Chapter 772: How to Arrange Them?
Lian Guoshi heard Luo Xi's outburst and suddenly remembered something felt off. "This battle today, even from the rear, I couldn't quite grasp what was happening. If I were to submit a memorial about this to the Emperor, he'd surely dismiss it as unbelievable, wouldn't he?"
"Wouldn't that just be more nonsense, deemed an attempt to deceive His Majesty?"
Lian Guoshi felt a loss for words.
He hastily steered the conversation elsewhere: "Speaking of which, gentlemen, you've captured so many Henan rebels; what should be done with them? Killing them all would be against heavenly principles, certainly not an acceptable course. But we can't manage all these people either. Should we send them back to Henan, to Governor Fan Shangzheng? I doubt... Fan Shangzheng would be able to take in so many surrendered rebels."
Zheng Gouzi turned his head. "These surrendered rebels, we plan to put them to labor reform."
"Huh?" Lian Guoshi was utterly confused. "Labor reform?"
Zheng Gouzi replied, "Building roads and bridges requires a lot of manpower."
Lian Guoshi realized, "Labor reform is not a bad idea. However, if they are to do labor reform, they must be fed. Feeding so many people is a huge problem."
"It's nothing, Your Excellency, no need to worry about such a small matter. We'll handle it," Zheng Gouzi said, patting Luo Xi on the shoulder. "Commander Luo is the richest man in Shanyang County. The fertile lands at the foot of Tianzhu Mountain almost all belong to his family. He possesses considerable family assets, so it should be quite feasible for him to spare some grain to feed these few."
Luo Xi thought to himself: *I could almost feed ten thousand ghosts, where am I supposed to get rations for ten thousand people?*
But Zheng Gouzi, while patting his shoulder, was also giving him a meaningful look. Luo Xi was now vaguely sensing that he should align himself with this side, and no longer with the imperial court. This was an intuition, or rather, a choice made after weighing the pros and cons of recent events.
Luo Xi immediately chuckled knowingly and followed Zheng Gouzi's lead: "Your Excellency, leave this matter to me. Near my home, on the western slope of Tianzhu Mountain, there's a small mine. In recent years, all the miners have fled. There isn't even anyone to mine, it's been abandoned for quite some time. I plan to take these vagrant rebels back, give them gruel daily so they don't starve to death, and then make them dig relentlessly!"
Hearing this, Lian Guoshi couldn't help but feel a chill. He thought: *Are you going to turn these ten thousand vagrant rebels into your family's beasts of burden? How ruthless, how utterly ruthless! Military officials truly are ruthless.*
Lian Guoshi would likely never be able to do such a thing himself. He longed to snap at him: "Don't mess around like that."
But he couldn't take on these ten thousand people either. Since Luo Xi was willing to take them, he had no cause to intervene, so he might as well let him.
Just then, Padi Tu popped his head out from the side: "Your Excellency, the vagrant rebels have all fled south. That direction, that's Yunxi, isn't it?"
Lian Guoshi nodded. "Yes, that's Yunxi. That area is no longer within my jurisdiction. I can only pursue them this far..."
Padi Tu pressed, "Who governs that region? Your Excellency, quickly write a letter and ask him to dispatch troops. If we converge from both sides, we might be able to trap the vagrant rebels along the border between the two regions."
Lian Guoshi replied, "That's the territory governed by Jiang Yunyi, the Administrator of Yunyang. I'll immediately send a messenger to inform Administrator Jiang."
Jiang Yunyi, Administrator of Yunyang, was currently writing a memorial.
The content was simple: "Helpless, merely petitioning for death."
After writing this crude and straightforward ten-character message, too weary even to bother with the formalities between a sovereign and his minister, Jiang Yunyi set down his brush. He pushed open the window, only to hear shouts of battle echoing throughout Yunxi City outside.
"Don't let Jiang Yunyi escape!"
"Seize Jiang Yunyi and kill him!"
"Don't let the corrupt official get away."
People were shouting everywhere in the city. Rebel banners fluttered through the city, as large groups of vagrant rebels clashed with garrison soldiers. The garrison soldiers couldn't even defend the city walls, how could they possibly hold the streets?
Street battles were a complete defeat, and the fall of Yunxi City was only moments away.
Jiang Yunyi sighed deeply. "Petitioning for death seems almost unnecessary now. The Emperor won't even get the chance to kill me."
He drew a dagger, preparing to plunge it into his own throat...
Just then, a group of household guards rushed in and snatched the dagger from his hand: "Master, please do not take your own life. Fleeing is the best option."
The household guards protected Jiang Yunyi and fought their way out.
The household guards' fighting power left the garrison soldiers in the dust. After a bloody street battle, the household guards, taking Jiang Yunyi with them, broke through the encirclement and fled in disarray towards the city gates.
Behind them, Yunxi City began to erupt in flames. Thick smoke billowed everywhere.
Jiang Yunyi turned back to glance at the tragic state of the city and shed tears of sorrow. ——
In the sixth year of Chongzhen, the vagrant rebels split into two forces. One force advanced south, successively conquering Yunxi, Shangjin, Fang County, and Baokang counties.
"They moved directly into deserted and undefended areas, sweeping through like a storm."
Jiang Yunyi, Administrator of Yunyang of the Ming, wrote: "Helpless, merely petitioning for death."
The other vagrant rebel force—eight battalions led by Full Sky Star, Sweeping King, Rampaging Wolf, Yi Dou Gu, Wa Guanzi, and others—intended to re-enter Shaanxi. Hong Chengchou issued a summons for the Heyang garrison to intercept them. But before Hong Chengchou's summoned troops arrived, this rebel force was intercepted by Shaanxi Governor Lian Guoshi and former Commander Luo Xi, suffering a defeat. They then turned south, successively conquering Xunyang, Ziyang, Pingli, and Baihe, advancing towards Sichuan.
However, as soon as they entered Sichuan territory, they were intercepted by Sichuan's White Pole Soldiers.
No one could match the White Pole Soldiers in the mountains of Sichuan. The vagrant rebels were badly beaten, but the vagrant rebels' momentum was immense, and the White Pole Soldiers' forces were not numerous. Both sides became locked in a seesaw battle in the mountains. The rebel advance into Sichuan was halted, but they couldn't be completely repelled. ——
The ten thousand surrendered rebels were now a problem.
These people had to be sent to a prison.
But Huanglong Mountain Prison was a bit far!
Walking from here to Xi'an, then transferring to a train to Huanglong Mountain, would take several days. The train would need to make over ten trips to transport them all. During this time, ten thousand people couldn't be left unsupervised, and the Gao Family Village Militia would have to guard them continuously.
That round trip would cause a significant delay.
Li Daoxuan frowned. This delay was something he couldn't afford.
If the Gao Family Village Militia were to escort the surrendered rebels back to Huanglong Mountain now, with a round trip taking over ten days, the vagrant rebels might very well turn back and charge into Wuguan Pass again, heading straight for the outskirts of Xi'an.
This was unacceptable to Li Daoxuan.
He had found in historical records that Chuǎng Wang would attack Chengcheng County in the seventh year of Chongzhen.
Clearly, without his intervention, this time the vagrant rebels' incursion into Shaanxi would again spread like wildfire, and next year they would attack Chengcheng County city, causing countless families to be torn apart.
He had to block the vagrant rebels here and prevent them from running rampant in Shaanxi again.
Therefore, the militia should ideally not retreat, not even a single step. They must hold their ground firmly near Shangzhou.
So, how should these ten thousand people be escorted? Should Lian Guoshi handle it?
Li Daoxuan was pondering this when he heard Luo Xi, not far away, say to Zheng Gouzi: "Brother Zheng, do you remember what I said last time when I was bluffing the Governor?"
Zheng Gouzi replied, "What was that?"
"Mining!" Luo Xi was beaming with excitement. "My family owns a mine, right at the foot of Tianzhu Mountain. You can assign some of the able-bodied surrendered rebels to me, and I'll have them do some mining."
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