Chapter 997: Returning Home

Yang Guodong, the Shandong Commander-in-Chief, had a staff officer who proposed a stratagem: the woman who identified Xu Hongru could be used to make a point. This remarkable woman, who endured such hardship while hiding in the enemy camp and ultimately identified the arch-criminal, was exactly the sort the court could commend. The more brilliantly they glorified her, the better it would be for the situation in Shandong. But before they could even go to speak with her, word came from the camp that this woman who had identified Xu Hongru had hanged herself in her quarters.

Everyone could understand the reason. The woman had endured the defilement of those **** solely to avenge the massacre of her family by Xu Hongru. Now that her great vengeance was achieved, she naturally sought to preserve her chastity and die a martyr. According to the teachings of the great Confucian scholars, she could be considered a truly chaste and heroic woman, worthy of being recorded in books and celebrated. However, a situation like this no longer had any bearing on the greater picture, so naturally, no one was going to pay it any mind.

With the arch-criminal Xu Hongru captured in this manner, the others suddenly became unimportant. In the official records of Shandong, all the ringleaders who followed Xu Hongru in rebellion—Xu Hongju, Xia Zhongjin, Hou Wu, Shen Zhi, and a few others—were either dead or had surrendered. Under these circumstances, even if a few fish slipped through the net, it no longer mattered. Everything was settled.

With matters in this state, the efficiency of selling off the captives immediately increased. The Xuzhou Assistant Regional Commander's group was the largest buyer. There were also slave traders who saw a bargain and wanted to bid high, but after paying their money, they were killed and robbed by government troops halfway down the road. Who would still dare to invite such trouble? Large numbers of captives were driven all the way to the banks of the canal, where a manor had already been built to receive them. After a brief period of reorganization there, they set off southward in one long column.

When news of Zou County's fall arrived, Zhao Jin led his guard company and the First Regiment back across the river to the He Family Village side, leaving the First and Fourth Battalions in Pei County. It was not yet time to fully relax. The Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army had scattered, but thirty thousand government troops were still entrenched in Yanzhou Prefecture—a threat that had to be guarded against.

"Take Yuncheng County of Yanzhou Prefecture and the prefectural seat of Ziyang County as the northern boundary, Zou County and Teng County as the eastern line, and the Shandong provincial border as the western line. Buy up every single piece of land in this entire area. No one may refuse to sell!" Zhao Jin issued this order.

Over a third of the farmland in Yanzhou Prefecture, and the best, flattest farmland at that—the Zhao Character Camp was preparing to swallow it all. Among the estate managers leading their militia northward, the processions often included managers from Cloud Mountain Trading, carrying silver with them as they went.

After crossing the Yellow River, one thing made Zhao Jin happy. Although the manor estates near He Family Village and Xuzhou city were buzzing with intense militia training, outside the estates, there was no sign whatsoever of a great war. Nearly ten thousand sons of Xuzhou had gone out on campaign, yet it had no impact at all on the local region, and no one seemed worried. This was precisely the result of years of development and the confidence born of many victories.

The salt market and the general market at He Family Village were operating as usual, and the great market at Qingjiangpu was just as bustling. Moreover, the prices of bulk commodities at these major markets fluctuated constantly with the progress of the war. The more news of victory the fast couriers brought back, the lower the prices fell. At Yutou Town by Luoma Lake, and at Qingjiangpu, large numbers of canal barges were prepared, just waiting for the order to sail north. By the time Zhao Jin led the main force of the Zhao Character Camp back to He Family Village, the canal barges were already bustling with intense activity.

At He Family Village, visitors from all quarters had long been waiting. Some came from Yangzhou, some from Qingjiangpu, and quite a few from Jiangnan. Their purpose was largely the same: they wanted to see what business opportunities there might be around Jining. The Qingjiang Great Market and the Xuzhou salt market and general market were such treasure bowls. Countless people regretted not getting in on them at the start. Now that Jining, a critical canal transport hub and a place where wealth and goods converged, could also be influenced by Zhao Jin, might there be similar opportunities within?

Although Shandong was a poor and chaotic place, it was still a province. No matter how poor, there was always business to be done in such a vast province, and fortunes to be made.

"Big Brother, when the news of the Prince of Lu's martyrdom reached here, some people still didn't keep waiting—they left in a flash," Wang Zhaojing said with a smile. There weren't that many fools in the world. If one dared to think a little more boldly, many things could be guessed.

Inside Zhao Jin's home, however, the scene was quite different. Xu Zhenzhen seized a private moment to say to Zhao Jin, "I wonder if my husband has noticed Father's side of things. In the past, whenever my husband went on campaign, Father and Mother were always so worried. This time, they barely even asked."

Zhao Jin quickly grasped the reasoning behind this and said with a smile, "My parents feel they can't control things anymore, so they've simply decided not to."

After he said this, both husband and wife laughed. Xu Zhenzhen then added, "Father and Mother spoil Da Feng and Xiao Long far too much. When I am alone, I can still manage them, but the moment their grandfather and grandmother arrive, they become completely unruly. If I try to discipline them, I'm blocked. Though it may be improper for me to say this, I must still speak: children cannot be coddled too much."

Zhao Jin strongly agreed with this. "They can't be coddled. If they're spoiled rotten, who will manage such a vast enterprise? In the future, all of this will be theirs to run. If it's inconvenient for you to speak, I'll go talk to Father and Mother."

Although his daughter and son were both very young, at this point, many things already had to be considered. One had to think ten or twenty years ahead. Zhao Jin was indeed very serious about this.

Having been away so long, it wasn't only the grandparents spoiling the grandchildren at home. There was also Mu Shulan, who always wanted to go out and had pleaded before Zhao Jin several times. The reason was simple: with Shandong now in chaos and the Smelling Incense Sect collapsed, going there at this moment would allow her to gather and consolidate as much of the Smelling Incense Sect's remnants as possible.

Xu Zhenzhen had privately advised her a few times on this, saying in essence: Sister, what is most important for you right now is not outside, but inside. Since you have married Zhao Jin, the occasions for you to show your face in public will grow fewer and fewer. Even if the Smelling Incense Sect is reorganized, it will have to be handed over to others. Why go to all this trouble?

Mu Shulan's reply, however, was quite interesting. She said that if she, her sister, didn't even look after matters outside, then there would be nothing left for her inside. At that point, Xu Zhenzhen naturally had no way to continue her persuasion.

"Right now, it's chaos and war everywhere—what are you going to go stir up? Don't be impatient. After the beating I gave the Smelling Incense Sect, they're gravely wounded. There's no way they can stir up any more trouble. It won't be too late for you to go and sort things out once everything has stabilized. For now, let Zheng Quan and You Zhenrong stay busy with it," Zhao Jin said to Mu Shulan, blunt and direct.

"Brother Jin, the Smelling Incense Sect has been shattered this time, and the sects in the Northern and Southern Metropolitan Regions don't have the nerve to go pick up the pieces. But we must guard against the other factions. The Southern Infinite Sect, the White Lotus Sect, and the Wooden Club Society have been eyeing the Smelling Incense Sect's territory all along. Now that it's been shattered, I'm afraid they will make a move," Mu Shulan said, very anxious.

"If they recklessly stretch out a hand, we'll chop it off!"

Although Mu Shulan was not very happy, Zhao Jin never permitted her to go out. However, he did not stop her from issuing orders from within the household. Within the Xuzhou Smelling Incense Sect system, besides the original Zheng Quan and You Zhenrong, many loyal followers of the Mu family from Shandong had also come to pledge allegiance. Mu Shulan now had them all mobilized. With Zhao Jin's tacit approval, and under the operations of Liu Yong and Lei Cai, Smelling Incense Sect followers loyal to the Zhao Character Camp set out with the estate managers of each unit. Although they were not given permission to rebuild the sect's organizational system, they were very effective at soothing the hearts of the captives. Moreover, Mu Shulan's plan was to gather and reorganize the Smelling Incense Sect in areas the Zhao Character Camp did not yet control, turning it into a force the camp could use.

The intention was good, and Liu Yong and Lei Cai were very much in favor. However, Wang Zhaojing, Ruhui, and Zhou Xuezhi were strongly opposed. They argued face-to-face several times, saying the Smelling Incense Sect bewitched people's hearts and was harmful with no benefit. Zhao Jin had never expressed an opinion, so Mu Shulan's activities were not prohibited, but neither did they receive sufficient support.

In this selection of capable personnel to go north and west to establish manors for farming and settlement, besides the young men from within the Zhao Character Camp system, both Cloud Mountain Temple and the Xu family gained advantages from it. Many outstanding monks loyal to Ruhui returned to secular life to take up tasks. From the main and branch lines of the Xu family, as well as from families who had served the Xu clan for generations, a group was also selected to go. No one in the Zhao Character Camp, high or low, opposed this. Compared to personnel from the camp's own ranks—those of servant or refugee origin—the monks of Cloud Mountain Temple and those from the Xu family were somewhat more outstanding in management, accounting, and handling detailed affairs.

"We are short of people everywhere right now, but we would rather go without than use just anyone. We must send out the people we have trained ourselves. As for those outsiders trying to jump on the bandwagon for profit, they can send their sons over first, and then we'll talk," Zhao Jin gave his final word on the excellent situation ahead.

Even the powerful and wealthy families attached to the Zhao Character Camp had always held something back. They might have one or two sons working within the Zhao Character Camp, while another son held a post in the government, and perhaps even another doing business outside or living as a bandit. It was simply a way to hedge their bets for the sake of the family estate, so that no matter which side prevailed in the future, the family would always have a way to maneuver.

This practice was likely a tradition thousands of years old. The powerful gentry had never been completely of one heart with the government and court, nor would they be completely of one heart with Zhao Jin. In contrast, up-and-coming families like the Chengs and the Jiangs, who had no prior accumulation to begin with, placed heavy bets directly after pledging themselves to Zhao Jin. Their entire families worked within the Zhao Character Camp and Cloud Mountain Trading, and they saw benefits time and again. With every victory, the Zhao Character Camp's power expanded, positions and territories had to be handed over to subordinates to manage, and a batch of people had to be promoted. These promotions, these positions and territories, naturally went to loyal men who had been trained and educated within the Zhao Character Camp and were familiar with its methods. But those families who hedged their bets only had a few sons in total—how could they possibly seize so many opportunities?

With Zhao Jin's triumphant return north this time, it was tantamount to opening up a territory nearly ten times the size of Xuzhou. Countless people saw opportunities in this. Yet most of those who saw the opportunities and benefits could only beat their chests and stamp their feet in regret at this moment, because they had no one of their own inside the Zhao Character Camp. So they adopted a remedy of mending the pen after the sheep were lost: having missed out this time, they absolutely could not miss out the next.

From the end of the sixth month onward, He Family Village was extraordinarily lively. Beyond the flourishing markets and salt exchange, the greater bustle came from the sons of various families arriving to join the Zhao Character Camp or Cloud Mountain Trading. These young men came on horseback with sabers at their sides, or arrived on foot. They marveled at the prosperity of He Family Village and were awed by the strict discipline and might of the Zhao Character Camp. Each one was utterly captivated, inwardly blaming their families for sending them so late.

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