Chapter 270: Burden

Chen Xin finished reading the urgent letter, tossed it casually onto the table, and sneered, "The same old game of pacification." Then he leisurely propped his feet up on the edge of the table, rocking them slowly, while repeatedly reading another letter that had come from Wendeng. Hai Gouzi was adding charcoal to the fire nearby, slanting his eyes to steal glances at Chen Xin.

"Gouzi, what has your Brother Liu been busy with these past few days?"

"Mo Huaiwen and Wang Erya and the others have arrived. The civil affairs people are all bustling about at Mishen Shan. I went to see Brother Liu before noon, and he didn't even lift his head." After saying this, Hai Gouzi chuckled foolishly and added, "There's nothing interesting over on the civil affairs side. They're busy all day long and never get a day off. I heard that ever since Wang Erya got to the tobacco workshop, she raised the daily unpaid quota by a lot. Those workers toil seven or eight shichen a day, and only after five shichen do they start earning piece-rate pay. If they can't finish the quota, their wages get docked."

Chen Xin chuckled. Back when Liu Minyou was in the project team, he had hated the R&D manager most of all — that manager forced them to work overtime every day and got very displeased whenever he saw someone leaving on time. Now Wang Erya was developing along exactly those lines.

"Then did Brother Liu not intervene in the tobacco workshop's affairs?"

"He did. He wanted Wang Erya to reduce the unpaid quota a bit. But I heard from the civil affairs people that Wang Erya gave him a thorough tongue-lashing on the spot, and Lord Liu had nothing more to say after that."

"Haha." Chen Xin laughed smugly. The tobacco workshop had previously been managed by Li Ranzhu, whose temperament was too mild. Chen Xin himself had not been entirely satisfied, but out of consideration for Liu Minyou's face, he had refrained from saying much. Now he felt Wang Erya was far more suitable.

Seeing Chen Xin in a good mood, Hai Gouzi smiled and asked, "My lord, the Lady has borne you an eldest son. When will you go back to see him?"

Chen Xin glanced at the letter in his hand. In his heart, he truly did want to go back and see his son, but this battle was far from over. He could only let out a long sigh and say, "I'll wait a little longer. I'll go back after the fighting is done."

Hai Gouzi grinned foolishly. "I've got to prepare some gifts for the young master too."

"Go ahead and prepare something. Nothing expensive — just buy some clothes or the like."

"But I still don't know when we can go back. Big Brother, why haven't we attacked Li Jiucheng yet? Don't let him get pacified."

Chen Xin lit a cigarette for himself, narrowed his eyes, and exhaled smoke before saying, "I need him alive. Pacification — it won't be that easy. I've already sent Zhang Dong to wait on the official road west of Pingdu. Li Jiucheng won't even get word of it."

Just then, someone knocked at the door. Chen Xin immediately took his feet off the table, composed himself into a proper posture, and said loudly, "Come in."

The adjutant pushed the door open and entered. He reported in a loud voice, "Reporting to my lord: last night the rebel forces captured Pingdu. Zhou Shifa sent back word that a fire suddenly broke out at the north gate, and the rebels had collaborators inside the city. Department Magistrate Chen Suowen, Vice Prefect Lu Hongyun, and Jail Warden Fang Zengwei were killed. The rebels have now entered the city and are once again wantonly..."

Chen Xin sprang to his feet. "Where is Liu Pojun right now?"

"He has already reached the outskirts of Laizhou. Geng Zhongming had originally been fighting him intermittently, stopping and starting, but last night he suddenly withdrew. Liu Pojun failed to detect it in time."

Chen Xin stroked his chin and said, "Notify the Central Army staff to prepare their gear immediately. Wang Bingzhong will accompany me. We depart for Laizhou in one shichen. Gouzi, pack up the things. Once you're done, come with me to take leave of Army Supervisor Lü."

"Yes, sir!"

The adjutant acknowledged the order and withdrew out the door. Chen Xin suddenly remembered something and called the adjutant back. "Wang Mafu, send someone to the Mishen Shan camp to inform Mr. Liu. Tell him I am going to the front to deal with Liu Pojun's matter. All Dengzhou affairs are to be handled at his full discretion. The Third Company Command will remain behind to assist Mr. Liu in maintaining stability in Dengzhou."

Once the adjutant had left, Hai Gouzi also began helping Chen Xin pack his things. Although Chen Xin was the commander of the entire army, his kit when going on campaign was quite simple — just some clothing, short firearms, and secret manuals.

Watching his busy young brother, Chen Xin smiled and asked, "Gouzi, has your wife borne you a child yet?"

Hai Gouzi grinned foolishly. "I only just got married last year, no child yet. My mother came to me in a dream last night and told me to have one soon."

"You should indeed have one soon. You only have one wife. This time, have Mr. Liu allocate you a few more concubines."...

"Mr. Liu." Dong Yu licked his lips. "How should we dispose of these spoils?"

Liu Minyou rubbed his reddened eyes. He had finally finished inventorying the main supplies. The silver totaled one million six hundred thousand taels, the cloth and silk were worth nearly five hundred thousand taels, there were two thousand one hundred head of cattle, one thousand nine hundred horses, and the jewelry was still being appraised. Now they had arrived at the most troublesome part of the spoils.

This encampment was situated at the highest point of the Mishen Shan camp. Over a thousand women squatted packed across the grounds, some helping to distribute gruel. The soldiers standing guard outside occasionally stole glances from the corners of their eyes.

These women had all been seized by the rebels along their path through Shandong. Before they could be transported into Dengzhou, the Wendeng Battalion had stormed the camp, and they had become part of the spoils. This was not the first time the Wendeng Battalion had encountered such a situation.

Liu Minyou also had a headache over this. The tobacco workshop already had enough people; many settler households relied on it for their livelihood. He could not dismiss the female workers and hire these women in their place.

"Those who wish to return home — once the rebels are pacified, we will issue them travel expenses. As for those who do not wish to return home..."

Dong Yu smiled and said, "These women have all been defiled. Besides, their homes have been destroyed by the rebels. Where would they even find them?"

"This... there are too many. How can we resettle them?" Liu Minyou was momentarily at a loss.

A woman's voice behind them said loudly, "What's so hard about resettling them? Sell them to the soldiers as concubines. If the soldiers don't want them, sell them to the settler households. If they can't produce silver, let them pay in grain, spread over three years until it's paid off."

The two turned their heads in astonishment. It was none other than Wang Erya. She had been busy these past two days sorting through the jewelry and had slept little more than a single shichen in total. At this moment, her hair was disheveled, her face smeared with grime. Dong Yu clapped his hands. "Shopkeeper Wang has keen insight."

Liu Minyou said angrily to Dong Yu, "What keen insight? These women are human beings too. How can they be bought and sold?"

Dong Yu shrank his head back and dodged away. Wang Erya, however, showed not the slightest blush. She stretched her limbs at her leisure and said as she did so, "If we don't sell them, who's going to feed them? The tobacco workshop can take at most a hundred more female workers. Among the workshops, only scale-armor making needs some women, and those all use the family members of settler households. That only leaves the general store. How many forts and villages can Dengzhou open this time? How can over a thousand women possibly all be resettled? How much grain will they eat in a single day? Those combat soldiers have such high pay — taking them as concubines is exactly right."

Liu Minyou glared at her with displeasure. "If we do this, what difference is there between us and those who traffic in 'lean horses'?"

Wang Erya said, "I originally thought they could be sold to the brothels, but I knew Mr. Liu would not agree, so I didn't say it. Anyway, I've given Mr. Liu my suggestion. If Mr. Liu doesn't agree, then just keep feeding these women. The tobacco workshop will only take a hundred, in any case. I'm going back to counting the jewelry. Dong Yu, bring fifty baked flatbreads inside for my people."

With that, she turned and went back into the tent. Liu Minyou said to Dong Yu in exasperation, "This kind of woman..."

Dong Yu said in a low voice, "Lord Liu, you'd be mistaken if you treat her as a woman." Having said this, he hurried off to fetch the flatbreads.

Liu Minyou suppressed his anger, turned back, and once again faced the dense mass of women before him, his brow furrowing...

Three days later, the Wendeng Battalion's Central Army, along with the First Company Command, arrived outside the city of Pingdu. The vanguard force led by Liu Pojun was encamped on the west bank of the Xianhe River northeast of the city. The rebel forces had all withdrawn into the city. Along the way, many rebel soldiers had deserted. Inside the city, there were still roughly over four thousand camp soldiers, along with some of their family members.

Liu Pojun sat dejectedly inside the central army tent. He had been ordered to lead troops in pursuit of the rebels. The entire way, he had carefully controlled his men, not allowing them to launch full attacks on Geng Zhongming, who was covering the rear. He was already utterly exhausted and overwhelmed. Today, as soon as Chen Xin arrived, a meeting was convened and he was roundly criticized.

At this moment, Chen Xin, his earlier severity at the meeting now gone, smiled as he handed Liu Pojun a cup of tea. Liu Pojun stood up to receive it. Chen Xin waved his hand for him to sit.

"Pojun, you have been wronged in this matter."

Liu Pojun raised his head and said with some agitation, "Zhu Guobin said that I must have taken bribes from the rebels. I would rather die than let this rest with him."

"Just now at the meeting, Zhu Guobin and the others spoke too harshly. They do not know the inside story. Do not take it to heart. In the future, you must still get along well with these officers. Pojun, you must understand — you took the blame not for their sake. What we do is not to seize official posts and wealth for ourselves. Everything we do is for the countless common people who have been displaced and suffer. Without the land and wealth of Pingdu and Huangxian, how many commoners would be left without food or clothing?"

"I..." Liu Pojun shook his head but could not speak. Chen Xin stood up and patted him on the shoulder. "Just now, for the sake of appearances, I had no choice but to criticize you somewhat. But that was a show for others to see. Everything you have done for my Wendeng Battalion, I keep it all in my heart."

Liu Pojun raised his head, his eyes reddening slightly. Seeing his expression, Chen Xin knew he had not yet gotten past that hurdle. Adopting a tone of profound compassion, he continued, "Do not think that only those who fight and kill the enemy on the battlefield are heroes. The truly brave dare to face a bleak life head-on, dare to look squarely at dripping blood, and dare to shoulder the unavoidable blame they must bear."

Liu Pojun looked slightly surprised, his mouth opening slightly. Chen Xin sighed and said, "You know full well what the situation in Wendeng is like — our hands are tied at every turn. In this world today, all affairs are fraught with difficulty, and the common people suffer every single day. We must be worthy of the imperial court above and worthy of the common people below. Where does benefit for the people come from? We can only move against those in the middle who are wealthy but unkind, those stubborn and foolish people. We can only do things that are out of the ordinary. Do you think I enjoy doing these things? Senior officials, the gentry, the Jianzhou bandits, the rebels — which of them is easy to deal with? Would I not rather be a rich man living in peace and plenty? Who would willingly walk among tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves, enduring countless cold stares and contempt? Ever since we set our strategy, for months I have not had a single night of sound sleep. Every time I think of those innocent people of Dengzhou who died, I lie awake all night. But without doing this, we cannot save more people. At the very least, I can guarantee that not a single thing has been done for personal gain. I guarantee you that, a thousand years from now, you will be given justice. When that time comes, the common people will raise their thumbs and say, this man was a true hero." Chen Xin had originally only meant to coax Liu Pojun, but as he spoke, he actually became quite moved, and an unconscious desolation crept into his tone.

"I understand." Liu Pojun listened quietly and thought for a moment. Finally, he stood up, biting his lower lip. "My lord, you are the one who has truly suffered. This small grievance of mine is nothing. If my lord has any further tasks, just entrust them to me. I will certainly carry them out well."

Chen Xin smiled. "It is good that Pojun has thought it through. In the next couple of days, we will break through Pingdu. When the time comes, I will need you, Pojun, to continue leading the troops in pursuit. This time, drive them toward the Liao Sea. Again, they must not be completely annihilated."

Liu Pojun: "..."