Top Scholar

Chapter 154 Triumph
On the first day of the first lunar month in the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, Hejiang County welcomed a brand new year.

A faint smell of gunpowder filled the air, and the streets were covered with red carpets of firecracker debris. Every household was adorned with festive couplets and brightly colored peachwood charms. Men, women, and children, dressed in their finest clothes, went out to exchange New Year's greetings with great joy.

The elders of the Su family, along with the younger students, climbed the city wall and gazed worriedly at the vast river.

Su Lu and Su Man were among them. They had been waiting there since before dawn. They saw charred ship planks floating downstream, and occasionally floating corpses, but they were too far away to tell which side they belonged to.

But without a doubt, the campaign to suppress bandits at Shangbaisha began as scheduled...

Did the plan succeed? How did the battle go? Will we encounter fierce resistance? Are my father and brothers safe and sound? I'm so worried!

Both men wanted to join the army that day, but were sternly refused by their clansmen. Not only them, but all the young scholars, such as Su Dan and Su Lang who had just been admitted to the academy, were also denied the opportunity to go.

In the words of the old clan elder, "The knife handle first protects the pen, and then the pen, once exchanged for the seal handle, will protect the knife handle."

But Ma Qianli went... Clearly, Ma Qianhu's purpose in having him study was not to pass the imperial examination.

The old man didn't get to go either. He really wanted to go, but his legs weren't strong enough, so he could only watch anxiously from the back.

Magistrate Lu was also extremely anxious. This battle was a huge gamble for him. If he suffered a crushing defeat or even the annihilation of his entire army, he would bear the main responsibility.

After daybreak, he and You Muyou went up to the city wall and craned their necks to look at the river for a long time, but they still couldn't figure out who Ding Mao was. They had no choice but to ask the old man, "Can you tell who won?"

“It should be us.” The old man leaned on the rough city bricks and said in a deep voice, “There are many charred ship materials floating on the river, but not a single ship has been seen. This is enough to show that Commander Zhou and his men have successfully burned the ships.”

He paused for a moment, then slowly said, "As long as this step succeeds, eliminating the bandits will be a piece of cake. My only concern is our casualties."

"That's good, that's good..." Magistrate Lu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but then realized that his words were inappropriate, so he quickly changed his words, saying, "Commander Ma's elite troops have fought against the Duzhang barbarians. With them around, the casualties should not be too great."

"I hope so," the old man nodded.

The group continued to look out, and when the sun was high in the sky, a report suddenly came from the lookout tower: "Sir, a boat is coming from upstream!"

"Whose boat is this?" Magistrate Lu stared wide-eyed but couldn't see clearly. Indeed, people's eyesight is not the same for everyone.

"Yes..." The soldier on the lookout squinted for a moment, then shouted, "It's our ship! I see Commander Ma's flag!"

"That's wonderful!" Magistrate Lu gripped the old man's hand in one hand and You Muyou's hand in the other, his eyes wide with excitement.

But at this point, no one dared to celebrate wildly; they had to confirm with their own eyes that it was absolutely true.

After a short while, everyone could clearly see that the fleet of boats sailing downstream consisted of more than twenty boats of various sizes. Leading the way were the five crooked-stern boats that the county had assigned to Commander Ma!
The large "horse" character on the battle flag planted at the bow of the ship was particularly eye-catching!

"They're our people!" The young men on the city wall cheered, unable to contain their excitement.

When the fleet arrived, the people on board cheered and waved to the city walls. Even the most cautious old man and Magistrate Lu finally showed relieved smiles!
"Quickly, spread the good news to the people!" You Muyou hurriedly ordered, "Have everyone go to the East Gate Wharf to welcome them!"

"Alright!" The three shifts of yamen runners, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately split into more than ten teams, each carrying a red flag and a gong, to announce the good news to the people of the whole city.

In a short while, deafening gong sounds rang out throughout the county town, along with the booming shouts of government officials:

"The lord has successfully quelled the bandits! The Shangbaisha Water Village has been wiped out! Everyone, hurry out of the city to welcome the triumphant army!"

Soon, the people were all drawn to the streets, initially unable to believe their ears.

"Did I hear that right? The bandits of Shangbaisha were wiped out by the county magistrate?"

"That can't be right. The previous times we mobilized a large force, even involving the navy of the military commissioner, and all of them ended in failure."

"They must have won, otherwise the magistrate would have had people shouting it throughout the city!" But most people still believed it. "The only question is, was it a big win, a medium win, or a small win?"

“Indeed, they came back without a sound the last few times…” Everyone nodded in agreement.

"No matter what, it's really not easy to suppress bandits on New Year's Eve! Just for that spirit, we should take up the mantle!" someone shouted.

“Indeed, let’s go and meet them!” Since they had nothing better to do, the people flocked to the east gate from all directions.

People have a herd mentality, and seeing this, more people followed suit and rushed over, and soon the streets were deserted!
~~
On the city wall, two large cowhide drums resounded loudly. Commander Ma led his fleet and slowly sailed to the foot of the city.

At the dock outside the East Gate, officials cleared out the entire pier for the victorious soldiers to moor.

Magistrate Lu, along with all the county officials and gentry, was already waiting at the dock. He gazed affectionately at Commander Ma standing at the bow of the boat; his heart hadn't raced this fast even when he married his wife. The boatman nimbly moored the boat and was about to lower the planks when the dock officials brought over a gangway covered with a red carpet.

Commander Ma's armor was gleaming, and he wore a scarlet cloak, naturally making him the focus of everyone's attention.

As everyone watched him descend the gangway with his hand on his sword hilt and steady steps, displaying a commanding presence reminiscent of a great general, they couldn't help but secretly admire him. No wonder he had succeeded in suppressing the bandits; the magistrate had indeed found a master!
Commander Ma walked up to Magistrate Lu, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and reported in a loud voice: "I have successfully completed my mission, annihilating all 207 bandits of Shangbaisha River, capturing 83 bandits including their leader Qi San! The rest have all been beheaded!"

The gentry of the city were shocked to hear this; they never expected Qi San and his gang to be completely wiped out! Had the sun risen in the west? They should have known better than to pay the protection money this year…

Magistrate Lu was overjoyed. He quickly took the gilded wine cup, presented it to Commander Ma with both hands, and excitedly exclaimed:
"Lord Commander, your strategy is brilliant! Your soldiers fought bravely and finally eliminated this great scourge for the people! On behalf of all 80,000 people of the county, I salute you, Lord Commander!"

"It is my duty, and I cannot shirk it!" Commander Ma responded readily, took the wine cup with both hands, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp! This boldness and sense of responsibility drew thunderous applause from the people.

After drinking the triumphant wine, Commander Ma waved his hand, and his soldiers brought out the prisoners, who were tied up in a string, from the ship's hold.

The first one was Qi San, the River Dragon. He was originally a local tyrant in Hejiang County, but because he had committed too many evil deeds, he was no longer tolerated by the county and led a group of henchmen to escape to the river.

Over the years, they have recruited deserters and thugs to form a bandit group, which has entrenched itself in the Shangbaisha area. They robbed passing ships and sometimes landed to plunder, committing all kinds of evil deeds such as murder and arson. They did not even spare the villagers, and the people all deeply hated them!

Upon seeing that Qi San had been arrested, the people of Hejiang were completely convinced and cheered wildly!
The old man, the clan chief, the proprietress, and Su Lu and his companions also arrived at the dock. They paid no attention to Qi San, focusing only on the clansmen on the ship. They saw that Su Youjin, Su Youcai, Su Tai, and the others who had accompanied the army were all safe and sound!

"How is he?" the old man asked his eldest son.

"Father, don't worry, everything is fine!" Su Youjin said with a smile, "All intact, not one is missing."

"Great!" Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and happily joined in the celebration.

~~
Once Qi San and his gang of bandits were loaded onto the prison cart, three shifts of yamen runners pushed the cart into the city amidst deafening gongs, drums, and cheers, with a hundred archers guarding both sides.

Commander Ma's army followed in neat formation, heading together to the City God Temple to present the captured prisoners.

At this point, the people of the county town were completely in a state of high alert. They realized that they no longer had to worry about being robbed as soon as they stepped out of their homes! Those who had been robbed or even had blood on their hands set off firecrackers, creating a chaotic and noisy scene!

Amidst the sounds of gongs, drums, and firecrackers, the people cheered and followed the large group, surging towards the City God Temple.

~~
A platform had already been set up in the square in front of the temple, and the area below was packed with people, all waiting to see the prisoners being presented.

A reed shed was erected behind the stage, and Magistrate Lu sat in a grand chair, waiting for the auspicious time to ascend the stage.

All the assistant commanders stood with their hands at their sides, and their tone of flattery was different from usual.

While they used to shower others with flattery, it wasn't genuine; it was all just empty talk. But after last year's crackdown on the liquor stores and today's bandit suppression, they're truly trembling with fear now…

I thought the county magistrate was a lazy old dog, but it turns out he's a dozing tiger. Now that the tiger has woken up, it's baring its claws and ready to devour people! Who wouldn't be careful and fawn over him, fearing that the next bite will land on their head and they'll end up like Magistrate Jiang?

“Reporting to Your Excellency,” County Magistrate Cao said, no longer daring to shirk his duties, “Just now, many gentry came to me, saying that Your Excellency and the Commander-in-Chief have made great contributions and they wanted to reward the troops.”

"Are they there to entertain the troops? Or are they trying to buy absolution tokens?" Magistrate Lu, in his twelve years in office, had never been so assertive. He leaned back in his armchair, his eyes slightly closed, and said:
"Don't think we don't know. These guys have been colluding with Qi San a lot behind the scenes. Many of them, like Gongsun You, have done dirty work for him."

"Yes, yes," Magistrate Cao nodded hurriedly, "These guys have all sorts of dirty laundry; they need to be thoroughly investigated!"

"However, having just raided the liquor stores, any further large-scale operations would inevitably affect the livelihoods of the people in the county," Magistrate Lu then added, changing the subject.

"Then, Your Excellency, should we seize it or investigate it?" County Magistrate Cao hurriedly asked for instructions.

At this moment, You Muyou came in and said, "Master, the auspicious time has arrived."

Magistrate Lu nodded, and slowly rose, supporting himself on the chair back, saying, "See?"

Having said that, he left the reed shed surrounded by his officials and subordinates.

Outside the thatched hut, the gentry were all silent with fear. When they saw the magistrate come out, they hurriedly bowed deeply.

After Magistrate Lu took the stage, they quickly whispered to Assistant Magistrate Cao, "So, do our parents agree to reward the troops?"

“The magistrate said…we’ll see.” Magistrate Cao didn’t even glance at them, and followed closely behind Magistrate Lu.

P.S. I haven't checked the next chapter yet...

(End of this chapter)