Chapter 96: 094: Taking Huang Family Town

Jiang Dashan's operation did not go smoothly — because he was of a different surname, many people refused to listen to him.

Huang Yao and Huang Shun, however, quickly broke the deadlock. First they gathered the stonemasons together and threatened that anyone who killed again would get no land. Then they split off a dozen or so masons, each seeking out tenant farmers they had good relations with, half-threatening and half-persuading them to make everyone stop.

As for Zhang Tieniu and Chen Maosheng, the two had few acquaintances in the village and town, so they could only resort to brute force all the way, rescuing the women and children.

Well, Chen Maosheng was no longer just part of the atmosphere crew.

Zhang Tieniu took charge of pulling people out, and Chen Maosheng took charge of calming them down and getting the women and children to follow behind him.

In just the time it takes one stick of incense to burn, the situation was already stabilized.

One tenant farmer came back to his senses, looked at the corpses covering the ground, and with a "Waa—" vomited on the spot.

Zhao Han did not personally intervene again, but instead carefully observed the situation.

Jiang Dashan — had courage, had brains, but because he was of a different surname, he was often isolated.

Huang Shun — had courage, but his actions were a bit rash; tenant farmers who refused to listen got punched and kicked directly. Yet he kept the bigger picture in mind; when Zhao Han was gathering men, he stopped the arson incident before coming over.

Huang Yao — a man of few words, steady and meticulous, strong self-control, strong execution, and held extremely high prestige in Huang Family Town.

If Zhao Han had not appeared and they had risen up on their own, Huang Yao would certainly have become the peasant army's leader.

"Master Zhao, save me!"

It was Old Master Huang's trusted household slave, Huang Sanshui. This fellow had somehow not been beaten to death, and now, face bruised and swollen, he crawled out begging for mercy.

Huang Shun strode swiftly over, planted a foot on his back, and stomped Huang Sanshui flat onto the ground: "Master Zhao, anyone else can be spared, but this Huang Sanshui alone cannot be let off."

Huang Yao and Jiang Dashan also walked over, one holding a carrying pole, the other gripping an iron spade, ready at any moment to beat Huang Sanshui to death.

Huang Sanshui cried out in terror: "Master Zhao, spare my life! I know where Huang Zundao's silver is hidden!"

Zhao Han smiled faintly: "Tie him up."

Zhang Tieniu, carrying his axe, headed this way with Chen Maosheng, a string of the old, weak, women, and children trailing behind them.

They had gathered all the survivors. As he walked, Chen Maosheng did ideological work: "My young master is kind-hearted, he stands up specially for those with a bitter lot. Don't be afraid; so long as you listen to the young master, the young master will protect you…"

Zhao Han swept his gaze over them and asked, "Is everyone here now?"

Of course no one was willing to leave. The tenant farmers and stonemasons were all still waiting for Master Zhao to distribute the land.

"Are you willing to listen to me?" Zhao Han asked.

Jiang Dashan suddenly dropped to his knees: "Everything is for Master Zhao to decide. We will all listen to Master Zhao!"

"We will all listen to Master Zhao!"

The crowd caught on and knelt in unison, all over the ground, hoping only that Zhao Han would make good on his promise to distribute the land.

Zhao Han barked: "All of you, stand up! I don't like people with soft knees."

Some people stood up, some remained kneeling, all gazing at Zhao Han with eager eyes, their minds filled with nothing but the land distribution.

Zhao Han pointed to an open space in the courtyard: "No rules were set before, so you killed recklessly, and I can't very well punish you for it. Now I set the first rule: hand over everything you looted, put it all there and wait for me to deal with it! Anyone who dares hide anything — if I have you searched and it's found, he gets no land!"

The crowd was terrified and hurriedly handed over their goods and money, afraid that Zhao Han would send someone to search them.

Zhao Han added: "Dashan, you count the number of tenant farmers. Maosheng, you count the Huang family members who are not yet dead."

The two moved at once. The tenant farmers (including the stonemasons) numbered 103 in total. The surviving Huang family members (including maids, serving women, and page boys) numbered 18 remaining.

There were also a few gravely wounded; whether they lived or died was entirely up to heaven. The town had only a third-rate physician.

Zhao Han announced: "Of Huang Zundao's landholdings, I will take out half to distribute. Priority goes to parceling out the fields you already tenant-farm, since the crops you planted are still in those fields."

Suddenly, one tenant farmer said, "Master Zhao, can we redistribute? My family tenants only low-grade fields."

"Right, my family's tenant fields are no good either," another tenant farmer chimed in.

Zhao Han said: "If you are allotted low-grade fields, I will give compensation as circumstances warrant, and allot you a bit more."

Hearing this, no one raised any further objections.

Zhao Han continued: "Those who rendered meritorious service today — Chen Maosheng, Zhang Tieniu, Huang Yao, Huang Shun, Jiang Dashan, Jiang Liang, Liu Zhu. Each of you may receive an extra two mu of land!"

"Many thanks, Master Zhao!" Huang Shun was overjoyed and hastily knelt.

The others who were rewarded also knelt one after another.

Jiang Liang and Liu Zhu were both men of different surnames who had followed Jiang Dashan across the river to fetch the stonemasons.

Zhao Han then also announced that those who had been the first to step forward and offer a pledge of loyalty — including that Huang Laoshi — could each receive an extra one mu of land.

Immediately another group knelt. Zhao Han could not even be bothered to tell them to get up.

The remaining tenant farmers were all overcome with regret, hating only their own foolishness. If they had followed Master Zhao and done his bidding earlier, wouldn't their families now have an extra mu or two of land?

Zhao Han said: "Tieniu, Huang Yao, take some men and go take control of the shops in town. Huang Zundao's shops — now they are all mine! Distributing the land need not be rushed; we measure the fields tomorrow. Today, get the name registers drawn up."

Zhang Tieniu and Huang Yao took their orders and left.

Zhao Han also sent Xiaohong and Xiaocui to comfort the old, weak, women, and children, and incidentally to screen for Huang Zundao's direct blood relatives and trusted henchmen.

Fetching brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, Pang Chunlai, covered all over in mud, sat down to register and record the names of those receiving land.

Xiaohong and Xiaocui's families, naturally, were also eligible to receive land.

Once the registers were complete, the crowd was jubilant, their spirits running high.

Zhao Han smiled and said: "The Huang family still has two big households — one is Second Master Huang, the other is Eldest Master Huang. If I go into the city on business someday, will those two ever let you off? If you don't want the land you've been allotted to be snatched back, then follow me and kill another round! Do you dare or not?"

"We dare!"

"We'll follow Master Zhao and do it!"

"…"

The crowd all roared in fury.

Zhao Han said: "No killing the old, the weak, the women… ahem, that is, no killing the elderly, no killing children, no killing women. Whoever dares kill recklessly again, I'll take his land back. Do you remember that?"

"Master Zhao, not even the landlord's whelps? What if they grow up and seek revenge?" a tenant farmer questioned.

Zhao Han answered: "Capture them first and hand them over to me to deal with!"

Outside the Huang family ancestral residence, many tenant farmers had already gathered — all drawn by the news and come to join the band.

Zhao Han led his men to kill their way to Second Master Huang's house. Those tenant farmers followed of their own accord, and along the road more kept joining in groups, so that by the time they arrived they had swelled to over two hundred.

Second Master Huang's household barred the main gate tightly and secretly sent someone to the county seat to report to the authorities.

Before Zhao Han could give the order, the tenant farmers began scaling the walls, and another round of burning, killing, and looting erupted.

The tenant farmers who had already received land did not run wild, but those who joined later paid no heed. Even though Zhao Han had stressed it repeatedly on the road, those fellows still started wantonly killing, terrified that leaving behind any spawn of the Huang line would bring future trouble.

There was also an Eldest Master Huang. Without Zhao Han even needing to take the lead, the tenant farmers who rose up on their own robbed and killed him clean.

The Three Huangs of the town were exterminated to the last.

And over sixty percent of the tenant farmers who took part in the looting and killing were themselves surnamed Huang, sharing a single common ancestor several centuries back.

Even stranger, Zhao Han had not moved against Eldest Master Huang. Yet after those spontaneously risen tenant farmers had stripped Eldest Master Huang bare, they took the initiative to search out the title deeds and present them to Zhao Han.

They were afraid of trouble — afraid the officials would investigate.

Therefore, Master Zhao had to step forward and bear the brunt. Master Zhao would eat the meat; the tenant farmers were willing to drink the broth. From now on, they would simply be Master Zhao's servants.

Zhao Han was utterly speechless at this and could only distribute land to the tenant farmers who rose up later.

But these tenant farmers received smaller plots — a kind of disguised punishment. Those who disobeyed had to be punished!

"Master Zhao, there's still a Master Li over to the northwest. Let's all go together, rob him, and divide the land!" Huang Shun came running over beaming to propose this. That fellow had already tasted the sweetness of land division.

Zhao Han laughed. "No hurry."

The Li clan was also a major surname in the town, making up about twenty percent of the population. One of their ancestors had produced a jinshi.

However, the Li clan's territory backed onto the hills, a poor location, and much of their land was mountain plots. They occupied vast tracts of forested hills and, besides farming, also burned charcoal to sell to passing merchants.

The Li clan could be left alone — a point of comparison, to let the peasants on his own side see just how fortunate they were.

Fortune is always a matter of comparison.

But Zhao Han had miscalculated. News of the Three Huangs' extermination reached the northwest that very afternoon.

Toward evening, countless Li tenant farmers, on their own, exterminated Master Li's entire household, then came bearing the title deeds to offer them to Zhao Han, begging Master Zhao to preside over dividing the property and land.

Their leader was called Li Zheng, a charcoal burner of the Li household. The charcoal burners formed the main force of this uprising.

"Master Zhao, the title deeds are all here — not a single mu of land has been touched," Li Zheng said, kneeling and kowtowing. "We beg Master Zhao to uphold justice and divide all the property among us poor, suffering folk!"

"Brother Li, please rise. I guarantee fairness." Zhao Han had no choice but to accept.

Of all this property, Zhao Han could keep half for himself, which would make him the largest landlord in Huang Family Town.

Half would be taken out and distributed to those who had taken part in the uprising.

The remaining half would belong to Zhao Han and could be rented out to ordinary farming households. As long as he reduced rents and interest, he would win the tenant farmers' support and be a benevolent, kindhearted good master.

He had to admit it — Zhao Han had tasted the sweetness too, and was even somewhat addicted.

But Zhao Han quickly sobered up.

These peasants, by voluntarily presenting the plundered land, were simply making Zhao Han shoulder the pressure from the authorities.

If he could not shoulder it, everything was finished.

He had to use the land as a bond, to meld the peasants into a single whole.

Establish rules, gather the people's hearts, organize them into ranks, make rewards and punishments clear.

What use was holding so much land himself?

From now on, when rewarding merit, small merit would be rewarded with money, great merit with land. He would not mind giving away all his own land.

As long as an external threat remained, these peasants would be bound to him.

Peasants who had received land would not easily compromise with the authorities.

Moreover, if the events in Huang Family Town spread to neighboring villages and towns, others might well seize the chance to rise up.

Peasant uprisings were like a plague — terrifying once they erupted.

Take southern Fujian, for example. A great landlord surnamed Shi exploited without restraint. The peasants outside the prefectural seat could only endure; they sold their children, hanged themselves, and still dared not resist.

In the early years of Chongzhen, peasants suddenly rose up. Several hundred stormed the landlord's compound, exterminated Master Shi's entire household, and divided the land.

Once the news spread, it was like a single spark setting the prairie ablaze.

Nan'an, Anxi, Yongchun, Dehua, Changtai, Youxi, Datian, Yongfu, Minqing, Xianyou — across prefectures and departments, they rose one after another, seizing over a dozen departments and counties within a month.

It was a pity they were all spontaneous uprisings. The peasant armies were a heap of loose sand and were wiped out by government troops within half a year.

After sweeping and scrubbing clean the Huang family ancestral residence, Zhao Han moved in that very night, taking Huang Sanshui in custody to fetch Master Huang's silver.

(Thanks to echoss, Dragon Soars Ascending, Bright Bright Moon Sword Flying, and Hello Mr. Fu for the alliance-leader tips. Also, I just noticed Spirit Emperor Dan is a grandmaster of this book — thanks to His Majesty the Spirit Emperor for gracing us.)

(End of chapter)