The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 853 The Bandit Leader is Executed
"Don't panic, everyone!"

Liang Shidu drew his sword and roared, "There's a stream behind us; we can leave through the back door!"

Everyone suddenly realized what was happening and rushed towards the backyard.

Liang Shidu pulled Xiao Mannu along, and the two rushed into a small room. They passed through the room and came to a small courtyard. They went into the woodshed, which contained a very hidden underground vault. Liang Shidu and Xiao Mannu hid in the vault.

"What happened? How did the Imperial Guards find us?" Xiao Mannu asked in a low voice.

"I don't know either. I guess something happened to Chen Haidong. He was supposed to come back yesterday, but he didn't. I had a bad feeling about that."

"What should I do?"

"Don't worry, once we've laid low, we'll head straight to Luoyang. If necessary, we can hire assassins to kill that tyrant."

Fifteen hundred imperial guards had already surrounded the Northern Merchant Guild. There was no way they could escape. Everyone who tried to escape was captured without exception.

But Shi Xiaozhen immediately realized that the two most important people had not been captured. A general ran up to report, "Reporting to the Commander, they confessed that Liang Shidu and Xiao Mannu are in the mansion!"

Shi Xiaozhen nodded. "There must be secret passages or underground vaults inside the mansion. Search it thoroughly, leave no inch unsearched!"

Hundreds of soldiers stormed into the mansion to search it, and Shi Xiaozhen sent someone to find the steward for questioning.

Before long, the steward was hurriedly brought in, bowing and saying, "Reporting to the general, I only know that this merchant house has a vault filled with gold and silver treasures, but the entrance is very hidden, and I don't know where it is."

"And who moved the gold and silver in?"

"They were some of his trusted subordinates!"

The butler pointed to several warriors who had been pinned down and bound in the distance, "That's them!"

Shi Xiaozhen waved his hand, and dozens of soldiers immediately rushed forward and escorted several warriors into the mansion.

After killing three samurai who refused to give directions, the fourth samurai finally broke down, collapsing to the ground and crying out, "The entrance is in the woodshed in the east courtyard! Spare my life!"

The Sui army found the entrance to the woodshed in the east courtyard. It turned out that a pile of firewood was fixed together. After lifting it, a dark entrance, about four feet square, was revealed underneath.

The Sui army did not rush to enter, but instead burned a large amount of pine branches. Thick smoke billowed into the underground vault. Before long, a man and a woman slowly came up with their hands raised, and were pulled up by the soldiers and tied up.

Shi Xiaozhen sized up Liang Shidu for a moment, then sneered, "You escaped in Lingwu County, but Heaven sent you back. That's your fate!"

Liang Shidu remained silent, but Xiao Mannu cried out, "I was coerced by him! He forced me to do things! I am innocent!"

"Shut up!"

Shi Xiaozhen angrily rebuked, "Selling contraband salt is a heinous crime! The entire Xiao family of Jiangning will be executed for it! Go to the underworld and repent to King Yama!" Xiao Mannu was shocked, "I am a member of your emperor's family! You can't kill me!"

Shi Xiaozhen shook her head, "Gag her!"

Xiao Mannu's mouth was gagged, and he cried out in distress, struggling desperately. Finally, he was knocked unconscious with a stick, and only then did he quiet down.

Liang Shidu, on the other hand, remained silent throughout, his gaze as cold as winter ice.

At the same moment that the Imperial Guards arrested Liang Shidu and his key members, 20,000 troops stationed in Jiangnan and 10,000 naval troops surrounded the main camp outside Gouzhang County. This camp was advertised as a martial arts training camp, and under the guise of training martial arts for the imperial court, it recruited more than 10,000 people from all over Jiangnan. They were provided with free food and lodging and a monthly allowance of two strings of cash, which made many people envious.

In fact, this samurai training camp only started operating in March of this year, and has only been in operation for three or four months. The excitement of more than 10,000 samurai had not yet subsided when they faced annihilation.

As tens of thousands of Sui soldiers stormed into the camp, more than 10,000 warriors who were training were the first to break down psychologically. No one expected that they would become rebels being besieged by government troops. Terrified, the warriors scattered and fled. Those who could not escape knelt down and begged for mercy.

In just over half a month, more than 10,000 people were captured and sat dejectedly on the training ground. More than 100 instructors were beheaded by the Sui army. These instructors were all subordinates of Liang Shidu and were brought from the grasslands. Now they were instructors, but if they rebelled, they would become generals at various levels.

More than 10,000 warriors were taken away and will serve three years in prison at the Danyang Iron Mine. They joined the rebel organization without knowing why, and although they may be said to be ignorant, they cannot be exempted from punishment. They will be released after serving three years.

At the same time, the Imperial Guard began a large-scale crackdown on those involved in the illegal salt trade. More than 300 people from the Xiao family in Jiangning and more than 100 people from the Chen family in Jiangdu were arrested. A total of more than 480 salt merchants from various prefectures and counties were arrested, and their families also faced execution.

A month later, the emperor signed the order, and a total of more than 2,100 men and women were publicly executed. However, this time the punishment was slightly relaxed, and children under the age of ten were spared death, and all their property was confiscated.

This public execution shocked the world, and for the next few decades, no one in the Sui Dynasty dared to sell smuggled salt again.

Inside the imperial study, Xiao Xia received Xiao Yu. After a long pause, Xiao Xia asked, "How much do you know about the affairs of the Xiao family in Jiangning?"

Xiao Yu sighed and said, "I know what Your Majesty knows, and I also know what Your Majesty doesn't know. To be honest, I'm not surprised at all that the Xiao family of Jiangning is in this state."

"How do you say this?"

"In the past, during the Kaihuang era, the court opened up the salt industry, so the three Xiao families made their fortunes by selling salt. Later, after the powerful Guanlong nobles entered Jiangnan, they took away all our salt business. The Xiao families of Jiangdu and Jinling changed their businesses. The Xiao family of Jiangdu sold grain and oil, and the Xiao family of Jinling sold cloth. They both succeeded in changing their businesses, but the Xiao family of Jiangning continued to sell salt. They had a large salt field in Kuaiji County and Yongjia County. Later, His Majesty prohibited private salt sales. At that time, the head of the Xiao family of Jiangning was Xiao Hong. Although he was despicable and shameless, he did not dare to oppose His Majesty. Later, his entire family moved to Jiangling. Not long after Xiao Xian's defeat, Xiao Hong also died of illness. The clansmen actually elected Xiao Miao as the new head of the family. This was the beginning of the misfortune of the Xiao family of Jiangning."

Xiao Miao was a daring and reckless man. He moved the Xiao family back to Jiangning, and from then on, the Jiangning Xiao family secretly resumed selling salted fish, salted meat, and pickled vegetables—essentially, they were selling smuggled salt, but in small quantities and more difficult to detect, which is why they've survived until now.

Xiao Xia slowly said, "It's not as simple as selling salted fish, salted meat, and pickled vegetables now. The entire family is involved in Liang Shidu's salt smuggling case. Of Liang Shidu's seven key subordinates, two are from the Xiao family of Jiangning: Xiao Mannu and Xiao Lian. All the smuggled salt comes from the Xiao family's two major salt fields. Of the more than four hundred salt merchants in various counties, more than forty are from the Xiao family of Jiangning. In just half a year, they intercepted more than two million strings of cash in tax revenue from the imperial court. The circumstances are extremely serious and the crime is unforgivable."

"Your Highness need not worry about any dissatisfaction from the other Xiao families. Everyone is not a fool. The Jiangning Xiao family deserves their punishment. Your Majesty's pardon of children under the age of ten is already the greatest leniency you can show them."

Xiao Xia nodded, "I hope this salt tax case will serve as a wake-up call to all coastal families. Those who undermine the imperial court's tax revenue will be severely punished!"

(End of this chapter)