Huangming

Chapter 345 Understanding the People's Hardships, Ordered to Rebel
Unlike Yang Lian, who focused on official duties such as checking the armory and verifying soldiers, Li Hongji preferred to put on a coarse cotton coat, take one or two personal guards, and wander through the ordinary alleys of Jizhou City.

He didn't go to the wealthy families with their blue bricks and gray tiles; he specifically chose small courtyards with cobwebs in the corners and mottled gates.

The area was mostly inhabited by the families of soldiers from Jizhou, or impoverished families whose military households had been passed down for hundreds of years.

Li Hongji was a burly man with a fierce look in his eyes and brows, and at first glance, he certainly didn't seem like a kind person.

But he had a deep, resonant voice, and when he opened his mouth, he would make a hearty joke with a Shandong accent. In addition, every time he came to visit, he would bring two bags of brown rice, a pot of rapeseed oil, and a jar of cheap liquor. Before long, he became the most popular "Brother Li" in the alley.

"Aunt Zhang, you've swept your yard so clean!"

He strode into a small courtyard, placed the rice and oil on the threshold, and familiarly accepted the rough porcelain bowl handed to him by the old woman.

The bowl contained a mixed grain porridge made from sorghum, millet, soybeans, and wild vegetables. The rice grains were sparse and sunk to the bottom of the bowl, and the vegetable leaves were withered and lifeless. But Li Hongji picked up the bowl and drank it with relish.

On the table was a plate of hard, rock-hard flatbreads made from moldy wheat mixed with bran. One bite would hurt your teeth, and you had to soak them in hot porridge to soften them before you could swallow them.

Occasionally, when you encounter a family that is slightly better off, they will bring out a small piece of frozen, rock-hard horse meat, which they will roast over a fire until it thaws. It has a faint fishy smell, but it is a rare delicacy in this cold winter.

Li Hongji was never picky. He picked up a flatbread and ate it with horse meat, enjoying it immensely as if he were savoring some rare delicacy.

After several rounds of drinks and several dishes, the people gradually opened up and started talking.

Li Hongji chatted with them about the harvest and the weather, and as they talked, the conversation naturally turned to the past and present of Jizhen.

"Sigh, those years were really unbearable!"

An old man with a wrinkled face took a sip of cheap liquor, and tears welled up in his cloudy eyes.

He wiped his face with his rough hands, his voice choked with emotion.

"The military pay was delayed for more than half a year, and the military farmland was seized by officials. My family couldn't even afford to eat, so I had to sell the land and the house. In the end, I even sold my wife to a neighboring village, and my son ran away. I'm left with only this old body barely surviving..."

A woman nearby, listening, also had tears in her eyes: "That's right! Back then, many daughters of military families went to the brothels in the south of the city to earn food for their families. Such good young women, their lives ruined just like that..."

Li Hongji tightened his grip on the wine bowl, the smile on his face gradually fading as he listened silently.

"However, since His Majesty ascended the throne, life has finally become a little easier."

The old man suddenly changed the subject, and his eyes lit up.

"His Majesty has paid the back wages. Although it's not much, at least we can afford to buy food, and we don't have to worry about starving to death anymore. My son who ran away also sent a letter a few days ago, saying he wants to come home to visit!"

The woman nodded in agreement: "Yes, yes, now we can have enough to eat. It's all thanks to His Majesty!"

Li Hongji's heart skipped a beat, and he took the opportunity to ask, "How much of the back pay that His Majesty reimbursed you received?"

The old man's smile froze instantly, and his hand holding the wine bowl stopped in mid-air.

He glanced around, then lowered his voice, waved his hand, and mumbled:
"Yes, I received some... As for the exact amount, well, it's all thanks to the imperial court's grace, how can we talk about that..."

Seeing the evasive look in his eyes, Li Hongji understood about 70-80% of what was going on.

The back pay was inevitably deducted at each level, and by the time it reached the people, it was less than 30% of the original amount.

He didn't press further, but simply picked up his wine bowl and raised it to the old man: "Yes, His Majesty's grace is something we should all remember. Come, let's drink!"

The liquor burned as it went down his throat, but it couldn't quench the heaviness in Li Hongji's heart.

The people's lives have indeed improved somewhat, but this "improvement" is merely a return from "the brink of starvation" to "barely making ends meet."

The withheld military pay, the seized military farmland, and the officials' cunning and extortion still weigh heavily on the hearts of the people of Jizhou.

Unable to get any information from his father-in-law, Li Hongji turned to the younger generation.

A young man who had only recently inherited a military position, after being repeatedly probed, finally revealed the truth with tears in his eyes:
"The imperial court clearly promised to provide half a year's worth of rations and pay, but when it reaches us, we can't even scrape together one month's worth..."

"Less than a month?"

Li Hongji suddenly looked up, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.

He had previously secretly speculated that the people would only be able to get 30% after the deductions, but now it seems that they won't even get 20%!

After six months' pay was skimmed off at each level, only a small fraction of the military pay ended up in the hands of the soldiers.

He looked at the boy's lips, which were purple from the cold, and at the withered wild vegetables hanging under the dilapidated eaves in the courtyard, and felt extremely heavy-hearted.

With this little money, let alone supporting a family, it would be difficult to even keep the whole family from starving!
"If we can't even fill our stomachs, and our elderly parents and children are waiting for food, who can stay in the camp with peace of mind?"

Li Hongji muttered to himself, suddenly realizing the root cause of the rampant desertion in Jizhou.

Those soldiers who could not endure hunger and despair did not lack the will to defend the border, but rather the inability to do so.

Instead of guarding empty grain sacks and homes stripped bare of their possessions, it's better to escape and become refugees; at least there's still a glimmer of hope.

But then he thought again and felt a chill: those generals and brigade commanders probably wished their soldiers would desert!

If soldiers desert, the vacant positions will never be reported truthfully; instead, they will become their "private property."

They could continue to fraudulently collect military pay while saving the meager grain and silver distributed to military households—it was truly a "win-win" situation.

How insidious and ruthless such a scheme is!
Li Hongji suppressed his anger and looked at the silent crowd in the courtyard, his eyes filled with disbelief: "They exploit people like this, pushing them to the brink, and you're just willing to swallow your anger?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man sighed heavily, a sigh filled with despair and helplessness:

"What can we do even if we can't stand it? They hold weapons in their hands, and the officers in the camp and the soldiers in the city are all their men. A few years ago, some young men were unwilling to accept this and led their fellow villagers to cause trouble at the general's mansion. And what was the result?"

The old man's voice choked, and cloudy tears slid down his wrinkles.

"The next day, he was accused of 'treason,' dragged outside the city, and beheaded. No one even dared to claim his body..."

The courtyard fell into a deathly silence.

A woman covered her face, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably: "It's not that we haven't resisted, but all those who resisted are dead. The imperial court is far away; who will stand up for us poor souls?"

Yes, the imperial court is far away.

A chill ran through Li Hongji's heart.

These military households had no channel to file complaints with higher authorities.

If prefectural and county officials collude with border generals, the petitions they submit will either disappear without a trace, be returned without a trace, or even lead to their death.

Even if, by some chance, the petition reached the capital, why would those high-ranking officials risk offending a powerful border general for the sake of a group of border soldiers?

Under heavy shackles, all they could do was endure and flee.

Endure it, and you might survive for a few more days; escape, and you might still have a glimmer of hope.

As for resistance...

It has long become a taboo that no one dares to touch, a lesson written in blood.

Li Hongji stood up, feeling a tightness in his chest.

He took out a few taels of silver from his pocket, quietly placed them on his father-in-law's desk, and turned to leave.

Seeing his gloomy expression, the guards dared not ask any more questions and could only follow silently.

The cold wind stung my face like a knife.

Li Hongji tightened his grip on the sword at his waist, his mind filled with only one thought: he had to tell Yang Lian about this as soon as possible!

The misdeeds of these border generals were no longer simply corruption; they were eroding the very foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

If the suffering of these people is not addressed sooner or later, it will inevitably lead to even greater disasters.

It's time to clear the skies over Jizhen.

As soon as Li Hongji stepped out of the dilapidated courtyard, he heard light footsteps behind him.

He stopped and looked back. He saw the young soldier who had just teared up when talking about rations was now cautiously following behind him, his face, which was purple from the cold, full of hesitation.

"What are you doing here?"

Li Hongji raised an eyebrow slightly and lowered his voice.

His bodyguard instinctively took a half step forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword, but Li Hongji stopped him with a look.

The young man bit his lip, strode up to Li Hongji, his face red from the cold, a hint of nervousness in his eyes:
"You... are the Imperial Envoy's men, aren't you?"

By this time, the group had reached the old locust tree outside the courtyard. Its bare branches stretched towards the gray sky, and the bark still bore the marks of knife cuts from previous years.

Li Hongji stared into the boy's clear yet fearful eyes, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly nodded: "How did you figure that out?"

"It's already spread throughout the city that an imperial envoy has arrived from the capital to investigate the affairs of Jizhou." The young man's voice trembled slightly, but became clearer as he spoke.

“We military households have been hoping and watching every day… hoping that someone will come and put those officials in charge.”

"Everyone's watching?"

A thought suddenly struck Li Hongji, and his eyes lit up instantly.

He originally thought that these people, who had been exploited to the point of numbness, had long lost trust in the imperial court, but he never expected that Yang Lian's arrival would plant a seed of hope in their hearts.

However, this hope was suppressed by the long-standing oppression of the generals of Jizhou.

The blood of those who resisted was still on the ground outside the city, and no one dared to take the first step easily.

More importantly, they couldn't figure out Yang Lian's background.

If one rashly steps forward to testify against the border general, and it turns out the imperial envoy is in cahoots with those people and betrays them, not only will one lose one's head, but one's family will also suffer.

This mixture of fear and anticipation kept them observing from the shadows, afraid to reveal their true feelings.

Having figured this out, Li Hongji looked at the young man before him and felt a sense of admiration.

This child was only fifteen or sixteen years old, yet he had more courage than many adults to say such things in front of strangers.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and spoke in a solemn and decisive tone:
“That’s right, I am Li Hongji, a military officer under the Imperial Envoy. I have come here to investigate the long-standing problems in Jizhou and to give you justice.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man's eyes lit up instantly, like a flame suddenly igniting in the darkness.

He took an excited step forward, his lips trembling, as if he had a thousand words to say, but didn't know where to begin.

Li Hongji patted the young man on the shoulder and said gently, "If you know anything, just say it. With the imperial envoy here and me here, I will certainly not let you take the risks for nothing."

The boy's eyes held a mixture of expectation and doubt. After a moment of silence, he couldn't help but ask, "Imperial Envoy... how do you plan to investigate?"

Clearly, even after Li Hongji revealed his identity, the young man still felt somewhat uneasy and dared not easily place all his hopes on him.

Looking into the boy's wary eyes, Li Hongji understood that this distrust was a mark left by years of oppression, and could not be dispelled with just a few words.

He slowly shook his head, his tone frank: "The specific methods for investigating the case are confidential, and I cannot tell you. After all, there are informants all over Jizhou. If the news leaks out, not only will we not be able to find out the truth, but we will also put you and others who dare to tell the truth in danger."

The boy's eyes dimmed slightly.

Just when he thought he would leave disappointed, Li Hongji changed the subject, lowered his voice, and revealed some key information:
"But I can tell you that this imperial envoy is different from those officials who just went through the motions in the past."

The imperial envoy had just inspected the canal transport system. During that trip, he arrested hundreds of corrupt officials and exonerated and redressed the grievances of tens of thousands of wronged canal transport workers.

Moreover, the reason we came here is because His Majesty saw how miserable you were in Jizhou, so he specially sent him to bring you justice.

These words struck the boy like a thunderbolt.

He looked up abruptly, his eyes wide, his breathing becoming heavy and his chest heaving: "The Imperial Envoy... actually did such a thing? Then His Majesty... His Majesty really knows our difficulties?"

In his mind, the imperial palace was far away and the emperor was high above, and he would never know the suffering of the soldiers on the frontier. Now, when he heard that His Majesty had specially sent an imperial envoy to rescue them, he was deeply shocked.

Meeting the boy's burning gaze, Li Hongji nodded emphatically and then dropped an even more astonishing bombshell:
“Not only His Majesty knows, but I also understand your suffering. Not long ago, I was just a courier at the Yinchuan post station, living the same life as you, being exploited at every turn and never having enough to eat. Later, when the Wenxiang Sect uprising broke out in Shandong, I also joined the rebellion, but only as a secret inside agent.”

"The life you are living now is the same life I went through. It's just that I chose the right path, serving His Majesty, which is why I have this rank of adjutant today."

He reached out and patted the boy's shoulder, his tone earnest and persuasive as he spoke:

“If you want to change the status quo, the imperial envoy and I alone are not enough. The imperial envoy is here to uphold justice, but someone also needs to stand up and speak out about the evil deeds of those officials and find the evidence hidden in the shadows. This depends not only on us, but also on yourselves.”

At this point, Li Hongji's eyes suddenly sharpened, and his tone became more serious, finally revealing the true purpose of his trip.

"Now, it depends on whether you are willing to take this risk. Once you step forward, you may face retaliation from those officials, or even your lives may be in danger."

But if we succeed, you and your families, and all the suffering military households in Jizhou, will finally be able to live a truly good life.

After Li Hongji finished speaking, the boy froze on the spot, his expression constantly changing, showing fear, hesitation, and a glimmer of hope that had been ignited.

Looking into Li Hongji's determined eyes, he thought of the empty rice jar in his house and the villagers who died because of their resistance. It felt as if two voices were fiercely battling in his heart.

After a long silence, the boy took a deep breath, his lips trembling from the cold, turning purple, but he uttered words of unwavering resolve:

"I...I'm willing! As long as it makes life easier, I'm not afraid of taking risks!"

But after saying that, the boy hesitated.

"But... my opinion alone doesn't count. We sons of military households usually follow Brother Han around, and we have to listen to his ideas on everything, big or small."

Upon hearing this, a knowing glint flashed in Li Hongji's eyes.

Every group has a leader.

This "Brother Han" is so trusted by everyone that he must either be a veteran with extensive experience or a tough guy who dares to stand up for the people.

He took a half step forward, leaning slightly forward, his tone urgent yet composed: "So who's in charge here? Is it this Brother Han you mentioned? And how many people can you gather?"

The boy took a deep breath, as if trying to swallow the tension and excitement in his chest, and his voice was much steadyer than before:
“There are about three hundred people in our area, mostly sons of military families or retired soldiers. They all listen to Brother Han. And…”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over several equally dilapidated courtyards in the distance.

“There are about ten places like ours in Jizhou City where we live together in groups, and each place has at least a hundred or so people.”

"Ten or so locations? A hundred or so people?"

Li Hongji quickly calculated in his mind.

There were 300 people in one place, plus more than 100 people in each of ten other places, which added up to several thousand people!

These people are military households who have been oppressed to the point of desperation. If they can be mobilized, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

He stared at the boy, a sharp smile curving his lips: "Alright! Find some time to arrange for me to meet your Brother Han. The sooner the better!"

Li Hongji felt a surge of satisfaction as he watched the young man nod in agreement.

Yang Lian has his own methods.

With Liu Qu's cooperation, the number of soldiers and the weapons were checked, and the deep-seated problems of the Jizhou Garrison were gradually exposed.

Li Hongji, on the other hand, also had his own methods that he was most skilled at.

rebel!

However, this time it wasn't against the imperial court, but rather "rebellion under orders."

Revolt against those corrupt military officials who occupy Jizhou and garrison, exploiting soldiers and siphoning off their pay!

He recalled how he was exploited by officials when he was a postman at Yinchuan Post Station; he recalled how he acted as an inside agent under the guise of "rebellion" during the Wenxiang Sect uprising in Shandong, and ultimately won the emperor's trust.

How similar are these military households in Jizhou today to ourselves back then?
They had resentment and power, but what they lacked was a leader, a reason to believe that "resistance can bring hope."

If these people can be mobilized, those of us investigating the case will no longer be outnumbered and outmatched.

The common people can provide evidence of where the withheld rations went, the location of the military farmland that was seized, and clues about the generals' collusion with foreign barbarians.

The common people can act as eyes and ears.

They could hear the sounds of the streets and alleys of Jizhou and the various camps; and at critical moments, these people could even pick up hoes and kitchen knives to become a force to restrain the private soldiers of the border generals.

"Ordered to rebel..."

Li Hongji muttered to himself, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.

Aren't those border generals incredibly audacious?
Then he'll let these parasites taste what it's like to be besieged by ordinary people!

He raised his hand and patted his personal guard on the shoulder, his tone carrying a hint of command: "Go, send our men out and keep an eye on the movements of those military commanders, especially Wang Yingzhi and Du Yingkui."

Also, prepare some rice, food, and money. Take it with you next time you see Brother Han. We need to let them know that following us not only brings hope, but also real benefits.

"As ordered!"

The guards clasped their hands in response.

Li Hongji stood under the old locust tree, gazing at the lights of Jizhou City in the distance, a plan already forming in his mind.

This campaign to investigate Jizhou cannot rely solely on the power of the imperial court; it must also draw upon the anger of the people.

And this fire was ignited when he met that "Brother Han".

(End of this chapter)