Chapter 120: I Shed Blood for Confucius Temple!
Chapter 120: I Shed Blood for Confucius Temple!
“Supporting the Ming, Destroying the Barbarians?”
Outside the gates of Zoucheng, Wang Zaijin, leading the main army to attack, raised his telescope. He wore an expression of utter disbelief as he watched Yang Xin walk out from within.
The latter held Xu Hongru’s head in one hand and the Ochre Yellow Robe in the other. Behind him, tens of thousands of sect followers marched out in formation. Among these followers were carts, and on the carts were corpses separated from their heads. Behind Yang Xin was a banner, upon which eight large characters were written: “Support the Ming, Destroy the Barbarians, Quell Bandits, Slay the Hu.” Following that was a group beating gongs and drums…
“Grand Coordinator, what is the meaning of this?”
A Green Robed Scholar beside Wang Zaijin, holding a sword, angrily said.
Then, discontented clamoring broke out all around.
“What does it mean? It means Righteous Yang slew the demonic leader and made his followers surrender!”
Wang Zaijin said with annoyance.
“He alone beheaded the traitor Xu and made tens of thousands of rebels surrender. Then what are we, these tens of thousands of soldiers, here for? I, Guo, ruined my family for the state, fought for an entire month—was it just to watch him show off his merits?”
That man said furiously.
“Exactly! The brothers were waiting to kill bandits and claim rewards!”
A general beside him said indignantly.
“All of you, shut up! Isn’t this better? Would you rather have more soldiers die or get hurt? Righteous Yang is devoted and serves the country. After the Liaodong battle, His Majesty offered him the position of Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Officer, but he declined. Even His Majesty issued an edict to praise him. Can’t you learn from Righteous Yang? Your merit won’t be lacking. All the military achievements you’ve made these days, I’ve already reported them to His Majesty. Future rewards won’t be forgotten. Why are you making such a fuss here? You all hold official positions and titles. Arguing like shrews, what kind of behavior is this!”
Old Wang angrily scolded them.
His meaning was: what are you all arguing about? Yang Xin has direct access to the heavens. Should I order the killing of those who surrendered just so you could chop heads? Then he would go and whisper slander to the Emperor; would you take the fall for me then? Now, things having reached this point, we can only accept it.
“But what about the crimes these rebels committed, killing the descendants of the Secondary Sage? Are we just letting it go?”
That man said.
Wang Zaijin ignored him.
At this time, Yang Xin had arrived. This fellow, still on his horse, directly threw Xu Hongru’s head and the Ochre Yellow Robe at Old Wang’s feet…
“Grand Coordinator Wang, I, Yang, did not fail the mission. Here are the traitor Xu’s head and his usurping attire. Behind me are also the heads of more than fifty others, like the fake prime ministers he appointed, but his younger brother is not among them as he led troops stationed at Yi Mountain. Fortunately, the followers who were coerced have now seen the light. As long as these men go to Yi Mountain to persuade them, I believe the rebel troops there will surely behead his brother and surrender.”
Yang Xin said.
The Incense-Smelling Sect followers inside the city numbered about thirty thousand, with another twenty thousand at Yi Mountain, commanded by Xu Hongru’s younger brother, Xu Heyu.
And Shen Zhi’s forces had another twenty thousand.
That is to say, the total military strength of the Incense-Smelling Sect was currently seventy thousand. This included those Xu Hongru brought from Yuncheng and those developed by Zhang Dongbai and others in areas like Zoucheng and Teng. As for the claim of over a hundred thousand, that was boasting. In these times of war, who didn’t boast about their numbers? The official army claimed one hundred and fifty thousand, but in reality, including local militias, it was less than one hundred thousand.
“You have worked hard, Righteous Yang!”
Wang Zaijin said with a smile.
“Righteous Yang, although these people have surrendered, they cannot be dealt with so carelessly. Who among them participated in killing Master Meng, destroying the Meng residence, disturbing the spirit of the Secondary Sage in heaven? They likely need careful screening. From what I know, most of those who slaughtered the entire Meng family were local bandits from Zou County. To clarify this matter, it would be best to single out the Zou County bandits separately for screening!”
The man from earlier said.
“The villain who personally killed Master Meng is right here. He has already been beheaded. As for the Zoucheng bandit leader Zhang Dongbai, he was slain by me, Yang, earlier. Both the mastermind and those who carried out the deed have been executed. Master Meng’s spirit in heaven can rest in peace. As for those coerced into following, I believe with Master Meng’s benevolence, he wouldn’t hold it against them!”
Yang Xin said.
He had already thought of this matter.
The extermination of the Meng family ultimately needed an explanation.
But Zhang Dongbai was already dead. Finding and killing those who directly did the deed would settle it. As for the Zoucheng commoners destroying the Meng residence, many families were ruined during the chaos of war. Master Meng preached benevolence; surely he wouldn’t want several thousand killed just for the few lost from the Meng family?
Even Master Meng’s spirit in heaven would not rest easy.
“Righteous Yang, the state has its own laws. How to deal with them is probably not for Righteous Yang to worry about. However, I, Guo, am quite curious. How did Righteous Yang make tens of thousands of bandits surrender with just his words? Did Righteous Yang promise them something? Or did Righteous Yang have prior connections with them? I, Guo, am straightforward; I say what I think. In short, I have some doubts about this matter. I consider myself well-read in the classics, but I admit I don’t possess such skill. How did Righteous Yang accomplish this?”
That man sneered.
Yang Xin walked directly up to him.
“May I ask your name?”
He asked.
“I am Guo Shiqi, a Government Student from Wenshang!”
That man said.
“Guo Shiqi?”
Yang Xin smiled and nodded.
Suddenly, he grabbed the front of Guo Shiqi’s robe. Relying on being half a head taller, he looked down at him fiercely…
“I shed blood for the Confucius Temple. How dare a mere Government Student doubt me? Where were you when I was fighting a bloody battle to protect Dacheng Hall? Where were you when my battledress was stained red protecting the entire household of Duke Yansheng? You, as a follower of Confucius, taught by the sages, is this how you treat a protector of the holy site? Are you worthy of the green robe you wear? Are you worthy of Confucius’s spirit in heaven?”
He roared angrily.
Then, the spittle he sprayed fell like rain on Guo Shiqi’s face. Poor Guo Shiqi, clutched by him, could not escape even if he wanted to, and could only endure it with an expression of humiliation.
“Righteous Yang, restrain your anger!”
Wang Zaijin quickly pulled at him from the side.
Yang Xin did give face to the grand coordinator. He then pushed Guo Shiqi aside.
Guo Shiqi hurriedly took out a handkerchief and wiped his face frantically. However, he truly had no courage to provoke Yang Xin further. This was really too disgusting. More importantly, he could not retaliate. He could not win in a fight. If it came to words, he could not speak. Yang Xin had indeed fought a bloody battle to protect Dacheng Hall. More than two hundred corpses were cleared in front of Kuiwen Pavilion, nearly half of which he killed alone. It could be said that without him, the Incense-Smelling Sect followers would certainly have broken into Dacheng Hall. They had destroyed the Meng temple, so they would inevitably have destroyed the Confucius Temple. In this sense, all the scholars of the Great Ming should bow to him in thanks for protecting Dacheng Hall.
He called himself the holy site’s guardian, and he deserved it.
It was said that Kong Yinzhi had already submitted a memorial, having the Kong family make a commemorative gold medal specifically for him, to be bestowed upon Yang Xin by His Majesty the Emperor as a token of gratitude. Just for this, all the scholars in the world had to maintain a certain level of respect in front of him. Otherwise, it would seem ungrateful.
No matter how disgusting, they had to endure the disgust!
This was a matter of face; they could not let people say the scholars were ungrateful.
The other Green Robed Scholars also quickly stepped back.
It was best not to get involved with this guy. The best way to deal with him was to stay far away. Otherwise, if he played the holy site guardian card again, they would have to bow to him.
“Righteous Yang, calm your anger. Guo, the Government Student, just spoke carelessly. Speaking of which, Righteous Yang fought a bloody battle to protect the Confucius Temple. All scholars in the world are immensely grateful to the righteous one. There is absolutely no reason for disrespect. Careless words need not be taken seriously. However, these people really should be screened. Otherwise, the local authorities cannot resettle them. With such a large-scale surrender, it’s inevitable that some rebel leaders are hiding among them. These people were deeply deceived by that heretical doctrine. It’s probably hard for them to sincerely repent. What if they stay and cause trouble later? That would not be good!”
Wang Zaijin said, holding onto Yang Xin.
“Grand Coordinator Wang, don’t worry. I, Yang, have already considered this. I plan to request His Majesty’s decree to take them to a place to reclaim wasteland. That way, the local authorities won’t need to worry. Before, I told His Majesty I wanted to take Liaodong refugees to reclaim land. However, Military Commissioner Xiong handled refugee resettlement quite well. Temporarily, I haven’t heard of a need to move them inside the pass. These people can be made use of. It can be considered them atoning for their crimes through labor. After all, they participated in rebellion. Not receiving any punishment is improper. Making them reclaim wasteland as laborers can be considered a form of punishment.”
Yang Xin said.
Xiong Tingbi’s refugee relocation plan was slow to be decided.
This plan involved too much.
For the powerful families and nobles of Liaodong, they actually preferred turning these refugees into their own Household Servants.
In actual history, that’s what they did. Families like the Zu and Wu developed household slaves in the thousands, even secretly trading with the Jiannu, who plundered people and sold them.
The gentry inside the pass, however, feared that once the Liaodong people entered, they would seize their good farmland or even breed banditry.
This was unavoidable. To truly resettle them properly, they must be given land that could support them. This would definitely encroach on the gentry’s interests inside the pass. That certainly would not do. But if they were not properly resettled, it would inevitably lead to trouble, even rebellion. For example, Kong Youde and his gang were essentially Liaodong refugees who fled to Shandong. Because they could not be properly resettled, they eventually took the path of rebellion, even turning to join the Jiannu.
In short, this matter was complicated.
The court was still arguing about it to this day, and Wanli didn’t want the headache over such a troublesome matter, so Yang Xin’s wasteland reclamation still had no movement.
Now he was eyeing these people again.
“If you take all the people away, who will farm our land in the future?”
A local tyrant and evil gentry beside Wang Zaijin said in astonishment.
“If they stay, you are not at ease. If I take them away, you complain no one will farm for you. What exactly do you want?”
Yang Xin said angrily.
“This matter is of great importance and requires careful consideration!”
Wang Zaijin said.
He dared not agree to such a thing. Not to mention that if Yang Xin took these people away, the gentry of this area would lack Tenant Farmers to farm their land. Even if Yang Xin took them away, with so many people, gentry in other places would not agree to receive them. Unless it was uninhabited wasteland, which gentry in any area would allow tens of thousands of people to come reclaim land on their territory? Any land that could be reclaimed, they would have reclaimed themselves. What remained would be land that simply could not support people. By that time, these people, unable to support themselves, would still rebel. Those gentry weren’t fools. How could they allow such a ticking time bomb to be sent to their doorstep.
“Then let’s report it to His Majesty for a decision!”
Yang Xin said.
He didn’t expect an old fox like Wang Zaijin to agree anyway.