Chapter 598: Embezzled So Much? |
Publish Time: 2026-06-26 01:26:47
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When the sound of fighting erupted, the common people in the city were terrified.
Hedong City wasn’t a small one, with tens of thousands of residents living inside. In the dead of night, they heard the sounds of fighting, as if a battle had broken out in the south of the city, and then someone shouted that the bandit army had entered the city or something similar, scaring the common people out of their wits.
All of them tightly shut their doors and didn’t dare to go out.
In their hearts, they hoped the officials would win and defend the city.
Yet they quickly became disappointed.
When that corrupt official died, the common people should have been happy, but with the bandits arriving, everyone couldn’t be joyful anymore—they were terrified inside, waiting for the bandits to kick down their doors and steal their belongings.
However, what they feared most didn’t happen.
The noisy night passed without incident.
The next morning, the common people cautiously poked their heads out of windows to look outside, and the bolder ones quietly slipped onto the streets, tiptoeing along eaves to see what the current situation really was.
Or, to see whether it was the officials’ or the bandits’ rule outside.
They immediately discovered the head of the salt tax office hanging at the city’s vegetable market entrance, like the head of a beheaded prisoner at an execution ground.
Soon, small teams of patrolling troops appeared on the streets; these patrolling troops also carried a megaphone wrapped in iron sheet, wide at one end and narrow at the other.
As they walked, they held the megaphone and shouted: “Common people of Hedong City, don’t be afraid. We aren’t ordinary bandits; we were originally officials forced into being bandits because the court withheld our pay. We’ve taken the salt tax office’s money, and that’s enough—we won’t harm you. Go about your business as usual.”
Several patrol teams repeated this in the city, walking and shouting repeatedly.
They shouted like this for several hours!
The common people finally gathered their courage and went out onto the streets.
Then they noticed, hey, it’s really true! These bandits had occupied the city but didn’t kill, burn, or loot—they were just digging and digging and digging inside the salt tax office’s home.
As the common people grew bolder, they simply ran over to watch the commotion.
Soon, many bold common people saw with their own eyes that these bandits had dug out large amounts of gold, silver, and jewelry from the salt tax office’s home.
How that money came about, the common people of Hedong knew all too well.
The salt tax office had been secretly selling salt, selling the government’s salt to salt smugglers or selling portions beyond the salt license limits to Shanxi merchants.
The common people of Hedong all knew he was desperately making money, they just didn’t know how much he had actually collected until they saw so much gold and silver dug out—then they realized their imagination couldn’t keep up with the corrupt official’s greed.
“He was truly a corrupt official!”
“He deserved to die!”
“He really deserved it.”
Captain Chen waved his hand, and his six hundred soldiers started stuffing gold and silver jewelry into their pockets, laughing merrily as they did: “Hahaha, finally, we’ve taken back the military pay the court owed us for all these years.”
“We’ve struck it rich, struck it rich.”
“I can finally fill my belly.”
The rebel band in Guyuan laughed loudly while taking things, but at the same time whispered among themselves: “Hey, don’t actually take it home! There’s a military rule that says ‘all loot must go public’—anyone who hides it privately will spend years in the labor camp again.”
“I definitely don’t want to go back to the labor camp! It’s so joyful to have gotten out.”
In no time, the pockets of over six hundred people were bulging. Captain Chen laughed heartily at the onlooking common folks, “Alright, I’ve earned enough now, got quite the haul. I won’t bother robbing you commoners anymore. Go about your business.”
With a rumble, the commoners dispersed. Even as they walked away, they couldn’t help but chatter amongst themselves. “That corrupt official really isn’t doing human things! So much money–how could he ever spend it all?”
“Serves him right that the bandits got it!”
“It’s a pity those bandits didn’t share any with us.”
“They are bandits! They didn’t rob us–we should be thanking our lucky stars! And you expect them to give us a share? Don’t dream while you’re awake!”
“Hahaha, that’s true.”
The commoners shook their heads, carrying on with their lives as usual just as they always did.
…
Meanwhile, in Puzhou.
The subordinate dispatched by the salt tax office, riding a fast horse, had galloped through the night for seventy li, resting intermittently. The sky was not fully light yet when he arrived.
He wrangled for quite a while with the sentinel at the city gates, then had to wait for the Governor of Puzhou, Qiu Qianfan, and the Puzhou Defender, Xing Honglang, to “leisurely get out of bed” to see him.
By the time the subordinate managed to speak to them, it was already beginning to dawn.
Qiu Qianfan heard that the neighbouring Hedong City had been captured by the bandits and was genuinely startled.
That place was a “Road.” The administrative division “Road” equated to a “military command.”
If even a “military command” could fall to bandits, wouldn’t that make a “regular administrative region” like Puzhou extremely vulnerable?
Qiu Qianfan’s face darkened. “The bandits could capture a major city like Hedong? This… this… are the bandits this fierce now?”
Xing Honglang knew exactly what was going on inside, but her expression remained grave. “The bandits grow stronger by the day. Things are even worse up north in Shanxi. I heard the Provincial Governor keeps court in Taiyuan, while the cities around Taiyuan have almost all been taken by the bandits.”
Qiu Qianfan: “What can we possibly do?”
Xing Honglang adopted a thoroughly confident air. “Governor Qiu, don’t be afraid. With Xing Honglang here, at the very least, Puzhou is secure. I won’t let Puzhou fall into the rebels’ hands.”
Qiu Qianfan: “Ah, General Xing’s abilities, this official is quite confident in.”
And so, the two of them actually started chatting cordially.
The salt tax office subordinate quickly intervened, “General Xing, I implore you to dispatch troops immediately to relieve Hedong City.”
Xing Honglang: “Eh? My duty is to defend Puzhou. How could I arbitrarily rush off to Hedong? It’s not my jurisdiction. Wandering about without reason would violate Military Orders.”
The subordinate: “But last time, didn’t you reinforce Pingyang Prefecture? You traveled hundreds of li then.”
Xing Honglang: “That was then, this is now. That time, Song Zhongyin, the Provincial Governor of Shanxi, Master Song himself, issued an order. He commanded all military officers near Pingyang Prefecture capable of assisting to go and reinforce it. That’s why I dared to leave my post. This time, there’s no order from above. Only you, a single messenger, come begging for aid, and you want me to leave my post? Improper. Quite improper! You see, I started as a bandit turned regular soldier. Such a thing invites suspicion easily. If I go to Hedong without permission and the civil officials report it, wouldn’t I be finished?”
The subordinate: “……”
Her statement wasn’t exactly a lie. It made sense.
The subordinate had no choice but to look pleadingly towards Qiu Qianfan.
Qiu Qianfan thought carefully for a moment and then sighed. He addressed Xing Honglang, “General Xing, Hedong Road is simply too close to us—merely seventy li away. Bandits controlling a city that close cannot be safe for us. They could invade our Puzhou at any moment. Perhaps you should make the trip. Regarding the court, I, this official, will write a memorial to explain.”
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