gnovel Chapter 86 Taking Control of Xiapi
Chapter 86 Taking Control of Xiapi
"Doing it for us to see? It's worth it then. Have you ever seen any bandits do something like this? Even government troops probably haven't done it."
There was a moment of silence.
"Wait a little longer, let's see."
The door remained closed.
But the people behind the door had already etched that young face on horseback patrolling the city into their hearts.
The sun was setting in the west.
The situation in the city has finally stabilized.
Covered in blood, Li Sheng didn't bother to change his clothes. He turned his horse around and led a dozen or so personal guards straight to the area where the wealthy and powerful resided.
Li Shizheng stood guard at the alley entrance, fully armed and with a stern expression.
"Brother Sheng."
Has anyone come in or gone out?
"no."
Li Shi paused.
"But they heard noises inside and peeked out from over the wall several times, only to be driven back by the archers."
Li Sheng nodded.
He dismounted and stood before the grand mansion, his gaze somber.
These wealthy and powerful people won't be truly afraid unless a few of them are killed and some blood is shed.
"Open the Xu family's gate."
Li Sheng's voice was calm.
"I'll start by taking down the Xu family."
Li Sheng had no intention of persuading him to surrender. Xu Wen was already dead, and the Xu family had long been his enemies, so persuasion would be futile.
More importantly, he wanted to establish his authority over the Xu family.
Among the four major families in Xiapi County, the Xu family was an official clan, with few intermarriages and the weakest ties of interest with the other three. Moreover, the reputation of the Xu family, known as the Crouching Tiger, in Xiapi was, if not renowned far and wide, certainly infamous. If the Xu family were attacked, the other three families wouldn't risk their lives to come to their aid. And if the Xu family fell, the remaining Zhou and Wang families would have to reconsider: the Chen family had surrendered, the Xu family was destroyed—how long could they hold out?
This is a case of making an example of someone.
At this time, the main gate of the Xu family mansion was tightly closed.
"Shieldbearers in front, crossbowmen behind, follow me!"
Li Sheng raised his shield, drew his ring-pommel sword from his waist, and was the first to charge forward.
The Xu family's walls were about two zhang high, and servants were already poking out from the corner towers, firing arrows. The crossbow bolts flew down from above, striking the shields with a dull thud. Li Sheng, shield in hand, charged to the gate, but it was a heavy wooden door, bolted shut from the inside, and couldn't be broken open immediately.
"Bring the battering ram!"
The Taiping soldiers, who were well prepared, charged forward carrying a thick log. The log was as thick as a bowl, and five or six men carried it while shouting in unison under the cover of shield bearers, and they rammed it into the log.
"boom--"
The first impact shook the door frame, and dust fell in clumps.
"boom!"
The second time, a crack appeared in the door panel, and the latch behind the door made a screeching sound.
"boom!"
On the third strike, the bolt broke, and the two doors swung open.
Li Sheng rushed in first.
Before the servants inside could react, he cut them down with a single blow. The soldiers behind him filed in, immediately forming a defensive formation to block the passage between the corner tower and the main gate.
The street fighting took place in the courtyard. Although the Xu family's servants were well-trained, they were no match for Li Sheng and his veteran brothers who had truly seen bloodshed. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the front yard was under the control of the Taiping Army. The Xu family members, young and old, were searched from the back yard and brought to the front hall. Dozens of them, men, women, and children, huddled together, trembling with fear.
"Not a single member of the Xu family will be killed."
Li Sheng stood in the front hall, his voice echoing throughout the entire courtyard.
"However, Xu Wen embezzled the army's provisions and exploited the people; his crimes are undeniable. All of Xu's family's land, granaries, and property shall be confiscated!"
Once the news got out, the Zhou and Wang families could no longer sit still.
Li Sheng did not rush to take action, but instead sent people to take Chen Yuan to both families to "persuade them to surrender".
Chen Yuan was dressed in clean clothes, and his appearance was much better than before. It was unclear whether he had come to some kind of realization.
Inside the Zhou residence, Chen Yuan was discussing matters with the people in the Zhou household.
"The county government is theirs, the city gates are theirs, the Xu family is finished. Old sir, no matter how high the walls of your mansion are, can they be higher than the city walls? No matter how many troops you have, can they outnumber the more than a thousand Taiping soldiers outside the city?"
Grandpa Zhou remained silent for a long time.
"What...do they want?"
"Alliance Leader Li only needs the old master to write a letter, ordering the people in the manor outside the city to lay down their weapons and open the fortified village. The houses in the city will still be yours, and the lives of your clansmen will be saved. As for the land and property..."
Chen Yuan paused.
"Alliance Leader Li said that we should follow the rules and those who should be spared will be spared."
The situation was similar for the Wang family. The head of the Wang family was younger and initially tried to put up a fight, but he softened after hearing the news of the Xu family's downfall.
That evening, the Zhou and Wang families handed over their residences, dismissed their servants, and presented the land deeds and the rosters of their manors and fortresses.
Li Sheng did not enter the houses to cause trouble, but simply sent soldiers to guard the gates of each household, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving.
Then he had the heads of the Chen, Zhou, and Wang families each write a personal letter and send it by fast horse to their respective family fortresses outside the city.
The contents of the letters were largely the same, all telling them not to resist, to open the gates to welcome the Taiping army, and that this would ensure their safety.
This is where Li Sheng's cleverness lay.
The powerful families' foundations lay in their manors and fortified villages outside the city. These villages held provisions, soldiers, and tenant farmers, making a direct assault no easier than a siege of the city. But now, with the heads of each family in their hands, and the people in the fortified villages receiving personal letters from their patriarchs, how could they possibly have the will to resist?
No matter how sturdy a fortified village is, if the people's hearts are scattered, it is just a dead fortress.
……
The next morning, Xiapi County was unusually quiet.
Overnight, Li Sheng deployed troops to set up sentry posts on every street in the city, and the curfew was strictly enforced; no one dared to go out at night. The residences of the four major families were guarded in sections by the Taiping Army, and no incidents occurred.
The first thing Li Sheng did after daybreak was to open the granaries and distribute the grain.
The county granary was piled high with grain, all of which was tax collected this year by the county to prevent the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
Li Sheng had people set up tents in front of the county government office, setting up more than a dozen soup kitchens, and also sent people to announce the event by banging gongs along the streets.
"The Taiping Army is opening its granaries to distribute grain! All poor and displaced people in the city may collect their grain at the county government office! Each household shall receive grain according to the number of people in their household; fraudulent collection and fighting are strictly prohibited!"
When the news spread, the poor people in the city who couldn't even afford porridge were initially afraid to go.
Some people peeked through the crack in the door for a long time, and only after seeing that people were indeed collecting their grain rations did they cautiously step out. One, two, ten, a hundred... By noon, a long queue had formed in front of the county government office.
Li Sheng stood on the steps, watching the emaciated people carrying bowls and cloth bags. His expression changed from fear to surprise, and from surprise to gratitude.
He knew that these grains would not only fill his stomach, but also win people's hearts.
On the same day, Li Sheng issued another order to take over all the salt markets in the city.
Salt is a hard currency; no one can do without it. Li Sheng ordered the closure of all salt shops and announced that salt would be uniformly distributed by the Taiping Army, sold at a fixed price, and that private sales were strictly prohibited.
With cheap salt available, the common people naturally gravitated towards the Taiping Army.
With food and salt, ordinary people can survive. If they can survive, they won't fight you to the death.
As for the original Han government?
I'm sorry, let's wait until the government troops defeat the Taiping Army before we talk about it.
Many people even secretly hoped that the Taiping Rebellion would be suppressed by the imperial court later.