The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 48 Joining the Rebel Army
Yue Wenxuan waved to Zhang Dalang, the captain of the Zhangjia Village Mandarin Duck Team.

The latter immediately ran over quickly and bowed deeply: "What do you want, Master?"

Yue Wenxuan: "You are the son of the village head of Zhangjia Village, right?"

Zhang Dalang said respectfully, "Yes!"

Yue Wenxuan nodded and said, "Then you should know how to manage things. I'll leave these prisoners in your care for the time being."

Zhang Dalang was overjoyed. Being recognized by the True Lord as "capable of managing things" meant he had a good chance of rising to the top. Perhaps he could even become one of the leading figures in the rebel army.

Instantly, energy surged through his body, and he shouted to the prisoners, "Come over here, stand together. No whispering allowed. If I see anyone whispering to the person next to them, I will assume that they are not surrendering sincerely and are still plotting something."

These words frightened the prisoners, and they quickly stood in their designated positions, not daring to say a word.

Yue Wenxuan turned to a scout and said, "You are responsible for contacting the miners, right?"

The scout understood and quickly ran to the front of the mine. What a coincidence, he was right where Cui Weihua had just stood. He opened his voice and shouted into the mine: "Brother miners, you can come out now."

As he shouted, a black pangolin, resembling a black man, emerged from its cave. Its dark face showed two rows of white teeth... It was smiling! But this smile was a bit scary.

County Magistrate Cui Weihua, who was watching the show from a distance, couldn't help but complain, "Just now I was standing there yelling at the miners to come out and talk, but that pangolin didn't give me any respect and told me to get out. Now the thief is standing there yelling at me, and that pangolin comes out! My words are no more effective than a thief's."

The servants around him all showed embarrassed expressions, only Wu Jialiang sighed: "The people here have lost their support."

How did the people lose their support?

Wu Jialiang, a former traitor, knew the situation a hundred times better than the officials present.

First, the Song court imposed heavy taxes and levies, crushing the people of Shandong. Then, Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, launched the Flower and Stone Gang, dealing a heavy blow to the people. This wasn't the end of the matter. During several campaigns against the Liao and Jin dynasties, the Song dynasty mobilized grain and fodder from Hebei and Shandong, imposing temporary levies and taxes that fueled widespread public resentment.

If the Song Dynasty court had not acted so perversely, how could Song Jiang's uprising have devastated hundreds of miles in such a short time?
Of course, this is not conclusive.

The most crucial thing was the attack of the Jin army, which destroyed most of the bureaucratic system in Shandong. If the people did not rebel at this time, when would they rebel?

The rebels began to exchange supplies with the miners.

Two horse-drawn carts transported grain to the entrance of the mine. A group of miners, whose facial features were so dark that they could not be seen clearly, came out of the cave, carrying bags of grain and going into the mine. Occasionally, one could see someone grinning, and two rows of white teeth would appear out of thin air. The scene was extremely strange.

Then the miners brought out several carts of coal!
During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, the retail price of coal in Tokyo was approximately 17 wen per kilogram. In coal-producing areas, the price was even lower, with a kilogram retailing for a maximum of five wen. The wholesale price was naturally even lower, and coupled with the government's monopoly and exploitation, miners were paid only two wen per kilogram. (The Tokyo coal shortage tragedy occurred during this period, but the abnormal coal prices at that time are not included in this discussion.)
During the Song Dynasty, the price of grain in Shandong was at a medium level nationwide, about 400-700 wen per dan in peacetime. However, during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, the price of grain in Shandong had reached between 1000 and 2000 wen. After the Jin soldiers arrived, the price of grain in Shandong region once rose to 3000 wen per dan.

At that time, one dan was roughly equal to 92.5 Song jin, or about 59.2 kilograms.

That is close to 50 wen per kilogram, which is very expensive.

The price the scout and Pangolin negotiated was one cart of food for twenty-five carts of coal. Even with this price, Pangolin still had to be grateful to the rebels because the coal was worthless in his hands, but the food was a lifesaver for them.

The two sides exchanged supplies silently without any extra words.

Yue Wenxuan gave the scout a cold look, and the scout immediately understood. He patted Pangolin's shoulder, leaving his hands covered in black ash. He wiped his hands awkwardly on his clothes and said, "Brother Pangolin, it's not a good idea for you to stay in the mine like this all the time." Pangolin: "I know too. This won't last long."

Scout: "Come and join us? Join the rebels! We'll be family from now on."

Pangolin's dark face showed no expression, but his eyes were evasive, not daring to look the scout in the eye. "Joining the rebel army means we have to fight, right? We don't dare to fight the gold thieves."

Yue Wenxuan was listening to the conversation between the two people not far away and understood that the miners did not recognize the fighting ability of the rebel army and were afraid that the Jin army would attack and everyone would have to die together again. After all, Gong Yi had already died.

This idea is not surprising!
The rebel army had suffered a terrible defeat, and not all of them were brave warriors willing to sacrifice their lives. Most of them were just cowardly ordinary people who had no ability to fight and could only go with the flow.

Yue Wenxuan suddenly spoke up, taking over the scout's words: "You can join the rebel army without fighting."

Pangolin: "Huh? Who is this scholar?"

Yue Wenxuan didn't introduce himself and continued, "As long as I'm here, the rebel army won't force anyone to fight. Only those who are capable and willing to fight will go to war, and those who prefer to be in charge of production in the rear will do so. Everyone has their own duties and responsibilities. No matter what position you are in, you are all a member of the rebel army."

Pangolin: “Huh?”

This sentence really made Pangolin and others overjoyed.

There was only one reason why they didn't dare to join the rebel army: they were afraid of being dragged to the front line to fight. But after hearing what Yue Wenxuan said, their biggest concern disappeared.

Pangolin couldn't help but whisper to the scout, "Who exactly is this scholar? Does his words carry any weight in the rebel army?"

Scout: "Of course it works. He is a god from heaven. Who dares not to listen to him? All of us in the rebel army listen to him."

pangolin:"……"

Pangolin doesn't really believe in gods or anything like that, but as long as all the rebels listen to him, there will be no problem.

Pangolin asked weakly, "After joining the rebels and becoming a family...what's different from now?"

The scout laughed: "Do you know about the Guanhai Salt Field?"

The pangolin nodded: "I know! The salt we eat is dried there."

Scout: "Before they joined us, the government charged them 4 wen per jin (approximately 3g) for their salt, and Mr. Wang charged them 6 wen per jin (approximately g) for their salt. After they joined us, we charge them wen per jin (approximately g) for their salt. We can use the same method to get your coal."

Pangolin bowed deeply and said, "All the miners at Chengyang Coal Mine are willing to join the rebel army."

A large group of people in the back, whose features were so dark they couldn't be seen, also said, "We are willing to join the rebel army."

Cui Weihua, on the distant hillside, was too far away to hear what they were saying, but when he saw the miners bowing, he knew what had happened and couldn't help but curse under his breath: "Damn it! This bandit has recruited all the miners from Chengyang Coal as his subordinates."

Wu Jialiang: "Your Excellency! Let's go quickly! Let's go to the county seat first and gain a firm foothold before considering what to do next."

(End of this chapter)