Chapter 730: Sifting Through the Past

Zhao Jin could also sense this shift in the crowd's mood. He couldn't help but laugh and shake his head, saying helplessly, "Can't I just be thinking something over? Why are you all so tense?"

Everyone burst into laughter. Zhao Jin's smile faded as he spoke with grave seriousness, "Shitou's words have struck right at my heart. We have just over three hundred archers in hand, and that count even includes those who can only draw a bow, never mind their accuracy. These three hundred or so are useful in ordinary times, but what can they withstand in a real battle? To put it plainly, of the two thousand elite cavalry Ma Chonghao brought this time, nearly every man can draw a bow and shoot. If it truly came to blows, and they didn't charge us head-on but instead skirmished and shot from horseback, how great a loss would we suffer? Our archers couldn't hold them off at all. Our household troops would have to rely on their armor to tough it out. And if the scale were even larger, with several hundred enemy archers firing volleys at us, what would we do? What if they had firearms?"

As Zhao Jin posed question after question, everyone's expressions turned grim. Ji Xiang said with some agitation, "When the order is given, the lads charge over and flatten them—that's all there is to it."

At these words, even Chen Sheng nodded. The Zhao Battalion's battle formations were like mountains; the long-trained household troops could already respond to commands by instinct. As long as an order was given, they would carry it out. Ji Xiang's remark was less an argument and more an attempt to steady his own confidence.

"If the casualties are heavy enough, even the strongest battle formation will collapse. We all look down on government troops, but have you considered this—if the enemy really bombards us with cannon, what do we do?"

No one had anything more to say. They exchanged glances, and each could see the lingering fear in the other's eyes. They had thought the various forces under Ma Chonghao's command were paper tigers, all show and no substance. But after hearing Zhao Jin's words, they realized the enemy might not be without a chance of victory. Among the Ming army, any elite soldier bearing the title of household trooper was proficient in both archery and horsemanship. If they skirmished and shot from horseback like that, then charged in the end, the Zhao Battalion would truly be in danger.

"But archers are terribly hard to find. In the three garrisons of Xuzhou, those who can draw a bow and shoot can't even muster two hundred right now. Elsewhere, even among hunters, few can draw a bow." Dong Bingfeng spoke hesitantly. His own archery was superb, so he naturally had his own insight on this.

Zhao Jin shook his head and said, "Training an archer takes years, even over a decade, and it depends on natural talent. We don't have that kind of time. Look at our household troops—trained rigorously according to our methods, they can take the field and kill the enemy in less than half a year. Firearms can also reach far, and learning to train with them doesn't take too long either. And we needn't worry about being hard to replenish if men die or are wounded."

Originally, Chen Sheng, Dong Bingfeng, and even Wang Zhaojing all thought very little of firearms. However, they had always been part of the trainee squad's training curriculum, and the finely crafted matchlocks produced by the Xu family had been in constant supply. At sixty to seventy paces, their lethality was no worse than bows and arrows, so everyone came to find them acceptable. But what puzzled everyone was that Zhao Jin looked down on matchlocks and had no intention of equipping them on a large scale. Thus, there were just over a hundred in use for training now, with fewer than two hundred stored in the armory. Though the matchlocks were few, Zhao Jin always insisted on keeping a certain stockpile of gunpowder, an amount far exceeding what the matchlocks required. This made the several stewards in charge of the warehouse constantly on edge, and they specially stored it in an empty mine shaft at the Liu Family Mine, precisely for fear of any mishap.

At this point, Zhao Jin sighed and said with great resignation, "The matchlock is usable, but in the end, it's not the best or most suitable kind. If they get proficient with this one, switching to that other kind later will bring a lot more trouble. I had thought Yu Zhiyuan could help find it, but I never imagined it would be delayed this long. Still, having something useful is better than having nothing. We'll make do for now!"

No one was surprised by Zhao Jin's demeanor. Everyone knew Zhao Jin was always strict in his conduct and rarely let things slide in such a vague manner. They also understood another habit of Zhao Jin's: once a decision was made, it would be carried out immediately.

"Mister Zhou, tomorrow morning, go to Jingshan and discuss the manufacture of matchlocks with the Xu family. I want one thousand pieces. Every single matchlock must be traceable to the craftsman who made it and the overseer who supervised it. If one piece fails, I will hold the craftsman and the overseer responsible. Also, have Li Dajin take men from the Internal Guard over there. The Xu family is not very peaceful right now; it's always better to be cautious." Zhou Xuezhi rose and acknowledged the order. Liu Yong also stood to receive his command.

Chen Sheng tilted his head and asked, "Since the sister-in-law is over there, should we have Daxiang send a few companies over?"

"Tomorrow, I will set out together with Mister Zhou." Ji Xiang immediately stood and volunteered. This was naturally the kind of task where one should eagerly strive to be first.

Zhao Jin smiled and said, "There's no need for such a grand show of force. Quite a few Internal Guard men have already gone with her. Inside the Xu household, she still has several hundred able-bodied young men she can mobilize. Besides, the local militia over there aren't just eating for free."

At the mention of this topic, a trace of embarrassment also appeared on Zhao Jin's face. After all, this was a family matter, and a somewhat awkward one at that. It was because Xu Zhenzhen, when her child was not yet a hundred days old, had been desperate to rush back to the Xu family—and she was going back to kill people.

Around the time the former Nanjing Brocade Guard Assistant Commander Ma Chonghao led his various forces into Xuzhou, the surface of Xuzhou remained calm, but undercurrents surged in secret. It was rather embarrassing to say, but the ones stirring up the most trouble in all this were the Xu family.

The Xu family's estate was enormous, and in recent years, under Zhao Jin's protection, it had swelled and grown even further. In terms of wealth and grandeur, it was in no way inferior to the great merchant houses of Qingjiangpu and Yangzhou. Yet Xu Zhenzhen's father, Xu Benrong, and her younger brother, Xu Housheng, had never been able to keep the situation under control. Although Xu Zhenzhen had purged the family once before she married over, and had continued to manage things remotely from the Zhao household, there were simply too many clansmen and relatives harboring disloyalty and wild ambitions. Normally, with a colossus like the Zhao Battalion weighing down on them, naturally no one dared to stir. But this time, with several thousand elite government cavalry arriving to arrest the rebel and traitor Zhao Jin, everyone assumed the Zhao family was finished. Xu Zhenzhen naturally wouldn't escape, and neither would Xu Benrong or Xu Housheng.

As ill luck would have it, during this very period, Xu Zhenzhen was approaching childbirth. No matter how shrewd and capable she was, she couldn't attend to matters over there. The Xu household in every quarter had already erupted into chaos. Had Cloud Mountain Trading not directly controlled several iron mines, with militia providing protection, even the weapons forging and stockpiling would have run into problems at the time. The danger didn't stop there. Around the seventh month, Xu Benrong and his son Xu Housheng could not even leave their own home. Even this was thanks to Liang San having already joined the Internal Guard, and the father and son's bodyguards being composed of Xuzhou militia. Otherwise, the furious clansmen would have stormed in, seized them, and delivered them straight to the authorities to turn them in.

Throughout this period, news never ceased, flowing constantly from the north bank of the Yellow River to He Family Village. Xu Zhenzhen was frantic with worry, yet she knew she could not add to Zhao Jin's troubles at this time. If she went there and any mishap befell her, both sides would likely face disaster. Fortunately, when the dust finally settled, Xu Zhenzhen was at last able to breathe a sigh of relief.

What was truly amusing was that after the various forces Ma Chonghao had brought with him scattered and collapsed, those Xu family members who had harbored their own schemes, hoping to seize and carve up the family property, actually thought they could act as if nothing had happened. They put on smiling faces again and came to ingratiate themselves and offer solicitude. A few who had gone too far naturally wept bitterly, kowtowed, and begged forgiveness—but that was the extent of it.

"I need some capable men from you, my husband. This time, when I go back, I will thoroughly set the Xu house in order. Those who should be killed will be killed; those who should be sent to the Barren Grass Flats will be sent. If I don't deal with them harshly, they'll stir up trouble again the next time a storm comes. Where in the world is there such a cheap bargain? They leap and scramble when the wind rises, and when it falls calm, they think they've done nothing at all. If you, my husband, had not pulled through this time, my father and brother would not have lived either. Since they acted so ruthlessly, on what grounds can they still come grinning afterward and call themselves members of the Xu family?" Though Xu Zhenzhen's tone was calm, she was clearly at the end of her patience.

Zhao Jin offered no objection whatsoever. Toward those who wanted to wreak havoc in his own family, he would naturally show no courtesy. Liu Yong selected several dozen shrewd and capable household troops to accompany her. Zhao Feng and Zhao Long were left in the care of Zhao Jin's mother, He Cuihua. Xu Zhenzhen herself crossed the river northward.

According to news from the past few days, over a dozen people in the Xu family had already "died of illness." Some had tried to flee, but since the wife of Master Jin had given the word, the various powers along Xuzhou's borders naturally blocked them. They were even more diligent and forceful in seizing people and handling matters than when they had hunted down the incense heads of the Smelling Incense Sect.

Still, having blood spilled and people die within one's own family was, after all, no glorious affair. No wonder Zhao Jin felt somewhat embarrassed. Wang Zhaojing pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Big Brother, why not have Xiaoyong send over some household troops who aren't of refugee origin? One more man means one more measure of assurance."

Liu Yong immediately grasped Wang Zhaojing's meaning and echoed, "Third Brother makes a good point. Li Dajin is due back tomorrow or the day after. Have him take men of trainee background over."

The Internal Guard needed men of rich experience, men who understood the ways of the underworld, and who were also required to be reliable, with few outside entanglements. Among those captured after the refugees besieged Xuzhou, a great many had been selected precisely because they had no roots in Xuzhou—Nie Hei, for instance, was one such type. But now, with another round of bloody storms raging between the Zhao Battalion and the Smelling Incense Sect, to ensure absolute safety, they needed men who were not from the Smelling Incense Sect, not from Shandong, and not of refugee origin.

"This Ma Chonghao should be capable. This time, while he's combing through Xuzhou, he might well dig up quite a few more people from the sect. I'd actually like to see just how many core members his Smelling Incense Sect can afford to lose here in Xuzhou," Zhao Jin said with a nod.

Zhao Jin's judgment of Ma Chonghao was not wrong. Liu Yong worked with extreme efficiency. That very night, he took a few of Ma Chonghao's men, along with the backbone of the Internal Guard, and, with the cooperation of the Xuzhou militia and various figures from the underworld and marketplaces, began the investigation and arrests. By the third day, results had already begun to show—twenty-seven people were swept up in one go, all within the city of Xuzhou itself. Even with Liu Yong's temperament, he couldn't help but feel the urge to go to Zhao Jin and beg forgiveness for his oversight. On the fourth day, another dozen or so were captured, and three incense halls were taken down in succession.

With so many people arrested, everyone in charge of internal security felt uneasy. Even Zhao Shiyi, who was always low-key and well-behaved, came over to assist with the interrogations. The city of Xuzhou and its surrounding area were under his management, yet now so many hidden agents and plants had been dug up—didn't that mean he had been incompetent in his duties? So he wanted to come and see for himself. There were also whispers in secret, saying that Eleventh Brother felt Ma Chonghao might not be reliable, that he might very well be framing innocent people just to show off and earn merit. By personally keeping watch, he could guard against anyone pulling tricks.

It's the end of the month. If you still have monthly tickets in hand, please cast them—they'll go to waste next month.