Late Ming Dynasty: Starting with the overthrow of the county magistrate, a rebellion was launched to

"Lord Wang, please look. This field was originally seized by Wu Yingshao. What good land it was! It was just occupied like that, causing great losses to the court. Fortunately, I was able to correct the situation in time."

In the fields on the outskirts of Shaoyang County, Zhang Da was finally wearing a well-fitting official robe that he didn't have to tug at anymore. However, he still didn't act like an official. Following the paddy field ridges, disregarding the mud, dampness, and filth, he personally went down into the field to give instructions to Wang Chengzhu, who was standing nearby.

Wang Chengzhu was the Pacification Commissioner sent by the Governor's Office of Huguang, accompanied by two clerks and five bodyguards.

"The first thing I did upon taking office in Shaoyang was to clean up the land registers and verify the acreage. Now, all those corrupt officials who concealed or embezzled land have been exposed and registered. Wouldn't it be easier for us to collect taxes in the future? Please convey to the governor that next year's grain tax will definitely not be delayed."

Zhang Da stood tall and proud, and in front of Wang Chengzhu, he began to boast about his achievements. Upon hearing this, Wang Chengzhu, without putting on airs, quickly bowed and offered a forced smile.

"Of course, of course! Lord Zhang is young and promising, and governs with great skill! He is truly a blessing to the people and a boon to the court!"

"Not at all, not at all. This is all to share the burdens of my lord's Ming Dynasty and to show my filial piety."

The two engaged in another round of feigned politeness; if someone in the know were to overhear their humble conversation, which sounded like that of close friends and family, they would surely burst into laughter.

This was because Wang Chengzhu always acted arrogantly in other places, taking advantage of his position in the governor's office. When he arrived at the prefectural or county government offices, he would always demand paper, pens, charcoal, and other gifts, and show off his official power. But when he arrived in Shaoyang County, he did not dare to act recklessly in the slightest.

Even though Wang Chengzhu hadn't studied quantum mechanics, he knew that the polite man beside him was in a superposition of submission and rebellion. Wang admitted he wasn't foolish enough to put on airs with him; after all, this man had managed to take over the government office with just over thirty men. If he really pushed him too far, he might end up like the cattle and sheep used as sacrifices during a rebellion.

Zhang Da also became much more honest, after all, he really didn't want to rebel against the Ming Dynasty at this time, so he was determined to show his loyalty to the envoy.

On the first day Wang Chengzhu arrived in Shaoyang, Zhang Da, disregarding everyone's objections, insisted on leading his tenants and local militia leaders to stand at the city gate to welcome him. The city walls were covered with blue flags bearing the character "Ming" and red military flags, and there were even several blue cloth banners with messages such as "Welcome to the arrival of Commissioner Wang" and "Thanks to the imperial court's protection, the people of Shaoyang live in peace."

This was a tactic Zhang Da learned from his previous life. Sure enough, the envoy was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear (actually, he was terrified).

Therefore, the two of them have been getting along very politely and peacefully these days.

But politeness aside, the task still had to be done.

In the past few days, accompanied by Zhang Da and others, he first went to the granary. As Zhang Da had said in his letter, there was only a small amount of old rice left in the granary. The rest had been embezzled by Tao Gong, Wu Yingshao and "some corrupt officials". Zhang Da even handed him a thick account book to check. Wang Chengzhu just gave a stiff smile and then waved his hand and said that he trusted Zhang Da.

Nonsense! So what if they have grain in their granaries but refuse to hand it over? Even if I spot flaws in the accounts, what can I do? Damn it, having taken on such a dangerous task from above, it's best to just ignore it and go with the flow.

Then the group went to the county government office and bumped into Wu Yingshao's youngest daughter, Wu Lian'er. She stood under the corridor, looking somewhat uncomfortable, and winked at them. At this time, she was only served by her own old servant woman, and there were two large female relatives guarding the courtyard. Upon seeing this, Wang Chengzhu only offered a few words of comfort before quickly avoiding the situation, unwilling to say more—why should he get involved in this trouble?

Then Wang Chengzhu wandered around the county town. Shaoyang County was much more peaceful than he had imagined. He heard from the surviving family members that Zhang Da had killed many people in Shaoyang County, but now it seemed that this was probably false. There was no devastation or chaos in the entire Shaoyang County, and there were very few homeless people, even several times fewer than the number of refugees in Xiangyang City.

However… however, construction was in full swing everywhere in the county town, especially around the city walls, where everyone was working feverishly—the existing rammed earth walls were being heightened and thickened, damaged brickwork was being repaired, wooden watchtowers were being erected every hundred paces, and simple moats three feet deep were being dug at the base of the walls, with sharpened logs and stones piled up along the sides… Whenever Wang Chengzhu saw these things, he would pretend not to know and not ask any questions, until a laborer carrying heavy timber and moving bricks and stones hurriedly walked past him. At that moment, Zhang Dadu felt extremely embarrassed and explained in a low voice…

"Recently, bandits have been rampant all around. In order to protect the people and safeguard the county seat of the imperial court, this is the only way."

"Indeed, indeed, you have put in a great deal of effort, sir."

Wang Chengzhu didn't want to ask why the city walls could be repaired even when there was no money or food.

Why can a blacksmith shop still forge iron every day despite lacking this and that?

Why are the soldiers, despite lacking pay, still patrolling the county every day with high morale?

I don't know why Zhang Da, knowing I was coming, pretended to be a loyal subject but didn't even bother to feign it.

Perhaps fearing he would be silenced if he stayed in the county any longer, Wang Chengzhu suggested going outside the county to check on the agricultural situation.

Zhang Da readily agreed, and that's how the scene at the beginning happened.

Although the autumn harvest season was over, the fields were still bustling with activity.

Farmers were busy tilling the fields, making manure, and some women and children were picking up fallen rice ears. Several groups were dredging rural streams and repairing ponds to channel mountain spring water to the fields. It was a scene of bustling activity.

As Zhang Da approached, the villagers in the fields all put down their work and gathered around him.

"Lord Zhang is here! Lord Zhang is here! Please come and sit at my house!"

"Sir, I kowtow to you. Thank you for allocating land to us. From now on, I will do whatever you ask!"

Most of these people were displaced people who had followed Zhang Da in his uprising and been allocated land. As they spoke, their eyes were fixed intently on Zhang Da, but when they turned to glance at Wang Chengzhu after receiving a response from him, their eyes held a subtle hostility, showing considerable wariness towards Wang Chengzhu, an official from out of town.

Is he here to seize the land?

These officials must not be allowed to come to power, otherwise the land we worked so hard to acquire will soon be taken back.

Wang Chengzhu also felt bored, so he left the field after a while and went with Zhang Da to the homes of local gentry. The gentry and landlords were much nicer to Wang Chengzhu now, but they were still very careful in their words. Whenever he tried to probe them, the gentry always responded perfectly, as if they were unwilling to develop a deep relationship with him.

Strange!

Wang Chengzhu was in turmoil.

From the time Zhang Da killed the officials and occupied the city at the end of August, to the news reaching the Huguang Governor's Office in Wuchang, and then to the Governor Song Yihe sending him there, it was only a little over a month. In this short month, Zhang Da managed to make everyone in and around Shaoyang County, whether tenant farmers, displaced people, or gentry and landlords, temporarily submit to his rule? Just by distributing land, exempting taxes, and protecting landlords' property?

If it were that easy, the world would be at peace long ago!

So Wang Chengzhu asked Zhang Da and the others with some curiosity why they were so subservient to him, and Zhang Da simply replied, "Put yourself in their shoes."

A chill ran from Wang Chengzhu's feet to the top of his head. Looking at Zhang Da, who was chatting and laughing and even trying to curry favor with him, he felt that this man was unfathomable and would definitely be a great disaster in the future.

"This place is not safe to stay any longer; we must hurry back to report to the Governor!"

Just as Wang Chengzhu was thinking this, Zhang Da's voice came again.

"Lord Wang, having seen all of the county, is there anything else you would like to see?"

Wang Chengzhu quickly regained his composure and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "It's all good, it's all good. It's truly a great fortune that Shaoyang County has produced a Lord Zhang!"

Just as he was about to say a few more words of praise and then bid farewell to Zhang Da and run away, Zhang Da surprisingly told Wang Chengzhu very enthusiastically about the next place to inspect.

"In that case, please take a look at the county soldiers, sir. This time, they are all recruited from the local brothers, so they are certainly not the good-for-nothings from before."