Actually, at first, the defending army was still resisting, fighting for control of the lost city gate. But a messenger became too panicked, riding his horse to get reinforcements while shouting loudly, “They’re coming! They’re coming!”
In the dead of night, after half a day of fighting during the day, people were exhausted and sleeping soundly. Suddenly hearing the sound of horse hooves, clashing weapons, and flames soaring toward the sky from the direction of the city gate, their nerves were highly tense. In their panic, they misheard “They’re coming! They’re coming!” as “The wokou are coming!”
Being suddenly attacked in the middle of the night, with wokou and defenders still locked in a tug-of-war at the city gate, people’s already strained nerves completely snapped. Through word of mouth, it became distorted into “The wokou have entered the city!” (Note 1)
As a result, while soldiers at the city gate were still fighting the wokou with blood and sweat, the garrison and civilians inside the city all believed the wokou had already entered, that the situation was hopeless, and their confidence was completely shattered. Those who could flee fled, those who surrendered surrendered. Guards at other towers and arrow platforms threw down their helmets and armor to escape, scurrying about “like fleeing rats and ants.” Even when superior officers insisted on not surrendering and tried to stop their subordinates from fleeing, they were knocked down by the panicked soldiers who refused to obey orders.
Xinghua City also had White Lotus Sect collaborators. Seeing the defenders collapse, they ran into the streets and set off fireworks toward the night sky. White lotus flowers bloomed and burst in the night sky as they loudly proclaimed the White Lotus Sect’s slogans: “The Bright King has descended! Universal salvation for all! Surrender and live! Join the sect to avoid calamity!”
Wei Caiwei pushed open a crack in the window and saw the collapsed Daming defenders abandoning the city and fleeing through the streets. The turn of events had come too quickly.
Wang Daxia knocked on the door and said, “The White Lotus Sect is in league with the wokou. The situation is hopeless, Xinghua City has fallen. You should quickly hide in the cellar, we’ll guard the house to prevent the wokou from disturbing you.”
Wei Caiwei pointed at the white lotus flowers blooming in the night sky, “Did you hear that? The Bright King has descended, join the sect to avoid calamity. This Tie Niu has already proclaimed himself the reincarnated Bright King, even more impressive than Sect Leader Zhao Quan calling himself the reincarnated Maitreya. Using the wokou’s momentum, he has already established his own faction in the south.”
Wang Daxia’s heart was actually in chaos at this moment, with a deep sense of powerlessness. This was a bloody battlefield! They had won a victory in the morning, driving off the wokou, but by evening another wave of wokou had broken in, turning victory into defeat.
This wasn’t like operations in the capital, where the Embroidered Uniform Guard had advantages in both numbers and weapons, and every operation was planned with support. Although every mission carried risks, they also had confidence.
The battlefield was different. Whether success or failure, it wasn’t something a minor Embroidered Uniform Guard centurion like him could decide. No matter how capable Wang Daxia was in the capital, he couldn’t turn the tide here.
But in front of Wei Caiwei, he couldn’t show his panic.
Wang Daxia said with feigned nonchalance, “It doesn’t matter. At worst, tomorrow we’ll all join the White Lotus Sect to avoid calamity. The Bright King said it himself – he’s expanding his influence, buying people’s hearts, deceiving believers, so he can’t kill us.”
This so-called Bright King Tie Niu wasn’t “bullish” at all. On the contrary, he was very clever, using carrot and stick, soft and hard tactics. He used the wokou to frighten the people, then used the White Lotus Sect identity to “protect” them. Join the sect to avoid calamity – as long as you joined the White Lotus Sect, you could avoid being killed by wokou and escape disaster.
If you refused to join the sect, then you deserved whatever calamity befell you.
Wei Caiwei refused to hide in the basement, saying, “I’m going next door to ask Luo Longwen what he plans to do. I’ve finally gained his trust – the more critical the moment, the more I need to show concern for him.”
Xinghua City was densely networked with waterways, crisscrossed like a spider web, with buildings constructed along the water. From the back door wharf, one could reach neighboring houses.
Luo Longwen’s twenty-some escort fighters weren’t even enough to fill the wokou’s teeth, so naturally he wouldn’t resist desperately. He said, “Even Han Xin could endure the humiliation of crawling between someone’s legs. As an expedient measure, joining the White Lotus Sect might not be impossible.”
Everyone decided to surrender first and figure things out later.
The Hua brothers imprisoned in the cellar vaguely heard that the White Lotus Sect had entered the city and could finally turn their fortunes around. They laughed heartily, “Be sensible – release me immediately to see Tie Niu, and I might still give you a chance to live.”
His eight teeth had already been pulled by Wang Daxia, causing his speech to whistle through the gaps, making his mouth look like an endless black hole.
Wang Daxia sneered, “Is that so? I’m afraid you won’t have a chance to speak.” Wang Daxia wanted to kill him to silence him.
Lu Ying and Ding Wu both said simultaneously, “Wait!” The two exchanged glances with perfect understanding, both seeing each other’s meaning.
Ding Wu said, “Let me explain – your face has stitches, and talking will aggravate the wound.”
Lu Ying nodded and stopped talking, focusing on healing his injuries.
Ding Wu said to Wang Daxia, “We can’t kill him yet, because he has already revealed the cargo and merchants of the Shunfeng merchant ship to Tie Niu. Tie Niu knows we’re in Xinghua City. Today we found an agent to rent a house – if Tie Niu makes even a simple inquiry, he’ll know we live here. When he comes looking for someone and sees a corpse instead, he’ll surely be suspicious, and we’ll all be doomed.”
Wang Daxia realized this made sense, “But this Hua Dalang already knows we’re Embroidered Uniform Guard. Once he reveals our identity to Tie Niu, we’re still dead.”
Ding Wu said, “I have a way to both hand Hua Dalang over to Tie Niu and make sure Hua Dalang stays quiet forever and keeps our secret.”
Wang Daxia: “What method?”
Ding Wu picked up a stick and first knocked Hua Dalang unconscious…
By dawn, the wokou and White Lotus Sect had completely occupied Xinghua City. There were two to three thousand real wokou, plus about seven to eight thousand fake wokou – that is, Daming people who robbed their own countrymen (Note 2).
Combined, there were over ten thousand wokou total. This number was already considered large in the current scattered, leaderless wokou world. With the wealthy Xinghua City as their base, nearby wokou who had been beaten senseless by Qi’s army came flocking to join this wokou force, which rapidly grew and strengthened.
The real wokou and White Lotus Sect played bad cop and good cop – the real wokou would rob and pillage, then the White Lotus Sect would come to stop them. The people would be grateful to tears and immediately join the White Lotus Sect, offering food, clothing, or wealth as membership fees.
The White Lotus Sect set up altars throughout the city’s streets and alleys for people to join conveniently. The altars were adorned with White Lotus Sect scriptures and precious scrolls, with believers in white robes and plain caps chanting continuously.
To save their lives, people flocked to “join the sect to avoid calamity,” voluntarily offering gifts. For all who converted, the white-robed believers at the altar would write their names and addresses on yellow paper, indicating they were now sect members.
When people went out, they carried the yellow paper as a protective talisman. At home, they pasted it on their doors. When wokou saw the yellow paper marked with White Lotus Sect symbols, they wouldn’t disturb that household.
But if someone refused to “voluntarily” join the White Lotus Sect or offer gifts to the “Bright King,” their household would be robbed by wokou down to their underwear and they would become slaves, doing menial work in the military camp.
This was the calamity that befell those who didn’t join the sect. Join to avoid calamity; don’t join and be tormented.
The gifts from the altars were continuously transported to the wokou headquarters. The wokou greatly admired their leader, the “Bright King” Tie Niu: So founding a religion made more money than robbery or smuggling! Robbery required personally going door-to-door to search, but with religion, you just needed to set up an altar and believers would walk into the trap, obediently delivering their possessions.
Tie Niu took nothing for himself, distributing everything to his subordinates and the wokou. As the Bright King, he ordered that all shops and markets in Xinghua City must remain open for business as usual. The White Lotus Sect would maintain order – no one would cause trouble, and business could continue as normal.
However, taxes still had to be paid as usual, with tax silver going to the White Lotus Sect, because now it was the White Lotus Sect, not the imperial court, that protected them.
Tie Niu instructed his wokou subordinates: “No more killing the goose that lays golden eggs. The hen lays golden eggs every day – killing the hen cuts off our source of wealth. You just need to guard the city gates, prevent government troops from entering, and collect golden eggs daily.”
Tie Niu had touched the wokou’s hearts. Since the deaths of the great pirates Xu Hai and Wang Zhi, the wokou had been robbing while being chased and beaten by government forces, especially Qi’s army.
Robbery could indeed yield many good things, but when Qi’s army came, they had to abandon their loot and flee. Like a bear picking corn, they’d grab one and drop one. After robbing for years, they were still poor and often went hungry.
Tie Niu’s occupation of Xinghua City gave the wokou a chance to breathe. Finally they could sleep peacefully. Who wouldn’t want this wonderful arrangement where they could make money while lying in bed without having to rob anyone themselves?
Thus, the exhausted wokou all supported the Bright King Tie Niu, praising him as the next Xu Hai or Wang Zhi. Even real wokou joined the White Lotus Sect – everyone wanted to make money comfortably while lying down.
No one dared fight Qi’s fierce army head-on. Traditional robbery and smuggling no longer worked. Tie Niu planned to hide in Xinghua City, using the White Lotus Sect to pacify and squeeze the people’s fat and marrow. After sucking Xinghua City dry, extracting every last bit, he would attack another city and use the same method to drain it. This was the fastest way to make money.
Having gained control of Xinghua City, Tie Niu picked up a razor and shaved off his fake wokou topknot completely bald. He put on white kasaya robes and wore a white lotus Vairocana hat, transforming from a fake wokou into the reincarnated Bright King of the White Lotus Sect, come to earth to save all beings.
The Bright King Tie Niu sat meditating on a white lotus platform, actually looking kind and benevolent! With the setting sun, he seemed illuminated by Buddhist light, like a bodhisattva descending to earth.
Seeing this scene, whether truly believing or pretending to believe as an expedient, people knelt and worshipped the Bright King, calling out: “The Bright King has descended to save all beings! Join the sect to avoid calamity and ascend to the Pure Land!”
Tie Niu watched all beings prostrate at his feet, feeling pleased: Whoever controls the gun controls power. My strength far exceeds Sect Leader Zhao Quan now. I no longer need to send hard-earned money to the sect leader every year. What business is more profitable than founding a religion? You’re the sect leader, I’m the Bright King – the Bright King ranks much higher than a sect leader.
As he pondered this, a subordinate reported, “Bright King, the Ding Wu you wanted to find has delivered himself, bringing the informant Hua Dalang with him. The antique merchant Boss Zhang and the ginseng and deer antler merchant Boss Ximen from the Shunfeng ship have all come together with money and goods to offer to the Bright King, seeking to join the White Lotus Sect and receive the Bright King’s protection.”
The fat sheep that couldn’t be captured last night through schemes and force had voluntarily delivered themselves today.
The Bright King remained impassive. “Have them come forward.”
After being knocked unconscious by Ding Wu, Hua Dalang had been given a drug by Wei Caiwei that left him both deaf and mute. He couldn’t hear sounds or speak. Having been confined in the basement, he only vaguely knew the White Lotus Sect had arrived, but didn’t realize Tie Niu had proclaimed himself Bright King and betrayed Sect Leader Zhao Quan.
So when Hua Dalang saw Tie Niu meditating in the white lotus platform, thinking he was an ally, he quickly ran over to report that Ding Wu was falsely surrendering and the ginseng merchant caravan behind him were actually all Embroidered Uniform Guard.
But Hua Dalang’s throat was muted and he couldn’t speak. The wokou shouted loudly for him to stop immediately and not approach the Bright King, but he couldn’t hear at all and continued running toward the lotus platform.
Ding Wu seized the opportunity to shout: “Bright King, be careful! He can’t accept that the Bright King ranks higher than the sect leader – he might mean harm to the Bright King!”
The wokou nearby saw Hua Dalang’s eyes gleaming with excitement, a knife hanging at his waist, saying nothing, and running desperately toward the Bright King as if intending to die together with him. They all drew their blades to protect the Bright King, each stabbing once, turning Hua Dalang into a bloody sieve.
Hua Dalang collapsed, dying with eyes wide open.
Ding Wu led Lu Ying, Zhang Shan and others in kneeling worship: “The Bright King has divine light protecting his body, immune to all evil. The villain died violently ten feet away. We are in awe and wish to serve the Bright King like dogs and horses.”
The Bright King was greatly pleased. Looking again at the beauty in red dress and green skirt beside Boss Ximen, when she knelt in worship, her heavy bosom nearly touched the dusty ground, his heart immediately stirred.
Author’s Note: The three travelers plus Ding Wu – whoever they encounter faces misfortune.
Note 1: From the Ming Dynasty “Yunjian Jumu Chao” – the mishearing of “lai yi lai yi” (they’re coming) as “wo lai yi” (the wokou are coming) causing citywide collapse was a real incident during the Zhengde reign when Yunjian County faced wokou troubles – they scared themselves.
Note 2: Regarding the number of wokou at Xinghua County, from Yu Dayou’s “Proposal for Eliminating Wokou at Xinghua”: “The enemy now has two to three thousand, with seven thousand followers, and everyone wants to fight to the death.” “Enemy” refers to real wokou, “followers” are fake wokou, meaning Daming people. Of every ten wokou, only two were real wokou, the rest were bandits and pirates from Daming.