Chapter 389: The Most Reliable Person

What followed was a matter of course. Zhong Gonghui also became one of the refugees. Because he was educated, quick-witted, and knew the procedures of official business, and because he was not entirely a frail scholar and had a decent reputation in the countryside, he was soon elected as their leader.

"... Master Jin, the common folk are hiding in the mountains, struggling to survive by farming on their own. They've eaten through all their stored provisions, and even tree bark and grass roots are almost gone. They can barely hold on any longer. I beg you, Master Jin, show mercy and save them, please save them..."

He kowtowed as he spoke, his voice choked with sobs. Zhong Gonghui was educated and articulate, and with his personal experience, the tragic scenes he described in Fengyang Prefecture felt exceptionally real. Everyone in the room, except Zhao Jin, was visibly moved, but none of them expressed an opinion; they only looked at Zhao Jin.

Zhao Jin rubbed his nose. In truth, he found it somewhat hard to listen to as well, but he could control his emotions. Once he calmed down a little, Zhao Jin asked, "Just how many of you are there? Your claim of a hundred thousand is just a nominal figure. Give me an exact number!"

Zhong Gonghui, kneeling on the ground, steadied his emotions and said in a muffled voice, "They are scattered and roaming in hiding everywhere. An exact number truly cannot be given, but it is no less than fifty thousand."

Zhao Jin was silent for a moment, then spoke again: "Take this man away. Lock all of them in the goods yard. Without my permission, anyone who approaches them to speak will be considered in violation of family law and severely punished!"

Liu Yong nodded, opened the door, and shouted a couple of orders. Immediately, household guards strode in quickly. Liu Yong relayed Zhao Jin's command, and the guards stepped forward, lifted the man up, and started walking out. Only then did Zhong Gonghui react. Struggling, he shouted, "Master Jin, save them! Winter is coming. They will freeze to death, starve to death, or be killed the moment they leave. Have pity on them, please!"

Ji Xiang made a hand gesture, and the guards immediately pulled out a strip of cloth and gagged Zhong Gonghui directly. Just as they were about to drag him away, Zhao Jin said slowly, "If you need anything, tell the men guarding you. Food, drink, clothing—I'm not doing too badly here."

Zhong Gonghui cared nothing for food or clothing at that moment. He struggled desperately, trying to speak, but could not break free at all, and was taken away directly by the household guards.

The door was closed, and silence returned to the room. Zhao Jin was quiet for a moment, then said, "Let's head back to the goods yard and call Mr. Cao over to discuss this together."

"Big Brother, with so many people involved and such huge implications, should we really get involved in this?" Wang Zhaojing asked cautiously.

Chen Sheng, in a gloomy tone, also added, "Everything ties back to that Fengyang Garrison Eunuch. The debts at Cloud Mountain Temple, and now these refugees—he acts with utter recklessness!"

"... Big Brother, the refugees in Fengyang Prefecture are pitiful. Shouldn't we..." Ji Xiang started to say, but stopped mid-sentence when he saw everyone looking at him. He quickly waved his hands and explained, "I just think they're pitiful. Whatever we do, I'll naturally follow your lead, Big Brother."

Behind him, Liu Yong wore a knowing smile but did not speak. Zhao Jin stood up and said, "They are indeed very pitiful. After a disaster this severe this year, I don't know about Henan, but Shandong and Fengyang have truly become hell on earth."

Liu Yong and Ji Xiang both handled matters meticulously. The people Zhong Gonghui brought were all hooded and blindfolded. They were ordered to lie down in large carts, covered with tarpaulins, and transported directly to the goods yard. The four girls received somewhat preferential treatment; they were blindfolded and placed in a covered carriage, also transported over together. This way, passersby would not discover anything.

The jailer there received twenty taels of silver. He had dealt with Zhao Jin many times and naturally knew what to say and when to keep his mouth shut.

Back at the goods yard, Ruhui seemed rather excited. Before Zhao Jin could even speak, he started, "Master, the Xu family has very well-informed sources. Word came back from their relatives in the capital that the Fengyang Garrison Eunuch Yu is about to be recalled to the capital. No wonder he's been so unscrupulous in scraping money from the land."

When a man leaves his post, his influence fades. Favors and social standing no longer matter; the priority is to line one's own pockets first. Besides, going to the capital and trying to secure a post in one of the twenty-four Inner Court offices, or being sent out to garrison a region, still requires large sums of silver for networking. Naturally, one has to be ruthless.

After hearing this, Zhao Jin and Wang Zhaojing both had expressions of sudden realization. Chen Sheng was a bit slower to catch on, and the other few were still somewhat confused. When they told Ruhui what they had heard from Zhong Gonghui, he understood as well and was quite astonished.

"Once eunuchs and civil officials collude, those above and below are utterly powerless. Information cannot be passed up, so naturally there is no adjudication or dispute from superiors. Those below have even less room to maneuver and can only obey orders obediently. Moreover, in this affair, everyone is getting rich, so no one will back out," Ruhui analyzed, shaking his head.

They closed the door and sat together in a circle. The atmosphere was very oppressive. Ruhui was also deep in thought. Wang Zhaojing, however, could not hold back and said earnestly, "Big Brother, this matter has too many implications and could easily invite great calamity. In Fengyang, there is the Central Capital Garrison Eunuch and the Fengyang Grand Coordinator—both are top-tier inner court officials and civil ministers, not inferior even in the imperial court. If we make enemies of them, we will be in serious trouble!"

Zhao Jin's hand had been rubbing the hilt of his short blade. The leather strap wrapped around the hilt was already glossy and shining. Over the years, whenever he was deep in thought, he would subconsciously touch this hilt.

"Over fifty thousand commoners. Even putting aside the matter of moving them from Fengyang Prefecture to our Xuzhou, even if they really came, where would we find so much land to settle them? Where would we get so much grain? Greed can lead to biting off more than you can chew. Besides, this matter has nothing to do with us," Chen Sheng rarely spoke so much at once.

Zhao Jin still remained silent. After everyone had spoken, they exchanged glances and said nothing further.

"Mr. Cao, with the Shandong refugees we are currently settling, can our grain supplies, relying solely on our reserves, last until next year?" Zhao Jin suddenly asked.

Ruhui pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Ensuring that everyone at Cloud Mountain Temple does not go hungry, and mobilizing all stored grain reserves, we should make it to the middle of next year. The various branch temples and estates certainly have private hoards. If we confiscate all of those, it would be a considerable amount. Moreover, by the middle of next year, the first harvest can be brought in, which would sustain us for an even longer period."

Zhao Jin nodded and asked slowly, "The autumn harvest wasn't long ago. Buying grain with ready silver right now should be quite cost-effective!"

"It is indeed very cost-effective. A few days ago, Licentiate Cai and the others came by to ask, saying they had grain on hand and were willing to sell it to us. The price is negotiable, only they cannot accept copper coins; silver ingots would be best," Liu Yong interjected.

Hearing Zhao Jin and the other companions speak so heedlessly, Chen Sheng fell silent, but Wang Zhaojing grew anxious. He stood up and said urgently, "Big Brother, what use are so many people? Whether for farming or labor, the able-bodied workers we currently have are already sufficient. Taking in these additional people will bring no benefit, only great harm. They will bleed our Zhao Camp dry! Big Brother, please think this over carefully!"

Zhao Jin waved his hand, gesturing for Wang Zhaojing to sit down, and said with a smile, "What you just said about labor actually reminded me. The Xu family of Jingshan likely still needs a large amount of labor. They also provide food and lodging. Several thousand people could be settled that way."

The answer was completely off-topic. Wang Zhaojing's face immediately flushed red, but before he could continue arguing, Zhao Jin spoke again: "Zhaojing, our Zhao Camp now has over 2,600 men. If we continue to expand in the future, what kind of recruits would be the most reliable?"

"Naturally, sons of good families!" Wang Zhaojing took a deep breath, controlling his emotions as he spoke.

"How many sons of good families are there in Xuzhou? Most sons of wealthy and noble families won't come. Those who are the main laborers in their families won't come. The private soldiers and militias of powerful clans won't come either. How many does that leave?" Zhao Jin asked.

The room grew much quieter. Everyone looked at Zhao Jin. Zhao Jin stood up and said, "Among these two thousand-plus men, there are already people from various powerful local clans and from the Xuzhou Guard. But we can still break them up and make them obey only our command. What about the next step? If we continue to expand recruitment, either we will be infiltrated by powerful families—where one company, or even one regiment, is filled with men from the same place—or they simply won't let their people come out to join us, and those they do release will all be spies and informants. Would you feel at ease with such a force?"

Wang Zhaojing also fell silent. The powerful clans within Xuzhou submitting to Zhao Jin did not mean they trusted him. Everyone knew that the strong constantly sought to swallow the weak. The stronger Zhao Camp became, the greater the likelihood of them being encroached upon. If they could not infiltrate it, they naturally would not sit idly by and watch Zhao Camp grow stronger; they would use various means to obstruct it.

"Right now, we are very strong. It's no boast to say that even if all the militias and private soldiers across Xuzhou combined into one force, our Zhao Camp could still crush them. But what comes next? The imperial court declares us rebels and sends a grand army to exterminate us? Or everywhere in the region turns against us, and we can't collect grain or ship out goods?" Zhao Jin asked in rapid succession.

"Big Brother, they don't have that much guts. Once our Zhao Camp is fully trained, just one company sent out would be enough to pacify half a county!" Ji Xiang said with full confidence.

Zhao Jin smiled and continued, "Four counties would roughly require eight companies. The area around the prefectural city would need about four companies. Do we need to assign men to the mountain roads? Do we need to assign men to the various estates? When you add all this up, how many household guards does Zhao Camp actually have available to move? Just the hundred-strong cavalry under Bingfeng? Or a few companies from your personal guard? If a truly great enemy attacked then, we could only be defeated one by one!"

"Then we would just have to recruit new men again..." Liu Yong said hesitantly.

This time, no one spoke. The conversation had come full circle, back to the need to recruit new men, and back to the topic of recruiting reliable soldiers.

"Where is the most reliable source of new recruits right now? It's those refugees we have settled!" Zhao Jin asked and answered his own question. Everyone was jolted, though their surprise was limited. With so much refugee manpower in their hands, it was natural to put it to some use. It just seemed too wasteful to only use them as tenant farmers or serfs. Even if not stated openly, everyone had already thought of this.

However, there were deeper implications in these words, things people dared not contemplate, and by tacit agreement, no one did.