Jinting Han people

Chapter 183: The First Rebellion of Yuankang (4k)

In April of the fourth year of the Yuankang reign, the Zhang River outside Lu County flowed quietly. Spring had been uneventful, and it looked like this would be a good year, with crops faring better than in previous years. The city walls and the countryside were filled with the chirping of sparrows, and numerous blue and pink lilacs were in full bloom.

In such a quiet environment, it stands to reason that there should be many merchants traveling on the official road of Lu County, because this city is the county seat of Shangdang County, the most dangerous stronghold in Fukou Xing, and the core connecting Bingzhou and Jizhou Yecheng.

In previous summers, this place would have been bustling with people, a constant stream of people, the sound of people everywhere. But now, aside from a few small vendors at the Luxian market, the official road was deserted, as if this checkpoint led not to a major national city but to a desolate desert.

Shangdang Governor Sun Yuan was very dissatisfied with this situation. Although he knew that he was partly responsible for the decline of the trade route, perhaps even the main responsibility, he also knew that the Hu people in the county were also to blame for the current situation.

Collecting taxes is inevitable everywhere. Isn't it just a small tax collected from the Hu people? Yet, some dared to defy the government and cause trouble. From the end of the third year of the Yuankang reign to this April, nearly six months have passed. Hu people have been fleeing every month, spreading the word that the government is levying heavy taxes and refusing to let them live. This has left them with nowhere to go. Even if they are loyal to the court, they will rebel just to make a living.

No one knew who had said this at first, but once it was out, it spread all over Shangdang County. Even General Liu Hong of Ningshuo in Yanmen received the news and came to question the governor Sun Yuan about what was going on.

Sun Yuan's reply to Liu Hong was: This is all fabricated. Although there are indeed a small number of Hu people who disobey discipline, this is normal. In fact, several Hu leaders are secretly condoning and spreading rumors in order to raise their own values and achieve the purpose of tax exemption.

Sun Yuan wrote this, and deep down, he truly believed it. After all, Shangdang lay to the north, bordered by the Bingzhou Governor's Office and the Ningshu General's Office. To the south, beyond Tianjing Pass, lay Henei Commandery, and across the river bridge, Luoyang. To the east lay Yecheng and the Zhendong Military Commandery. To the west, separated by high mountains, the Zhengxi Military Commandery remained. In such a central location, surrounded by numerous military forces, who would dare rebel? He knew this, and so he acted with impunity in Shangdang.

But the current situation was indeed a bit out of control. Ever since the tax increase at Taihang Pass, also known as Tianjing Pass, last year, rumors had spread far too quickly. It seemed as if all the residents of Shangdang County were discussing this matter. Even within the Shangdang County government, Sun Yuan could often hear the officials whispering:

"Is it really okay to continue like this? If the Hu people really rebel, the county doesn't have many soldiers!"

"Yeah, there are tens of thousands of them. What will happen if they start a commotion?!"

According to the decree issued by Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin, after the destruction of Wu, all counties except those in the frontier regions were to be disbanded, with the exception of the various military headquarters and military governorships. Shangdang was no exception, with only a hundred or so county soldiers in each county. Shangdang County, with a total of ten counties, had only a thousand soldiers. Furthermore, due to the long period of peace, the county had no fighting capacity.

But Sun Yuan couldn't help but scoff when he heard this, and scolded his men: "What is there to be afraid of? Not to mention that everything is fine now, even if there is trouble! What can these barbarians accomplish?"

"I've heard that the Xianbei in Liangzhou and Youzhou can cause trouble, but I've never heard of anything the Xiongnu can accomplish."

"They are just a bunch of homeless dogs living in China. Not skinning them and eating their meat is already a great act of kindness on my part!"

Therefore, in the face of such remarks, Sun Yuan did not retreat but advanced. He issued an order in the county government to summon all the leaders of the Hu tribes, big and small, in Shangdang County, about forty people, to the county government in Lu County, to let these people know the power of the court.

That very day, they all arrived. Among them were imperially appointed Xiongnu commanders like Hao San and smaller commanders of Afule's rank. They stood in front of the county government in silence, each accompanied by four or five guards, their faces gloomy.

Upon hearing that everyone had arrived, Sun Yuan ordered the county soldiers to keep the guards outside, then disarmed the leaders and led them into the main hall. He himself wore an extremely luxurious purple silk robe with a gold-threaded cloud pattern, held a feather fan in imitation of Zhuge Liang's style, twirled his beard, and sat at the head of the group with a leisurely manner. He did not speak immediately, but instead scanned the group with what he considered to be a dignified look, making them stand for a while. Then he reprimanded Hao San, the leader, and said:

"Master Hao, there are rumors everywhere now that some of you are planning a rebellion. Do you know that?"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a commotion in the venue, and the middle-aged man in the lead raised his hand and the voice dropped again. He was Hao San, the commander of the Huns' rear army.

Hao San is tall and strong, but his appearance is rather dull and plain. The most distinctive feature is that the corners of his eyes are strangely shaped, like a fish tail, and slightly sunken in the middle, which emphasizes his simple and strong temperament.

But in front of Sun Yuan, he had to hunch his back and lower his head and answered:

"Lord Sun, you know this is just a rumor. We have been settled in Shangdang for three generations, over fifty years. We have always abided by the law and have never had any trouble. I hope Lord Sun will understand this."

But this didn't satisfy Sun Yuan. Instead, it filled him with contempt. He thought indignantly, "Yes, for over fifty years, these barbarians have accomplished nothing but slavery. Yet others don't understand this. Just because of this little rumor, my clean official reputation has been tarnished. What a disgrace!"

This anger and contempt brewed within him for a moment, then quickly turned into sarcasm and ridicule. "Haha, Lord Hao is quite good at taking advantage of others. Rumors? Regardless of whether they are rumors or not, even if they are rumors, they don't come out of thin air. If you hadn't done something against the court, how could these rumors arise?"

Sun Yuan's attitude was quite aggressive, but Hao San, who lowered his head, remained unmoved. He stood there like a stone statue, and continued to ask in a muffled voice:

"What did Lord Sun say? I don't quite understand."

"Don't understand? Are you really confused or are you pretending not to understand?" Sun Yuan sneered in front of the forty or so barbarians, pointing his finger at them one by one, and then said, "You people, don't pretend to be confused with me."

"In the past two years, how many people have violated the rules and fled north? How many have entered the mountains and forests without permission? I don't care. As an official appointed by the court, I still treat you as citizens of my Great Jin."

"But what about you? You've repeatedly disobeyed the imperial decrees, evaded the checkpoints, and smuggled salt and iron. Do you think I don't know? I don't want to say anything bad about you, but you're a bunch of pig-eating bastards! You even allow your subordinates to spread rumors? Do you think I'm afraid?"

A Hu leader tried to defend himself, saying, "Your Excellency has misunderstood..."

Sun Yuan decisively interrupted, "Come on! I don't want to hear any explanations right now! I'm only giving you one last chance. Right now, right here, all of you, give me a list of the people who spread the rumors. Once you've written it down, I'll send someone with the list to your department to arrest everyone one by one!"

"If you've arrested everyone and the rumors have stopped, you can go back. If you've arrested everyone but the rumors haven't stopped, you'll stay here and keep writing! Keep arresting people until the situation calms down!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he stopped looking at the Hu people on the field. He stood up and pointed, and seven or eight county soldiers surrounded him with swords and guns, saying that they would take these Hu people to the prison in the county government.

The scene was quite funny. These Hu leaders were all tall and strong, none of them was shorter than seven feet, and the county soldiers were few in number. They were holding these people with their swords, just like a fox guarding a tiger.

But Hao San, the leader, said nothing, and neither did the other leaders, who were simply escorted away. This only made Sun Yuan despise them from the bottom of his heart, thinking: How dare such people spread rumors of rebellion? Even if I put a knife in their hands and stretched out my neck for them to kill, they would only kneel and beg for mercy.

Was Sun Yuan's suspicion true? Were the Hu people truly so despicable as to be ignorant of honor and disgrace? What followed would reveal the answer. The group of Hu people were taken into a large wing east of the county government office. Immediately, county officials brought them writing brushes, inkstones, and paper, and ordered them to confess.

A Hu man named Wudousou handed the county official a gold cake and pleaded, "Please tell our guards to remember to sell the mountain products they brought to the outskirts of the city. The department is counting on these to exchange for food!"

The county official couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "It's already this hour, and you're still thinking about selling mountain products, what a monkey from the mountains!" But for the sake of the golden cake, he agreed, nodded, closed the door, asked the six guards to keep it under control, and then left.

As soon as the county official left, the atmosphere in the room changed. Some leaders stood by the door, pretending to loudly accuse each other, but in fact they were trying to find out what was happening outside the door and cover up for the people inside.

Another group of people gathered together around a table with papers spread out on it, grinding ink to write on the papers while whispering to each other in very low voices.

Bu Zhixian of the Huguan Xiongnu laughed and cursed, "The old thief is really out of his mind today. I thought he would use some tricks, but the result is pure terror..."

Upon hearing this, Gaodu Zahu Jinxiu also revealed a look of disdain and said, "He is just like that. He thinks he has connections with the court and treats us as grasshoppers, thinking he can crush us to death with one foot. That's why we don't bother to be on guard. Otherwise, we wouldn't dare to come here."

The eldest son, the Jieren Qiao Hu, could hardly conceal his excitement. He asked Hao San beside him, "Sir, this bastard official never thought we would rebel. Is this uprising a sure thing?"

Listening to his subordinates' noise, Hao San's face remained calm. He only raised his head and glanced around, and the people around him quieted down again. He then lowered his head to write again, and while writing he said slowly:

"It's not time to be happy yet. No one knows what accidents may happen before things are done."

"You old thief have disrupted our plans again this time. We originally agreed to start the uprising in Tunliu five days later, but now we are forced to change the location and time to here. I don't even know how many people from each of your factions have come. Let's check the numbers first."

"From left to right, please speak one by one."

As soon as the words fell, everyone's expressions suddenly became solemn, and they immediately reported the people they brought with them.

Just as Afule had said before, this time, except for a few isolated tribes, there were a total of forty-seven tribes involved in the uprising. The largest had more than four thousand people, and the smallest had only more than two hundred people. But when they gathered together, there were more than thirty thousand young and strong people, and they were now converging from all directions to the vicinity of Lu County.

Hearing that no one was absent as planned, Hao San's expression eased slightly. He asked, "Do you still remember the time of the uprising?"

Everyone answered in unison: "Today is the hour of You, the moment of sunset."

Hao San asked again: "Where is the signal for the uprising?"

The crowd replied, "Shoot four arrows into the sky and light three bonfires."

"Okay!" Hao San nodded. "When we hear the sound of arrows, we'll charge out and capture that old thief Sun Yuan. After we reunite with our brothers, we'll skin him first and then kill his entire family!"

Everyone cheered in unison, and no one asked what to do without weapons, because they all knew that there were only six soldiers in front of the door, while they had more than forty people. Could it be that the Hu people were really so afraid of swords?

While they were discussing this, the guards outside the gate had already received the order. Unanimously, the two hundred or so guards headed towards the market. The so-called "selling mountain products" actually meant meeting up with the market on the outskirts of the city.

Meanwhile, in the mountains and forests south and north of Lu County, a large undercurrent was secretly lurking. No, it wasn't an undercurrent anymore. The mountain paths, official roads, and the countryside were already teeming with the approaching Hu people. This was the day they had decided to vent their anger; there was no need to hide it.

Farmers witnessing these scenes in the fields outside the county were first bewildered, then terrified. They were clearly reminded of the long-standing rumors circulating in Shangdang County, realizing that a rebellion was imminent. However, they chose not to rush to Lu County to inform the county government. Instead, they hurriedly locked their gates and cautiously watched the crowds from the courtyard walls.

Because they knew that there was no way Sun Yuan could withstand this raging wave.

In fact, the agreed time had not yet arrived, but the county soldiers patrolling outside the county had already discovered something was wrong. They began to subconsciously scold the gathered Hu people, wanting them to disperse, probably thinking that this would ensure the safety of the county government.

But in reality, they were surrounded by a sea of barbarians and were so small and insignificant.

At this time, the county soldiers saw the Hu people guards gathered in the market and immediately shouted at them: "What are you doing here? Are you planning a rebellion?!"

Just as he finished speaking, an arrow shot out from the crowd and hit the neck of the county soldier who was shouting angrily. The county soldier covered his neck, and the pain immediately distorted his expression, causing him to fall to the ground.

The scene suddenly fell into dead silence, and everyone looked at each other in confusion.

At this time, someone shouted: "We are going to rebel! How about it?"

Under the setting sun, a huge wave of noise suddenly arose from the crowd, covering the entire Lu County.

Next, there was a vast sea of people, and then there was a raging fire.

The ancient city began to bear new scars.

A Fule sat on the hilltop, a grass root in his mouth, gazing at the scene from afar. The crowd was like ants, the flames like waves. He couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "Oh my! Is this the first fire of the Yuankang period?"

The smoke of gunpowder carved a huge scar in the sky. He stood up, holding his bamboo hat, and turned over to the Black Dragon Horse. He lowered the brim of his hat and muttered to himself, "It's not beautiful enough."

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(End of this chapter)