Chapter 2193 - Yonghua Pacification

"Though all Yonghua Township shares culpability, this siege of the county seat was orchestrated by your people. That much is indisputable, correct?"

The other three Tianchang Gong immediately chorused their agreement: "Master, it's absolutely true! Baimang Stockade incited us to attack the county seat!"

Baimang Stockade's Tianchang Gong found himself drowning in accusations, reduced to shouting protestations of innocence while kowtowing frantically, his forehead striking the floor like a pestle pounding garlic. Whether under Great Ming or Great Song, all such forces constituted "official troops." Throughout history, "pacifying the Yao" by official forces invariably involved killing, burning, and massacring entire villages and stockades. They had all witnessed Great Song's military prowess the previous night. Should they truly march to Yonghua Township to "pacify the Yao," it would spell catastrophe—families shattered, clans extinguished. This Tianchang Gong understood the stakes perfectly well and could do nothing but cry injustice ceaselessly.

Huang Chao himself had no intention of using the Yonghua Yao as an example to establish authority. The Yonghua Yao had maintained registered household status for many years and interacted extensively with local Han people—they represented potential allies worth cultivating. In pacifying local conflicts, winning over a portion of the local population could prove invaluable.

However, the scale of this Yao uprising had been substantial. Even the customarily "law-abiding" Yonghua Yao had participated, demonstrating how chaotic conditions had become and how volatile public sentiment ran. Without making these Yao people "understand fear," he could never command their obedience.

"Setting aside your collusion with Eight Row Yao rebels, the crimes committed by Baimang Stockade alone justify slaughtering your entire settlement." Huang Chao's tone turned grim.

"Master, spare our lives! Our humble stockade truly didn't lead this! Every stockade harbors those who conspired with the Eight Row Yao! Every one..." The Tianchang Gong's voice grew hoarse with desperation. "This lowly one is willing to give testimony!"

"He's lying!" "Speak with conscience!" "Doesn't your conscience pain you, saying such things?!"

Huang Chao raised his hand to silence the quarreling. He swept his gaze across the four Tianchang Gong. "Who conspired and who didn't—I know perfectly well. Each of you will go and produce a written confession. Those who provide clear, complete accounts will have their merits offset their crimes. Those who remain vague or attempt to obfuscate matters—don't blame me for turning ruthless."

"This lowly one cannot write..."

"You speak, I'll naturally arrange for someone to transcribe." Huang Chao paused. "One more matter. Immediately send messengers back to your stockades. Whoever seized property or abducted people—I'm giving you three days to return everything to the county seat. Should anything remain outstanding when the deadline arrives, I'll have to dispatch people to your doors to collect them personally."

The Tianchang Gong wore troubled expressions, but could only murmur their assent.

"But we still need to purchase salt. Our stockades are completely without salt..." Pan Tianshun spoke with a furrowed brow.

"One requires a head to consume salt." Huang Chao's voice turned cold.

The four Tianchang Gong couldn't suppress their trembling at these words. Observing this, Huang Chao's expression softened into a smile. "Do as I instruct, heed my words, and I guarantee you'll have salt to eat."

The four Tianchang Gong recognized that Huang Chao would demand something more, so they waited silently for him to continue.

"You may return tomorrow morning. I'll release your people as well. However, the morning after tomorrow, I expect to see your able-bodied men outside Lianzhou City: every man aged eighteen to forty, all bearing weapons, reporting to the county seat to await my orders."

The Tianchang Gong exchanged glances. This condition seemed reasonable enough, yet something about it felt off. Years of dealing with government officials and conducting commerce with merchants had instilled in them a habit of suspicion. Was this stratagem designed to lure their fighting men to their deaths? They had heard tales of the government employing such tactics in the past.

Seeing them hesitate with difficulty written across their faces, Huang Chao initially couldn't fathom their reluctance. What difficulty could such a simple matter present? He pressed:

"What further difficulties trouble you?"

"This, this..." Pan Tianshun found himself in agony. Speaking the truth would provoke this Great Song official to fury. Regardless of whether the man intended a trap, once such words left their mouths, they would all surely be dragged out for execution.

Peng Shouan, who had served in this region for years and possessed extensive experience with Yao people, observed their demeanor and immediately grasped the situation. He whispered several sentences to Huang Chao. Upon hearing this, Huang Chao laughed and shook his head:

"Had I wished to kill you, I would have slaughtered everyone last night. Would I truly expend such effort on elaborate deceptions?" Huang Chao expressed his disdain openly.

The four Tianchang Gong recognized the truth in Huang Chao's words, yet couldn't bring themselves to decide immediately. After conferring among themselves, Pan Tianshun voiced their collective condition: "We require a hostage."

"A hostage?"

Huang Chao suddenly burst into laughter, his mirth echoing skyward until those above and below stood utterly bewildered. After some time, he ceased laughing and spoke sternly: "Open your eyes and observe! Great Song's Celestial Troops have arrived. Had I desired the heads of a few able-bodied men from your villages, I could have massacred you all during last night's battle, then proceeded to slaughter every dog and chicken throughout your stockades today—would I truly need to expend such thought? Be clear on this: I've considered that you've maintained registered household status for many years and are fundamentally peaceful, law-abiding commoners, rising to besiege the county seat only under the Eight Row Yao's instigation this time—and many died in the process. Out of pity, I'm offering you a path to survival! Life or death hinges on a single decision!"

These words drained the color from the Tianchang Gong's faces. Pan Tianshun glanced at the others and dared not speak further.

Huang Chao ordered the release of all captured Yao fighters and provided rudimentary treatment for the wounded. As for those slain in battle, their heads remained unmutilated. He notified the various stockades they could claim the bodies freely; any unclaimed would be buried on site. Captured weapons were likewise returned—the Yao people's armaments proved even more primitive than the shoddiest government forces; iron implements were scarce, with many carrying mere bamboo spears.

Beginning the following day, Yao people from the four stockades arrived successively under their Tianchang Gong's leadership. Not only did they return plundered property, but they also restored more than five hundred men, women, elderly, and children abducted from Yangshan County and its surroundings.

Huang Chao examined the property they returned—truly shabby and pitiful. The Han commoners of Yangshan could scarcely be called prosperous themselves, so naturally little wealth or valuables existed. What they returned included not only crude furniture from ordinary citizens' homes but various farm implements as well. As for cloth, grain, and clothing—in the Yao people's eyes, these constituted excellent war trophies.

"This is genuinely poor people robbing poor people." Huang Chao watched the Yao delivering goods and local commoners reclaiming items, sympathy stirring in his heart. It seems that achieving lasting peace and stability here requires ensuring everyone can live with adequate warmth and sustenance.

The returned items proved miscellaneous, accumulating in a great heap before the County Yamen. Apart from large items like furniture, most goods proved impossible to distinguish individually. Wang Chuyi followed Huang Chao's instructions, registering everything uniformly before distributing it to the commoners.

Since robbed items had never been registered, naturally verifying whether the Yonghua Yao had honestly returned everything proved impossible. But Huang Chao turned a blind eye. The four stockades' Tianchang Gong declared that all plundered goods had been returned—only a portion of the salt had already been consumed and couldn't be restored.

"I won't pursue the matter of the salt. I've heard about your difficulties obtaining salt and the exorbitant prices," Huang Chao said.

"Many thanks, Master!"

"Where are the able-bodied men?"

"All have come. They await Master's inspection outside the South Gate."

Beyond the South Gate, the able-bodied men from the four stockades had completed their assembly. Because he had specified only those aged eighteen to forty, and fifty to sixty fighters from the stockades had been killed or wounded in that ambush battle, those who came numbered merely over a hundred. Following his prior instructions, they uniformly carried bamboo spears and crossbows.

He surveyed the fighters' complexions and found them acceptable. Commoners of this era universally bore the dark-skinned pallor of malnutrition. Their clothing proved somewhat tattered, and some wore garments obviously seized as plunder.

Huang Chao ordered these able-bodied men to don blue armbands and organized them into the National Army Yangshan Provisional Squadron. One platoon would remain in Yangshan, with the National Army responsible for their "military training." The other two platoons received orders to accompany the main force to Lianzhou.

Huang Chao remained in Yangshan for a day, addressing the county's most pressing matters. Early on June 1st, he led his troops aboard the small steam launch reinforced from Guangzhou, proceeding north along the Lian River. Accompanying the steam launch came two small gunboats, six 12-pounder mountain howitzers with their gunners, plus twelve artillery sergeant students.

At noon, the boat convoy reached Lianzhou. Huang Chao was originally a native of Lianzhou in Northern Guangdong. In eight years, this marked his first return to his hometown. Gazing upon his birthplace in 1635, Huang Chao found himself momentarily speechless. Years ago, he and his wife Huang Susu had chosen to travel through time because neither family approved of their marriage. Now he returned to his hometown, yet his parents existed in another spacetime entirely. Huang Chao couldn't help sighing deeply. Had he been too impetuous back then? Should he have worked harder to persuade both families?

Huang Chao couldn't afford to dwell on such thoughts. He hadn't even taken time to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Huangchuan's Three Gorges during the journey. A mountain of problems awaited resolution. The troops landed west of Lianzhou City, opposite Longjin Gate wharf. The Eight Row Yao besieging Lianzhou City appeared sparse and dispersed. Outside each gate stood merely fifty or sixty fighters, generally older in age. Huang Chao estimated roughly: Lianzhou City possessed ten gates total between the old and new cities. Excluding the South Gate of the old city connecting the two sections, the other nine gates all led outside. Presently, approximately five hundred fighters surrounded Lianzhou City. The remainder were either concealed somewhere or dispersed throughout surrounding villages to plunder. Yet such tactics carried minimal risk. Most villages in the Lianzhou region had constructed stockade walls, with able-bodied men guarding each settlement. Without mobilizing five or six hundred fighters each time, a stockade couldn't be taken. Should they mass such forces, the defenders inside Lianzhou City would seize the opportunity to sally forth.

Intelligence prior to departure indicated over a thousand Eight Row Yao besieging the city. According to Pan Tianshun's testimony, Huang Chao estimated that the Eight Rows and Twenty-Four Hollows commanded roughly 2,500 to 3,000 young adults. The Eight Row Yao besieging Lianzhou probably numbered more than a thousand, between 1,500 and 2,000. Thus a substantial portion of the Eight Row Yao forces remained undiscovered, with a considerable number of fighters remaining behind to guard their strongholds.

Presently, Huang Chao commanded at most four hundred troops. One National Army squadron remained in Yangshan; another in Yonghua Township. Those accompanying Huang Chao to Lianzhou consisted of merely one battalion and the Li-Miao Company. Huang Chao lacked the strength to attack. He chose instead to control various ferries along the Lian River's western bank, blocking the retreat of Eight Row Yao attempting to flee west. Now everything depended on whether Yang Zeng could occupy Luming Pass in time.