Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Chapter 147 Grand Commandant Yang seizes land and harms the people; Li Village Chief seeks salvation

Li Hanxiao looked into the distance and saw that at least several thousand river workers were struggling to plug the breach in the Yellow River upstream, but to no avail.

Li Hanxiao immediately understood that the breach was caused by an excessive amount of rainwater flowing into the Yellow River from its tributaries during the flood season. The floodwaters were so strong that even bringing in reinforced concrete would be futile, let alone using sandbags, wood, or stones to plug the breach. The main approach now should be to follow the example of Yu the Great's flood control: primarily channeling the water. First, find a place to release the floodwaters and safely store the excess water to prevent it from becoming a flood. Once the water level has decreased, gradually channel the floodwaters from the storage area into the downstream rivers and streams, allowing all rivers to flow into the sea.

The rain is too heavy now. If you raise the dam by one inch in an hour, the water will have already risen by three inches. Human power simply cannot keep up with the water flow, not to mention that the water level will rise sooner or later!

"Brothers, go down and ask the people if this flood is caused by the government's inaction!"

Li Han thought to himself, if the dike on the north bank is not breached soon, and the water level rises even higher, all the people on the south bank will surely perish.

If the government doesn't breach the dike, I'll risk my life to tear down the dike on the north bank!

"By the way, Mr. Xu, is there any way to stop the Yellow River from flooding?"

Li Hanxiao suddenly remembered that Xu Guanzhong, who knew magic, was also here. Upon hearing this, Xu Guanzhong looked troubled. "Chief, this Yellow River flood is a force of nature, and I'm afraid I can't stop it alone. If we had dozens of like-minded people together to set up an array, perhaps we could..."

Yes, Li Hanxiao also felt that he had put Xu Guanzhong in a difficult position. It would be difficult for even a celestial being to fight against the raging floods of the Yellow River by himself!

Li Hanxiao and his group descended the high slope and saw several reed huts on a dry bank, with more than a dozen Yellow River patrol soldiers standing inside.

These are people who have been stationed on the river for many years and know the hydrological conditions of the Yellow River. It would be best to ask them for advice!

Li Hanxiao and Xu Guanzhong braved the heavy rain and rode their horses to the reed shed. Li Hanxiao bowed and greeted them, "Greetings, brothers. With this raging flood, I see people are reinforcing the dikes ahead. Why don't you go and join them?"

One of the older Yellow River flood control soldiers rolled his eyes at Li Hanxiao, then sighed and said with great distress, "Even if we go, it won't make a difference. Even if we send another 20,000 to repair the dike, it will be of no use!"

"Why?"

Li Hanxiao asked the question knowing the answer already.

"Judging from your accent, you must be from out of town. If you're just passing through, leave quickly, the water level is likely to rise further, and then both banks will be submerged and you won't be able to leave!"

The old Yellow River patrolman seemed too lazy to waste words, and waved his hand repeatedly, indicating that Li Hanxiao should leave.

“Brother, there’s something I don’t understand. The south bank is higher than the north bank, but it has no dikes for protection. The north bank is lower, but it has dikes to block the flood. If we dismantle the dikes on the north bank to release the floodwaters, wouldn’t that save the south bank…”

Before Li Hanxiao's joke had even finished, the expressions of the dozen or so Yellow River flood control soldiers changed drastically. Upon hearing this, the old Yellow River flood control soldier quickly interrupted Li Hanxiao, "Don't talk nonsense! Do you think the dike on the north bank can be dismantled? Let me tell you, ten years ago, as you said, the Yellow River could release floodwaters on the north bank when it breached its banks. But in the last ten years, the breaches have repeatedly occurred on the south bank. The water conservancy and river management officials sent down by the local prefecture government took a quick look around the river and then went home to resign due to illness. You have no idea how serious this is!"

After listening to the old man's words, Li Hanxiao already understood what was going on!

Since floodwaters could be discharged from the north bank ten years ago, there would naturally be no farmland there. But ten years later, no one dares to discharge floodwaters from the north bank, presumably because farmland has appeared there...

"So it seems the south bank didn't breach the dike without reason. Someone occupied the land on the north bank that was originally used for flood control, cultivated the land, and raised the dike, thus blocking the floodwaters to the south bank. Am I right, brother?"

Li Hanxiao shared his analysis with the old man, who gave him a thumbs up and exclaimed, "What a fine young man! You get it right away! That's right. Not only did these people disagree with pulling down the north bank dike to release the floodwaters, they even sent people to reinforce the dike three days ago. This favoritism is the root cause!"

"But the common people suffer so much, dying in the belly of fish, and your local government doesn't care? No matter how wealthy or powerful a family is, compared to the people of the whole state, who is more important?"

Li Han laughed so hard he couldn't help but shout out!

The old man sneered, "Don't even mention the people of one state, they probably don't care about three or four states. They have nearly ten thousand acres of fertile land on the north bank, and that wheat is far more valuable than human lives..."

"Who is it? Which family is it related to? It can't be someone from the royal family!"

Li Hanxiao pressed for an answer.

The old man clearly hated the culprit behind the flood, and said through gritted teeth, "It's a castrated dog! Do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Guanzhong immediately understood and said, "Grand Commandant Yang of the current dynasty is from this area. This is his land, no wonder no one dares to flood it!"

"Yang Jian!"

Li Hanxiao understood. Yang Jian was a local, and this land belonged to him. The local officials would rather drown the people of an entire prefecture than risk offending Yang Jian by breaching the dikes to release the floodwaters!

"Yang Jian! This castrated dog doesn't even deserve to be called Yang Jian!"

Li Hanxiao was furious. This treacherous eunuch not only stirred up trouble in the court, but also harmed the people in the local areas. He should be killed!

Compared to the other three treacherous ministers, Gao Qiu, Cai Jing, and Tong Guan, Yang Jian, the Grand Commandant Yang, is not a very well-developed character in the original novel of "Water Margin" and does not have many scenes. This makes him seem to be a level below the other three treacherous ministers, as if they are not on the same level.

In reality, he was Emperor Huizong's "confidant" and committed numerous evils!

When Yang Jian was young, he worked in the inner palace and was in charge of the back garden. He was good at guessing the emperor's intentions. After Chongning, he became increasingly favored and served as the Director of the Inner Palace Attendants. He was in charge of the construction of the Mingtang Hall, the casting of the Nine Tripods, and the repair of the Dasheng Palace and Longde Palace.

After Emperor Huizong of Song ascended the throne, he greatly favored Yang Jian, appointing him as the military governor of Zhanghua Army, and eventually he rose to the position of Grand Tutor.

Because Yang Jian became a eunuch at a very young age, he was good at understanding the emperor's intentions. In modern terms, he was quite adept at currying favor. He became the head of the eunuchs and was deeply favored by Emperor Huizong. He was then transferred to Chongning Palace, where his status and the emperor's favor increased further.

He also did his best to help Emperor Huizong realize his various "dreams." His flattery skills were first-rate, probably even better than the other three treacherous ministers, because he lived by flattering the emperor. Yang Jian was very active and hardworking in transporting the precious stones and flowers and building various palaces.

But this wasn't what Emperor Huizong liked most about him. As everyone knows, Emperor Huizong was a philandering emperor. According to the "Xuanhe Yishi", the energetic Huizong would often visit brothels in the capital city of Kaifeng, which were then called "Wasi". He had an average of more than 140 concubines in the palace, and he would have sex with a virgin every five or seven days. He was extremely licentious. I wonder if this emperor, who loved Taoist arts, thought that by having sex with 3,000 women, he could ascend to heaven in broad daylight like the emperor.

It is said that Yang Jian acted as a pimp in the story of Emperor Huizong of Song's affair with Li Shishi, the most beautiful courtesan in Bianjing (Kaifeng).

Emperor Huizong was usually accompanied or scouted ahead by Yang Jian whenever he visited brothels. The friendship between men is easily strengthened when it comes to women, regardless of whether he is the emperor or someone else. After all, eunuchs pose no threat to Huizong's philandering, which is reassuring.

Because Yang Jian was so "thoughtful" in his work, in the fourth year of the Zhenghe era, Emperor Huizong of Song appointed him as the military governor of Zhanghua Army. He was the first to propose the establishment of a guard army for the emperor's travels, in order to consolidate his power. His power was equal to that of Liang Shicheng.

Yang Jian served successively as the military governor of Zhen'an, Qinghai, and Zhendong, rising from Junior Guardian to Grand Tutor, and even plotted to undermine the Crown Prince.

As for his crimes of harming the people, they are countless. A clerk named Du Gongcai suggested to Yang Jian that he formulate laws to obtain the land deeds of the people, from A to B, from B to C, and so on, until there was no evidence. Then he would speculate on the yield of the land and increase the rent.

Starting from Ruzhou, the practice gradually expanded to eastern and western Beijing, western and northern Huaihe Rivers, searching for abandoned dikes, dams, barren mountains, reclaimed beaches, and areas where major rivers were silted up. The people were forced to rent these lands. Once the rent was determined, even if the land was washed away by the river and could not be cultivated, the rent would not be reduced. This was known as the "Western City Office."

Zhushan Lake was the ancient Juye Marsh, also known as Liangshan Marsh. It stretched for hundreds of miles. People from several prefectures, including Ji and Yun, made a living by fishing here. Yang Jian also set taxes based on the number of boats, and those who violated the rules were arrested for theft.

A county typically pays an additional tax of over 100,000 strings of cash on top of the regular taxes. While regulations stipulate tax exemptions during floods and droughts, this was not the case here. Du Gongcai was promoted to Inspector.

This is the infamous "Rice Field Tax," which is as notorious as Zhu Mian's "Flower and Stone Tribute" in the south! In the prefectures and counties of Jingdong West Road and Huaibei North Road, Yang Jian forced the people to rent abandoned dikes, barren mountains, and silted-up riverbeds, increasing rents and taxes, and did not provide relief for floods and droughts, causing great suffering to the local people.

In the third year of the Xuanhe era, Yang Jian passed away and was posthumously awarded the titles of Grand Tutor and Duke of Wu. Li Yan succeeded him in his official positions. It was not until the beginning of the Jingkang era that Emperor Qinzong of Song issued an edict to revoke the official titles bestowed upon Yang Jian.

It's a pity that such a villain didn't receive the punishment he deserved. If Li Hanxiao ever sees him, he'll first change his name from Yang Jian to "Aqina" or "Seshehei," and then grind his bones to dust!

"The dike has breached again!"

Just then, several Yellow River flood control soldiers pointed in the direction of the embankment and shouted. Li Hanxiao also felt a sudden wave of unsteadiness beneath his feet, and the ground shook violently!

Li Hanxiao looked back and saw that the dark clouds over Puzhou City were lower than the city walls, and the air was filled with the smell of earth, as if someone had put the silt from the bottom of the river on people's noses.

The old Yellow River patrolman, long since numb to such scenes, picked up a tinderbox and lit a handful of paper money. The flickering embers reflected in his cloudy eyes as he said, "The day for the Dragon King to collect offerings has arrived again. Let's burn paper money to send people on their way."

Then, a rumble of thunder rolled across the river, carrying a sweet, earthy smell. On the south bank, the secondary weir built of burlap sacks crumbled like bloated steamed buns.

Officials reporting the flood situation rushed into the city, banging gongs. Young men, shirtless, filled the leaks with straw, but the cracks had already been torn open, creating a gaping hole three zhang long. Yellow water mixed with reed roots was gushing out, but it was too late. The raging yellow water swept through, and the dike had already been breached!

The floodwaters swept away the western archway of the city, and the deafening crash of the collapsing archway startled the entire city.

People saw the river carrying countless pieces of wood and stones rushing down from upstream, with waves rolling over vermilion plaques and embroidered curtains.

The thousand-year-old iron ox in front of the Dragon King Temple disappeared after spinning in the whirlpool, while the paper sedan chair used by the River God for his wedding floated on the water...

An old man fleeing from disaster had his intestines pierced by driftwood, and a woman carrying her grandson had just climbed up an old locust tree when the rushing water ate away half of its roots...

People could only run to higher ground. On the high slopes, a layer of pale frost covered the saline-alkali land, and foot-binding cloths were wrapped around the crooked willow trees. Blue-faced, fanged water-suppressing beasts were half-buried in the silt...

The flood brought countless corpses, and the entire Puzhou was filled with the smell of death. The official granaries outside the city had long been washed away and turned into rotten reed marshes.

The Yellow River patrol soldiers pointed at the corpses lying haphazardly on the riverbank and muttered, "They say people from Puzhou have nine lives...heh..."

"Go! Save people!"

Li Han smiled and waved his hand, uttering only these three words.

As the turbid waves tore open the embankment, Li Erjie was kneeling on the earthen slope, feeding her seriously ill father the last mouthful of bran that had been thrown out of a rat hole.

Before they could even get a bite, the murky floodwaters crashed through the willow grove where they were hiding like a million mad bulls, carrying away the remains of roof beams and livestock as they rumbled through the village.

She only managed to grab her younger sister's wrist before watching her father's emaciated figure being flung away by the yellow waves and crashing into a rock...

Fortunately, the bodies weren't washed away; it was just a surge of water, and the force stopped there...

"Dad!"

Sister Li let out a shrill wail. Originally, this forest was on relatively high ground, but after the floodwaters rose, the water rushed here. Just that flood peak alone took the lives of at least several hundred people.

An extremely strong stench permeated the air outside Puzhou City. After the flood peak passed, bluish-purple severed hands were half-buried in the mud, and crows were pecking at swollen intestines.

The two sisters huddled under the crooked locust tree, their linen skirts stained with black mud. The bark of the locust tree had been stripped bare by the disaster victims, revealing its pale, white core.

Meanwhile, in a dilapidated temple not far away, a group of people were quite content, having placed a thin coffin from the temple there and were selling it.

As the saying goes, "coffin sellers hate that people aren't dead." With floods raging and the dead everywhere, the living can't find coffins to be buried and laid to rest, while the sellers can easily raise prices and profit from the flood.

Five taels of silver can buy a thin coffin.