The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 45 Chengyang Coal Mine
A dusty team has just entered the territory of Jimo County.

There were three officials in the team: the newly appointed Jimo County Magistrate, the Chief Clerk, and the County Lieutenant.

The county magistrate is the head of a county, the chief clerk is the official in charge of civil affairs and finance, and the county lieutenant is responsible for public security.

The county magistrate is named Cui Weihua, 25 years old. He is still a young man in the officialdom, with no background or backing, so he was assigned to Shandong.

These days, the Shandong area is a place that everyone in the officialdom shudders at.

On the day when Cui Weihua set out from Yangzhou City to take up his post, he happened to see a high-ranking official named Liu Yu at the city gate. Although he had been appointed as the prefect of Jinan, such a high-ranking official, he was crying as if his father had died.

"I won't go... I don't want to be the prefect of Jinan... Send me to the south to manage the barbarians, I won't go to Jinan..." Liu Yu's crying voice, with its sharpness and despair, left a strong impression on Cui Weihua's heart.

It was so profound that he kept thinking of that picture along the way.

Because of this, he didn't even dare to bring his family with him, and came to take up his post alone with only four followers. The chief clerk and the county lieutenant seemed to share his idea, each bringing only four followers and no family.

"Three gentlemen, we're just ahead of Jimo County." A hired guide, his hand on the hilt of his knife, glanced ahead, and whispered, "There's a coal mine not far ahead, called the Chengyang Coal Mine. Before the Jin thieves arrived, it supplied coal to the county. But after the Jin thieves' trouble, the mine is no longer accessible."

Cui Weihua frowned: "Did thieves occupy the coal mine?"

"No!" the guide whispered. "The miners are defending the coal mines and won't let anyone get close. If anyone gets close, they'll fight to the death."

Cui Weihua sighed deeply and realized that in the absence of government, everyone was in danger, and the miners had no choice but to stick together to resist the looting of bandits and highway bullies.

Cui Weihua said, "Now that I'm here, the miners can rest assured. I'll go to the coal mine and talk to them."

Led by the guide, the group quickly arrived at Chengyang Coal Mine.

Before Cui Weihua could open his mouth, he saw a dark-skinned man crawling out of the mine in front of him. His entire body was covered in a layer of black powder, with only his eyes shining.

The black man opened his mouth, revealing two rows of white teeth. "Are you the Gong Da Wang's men? Why didn't I see you bringing any grain carts?"

Cui Weihua was surprised: "Prince Gong?"

The black man was stunned for a moment, then suddenly retreated back into the mine. Then several sharpened wooden sticks stretched out from the mine, and the black man's voice floated out from the cave: "Get out!"

Cui Weihua shouted, "I am the newly appointed magistrate of Jimo County, a legitimate official appointed by the imperial court. I know that you have been persecuted by the Jin bandits and are living in hardship. I have come to rescue you. Lay down your weapons and walk out of the mines. I will make all the arrangements..."

"Do you have any food?" A weak voice floated out from the mine.

Cui Weihua: "I have just arrived at my post and have not yet arrived at the county seat. For the time being..."

"You're nothing without food!" The people in the mine even cursed: "Get out!"

Cui Weihua: “…”

This was a bit too much. Cui Weihua felt a little angry in his heart. He was an official appointed by the court, an official! He really had no intention of doing anything evil. He sincerely wanted to help these miners, but he was scolded to his face so mercilessly several times. It was a bit embarrassing.

"Hmph! Let's go." Cui Weihua didn't want to waste any more words. He planned to go to the county town first to check the situation, contact the local gentry, recruit some officials, organize a team of archers, and then deal with the coal mine issue.

The group turned around and walked just a few hundred meters, turning a hillside, when they suddenly heard voices coming from the coal mine. They turned around, walked to the edge of the hillside, and secretly looked back at where they had just stood. They couldn't help but be shocked.

At least fifty or sixty men dressed in rags and holding various weapons stood where he had just stood and confronted the miners in the mine.

A middle-aged man who looked like a bad guy, holding a machete, pointed at the mine and shouted, "Pangolin, bring me ten baskets of coal. My village is very cold, and I need some coal to keep warm." It turned out that the black man in the mine was nicknamed Pangolin. He responded, "Black-footed Tiger, we don't have any coal to give you."

The black-legged tiger laughed loudly: "You don't want to give it to me? Don't blame me for slaughtering you all."

The pangolin said, "You brought so many people here with you, so you have no good intentions. You want to trick my people out of the mine and attack us while we're delivering coal to you. You don't want the coal at all, you want the little food left in our cave."

The black-legged tiger laughed and said, "You are quite clever, boy. I will use your coal to light a fire and cook your meat."

The pangolin said, "Come and try to attack the mine if you dare. Once you're inside, I'll show you how I'll kill you."

Black-legged Tiger: "Why do I have to go into the cave? I'll light some trees at the entrance and let you guys smoke some cigarettes. Let's see how long you can hold it in."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's face in the mine changed color.

Fortunately, they were already stained black by the soot, so the discoloration on their faces was not noticeable.

Cui Weihua's heart skipped a beat when he saw this scene. He said to the county lieutenant beside him, "There's a group of thugs out there trying to rob the miners. You're in charge of public security, so this is your responsibility."

The county lieutenant was named Wu Jialiang, who was the prototype of Wu Yong, the resourceful star in Water Margin. In history, he was not a military strategist of Liangshan Marsh, but just a leader under the bandit Song Jiang.

After Song Jiang accepted the amnesty, his leaders were assigned to various places to serve as officials in charge of maintaining public order. Wu Jialiang was no exception. He was assigned to a small place as a county lieutenant, responsible for arresting thieves.

A few years ago, Song Jiang rose to power again and was killed by the Song general Zhe Kecun. He was not given poisoned wine.

Moreover, Wu Jialiang did not participate in this resurrection, nor did he run to Song Jiang's grave with Hua Rong to hang himself. He was still alive and well.

Shandong happened to be short of officials, and the court, considering that Wu Jialiang was "good at dealing with bandits", transferred him to be the lieutenant of Jimo County, and sent him to this dangerous place to be responsible for public security.

Wu Jialiang was an experienced old bandit. He poked his head out from the side of the mountain, took a furtive look at the Black-Footed Tiger's group, then immediately retracted his head and whispered, "County Master, I can't do anything about it! There are only a dozen of us, but we are not enough for the Black-Footed Tiger to sacrifice his sword."

Cui Weihua: "We are officials appointed by the imperial court, how dare they..."

Wu Jialiang whispered, "This group of people are not afraid of killing officials. I can see it at a glance."

Cui Weihua: “…”

The situation became increasingly tense. Meanwhile, Pangolin shouted, "Black-legged Tiger, don't blame me for not warning you. We at Chengyang Coal Mine are under guard now. If you dare attack us, you'll only end up dead."

Black-legged Tiger asked curiously, "Is there someone protecting me?"

Pangolin shouted, "King Gong! We've already negotiated with King Gong of the Jimo Volunteer Army. All our coal belongs to him. If you dare to attack us, you're showing disrespect to King Gong. If he leads his army to attack, you'll be dead without a burial place."

　PS: After the Song Dynasty pacified the peasant uprising army, it rarely abandoned them and settled scores later.

　　After Song Jiang was recruited, he would not have been killed if he had not rebelled a second time.

　　When he was recruited, his leaders were appointed as local magistrates and dispersed. When he rebelled for the second time, most of his old subordinates were probably not around, so theoretically they were unlikely to be implicated. However, there is basically no historical record of this.

　　The story in "Water Margin" about Wu Yong and Hua Rong hanging themselves in front of Song Jiang's tomb was probably borrowed from another story.

　　The "Ming History: Biography of Yang Weizhen" mentions that Yang Weizhen, Lu Juren, and Qian Weishan were buried next to each other after their deaths. Their tombs are collectively known as the "Three Noblemen's Tombs," similar to the ending of the novel, where Wu Yong and Hua Rong hang themselves in front of Song Jiang's tomb and are buried in Liaoerwa. It is likely that Shi Nai'an imitated this story when writing the endings of Song Jiang, Wu Yong, and Hua Rong.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)