Chapter 35: Irrefutable Evidence

  Since the reign of Emperor Heng, the Han court's governance has been gradually decaying. By the time of Emperor Ling, eunuchs held power and openly sold official positions and titles. The corruption was so severe that it shocked people to hear about it, and the Han dynasty was on the verge of collapse.

  Under the high-handed oppression of the ruling class, countless common people were forced to flee and scatter in all directions.

  A heavy snowfall made life even more unbearable for the people who were already living in a state of extreme hardship, and countless numbers froze to death.

  But among the people, a surging undercurrent was quietly stirring, and the ruling class of the Han court were completely unaware.

  Even if there were far-sighted people who made predictions and presented memorials to the imperial court, they would not be adopted by the rulers of the Han dynasty.

  In various provinces throughout China, Taiping rebels have become increasingly active in their clandestine meetings and even Lujiang has seen refugees secretly gathering.

  In the dead of night, in a deserted village twenty miles north of Ji County Town.

  Deep snow, villages all around, no sign of human or animal life.

  In a courtyard of a village, one room was pitch black, but in the south-facing earthen house, there was a faint light coming from the gaps. More than 20 men were gathered together, and the sheep oil lamp crackled loudly. The window was covered with a thick green cloth curtain.

  "Brother Jin, is Master Da Xian really going to start a rebellion?"

  In the flickering candlelight, a yellow-faced young man in his early twenties asked.

  Brother Jin, also known as Jin Ping, a bald man in his thirties, nodded heavily and said: "I just received a notice from Brother Chen Niu this afternoon, saying that Commander Qū has already given the order to prepare for the uprising on March 5th."

  "Too good."

  More than twenty Han people all became excited, and they couldn't wait to go and kill officials and start a rebellion.

  "Let's discuss how we'll handle things at the time, can't be careless."

  The crowd of men hastily nodded in agreement, but they didn't have any ideas of their own, and simply listened to Jin Ping's arrangements.

  Jin Ping's face was calm and collected, with a confident air about him. He waved his hand heavily and said: "Li Er Gou, you're in charge of contacting the followers in Ba Li Gou village. Remember, don't leak any information."

  Li Erdou hastily replied with an "uh-huh".

  Jin Ping said again: "Lei San Tong, you are in charge of contacting the followers of Qi He Village."

  Lei San Tong also hastily responded with a sound, slightly excited.

  ……

  Jin Ping arranged for liaison matters and finally said: "Alright, everyone will go their separate ways. From now on, let's gather here once every three days."

  The crowd of men responded in unison and prepared to stand up and leave.

  However, at this time.

  The originally closed wooden door was suddenly pushed open with a creak, and the cold wind poured in, causing more than 20 men to shiver simultaneously, their faces immediately changing color as they quickly stood up.

  Jin Ping suddenly looked up and saw that under the dim light of the lamp, a young man with a slender build and wearing a silver cloak was standing silently at the door. The young man was eight feet tall, with a strong and powerful physique, looking very heroic.

  "Who are you?"

  Jin Ping's face changed color in an instant, he swiftly drew his sword and sternly asked.

  "Your Honor, I am Zhou Jian!"

  "Ah!"

  More than twenty Han people changed their faces and were all shocked.

  Jin Ping was shocked and stammered: "Y-you, you are County Magistrate Zhou Jian?"

  Zhou Jian nodded and said solemnly: "Are you all going with this official or does this official need to take action?"

  "Run quickly!"

  Jin Ping's mind suddenly turned, he let out a loud cry, and swiftly turned around, rushing towards the west window.

  More than twenty Hanzi were in a state of panic, the plot was discovered by the county magistrate, and they didn't dare to linger. In the chaos, some people gritted their teeth and rushed towards the door, while others, like Jin Ping, rushed towards the west window, preparing to break through the window and escape.

  The county magistrate has arrived, and the soldiers of the county government office have naturally surrounded the village early on. How dare these men make a move?

  Bang!

  Bang!

  Bang!

  Zhou stood firm like a mountain, swinging his fists with ease, and knocked the five Han men rushing towards the door to the ground.

  "Ah!"

  Just then, a shrill and mournful cry pierced the silent night air from under the window on the west side.

  Jin Ping burst in through the window like a sandbag, knocking over three men who were about to jump out of the window. He crashed heavily into the wall on the east side, his face covered in blood, and let out a miserable cry that wouldn't stop.

  In the midst of urgent footsteps, Xu Chu led a few brave men and rushed into the thatched cottage.

  The originally crowded earth house was even more overcrowded, with over 20 men squeezing and pushing each other, one by one in a fluster as if disaster was approaching, rushing out of the windows and doors without regard for anything.

  Zhou Jian easily subdued the rushing man and threw him out of the door, letting the followers waiting outside tie him up.

  Seven or eight men jumped out of the window and were all caught by the attendants outside, none escaped.

  "Sir, everything is tied up."

  At the gate, Zhou Wu rushed in hastily to report.

  Zhou Jian waved his hand, "Take them all away, rush back to the county government office overnight, and lock them up in a separate courtyard."

  "Roger!"

  Zhou Wu responded with a "yes" and immediately strode away.

  Zhou Jian took a last look at the lamp in the cold wind and turned to leave the earth house.

  To be honest, the actions of Taiping Tianguo followers are not meticulous, as long as you pay attention, you can find clues.

  Zhou Jianchu had arranged for informants as soon as he arrived in Ji Wu, and every move of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom followers was under his surveillance. However, the previous gatherings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom followers were just discussing trivial matters, even if they were caught, it wouldn't explain anything.

  But tonight, I finally caught some evidence.

  With sufficient evidence, submitting a memorial to the imperial court before the Yellow Turban Rebellion breaks out would be a great achievement.

  Zhou Jian had been planning for several years and was waiting for this opportunity.

  The back house of our county government.

  Zhou Jian gathered all his capable subordinates to discuss matters, and even San Hu and Mao Si were among them.

  "What? Is Taiping Dao really going to rebel?"

  Chen Fang was most shocked, and after hearing Zhou Wu's account, he almost jumped up.

  I've heard Zhou Jian say before that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would rebel, but I just listened and forgot, never taking it to heart, and didn't believe at all that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would revolt. Who could have expected that now there's actually news of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebelling? How can one not be shocked?

  Zhou Wu looked at Zhou Jian with admiration in his eyes, thinking that the young master was indeed prescient, having predicted eight years ago that the Taiping Sect would rebel and even getting the timing right.

  Xu Zhu said: "How can this be false? We all heard it clearly, those rebels said they would rebel on the fifth day of the third month."

  Chen Fang was shocked and immediately said: "Your Excellency, this matter is of great importance and must be reported to the imperial court as soon as possible."

  Zhou Jian said in a deep voice, "Quickly write a letter and report the news to the prefecture, as for reporting to the imperial court, this is such a big thing that I, a county magistrate, am afraid that even if I say it, the imperial court will not believe it. Let the governor handle the report to the imperial court!"

  Chen Fang responded with a sound, hastily got up and ground ink, went to repair the book.

  Chen Liu, the official residence of the governor.

  The silk and bamboo instruments resound, the music is magnificent.

  More than a dozen singing girls suddenly rose to dance, their slender waists swaying gently, their buttocks bulging, from time to time making such exaggerated and enticing movements that the men in the hall were all intoxicated, and Chen Liu Taishou Zhang Mai could not help but loudly applaud.

  Outside the door, a small official rushed in and handed Zhang Mi an urgent letter, "Sir, it's an urgent report from the county magistrate of Ji Wu."

  "Am I the county magistrate?"

  Zhang Mei's eyebrows furrowed as he took the letter and asked, "Is it that yellow-bearded boy Zhou Jian who bought his official position?"

  The little official replied: "It is indeed Magistrate Zhou."

  Zhang Miao's face was somewhat displeased, but after opening the seal and reading the contents of the letter for a few moments, he was first startled, then his expression changed greatly, staring blankly at the letter, and it took him half a day to come back to his senses.

  "Adult?"

  The little official's heart skipped a beat, and he hastily called out in a low voice.

  "Ah! Oh......"

  Zhang Yan finally came back to his senses, hastily put away the letter, waved his hand and shouted, "Withdraw, all of you withdraw."

  The singing and dancing geishas did not know what had happened, but they all dared not to disobey, and hastily retreated.

  Zhang Yan's expression slightly cleared, and he handed over a letter to several county officials on the seat, saying: "Just now, our county magistrate Zhou Jian sent someone to deliver an urgent report, all of which said that the Taiping Dao was going to rebel and start a riot, and dozens of leaders had been captured. What should we do about this?"

  "What? The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is going to rebel?"

  All officials changed color and lost their voices, almost jumping up from their seats in shock, this news was truly too shocking.

  Zhang Yan said: "In Zhou Jian's letter, it was mentioned that there were noses and eyes, and even the leader of the Taiping Sect was caught, I don't know if it's true or false."

  Gong Cao said, "Plotting rebellion is a major crime of the state, and it cannot be taken lightly. Sir, you can quickly dispatch someone to order Chen Liang to send the captured leaders of the Taiping Dao to Chenliu, where they will be interrogated in detail before a decision is made."

  Cao Zhen countered with a different opinion, "If Taiping Dao's rebellion is not pretended, missing the opportunity will cause no small trouble."

  Gong Cao said: "If we report it to the imperial court without verifying it, and if this news is false, the imperial court will blame us and the responsibility will be great."

  Zhang Mo was in a difficult position for a while, but he still adopted the suggestion of Gong Cao, and immediately said: "Quickly send someone to Ji Wu, order Ji Wu and Zhou Jian to escort Taiping Dao to the front of the county government, and wait for the official to interrogate him personally."

  The military officer hastily said: "Your Excellency can order the county soldiers to go and escort them, in case the bandits escape."

  Zhang Miao slapped his forehead, "This is a good idea. Send 200 soldiers to escort the captives to Yiwu."

  The military advisor accepted the order and immediately stood up and left the government office to go to the camp to inspect the troops.

  I am located at the junction of Chenliu and Yangzhou Liangguo, more than 200 miles away from the county seat of Chenliu, and the distance to Ye County, the capital of Yangzhou, is about the same.

  Two hundred soldiers marched day and night, arriving at Ji Wu by dusk the next day.

  Zhou Jian heard the report and came out to greet them. The military officer did not dare to delay, ordered Zhou Jian to prepare food, let the 200 soldiers eat their fill, and immediately escorted more than 20 leaders of the Taiping Taoists back to the county government overnight.

  Zhou Jian volunteered to escort the troops, but was rejected by the army's chief clerk in a lukewarm manner.

  More than twenty leaders of the Taiping Tao were escorted back to the county government, and Zhang Mai did not dare to be slow. If this matter was not handled properly, it would be a crime punishable by extermination of nine clans. He summoned officials to interrogate them personally, and after verifying that the Taiping Tao's rebellion was real, he immediately reported it to the imperial court with an urgent message of 800 miles.

  It's almost the 15th of the first month now, and there are less than two months left until the Taiping Dao, but not a single moment can be delayed.

  Moreover, this time the evidence is conclusive, exposing the Taiping Rebellion's plot to overthrow the government, which would be a great achievement, and Zhang Mai naturally attaches great importance to it.

  Of course, this achievement cannot be swallowed by one person. Zhang Miao did not dare to deceive the emperor on such a major matter. In his secret letter to the emperor, he truthfully reported the process of how Taiping Taoist leader was captured under his order by Zhou Jian. Anyway, his credit would not be reduced.