Sweep Yuan

Chapter 54 Anti-Japanese Charity Fund

"My lord, please have some tea!"

As the two were talking, a maid brought tea and knelt before the table, serving them very carefully.

Shi Shan casually took the tea, drank it all in one gulp, and only when he put down the teacup did he notice that the woman had a high nose and deep-set eyes, a rather tall figure, and several bruises on her exposed fair neck and wrists, clearly indicating that she had suffered a lot of abuse.

Then he recalled that when the foreign merchant was killed in the street yesterday, the figure of the woman being held captive in the house seemed very similar to the one in front of him. He sighed inwardly at Xue Xian's audacity. Killing his father and raping his daughter, wasn't he worried that someone would kill Xue Xian in the middle of the night?

Seeing Shi Shan staring blankly at his lecherous maid, Xue Xian instantly forgot about Liu Xingge, whom he found annoying. He stroked his steel-needle beard, revealing a lewd smile that any man would understand, and said:

"Hehe, although the flesh of Semu women is not as tender as that of Han women, they have a unique flavor when mashed. If Brother Shi also likes this kind of thing, why don't you stay tonight and have some fun with me?"

puff--

Shishan almost choked to death on his own saliva.

Xue Xian seemed to thoroughly enjoy Shi Shan's shock and embarrassment, patting him forcefully on the shoulder and laughing:
"Hahaha, Brother Shi, no matter how good a woman is, she's just a bunch of flesh that feels good to knead and can relieve an itch. How can she compare to the brothers who fight side by side on the battlefield and share life and death? If you like her, this woman is yours to take away today, how about it?"

"Uh—no way! How could this humble general dare to take away what the chief steward loves!"

Shi Shan was worried that Xue Xian would insist on delivering more, so he quickly changed the subject, which was making him feel physically uncomfortable.

"The steward summoned me to receive guests. Could it be about inviting Liu Xingge?"

"Haha—that's not it. We're short of money and food, so we're thinking of inviting the wealthy families in the city, finding an opportunity to kill a few fools first, and then forcing the remaining wealthy families to donate some of their property. That old bastard is just a side dish."

Xue Xian was extremely busy last night and didn't have much energy to devote to this foreign maid.

By torturing and plundering Mongols, Semu people, and some officials, he basically got a clear picture of the situation in the city. In the morning, he ordered people to invite the city's wealthy and powerful figures to a "banquet" to alleviate the worry of insufficient military supplies.

When Shishan entered, he saw several gentry members standing in the front hall with worried faces.

Those who have already benefited from the status quo naturally oppose any rebels who disrupt the existing order. The two are destined to be at odds, and given the opportunity, they would never hesitate to stab you in the back.

It is only natural for rebels to weaken the potential for unrest among the vested interests of the class. Shishan naturally approves of Xue Xian's extortion of wealthy households, but he does not quite agree with his methods.

Rebellion requires strategy, and killing must be justified and leave no room for argument. Randomly killing people will only cause panic among the people, both inside and outside the army, which is not conducive to the Red Turban Army's rule in Lingbi.

Shi Shan, wanting to attack Hong County, offered his opinion on the need to prevent chaos in the rear.

Although Xue Xian was cruel and bloodthirsty, he also knew that if he wanted to quickly gain a foothold, he could not just kill indiscriminately.

Since the knife is in my own hands, I'll get the money, food, and military supplies first. There's no rush to kill these rich bastards.

Having decided on this matter, Xue Xian discussed with Shi Shan the specific details of the forced donations and the subsequent distribution of spoils.

Around noon, Yang Ba came in to report that "everyone has arrived." Xue Xian also finally finalized the specific details of the forced donation operation with Shi Shan and strode towards the front hall.

As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a good banquet. The bandits occupied the city, killed the officials, and then held a banquet. Did they really invite you to drink and eat? The bandit's banquet had no wine, meat, or dishes, only blood-stained butcher knives.

For the opening remarks, Xue Xian knew that Shi Shan was more eloquent than himself, so he arranged for him to speak. "The Mongol Tartars have seized the land of China and enslaved the Chinese people. Marshal Liu, Marshal Li, and Marshal Zou have successively raised armies to drive out the barbarians, aiming to restore the Han people's land. They have already recovered more than ten prefectures. Soon they will launch a northern expedition and are determined to destroy the Mongol Yuan dynasty."

At this critical juncture of national upheaval, all descendants of the Chinese nation should contribute money and effort to support the cause of resisting the Manchus.

All donors can sign their names on the "Donation Register for Resisting the Barbarians and Restoring the Han Dynasty," and General Xue will order craftsmen to carve the inscription on stone so that the people of Lingbi County can pass it down for generations.

bang——

Before Shi Shan could finish speaking, a muffled thud was heard in the hall, and a wealthy man collapsed to the ground. Those around him either screamed in fright or instinctively tried to help the fallen man up, and the scene was in chaos.

Yang Ba, who was waiting outside the hall, was unaware of what had happened. He immediately led a squad of soldiers and rushed in, which further exacerbated the panic among the wealthy people in the hall. Xue Xian was somewhat embarrassed and shouted:

"What's the panic! Everyone, step back and see if he's dead!"

The person was not dead, of course; they were just scared unconscious. They woke up after someone pinched their philtrum hard twice.

However, after this commotion, some people regained some composure. One of the old men, who believed that the thieves had no real connections in Lingbi and that they would have to rely on the people in the hall for many things, mustered up his courage and asked Steward Xue.

"I am willing to donate my family property, but I feel unworthy of such empty honors. May I ask if I can leave this document unsigned?"

You could say you were forced to donate by the bandits, but once you signed the "Anti-Yuan and Restoration of Han Righteous Donation Agreement", if the court later recovered Lingbi County, no matter if you only donated one penny or a thousand shi of rice today, it would be an undeniable crime of aiding the bandits!

"You won't sign? Did your grandfather invite you to the county government today to haggle over a price?!"

Xue Xian drew his sword, his roar deafening like thunder, his whiskers bristling like iron needles, like an ancient, monstrous beast ready to devour its prey. The old man had never seen such a terrifying sight before; he was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, trembling like a leaf, unable to utter a word.

Just as blood was about to spill from the scene, Shi Shan grabbed the enraged Xue Xian and advised him:

"Steward, please calm down! If this knife is used, there will be no one left standing in the government office."

"Humph!"

Having killed many people and seen blood, Xue Xian had long since lost all restraint. If he hadn't listened to Shi Shan's advice before the meeting, he would have slaughtered this ungrateful old man's entire family to establish his authority.

Seeing that the old fox was so scared that he wet himself, Xue Xian glared at him disdainfully, then sheathed his sword and sat back down in the main seat.

"You're lucky. Out of respect for Brother Shi, you're getting off easy today!"

After this commotion, no one dared to step forward and risk trouble again, so Shishan began to announce the supplies that everyone needed to provide to the Red Turban Army.

In addition to providing money, food, cloth, and other necessities for recruiting soldiers, wealthy households in Lingbi also needed to provide armor, gunpowder, horses, mules, carts, and other items that could directly enhance the combat and mobility of the troops.

In addition, the Red Turban Army also needed all the raw materials for making military supplies such as armor and tents, including iron ingots, cowhide, felt, sinew, bamboo, wood, goose feathers, saltpeter, lacquer, and sulfur, as well as daily consumables such as oil, salt, alum, and lime. They even needed iron, wood, and bamboo craftsmen and production tools such as axes, saws, and chisels.

Considering that the "Red Heart Battalion" uniforms were unique and required special sewing, Shishan specially converted the amount of cloth needed by his unit into the price of ready-made garments. Since Lingbi City could not obtain so much red cloth in a short time, it did not matter that the colors could not be uniform; the style should be consistent first.

(End of this chapter)