Chapter 400: My Own Manor

The Yang family youth leading the way swallowed hard and answered with a dry laugh, "Gone, all gone. That branch of the Wang family already took Lord Jin over. These three branches are the biggest. As for the rest, our family and the Wang family have cleaned them out thoroughly."

Before he could finish, Dong Bingfeng shot him a glance. The youth felt a chill run through his whole body and hurriedly bowed repeatedly, saying, "Truly gone, truly gone!"

These people were not old, yet every one of them was a god of slaughter. They had marched over ten li in the morning, dealt with the several hundred men at Qimei Stockade, then headed straight here to kill without showing any fatigue. Rolling heads, not a single survivor left alive — just how had this murderous nature been cultivated?

About six li west of Qimei Stockade there was a village with over a hundred outlaws. They conducted themselves with some order: after intercepting refugees, they sent them all toward Fengyang Zhongdu. If Suzhou or Mengcheng County had need of people, they also sold them at openly quoted prices.

That very afternoon, the Wang family sent over provisions as a reward, saying the brothers had toiled hard these days. They had slaughtered a few sheep and made white-flour flatbread so everyone could break their vegetarian fast. The small stoves in the village were inconvenient, so they set up a spread at the village entrance and invited everyone to come eat.

After many days of thin broth and plain water, the mere mention of rich food sent them surging over. The Wang family had indeed come in force — slaughtering sheep, stewing meat, and unloading jar after jar of fine wine.

Once they saw everyone had gathered, the men the Wang family had brought began a great slaughter. Not of sheep, but of men.

By deep night, the various squads of the Zhao Character Camp began returning to the manor. They had set out at dawn and only returned at nightfall, every man bearing bloodstains, every face marked with exhaustion. Suzhou was shaken.

This militia corps from Xuzhou did not resemble a militia corps at all. No one had ever heard of private troops that could strike several locations from dawn to dusk, winning decisively and annihilating the enemy at every turn, killing until heads rolled while suffering hardly any casualties themselves. The youths from various families who had followed as guides and messengers had all brought back what they had seen and heard — these were truly crack troops, elite and invincible.

While the Wang and Yang families sent men to slaughter pigs and sheep and prepare the finest rewards to deliver, they also mobilized the city's bailiffs and manor servants. Inside and outside Suzhou city, another wave of bloody terror swept through. It was common to see a dozen men, blades and axes in hand, charging into a residence to hack and slaughter, or else some place erupting in great flames.

With refugees passing through, the Wang family, the Yang family, and the other Suzhou local magnates naturally wanted to reap some benefits. Qimei Stockade and the mounted bandits were all in on sharing the spoils. They had also recruited a batch of people themselves, likewise capturing and selling people. At this stage, the only option was to silence them and eliminate future trouble. Who could have imagined that their neighbor Xuzhou possessed such formidable strength?

After witnessing such slaughter, all petty schemes vanished like smoke. They obediently helped gather the refugees and common folk, and delivered their household stores to the farmstead Ruhui had established.

That night, Zhao Jin had led the household troops of the Zhao Character Camp only to the Wang and Yang families. Once these two greatest local magnates were cowed, the others naturally knew how to choose.

After that single day of slaughter, the next day all of Suzhou witnessed an even more astonishing sight: dozens of large carts, over a thousand household troops, and frantic activity within the farmstead.

The Suzhou magnates had thought yesterday was shocking enough, but only after seeing today did they realize it was far from sufficient. Every one of them felt their eyelids twitching uncontrollably. This Zhao Character Camp had actually raised so many militia troops. Such strength — never mind the private soldiers in everyone's hands, even the Suzhou authorities plus the official garrison would be no match. If you had such power, why not reveal it earlier? You nearly made everyone choose wrong.

This was the Zhao Character Camp's Second Regiment, led by Shi Manqiang. The march from the He Family Estate in Xuzhou to Suzhou took two and a half days, and they carried only three days' worth of provisions. It was precisely because they could march without any concerns that they dared advance so lightly equipped.

Seeing such strength, the Suzhou magnates and gentry all understood what they ought to do, and what they ought to do in the future. Who cared about Fengyang Prefecture? Xuzhou was right next door. The slightest defiance, and this thousand-strong force of fierce, able-bodied men would come pressing down — ruthless and utterly unreasonable. Who to obey, who to curry favor with — did anyone still not understand?

It was not only the magnates and gentry; even the authorities were alarmed. Last time a constable had come; this time the subprefect of the department and the squad commander guarding the city came together. Afraid that Zhao Jin's side might misunderstand, they had specifically dragged Wang Yishi along as guarantor, and came with just the two of them.

Such a large force coming to Suzhou — what exactly were their intentions? If they planned some treasonous act, then Suzhou would have to go to Fengyang Prefecture to report and request aid. If not, they still asked Young Master Zhao to give an explanation and not make things difficult for everyone. This subprefect was polite to the extreme. As for that garrison squad commander, from the moment he saw the Zhao Character Camp's Second Regiment, he dared not raise his head and kept trembling.

"Steward Cao, were the deeds of sale for this manor actually signed? Did they pass through the government office?" Upon hearing their questions, Zhao Jin immediately questioned Ruhui with extreme severity.

"In reply to the master, everything passed through the government office. They all bear the official seal, and several clerks can attest to it." Ruhui hurriedly reported with feigned "fear and trepidation," handing over the contracts as he spoke.

Zhao Jin made a show of examining the contracts, then declared in a clear voice, "So this place is already Zhao's own manor. Since it is my own manor, there is no need for outsiders to trouble themselves. If you gentlemen wish to inquire, I might as well explain: these men are farmers Zhao has brought to till the land."

This answer nearly made the Suzhou subprefect cough up blood. Farmers, yet so elite? Did he think this official had never seen the world? In the whole vast Fengyang Prefecture, only Zhongdu had troops like these. Grumble as he might inwardly, he would not say it aloud. The Suzhou subprefect was helpless — Zhao Jin had not said a single word wrong. This manor was the Zhao family's property, the fields were the Zhao family's fields. The manor connected Xuzhou and Suzhou. As the manor's owner, what was improper about mobilizing his tenant farmers, hired laborers, and manor servants? Nor could you claim these men were not Zhao Jin's tenants and manor hands.

The Suzhou subprefect took his leave with a dry laugh. He could not be bothered to probe the details, nor even to utter the polite pretense of going to Xuzhou to verify. Who did not know that Zhao Jin was tightly colluding with the authorities in Xuzhou? And speaking of which, if the collusion were not so tight, how would he dare be so utterly unrestrained?

The Zhao Character Camp's Second Regiment, led by Shi Manqiang, stayed in Suzhou for only one day, then escorted over three thousand refugees back to Xuzhou. During that single day, the powerful families of Suzhou united with rare solidarity — those with grain contributed grain, those with labor contributed labor, preparing dry rations and supplies for the Zhao Character Camp and the refugees.

Though they had been frightened, the Wang and Yang families did not come away empty-handed. Neither family suffered any losses. Much of the grain supplied to the Zhao Character Camp had been skimmed from the official granaries; their own contributions were small. Moreover, the Zhao Character Camp's sweep of bandits yielded spoils that were mostly sold to them at low prices. Those old and weak horses were beneath the Zhao Character Camp's notice, but for the common folk of Suzhou, they were rare assets. A large draft animal to help plow the fields meant greater harvests. These horses might be poor for riding, but they were more than adequate for tilling. There were also various odds and ends, all of which made both families feel they had not come out on the losing end.

Beyond this, the Suzhou magnates and great households had assumed the Zhao Character Camp would use its overwhelming strength to extort and plunder. To their surprise, the camp conducted itself with considerable propriety. Apart from those few families found to have harassed the farmstead and detained refugees, everyone else who supplied grain was paid at market price — all in newly minted coins and ready silver.

This set everyone's anxious hearts at ease, and also revealed a path forward. In the various departments and counties of Fengyang Prefecture, aside from a few places near Luzhou Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture, most were plagued by frequent famines, with impoverished livelihoods and even more backward commerce. Many places still engaged in barter. When the powerful and great households of Suzhou harvested grain, they could only store it in granaries. Their own households could not consume it all, and each year a considerable amount was lost to rot and mold.

Now it was clear that the Zhao Character Camp needed large quantities of grain, and the Zhao Character Camp had ample silver and coin. The two sides could each take what they needed.

After some delivered grain, they even inquired whether the Zhao Character Camp wanted to purchase grain. The answer they received was, naturally, affirmative, which heartened and encouraged many.

Compared to ordinary great households, the Wang and Yang families had moved even further ahead. This time they directly arranged for direct-line sons of the clan, along with manor servants, to follow the Zhao Character Camp back. Ever since the canal had shifted its course to Pizhou, everyone had assumed Xuzhou was a poor and bitter place. Now it seemed perhaps not. They would send their sons over to see what opportunities existed, so they could respond accordingly.

Zhao Jin and his companions did not linger in Suzhou either. The day after the Second Regiment began its return journey, Zhao Jin and the others headed back. This time, even Ruhui went back with them.

Everyone in Suzhou, high and low, now understood the Zhao Character Camp's fearsomeness. Everything inside and out had been arranged. Next, they simply had to wait to receive the refugees.

However, what they had originally expected to be fifty or sixty thousand now looked far from reachable. Including those rescued and gathered in Suzhou this time, the Fengyang refugees in Xuzhou numbered roughly eighteen thousand. These days, the refugees arriving daily at the Suzhou farmstead numbered only a few hundred to a thousand, and the numbers were dwindling.

According to Zhong Gonghui's subordinates, there were still quite a few refugees making their way here from outside Suzhou, but even those numbered less than seven thousand. At the absolute maximum, this year would yield only around twenty-seven thousand gathered.

With this number of refugees, there was no need at all to go to the Grass Den in Huai'an Prefecture. They could be absorbed right on the spot in Xuzhou. South of the Yellow River were the farmsteads of Cloud Mountain Temple and the Zhao Character Camp itself. North of the Yellow River were the coal mines and ironworks of the Xu family of Jingshan, as well as the Kong Family Estate at the junction of three provinces — all could take in and settle large numbers of refugees. Strictly speaking, these twenty-some thousand were not even enough to go around...

Zhong Gonghui was brought from Suzhou to Xuzhou. He remained under house arrest, but he adopted an attitude of resignation to fate, offering no resistance whatsoever. He answered every question the Zhao Character Camp posed. Only, upon learning the number of refugees, he broke down and wailed bitterly several times.

Zhong Gonghui did not hide the reason for his weeping. They had originally estimated sixty thousand; now only this many had come. At the very least, a third must have frozen or starved to death.

Before relocating the refugees, Zhao Jin had been endlessly worried about grain, his calculations always coming up tight. Yet by late in the eleventh month, he suddenly found things quite ample.

The refugees of Fengyang Prefecture could not get enough to eat, while landlords and gentry everywhere were fretting over how to sell their grain. To live a little better — to wear silks and satins, to use rouge and cosmetics, to own porcelain and lacquerware, even to eat salt — everything required spending silver. Yet everyone had grain in hand but was sorely lacking in silver.