuliang — because Jingdezhen was there.

In the Great Ming dynasty, an ordinary county magistrate held rank 7a.

The county magistrates of Wanping and Daxing held rank 6a, because their jurisdictions bordered Beijing and they could govern a portion of the capital itself.

The county magistrate of Fuliang held rank 5a!

Zhao Han had encountered a major disaster this year and also had to provide relief to the victims; his finances were already extremely strained. Taking Jingdezhen would replenish them at once.

After Li Zheng had killed over a dozen bandit chieftains, he selected two to three thousand of the bandit crowd and urgently transferred Ding Jiasheng to serve as their commander. Ding Jiasheng led these bandits in a frantic rush toward Fuliang County, making a show of preparing to assault the county seat.

The Fuliang county magistrate was named Lu Hongsheng, a man from Jinjiang, who had become a juren in the seventh year of the Tianqi reign.

Feeling he could not pass the jinshi examination, he spent money to secure the post of instructor at Zhao'an County. In the third year of Chongzhen, Lu Hongsheng attended the Jinling Grand Assembly, and after joining the Restoration Society he was immediately promoted; now he was already the rank-5a county magistrate of Fuliang.

Lu Hongsheng had no other particular talent: he liked to write essays, he liked to organize literary gatherings, and he placed considerable importance on educational work.

As for everything else, he truly had no ability at all.

For instance, with rebels besieging the city, Lu Hongsheng was completely at a loss.

"What is to be done!" Lu Hongsheng stood atop the gate tower. Had there not been starving people outside the city, prompting him to order the gates shut in advance, the rebels would already have stormed inside by now.

Wu Bing was equally panicked, but at least had not yet lost his wits. He said, "Under cover of night, let us lower a man in a basket out of the city to fetch reinforcements from Raozhou Prefecture. There is a General Li there — Li Zheng — who routed the bandits in a great victory some days ago; he can certainly lift the siege of Fuliang."

Lu Hongsheng's eyes went wide; he felt Wu Bing must be an imbecile. "The troops over at Raozhou city belong to the rebel Zhao! This is inviting the wolf into the house!"

"The villains here are vicious; if they breach the city, you and I may well lose our lives. The rebel Zhao is good-natured and does not kill indiscriminately. Even if he were to unlawfully occupy Fuliang, he would still safeguard the common people," Wu Bing also reminded him. "From now on, you must not call him 'the rebel Zhao' again. This man has already accepted the court's amnesty and is now an honorable military officer of our Great Ming."

Lu Hongsheng pondered it left and right, and having no better plan, could only agree. "Very well, tonight we shall send someone to Raozhou to plead for aid."

Wu Bing, in his capacity as Jiangxi Provincial Education Commissioner, had, through this year's circuit examinations, netted a total of over three thousand taels from the various prefectures.

When he made his inspection tour to Fuliang County, County Magistrate Lu Hongsheng welcomed him warmly and even held a literary gathering specially for him. Both being members of the Restoration Society, they felt like old friends at first meeting, and Wu Bing simply decided to stay on in Fuliang County — returning to Nanchang held little appeal anyway.

This pair of Crouching Dragon and Young Phoenix paid absolutely no attention to the disaster conditions; all day long they drank wine, composed poems, and wrote essays, occasionally venturing out together to inspect the work at the pleasure quarters.

While they fretted inside the city, Ding Jiasheng was having a headache outside it.

Ding Jiasheng had brought only two to three thousand rebels with him, all men who had already surrendered; once this mission was over, they could return home and receive their land allotments.

But on the march from Raozhou all the way to Fuliang, the rebels under Ding Jiasheng's command had swollen to over twelve thousand men. They were all starving people who had voluntarily joined along the way, every one of them dragging their families with them. Ding Jiasheng could only sustain them by plundering the landlords.

Fortunately, propaganda officers were accompanying the army, helping Ding Jiasheng keep his forces in check while organizing the rebels' families into a rear corps. This both allowed them to help transport supplies and served as a form of hostage-taking, ensuring that the starving people who had joined along the route stayed obedient.

Ding Jiasheng, after all, came from an impoverished xiucai background and had never read military texts; he could not even set up a camp properly, and the propaganda corps had to take responsibility for helping him pitch camp.

"Why haven't they come yet?" Ding Jiasheng gazed southward; he was ready to just assault the city himself.

Li Zheng led his troops at a leisurely pace along the Chang River.

When they reached the Ancient County Ferry, suddenly an official runner from Fuliang County came dashing up, blocked the army's path, knelt on the ground, and cried out, "General, please race to the relief of Fuliang!"

Upon receiving the county magistrate's plea for aid, Li Zheng burst into loud laughter and immediately quickened the march.

Arriving outside the county seat, he allowed no rest at all. Li Zheng raised his spear and pointed toward the rebel encampment: "Kill!"

Lu Hongsheng and Wu Bing, hearing the news, ascended the city wall to watch the battle. They saw the Great Unity Army advancing in formation, maintaining their ranks even as they broke into a jog.

Wu Bing clapped his hands in admiration. "Truly a valiant and mighty host!"

"A pity they are rebel soldiers," Lu Hongsheng sighed.

Wu Bing immediately corrected him: "Since they have accepted amnesty, they are now government troops. Do not call them rebels any longer."

Lu Hongsheng promptly amended his words: "Indeed, that is so."

As they watched Li Zheng's troops close half the distance, the rebel camp had already collapsed, with countless rebels scrambling to flee toward the great mountains to the north.

Lu Hongsheng was dumbstruck. "They've won, just like that?"

Wu Bing sighed and said, "The troops of Regional Commander Zhao already possess the fearsome might of tigers and wolves. Even if they were not facing bandits but government soldiers instead, I fear the outcome would be the same."

Acting out the play in full, Li Zheng led his troops in pursuit for a while before turning his army back and arriving outside the county seat.

"Open the gates at once!" Li Zheng sent men to shout.

Lu Hongsheng also sent men to shout back: "General, your labors have been arduous and your achievements great. This county has already prepared provisions and fodder. Please withdraw to camp and rest two li away; do not bring your troops into the city and alarm the common people!"

Li Zheng was quite surprised; he had not expected this county magistrate to be so crafty.

"Withdraw the army!"

Since you won't let me enter the city, I shall simply leave.

With a single order from Li Zheng, he led his troops directly away, too lazy to speak a second word to the county magistrate.

Wu Bing was greatly alarmed. "The rebels have not yet been exterminated — quickly send someone to stop the army!"

Lu Hongsheng, now utterly flustered, hastily ordered the city gates opened. He truly did not dare try any more petty tricks.

Even if they guessed the truth, they could only pretend not to know. Otherwise, if they angered the rebels, the fake might very well turn real, and the rebels would directly assault the city and kill the two of them.

Li Zheng returned at a leisurely pace, bringing only five hundred soldiers into the city; all the rest camped outside the walls.

"All thanks to General Li; otherwise, the people of Fuliang would have been in grave danger." Wu Bing stepped forward and bowed respectfully with clasped hands.

Lu Hongsheng also said, "I am Lu Hongsheng, County Magistrate of Fuliang. On behalf of the people of Fuliang, I thank the General for his great kindness."

Li Zheng did not waste words and directly delivered his notice: "Spare the idle chatter. From now on, Fuliang County belongs to us. If you wish to live, you may serve as an idle county magistrate. If you wish to die, I do not mind sending you on your way."

Lu Hongsheng was so terrified that cold sweat soaked his back. Stammering obsequiously, he said, "This region is teeming with bandits; everything shall be at the General's discretion."

Wu Bing tilted his head back and gazed at the sky, his spirit roaming the cosmos at that moment, as if he had heard nothing at all.

The next day, the rebels returned. Lu Hongsheng and Wu Bing, in a panic, begged for help.

"This matter is simple."

Li Zheng dispatched an officer, who rode out of the city bearing the banner of the Great Unity Army and summoned the ten-thousand-odd "rebels" to surrender on the spot.

Lu Hongsheng and Wu Bing looked at each other in blank dismay, unable to tell whether Zhao Han's prestige was truly so great, or whether these rebels had simply been sent by Zhao Han to put on an act.

In truth, the reality of it no longer mattered either way.

Liu Tongyu, the town chief of Zhangshu Town, had handled disaster relief and emergency response so well that he preserved that key commercial hub from the floods; for his merit, he was promoted to county magistrate of Fuliang. This was the fourth county magistrate surnamed Liu under Zhao Han's rule, along with one prefectural vice prefect also surnamed Liu. These five men did not come from the same clan; it was simply that the surname Liu was especially common in Jiangxi — the Liu clan being the largest surname in the province.

Aside from Liu Tongyu's promotion, many officials who had rendered meritorious service in disaster relief have now all received promotions.

The counties under Nanchang Prefecture have essentially been brought under the control of the peasant associations. Nominally transferred to serve as Ming Assistant Magistrates or Registrars, they are in fact sent to act as County Magistrates — only the outward title differs.

At the same time, Ruizhou Prefecture is also about to be taken in its entirety, with Zhao Han receiving the four counties of Ruizhou Prefecture under the pretext of famine relief.

He truly means to carry out famine relief, providing work as relief, organizing the common people to build waterworks and open roads. In this way, he can both increase infrastructure and relieve those starving commoners.

Fuzhou Prefecture is nearly ready too: of its five counties, three are already controlled by the peasant associations.

With so much new territory added, the officials under Zhao Han's command are naturally delighted. Moreover, everyone who performed outstandingly in this flood-fighting and disaster relief effort has received promotion, which has made the officials even more driven.

If one can rise swiftly in rank just by working diligently, how many would slack off?

Officials moving up, clerks rising to become officials, probationary clerks turning into full clerks — Zhao Han's civil service system is already operating at high speed.

In addition, Zhao Han has issued an order: in every prefecture where the peasant associations have occupied the entire territory, land redistribution is to begin immediately after the autumn harvest. Any landlord who dares to cause trouble will have his property confiscated outright — funds and grain are in short supply anyway. Those landlords notorious for their evil deeds will also be publicly tried and have their property confiscated, to ease the fiscal predicament.

Raozhou Prefecture is designated a key development area.

Raozhou, Raozhou — a prefecture of abundance.

In commerce, it has Jingdezhen; in agriculture, it has Poyang County.

Even centuries later, Poyang County would still be the most populous county in Jiangxi — that it could sustain so many people tells one how fertile the land is.

To have driven the people of Raozhou to rebel twice within five years — these Ming officials are quite something. And of course, much credit goes to His Highness the Prince of Huai: Raozhou never even implemented the Single Whip Law; Zhang Juzheng's reforms were directly blocked and turned back here.

As for Duchang County, though it belongs to the territory of Nankang Prefecture, Zhao Han has occupied it and never thought of giving it back.

This county is likewise rich in fertile land, and it is also an important port city on Lake Poyang.

Ah, Fuliang County holds no interest anymore either. Wu Bing soon took his leave of Lu Hongsheng, whose face was full of bitterness.

Using the pretext of making an inspection tour of schools, he set off for Guangxin Prefecture with his servants. That place borders Zhejiang and is farthest from Zhao Han's territory; he reckoned he could still enjoy himself in ease and pleasure for another year or two.

Wu Bing headed straight for the prefectural seat of Guangxin, then turned around at once and left, ordering the boatmen to make a quick getaway.

Outside the city of Guangxin Prefecture, starving refugees were packed in dense crowds.

All of them had come fleeing from Zhejiang. The history books record only a single line: "(Chongzhen) Year Ten, great famine in Zhejiang; fathers and sons, brothers, husbands and wives ate one another."

Why could the Chongzhen Emperor tolerate Zhao Han, and even promote him?

Precisely because Zhejiang and the Southern Metropolitan Region both suffered severe drought this year. In the very heartland of the Great Ming's tax revenues, scenes of people eating people could be seen everywhere.

Wu Bing swiftly returned to Yanshan and found starving refugees along the riverbanks too, in twos and threes supporting each other, hoping to reach Ehu Town or Hekou Town to beg for a mouthful of food.

Witnessing all this, Wu Bing suddenly had a strange thought: If the rebel Zhao occupied this place, he would surely be able to save these disaster victims.

"Wah... wu wu wu wu!"

Wu Bing suddenly burst into loud wailing, for he was a man of Yixing. His hometown had been suffering drought since last year, and even now there had been barely any rain; Lake Tai had dried up until only a patch at the very center of the lake remained.

A letter from his family some time ago said they no longer dared to go out casually, and whenever they did go out, they had to be in a group of at least ten.

To go out alone meant one might very well never return home, but be killed and eaten by the starving refugees.

Thinking of the horrors in his hometown, Wu Bing wept more and more bitterly.

How beautiful and rich that place had once been. In his youth, he would often call together friends and go boating on Lake Tai. Now, Lake Tai was parched, starving refugees covered the land, and who knew how many had turned to bleached bones.

Wu Bing was famed for writing operas. Greedy for money and fond of women though he was, he was an extremely sensitive man.

Moved by the scene before him, he wept until his eyes were red and swollen, all desire for sightseeing utterly gone.

He took a boat back to Nanchang Prefecture, went to the countryside to observe the peasant associations distributing land, and watched the peasant associations holding public trials of tyrannical landlords. He also watched the propaganda officers organizing performances, the peasants singing and dancing — it was as if this and Guangxin Prefecture were two different worlds.

Before, he had identified with the landlords; now, he actually found himself identifying with the common folk.

After visiting many prefectures and counties, Wu Bing returned to the prefectural seat of Nanchang and began writing a diary-style novel titled A Record of Travels in the Great Unity.

(The bonus chapters for Penguin Boss's White Silver Alliance have been owed for a long time now; Double Alliance Masters and other White Silver Alliance benefactors, please wait a little longer.)

(End of chapter)