Chapter 988: This Is Your Great Merit

Sifted through like this, every last refugee of the Incense-Smelling Sect hiding in civilian homes was rooted out. Any who resisted were, naturally, killed on the spot. Some still tried to flee, scaling walls and slipping into neighboring houses while the search was underway, but by now, aside from the household troops of the Zhao Character Battalion, the entire city was forbidden from taking to the streets. Guards stood watch at every intersection, lookouts were posted on rooftops, and mounted household troops patrolled the roads. Those who tried to run or hide were only discovered all the faster.

What's more, while they had been inside the city, they had truly tormented and brutalized the common folk of Jining. No one pitied them, and even less were people willing to shelter them. They submitted under the threat of blades, but at the first opportunity, they would rush to tip off the Zhao Character Battalion, telling them their own homes were hiding the bandit refugees.

There were no exceptions to this search. It did not matter whether you were a scholar or a gentleman of letters, a wealthy and powerful magnate, or some tavern or brothel. Nor did it matter whether you had answered the Zhao Character Battalion's call to enter the city the day before. The inner chambers of the womenfolk would not be entered, but everything that could be inspected had to be inspected thoroughly.

This could truly be called an inescapable net. The common folk of Jining were all required to stay inside their homes, which ensured that everyone was divided and isolated within individual compounds. The moment anyone moved about, they would be discovered by the Zhao Character Battalion, yet if they did not move, they could only sit and wait to die.

Even putting aside the fact that the common folk would not shield them, the clerks, runners, and yamen underlings leading the way, the men of the rivers and lakes, and the tyrannical household servants were all local snakes intimately familiar with the terrain. Their eyes were lethally sharp, and they were all eager to earn merit in front of the Xuzhou troops. The slightest irregularity would be caught by them, and there was simply no place anywhere to hide a person.

The grand army battle had been swept aside like dead twigs, the city defense had been breached by cannon fire, the street fighting had been effortlessly mopped up, and the scattered followers and believers of the Incense-Smelling Sect's rebel army hiding in various homes had long since lost heart and courage. They had no will left to fight. After being discovered, they offered little resistance and meekly surrendered themselves for capture. Yet deaths and injuries still occurred—not at the hands of the Zhao Character Battalion, but because the common folk they had threatened and tormented could not hold back.

Xu Hongju, Xia Zhongjin, and the thirty-some guards around them were discovered inside the compound of a wealthy and prominent household. That entire household, from the masters down to the last servant, had been slaughtered to the last. The reason they were discovered was simple: the main gate was tightly shut, and they refused to open it to accept inspection. Then a local rivers-and-lakes man leading the way volunteered to scale the wall and enter, only to be killed by the people inside the compound. This immediately drew a full company of household troops.

After the main gate was battered open, the armored household troops leveled their long spears and advanced inward in formation. Those who charged forward relying on their martial bravery had no way of getting close and were directly impaled and killed by the long spears. By the time more men flooded into the compound, there was even less talk of resistance. Xia Zhongjin's martial skill was quite outstanding; wielding a pudao, he forced back two waves of household troops, but then was shot dead in the main hall by five fire lances. Xu Hongju also fought with desperate abandon, but he was struck by two arrows. Unable to stand, unable to hold his weapon, he could only surrender and be taken captive.

"Even as a ghost, I won't let you off!" Xu Hongju snarled through gritted teeth, his face a mask of staunch and unyielding defiance.

The household troops of the Zhao Character Battalion had already interrogated and learned Xu Hongju's identity. The bandit chief was actually here. The various guides and locals in Jining all had their eyes light up. A live captive like this represented tremendous merit. Who knew what reward they would receive when delivered before Master Jin? No one expected that the company commander leading the unit would simply draw his blade and walk over, looking as if he was about to kill the man.

Others were baffled, but Xu Hongju panicked. He roared, "I am the blood brother of the Zhongxing Fulie Emperor! I am Xu Hongju!"

"Master Jin gave the order: kill on sight. There is nothing to interrogate, and nothing worth paying any mind to!" The company commander replied indifferently. Then his hand rose and the blade fell. Even in death, Xu Hongju's face was still filled with unwilling resentment.

Those with a more penetrating mind could guess what Xu Hongju had been thinking. Even if he died, having stirred up such colossal chaos, he was still a hero of his region. He should at least have been granted an audience with Zhao Jin, to righteously and indignantly curse him a few times, and then go to his death brimming with heroic spirit. In the future, when mentioned in the rivers and lakes, people would give a thumbs-up in respect. But now, in this manner, the other side hadn't looked at him with any higher regard. He was no different from those common bandit refugees on the street begging for mercy or trying to flee. Naturally, he felt looked down upon, and his heart was filled with unwilling resentment.

In the eyes of the various factions within Jining, this Xu Hongju was indeed an extraordinary and important figure. In the days before the Incense-Smelling Sect rose in revolt, whenever Xu Hongju came to Jining, he was received as a guest of the highest order. After stirring up such massive chaos, he was still, after all, a top-tier leader of the rebels. No one expected the Zhao Character Battalion to hold him in such contempt. Just what level had the Xuzhou troops reached? Even a little deeper thought on the matter left one feeling utterly shaken.

Here, Xu Hongju and Xia Zhongjin were discovered, and the other major and minor leaders of the Incense-Smelling Sect were all found as well. There were no live captives kept for interrogation; all were given a path straight to death. Yet they were not simply abandoned and ignored. Their heads were still chopped off and roughly treated with lime. These still had their uses.

This kind of sifting and screening continued until nearly nightfall. Before the sun had even set, the screening was already reaching its end. Such a manhunt grew faster the later it went, not to mention the Zhao Character Battalion constantly sent men beating gongs and patrolling the streets, promising that those who surrendered would not be killed. Many people came out voluntarily. By this point, the people of Jining, high and low, who had been so worried just the day before, all set their hearts at ease. At the same time, they were all left dumbstruck. After being sifted through in such a round, even if there were still fish that had slipped the net inside the city, they could no longer stir up any waves. The city's own local militia and able-bodied men could pacify them on their own.

After nightfall, the First and Fourth Great Brigades also left the city to encamp outside. There were even more captives over there, and sorting and guarding them required more manpower. The Second Regiment was responsible for the city's defense, and the personal guard unit protected Zhao Jin and his key personnel. The people of Jining, high and low, felt nothing but shock, and more shock. They had never seen such a disciplined army. From breaching Jining to searching house by house along the streets, these were all prime opportunities to make a fortune and indulge freely. Yet every single household soldier went about his duties with strict discipline. No one harassed the common folk, and no one lined his own pockets.

Under normal circumstances, a battalion so strictly disciplined would instead be considered lacking in ferocity and combat strength. But with the brutal slaughter and mountains of corpses and seas of blood laid out before their eyes, both outside and inside the city, who would dare say the Xuzhou troops were not mighty? Under this shock, the gentry, magnates, scholars, and common folk of Jining all began to think thoughts they had never dared to think before. Those with nimble minds were already making far-reaching plans.

Not to mention that the magnates, gentry, and various personages all clamored to request an audience with Zhao Jin, wanting to contribute money and grain to reward the troops. Quite a few figures of esteemed status wanted to send their own younger sisters or daughters to Zhao Jin as concubines. There were also those who wanted to send their own sons and younger clan members to Xuzhou to serve. Among the scholars and literati, there were even those offering plans and strategies, showcasing their own arts of governing the nation and bringing peace to the world. However, most of these were merely Xiucai degree holders. Those who held the rank of Juren, and who had not been affected during the Incense-Smelling Sect's breach of the city, were more bashful and reserved, either writing letters or sending envoys to first express their goodwill.

To all this, the Zhao Character Battalion displayed an attitude that was polite but cold. Money and grain were accepted; the matter of sons and younger clan members joining the army would be discussed later. Everything else was ignored completely. And for those who felt their own status was not low and demanded a face-to-face meeting, they were all refused. The people of Jining, high and low, were helpless. They could not even muster the heart to feel anger. Zhao Jin indeed possessed the qualification not to see them.

Zhao Jin paid no mind to the clamor and hubbub within the city. He was in a face-to-face discussion with Xuzhou Mobile Corps Commander Zhou Baolu. The two of them were in one of Chen Rongqi's private villas. The courtyard, which should have been filled with wafts of floral fragrance, instead reeked unpleasantly of lime and medicinal herbs. If one were more attentive, one could even smell a stench, because the courtyard was laid out with open wooden boxes, one after another. Inside the boxes were severed heads preserved with lime and medicinal materials.

"Lord Zhou, from Xu Hongju on down, a total of seventy-six leaders and chieftains of the bandit refugees. Their heads are all here. The corpses of the bandit refugees who died in battle have all been cremated, but their heads were also kept, likely numbering in the thousands. Of the captives, we will also keep a bit over two thousand. The people of Jining, high and low, all understand the situation very clearly. At the very least, the official narrative will say that it was you, Lord Zhou, who led the Xuzhou troops to quell the chaos. Your subordinate three thousand troops are already on the march here." Zhao Jin spoke with ease and assurance. Behind him stood Ji Xiang, whose face bore a hint of displeasure, and whose gaze toward Commander Zhou was also very unfriendly.

Commander Zhou paid no attention to Ji Xiang's reaction. His frame had already become somewhat stooped, and the hair at his temples had turned completely white. It had only been a matter of two years. In the past, Commander Zhou had been the very model of a military officer: burly and tall, his beard and hair without a trace of frost. That former fierceness and might was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a somewhat haggard look. He appeared to be an old man.

After hearing Zhao Jin out, Commander Zhou politely inclined his body. Mulling it over briefly, he couldn't help but laugh as he said, "Young Master Zhao... you have sent this old man a tremendous merit. Once the Ministry of War verifies it, this old man will likely have a Regional Commander post to fill. With a bit of luck, I might even be enfeoffed as a Count. With Yang Guodong suffering a great defeat this time, and Yang Zhaoji remaining immobile all along, in all likelihood, this old man will become the Shandong Regional Commander."

The bandit refugees breaching Jining, cutting off the canal transport, and routing government troops in a great defeat—such momentum, such devastation—naturally drew the imperial court's serious attention. To retake Jining, to slay nearly a hundred thousand bandit refugees, and to have the bandit chieftains' heads presented: if such a great merit were reported upward, high office and generous reward were certainly guaranteed. Mobile Corps Commander Zhou Baolu naturally had it all calculated clearly. As he spoke thus, Zhao Jin's expression did not change, but Ji Xiang grew even more displeased.

Having said all this, Mobile Corps Commander Zhou Baolu simply looked at Zhao Jin, sighed, and asked, "Young Master Zhao, you also hail from a guard background, and you hold the status of a Centurion. If you took this merit for yourself, by this old man's estimate, within a year, you'd be substantively appointed as a Mobile Corps Commander. If the imperial court and the grandees of the Southern Metropolitan Region understood the situation, within two years, this post of Xuzhou Mobile Corps Commander would be yours, Young Master Zhao. And in the future, the prospects would be limitless. Young Master Zhao, this old man is advanced in years, and my courage has shrunk. I only wish to live out my remaining years in peace with my entire family, old and young. Why don't you keep this wealth and rank for yourself? It is also the proper path to bringing glory to your ancestors!"

Mobile Corps Commander was already a high-ranking military officer, requiring at least a Rank Four official grade to sit in that position. As for Mobile Corps Commander, that was a great general guarding an entire region. To reach that position was already to brush against the top echelon of the Great Ming military men, or rather, to already be among that top echelon. If it were anyone other than Zhao Jin, even with great merit and strength, they might not necessarily achieve it. But Zhao Jin was from a Xuzhou Guard background, and his family held a hereditary Centurion title. This was the proper career path for a Great Ming military officer, and many things would be taken for granted as a matter of course.

Listening to Commander Zhou speak at length, Ji Xiang's eyes widened. Putting aside everything else, just what the two official posts of Mobile Corps Commander and Regional Commander represented, and what weight they carried, he understood clearly in his heart. He had not expected his elder brother to have already reached such a stage.

"Lord Zhou, this is your merit. It has nothing to do with me." Zhao Jin's reply was very simple.

Over on his side, Commander Zhou shook his head and spoke again: "Actually, Lord Dong..."

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