Chapter 359: Only Xuzhou

By the time dusk approached, the retainers of the Zhao Character Camp had finally recovered. Cloud Mountain Temple had long since prepared the meals.

As for Zhao Jin and his companions, their treatment was even better — they had even taken a proper bath, changed into new clothes, and were now chatting in the guest hall, completely relaxed.

"…The two Xu siblings have stayed inside the residence the whole time without moving. We've had people watching them closely day and night; no one passed any messages…" Ruhui reported on Xu Zhenzhen's side of things.

In the past, whenever any news came in, everyone would chatter away with their own opinions, but when it came to Xu Zhenzhen, they all just looked at Zhao Jin. Only Chen Sheng grinned and said, "She truly is a fine match for you."

An ordinary girl never steps beyond the inner gate, knows little of the outside world, and certainly couldn't possess such composure — let alone the fact that Zhao Jin leading the Zhao Character Camp in a surprise raid on the Kong Family Estate was, in a sense, instigated by Xu Zhenzhen. A woman like that, a heroine among women, was of course a fine match for Zhao Jin.

Hearing Chen Sheng say this, everyone in the room nodded with a smile; they all agreed with that assessment.

"Right now she can only marry me — there's no other choice. We brothers moved by night and risked life and limb to eliminate a powerful enemy for her Xu family. Naturally, there must be something in return." Zhao Jin spoke solemnly, yet somehow he still looked awkward.

The others had started off keeping straight faces, but after so many years as brothers, they knew each other too well. Seeing Zhao Jin's embarrassment, they immediately burst into laughter. Still, on such an occasion, the only ones who could tease and joke freely were Chen Sheng and Ruhui.

"A great joyous event, and you make it sound so calculating. Once your wife moves in, you'd better never tell her that," Chen Sheng said with a laugh.

Ruhui's mood was not quite so stirred up. He shook his head and teased, "I'm afraid Miss Xu has thought it through even more clearly than the master. Our Zhao Character Camp wiped out the Kong Family Estate — a tremendous boon for her Xu family, but also a warning. If they could have fought the Kong Family Estate on their own, why would they have needed to ask us to act?"

The others nodded. Liu Yong, seeing that Zhao Jin did not want to continue discussing matters related to Xu Zhenzhen, spoke up to change the subject: "Big Brother, this time we only wiped out Kong Jiuying and the estate he was in. At least two of his sons are still out there. Their mounted troop can probably still muster two or three hundred, and they still have around a thousand infantry. Are we just going to leave them be?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the remaining Kong family members, along with those few major leaders of theirs, will take their men and fight over Kong Jiuying's property. They'll battle each other. All the local strongmen in the surrounding areas who resented them, plus the officials and gentry of Henan, Shandong, Feng County, and Pei County, will all make a move. What looks like a sizable remaining force will quickly crumble into loose sand," Zhao Jin spoke at length with ease.

Before anyone could respond, Zhao Jin continued, "Conjecture can't be taken as certainty, after all. But if the core area where Kong Jiuying resided was this decayed and rotten, the other locations are likely even worse. Even if I'm wrong, from now on we need not treat this Kong Family Estate as an opponent. Too weak, too rotten — not worth mentioning."

At these words, everyone's spirits lifted. Dong Bingfeng was visibly stirred and said, "Ever since I was a child, I've heard people talk about this Kong Tiger — how he came from the Shandong official army, how he toughened up and fought bloody battles in the outlaw world. In the entire Xuzhou region, even counting the neighboring provinces' prefectures and counties, he was the most untouchable. He had a band of desperadoes from the military under his command, men who dared to fight to the death and understood tactics. Even the troops under a Regional Commander might not have been a match for them. Don't laugh at me, but before we went, I was still a bit worried. Yet once we actually fought, I realized they were nothing but a pile of mud. So many horses in the stables, such an important place, and yet hardly any guards. The few who came running out all reeked of alcohol. A force this rotten, and people still called them formidable? Compared to our Zhao Character Camp, I don't know how far behind they are!"

The usually taciturn Dong Bingfeng rarely launched into such a long speech, and his words struck right at the heart of what everyone was feeling. The atmosphere in the room immediately surged.

"What Cloud Mountain Temple's monk soldiers, what Kong Family Estate's mounted troop — even the government troops, as far as I can see, are all a pot of mush. None of them can compare to our Zhao Character Camp. Mister Cao, my apologies — I was just speaking off the cuff!" Shi Manqiang chimed in excitedly, only remembering Ruhui's presence after he finished and hurriedly apologized, his face flushing red.

"Why stand on such ceremony? I returned to lay life long ago; I have no ties to this Cloud Mountain Temple anymore." Ruhui smiled as he spoke, then nodded and added, "Back when I roamed free and easy, I traveled far and wide and saw a fair bit of the Great Ming. I've truly never seen a crack force like ours."

At his words, everyone's spirits rose even higher. Only Zhao Jin smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Mister Cao, what we have here is a local militia for protecting the region and keeping the peace, not an army. We mustn't get the terminology wrong!"

"The master is right. This subordinate was careless," Ruhui said with a grin.

Liu Yong also spoke up, somewhat agitated: "Big Brother, aren't we being too cautious? Right now, only the people from Xuzhou city to He Family Village show us respect. Everywhere else pays us no heed — never mind north of the Yellow River. Xiao County and Dangshan are so close, yet those people only exchange polite pleasantries with us. Big Brother, since we're this strong, we should make them learn the rules."

Chen Sheng nodded at that. Even with his steady temperament, his face carried a trace of excitement. This time, however, he did not voice his opinion but instead looked at Zhao Jin, his eyes full of anticipation.

A smile lingered on Zhao Jin's face, but his gaze was quite serious. He rose from his seat, and everyone immediately fell silent. Zhao Jin looked around at them and said, "Are we strong? Indeed, we are very strong. Compared to the Kong Family Estate, those earthen dogs and chickens, compared to Cloud Mountain Temple, outwardly strong but inwardly hollow, compared to the refugees, that loose pile of sand — of course we are very strong. But don't any of you go getting cocky. We are only strong within Xuzhou. And besides, we only have these few hundred men. So what if they're strong? Spread them out and they're useless. Gather them together and we can't cover anywhere else. Can that still be called strong?"

Everyone fell into thoughtful silence. Shi Manqiang, being rather straightforward and simple by nature, immediately looked somewhat disheartened. But Zhao Jin brought the topic back around: "Once our Zhao Character Camp expands to two thousand men, then on this Xuzhou ground, we can truly be called strong!"

The smile on Ruhui's face had remained largely unchanged, while the expressions of the others grew spirited once more. Zhao Jin sat back down with a smile and continued, "These past few times we've gone out to fight, we won every time, but quite a few problems showed up. For instance, this squad system of ours — the veteran squads and the recruit squads have different structures, making deployment a real hassle. When battle starts, the square formations have no relation to this squad structure. That needs to change. I was too naive about it back then."

Veteran squads were forty men per squad, recruit squads twenty-five — too many squad leaders, too chaotic a structure. Giving orders required excessive detail, but the battlefield shifts moment by moment and demands simplicity and directness. The Zhao Character Camp's current organization was indeed very troublesome.

Yet anyone with a slight understanding of human sentiment and politics could figure out that this cumbersome and muddled structure had not been some naive blunder, but had served other considerations. It was simply the sort of matter that everyone tacitly understood without speaking of it.

"We need more retainers. Xiaoyong's men need to increase. Every section needs more personnel. This time, no matter what we do, no one will think it's out of line." Zhao Jin's mood was also somewhat elevated.

The Kong Family Estate had been burned to ashes, and Kong Tiger had met a violent end. From start to finish, Zhao Jin had handled the matter as secretly as possible. Aside from those few members of the Xu family, no one in any link of the chain knew what had happened before or after. The people of the Kong Family Estate had fled for their lives that day. Having been around Kong Tiger, an underworld dragon head, they naturally understood what kind of figures would dare launch a surprise attack on the Kong Family Estate — and they lacked the nerve to come report the crime or identify anyone.

Moreover, with Kong Tiger dead, the core of the mounted troop had collapsed. Forces from all directions were bound to encroach. The core Kong family cadres who had not been at the estate would inevitably fight for dominance. The Jingshan Xu family, who had long endured in silence, also had a strong chance of making a move. It was hard to say how many of the survivors would live — even less need to worry about news leaking out.

There was no need to worry about those who had witnessed or experienced it firsthand, and even less about anyone else. None of them had clear proof that the Zhao Character Camp had done in the Kong Family Estate and Kong Tiger.

However, once word of the Kong Family Estate's destruction spread, regardless of whether someone had been involved or not, the first people they would think of would be Zhao Jin and the Zhao Character Camp. The very first suspects would be Zhao Jin and the Zhao Character Camp.

And then — if such a formidable local power had been annihilated without a trace, who could still do anything to the Zhao Character Camp? Before, when the Zhao Character Camp had a few hundred men, some would already consider that scale excessive. But after saving Xuzhou and wiping out Kong Jiuying, who would dare say a word if they had several thousand?

Before turning in for the night, Zhao Jin led his companions on a walk around the estate. The retainers who had been sprawled on the ground in deep sleep were also waking up one after another. They were assigned rotating guard duties. Zhao Jin and his companions had to take shifts as well. Zhao Jin volunteered for the hardest stretch, just before dawn. Although Cloud Mountain Temple could be considered a vassal of Zhao Jin's, it was still not his own territory — not the slightest carelessness could be afforded.

Though the days were scorching, by deep night a faint chill could already be felt. It was only mid-seventh month, yet Xuzhou's weather was already beginning to change.

Even though Zhao Jin and his companions had not drunk any wine, each of them felt a slight tipsiness. Even the retainers below felt the same.

This made Zhao Jin somewhat nervous; he even suspected Cloud Mountain Temple had tampered with the food. Only when he got up for night watch did he figure out the reason. It was because they no longer had any enemies in Xuzhou city. Every danger, visible and hidden, had been swept clean. Everyone felt a natural sense of safety. That unconstrained, carefree feeling was very much like the mild intoxication after drinking.

"…Only Xuzhou…" Zhao Jin muttered cryptically under his breath.

Early the next morning, Cloud Mountain Temple sent over breakfast. The Zhao Character Camp retainers had all more or less recovered from their rest; every one of them was brimming with energy.

After breakfast, led by a trusted monk of the monk Zhenzhi of Cloud Mountain Temple, the Zhao Character Camp formed ranks and entered the main temple of Cloud Mountain Temple. For many of the Zhao Character Camp retainers, this was a return to an old haunt — it was here they had killed their first man, drawn first blood.

Walking among the meditation halls and Buddha shrines, the entire path was desolate and quiet. Aside from the guide and the relevant monks, everyone else remained inside their quarters, forbidden from going outside.