Chapter 962: Different Standpoints

Everyone trusted the Centurion Qiao Shan well enough. Over these past two years, the Prince of Lu's chief steward, who had originally been in charge, kept to himself and rarely ventured out, the palace eunuchs had been investigated and punished, and everyone from top to bottom had reined themselves in considerably. This let the officials and commoners of Ziyang City breathe a collective sigh of relief — ordinarily, that princely estate had been far too savage and overbearing. During this period, the one mainly out handling affairs was this Centurion Qiao Shan. Qiao Shan had shed his former arrogance, now leaving room for leeway in every matter and able to settle his mind and get things done.

This gave everyone in Ziyang a greatly improved impression of Qiao Shan; they all felt he was reliable. Seeing him now leading men from the Prince of Lu's estate up onto the city wall, those in the know felt reassured.

The walls and defenses of Ziyang City were on par with those of the provincial seat Jinan, even surpassing them in some respects. With men atop a strong city, shielded by thick fortifications, their confidence was full, and their unease was greatly diluted.

On the walls and gate towers, people watched the distance. According to the scouts Ziyang City had sent out, the great host of refugees had already moved north and was heading straight for them.

Suddenly, gongs sounded — and from within the city, no less. Everyone atop the wall turned to look. A column of smoke rose somewhere, but it quickly thinned, and the gongs gradually fell silent.

"These fiends who deserve a thousand cuts — they stir up trouble day after day without end. Just how far do they mean to wreak havoc before it's over?"

"Good thing the princely estate and the yamen are keeping a tight watch. The Water Society tripled the rewards and has been on standby all day. Otherwise those scoundrels really would have slipped through!"

Curses rose unceasingly atop the wall. Ever since Jining had fallen, Ziyang City had carried out mass arrests of several hundred followers of the Smelling Incense Sect who had been lying low inside the city. Day and night, chaos had never ceased — from time to time, fish that slipped the net would set fires to cause disorder, and some even poisoned wells. Had the constables and government troops not kept a close eye, the city would have been thrown into chaos from within before the bandits even arrived.

"Brothers, fellow townsmen — those who went to seek help and report the crisis have already reached the provincial capital and the imperial capital. The court will soon dispatch a great army to come to our rescue. Those scoundrels have only one fate: annihilation." Qiao Shan raised his voice and shouted. He was, after all, a regular military officer of the imperial court and naturally knew when relief troops might arrive. Yet given the present circumstances, he could only keep boosting everyone's morale.

Hearing him speak thus, the government troops and local militia near the top of the wall all cheered and shouted approval. Even those nervous and fearful civilian conscripts looked as though they had breathed a sigh of relief.

But the cheering and shouting abruptly stopped, as if something had been stuffed down everyone's throats. All stared blankly southward. Qiao Shan, who had been facing into the city, shuddered and spun around. He saw only dust and smoke rising at the southern horizon. Ahead of that dust and smoke were galloping riders and panic-stricken commoner refugees.

The walltop fell utterly silent. Then someone frantically beat the alarm gongs and drums. Everyone atop the wall ran about like headless flies, and some shouted to go shut the city gates now.

"The roving bandits... the roving bandits... they've come..." someone said, voice tinged with tears.

From Shi Family Village heading north, the entire journey had been eerily quiet. Not only was there no harassment from the Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army, but even fleeing commoners were few and far between.

Once the Zhao Battalion set out, it no longer used cavalry to screen the surroundings. And those several men of the Shi family escorting nearly ten thousand refugees back — the moment they left the Zhao Battalion's zone of control, escapes were bound to occur. Although the Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army had few riders, they did have some. Word would quickly reach the relevant parties in the Smelling Incense Sect.

After marching ten li north, the army began preparations to cross the river. Jining City lay on the eastern side of the Grand Canal, and the battlefield was also east of the canal. If they crossed right before battle, it would be easy for the enemy to launch a surprise attack while they were landing — that would be a catastrophe.

Once the appropriate precautions were taken, transport barges were lined up side by side across the canal, bamboo mats and planks laid over them. The cavalry and infantry began crossing. It was fortunate the canal's current was gentle and its surface not especially wide; only then was it convenient to rig a pontoon bridge.

Once the main force had crossed, the carts carrying heavy supplies were loaded onto boats and ferried to the opposite bank. Such heavy baggage could not cross the pontoon bridge.

"... The Smelling Incense Sect has established a Divine Army of the Faith. They claim to outsiders it numbers a hundred thousand. It's said they have uniforms, and those bearing iron weapons number at least several tens of thousands..."

"... Xu Hongru's rear palace is still selecting consorts, and he's also conscripting the people of Zou County to build him a grand palace..."

"... Teng County has already engaged the enemy. But the refugees besieging the city have little morale, and their momentum in assaulting the walls with desperate force isn't strong. There are already people starving to death in the refugee camps, corpses being cremated every day..."

"... That grim-faced Yan over in Teng County can still get letters out. According to him, he's already concentrated all the various factions within the city, using his own family and militia to hold them down. The city can hold. And Qi Erkui is leading several hundred militia roaming the outer perimeter, ready to provide support at any time..."

"... From what Teng County says, the refugees attacking the city have no strong-arm backbone. Even the battle supervisors are useless — several times they couldn't hold the line and had to rally people all over again..."

While they were crossing the river, Wang Zhaojing and Liu Yong relayed the intelligence gathered from all quarters to Zhao Jin. At the mention of selecting consorts and building palaces, a scornful smile appeared on Zhao Jin's face. But when he heard about the situation in Teng County, he asked, "If that Divine Army of the Faith were taking part in the siege, it wouldn't be fought this sloppily."

Liu Yong nodded and said gravely, "Right now the roads from Ziyang City to Jining are effectively cut off. Getting messages through is extremely difficult. I reckon by the time their news arrives, we'll already be beneath the walls of Jining City."

"Then it'll be too late..." Zhao Jin said. Perhaps because the words seemed ill-omened, he stopped and amended, "By then, whether the news arrives or not, we'll be able to see for ourselves."

On the opposite bank of the canal, several heavy pieces of equipment were proving very troublesome to load onto the boats. Men were bringing two boats alongside each other and setting up a simple wooden frame between them. Everyone was busily working away over there. Others were unhitching the oxen and horses from the carts on this side and attaching long ropes to the boats over there, preparing to serve as trackers.

Zhao Jin was silent for a moment, then spoke in a muffled voice: "We think the present situation is most advantageous — first, Jining City is hollow, and second, we've drawn the Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army into motion. But there are no fools in this world. No matter how much Xu Hongru covets wealth and rank, he can figure this out. Even if he can't, the people around him can. Around southern Shandong, the greatest threat to him is certainly not the government troops — it's us. The Smelling Incense Sect knows how to hide its people. The moment our main army moves, word has probably already been sent out from Xuzhou. Would they really be so stupid as to just go about their own business?"

Wang Zhaojing and Liu Yong exchanged a glance. They knew Zhao Jin was speaking from a gut feeling. Teng County was also very important to the Smelling Incense Sect, yet that "Divine Army of the Faith" was nowhere to be seen among the besieging forces. So where had those forces gone? Had they all gone to the prefectural seat of Yanzhou, Ziyang? With a great battle imminent, such wishful thinking would not do.

"Big Brother, should we have the regiments and companies halt for now and wait for reliable intelligence to arrive?" Wang Zhaojing suggested.

Zhao Jin did not answer. He merely gestured for a passing cart to stop, then with a single bound leaped onto it. Standing on the cart bed, he looked around in all directions.

The regiments and companies were forming up and standing at ease. The cavalry was soothing horses that had grown somewhat restless. Even in such a state, everyone still maintained their order and discipline, exuding a natural, intimidating presence. Zhao Jin looked again at the boats on the river laden with supplies, then at the heavy baggage being loaded onto boats on the opposite bank.

As he gazed about from atop the cart, Wang Zhaojing and Liu Yong below exchanged glances, both somewhat surprised. Even Ji Xiang, not far off, craned his neck to look. It was extremely rare to see Zhao Jin in such a state.

By the time Zhao Jin jumped down from the horse, his expression was no longer as grave and worried as before; only a confident smile remained. After dismounting, he shook his head and said, "The older you get in the jianghu, the smaller your courage. With military might like ours, with elites like ours, do we really need to fear those ragtag rabble of the Smelling Incense Sect? Excessive caution — that would be a joke."

"Big Brother, it's still best to put caution first," Wang Zhaojing said.

"Naturally, one must be cautious when marching to war. But our morale cannot sink too low. That discussion just now gave the Smelling Incense Sect far too much credit." Zhao Jin's words brimmed with heroic spirit.

Wang Zhaojing still had reservations, and Liu Yong also seemed to want to speak but held back. Yet the somewhat heavy mood the two had felt earlier was lifted and stirred by Zhao Jin's words.

Zhao Jin walked toward the direction of the personal guard unit, speaking as he went: "We can't just think about victory and defeat. We must also think about the greater picture, and about how to clean up afterward."

"Big Brother, ever since we set out from Xuzhou, our movements have been on a grand scale. The officials definitely know full well. I wonder what reaction there's been in the capital."

"Those below know; those above may not. In the end, the credit will surely go to Vice General Zhou. Everyone is happy to see that — they can all share in the merit. If we succeed in suppressing the bandits and it gets spread around, how would they cover up our past deeds? They'll certainly gloss it over."

Though one must not engage in wishful thinking on the battlefield, wishful thinking in officialdom is quite convenient, because everyone, high and low, gravitates toward benefit and avoids harm. Grasp that rule, and you can roughly know what the outcome will be.

Wang Zhaojing understood this principle too. Hearing this, he couldn't help but smile and nod. But then he said, "Big Brother, others may be able to gloss it over, but I'm afraid Wei Zhongxian and the other grandees won't be so easily glossed over. They will surely know — even if they don't, they can probably guess."

"We are local militia and village braves. The Smelling Incense Sect are rebel scum. There's room to talk with us; the rebel scum want to dig up their very roots. Even if they know something, they'll gloss it over. The trouble only comes afterward."

"I'm only afraid that the government troops sent to encircle and suppress will come, and when they do, their target won't be the roving bandits, but us," Wang Zhaojing said with some worry.

"The government troops won't come that fast, and we won't be that slow. This isn't wishful thinking on our part," Zhao Jin said with a smile.

After crossing the river, the main force regrouped, then ate a simple meal of dry rations for lunch and set out once more. As the sun dipped westward, scattered enemy scouts and patrols began to appear on the army's periphery.

These scouts and patrols kept far too great a distance to even detect anything. But only by doing so could they ensure their safety. At first, some, confident in their superior horsemanship, tried to approach and provoke — only to find that once they drew near, the Zhao Battalion cavalry rode them down directly. An arrow would knock them from the saddle, and their heads would be taken back as trophies.

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