Chapter 407: Pressing Step by Step

The dramatic scene at the gates of the Jiading County Office spread the lake bandit incident even more forcefully. And every retelling of the information was a fresh wound to the Land Deed Alliance — there are no walls the wind cannot pierce, let alone when the truth is being deliberately disseminated.

At the same time, the inside of the Land Deed Alliance had already boiled over into chaos.

News of the lake bandits' crushing defeat had been brought back by planted scouts the night before. By noon, a scattering of lake bandits who had fled on foot were also brought before the restless masters, and the details of the previous night's events were made clear.

Within the Land Deed Alliance, a violent round of quarreling erupted immediately afterward.

This is how all wars go: when the front lines suffer a crushing defeat, the rear is certain to face a series of actions — recrimination, schism, and reshuffling.

The problem the Alliance now faced was this: one part of its members were getting cold feet.

The reason was simple: they had run out of tactics.

... For traditional gentry, even counting every last dirty trick, employing lake bandits — a method with extremely severe side effects — was already the ultimate trump card. It was the final measure that could be used beneath the table, already treading on the very bottom line of the rules.

This kind of method, which could barely be called "private," was bound to invite a number of impeachments plus official crackdowns in the aftermath; the only difference was that the regional alliance had a tough enough frame to disregard a bit of backlash.

Yet the same was true of Xiong Dao. Yes, you can hire lake bandits, and I can secretly send men to commit arson... Even if everyone knows who did these things, both sides possess a fig leaf that lets the authorities turn a blind eye — it is nothing more than mutual harm.

The problem now was this: Xiong Dao and his port were like a thorny copper pea — not only had he neutralized every last one of the regional alliance's underhanded schemes, but Xiong Dao was also constantly "stabbing back" in "private," leaving the masters stuck on the tiger's back, in agony and unable to dismount.

On the single point of mutual harm, the masters had suffered a crushing and total defeat.

And so, naturally, some began to get cold feet.

This portion of the gentry who intended to retreat saw things very clearly: since all those previous methods had been useless, the next step, if they were to continue opposing Xiong Dao, could only be to mobilize the power of the "establishment."

This establishment power, to put it plainly, was the Official Army — no matter how you circled around it, the ones who would ultimately step forward would be the Official Army, and only the Official Army.

And how could the Official Army be so easily mobilized? This was not the private hiring of bandits; to deploy the Official Army, one had to work through the entire bureaucratic apparatus of a province — the Governor-General Office, the Military Defense Circuit, and a whole series of other offices.

The cost involved in this genuinely exceeded the psychological tolerance of certain individuals. One had to realize, the lake bandits being wiped out was just that — truth be told, up to this point, the Land Deed Alliance had not actually paid too great a price; they had merely bitten into a hard bone and chipped a couple of teeth. Everyone could still turn the ship around in time.

But if they used the Official Army, that would mean mobilizing the power of each family's connections at court to quell the fallout — regardless of the outcome.

In other words, if the means of confrontation escalated once more, things would shift from covert to overt, and what all participants would then have to pay would be "their own lifeblood." This cost was not only enormous, but one misstep meant the grave crime of rebellion — that meant confiscation of property and beheading!

For the financial resources in Xiong Dao's hands — was it worth it?

Most importantly, the Official Army required a justifiable cause. To put it simply, the Land Deed Alliance absolutely had to first publicly brand Xiong Dao a "rebel" or a "bandit" before they could carry out any subsequent moves.

There were too many variables in this process; the price paid was disproportionate to the gain, the risk was extremely high, and the backlash enormous — therefore, one part of the group backed down.

In fact, after a night of deep reflection, the number of those expressing a wish to retreat increased by several more the next day, and thus the "peace faction" quickly outnumbered the "war faction."

At the same time, the heads of the lake bandits were delivered with clamorous gongs and drums to the Songjiang Prefectural Office.

After receiving the heads, the Prefectural Office's enthusiasm was far greater than the County Yamen's had been. That old wretch Fang Yuegong not only widely publicized this "anti-bandit" heroic feat, but also issued official documents clamoring to "thoroughly investigate" the matter.

Sensing the external environment growing ever more unfavorable, the peace-faction masters grew even more resolute in their original idea: take one step back and find the sea and sky boundless — better to value peace.

In the midst of this process of fierce debate between the two factions, another night passed, and then everyone shut their mouths. Even the most stubborn, like the Xu family, and the most aggressively vocal, like Master Huang here, began to voice support for a truce between both sides — the previous night, more mulberry orchards had been burned and fish ponds poisoned.

This incident of orchard burning directly cast the war faction into the abyss: the several manors that were burned were not located on that ring of blockade around the port, but in other places far from the port.

Also burned at the same time were some cotton stalks stored for winter heating fuel.

Xiong Dao's strike this time nakedly declared one attitude: from this day forward, the manors belonging to you masters, spread across every part of Jiangnan, could all close their gates and cease operations. Because the implication of burning the cotton stalks was very clear: when the cotton ripened next year, there would be further surprises waiting for you masters...

The dumbstruck war faction was now thoroughly wilted. They could neither consolidate their internal strength, nor were they capable of doing anything about the enemy's escalated, full-screen strike pattern. Considering the colossal losses about to arrive, the masters, their moods having ridden a roller coaster, finally recognized reality and decided to sue for peace and withdraw their troops.

Very soon, the intermediary responsible for peace talks set out for Zhangsu Port to request an audience with Xiong Dao.

Xiong Dao put on no airs; smilingly, he received the intermediary — the same scene as when Xu Jin had received Du Yaren back then.

And the demands Xiong Dao put forward were also much the same as Xu Jin's — equally understated, equally concerning the land deeds — first, bring that box of land deeds surrounding the port's perimeter as an apology offering.

Furthermore, following the conditions Xu Jin had proposed back then, Master Xiong pressed his advantage step by step, like so: the current valuation of Zhangsu Port was one million taels of silver. Since you masters originally wished to seize a fifty-percent stake, then on top of the land deeds, bring another five hundred thousand taels in reparations, and this matter will be considered settled... everyone should value peace, after all.

The news the intermediary brought back made the masters of the Land Deed Alliance almost unable to believe their own ears.

"Has that Xiong character lost his mind? How dare he be so wildly insolent?!" Everyone present was filled with utter disbelief.

According to the Land Deed Alliance's intention, they would send an intermediary to mediate, then everyone would sell that ring of land — the "First Island Chain" — to Xiong Dao at a fair price, and the matter would be considered settled. From then on, no one would obstruct Zhangsu Port's development again — wasn't that valuing peace?

What the masters had not expected was that this dog of a Xiong Dao would dare to make such exorbitant demands! How did he dare put forward such demented and outrageous terms?!

The masters, accustomed to making exorbitant demands of others, found this kind of insolent behavior particularly intolerable — this was naked humiliation!

Besides, if they truly went by the price Xiong Dao had named, they might as well just mobilize the troops — land deeds plus five hundred thousand taels of silver; a cost that high was enough to cover all expenses and smooth over any adverse consequences afterward.

In that moment, the masters' moods took another roller coaster ride: the hardliners flared back to life, with a certain Master Huang, whose legs were in poor condition, jumping about most ferociously of all.

And so the wind direction within the Alliance began to shift again. The endlessly quarreling masters had no choice but to send the intermediary to the port again the next day to visit Xiong Dao, hoping to obtain a peace condition that showed some "sincerity."

This time, the intermediary could not even gain an audience with Master Xiong... The one who came out to meet him was the old soldier rogue Yan Tiexia: "Now you know to beg for mercy? Too late! Go back and tell your master, if you don't bring the land deeds and the silver, sooner or later your whole family will be out begging for food!"

Accompanying these words of utter contempt came a suffocating blow: the manors of three capitulationists were burned that very night.

This act effectively forced the Alliance back together; the masters now had no way to retreat, no second path left to walk.

And so, the masters, shouting "Arise, resist all oppression," finally united as one, coalesced together, and swore to fight that Xiong character to the death, no rest until one side was finished, a final showdown with no looking back.

Two days later, December 5th, a day that seemed ordinary and unremarkable.

On this day, two contingents set out simultaneously: one departed from Tai River Port, while the other departed from Suzhou.

The contingent departing from Suzhou consisted of ten men. Every one of them rode fine horses, wore Flying Fish Robes, and had Embroidered Spring Blades at their waists — clad in brilliant attire atop spirited steeds, their bearing arrogant, they were none other than the agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, whose very name struck fear into the hearts of officials and commoners alike throughout the Ming dynasty.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard, being one of the Imperial Guard Upper Twelve Guards, naturally had its headquarters in Beijing. However, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, tasked with monitoring regional princes and officials and gathering local public opinion, had branch offices in various localities.

This squad today was a group of agents dispatched on official business from the Suzhou Thousand-Household Station of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Because the Song-Su region was the most prosperous and wealthy area of the Ming dynasty, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had established a Thousand-Household Station in Suzhou — the highest local-level office. The leader of this squad today was the Embroidered Uniform Guard Suzhou Hundred-Household Officer, Ma Yaotang.

Ma Yaotang's party, dispatched from Suzhou on the orders of the Thousand-Household Officer, traveled without pause and arrived just before noon at the West Gate of Shanghai County.

Outside the West Gate, a Colonel, also wearing a Flying Fish Robe, had long been waiting to receive them. Upon seeing Ma Yaotang, the Colonel hurriedly ushered the Hundred-Household Officer to the Xu Family Residence in Chengnan Guanxiang.

By the afternoon, Ma Yaotang's party emerged from the residence to take their leave, faces glowing and both sleeves full of gold. Then, guided by the local agents, the group swaggered across the river to Zhangsu Port.

After the awe-inspiring horse column burst into the Port Authority compound, the leading Officer Ma promptly reined in his horse, coolly produced his own waist token and flashed it before the guards who had gathered around, then bellowed: "I am the Suzhou Embroidered Uniform Guard Hundred-Household Officer, here on official business! Quickly tell your Shopkeeper, Xiong Dao, to come out and answer!"

Not long after, Xiong Dao, clad in a brocade robe, and Lu Cheng, wearing a monk's robe and sporting a shaved, gleaming scalp, emerged from the Stone Tower under heavy escort from a large contingent of subordinates, and stood atop the steps.

Officer Ma, after having Xiong Dao identified by the local agents, immediately dismounted along with his retinue. As they formed ranks and advanced, they projected their voices, shouting loudly and clearly: "The Embroidered Uniform Guard is handling a case, apprehending the criminal Xiong Dao! All uninvolved persons, disperse at once, or you will be treated as accomplices!"