Late Han Dynasty: Did the Yellow Emperor truly descend?

Chapter 83 The Importance of County-Level Documents

The main hall of the county government office.

The magistrate was forced into a chair by two Taiping soldiers, his face as white as paper.

All that could be heard was him muttering to himself.

"Li...Li Sheng?"

Li Sheng ignored him and went straight to the desk in the center of the hall, reaching out to flip through the official documents spread out on it. It was a recent tax register, the handwriting neat and the entries clear. He glanced at it, then closed it and put it aside, looking up at the clerks who had been driven to the corridor.

The dozen or so clerks huddled together, some trembling, some bowing their heads in silence. Only one of the older clerks raised his head, glanced at Li Sheng quickly, and then lowered it again.

"Who is the clerk?"

Li Sheng's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet county government hall.

The old man who looked up stiffened, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped forward.

"This humble official...this humble official is the registrar, surnamed Zhou, given name Chang."

"Zhou, the registrar."

Li Sheng stepped down and stood in front of him, speaking calmly.

"I won't make things difficult for you. Find all the documents in the county government office, including household registration, tax records, land records, corvée labor records, criminal records, and all the archived books, files, and maps, and move them to the front hall. Not a single one can be missing."

Zhou Chang was taken aback for a moment, and a troubled look appeared on his face.

"This... General, the county's documents are numerous. There are dozens of volumes just of household registers, as well as tax accounts from previous years, records of corvée labor, and land registers... If we were to move them all out, it would probably take most of a day..."

"That would take up most of the day."

Li Sheng interrupted him.

"My men will follow you; I'll give you as many men as you need. But there's one condition: if I discover a single scroll is missing or a volume is hidden..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but only glanced at the county magistrate who was tied up beside him.

Zhou Chang followed his gaze, and beads of sweat immediately appeared on his forehead.

"No, no! I will certainly cooperate fully!"

Li Sheng nodded and turned to Li Feng to give instructions.

"Li Feng, you take twenty brothers and follow Registrar Zhou. All documents, not a single one missing, must be inventoried and cataloged, then moved to the front hall for safekeeping. No one may look at them without my written order."

"promise!"

Li Feng clasped his hands in acceptance of the order and led his men to escort Zhou Chang away.

Li Sheng watched their retreating figures, his gaze darkening.

To the average person, documents are nothing more than a pile of old papers, but to a discerning person, they are the foundation of a county.

When Liu Bang entered Xianyang, all the generals scrambled to seize gold and silver treasures, but Xiao He alone went to the Prime Minister's and Imperial Censor's offices and collected all the maps, laws, and household registers of the empire. Later, when Liu Bang was vying for the empire with Xiang Yu, Liu Bang was able to know the population size, strengths and weaknesses, and the suffering of the people in various regions of the empire, all thanks to the documents in Xiao He's possession.

Without official documents, even if you conquer a city, you won't know how many households there are, how many people live there, how much tax should be collected, or how many soldiers you can conscript. Sitting in the county government office, you're nothing but a blind man.

With the documents in hand, you'll know every tree, every person, and every household in the county.

This is what he wants; it's worth far more than gold and silver.

"Brother Sheng."

Liu Wu strode in, the leaves of the beetle rustling, a smile on his face.

"The arsenal has been captured."

"How much stuff is there?"

Li Sheng turned around.

Liu Wu grinned and held up one finger.

"There are still over thirty sets of armor, more than four hundred weapons such as swords and spears, bows and crossbows... good stuff!"

He lowered his voice, his eyes shining.

"Twenty powerful crossbows, all with a draw weight of over three dan, and forty bundles of arrows. There is also a single piece of armor, hidden in the innermost storeroom; we don't know who it's for."

Li Sheng raised an eyebrow.

Twenty powerful crossbows—that was no small number. According to the Han dynasty system, crossbows ranged in size from one to ten shi (a unit of dry measure), with crossbows of three shi or more being standard military equipment; private possession of them was punishable by death. A full set of armor was even more remarkable; it was equipment used only by heavy cavalry, and a single set could bankrupt a middle-class family.

I never expected that such a good thing was hidden in the county town's armory.

"Move everything out, inventory it, and store it in the warehouse. Choose archers from among the brothers, selecting those with good arm strength and sharp eyes, and assign each of them a crossbow."

"I'll take care of it right away."

Liu Wu turned to leave, but Li Sheng called him back.

"Wait a minute. Before we went north to quell the bandits last time, do you know how many weapons we took from the armory?"

Liu Wu thought for a moment.

"They took away about two hundred scimitars and spears, twenty sets of armor, and about ten bows and crossbows. At the time, the warehouse manager was not very happy about it, but it was Chen Yuan who gave the order and approved it."

Li Sheng nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

Including the spoils from this armory, plus the weapons seized from the powerful clans and their followers, the Taiping Army's equipment, while not yet sophisticated, was at least sufficient for its core members to each have a weapon.

"Go."

He had barely finished speaking when a furious shout suddenly came from behind him.

"Li Sheng!"

The magistrate stood up at some point, his face flushed red, and his finger trembling as he pointed at Li Sheng.

"You, a mere village head of Siyang Township, have led troops to trespass into the county government office, assaulted your superiors, and seized the armory. Are you planning a rebellion?!"

His voice was shrill, and he slammed his head back and forth in the lobby several times, looking somewhat deranged.

Li Sheng turned around and looked at him calmly.

Has this guy gone mad with fear?

The magistrate felt uneasy under his gaze, but he had no other choice at the moment. He stiffened his neck and roared, his voice filled with bravado but his heart was filled with fear.

"Where is Chen Yuan? Where is Chen Zhongyi?! Tell him to come see me!"

He looked around, his voice growing louder and louder.

"Zhongyi just sent word yesterday that the army has returned in triumph, and he was the one who led your troops north to quell the bandits! How dare he tolerate your reckless behavior? Send him to see me!"

Li Sheng looked at the county magistrate, who resembled a ruffled rooster, and suddenly smiled.

"The magistrate wishes to see Commandant Chen?"

He raised his hand and patted it gently.

"Then let's meet."

As the applause subsided, the side door of the lobby was pushed open from the outside.

Two Taiping soldiers escorted a man in.

Chen Yuan kept his head down. His clothes were still relatively neat. His hands were not bound, but his whole body seemed to have been deboned. He walked very slowly, and every step felt like he was stepping on needles.

"Zhongyi!"

When the magistrate saw Chen Yuan, he was initially delighted, but his expression quickly changed.

He saw Chen Yuan's expression.

"You...how could you..."

The magistrate's voice suddenly became very soft, as if he were talking to himself.

"Zhongyi, didn't you send a message yesterday saying that the army had returned in triumph?"

Chen Yuan raised his head and glanced at the county magistrate.

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but only a muffled sound came out of his throat, and he didn't say anything.

He lowered his head again.

The lobby fell silent for a moment.

Li Sheng didn't look at the county magistrate again, but waved to the soldiers beside him.

"Please let the magistrate rest. Serve him well and do not neglect him."

"Li Sheng! How dare you! I am an official appointed by the imperial court!"

Two soldiers grabbed the magistrate from either side and dragged him out without a word. The magistrate kicked wildly on the ground, one of his official boots was torn off, and he was still shouting.

"Rebellion! Rebellion! You're going to exterminate your entire family!"