Chapter Forty-Eight: An Immutable Law

As night fell, Sima Cao Rong of the prefecture finally arrived at Hexi Village.

The title of Sima referred to the official in charge of military affairs in a prefecture. It sounded prestigious, but in reality, the Sima was under the control of the governor, and the local prefectures rarely had much military force at his disposal. Thus, the position was somewhat awkward.

For this reason, in the Great Zhou, the office of the local Sima was often used as a way to demote officials. If a court official offended the emperor, he was promptly kicked out and sent to some outlying place as Sima.

These exiled officials might go for several years without ever actually exercising the powers of their office.

However, the Sima of Xuanzhou, Cao Rong, was not an exiled official from the capital, but rather the brother-in-law of a certain high-ranking figure, who had installed him in this post.

This was not surprising. After all, if he were truly a nobleman from the capital, he would never have accepted bribes from the county magistrate Xue Song. Or rather, Xue Song would never have even gotten to meet him.

Sima Cao was not particularly tall—in fact, he was rather short. Dressed in his official robes, his face was ashen and grim. No sooner had he arrived than he unleashed a torrent of abuse on Guo Han, the local constable of Shidai.

“What are any of you good for?” Cao Rong, his speech riddled with a provincial accent, grew red-faced with rage. “Shidai keeps dozens of you, yet a handful of rebels storm into the county seat and kill the magistrate!”

He glared fiercely at Guo Han, cursing him venomously. “Why didn’t those rebels kill you too?”

Moments ago, Guo the constable had put on airs before Li Yun, but now, he shrank back, not daring to utter a word.

Cao Sima berated Guo Han at length, dragging his parents into it as well. Only when his fury was spent did he glare toward Hexi Village and ask coldly, “Is the village surrounded?”

“It’s completely surrounded,” Guo Han replied quickly, bowing his head. “No one can get out.”

Cao Sima took a deep breath and swept away, commanding, “Keep them surrounded. When Governor Tian arrives tomorrow morning, we’ll decide what to do next.”

Guo Han bowed again, “Yes, I obey.”

After watching Cao Sima depart, Guo Han straightened up, shouting orders to his subordinates, and doubled the guard to ensure Hexi Village was completely encircled.

Li Yun and the others were trapped within.

After a long night, the next morning Governor Tian’s sedan chair finally stopped at the entrance of Hexi Village. Cao Sima, accompanied by several Shidai officials, hurried forward to greet him. As Tian dismounted, Cao Rong stepped up, bowing with hands clasped. “Your humble servant greets the Governor.”

“We greet the Governor,” echoed the others.

Governor Tian, with three strands of long beard and a dignified appearance, looked at Cao Rong, then at Hexi Village, without sparing so much as a glance for Guo Han or the rest. With his hands clasped behind his back, he strolled to a quiet spot. “Brother Cao.”

Cao Rong hurried after him. “Your servant is here.”

The two officials soon left the crowd behind and found a secluded place.

Governor Tian stroked his beard, gazing at Hexi Village. “Have the murderers been caught?”

“We’ve apprehended a dozen or so; about twenty remain at large for now.”

“Some are said to have fled back to Hexi Village.”

Cao Sima lowered his voice, “Governor, should we arrest everyone in Hexi Village and interrogate them under torture?”

Governor Tian shook his head slightly. “Du Ping is dead. He was an official of the court—this will certainly alarm the authorities. Both you and I must report this to the court, explaining everything.”

“The court will surely send a censor to investigate.”

Governor Tian spoke in a low voice, “If the censor gets to the bottom of what happened in Hexi Village…”

If the truth reached the court, it would be a case of officials driving the people to revolt.

Worse still, Xuanzhou’s extra tax alone amounted to five hundred cash, and Shidai County’s surcharge was as much as eight hundred!

Though the county’s eight hundred had little to do with the prefecture, the prefecture’s five hundred… that was also overcharged!

In these days of slow communication, local officials were reckless in their abuse of power.

Should the court send inspectors, officials at both county and prefecture level would face harsh consequences. This was no longer just corruption—it had led to open rebellion.

Driving the people to rebel struck at the very foundation of the Great Zhou.

By then, Governor Tian, Sima Cao, and every official who had ever handled this tax money would be unable to escape punishment.

In truth, at the prefecture level, none of the officials with any say in the matter were clean. Even if one or two tried to keep their hands clean, the others would drag them down with them—otherwise, they’d never feel secure about the money they’d pocketed.

No one was innocent.

Cao Rong, who’d gotten his post through family connections, was far less composed than Governor Tian. Hearing all this, he started to panic. After glancing carefully at Governor Tian, he stammered, “Governor, what do you mean?”

Governor Tian looked at Cao Rong in disappointment.

“Must I spell it out?”

“But… but…” Cao Rong’s voice trembled. “If the higher-ups come to investigate and find not a single person left in Hexi Village, wouldn’t that be hard to justify?”

“Don’t worry, there will naturally be survivors from Hexi Village to testify.”

“And besides,” Governor Tian’s tone was calm, devoid of emotion, “the censors or other imperial envoys from the capital will not press too hard. As long as we do our part, and with Lord Zhu at court as well…”

The “Lord Zhu” he mentioned was none other than Cao Rong’s brother-in-law.

Governor Tian continued slowly, “Nothing serious will happen.”

Cao Sima swallowed hard, his words faltering. “Governor, then… how should we report this?”

Governor Tian frowned, visibly displeased.

He thought Cao Rong was a fool.

Yet for the sake of “Lord Zhu,” he restrained his anger and said, “Report that the unruly villagers of Hexi plotted to seize power, stormed Shidai County, and murdered an imperial official. When the prefectural troops arrived at Hexi Village, they fought through the night and exterminated the rebels on the spot.”

He looked at Cao Rong and added, “Remember, pick a ringleader’s name from among the rebels to report, then you and I will submit memorials to the court together.”

“In this way, at worst, you’ll be blamed for failing to suppress bandits, and I’ll be faulted for negligence.”

Cao Rong had calmed down by now. He exhaled and said softly, “I understand.”

“Governor, the prefectural troops should arrive this afternoon. Should we use them, or stick with the officers from Shidai and Qingyang?”

“It makes no difference,” replied Governor Tian with a yawn, squinting his eyes. “Everyone knows rebels stormed the county and killed the magistrate. We are carrying out the imperial will to suppress the rebellion.”

“It is only right.”

“I understand,” Cao Sima bowed, fists clasped. “I’ll see to it at once.”

……

That afternoon, while chatting idly with Li Zheng outside Hexi Village, Li Yun was summoned by Guo Han, the Shidai constable.

Following Guo Han, he soon arrived before a short, slightly built man in his thirties.

Accompanying Li Yun was Tu Heng, the chief constable of Shidai County, a man in his forties who looked quite capable.

Once both had arrived, Guo Han bowed his head, forcing a sycophantic smile. “Sima, the chief constables of both counties are here.”

“Hmm.” Sitting in a chair, Cao Rong grunted, finally opening his eyes to study the two. After a moment, he gave his orders: “The rebels are holed up in the village, fierce and desperate. If we rush in, our men will suffer heavy losses.”

“We’ll have to drive them out.”

“You two, go now and collect firewood and tung oil. Pile it at every entrance to Hexi Village.”

“When darkness falls, at my command, set the fires and use smoke to force the rebels out.”

Li Yun and Tu Heng exchanged glances.

Li Yun, in particular, frowned deeply.

Hexi Village was fairly open—how could smoke possibly drive the people out?

Tu Heng hesitated only briefly before bowing to Li Yun. “I obey.”

Li Yun, meanwhile, glanced at Cao Rong with an odd expression, then nodded slowly.

“I… obey.”