Chapter 445: Luring with Profit

"... But those wealthy magnates in Yutou Town have plenty of silver, and they've hired militia as bodyguards. The desperate outlaws in the Grass Nest take their orders too. The gangs working the salt routes in Huai'an Prefecture are big crews, backed by the big bosses in Yangzhou — crews of several hundred men, fully armed with blades and firearms. Even the officials don't dare provoke them. If we don't band together when we make a move, I'm afraid we'll suffer heavy losses too..."

Among the local strongmen of Xuzhou, there were a dozen or so households that could mobilize a thousand able-bodied men at once. But these men could only be used for defense, or to fight easy, favorable battles not far from home — "not far" usually meant no more than a couple of hours' journey. Anything farther was out of the question.

If they wanted to go elsewhere to seize a share of the spoils, even these strongmen who could mobilize over a thousand men could only send out a few dozen at most. A force that small would be utterly insignificant once it reached Huai'an Prefecture. The local strongmen there had plenty of manpower of their own, and fighting right on their own doorstep gave them a natural advantage.

Furthermore, Huai'an Prefecture differed from Xuzhou in another way. First, there were the Grass Nest bandits — all of them mounted outlaws. Second, there were the armed escorts running illicit salt. These two groups sometimes overlapped, but they shared one common trait: they were both mobile. As for their desperation and ferocity, that went without saying.

To put it bluntly, besides the private armies and militia the local strongmen themselves possessed, Huai'an Prefecture could also mobilize large-scale mobile forces. The Grass Nest bandits and the salt smugglers' armed bands were both considerably stronger than ordinary government troops. Given such circumstances, it was already fortunate that Huai'an Prefecture hadn't reached its hand into Xuzhou.

Of course, the only thing in Xuzhou with any real profit in it right now was Zhao Jin's distillery. But Zhao Jin was a tiger — no one would be so insane as to set their sights on him.

Once they'd thought all this through, even if the Xuzhou men coveted the wealth of Huai'an Prefecture, they lacked the spirit and the nerve to go stirring up trouble there. But with Zhao Jin taking the lead, everything changed. In the eyes of Xuzhou's fighting men, Zhao Jin and the Zhao Camp were invincible.

"... Zhao knows you've all been waiting for me to take the lead. Zhao also knows that taking the lead means fighting the vanguard and bearing the brunt of the hard battles. But since Zhao was the one to bring this up first, all of that is only right. However, gentlemen — if you want to follow Zhao and get rich together, there are some rules you'll have to follow..."

Zhao Jin spoke with ease and confidence. Scholar Cai, Scholar Zou, and a few of the more seasoned men nodded repeatedly as they listened. This Zhao Jin might be young, but he handled matters with great method. Just hearing him speak, you knew the venture was bound to succeed.

Most of the men present, however, were rough fellows with little interest in such meticulous talk. If it hadn't been Zhao Jin speaking, some would have grown impatient long ago.

Even so, some still found it unnecessary. A man sitting close by stood up directly and said in a gruff voice, "Master Jin looks out for us small-timers — we all know that. Whatever Master Jin says we do, we'll do. These hundred-odd pounds of mine and this blade in my hand — I'm putting them all in Master Jin's care!"

Zhao Jin glanced over. He recognized this man — it was Yang Jisheng. Back when they'd led men to the relief of Xuzhou City, this fellow had brought his household's able-bodied men to join the effort, showing real loyalty and zeal. The Zhao Camp hadn't treated him shabbily afterward either; he'd reaped plenty of benefits and was now considered one of the Zhao Camp's die-hard supporters. Zhao Jin also knew that Yang Jisheng was quite skilled with the pudao — it was said he'd once formally studied under a renowned master.

With Yang Jisheng's outburst, the quiet atmosphere shattered once more. Men rose to their feet shouting, all saying the same thing: just give the orders, Master Jin, and they'd do exactly as he said.

"Then let's talk about the rules. If you want to follow Zhao elsewhere to make your fortune, you must obey Zhao's assignments and commands. Shares will be based on headcount — however many men you bring, that's how many shares you hold. But those men will act according to Zhao's orders. Let's be clear: it's not that your squad follows Zhao's orders as a unit — every single one of your men must follow them. Zhao will break up and reassign everyone as the situation demands. Afterward, profits will be divided and paid out according to your shares..."

After saying this, Zhao Jin paused instead of pressing on. The boisterous, eager atmosphere quieted down again. Even the crudest man there could understand: Zhao Jin was aiming to erode their power. The choice he was offering was simple — if you wanted to get rich, you handed over the strength you held.

Though Zhao Jin hadn't put it quite so nakedly, everyone understood perfectly well. Once you gave something away, getting it back would be hard.

After a stretch of silence, a timid, hesitant voice suddenly rose from the crowd: "Master Jin, you've got several thousand men under you, while the most any of us could put forward is a hundred or so. That wouldn't be many shares at all!"

At these words, another wave of murmuring swept through the crowd. Everyone knew that Zhao Jin had several thousand men, every one of whom could be deployed. If profits and shares were divided that way, Zhao Jin alone would take eighty or ninety percent. The venture suddenly seemed far less worthwhile.

Zhao Jin smiled and raised his voice: "No matter how many men the Zhao Camp sends, we'll take only forty percent. Not one fraction more."

Amid the noise, not everyone heard clearly. A hush gradually spread, then erupted into a buzzing hum as each man asked the one in front of him — had Zhao Jin really said he'd only take forty percent?

The answer, of course, was yes. The weighing and worry on every face vanished like smoke. This was worth doing!

Ruhui, seated behind Zhao Jin, stood up, leaned close to Zhao Jin's ear, and murmured a few words. Zhao Jin nodded. Once the room had quieted, he spoke: "This time we go, we'll be moving by the rules of the jianghu. Whatever your original status might be — any official rank or respectable standing — you'll have to set it aside. We're going there as men of the jianghu seizing territory. If we go swaggering in openly for a gang war, that's rebellion, and the officials will have to step in!"

Everyone present was a member of the gentry or a local magnate, and they understood this perfectly. If you fought to the death outside the city walls, as long as no one reported it to the authorities and it never came into the open, it was as if it had never happened. The same principle applied here: a jianghu armed clash would be settled by jianghu methods, and the officials would treat it as a jianghu matter. But if you Xuzhou men went marching into Huai'an Prefecture with great fanfare to seize wealth and territory — that became rebellion.

As soon as Zhao Jin said this, Scholar Cai and Scholar Zou both nodded and repeatedly praised him: "This is the prudent way. This is the prudent way."

Now that they had a clear answer from Zhao Jin, everyone knew what they needed to do. At this point, they were instead in a hurry to get home for the New Year. Gifts were handed over, a few words of familiarity exchanged, the rules clarified, and then everyone scattered in haste. This New Year's Eve, they'd all be on the road or making plans.

What Zhao Jin had proposed was simple enough: bring the men you can send, provide your own weapons, and draw up written agreements. After inspection and verification, they'd discuss how to proceed. Nothing would be kept from anyone — everything would be settled through open discussion. This put everyone considerably more at ease.

From the twelfth month, when Zhao Jin had led his force out to the Grass Nest, until the evening of New Year's Day, the Zhao Camp itself had only just managed to have its own New Year's meal. Zhao Jin, his companions, plus Ruhui and Zhou Xuezhi.

The atmosphere at the banquet was quite good. Everyone understood that some things were best left in the past — dwelling on them did no one any good.

"This student has something he wishes to say to Third Master, though I am unsure whether it is my place to speak." At the banquet, Ruhui broached the subject. Hearing this, everyone's expressions shifted slightly. Could Ruhui be about to bring up the matter of silencing the police runner?

Wang Zhaojing smiled and nodded. "Mister Cao is too polite. We're all family here — speak plainly."

"Third Master, Mister Wangshan has now returned to the capital to take up his post. This subordinate understands that the master and all the young masters prefer to rely on themselves and do not wish to trouble their families. Yet the matters at hand now require some cover from the official sphere. We have already come into conflict with the Feng family, and next we are to move against Huai'an Prefecture. What we face there is not merely the brute courage and ferocity of jianghu outlaws — in all likelihood, it will entangle us in the schemes of officialdom. If pressure truly comes down from above, we cannot meet it with blades and guns in a gang war. We must counter officials with officials."

So that was what this was about. Everyone sank into thought. Ruhui's argument made a great deal of sense.

"Originally, this subordinate had no great solutions — merely to rely on the connections of the Old Master and the Second Master's father, along with this subordinate's own past acquaintances in various quarters, and scatter silver around so that they would look after us when necessary and send word when there was an opportunity. Of course, that also depended entirely on the intimidating reputation of our Zhao Camp. But while these methods work in Xuzhou, they are useless once we leave this territory. Yet the entanglements on every side will inevitably involve the official sphere — and that will require Third Master's father to step forward."

Ruhui spoke in great detail and with deep sincerity. The reason he said so much was that he felt Wang Zhaojing would not agree easily, and he needed to persuade him.

No matter how grandly one framed it, the Zhao Camp leading Xuzhou's fighting men into Huai'an Prefecture was, at its core, the conduct of jianghu outlaws — something that could not bear the light of day. Asking a pure and prestigious family like the Wangs to step forward and lend support was really quite improper. Moreover, past incidents had made it clear that Wang Zhaojing considered his own interests very carefully.

Zhao Jin and his companions might not understand such considerations, but Ruhui found them entirely natural. Anyone who held the rank of Provincial Graduate, and whose father was a capital official and a Presented Scholar in the full flush of favor, would not entangle himself too deeply with a strange and savage force like the Zhao Camp.

"Mister Cao is right. I sent a letter earlier; tonight I will write another, explaining matters in greater detail." Contrary to everyone's expectations, Wang Zhaojing's reply was crisp and decisive.

Ruhui was visibly taken aback for a moment, but he recovered quickly, immediately raising his cup with a smile. "In that case, there is nothing left to worry about."

The next day, two servants of the Wang household set out with five horses. They were well supplied with traveling funds, and had been promised a reward upon delivery. Even though it was the First Month and the New Year, they were perfectly willing to make this journey.

Everyone had toiled for a full year and needed to make up for it during the First Month. Custom dictated that from the first to the sixteenth, it was all pleasure and no work. A few even spent the entire month in revelry.

But things were different on Zhao Jin's side. He was already busy on New Year's Day. By custom, a newlywed couple should visit the bride's family home in Jingshan on the third day of the year, but Xu Zhenzhen had sent a letter instead, saying that everything was still hectic at present. If they truly wished to see each other, they should go first to the secondary residence in Xuzhou City.

Anyone could imagine the expression on the face of the Xu family head, Xu Benrong, when he read that letter. But the Xu family's eldest daughter had been doing exactly as she pleased for so long that everyone was long since used to it.

Ding Wu and the other women and children from the Ding Family Enclosure in the Grass Nest had been sent over to the Zhao Camp. For people like them, whose families had been destroyed and homes lost, there was naturally no talk of a Spring Festival. The women were settled in newly built houses in a compound not far from the village. The boys were placed by Liu Yong in the Lin Family Enclosure, where several compounds, actually under the name of the Internal Guard, could house them and serve as training grounds.