Chapter 1065: Internal Strife or Open Clash

"Master Jin, these people are yours to kill or beat as you please — they belong to you now. If you have any plan to gather and aid the Liaodong refugees, please let this Li know. I am willing to pour out my entire family fortune to help." After Li Ziyou delivered these people, he made this solemn pledge to Zhao Jin.

Zhao Jin smiled and nodded. Li Ziyou's transformation was too drastic. The last time he came, he had also sent a few men to Zhao Jin's side, and back then he still felt the chaos in Liaodong was greatly beneficial to his Liaodong goods trade, and he did not shy away from doing business with the Jianzhou Jurchens. But this time it was completely different. His business had not changed, yet his heart was filled with towering hatred. What had changed him? Perhaps it was the national and family hatred he had witnessed and heard with his own eyes and ears.

Before Li Ziyou left, he went in front of Zhao Jin to specifically give instructions to the Liaodong refugees, telling them that going to Xuzhou would be far better than staying here in Qingjiangpu, and that they could also help rescue their fellow countrymen from Dengzhou Prefecture and Liaodong. He told them to cherish this opportunity, not to stir up trouble and bring disaster upon themselves, and not to delay the relief efforts over there.

The Liaodong refugees responded to Li Ziyou's lecture in a ragged, uneven chorus. They voiced their agreement, but their expressions were utterly perfunctory. Zhao Jin and all his attendants were watching this scene. Ji Xiang frowned and said, "They look like an ungrateful lot. They'll need to be straightened out before they're any use."

Zhao Jin did not pick up that thread. He only smiled and said, "Too many people died over in Yanzhou Prefecture, and too many fields lie abandoned. You've seen the reports from there as well. Right now, the problem isn't a lack of land — it's a lack of people. Why do the local gentry and powerful families in Shandong tacitly allow the sects to stir up trouble with us? It's because our manors have tied up the population, and they don't have enough manpower themselves. For our Xuzhou, this manpower shortage is just as crippling. We've taken over so much land, and there's even more land waiting to be taken, but we can't farm it and can only leave it to waste."

"Big Brother, you mean we can take in these Liaodong refugees? But it's still quite a journey from Dengzhou Prefecture to Yanzhou Prefecture. Will the local authorities allow it? After all, that many people crossing their territory..." Ji Xiang had been at Zhao Jin's side long enough to immediately grasp his meaning.

"In these years, aside from the great famine and chaos in Shandong, the other regions around Xuzhou have barely managed to scrape by. Naturally, not many people there are willing to become our tenant farmers. But the Liaodong refugees are different. They've come all the way from Liaodong — how many of them can actually go seek refuge with Li Ziyou? Most are just barely surviving in Dengzhou Prefecture. With so many refugees flooding in, every government office in Dengzhou Prefecture, as well as the local gentry and powerful families, surely finds them a nuisance. Resettling them would mean spending their own money and effort. These people are numerous and united — trying to exploit and take advantage of them could easily provoke public fury. With so many gathered in Dengzhou Prefecture, sooner or later they'll cause trouble. If someone is willing to take them away, the locals will certainly be delighted." Zhao Jin was in a very good mood and explained this to Ji Xiang in detail.

Ji Xiang nodded repeatedly. Zhao Jin then added with a smile, "Besides, the Shandong troops are our defeated foes. Would they dare interfere?"

These words filled Ji Xiang with heroic fervor, and he grinned and nodded. Zhao Jin pondered for a moment, then said, "We need to send a letter to Yu Zhiyuan. To go to Liaodong and take in refugees, our own fleet will have to go as well. On this matter, we must be willing to spend silver."

While Li Ziyou was present, those eighty-odd Liaodong refugees remained relatively docile. The moment he left, they changed completely, and the looks they cast toward Zhao Jin's side were full of hostility.

"Big Brother, if we were weak and outnumbered — just an ordinary wealthy household — these people would probably try to rob us halfway down the road. We might not even keep our lives." Ji Xiang saw their expressions and felt deeply disgusted.

When Zhao Jin came to Qingjiangpu, he had an escort of several hundred cavalry. However, the streets in Qingjiangpu's core district were too narrow for cavalry to maneuver easily, so the guard duty was taken over by companies from the Third Brigade and the Patrol Corps. When it was time to leave, these guards were to hand off to the cavalry on the outskirts of Qingjiangpu. The cavalry had not yet arrived.

The thunderous sound of hoofbeats rang out. The faces of those unruly Liaodong refugees all changed color. Some even looked around frantically, searching for an escape route. Only when they saw that Zhao Jin and his men remained perfectly composed did they settle down somewhat.

When they saw the mounted household troop company of the Zhao Battalion appear — their steeds tall and powerful horses, every rider clad in iron armor on their upper bodies, fully equipped with long blades, short spears, and bows and arrows, each man exuding a fierce and formidable aura — this force formed a protective ring around Zhao Jin and his party at the center.

Only after witnessing such strength did the Liaodong refugees become much more docile. Although Li Ziyou had been generous enough to let these eighty-odd refugees bring two carts to carry their meager luggage, they still had to follow on foot. Weighed down by these refugees, the main party could not move quickly at all, though the pace was leisurely enough.

The first thing Zhao Jin paid attention to was not those refugees. He glanced back several times at Ji Xiang's carriage and said with a smile, "The people of Qingjiangpu really are willing to spend. If nothing else, these few carriages must have cost quite a bit of silver."

Originally, ox and horse-drawn carts were not common in the Jiangbei region of South Zhili. Only Xuzhou had a mule and horse market, and Qingjiangpu had a few large cartage businesses. But after the Zhao Battalion took Qingjiangpu, they used draft animals extensively, and the local area followed the trend. Previously, people of status traveled by sedan chair; now they all used horse-drawn carriages. Moreover, the carriage compartments were all exquisitely decorated and looked extraordinarily magnificent.

As soon as Zhao Jin brought this up, Ji Xiang looked rather ashamed. Sweating with embarrassment, he said, "Big Brother, I know I was wrong. Those few who sent gifts and women were all scared out of their wits — you could tell at a glance they had guilty consciences. Who knows what they were plotting at first. It's a good thing you saw through it, Big Brother, or it would have turned into a disaster."

"They are businessmen. For every coin they spend, they expect to earn at least one coin back. Spending so much silver on you, of course they had an ulterior motive. But it may not necessarily have been a malicious plot. Still, with them acting like this, there's no guarantee what the people behind them might be thinking. By then, if things got out of hand, it would be a huge problem," Zhao Jin said calmly. The Internal Guard had already investigated thoroughly: the several wealthy merchants who had sent women to curry favor with Ji Xiang all had very close ties with the Zhao Battalion.

These people might not have harbored any conspiracy; they were simply doing things the way things were done in this age. When dealing with officials, if they didn't fawn and flatter in every possible way, they themselves would feel uneasy. They had never imagined that the Zhao Battalion's way of handling affairs was nothing like that.

They walked slowly along the Grand Canal. The river surface was busy with grain barges and civilian boats coming and going, and the roads along the banks were crowded with traveling merchants and common folk. When these people saw the large procession of the Zhao Battalion pass by, they all reverently stepped aside to the roadside to wait. Looking further at the villages and fields on either side of the road, it was a scene of peace and prosperity as far as the eye could see. To the people of Xuzhou, this sight was commonplace, but to those Liaodong refugees, it was entirely different.

Seeing all this, the Liaodong refugees wore complex expressions. A tall, burly Liaodong man looked at the Zhao Battalion's cavalry, then at the scenery along the banks, and sneered, "They look sharp, but they're probably just for show. Living in such a peaceful place, what real action have they ever seen? If the Tartars really came, they'd be nothing but pigs and sheep, cut down like melons and vegetables."

As soon as he said this, someone beside him chimed in, "Brother Peng is right. No matter how you spin it, they're nothing more than local militia and village braves. Even if our government troops are dressed in rags and tatters, we're still far better than them."

The few men around them all laughed along. But the cart driver frowned. What these gossiping men naturally did not know was that the drivers of the two carts Li Ziyou had sent were both men from the Internal Guard, planted in their ranks precisely to listen to the wind and watch their expressions.

"Fine words, but look at you lot — from all over the place. You used to only know how to ride around and throw your weight. How many Tartars have you actually killed? And didn't you all end up running here to Shandong just the same? Did you bring your families with you? What are you bragging about here? Do you really have the face for it?" Just as they were talking, someone nearby spoke up with cold sarcasm.

At these words, the few who had just been disparaging the Zhao Battalion flew into a rage. They followed the voice and snarled viciously, "What the hell do you know? The Tartars can't be beaten! They're tigers and wolves out of the deep forests — raised on raw meat and blood, bursting with strength. How could we beat them? If we brothers hadn't fought to the death, none of you would have escaped!"

"Bullshit! I've been to Jianzhou myself. The Tartars there live in villages, farm the land, and do business just like anyone else. How the hell are they tigers and wolves? Relying on you fighting to the death? If you'd actually been willing to fight to the death, how would we all have ended up like this? Who can count on you government troops? How many Tartars have you killed? Every man in our mining camp has seen blood!" The other side roared back without the slightest timidity, shouting just as roughly. The one who spoke was a stout, burly man built like an iron tower, his face dark and swarthy, glaring furiously at the others.

"Right! Brother Xiong is right! When we were fighting the Tartars, where were you? When we were locked in life-and-death battle with the Tartars, when did we ever see any government troops? Only Marshal Mao sent some support. If there had been government troops, how could Jinzhou and Fuzhou have been sacked by the Tartars? Our brothers on Thirteen Mountains are still holding out to this day! Weren't you government troops supposed to have hundreds of thousands in Liaoxi? Where are they?!"

"... Only Marshal Mao was a real man. You government troops aren't worth a single hair! The man who led our uprising was even a certified scholar — where the hell were you government troops!"

One man shouted, and many echoed him, each telling of their own plight. Others chimed in with more, and before long, they were all cursing furiously. No one was in a hurry to keep walking anymore; filthy abuse flew back and forth without pause. That Brother Peng had about twenty men gathered around him, and now they were getting desperate too, shouting back, "You've actually been to Jianzhou? Then you must be spies colluding with the Tartar slaves! When we get to the yamen, we'll definitely report you to the authorities! You're spies in league with bandits and rebels!"

"You still have the face to say that? You're government troops who fled here — desertion in the face of the enemy is a capital crime! You want to see the magistrate? Let's go see the magistrate!" Another man shouted roughly, completely unafraid. The two sides had already separated and were ready to start fighting.

It's the end of the month — if you have monthly tickets, it's time to vote. Thanks to "Wu Liulang," "User Dongfang," "Qi Sanwen," "Yuan Heng Li Zhen," "Mu Ming," "dick117712," and "Blessing of the Light Angel," both new and old friends, for the tips. Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets. Thank you, everyone.