manynovel Chapter 4: Purge Shandong, Foundation Gradually Stabilizing
Chapter 4: Purge Shandong, Foundation Gradually Stabilizing
October, Zhongdu.
The autumn air is crisp and clear, but a chill is gradually creeping in.
The Prince of Zhao's mansion was bustling with activity, people coming and going.
The savior of Zhongdu City is celebrating his birthday, and countless high-ranking officials and nobles are coming to offer their congratulations.
Yang Kang pushed open a simple wooden door. Behind the door, Bao Xiruo was holding an iron spear, looking dejected.
"Kang'er, what brings you here!"
When Bao Xiruo saw Yang Kang push the door open and enter, she quickly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and forced a smile as she spoke.
"Mother has always known that I don't like this kind of life!"
"My birthday is the day my mother suffered so much; what's there to celebrate?"
"Besides, I didn't go to fight the Mongols for their sake."
Yang Kang looked at the iron spear in Bao Xiruo's hand, and he naturally knew what it represented.
His parents died early in his previous life. In this world, he has lived for more than ten years. Although he cannot regard Bao Xiruo and Wanyan Honglie as his parents like a normal child, he is not completely indifferent and heartless either.
At least, for him, acting like a filial child wasn't entirely a pretense.
He didn't care whether his father in this life was Wanyan Honglie or Yang Tiexin, nor did he care when Bao Xiruo would tell him about his origins.
Bao Xiruo couldn't help but stroke Yang Kang's face. In a daze, she realized that her son also resembled his father in his youth, with his chivalrous spirit.
"Mother knows, Mother knows everything!"
"You are a good boy. You went to fight the enemy for the safety of the people."
"But you're not!!!"
Bao Xiruo almost blurted out Yang Kang's background.
"The world is in turmoil, and the people are suffering. Those with ability should always step up their efforts!"
Unbeknownst to them, Wanyan Honglie had also walked up behind Yang Kang and his mother, and suddenly spoke loudly.
Although he was smiling, the smile seemed somewhat unnatural.
It's enough to make any man feel frustrated that his wife still misses her ex-husband after more than a decade.
Wanyan Honglie looked at Bao Xiruo and sighed inwardly, then turned his gaze to Yang Kang.
"Kang'er! The Emperor just sent someone to deliver an imperial edict: there is a rebellion in Shandong. You are here to command 100,000 troops to quell the rebellion."
Wanyan Honglie said with a hint of dissatisfaction.
"What? We just finished fighting, why do we need Kang'er to go out again?"
"Are all the men of your Great Jin Kingdom dead? Why must my son go to the front lines to fight for you?"
Bao Xiruo's voice was loud and shrill. No matter how weak a mother is, she will become strong and fierce when it comes to her child.
Moreover, deep down she didn't want her child to serve the Jin Dynasty.
"Mother, those aren't enemies!"
"When officials force the people to rebel, it is not the people who deserve to die, but those corrupt officials."
Yang Kang shook his head and sighed, saying that he had known the news even earlier than Wanyan Honglie.
"Your mother was right, our Great Jin Kingdom truly has no one left!"
"Prime Minister Tudan Yi died of illness, and Liaodong fell to the enemy."
"However, in the blink of an eye, my great Jin Kingdom is showing signs of decline!"
"Everyone is actually pinning their hopes on my Kang'er, who has just turned seventeen."
Wanyan Honglie looked at Yang Kang and sighed.
"Kang'er, if you don't want to go, you don't have to!"
Wanyan Honglie then spoke to Yang Kang.
The emergence of the young Zhao King, like the Hegemon-King Xiang Yu, gave everyone a shot in the arm. Those who were unaware of the secrets of the Wanyan family's court naturally began to gravitate towards Wanyan Honglie, regarding the father and son as the saviors of the Jin Dynasty.
"Not going? Isn't that defying an imperial order?"
Yang Kang looked at Wanyan Honglie with a hint of surprise, wondering where the other man's confidence came from.
"Your going to Shandong is the result of the recommendation of the ministers, but it is not what the Emperor wants to see."
"If you refuse, the Emperor will surely be happy to go along with it."
Wanyan Honglie said helplessly that he was always very perceptive about matters other than his wife and children.
Why not?
Yang Kang chuckled, pushed open the door, and looked at the dark clouds on the horizon.
Having been in this world for seventeen years, and having spent his time in hibernation and development, how could he possibly die in obscurity like his original self?
Looking at her son, who was determined to achieve great things, and Wanyan Honglie, who was also devoted to Yang Kang, Bao Xiruo's initial thought of telling Yang Kang about her true parentage fell silent once again.
. . . . .
When Yang Kang led his troops to Yidu Prefecture, it was already the end of the year.
The three leaders of the Red Turban Army—Yang An'er from Qingzhou, Li Quan from Weizhou, and Liu Erzu from Yimeng—looked out for each other and helped each other from afar. They had long heard of Yang Kang's reputation in the Mongol-Jin War.
Knowing that Yang Kang had arrived in Yidu Prefecture, they all sent envoys, intending to join forces to resist the army led by Yang Kang.
But Yang Kang's actions were far faster than they had imagined. In just over a month, Yang Kang led his army to Yidu Prefecture, while Wanyan Chenheshang led his elite cavalry to cut through and occupy the three key roads like lightning.
Yang Kang's plan was simple: with Yidu Prefecture as the center, Wanyan Chenheshang would lead 3,000 light cavalry to maneuver between the three rebel armies, cutting off their mutually supporting routes.
The eastern front blocked the road from Weizhou to Qingzhou, preventing Li Quan from providing westward reinforcements. The northern front blocked the Jiaolai River Valley, cutting off Yang An'er's retreat route to the north. The southern front occupied the Yimeng Pass, so if Liu Erzu dared to come out of the mountains, they could directly attack his lair.
The three rebel armies were each trapped in an area of dozens of miles, with no communication and no supplies, and could only look at each other from afar.
Meanwhile, Yang Kang was reforming the bureaucracy and stabilizing people's livelihoods in the rear. The soldiers of the Red Coat Army could smell the aroma of rice wafting from the official granaries every day, and it was only a matter of time before their morale wavered.
Yang Kang surrounded them without attacking, waiting for them to collapse on their own.
In just two months, the Red Turban Army rebellion, which had been at its zenith, was already showing signs of decline.
However, instead of continuing the forceful suppression of the rebellion as everyone had expected, Yang Kang directly took over the military and political affairs of Zhucheng, Shandong, and began a shocking purge.
Yang Kang, on the grounds of embezzling military funds and colluding with bandits to rebel, imprisoned and sentenced all the officials who had aroused public anger, regardless of whether they were Jurchens, Khitans, or Han Chinese.
On the day of the execution, the square in front of the Yidu Prefectural Government Office was packed with people.
The first person brought in was Tian Zhuo, the transport commissioner of Shandong East Road. Under the guise of conscription, he forcibly conscripted 120,000 Han men to guard the border in Liaodong over three years, but less than 20,000 returned alive.
Tian Zhu knelt on the ground and shouted at Yang Kang.
"Young Prince! I am an official appointed by the imperial court! You cannot kill me!"
Yang Kang sat upright in the hall and glanced at him.
"cut!"
The executioner's blade fell, and the head rolled three feet away.
At first, there was a deathly silence in the crowd, then some people started to cry, some started to laugh, and some knelt down and kowtowed.
But most people just watched in silence. They didn't believe that a Jurchen prince would really stand up for them. They were afraid it was just a show, afraid of being held accountable later, afraid that if they laughed today, they would be remembered tomorrow.
An old man held his grandson's hand and said in a low voice.
"Don't make a sound, just watch."
Next was Meng'an Heshilieya Wuta, who plundered land and enslaved people in Shandong. More than 300 tenant families escaped from his manor alone.
He was tougher than Tian Zhuo and spat at Yang Kang.
"You're also from the Wanyan family! You want to kill me? You're insane!"
Yang Kang did not answer.
The knife falls.
Then there was Tang Kuo, who was a special envoy who forced the Red Turban Army to the front lines as cannon fodder and was also the culprit behind the Shandong civil unrest.
He collapsed to the ground, unable to even shout. When he was dragged up, his crotch was already wet.
Three heads were hung on the city wall for seven days. During those seven days, the executioner's blade was never sheathed, and countless powerful officials were dragged out to behead every day.
Only Yang Kang knows how many of them were truly heinous crimes and how many were motivated by his own selfish motives.
He had been preparing for this day for a long time!
For seven days, long queues formed outside the Yidu Prefectural Government Office, not to file complaints, but to identify corpses.
The families of the conscripted laborers and the tenants who were driven to their deaths came from all directions, burning paper money, crying, and cursing under the city wall.
But some people come and go quietly, without daring to leave their names.
"Who knows if we'll be next?"
A middle-aged man in a teahouse whispered to his companion
"Wanyan Kang was a Jurchen. The Jurchen killing Jurchen was just a show for us."
"Keep your voice down!"
His companion pulled him back, and doubts and criticisms surged like an undercurrent in the streets and alleys.
Yang Kang ignored this and simply hung another notice on the city wall:
"Anyone who reports corrupt officials will be rewarded with 100 strings of cash upon verification; anonymity is also acceptable."
From the beginning of winter to the start of spring, the campaign began with dividing and suppressing the Red Turban Army.
For three whole months, Yang Kang's army steadfastly carried out his strategy of purging the Shandong officialdom.
Just like the people of the capital after the siege of Zhongdu, the people of various prefectures in Shandong reacted differently to Yang Kang. Some cheered, some watched and waited, and many more remained silent.
Those truly oppressed poor people, after confirming that the heads of those corrupt officials were indeed hanging on the city wall, secretly began to erect a memorial arch for Wanyan Kang and worshipped it day and night, but they dared not make a fuss for fear of retaliation.
Meanwhile, the local tyrants and former Jurchen nobles who had once attached themselves to corrupt officials were secretly gritting their teeth and sending people to Zhongdu to file complaints.
Yang Kang ignored all of this.
Yelü Chucai arrived in Yidu Prefecture in the second month of the purge.
When Wanyan Honglie recommended him, he said that this man was knowledgeable in astronomy, geography, law, and medicine, and was a true genius.
This was not the first time Yang Kang had heard this person's name. Wanyan Honglie had once wanted to ask him to tutor Yang Kang, but he refused, saying that he thought he was not very talented.
But everyone knows that it was because Yelü Chucai did not want to get involved in the palace intrigues, and he looked down on Wanyan Honglie and his son.
However, after the siege of Zhongdu, Yelü Chucai seemed to have changed his mind.
Yang Kang received this man, who would later become the prime minister of the Mongol Empire, in his command tent.