Chapter 476: Just Wait, No Rush (Fourth Update!)

"Once the talks are finished, the situation at Wild Grass Bank will be stable. At that point I'll pull the main force back, but I'll leave you a company here. The company commander will answer to you. Beyond that, command authority over the mixed militia and the other martial men will be explicitly placed under you." Zhao Jin spelled out the authority for Zhang Hubin.

Zhang Hubin listened, overwhelmed with excitement. Halfway through Zhao Jin's words, Zhang Hubin had already dropped to his knees. That night, Ji Xiang had told him his luck was bad, leaving him anxious and restless, worried he would never be entrusted with important duties again. He never expected that today his promotion would be made explicit.

"You're in charge of several thousand commoners and have several hundred armed men at your disposal. Right now, you're the foremost among the camp lieutenants — even several officers at the camp commander rank don't wield as much authority as you. Do the job well, and don't betray my trust!" Zhao Jin encouraged him with an air of seasoned authority. Zhang Hubin's reply was to knock his head forcefully against the ground.

Though he himself was only a camp lieutenant, he could now command a company commander of equal rank, along with the mixed militia and the jianghu men. Even jurisdiction over these refugees had been explicitly given to him. His status had truly soared overnight.

Although Zhang Hubin had repeatedly distinguished himself, his seniority among the camp lieutenants of the Zhao Camp was not first. Everyone knew there was one man, honest and straightforward by nature, who had followed behind Master Jin during that desperate fight and stayed by his side through several major battles. As a result, he now held the great banner and was certain to be promoted in the future — that man was Lu Da. Beyond him, Li Wu had also fought his way up battle after battle, though he had failed to keep up in that narrow alley. No matter how you reckoned it, Zhang Hubin ranked below these two.

When he had been dispatched out here, Zhang Hubin had been conflicted. On one hand, he felt it was a heavy responsibility, a chance to take charge of his own command. On the other, he wondered if he was being sent into exile. He never imagined that this life-and-death battle would open up boundless prospects for his future.

"Who still says your luck is bad? You clearly have great fortune!" Zhao Jin teased him with a laugh.

With everything properly arranged, Zhao Jin set out on the return journey with over four hundred riders and more than ten captured wagons. He was not heading straight back to Xuzhou, however; he would stop for a few days at Yutou Town.

The prisoners had not been killed and were even fed two meals a day, which sharply increased the consumption at the refugee stockade. The captured supplies from the Feng family's main force could not last more than a few days either. But this time, Zhao Jin's visit to Yutou Town would increase the flow of supplies to the stockade. Before, there had been worries about shipments being intercepted on the road; now things were much safer.

Increasing the input of grain and supplies naturally meant spending more silver, but the prisoners had no right to eat for free. They would be put to work leveling the land around the stockade, digging ditches and wells — all the backbreaking earthwork would be handed over to them.

They had galloped without pause on the way out, but the return trip would be slower. Skirting the now-thawed Luoma Lake, they arrived once more at the outskirts of Yutou Town. So many cavalrymen certainly could not enter the town itself. Yutou Town's rules were strict: large armed groups were forbidden inside, to prevent trouble from brewing.

Zhao Jin kept only his own horse squad with him. Ji Xiang escorted the wagons and the jianghu men back to Xuzhou.

The man currently in charge at Yutou Town was You Zhenrong. On the surface, all was harmony here — neither the Zhao Camp nor the Feng family could tear off the mask and fight openly. But plenty of underhanded moves had been made on both sides. In the beginning, the Feng family had the upper hand. Several of You Zhenrong's capable subordinates had died violently on the streets, and he had been forced to stay close to the Sun Family trading house.

Once the Zhao Camp and the Xuzhou martial men took Pi County and large numbers of personnel poured into Yutou Town, the situation began to turn around. The various lowlifes and gangs leaning toward the Feng family suffered heavy casualties. Two merchant houses with Feng family backing were even set ablaze in the night.

In the end, the respected elders of Yutou Town's merchant guild stepped in to mediate. Both sides took the opportunity to give them face, and only then was an uneasy peace barely maintained.

You Zhenrong's group, however, had one advantage — an advantage that had nothing to do with Zhao Jin's armed might or Sun Jia's wealth and influence. It lay in You Zhenrong's own identity. He had originally been the Incense Master of the Smelling Incense Sect within Xuzhou city, and more or less everyone under him held some sort of sect rank as well.

When Zheng Quan took overall control of the Smelling Incense Sect's Xuzhou branch, You Zhenrong had not explicitly submitted to him. The two had always kept their distance.

It was precisely this attitude that made Smelling Incense Sect members elsewhere remain reasonably courteous toward You Zhenrong. Everyone knew the real situation in their hearts, but as long as appearances held up, that was enough.

Yutou Town was a critical node for the grain tribute transport system. Tribute laborers and transport soldiers who believed in the Smelling Incense Sect were extremely numerous, and the men of the tribute routes wielded enormous influence in Yutou Town. Moreover, the Smelling Incense followers on the tribute routes did not entirely obey orders from the Shandong headquarters. The tribute-route Smelling Incense faction in Yutou Town was, in fact, relatively friendly toward Zhao Jin because of the business of trading tribute grain for liquor.

For these reasons, You Zhenrong's activities in Yutou Town grew increasingly convenient, and his network of contacts rapidly expanded. The Feng family, by contrast, had been prominent and powerful for decades. They might have managed their connections with the higher-ups meticulously, but they could not be bothered with those below, and naturally they were not well-liked. As one side waxed and the other waned, it became inevitable that Xuzhou's jianghu forces would overwhelm their rivals.

The situation in Yutou Town was entirely in Zhao Jin's favor, so when he arrived, he made no effort to conceal his movements. He swaggered in with his retinue and took up residence in the Sun Family mansion.

The Sun Family trading house entertained Zhao Jin with the utmost hospitality. After all, their own doorstep already displayed the recognition banner of the Zhao Camp — they were completely family, riding the same boat.

The first day after his arrival passed normally. Some traveling merchants on the official road had seen the Zhao Camp's wagons heading west and had also noticed the wounded and the corpses on those wagons. The smell of quicklime and medicinal herbs used for preservation was easy to detect. Because of the rumors they spread, quite a few people said the Zhao Camp must have suffered a serious defeat somewhere.

Suffering a serious defeat in the struggle against the Feng family seemed plausible enough, so everyone simply watched and waited to see what would happen. Only the chief manager of a certain grain firm paid a formal visit, and even hosted a grand banquet at the finest restaurant in Yutou Town to welcome Zhao Jin and his men and wash the dust from their journey.

Everyone knew the background of this grain firm very well. It was run by the forces of the tribute transport system — more precisely, it existed to absorb and store the tribute grain that came from customary wastage, skimming, and embezzlement. This firm's grain was cheap, but because the volume was so large and it was located in the Southern Metropolitan Region, where grain was not exactly scarce, it could not fetch much of a price. Only after the business of trading tribute grain for liquor began did this grain firm's fortunes truly flourish.

Ordinarily, this grain firm and the Sun Family trading house were already as thick as thieves. Now that the master from Xuzhou had arrived in person, they were all the more eager to fawn and flatter — they could not afford to slight their own god of wealth.

On the second day, the managers of several more merchant houses came to pay visits. These houses all had backgrounds in Jiangnan, and they all came to inquire about the business of Han Well Famous Liquor.

Although Jiangnan's consumption of strong liquor was not enormous, the total volume was still considerable. Selling a distilled spirit like Han Well Famous Liquor there would certainly be profitable. However, Han Well Famous Liquor was exclusively managed here by the Sun Family and was basically monopolized by the tribute-transport forces. It was not sold locally at all but shipped directly north by boat. They wanted to ask whether Xuzhou could supply them with goods.

Zhao Jin dealt with them all in a simple manner. Han Well Famous Liquor was about to open a distillery in **** Town, and once production expanded, supply would naturally not be so tight. All these requests could be granted.