Chapter 1208: Mopping Up

At that moment, Zhao Jin's expression was somewhat resigned. He said to Wang Zhaojing, "Don't bring up the Great Dao, and don't bring up carrying forward the past to create a new era. Everything I'm talking about is to make our Zhao Character Camp stronger, to make our situation larger and more stable. Establishing an orthodoxy and a doctrine is still far too early. You don't need to be so nervous. No matter what principle it is, good or bad, it must be discussed and tested before it can be used, not decided first and then tried out through error."

"True, your younger brother is too impatient," Wang Zhaojing said, not continuing the argument. However, judging by his expression, he had not accepted Zhao Jin's point.

Zhao Jin did not press further, merely nodding and saying, "You are all too impatient. What do we need right now? We need to be able to conscript manpower, to collect money and grain, and to control the territory. All of this is to support the existence of the Household Troops' various brigades and regiments and other related armed forces. Whatever can guarantee this is what we need. If something cannot achieve this, then even if it would be greatly beneficial in the future, we must prioritize and deal with the urgent matters first."

"Big Brother, after this great battle, we must establish rules and laws. Otherwise, when the moment comes, I fear it will be too late!" Wang Zhaojing had said he would not argue, but upon reaching this point, he could not help but stand up.

"No. The most important thing after this great battle is the next great battle. If Wei Zhongxian can truly mobilize such a large army to attack, then everything must revolve around that." Zhao Jin countered with a smile.

The tense atmosphere in the room caused by the argument began to ease. Wang Zhaojing sat there, merely writing down Zhao Jin's words at high speed, using the opportunity to calm his emotions. Ruhui, seated at the lower end, muttered, "Another great battle," and then frowned and said, "Master, the spring plowing is imminent. If the court's troops press forward like this again and every estate adopts a scorched-earth policy, I fear it will harm the farmers. Our grain supply for this year might be delayed, and that would be a disaster."

"It won't happen. If the government troops move again, we will take the initiative and strike out, crushing them beyond the borders of Xuzhou," Zhao Jin replied with great certainty.

At this point, Wang Zhaojing raised his head and asked, "Big Brother, fifteen estates over in Guide Prefecture have already been swept clean. We've seized quite a lot of stored goods, which will be sent to Xuzhou after the Yellow River thaws. Cloud Mountain Trading has already sent people over to inspect and see what can be sold off locally. However, in Guide Prefecture, there aren't many manors or fields we can occupy."

"The Li brothers have done well. To deal with that sort of people, you need men from a government army background to clean them up," Zhao Jin first commented with a smile.

After Zhao Jin led the main force back to Xuzhou from Guide Prefecture, he dispatched the Li brothers, who were of Liao origin, over there. He assigned Lu Da of the Fengpei Regiment to take charge, while the specific operations were carried out by the Li brothers leading the local militias. After the devastating victory at the Shang Family Estate, the gentry and powerful families of Guide Prefecture were terrified and disheartened. Some, heedless of everything else, fled into Kaifeng Prefecture with their valuables, while others, in a spirit of hopeless abandon, resolved to defend their homes to the death.

These local strongmen and gentry were nothing once they left their native soil. Powerless and without influence, adrift in a foreign land, even with ample wealth, life held little meaning. They often became prey coveted by the local strongmen where they ended up—truly a fate worse than death. Most people could not flee, and many did not even want to.

When the government troops first entered Guide Prefecture, those gentry and local strongmen who had been equivocating and ambiguous in their stance were all burning incense and kowtowing, congratulating themselves for not having acted rashly back then. Otherwise, they would have truly died without a burial place, and it would have been the catastrophic calamity of having their homes confiscated and their families exterminated. The only thing left to do was to negotiate with the Zhao Character Camp and see how much breathing room their families could retain under the other side's overwhelming power.

But for those powerful families in Guide Prefecture who had divided up the Zhao Character Camp's estates, forced the estate servants into being their own household slaves, and even plundered Cloud Mountain Trading's merchant convoys and killed people from Xuzhou, disaster was now upon them. Some wanted to flee but could not. Seeing that the balance of power in Guide Prefecture had already shifted, countless people wanted to use their heads to curry favor and seek rewards from the Zhao Character Camp. Their only path left was to fight to the death.

For Guide Prefecture's own powerful families to fight amongst themselves and try to take down a sturdy and well-fortified stronghold was not easy. But for the Xuzhou militias in Guide Prefecture, it was far too simple, because the firearms brigade had left behind three cannons and their gunners. With these cannons in hand, what shell could not be cracked open? Once the gate or wall was breached, the militias and volunteers were truly not something the local able-bodied men could resist.

However, if it had just been a matter of breaking through one estate after another, that would have been an expected outcome. Even without Lu Da, just sending the Li brothers could have achieved it. The Li brothers fought bitterly hard for every single estate, yet the Xuzhou militias suffered no casualties, and the cannons were never fired. This was because the Li brothers drove the local powerful families' own militias to attack the estates, making them wear each other down, only cleaning up the mess when both sides were utterly exhausted.

After battle upon battle like this, the entire Guide Prefecture was truly terrified. Watching the strength in their hands being whittled away bit by bit, some desperate people who could not flee Guide Prefecture simply went to hide in the county seats and the prefectural city, even going into the two garrisons of Suiyang and Wuping. Guide Prefecture had dealt with the Xuzhou Zhao Character Camp for a long time and knew that the Xuzhou forces still acted with restraint and would not touch the spheres of influence demarcated by the government offices and government troops.

But things were different now. If they fled into the cities, they were pursued into the cities to be arrested; if they fled into the garrisons, they were pursued into the garrisons. The Xuzhou militias did not care at all about starting a fight with government troops and bailiffs. Thinking about it carefully, it was only natural—since a major fight had already broken out, who would still abide by the old rules?

Moreover, the Li brothers had grasped Zhao Jin's intent very clearly. In Guide Prefecture, they were truly overbearing and arrogant, showing no regard for local sensibilities. Once they made a move, it was utterly ruthless, pulling up the roots completely and leaving not a trace behind. Every day, captured local strongmen and gentry were being escorted to Xuzhou, and every day, entire cartloads of gold, silver, and valuables were being sent there.

The family members of Guide Prefecture's powerful figures were not important. Their gold, silver, and valuables were not important. What was important was to deal a crippling blow to the local strength and vitality of Guide Prefecture, leaving it with no further possibility of resisting Xuzhou. If the rule-abiding Household Troops had done this, the effect would never have been as good as with the Li brothers. This time, everyone was very satisfied.

But what Wang Zhaojing was talking about was a different issue. Guide Prefecture was unlike Xuzhou, Shandong, and the northern Huai'an region. Those areas were either vast and sparsely populated or had suffered successive years of famine, leaving large tracts of abandoned farmland that could be enclosed and bought or sold. That is, there was plenty of land available to settle refugees, turning the territory into the Zhao Character Camp's territory and the refugees into the Zhao Character Camp's common people. But the harvests in Guide Prefecture over these years had been consistently mediocre, neither good nor bad. Not many local commoners had fled, and the amount of abandoned farmland was limited.

Precisely because of this, the powerful families of Guide Prefecture had always maintained their strength. After the Zhao Character Camp inserted a limited number of its own estates, relations with the local forces became tense and hostile, right up until this conflict erupted. However, even after sweeping away the powerful forces, their fields were still worked by a large number of tenant farmers and long-term laborers. It was impossible to drive away the old commoners and replace them with people from Liao or elsewhere; that would be tantamount to reducing one group of refugees only to create a new batch.

"The people who farm the land must stay on it. We can implement a reduction in rent and interest, giving up ten or twenty percent of the rent to win over the people's hearts. Then we'll delineate sectors, stationing one or two militia companies in each. For all other arrangements, we'll keep the current regulations of the Agricultural Reclamation Office unchanged. We must bring the farmland of Guide Prefecture under management," Zhao Jin stated.

The expansion of the Household Troops was still under discussion, but in the many reclamation zones and farming estates that the Zhao Character Camp had long operated, many militia companies were already very mature, and there were many outstanding young militiamen. For the moment, there was no need to incorporate them into the Household Troops' brigades and regiments, but they had to be given opportunities and room to advance. Forming new militia companies was one method.

"Big Brother, what about the county seats like Xiayi, Yucheng, Yongping, and Shangqiu?" Wang Zhaojing asked.

Zhao Jin paused for a moment. He understood the implication behind Wang Zhaojing's question—it was still essentially about establishing rules and laws. However, Zhao Jin did not want to set things in stone so early. He simply said, "We'll still set up branch offices of the Trade Office inside them and keep a close watch on everything we need. No government troops are to be stationed in any of the cities within Guide Prefecture, and the number of bailiffs must also be restricted. The patrol forces must be established as quickly as possible. That way, we won't need to worry too much about the cities. Our focus must still be on the reclamation zones and farming estates."

Wang Zhaojing nodded silently. Zhao Jin continued, "We must also pay attention to the livelihoods of cotton planting, spinning, weaving, and various crafts. Those tenant farmers and long-term laborers who have skills, or are willing to learn skills, must be given preferential treatment. Our spinning mills, weaving factories, ironworks, and distilleries all need manpower. Recruiting workers is also a major task. Also, Brother Zhou at Cloud Mountain Trading can't attend to this area for the time being. You need to take charge of it. From now on, we'll be facing Kaifeng Prefecture directly, and we'll be closer to Shanxi and Shaanxi. Trade and business with those regions are bound to increase greatly!"

When this topic came up, everyone was considerably happier than during the argument moments before. After all, these were all tangible benefits.

"Master, Wang Ziyang has already requested an audience several times. He still wants to report in person. When can you see him, so your subordinate can give him a reply?" Ruhui shook his head as if suddenly remembering something and asked.

"He's already considered one of our own now. He's rendered meritorious service and toiled hard again this time. What's he still anxious and fearful about? When I go to see my father tonight, just have him wait outside the door," Zhao Jin said, a bit exasperated.

Wang Zhaojing set down his brush and said with earnest concern, "Big Brother, now that the situation has come to a pause, you should go take care of Uncle more. The old man might recover faster that way."

Zhao Jin rubbed his temples with his hand and said in a muffled voice, "With a great battle imminent, how can you say the situation has come to a pause? We still need to prepare to fight to the end. How can we relax!"

Although Zhao Jin's father, Zhao Zhentang, had extreme confidence in Xuzhou's victory—showing it in front of his wife, He Cuihua, and in front of everyone else—after Zhao Jin returned in triumph, Zhao Zhentang still fell ill. A physician was called in and diagnosed that the old man, after prolonged mental strain, had suddenly relaxed. In his state of physical and mental exhaustion, he had caught a chill and thus fallen ill. Although it was quite troublesome, he would improve with medicine and recuperation; there was no need to worry too much.

Yesterday, I fell asleep in front of the computer while writing. Nothing else to say, just asking for monthly tickets. Then I'll keep pushing myself to write. Thank you, everyone.

Thanks to the three old friends "zzb, Xiao Qi Wen Ming Qi Ji, Yuan Li Heng Zhen" for the tips. Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets. Thank you for your support.