The common folk of Wuyang County had witnessed the entire spectacle from behind cracked doors and broken walls.
When Zhang Shoubei and his three thousand men collapsed to their knees in surrender, the remaining hundred or so households in the county town slowly emerged. One by one, then in clusters, they stepped into the open street, looked at the massive imprint left in the ground, and finally did what felt safest.
They knelt.
Foreheads struck the earth in hurried succession as they bowed toward the sky again and again, terrified and grateful in equal measure.
They had just received grain from Wang Chenggong. They knew he was not a bad man. So a few braver ones dared to lift their heads slightly and ask in trembling voices,
"My lord… which deity descended just now?"
"Was it the Jade Emperor? Or the Grand Pure One?"
Wang Chenggong smiled faintly. For once, he was not exaggerating.
"That was Dao Xuan Tianzun," he said solemnly. "A benevolent and compassionate deity who delights in blessing the common people. The grain you received was bestowed by him, sent down from the heavens."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
So it was divine grain.
No wonder it came so generously. No wonder it appeared exactly when famine was tightening its grip.
The common folk immediately bowed again, even harder this time, some muttering hurried prayers, some promising incense they could not afford.
Behind them, Zhang Shoubei and his surrendered men wore expressions that could only be described as educational.
Divine grain.
They had tried to rob divine grain.
That was not courage. That was courting thunder.
Wang Chenggong turned and looked at the kneeling bandits.
"Enough. Get up."
His tone was calm again, but no one mistook it for weakness.
"You will follow me obediently. We are going back for labor reform."
Zhang Shoubei did not hesitate.
"As you command," he said, head lowered so far his chin nearly touched his chest.
Thus, with only two hundred militia members, Wang Chenggong escorted more than three thousand surrendered bandits back toward Xiaolangdi. Not one fled. Not one resisted. Fear, when properly cultivated, was remarkably effective discipline.
Half an hour later, they were seated around a table.
The Puppet Dao Xuan Tianzun sat at the head. Bai Yuan fanned himself with lazy elegance. Governor Fan Shangzheng maintained his composed scholar's posture. Gao Jie leaned back with the air of someone who preferred solving problems with a blade but was willing to listen first. Wang Chenggong stood respectfully to one side.
Zhang Shoubei felt like a rabbit dropped into a tiger's den.
He perched on the edge of his chair, barely daring to sit fully, as though the wood itself might accuse him of unworthiness. His eyes did not dare linger on Li Daoxuan for more than a heartbeat. He already knew. This was the deity who had dropped the Divine Seal.
Dao Xuan Tianzun.
Pressure pressed against his lungs with every breath.
Fan Shangzheng was the first to speak.
"What was your bandit alias before all this?"
Zhang Shoubei answered quickly.
"This humble one was called Dajin Wang. Just a minor leader among the vagrant bands. I had three thousand people, but only about a thousand could actually fight. The rest were elderly, women, children. Refugees more than soldiers."
Fan Shangzheng nodded slowly.
"And you surrendered to Zuo Liangyu?"
"Yes. He came to suppress us in Runing Prefecture with more than ten thousand troops. I could not resist. I begged for surrender."
Fan Shangzheng folded his hands together.
"It is not unusual for vagrant bandits to surrender to a general. But protocol demands that surrendered forces be reported to the Governor, then to the court, and properly resettled."
Dajin Wang scratched his head awkwardly.
"This humble one does not understand such procedures. Zuo Liangyu said I had potential. He told me to join him. Promised wealth, rank, a bright future. Then he appointed me Runing Garrison Commander."
Around the table, several expressions hovered between amusement and disbelief.
Gao Jie let out a soft snort.
"Runing Garrison Commander. That is a generous title."
Fan Shangzheng sighed.
"Zuo Liangyu does not possess the authority to grant such a position. At most, he might secure a minor post through proper channels. But a garrison commander? The Ministry of War would need to approve it. Do you have an official appointment document?"
"I do!"
Dajin Wang hurriedly reached into his clothes and pulled out a crumpled paper.
They examined it.
Crooked characters sprawled across the page: "Hereby appoints Zhang Xiaoyi as Runing Garrison Commander, effective immediately."
The seal stamped at the bottom was a disaster. Blurry, uneven, as though carved hastily from a radish and pressed without ink control. It looked official only to someone who had never seen an official seal before.
Fan Shangzheng burst into laughter.
"Zuo Liangyu truly shows his refinement here. Even his forged documents are written in illiterate style."
Bai Yuan snapped his fan open with a crisp sound and partially covered his face, revealing the character for Gentleman painted on its surface.
"So your real name is Zhang Xiaoyi," he said mildly.
Dajin Wang nodded with embarrassment.
"You claimed Zuo Liangyu had more than ten thousand troops when he suppressed you?"
"Yes. I saw them with my own eyes. Dense as a forest. Endless heads."
Bai Yuan's expression sharpened slightly.
"On record, he commands only three thousand regular soldiers."
"I was not mistaken," Dajin Wang insisted.
Gao Jie leaned forward.
"Which means, aside from his official three thousand, he has at least seven thousand more. Likely absorbed vagrant bands like yours."
Silence settled over the table.
Fan Shangzheng's earlier humor vanished.
"For years, bandit suppression in Henan relied primarily on Generals Cao Wenzhao, He Renlong…"
He paused.
Gao Jie coughed meaningfully.
"And General Gao Jie, of course," Fan Shangzheng corrected.
Gao Jie nodded with visible satisfaction.
Fan Shangzheng continued.
"While they fought desperately, Zuo Liangyu frequently appeared absent from major engagements. Now it seems he was not absent at all. He was recruiting."
Absorbing.
Expanding.
"And issuing false appointments," Bai Yuan added quietly.
Fan Shangzheng's expression hardened.
"These are grave offenses. He cannot be left unchecked."
Gao Jie crossed his arms.
"What do you propose? Submit a memorial? Ask the Emperor to issue a decree?"
Fan Shangzheng shook his head slowly.
"If Zuo Liangyu still feared the court, he would not dare to act so openly."
That was the heart of it.
The realm was already shaking. Vagrant bandits ravaged the countryside. The Jurchens in the northeast pressed relentlessly. Any frontline general could smell the instability of the times. Ambitious men did not wait for collapsing dynasties to crush them. They prepared.
"An ambitious man," Fan Shangzheng murmured. "Difficult to handle."
"There is nothing difficult about it," Li Daoxuan said calmly.
All eyes turned to him.
"Offer him a chance to surrender. If he refuses, eliminate him."
The simplicity of the proposal stunned the room.
"Are we to deal with him ourselves?" Gao Jie asked.
"Yes," Li Daoxuan replied. "The imperial court is unreliable in this matter. A man like Zuo Liangyu has already stepped beyond proper order. His army will not bring stability. It will bring suffering."
He glanced at Dajin Wang.
"Today he raided Wuyang County for grain. Tomorrow, others will do the same. The extra thousands of soldiers he hides must eat. If not from the court, then from the people."
Understanding dawned.
Zuo Liangyu reported three thousand to the court.
He commanded more than ten thousand.
The difference had to be fed somehow.
Plunder.
And when villages burned, blame could be shifted onto Chuang Wang or the Eight Great Kings.
In a land already drowning in chaos, who could tell which knife belonged to whom?
Li Daoxuan's voice grew colder.
"He is no different from a vagrant bandit."
He paused.
"No. He is worse."