Chapter 858: Lost It All

858. Chapter 858: Lost It All

"Surname Duan, Duan Anping." Liu Yong leaned close to Zhao Jin's ear and said.

Zhao Jin nodded, pointed at the Shandong commoners in front, and said, "According to what you said, there must be quite a few Assembly Masters and Incense Masters among them. Can you identify them all?"

"Please set your mind at ease, Master Jin, this humble one can recognize them all," Duan Anping said deferentially. This man was one of the local righteous volunteers who had "assisted" the Zhao Character Camp alongside the Jin and Cui families of Yutai County — in plain terms, an inside agent and spy planted by the Fragrance-Smelling Sect. It was only because Duan Anping claimed to be an old subordinate of Mu Shulan that he had been kept alive until today. They had originally planned to interrogate him thoroughly back in Xuzhou, but at this moment he happened to be exactly useful.

This Duan Anping had confessed quite a few things. For instance, the Fragrance-Smelling Sect's orders had been for Assembly Masters and Incense Masters everywhere to proactively assist the government troops and the Zhao Character Camp, doing everything possible to make both sides suffer mutual ruin. Few had actually joined the Zhao Character Camp; most believed the government troops were certain to win this battle and had gone over early to curry favor and help out. Mutual ruin aside, at the very least they could go to Xuzhou to get rich and take advantage.

Because the Fragrance-Smelling Sect had eyes and ears everywhere, Duan Anping's family was still in Jinxiang County. He had voluntarily asked not to show his face, to avoid exposing himself and implicating his family.

"You can recognize them all? I recall your sect's rule is single-line contact — Incense Masters don't even know each other. Do you actually know Assembly Masters from other places as well?" Zhao Jin asked coldly.

From inside the hood, Duan Anping let out a laugh that sounded bitter no matter how you heard it. In a muffled voice, he said, "On Shandong soil, no one dares meddle in the Fragrance-Smelling Sect's affairs. Inside the cities, people still show some restraint. Outside the cities, they burn incense and gather crowds with great fanfare. They meet and rank themselves by status and position — there's no one they don't know."

Zhao Jin nodded. It seemed the Fragrance-Smelling Sect's power in Shandong had grown to this degree of utter recklessness. He waved his hand, and immediately household troops escorted Duan Anping toward the crowd.

Over there, Duan Anping naturally made no sound. But whoever he pointed at, household troops immediately stepped forward to seize them. If the crowd stirred, they were quickly cowed into silence under the threat of sharp blades.

The first few seized still begged for mercy, but as more and more were taken, the captive Shandong "gentry and commoners" here caught on. Someone roared, "Traitor! Shameless wretch! Do you dare show your face?" "May the Eternal Mother punish you! May divine fire burn you for a thousand years, ten thousand years!"

Some even tried to rush forward and tear off Duan Anping's hood, but the household troops escorting him did not hold back. After blood splattered five paces, the rest gritted their teeth and accepted their fate.

After one circuit through the crowd, several dozen people had been dragged out. The rest were trembling in fear, many not daring to raise their heads. A brief glance was enough to tell what sort these people were — nothing more than sect followers. Just moments ago they'd had the nerve to look at Zhao Jin; now they were terrified of being seized themselves.

"After a short rest, retreat ten li and set camp. If there's materiel here not worth taking, leave it — don't let it delay our return journey," Zhao Jin ordered.

"Big Brother, should we decimate the rest?" Ji Xiang asked.

"They're just foolish, pitiful commoners. What's the point of killing them? Take the ones we've seized and scatter all the rest. The old grain we don't want can be shared out to them. Those oxen, horses, carts, and supplies in poor condition — leave those for them too," Zhao Jin said indifferently.

The Zhao Character Camp worked with high efficiency. Aside from the household troops on guard duty, everyone else pitched in to help. This actually astonished the Shandong commoners watching from the other side. They had been with the government troops for so long, and the soldiers had never done such hard labor — they always had the civilian laborers do the toiling. They never imagined these Xuzhou rebels would be so diligent.

What happened next left these commoners even more dumbfounded. These Xuzhou rebel demons and monsters actually did not take away that grain and those oxen, horses, and carts. Instead, they divided the commoners into several groups and let them receive a share.

Looking at the corpses on one side, then at the grain and oxen, horses, and carts not far away, the commoners found it unbelievable. They had thought this bitter labor would bring them nothing but misfortune — how had they ended up with benefits? The autumn harvest was imminent, yet the harvest would still be stripped away by the government runners. They had been fretting over how to survive the winter and the New Year. The Incense Masters and Assembly Masters had all promised that once this was done, there would be divine protection and blessings, that good things were sure to come. They never expected there really would be good returns — only, these good returns came from the hands of the Xuzhou rebels.

Some commoners, after being allotted grain, dared not accept it and merely knelt on the ground kowtowing. Some had come with every male in a large family, and the whole family was allotted livestock and a cart, with grain loaded on the cart. They did not care in the least that it was old grain. The whole family was overwhelmed with emotion, unable to contain themselves, and in the end they kowtowed unceasingly toward the Zhao Character Camp.

"Commoners think in simple terms. They fear power and force, fear gods, buddhas, and strange things, but they also recognize practical benefits most of all. This time they've witnessed our strength and received these benefits — their devotion to the Fragrance-Smelling Sect will naturally fade. We can't stay in Shandong, but we can't let the Fragrance-Smelling Sect have an easy time either," Zhao Jin remarked.

Compared to the commoners weeping with gratitude and wild with joy, the seized Incense Masters and Assembly Masters were frantic. Never mind that many of the carts and supplies being distributed were their private property — they had figured these were investments for this trip to Xuzhou, to be recouped tenfold or a hundredfold. They had never imagined they would lose it all.

What truly shattered the courage of these several dozen men was this: they had clearly never dealt with the Zhao Character Camp before, yet they had still been directly identified and seized. Given the Zhao Character Camp's ruthless methods against the Fragrance-Smelling Sect, if they were taken to Xuzhou, what fate awaited them? That would be a calamity beyond measure.

"Let's fight them to the death! After death, we can go to the Vacuous Bliss!"

"Listen, everyone! The time to slay demons and eradicate evil is now! Fight them to the death and attain buddhahood on the spot!"

Some shouted recklessly, trying to stir everyone into rioting. But the believer-commoners who had been allotted grain and supplies — who among them would still go make trouble? Instead, the ones yelling were beaten up, and everyone had their mouths stuffed with rags.

By the time the commoners were allowed to leave, the trembling people finally realized they had truly gained a benefit, and that the other side really meant to let them go. At this point, the number of people kowtowing multiplied.

"One man, two horses, take ample traveling funds. Set out now. You must make haste to communicate with the capital," Zhao Jin said, paying no heed to the commoners' profuse gratitude, only urging the order forward.

"Rest assured, Big Brother, everything was prepared long ago. We're leaving now," Liu Yong answered crisply. Over there, teams of three were assembling supplies and mounts, while the foreigner Louis's interpreter was writing nervously off to the side. On this campaign, he was also serving as an accompanying clerk.

The letter's content was brief. Once written, it was brought to Zhao Jin for review. After confirming there were no errors, it was stamped with his cipher seal and personal seal, then signed with a brush. Six letters with identical content were prepared — this was for absolute security, to prevent any one team from being delayed or running into trouble en route. The envelopes were sealed with wax, then dispatched by fast horse.

"Big Brother, do we return to camp now?"

"Return to camp, return to Xuzhou, and wait for news," Zhao Jin answered easily.

In the ninth month of the first year of the Tianqi reign, a combined force of seven thousand government troops advanced south by two routes to suppress bandits and quell unrest. In Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong, they clashed fiercely with the rebels. Though they inflicted heavy casualties, the rebels numbered in the tens of thousands — impossible to kill them all. The government troops were exhausted and had no choice but to fall back and defend Jining Subprefecture. Jining was shaken; Shandong was shaken. An urgent report was dispatched to the capital!

Rumor had it the urgent plea for aid would claim the rebels numbered over a hundred thousand. In the end, Baoding Regional Commander Lu Qin still cared somewhat for his reputation and only wrote "tens of thousands." Fooling outsiders was one thing, but everyone in Jining knew the truth. They thought: if six thousand government troops had been defeated, how could Jining Subprefecture possibly hold out? Besides begging Jinan for reinforcements, they also began conscripting able-bodied men within the city to prepare for a desperate defensive battle.

Over the next few days, however, Baoding Regional Commander Lu Qin managed to rally a few thousand scattered troops. Then, bits and pieces of news from various sources said the Xuzhou rebels had already withdrawn. This let everyone breathe a sigh of relief. There were even some reckless, audacious sorts who said the Xuzhou rebels dared not oppose Heaven's might, and that if General Lu sortied in pursuit now, he would surely win great merit.

Had several trusted aides not physically restrained Regional Commander Lu Qin at the time, the mad scholar who spouted this nonsense would have nearly been beheaded on the spot.

The news coming back gradually increased. Jinxiang County and Yutai County lay along the Xuzhou rebels' return route and were near the battlefield, so they naturally had plenty of information.

Naturally, not much useful could be gotten from Baoding Regional Commander Lu Qin about the inside story of the fierce battle. But the scattered troops and commoners had plenty to say. The fighting had lasted at most the time it takes to burn one or two incense sticks, and then the government troops had been routed. Nearly a thousand were killed, nearly a thousand captured — and then released. The camp had also been overrun.

When these reports reached Jining, everyone found them unbelievable. They had seen what government troops were like. Although this Baoding Regional Commander Lu Qin was not well-connected, he did have some ability in leading troops. How could they have collapsed so disastrously?

If they did not believe that, then the follow-up reports confirmed the earlier ones. People had seen the Xuzhou rebels' carts loaded with large quantities of government army supplies. If nothing else, helmets and felt caps could not be faked — such a large quantity could only be spoils of war. There were also government troops' banners and flags of every color, just piled onto the carts.

Then the people Jining Subprefecture had sent to the battlefield to count and collect the dead also reported back. Everything could be faked, but heads could not be faked. That battlefield could not be faked. As all these factors from every side came together, everyone began to believe this battle result.

After believing this battle result, the shock was even greater. Everyone was horrified. Since when had Xuzhou possessed such strength — the strength to sweep away a large government force as easily as breaking dry twigs? And they had barely even heard its name. In recent years, Xuzhou as a place name had been mentioned more often, but only to say the people there were good at making money, that they had set up some market, produced some fine liquor. How could they also have such a great army?

Was rebellion coming next? And could Jining Subprefecture hold them off?

Just when everyone was in a state of panic, another piece of news began circulating in Jining Subprefecture. This news was very detailed. It said the reason Xuzhou had risen up was that the Prince of Lu's estate, coveting the wealth and goods of the Xuzhou gentry, had colluded with the eunuch faction and intended to fabricate a major case to swallow up the Xuzhou gentry's family properties and wealth. The people of Xuzhou, having endured all they could, had finally risen up. They had cut off the canal transport to make the imperial court take notice and give them justice.

Everyone knew the character of the Prince of Lu's estate. The moment this was mentioned, no one doubted it. In the past, as long as their own family property was not involved, they would simply stand by with folded hands and watch the excitement — they might even go lend a hand to see if they could get a share. But now it implicated everyone. How could this be endured?

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