There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 64: The Bad County Magistrate
"Master, the rebels are coming!"

Magistrate Zhang Yi of Gong'an was playing with birds in the inner courtyard of the county government office. He really had nothing to do. The towns and villages under his jurisdiction either sided with the bandits or simply ignored the county government office.

As soon as he heard that the rebels were coming, Zhang Yi immediately put down the birdcage and went to the city wall to check the situation.

When we got to the city wall, we saw many bandits in red clothes coming in one after another, and red flags embroidered with Chinese characters were fluttering in the wind.

Gong'an County was a small county, so it also did not have a county magistrate or a chief clerk as assistant officials, but only a registrar as an assistant.

"Sir, the rebels are coming. How should we repel them?" asked the Public Security Dianshi.

Zhang Yi sighed inwardly upon hearing this. He felt like a complete wretch. He had been the magistrate of Gong'an County since the 58th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign. While it wasn't a lucrative position, it was still a real appointment. According to the Qing Dynasty custom of conducting a three-year inspection of county magistrates, he should be able to report back to Beijing this year. After that, all he needed to do was spend money and build connections to secure an excellent performance evaluation.

Who could have imagined that there would be a rebel in Jingzhou, and that he just happened to rebel at the end of last year.

Even if this traitor can only endure it, it will be fine if he rebels this year!

When Zhang Yi first heard about the rebellion, he was terrified for several months. He asked the governor of Wuchang for help, but no one paid any attention to him.

As time went on, Zhang Yi gave up completely. He was not a bookworm who had become stupid from studying. He knew that he had been abandoned. It would be a miracle if he was not abandoned since he was so close to the rebels.

He just played with birds and had fun every day, doing no real work. Even his lawyer was fired. When there were thieves in the towns and villages under his jurisdiction, he pretended not to see them and managed to get away with it until the beginning of this year.

The rebels have finally arrived, and the days of suffering are over!

Zhang Yi said with great sorrow and indignation, "Since assuming this position, I have worked diligently and diligently, not daring to slack off even a little. I thought I could report back to the capital this year, but I didn't expect to suffer this unprovoked disaster."

After hearing these words, the Dianshi and a group of county clerks were speechless.

They are here to ask what to do, not to listen to you complain to yourself and grumble to God.

"Sir, even if it is an unprovoked disaster, it is now a catastrophe. We should immediately open the granaries to release grain and recruit soldiers to defend the city!" The Public Security Dianshi said with a stiff face.

Zhang Yi turned around and said expressionlessly, "How can we defend the city? This county doesn't have the authority to recruit soldiers. Recruiting without authorization is tantamount to rebellion. Besides, the little food in the Changping granary is not enough for us to recruit soldiers to stop the rebels."

"Sir, we have to make do in an emergency. Even if the granary is not enough, we can raise funds from the wealthy families in the city to donate grain." A clerk suggested.

"Asking the rich for money?" Zhang Yi sneered. "If they were willing to pay, the rebels wouldn't have grown so powerful so quickly. These people are traitors to the country. They only care about their own selfish interests and have no country or family."

"Sir, I remember that the rebels seemed to have sent a letter of persuasion for surrender..." The Public Security Dianshi suddenly mentioned it.

Zhang Yi immediately shouted angrily, "Shut up! Those are traitors who have no respect for their country and no respect for their fathers. Seeing the rebels, they don't think about serving their country, but instead just want to survive. They even try to use their friendship as classmates to persuade our county to surrender to the rebels. It's ridiculous!"

"Since this county receives the emperor's salary, it is our duty to be loyal to the country!"

After saying this, he flicked his sleeves and walked down from the city wall, leaving the county clerks, including the registrar, looking at each other in bewilderment.

My goodness, their grandfather is really hard to describe!
A clerk asked, "Master, the master is gone. What should we do now?"

The Public Security Dianshi was also feeling a bit troubled. "The only difficulty in the history of the world is death. Master, you are determined to die. I am afraid that when the city falls, Master will die for the Qing Dynasty. What a shame! He is not even afraid of death, but he dare not recruit soldiers to defend the city, and he dare not ask the wealthy for money."

The clerk then asked, "So, should we recruit soldiers to defend the city now, and then ask the wealthy for money?"

"What kind of soldiers are you recruiting?"

The Public Security Dianshi shouted, "If the master doesn't recruit soldiers, how can we recruit soldiers? Even if we act according to the emergency, we are exceeding our authority. Even if we defend the city, the higher-ups won't forgive us later." "What about us?"

"Let's wait and see!"

"..."

The county magistrate gave up and no one took responsibility. The registrar also did not dare to act recklessly. What if he really managed to defend the county and was later liquidated by the rich?
The Dianshi was different from these clerks. Although he was a low-ranking assistant official, he was also an official of high rank. Like the county magistrate, he was an official appointed by the court after being selected by the Ministry of Personnel and approved by the emperor.

This cannot be taken lightly!

The county magistrate was determined to die and was ready to give up everything. The registrar also became a hands-off boss and did not want to take any responsibility.

What else can the clerks do? Just let it go!
For several days, Gong'an County neither opened the city walls to surrender nor recruited soldiers to defend the city. Only a few yamen runners and Qing soldiers were trembling with fear on the city wall, watching the movements of the Han army every day, and then going back to report to the masters in the yamen.

Well, it’s really just a report.

Because this clerk, along with the registrar, and a large group of people were gathered in the front hall of the yamen, staring at the simple map of the county town on the table, and they couldn't say a word for a long time.

Without soldiers, money, and food, how can we defend the city?
And there was no way to defend the city. Just based on the number of Han soldiers reported by the yamen runners and the density of the tents, there must be at least thousands of them.

A county town is different from a provincial capital. Although the county magistrate is known as the Marquis of Baili, the actual county town can accommodate very few people. The total population of most county towns is around 10,000, and it also includes the people living around the city walls, who are also counted in the city population.

The majority of a county's population actually lives in the towns and villages below.

It can be said that even if all the young and strong people in the city were gathered together now, there would be at most one or two thousand people.

"What are the rebels doing now?" asked a clerk.

The reporting yamen runner said, "I don't know, but we saw many civilians in the outer city helping the Han soldiers outside the city build their tents, and it seemed that some merchants were transporting food to the Han soldiers."

The Dianshi didn't care that the yamen runner had mistaken the rebels for Han soldiers. He asked in surprise, "Sending all the food to Han soldiers? Are all those merchants collaborating with the rebels?"

The reporting yamen runner shook his head: "It shouldn't be. I saw those Han soldiers seemed to have given money. The merchants also said after they came back that they were selling food to the Han soldiers and charging according to the market price. They even said that if we open the city and surrender now, we can be spared..."

"Go down!" The registrar raised his hand and didn't let the other party finish his words.

After the yamen runners left, the Dianshi's trusted clerk asked, "Master, are we really going to resist the Han soldiers?"

The Dianshi and the county magistrate both receive salaries from the emperor, and they are officials in other places. Their families, wives and children are not here, so they are hesitant and dare not surrender. But what does this have to do with them?
These clerks basically came from the local clerk system. They had reached the top of their careers and could not even think of becoming officials, but they still had stable jobs, with their sons inheriting the family business.

The county magistrate was determined to die. Since the Han soldiers arrived, he had never left the county government office. The registrar was also hesitant. He didn't want to die, but he didn't dare to surrender, so he could only stay there.

The Han soldiers outside were also busy. They built camps to surround the city and continued to raid the landlords in the countryside.

Those grassroots officials who were brought in have been dispersed to several towns and villages in Gong'an County, and all of them have been appointed as town mayors.

These towns will not be merged or relocated for the time being, and will continue to maintain their original secondary township divisions. After that, it will be customary to split up the large landlords, distribute land to tenants, and prohibit slavery.

Those landlords seemed to have inquired in advance and were very cooperative. When a few local tyrants and evil gentry gathered together to resist, a battalion of soldiers was dispatched to suppress them easily, and they also made an example of them to scare the monkeys.

The siege lasted only a few days before all the towns and villages surrounding the county were swept and recaptured by Han soldiers.

Gong'an County has completely become an isolated city!
　I'm so tired from working today! Didn't I just have a holiday?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)