Chapter 81: 079 Stealing Heads in the Night (Bonus Chapter for Big Boss Penguin)

The passenger boat followed the Yanshan River, drifting downstream straight toward Hekou Town.

It had not snowed for several days, but the snow on both banks had yet to melt, leaving heaven and earth a single blank expanse of white.

Fei Lin kept turning to look back, terrified that government troops would come after them.

"Uncle Lin, don't be afraid," Zhao Han said with a laugh. "The yamen runners are busy fighting the fire — how could they spare men to chase me?"

The whole affair was utterly beyond anything Fei Lin could have imagined, and when he looked at Zhao Han again, his heart now carried a trace of fear.

After a moment of troubled thought, Fei Lin sighed. "Brother Han, why did it have to come to this? At worst, we could have waited another two or three years for a new County Magistrate to take office, and then gone to register your household properly."

Zhao Han shook his head. "Three years ago, I would have swallowed it. But now I'm fifteen — how could I still stomach such stifling humiliation?"

Fifteen... when I was fifteen, I was still fooling around with the young master.

Fei Lin grumbled inwardly, then asked, "Are you going back to Goose Lake?"

"No," Zhao Han said, gazing at the distant sky. "The world is vast; there's a place for me somewhere."

Zhao Han could have hidden back at the Fei estate. Many river bandits were sheltered by powerful clans, and the authorities dared not come knocking to search.

But what would be the point of going back?

It was only a pity that Zhao Han had gotten to know so many people in Yanshan, laying groundwork for three or four years — and before he could develop it further, he now had no choice but to abandon it all.

One day, he would return with a vengeance.

Zhao Han went into the cabin, took out paper and brush, and wrote several letters in succession. He handed them to Fei Lin and said, "Uncle Lin, please deliver these letters to the Madam, the young lady, the young master, and my sister. As for Brother Chun, just pass on a word from me — tell him to study his books and practice his skills more diligently."

"I understand." Fei Lin put the letters away, not knowing what else to say.

The Zhao Han before him was a complete stranger!

A household slave, a scholar — transformed in an instant into a figure out of knight-errant legend, killing men and setting fires in the county yamen before making a clean escape.

Such things only happened in popular romances.

Zhao Han lowered his voice. "These boatmen — they can all be trusted?"

Fei Lin nodded. "They're all kept on the young mistress's coin; they have no connection to the old master's side."

Zhao Han continued, "Uncle Lin, once we reach Hekou Town, you'll switch boats and go back. These boatmen will pole me the rest of the way; I'll pay them in silver."

"That's no problem," Fei Lin said, then warned, "But you'd better move fast. The eunuch has set up a customs post at Henglin — don't let the wanted notices give you away."

"Ha," Zhao Han laughed at once. "The County Magistrate could never get in league with a eunuch. By the time the authorities post wanted notices everywhere, I'll have been long gone from Yanshan."

In less than half a day, the passenger boat reached Hekou.

Fei Lin, bundle on his back, was about to go ashore. The moment he stepped out of the cabin, his face went deathly pale and he cried out in shock, "Where did those heads come from?"

Zhao Han hurried out to look. There on the Hekou dock, a wooden pole had been starkly erected, and from its top hung the heads of the brothers Sun Xianzong and Sun Zhenzong.

Probably considered bad luck, the stretch of dock where the heads hung had not a single boat willing to moor.

Fei Lin immediately went ashore to ask around, and before long came running back. "Tax Commissioner Wang Heng has seized Hekou Town and set up his residence in the Zhejiang Guild Hall. The Iron Foot Society has thrown in with the eunuch — Fei Hun is now the big chief, Li Dazhu the second chief. The Sun brothers were killed to make an example, and as for Zhang Tieniu, his whereabouts are unknown."

"That eunuch has some skill," Zhao Han couldn't help but admire.

Tax Commissioner Wang Heng had stationed himself at Hekou, set up a checkpoint at Henglin Town to control the western water route, a checkpoint at Goose Lake Town to control the eastern water route, a checkpoint at Shitang Town to control the southern water route, and a checkpoint at Shanglu Town to control the southeastern water route.

The entire commercial network of Yanshan County was now completely in the grip of this damned eunuch!

A year ago, when Wang Heng first arrived in Yanshan to take up his post, he had only a handful of attendants with him.

Let him keep wreaking havoc — another two or three years of this chaos, until Yanshan seethed with rage and grievance, and Zhao Han could return to seize the moment and rise.

Fei Lin hired another boat to Goose Lake Town. Zhao Han gave the boatmen a tael of silver and told them to wait on the boat; if they got hungry, they could have Dingsheng House deliver food.

"Brother Han, we're just leaving our boat here? Shouldn't we move it somewhere else?" The boatman pointed at the heads on the pole.

Zhao Han smiled. "It's fine. This spot is nice and open."

With that, Zhao Han picked up his long spear and headed for Pearl-in-Mouth Mountain. Before leaving, he wanted to speak with Pang Chunlai face to face.

The New Year was only days away, but this year, sadly, there was little festive spirit.

The Yanshan gentry and the outside merchants had all been squeezed and fleeced by the eunuch, and they in turn passed the losses onto the workers and peasants.

The Iron Foot Society had thoroughly degenerated into a gang of hired thugs. The dock laborers were being exploited, their wages on average down by thirty percent, and there was no longer any association to speak up for them.

The tenant farmers, meanwhile, were fretting about the coming year. Landlords were demanding rent in advance — or at least a portion of it paid early.

That was not even the worst of it. The tenants feared having their tenancies revoked!

The field-rights system of the late Ming had never fully matured; landlords could break contracts and seize back land at any time.

Every household was in distress, every family in tears.

Zhao Han arrived at the Pearl-in-Mouth Private Academy. With the year's end approaching, the students had all gone home one after another, and Pang Chunlai was reading alone.

"Teacher, I've come," Zhao Han said, pushing open the door and entering.

"Sit," Pang Chunlai said, setting down his book.

Zhao Han leaned his long spear against the wall, sat down with a smile, and said, "The private secretary, He Can, took my silver but refused to issue my household registration, and then colluded with the Constable to have me thrown in jail."

Pang Chunlai asked in alarm, "How did such a grave matter suddenly come about?"

Zhao Han, making himself at home, picked up his teacher's tea and drank to moisten his throat. "I couldn't swallow it. I killed the private secretary, killed the Constable, killed a few more yamen runners, and then, for good measure, set fire to the county yamen."

Pang Chunlai thought he had misheard. He leaned in and studied Zhao Han closely, then sat there speechless, jaw agape.

After a long while, Pang Chunlai regained his composure and asked, "You're leaving Yanshan?"

"Yes," Zhao Han nodded.

"Where to?" Pang Chunlai asked again.

Zhao Han smiled. "Ruijin seems like a good place. I'll go study how they rebel over there."

Reading official dispatches only tells you the great affairs of the court.

Sitting in a tavern, however, lets you pick up the news of the rivers and lakes.

These past days, Zhao Han had befriended men of all stripes and learned a great deal about the situation in Ruijin.

It had begun with a peasant uprising in southern Fujian. As Fujian troops moved to suppress it, the peasants of western Fujian seized the chance to rise up.

After the southern Fujian peasant uprising was put down, government troops turned their blades toward western Fujian. The peasant army of western Fujian was no match for them and was forced to flee into the great mountains of southern Jiangxi, where they stirred up a peasant movement anew.

Over the years, western Fujian and southern Jiangxi had merged into a single contiguous zone.

Government troops were simply powerless to suppress them. If they came in small numbers, they could not win. If they came in large numbers, the rebel army would vanish into the great mountains — how could they ever be wiped out cleanly?

Ruijin was even more interesting. The peasant army there called themselves the "Field Soldiers."

They had three Field Soldier leaders. Their approach was not radical — they did not directly strike the local tyrants and divide the land. Instead, they forced landlords to hand over thirty percent of their land to the peasants who joined the uprising, and made the landlords grant their tenant farmers permanent tenancy rights, forbidding the revocation or alteration of tenancy for generations to come.

These Field Soldiers stormed into the county seat of Ruijin and forced the County Magistrate to stamp his seal on the land transfer documents.

They stamped tens of thousands of documents in one go. The pitiable County Magistrate, private secretary, and clerks worked in shifts day and night without rest. They dreamed of holding the seal in their hands, and at meals they could not help jabbing their chopsticks down on the table.

Thereupon, the three great leaders withdrew from the county seat, each holding a territory of his own and providing mutual support.

The Ruijin authorities dared not venture outside the city to collect taxes.

The Ruijin landlords dared not force the peasants to pay rent.

And so, Ruijin County settled into a bizarre state of harmony.

The Assistant Regional Commander of Southern Jiangxi and the Ruijin County Magistrate jointly reported that the peasant uprising had been pacified, and they actually received commendation from the imperial court. Even if they could not collect the full tax quota, they could simply blame the peasant army for excessive destruction. The County Magistrate picked up a merit for quelling a rebellion for nothing.

The gentry and landlords of Ruijin, seeing that the peasant army did not kill indiscriminately, had no choice but to hold their noses and accept it, though losing thirty percent of their land pained them deeply.

They truly dared not request government troops to suppress the rebels again. Bandits pass through like a comb, but soldiers pass through like a fine-toothed comb.

In the eyes of the Ruijin landlords, the government troops sent by the court to quell the rebellion were even more terrifying than those peasant soldiers!

Hearing these tales in the tavern, Zhao Han could not help but laugh. So many things in the late Ming were simply enough to shatter one's worldview.

Landlords and peasant soldiers joining together to guard against the court's troops — what the hell was that?

Pang Chunlai said, "Ruijin already has three great Field Soldier leaders and has reached a tacit understanding with the authorities, the Assistant Regional Commander, and the landlords. I fear no one there wants to stir up trouble again. Even if you go to Ruijin, you won't pick up any bargains. Do you expect that with one shake of your mighty frame, the three great leaders will all pledge allegiance to you?"

Zhao Han explained, "Your student merely intends to go to Ruijin to observe the situation and, in passing, make the acquaintance of those three leaders. My true objective lies in the two counties of Ji'an and Taihe. The Fei family's Fourth Young Master is now the Jinggang Patrol Inspector; I can first go and seek refuge with him. If we rise up there, we can retreat into the great mountains when necessary, and advance south to take Ganzhou, linking up with the peasant armies of southern Jiangxi and western Fujian into one contiguous force."

Pang Chunlai suddenly stood up. "I will go with you!"

"The weather is bitterly cold, sir. You should not undertake such a long journey," Zhao Han hastily urged.

Pang Chunlai laughed. "Compared to Liaodong, the winter in Jiangxi is nothing. Do not think your teacher is old and decrepit — this head full of white hair is all a false impression. I am not yet fifty years old."

Zhao Han knew how stubborn his teacher was and did not press further, only asking, "Has sir thought this through clearly?"

"What is there left to think about?" Pang Chunlai exhaled a breath of stale air. "I have been cooped up on Pearl-Containing Mountain for several years now and have long wanted a change of place. This place has truly stifled me! When do we leave?"

"Tonight," Zhao Han said.

Pang Chunlai immediately sat down to write letters: one to the academy head Fei Yuanlu, one to his good friend Zheng Zhongkui, and one to his student Xu Ying.

Entrusting the three letters to a schoolteacher he knew well, Pang Chunlai took his silver and cash and left at once, even fetching an iron sword to hang at his waist.

Supporting his teacher, Zhao Han walked through the unmelted snow, heading straight for Hekou Town in the piercing, frigid wind.

By the time they arrived, it was already evening. Master and student were in no hurry; they first went to the Dingsheng Tavern for a meal.

While eating and drinking, Zhao Han called Fei Ze over. "Brother Ji'an Dan, I must make a long journey. When Ruhe comes, give him the manuscripts from my room. Whether the Ehu Ten-Day Journal is printed again is up to him to decide. After the price increase, the fourth issue should be able to turn a profit."

"Where is brother going?" Fei Ze asked.

Zhao Han smiled and spun a tale: "Entrusted by the Young Madam, I am going to handle some business at her family home in Jiujiang."

Fei Ze offered his congratulations. "Brother is increasingly trusted and valued by the Madam."

They chatted idly for a while and filled their bellies.

Supporting Pang Chunlai, Zhao Han groped his way in the dark to the dock to board a boat, when he saw a dark figure climbing a wooden pole.

He simply pretended not to see and continued toward the riverbank.

Master and student soon entered the boat cabin. A boatman immediately went ashore to untie the mooring rope.

After failing several times, the dark figure finally climbed to the top of the pole, drew an axe, and hacked through the rope, taking the heads of the Sun brothers.

Just as the boatman finished untying the rope, the dark figure came running over, heads in hand, and threatened in a low voice, axe raised: "Sail the boat and take me to Henglin, or I'll butcher you!"

It was no coincidence. Near the pole where the heads hung, only this one boat was moored.

"Sp-spare me, brave hero!" The boatman was so terrified his whole body went limp.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" the dark figure urged repeatedly. The boatman dared not disobey, and the two boarded the boat one after the other.

The fellow barged recklessly into the cabin, brandishing his axe, and growled low, "All of you behave yourselves. I'm just hitching a ride. Don't make me... Eh? The young gentleman is here too?"

Zhao Han laughed. "Brother Tieniu, it's freezing out there. Sit down quickly and warm yourself by the fire."

(End of Chapter)