Chapter 1034: Growth

Making someone repent is simple — just let them compare before and after. Let them understand how bad things were in the past, and realize how good things are now. As long as they're not fools, once they make that comparison and it clicks in their own minds, they'll understand exactly what's going on. Fear and shame intertwined, the scene grew quieter and quieter.

The stewards who had been lecturing earlier grew angrier the more they spoke. Seeing the corpses on the ground, they couldn't help a surge of lingering fear, thinking that if Ji Sikao had failed to suppress the situation just now and let these farmhands charge forward, the ones dead might very well have been themselves. And beyond that, so many of these farmhands were people they saw day and night, always greeting each other with friendly smiles — who could have imagined they'd now be corpses.

One of the younger stewards lost control and shouted through his tears, "Have dogs eaten all your brains? You had a good life but insisted on stirring up trouble. If you hadn't stirred up trouble, would they be dead? Who else under heaven would feed you like Master Jin does? When you farmed your own land, did you ever eat your fill? Look, just look!"

The scene fell utterly silent. Every farmhand's face showed panic, unease, and regret. As for the militia, they looked down on the kneeling farmhands with contempt. Some even muttered under their breath, "Trash like this isn't worth much. If we'd gone up there, the chaos in Shandong would've been settled already."

"Bullshit! When thousands upon thousands of bandits come surging at you, you can't even pull back with a gash on your body. Wave after wave charging in — kill one and another comes. You can't even keep your footing. You think you could handle it? You think you know why Master Jin uses household troops to go up? You're nowhere near ready!" Company Commander Zhang Lianzheng overheard this, turned around, and roared in fury. The militiamen immediately fell silent. Every militia company commander was a former household trooper — often assigned to lead militia because of some injury or other reason.

Over on the other side, Ji Sikao had already gotten his emotions under control. Only now did he truly come back to his senses. With great solemnity, he bowed deeply to Ma Chonghao and said in thanks, "Many thanks for the Battalion Commander's aid. Without it, this estate would have collapsed."

"It's all Zhao Battalion business, our own family's affair — no need for courtesy. Do you know, all along my journey here, every estate and market town I passed through looked unstable. Red Heaven Way, White Lotus Sect, Cudgel Society — none of them are quiet, all stirring up trouble and causing incidents. Yet I feel our Zhao Battalion is more stable than ever, nothing to worry about at all. Do you know why?" Ma Chonghao asked in return. Ji Sikao shook his head, somewhat bewildered.

Hearing this, Ji Sikao's expression turned grave and uneasy. He hadn't imagined the situation in Shandong had reached such a point. The Zhao Battalion had only just managed to seize control — could it be that everything was about to be lost? Ma Chonghao laughed heartily. "Because while a few places are rotten, most of the estates responded properly — they knew to take action, knew to suppress, and knew how to reason. All along my journey, I didn't even need to help. They quelled the unrest themselves. You estate heads, stewards, and militia — how many of you are over thirty? How many have weathered storms? And yet you've managed to achieve this. Once you become seasoned hands, once you've gained experience and insight, there'll be nothing to worry about. And what's more, Master Jin can train up batch after batch of people like you. Isn't that something formidable?"

Ma Chonghao's lengthy speech left Ji Sikao only half understanding, but instinctively he relaxed and lightened up, an involuntary smile appearing on his face. Ma Chonghao glanced at him and added with a grin, "But you're still not meticulous enough yet!"

With that, Ma Chonghao strode toward the place where the farmhands were kneeling. Ji Sikao, somewhat puzzled, hurried to keep pace. When they arrived, Ma Chonghao spoke. "Pick out the outsiders who aren't farmhands from among them!"

"There were outsiders?" Ji Sikao was shocked. He'd known someone had been stirring things up, but he'd assumed it was just the troublemakers among the farmhands who'd started the unrest. He'd never imagined outsiders had been mixed in. Ma Chonghao smiled but said nothing.

"Check every single person for me — dead or alive, go through them one by one. Zhang Lianzheng, keep a tight watch. Anyone who dares move, skewer them dead!" Ji Sikao's eyes had gone red as he roared hoarsely.

At Ji Sikao's shout, the scene once again descended into chaos, dust swirling everywhere. The kneeling farmhands rose one after another, shifting positions. In every farming estate the Zhao Battalion had established across Shandong, each steward directly managed two to three hundred people. These stewards also bore other duties — agricultural affairs, accounting, and so on. An estate might have several thousand farmhands, and most estate heads couldn't know every single person, but every steward knew each individual under them.

Following the training they'd received before deployment, the stewards spaced themselves out and stood in a line. With them as endpoints, the farmhands formed ranks before them. These simple formation drills had become familiar to the farmhands over the past days. After the slaughter and scolding just now, everyone was now thoroughly terrified, without the slightest slackness. Every squad quickly fell into order. During this process, the militia companies' pikes served as a deterrent — no one dared move recklessly. Yet some tried to seize the chaos to bolt and flee on foot. Unfortunately, over a dozen riders still patrolled the perimeter. On flat terrain, a man could never outrun a horse. They were all knocked unconscious and dragged back.

Once everyone was standing in place, the stewards began counting heads. They first inspected the corpses, then, leading ten militiamen, checked through everyone one by one. Under such circumstances, the outsiders mixed into the crowd were rooted out.

"So many? How do you know I'm not from the estate?" Those pulled out often still tried to talk tough. Only when they saw the pitying looks from the surrounding farmhands did they realize something was wrong. By then, escape was out of the question. A few tried to resist to the death, pulling out short knives about a foot long — and were promptly skewered through the heart by pikes.

The outsiders rooted out numbered over a dozen in total. Covered in dust and grime, they were hauled to the front. Ji Sikao looked at these people, grinding his teeth in hatred. Some hung their heads; others showed no fear at all, staring fixedly at Ji Sikao and Ma Chonghao. At first, some even made threats, saying that if they were released, fine — otherwise, when the True Immortal brought down his punishment, every one of them would die without a burial place. Then their mouths were gagged.

"Kill a couple to establish authority, then lecture the people below. In the current situation, don't overthink things. First make them fear you, then treat them well. Only then can you stabilize things," Ma Chonghao gently advised.

Ji Sikao nodded, drew his blade, and walked up to the few who had been making threats. He raised his arm and swung the blade. As the blade came up, he hesitated slightly. The scene was silent; everyone was watching Ji Sikao's movements. His hesitation didn't last long. The blade still hacked down viciously. Blood sprayed, and the man lay dead on the spot. The other outsiders who'd been dragged out all scrambled backward desperately, terror written across every face. Not far away, the farmhands — especially those in the front rows — also saw it clearly. Ji Sikao's upper body was already drenched in blood.

Having killed one, Ji Sikao walked to the second person. This man had been defiant moments before, but now his whole body trembled like a sieve. Seeing Ji Sikao approach, he tried desperately to kowtow, but bound as he was, his mouth gagged, he could do nothing. Yet the pleading look on his face was unmistakable to all. Ji Sikao's second blade showed not the slightest hesitation.

"Still doesn't quite know how to use a blade!" Ma Chonghao remarked with a laugh. Had he been the one killing, one stroke would leave at most a few drops of blood. But Ji Sikao's upper body was already stained crimson by the wildly spurting blood.

The stewards brought over a bamboo table for Ji Sikao. He stood atop it, drenched in blood, his killing aura thick and chilling. As his gaze swept over the crowd of farmhands below, the people beneath him all shrank back. No one could have imagined that this usually gentle and amiable young estate head could be so ferocious at a moment like this.

"Have dogs eaten every last bit of your conscience…" Ji Sikao shouted at the top of his lungs.

In the latter half of the seventh month, the Zhao Battalion issued orders to all newly established farming estates: any signs of instability or unrest were to be dealt with severely. Kill when necessary — no need for mercy. Those who shrank back in the face of battle were to be summarily dismissed and sent back to Xuzhou for punishment.

At the same time, the mounted volunteers from the Xuzhou and Pizhou area began entering Shandong, garrisoning in the three counties of Juye, Yutai, and Yuncheng. If trouble broke out at any estate, they could provide swift mounted support. Though these Xuzhou volunteers numbered only a little over four hundred riders in total, that was more than enough for the disturbances occurring within the estates. In fact, after the volunteer cavalry entered Shandong, no major unrest occurred at all. Even if several thousand farmhands rioted within an estate, as long as the militia formed ranks and suppressed them, there was no disturbance that couldn't be put down. It was merely a question of how many were killed.

After Ma Chonghao arrived in Jining, he first did several things. First was collective punishment: if an outsider lived next door to you and that person committed a crime or was a cult follower, and you knew but failed to report it, you too would be convicted and severely punished. Next was rewards for secret reports: report someone of suspicious behavior, and if verified, you'd receive over a hundred jin of coarse rice, convertible to copper coins or salt. For the common people of Jining, whose vitality had been grievously wounded, this was an enormous temptation. Once these measures were implemented, the hidden followers of the various sects had nowhere to hide. A large batch was ferreted out. A manor outside Jining city belonging to Cloud Mountain Trading was directly converted into a prison. The captured infiltrators and spies of every faction were all subjected to harsh torture there.

"Old Ma is right. The common folk are mostly ignorant people — they fear losses and covet small gains. As long as rewards and punishments are clear and truly enforced, no one will genuinely revere gods and buddhas!" Liu Yong said with deep conviction.

When word of the estate disturbances came back, Zhao Jin and his companions were somewhat agitated. They had thought the situation in Shandong was already stable — they hadn't expected such incidents to occur. Zhao Jin immediately issued orders allowing estate heads and company commanders everywhere to handle matters at their own discretion. Previously, killing someone required the joint decision of the estate head, company commander, vice company commander, platoon commander, and all stewards, with the reasons reported afterward. Now, the estate head and company commander alone could agree and carry out an execution, only needing to report the number of people afterward.

"The people's strength and hearts must indeed be cherished. But if they aren't our people's strength and hearts, then why show mercy? Set things in order first — there'll be time to talk later!" Zhao Jin also reflected on this matter.

First, I'm hoarsely begging for monthly tickets — only a few hours left of the double period! Then, letting everyone know, there's another update this afternoon. Three updates today! Three updates!