Chapter 173: Seeds

Just as he felt he had misspoken, Chen Sheng acted as if he hadn't heard a thing. At that moment, Shi Manqiang walked in, his clothes covered in dust. Shi Manqiang said gruffly, "I've looked over most of it. There are no other fires. I've posted men on high ground to keep watch. If anything looks wrong, they'll send people to put it out immediately."

Zhao Jin nodded, picked up the three feathered arrows, and said, "I haven't put much work into archery, but this bow seems to be from the armory. According to what Zhang Hubin said, they should have been shot in at a high angle."

"That would be from about a hundred and twenty paces away..." The only one who could pick up that thread was Chen Sheng. He, Zhao Jin, and Dong Bingfeng had all undergone very comprehensive martial training and knew a bit about every subject.

Shooting arrows from over a hundred paces away — with that kind of distance, escaping would also be easy.

"... The houses and courtyards around our distillery are a mess. The roads aren't straight. Coming and going freely at night isn't easy. Even if they shot from far away, they couldn't have run that fast..." Liu Yong said thoughtfully.

"Could it have been men from the garrison or under the Assistant Regional Commander?" Shi Manqiang said, his eyes wide.

The bow and arrows came from the armory, and only military men would know the city's terrain this well. Chen Sheng smiled, shook his head, and explained, "The armory's goods get sold off everywhere. Heaven knows who bought them. It's just that their bows and arrows are made decently — everything else is junk."

Zhao Jin nodded and said, "The roads may be hard to navigate, but as long as you scout the route in daylight, escaping is still easy."

"Stirring up trouble once a night — what's the point of this petty harassment? Just to keep us from sleeping?" Shi Manqiang said bitterly.

At this topic, Zhao Jin's expression turned serious. He said in a deep voice, "You think this is petty harassment? The only reason it's been minor is because no one expected our defenses to be this tight, or our brothers to be this diligent. If we were ordinary merchants, this distillery would have been burned to the ground last night and tonight. We might well have lost dozens of lives on top of it."

Whether it was the oiled paper packets last night or the fire arrows tonight, the intent behind both was utterly vicious — they meant to burn the entire distillery to ashes.

Shi Manqiang's face immediately turned quite ugly. The other two also looked grave. Zhao Jin smiled and said, "These methods from the past two nights could probably burn even a military camp, but things are different here. These petty tricks are useless. If they want to do real damage, they'll have to attack head-on. Still, all of this depends on us. As long as we stay vigilant and careful, no one will find a crack to slip through."

Hearing him say this, everyone relaxed a little. After this discussion, their taut nerves eased considerably, and several of them began to yawn.

"I'll take a one-watch shift. Dasheng, get up and relieve me later. Go get some sleep now!" Zhao Jin said with a smile.

The other three rose and headed for the door. As Chen Sheng was leaving, Zhao Jin called him back. Zhao Jin's expression was stern as he said, "Dasheng, these household guards right now are seeds. You must treat them as our brothers and family. You can't waste them carelessly. If you do, we'll lose their loyalty. Do you understand?"

Among all his companions, the one closest to Zhao Jin and most casual with him was Chen Sheng. After all, the two had spent a very long time together. Zhao Jin rarely spoke to Chen Sheng this seriously.

Seeing Zhao Jin staring at him, Chen Sheng instinctively felt a bit guilty. He cleared his throat and said, "I understand."

His tone was still somewhat casual. Before he could turn around, Zhao Jin grabbed his shoulder and said with extreme severity, "This is a serious matter. You must keep it firmly in mind. Do you understand?"

"Zhao... Brother Zhao, I understand." Startled, Chen Sheng answered at once.

Only then did Zhao Jin nod and release his grip, letting Chen Sheng leave. Chen Sheng was the most steady and reliable of their companions, but he was often too rational — that had been very clear in the earlier incident.

Sending the household guards to chase the archers — those were three men shooting military bows, three archers bold enough to operate at night and whose aim was not bad. If they failed to catch them, that was one thing, but if they actually caught up, the guards would suffer no fewer than ten casualties. Yet Chen Sheng's judgment was not wrong either: once a fight broke out, with guards converging from all directions, the men would certainly be captured.

That mindset of calculating only gains and losses without regard for casualties could not be called wrong, but in their current fledgling situation, it was definitely harmful. The impact on the household guards' loyalty and morale would be severe. That was why Zhao Jin had to issue a stern warning.

It was already late when the arrows were shot in. By the time one watch had passed and Chen Sheng got up to take over, the sky was faintly bright. Zhao Jin did not go to sleep either. He simply led men to inspect the surroundings once more, then returned to his room and busied himself with work.

After breakfast, all the companions gathered here. Everyone had already heard about the night's events, and each wore a serious expression — especially Sun Dalei. When he heard that bows and arrows had been used, his face changed dramatically. As soon as Zhao Jin finished speaking, Sun Dalei put on an ingratiating smile and said, "Big Brother, the liquor sales in Yutou Town are going quite well. I was thinking, with the year-end approaching, I should hurry over and take a look. When we expand and increase production next year, we'll have a ready sales channel."

As he gave a dry laugh and explained, Chen Sheng slammed the table and said coldly, "You're scared and want to run — just say so. Why make up these bullshit excuses?"

Every time Sun Dalei showed cowardice, Chen Sheng could never stand it. And Sun Dalei's cowardice was hardly a one-time or two-time thing. Everyone was used to this scene by now. Far from being upset, they exchanged glances and snickered.

Zhao Jin waved his hand and said with a smile, "As it happens, I do have a task to assign to Dalei these next few days. Buy ten horses — they must be good horses. Saddles, bridles, and all tack must be complete. We'll also need a master groom. Arrange the stables, fodder, and all the rest as well. Take two hundred taels of silver for now. Handle this well!"

Hearing this, Sun Dalei beamed with delight and quickly agreed, "Rest assured, Big Brother. I know the Sanxiantai mule and horse market very well. I'll definitely get good horses."

"Bingfeng, your family should have men who know how to ride and fight on horseback. Help us bring some in as instructors — to teach everyone riding and mounted combat skills." Zhao Jin turned to Dong Bingfeng and said. Dong Bingfeng nodded with great excitement; it was rare for anyone to ask for his help.

"If we have mounted men on watch, even if they shoot from far away, they won't get away." Zhao Jin added. Everyone suddenly understood — so that was the reason.

Zhao Jin casually picked up a sheet of white paper and spread it on the Eight Immortals table before him. Pointing at it, he said, "Mounted patrols are only a stopgap measure. As long as we stay inside the city, outsiders will have opportunities to exploit. If we want complete security, we have to move outside the city. Look — this is a plan I drew up last night. If we move out, we'll build according to this layout."

Everyone crowded over to look. The drawing on the paper was very rough, but the lines were all straight. The diagram was highly abstract.

"... Having the goods yard and the distillery separated is very inconvenient. Personnel allocation is also troublesome. And the distillery still needs to keep expanding..."

As he explained, everyone began to grasp Zhao Jin's thinking. He wanted to put the distillery and the camp together — training by day, standing guard by night. Then, around the distillery's grain storehouses, firewood piles, and workshops, there would be isolation strips. Even if someone tried to start a fire or harass them, the isolation strips would block them. There would also be wells on site; the distillery's water supply had to be guaranteed.

A manor compound that occupied this much land — there was no room for it inside the city. Even if there were, the authorities would never permit it. The only option was outside the city walls.

"The fortified manors of ancient times were probably something like this, weren't they?" Wang Zhaojing asked with a smile.

Ji Xiang thought for a moment, then carefully asked, "Didn't Big Brother say it wasn't safe outside the city? Why are we moving out now?"

"Times have changed. Now we have men and money. Outside the city, apart from Cloud Mountain Temple, who else has the strength to clash with us head-on?" Zhao Jin countered.

Everyone suddenly saw the light. Manors with hundreds or even a thousand manor hands were quite common, but one that could field two hundred pure combatants at once was extremely rare. By that reckoning, there truly was nothing to worry about outside the city.

This was what they meant by circumstances changing with the passage of time. A few months ago, they had been extremely cautious. Once the distillery was up and running and their finances swelled, their actions shifted immediately.

"Brother Zhao is right to do this. It's true that everything inside the city is convenient, but the officials and gentry keep a close watch. Who knows what trouble that might stir up? Outside the city, the villages are all independent of one another. If we move out, it'll be like the vast open sea and boundless sky." Wang Zhaojing nodded in agreement.

Zhao Jin patted the drawing and lowered his voice: "These scum are making moves against us inside the city because they're counting on us not daring to act freely. Once we're outside the city, if anyone dares to stir up trouble again, they'll learn what real consequences mean!"

With the cover of houses and courtyards, Zhao Jin's men could not conduct an open, large-scale search. Without justification, they did not even dare to injure anyone. Outside the city, none of those considerations would apply.

The past two days of harassment had left everyone restless and irritable. Hearing Zhao Jin say this, they all nodded in agreement.

"We've talked enough. The land still needs to be found. I've made my requirements clear just now. If any of you know of suitable people or places, bring them forward. Price and everything else are negotiable." Zhao Jin spoke. The Zhao family only had connections around the garrison, and He Family Village had no extra land either, so Zhao Jin could not find a suitable site himself. He could only have his friends cast a wide net. The Chen, Sun, and Dong families all had properties outside the city and plenty of connections; they would certainly find something more easily.

"Shitou, every household guard needs to be issued one long spear and one short blade. You need to keep an eye on this and get them forged quickly. Xiaoyong, go find Chen Ergou, Butcher Li, and all the other city evangelists of the Smelling Incense Sect we know. Tell them I'm hosting them for dinner tonight at Ribs Zhang's. No one is allowed to skip it."

The daytime wind now cut at the face like a knife. The merchants' enthusiasm was rising ever higher. A strong, fiery liquor like Hanjing Famous Wine sold better the colder the weather got. Besides, the year-end was approaching — even the thriftiest households loosened their purse strings for the New Year. A fine wine like this was sure to be in demand. Many customers who had tasted Hanjing Famous Wine were already planning to set some aside for their own New Year celebrations.

Some merchants brought silver directly to Zhao Jin, hoping to reserve a batch of stock. But the idea of paying silver as a deposit up front had occurred to everyone. As a result, at the current production rate, they could not meet demand even if they kept supplying until the second month of next year. They could only go by order of arrival.