Chapter 1176: Deal With Him
The common folk in Wuyang County had been equally shocked by the spectacle.
Once Zhang Shoubei and his men had obediently surrendered and knelt, the remaining hundred-odd households in the county town emerged, dropping to their knees with thuds, bowing their heads frantically towards the sky.
The common folk, having just received grain from Wang Chenggong and knowing him to be a good man, dared to question him: "My lord, who was that deity just now?"
"Was it the Jade Emperor, or the Grand Pure One?"
Wang Chenggong smiled, introducing him: "That was Dao Xuan Tian Zun. He is a benevolent and kind deity, most fond of bestowing blessings upon the common people. The grain we distributed to you all was a gift from him, sent from the heavens."
Only then did the common folk understand, and they quickly bowed again.
Meanwhile, Zhang Shoubei and his men, upon hearing this, wore truly remarkable expressions. They thought: "No wonder we were punished by a deity! So, this grain was a heavenly gift, divine provisions! We dared to steal it—that wasn't having the gall of a bear and the courage of a leopard, no, that was being utterly blinded by greed!"
Wang Chenggong commanded, "All of you, get up and follow me obediently. You're going back for labor reform."
Zhang Shoubei dared not resist in the slightest, his head bowed. "As you command!"
Another half an hour passed...
The Puppet Heavenly Lord, Bai Yuan, Henan Governor Fan Shangzheng, Gao Jie, Wang Chenggong, and Zhang Shoubei gathered around a table and sat down.
Among this group, Zhang Shoubei was the most apprehensive. He felt completely unworthy to be at this table, sitting precariously on the edge of his chair, with half his rear end suspended in the air. The presence of Li Daoxuan, in particular, made him feel an immense pressure.
He now knew that this was the deity who had dropped the "Divine Seal," known as Dao Xuan Tian Zun. Therefore, he dared not show the slightest disrespect to Li Daoxuan, cowering far away.
Fan Shangzheng was the first to address Zhang Shoubei: "What was your bandit alias before this?"
Zhang Shoubei hastily replied, "This humble one used to be called Dajin Wang, a minor, unremarkable leader in the vagrant bandit army. I only had three thousand men, and two thousand of those were old folks, women, and children, unfit for battle."
Fan Shangzheng nodded. "So, you surrendered to Zuo Liangyu so easily?"
Dajin Wang replied, "Yes! Zuo Liangyu encountered me while suppressing bandits in Runing Prefecture. He had over ten thousand men, all capable soldiers. I only had a thousand who could fight, so I was no match for him at all, and I pleaded for surrender."
Fan Shangzheng stated, "Vagrant bandits surrendering to a military general is not uncommon. However, he should have handed you over to me, the Governor, for me to report to the imperial court and arrange your proper resettlement."
Dajin Wang scratched his head. "This humble one doesn't understand such things! Zuo Liangyu said I was a promising talent and told me to join him. He promised I'd live a life of luxury and become a high official, then he appointed me as the Runing Garrison Commander."
Upon hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but be caught between laughter and tears.
Where did Zuo Liangyu get the authority to bestow official titles? If he pulled some strings, he might have been able to get Dajin Wang a minor military post like a centurion or a captain. But a high office like a garrison commander? He truly had no right to appoint that.
Fan Shangzheng shook his head with a sigh. "Dajin Wang, do you realize you've been fooled? The imperial court knows nothing of your Runing Garrison Commander post. The Ministry of War never appointed you. You don't even have a formal letter of appointment..."
Dajin Wang interjected, "But I do!"
He reached into his breast, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.
Everyone saw that the paper bore crooked, scribbled characters: "Hereby appoints Zhang Xiaoyi as Runing Garrison Commander, effective immediately." Behind it, there appeared to be a seal, but it was clearly a crudely fake one, likely carved from a radish, blurry and illegible, so much so that no one could make out what words were supposedly stamped on it.
It was plain as day that this was meant to fool Dajin Wang, assuming he was illiterate and couldn't tell the difference.
Fan Shangzheng laughed so hard he nearly lost his teeth, pointing at the letter of appointment. "Zuo Liangyu truly is illiterate; even his fake Ministry of War documents have an illiterate style."
Bai Yuan pulled out a fan, snapped it open with a flourish, and held it to cover half his face, revealing the character for "Gentleman" on its surface. "Dajin Wang," he stated, "so your true name is Zhang Xiaoyi."
Dajin Wang nodded awkwardly.
Bai Yuan continued, "You just said that when Zuo Liangyu came to suppress you, he had over ten thousand men under his command?"
Dajin Wang hastily nodded. "Yes, at least ten thousand! I saw his forces, dense and countless, heads packed together. So, so many people!"
Bai Yuan countered, "He should only have three thousand regular soldiers."
Dajin Wang insisted, "I wasn't mistaken; it was truly over ten thousand."
Gao Jie interjected, "Well, that's interesting. It means that besides his three thousand regular soldiers, he has seven thousand troops of unknown origin—people just like you, in other words."
At this, the gravity of the situation became apparent.
Fan Shangzheng's smile vanished, and he said with a grim face, "For years now, the bandit suppression campaigns in Henan have relied primarily on Generals Cao Wenzhao and He Renlong..."
"Ahem!" Gao Jie cleared his throat from beside him.
Fan Shangzheng corrected himself, "Right, and General Gao Jie."
Only then did Gao Jie look satisfied. *That's right,* he thought. *They should include me! I fought desperately against the bandits too, you know. It's just that that Dashing General fellow hates me for taking his wife, so he always targets me, leaving me constantly surrounded and unable to contribute much on the main battlefield.*
Fan Shangzheng continued, "While these three generals were desperately suppressing bandits, Zuo Liangyu seemed to vanish, nowhere to be found. Who would have thought he was secretly absorbing vagrant bandits, building up his own army, and even falsely issuing official appointments? These are all grave offenses; he cannot be left unchecked."
Gao Jie asked, "How should we deal with him? Petition the imperial court? Ask the Emperor to issue a decree punishing him?"
Fan Shangzheng shook his head. "I'm afraid it would be useless. If Zuo Liangyu still held the imperial court in any regard, he wouldn't be committing such lawless acts."
Everyone considered this, and it seemed to be true.
Over the years, vagrant bandits had caused chaos, throwing half the realm into turmoil, while the Jurchens in the northeast watched covetously, their attacks leaving the northern regions struggling to defend themselves. A frontline general like Zuo Liangyu, unlike the naïve officials at court, must have long felt the winds of change firsthand—that scent of a collapsing empire.
"An ambitious fellow," Fan Shangzheng sighed. "It's truly difficult to decide how to handle someone like that."
"There's nothing difficult about it," Li Daoxuan interjected. "Offer them a chance to surrender; if they refuse, eliminate them!"
At his words, everyone was startled. "Are we to be the ones to deal with him?"
"Yes, the imperial court is unreliable!" Li Daoxuan emphasized again. "Individuals like Zuo Liangyu have already strayed from proper order. Their existence will only bring suffering to the common people, not happiness. Consider this: Dajin Wang's raid on Wuyang County for grain this time is precisely the path Zuo Liangyu's army is bound to follow."
A sudden realization dawned on everyone, and they understood instantly. Zuo Liangyu reported only three thousand men to the imperial court, but in reality, he commanded over ten thousand. How were those extra thousands to be fed? By plunder, of course!
After looting, they would simply blame it on the Chuǎng Wang or the Eight Great Kings!
It was truly hard to say how much of Henan's current turmoil was caused by vagrant bandits and how much was instigated by Zuo Liangyu.
Li Daoxuan declared, "This man is no different from a vagrant bandit—no, he is worse than a vagrant bandit!"
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