Chapter 251: 249 The King of Easy Gains (For the White Silver Alliance

Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu's army had been picking up easy gains the entire way.

Only the three cities of Hengyang, Leiyang, and Hengshan — because Liao Sheng had troops garrisoned there — were hard to take for a time. But before they could even lay siege, Liao Sheng himself took his main force and left, hoping to launch a surprise attack and cut off Huang Yao's supply route.

Then Liao Sheng's entire army was wiped out, the household slaves in Hengyang rose in revolt, and the defending troops in Leiyang and Hengshan fled in collapse.

Zhang and Liu took eight cities in a row, fighting a battle only during the surprise raid on Ling County.

Everywhere else, either the government troops swiftly surrendered, or the bandit rabble fled at the mere rumor of their approach — they were picking up cities for free and having the time of their lives.

But the propaganda officers, officials, and peasant association members traveling with them were all sighing, groaning, and complaining endlessly.

Because all eight of these cities had already been ravaged by bandits, and the recovery and rebuilding work was simply backbreaking. The villages and towns were desolate, the land lay fallow, the common folk had fled into the mountains — they had to call back the refugees, distribute land for farming, and even bring in settlers from Jiangxi.

These eight places, this year, not only would bring in no fiscal revenue, but would also require Zhao Han to pay out money and grain to restore the people's livelihood.

The two men followed the river downstream, heading straight for Chenzhou.

As long as they took Chenzhou, and then took Yizhang, they could enter Guangdong and, together with Fei Ruhe, advance from east and west simultaneously, hitting the Guangdong troops so they couldn't look after both ends at once.

Making camp at dusk, Zhang Tieniu said over his supper, "Old Liu, I wonder if this Chenzhou will be easy to take."

"We've got to fight a few tough battles sooner or later; we can't count on picking up easy gains the whole way," Liu Zhu said.

Zhang Tieniu said, "I'd like to fight a couple of good ones too. Huang Yao and Li Zheng have been having all the lively action over on their side."

"That's true — they even took Changsha," Liu Zhu said with feeling. He had only received the news two days earlier.

Zhang Tieniu smacked his lips and said, "Wonder how that kid Ruhe is doing."

Liu Zhu guessed, "Probably not too smoothly. I've heard that the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi spent the last few years first suppressing bandits in Guangdong, then went to Guangxi to suppress bandits, and last year went back to Guangdong to suppress bandits again. After fighting wars for years on end, even a pig would get formidable, let alone those government troops."

The two men chatted idly for a while. After supper, it was already dark, and Liu Zhu set down his rice bowl and went to inspect the camp.

The next day, in the afternoon, when they were still several li from Chenzhou, Zhang Tieniu ordered the entire army to halt and make camp, and sent out scouts to gather intelligence on the prefectural city.

An hour later, the scouts returned, and they brought back several dozen people with them.

Zhang Tieniu asked, puzzled, "Are all these men here to join the army?"

The scout answered, "They're here to offer up a city."

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"Another city picked up for free?" Zhang Tieniu felt something was off.

"Not just one city," the scout muttered. "They've got six cities in their hands."

"Six cities?"

Zhang Tieniu was instantly speechless. Liu Zhu was also dumbfounded.

In this day and age, was city-offering being done wholesale now?

A man stepped forward, led several dozen people in kneeling, and cried out loudly: "Liu Xinyu of Xianghualing, leading the miners, Yao people, and tenant farmer brothers, hereby offers up Chenzhou, Guiyang Prefecture, Yizhang County, Linwu County, Guidong County, and Guiyang County, and begs Heavenly King Zhao to preside over land distribution!"

Two prefectures and four counties — six cities indeed.

Zhang Tieniu swallowed and asked, "What about the bandit chief Little Overlord who fled south?"

"Dead," Liu Xinyu answered. "Over thirty thousand bandits came south. I led my troops in an ambush and wiped them out completely."

Liu Zhu asked curiously, "Brother, what did you do before this?"

"Mining," Liu Xinyu said.

The name Liu Xinyu was not made up — he is a historical figure, and one who was originally supposed to cause an even bigger stir.

Between Guiyang Prefecture, Linwu County, and Lanshan County lay a no-man's-land that in the Ming dynasty was called Lequan Township, and several hundred years later would be called Jiahe County.

Deep in the mountains lived the great clans of Li, Peng, Xiao, He, Chen, and others.

Government runners could not enter; collecting taxes and the like was out of the question.

If any department magistrate or county magistrate dared send men into the mountains to collect taxes, the bodies of those government runners would never be found.

The Li clan in particular, having moved into the mountains in the early Ming, and having moved their entire clan there to flee the chaos, had annexed nearly ninety percent of Lequan Township's fertile land.

These great mountain clans defied all law and heaven, ignored the authority of the imperial court, and cared even less for the lives of the common people.

The tenant farmers, miners, and Yao people suffered unbearable misery.

In history, in the eighth year of Chongzhen, the miner Liu Xinyu rallied the people with a single cry, and over ten thousand rose in response. Setting out from Chenzhou, they attacked cities and seized territory along the way, fighting all the way to the walls of Changsha and nearly cutting straight through Hunan.

They caused havoc like this for three years before the court finally mobilized troops to suppress them.

You heard that right — the peasant army fought from Chenzhou to Changsha, a period of three full years, before the Chongzhen Emperor finally dispatched troops to quell the rebellion.

If Changsha itself had not been besieged, the court would probably have kept dragging its feet.

By comparison, Zhao Han was targeted by government troops within half a year of rebelling — he was simply too unlucky!

In this timeline, because the bandits coming from Jiangxi blocked the way, Liu Xinyu did not lead his troops north, but instead conquered the two prefectures and four counties at the southernmost tip of Huguang.

The bandits under Little Overlord and others, whom Zhang Tieniu had driven off — over thirty thousand of them — tried to flee to Guangzhou. While passing through Yizhang County, they were ambushed by Liu Xinyu with over ten thousand men and wiped out to the last.

After hearing Liu Xinyu recount his exploits, Zhang Tieniu was filled with admiration. Grasping the other man's hand, he said, "A true man! From now on we'll fight together. You used to be a miner, I used to be a porter — we both come from bitter roots. We'll make those landlords and evil gentry pay!"

Liu Xinyu said proudly, "In these two prefectures and four counties, I've already killed all the bad landlords and bad merchants, leaving only a few landlords and traders with a conscience."

Hearing this, the propaganda officers rolled their eyes. Liu Xinyu had entrenched himself here for three years — one could well imagine how many evil gentry and treacherous merchants he had killed.

Most likely, sometimes the killing was for their money!

Leading Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu into the city, Liu Xinyu talked excitedly the whole way: "I have a copy of The Great Unity Collection, brought by a merchant traveling south. I specially asked a xiucai to explain it to me. Heavenly King Zhao has done great deeds, and his essays are well written too. Following The Great Unity Collection, I freed the servants, freed the military households, let the prostitutes leave the trade, and distributed land to the common folk. It's just that when distributing land, things often got messy — you got more, I got less, and there were constant fights. I also set up peasant associations, but sometimes the peasant associations wouldn't listen either, and in my anger I had several dozen of them killed, one after another."

Another wild fan devoted to the Great Unity theory.

Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu both didn't know whether to laugh or cry. From the moment they marched out, they had barely fought any proper battles, yet they had picked up fourteen cities for free along the way.

Liu Xinyu's two prefectures and four counties were even more impressive — they even had peasant associations already, and land distribution too, only it had all been done rather chaotically.

After entering Chenzhou, Liu Xinyu kept asking about the situation in Jiangxi.

The more he learned, the more excited he became. Trembling with agitation, he said, "Heavenly King Zhao is truly a great hero. I wish I could go to Jiangxi to pay my respects right this moment!"

Zhang Tieniu laughed and said, "You'll have your chance. Once we take Guangdong, I'll bring you to Jiangxi."

"That would be wonderful," Liu Xinyu said happily. "Brother, you're going to attack Guangdong? I have over ten thousand brave warriors under my command — former miners, Yao people, and tenant farmers. Killing government troops is as easy as killing chickens for them. I'll lead my troops and follow you, brother, and we'll fight our way into Guangdong together. We'll make those Guangdong government troops weep for their fathers and scream for their mothers!"

"Fine, let's go together!" Zhang Tieniu said, slapping his chest.

Liu Zhu hastily cut in: "We don't need that many troops. Send all the tenant farmers home to farm. Pick miners and Yao people — three thousand crack troops will be enough."

Liu Xinyu laughed. "There are more than three thousand miners alone."

"Then pick five thousand crack troops," Liu Zhu said.

"Five thousand it is. When do we march?" Liu Xinyu asked.

"Pick your five thousand crack troops, drill them for a few days, then go," Zhang Tieniu said, catching on as well, and warned, "No looting along the way. Anyone who disobeys orders will face military law!"

Liu Xinyu laughed. "Brother, don't worry. My men are very obedient. The disobedient ones were killed long ago!"

Liu Xinyu was powerfully built. Though not tall, he had an extremely fierce look.

With that full beard covering his cheeks, one glance told you he was born to kill!

Mid-July.

Zhang Tieniu and Liu Zhu led four thousand regular troops, plus a grain-transport force of over five thousand men, following the mountain trade route into Guangdong territory.

In truth, there were also many peasant soldiers, but they had been left along the way to garrison newly captured cities.

Every city they picked up for free cost them two or three hundred peasant soldiers.

Fourteen cities in all — the peasant soldiers were nowhere near enough, so they had to detach grain-transport laborers to hold the cities as well.

As for Liu Xinyu, he led five thousand elite troops made up of miners and Yao people, with another three thousand tenant-farmer soldiers helping to haul grain.

Following the trade route, crossing mountains and ridges, they soon reached Lechang County in Guangdong.

At this very moment, Shen Youlong was locked in a standoff with Fei Ruhe, having shifted large numbers of troops to the eastern front. His remaining forces were mainly stationed at Nanxiong and Shaozhou (Shaoguan), guarding against the Great Unity Army breaking out from Meiling.

As for Lechang, its garrison was truly small — at most, fewer than a thousand men.

Before even reaching the county seat, Zhang Tieniu spotted many round buildings, each built almost like a fortress. He asked curiously, "What are those buildings?"

Liu Xinyu answered, "Hakka roundhouses."

"This place could be trouble, with tower-fortresses everywhere," Zhang Tieniu said, clicking his tongue.

Guangdong has many Hakka roundhouses. Take Louxia Village east of Lechang city, for example — that single village and its surrounding area alone had a full seventy-two roundhouses.

Each roundhouse was a blockhouse, built mainly to defend against bandits.

The peasant association's work here would also have to adjust its methods.

In many places, one roundhouse represented one large Hakka clan. The clan land and the roundhouse were both communally owned; clansmen tenant-farmed the clan's fields, the rent was relatively low and still went to the common fund, and there was no excessively harsh economic oppression.

Of course, clan power was very strong, and the clan head held the power of life and death.

Moreover, clansmen long since branched off could not tenant-farm the land. These people lived in utter misery, wanting to be oppressed but denied even that, and could only migrate to Huguang and Jiangxi, clearing wasteland deep in the mountains to farm.

Zhang Tieniu only cared about fighting battles; these problems were not his to consider.

In a vast, surging tide, they arrived outside Lechang city. The County Magistrate got word and hurriedly climbed the gate tower to look.

Counting the grain-transport laborers, the civilian staff accompanying the army, and Liu Xinyu's troops, there were a full eighteen thousand men.

The County Magistrate was dumbstruck. With fewer than a thousand defenders inside the city, what the hell was there to fight?

That very night, the County Magistrate simply took the silver and fled.

The next morning, just as Zhang Tieniu sent men to fill in the moat, the city gates suddenly swung open. The Registrar and the Constable, leading the two shifts of yamen runners, surrendered the city.

"Damn it, another city picked up for free. Can't we ever fight a real battle with real swords and spears?"

Zhang Tieniu was actually a bit dejected. This was the fifteenth city he had picked up for nothing.

(End of chapter)