Chapter 243: 241: Winning Hearts Is the Best Strategy

Changsha prefectural city.

Yang Guanji, County Magistrate of Changsha, was supervising the construction of barbicans. Changsha had barbicans before, but only at its four gates; now several more were being added.

Against the Jiangxi bandits, the city defenses had to be reinforced!

"Jichang," Prefect Wang Qisheng strode over briskly, his expression grim, "the Jiangxi rebel Zhao has already sent troops to attack Huguang. Liling has fallen, and Liuyang is besieged."

Liling County and Liuyang County both fell under the jurisdiction of Changsha Prefecture, and they were Changsha's eastern gateway.

Yang Guanji asked, "What is the Governor of Southern Huguang doing?"

"Raising funds and grain in the two prefectures of Yuezhou and Changde, calling upon the gentry to organize local militia," Wang Qisheng said. "Governor Wang wants the Changsha gentry to organize militia as well. I must entrust this matter to you, Jichang. As for supervising the barbican construction, that can be handed over to someone else."

Yang Guanji sighed inwardly, cupped his fists, and said, "I shall do my utmost."

After handing over the affairs of the barbican worksite, Yang Guanji immediately left the city, going into the countryside to rally the gentry and powerful clans. To tell the truth, at this moment he very much felt like defecting to the rebels.

Changsha Prefect Wang Qisheng and Changsha County Magistrate Yang Guanji were, in fact, jinshi of the same examination cohort.

Yang Guanji had been poor since childhood. Whenever his family ran out of grain, his mother would take him to his maternal grandfather's house to scrounge meals, and from a young age he endured the scorn of his aunts and cousins. But he studied with great diligence and passed the jinshi examination at a young age. Unfortunately, he had no money to bribe the officials of the Ministry of Personnel.

A full jinshi, he was originally appointed County Magistrate of Rugao, but just as he arrived in Rugao to take up his post, he was inexplicably demoted to Prefectural Clerk of Guangxin.

He had offended no one, had no time to speak, and no time to act, yet he was reduced from a rank-7 County Magistrate to a rank-9 Clerk. There was only one possibility: the post of Rugao County Magistrate had been bought by someone for a high price, and he, a genuine jinshi, had to make way.

After all these twists and turns, after several transfers, he was still a rank-7 County Magistrate, while his fellow jinshi of the same cohort was already a Prefect.

All the bitter, grueling work was done by Yang Guanji, but the credit always went to others.

Yang Guanji headed straight for Shaping Village to pay his respects to the gentry Tao clan. The locals called them "Tao Rotten Grain," meaning the Tao family had so much rice it rotted in their granaries. The servants they kept and the tenant farmers who worked their land together numbered over ten thousand.

The family was currently holding funeral rites; the clan elder, Tao Tianrong, had just passed away.

Yang Guanji went to offer his condolences. He was dirt poor and could not afford valuable gifts, so he simply went to the mourning hall empty-handed to burn incense.

That evening, he called the brothers Tao Bangxian and Tao Bangyong out of the mourning hall to discuss organizing local militia.

Before he could even speak, Tao Bangxian said, "Your Honor, for the construction of Changsha's barbicans, the Tao clan has already donated a thousand taels of silver. The court has imposed repeated surtaxes, and the Tao family has always borne the heaviest assessments. Surely you don't mean to make the Tao family pay again?"

"No, no," Yang Guanji said, somewhat embarrassed. "His Majesty has decreed that the local gentry may organize militia. One need only register with the prefectural office, and then one may recruit troops to suppress the bandits."

Tao Bangyong refused at once: "The men of the Tao family only know how to read books; they do not know how to fight wars."

Yang Guanji tried to persuade them: "That Jiangxi rebel Zhao has already captured Liling and besieged Liuyang. He will soon reach this prefectural city. This rebel wants to divide up the estates of great households — the Tao family's tens of thousands of mu of land are in imminent danger!"

Tao Bangxian cupped his fists and said, "Your Honor, please return. The Tao family will not recruit troops to fight!"

Tao Bangyong also rose and bowed. The two brothers said nothing more and went back together into the mourning hall to keep vigil for their father.

"Ah!"

Yang Guanji shook his head helplessly and could only give up. The next day, he went to seek out other great households.

The Tao brothers, meanwhile, were secretly discussing defecting to the rebels. Between them, they had eight sons and several daughters. The two unmarried daughters could be married off to officials under the rebel Zhao to form marriage alliances. The eight sons, so long as they were of age, could all be sent to serve as officials under the rebel Zhao.

As for the family's tens of thousands of mu of land, let it be divided — so long as their lives could be preserved, that was enough.

Why were they so decisively quick about it?

Because during the Wanli reign alone, over twenty peasant uprisings had erupted in southern Huguang. Whenever the peasant armies reached Changsha, they invariably targeted the Tao family for retribution.

By the early Tianqi reign, the men of the entire Tao clan had been slaughtered down to just four — a grandfather and three grandsons. After repeated wars, the Tao family's more than one hundred thousand mu of land had now dwindled to just a few tens of thousands.

The Tao family had been terrified by the killings and was extremely sensitive to any sign of trouble.

Now, the family's male descendants had multiplied to ten. If they were massacred again, the clan would very likely be wiped out. They had to find a powerful patron.

The previous year, they had sent men to Jiangxi to observe Zhao Han's policies toward great clans. The situation made them very pleased: the Jiangxi rebel Zhao, it turned out, only wanted the land. Not only did he not seize money or kill people, he would not even take the grain stored in their granaries.

"Father, Uncle," said Tao Aizhi, the eldest son of the main branch, "since we have resolved to submit to Mr. Zhao, why not seize this chance to render great merit?"

Tao Bangxian asked, "How would we render merit?"

Tao Aizhi said, "Do as the County Magistrate says. Let the Tao family put up the money to organize militia, and when the time comes, we can lead our troops to turn our spears and strike!"

Tao Aizhi had been born in the early Tianqi years, when the Tao family had only four males left. He came into the world as the sole heir of the new generation. Thus he was named "Aizhi" — "Beloved One." From childhood, he was rigorously cultivated, taught by renowned masters, and later sent to study at the Yuelu Academy. Though only eighteen this year, he was already widely knowledgeable and quite resourceful.

Tao Bangxian and Tao Bangyong exchanged glances, but their hearts were still gripped by fear; they were especially terrified of anything involving armed conflict.

Tao Bangyong said, "Warfare is perilous. If it can be avoided, avoid it. Better to stay at home and wait for the land to be divided. The most urgent task now is for you brothers to take more concubines and bear sons, so that the Tao family may flourish once more."

Tao Aizhi said indignantly, "Uncle, your nephew is only eighteen this year. Second Brother and Third Brother are sixteen, and Fourth Brother is only fifteen. We are spirited youths, at the age for building a name and a career. How can we lose ourselves in the company of women?"

Tao Bangxian's expression betrayed fear. He sighed and said, "You are too young to understand the horrors of war. Decades ago, the Tao family had over two hundred male members. In your great-grandfather's generation alone, there were thirteen brothers in the main lineage. In your grandfather's generation, there were another eleven brothers of the same branch. But through all the successive popular uprisings, the slaughter was countless. With my own eyes, I saw my granduncles and uncles killed. The women of the household were often violated, some even tortured to death!"

Tao Bangyong also said, "The most dangerous time, the bandits came too fast. My mother and I jumped into the manure pit and soaked in the filth for an entire day, our bodies crawling with maggots. Only in the dead of night did we manage to escape."

Tao Aizhi had never experienced any of that, and being young and full of spirit, he said with absolute conviction, "Father, Uncle, why has the Tao family suffered misfortune time and again? It is all because the court is corrupt, the officials drive the people to rebellion, and so unrest erupts everywhere. Now Mr. Zhao has raised his army, and Jiangxi is already well-governed. There is no more word of popular uprisings there. He is a worthy lord who will pacify this age of chaos. Since our Tao family is resolved to submit, we should not merely offer up our lands; we should also seize this chance to render great merit. In public terms, it is to establish a livelihood for the common people; in private terms, it can bring our Tao family wealth and rank once more! How can we let such a golden opportunity slip away? A true man born into a chaotic age — should he really cling to a wretched existence, amusing himself day after day with women in the inner chambers?"

Bang!

The door was pushed open, and three youths walked in.

They were Tao Bangxian's second son, Tao Longzhi, and Tao Bangyong's eldest son, Tao Yunfeng, and second son, Tao Aifeng. The youngest among them was only fifteen by nominal age.

"Please, Father, Uncle, recruit troops!"

The three youths knelt in unison with a crisp thud.

Tao Aizhi also knelt: "Please, Father, Uncle, recruit troops!"

The two brothers felt both worry and joy — worry at the fear of endless war, joy that their sons all harbored great ambitions.

Several days later, the Tao family sent men to the prefectural city to register. Both the Prefect and the County Magistrate were astonished and delighted. Within a month, the Tao family had recruited over four thousand troops, commanded by the four brothers: Tao Aizhi, Tao Longzhi, Tao Yunfeng, and Tao Aifeng.

Liuyang.

Li Zheng was extremely frustrated at this moment. Of the four units that had marched into southern Huguang, Huang Yao had taken Liling, Liu Zhu had taken Chaling, and Zhang Tieniu had taken Ling County. Only he was blocked beneath the walls of Liuyang.

The Liuyang County Magistrate, Feng Zuwang, had already been promoted and transferred elsewhere, but the local militia he had trained remained. The new County Magistrate, though not particularly capable, knew enough to delegate authority, and had handed the militia over to Wang Hui to command.

Wang Hui held the city and refused to come out. Boiling oil, filth-water, rolling logs, and falling stones were all at the ready, making Liuyang County city impeccably defended.

There was no way to take it by storm!

The former County Magistrate, Feng Zuwang, had not only organized and trained the local militia but had also repaired and reinforced the county city.

What was Feng Zuwang doing meddling in military affairs, instead of writing novels like his father Feng Menglong?

Li Zheng gazed at the city walls, helpless. He could only pin his hopes on besieging the city to strike at reinforcements, but Changsha stubbornly refused to send any relief troops.

"Attacking a city is the lowest tactic; attacking the mind is the highest," Xiao Zongxian reminded him.

Li Zheng asked, "How does one attack the mind?"

Xiao Zongxian said, "Send orders to the propaganda officers and the peasant association. First, distribute land to the families of the local militia inside the city, then have those families go outside the walls and call out to them. For those whose families can't be found, distribute land to their neighbors."

Li Zheng suddenly saw the light and said overjoyed, "An excellent stratagem!"

The plan was set, and they acted at once.

Several more days passed. A few hundred peasants who had been the first to receive land crossed the moat in small boats.

"Don't shoot! I see my father!"

"My third uncle is here too. Nobody shoot arrows, lads."

"..."

Garrison commander Wang Hui was at once shocked and furious. He came from a great landlord family that owned over ten thousand mu of land, and he had already brought his family into the city ahead of time.

But the local militia under his command were mostly from small landlord and yeoman farmer families, with a portion of tenant farmers as well.

Faced with these several hundred peasants outside the walls, he truly dared not give the order to shoot, or army morale would surely collapse.

A yeoman farmer shouted, "Run-ge, it's your father! Our family's fields weren't taken away — we got over twenty mu more. Paddy fields, dry fields, even hillside plots! Stop fighting for the officials and surrender. Come be one of Mr. Zhao's soldiers!"

Another, a tenant farmer, wept freely and cried out, "Shitou, our family has land now, our family has land! We don't have to farm for the landlord anymore. Our own family has land now. Come home quick and farm it!"

"Liangzi, it's your uncle. Your father passed early, and you brothers have known hardship since you were small. Come home — your mother's been allotted land. You hurry up and split the household and get your own land!"

"Big brother, it's your little sister. Women can get land too. Father and Mother say come home quick!"

"..."

After this barrage of calls, the defending troops all fell silent, every man straining to hear what was being said below the walls.

Wang Hui felt a chill run through his whole body. Who ever fought a war like this?

He looked at the soldiers around him. Apart from the sons of the great clans, everyone else was growing restive, their faces written with yearning.

How was he supposed to fight now?

Just two or three more days of this calling out, and the rebels wouldn't even need to storm the city. More than half the defenders would desert on their own — they might even open the gates and hand over the city outright.

Wang Hui walked toward another section of the wall and said expressionlessly, "Magistrate, I'll be borrowing your head."

The County Magistrate's face twisted in terror. Before he could even beg for his life, Wang Hui cut him down with one stroke of his blade.

"Open the gates!"

Carrying the County Magistrate's head, Wang Hui led the local militia out of the city to surrender. This battle was simply fucking impossible to fight.

Li Zheng rode over with his troops and said with a smile, "So you're the garrison commander Wang Hui? You handle troops well. Follow me into battle from now on."

"I am willing to die for Mr. Zhao!" Wang Hui dropped to one knee.

Wang Hui had only ever killed bandits from Jiangxi before; his hands were not stained with the blood of Great Unity soldiers. Moreover, the men under his command were all local sons — he could hardly go on a rampage killing people in his own home region.

Aside from coming from a great clan and being certain to have his land redistributed, he had no other conflict with Zhao Han.

Most of the local militia under Wang Hui were disbanded and sent home; only a thousand men were kept as a grain transport unit. They had no formal designation for now — just temporarily recruited transport auxiliaries.

After a brief rest and reorganization, Li Zheng sent word of the victory to Huang Yao and discussed the next phase of operations.

By this time, Huang Yao had already left Liling and captured Lukou Town (Zhuzhou), bottling up the key water and land routes.

When the news of his comrade's victory arrived, Huang Yao immediately issued orders for Li Zheng to go and harass Changsha. He himself would lead troops toward Xiangtan. Once Xiangtan was taken, they could join forces with Li Zheng and encircle Changsha together.

While awaiting orders, Li Zheng suddenly caught a "spy."

The "spy" kowtowed on the ground and said, "General, spare my life! I am a household slave of the Tao clan of Shaping. My master has raised several thousand troops. The moment your army arrives, he will turn his weapons around and strike. If you doubt me, General, once you reach Changsha you can go first to Shaping and distribute land — all the fields there belong to the Tao clan."

Li Zheng was half-skeptical. A great landlord actually asking to have his land redistributed?

(Bonus chapter for Penguin Big Boss's White Silver Alliance. More to come.)

(End of Chapter)