Chapter 1142: Who Is Passing Word Along

Zhao Jin patted Ji Xiang on the shoulder and said with a smile, "You have to see the upside. Jining's in chaos, and so is it here — but what kind of chaos? Over in Jining they want to drag us into a lawsuit, stirring up a bunch of scholars to make trouble. And here? They can only strike at a few of our most outlying farms. Our heartland remains perfectly peaceful."

After saying this, Zhao Jin's expression turned grave. In a low voice he said, "This time it's my fault. I kept demanding you all do things by the rules, but I got careless about these few farms out here. I figured no one in Shandong would dare provoke us, that this place was remote and quiet. I never imagined they'd strike right here. It seems from now on we can't afford the slightest slack."

Ji Xiang nodded solemnly. Zhao Jin's smile returned. To the household soldier who had come to report, he said, "Behead all those we captured. The prisoners the bandits took will follow us for now. Release them once we reach an inhabited village."

The household soldier acknowledged the order but did not move. Bowing, he said, "Master, that Yao Qi wants to take a blade and chop off bandit heads himself. What is Master's wish?"

"Good. A man like that has luck and guts, and he's willing to stand with us body and soul. Our Zhao Camp needs men like him. Give him a blade. From here on, he marches with us." Zhao Jin nodded his assent, then said to Ji Xiang, "Once the beheadings over there are done, rest and reorganize for one double-hour, then we move out to the next bandit nest!"

Ji Xiang hurriedly acknowledged and strode off to make arrangements. The camp, quiet just moments before, bustled again. Not far away, wails and shrieks could be heard, but these sounds grew fewer and fewer. Behind the mountain, smoke and dust rose unceasingly — Ox Head Stockade was burning.

The four farms at the confluence of the Meng and Yi rivers had been raided by bandits, and because there were Liao refugees inside acting as collaborators, not a single one was spared — all were put to the sword. The relocated farmhands were either killed or scattered. But the messengers sent out reached Yizhou in time. Yizhou dispatched over a hundred riders to investigate. They saw the farms' wretched state and could only race back to Xuzhou with an urgent report.

Just as this urgent report reached Xuzhou, the urgent report from Jining arrived as well. Zhao Jin made his decision at once: the Guard Brigade's First and Second Regiments would each detach three companies; the Firearms Battalion and the Mounted Household Soldier Regiment would each detach two companies. All would be fully supplied with horses. Riders were sent at speed with orders to Tancheng County and the Yizhou area, instructing the farming estates and the Tian family line there to ready supplies and receive the main force's arrival.

Zhao Jin was not worried about Jining. Chen Sheng, Ma Chonghao, and Lei Cai were there, and the forces in that area were no weaker than those in Xuzhou. As long as they responded correctly, there would be no major trouble. Zhao Jin dispatched his own personal guards to deliver his message: tolerate nothing, resolutely strike back and suppress. As for the four farms along the Yi River that had been attacked, Zhao Jin would personally lead elite troops there. He would use the absolute advantage of a mountain bearing down to utterly crush every overreaching foe, and employ equally brutal methods to send a warning to everyone.

No one expected Xuzhou to react so fast. Gegou Crossing had essentially been seized by surprise; there had not even been a chance to send word out. After turning it into a transit camp, Zhao Jin and Ji Xiang took their picked troops and wagons loaded with supplies, fighting as they marched and making camp wherever they stopped.

The gentry and local strongmen of the Meng and Yi river region were insular to begin with and knew little of outside changes. When Xuzhou troops suddenly appeared, they were all at a loss. They had thought the area would revert to how it was before, with the local gentry and strongmen in charge, not this so-called Xuzhou Zhao Camp that had popped up out of nowhere. Who could have guessed that over a thousand armored elite cavalry would suddenly arrive — and with two cannons, at that — leaving them with no will to resist whatsoever.

This sudden arrival also uncovered many things. Many farmhands who had fled the farms had escaped into these local villages. Far from being taken in, they were killed by the village militias. And the farms, after being put to the sword by the bandits, had been looted a second time by the local villages. The landlords and strongmen had even begun dividing up the farmland. One must understand that irrigation ditches had already been dug here and the fields roughly leveled. As long as you planted, the harvest was sure to be good. Some farmhands who had luckily survived the slaughter but had not left met equally miserable fates.

Zhao Camp's method of dealing with this was simple: anyone with blood on their hands was beheaded. The ringleaders were interrogated, then beheaded. The local village militias also banded together to resist, but before Zhao Camp's most elite forces, they were utterly outmatched. After heads rolled in abundance, some information was also obtained. For instance, Squire Shu of a certain fortified village — he had a relative serving as an official in the provincial capital and also maintained close ties with the local outlaws and bandits. He was a major power seated right here. He had once received a certain person with the utmost deference, and had also been in contact with the bandits. When the bandits came down from the mountains to raid the stockade, he had even provided supplies and manpower. There were even rumors that the Shu family's able-bodied men had taken part in the attack on Zhao Camp's farms.

In the course of pacifying the local villages, those fortunate farmhands who had escaped from the farms and not fallen into local hands were also gathered up. Among them was Yao Qi. The blade that had struck his head had been so dull it only drew blood and knocked him unconscious but did not kill him. When Yao Qi awoke, all he saw were corpses and ruins everywhere.

But Yao Qi dared not seek refuge in the local villages. He had heard how the common folk of Shandong detested the Liao refugees. Still, some of the skills from his days in the Liao garrison and on Pi Island proved useful. He struggled to survive like this, and just when he could barely hold on any longer, he saw Zhao Camp's main force approaching. Only then did Yao Qi dare come out and offer his service. By this point, Yao Qi's hatred for the bandits who had raided the farm and the local strongmen who had abetted them was etched into his bones. Zhao Jin took him along, had him recount in detail what had happened that day, describe everything that had occurred at the farm, and then identify people and guide the way.

Shu Family Village was the first local village to be broken. Squire Shu's entire family was dragged out and immediately subjected to harsh torture. People like them knew they had no path to survival, yet they also lacked the fortitude to keep silent under duress — they only begged for a quick end. One member of the Shu family served as a Vice Director in the Ministry of Justice in the capital. The Shu family had relied on this relative to gradually rise to prominence. Two months earlier, this relative had sent a letter home, accompanied by a middle-aged man of composed and graceful bearing.

The letter was in the relative's own hand and promised the family all manner of benefits. It also hinted that this middle-aged man's status was extraordinary — if the Shu family served him with all their heart, countless advantages were assured. The letter did not spell out exactly what was to be done, only vaguely mentioning that it involved targeting Xuzhou's farming estates. The local gentry and strongmen already harbored deep resentment toward Xuzhou people coming here, and with such a noble connection making the introduction, they naturally cooperated fully.

This middle-aged man brought several capable attendants. He spoke pure official dialect and his place of origin could not be identified. He was very free with his spending, and the Shu family was willing to work for him. Local strongmen of this sort invariably had ties to mounted bandits and outlaws — fencing stolen goods, providing supplies, and the like. This middle-aged man understood this well and directly had the Shu family help him make contact with the local outlaw and mounted-bandit factions. The Shu family had initially been unwilling to do this — partly because it would expose their own dirty dealings, and partly because this middle-aged man's status was surely extraordinary. If anything went wrong, they could not bear the consequences.

Later, the middle-aged man insisted repeatedly and also promised that sons of the Shu family would be granted official rank — at the very least, two Patrol Chief posts in Ju Prefecture could be given to Shu family sons. Only this made the Shu family commit wholeheartedly to helping. This middle-aged man visited several mountain strongholds and bandit lairs. The various outlaw figures were extremely wary at first, but later became utterly deferential. There were also occasions when they tested each other's martial skill; the attendants at the middle-aged man's side were all warriors who could each fight ten men, and they were more than capable of commanding respect.

Later still, the Shu family used their dealings with the farms to gather intelligence and pass word to the outlaw mountain strongholds. After the bandit gangs came down from the mountains, they prepared supplies. When Xuzhou's farms were put to the sword, the Shu family and several neighboring local villages felt no pity whatsoever — they were even elated. Being able to carve up this already-developed farmland made the whole affair worthwhile. They even planned to follow Xuzhou's example and recruit Liao refugees to farm the land — far more useful than oxen or horses.

Once the full story was extracted, all the Shu family males were beheaded. The women were enslaved and sent under guard to Gegou Crossing, from where they would be assigned to farms in the Yizhou area of Yanzhou Prefecture. The locations of several mountain bandit strongholds were now known, but the Liao refugees who had turned traitor at the critical moment had vanished. Their fate could only be death. Zhao Camp would keep pursuing them without cease.

The now-sealed Shu Family Village became the forward encampment for Zhao Jin's thousand-strong mounted column. After resting and reorganizing at the foot of the mountain, a large cart loaded with severed heads was sent back to Shu Family Village under the escort of ten household soldiers, and from there on to Gegou Crossing. Meanwhile, Zhao Jin led the column straight for Hawk Beak Cliff, sixty li away. There, a band of mounted bandits — over sixty riders — was based. They were said to be the strongest force within two hundred li, a group formed from deserters and local mounted bandits.

Of all the mountainous places under heaven, if there weren't eight hundred called Hawk Beak Cliff, there were at least a thousand. These mounted bandits did not actually make their lair on Hawk Beak Cliff itself but were stationed in the village below. When they went out to plunder and extort, they never touched this village. Moreover, the several hundred villagers here relied on this band of mounted bandits for protection and did not have to worry about taxes or corvée labor. It was a coexistence where each took what they needed.

If enemies truly came, the able-bodied men among the several hundred villagers would also take up arms to help. Though the mounted bandits wreaked considerable havoc elsewhere, to these villagers they were a benefit. However, these several hundred villagers — nearly two hundred able-bodied men — were utterly insignificant before Zhao Camp's mounted column. These villagers had no will to resist, either. They surrendered obediently and held nothing back. Only, those mounted bandits were no longer here.

Zhao Camp now held not the slightest shred of mercy for the local common folk. Even though the Hawk Beak Cliff villagers spoke thus, several people were still seized at random and interrogated under torture. Men were also sent to search the village and to examine the hoofprints around its perimeter. After confirming again and again, it was established that the several dozen mounted bandits had indeed left first. And according to the intelligence extracted under torture, someone had come to pass word along.

Ox Head Stockade and Hawk Beak Cliff were sixty li apart, and there was conflict between them. The unit Zhao Jin led was moving with great stealth — it was unlikely the enemy could have detected them on their own. And those few bandit remnants who had fled down the mountain were hardly likely, out of towering loyalty, to come here and deliver a warning.

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