Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

"I have come to Jizhou Prefecture to take up my post by the personal appointment of Grand Tutor Cai. My most important responsibility this time is to suppress bandits. Therefore, when employing people, I will make the best use of their talents. If you are asked to charge, you will go forward without hesitation; if you are asked to fight, you will be the first to charge into battle; if you are asked to retreat, you will be swift as the wind; if you are asked to fight, you will perish with the enemy. Rewards and punishments will be given without mercy. The Grand Tutor has granted me the power to make decisions on the spot. I can kill officials below the fourth rank without requesting permission, and I can reward or punish officials below the fourth rank without requesting permission either. This includes officials below the fourth rank. You people should think carefully about whether you still want to be officials. If you want to be officials, can you lead troops to meet the enemy and supervise the supply of provisions? If you cannot, are you willing to risk your heads? If you know what's good for you, I will give you a chance today to resign and leave your positions to capable people."

When Zhang Shuye arrived in Jeju Prefecture, he had powerful backers, so he wasn't afraid of offending the local officials and spoke frankly.

"Sir, you're forcing us to resign!"

Upon hearing Zhang Shuye's blunt words, Li Xian, the prefect of Jizhou, couldn't help but feel a desire to resist.

After all, although these people hold positions without doing anything, they all bought their official positions or worked hard to earn them. Why should you, Zhang Shuye, force them to resign?

"You are unworthy of your positions. Do you intend to cling to them for the rest of your lives?"

At this point, Zhang Shuye stood up and glared angrily at the prefect, Li Xian.

"The imperial court will handle everything; I'm going to impeach you!"

Li Xian pointed at Zhang Shuye's nose and cursed.

"Fine, you can impeach me as you please, and I'll resign as I will. I will use my discretionary power to petition the court for Grand Tutor Cai, and you will be dismissed from your post!"

Zhang Shuye didn't stand on ceremony with him; with a wave of his hand, he effectively kicked him out of the government office.

"Zhang Shuye, you tyrant, how dare you! I! I!"

Li Xian was no man of good temper either. At this moment, with Zhang Shuye in such a tense confrontation, his temper had reached its breaking point. So he grabbed a jade pendant from his waist and threw it directly at Zhang Shuye's face.

The jade pendant struck Zhang Shuye squarely on the head, shattering instantly. Although jade may not be very hard, it was inevitable that it would cut the skin, so a stream of blood flowed down Zhang Shuye's forehead...

"This……"

Li Xian was also stunned. He had been so angry that he had acted rashly and hadn't realized he had done something so unwise. Now, he figured things were completely ruined...

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Tongpan (assistant prefect) and the Zhizhou (prefect) jointly managed the affairs of the prefecture, including matters concerning military and civilian affairs, finances, population, taxes and corvée labor, and legal proceedings. Official documents from each prefecture required the Zhizhou and Tongpan to sign and seal them together for them to take effect. The Tongpan also had the power to supervise and recommend officials from their prefecture to the imperial court; if the Zhizhou acted illegally, the Tongpan could report it to the court.

This guy should have a lot of power; it wouldn't be a problem to say he's the second-in-command of Jizhou Prefecture. But now that he's assaulted his superior, that's a serious issue.

Of course, he wasn't a trained martial artist. Compared to someone like Zhang Shuye, who could draw a three-stone bow, he couldn't match him in either strength or speed.

Logically, Zhang Shuye should have been able to easily dodge what the other person threw, but instead, he seemed to be actively heading towards it...

This was actually one of Zhang Shuye's plans, which he had consulted with Cai Jing beforehand. He wanted to do things freely, so he couldn't let anyone around him hold him back. Li Xian, the prefectural magistrate of Jizhou, was the biggest obstacle to Zhang Shuye's actions.

As a result, a tacit understanding developed between Zhang Shuye and Cai Jing: Zhang Shuye would find a way to get rid of Li Xian, the current prefectural magistrate of Jizhou, and then Cai Jing would control the vacant position and never fill it.

In this way, Zhang Shuye was able to grasp all the military, political, and financial powers of Jeju Prefecture.

Zhang Shuye touched the blood on his wound, and his brows actually relaxed. Instead, he smiled and said, "I didn't want to take out this thing... but... Bofen, please grant me the imperial sword!"

As soon as Zhang Shuye said this, the officials' eyes were drawn to the two young men behind him.

These two men were Zhang Shuye's sons, both sixteen years old. The elder one was named Zhang Bofen. He had a broad forehead, square jaw, sword-like eyebrows, and bright, piercing eyes. His voice was like a bell. From a young age, Zhang Shuye had him taught martial arts. Although he was still young, he could wield two forty-pound red copper maces with gold patina. He was majestic and powerful. At this moment, he pulled on a long strip of yellow cloth in his hand and tore off the top of the cloth, revealing the Shangfang sword inside.

The younger one was named Zhang Zhongxiong. He had thin eyebrows and narrow eyes, long arms and a strong waist, and a fair and calm complexion. Like his older brother, he had been taught martial arts by his father, Zhang Shuye, since childhood. He could use a five-foot-long narrow-bladed warhorse sword. However, compared to his brother, he was more thoughtful and resourceful. As the youngest son and more intelligent, he was more favored by Zhang Shuye.

"Imperial Sword!"

The officials present were probably surprised that Zhang Shuye possessed an imperial sword, and they all knelt down in unison.

Learning from the historical lessons of the Han and Tang dynasties, where local powers and military commanders grew too powerful and threatened the imperial court, the Song dynasty significantly centralized power away from local officials and military commanders, including fiscal and tax authority, judicial rulings, and punitive powers. While this centralization of power made the dynasty more stable, it also brought new problems.

For example, how should military officers enforce military law when leading troops into battle? Should they always report to the court and wait for instructions? If so, it would not only weaken the commander-in-chief's prestige and make it difficult for him to command the army, but it would also easily lead to missed opportunities and defeat.

To address this issue, Song Dynasty emperors began to systematically grant military generals the power of imperial swords, empowering them to fight on behalf of the emperor.

However, the power of the imperial sword during this period was still very limited, far from reaching the level in operas where Bao Longtu and Bao Qingtian could use the imperial sword to kill all kinds of "disobedient" people.

First, the Imperial Sword was only granted to military generals going on campaigns, and it was highly time-sensitive; generals were required to return the Imperial Sword immediately after completing their military missions.

Secondly, it can only be used to punish those who "violate orders." Military officers cannot use it to punish or threaten civil officials of the court, let alone officers or soldiers outside their jurisdiction.

After being punished, the reason must be explained to the court and the emperor. If they do not approve, the military officer will still be punished.

Zhang Shuye's imperial sword was of this kind. It was obtained by Cai Jing after reporting to Emperor Huizong of Song. However, Zhang Shuye's subordinate, Li Xian, committed insubordination by assaulting his superior, which happened to fall into the line of fire and was within the scope of the imperial sword's execution range.

Cai Jing gave him this imperial sword so that he could command respect and draw blood; otherwise, it would be useless.

"To assault a superior is an act of insubordination; the person shall be executed with the Imperial Sword!"

Uncle Zhang said coldly.

"Ah? No, no!"

Li Xian didn't know he had done anything wrong; rather, he knew he was doomed. So he tried to escape from the government office, but being a weakling, he was too scared to run and could barely move his feet.

"kill!"

Zhang Bofen drew his imperial sword and swung it at Li Xian's chest. He was incredibly strong; with a single strike, he cleaved Li Xian in two, shoulder and back.

"Mom!"

Li Xian was splattered with blood on the spot this time. None of the officials present had ever seen such a bloody affair, and they all screamed in fright.

"Gentlemen, whether you still want to resign from your posts or not, please think it over carefully before you act!"

Zhang Shuye ignored the corpses on the ground and instead turned his gaze to the others.

"We follow your lead, sir. If you tell us to go east, we dare not go west. If you tell us to beat a dog, we... we dare not chase a chicken!"

Upon hearing this, one of the quickest-witted individuals immediately knelt down and began to express his feelings.

His kneeling set a good example, and no one else dared to mention resigning from their posts anymore; they all knelt down as well.

"That's not a good way to put it. What do you mean by 'following my lead'? We are all people who receive salaries from the imperial court, so we should naturally serve the court!"

Zhang Shuye waved his hand, signaling them to get up. He wasn't stupid; he didn't need to kill everyone. Even if he could find a few talented people or transfer people from other places, the number would be limited. It was impossible to completely reshuffle the officials of Jizhou Prefecture and start from scratch.

As long as we can instill fear in them and make them work diligently under Uncle Zhang, that's enough.

After all, it would be unrealistic and impossible to replace all the officials in Jeju Prefecture, from the lowest to the highest ranks.

Even if there are so many capable candidates, they can't become officials right away. To be an official, you have to do things, and many things require experience to master. You can't just get on the job and start learning; there's no time to learn by doing.

Although these people may lack ability, as long as they can get things done and don't cheat or shirk their duties, that's enough for Zhang Shuye right now.

"Collect the body and I will report it to the court. Clean up the bloodstains and begin the meeting!"

Zhang Shuye had led troops in battle in the Northwest when he was young, so he was not afraid at all. But the officials were terrified, especially when they saw that even after washing the ground with water, bloodstains were still left...

"I wonder if there are any capable military officers or generals in our Jeju Prefecture?"

Although Zhang Shuye brought his two sons, Zhang Bofen and Zhang Zhongxiong, with him this time, these two sons are still children. Although they are hard to beat among their peers, they are probably no match for the fierce bandits of Liangshan.

Therefore, we need more experts, the more the better.

"Hmm...Sir, Lord Huang An originally had a Chengxin Lang under his command, whose martial arts skills were quite good, but he was never given important responsibilities..."

An official stepped forward and tentatively spoke.

"Cheng Xinlang?"

Zhang Shuye was taken aback. During the Zhenghe era of Emperor Huizong, the ranks of military officials were set at fifty-three levels. The fifty-second level was Chengxin Lang, a ninth-rank official, to replace the old Sanban temporary post. Chengxin Lang was basically the second lowest-ranking military official position. If this person was truly capable but ended up with such a position, it was quite intriguing...

"Alright, let's invite him here. What's his name?"

"His name is Zhang Bao, and he is from Haozhou."

"Alright, send someone to look for them!"

This Zhang Bao was no ordinary person. Although he was only in his early twenties, he was one of the two personal bodyguards who later followed Yue Fei. He was known as "Zhang Bao in front of the horse and Wang Heng behind the horse".

In the novel "The Complete Story of Yue Fei", Zhang Bao was originally a retainer of Grand Tutor Li, or in other words, a servant. He wielded a large iron cudgel and possessed excellent martial arts skills. He sought to make a name for himself and was recommended by Grand Tutor Li to serve under Yue Fei. At that time, Yue Fei had not yet achieved any great feats, but he went to the Grand Tutor's camp reluctantly. He became accustomed to the food and drink at the Grand Tutor's residence and even looked down on the wine and meat that Yue Fei had specially prepared for him. However, as he got to know Yue Fei better, he was deeply moved and decided to follow Yue Fei for life, serving him faithfully and without reservation.

Later, Zhang Bao died when Yue Fei was imprisoned and framed, following Yue Fei in death.

However, it's still early in the year, and even Li Gang hasn't become the prime minister yet, so Zhang Bao naturally doesn't have the chance to become his servant. In his early years, the young Zhang Bao fled to Shandong because of a drought in his hometown where people were eating each other. He joined the army in Jizhou Prefecture and ate soldiers' rations, but for many years, he never had the opportunity to make a name for himself. Although he had excellent martial arts skills, he had nowhere to use them.

Later, when Li Hanxiao's hundred cavalry raided the camp and cleaved Huang An in two, Zhang Bao, who had been unknown until then, showed his skill by using an iron rod to deflect Li Hanxiao's three-pointed double-edged sword, saving Huang An's life from the blade.

Later, after returning to Jeju City, Huang An formally met Zhang Bao for the first time. While Huang An was still conscious, he knew that Zhang Bao was a talented person, so he promoted him to Chengxin Lang and even wanted to promote him further.

However, due to the rabies virus, Huang An died not long afterward. I had been in a state of delirium, and Zhang Bao was left unattended.

However, now that Uncle Zhang has arrived, he is now in charge of the Jeju Prefecture and is short of manpower, so it is just the right time to use Zhang Bao.

Before long, the yamen runners summoned Zhang Bao. Zhang Shuye took a look and saw that he was indeed a big, strong man, and it seemed that he was indeed a martial arts expert.

"Who's coming off?"

Zhang Shuye asked.

"This humble one, Zhang Bao, greets Your Excellency the Prefect!"

Although Zhang Bao was a minor official, Chengxin Lang, he was essentially without any official position. Therefore, when he met Zhang Shuye, he knelt down and kowtowed to pay his respects.

"No need for formalities. I've heard you're quite skilled in martial arts. What skills do you possess?"

Just by looking at his physique, Uncle Zhang knew that this man must be quite strong.

"I know a little martial arts, some fist and foot techniques, and some staff techniques. I can carry a load of four or five hundred catties with an iron rod and travel one or two hundred li a day."

Zhang Bao wasn't lying at all; that's just how he is. But Zhang Shuye has to test him!