Sweep Yuan

Chapter 17 A Strange Wind Rises Out of the Sky

Dayuan County was divided into townships, and each township was further divided into districts, each with a chief official. This system roughly resembled the rudiments of the later grassroots administrative system.

Of course, the framework was set up, but whether these institutions were actually controlled by the imperial court or simply a way for local tyrants to lord it over others was another matter entirely.

Shi Shan led his team to Huxi Village, which had a large population and was connected to surrounding villages by roads. The township set up a capital here and elected Hu Pingren, a prominent figure in the village, as its leader.

During the Yuan dynasty, the chief minister's duties were to supervise tax collection and enforce public order. These duties were usually filled by wealthy households on a rotating basis, but the Hu family held three consecutive terms, which demonstrates their power.

Hu Pingren was quite shrewd; he not only dutifully arranged manpower to support the troops, but also took the initiative to accept the task of assisting the rebel army in recruiting soldiers.

Another landlord in the village was the head of the village community, who was of the same clan as the village head. He had brought wine and meat out of the village early on to reward the righteous army.

According to President Hu, the Tong family fled famine ten years ago and have been renting land from their landlord, Hu Pingren, ever since. They also do odd jobs for their landlord in their spare time to supplement their income.

Tong's father was an honest man, hardworking and skilled in crafts, which made the family quite fond of him. Last winter, they promised him a sick lamb.

Unexpectedly, after surviving the cold winter, the sick lamb, which was on the verge of death, was cured, but the father, who was as strong as an ox, unfortunately contracted typhoid fever and passed away a few days later.

The master of the house, Mr. Hu, was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see the poor suffer. He "kindly" took care of Tong's father's funeral and "took in" the orphaned and helpless Tong Si'er. The price was that Tong Si'er, a half-grown boy, and the Tong family's dilapidated belongings were at his disposal.

Both sides have their own version of events, and at least one side's statement is questionable.

However, Tong Si'er, the person involved, did not resist returning to Huxi Village, nor did he ask Shishan to uphold justice for him. His master, Hu Pingren, also made no mention of the "runaway slave" or "sheep theft" incident. Both sides wisely pretended that nothing had happened.

There aren't so many black and white things in this world; a muddled, confused situation is the norm.

Shishan's purpose in coming here is to use the power of the local landlords to attack the Chulan and Fangcun stations, not to play the role of Bao Qingtian and uphold justice, nor does he want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

Since Tong Si'er is only interested in joining the army and leaving Huxi Village, it doesn't matter who is lying. At worst, we can train this young man well and let him return to the village to settle this grudge when he is capable in the future.

As for the two Lord Hus, like the prominent figures in the villages before them, as long as they actively cooperate with the Red Turban Army in providing men and paying taxes, they will not be targeted by Shishan for the time being.

Not far away, another respectable man, Chen Cheng, was reprimanding the clansmen who helped him manage his troops. He seemed to be ashamed and annoyed that the performance of the village militia was far inferior to that of the newly joined bandit gang led by Chang Tietou.

Actually, the Chengezhuang militia have already made great progress; they had even more problems yesterday.

Not to mention the chaotic march, even the simplest rest was a complete mess.

The order to rest on the spot had barely been given when a bunch of people broke out of the ranks and ran around in all directions; the area for urinating and defecating had just been marked out, but people were already chatting with acquaintances from other villages...

That's how the fledgling team was: disorganized and extremely undisciplined. If the prominent figures of the village or clan came forward to gather them together, they could get some work done, but once they scattered, they were like "sheep being herded."

Sending such a rabble onto the battlefield without any training is simply asking for trouble.

Shi Shan was well aware of these issues and had made an agreement with the landlords of various villages to hand over the remaining laborers and supplies in Huxi Village, planning to use this time to complete the initial training.

This matter required the strong support of the local landlords, because whether it was to motivate the local militia to train or to improve their physical strength, they needed to provide them with more food to eat.

As they were chatting, Zhou Twelve walked over from the village. Seeing Chief Hu standing beside Shi Shan, he hesitated to speak. Zhou Twelve was the leader of the Rui Battalion, brought by Wen Sijiu. He had just entered the village with Sun Xun to recruit soldiers and collect grain.

Knowing that Zhou Shier had something he couldn't say in front of outsiders, Shishan ended his conversation with President Hu and sent him to see his son-in-law, Tan Yan, also known as "Young President" Tan Buwei.

"What happened?"

Zhou Shier stepped forward, his back to President Hu who was leaving, and lowered his voice to say:
“The villagers were unwilling to join the army. When pushed too far, some even cried. We asked around for a long time before we learned that someone was spreading rumors that a large number of government troops had arrived in Pizhou and would be crossing the river to attack Xuzhou in the next few days.”

Less than half a month after Sesame Li captured Xuzhou, with the imperial army fully engaged in suppressing the Red Turbans in Yingzhou, it was impossible for a large number of government troops to appear in Pizhou at this time, given the Yuan Dynasty's inefficient military mobilization capabilities.

The claim that the Yuan army crossed the river from there and attacked Xuzhou is utter nonsense.

After a moment's thought, Shi Shan realized that this matter was not to be taken seriously. There had never been such rumors in the previous villages and communities, so the source of the problem should be in Huxi Village.

Who spread the rumor?

"None of the villagers are telling the truth. We think it's probably Hu Pingren."

Logically speaking, as the leader, Hu Pingren did have the responsibility to manage the villagers and fight against the rebels on behalf of the government.

But when faced with the Red Turban Army recruiting young men from the village, this guy neither had the courage to organize the villagers to form a stronghold for self-defense nor was he willing to run away. Instead, he spread these rumors that did him no good at this critical juncture. What was he trying to achieve?

"What evidence is there?"

“There’s no evidence, but Hu Pingren has been following us around ever since we entered the village, running around doing things for us, which is very unusual. Also, some villagers wanted to talk to us, but when they saw Hu Pingren there, they didn’t dare to speak.”

This rumor was clumsy, but effective, and has already affected Ishiyama's recruitment and training plans.

If a decisive action is not taken, failing to recruit soldiers in Huxi Village is a minor issue; it could lead to the already panicked troops disintegrating, not to mention the task of attacking Chulan and Fangcun stations.

"Yes, well done. When you go into the village, tell Sun Xun that since you can't recruit soldiers, don't bother. Focus on collecting grain first, keep Hu Pingren calm, and tell him to do this and that..."

"The villain understands!"

Dealing with Hu Pingren was not difficult in itself; the difficulty lay in not using the landlord militia under his command.

It should be noted that these villages are not far apart, and many of them are related by marriage, so their relationship with each other is definitely much closer than their relationship with Shishan.

For example, Hu Xi Village Chief and Tan Yan "Young Chief" Tan Buwei, who are chatting casually, are father-in-law and son-in-law, and Chen Cheng and Deng Zhuang Young Master Deng Li can also be related by marriage.

From their attitude towards Tong Si'er's "stealing the sheep," it can be seen that "respectable people" can only empathize with other "respectable people." They are not on the same page and it is extremely difficult for them to see eye to eye.

If one is too bold and arranges for Chen Cheng and Tan Buwei to handle this matter, who knows if they will plead for Hu Pingren, or simply leak information to sabotage the operation, or even turn against him and kill him?
Fortunately, Shishan had always been wary of these fickle small landlords and had prepared some countermeasures in advance, so that he would not have no choice but to accept his fate when danger was imminent.

(End of this chapter)