Chapter 704: The Swift Foot May Not Be First to Reach the Summit

They set out traveling light, each man carrying only a single day's worth of provisions and fodder. With no unified chain of command among them, an air of restless agitation hung palpably over the ranks. During the river crossing, the Brocade Guard agents and the Duke of Wei's household troops nearly came to blows on the boat, stopped only when their respective superiors shouted them down.

After crossing the river and making landfall, the eight hundred men and horses took quite some time to disembark. By the time everything was sorted, the sky was nearly dark. It was at this moment that the men organized by the Yangzhou salt merchants arrived to welcome them.

A mere half-hour's journey from the ferry crossing lay a supply station set up by the Yangzhou salt merchants. It was fully stocked with provisions for men and horses alike, with wine and meat in abundance, and they had even prepared women for the several commanders.

Once they arrived here, the restless agitation in Ma Chonghao's ranks vanished like smoke. In Nanjing, everything had been stable, with no need to worry about supplies and logistics. But marching out on this nameless, unauthorized campaign with only a single day's provisions—what would they do when those ran out? That worry had been on everyone's mind. Seeing the salt merchants' preparations, however, set them all at ease.

"Superintendent Ma, that scoundrel Zhao Jin truly deserves to be hacked to pieces. Under his oppression, we here in Yangzhou dare not even keep guards to watch our homes and courtyards. At most, we can only provide three hundred riders to follow you. I hope you will not find this too meager." Feng Jinde, the head of the Yangzhou Feng family, spoke with careful tact.

The women sent by the salt merchants were all top-tier goods from within Yangzhou city. They had assumed Ma Chonghao and the other leaders would accept them with pleasure, but to their surprise, Ma Chonghao claimed fatigue from the journey and said there was no need for such exertions on the road, directly refusing their goodwill. This left the various salt merchants who had come to greet them deeply uneasy, and once everyone was settled, they sought a private audience.

Ma Chonghao's manner was quite amiable. Shaking his head, he said, "You are truly muddled. This place is still half a day's journey from Yangzhou city, and you're already offering women here. The march from here to Xuzhou will take several days—will you attend to them or not? If you stop sending them, they'll think you're slighting them. If you keep sending them, it earns you no real favor anyway."

Hearing this, they were finally able to set their minds at ease. Ma Chonghao continued to offer guidance, saying, "When we reach Yangzhou, just do your utmost to supply us. For everything else, proceed as we previously agreed."

Only after this was said did Feng Jinde dare to broach the subject of the guard numbers. Ma Chonghao paused briefly at this, then said with a smile, "We've come this time to apprehend rebels and criminals, not to fight a life-and-death battle. We don't need that many men. Just send two hundred from your side."

"Superintendent, we have already discussed and settled the allocation of the Xuzhou salt market among ourselves. Would you be willing to take a twenty percent dry share?" This was the real matter at hand. The salt merchants had no interest in competing with these agents and soldiers for gold, silver, or property, but that salt market was of vital importance to them.

Ma Chonghao nodded with a smile. Feng Jinde exchanged a glance with the head of the Yang family, another salt merchant beside him, and then continued, "The salt market at Qingjiangpu is newly established, and other parties must also take their share of the profits, so we cannot offer twenty percent there. Only ten percent can be set aside for you, Superintendent. We hope you will not take offense."

"Since you're only giving me ten percent here, then we shall discuss those estates on the barren grasslands north of Huai'an Prefecture again." The smile on Ma Chonghao's face did not diminish as he spoke in a gentle tone.

The vast expanse of land between Pizhou and Haizhou was all barren grassland set aside for salt boiling. This saline-alkaline wasteland was utterly wild and desolate, largely devoid of human habitation. The salt merchants, focused solely on the immense profits of the salt trade, had no interest in paying it any attention.

Yet now, Zhao Jin had developed this area into orderly and thriving great farming estates. There was increasingly mature farmland, a population skilled in cultivation, and roads extending in all directions—it was already approaching the scale of a county seat. And all this land and population were private property, a family inheritance of nearly incalculable value. Naturally, once Zhao Jin was destroyed, these assets could be carved up among them. The salt merchants' operations along the Haizhou line were very close to these barren lands, so of course they intended to take advantage of their proximity to get there first.

They had assumed Ma Chonghao would not notice this particular prize, and had never expected him to bring it up directly. Feng Jinde and the man beside him immediately wore expressions of acute embarrassment.

However, no conclusion was reached that night. It was merely agreed that the matter would be discussed again after the great task was accomplished. Ma Chonghao also knew he could not press too hard at this moment; after all, the salt merchants had various powerful figures backing them.

Once they reached Yangzhou, the treatment of Ma Chonghao's unit became even better. Right outside the city were estates belonging to the wealthy merchants, which could easily accommodate these several hundred men and horses. Supplies went without saying—wine, meat, and women, everything one could desire was provided.

The common soldiers ate and drank their fill, and the squad leaders also let loose and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Back in Nanjing, with so many eyes watching from above and below, where could they find such pleasure?

"Old Ma, do you reckon our eight hundred men could sack this Yangzhou clean? Damn it all, this place is paved in gold and silver. Just one good sweep and we'd be set for generations, with women to enjoy until we can't enjoy them anymore!"

After two days of drunken, dreamy indulgence, Xu Tiebiao's friendship with Ma Chonghao had rapidly deepened. Deep in his cups, Xu Tiebiao spoke to Ma Chonghao with a thick, slurring tongue.

Speaking such words to a Brocade Guard officer was practically asking for one's life to be cut short. Ma Chonghao, however, took no offense and answered with a laugh, "Though this Yangzhou city has a garrison commander, where is the city defense to be seen? Our eight hundred elite cavalry against a place like this would be using a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken. But if we made a move on Yangzhou, armies from all four directions would come against us. Right now, we're waiting for Old Lu from Wolf Mountain to rendezvous with us. If we acted, Old Lu from Wolf Mountain would be the one coming to strike us down."

"Just idle jesting, that's all. Our Xu family has received the nation's grace for generations—how could we ever commit such treasonous and wicked deeds!" Xu Tiebiao had perhaps let his tongue slip in drunkenness, but he knew enough to mend his words.

After saying this, Xu Tiebiao furrowed his brow and muttered in puzzlement, "By all rights, whatever message was sent should have arrived long ago. We've reached Yangzhou, so Old Lu should have reached Yangzhou too. It's been delayed over two days now—why hasn't he come yet?"

When drunk, a passing mention was enough; no one would pay it much mind. The next morning, however, while Xu Tiebiao was still sleeping soundly with a woman in his arms, the door was pounded on rudely.

Startled awake, Xu Tiebiao's first reaction was to reach for the short blade under his pillow, but he relaxed immediately after. Outside the door was Ma Liu, Ma Chonghao's trusted man.

"Master Xu, my master has received word that Lu Quanyou's men left two days ago and headed straight for Qingjiangpu," Ma Liu reported.

Upon hearing this, Xu Tiebiao's expression immediately turned extremely grim. When he hurriedly dressed and went to see Ma Chonghao, he found that Ma Chonghao's expression was no better than his own.

"That old fox schemes shrewdly enough—wants to get to Qingjiangpu first and line his pockets," Ma Chonghao muttered through gritted teeth.

"Tell the brothers to get ready to move! If we linger any longer in this Yangzhou, I fear every last one of them will go weak in the knees!" Xu Tiebiao barked in ill humor.

Ma Chonghao's face had also lost its good cheer by now. He said sullenly, "No need to rush. He won't be able to line his pockets much there either. At most, he'll use the charge of rebellion to extort those wealthy households. He's dreaming—the big families all have backers behind them. Without proper name or authority, who would pay him any heed?"

Having received the news in the morning, they should have broken camp and set out with the utmost urgency. Moreover, these eight hundred cavalry were traveling light, needing no supply train or fodder. By all rights, they should have been able to strike camp and depart very quickly. But the dissipation of the past few days had greatly reduced everyone's efficiency. It was not until the sun had dipped to the west that this unit finally began moving north along the canal.

This cavalry unit had no mind to avoid troubling the common folk, but the traveling merchants and civilians on the road naturally dared not provoke them either, all keeping a wide berth and watching with great curiosity.

As soon as they heard that the personal guards and household troops of the Wolf Mountain Vice Regional Commander had already reached Qingjiangpu and were there, for all anyone knew, wallowing in debauchery and raking in fortunes, every man in Ma Chonghao's unit, from top to bottom, grew agitated and anxious. Though loath to leave Yangzhou, they wasted little time on the road ahead. Passing through Gaoyou Subprefecture and by way of Baoying County, they soon entered the territory of Huai'an Prefecture. Qingjiangpu itself lay right on the border between Huai'an and Yangzhou Prefectures.

Before setting out, Ma Chonghao had planned for a long time. Not only did he have men quietly spying and observing in Xuzhou, but he also had eyes and ears here in Qingjiangpu. Thus, the moment their unit arrived, someone immediately came forward to report and receive them.

"... Lord Lu's personal guards have already arrived. As soon as they got here, they sent men to the residences of the various wealthy merchants, claiming they were colluding with the rebels and that the imperial court had already dispatched a grand army to encircle and exterminate them. If they did not wish to be counted among the rebels and traitors, they had to contribute military funds. Then, naturally, someone would help plead their case and smooth things over..."

"... However, the big merchants here in Qingjiangpu have exceedingly powerful backers and are far too familiar with official procedures. They paid no heed to such talk whatsoever. They directly demanded Lord Lu produce official documents, and further stated that falsely claiming authority was itself no light offense..."

"... This lot of merchants are the local emperors of Qingjiangpu. That Shanyang Garrison Commander Qin is nominally under the command of the Wolf Mountain Vice General, yet his troops actually confronted Lord Lu's personal guards. On several occasions, they nearly came to blows..."

"... Zhao Jin still has nearly two thousand men left here—second-rate soldiers, something called a militia corps. I don't know if this bunch has thrown in with the wealthy merchants or been bought off with silver by those big families, but now they're baring fangs and brandishing claws too. Lord Lu's personal guards absolutely dare not act recklessly..."

Ma Chonghao and his men had initially been quite anxious and angry, but as they listened to this account, their reaction turned first to derision, and then to astonishment.

"Truly lawless beyond all bounds! Is this still the realm of the Great Ming?" Ma Chonghao roared in fury.

The unit Ma Chonghao led and the four hundred Wolf Mountain cavalry were stationed in the same encampment—a supply station also established by the Yangzhou salt merchants. When the two sides met, Ma Chonghao's men were rather inclined to gloat over their comrades' misfortune, while the Wolf Mountain troops looked thoroughly dejected. The man leading the Wolf Mountain forces came as a great surprise to everyone: he was actually a middle-aged scholar, who introduced himself as Shi Ping'ao.

Ma Chonghao, in his capacity as Assistant Commissioner-in-Chief of the Brocade Guard, had some knowledge of this man and knew him to be the trusted advisor and strategist of Wolf Mountain Vice General Lu Quanyou. He therefore treated him with considerable courtesy.

Shi Ping'ao was neither obsequious nor arrogant toward Ma Chonghao, but his words were very direct: "Lord Ma, on this expedition to Xuzhou, we lack proper official standing. What we need is momentum—not only to make the gentry and commoners believe our cause is just, but also to make our own men feel righteous and confident. Otherwise, we won't be able to intimidate anyone. The rebel faction clinging to that traitor Zhao won't scatter and flee, and that scoundrel Zhao himself won't lose his nerve. Here in Qingjiangpu, we absolutely must crush their resistance and make them acknowledge that Zhao Jin is plotting rebellion. If things remain this vague and ambiguous, then they are siding with the rebels and abetting treason, and will face severe punishment and imprisonment in the future!"

Thanks to the three old friends "Mu Ming, Yuan Heng Zhen Li, and Reader 1287208672" for their tips. Thank you, everyone.