Chapter 27

Then I received my first assignment to go out with a team to collect taxes and tributes from a certain area. According to tradition, this was a highly desirable task.

Especially for someone like me, responsible for counting, a mid-level logistics and administrative staff member, it was a task with low risk, quick returns, a short cycle, and plenty of benefits.

The main task was to collect grain, cloth, and other miscellaneous items from the peripheral areas of Liangshan. Since Liangshan had won and continued to exist, the local people, who had lost protection due to the weakening of the government's influence, had to pay a certain price.

At a secluded ferry below the mountain, a group of people was already gathered waiting.

In this team of over a hundred people, I was somewhat surprised to see several familiar faces, who seemed to have dealt with the rebel army before. The leader was the former rebel veteran Deng Fang, whom I didn't expect to still be alive.

He was now a deputy commander, reportedly having worked his way back up from a miscellaneous squad leader. However, he was still in the reserve soldiers' ranks, often having to shuttle between the various camps inside and outside the mountain, and could only be considered a lower-level commander.

Upon seeing me, he sighed and lamented. To a certain extent, including the former leader Jiang An, most of them were not doing well. This time, they were finally gathered again, and they couldn't help but harbor some expectations and hopes.

After waiting for a while, Jiang An did not show up, so we set off with some disappointment, led by the old commander Deng Fang.

As the expected promoter of this task, the absence of the former leader Jiang An was somewhat disappointing and left me with a vague sense of unease, though I couldn't pinpoint its source.

After everyone had gathered, we boarded the flat-bottomed boats provided by the water camp. These boats were wide and shallow, stable and easy to maneuver, making them particularly suitable for transportation in the waterways and marshes.

The vast waterways and marshes, covering hundreds of miles, formed the best outer protection for the Liangshan range. The wind blew through the grass, creating a rippling effect like a carpet. The yellow, withered reed flowers had already fallen, leaving only the flattened grass stalks.

The last time I came here, I was a captive and had no mood to appreciate the scenery. Now, I could finally take a good look around.

On the small boats scattered here and there, many women were harvesting water plants and other miscellaneous items, picking out the edible parts. This was one of the small suggestions I had made for self-help in production.

The reeds were also being pulled up in large patches, and the white, crisp roots were peeled out, slightly sweet. They were a good side dish for ordinary families. Others were using wooden shovels to dig lotus roots in the shallow, withered lotus fields, their bodies covered in mud and steam rising in the cold weather.

Seeing their hard work and helplessness, I suddenly felt that my own situation wasn't so bad.

The boats moved through the winding waterways, and soon we were surrounded by the vast marshes and reeds, my thoughts drifting with the endless reeds.

According to Luo Ke's words, I would have a pleasant surprise here because there were internal reports that the Liangshan army planned to expand and recruit more soldiers in the spring. They would select capable individuals from the surrendered masses, including the former rebel army, to form new units and teams.

This time, the assignment to go out was just an additional inspection, a favor to me as an old acquaintance, and a way to indirectly benefit from my connections.

It seemed that some of the people who had surrendered to Liangshan had performed well and caught the eye of some higher-ups.

However, this so-called familiarity was just a chance glance after a long journey, or perhaps just a form of indirect testing.

As I pondered this, several more groups from other parts of the Liangshan range joined us, and the collection team grew to four or five hundred people. The leadership was handed over to a middle-level commander named Dai Zong, who, although he didn't have the nickname "Swiftfoot," was still quite polite to me.

It seemed he had been specially instructed, as he even arranged for some of Deng Fang's subordinates to follow me and take orders from me.

After passing through the maze-like waterways and several open areas, we arrived at the river mouth, a small water fort extending into the river.

After landing, we entered the peripheral area of Liangshan's附属势力. The traces of battle were still visible on both sides of the road, with broken and rusted weapons and flags left unburied due to their large numbers. The scattered bones, torn by wild dogs, were still visible in the pale grass.

The burned villages and abandoned fields had not recovered, and in the dead silence, they had become a haven for crows and wild dogs.

This scene continued for a long time during our journey until we saw low earthen walls and fences, and the occasional barking of dogs and clucking of chickens.

However, this was not our destination. In the silence and hidden gazes from the thatched houses, we passed through, taking away the dogs, chickens, and ducks, the only living things we could see, and continued forward.

After a short while, we reached our first destination, Xiaoguang County, surrounded by incomplete low walls and dry ditches.

Xiaoguang County, as its name suggests, was a small county with the lowest tax and household ratings, one of the many new counties split from Qingzhou during the Guangyuan period, developed as a commercial town.

Although it was in a state of severe decay, it was still a county seat, and there were still several thousand permanent residents, maintaining the basic functions of tax collection and trade for the surrounding countryside.

The low earthen walls of this small county were marked with the traces of attacks and destruction, not yet repaired.

In the dilapidated county, the residents, with their pale faces, and the shops along the streets, still bore the marks of fire and sword, with almost no one to be seen on the streets. Even the wild dogs were smart enough to tuck their tails and hide in the shadows of the houses and alleys.

Only in the broken holes of the buildings, not yet repaired, could you see the faces covered in dust, trembling with fear, and the cautious gazes and eyes peering through the gaps in the doors and windows.

This was just Liangshan's declaration of ownership over the peripheral areas after the war, so there was almost no resistance.

After controlling the key entry points, the leader Dai Zong, standing on the ruins of the burned government office, began to address the commanders loudly.

"According to the rules, it's not easy to come out on a mission like this..."

"Everyone can have some fun here..."

"Feel free to take anything useful for yourselves..."

Then he turned to me and gave me special instructions.

"Xia Bookkeeper, if you want a woman, it's no problem. Just go ahead and negotiate..."

"Just don't kill them afterward..."

I couldn't help but sneer. Well, the rumor that I was extremely thirsty for women had also spread in Liangshan.

The selected residents' representatives stood at the end of the long street, trembling and trying to please these outsiders, negotiating cautiously.

Apart from this, the street was desolate, with dust and garbage flying in the wind, and the occasional cries of ignorant children, quickly silenced by their frightened parents.

The only highlight was the few shops forced to open and operate after the arrival of the Liangshan people.

The bean shop owner, crouching behind the counter, watched these men eat heartily without daring to make a sound.

The bean cakes made from bean residue and mixed flour, the thick bean juice, the sweet millet porridge, the steamed wheat rice topped with braised old tofu, and the many slices of green onions and mustard greens, although lacking in oil, were particularly fragrant.

They packed many portions as dry rations for the return journey and left half a bolt of coarse silk as payment.

They also collected some preserved meat, steamed buns, pickled vegetables, and jarred condiments as personal gifts.

When the selected soldiers began to patrol the small county, I also started to wander around the city.

Of course, I wasn't really looking for women, but using this as an excuse to inspect the various trades and daily operations in the city.

Although the residents were closed in, it didn't stop me from leading people to knock on their doors and take some samples in the presence of their terrified families, as a form of social investigation.

The others who went with me had a look of awe and respect.

The entire process was smooth, and despite the multiple raids by soldiers and bandits, the remaining residents still managed to gather the items we needed.

Several large carts of grain, including rice and wheat, grayish-white sea salt in baskets, jarred condiments and alcohol, bundles of white plain cloth, irregular iron ingots, stacks of leather and dried meat, caged live poultry, and several women who had cried all their tears out.

My inspection of the blacksmith shops and various metalworking craftsmen also came to an end, and my bag was filled with some clinking items.

After leaving some cries and scars, we moved on to the next town along the road. My task was very light, just counting and recording, and there were always people eager to run errands and do what was needed.

When my bag was already full of miscellaneous items collected from various places, and the large carts loaded with supplies formed a long line, with over twenty women on board, and a box filled with impure gold and silver ingots and fragments, I followed the mountain's rules.

For the items collected on an external mission, apart from the wealth that could be used as money, 20% to 30% could be used as routine expenses. In reality, the actual amount collected was much more, and these losses were already factored in.

Skilled leaders would also make use of local resources, so these expenses were often saved and used as personal benefits. The commanders would divide half, and the rest would be distributed to the ordinary soldiers, providing a small income for each individual.

However, the most popular were the women. Whenever we stopped to rest, they would be swarmed by various men. The best-looking women would be taken to the commanders' tents at night.

This was a form of indirect motivation, almost everyone got a share. The only ones who didn't touch the women were me and the old soldier Deng Fang.

I couldn't bring myself to do it, feeling sorry for these women who were forced to endure the abuse of multiple men. As for Deng Fang, it was unclear why, but he seemed to have a sense of self-respect amidst the lustful men.

I might occasionally feel sympathy and pity for their situation, but I couldn't change it. Even if I secretly let some of them go, I doubt Dai Zong and the others would pursue it, but it wouldn't make much of a difference.

Because even if they returned home, they wouldn't have a good outcome. It wasn't because of feudal notions of chastity; in this chaotic era, survival was already difficult, and there was little time to worry about moral codes.

But as long as Liangshan stood, their families wouldn't dare to accept these women who had escaped. Instead, the neighbors, fearing Liangshan's power, would see them as a source of trouble or bad luck, and either send them back to the mountain or secretly kill them to avoid future problems.

This was the rotten world, the endless tragedies and inertia of the chaotic era, happening in countless places every day.

I could only give some advice, such as treating the women well to ensure better service, providing better food and hygiene, reducing the frequency of arrangements, punishing overly violent behavior, and avoiding overuse to ensure sustainable development.

During this time, a small incident occurred. A young man from the area, with the help of two companions, tried to sneak into the camp at night to rescue a woman who had been taken by the Liangshan people, even though she had already been used by many men.

He had already succeeded and, at the woman's request, tried to take a few more. However, these women, weakened by the abuse, became a burden, and they were caught by the old soldier Deng Fang during a night patrol.

The three of them were cruelly mutilated, their limbs, tongues, and genitals cut off, and they were impaled on wooden poles as a warning. They were still alive when we left, and it was Deng Fang who finally ended their suffering.

The woman who was rescued was surrounded by a group of men, crying until she had no more tears, and was treated like a broken doll.

This incident reinforced my determination to leave Liangshan at the first opportunity.

Finally, as we saw the empty official fort, which was supposed to be a barrier for the prefecture, we began our return journey.

Compared to the long route we took to collect the taxes, the return route was shorter and more direct, so we quickly reached a ferry.

According to the agreement, the right camp's boatmen returning from a mission would take over and transport us for a segment.

The ferry was deserted, with only a few dilapidated shelters and tea houses.