Chapter 901: Beyond the Martial Tournament

But the "Prosper Dragon Society" itself was the real problem. An organized group like this, with a backbone and the ability to act, and on top of that it held a "righteous" name within Zhao's Camp — if it wasn't controlled properly...

"Big Brother, this is a good thing!"

"Good things can turn into bad things too." Hearing Liu Yong's words, Zhao Jin retorted bluntly.

Liu Yong paused, then tried again: "Big Brother, the truth is, as soon as you step forward, this Prosper Dragon Society will be in your hands immediately. Why worry so much?"

Zhao Jin shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "If I want to make good use of this Prosper Dragon Society, then I can't seize it directly. Otherwise, it will immediately become useless or spiral out of control."

Liu Yong was stunned. He thought carefully over Zhao Jin's words, and his brow smoothed out. He could understand Zhao Jin's meaning — Zhao Jin still hoped this Prosper Dragon Society could be used by him, not simply suppressed and destroyed.

"Xiaoyong, arrange for someone you can firmly control to enter this Prosper Dragon Society. Have him keep a tight watch on all news and movements, but do nothing else — just follow along with what the other members do," Zhao Jin instructed in a muffled voice.

Liu Yong nodded in agreement. The bitter smile on Zhao Jin's face deepened, and he simply said, "I always say there's no rush, but in the end, what I wanted to create has been made first by someone else. Send people to investigate everywhere — the Second Regiment, the Third Regiment, those several large companies, and within the militia as well. Investigate quietly. See if there's anything else like this Prosper Dragon Society."

"After I head to the prefectural city, I'll first summon He Zheng, Shiyi Lang, and Ma Chonghao, and get the Ten-Man Group matter prepared. As for the Prosper Dragon Society, what I know now is just this much. I'll return once the day after tomorrow, and I'll have more to report then." Liu Yong still had to hurry to the prefectural city, and he took his leave before departing.

He could see that Zhao Jin was in a gloomy mood. Before mounting his horse, he said with a smile, "Big Brother, you needn't worry too much. We've weathered so many great storms this year — what does this small matter count for? The year's end is near; having a good New Year is what's important. He Family Village will surely be even livelier this year."

Zhao Jin shook his head, then also swung himself onto his horse and said with a smile, "It's still the same old saying: we're in no rush. But we still have to do what needs to be done."

Over there, Liu Yong rode off into the distance, escorted by a dozen or so riders. Zhao Jin looked at the personal guards around him — two of them were, unmistakably, members of the "Prosper Dragon Society," and they were also squad leaders leading teams. They indeed seemed more upright and disciplined than the men beside them, likely having followed all of his teachings and instruction to the letter. Yet, Zhao Jin still felt a headache coming on.

The reason Liu Yong had to rush to the prefectural city was that matters there had reached their most critical point. It was indeed near year's end, but few of those who had come to participate in this martial tournament had any desire to go home for the New Year.

The tournament had reached its final stage; the top sixteen had already been decided. Likewise, everyone who could come to watch had arrived, and the wealthy patrons who could come to Xuzhou and spend a thousand pieces of gold had also arrived. Large sums of gold, silver, and coin were wagered and flowed with every victory and defeat.

The constables of the prefectural city, together with the Xuzhou Volunteers and the militia, spent their days rounding up and sweeping away the small-time bookmakers running private gambling rings — all to ensure that the money flowed into Cloud Mountain Firm's betting operation. Moreover, these underground rings were far too prone to stirring up trouble. Some even schemed against the participating martial artists to control the outcomes — wild drinking and whoring, setting up extortion traps, even physical attacks and secret assassinations. All sorts of tricks emerged one after another.

Even after all these had been swept away, there was still all manner of open instability. For instance, three of the top sixteen had already died violently within the city, and two more had been attacked and severely wounded, unable to continue in the following matches. These incidents, too, were tied to the outcomes of high-stakes wagers.

In the face of such silver and coin, even the prestige of Zhao's Camp had little effect. Relying on constables and runners was no longer enough to keep the situation under control — the cavalry had to be deployed directly. Every day, new corpses were hung from the wooden frames outside the city, and the flames at the cremation grounds never ceased.

While things were like this in the shadows, on the arena and the tournament grounds, the spectacle was even more intense. The competing parties no longer wore that set of protective gear, and some even proposed using real weapons to decide victory and life or death. In the battles to determine the top eight, three matches ended in death.

But inside and outside this tournament, besides maintaining public order, Zhao's Camp also had a vast amount of information to gather. For example, a certain great magnate from Yangzhou Prefecture who had business on the ocean had actually brought a Japanese warrior with him this time. Although he only spoke the Nanjing official dialect in a halting, stuttering manner to outsiders, his build, his accent, and his Japanese martial techniques all made clear where this man came from.

A little investigation revealed that the guards this magnate, surnamed Wang, kept around him were all Japanese as well. And according to news from Yangzhou, the fighters the Wang family used for their bloody outside work were all such ronin from Japan. To outsiders, they were merely called sea travelers from Fujian, to avoid the authorities pinning a charge of colluding with the Japanese on them. But within the Jianghu, it was never concealed, nor was there any need to hide it. The sea lords of Fujian and Guangdong had always used Japanese as frontline shock troops in their gang feuds — nothing rare about it.

It had been assumed this Japanese would use a Japanese sword, but as it turned out, he was also skilled with the spear. All those who entered the top eight used long weapons, and their fights were rather dull. They would shift steps a few times, their pole shafts clashing against each other a few times, and then mostly it was thrusting attacks — victory decided in a flash of lightning.

"This is different from those street performers and wrestlers fighting on a stage. There's no space of mere inches here; the grounds and platforms are all quite large. To contend for victory, one must have true skill from the battlefield."

"It's rather funny to say, but everyone who made it into the top eight this time has either served in the military or studied military skills. Even that Japanese is said to be a retainer of some prince or marquis in Japan."

Liu Yong returned once midway and recounted the general situation. The fighting had reached such a stage that, truthfully, even Zhao Jin was quite tempted and very much wanted to go and watch. But for now, absolute safety came first, and it was better to just listen. This only tormented Ji Xiang, who was so anxious he was scratching his ears and cheeks in frustration. Yet, he fell under Zhao Jin's watchful eye every day and simply could not get away.

The final match was quite interesting: a guard of a certain great magnate from Kaifeng Prefecture in Henan fought against a household guard of a certain wealthy merchant from Nanjing. This great magnate from Kaifeng was said to be a front man for a certain commandery prince of the Zhou Prince's line, and he also had marriage ties to the Eight Great Families of Guide Prefecture. As for this wealthy merchant from Nanjing, he was actually a household-born servant of a certain marquis's family — merely a front.

As for this guard and this household guard, their identities were quite easy to uncover, and they themselves didn't feel any need to hide anything. The Henan magnate's guard was a fugitive officer from the Liao Garrison, said to have been a battalion commander. He came from a military family. The general he followed had died in battle, so he simply took his family and property and fled inside the passes. As for the Nanjing merchant's household guard, he was simply a retainer of that marquis's household.

It was precisely with such backgrounds that they could train from childhood in the martial skills of the battlefield, and thus fight their way through all obstacles to reach the very end.

By the time it reached the final match, Xuzhou was as lively as a festival. Although the true master of Xuzhou was not present, all the other powers of Xuzhou had come. The battalion commander and commander-level prominent figures from Xuzhou Garrison and Xuzhou Left Garrison, the clan heads and leading members of the various great families — Zhao Zhentang, Chen Wu, and Dong Jike, the three of them, also came.

This time, regardless of victory or defeat, the odds were one-to-one, with no high or low payout ratios. That was because Chen Ergou had invited men from the garrison and the Xuzhou Jianghu who were skilled in martial techniques to observe the two men's matches, and they were indeed evenly matched.

No matter the prior anticipation, no matter what epic struggle between dragon and tiger was expected, the final match of the martial tournament was brief and dull. All one could see were the two men keeping their distance, constantly circling and probing. They dragged on like this until everyone was about to yawn, when one man's footwork slowed for a moment. The other lunged fiercely. A single sound rang out, a pained cry followed — and victory and defeat were already decided!

If not for the enormous sums of silver and coin riding on the outcome between these two, such a simple process would likely have drawn jeers and curses from the crowd on the spot.

The loser was crestfallen, the winner elated. Those wealthy patrons who cared nothing for money were all asking whether this martial tournament would be held next year. Such excitement was truly rare. Others had spotted the business opportunities in this tournament — with so many people coming, there was too much trade to be done.

What was even more surprising was Xuzhou itself. It had originally been thought of as a desolate and remote place, far inferior to Yangzhou Prefecture south of Qingjiangpu and the prosperous Jiangnan region. No one expected that there were areas here that even Jiangnan could not match.

For instance, money orders. Many people came here to gamble on the matches, with winnings and losses in the thousands and tens of thousands of taels, all pressing down gold and silver. For the losers, it was one thing, but the winners couldn't possibly carry loads weighing hundreds or thousands of catties on the road. Moreover, in the bitter cold of deep winter, the section of the canal from Xuzhou to Qingjiangpu was already frozen solid. With the water route impassable, traveling by cart and horse on the land route was extremely inconvenient.

Xuzhou offered two services. One was a carting firm: if you used the carts and horses of Cloud Mountain Carting and purchased insurance, then your journey was guaranteed to be worry-free. The other was silver notes: if you were unwilling to carry large sums of silver coin, you could deposit your gold and silver at the Cloud Mountain Firm's shop in Xuzhou, take the note issued there, and go to Qingjiangpu to cash it. The cost was not large, but it was incomparably convenient. The section of the canal from Qingjiangpu to Yangzhou, as well as the waterways of the Yangtze River and the Jiangnan region, were open. Boarding a boat there was easy.

Those with a little understanding of Zhao's Camp were naturally at ease, but more people would rather hire a cart than use the silver notes. A huge sum of several thousand or tens of thousands — how could one dare entrust it with confidence? Besides, this Zhao's Camp was a local power. What if you placed your silver with them and they turned hostile and swallowed it?

However, some also marveled at the boldness of Zhao's Camp. Silver notes had appeared as early as the Jiajing era, but up until now, the largest amount any merchant dared to issue was only a few hundred taels. Where else could one see something like this, where they dared to promise thousands or tens of thousands of taels at once? The financial power of Zhao's Camp was indeed formidable and impressive.

Thinking more carefully, for Zhao's Camp to possess such financial power — besides this martial tournament, they had also established the market fair, the salt market, and the Qingjiang Grand Market. These large sums of gold and silver could be exchanged by note in the three locations of Xuzhou, Yutou Town, and Qingjiangpu. It was said that before too long, Yangzhou would also be able to do this. All these signs and actions made clear that the territory controlled by this Xuzhou hegemon was a place where one could do business and make a fortune, with all sorts of conveniences compared to other places. In that case, even if there was no martial tournament next year, one could still come here and see if there were any business opportunities.

Thanks to Chuangshi users "Light in the Darkness, Qi Sanwen, User;;;; Baishui Xunze%, Yuan Heng Lizhen" and Qidian user "legoals Yezi" for their tips. Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets.