Chapter 1057: Do Not Slander the Peace

When he woke from the dream, Zhao Jin found it was only deep night. All around was quiet, though Zhao Long in the side room had been startled awake by something and was wailing over there. The wet nurse and maidservant attending him were softly coaxing him. Zhao Jin let out a long breath, gazed at the dark canopy above the bed, and tried to recall the dream he had just experienced. He could not remember it clearly, only that in the dream he had reunited with his second uncle Zhao Zhenxing and Sun Dalei. He reached up to wipe the corner of his eye and found it was damp.

"Husband..." Beside him, Xu Zhenzhen murmured and nestled closer to Zhao Jin. Zhao Jin thought his wife had woken, but then he heard her even breathing and knew she had not.

Dreams at night reflect the thoughts of the day, but that dream had been far too abstract. Zhao Jin did not want to dwell on it. With a thousand threads of business to attend to, why waste effort on such a ridiculous dream? Smiling, Zhao Jin closed his eyes and said to himself, "Just keep walking forward."

That night's rest at home was very effective. When he rose the next day to practice martial arts, he felt his spirit and energy were full, and his whole body brimmed with vigor. After breakfast, Mu Shulan, who had clearly not slept enough, told Zhao Jin that she wanted to hand over the affairs of the Smelling Incense Sect to others to manage. For now, she only wanted to properly rest and nurture her body and give birth to the child.

"If that's what you feel is best, then do it. But don't just idle around at home all the time. Look at your sister—she's been busy with the Xu family's affairs all along, and it never stopped her from bearing and raising children. If you're always idle, be careful your mind doesn't slow down," Zhao Jin said bluntly.

Hearing this, Mu Shulan merely replied with a touch of exasperation, "It's not like I'm washing my hands of it entirely. If anything comes up, I'll still keep an eye on things."

Zhao Jin smiled and nodded. However, the Internal Guard's main brigade for the sects had already been established. The remnants of the Smelling Incense Sect, as well as the White Lotus Sect operating in the Yi Prefecture area, were all being absorbed into it. Mu Shulan could now intervene less and less. But this was not something to be said openly. Besides, letting his wife have some external affairs to keep her busy was never a bad thing.

The plan to expand Dong Bingfeng's Third Regiment into the Third Brigade was also ready to be unveiled. Dong Bingfeng as brigade commander was beyond dispute. The Third Brigade's First Regiment had one thousand pike household retainers and four hundred firelock household retainers—no different from the First Regiments of the other brigades. The Second Regiment had eight hundred pike household retainers and one hundred firelock troops plus archers, garrisoned in Andong County. That place was the checkpoint where Huai salt from the Haizhou salt fields entered the canal transport by water. The Salt Transport River entered the Yellow River right at Andong County. The Third Regiment had the same composition as the Second Regiment and was stationed in a manor thirty li south of Shanyang County along the canal.

The garrison position of this Third Brigade's Third Regiment was already less than thirty li from the border between Huai'an Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture. The Third Brigade's three regiments encircled Qingjiangpu, holding all the key points. Together with the over three thousand patrolmen inside Qingjiangpu and the various other forces, the density of Zhao's Camp's strength in Qingjiangpu far exceeded that in any other location—a clear sign of how much importance was placed on it.

In addition, the Third Brigade also commanded the Clam Port Main Brigade. This main brigade had a total of five companies: four pike companies and one firelock company, with an additional attachment of two three-pounder cannons. This Clam Port Main Brigade, together with the local militia stationed there and the Yu family's own armed forces, jointly defended this seaport that connected to the canal transport.

There was also the River Patrol Main Brigade. This main brigade had a total of forty vessels of various sizes, mainly composed of members of the Cai family, the Yu family, and household retainers who followed them to learn ship handling and water combat. Its organization was not very fixed, with personnel usually numbering around eight hundred. It was responsible for patrolling the waters of Qingjiangpu and maintaining vigilance in the direction of Hongze Lake.

Unlike the First and Second Brigades, under Dong Bingfeng's command, besides two hundred mounted household retainers, he could also direct an equal number of Xuzhou Volunteers. This force had been scraped together from the Xuzhou Garrison and the Xuzhou Left Garrison. To put it plainly, it was a mounted unit that Dong Jike had assembled for his son's sake. Although Qingjiangpu was not a large area, there were many places that required the mobility of a mounted unit, so no one raised any objections to this.

The reinforced artillery company assigned to the Third Brigade had a total of eight cannons—more than any other location. When all was tallied up, no one had expected that the Third Brigade, after expansion, would appear stronger on paper than the First and Second Brigades. But a moment's thought made it clear that this was only to be expected.

Chen Sheng's First Brigade was in Shandong. The Shandong troops were mostly concentrated in Dengzhou and Laizhou Prefectures, with not many in Jinan Prefecture. The surrounding three southern prefectures of Northern Zhili and the Henan region had hardly any government troops. The Second Brigade went without saying—its situation was not much different from when it was stationed in Xuzhou. But Dong Bingfeng's Third Brigade directly faced the Fengyang Governor's Standard Camp. To the southeast was the main army of the Langshan Vice Regional Commander. To the west were the government troops of Fengyang Prefecture guarding the Central Capital. Further south, Nanjing also had a large number of government forces that could be mobilized.

Though this place appeared prosperous and wealthy, it was in fact a perilous zone where battle could break out at any moment. Moreover, this expansion was very likely to provoke the various parties into action, so every possible preparation had to be made. Of course, outsiders could at most see the three regiments and one main brigade, the number of cannons, the number of boats, the number of horses—they would find it very difficult to observe clearly.

Furthermore, if the Third Brigade needed to move, it could requisition boats on the spot and make use of the ox and horse carts of the Cloud Mountain Carting Firm. These were forces that outsiders could not see, yet they could play a decisive role.

At the Qingjiangpu Trade Office, it was directly managed by Office Chief Zhou Xuezhi. It could not be said that the merchants of Qingjiangpu had received no return for all their painstaking efforts. The original Qingjiangpu Chamber of Commerce had been dissolved and then reorganized into a new Chamber of Commerce. This Chamber of Commerce could elect fifteen stewards each year, and these fifteen could represent the Qingjiangpu merchants in presenting their demands to the Trade Office.

They could only present demands; whether these were adopted or agreed to was not up to them to decide. Some already ridiculed it as a flower-vase Chamber of Commerce. Yet even so, in Qingjiangpu's commercial circles, anyone with any standing dared not stay out. Word had already spread that joining this Chamber of Commerce meant Xuzhou considered you one of their own, while not joining meant you were an enemy. Moreover, the establishment of this Chamber of Commerce had let many old schemers breathe a sigh of relief. Whether their voices were heeded or not, at least with such a rule in place, everyone finally had a formal channel to make representations to the Xuzhou Zhao's Camp. It was not like before, when everything was arbitrary and without fixed rules.

One rule that differed from other places was that under the Qingjiangpu Trade Office, two bureaus were established: one called the Tax Bureau, and one called the Works Bureau. For the former, everyone could guess the meaning from the name—taxes and fees, something everyone had long been mentally prepared for. But what the Works Bureau was supposed to do, no one could figure out. Didn't Zhao's Camp already have an Artisan Works Office?

What caused some resentment among the people of Qingjiangpu was that the Qingjiangpu Council Hall contained no local prominent merchants or gentry of Qingjiangpu itself, yet it included a certain Yu Zhiyuan from Songjiang. What qualifications did a shipowner and maritime merchant who sailed the foreign seas have to manage Qingjiangpu's affairs?

However, someone did a careful calculation and said that the Cloud Mountain Shipping Firm, jointly owned by the Yu family and Xuzhou, probably earned a tenth of the total revenue of the Qingjiang Great Market each year. A tenth might not sound like much, but it was already a rather astonishing sum. With such enormous profits offered up, it was only natural that this seat was given.

In the expansion and restructuring of Zhao's Camp's other territories, the household retainer brigades and regiments were all garrisoned outside the cities, in manors belonging to Zhao's Camp, and were always dispersed in their stationing. The establishment of the council halls merely managed what had been managed before and did not cause such a great stir locally. As for Jining, although it was newly established and newly arrived, the local area had been severely weakened, and Zhao's Camp had displayed its might there, so no one dared disobey.

But Qingjiangpu was different. Zhao's Camp had always behaved with relative restraint here, barely maintaining a semblance of joint governance. This time, however, they had thoroughly torn off that layer of pretense, making it clear they intended to take full control of Qingjiangpu. The prominent merchants found themselves with no place in this arrangement, and their voice was pitifully small. Resentment naturally grew rampant. Many now thought that in the future they would surely be exploited and fleeced, and that being shackled hand and foot was unavoidable.

With resentment, naturally, trouble would brew. But everyone here had seen blood and suffered losses before, so they could only go privately to speak with the Shanyang County Magistrate, the Huai'an Prefect, and the Fengyang Governor—these government officials. Things had already been stirred up to this state; did you officials intend to do nothing?

They really did intend to do nothing. That bunch of Xuzhou people had not raised a banner of rebellion; they were honestly doing business, and the government offices were still here. What was wrong? Do not bring your private grudges into public affairs. The government had so many public matters to attend to; how could it bother with your private affairs?

That was what was said on the surface. After all, having received benefits for so many years, the prominent merchants of Qingjiangpu had their own connections. In private, the officials had to make it clear: they could not manage it. How could such a great tiger be managed? Any move against it would provoke a fight, and they could not win even if they fought. When the time came, if the higher authorities investigated, it would still be blamed on us officials driving the people to revolt. Besides, with all the connections you gentlemen have in the capital, do you not know how fierce the infighting is right now? Who will win and who will lose is still uncertain. How would we dare stir up more trouble and let others seize on it as a pretext? And indeed, the realm is at peace—no sign of chaos anywhere. Are those Xuzhou people not acting according to the rules?

This answer was enough to make one flip out on the spot. After returning, everyone cursed furiously—did these officials have no sense of duty left at all? However, when the various families gathered together, the correspondence with the capital had all received replies. By exchanging news with familiar contacts and having their own private advisors and secretaries analyze the situation, they came to understand what was really going on.

In the eyes of the imperial court, Xuzhou's Zhao Jin was no different from those great magnates across the realm who hung the Ten-Thousand-Qing Plaque. In the Huguang region, it was not rare for gentry to keep slaves numbering in the thousands or even tens of thousands. In Jiangnan, such top-tier figures existed as well. Which of these families could not, with a single call, gather several thousand able-bodied men? Everyone said that Xuzhou's troops were well-equipped and had cannons and cavalry, but when such claims reached the capital, who would believe them? They would only think it defied common sense and assume the locals were exaggerating to attract attention.

Moreover, if you claim that Xuzhou harbors rebellious intent, then why have no local government offices sent urgent appeals for help? Why does the canal transport still flow unimpeded? It is true that in parts of Shandong and Southern Zhili, taxes and grain levies are being reduced or waived, but in places where they are not, not a single coin or grain of rice has gone unpaid. In these times, with the Liao military levies so brutally oppressive, so many places cannot meet their quotas. And yet you say such a place is in rebellion? Under the bright heavens, with the sagely Son of Heaven on the throne, what malicious intent do you harbor by spreading rumors and slander?

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