What? General Was a Bandit?

Nobles in the imperial court held the grain stores and used them against the throne. General Yang Jian took his troops to Han Yang Cun, a place where rice could be grown, to break the hold on supply. He lived among the villagers as an outlaw and passed himself off as a bandit chief. In a famine year he handed out grain to feed them. The next year the harvest was good. The villagers went to a senior commander and worked out a way to draw Yang Jian away from his camp. While he was gone the camp was attacked and many of his sworn brothers were killed. The emperor was touring the south at the time and stepped in. He punished the villagers, and for Yang Jian's service he granted him a princedom and a marriage to a princess.