Chapter 474: Limitless Prospects (Second Update!)

The Xuzhou Guard and the jianghu men of Xuzhou scraped together over two hundred cavalry. Jiang Mutou of Fangcunji was naturally unwilling to be left behind, so he rounded up every man from Fangcunji and **** Town who could ride a horse and wield a blade, and followed suit.

Since they were rushing to save people, they naturally spared no mounts and galloped at full speed. They made a brief stop outside Yutou Town, spending silver to have Sun Jia's side provide replenishment, then continued on their way and quickly arrived here.

"Truly good fortune! But Lord Jin is a man of great luck. That Feng family scum came looking for trouble — this outcome is exactly what they deserved!" Jiang Mutou, sitting on the outer circle, said flatteringly. Everyone qualified to sit near this circle chimed in with agreement.

The whole sequence of events truly hinged on one step following another. One step too slow, and the situation would have immediately spiraled out of control; one step too fast, and they could never have routed the Feng family so completely.

Hearing this, Ji Xiang turned and said to Zhang Hubin with a grin, "Zhang Hubin's luck is truly terrible. His first time following along was Gao Village, and this time he actually ran into this again..."

Before he could finish, Zhao Jin punched him hard. Zhang Hubin's face had already changed color over there. Zhao Jin smiled wryly and said, "Go check the night watch and guard arrangements one more time. Don't let your mind wander. You've rendered great merit both times!"

Only then did Ji Xiang catch on. If anyone took those words seriously, Zhang Hubin would never be able to hold his head up in the Zhao Camp for the rest of his life. He quickly laughed awkwardly and said, "I was joking, don't take it seriously!"

At that battle at Gao Village, the household guards were nearly wiped out, and Sun Dalei died in combat. This time, they had also been on the verge of total collapse. If that were pinned on Zhang Hubin's luck, the blame would be far too great.

Before Zhang Hubin had walked far, Zhao Jin said in a clear voice, "Everyone, Zhang Hubin has both courage and strategy. Among the camp commanders of the Zhao Camp, he is the most outstanding talent. He will certainly take on independent command one day!"

Zhang Hubin naturally heard these words. His body trembled slightly, but he did not turn back. Even without turning back, he knew that countless envious gazes must be fixed on him from behind.

Within the entire Zhao Camp, the appraisal "take on independent command" was something Zhao Jin had spoken aloud for the very first time. Its weight was truly not light.

"Lord Jin, the Feng family is wealthy and powerful. Will they come back for another round?" someone tactfully changed the subject.

"They might come again, but not on this scale, and not with such a fierce offensive!" Zhao Jin said with considerable certainty.

Without waiting for others to speak, Zhao Jin gave his reasoning: "If the Feng family still had strength to spare, or could still dispatch a force of similar size, they wouldn't need to be salt merchants anymore — the entire Yangzhou Prefecture would belong to their family."

For powerful and wealthy clans, maintaining private armies and militias had been common practice for thousands of years. But this armed force was merely one tool, not their foundation. Salt merchants still had to thrive and amass wealth within the Great Ming system. They would use underhanded methods, but there was a limit.

This force of nearly a thousand men had already exceeded the norm, and it was the foundation the Feng family had cultivated and accumulated over many years. Wiped out in one go, rebuilding it would not be so easy. There weren't that many experienced officers to recruit, nor that many desperadoes to command.

Furthermore, the Feng family's main business was the salt trade. They maintained private troops only to make that business larger and more secure. The Feng family could not possibly forsake the root to pursue the branch.

In this respect, they differed from Zhao Jin. In the Xuzhou countryside, there was little rule of law. Yangzhou, however, lay in the heartland of the Great Ming, surrounded by capitals and strategic towns, with the countryside full of old and powerful clans. Any stir of activity was hard to hide. By comparison, Zhao Jin's development faced far fewer constraints.

The most crucial point was that the foundation of Zhao Jin's enterprise and the foundation of the Feng family's enterprise were different. To outsiders, Zhao Jin built the Zhao Camp for his own liquor business, to monopolize every open and shady trade in the region. But at its root, the purpose of all Zhao Jin's businesses was to make the Zhao Camp grow stronger. Every method of the Feng family was for the purpose of making money.

This fundamental difference determined that Zhao Jin's armed strength far surpassed that of the so-called First House of Jiangbei, and determined that the Feng family could not arm themselves again and contend for victory once more.

Everything the Feng family did was for making money, while Zhao Jin's goals were far loftier. This, in truth, also decided the outcome between the two sides.

"Everyone need not worry that the Wolf Mountain Vice General will send troops, or that anyone else will send troops. With so many captives in our hands, the Wolf Mountain Vice General will send someone to negotiate. Otherwise, if this blows up, an imperial court general sending troops to fight and die for a wealthy merchant — never mind keeping his official post, he wouldn't even keep his head. With this leverage in our hands, how would he dare act recklessly? With such an example before everyone's eyes, who would repeat the same mistake!" Zhao Jin said with a laugh.

These words made everyone nod. Zhao Jin stood up and said with heroic spirit soaring to the heavens, "Gentlemen, the situation in the Grass Nest is now largely stable. As you all saw on the way here, this place is a flat plain with no shortage of rivers and streams. If it can be reclaimed into farmland, it will surely be fertile land. Right now, across the entire South Zhili region, apart from those saline-alkali wastelands, where else is there any good land? Where else is there any empty land? Yet here there is so much. This magnificent prospect — I, Zhao, am willing to undertake it together with all of you!"

The scene was quiet at first, then everyone began discussing in low voices among themselves, and soon it grew noisy. In the minds of people of this era, land and property were above all else. Land not only yielded produce and profit year after year, but could also be passed down through the generations. Originally, no one had entertained such thoughts; they were merely helping Lord Jin out, earning a favor and getting some benefits afterward. Only after hearing Zhao Jin speak did everyone suddenly realize that this vast, bleak marshland was also unowned, untamed land — fertile fields waiting to be reclaimed.

"... Lord Jin, I've heard there are already quite a few estates inside the Grass Nest, and the good land has all been taken..." someone asked hesitantly.

Zhao Jin smiled and said, "The vast overgrown wasteland has been designated by the imperial court as unfit for clearing and farming, so it can be used by the salt fields to cut grass and boil salt. That is to say, those estates have no protection under the law. Without the law's protection, it comes down to whose blades and spears prove sharper. And when it comes to blades and spears, who can surpass us!"

Before his words had faded, the people gathered around burst into thunderous cheers. These words struck right into everyone's hearts. Ever since Zhao Jin had led them out of Xuzhou, they had swept away all opposition like dry twigs and rotten wood, with no one able to stop them. This had filled everyone with full confidence. The moment they heard this and thought about it, they immediately felt the prospects were limitless.

Of course, there were some things everyone understood without saying. For instance, if it really came to a fight, the Zhao Camp would certainly lead everyone, and everyone would certainly follow Zhao Jin's orders in their actions.

Among those cheering, many were military households from the Xuzhou Guard and the Xuzhou Left Guard. Those who could ride horses and practice martial arts were, at the very least, from the households of centurions. Strictly speaking, they were military officers of the imperial court, having enjoyed the sovereign's favor for generations. Yet their cheers were louder than anyone else's, and they did not feel in the slightest that Zhao Jin's actions showed contempt for the law. To them, benefits were what truly mattered. What was the law anyway?

The atmosphere was incomparably fervent, and the raging inferno in the distance further set off this mood. Over there, they were burning the corpses.