Chapter 687: The Youngest Brother Has an Idea

Zhao Jin and the others kept their composure, but Ruhui at the side and Zhou Xuezhi, who had just returned, both changed color. Having managed the estates and commercial affairs for so long, they naturally understood exactly what those figures meant. Wang Zhaojing let out a long breath, pondered for a moment, and said, "Brother, this year's land tax quota was originally only three million one hundred thousand taels. With this Liao surtax added, they'll be collecting over five million taels more."

Everyone in the room understood that number now. Every face wore a look of utter shock. Zhao Jin shook his head, started to speak and stopped himself several times, and finally said, "If we factor in the cuts the underlings will demand on top of that, it'll probably come to around ten million taels at least. Likely even more."

"No wonder, in this bitter cold and frozen weather, the refugees fleeing to our Xuzhou have actually increased. They'd rather freeze to death on the road than stay home and starve. Who knows how much worse it'll be next year!" Ruhui murmured.

The others remained silent. After another quiet spell, Ji Xiang coughed a few times over there. Zhao Jin looked over, knowing Ji Xiang had something to say. He nodded. Ji Xiang stepped forward, looked at everyone, and said, "Brother, I'm going to be rash again. With the court levying taxes this heavy, the common folk are bound to break. A great chaos of refugees like back then will surely come again. This has to be our chance. Brother, shouldn't we be making preparations for this?"

The words were still vague, still brash, but no one rebuked him. After a moment of silence, everyone turned to look at Zhao Jin. Zhao Jin was silent too. After a long quiet, Zhao Jin spoke. "No rush. We wait. Right now, everyone's crying hardship, but we haven't really heard that many people crying hardship. That means they can still endure. We'll talk again when the real chaos starts. It's still the same old saying: we're in no hurry. Every day we wait, we grow stronger, and our odds improve a little."

Everyone nodded. Zhou Xuezhi wore an expression full of mixed emotions.

The first levy of the Liao surtax, the common folk could still grit their teeth and bear it — even though the process inevitably involved extra levies and extortion by officials and runners. They'd endured so many years; they could get through this one too. At worst, they'd just treat it as suffering another major disaster. But the second levy in the twelfth month was more than anyone could take. By then, the New Year was near, and after the New Year, the first and second months were the lean season when the new crop was not yet in. Whatever supplies people had on hand were meant either for the New Year celebrations or to survive the coming hardships. To have it scraped away now — every single person truly found it unbearable. If they wanted to resist, they were too weak individually to stand against the official runners. If they didn't resist, everything their household had would be seized. If they didn't want to starve, flight was their only option.

But this was only the first year of the Liao surtax. Many still harbored illusions, thinking that if they endured this one year, things might turn around. Others simply didn't know where to flee. Aside from a few prefectures and counties in the Northern and Southern Metropolitan Regions that had been granted exemptions, the Liao surtax was being enforced everywhere else, scraping the land clean as if combing the mountains and dredging the seas. Where could they flee and find a way to live? Even if they knew Xuzhou wasn't collecting the Liao surtax, all their possessions had already been stripped away. In this bitter cold, they would freeze or starve to death on the road long before reaching their destination.

So at the end of that year, the number fleeing to Xuzhou was considerable, but not yet unmanageable. Zhao Jin allocated grain and organized the arriving refugees into work teams for dredging and digging ditches. By now, within the Zhao Battalion — or rather, the entire Xuzhou region — no one sat idle once winter arrived. Everywhere was bustling, making preparations for a better harvest the following year.

On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, Lei Cai returned to Xuzhou once more. He had not come back this time to celebrate the New Year. The Lei family's circumstances were much like Liu Yong's: his parents and relatives had long since died or scattered, leaving him utterly alone. He had returned this time because he had urgent matters to report concerning Ma Chonghao.

"... Feng Qi tried several times to take silver and buy people off. I stopped him every time. I was afraid that if there was even the slightest slip-up or leak, everything would be ruined. So I only let him spend money to befriend others. This Feng Qi usually gets along well with people, and once he had silver, quite a few started gathering around him. If you think this approach is inappropriate, Brother, I'll go back and change it."

"Since you're out there on the ground, you make the call on this. Being cautious is never wrong," Zhao Jin replied bluntly.

"Brother, the information we can confirm is still sparse, and it's all too fragmented. I don't even know if any of it is actually related to us. First: the Yangzhou salt merchants keep sending silver to Ma Chonghao, and the sums are not small. Several Nanjing Brocade Guard chiliarchs have all been arrested and assigned escort duties at one point or another. Second: Ma Chonghao's family has completely vanished. The first year Ma Chonghao arrived, when he received New Year gifts, anyone who failed to send gifts to his household was all dealt with. After that, the leading figures of the Nanjing Brocade Guard learned their lesson and never dared slight him during festivals again. By this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Ma's family was already no longer in Nanjing. Those few Brocade Guard chiefs figured that even if they'd returned to the capital, sending gifts there wouldn't be too much trouble — just a matter of asking someone to carry a letter. But it turned out Ma's family wasn't in the capital either. Those with closer ties asked around among Ma Chonghao's personal attendants and were told they didn't know. That's when everyone began to feel something was off." Lei Cai spoke very slowly. He had started learning to read, but his progress was not fast, so he relied entirely on memory, which naturally meant he could not go too quickly.

Zhao Jin, however, understood the implication perfectly. His brow furrowed deeply. "Ma Chonghao has already made his preparations. He doesn't even have a single tie left to worry about?"

Lei Cai nodded. Zhao Jin was no saint. Ma Chonghao was pressing him step by step, and if the two sides truly tore off all pretense, using his family as leverage was not out of the question. Liu Yong and Lei Cai had also been preparing for that all along. Some time ago, Ma Chonghao's family had already disappeared; they'd assumed they would return after a while. Now, with the New Year approaching and still no sign of them, it was clear Ma Chonghao had made arrangements long ago.

"Then this really is aimed at us. In the territory near Nanjing, I can't think of anyone else worth Ma Chonghao going to such lengths for," Zhao Jin said with a cold laugh.

Lei Cai laughed twice as well, then continued, "The Xuzhou Adjutant and the Langshan Vice Brigadier — those two have definitely met with Ma Chonghao and reached some kind of understanding. Right now, Ma Chonghao frequently holds secret talks with people coming from north of the river. Apart from that, he's been drinking and practicing martial arts with the household guard commanders of those few big shots in Nanjing. They've gotten very chummy."

Zhao Jin fell into thought again, then nodded and said, "Zhou Baolu currently has a shopfront in Qingjiangpu, and someone from Xuzhou goes there regularly — probably to pass messages. It's stopped in the last half-month. When the time comes, we'll grab the man and question him."

"Brother, judging by the current situation, is Ma Chonghao planning to rally a grand coalition of armies to encircle and annihilate our Zhao Battalion?" Though only the two of them were in the room, Lei Cai still instinctively lowered his voice when he spoke of this.

Zhao Jin shook his head and said in a muffled voice, "A grand coalition of armies to move against us? Neither the Grand Coordinator of Fengyang nor the Grand Coordinator of Yingtian has the authority to decide that. It would have to be deliberated at court, with an imperial decree issued to mobilize troops. What can Ma Chonghao, a mere Brocade Guard chief, actually do? Besides, if he makes a move like that, the civil officials will actually steer clear, to avoid getting entangled with the Depot and Guard. If it's aimed at us, nine times out of ten — but as for mobilizing a grand army, absolutely impossible."

Only then did Lei Cai breathe a sigh of relief. Clearly, the speculation about a grand army encirclement had weighed heavily on him. Lei Cai hesitated, then spoke again. "I've discussed it with Old Li. If it really comes down to it, we could just strike at Ma Chonghao inside Nanjing city. Send a few old brothers from the Internal Guard detachment. I refuse to believe that meddlesome bastard has three heads and six arms."

Zhao Jin's expression turned stern. In a grave voice, he asked, "Have you thought about what your odds of success would be?"

"Thirty percent. Brother, thirty percent is worth trying. Once the man is dead, all our troubles vanish!" Lei Cai said through gritted teeth.

Zhao Jin reached out and clapped Lei Cai on the shoulder. In a deep voice, he said, "Ma Chonghao's life isn't worth as much as yours. Why would I let you take such a huge risk for a mere thirty percent chance?"

"Brother, this life of mine..."

"I've been lucky. You and Xiaoyong are both earnest and meticulous in your work. Right now, you're already managing a huge operation. In the future, there'll be an even greater domain to hand over to your management. You, going out to brawl and kill? That would be a terrible waste!" Zhao Jin said with a smile.

Lei Cai lowered his head for a moment. When he looked up, he said, "Brother, we can't just leave Ma Chonghao unchecked. We can't let him sit there plotting until we're caught completely off guard."

"We won't be caught off guard. We're already on full alert. But we can't take the initiative either. If we make a move in Nanjing — if we strike against a substantive Brocade Guard Assistant Commander-in-Chief — that is open rebellion. At that point, it really would be a grand army encirclement. Right now, all our 'biding our time and reacting' is precisely to guard against that kind of scenario." Zhao Jin's tone was deeply frustrated.

It was indeed deeply frustrating. From the Zhao Battalion's founding until now, their method for dealing with enemies had always been simple: annihilate them. Either crush them in an open advance, or strike from the shadows. Even in a standoff, the Zhao Battalion would use its dominant might and prestige to force the opponent to back down. But now, they could only resort to this "biding their time and reacting" — they could only wait for the other side to move before responding.

Everyone knew there was no alternative. To deliver a killing blow against a high-ranking Brocade Guard official from the capital, on a battlefield where their own strength was weak, would all too easily provoke an overwhelming reaction. After all, up to now, the Zhao Battalion had always prioritized self-strengthening and had never done anything with great fanfare.

Hearing Zhao Jin's words, Lei Cai fell silent for a while. Just when Zhao Jin thought he was about to take his leave, Lei Cai lowered his voice and said, "Brother, when I was little, I didn't know any better. When I grew up, I lived years where even dogs wouldn't glance at me. It was you, Brother, who let me become a real man, and then let me become a man above other men. This debt of gratitude — I can never repay it."

"We're brothers. What's the point of saying useless things like that? Once or twice is more than enough!" Zhao Jin hadn't expected this turn in the conversation and responded with a frown of displeasure.

"Brother, I'm not trying to make some declaration of loyalty. This life of mine is yours. What I want to say is, although quite a few people in Xuzhou know of me, not many have actually seen me or dealt with me. And outside, even fewer have seen or know me." Lei Cai's voice and tone had returned to normal. He spoke very slowly.

Zhao Jin's face darkened. He asked, "What are you trying to say?"

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