Chapter 1012: Two Groups Surrender

"Look, salt carts." Someone murmured a quiet alert. Xie Mingxian's group had dealt extensively with the jianghu underworld and knew a great deal about the private salt trade; seeing this, they all warned one another.

Everyone looked over and saw six large ox and horse carts loaded full with burlap sacks, their wheels carving deep ruts into the road. One sack had torn open, salt grains spilling out, and someone dabbed a finger to taste it.

At the sight, Xie Mingxian and many of his subordinates felt their eyelids twitch. To be running a private salt operation so brazenly, and in such huge volume — Xie Mingxian thought he had figured out the source of the Zhao Camp's wealth. This place was right near the Huai salt fields; if they controlled the private salt trade here, of course the money would pour in like gold by the bushel.

"Look at you, acting like you've never seen anything. This is nothing. On the river, you'll see a dozen or even dozens of boats at a time, all loaded with salt!" One of the escorting household retainers overheard their discussion and scoffed dismissively.

"Bumpkins from Shandong, what do they know of Xuzhou's grand scale?" "Forget Shandong — anyone from outside the province is the same!" The escorting retainers and militia chatted away in high spirits, scornful of these outsiders' astonishment, each one feeling quite proud.

Xie Mingxian shook his head slightly, thinking to himself that if the Xuzhou forces relied on nothing but private salt for their support, then their prospects could not be all that great. The immense profits of private salt came from the salt laws; if those laws ever changed, this pillar of support would vanish. If the Xuzhou forces' provisions and armaments could not keep up, then what far-reaching ambitions could they even speak of?

But before they had traveled much further, Xie Mingxian overturned his own assumption. Xuzhou's waterworks were extremely well developed, and the farmland was impeccably neat and orderly. This was the season when the crops were growing, and anyone could see the harvest was bound to be excellent. With such fine farmland came grain, and with grain came a stable and contented populace. Xie Mingxian then saw more and more workshops and manufactories, saw the fleets of boats on the rivers and the convoys of carts on the roads. With all these crafts flourishing and this commerce and trade circulating, any amount of wealth could be generated. Compared to that, the private salt was actually small profit.

The more he saw, the more deeply moved he became. Once again Xie Mingxian confirmed that Zhao Jin's ambitions were vast. With the support of agriculture, industry, and commerce, how many elite troops could be raised? Where under heaven could they not go?

Xie Mingxian's group had assumed they would enter Xuzhou city to take a look, and everyone was full of anticipation, thinking that if the places along the road were already this prosperous, then what must the prefectural seat at the center be like? To their surprise, outside Xuzhou city, the escorting party made a handover, but instead of entering the city, they continued traveling west. Xie Mingxian knew that the Zhao Camp's center was at He Village, but everyone else was completely baffled.

However, the number of escorts increased: five hundred household retainers together with five hundred militia, plus an additional three hundred cavalry following along. Moreover, before setting out again from Xuzhou city, the escorts delivered a stern warning: any reckless movement would be met with summary execution. Everyone must remain in formation. If anyone needed to relieve themselves or had any other reason to leave the ranks, they had to call out a request in advance and could only move after receiving permission; otherwise, it was also a death sentence.

Normally, everywhere under heaven takes walled cities as their center, and the many cities in turn take a great city as their center. The most prosperous places are where the cities stand, and the farther one goes from a city, the poorer and more desolate it becomes. Although Xie Mingxian and his men knew beforehand that the Zhao Camp's core was at He Village, as they left the prefectural seat and traveled west, the sights along the way grew ever more prosperous and wealthy, which astonished them more and more the further they went.

By the time they traveled from the prefectural seat to the outskirts of He Village, it was already the afternoon of the second day. They watched the light of the setting sun and evening glow shine upon the He Village area, as if gilding its orderly and imposing clusters of buildings with a layer of gold — magnificent and splendid. Xie Mingxian and his people all stood frozen, gazing at the distant He Village area, every one of them utterly awestruck.

In terms of sheer scale, this scene naturally could not compare to Jining. Yet even in a place like Jining, if you stood atop the city wall and looked out, besides the mansions, pavilions, and terraces of the wealthy, and the towers of restaurants and pleasure houses, you would also see the dilapidated hovels of the destitute, the decay and filth. But looking at He Village from afar was not like that. Though the terrain was flat and they could not get a commanding view from above, and they were only seeing the eastern part of He Village, all along the journey they had witnessed a uniform prosperity and ease, and a general impression had already formed in their minds: within He Village, there surely were no places of poverty...

"This is truly an immortal realm on earth..." someone murmured. At any other time, that remark would certainly have drawn ridicule. They were all core members of the Incense Sect, and this talk of an "immortal realm on earth" was fine for fooling the ignorant masses, but they themselves should not believe it. Yet faced with the scene before them, no one felt the slightest urge to mock or joke, because everyone was thinking the exact same thing.

However, they did not go further inside to look. Right there they turned a corner, and the estate where they were to be quartered was nearby. This estate was actually the main garrison point for the Zhao Camp's cavalry forces. In normal times, two companies of militia guarded the stables. With such strength present, there was little worry about them causing any trouble.

Turning off from there, they were actually making a wide circle centered around He Village. Just seeing the outskirts of He Village in this way, and glimpsing the bustling activity within, was enough to fill Xie Mingxian and his followers with boundless yearning. Wen Tiejun and his men were even more engaged in constant whispered discussion. Xie Mingxian did not stop them, merely watching coldly.

Inside the estate where they were quartered, everyone's bonds were removed. But Xie Mingxian and his followers all knew that this moment was even more dangerous. Around the estate there were arrow towers, and there were even gun emplacements. If their group made any suspicious move, a barrage of firearms and arrows would likely rain down on their heads first, and then the cavalry would trample them all into meat paste. After warning and reminding one another, they all rested separately according to the Zhao Camp's arrangements.

Early the next morning, word came that Zhao Jin was coming to see them. This treatment made Xie Mingxian and his followers quite pleased. A man of Zhao Jin's stature was actually coming to see them, these bedraggled defeated soldiers who had surrendered — it was an enormous show of face.

Since Zhao Jin was coming to accept their surrender, they could not just stand around in a loose, slovenly manner. A household retainer officer from the Zhao Camp came over to instruct them, saying they should arrange themselves into a reasonably orderly formation; it would look more dignified that way. Everyone naturally obeyed and lined up neatly according to their respective commands. Although in name they all acknowledged Xie Mingxian as their leader, at this moment a division became apparent. Of the seven hundred-plus men, nearly three hundred stood beside Wen Tiejun, while the rest stood on Xie Mingxian's side.

Originally, everyone had placed Xie Mingxian at the very front, but now Wen Tiejun folded his arms across his chest and stood parallel to Xie Mingxian. It now looked as if two separate groups, led by two separate leaders, had come to surrender. The moment this posture was struck, the two sides immediately glared at each other with fury, and some could not hold back their curses. The unrest had barely begun before Xie Mingxian and Wen Tiejun shouted it down. The two men stared coldly at each other but said nothing more.

Just as the sun was rising, four companies of household retainers from the personal guard marched into the estate. Unlike their usual long-spear equipment, roughly two-thirds of the men carried pole sabers and short spears. This made Xie Mingxian and his people even more apprehensive; they knew the Zhao Camp was prepared for the worst. At the first sign of trouble, their several hundred men would likely be slaughtered to the last.

Yet what shook them even more than the weaponry was the armor these household retainers wore. Two-thirds of every man's body was covered in armor, which glittered and flashed under the sunlight — they were truly clad in iron from head to toe. Many of the followers Xie Mingxian had brought had seen the Zhao Camp's mounted retainers back at Zeng Village in Yuncheng, when they had been scattered and routed. Those mounted retainers had also been clad in iron, but cavalry were always the apple of every commander's eye; full-body armor for them was nothing unusual. Plenty of government army personal guard cavalry could manage the same. But for infantry to wear so much armor — they had not been at the Jining battlefield and had not really believed the rumors of the Zhao Camp's household retainers being fully armored in iron. Yet seeing it today, they had no choice but to believe.

The Zhao Camp's strength had actually reached such a level. Had their own Incense Sect gone utterly mad? To actually rise in rebellion right under the nose of such a power, to stir up trouble before such a colossus — was not defeat and destruction the inevitable outcome? But Xie Mingxian's face was full of bewilderment. He was even more confused. Connecting what he had seen and heard along the way with the sight before him now — Xuzhou was this formidable, possessed this much strength — why then had it sat back and allowed the Incense Sect's great rebellion? Why was it still holed up in this tiny corner of Xuzhou? As if something had occurred to him, Xie Mingxian's face went pale and he lowered his head.

The household retainer company commanders barked orders, and the four companies of retainers shifted formation, arranging themselves into human walls that separated and enveloped Xie Mingxian's group and Wen Tiejun's group. Facing these armored soldiers with blades drawn, these elite Incense Sect followers who had come to surrender all grew uneasy. They were now truly fish on the chopping block. If the other side decided to act, they had no ability whatsoever to resist; they could only let themselves be butchered.

A dozen or so riders clustered around Zhao Jin and his party as they arrived before the formation. Everyone could see the appearance of Zhao Jin and those beside him, and everyone could see how young Zhao Jin and his entourage were. Although they had heard this before, and many had even seen it at Zeng Village, they still could not quite get used to Zhao Jin being so young. Xie Mingxian, however, felt somewhat stirred. To achieve such a great enterprise at such a young age — his future was truly immeasurable.

A large, stout man beside Zhao Jin raised his arm, and the entire field instantly fell silent. Xie Mingxian's and Wen Tiejun's two groups had been whispering among themselves, somewhat restless, and were startled by this sudden silence. They had not expected such a uniform response and quickly fell silent as well, taking the hint.

"They do look stronger than starving refugees. These must be the Incense Sect's veteran core." Zhao Jin swept his gaze over them and said with a smile.

In such a quiet setting, everyone heard Zhao Jin's words clearly. The phrasing reassured Xie Mingxian and his people considerably. He had not used "roving bandits," nor had he used "evil cult," which showed he still regarded them as having some weight. Many of these men had served in the government army before and naturally knew what the officials' usual attitude was like.

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