Chapter 659: A Thousand Gold for Horse Bones

But what no one expected was that when relatives and old friends took silver to the yamen this time, the people inside dared not accept it. They made it very clear: Master Jin had already given orders — no one was to be released, and everything was to be handled according to the yamen's procedures for serious criminals. Only then did everyone realize that an even harsher method was being used. To suffer torment in the prison day after day, with no idea when it would end — that was worse than death.

Zhao Jin and Wang Zhaojing set out on the return journey together. Geng Mancang went with them. To outside eyes, this looked even more like Master Jin was going to handle it personally — except that Geng Mancang and the Geng family seemed far too heartless and unfeeling. Yu Zhiyuan stayed behind in Qingjiangpu; his shipping firm and dock businesses all required discussion with Zhou Xuezhi's side.

"... I have connections in Shandong too. Ordinary desperadoes these days don't dare make a move against Master Jin — they might even leak word. So I simply went to deal with the people in the Smelling Incense Sect. I trade in rice and wheat on the Grand Canal waterway, and the grain transport circles have close ties with the sect — that's how I made contact... The sect people are heartless and unfeeling. They know only gods and buddhas, not fear or reverence. Only they would dare move against Master Jin... This time I reached out to them, and I never expected they'd actually send some real experts. They aren't greedy for wealth or lust, but they're desperate to harm Master Jin. They told me to make the arrangements quickly..."

Before reaching Yutou Town, Zhao Jin traveled together with Geng Mancang. The assassination plot naturally had to be explained clearly. Geng Mancang had thought of going to the Smelling Incense Sect. A major grain merchant like him had connections all along the canal, and he easily made contact with the Smelling Incense Sect in Shandong. He had originally planned a two-pronged approach: hire desperado bandits in Shandong, with the Smelling Incense Sect as a separate path. He never expected the Smelling Incense Sect would give him so much support — sending several experts and arranging for scripture-preaching incense heads to provide cover here. If discovered before the attack, they would simply appear to be Smelling Incense Sect members spreading the faith, and Zhao Jin wouldn't use lethal force. But if they weren't discovered, even if those experts failed, the Shandong Smelling Incense Sect would now have a foothold here and could send people over in an endless stream.

It was a very good plan. Unfortunately, the first few men they sent were far too impatient. It was said their brothers and friends had all died beneath the walls of Xuzhou, and they shared an irreconcilable blood feud with Zhao Jin. Because of their urging, Geng Mancang could only have his people launch the attack early. In the various shops and businesses of the Qingjiang Great Market, customers walking through the storefronts was perfectly normal — but who would enter the back courtyards and warehouses? If someone were discovered doing something there, the entire operation could be exposed. Geng Mancang was a ruthless man himself. He simply arranged to set fire to his own shop, then had the news reported up level by level. When Zhao Jin arrived, they would set another great fire, throw the situation into chaos, and act in the confusion.

Although Geng Mancang was a vicious and merciless man, at this moment he was thoroughly docile and obedient. All around Geng Mancang were eyes and ears of the Internal Guard and Zhao Character Camp. The orders these men had received were simple: at the slightest suspicious move from Geng Mancang, execute him immediately — and then those Geng family members in Qingjiangpu would meet no good end either. All of this had been made crystal clear to Geng Mancang. He knew how to weigh the balance himself.

The topic was the assassination attempt, but Zhao Jin and Wang Zhaojing paid it little mind. What they wanted to discuss was another matter: "... For now, we still can't move against that Smelling Incense Sect. It truly sickens me to think about it. We can't just march over there with great fanfare — that would be no different from open rebellion. But if we use underworld forces to fight them, in Shandong we simply can't win. The only thing we can do right now is defend. But the Smelling Incense Sect spreads its teachings among the common people. They can randomly find some village household burning incense and worshipping Maitreya, draw in the surrounding commoners, and as long as word doesn't get out, we have no way of knowing. On top of that, many of the local powers now don't share our thinking. Even if the Smelling Incense Sect came, they might not necessarily report it. That's the same as burying a disaster right under our noses..."

"... That baojia mutual responsibility system we talked about before — we have to start implementing it now. Make them bear responsibility for one another. One person commits a crime, ten households share the punishment. Let's see who still harbors wishful thinking..."

"... I know that setting our minds to this violates the taboos of the authorities. But if we don't do it, chaos like what happened at the Qingjiang Great Market will keep cropping up from time to time. Our rules here may be strict, but if there's ever a single oversight, it'll be a disaster..."

"... I still hold the position of baozheng. Carrying out this baojia mutual responsibility system is, after all, reasonable and proper. With all our connections in the yamen, when necessary, we can exploit those loopholes more..."

"... The baojia mutual responsibility system is one aspect. More importantly, we need to use this to get a clear picture of the territory under our control. How many households, how many able-bodied men in each household — we need to know it all thoroughly. Right now, all of that is in the hands of the local gentry and strongmen. If we truly want to do anything, it's very inconvenient..."

Zhao Jin talked without pause, and Wang Zhaojing recorded without pause. Because there was so much, every time they stopped to rest along the way, Wang Zhaojing would dismount, spread out paper and brush, and record at flying speed. By the end of the first day's travel, Wang Zhaojing already understood what Zhao Jin intended to do.

"Big Brother, this Smelling Incense Sect matter is just a pretext, isn't it? This baojia mutual responsibility system was bound to be done sooner or later. But isn't doing it now too early? Our Zhao Character Camp has strength enough — there's no need to mobilize the common people's strength at this stage." Wang Zhaojing saw it very clearly. The baojia mutual responsibility method had existed since the Han dynasty, and the Great Ming was naturally still practicing it — but it was in name only, without substance. The Zhao Character Camp, however, had the ability to push this through.

Once this baojia mutual responsibility system was implemented, its significance was not merely turning the territory the Zhao Character Camp controlled into an impenetrable iron wall. It would also bring the entire region under complete control — every household, every person under their grasp, just like how they now controlled the Zhao Character Camp's household troops.

Yet this was something the authorities could not accomplish, and something the gentry and local strongmen were unwilling to let others do. But it was also the very foundation of dynastic rule. For the Zhao Character Camp to intervene in this was tantamount to stripping away that original layer of pretense and openly, righteously doing certain things. These matters, these implications — even between Zhao Jin and his brothers, they had never been spoken aloud. Now that they were about to do it plainly and clearly, Wang Zhaojing could not help but voice a word of caution.

"You think pushing this system through will be easy? Not only does it have to be deployed, it also has to be spot-checked and verified. You think Xuzhou is small, but we don't even have the people to do this. We'll have to mobilize the shop managers and accountants under our control, the clerks in the yamen, even people from the underworld. How much time will that take? The earliest would be autumn. But by then, the Liao tax will already be in collection. Do you think anyone will still be paying attention to us by that point?" Zhao Jin had already thought it through thoroughly.

Hearing this, Wang Zhaojing was speechless for a moment. The expression on his face was hard to tell — a bitter smile or a rueful one. Finally, he said, "Once this Liao tax is levied, I fear the harm will surpass even the great defeat in Liaodong..."

This trip to Qingjiangpu had actually yielded rich rewards. Setting aside the benefits of Yu Zhiyuan proactively seeking an alliance and the greater confidence it gave everyone in their hidden assets in Nanjing, even the assassination attempt itself brought gains that outweighed the losses — they had swallowed Geng Mancang's family fortune out of thin air and then taken this wealthy merchant into their own service. Yet on the return journey, neither Zhao Jin nor Wang Zhaojing felt much ease.

When they passed through Pi County, Zhao Jin and Geng Mancang parted ways. Geng Mancang headed for Yutou Town, where he was to open a new shop. In the early stages, the Sun Family Trading Company and Cloud Mountain Firm would help him set up the framework, but everything else Geng Mancang would have to handle on his own — even the capital would have to come from the Geng family. When the time came, he would write home to Qingjiangpu and have his family prepare the funds. The profits, however, would have nothing to do with him.

"Be careful how you conduct yourself. One mistake and you die, and your family suffers with you. Weigh it clearly yourself — don't lose your head." At their parting, Zhao Jin offered a few words of warning.

Over the course of this journey, news had kept coming in from behind, giving them a fuller understanding of this Geng Mancang. The man was a gambler. Although he was from a close branch of the Geng family, he was not particularly well-regarded, because the Geng family tradition was farming and study, with the emphasis on studying to attain official rank. Those who did business were looked down upon — all the more so since Geng Mancang's branch had fallen into decline for a time. In the end, Geng Mancang had propped up the family gate by himself. Seizing on the frequent famines of the Wanli years and the wild fluctuations in grain prices, he had made several deals in the rice market that were practically wagers. Such trades carried great risk but also great profit, and in this way he had amassed an enormous fortune.

After becoming fabulously wealthy, Geng Mancang purchased the official student title of jiansheng for himself. Then he spent silver to sponsor an impoverished clansman who passed the provincial examinations. At a critical moment when a certain clansman was being promoted to Vice Minister, he sent a weighty sum of gold. He also secretly aided a relative of a powerful eunuch in the palace. He did quite a number of things of this sort. As his fortune swelled, so too did his position grow secure.

He had gambled his way all the way to the present — until he smashed his head bloody against Zhao Jin.

"I happen to be short of people right now. I see you have courage, and I see you have a knack for generating wealth. Do your job well. Zhao Jin never mistreats those who work for him — rest assured of that." Beyond the warnings, since he meant to use the man, he also had to offer something to look forward to.

"I understand. Thinking it over carefully this time, to outsiders it may look like I've taken a loss, but in truth I've made a huge gain. In a few years, a dozen years, everyone else will be beating their chests and stamping their feet with regret." As he took his leave, Geng Mancang was all reckless, irreverent grins.

At those words, Zhao Jin himself couldn't help but laugh. Leisurely, he asked in return, "Even the people at my side don't think that highly of our prospects. How can you be so confident? Aren't you afraid that in a few years, a dozen years, your whole family will be on the execution ground, and by then it'll be too late for all the bitter tears and regret?"

"Once you've set your sights on something, you have to try. All these years, if I were the type to regret and fear, I'd have stayed in Taiping Prefecture as a boat owner long ago. Where would today's fortune and status be?" When he said this, Geng Mancang's expression turned somewhat solemn.

Zhao Jin nodded. He did not take Geng Mancang's words as sincere, of course. With a blade at his throat, a man had to say a few flattering things. What Geng Mancang said might sound like heartfelt words, but it could just as well be very clever flattery.

"Do well!"

With that simple parting word, Zhao Jin headed west.

"Big Brother was rather soft-hearted this time. In the past, when something like this happened, how could he have been left alive?" Wang Zhaojing finally could not resist asking.

"Those who can come over to our side, those who can work under us — they're only this kind of gambler." Zhao Jin's answer did not match the question. After a moment, he added, "For now, that's how it is."

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