Chapter 134: The Widowed Aunt of the Ye Family

Everyone found it quite exciting, but Wang Zhaojing thought it was nonsense. When he went home and talked about it with Uncle Nahe, Uncle Nahe had a different view, saying that earning money and not seeking pleasure, but instead knowing to save and grow capital—that intention was ultimately a good one.

Wang Zhaojing only smiled wryly and said that among the brothers, including the elders in their families, not a single person knew how to brew liquor. How could a trade requiring such skill be easily accomplished? They would probably lose a sum of money and buy a lesson. That night before sleeping, Wang Zhaojing even tallied up the silver he had saved, preparing to help cover the losses when the time came.

Aside from drinking and searching for a brewmaster, there had also been a few special guests these past days.

One was the manager of a teahouse in Hubu Lane. The teahouse was called Green Coins, and its owner was surnamed Li. This man had a reputation in Xuzhou City, because his relative in Yangzhou was a Presented Scholar from ten years ago and had now risen to Administration Commissioner in Henan, making him a major provincial official. With such connections, the local officials always had to give him extra consideration.

Hubu Lane was a wealthy and noble area within Xuzhou City. Officials and gentry with scholarly honors mostly resided there. With many rich people, spending power was strong. The teahouse earned little from selling tea; its real profit came from running gambling and taking a cut.

The sons of wealthy and noble families also wanted to gamble for amusement, but going to the south of the city felt beneath their status. There were gambling dens in the west and north of the city, but they felt unfamiliar with those. This Green Coins suited everyone's wishes perfectly.

This owner had his own estate in Xiao County and two trading firms in Pizhou. Opening this teahouse to host gambling was merely to attract figures and build connections; making money was secondary. Because his intentions were level, the gambling hall was instead fair, and its reputation gradually spread. Wealthy and noble figures fond of gambling from all four counties of Xuzhou Prefecture liked to come and play a few hands, and some even came from Pizhou.

Zhao Jin naturally knew of a place like Green Coins. He also knew that if he could collect money from this business, the profits would certainly be substantial. But Zhao Jin never even entertained the thought. There were many rumors about this teahouse. Besides the owner himself being formidable, it was said that the son of the Xuzhou Assistant Regional Commander also held shares in it. A place with such a powerful background—to provoke it would be courting death.

Unexpectedly, the manager of Green Coins took the initiative to come to him, saying that if it was convenient, Zhao Jin should come by and look after them. This was a polite way of speaking; the purpose was the same as those who had come before—to establish a connection and form a favorable bond.

Originally, someone like Zhao Jin was not in their eyes. Even if they did not come to form a favorable bond, Zhao Jin would not go and provoke them.

But Zhao Jin's reputation was now far too great. After killing the six monks of Cloud Mountain Temple and rescuing people from the kidnappers, it had become a strange tale within Xuzhou City. People would say this young man was fierce and brave; more people would say Zhao Jin was reckless. As for the matter of pushing Chen Ergou to the top, many people simply did not care. But after Zhao Jin fought that bloody battle in the south of the city and killed those dozen or so desperate bandits, the assessment changed. Everyone felt that Zhao Jin was martially valiant and fierce.

Killing those six monks could still be dismissed as coincidence and recklessness. Only after slaughtering all those dozen or so desperate bandits did everyone realize it was because of Zhao Jin's own bravery and ferocity. Such a figure could no longer be treated lightly. Even those who wanted no dealings with him had to come and say hello.

And the day he stood up for Butcher Li, subduing and scaring off several dozen ruffians—after that deed spread, Zhao Jin transformed from a formidable warrior into a legendary hero. To possess such martial valor, to command such awe—saying his future was limitless was no longer an exaggeration.

With such expectations and judgments, no faction within the city could afford to treat him ambiguously. High officials, nobles, and powerful gentry with honors could still maintain their dignity, but everyone else who dealt with the broad masses of society had to come and show their face, leave a bit of goodwill, so that meeting in the future would always be easier.

The manager of Green Coins sent over one hundred taels and four loads of gifts in one visit, and also said that from then on, twenty taels would be given monthly, asking Zhao Jin for his kind consideration. However, a shop like Green Coins was the only one of its kind in Xuzhou City.

In addition, the grain firm in which the Xuzhou Vice-Prefect held shares also came to meet him. This kind of business could not be discussed in terms of monthly payments; it was merely a visit to build personal goodwill, so everyone could get to know each other.

There was also another special guest: Ye Wenshu's widowed grand-aunt by marriage, Ye née Wu, an old woman in her fifties.

More and more people in Xuzhou City were learning Zhao Jin's name and marveling at his deeds. The freight yard, however, was gradually quieting down. Those who wanted to build connections and form favorable bonds—all who should come had already come. Those who wanted to sign up as household guards mostly knew by now that the slots here were full.

Training one hundred household guards was completely different from when there were just over thirty. Zhao Jin pulled out all his companions except Wang Zhaojing, each of them acting as both instructor and trainee. Only in this way did they maintain discipline and training efficiency.

But there was one advantage now compared to before: the thirty-six men recruited earlier had already built some foundation. They could, to some extent, play a role in passing on skills and helping the newcomers.

Wooden staves of suitable length and homespun cloth uniforms of uniform color and style began to be transported here and equipped onto the household guards. The only troublesome thing was that the freight yard was no longer large enough. Formation drills were already crowded, and running felt very cramped. As a result, the residents around the freight yard now had a daily sight to watch: over a hundred youths, in a somewhat orderly formation, running laps and kicking up clouds of dust.

"Those being punished, step forward!" Zhao Jin stood before the formation and said coldly.

The dozen or so people he had pointed out earlier walked out of the formation dejectedly and lay down on the ground of their own accord. Zhao Jin and his companions stepped forward, picked up the staves, and struck down hard.

Every hour, someone was punished and beaten; in severe cases, they were even denied food. Though the discipline and punishments were harsh, they prevailed through fairness. The household guards were all fearful, yet harbored no resentment. Under this harsh but fair discipline, the training gradually began to yield results.

Xuzhou in early June was already very hot. The household guards standing under the sun training would soon have their clothes soaked with sweat. But the instructors standing opposite them were sweating just as much. No one complained or frowned, so everyone just gritted their teeth and persevered.

Moreover, there were large barrels of salted cool boiled water at the side, and mung bean soup was provided for lunch and dinner. With such treatment, the household guards had no grounds to complain of hardship.

After the beating, they returned to the formation. Zhao Jin, his expression stern, shouted out commands. His face was taut, but his mood was very relaxed. He had originally thought that a brewmaster would not be easy to find, because liquor was being drunk by people at all times, and drinkers were everywhere. With such huge consumption, a brewmaster would surely earn a lot of money, at the very least having a very stable wage income.

What Zhao Jin had not expected was that within and outside Xuzhou City, there were actually quite a few brewmasters who had changed professions. The reason for this was also tied to Xuzhou's decline. Originally, Xuzhou was a canal hub, the midpoint where people and goods from north and south converged; it was wealthy and bustling. On land and water, vast amounts of strong liquor were sold every day. But once the Jia Canal opened, Xuzhou declined, and there were not so many people drinking anymore. Many distilleries closed down, and brewmasters changed professions one after another.

Moreover, people of this era were deeply attached to their native land. Unless driven to the brink of death and desperation, they would never leave their hometown. So many brewmasters had stayed in Xuzhou.

Zhao Jin's companions had not expended much effort. Just Chen Sheng and Sun Dalei stepping forward had found several people who met Zhao Jin's requirements, and they were preparing to bring them over to meet him in the next couple of days.

Watching the household guards marching in formation before him, a smile surfaced on Zhao Jin's face. Groping, preparing, accumulating—now everything was about to get on the right track.

Just as he thought this, he heard someone call out from the side: "Young Master Jin."

Following the voice, he saw it was Ye Wenshu arriving. Nowadays, only a few people came to sign up each day. When Zhao Jin saw suitable candidates, he directly arranged for them to go to the yamen to register with Ye Wenshu, so Ye Wenshu no longer needed to run over here every day. When Ye Wenshu and his colleagues heard this news, they were quite disappointed, because it meant there was no more extra income to be made.

Ye Wenshu was not alone; behind him was an old woman in her fifties, wearing a brown cloth skirt and looking very ill at ease.

"So it's Uncle Ye." Zhao Jin greeted him with a smile.

"I dare not accept such a form of address. Young Master Jin, you overwhelm me. Just call me Ye Kun." Ye Wenshu walked over with an ingratiating smile.

Zhao Jin saw the old woman following behind Ye Wenshu and knew the other man had business to discuss. He arranged for Chen Sheng to lead everyone in training, then gestured for Ye Wenshu to go ahead and entered the courtyard together with him.

Wang Zhaojing no longer participated in the outdoor foot drills these days; he just read and practiced calligraphy in the courtyard every day. Seeing Zhao Jin lead someone in, he smiled and sat to one side.

"... Young Master Jin, I have a matter in which I must ask your help..." After entering, Ye Wenshu hesitated for a moment before speaking.

Zhao Jin nodded and said, "Please speak. I will see if I can help."

Ye Wenshu hurriedly nodded and introduced the old woman, saying, "Young Master Jin, this is my widowed grand-aunt by marriage..."

Ye Wenshu's grand-uncle had died five years ago. Before that, one of Ye Wenshu's cousins had fallen into the Yellow River while boating and drowned, and another had gone to Henan to do business and not returned for ten years. Ye Wenshu's widowed grand-aunt, Ye née Wu, lived alone in hardship, only occasionally receiving aid from Ye Wenshu.

Speaking of which, Zhao Jin had actually heard of this Ye née Wu's neighbor—it was the Provincial Graduate Yang Zhongping, who was colluding with Cloud Mountain Temple.

Provincial Graduate Yang came from a poor background. Logically, after passing the provincial exam, he should have moved to a good location to build a new residence. Yet he wanted to earn this face, to let the poor neighbors who once looked down on him see that they had been blind back then.

After becoming wealthy, he naturally could not live in a dilapidated house. The place where Yang Zhongping lived had been renovated several times, but it was, after all, cramped and narrow, still uncomfortable to live in. This year, the Yang family wanted to expand.

Expanding meant buying up the houses of the neighbors on both sides, and Ye née Wu was among them. Ye née Wu had a hard life in the city and had already planned to take the money from selling her house and go to the countryside to live out her old age.

What she had not expected was that the title deeds for the house and land, due to the passage of many years, had actually been chewed to shreds by rats.

When this matter became known to Provincial Graduate Yang's steward, he directly declared that Ye née Wu's house had originally belonged to the Yang family all along, that she had been living there rent-free for many years, and that the rent would be waived, but she must get out of the house immediately.

The Ye family's house was worth at least ten or twenty taels of silver, and Ye née Wu was counting on this money for her old age. She naturally could not accept this blatant false accusation.

But the Yang family's methods were even more ruthless. Yang Zhongping's steward brought several men to her door and directly threatened her, saying that if she still did not move out, the Yang family would sue her at the yamen, and when the time came, they would make Ye née Wu pay them compensation.