Chapter 1121: Sincere and Genuine

"With the same number of hands working it, the cotton this machine inside produces in half a shichen is more than ten times what that one outside can do," Zhao Jin said, as if knowing what Liu Yong was thinking, and explained with a smile.

"Wouldn't that mean..." Liu Yong turned around excitedly, but then immediately held himself back.

Only after they left the work shed did Zhao Jin speak: "Three men figured out this Xuzhou cotton gin. Each got two thousand taels of silver, plus five hundred taels in annual bonuses. After three years they can start their own businesses. With this thing, our Xuzhou cloth can be made even cheaper. As long as we have enough cotton, we can even crush Songjiang cloth completely!"

Liu Yong's face was full of excitement. He understood perfectly well what this meant. So-called mountains of gold and seas of silver can eventually be dug up and exhausted, but these sources of wealth in Xuzhou would produce endlessly — this was a treasure bowl that gathered riches.

The tension and worry stirred up earlier by the Yellow River flood situation all vanished like smoke. With the cloth trade firmly in hand, they could sustain the Zhao Camp's foundation.

"For now, Jining still doesn't have this kind of machine, but it'll be sent over soon. The craftsmen in our workshop here are working on a weaving loom. They're also trying to figure out if animal power or water power can drive it. All of this must be kept secret. If even one piece leaks out, it'll be a blow to our Zhao Camp. You need to keep a tight watch on all this," Zhao Jin instructed.

Liu Yong answered with the utmost gravity: "Please rest assured, Big Brother. This is the most critical secret of our Zhao Camp. This little brother will not let a single bit of it leak out."

Zhao Jin nodded, then said with a smile: "The cotton we're weaving now is all from last year's harvest. The quantity's not small, but it's nothing compared to the total scale of the cotton cloth business. When the cotton comes in this autumn, that's when we'll see the real test. I'm afraid by then our Zhao Camp will have made enemies of every powerful faction in Songjiang and Jiangnan!"

Jiangnan was the wealthiest region under heaven, and its powerful figures were often the relatives of high officials at court — the most formidable bloc of power in the realm. Hearing Zhao Jin say this, Liu Yong showed no nervousness at all. He simply smiled, nodded, and said: "If we can make enemies of them, then we'll have nothing left to fear."

Around the end of the fourth month and the beginning of the fifth, Xuzhou cloth began shipping in large quantities. Roughly twenty percent of all output stayed in Xuzhou, while the rest was sent to Qingjiangpu for sale. The output from these two weaving workshops in Xuzhou and Jining, each employing several thousand people, was quite astonishing, but placed in the great market of Qingjiang, it amounted to nothing. That place gathered and distributed the wealth and goods of the entire realm. When Xuzhou cloth was thrown in, it stirred at most a few ripples. Moreover, Cloud Mountain Trading sold it with great discipline, and a good portion was shipped via the Qingjiangpu waterways out to sea, so even fewer people took notice.

The Li Family Gang's fifteen ships had already made a round trip from Pi Island, fully loaded with people and bringing back large quantities of timber. This trip had been so swift that everyone on Pi Island, including Mao Wenlong himself, was caught completely off guard. They had never imagined the other side would come so fast.

According to reports from the household troops who went along, Mao Wenlong had been more interested in selling specialty goods like ginseng, deer antler, furs, and mountain products. These were high in value and could be traded for more things. He had even promised the Li Family fleet that if they were willing to take on these dealings privately, he could offer substantial benefits. But how could the paltry advantages of a mere Pi Island catch the eye of a maritime magnate? The Li family knew which side to stand on and refused outright.

Because Mao Wenlong and Pi Island were caught off guard, the composition of the people delivered this time was quite interesting. There were plenty of young men and women, as well as children. Quite a few of the women were rather outstanding in appearance, while among the men, many clearly possessed martial skills or had seen battle. The children went without saying.

"... The Li family people said that many of the people Pi Island gave us this time were originally meant to be sold or kept for their own use. Because we went so urgently this time, they didn't have time to pick and choose and could only scrape together the numbers first. This subordinate believes that's correct..."

Originally, all four thousand six hundred people from the fifteen ships were to disembark at Penglai, the seat of Dengzhou Prefecture. But it was soon realized that landing so many people would inevitably draw attention from all sides, so the ships came ashore one by one. As it turned out, as soon as the first two ships landed and the local Cloud Mountain Trading people went to receive them, over thirty people had already escaped before they could even be led out of Dengzhou Prefecture. The Cloud Mountain Trading personnel there immediately took a boat to notify those at sea. By then, the people from four ships had already landed. In total, over one hundred fifty had escaped, and more kept fleeing.

These Liaodong refugees, after all, had never truly suffered hardship, and it was summer now, so conditions weren't so unbearable. They all figured that as long as they were on Ming soil, why should they toil like beasts of burden for others? The household troops accompanying the fleet made a prompt decision: they hired over a dozen more large ships at Penglai in Dengzhou Prefecture, replenished supplies, and then landed at Haizhou instead. Once they came ashore in the Huaian North District, there was no need to worry about anyone running off.

"... I don't know whether the escapes were spur-of-the-moment or premeditated, but this subordinate observed that Mao Wenlong has many schemes. He's always felt that since we have no official status, he could act like a scoundrel or bully the weak..."

From Pi Island to Dengzhou, fifteen ships could carry nearly five thousand people. But from Pi Island to Haizhou, three thousand at most, and they'd still need to resupply once at Dengzhou. The Li Family Gang's ships, however, didn't balk or shrink from the difficulty. They simply said that next time they would bring a few ships specifically to carry and transfer food, water, and provisions.

Before these several thousand Liaodong commoners landed, Shi Manqiang personally led the Second Brigade's First Regiment, along with the Xuzhou Volunteers, to receive them at the dock. No matter how unwilling these several thousand Liaodong refugees might be, seeing such a formidable display of troops, they dared not make any rash moves. They could only obediently submit to selection. Craftsmen, soldiers, merchants, and scholars were all registered in the books, then began to be transported to various locations.

Many manors in the Huaian North District stood empty. Some of the Liaodong refugees would rest and acclimate there temporarily, while another portion was sent directly to manors around Tancheng and Yizhou for settlement. The one hundred Liaodong households that had arrived earlier were broken up and mixed into the larger body of refugees to go reclaim land together.

The Li Family Gang was very satisfied with this transport operation, because here at the Haizhou port they had fully loaded their ships with ironware, cloth, salt goods, and timber that was in high demand in the south. Trading along the Ming coastline might not yield profits as enormous as going to Japan or the Southern Seas, but as long as you found the right goods, the earnings were still substantial, and the risks were far fewer. Before leaving port to sail south, Li Xian pounded his chest and made a pledge, saying the next wave of ships would arrive in a month at the latest.

However, the Li Family Gang also put forward their own demand: when transporting Liaodong refugees, they could not be too lenient. They had to be willing to kill when necessary. The Zhao Camp's people would have to do the killing, and the Li Family Gang's people would join in as well.

"... Seeing that we didn't land at Dengzhou, those Liaodong refugees all grew restless. On several ships they even started clamoring. If the household troops hadn't pressed them back with beatings, I'm afraid a major incident would have erupted..."

"... Later on, we couldn't afford to care about so much anymore. Everyone had to be locked in the holds, taking turns to come up for fresh air. Because of this, over a dozen died along the way and were thrown into the sea. If we had been able to kill and act decisively right then, to quell the situation, there wouldn't have been such complications..." This was also part of the report from the household troops leading the mission.

Zhao Jin's opinion on this was very simple: "Kill when killing is called for. You are people. Right now, they are not yet people."

Just three days after the Li Family fleet departed fully laden with goods, the Yu Family fleet also arrived at Haizhou — a full twenty-four large ships, all deep-bellied Fu ships and Sha ships with heavy cargo capacity, and they had brought their own ample supplies of food and water. The commander this time was Yu Ou, who had once gone to Macau with Xu Housheng. He didn't say much upon arriving, simply following the Zhao Camp's arrangements in every matter.

After taking on the Zhao Camp's household troops and related personnel, the Yu Family fleet immediately set sail north. The household troops boarding this time were completely different from last time. This time there were a full seven companies, including one arquebus company, and they even brought two three-pounder cannons. Zhao Jin wanted his household troops to get used to life sailing at sea.

According to news sent back by the Jiangnan Internal Guard, Yu Zhiyuan had not split the family after returning this time. When he brought up the matter of dividing the family assets, and made it clear he wouldn't take more than his share, it immediately frightened the people on his eldest brother's side. Business was making good money now; even without resorting to petty schemes, they were still making a fortune. But if the family split, though they'd get a lot in hand right now, they'd only be eating through their capital with no income.

And more critically, if the family split, it would be extremely detrimental to Yu's eldest brother, who had already risen to the rank of Administration Vice Commissioner in Jiangxi. His future official career would certainly not go smoothly. The servants and household members on Yu Zhiyuan's eldest brother's side understood this very clearly: no matter how much money the business made, it was still just liquid wealth. Rising high in an official career was the real benefit. Besides, many of these petty schemes and ideas were the brainchild of Yu Zhiyuan's sister-in-law; his eldest brother might not even be aware of them. If things really blew up, applying family law and beating someone to death at the yamen was entirely possible.

With Yu Zhiyuan standing firm, the Yu family's increasingly loud clamor immediately fell silent. Construction of a shipyard had already begun at Clam Port. This was undertaken solely by the Yu family, and many shipwrights with refined skills had been transferred over from Songjiang Prefecture.

"Had I known it would come to this, why start it in the first place."

"Yu Zhiyuan may not have been unaware. His elder brother and sister-in-law might just have been a front. It's just that he never imagined the Li family would take the initiative to approach us." The Zhao Camp's assessment of Yu Zhiyuan's actions, from top to bottom, was quite caustic.

In the middle of the seventh month, Zhao Jin decided to take a concubine. He would take Meng Zhiqi, the younger sister of Meng Zhiqi of the Firearms Brigade, as his concubine. On this matter, it wasn't just his sworn brothers urging him, or his elders urging him, or his parents urging him — even Xu Zhenzhen and Mu Shulan were urging him. Taking Meng Zhiqi as a concubine wasn't for her beauty; it was mainly about various ties and balances. Zhao Jin understood this very well, but he didn't quite grasp why Xu Zhenzhen and Mu Shulan were also urging him.

However, once he agreed to the matter, both Xu Zhenzhen and Mu Shulan became somewhat displeased. That night, each deferred to the other, neither wanting Zhao Jin to come sleep at her place. Though their words were polite, Zhao Jin could naturally see the irritation in both of them. In the end, he stayed at Xu Zhenzhen's. He had wanted to chat idly for a while that night, but Xu Zhenzhen just sat there playing with Zhao Feng and Zhao Long, which left Zhao Jin even more baffled.

Since he didn't understand, he might as well sleep early. Zhao Jin now had to go inspect the Yellow River banks every three days, and with the work of settling the Liaodong refugees already underway, he was utterly exhausted. He fell into a deep sleep just like that. Then, in the middle of the night, someone knocked on the door outside. Zhao Jin bolted upright in bed. His movements were swift but made no sound. Beside him, Xu Zhenzhen was also startled awake. She was about to speak but was stopped.

"Master Jin, the river embankment has burst..." It was Sun Dalin's voice outside. The personal guards took turns on night duty; tonight he was the one outside.

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