Sweep Yuan

Chapter 180 The enemy forces approached Hefei, and the defending troops were terrified.

There was something strange about Zhou Wendao and the others. Commander Yuan could see it, but the pressure from above was too intense, and his soldiers were already destitute. If they were pushed any further, they might incite a mutiny.

In desperation, people will try anything; they don't care whether these people have a legitimate background or not. They just need to solve the immediate crisis first.

"Manager Zhou is a straightforward person!"

With the transaction completed, Commander Yuan felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders, and with a hint of weary relief, he said:
"This batch of cloth has truly saved me from a dire situation. Alas, times are tough. I wonder if Manager Zhou will still be a frequent visitor in the future?"

Zhou Wendao understood immediately; this was exactly the entry point he wanted. He stroked his beard and smiled.

"Commander Yuan, you're too kind. Business is all about steady, long-term growth. However, the demand for this cloth depends on your production and surplus capacity."

The daily production of military households mainly consisted of grain and military supplies such as weapons and armor. What could be traded had already been traded, and what remained were handicrafts such as straw mats and willow baskets, which were not worth much money and were better than nothing.

But Commander Yuan had no other choice; he couldn't just rob them directly.

Believe it or not, he actually had that thought.

However, Zhou Wendao seems to have quite a background, and the two guards are obviously not to be trifled with. Whether a rash action will succeed is still uncertain, but it will definitely offend the "gods" behind these people, which would be courting death.

As for whether this would leak the "military secrets" of the Thousand Households, Thousand Households Yuan was not worried at all—all the military households in the country were in a dead state, and the imperial court was about to give up on the military households that could not fight, and was only forcing them to pay military rations and armor and weapons.

"Easy to say! Easy to say!"

Yuan Qianhu readily agreed. Compared to the virtually non-existent "military secrets," he needed a stable trading channel more.

“Manager Zhou is a trustworthy man, and I trust him too! Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll have a clerk accompany Manager Zhou on a tour of the camp to check on the goods. But please, Manager Zhou, don’t go to those overly remote corners, so as not to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings.”

Zhou Wendao's purpose in coming here was only to pick someone up, and naturally he didn't want to cause any trouble, so he immediately cupped his hands in agreement and said:
"Rest assured, Commander Zhou, I understand. I'll just be checking the goods and won't cause any trouble."

Accompanied by a minor clerk from the military garrison, Zhou Wendao, along with Bian Yuanheng and Hua Yun, feigned visiting over forty military households. What they saw was shocking:

The low, dilapidated mud-brick houses were sparsely furnished, and many military households didn't even have decent doors. The elderly and children were emaciated, their numb eyes devoid of any vitality. The so-called handicrafts were nothing more than crooked willow baskets, rough straw mats, and straw sandals.

Zhou Wendao maintained the shrewdness of a merchant, picking and choosing, haggling over prices, and symbolically accepting some decent handicrafts. He paid some copper coins and made an agreement with the military household that he would buy more in the future.

As evening fell, Zhou Wendao and Bian Yuanheng returned "laden with spoils," exchanged a few pleasantries with Commander Yuan, and then took their leave.

The Dongzhangying Thousand-Household Garrison returned to its usual dullness and oppression, as if nothing had ever happened.

Looking at the neatly stacked bolts of cloth in the signing room, Commander Yuan let out a long sigh of relief, a relieved smile appearing on his tired face. With this cloth, he could at least barely manage to get through this year's equipment requisition task.

As for the mysterious Manager Zhou, he shook his head. With the situation so dire, he could only worry about the immediate problem.

However, Commander Yuan breathed a sigh of relief too soon.

Three days later, in the morning, the two centurions from the 200th and 400th households came running to him with bad news:

"Chief, something terrible has happened. My subordinates went to four households last night. They still had all the bedding and other belongings, but the people were all gone."

"My subordinates' situation is the same! Five households have fled!"

Nine military households fled together!

Commander Yuan felt a sudden darkness engulf him, nearly falling off his chair. The desertion of military households was nothing new; a few isolated escapes could be concealed or the perpetrators apprehended. But the mass exodus of nine households was far too commotion and far too egregious!

According to the law, as a commander of a thousand households, he bears an inescapable responsibility for negligence in the occurrence of such a large-scale desertion of military households. At best, he will be dismissed from his post; at worst, he will be imprisoned and punished.

"Investigate! Which way did they run off to? Who's helping them? Find out for me!"

Commander Yuan slammed his fist on the table, his eyes red as he roared, spitting all over the faces of the two centurions. He still harbored a sliver of hope that if he could capture the man immediately, he might be able to cover it up.

The two centurions exchanged a glance, their faces showing expressions worse than tears.

Erbaihu, forcing a smile, said, "Sir, we've already investigated. They ran away at night, and no one saw them. It must have been a coordinated effort by several families. The neighbors all said they didn't hear anything, and we didn't dare send anyone to chase after them."

Four Hundred Households chimed in, "Yes, sir! The people in the station are in a state of panic, and everyone is struggling to make ends meet. Sending people to chase after them? The chasers might just run away themselves!"

The families of Shi Erhe and Li Chuba who ran away were all poor soldiers. Where could they have gone? Most likely, they've hidden themselves in the mountains as refugees or joined the rebels! In this chaos of war, where are we going to find them? The station is already short-staffed; what if, what if there's more trouble…”

"enough!"

Commander Yuan abruptly interrupted the two men, his chest heaving violently, his face turning from red to white, and then from white to green.

Chase them? Who should we send to chase them? What if the chasers escape? More importantly, once we launch a large-scale manhunt, this matter will be impossible to cover up!

Should we not investigate? Should we conceal it and not report it? If too much time passes, it could be exposed during household registration verification, tax collection, or troop roll call.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through Yuan Qianhu's inner shirt. The signing room was deathly silent, save for his heavy breathing and the incessant chirping of insects outside the window. He slumped back into his chair, as if all his strength had been drained away.

An unprecedented sense of exhaustion and disgust, like an icy tide, completely overwhelmed him. What was so good about being a military colonel?

The higher-ups relentlessly exploited and demanded payment, like the Grim Reaper himself; the impoverished soldiers below were filled with resentment and viewed him as an enemy. They lived in constant fear, terrified that any misstep would cost them their official hats and their heads.

What benefits did Yuan gain besides this official position and his long-overdue salary? His wife and children also lived in fear and poverty.

Looking at the empty signing room, looking at the lifeless barracks outside the window, and thinking about the dilapidated homes of those deserted soldiers, a sense of despair suddenly surged from the bottom of Commander Yuan's heart.

This Yuan Dynasty is hopeless! There's really no other way. At worst, I'll just take my wife and kids and run away to the moon! Anyway, there are hardly any military households left in this damned thousand-household garrison. The morale of the people has long since collapsed.

Rather than waiting here to be punished by the imperial court or beheaded by the rioters, why not find a way to survive? The world is vast; surely there's somewhere to stay.
Once the thought arose, it grew wildly like weeds, impossible to suppress. Commander Yuan waved his hand, his voice carrying an eerie calm, and addressed the two centurions who still stood below him, filled with apprehension:

"Alright, I understand. You two can leave now. Watch your mouths! If you don't want trouble, keep everything you said today to yourself. Let me... think of something else."

The two centurions, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, quickly bowed and withdrew.

In the signing room, only Commander Yuan remained, lying on the armchair with a shifting gaze. After a long silence, he finally calmed down and slowly opened the drawer, where a small bronze official seal of a commander lay quietly.

Yuan Qianhu stretched out his fingers and stroked the official seal. The cold touch was felt as his fingertips caressed the rough inscription, as if he were weighing its weight, or as if he were saying a final goodbye.

Finally, he slammed the drawer shut with a loud thud.

Now, all that's left of the Yuan Dynasty is this official seal; everything else is utterly useless. Who the hell wants to be this damn commander? Let them do it!

……

The Mi River, shimmering in the summer sun, flows gently. Reeds grow thickly along its banks, rustling softly in the breeze.

Shi Erhe carried his young son on his back, his rough hands tightly holding his wife's, followed by eleven other relatives and friends, including Li Chuba, who also had their families with them, totaling forty-three people.

After leaving Dongzhangying, they secretly notified two relatives living in other villages. The group met at Taoyuanpo the next evening and then trekked all the way, choosing only remote and desolate paths, hiding during the day and traveling at night, always on edge, until they finally arrived at the Mihe River where they had agreed to meet Zhou Wendao.

Shi Erhe turned back, looked at the road he had come from, and then at the wide river in front of him. He still felt as if everything was in a dream, so unreal. When the news of the fall of Xuzhou came, it was like a bolt from the blue. His third brother, Shi San, was in the Xuzhou army and had not been heard from for more than half a year. His family thought he had died in the chaos of war and had burned paper money for him several times.

Who would have thought that Sanlang not only survived, but also "made it big," and now he's sending people with silver to take his relatives to the south to live a life of luxury.

Although Shi Erhe was not knowledgeable, he was not stupid. He vaguely guessed that his third brother's "prosperity" was probably not a legitimate business.

In this day and age, what else could be more capable than a rebellious bandit who would take out so much silver and risk the dangers of venturing deep into the village to help them escape?
But the heavy silver ingots in their satchels were real; they represented their hope for survival and changing their fate.

"The Erhe Brothers".

Li Chu Ba wiped the sweat and dust from his face, moved closer to Shi Er He, his voice filled with deep unease and lingering fear.

"Those strangers... they wouldn't be playing a trick on us, would they? My Li Wu, that simple-minded boy, he's always been a bit slow. How could he be so successful? I can't help but feel uneasy. What if... what if..."

He dared not continue, afraid that when he woke up, he would find that it was all a cruel joke, and that they, having been deceived by outsiders, had become homeless vagrants.

"What are you afraid of?!"

Upon hearing Li Chu Ba's question, Shi Er He's suppressed fear and hesitation dissipated.

He straightened his slightly hunched back, a fierce determination appearing on his rough face. He patted the stiff satchel at his waist, the silver clinking softly, a sound that gave him immense confidence.

"Listen to that! Listen to that sound, is that fucking fake? Besides..."

He looked around at the tired, fearful yet hopeful faces behind him, and raised his voice a few decibels, as if trying to persuade everyone, but even more so, trying to persuade himself.

"We've already escaped. What's the point of going back to that godforsaken place, Dongzhangying? We have money now, we can live a peaceful life anywhere. Why would we want to go back to that ruthless Dongzhangying?!"

"go back?"

Li Chu Ba was provoked by Shi Er He's words, and his mind was instantly filled with the humiliations he had suffered over the years: endless forced labor, ever-increasing "sealing money," the insults and beatings from corrupt officials, and the helplessness of watching his wife and children go hungry...

The last trace of hesitation vanished from his weathered face, replaced by a ruthless determination. Li Chu Ba spat fiercely and cursed:

"Bah! Dongzhang Camp, even dogs wouldn't want to go back! It's better to starve to death outside than to go back and become a living dead!"

"Yeah! Even the dogs won't go back!"

"Brother Shi is right! We're rich now!"

"Once we leave that awful place, we'll live on our own!"

Other relatives and friends echoed their sentiments, and despair and fear were gradually replaced by a newfound hope and determination.

Seeing everyone's renewed spirits, Shi Erhe felt a little relieved. He nodded vigorously to Li Chuba and was about to say something when his gaze inadvertently swept over the rippling surface of the Mi River.

Just then, in the reeds downstream, a small boat glided out silently like a fish. At the bow, a tall man stood, his blue robe fluttering slightly in the river breeze—who else could it be but "Manager Zhou"?

Shi Erhe's eyes widened suddenly, his whole body trembling with excitement. He pointed at the approaching boat, his voice hoarse and high-pitched with extreme excitement:
"Hey! Look, isn't that Manager Zhou? Hahaha! I knew it, I knew Sanlang had really made something of himself, really made something of himself!"

When Zhou Wendao picked up Shi Erhe and the others, thousands of miles away on Luzhou Road, Shi Erhe's third brother, Shi Shan, whom he had been thinking about day and night, had just finished overseeing the reorganization of Lu'an City.

The unruly and arrogant Zhu Liangzu eventually confessed and submitted to the law.

What made him submit was not torture or intimidation, but the desire to save the life of his four-year-old second son, Zhu Yu.

As for Zhu Liangzu's eldest son, Zhu Xian, he had already died before Zhu Liangzu, the cause of death being a prison break.

Zhu Xian did indeed possess some of his father Zhu Liangzu's courage and valor. At the tender age of thirteen, the boy, accompanied by a few trusted servants, brazenly stormed the prison and actually managed to reach the door of the cell where Zhu Liangzu was imprisoned. However, he ultimately fell just inches away from his father.

Through the prison bars, Zhu Liangzu witnessed his eldest son take his last breath and finally realized how insignificant one man's courage was in the face of the immense power of the organization.

He chose to plead guilty, sacrificing his remaining dignity and life to give his young son, Zhu Yu, a chance to live.

Shi Shan was not a bloodthirsty person. He fought his way here from Xuzhou and punished many powerful and wicked families, but he did not kill everyone.

Moreover, Zhu Yu is only four years old, ignorant and unaware, and poses no real threat to him.

However, he did not hand Zhu Yu over to the Zhu clan. Among those who were most eager to betray Zhu Liangzu, many were members of the Zhu clan. Zhu Liangzu's first wife had died of illness last year, so Zhu Yu could be considered an orphan.

Shi Shan placed Zhu Yu in the Yulin Camp, raising him and teaching him the same way as the other orphans. He also promised Zhu Liangzu that if the boy became successful in the future, he would open a family temple and allow him to worship his ancestors, including Zhu Liangzu.

When Zhu Liangzu learned of these arrangements, he lowered his head and remained silent for a long time. When he raised his head again, there was no resentment in his eyes, only a stagnant calm and an indescribable complex emotion, which was finally expressed in one sentence: "Thank you, Marshal, for leaving a stick of incense for the Zhu family."

On the day of his execution, Zhu Liangzu appeared calm and walked away with unusual serenity.

Among the onlookers, some who resented his past arrogance clapped and cheered, while others sighed and shook their heads at the impermanence of life.

Years later, Zhu Yu passed the imperial examination with flying colors through his own efforts and rose to the position of governor of a province. This legendary story of the Zhu family was included in "The Legend of Heroes in Troubled Times, Continued" by Shi Nai'an's students, and it became widely circulated and a poignant tale of a chaotic era.

Of course, these are things to follow.

The reason why Shishan spent so much effort on Zhu Liangzu and his son was not because he had any prejudice against Zhu Liangzu—in fact, the two had no prior interaction.

Punishing Zhu Liangzu is purely a matter of addressing the specific issue at hand; it is a response to the phenomenon of "Zhu Liangzu."

During the chaotic end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were countless gentry and powerful figures like Zhu Liangzu who possessed both ability and ambition. Even though the Red Flag Army eventually conquered the country, such people could not disappear.

As long as the soil for the growth of gentry and powerful families still exists, killing one Zhu Liangzu will only lead to the emergence of others like Zhang Liangzu and Wang Liangzu.

Shishan knew that the "chaos" of a chaotic world was not only reflected in economic collapse and military separatism, but also in the deeper reason of "chaos in people's hearts".

The Yuan court adopted a near-permissive policy towards local powerful clans for a long period, sowing the seeds of ineradicable problems in the original historical trajectory. One of the greatest negative consequences was that it allowed these gentry and powerful figures to become completely unruly and difficult to control.

Just like now, the Yuan court can offer all sorts of generous conditions to win them over, conditions that Shishan can never provide.

In times of chaos, killing people is not enough; it is even more necessary to "destroy their hearts and minds."

The handling of Zhu Liangzu, especially the arrangement of Zhu Yu, was part of Shishan's strategy of "destroying the heart" (or "punishing the spirit").

After dealing with the affairs of Lu'an, Shi Shan led his army to break camp and advance eastward. The army, with its banners waving and armor clanging, marched along the official road, quickly causing extreme panic among the garrison of Hefei.

In this southern expedition, Shi Shan personally led the western route army and captured the three cities of Lujiang, Shucheng, and Liuan.

On the eastern route, Shao Rong was appointed as the commander-in-chief, leading the Hefei Army (Zuo Junbi's troops), the Hanshan Army, and the elite cavalry guards (lacking Feng Guosheng's second battalion) to attack the cities of Hezhou and Wujiang.

Originally, it was expected that the Eastern Route Army would make faster progress, but in order to prevent the Red Flag Battalion from crossing the river and joining forces with Xu Song's army, the Yuan court urgently dispatched reinforcements to Hezhou, causing Shao Rong's troops to be caught in a bitter battle along the Wujiang and Hezhou line. It has only now been difficult to capture Wujiang, and Hezhou is still in the hands of the Yuan army.

(End of this chapter)