Chapter 1220: The Great Earthquake

Besides, since Xuzhou is also inclined to pacification and accepting amnesty, everyone will be colleagues in officialdom from now on. They'll have to deal with each other according to convention and rules. No matter how overbearing they are, they'll have to rein it in somewhat. They might even have to make some concessions now. Taking the chance to bite off an extra piece while they can is never a bad thing.

Moreover, the Donglin partisans have extremely close ties with the great clans and magnates of Yangzhou Prefecture — some are linked by marriage, others are funded by Yangzhou's wealthy. Such dealings have gone on for decades, their interests deeply intertwined. Now that Donglin's power is surging, the Yangzhou magnates' spines have stiffened along with it, so naturally they want to fight for their share.

Of course, the Zhao Battalion's prestige still held; no one dared to offend them yet. If the Zhao Battalion refused to yield an inch, the others wouldn't dare act recklessly — and the Zhao Battalion had naturally never yielded an inch.

"The great trend under Heaven — a single hair pulled affects the whole body. We've won great victories over government troops everywhere. Wei Zhongxian is frantic with rage, and then his political enemies seize the chance to attack and denounce him. Now the Donglin faction is resurgent and will surely stir up storms in the court struggle. The current Grand Secretary, Ye Xianggao, is close to Donglin, and the Minister of Personnel, Zhao Nanxing, is the Donglin leader. They'll certainly seize this moment to strike. When the court struggle reaches a deadlock, that will actually be greatly to our advantage in Xuzhou."

Wang Zhaojing remarked this offhandedly, then jotted down a note with his brush and set aside the intelligence that had come from the capital. By now, the Zhao Battalion's Xuzhou headquarters had become the busiest place of all.

With Zhao Jin at the head, Wang Zhaojing, Cao Ruhui, and Liu Yong as his deputies, and Wang Youshan as advisor, the clerks and senior functionaries from every yamen and bureau of Xuzhou's prefecture and counties had all come to deliberate. Their task was to decide on a new structure for the Zhao Battalion. Everyone found Zhao Jin's term "regularization" a bit odd, but they all understood the meaning: there had to be a righteous mandate and proper title, and the vessels of authority had to be set in order.

No one objected to changing "Zhao Battalion" to "Zhao Family Army." "Zhao Battalion" sounded like the name of some local village militia, whereas "Zhao Family Army" was grand and formal.

Regarding Zhao Jin's title and position, Zhao Jin more or less forced everyone to accept the title of "General." There was considerable debate over his title and status. Roughly half felt that Zhao Jin should declare himself a king at this point. The territory he now controlled approached an entire province in size, with a population in the millions and over a hundred thousand household retainers and militia — his strength far surpassed that of any Ming princely fief or ducal estate, so declaring kingship was only natural. Others felt that since they weren't yet ready to fight to the bitter end, he shouldn't declare himself king, nor even call himself a general. It wouldn't be too late to do so when the real war came.

One side felt that if they didn't raise a banner and establish a government, the men below wouldn't know what future lay ahead, and outsiders wouldn't know what Xuzhou was aiming for — this would be detrimental to rallying hearts and recruiting talent. The other side felt that Xuzhou had come this far and was still steadily growing stronger, which proved that not raising a banner worked just as well. Why bother with empty titles that only invited trouble?

But no matter the debate, there was no objection to changing "household retainers" to "soldiers" and "militia" to "army troops." Everyone felt this would raise the men's morale. Some did raise the point that household retainers and militia were nominally Zhao Jin's private troops — if the names were changed, would there be any impact? Ji Xiang answered this one: the household retainers fought to the death because they knew what they could gain here and what future awaited them. The same went for the militia. They couldn't get that anywhere else.

As for the brigade, regiment, company, plus battalion and squad formations, there wasn't much dissent. It was decided that the household-retainer brigades, regiments, and companies would be First Class; the militia would only form regiments, companies, and battalions as Second Class; and ordinary patrolmen and the militia left to guard the farmsteads would be Third Class — each with their own pay and entitlements.

When they studied the pay, entitlements, and provisions supply, the treasury and the general accounts office were all furrowed with worry. But after running the numbers, they found it wasn't actually that difficult. Given the Zhao Battalion's current financial strength, income, and expenditure, supplying the current scale of forces was really quite easy.

"Big Brother, if we're going to change 'Brigade Chief,' 'Regiment Chief,' and 'Company Chief' to 'Brigade Commander,' 'Regiment Commander,' and 'Company Commander,' in my humble opinion, it's better not to change them. The title 'Chief' sounds more impressive."

In the council hall where they were discussing the organization, everyone present was one of their own, so Wang Zhaojing spoke more casually. At this point, he couldn't help but smile and said lightly, "Big Brother and everyone else may not know this, but there are some pedantic scholars who mock us quite a bit. Some say our 'Chief' comes from the village and lane 'chief' position, and if we used 'Commander,' they'd drag in the bao-jia 'headman' and the like — it would just make us look petty."

Zhao Jin couldn't help but laugh, and everyone in the room roared with laughter too. But Zhao Jin also knew he couldn't just follow his own whims — the political significance of these matters was very important.

Still, everyone was relaxed. When they learned that Wei Zhongxian had returned to the capital and the troops massed at the Hejian Encampment had dispersed, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone had been confident of victory, but if the fighting had continued without end, the situation would inevitably have deteriorated. Xuzhou's own spring planting wouldn't have been enough to sustain them, and they would have had to resort to relatively extreme measures — which would have led to endless trouble in the aftermath.

As things stood now, the court thought it had found a way to handle the situation. Court ministers, and there were even rumors that the Tianqi Emperor himself, believed Wei Zhongxian had acted out of personal pique. But the Zhao Battalion was perfectly happy to see this. As long as this state of affairs persisted, the longer it dragged on, the more advantageous it was for the Zhao Battalion. By then, it wouldn't be the court deciding what to do and Xuzhou forced to respond — the roles would be reversed.

"The Zheng family is keeping a very tight watch inside and outside the port, but they've kept it within bounds. They haven't initiated any action, nor have they made things difficult for us. Business hasn't decreased — they're even willing to do more with us." Liu Yong took the opportunity to mention the situation at the Haizhou port.

Zhao Jin nodded and said, "The Zheng great gang is truly remarkable when it comes to business. They won't let grudges get in the way of making money. When dealing with them, just remember one thing: be cautious and guarded, but be bold in doing business."

This assessment struck everyone as a bit abrupt, but they still acknowledged the order. Liu Yong, however, paused thoughtfully for a moment and then added, "According to the old and new members of the Li family at Haizhou port, and the words of the Li Siming and Li Simin brothers, this Zheng Yiguan of the Zheng great gang is actually quite similar to Big Brother — just as young, just as brilliant and ambitious. We should still be careful."

"This Zheng Yiguan, or Zheng Zhilong — he does have brilliance and ambition, but it's all in business. There's no need to worry too much about the rest," Zhao Jin replied with an air of ease.

The few men in the room exchanged glances, all somewhat puzzled. They wondered: such a newly risen figure, and it wasn't even clear whether this man had ever been to Xuzhou — how could Zhao Jin make such a direct judgment? This was a rare occurrence. It could only mean that Zhao Jin had learned about him through some other channel.

"Big Brother, should we establish new household-retainer units in Dongchang Prefecture? The agricultural reclamation farmsteads at all the key points in Dongchang are already in place, and the barracks and supplies are all ready. The Li family can also be a great help. Forming household retainers and militia would be easy. But that area directly faces the government troops of Northern Zhili — should we add..."

Wang Zhaojing had only gotten halfway when the shaking of the ground cut him off. The building swayed; the roof beams let out eerie creaks and groans; dust rained down continuously. Everyone in the room scrambled to their feet and headed outside.

By this time, quite a few residents had returned to He Family Village. Screams and wails could be heard — everyone was terrified by the sudden earthquake.

But the tremor didn't last long, and soon everything returned to normal. The people of Xuzhou had some experience with such scenes; they had felt the great earthquake in Shandong before.

Though calm returned quickly, no one's face showed relief. Cao Ruhui frowned and said, "I wonder where is going to suffer a great quake now. Buddha protect us, let there not be another great quake like the one in Shandong."

Last time, Xuzhou had also shaken briefly before calming down, but Shandong had suffered a devastating quake. The difference now was that the lands around Xuzhou were all the Zhao Battalion's territory. If a great quake struck, the losses would be their own.

"Tighten security and send fast riders to every location. I want to know what's happening everywhere as quickly as possible. A single small breach in the Yellow River dikes brought the court down on us. If there really is a great quake this time, heaven knows what will happen," Zhao Jin said coldly. Everyone around him hurriedly acknowledged the order. The Zhao Battalion, which had only relaxed for a few days, once again began operating at full tension.

Two days after the Zhao Battalion dispatched fast riders to survey the area, messengers from outside brought news of the surrounding regions. While waiting for word, Zhao Jin spent as much time as he could each day at his father's sickbed. That earthquake had caused no casualties or property damage, but it had frightened Zhao Zhentang, worsening his illness.

At noon on the tenth day of the second month of the fourth year of the Tianqi reign, the six prefectures and two subprefectures of Yingtian, Suzhou, Songjiang, Fengyang, Sizhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, and Chuzhou in Southern Zhili all experienced earthquakes — Yangzhou Prefecture most severely.

In Yangzhou, over three hundred and eighty crenellations of the city wall collapsed, along with more than twenty guard posts. In Yingtian, walls and ramparts shook, roof ridges, beams, and pillars all made sounds, and sections of the city wall and battlements collapsed. In Gaochun, the quake was heard, houses tilted, and waters overflowed. In Jurong, tiles fell and houses were overturned.

In Changzhou, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou, the sound was like a great thunderclap. Countless commoner houses were shaken down, and many were crushed to death. In Huai'an Prefecture, the lake waters churned and buildings swayed. In Taizhou, walls and ramparts shook, and the rivers all roared. In Changshu, walls and houses swayed, and pedestrians were thrown to the ground. The top of the pagoda at Dongsha Temple also shook and toppled; the ground inside and outside the city cracked in many places. At the Chongjiao Xingguo Temple, the pagoda's spire tilted askew.

In Wujiang, Zhenze, Jiading, Jiangdu, Nantong Subprefecture, Taixing, the Wusong garrison, and Yixing in Changzhou Prefecture, the quake all sounded like thunder. In Huating and Shanghai in Songjiang Prefecture, the Nanhui garrison, Yishabao, Wuxi, and Jingjiang, buildings all swayed. In Wujin, houses were ruined and lake waters flew into the air. Yingtian Prefecture, Shangyuan, Jiangning, Liuhe, Wu County, Jiangyin, Danyang, Jintan, Dantu, Liyang, and even Jiangxi — all experienced earthquakes on the same day.

After this great earthquake, the martial law and combat-readiness status of the Xuzhou forces remained in place, but the tension had eased. That was because the court would not be able to mobilize a large army in the aftermath of this disaster. The area affected by the quake was the most prosperous region of the Great Ming; two-thirds of the empire's grain tax came from this area.

Not to mention that most of the Donglin pure-stream officials hailed from this region. How could the court ministers agree to send troops to attack Xuzhou when their own homes were suffering from disaster? That would only add frost to snow for their families, kin, and friends — they would surely be cursed and reviled for it.

The fiery heat of August — just one day of wild winds and a few hours of cool, and then today it shot straight up to thirty-nine degrees. Old Bai is gnashing his teeth as he writes. To maintain the good habit of asking for monthly tickets and keep up a spirited mental state — brothers, don't hold back on those guaranteed monthly tickets at the start of the month!...

Thanks to "Yuan Heng Li Zhen," "Qi Sanwen," "Feng Zhong Long Wang," "Sui Xin Zi Wo 0," "13996357506," "Xiao Qi Wen Ming Qi Ji," and "Zui Mo Lin" — both new and old friends — for your tips. Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets, thank you everyone.