Battle Royale of the Sinners

Zhang He guided all of them to a private room that Ju Shou prepared for them. It was a closed room with one entrance and no window.

"The air is quite stale. Are you sure you want to receive us here?" A fat merchant asked.

"Please bear with it for a short while. Because our deal is somewhat immoral to the public, we can't let a voice out, or we can risk exposing ourselves to others. You know, we want it a secret." Zhang He explained as he shut the gate.

As soon as the door was shut, nobody can hear what happened inside the room.

Ten minutes later, Zhang He opened the door and stepped out of the room. His clothes covered in blood and the room reeked of iron. He closed the door behind him and said to the guards nearby.

"Don't clean the room yet. Clean it at night and make sure nobody sees the bodies."

"Yes, sir!"

…

Zhang He ordered the city sealed and took his men and visited the merchants' companies later.

The scene when Julu purged the crooked officials happened again in Shangdang. From 3 PM in the afternoon until the dawn of a new day, Zhang He and 5,000 men raided all companies in the lists that the 450 merchants stated in the scrolls, confiscating properties and arresting over 10,000 subordinates of the merchants.

Upon inspection of the warehouses and their goods, they seized 150,000 gold and 100,000 tons of provision. Ten thousand female slaves were found in the brothels they owned. These groups of girls were either sold by their families or bought from bandits, who had kidnapped these girls from villages.

In addition, Ju Shou and Zhang He also arrested mercenaries who worked for the 450 merchants. Each merchant commissioned at least a hundred men as private guards.

Although Zhang He and his soldiers killed half of these bodyguards, they still gathered up 30,000 people from all surrendered mercenaries.

The five thousand men of Zhang He were so tired that they collapsed the moment the other 5,000 came to changed their shift in the next morning. Running around and raided 450 households in a night was tedious and tiring. Though they separated into small groups to raid different companies and households, each of them ended up dealing with more than 30 places that night.

Ju Shou gave Zhang He a pat on the back, "You did well. Go and rest. I'll take it from here."

"This tactic reminds me of Jia Xu. That guy didn't care about allies' well-being at all. Sir Ju Shou, you almost drove all of us to death." Zhang He gave Ju Shou a bitter smile.

"If I had known that Liu Ping would return so soon, I would have asked you to do this earlier at a slower pace. We had wasted three days stabilizing the domestic because of my decision, so I'm sorry about that. But yeah, I don't like doing this either. It reminds me of that guy. To be honest, I admire his intelligence, but I hate his guts." Sighed Ju Shou.

"Ah, me too."

"By the way, you're wrong about one thing. This tactic was originally derived from what our Lord did in Julu."

Zhang He dryly laughed. It seemed that their Lord and Jia Xu had a similar taste. They were efficient in their field-of-work, but they could be ruthless to allies or themselves at times. He thought of the day when Tong cut off his own arm to disguise as an escaping prisoner. Zhang He was still shocked by his Lord's resolve to this day.

…

Ju Shou did not have times to rest. In fact, he did not sleep last night. He was busy getting in touch with all blacksmiths and bowyers to commission weaponry.

He transferred the 30,000 captured mercenaries to the city barrack and persuaded them.

"If you don't want to become slaves, work for this city as soldiers for a year. You will get your salary, stipend, and other rights depending on your position and rank in the army. Should you desert or try to escape, the punishment will be death."

During the Han period, there were common laws and a standard punishment for criminals. All male criminals, who were arrested by the government, would be converted into public slaves for at least three years. They would be castrated and had properties seized by the government. Once ones became slaves, they had to work as servants, cannon fodders in wars, or served as laborers in a mine or a farm. Female slaves also had it rough as they were often treated as sexual relievers or maids.

In this era, slavery still existed, yet it was neither legal nor illegal. Each city government had its own standard and laws, depending on the governor's personality. For a mining city like Jinyang or wealthy cities like Luo Yang, Chang An, or even Ye City, slaves were common. It was even legal to either own or trade private slaves.

Because of the exploitable rules of the government, some abusers and bandits kidnapped townspeople or beautiful young girls to sell them as slaves. Many cities in the outskirt areas banned slavery as they were aware of these practices, but nobles and merchants still dipped their hands into these immoral businesses as private slaves, especially young girls, were always in high demand.

Hearing that they could get their freedom and would not end up as castrated slaves, the mercenaries rejoiced. Though working as a soldier at this moment could be risky as there were movements from the Imperial forces, a one year risk period to exchange their forever freedom was worth the gamble.

Ju Shou also was not a harsh civil officer. He gave these people more hope, "After a year of service, you can choose to retire or continue your services as a military soldier. For those who choose to remain in the army, you will be promoted by one stipend. By chance, if you are talented enough to climb up into a 1000-man-commander or a higher status, you will get your noble status as a reward!"

The captured mercenaries cheered. They were initially hoodlums and triad gangsters with no future. Some of them even failed the basic military tests and did not manage to get into the army. Seeing the bright road ahead of them, they also wished to convert to the right path.

"I'll do it."

"I'll join the army!"

"Don't castrate me! I'll join!"

The coaxing went smoothly, but Ju Shou's face did not reveal a joyous smile. His gloomy face still intimidated the mercenaries and his bodyguards.

This recruitment increased this city troop number from 15,000 to 45,000. However, these 30,000 additional men were ordinary hoodlums without military experiences. It was questionable if they could withstand a siege battle for a day.

'I'm out of time. If the letter is right, those Liu Ping's men will be here today! I don't have times even to train these guys. I hope that Jinyang Army is competent.'

Ju Shou paused for a minute, then he slapped his own face with a loud slap, confusing the onlookers.

'FOOLISH! I'm a fool! The Lord took an army of 60,000 men alone to face with 250,000 elite troops! What face I have if I can't accomplish this much. If I fail this, I don't deserve to call myself his loyal subject!'

Motivated, Ju Shou gazed at the newly recruited 30,000 men and shouted, "It is sudden, but this city will be invaded by the Imperial forces today! If you don't want to expose your crimes to those bastards, help us protect the city! Do you want to turn a new leaf!?"

The crowd was shocked. They thought it was going to be an easy redemption program, yet it turned out that they were tricked.

"Don't worry about it. For each Imperial soldier that you kill, I will give you one tael of gold! Do you think you can earn ten gold or a hundred in your life working for those greedy merchants? I'll tell you a secret. In our payroll standard, serving as a 100-man-commander in our army, you will earn five taels of gold a month! A thousand-man-commander guaranteed 50 gold a month! For a general? Hah, it's over a hundred gold a month!"

The former mercenaries sucked in the cold breathe. They knew the value of gold too well. From their direct experiences, such a generous wage could not be found anywhere else. Most of them had an annual salary of one gold a year at the maximum, but working as a soldier for this city could potentially earn more. They did not need anyone to tell them which side was a better choice.

With the temptation of rich wage and career path, the 30,000 prisoners were willing to be tricked. The military integration went well as these men cooperated with the staff members of the army.

Ju Shou and the men got stuck at the barrack until noon. They had yet to complete their registration and their platoon assignment, but a messenger rushed in to report Ju Shou urgent news.

"Report! We've spotted a massive army coming from the north! Their flags are "Wang" and purple "Zhang"!"

Ju Shou bit his lower lips. His time ran out, and he had to face his fate.

"Have everyone follow me to the north wall. Don't bother with the uniform or armor. Just take bows, arrows, and a weapon of your choice."

"Umm, sir? I don't know how to shoot a bow." A mercenary asked in a nervous tone.

"You'll learn it on the job. Take them and go!"

…

…

North wall of Shangdang.

Zhang He was already here since the morning after he had completed the raids. He organized the troops to fortify the wall and took a short nap to rejuvenate himself. The moment he heard to scout report, he became wide awake again.

The general looked at the cloud of white dust on the horizon with a concern.

'I hope Ju Shou finished what he wants to do. Ten thousand horsemen can't possibly withstand an army of 120,000 men.'

The fists of Zhang He clenched tight. He recalled the face of Tong and the achievements he completed in the battle of Anping. The motto that Tong taught him appeared in his mind.

[Don't recklessly toss away their lives even if their sacrifices can win you a battle.]

[A third-rate general can win a fight, but he will lose most of his men in return.]

[A first-rate general will win any battle with minimum loses.]

"Through battle, a man can become a hero."

"Through death, a hero becomes a legend."

"My Lord doesn't want a dead hero. He wants a living legend!"

"I will be that legend! I'll be the general worthy of the Immortal King!"

Zhang He raised his morale. By motivating himself, his clouded mind became clear, and his concentration reached its peak.

He closed his eyes to recall the geographic of the terrains around this city which he scouted during the past three days. The slopes of mountains, the ground condition, and the snowed farmlands, everything he had seen around the city was picturized as maps.

If Tong could read his mind at the moment, he would have screamed in shock. The pictures that Zhang He saw in his mind were all of his memories in the past.

Zhang He was not aware of his own innate talent yet.

He had a photographic memory.

…

…

A tall muscular man on a red horse watched over Shangdang City from the mountain top over a kilometer away. His eyes glittered as he discovered something interesting. He smiled and laughed.

"What's wrong, Fengxian?" His subordinate on another red horse asked him.

The man laughed, "I sensed an awakening of a good warrior."