Chapter 141: Building a Harmonious Lingao (Part 2)

Wu Mingjin chose to receive them in the main hall for two reasons. First, the main hall was for trials, signifying that the “Kun thieves” were not guests, but criminals. Second, it was to show that his relationship with them was open and aboveboard.

Seeing that the “Kun” emissary was a fair-skinned, slightly plump, and serene-looking man in his early twenties, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. This was clearly a young man from a good family. Even if he couldn’t pass the imperial examinations, he could have been a law-abiding, wealthy citizen. Why did he have to join the rebels?

This was the first time Xiong Buyou had seen the county magistrate. He looked at him with curiosity for a long time but saw nothing special besides the fact that he was a middle-aged scholar. Looking at the yamen runners around him, they were all gaunt, wretched-looking figures, their clothes old and tattered. The county yamen was quite shabby. The paint on the pillars and beams was peeling, cobwebs were everywhere, the walls were moldy with large patches of plaster fallen off, and many of the floor tiles were cracked.

For a moment, Xiong Buyou even felt a little sympathy for this Great Ming county government. Compared to their “White House,” this yamen was the epitome of austerity. Of course, he didn’t know that a dilapidated official building was a kind of bureaucratic superstition, a “don’t repair the yamen” tradition. As long as the building hadn’t collapsed, the magistrate would absolutely not spend money on repairs.

Wu Mingjin was disappointed to see the man arrive in the hall without the slightest trace of fear or trembling that a commoner should have. Seeing his defiant expression—he didn’t even bow or kowtow, let alone kneel—anger flared in his heart. He was about to shout, “Insolence! Why do you not kneel before this official?” to take him down a peg, but then he glanced at his own yamen runners. These men, who were usually arrogant and fierce, now looked humble, not even daring to meet the eyes of the two “Kun thieves.” He then looked at the dozen or so gray-clad “Kun” soldiers outside, armed to the teeth. The anger that had just risen instantly deflated. At that moment, a servant brought him a cup of tea and discreetly handed him a note. It was from Master Secretary Wang, with a single character written on it: “Endure.”

Xiong Buyou didn’t waste words with him and handed over the letter penned by Yu E’shui. Wu Mingjin opened it. The writing was rather crude, a mix of classical and vernacular, and the calligraphy was mediocre, clearly the work of an uneducated person. But the meaning was clear. First, it stated that yesterday, a combined force of Liu Xiang’s pirates and Westerners had attacked Bopu but had been defeated. They had sunk three enemy ships and killed over five hundred pirates, who had then fled in disarray.

So, last night’s attack was pirates fighting each other—a case of dog-eat-dog. Wu Mingjin, who had always been most troubled by the frequent pirate raids, breathed a sigh of relief. At least the common people had been spared their depredations.

The second part of the letter claimed that the Australian sea merchants were also descendants of the Han Chinese who had fled overseas to escape the chaos at the end of the Song dynasty. Now that they had returned to China, they had no intention of harming their compatriots. They adhered to the principle of “eradicating the strong and supporting the weak, protecting the territory and pacifying the people.” They only sought to maintain peace in one area and had no intention of rebelling.

Hmph, whether you have the intention or not is all the same. Wu Mingjin didn’t read it carefully. The real substance came next. It said that Lingao was frequently harassed by pirates and bandits, the people lived in hardship, and the county government was difficult to administer, the grace of the Great Ming not reaching all its subjects. Therefore, the transmigrators would organize a joint defense militia for the villages in the northern part of Lingao County. They hoped Magistrate Wu would approve and provide support.

Finally, the letter guaranteed that once the joint defense of the villages was established, they would be able to completely eliminate the pirate and bandit scourge in the county. Not only that, but the county’s summer and autumn grain taxes would also be secured.

The ambition of Sima Zhao! Wu Mingjin looked at the two emissaries below. Their arrogant expressions showed no respect for rank. Isn’t it obvious? Wu Mingjin thought. The “Kun thieves” are trying to use this joint defense militia to seize control of the local militias in the villages. Next, the government decrees will not come from the county yamen, but from the Dongmen Market.

Seeing him holding the letter in silence, Xiong Buyou said, “Magistrate Wu has long been troubled by pirate incursions into the county. We have a small gift for you.” He waved his hand, and the laborers who had pushed the carts in unloaded many wooden boxes and straw sacks, placing them in the yamen courtyard. A fishy, salty stench filled the air. Wu Mingjin was secretly puzzled and ordered a runner to investigate. The runner opened a wooden box and immediately recoiled. Everyone could see clearly that inside, preserved in salt, was a human head.

Looking at the other wooden boxes and straw sacks, it was obvious what they contained. A chill ran down Wu Mingjin’s back. He suppressed his panic and asked, “How dare you! Where did these heads come from?”

“Your Excellency, these are all the heads of the pirates who invaded our Lingao County yesterday. According to their confessions, they were men of the great Guangdong pirate leader, Liu Laoxiang. Please inspect them, Your Excellency.”

Seeing so many heads, Wu Mingjin quickly summoned a coroner to examine them. The examination revealed that among them were the heads of red-haired men and Southeast Asians, as well as several notorious bandits wanted by the government. It was likely true that they were pirates.

To kill so many pirates in one battle was unprecedented in the history of the county—no, not just the county, even the official army hadn’t achieved such a feat in the last ten years. Wu Mingjin was secretly alarmed. The pirates who had ravaged Fujian and Guangdong since the end of the Wanli era had been a menace for over a decade. The combined forces of two provinces and tens of thousands of government troops had failed to win a single victory, and could only resort to appeasing them…

“How do I know you haven’t killed innocent people to claim credit!” Wu Mingjin suddenly rebuked.

“What did you say?!” Wu Mingjin spoke in Mandarin, which Wang Ruixiang could mostly understand. Hearing him say this, anger flared in his heart. Only the official army does such shameless things! Truly judging a gentleman by a petty man’s standards.

Xiong Buyou said, “Your Excellency is mistaken. We are not officials, nor do we seek rewards from the government. Why would we kill innocent people to claim credit? These heads are merely to show our sincerity to Your Excellency, not to seek any official reward. That the county could eliminate such a fierce band of pirates is also due to Your Excellency’s good governance…”

This was, of course, flattery. But he was not wrong. The “Kun thieves” did not need to kill people and take heads to claim merit. Killing the innocent for credit seemed unnecessary.

So many pirate heads… if reported to the prefecture, this would be a major achievement for his performance review. Wu Mingjin’s gloomy mood suddenly brightened, and his ambition as an official was rekindled. His expression involuntarily softened, and he said in a warm voice, “You gentlemen are all rare talents. Why do you not serve the court, but instead wander in the wilderness?”

Xiong Buyou chuckled to himself. If it weren’t for your decent reputation, the Director-General would have already stormed the city and “struggled” against you. Our gradual, peaceful evolution is already quite polite.

After establishing a firm foothold in the Bairen-Bopu area, the Executive Committee’s next policy was to surround the city from the countryside. Through the method of joint village defense, they would preliminarily incorporate the villages into the Transmigration group’s administrative system, thus hollowing out the ruling center role of Lingao County. The Transmigration group would then use a series of agricultural technology collaborations to win over and divide the local farmers, ultimately achieving control of the villages.

But to implement this strategy, they had to make the common people feel that Bairen City was not a gang of rebels. The attitude of the county yamen was crucial in this, especially that of Wu Mingjin. If he insisted that the Transmigration group was a band of rebels and pirates, the common people would be much more hesitant to interact with them.

“Here are also the flags, documents, tokens, and weapons captured from the pirates, all brought to be handed over to the county,” Xiong Buyou said very politely. This “generous gift” was enough to move Wu Mingjin’s heart. In a situation where fires of rebellion were everywhere, the official army was repeatedly defeated, Marshal Yu was being held accountable, and the Ming court was reduced to relying on the appeasement of the great pirate Zheng Zhilong to stabilize the coastal situation, the victory of Lingao County over Liu Xiang’s forces, killing 400 Chinese and foreign pirates, would be a major highlight.

Seeing him remain silent, Xiong Buyou prepared to take his leave. Wu Mingjin gave a slight nod and announced, “Court is dismissed!”

Wang Ruixiang followed Xiong Buyou out of the county yamen. He saw that the laborers by the wheelbarrows all had joyful expressions. It turned out the county had sent someone to distribute a reward, along with twenty jars of wine and two whole cured pigs, presumably as a犒劳 (kàoláo, reward for services).

Back in Bairen City, after reporting the whole affair to Wen Desi, Wang Ruixiang couldn’t help but ask, “Is that it?”

“Just you watch. In a few days, he’ll most likely contact us,” Wen Desi said. “There were too many eyes and ears in the main hall. There are some things he couldn’t say.”

“These damn officials, so full of twists and turns,” Wang Ruixiang said with emotion.

“If he were as upright and uncompromising as Hai Rui, we would have had to resort to some violence,” Wen Desi said. “Fortunately, he’s not, which makes things much easier. Just wait.”

Sure enough, at dusk the next day, a sneaky-looking person came to the checkpoint at Wenshui Bridge. He told the sentry he wanted to see the “kūnzéi big official.” Luo Duo, the person in charge of the checkpoint, didn’t dare to be negligent and quickly called the Executive Committee.

The man was brought to the secluded Security Group building. After some questioning, it was learned that he was a servant of Zhang Youfu and wanted to invite the “kūnzéi big officials” to a banquet.

Wen Desi remembered that this Zhang Youfu was the emissary sent for peace talks after the county’s failed attack on them a few months ago. His sudden request for a meeting was clearly on behalf of someone else. He immediately agreed. The servant said that Zhang Youfu’s estate was just outside the west gate. Wen Desi decided to go in person. This Zhang Youfu could speak several dialects, including Cantonese, so communication would not be a problem.

After dark, two sedan chairs indeed arrived at the estate. Wen Desi and Xi Yazhou went together. For safety, Bei Wei selected eight men from the reconnaissance team to accompany and protect them. Besides their personal firearms, he specially gave Wen Desi a signal flare—if there was any trouble, he could fire the flare, and Bei Wei would immediately lead men to the rescue.

Wen Desi and Xi Yazhou were carried by Zhang Youfu’s tenants, swaying through the pitch-black fields. Although there were lanterns to guide the way, their brightness was like that of a will-o’-the-wisp. If it weren’t for the eight reconnaissance team members alongside, they would have felt quite apprehensive.

The sedan chairs were both dilapidated and stuffy. Coupled with the fact that the tenants were not very skilled at carrying them, the two men were jostled about inside. After half an hour, the chairs were finally set down. They got out and saw a common farmhouse courtyard before them.

Someone was already waiting at the gate. Seeing them arrive, they quickly welcomed them in, and the gate was immediately shut.

The courtyard was also dark. Although there were a few lanterns lit under the eaves, everything in the yard was still shadowy and indistinct. They could vaguely make out wheelbarrows, stacks of straw, a stone mill, and other things.

Although Zhang Youfu was known as a landlord, he was actually from a declining family. His so-called estate was just a large courtyard. He lived in the five main rooms, while the long-term laborers and servants lived in the lower rooms. There were also some animal sheds along the walls. But the walls were high and, it was clear, made of brick and stone. The main gate was made of thick wood covered with iron sheets, all for protection against bandits.