Volume 2, Chapter 7: Li Er of Weinan Gains Fame

The clerks and soldiers of the granary had long since fled, and the granary was captured without much effort.

Several large carts were found in the county office, and grain was hauled cart by cart to the gate of the small city.

Two large banners—one reading "Acting on Behalf of Heaven" and the other "Li Erlang of the Phoenix Guard"—were erected on either side respectively.

Everything was fully prepared, and they had shouted into the city many times, but the streets remained desolate and cold. Aside from Niu Er and his fellows, no other townspeople dared to come and collect the grain. Stroking his short mustache, Li Shandao pondered for a moment and said to Ji Bochang, "Brother Bochang, the townspeople are likely afraid, which is why they dare not come forward for the grain. I must ask for your help with this matter."

Ji Bochang understood the implication at once without needing Li Shandao to spell it out further. He immediately instructed his retainers: "All of you, go back to your respective homes, call upon your brothers and relatives, and come collect the grain! Once you have received the grain, take it back to show the residents of your wards. Tell them that Li Erlang, the chief commander under Xu Dalang of Wagang, is acting on behalf of Heaven, has conquered our city, and is distributing grain here to the common people of the county."

Receiving their orders, the retainers all returned home, summoned their relatives, rallied their friends, and came back to collect the grain.

Compared to Niu Er and the others, Ji Bochang and his band of retainers and personal troops clearly held much greater influence within Puyang City. As they carried bags of grain back to their homes one by one, other residents from the various wards finally began to tentatively approach and collect the grain in a trickle.

At first, the number of townspeople tentatively coming to collect grain was still small. However, once this precedent was set, and as Qin Jingsi, Chen Jing'er, and the others kindly and genuinely distributed the grain to them, those who received it returned to their wards and spread the news. Following this, the stream of townspeople coming to collect grain became continuous.

Not every resident who came to collect grain was literate. Qin Jingsi, Chen Jing'er, and the others patiently and repeatedly spoke in loud voices to the growing crowds: "We are under the banner of Li Erlang of Wagang! Li Erlang values righteousness above wealth, cherishes the common people, and is moreover a native of Weinan, making him practically one of us here in Puyang. That is why he has moved the stored grain from the county office to distribute it among all of you!"

A slightly bolder town resident, hidden within the crowd, shouted out a question: "Which Li Erlang of Weinan?"

Qin Jingsi and the others, having already received instructions from Li Shandao, pointed directly at the banner reading "Li Erlang of the Phoenix Guard" and answered the questioner in a clear voice: "Could there be any other Li Erlang? Naturally, it is the same Li Erlang who previously intercepted the tribute of Cheng Huan, the former corrupt vice-administrator of Dongping Commandery! His given name is Shandao."

At this point, it is worth adding a few words.

This Li Shandao had actually long harbored the desire to spread his own name. Back when he intercepted Cheng Huan, after the raid, he had distributed grain to the common people at the border of Xingyang and Liang Commandery, and had also raised flags bearing the name "Li Erlang." However, at that time, Wagang had not yet formally begun launching attacks on cities and seizing territories. To prevent Li Shanzhen from being implicated by him, he had not reported his birthplace of Weinan, nor his given name "Shandao," simply calling himself "Li Erlang." Things were different now; upon Li Mi's suggestion, Wagang had formally raised the banner of rebellion and was no longer classified merely as "common bandits." Therefore, during today's grain distribution, alongside the familiar moniker "Li Erlang," he finally dared to proclaim his origins in Weinan and his given name "Shandao."

As the grain flowed out like water, the name "Li Erlang of Weinan" spread throughout Puyang City accordingly.

By the approach of dusk, the stream of commoners coming to collect grain showed no sign of stopping.

It was no longer just the urban residents coming for grain; upon hearing the news, the people from the near suburbs outside the city also entered the town to collect their share.

Wang Xuda felt a deep ache in his heart. Pulling Li Shandao aside, he said, "Erlang, there is not much grain left in the granary. Those coming to collect it are not only the people from the four townships outside the city, but with my own eyes, I have seen unprincipled fellows coming back to collect grain two or three times! Erlang, now that the grain has been distributed to this point, the situation within the city can be considered stabilized. Can we stop distributing the grain now?"

Without answering him directly, Li Shandao called over Qin Jingsi, Chen Jing'er, Luo Zhong, Dong Falu, Yuan Dezhen, Ji Bochang, Gao Xi, and the others. Sweeping his gaze across them, he said, "Sanlang just said that with the grain distributed to this point, the city is basically stabilized. I agree with his words. I gathered you all here precisely to ask your opinions: do you think we should continue distributing the grain below?"

Dong Falu said, "The common people are arriving in great numbers, and the grain distribution is at its peak. If we suddenly stop, what kind of sense does that make? Let's just finish distributing it all."

Yuan Dezhen had suffered greatly as a refugee and deeply understood the importance of grain. He advised, "We distribute, but we cannot give it all away; we still need to keep a portion."

Li Shandao asked Gao Xi and Ji Bochang, "Brother Gao, Brother Bochang, what do you two say?"

Gao Xi was an honest and kind-hearted man. Though he had been unwilling to exert himself when Li Shandao attacked Puyang, he wholeheartedly supported distributing the captured grain to the common people once the city was taken. Thus, in response to Li Shandao's inquiry, he offered his rare opinion: "The townspeople who came to collect the grain—I watched them all closely from the side. Most are in ragged clothes and have sallow faces, lacking even a straw sack to hold the grain. One can easily imagine how hard their daily lives are. Now that the commander has opened the granary to provide relief, my humble view is that we should see a good deed through to the end and distribute all the remaining grain to the people. That would be best."

Ji Bochang was a local of the county. The more grain was distributed, the greater his reputation would grow in the county. Therefore, he shared the same sentiment and smiled, saying, "Erlang, the city is temporarily stabilized, but if we want to completely secure it, in my view, this grain must be distributed further!"

Li Shandao then asked Qin Jingsi, Chen Jing'er, and Luo Zhong, who had not yet spoken, "What are your views on this?"

Qin Jingsi replied, "I don't have any particular opinion. I'll leave it entirely to Erlang's decision."

Luo Zhong replied, "I'm the same, no special thoughts. Please make the decision, Erlang."

Chen Jing'er hesitated for a moment and said, "Erlang, I'll say what I said before: since we went through such great difficulty to capture the city, if we just raided the county office and then retreated, it would be a great pity. By the same token, if we distribute all this grain and just leave it at that, it also seems like a great pity."

In reality, Li Shandao had already made up his mind about whether to continue distributing the grain. The reason he called upon Qin Jingsi and the others to ask for their opinions was simply to test their insight and vision. Great affairs are rarely born out of nowhere; a person's capability and level of vision are most often demonstrated through one trivial matter after another.

Having consulted everyone and learned their opinions on the matter, he asked no further questions. Nodding, he revealed his own plan and smiled at the crowd: "Wulang speaks ultimate sense! If we distribute so much grain and do nothing else, it would indeed be far too regrettable. I already have a plan. My wise brothers, why don't we seize this opportunity to recruit brave and strong men to strengthen our own ranks?"

Qin Jingsi did not understand the underlying intent and asked, "Erlang, the common people simply take the grain and leave. How can we take advantage of this opportunity to recruit brave men?"

Distributing the grain so that the people receive benefits and help stabilize the situation within the city was one matter.

Expecting the city and suburban residents to follow you in rebellion and risk their lives simply because of a small handout of grain was quite another. To achieve that goal, it was obvious that a small amount of grain alone would never be enough. Would people risk their lives for you just for a mouthful of grain? Highly unlikely.

Li Shandao said, "True. Aside from Brother Bochang and his men, none of us are from Puyang, and we hold no prestige here. Relying solely on a handout of grain makes it difficult to recruit strong men in Puyang. However, while grain alone may not suffice, we can approach this through four paths simultaneously."

Qin Jingsi asked, "Erlang, what are these four paths?"

Li Shandao turned to Ji Bochang and asked, "Brother Bochang, you must be very familiar with those county officials we captured? That Magistrate Chen—I asked you about him before, and you said his reputation in Puyang County is passable. What about the others? Which of them are deeply detested by the townspeople?"

As a local, Ji Bochang was naturally familiar with the county's officials. He rattled off a long list of names effortlessly.

Surprisingly, among the dozen or so minor county officials who had been captured, those with decent reputations or minimal public resentment were only a minority.

Li Shandao ordered Luo Zhong, "Escort them out and bring them here."

After Luo Zhong left, Li Shandao asked further, "Aside from the county officials, what about the ward chiefs, village heads, and security heads of the various wards? Who among them carry notorious reputations?"

Under the township system of the current dynasty, every five households formed a security unit (*bao*), every five security units formed a village (*li*), and every four villages formed a ward (*dang*). The ward chiefs, village heads, and security heads were administered by the county, and the imperial corvée labor and taxes were primarily levied by them directly upon the households within their jurisdictions. If their palms tilted even slightly, the interests of the common households in their respective wards, villages, and security units would inevitably suffer. Naturally, some carried out their duties fairly, while others were anything but fair.

Ji Bochang had a general awareness of the reputations of these ward chiefs, village heads, and security heads and reported several names as well.

Li Shandao instructed Dong Falu, "Take your squad to the various wards and arrest these people."

Dong Falu accepted the order and departed.

Li Shandao then commanded Chen Jing'er, "Take some men and haul over the money, cloth, and weaponry from the county office treasury."

Finally, Li Shandao said to Ji Bochang, "Brother Bochang, before I came to your honorable county, Xu Dalang mentioned several friends he has here. I originally thought these friends of Dalang would come to see me, but up to now, they have not appeared. Might I trouble Brother Bochang to help me invite a few of them over?" With that, he recited the names of Xu Shiji's friends.

Upon hearing this, Ji Bochang smiled and said, "So it's these gentlemen. Two of them do not live in the city and probably cannot be fetched on short notice, but the remaining two or three reside right here in the city. I will personally go and invite them for Erlang." He made a formal bow, took a few retainers, and left.

Before long, the dozen or so corrupt and tyrannical officials notorious throughout the county, along with the money, cloth, and weaponry from the county treasury, were successively transported to the scene.

The dozen bad officials were all bound with thick ropes, looking dejected as they were forced to kneel beside the grain distribution area.

Carts and piles of currency, cloth, and weapons were stacked on the other side of the distribution area.

The crowded townspeople, witnessing this scene, slowed their hands in the scramble for grain, while those pushing frantically from behind ceased their relentless shoving. All eyes drifted outward—some looking at the dozen corrupt officials, others gazing at the dazzling, heart-stirring piles of money and cloth.

Those who had suffered abuses at the hands of these corrupt officials grew angrier the more they looked. At first, they spat in their direction; seeing that Gao Chounu and the others maintaining order did not stop them, their courage grew, and some commoners began hurling curses at the officials. Noticing that Gao Chounu and the others still made no move to intervene, the bolder ones simply walked right up to the corrupt officials, slapping their faces and kicking them to the ground!

Rolled into the dirt and unable to stand due to their bindings, the dozen bad officials wailed and begged for mercy.

Their pleas for mercy proved entirely useless. Instead, because Gao Chounu and his men continued to stand by without interfering, more and more commoners joined in the beating.

The dozen corrupt officials had originally been kneeling at the edge of the distribution area, but because so many townspeople set upon them, they were gradually dragged into the thick of the crowd. By the end, they were completely surrounded on all sides by the populace. Stirred by righteous indignation, even those commoners who had never been personally wronged by them could not hold back, pushing forward to land either a punch or a kick. Before long, the wailing and pleading of these dozen-odd men gradually faded away.

Just at that moment, Dong Falu and his men arrived, escorting yet another dozen or so individuals.