Chapter 529: This Reaction Isn

Coming to He Village, aside from eating more fine grain and occasionally seeing meat, there really wasn't much to be happy about compared to life in the refugee camps — because it was even more grueling here, without a single moment of rest.

Those who could read and do accounts were selected out to learn accounting and management skills from the yamen clerks; those with decent martial skills were gathered for intensive training; and craftsmen who knew various trades were also selected out — they didn't have any training, but were settled together, their families allowed to come along, and their living conditions were much improved compared to the village.

With so many able-bodied young men on hand, using them only for farming would be too great a waste, and now Zhao Jin was putting them to more effective use.

They all saw the prosperity of the Zhao Camp, especially in the winter near year's end, when merchants from all over gathered at He Village — the salt market and wine market were both bustling, everyone busy stocking up for the year's end and negotiating next year's quotas. Truly, a thousand merchants converged, and carriages, horses, and sedan chairs stretched all the way to the banks of the Yellow River.

And they also saw the might of the Zhao Camp. Although many of the Zhao Camp's companies were stationed elsewhere, the mountain-like square formations of over a thousand men, and the several hundred cavalry charging at full gallop, were enough to shake the heart. The Zhao Camp's main force might not be large in number, but it prevailed in elite quality — everyone who saw it was left with a deep impression.

Seeing this prosperity and might, every refugee who came here felt a yearning in their heart.

"I toiled and struggled, fought to the death to save you, not so you could labor like oxen and horses. If that were the case, there are countless people under heaven I could use. You must study well, train well — as long as you work hard, this great enterprise of the Zhao Camp will have a share for you!"

Every time a new batch of selected refugees arrived, Zhao Jin would always personally address them, and during their training he would also come by from time to time to teach and inspect, keeping himself just as busy beyond measure.

Many of these elite refugees who had been selected out were nothing more than farmers before leaving their homes. Even if they could read, at best they were only entry-level scholars, and even then the kind who still had to toil at farm work. As for those well-versed in the classics, those with official degrees, those living in comfort and ease — they either had their own means to move early to places free of disaster and hardship, or they couldn't endure the hopeless long journey of exile and died along the way.

The reason they could be selected here was often because they had experienced life-and-death combat on the road of exile, gaining the skills and bloodlust for violence, or else they were experienced and had gathered a group of people around them, surviving to this day by the strength of the collective. This ability to lead and command others was easily revealed and discovered in the manors and stockades where the refugees were settled.

Those who were not content with the status quo and wanted to break away from the Zhao Camp's settlement to seek their own path — these people usually ended up laboring to death or being beheaded as a public example. The ones who remained became the backbone of the Zhao Camp's refugee stockades.

A farmer, a scholar who still had to toil for a living — in peaceful times they would have no path forward whatsoever. They would only labor their entire lives until death. One in ten thousand, or one in a hundred thousand, or one in a million might be a miracle, trumpeted by countless people, held up as a model of scholarly advancement or an example of how loyalty and filial piety are rewarded.

But now, within the Zhao Camp, they could faintly glimpse their own future — a future completely different from before. Some whispered rumors, saying this was nothing more than being servants to a great household, at best a steward or foreman. But a handmaid in a wealthy family lives better than a daughter in a poor household — to be a steward or manor head in a great household was still a life of wealth and honor.

And within the Zhao Camp's system, everyone faintly sensed that the future might not stop there. Hope might be elusive, but where else under heaven could they go? Having been selected, they received more news than others — they knew that Shandong was still suffering a great drought this year. What good would returning home do? It was still a dead end. Compared to that, the strength and prospects the Zhao Camp displayed were truly the difference between heaven and earth.

It wasn't only the selected and training refugees who saw this strength, but also those Brocade Guard agents who had come in plain clothes. This group numbered fifteen in all, led by two squad leaders. They knew how to disguise themselves, deliberately taking a route through Yangzhou, posing as stewards and subordinates of a certain salt merchant, coming to survey the business situation.

All along their journey, when they stayed at an inn in Xuzhou City, no one paid them any attention. When they came to He Village and settled in, no one paid them any attention either. Everything seemed normal.

The Nanjing Brocade Guard rarely got an assignment away from home, but they all shared the same disdain for a backwater like Xuzhou. Each was itching for action, thinking that once they arrived here to investigate, evidence or no evidence, they'd just flash their credentials and shout, and everyone in Xuzhou would surely prostrate themselves trembling, obediently offering up silver and women.

When they reached He Village and saw the flourishing salt market and trade fair, they grew even more excited. This was a huge piece of fat — a few bites might set them up for life.

The encampments of the Zhao Camp's various regiments and companies were no longer at He Village, but the cavalry training and patrols never stopped for a day. They would often ride a wide circuit, sweeping past near the He Village market with a roar.

The high-spirited agents were dumbstruck when they saw this cavalry. Such disciplined solemnity, such surging killing intent, such excellent equipment — they had rarely seen the like even in Nanjing. Though in Nanjing they had indeed seen it: Duke Wei's Xu household always had several hundred elite household troops, fed full with silver, training daily without pause, a truly elite and fierce force. Yet compared to the cavalry here, they lacked a certain ruggedness and murderous edge.

On one side, the household troops of Duke Wei's Xu family in Nanjing — there was only one Xu family like this under heaven, the great pillar of the Ming in the south, two hundred years of heritage from the founding emperor to the present, nothing strange about that. On the other side, Xuzhou — a poor and remote backwater. How could it also have such murderously fierce elite cavalry…

And besides such elite troops, the men riding horses and bearing blades around He Village had to number over a thousand. How could there be such a force here? Could this be rebellion?

One young and impetuous Brocade Guard, seeing this scene, felt his heart shake and his spirit sway, and he couldn't help but want to cry out. He had only shouted a single word before a companion beside him covered his mouth.

He might be young and impetuous, but everyone else was quite seasoned. Rebellion or not, what business is it of ours? Don't throw your life away here. If it really is rebellion, who would care about a few agents?

When they saw the companies marching in formation on patrol, the agents shrank their necks even further. Anyway, they had seen what there was to see. Any thought of working from inside and out they absolutely dared not entertain. They could only hope that those few in the city walking the open path had the sense not to come here and throw their lives away. They'd just go through the motions here for a few days, then hurry back to Nanjing. Whatever came next, let the higher-ups worry about it.

These disguised Brocade Guard agents were quite adaptable in their thinking. They simply rented a few rooms at the inn, had the innkeeper slaughter a sheep, and bought several jars of Han Well Famous Wine at a high price. Every day they got dead drunk, their mouths glistening with grease, planning to enjoy themselves for a few days and then leave.

The agents thought they had come without a sound and would leave without a sound. They never imagined that the Zhao Camp's Internal Guard had long known they were coming.

To be absolutely safe in coming here, they had deliberately gone through a salt merchant's connections, disguising themselves as the salt merchant's stewards and servants. The salt merchant naturally dared not refuse the Brocade Guard's demands, but a businessman always seeks to cover all bases and leave a way out.

This matter was very quickly "accidentally" told to the Zhao Camp's people by this salt merchant's steward. The Zhao Camp's people immediately made preparations.

In contrast, those four in the city came openly, and it was only after they reached Xuzhou City that the Zhao Camp got word.

"Those over there are behaving very honestly. At first they even got two jars of wine on credit and spoke quite rudely, but now they've hurriedly paid up. Our people are keeping a close watch, no need to worry too much," Liu Yong said to Zhao Jin.

In Zhao Jin's council hall, over thirty young men stood solemnly. Aside from the companies stationed at Kong Village and the Pizhou refugee stockade, all company commanders and squad leaders of the battalion commander rank were gathered here. Since the rotational training began, the Zhao Camp's backbone had rarely been this fully assembled.

Zhao Jin and his companions were also in the room with grave expressions. Ru Hui and Zhou Xuezhi had set aside their complicated affairs to hurry over, their expressions equally somber. Only Lei Cai had gone into Xuzhou City — someone who could make decisions had to be there keeping watch.

These company and squad commanders had fought their way out alongside Zhao Jin, and had seen plenty of life-and-death grand scenes. Yet coming here tonight, they were somewhat baffled, not knowing what had happened. Moreover, even during the great battle with the refugees, they had never seen Zhao Jin, Chen Sheng, and the others like this. Unbidden, a touch of unease rose in everyone's hearts, and they exchanged furtive glances, trying to see if anyone else knew what was going on.

Ji Xiang looked over the people present, frowned in thought, then leaned close to Zhao Jin and said in a low voice, "Big Brother, why explain these matters so clearly to them? If we're really going to do something, just lead them forward. Once blood is spilled and men are killed, they'll have no choice."

Zhao Jin glanced at him and said, "Each of them holds a hundred men. If something happens and they don't follow us, we lose a hundred men. If you deceive them now, when they feel they've been tricked, they'll turn away even more decisively. Explain it now — if anyone is unwilling, there's still time to replace them."

"Brothers you've trained yourself — trust them!" Chen Sheng said coldly from the side.

Zhao Jin coughed twice, a bit of embarrassment on his face. Ji Xiang lowered his head even faster and returned to his place. In front of Zhao Jin he could still argue a few sentences, but he was very afraid of Chen Sheng. Wang Zhaojing and the others exchanged glances, all unable to suppress a smile, which lightened the atmosphere in the room considerably.

Liu Yong made a hand signal, and the guard servants outside shut the door and withdrew a certain distance from the room. Zhao Jin cleared his throat, stepped forward, and spoke: "The Brocade Guard has come to investigate us!"

Zhao Jin thought he didn't need to say much — this one sentence was enough to make the point clear. In his mind, once he said this, the battalion commanders below would surely change color, their faces grave, or cautious, or worried, even lost and bewildered — fear was possible too. He never expected what he saw before him.

The young men were completely blank-faced, even somewhat confused. This reaction made Zhao Jin confused as well. He looked at his companions beside him and found that they too didn't understand why. Only Ru Hui at the side had a smile surfacing on his face.

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