The County Magistrate of Peng was holding his concubine in his arms, lost in a beautiful dream when a loud noise suddenly jolted him awake. Before he could react, someone dragged him off the bed.
Guan Tai glanced at the trembling beauty on the bed and cursed, "What the hell, this Laozi1 is already twenty-six and still a bachelor, yet you, old b*stard, are blessed with plenty of amorous luck2." The woman on the bed looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old.
Seeing the situation, the County Magistrate quickly pleaded, "If the warrior likes her, please take her. I only ask for my life to be spared." He knew there was no point in arguing with these bandits—he wasn't that naive.
Hearing this, the beauty on the bed fainted from fear.
Guan Tai scoffed and turned away, saying to his men, "Take him away." He had no interest in the beauty on the bed, but the gold, silver, and jewels in the room certainly caught his attention.
They spent about two shichen3 ransacking the County Magistrate's residence. Looking at the chests filled with gold, silver, and jewellery, Guan Tai couldn't help but curse, "D*mn, this is outrageous..." A county magistrate's annual salary was only a few hundred taels, yet this one had amassed such a huge fortune. Where did all this wealth come from? It was undoubtedly the blood and sweat of the people.
That night, Yun Qing dispatched five thousand men to seize the assets of the county officials and most of the wealthy merchants in Peng County, sparing only a few. These few were not overlooked by chance—Yun Qing had deliberately left them out. They were families known for their good deeds and excellent reputation.
Shortly after dawn, Du Zheng entered and reported, "Great General, General Yuan has returned." Yuan Ying was the one leading the raids.
Yuan Ying entered and said, "General, as per your orders, all the targets have been dealt with. Here is the list of what has been confiscated." There was so much loot that he didn't bother to read it out loud.
Compared to other households, the wealth of the Peng County Magistrate was relatively modest. The real money lay with the merchants in town. From the vault of the wealthiest merchant alone, they had confiscated over 200,000 taels of silver, along with countless pieces of jewellery, antiques, and paintings.
Yun Qing quickly scanned the list, "Next time you conduct a raid, make sure to collect books and writing materials as well. When things settle down, these books will be sent to Yu City." Writing materials were easy to come by, but books were extremely valuable. Qingming Hall had very few books, only a few hundred, and most of them were hand-copied.
Yuan Ying quickly nodded and admitted, "That was my oversight this time, but I will remember it in the future." He had only focused on gold, silver, antiques, and valuables—books and writing materials hadn't even crossed his mind. It was the General who had the broader vision.
Yun Qing thought of this because Yuxi often mentioned that the school lacked books and that they needed to send people to the provincial capital to buy more.
Yuan Ying then said, "General, the county magistrate and his deputy have been executed. We need to appoint suitable replacements; otherwise, Peng County will become chaotic." They were not mere bandits who looted and ran. Peng County was now part of their territory and needed proper governance.
Yun Qing nodded. "I've already considered this." Over the past six months, his men had gathered intelligence on various counties. He clearly knew who needed to be eliminated and who could be useful. This was Yun Qing's way—he always made thorough preparations before taking action. Even though he had hesitated about whether to rebel, he had never neglected his preparations. The current Emperor was incompetent, the Imperial Court was corrupt, and the Northwest was in chaos. Otherwise, what he had done would have been considered treason.
Although Yun Qing carried out mass executions and eliminated corrupt officials and merchants who exploited the people, he did not harass the common folk. His 30,000 troops also refrained from disturbing the citizens. As a result, when the people learned that the county magistrate and his deputies had been eliminated, they were not afraid but instead cheered.
The army continued marching forward while Yun Qing stayed in Peng County for a day. He appointed a person with a good reputation and strong capabilities to act as the acting County Magistrate of Peng County and several well-rounded local gentry to serve as acting deputy magistrates and in other positions.
Only after taking care of Peng County's affairs did Yun Qing leave at a leisurely pace. He did not behave like a rebel at all; rather, he seemed more like an Imperial Envoy sent to clean up the local government.
Three days later, the army reached Linzhou. When the Linzhou garrison saw the overwhelming force before them, they were nearly scared to death. Realising that it was the Northwest Army and not barbarian invaders, they wasted no time opening the city gates.
The gatekeepers were no fools. It would be pointless to resist such an overwhelming force—they would be trampled to death before they could even fight. The wise choice was to surrender.
The soldiers at the gates understood this, as did the city officials. Unfortunately for them, Yun Qing was not interested in their surrender. Any official found guilty of corruption was either arrested or had their property confiscated without hesitation.
Since Linzhou was a prefectural government, the looting of its officials and wealthy merchants resulted in an enormous haul. Even Yun Qing was momentarily stunned by the sheer amount of wealth. Not counting antiques and paintings, over six million taels of silver had been seized. And that was just in Linzhou—once they reached Lanzhou, the prefecture capital, the amount would likely double. Only now did Yun Qing genuinely understand how the rebel forces had managed to grow so rapidly. With such vast sums of wealth at their disposal, it was no wonder they could expand their armies so quickly.
Guan Tai was thrilled. "General, once we raid the officials and wealthy merchants in Haocheng, how much gold and silver do you think we'll get?" His eyes lit up with excitement at the mere thought.
Seeing so much silver also tempted Yuan Ying, but he kept his composure. "General, what should we do with all this wealth?"
Yun Qing replied, "With this money, we can pay the overdue salaries and pensions. The rest will be used to equip the army with better weapons and purchase more horses..." They had been short of many essential supplies, but now they could finally replenish them all.
Yuan Ying was a bit speechless. If they followed the General's plan, even this massive hoard of silver wouldn't be enough. Still, upgrading their weapons and horses was crucial—many soldiers had died simply because their equipment was inferior. "General, shouldn't we leave some funds for the local government?"
Yun Qing thought momentarily before replying, "We didn't touch the government treasury, did we? That should be enough; there's no need to allocate extra funds."
Yuan Ying's mouth twitched slightly—there were only a few thousand taels of silver in the government treasury. That amount was nowhere near enough to sustain a prefecture government. But on second thought, he figured this was something for the acting prefect of Linzhou to worry about, not him.
After staying in Linzhou for two days, Yun Qing set off again. In every county he passed through, his first order of business was to raid the homes of corrupt officials and wealthy merchants. His actions were no different to those of bandits and thieves—except that while bandits targeted travelling merchants and common folk, Yun Qing and his men plundered the powerful and the rich.
Including a five-day stop along the way, it took Yun Qing thirteen days to reach Wucheng, where he was reunited with Feng Dajun. As they marched, the county and provincial guards, upon seeing the huge army approaching, either fled or surrendered outright. The process was so smooth that Yuan Ying began to feel that they weren't rebelling at all but rather quelling an uprising.
Seeing Yun Qing, Feng Dajun, and Yu Cong were both relieved and excited. "General, you're finally here!" Feng Dajun exclaimed. "Any later, my hair would have turned grey from worry."
Yun Qing asked, "How is the situation in Nancheng?"
Feng Dajun replied, "Still at a stalemate." In his opinion, Ji Xuan was utterly incompetent. If it were up to them, they'd have wiped out the Nancheng rebels in three days with an army of 30,000.
Since Feng Dajun and Yu Cong had already secured Wucheng, Yun Qing hadn't much left to handle. He said, "It'll be the New Year in seven days. We'll spend it in Lanzhou this year."
Feng Dajun laughed heartily. "General, the troops must eat meat this year and drink their fill!" Now that they had money, they could afford to be generous.
Yun Qing shot him a look. "Eating meat is fine, but excessive drinking is out of the question." During military campaigns and battles, how could they get themselves drunk? At most, they could only take a sip of strong liquor to warm themselves.
After the laughter died, Feng Dajun unrolled a map and said, "General, this is the map from Lanzhou to Haocheng."
The group huddled together to discuss their next military moves as they talked late into the night. When they finally wrapped up, the cooks brought in a midnight snack.
As they ate, Feng Dajun asked, "General, I heard Madam was attacked by assassins. How is she now?" The Emperor was truly brazen—assassinating Madam practically forced the General to rebel! If it hadn't been for that, knowing Yun Qing's temperament, who knew how long he would have hesitated? Feng Dajun had been stationed here since the middle of the year and had waited six whole months for Yun Qing to finally make up his mind. Any longer, he might have given up and returned to Yu City.
Yun Qing replied, "Madam is fine, but Liu-er is too weak..." Yuxi was out of mortal danger, so he no longer worried about her so much. His greatest concern was for Liu-er—her frail condition made him fear she might not survive.
Feng Dajun reassured him, "General, don't worry too much. Once we take Haocheng, we'll find the best doctors for her. I'm sure Second Young Miss will recover."
Yun Qing shook his head. "Liu-er was born weak. Her condition can only be treated gradually." Even if she survived, she would likely remain frail for the rest of her life.
Feng Dajun fell silent, not knowing what else to say.
As he lay down that night, Feng Dajun remarked to Yu Cong, "At first, I thought it was unfortunate that Madam had given birth to another daughter. But now, it seems better to have a daughter." If it had been a son who was this weak, how could he inherit the General's legacy?
Yu Cong immediately warned him, "Whether it's a son or a daughter, it's the General's family business. Don't meddle." Then, after a pause, he added, "And don't you dare send women to the General. If Madam finds out, you'll be in trouble."
Feng Dajun burst out laughing. "If the General wanted women, would he need me to send them?" Once Yun Qing took control of the Northwest, women would throw themselves at him. Whether he resisted or not would depend on his own willpower.
Footnotes Full List
- I; me [said in anger or for fun]
- have a lot of good fortune in love affairs; have a beautiful wife or girlfriend
- 2 hours. 2 shichen means 4 hours
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi