Having unified the thinking of the young and strong men of Jade Emperor Mountain and adopted the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention, Zhu Xiaosong was busy reorganizing these youths.
After all, it was a rebellion, and if these youths were not organized into an army, there would be no talk of expansion later, let alone sending the "Ten Perfect Old Dog" to meet his ancestors.
However, before Zhu Xiaosong could sort out the affairs on Jade Emperor Mountain, the news of the deaths of Liu Juren and other local gentry and scholars reached the ears of Hao Liangcai, the magistrate of Ningyang County.
As everyone knows, our Great Qing Dynasty is a land of peace and prosperity, with twelve emperors who are all sagacious rulers, and officials who are loyal to the country and love the people like their own children.
Therefore, upon hearing that there were bandits in his jurisdiction who dared to kill people and turn to banditry, Magistrate Hao, who was usually unperturbed even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, was furious.
Magistrate Hao paced back and forth, angrily scolding the advisor and the three captains of the yamen: "Who among you can tell this official, where did this Zhu Xiaosong come from! Hmm?"
"Liu Juren of Liumiao Village, Liu Xiucai of Shawo Village, Master Geng of Gengzhuang, Master Yan of Zhujiazhuang, four esteemed local gentry and scholars, plus the masters of the four villages, all exterminated!"
"In the 150 years since our Great Qing was founded, Ningyang County has never had such a heinous case! You! How am I supposed to report this to my superiors!"
Perhaps not having vented enough of his anger, Magistrate Hao, who had intended to return to his desk, suddenly stopped. He turned around and shouted, "Let me tell you, if I'm unlucky, you will definitely be unluckier than me!"
This damn fellow is too much. If only you had waited another year—His Majesty is about to make his sixth tour of Jiangnan, and you, you son of a bitch, are killing people and turning to banditry at this critical juncture. You're trying to kill me!
Seeing the county magistrate in a fit of rage, Advisor Liu Yijie stroked his beard and chuckled softly. After exchanging a glance with the three captains, he bowed and said, "Your Honor, do not worry, it is merely a rebel. Perhaps it will be your achievement?"
Magistrate Hao became even angrier, staring at Advisor Liu with a displeased expression: "A rebel? Merely a few bandits, and you call them rebels? Don't you know what time it is! If rebels appear in my jurisdiction, it becomes an achievement? Are you trying to fool me into thinking I'm a fool?"
Advisor Liu said obsequiously, "Your Honor, please calm your anger, calm your anger, and let your humble student explain slowly."
Hao Liangcai grunted angrily. Advisor Liu continued, "Your Honor, think about it. If Zhu Xiaosong even exterminated the Masters, how would the Prefect view it? How would the Governor view it?"
"If His Majesty had already left the capital, then this Zhu Xiaosong would indeed be merely an ignorant bandit. But hasn't His Majesty not yet left the capital?"
"Therefore, the current situation is that the rebel Zhu Xiaosong has suddenly risen up, wanting to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming. However, under the care and guidance of the Governor and the Prefect, you, Your Honor, have been wise and valiant. You did not shy away from the danger and led the local militia to fight bravely, finally annihilating the rebels before His Majesty's southern tour."
"What is this? This is a great achievement, Your Honor! The merit of annihilating rebels, even if it cannot change your official robe's pheasant emblem to a golden pheasant or peacock, it can at least be changed to a white pheasant or skylark."
Magistrate Hao's expression softened, and he asked, "So, you mean we have to suppress the rebellion?"
Advisor Liu nodded and bowed, "Your Honor, it is indeed necessary to suppress the rebellion! Although Zhu Xiaosong has caused quite a stir, Zhu Xiaosong is, after all, from a humble background. No matter how much he causes trouble, he is just that."
"Captain Liu, Captain Wang, and Captain Li are all seasoned veterans. Dealing with a mere Zhu Xiaosong, isn't that a piece of cake?"
Hao Liangcai finally grunted, sat back in his chair, and after a brief calculation, ordered, "In that case, I entrust this matter to you. The deadline is only three days. Make sure you handle it carefully for me."
Advisor Liu first nodded and bowed in assent, then took two steps forward and whispered in Hao Liangcai's ear, "Your Honor, as the saying goes, the emperor does not mistreat his soldiers, especially with a deadline of only three days. To annihilate the rebel Zhu..."
Hao Liangcai narrowed his eyes and asked, "What is your plan?"
Advisor Liu said obsequiously, "Your Honor, the matter of suppressing bandits is an act of protecting the borders and pacifying the people. Should not the gentry and people of Ningyang County also contribute?"
Hao Liangcai grunted and ordered, "Send an invitation to those few local gentry in the city later. Tell them that Your Honor has important matters and wishes to host them for a banquet. The rest, I entrust it to you to handle."
Advisor Liu nodded and bowed in assent once more, then, along with the three captains, bowed and took their leave. As soon as they exited the main hall, Advisor Liu straightened his back and looked at the three captains, saying, "Do you all know what to do?"
Captain Liu chuckled and said, "Do we follow the old rules?"
Advisor Liu snorted, "Old rules? The previous times were to suppress nonexistent bandits. This time, there are actual bandits. Can it be the same?"
Captain Liu bowed obsequiously and said, "Then shall we add another twenty percent?"
Advisor Liu glanced at Captain Liu and said, "Fifty percent! Twenty percent will go to His Lordship, you take ten percent for drinks, and the remaining fifty percent will go to the public."
After the three captains bowed in assent, Advisor Liu seemed to recall something. He called back the three captains who were bowing and leaving, saying, "This time, let's not ask those villagers for shoe money or entertainment money. If we push them all to that traitor Zhu Xiaosong, we will be the ones to suffer in the end. Do you all understand?"
Captain Liu replied, "Your Honor, rest assured, my brothers understand."
After leaving the county yamen, Captain Wang suddenly spat and said, "He's truly a scumbag! His Lordship bought his position with real money, and we earned ours through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. What is this son of a bitch? He gets a twenty percent benefit without doing anything, and he's not afraid of choking to death!"
Captain Li also spat hatefully, saying, "This son of a bitch is too much! And he's giving us a three-day deadline! If he pisses me off, I'll just defect to that Zhu Xiaosong!"
Captain Liu, who had been silent, scowled and rebuked, "What nonsense are you talking about! What do you mean, 'just defect to that Zhu Xiaosong'? Remember this, it's still daylight, and we are government soldiers, not bandits robbing houses!"
After reprimanding Captain Li, Captain Liu's expression softened slightly, and he said, "The deadline is not a big deal. They are just some common folk anyway. I'll gather the brothers, and we can annihilate them in a day."
Captain Wang, however, said, "What if we can't annihilate them? As the art of war says, before considering victory, consider defeat. Zhu Xiaosong swept through four villages in just one day and took tens of thousands of people with him. This shows that he is a capable person. What if we can't annihilate them...?"
Captain Liu sneered, "Who decides whether they are annihilated or not? Is it His Lordship? Or is it Advisor Liu? In the end, isn't it up to us brothers?"
Seeing that Captain Li and Captain Wang did not react, Captain Liu continued, "His Lordship doesn't want Zhu Xiaosong to be annihilated, but to quell the rebellion before His Majesty's tour of Jiangnan."
"Therefore, whether Zhu Xiaosong can be annihilated is actually not important. It's best if he can be annihilated, but it's not a big deal if he can't. As long as the 'rebel' is 'annihilated' before His Majesty's tour of Jiangnan."
Hearing Captain Liu draw out the words "rebel" and "annihilated," Captain Li and Captain Wang also came to their senses.
It makes sense. As long as the "rebel" is annihilated, does it matter how he is annihilated?
Heads? There are heads everywhere. We can casually grab a couple from anywhere, shave off their queues, and who would dare say they are not the rebel Zhu Xiaosong? If you say they aren't, have you seen the real Zhu Xiaosong? Have you seen Zhu Xiaosong? Then are you his accomplice? Officer, I don't think you're a good person!
As for the future... after the rebel Zhu is "annihilated," His Lordship should be promoted and prosper. Even if another rebel like Zhu Dajinshan or Dashong appears later, what does it have to do with us brothers? The new His Lordship will still have to rely on us to understand how to govern!
After figuring it out, Captain Li gave a thumbs-up and praised, "Captain Liu is truly brilliant! I admire you! I admire you!"
Captain Liu, however, said, "Don't rush to admire me. When suppressing bandits, we must suppress them first, so that Zhu Xiaosong knows who rules Ningyang County!"
After Captain Li and Captain Wang agreed, Captain Li, who was the weakest among the three, cautiously asked, "Then shall I go to Shawo Village first?"
Captain Liu glanced at Captain Li and nodded, "This time I will go to Gengzhuang, Captain Wang will go to Shawo and Zhujiazhuang, and you will go to Liumiao Village. How much oil you can scrape off will depend on your abilities."
Captain Li was overjoyed, even a little incredulous.
As the saying goes, the fast yamen runners are the strongest constables. Captain Liu, as the captain of the fast constables, held the horse runners and foot runners, and his position was the highest among the three. Captain Wang, holding the constables, was also stronger than himself, the captain of the constables.
Among the four villages, Liumiao Village was the largest, followed by Gengzhuang, and then Shawo Village and Huojiazhuang. Normally, no matter what, it would not be his turn to scrape oil from Liumiao.
Now Captain Liu was willing to give up Liumiao Village. This clearly showed that he was looking out for him!
It was not in vain that he had given Captain Liu money a few days ago!
Of course, if there was any regret... it was that the village chiefs and squad leaders of these villages had all been killed. It was not as convenient to make money as usual.
This matter had to start with the Baojia system and the gentry like Liu Juren.
According to the regulations of the Great Qing, every ten households established a village head, every ten village heads established a squad leader, and ten squads established a thousand-household chief. Each保(bao) was assigned its original township and village boundaries, or several townships and villages were merged into one保. Each household was issued a printed card stating the number of people in the household, their occupation, and any movements of people going out or guests visiting. Households were jointly responsible for each other, and if one family committed a crime, the other households were held accountable according to the law.
What was even more frustrating was that the Baojia system was also responsible for maintaining local order, reporting all illegal and disorderly phenomena within the squad, mediating disputes, participating in disaster relief, propagating laws, educating the people, and collecting taxes.
This led to the situation where Baojia members were not officials but held power. If reputation was disregarded, and they held power, why would they not have money?
Although the "Deaf Dog" (referring to the emperor) stipulated that the village heads should be replaced annually and the squad leaders every three years, as the saying goes, there is always a countermeasure to every policy. The regulations of the "Deaf Dog" naturally became the buttocks of a turtle, and no one paid any attention to them.
It was precisely based on this that the village heads, squad leaders, and their subordinates in the 保 of Liumiao, Gengzhuang, and other four villages were basically the private guards of the local gentry.
As Liu Juren and other local gentry were exterminated by Zhu Xiaosong, the squad leaders and village heads in these four villages also died.
This meant that Captain Li's idea of making money through those village heads and squad leaders was completely out of the question.
However, it didn't matter. Without those village heads and squad leaders, new ones could be appointed. As long as they could scrape a little from each household in Liumiao Village, they would surely have a prosperous new year!
Thinking of this, Captain Li's heart burned with excitement. After making an appointment with Captain Liu and Captain Wang to have drinks another day, he hurried away to prepare to gather his men and head to Liumiao Village.
Looking at Captain Li's hurried departure, Captain Wang couldn't help but spit and asked Captain Liu, "Captain Liu?"
Captain Liu sneered and said, "What's the hurry? Since Zhu Xiaosong can cause such a big commotion, he is likely not an easy opponent. Let him go and scout the way first."