Chapter 1091: Schall von Bell's Letter (4)

When the workshops began to stir with noise, those whose weary sinews from the day's toil had not yet fully recovered in sleep had to drag their exhausted faces out of those crude, low, gray houses and onto the streets. In the cold, pale light of early morning, they walked along unpaved roads toward workshop after workshop, ready to greet another day of labor and to coat themselves from head to toe in dust.

These workers, though weary, could earn considerably higher wages, and so they willingly endured extra hardship for the sake of themselves and their families. From this, we can better understand why Xuzhou thirsts so desperately for manpower.

And after seeing these workshops with their endless streams of workers, I secretly concluded that it would likely not be long before we were dealing with one of the most powerful men in the entire Ming Empire.

Nevertheless, we could also see that these people, after all, had only recently detached themselves from the land, and deep in their bones they still brimmed with a deep attachment to the soil. With the guards' permission, I once chatted with several workers I met along the road, and I discovered that their prevailing thought was to labor hard for a few years, save up some money, and then buy a plot of land in Xuzhou or elsewhere, hand it over to themselves and their children to farm, and become peasants once more.

From this we can also discern some of the problems the Zhao Jin faction now faces. As you know, based on our experience in Italy, for a workshop a single skilled worker is more useful than several apprentices, and the cost of training a skilled worker is considerable. If a skilled worker is trained, only for him to save enough money within a few years and return home to purchase land, the potential loss would be staggering. Thus, how to resolve these former peasants' attachment to their native soil so that they will remain in the workshops and continue working as long as possible is, I fear, a problem confronting the Zhao Jin faction.

Furthermore, through conversation with the men guarding us, I learned a piece of news: Zhao Jin's wife is, strikingly, the daughter of a wealthy iron mine owner. This iron mine owner's sole daughter clearly brought Zhao Jin a substantial dowry, which at the very least allowed him to easily control Xuzhou's iron ore supply channels and strike down all his competitors.

—I cannot bring myself to believe this was merely Zhao Jin's good fortune. Could it be that several years ago, when he had not yet risen to prominence, Zhao Jin was already consciously preparing for his future commercial plans? If so, I fear this young man is even more formidable than we imagine.

Moreover, this also demonstrates that Zhao Jin, through bonds of kinship, friendship, and other connections, has already gathered around himself a faction possessing immense wealth.

At the same time, through conversations with several workshop managers, I also discovered that all of Xuzhou's external trade is controlled by an organization established by Zhao Jin, and these managers merely organize production according to that organization's orders.

Although this organization is named the Trade Office, and although on the surface it is only responsible for external trade affairs, in reality it simultaneously encompasses the functions of our German trading houses and guilds, and even includes some of the powers of a legal body. It is clearly an institution specially created by Zhao Jin to monopolize the commercial interests within his jurisdiction.

Not only that, this organization can even use its monopoly position to organize production, preventing price competition from harming the workshops' profits, and ensuring that the Zhao Jin faction can continuously draw a stable source of profit from it, so as to achieve his objectives beyond mere economics.

This monopolistic commercial institution cannot help but remind me of the Dutch East India Company. Yet it is far more progressive than the East India Company—the East India Company expands its commercial interests through plunder and slaughter, whereas this institution uses commerce to benefit the majority, at least benefiting the people of the Xuzhou region. At least the people I have observed have derived profound benefits from it.

At the same time, from this measure of Zhao Jin's, we can once again see to what extent the Ming imperial government's rule has weakened in this region, so much so that such a monumental change has been implemented without attracting any particular notice.

From what I have described above, you can probably also perceive that Zhao Jin and his faction are brimming with ambition, and they also possess sufficient ability to turn that ambition into reality. They have not even bothered to conceal this.

In Europe, the Medici family seeks dominion over all of Italy. Having amassed wealth even more vast than the Medici family, how could the ambitions of the Zhao Jin faction possibly be any smaller than those of the Medici?

We very soon saw proof of this ambition.

While passing through Xuzhou city, we saw an army on the march.

Previously, upon seeing the elite, orderly, and strictly disciplined bearing of the men escorting us, and yet learning that they were merely the Xuzhou faction's irregular combat personnel, we had already privately speculated as to what their formal troops would be like. But it was not until I saw them with my own eyes that I realized our previous estimation of them had been far too low.

These soldiers, under their officers' commands, marched in very orderly columns, carrying long spears. These soldiers all wore helmets, their hair cropped short. They also wore simple armor, and beneath the armor were uniform, dark-blue cotton garments. This armor was unlike the light armor I had seen elsewhere in China; rather, it resembled European-style plate armor. Setting aside the Eastern decorative elements, in my eyes they differed from ordinary Ming government troops and instead looked more like battle-hardened Spanish soldiers.

I asked the patrol captain beside me, wanting to ascertain who exactly had designed this armor, and he promptly told me with pride that this was armor invented by Zhao Jin himself, and he declared with an air of arrogance that it was the finest armor under heaven.

This truly surprised me somewhat. Was this a flash of inspiration from Zhao Jin's own mind, or did he also have guidance from other men who had come from Europe? If it is the latter, then it is somewhat worrying; it is possible that certain heretics have exerted an influence on Zhao Jin before we could. I could not help but feel a twinge of unease.

At the same time, although we were only observing from a distance, we could see that the quality of this armor was quite good. Clearly, Zhao Jin had given the best products of his iron workshops to his troops for their use. And Zhao Jin's immense wealth had also made these men the best-equipped troops I have seen in the Ming Empire.

Under the watchful eyes of us and many other curious villagers, these silent yet uniformly and brightly clad troops ignored the winter cold and marched with uniform precision. Their movements had clearly undergone excellent training, and their physiques were robust and brawny, imperceptibly bringing upon us that oppressive feeling that only elite soldiers can impart.

The focused expressions of these soldiers could not help but remind me of a microcosm of a battlefield before fierce combat, which, beneath the towering walls of Xuzhou city, instead appeared richly poetic. When at rest, the soldiers seemed to emulate the surrounding architecture; the entire unit stood utterly motionless. Onlookers could not help but compare these human walls with those stone walls. The winter sunlight poured down upon the century-old walls and these human walls, illuminating countless dark, weathered faces—every face a record of past storms of shot and shell, every face intently gazing upon the glint of blades and flash of swords yet to come.

Looking at these earnest, committed young faces beneath their helmets, I could not help but wonder again: could it be that Zhao Jin and his trusted followers armed such an army merely to use it to defend their vested interests?

The answer is self-evident.

The patrol captain escorting us gazed at these men with envy and said that he himself had once been one of them, and that it was only because he had been wounded in a battle some time ago and his mobility was impaired that he had been transferred out of the army and made a patrol captain maintaining public order.

Indeed, it was only then that I learned that in recent years, Zhao Jin had already thwarted the pressure of various forces within the Ming Empire and even the Ming Empire itself, had crushed the suppression forces mustered by the Ming imperial court several times, and had even begun external expansion through his vast power.

At this, I finally understood the source of the confidence of the common people I had seen along the way—when people know that their side possesses an army clearly superior to the enemy's and ever-victorious, what do they have to worry about?

Zhao Jin maintained order, and so they supported only Zhao Jin.

We soon learned that the patrol captain had not been boasting; he had indeed once been a member of the combat forces—for after making contact with that group of soldiers, he suddenly recognized that the officer leading this small unit was his former comrade-in-arms, and the two of them quickly began exchanging warm pleasantries.

At our request, the patrol captain also introduced us to this commanding officer. However, this officer's attitude was somewhat different from the amiable patrol captain. Like European officers, his manner was reserved and carried a certain arrogance. In short, he did not speak much with us, nor did he like answering our questions, which poured cold water on us, as we had originally hoped to learn more information about the Zhao Jin faction's military from him.

However, our slight regret was soon compensated.

After the two former comrades' warm pleasantries concluded, the officer, bound by his duties, had to lead his troops away. Before leaving, he gifted a portion of his military supplies to the patrol captain—well, there is no need for us to beat around the bush; these military supplies were strong liquor.

When they received this strong liquor, nearly every one of the patrol members escorting us cheered, as if they had received some momentous gift. After all, during winter travel and marches, there is nothing more capable of lifting one's spirits than strong liquor.

The patrol captain did not forget us either; he also gave us a few bottles of liquor. Although as clergymen we must not indulge in drunkenness, merciful God has not deprived us of the right to derive some solace from wine. We had long been feeling somewhat shivery in the cold wind, and so, without much demurral, we each took a few sips.

Continuing to request monthly tickets at the start of the month. Thanks to the two old friends "Qi Sanwen" and "Blessing of the Light Angel" for their tips. Thanks to everyone for your subscriptions and monthly tickets, and thank you all for your support.