Chapter 531: Banditry in Jingzhou

Although Li Qing’an permitted Guo Ziyi to lead 3,000 troops into the capital, Guo Ziyi ultimately gave up this opportunity. He never entered Guanzhong. Soon after, Li Qing’an learned that Guo Ziyi had led 100,000 troops to Lingzhou and the northern regions within Guanzhong, leaving no troops in the provinces near Guanzhong.

This news surprised Li Qing’an slightly. He understood Guo Ziyi’s intentions—Guo Ziyi likely had handed over Guanzhong to the imperial court. That very afternoon, Li Qing’an immediately ordered Yan Zhuang, who was overseeing land distribution at Huangzhuang in Weinan, to be brought in.

Inside the tent, Li Qing’an paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, repeatedly pondering Guo Ziyi’s motives. Why would Guo Ziyi give up Guanzhong? Was it because he felt weak? Or was he deliberately testing him?

“I think we should first hear the General’s thoughts!” Yan Zhuang said with a smile from the side.

Li Qing’an frowned slightly. “I’m wondering which side Guo Ziyi truly belongs to. At least he certainly won’t be loyal to me. Then who is he loyal to? That infant emperor who is not even two years old? The Empress Dowager? Or the imperial court? That’s what we need to determine first.”

Yan Zhuang nodded. “I believe Guo Ziyi is still waiting to see how things develop. He probably hasn’t decided his allegiance yet.”

“That’s exactly the problem!”

Li Qing’an continued, “If Guo Ziyi hasn’t decided his allegiance, then strength is his greatest asset. Only with substantial strength can he negotiate. So why would he give up Guanzhong?”

“Does the General mean that Guo Ziyi has already made up his mind?”

“Yes! That must be it. Otherwise, with 100,000 troops at his disposal, what will he use to feed them if he loses Guanzhong?”

Yan Zhuang fell silent as well. He agreed that Li Qing’an’s analysis made sense. The key issue was that if Guo Ziyi really gave up Guanzhong, what would he use to support 100,000 troops? Moreover, it was likely he would side with the imperial court. If he joined Li Longji, food couldn’t be transported in.

At that moment, Li Qing’an said, “Now, I think there are two possibilities. One is that he intends to serve the imperial court and deliberately makes concessions to me. The other is that he’s testing me to see if I’ll immediately send troops to take control of Guanzhong.”

“General, I think both possibilities exist. The key now is what the General plans to do.”

Li Qing’an walked to the entrance of the tent, gazed toward the northern direction of Guanzhong, and said slowly, “That’s also the main reason I invited you here. I hope you can give me some advice.”

Yan Zhuang pondered for a moment before smiling and saying, “Why not let the Great General try to test Guo Ziyi as well?”
Li Qing’an turned around and asked, “How exactly?”
“We can use an unconventional method to create an opportunity.”
Yan Zhuang whispered a few words to Li Qing’an. After pondering for a while, Li Qing’an nodded and said, “This method can be tried.”
Immediately afterward, he turned to his personal guards and ordered, “Pass my command: have Hu Peiyun come to see me at once!”
…
The Guannei Circuit referred to the vast area north of the Guanzhong Plain, in present-day northern Shaanxi and Ningxia, surrounded by the S-shaped course of the Yellow River. The climate in the Guannei Circuit during the Tang Dynasty was humid, with dense forests everywhere. The land here was fertile and the population large, making it a strategic region rich in grain. Controlling the Guannei Circuit meant having ample supplies of food and troops. Back then, An Lushan planned to occupy it first, using it as a springboard and base to advance toward Guanzhong.
Since being tasked with defending the Guannei Circuit, Guo Ziyi’s forces gradually increased from 50,000 to 100,000 soldiers. His troops were highly skilled and battle-hardened. Although they weren’t as experienced as Li Qing’an’s Anxi Army, they far surpassed Li Heng’s Guanzhong Army.
However, after Li Qing’an helped the new emperor Li Xun ascend the throne, Guo Ziyi suddenly abandoned the Guannei Circuit and withdrew his troops to Lingzhou and the northern part of the Guannei Circuit, leaving the various prefectures and counties there at a loss.
Anding County in Jingzhou, the administrative center of Jingzhou, was where the Anxi Army had once annihilated An Lushan’s vanguard forces. This area was part of the Liupan Mountains, with towering peaks and deep valleys. Many displaced people lived there.
These so-called displaced people used to be ordinary farmers in Guanzhong or the Guannei Circuit. Due to land consolidation, they were forced to become serfs or tenants or fled their lands, turning into displaced mountain dwellers. Displacement had been a serious social problem since the mid-Tang Dynasty. On one hand, land was being consolidated, and on the other, large landowners imposed heavy taxes on them, making it difficult for them to survive, forcing them to flee into the mountains with their families.
The story of “harsh governance is worse than tigers” describes the tragic lives of these displaced people. Besides them, apart from farmers, some escaped military conscripts also hid in the mountains. Some cultivated land and led a primitive life of slash-and-burn farming, while others, the more violent ones, became bandits who terrorized the local population.
In the mountains of Anding County, a bandit gang was active. Their leader was surnamed Miao. Several attempts by officials and soldiers to suppress them ended in failure—not because they couldn’t defeat them, but because they simply couldn’t find them.

It was already mid-June, and Anding County was approaching the wheat harvest season—a time of great concern for everyone there, as it was also when bandits were most active each year. That night, the sky was dark and windy, with the moon shining through thin clouds. The world was alternately shrouded in dim darkness and illuminated by its silver light, casting a glow over the land.

Along the Jing River to the south of Anding County stood several large warehouses. Since goods could be transported via water to Guanzhong from here, Anding County had become one of the main transit points for grain from more than a dozen surrounding counties to Guanzhong. Although the summer crops had not yet been harvested, the warehouses still contained 30,000 dan of grain left over from the previous year, along with plenty of light goods such as silk and linen.

These warehouses were originally guarded by 1,000 troops under Guo Ziyi. But when his troops suddenly withdrew, the warehouses fell without supervision. Fearing trouble, Pei Ju, the governor of Jingzhou, organized a large number of laborers to transport the grain and supplies into the city, while also assigning over a hundred officials to guard the warehouses at night.

After five days of transporting goods, there was not much grain left in the warehouses—less than 3,000 dan—and the guards became less vigilant. After enduring such hardship for five days, many of the officials could no longer hold back and sneaked back to the city to seek entertainment.

On the fifth night, a group of about 800 people appeared five li outside the warehouses. They were a disheveled group—some in military uniforms, some in peasant shirts and trousers, and some in scholars’ robes—armed with various weapons such as knives, spears, bows, arrows, hoes, and rakes. If they were seen by the people of Anding County, someone would surely shout, “Bandits!”

Judging from their appearance and mismatched weapons, they indeed resembled the bandits of the Liupan Mountains. Yet these 800 men were all highly skilled, moving swiftly as if flying, far stronger than a random bandit gang. Their goal was clear: the five large warehouses by the Jing River.

By now, the 800 men were not far from the warehouses—less than a li away. The bandit leader stared intently at the warehouses with sharp, bright eyes. At that moment, the moon emerged from the clouds, its faint silver light once again illuminating the land. The five huge warehouses stood by the Jing River like five dark, giant statues, spaced about thirty steps apart. There were no fences surrounding them, only a row of simple houses where the warehouse keepers lived. Previously, over a hundred county officials had lived there, but now only about thirty remained.

The room was brightly lit, with shadows moving on the paper windows. From inside, the shouts of the officials gambling could be heard from time to time, “Lu! Lu!”
The moment arrived. The bandit leader waved his hand and ordered in a low voice, “Go!”
Eight hundred men, like eight hundred arrows released from their bows, rushed swiftly toward the five large warehouses. Just then, an official came out to relieve himself and saw a dense crowd of people charging toward the warehouses and their side. Terrified, he screamed, “Bandits! Bandits are here!”
He pulled up his pants and ran away. His cry caused an uproar in the room—dozens of officials jumped out of the windows or rushed out into the woods behind. In the blink of an eye, over thirty officials had fled, none left behind.
“Damn it! They run faster than rabbits.”
The bandit leader glared at the empty room and cursed under his breath. He then ordered, “Set fire to them! Burn the warehouses!”
In moments, all five warehouses were set alight. The raging flames shot into the sky, turning the sky south of Anding County red.
…
On the walls of Anding County, more than a dozen officials rushed to the battlements upon hearing the news. They were all shocked. Although the Miao bandits were fierce, they never went to extremes—usually they would steal a little food and leave. They had never burned warehouses like this before. Did they no longer intend to steal food?
Pei Ju, the governor of Jingzhou, stared at the five blazing fires. His eyes burned with anger. He had once felt some sympathy for these mountain people and displaced folks, but now these scoundrels dared to burn government granaries—they truly intended to rebel.
Just then, someone suddenly pointed in the distance and shouted, “Look! They’re coming!”
In the darkness, numerous dark figures appeared—over a thousand people, led by three riders on horseback. They didn’t hide but charged toward the county town, shouting loudly.
Zhao Xuming, the deputy governor of Jingzhou, screamed in terror, “Quick! Close the city gates and raise the drawbridge!”
“Deputy Governor Zhao!”
Pei Ju glanced at him disdainfully. He truly despised this Zhao Xuming. Though he was learned, his character was low. All the officials in Guannei Road opposed Li Hen’s ascension to the throne. Although Zhao Xuming claimed to oppose it, he secretly submitted a praise letter to Li Hen, who appreciated him and promoted him from the magistrate of Panyin County to deputy governor of Jingzhou—a truly despicable act.
Seeing that a small group of bandits could scare him into panic, Pei Ju felt even more contempt for him. He said coldly, “You are a deputy governor of a province—don’t forget your status.”

“Yes! It’s the first time I’ve seen bandits; I lost my composure.”
Zhao Xuming didn’t dare shout anymore. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said, “What do these bandits want? To rebel?”
“They saw the army withdraw, so they came to show us off. Hmph! A bunch of ignorant fools—just over a thousand of them trying to raid the county town!”
Zhao Xuming laughed dryly and said, “Magistrate Pei is right. We needn’t pay attention to these petty thieves. They can’t take the county town, so they’ll surely retreat. Magistrate Pei, I think we don’t even need to alert the imperial court. What do you think?”
Pei Ju understood Zhao Xuming’s thoughts—he was afraid that the imperial court would hold him accountable. Pei Ju sneered inwardly but ignored him.
Faced with rejection, Zhao Xuming looked extremely embarrassed. He cursed Pei Ju in his heart. At that moment, nearly a thousand bandits surged forward. A hundred of them rushed ahead and started shooting arrows. Dozens of arrows flew toward the officials on the city walls with great force, forcing the officials to dodge in panic.
Zhao Xuming was almost hit by an arrow. He screamed, crouched down by the wall, trembling with fear, and cried out, “It’s over! I’m done for this time!”
Seeing Zhao Xuming’s utter humiliation, Pei Ju stamped his foot in anger, turned, and left the city. In the darkness, he ordered his subordinates, “Go from house to house and inform the people to work together to fight the bandits. A reward of fifty guan will be given for each bandit killed!”
Pei Ju returned to the prefecture office first. He was a cousin of Pei Min, around forty years old. Originally the chief secretary of Yanzhou, he had been promoted to governor of Jingzhou by Li Yu after receiving top ratings in the Ministry of Personnel evaluations for three consecutive years.
Pei Ju was upright and strict, enjoying a high reputation among the people. He was another rising star in the Pei family after Pei Min. Though he had criticized Zhao Xuming for being cowardly and dismissed the bandits as a bunch of fools, he was actually worried. Even if these bandits couldn’t break into the city, the people living outside would suffer. Alas! Once Guo Ziyi’s army withdrew, these bandits became rampant.
As he reached the entrance of the prefecture office, a subordinate came up to him with a strange expression and reported, “Magistrate, someone is looking for you. They’re waiting inside the office.”
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know. They say they’re from the capital.”
“The capital?” Pei Ju was puzzled. Could it be his cousin Pei Min who sent someone? He had also received news a few days ago that Li Qingan had led a large army into Guanzhong, and the puppet emperor Li Hen had fled at the first sign of trouble.

Although Pei Ju was somewhat skeptical about Li Qingan making a two-year-old child the emperor, he appreciated the fact that Li Qingan did not act as regent but handed power over to the Political Affairs Hall. The seven members of the Political Affairs Hall were all respected officials—people like his cousin Pei Min, Zhang Gao, and Wang Jin were all honest and upright. Moreover, Li Qingan had once led the Anxi army to drive away An Lushan, who had invaded the Guannei region, which made Pei Ju feel grateful to him.

Pei Ju thought it was Pei Min who sent someone to deliver a message to him. In ten days, it would be Pei Kuan’s 99th memorial ceremony, and he would go to the capital to attend the Pei family gathering.

He entered the guest room in the prefecture office. As soon as he stepped in, he saw a man in his thirties sitting there. The man was tall and robust, with a heroic appearance. When he saw Pei Ju enter, he bowed and said with a smile, “I have been waiting for Lord Pei for quite some time.”

“Who are you…?”

Since Pei Ju had never seen this man before, he asked in surprise, “Who are you?”

The man took out a letter and placed it on the table, saying with a smile, “I am Hu Peiyun from Chang’an. I have been sent by my family’s general to deliver a letter to Lord Pei.”

…

Three days later, Pei Ju, the governor of Jingzhou, sent an urgent request for help to the Political Affairs Hall in the imperial court. He reported that bandits were rampant in the region, burning government granaries and attacking cities, severely threatening the lives of the people in Jingzhou. He pleaded with the court to send troops to Jingzhou to suppress the bandits.

The Political Affairs Hall unanimously decided to send troops to quell the rebellion. Following their instructions, Li Qingan immediately ordered General Tian Zhen to lead 5,000 troops to Jingzhou to fight the bandits.