Chapter 692: The Brocade Guard Agents in Xuzhou

"Master Yong, this subordinate feels the Xie and Bai families are highly suspect. Haven't those two families always been dissatisfied with the market allocation? Why not arrest a few people and question them?" Wei Mugen, noticing the troubled look on Liu Yong's face, spoke up to ask.

The Xie and Bai families were both top-tier great merchants of Qingjiangpu. One had roots in the capital, the other was descended from a major clan in Suzhou. Wealthy, powerful, and with deep official connections, they had long harbored considerable resentment over the market allocation, and they were not afraid of the Zhao Camp knowing it.

Though business was just business, the fact that these two families were unafraid, despite the Zhao Camp's formidable reputation in Qingjiangpu, spoke volumes about the depth of their grievance and the strength they relied upon.

Liu Yong lowered his head and pondered. After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and said, "Grudges are formed either over lives or over money. Those we've killed or wounded have long since been wiped out or captured clean. What remains are business disputes. These two families are certainly prime suspects, but we cannot act rashly right now. If we truly do something and the Brocade Guard seizes on it, we'll bring a great calamity down on Xuzhou."

"Master Yong..." Wei Mugen wanted to insist.

"If we arrest those few who manage their household affairs, how confident are you that it won't blow up into a major incident?" Liu Yong asked coldly.

Wei Mugen thought for a moment but ultimately said nothing. Liu Yong simply shook his head in silence.

Ever since the Brocade Guard arrived in Qingjiangpu and began their sham investigation, summoning witnesses to come forward—after which the one witness who did enter was seized right outside the door—the Brocade Guard agents' doorstep had become utterly deserted. They even had to buy their own meals now; no one dared send anything in. Asking why only brought a helpless answer: what if delivering food was mistaken for informing, costing them their lives, or even their entire families' lives?

Though all human contact had ceased, information still flowed into this courtyard. At first, the agents found it strange: they'd sweep the place spotless one day, and the next, paper wads and the like would appear. Only later did they discover that these contained lists of the Zhao Camp's various crimes. They appeared almost daily—bits and pieces, each in a different handwriting.

The Zhao Camp had killed and wounded large numbers of jianghu figures, directly seized people's property, privately imprisoned law-abiding citizens, intimidated court officials, and stationed a large armed force at this critical canal transport hub with seditious intent. The letter-writers possessed considerable literary flair, claiming that if the imperial inspectors would only move to make arrests, ten thousand voices would rise in response, with both witnesses and material evidence complete.

Yet the Brocade Guard agents took no action. They merely smoothed out these paper wads, pinned them into a ledger, and periodically sent them off to Nanjing.

The charges were clearly listed one by one, but they were all cases with dead ends—even the victims could not be found, so how could they investigate? Of course, the real reason these agents dared not act was one major crime mentioned in many of the paper wads: the stationing of heavy troops!

One Zhao Camp regiment alone numbered over a thousand men; the bandit and brigand underlings amounted to four or five hundred; the guard militia numbered nearly two thousand. Added together, inside and out, that was roughly over three thousand men. Meanwhile, the local troops Qingjiangpu could rely on numbered only a few hundred, all held in the hands of the Shanyang garrison commander, and utterly useless.

No matter how dutiful one was, one still had to consider one's own life. With wolves and tigers at one's side, the slightest reckless move risked being devoured. Better to be cautious. Since their superiors had ordered them to come here, spread rumors, and gather evidence of crimes, they might as well keep their nerve and take it slowly.

When Zhao Jin was not in Qingjiangpu, affairs there were divided into several areas, each person taking sole charge of one. Major matters were decided by group discussion. Since the Brocade Guard had come to Qingjiangpu, the frequency of these group meetings had increased.

Zhou Xuezhi, who was originally stationed in Qingjiangpu, oversaw the Zhao Camp's commercial affairs. He dealt with the gentry and wealthy elite, all of whom fawned over him. One could say he was riding high, always wearing a smile each day, happy even in his busyness. But ever since the Brocade Guard arrived, he had hardly smiled at all.

Today's joint discussion was initiated by Zhou Xuezhi. Shi Manqiang could not leave the barracks without authorization, so Zhou Xuezhi and Liu Yong both came here.

"Fourth Master, Seventh Master, has no letter come from the Master?" Zhou Xuezhi asked the moment he entered the room.

Both Liu Yong and Shi Manqiang shook their heads. Shi Manqiang said sullenly, "If a letter came, we wouldn't hide it from you. Old Zhou, you don't need to ask every time."

Even the honest and simple Shi Manqiang was somewhat restless and irritable in the current situation. Liu Yong, however, could still keep his composure. He spoke: "Big Brother's message was to counter movement with stillness and not let the agents seize any leverage. Since there's no new word, we'll just follow that."

Shi Manqiang and Zhou Xuezhi both nodded glumly. Zhou Xuezhi's expression remained grim. He sighed and said, "Today, the Wang, Feng, Yang, Xie, Bai, and Li families, along with that Warehouse Commissioner Lian Ping'an, all came to see me. They spoke very politely, saying that if we were short on funds, they were all willing to help—that we've made money together for so long, we shouldn't stand on ceremony or try to tough it out alone..."

Before he could finish, Liu Yong slammed the table heavily, his face turning ashen. Shi Manqiang was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Isn't that good intentions?"

"Good what? They're showing their true colors, those bastards!" Liu Yong said bitterly.

Zhou Xuezhi nodded with a dark expression and continued, "Seventh Master is right. What their words mean is that when we leave, they want to swallow up the market. If we sell, we mustn't sell to anyone else."

"You think there'll be any buying and selling when it comes to that? The moment you show any hint of wanting to sell, our very lives will be in danger!" Liu Yong said through gritted teeth.

Shi Manqiang's eyes widened, then his face filled with fury. He roared in a low voice, "Those scum, those bastards—did they do all these things lately? Did they bring those agents here?"

After these two sentences, Shi Manqiang rose from his seat and stared at his two companions. "Then what are we waiting for? Take the boys and wipe out these bastards!"

At Shi Manqiang's reaction, Liu Yong shook his head helplessly and sighed. "Fourth Brother, not every single thing that's happened these days was necessarily done by them, but they're definitely connected. Yet these families are the biggest ones in Qingjiangpu. Moving against them would cause too great a stir—it would alarm both the capital and Nanjing, and even more, it would hand leverage to those Brocade Guard agents. Counter movement with stillness, counter movement with stillness. Big Brother said so, so that's what we'll do!"

Shi Manqiang opened his mouth, then finally sat back down, only to slam the table heavily and say bitterly, "Just endure like this? Let those agents frame us as they please?"

Zhou Xuezhi also said in a grave tone, "This can't go on. The shopkeepers and clerks at the various stores are all getting jittery. Our people keep reporting news up. For now, it's still alright, but if this drags on, big trouble is certain. Let's jointly write an urgent letter to the Master!"

Among the three, Liu Yong was neither the highest in status nor the eldest in age, yet he was clearly the center around whom the other two revolved. Once Zhou Xuezhi finished, everyone looked at Liu Yong.

Liu Yong was silent. After a quiet moment, his expression became very resolute. He spoke: "A letter must be written. Just tell it like it is. We don't need to be anxious or panic. If we follow Big Brother's instructions, we definitely won't suffer. When has Big Brother ever been wrong?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the tense, oppressive atmosphere in the room dissipated considerably. Indeed, Zhao Jin had never been wrong.

"The Brocade Guard agents have also reached Xuzhou. I wonder how things are with the Master there?" Zhou Xuezhi suddenly said.

Brocade Guard agents had been to Xuzhou before. Those who went secretly never returned; those who went openly suffered a major loss. This time, when Ma Chonghao dispatched agents to various places to gather evidence of Zhao Jin's crimes, no one was willing to come to Xuzhou.

Ma Chonghao, the Assistant Commander of the Nanjing Brocade Guard, was well aware of this. So the men he assigned to Xuzhou were those trusted confidants he had called over from the capital, along with a few unlucky souls from the Nanjing Brocade Guard who had no choice but to come, all arriving together in Xuzhou.

The few Nanjing natives were terrified, having settled their final affairs with their families before leaving Nanjing. But Ma Chonghao's confidants were unafraid—not out of ignorant fearlessness, but because their long experience handling cases in the capital had taught them well how to leverage the Brocade Guard's name and moral authority.

Outsiders had no way of knowing that Ma Chonghao's confidants lacked official Brocade Guard status. Wearing flying-fish robes and bearing embroidered-spring sabers, with waist tokens and documents all in order, they entered the city with great fanfare, paid a courtesy call at the magistrate's yamen, then found lodgings at the official guesthouse within the city. Every day, they went out to inquire about Zhao Jin's crimes, asking whether there were any signs of rebellion.

Clearly, no one within the city of Xuzhou dared take the bait. At the sight of Brocade Guard personnel, people fled. If they tried to enter a house or shop, the doors were shut right in their faces. This was not fear of the Brocade Guard's might, but fear of offending the Zhao Camp.

These agents and their unofficial runners did not press the matter. When no one paid them any heed, they simply shouted outside the doors: "Do you know evidence of that Zhao fellow's rebellion?" "Do you know Zhao Jin is plotting rebellion, and the court is sending a great army to encircle and annihilate him? Speak up if you have anything to say!"

They had not come to investigate or handle a case at all, but to spread rumors—the more people who heard, the better.

These agents and runners who came to Xuzhou also conducted themselves with considerable discretion: all talk, no action. Not only did they pay in silver for their lodging and meals, but they absolutely never used force outside. They would only go out after broad daylight and hurried back to the guesthouse before dusk. And though Xuzhou was famous for its liquor, they all abstained from drinking entirely.

They had no choice but to be this cautious. They had been watched the entire journey here, and now, every day they took to the streets, over a dozen grim-faced men followed behind them. The very first day they were out on the streets investigating crimes, not yet knowing the lay of the land, they had grown impatient and were about to use force when nearly a hundred men appeared from all directions, each bearing weapons, with every appearance of being ready to kill officials in broad daylight. It took a personal attendant sent by the magistrate, begging and pleading desperately, to get the crowd to disperse.

"This godforsaken place—even the yamen runners don't dare deal with us. It's unnatural. Even the powerful eunuchs and grandees in the capital don't command this level of fear. We've got to be careful!" This was what the agents said among themselves.

While the Brocade Guard agents were proclaiming everywhere, the Xuzhou region remained very quiet. But this quiet was now making people somewhat restless. Everyone, high and low, was waiting for Zhao Jin's reaction. Yet Zhao Jin never moved, simply allowing the Brocade Guard agents to loiter and harass on the main roads every day. Those men never dared walk the side roads.

Thanks to old friends "Mu Ming" and "Yuan Heng Li Zhen" for their tips, and thanks to everyone for your subscriptions and monthly tickets. Thank you all.