Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Chapter 215 Chief Li Takes Control of Jizhou City, Hu Family Generals Flee to Guangzhou Road

Now, let's turn to another part of the story. Outside the east gate of Jizhou City, a suicidal charge ended tragically with Zhang Bao being captured and all eight hundred of his elite soldiers perishing.

Inside the central command tent, Li Hanxiao was scrutinizing Zhang Bao, who was covered in blood but still glaring angrily, when he suddenly heard thunderous hoofbeats and billowing dust from the direction of the north gate. It was Guan Sheng, the "Big Saber," leading three thousand iron cavalry, chasing back around the city.

Guan Sheng dismounted, his usually arrogant, jujube-faced expression now filled with barely concealed frustration and anger. He strode into the tent, ignoring the dust covering his body, and knelt abruptly on one knee before Li Hanxiao, his voice booming: "This humble general is incompetent! He allowed Song Jiang, Wu Yong, and their gang of culprits to escape via the waterway from the north gate! Although there were roadblocks and feints along the way, they were all false alarms. By the time this humble general reached the ferry, it was already deserted! Please punish me, Chieftain!"

Upon hearing this, the generals inside the tent were all in an uproar.

"What? That black guy got away?"

"Damn it! Wu Yong is indeed a venomous snake, utterly cunning!"

Enraged, Lu Zhishen threw down his monk's staff, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Upon hearing this, Li Hanxiao showed no sign of surprise or anger. He personally stepped forward and helped Guan Sheng up, his deep eyes as calm as an unfathomable ancient well. "General Guan, what crime have you committed? Please rise. Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Moreover, this time it was not a fault of our own, but rather the result of Wu Yong's cunning scheme. I was also misled by his feigned desperate stand at the East Gate and was a step too slow."

He understood perfectly well what was going on. Wu Yong's plan was intricately linked, utterly ruthless. Zhang Bao's desperate fight at the East Gate and Xue Yong's feigned attack at the North Gate were both sacrificial pawns, used to draw his attention. Their true purpose was to create a crucial chance for the main force to break through by water, securing that invaluable lifeline. Wu Yong was indeed a formidable opponent. His escape would have far-reaching consequences for Liangshan.

But now is not the time for regret.

Li Hanxiao's gaze slowly swept over the generals in the tent, finally settling on the Jizhou city, now wide open and leaderless. A cold smile slowly curved his lips.

"Wu Yong has run away, Uncle Zhang has run away, but this city of Jizhou cannot be escaped."

He suddenly turned around, his voice like thunder, making the entire tent buzz!

"Pass on my order! All troops, heed my command! Beat the drums! Advance!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The deafening sound of war drums, like the footsteps of death, suddenly resounded outside Jeju City! The overwhelming killing intent that had been suppressed all night erupted at this moment! Four armies, nearly 20,000 Liangshan heroes, like four unstoppable black iron torrents, converged on the already opened city gate from all directions!

On the city wall, the remaining thousands of government troops were terrified and their hearts were broken.

They watched helplessly as Zhang Bao's elite suicide squad was wiped out, and as their own prefect and clerk fled in the dead of night. Their last shred of will to resist had long been worn away by the wailing and despair that filled the city.

The saying "The commander of an army cannot be taken away" is absolutely true. At this moment, hearing the death-stricken drumbeats and seeing the Liangshan army surging in like a tide, I don't know who was the first to throw down their weapon.

Clang!

The crisp sound was like a signal.

Clang! Bang!

The sounds of weapons hitting the ground rose and fell in waves, creating a continuous chorus.

"We've surrendered! We've surrendered!"

"Hero, spare my life! Don't kill me! I'll open the city gate!"

At this moment, the four heavy city gates of Jeju Prefecture, symbolizing the majesty of the Song Dynasty government, were slowly, heavily, and completely opened from the inside by countless trembling hands.

Without resistance or bloodshed, they gained the greatest profit at the lowest cost.

This important town in western Shandong, which had been in operation for hundreds of years and had once caused Liangshan Marsh to suffer repeated defeats, opened its arms to its new master in an almost absurd way.

Li Hanxiao stood on his horse beneath the central army banner. He looked at the open city gate and the dark mass of surrendered soldiers kneeling on the city walls and streets, but his face showed no trace of triumphant joy.

He knew that from the moment he stepped through the city gates, he, Li Hanxiao, was no longer the rough-and-tumble hero who could gather forces in the mountains and forests and vent his anger and hatred.

He will become a regional warlord, a regional ruler. On his shoulders will lie the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and the future of tens of thousands of his brothers.

Once you embark on this path, there is no turning back.

"Enter the city!"

Li Hanxiao's voice was calm yet filled with undeniable authority.

He led the way, slowly making his way through the grand city gate. Behind him, tens of thousands of solemn and imposing Liangshan soldiers filed in.

In stark contrast to the chaos and brutality of Wu Yong's army's looting that night, the Liangshan army entered the city without committing any offenses and remained completely silent. Only the rhythmic footsteps and the dull thud of armor plates echoed in the empty streets.

Along the streets, countless eyes peered out from behind the tightly closed doors and windows, watching the legendary "righteous army" with fear, curiosity, and numbness.

An elderly woman with white hair shakily opened half of the door, holding her grandson, who was emaciated from hunger, tightly in her arms.

Last night, her family's grain was looted by those damned government troops, and now there is not a single grain left.

She had thought that with the city falling today, she would be doomed, and had long been prepared to go to the underworld with her grandson.

But what she saw were rows of Liangshan soldiers marching silently, their eyes fixed straight ahead. They passed by her open door, and not one of them even glanced into her house.

Just then, a tall Liangshan officer noticed the starving child in her arms. The officer had a large blue birthmark on his face; he was none other than Yang Zhi, the "Blue-Faced Beast."

He frowned slightly, dismounted, and took out a still-warm steamed bun wrapped in oiled paper from his pocket. Without saying a word, he stuffed it into the old woman's hand.

"Old man, let the child have something to eat first. The chieftain has ordered that the granary at the east gate be opened and grain distributed at noon."

After saying this, Yang Zhi didn't wait for the old woman's reaction, mounted his horse, and followed the group.

The old woman stared blankly at the heavy steamed bun in her hand, then looked at the tall, receding figure. Suddenly, two streams of hot tears welled up in her cloudy old eyes.

With a thud, she knelt down and kowtowed heavily to the backs of the Liangshan army.

"General, you are truly righteous. Please leave your name!"

"I am a descendant of the Golden Saber General, a direct descendant of the Yang family generals. The old man remembers this!"

This scene was witnessed by countless eyes.

The once deathly silent and fear-filled street gradually began to stir with an uncontrollable commotion.

One by one, the tightly closed doors and windows were slowly and tentatively opened.

The first thing Li Hanxiao did after taking control of Jizhou Prefecture was to occupy the prefectural government office and plant the "Commander" flag high in the courtroom, which symbolized the laws of the imperial court.

His first order was to appease the people.

"Issue my order! All soldiers, after entering the city, must not disturb the people, loot property, or enter civilian homes without permission! Anyone who harasses the people or commits adultery with other men's wives and daughters, regardless of kinship or merit, will be executed on the spot!"

He spoke those three words, "execute immediately," with unwavering resolve and a murderous aura!

To make an example of others, he even ordered the newly demoted "Ugly Prince Consort" Xuan Zan to personally serve as a military judge, leading a team of three hundred law enforcement officers to patrol the entire city day and night.

As expected, when the order was given, some of the usually unruly and arrogant bandits, who were proud of their achievements, refused to believe it.

A former outlaw from Qingfeng Mountain got drunk and barged into a tavern, harassing the owner's daughter.

Before he could succeed, Xuan Zan had already led his team to the scene.

The leader, emboldened by alcohol, was still about to resist, cursing in a foul language: "You ugly newcomer, how dare you meddle in your grandfather's business! Back when I was eating meat and drinking wine with Brother Yanshun, you were still suckling somewhere!"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Zan showed no anger whatsoever. He simply stared coldly at the leader, as if he were looking at a dead man.

"Drag him out and behead him."

The leader sobered up considerably in an instant, terrified out of his wits, and begged for mercy repeatedly. But Xuan Zan remained unmoved.

A moment later, a bloody human head was hung high above the tavern's doorway.

The entire army was instantly terrified!

Those ruthless bandits who had previously harbored some侥幸心理 (a sense of侥幸, or a feeling of getting away with something) were now completely silent and dared not have the slightest thought of overstepping their bounds.

Li Hanxiao's second order was to open the granaries and distribute grain.

The official granaries of Jeju Prefecture were opened layer by layer. When the grain and cloth that had been stored for years and piled up like mountains were exposed to the sunlight, everyone was shocked and gasped.

These are all the ill-gotten gains squeezed from the people!

"Issue the order! Confiscate all the property that Zhang Shuye, Song Jiang, Wu Yong, and the others failed to take with them from the government office! Along with all the money and grain in the official granary, set up thirty-six distribution points in the city and distribute them all to the poor people in the city! Within three days, we must ensure that no one in Jizhou City starves to death!"

In an instant, the entire city of Jeju was in an uproar!

Countless emaciated and starving people poured out of the dark corners. They looked at the truckloads of grain being transported to various places and the notices of reassurance posted all over the city. On their faces, long-lost, incredulous smiles appeared.

"Really...the grain was really distributed?"

"No money required! And they even give me meat! My goodness! This...this is like a living Buddha descended to earth!"

Cries and shouts of gratitude filled the air.

Countless people spontaneously knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly in the direction of the government office.

Those heartfelt cries of "Chief Li, the living bodhisattva!" proved, more than any flowery words, that Li Hanxiao had won the hearts of the people in this city!

Li Hanxiao's third order was to take over city affairs and implement new policies.

Wen Huanzhang and Zhu Wu, leading a thousand scholars who were already eager to try their skills, officially took over the various government offices in Jizhou Prefecture.

The first thing they did was to free the people, who had long been exploited and overburdened, from the endless stream of exorbitant taxes and levies.

"By order of the Liangshan Grand Commander! From this day forward, all exorbitant taxes and levies within the territory of Jizhou Prefecture are hereby abolished! Poll tax, head tax, salt tax, wine and yeast tax, toll tax... all those levied privately by local officials outside the laws of the imperial court are hereby abolished!"

"From now on, under the rule of Liangshan, only one tax will be collected, and that is the 'agricultural tax'! All those who own land will be taxed 30% of the land area, regardless of whether it is a good year or a bad year! There will be no other fees!"

This decree was like pouring water into boiling oil, causing an uproar throughout Jeju Prefecture!

Small vendors and workshop owners, who were struggling to breathe under the weight of taxes, spread the news and wept with joy.

Immediately afterwards, those scholars who had already accumulated rich experience in Yuncheng County were all dispatched to various wards, markets, and villages in Jizhou Prefecture.

They were no longer the aloof, scholarly gentlemen, but instead donned simple clothes and straw sandals, wandering the streets and alleys, sharing meals and lodging with the most impoverished people.

The first thing they did was to organize the people and elect their own "village head" and "bao head".