chsdbacks Page 97
Page 97
In an instant, the sickening cracking of bones, the dull thud of flesh being crushed, and Li Jun's screams and wails all blended together! Where the giant hammer struck, dust flew up from the beach, and blood mist splattered everywhere! At the last moment, Li Jun desperately swung her fishing rod to block, but she was not Lu Zhisheng, how could she possibly block such weight? Although she managed to block it and was not seriously injured, the bones in her arms were already broken piece by piece under the pressure.
Li Jun only knew that Liu Hong's weapon could be transformed at will, which was mostly due to his demonic power. However, he never expected that this thing could not only be transformed into a weapon. Therefore, one wrong move could lead to total defeat.
"Who else among you has objections to my trial?!"
Liu Hong withdrew his anger and walked among the crowd. His serious gaze swept over the Liangshan Second Battalion's navy. Seeing that all three commanders and deputy commanders had been defeated, and knowing that he was indeed in the wrong first, the entire Second Battalion's navy fell silent. They didn't even dare to look the Liangshan leader in the eye. They stood up straight involuntarily, lowered their heads, and trembled, awaiting judgment.
“I’ve already killed those nine people! Who else participated in looting this street?! Considering this is your first offense, return all the goods to the people first! Then go to Tie Kongmu and get twenty lashes! Tong Wei and Tong Meng, as deputy commanders, were negligent in their duties, so they get thirty lashes! Commander Li Jun gets forty lashes! They will be punished when we return to Liangshan!”
Liu Hong roared angrily, punishing the second battalion of naval soldiers and even himself. Seeing how terrifying the Great Sage Hun Tian was, these pirates learned their lesson and obediently listened to the Great Sage Hun Tian, returning the stolen goods to the trembling civilians who had just been robbed.
"I'm sorry, old man. It's my fault for not disciplining my troops properly. These little rascals under my command have caused trouble. It's all my fault."
Afterwards, Liu Hong took out some loose silver from his own pocket and used it to compensate the affected people door-to-door. He completely changed his previous stern and angry demeanor, instead displaying a warm and gentle smile as he apologized to each household, taking all the blame upon himself. His personal apology for his subordinates' actions relieved the people, and only then was his reputation somewhat salvaged.
After settling this mess, Liu Hong walked up to Li Jun again. She trembled in fright, thinking that Liu Hong was going to punish her again. Unexpectedly, Liu Hong simply reached out and stroked her broken arms. Accompanied by a warm and dazzling starlight, healed her broken hands as if they were still intact.
"Thank you, brother."
Li Jun spoke with reverence, but Liu Hong ignored her completely. After treating Li Jun's arms, he went to Tong Wei and Tong Meng to heal the two women's injuries as well. He'd been too harsh; it was time for some sweetness.
"You just want money, don't you? I've already said I won't mistreat any of my brothers or sisters."
Liu Hong's gaze swept fiercely over the Second Battalion of naval troops.
"Come with me! I'll show you how to make money!!!"
Li Jun and the others looked at each other, but in the end they chose to believe him. They led the ninety sailors from the Second Battalion and Fourth Division who were wreaking havoc on the street, and followed Liu Hong directly into the largest mansion in Penglai City.
At this moment, the servants and servants in the mansion were terrified. The owner of the mansion even personally welcomed Liu Hong in. Now the old order of the entire Penglai City had been shattered, and the streets were patrolled by Liangshan soldiers. If they wanted to survive, they had to hurry up and curry favor with Liu Hong.
"My brothers and sisters, we fought for two days to capture Penglai, and now we are very tired."
Liu Hong said succinctly.
"I, I'll immediately order the servants to prepare wine and meat!"
The wealthy man was terrified. He immediately ordered his servants to bring out the best wine and meat for the ninety-odd people. Liu Hong and the others didn't stand on ceremony and started eating right there in the house and on the veranda. On average, each person ate three catties of meat, two catties of rice, and four catties of wine, which made the wealthy man extremely distressed. But there was nothing he could do.
After treating his brothers to a good meal to replenish their energy, Liu Hong asked another question.
"My brothers have come all the way to Penglai, a long and arduous journey..."
"Here I have plenty of money, bolts of cloth, dried meat, and countless bottles of wine. Consider it all as travel expenses and to make some clothes for the brothers!"
The wealthy man was very sensible. Without hesitation, he took out nearly ten thousand strings of cash and, after much persuasion, finally managed to convince these living devils to leave.
Now, the pirates, each having received an average of one hundred strings of cash, were finally overjoyed—so this is how you rob a wealthy person! Brother is truly amazing! He's experienced! We've only ever robbed merchants and travelers on the water; we've never had any experience storming into cities and robbing wealthy people. Robbing a wealthy person is way more lucrative than being a pirate!
"How about it? Isn't it much more effective than your old methods?"
Looking at these river pirates, Liu Hong noticed their gaze shifted from initial defiance to fear, and then from fear to awe.
"My brother is still the best!"
"My God, they robbed us of so much money in one go! We've been living in vain!"
"My brother is amazing!!"
Having tasted the benefits, the pirates responded enthusiastically, and even Tong Wei and Tong Meng were impressed.
"This is nothing! I just flew around in the sky and saw that there are five mansions of this size and fifteen smaller ones. There are about twenty wealthy landowners in Penglai City, and ninety percent of the city's wealth is concentrated in these twenty households. Why don't you rob the rich and powerful, but instead rob the common people?!"
Liu Hong snorted coldly.
"Come on! Follow me! Let's visit the other nineteen households as well!"
"I swear to follow my brother to the death!"
At this, the pirates cheered!
"But brother, what are the other brothers and sisters fighting over?"
Li Jun hesitated. There were three thousand brothers entering the city. If we visited all twenty wealthy households, what would they eat?
"Do you think that money was all the rich man had? Not at all."
Liu Hong had extensive experience in dealing with wealthy landowners.
"I have just given the order to divide all the brothers into thirty divisions, each with one hundred men. Ten of these divisions will be responsible for guarding and defending the city walls."
The other twenty tribes entered the city, heading straight for these wealthy households. While we were feasting on this family, the nineteen brothers from the other nineteen tribes were feasting on another nineteen households. We took turns eating! This family was originally allocated to you, but you're robbing ordinary people.”
Liu Hong said with a sense of disappointment and frustration.
"Next, we'll visit the other nineteen houses! The other brothers are taking turns visiting as well. We'll make sure every wealthy man in Penglai receives twenty teams of Liangshan soldiers. That way, we can rob them all. Oh, and remember to leave some money behind. There are still over a thousand brothers and sisters who are working incredibly hard right now, guarding the city walls so we can rob them safely. Tell me, aren't these brothers working hard? If you finish attacking the city and can't rob it, but instead have to defend it, wouldn't that be tough?"
"It must have been tough. No wonder I didn't see the Zhang Heng and Zhang Shun sisters, or their soldiers. They were defending the dock."
Li Jun suddenly realized.
"Then give them some of the money you stole, understand?!"
"This should be given, it should be given."
The pirates unanimously agreed that their brothers and sisters had indeed worked hard and deserved a share of the spoils. Besides, they had robbed one household and already made tens of thousands of strings of cash; if they took turns robbing twenty households, the total amount of money they'd robbed would be astronomical. Giving it to them was perfectly acceptable. For pirates whose monthly income was only five or six strings of cash, robbing two thousand or even a thousand strings a day was still an astronomical sum.
Chapter 257: Penglai Falls, Shandong Shaken
And so, the wealthy and powerful men of Penglai were about to face their ultimate nightmare.
At first, the Liangshan soldiers were extremely friendly, only asking to eat and drink to their hearts' content and take some money before leaving, promising not to cause any trouble.
Therefore, these wealthy men reluctantly endured it, thinking that it was better to pay money to avoid trouble. So they took out hundreds of catties of wine, meat, rice, and flour to treat the hundred or so robbers well. Afterwards, they gave each of them money and cloth, and saw them off to the door with trepidation.
Not bad. This time, it only cost 10,000 strings of cash to get rid of the plague god. Although it hurt a little, it was only 10,000 strings of cash, which is really nothing.
Just as they were gloating, a flurry of footsteps and knocking came from outside the door again. The wealthy man opened the door in astonishment to find another hundred Liangshan soldiers standing there! Not the same batch they had sent away before! It was a new batch!
“Old man! My brothers and sisters have come all the way here and fought all day. They are very hungry—no, very tired.”
Flying Tiger Hu Cheng wiped his oily lips, patted his stuffed stomach, and decided to change his strategy. He couldn't eat anymore, so he decided to take some money and leave.
"Brothers, you went through so much trouble to conquer Penglai, shouldn't you give us some silver as a token of your respect?"
"No problem, no problem at all!"
The wealthy man was utterly helpless. Faced with hundreds of blood-stained knives, he weakly chose to compromise once again.
Fine, I've already paid to avoid trouble once, so I might as well pay to avoid trouble a second time!
The wealthy man hurriedly ordered his servants to take out a large amount of money and cloth and distribute it to the hundred soldiers under Hu Cheng's command. Only then did Hu Cheng leave satisfied. How satisfying! Usually, when dealing with these wealthy men, I have to maintain proper etiquette. I have to call this one "uncle" and that one "elder," and I have to bow and make gestures.
This time I called him "old man" directly, and he still had to obediently give me money!
After going through countless hardships and finally getting rid of Hu Cheng, this second group of plagues, the wealthy man was exhausted and sat down on the ground, panting heavily.
But only a quarter of an hour later, noisy footsteps sounded outside the door again. This time it was Hu Sanniang, the One-Zhang-Qing, who came with her soldiers to demand money.
The wealthy man stared in astonishment at the approaching group of men. This time, he was truly ready to fight them to the death!
But thinking about it carefully, I've already spent money to avoid disaster twice and consumed a lot of food. There's no need to fight now. If we start fighting now, wouldn't all the money and food I sent out before be wasted?
Besides, these bandits have cannons! They can even blow up the walls of Penglai. Compared to those walls, what are the walls around my residence? If I were to hold out in my residence now, how many days could I hold out?
There was nothing the wealthy man could do but swallow his anger. This was the third time he had to pay money to avoid further trouble. Just like her brother, Hu Sanniang went wild with fun. She had studied Confucian ethics and the three obediences and four virtues her whole life, but this time she experienced robbing a rich man, which she found quite fun.
Then, the fourth time, the fifth time, the sixth time... each time the wealthy man chose to back down and give up, each time he chose to spend money to avoid disaster, until the eleventh time, when he had exhausted all his money and food and really had nothing left to give. He even gave his wife's hairpins and jewelry to Liangshan, because he really had no money left.
But it doesn't matter. The Liangshan soldiers who came at this moment have already robbed about ten households and have eaten their fill. Luan Tingyu, the leader, recalled Liu Hong's orders and then spoke up.
"Really nothing? If you don't have money, food will do. But if you say you don't have any food, and we find it, you're in big trouble!"
The wealthy man was so frightened that he lost his mind and begged for mercy repeatedly with a mournful face.
"I really have no food left. When the last group of people came, I even gave them my silk clothes!"
"It's alright, it doesn't matter if we don't have money. Here's what we'll do: when we attacked Penglai, we encountered resistance, and several of our troops died. You can replenish our ranks!"
Luan Tingyu saw that he didn't seem to be acting, so he stopped investigating. The wealthy man quickly agreed and handed over all the men. Luan Tingyu selected the nine tallest and strongest men, separated them, and incorporated them into his own household. Then he turned and left.
At this moment, the wealthy man was truly going crazy. He had lost his money and nine laborers.
Just then, Mu Chun arrived here with his thirteenth team.
"My lord! Master! General! I really have no money left! All nine young men have been taken away! You...you can't treat people like this!"
The wealthy man was on the verge of tears, truly helpless against the thirteenth gang of robbers.
"Oh, is that so? We've destroyed several sections of Penglai's city walls, and they need repairs. Can your family do some hard labor? I'll go back and tell my brother that I'll never come looking for you again."
Seeing that the family had been arrested, Mu Chun knew that the plan had reached its final stage. After being robbed more than ten times, the wealthy man had no will to resist and handed over thirty or forty men to Mu Chun in one go.
Then, Sun Li, the "Sickly General," arrived with his fourteenth group of men. Seeing that the family had lost all their wealth and their men had been taken away, Sun Li, who had also robbed over a dozen wealthy families, made his final demands.
Look, we need to repair the city walls and the streets. We don't have enough laborers; we also need some support staff. Here's what we'll do: hand over the young women in your family. Once the city walls are repaired, you can send them back.
The wealthy man nodded repeatedly, no longer able to refuse.
These wealthy landowners are the true masters of Penglai. The money and grain that mysteriously disappeared from the warehouses gather dust in their homes, and the soldiers who were absent from the army also serve as slaves in their homes. These are the people Liu Hong fears the most.
However, Liu Hong had a firm grasp on the weakness and compromising nature of these wealthy landowners. At first, he only asked for money and grain, then he only wanted young and strong men, then he took away all the men, and finally he even took away the young women. Step by step, little by little, like boiling a frog in warm water, he quietly disintegrated all these wealthy landowners.
When only the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled remained in these wealthy households, they had no power to resist.
What awaited them was a bloody massacre. Liu Hong seized all their wealth, people, and mansions in just one day, without a single death. He then issued an order among the people, saying that all the land owned by the wealthy landowners would be distributed to the farmers and the factories to the workers. After gaining the support of the people, Penglai City was completely captured by Liangshan.
Chapter 258: Dengzhou Falls, the Imperial Court is Terrified
The news of Penglai's fall gradually spread across Shandong, but it was very slow to spread and did not receive much attention from the imperial court. The reasons were simple: firstly, the imperial court was too bloated, and secondly, Penglai was too remote.
If we compare the Song Dynasty to a bloated mountain of flesh hundreds of kilometers in size, then Penglai is the end of that mountain's limbs, having been bitten. The nerve signals can't reach the spine and brain for a while.
The core area of Shandong is comprised of seven prefectures—Binzhou, Qizhou, Zizhou, Qingzhou, Weizhou, Mizhou, and Laizhou—nested between Mount Tai, the eastern mountains, and the Yellow River. These areas were the former territory of the State of Qi, which was granted to Jiang Ziya by the Zhou emperor, and represent its most fertile and prosperous region. The land is flat, the farmland is fertile, the population is dense, and cities abound.
As for Dengzhou—it's nestled in the mountains of eastern Shandong. Even Shamen Island, which the Song Dynasty used specifically for exiling criminals, is just a few dozen kilometers away in the sea north of Penglai.
After capturing Penglai, Liu Hong immediately began to rapidly build up his army. He spent ten days stabilizing Penglai, distributing factories to workers and land to the people.
Liangshan was already very familiar with the distribution of land and knew how to win over the rural population of the Song Dynasty, which accounted for 90% of the total population.
However, Liangshan had little experience in attracting urban residents, but Liu Hong did.
There are only five types of urban population: government officials, wealthy landowners, merchants, workers, and household slaves.
Liu Hong killed officials, bankrupted wealthy landowners, and freed his household slaves. He then won over merchants by reducing commercial taxes.
Finally, by establishing a labor union and winning over the workers, with all workers holding shares, those who were weaving cloth could continue weaving, those who were blacksmithing could continue blacksmithing, and those who were selling could continue selling. However, instead of receiving those meager fixed wages, all workers would share the profits from the sales equally. This greatly stimulated their enthusiasm and won the support of the urban population.
Not only that, but a large number of reinforcements were also arriving from Liangshan. Liu Hong gave an order, commanding five cavalry generals, Lin Chong, Qin Ming, Hua Rong, Yang Zhi, and Suo Chao, to each lead a thousand soldiers to launch simultaneous attacks on Huangxian, Rushan, Muping, Chengshan, and Wendeng in Dengzhou! The goal was to surround the cities first!
If the Dengzhou prefecture is this corrupt, the counties below it probably aren't much better.
And the reality was exactly as Liu Hong had imagined: the entire Dengzhou was rotten to the core. The newly appointed prefect was ambitious, but he was too timid and hesitant to act due to the messed-up Song Dynasty system.
From him down, the county magistrates of Dengzhou only cared about abusing their power and making money at will.
Local militia commanders were embezzling funds, claiming that their troops were well-trained and that their militia members were out on official business and couldn't be mobilized quickly.
The transport commissioner in charge of tax collection was even more powerful. His subordinates were all slacking off, and the entire tax collection work was outsourced to the wealthy landowners in various villages. They were playing a tax-farming system—giving all the landowners in the villages a fixed quota: you have to collect this much tax each year and bring it to me. As for how much tax each landowner collected in each village, I don't care. If they collected more, they kept it for themselves; how much they could embezzle depended on their abilities.
What's even more infuriating is that, in order to ensure that there would never be another An Lushan, the Song Dynasty not only split the power of local officials into three parts and assigned them to three people, but also deliberately divided the three people into different factions: one was Gao Qiu's scoundrel, one was Su Taiwei's protégé, and one was Tong Guan's eunuch. They couldn't stand each other, let alone cooperate.
If the Song Dynasty had been like the Han and Tang Dynasties, where the highest local officials simultaneously held administrative, military, and financial power, then in the face of Liangshan's sudden attack, perhaps a local general like Gongsun Zan or An Lushan could have emerged. Leaving aside the issue of loyalty, just consider whether I managed to defend this frontier.
This system of separation of powers, each with its own corrupt elements, performed terribly after being subjected to a surprise military attack by Liangshan. Especially after hearing that Penglai, the capital of one prefecture, had been utterly destroyed, they were thrown into a panic. The five counties collapsed at the mere sight of Liangshan, with some magistrates even absconding with their embezzled funds, showing no will to resist. The five Liangshan generals captured the five counties almost without bloodshed!
Only the magistrate of Huang County put up a brave resistance for a while, because the county's location was extremely crucial and pivotal. It was the throat from Shandong to Dengzhou, and it was bordered by the eastern mountains of Shandong to the south and the Bohai Sea to the north. Its terrain was treacherous. Huang County was to Dengzhou what Tongguan was to Guanzhong.
This unique location also allowed Huangxian to receive a small-scale reinforcement from seven prefectures in Shandong.
But it didn't matter. After discovering that Huang County was difficult to attack, Liu Hong led the Xie sisters, Xie Zhen and Xie Bao, who were extremely skilled in mountain warfare, to attack directly. The two women managed to bring twenty cannons to the eastern mountains south of Laoshan.
In Liu Hong, Qin Ming led twenty small cannons to launch a fierce attack on the city gate of Huang County in the east, drawing all the enemy's attention. Then, Jie Zhen and Jie Bao built an artillery position on the mountain, with twenty small cannons bombarding the southern urban area of Huang County from a high vantage point, stunning everyone—the south was all cliffs and precipices of mountains, how could there possibly be enemies here?
Just as the Song army was in a daze, Jie Zhen and Jie Bao led their mountain special forces, composed of hunters and bandits, and charged down the cliff with the force of a collapsing mountain! They directly destroyed the southern defense system that Huang County had no defenses to begin with, and roared into the city!
The Xie sisters, Xie Zhen and Xie Bao, wielding two double-pronged forks, wreaked havoc in the streets! Two giant python heads sprouted from Xie Zhen's back, while Xie Bao's upturned buttocks produced a pair of scorpion tails. The venom of these snakes and scorpions could kill instantly, and their potent acid could melt steel. No one in Huang County could withstand their power. At that moment, five more cannons were transported down from the mountain and entered the streets of Huang County, bombarding the county government office. Amidst the deafening roar of the cannons, the walls collapsed. The two sisters seized the opportunity to storm into the county government office. The Huang County magistrate had no time to dodge and was impaled in the chest by Xie Zhen's fork, followed by a slash to decapitate him.
At this point, the entire defense system of Huang County completely collapsed. Including the time spent marching, Liangshan took over the entire Dengzhou in less than a month.