The Ming Dynasty: Starting with bandits, it swept across the land.

Just as Luo Dai was heading to the blacksmith shop in town, Li Luo, carrying a knife and escorting a man down from the city wall, said to Li Chengye, "Brother, look who I've caught!"

The man he was holding captive, whose face, which was originally fair and handsome, was now filled with terror.

He was wearing a green robe with navy blue patterns, embroidered with mandarin duck patches. His hair was disheveled, and his official hat, which should have been his, was nowhere to be found.

Li Chengye recognized him from his attire.

"You must be Yu Shideng?"

Before Yu Shideng could recover from the shock of the city's fall, he was dragged down from the city wall and brought before Li Chengye.

Previously, it was difficult to see clearly through the city wall and moat, but upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the bandit leader had a very ordinary appearance. He did not have the unusual features of a red-faced man with fangs and hands that reached past his knees as rumored. Compared to an ordinary farmer, he was only slightly fairer-skinned.

Only his eyes remained unusually calm. Even with the momentous event of just conquering the county town, there was no trace of joy in them; they remained utterly unperturbed.

Yu Shideng thought to himself, now that the city has fallen into the hands of the rebels, he was doomed either way, so he might as well be tough and said, "I am an official of the Ming Dynasty! You rebel leader, don't think you can be arrogant just because you've managed to capture the city by chance. The imperial army will arrive soon, and your tyranny is just a temporary show!"

Seeing that he was still being stubborn, the people around Li Chengye were all indignant. Several hot-tempered ones had already drawn their knives and were about to step forward to teach him a lesson, but Li Chengye raised his hand to stop them.

Li Chengye said, "I didn't expect Magistrate Yu to have such a tough tongue, speaking so forcefully. But I wonder why your official granary has grain on the books, yet the storeroom is completely empty?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Shideng immediately lost his previous composure and asked in a panic, "How...how did you know?"

Li Chengye replied calmly, "If you don't want others to know, then don't do it in the first place."

Yu Shiden dared not speak.

Seeing his appearance, Li Chengye had no intention of talking to him anymore. He waved his hand and ordered his men to take him away and keep him under guard. Then he rode his horse into the city.

Li Chengye entered the Yanchang County government office. Looking at this office, which was worse than even a dilapidated temple at the village entrance—the rickety signboard, the peeling paint on the pillars—he asked Li Luo beside him, "With people coming and going in this office every day, aren't you afraid it'll collapse one day?"

Li Luo, who had worked in the county government for a period of time, said with a wry smile: "I told you before that almost all the tax revenue collected in Yanchang County has been handed over to the authorities. The county only has enough money left for food, so naturally there is no money to repair the county government. Although it is common for officials not to repair their government offices, if the building is really going to collapse, they should at least try to prevent it from collapsing, right? This county magistrate is really something else; he doesn't even care that it has collapsed."

I heard that last year, during a heavy snowfall, the roof of the signing office collapsed, nearly killing the clerks working inside. It was the people of the county who, out of their own pockets, managed to patch up the roof.

Having risen to this level in his official career, Li Chengye began to look at Yu Shideng with new respect, and then asked, "Is Yu Shideng considered a corrupt official?"

Li Luo replied, "That's not entirely true. They do collect some customary fees during festivals, but when it comes to exploiting the people, they don't really do it. It's just their usual practice, without any extreme evil deeds."

"I heard that his hometown is in Shanxi. His family used to be small business owners and had been oppressed by the government."

His father gritted his teeth and supported his studies, and when he passed the imperial examination, he hoped his son would become an official. That's how he became the ambitious official he is today.

"Forget about him for now. Speaking of power-hungry officials, where's our Master Su? He's our 'meritorious official'."

"Master Su is in the storeroom now."

"I'll go check on him."

The storeroom was even more dilapidated than the county government office. The government office, at least, was a facade and had to maintain some semblance of decorum; the storeroom, being out of sight, was even less cared for. When Li Chengye entered, he discovered that even the corners of the desks were rotten, giving him a deeper understanding of Shi Deng, this official-obsessed magistrate.

Upon seeing Li Chengye, Su He did not act with the same fear and trepidation as others. Instead, he appeared perpetually gloomy, clearly still unable to let go of the fact that Li Chengye had used him to seize control of the entire county.

Su He said, "Master Li, you didn't say that at first. You only said it would be about burning down the granary and settling the accounts. How come... you've even taken over the entire Yanchang County?"

Li Chengye also felt somewhat guilty, since things were indeed different from what they had initially agreed upon.

With his outburst, Su He could no longer remain in his official position.

"Suhe, would you like to come back to the mountains with me?"

Suhe smiled bitterly, "But my family is still in Yijun. If I go into the mountains with you, what will become of them? Besides... what can I do once we're in the mountains?"

That's true.

Suhe's greatest value lay in providing Li Chengye with information and relaying official messages.

If he went into the mountains, his skills in investigation, catching thieves, and even collecting grain and taxes would be useless there.

At this moment, Li Luo gently tugged at Li Chengye's sleeve and whispered, "Brother, I have an idea to keep Master Su in the government, but I don't know if it's feasible."

Li Chengye asked, "What are your thoughts? Tell me."

Li Luo slowly offered his suggestion, and Su He's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing it.

Yu Shideng was imprisoned in the county jail.

This was originally the place where he imprisoned criminals, but now he himself has become a prisoner.

The original prisoners in the jail have been dealt with by Li Chengye: all those who were imprisoned for resisting taxes and owing wages have been released; those who were indeed guilty of serious crimes such as murder and robbery have not had to wait until autumn and have been executed directly.

The cell was empty at the moment, except for him.

Yu Shideng was filled with anxiety, wondering what his fate would be. He had heard that this scoundrel Li was not good at torturing people and usually killed people with just one stab, so it probably wouldn't hurt too much. He just hoped that his body wouldn't be left to rot in the wilderness after he died. In the blink of an eye, he thought that if it weren't for this incident of the bandits breaking into the city, he would definitely have been rated as excellent in this year's assessment and would have been promoted next year.

Alas, what a pity.

Just then, the prison door was suddenly opened again, and several people were pushed and shoved in. The people who came in were all prominent officials and gentry in the city. The one in the lead, he looked up and saw that it was none other than his newly appointed warehouse magistrate, Suhe.

Upon seeing Yu Shideng, Suhe anxiously asked, "Your Excellency! Are you alright?"

Yu Shideng asked in surprise, "Su He, you've been arrested too?"

Suhe replied, "Yes! The bandits have sealed off the city, leaving us nowhere to escape, so they captured us all. We don't know what they'll do with us now, but at worst... we'll just die!" His tone suddenly turned stern, "We are all officials of the court; how can we bow down to bandits?"

The people nearby, who had been sighing and considering whether to compromise for the time being, found it difficult to speak up after Su He's words.

Yu Shideng was quite impressed with his new subordinate.

In his memory, this warehouse ambassador was not such a tough person. He had come to complain and ask for help many times before, and he seemed anxious and helpless on several occasions.

At this moment, the other party actually showed some integrity as a loyal subject of the Ming Dynasty, which surprised him quite a bit.

Standing outside the county government office, Li Chengye and Li Luo listened to the report from their informants in the prison and learned that Su Hehe had not aroused the suspicion of Yu Shideng and others, and had quietly integrated into the group.

Li Chengye instructed Li Luo, "When the time comes, find an opportunity to 'release' them and let them 'escape' on their own."

"Alright, big brother. But..." Li Luo asked, somewhat puzzled, "Should we release Yu Shideng too?"

"Let him go," Li Chengye explained. "Our attack on Yanchang was originally intended to send a warning shot, to see how Liu Yingyu and the government troops would react. Killing a county magistrate won't do much good; letting him escape will actually reveal more about their intentions."

Li Luo nodded: "Okay, I understand, brother. I'll take care of this."

"Okay, I'll leave it to you," Li Chengye said.

After arranging all of this, Li Chengye returned to the county government office.

Just then, Luo Dai came running over excitedly: "Brother! We're about to strike it rich!"