Chapter 2250: A Great Change in the Situation
Ten jin of salt meant little in the Han territories, but for the Yao lands—blockaded for years and forced to purchase salt at exorbitant prices—it represented a small fortune.
"I'm also giving you a salt ticket for one thousand jin," Bi Da said. "Take it back and distribute it to the families of the stockade men who died in battle. The rest you may allocate as you see fit among the families of those still serving in our county."
Pan Tianshun and the other Yao leaders would certainly claim their share of this thousand jin. But the Yao people still retained strong elements of communal society; headman positions were not hereditary, nor could any single leader control everything with absolute authority. This was precisely why Bi Da entrusted the distribution to him.
Pan Tianshun departed in high spirits. Bi Da's three days of "recovering loot" at Dalang Market had yielded a bountiful harvest. Sun Dabiao had initially resisted to the death—he was indeed tough, refusing to talk no matter how severe the torture. It was only when the yamen runners chopped off three of his grandson's fingers before his eyes and then gestured with a blade at the boy's manhood that Sun Dabiao finally broke completely. To ensure he concealed nothing else, the grandson ultimately lost six fingers.
Bi Da interrogated for loot at Dalang Market for three days, flogging over ten people to death. Soldiers and laborers dug up the market thoroughly, recovering vast quantities of gold, silver, and valuables. The wealth Sun Dabiao and his lieutenants had buried there was nearly exhausted by the excavation.
Although the lesser minions were spared the "torture for loot," after watching three days of the spectacle, when naturalized cadres asked them to "voluntarily surrender illicit goods," every one of them scrambled to empty their pockets. Most only had three to five taels of silver, but gathered together, the income proved substantial. Some who could produce no silver pleaded that they had already spent theirs on houses or bride prices, begging only to be allowed home to sell their property and "pay up."
Bi Da remained at Dalang Market for six or seven days, handling all affairs. She left Luo Yiming and half a company of the National Army to garrison the place, then led the team escorting prisoners and goods back to the county seat.
With money and grain in hand, everything became easier. Bi Da immediately ordered local recruitment of able-bodied men throughout the county. Combined with the Yao fighters brought by Pan Tianshun, they formed two new companies. Though lacking rifles and armed only with cold weapons, they could guard the county seat and patrol the roads well enough.
News that the female magistrate sent by the Australians had personally gone into battle and achieved total victory at Dalang Market spread throughout the county within days. Sun Dabiao had entrenched himself there for generations, and successive magistrates had been helpless against him. Yet this woman had moved against him the moment she arrived. Not only had she flattened Dalang Market in a single night, she had captured several hundred bandits alive—Sun Dabiao himself among them. This forced the local powerful households, who had initially harbored doubts about the Australians, to reconsider their attitudes.
Many visitors came to both Dalang Market and the county seat in the following days. The bustling markets of both places—still recovering from the chaos—were full of "farmers" and "peddlers" who bought nothing and sold nothing. They listened silently to what others said, squeezed into crowds to read proclamations, and went to view the heads that had already begun to blacken.
When Zhang Tianbo's head was hung at the county gate, it caused a small sensation. The county seat's commoners vied to watch, and villagers from the surrounding areas who had suffered from his depredations also flocked over. Before the head, people wept and laughed, hurling stones and tile shards at the head box. The scene grew so chaotic that the guarding National Army soldiers had to disperse the crowd.
Yet this was nothing compared to the subsequent "Living Display": Bi Da ordered dozens of wooden cages erected before the county yamen, confining Sun Dabiao, his family members, and the captured bandit leaders inside for public exhibition. This caused a sensation throughout the county. Spectators blocked the way in the county seat as commoners from even the most remote parts of the county rushed over. The area before the county yamen became like a market fair, with large groups gathering at all hours to curse at the cages and throw things. Within days, all the garbage on the county streets had vanished, replaced by filth piled before the yamen. Later, because people threw excrement and the stench became unbearable, an order was finally issued prohibiting the throwing of refuse. But the torment was enough to leave the prisoners dying; every day, dead or near-dead men were pulled from the cages and beheaded for public display.
The yamen gate was crowded with commoners filing complaints. Bi Da instructed that all be accepted without exception and posted in their entirety on the spirit screen. Among the wall of complaints, many were written in blood—mixed among the black ink on white paper, they were as shocking as sprayed bloodstains.
Bi Da was in no hurry for the final reckoning—she already had a plan for settling accounts. She wanted public sentiment to ferment fully, reaching a state urgent enough to explode, before she lit the fuse and thoroughly shook the foundations of the county's powerful households. So in these days since returning, she allowed the commoners to abuse the prisoners while maintaining limits—at least the main bandit leaders could not be killed yet. They were being saved for the finale.
On one hand, she cleared the county streets, provided relief to the commoners, and repaired the city walls. On the other, she restored the system of National Army patrols along county roads. After this battle, public security improved dramatically: the scattered bandits that had roamed outside the county seat, and the rampant banditry throughout the county, now completely vanished from the areas neighboring the seat.
The county cadres, encouraged by this victory, saw their formerly low morale rise significantly. You Ciren, disregarding that his body had not yet recovered, insisted on working every day. Even Peng Shou'an's spirits had improved markedly—though he remained ashamed to show his face.
On this day, Peng Shou'an was summoned to Bi Da's office.
"Mr. Peng, it is time for you to make an appearance."
"Yes, this student is willing to serve."
"These are my personal letters. Prepare some modest gifts and visit each family." Bi Da handed him several letters. "These wealthy households are the ones you mentioned before—those with relatively upright reputations and some influence. Go lobby them, asking them to set an example for the county."
The "example" naturally meant standing alongside the county government—but that alone was insufficient. The county also needed them to contribute money, grain, and manpower.
"Talk to them. First, they must pay the Reasonable Burden. Second, each must dispatch a number of able-bodied men to the county for employment—I won't specify figures; let them propose their own, but it cannot fall below this number." She showed him the minimum.
"This student understands." Peng Shou'an now grasped what the magistrate meant by "modest gift." He felt both pleased and ashamed. "This student will do his utmost! Alas, it was all just scholars' empty talk that harmed the country..."
"You need not blame yourself. A scholar like you—pragmatic and willing to work—is already one in a hundred," Bi Da said. "As for past events, let us not speak of them again. It was all for official business."
After Peng Shou'an departed, Bi Da returned to her work. Zhou Da suddenly announced: "There are bandit family members at the yamen gate asking to see the Magistrate."
"I won't see them," Bi Da said.
"It's an old woman." Zhou Da seemed to have developed some compassion. "She has been kneeling for a day and insists on seeing you."
"I don't have time. If she refuses to leave, arrest her, lock her up for a night, then release her."
"She says she is willing to offer all her family property plus her own life to beg for her son's life."
"Oh? Who is her son?" Bi Da set down her pen.
"Jiang Xiaotian."
"Him." Bi Da recalled the man. He had also been captured in the battle. His unimpressive appearance—rough hands and feet covered in calluses, looking like an ordinary farmer—had led them to think he was just another minion. It was only when a fellow bandit seeking to "atone for crimes with merit" identified him that they learned he was the county's notorious "Solo Bandit" Jiang Xiaotian.
Jiang Xiaotian had been straightforward about it; once identified, he admitted everything. He even explained clearly where he had hidden his valuables: buried at Li Shuangkian's manor. A few days ago, the Mountain Company had retrieved this wealth—a small water vat stuffed with gold and silver, much of it women's jewelry.
Now that Jiang Xiaotian's elderly mother had come to plead for mercy, it suggested he still had hidden property. This warranted proper interrogation.
"Summon her in."
"She has a few kinsmen who wish to come in with her," Zhou Da said. "The old lady is advanced in years and has difficulty walking."
"Bring all three in." Bi Da glanced at Zhou Da, wondering if he had accepted a bribe.
After a while, two middle-aged men were seen supporting a white-haired old woman as they entered, kneeling before the hall to pay their respects.
"You are Jiang Xiaotian's mother?"
"It is this common woman," the old woman said tremblingly. "These two are elders of the Jiang family..."
It turned out these two were Jiang Xiaotian's uncle and a solitary elder from his family's village.
"I heard you knelt before the yamen all day asking to see me. What is the matter?" Bi Da asked.
Watching this, Zhou Da secretly wondered. He had accompanied Bi Da to the county; this female official never accepted grand obeisances, nor did she make people kneel to answer questions—the Australians were all like this. Why had she not even said "rise and speak" today?
"That Jiang Xiaotian has fallen to this state through his own folly; his crime is deserved!" The old woman spoke sorrowfully. "But he is this common woman's only son... The four brothers of the Jiang family share only this single heir. That he strayed from the correct path and committed robbery and murder is entirely because I failed to discipline him. I beg the Great Lord, considering that this common woman was widowed in her youth, and that the Jiang family's four branches have only this one descendant, to spare Jiang Xiaotian's life. This common woman is willing to take his place for his sins..." She kowtowed repeatedly as she spoke.
Beside her, Jiang's uncle also kowtowed and said, "This small one is also willing to take his place!" As he spoke, both men presented stacks of papers. "This is all the land and property of the Jiang family, offered to redeem some portion of his crimes..."
The elder also spoke up: "Great Lord! Although this Jiang Xiaotian is a notorious bandit, he is a purely filial son. He supported his widowed mother for many years, and his three uncles were also maintained and buried by him. Serving relatives with supreme filial piety—although we are outsiders, we recognize his filial heart is sincere. We ask the Great Lord to show mercy and spare his life, so the Jiang family may have a successor. It would be a meritorious deed."
"I presume Jiang Xiaotian has also been quite generous to the village?" Bi Da asked.
Next Update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Part 455 (End of Chapter)